The Salopian no. 166 - Winter 2020-21
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TITLE HERE 1<br />
THE SALOPIAN<br />
Issue No. <strong>166</strong> - <strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2020</strong>-<strong>21</strong>
From the Editor<br />
A year has passed since the last edition of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Salopian</strong> was published in<br />
January <strong>2020</strong>. <strong>The</strong> winner of the Michael Schutzer-Weissmann letter writing<br />
prize, writing from home in the ‘remote’ Summer Term of <strong>2020</strong> during the<br />
first lockdown, was Oscar Rink (PH), <strong>no</strong>w in the Fifth Form. <strong>The</strong> task was to<br />
imagine oneself as the statue of Charles Darwin and write a letter to Sir Philip<br />
Sidney, at the other end of Central. Let him be our guest editor.<br />
Front Cover: <strong>The</strong> Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre, December <strong>2020</strong><br />
Inside Front Cover: Re-wilding the Site: <strong>The</strong> Biology Garden (see page 28)<br />
15 May <strong>2020</strong><br />
Dear Philip,<br />
Such strange times! I can<strong>no</strong>t even begin to put into words the changes<br />
inflicted upon our old School Site by this darned virus. A place once bustling<br />
rendered silent by an unseen enemy, <strong>no</strong>rmally infused with the vivacity of<br />
youth and enthusiasm within each and every pupil, <strong>no</strong>w sapped, leaving<br />
an empty shell, lifeless without its inhabitants. Where <strong>no</strong>w the chatter and<br />
clatter of everyday life? <strong>The</strong> School bell continues to toll, a beacon of hope to<br />
those in despair at the loss of the community. Nature progresses, the seasons<br />
bringing change in their wake as they drift across the globe and yet society<br />
does <strong>no</strong>t, holed up within homes. How can it be that the lamb and chick<br />
spring into life unaware as Humanity cowers in the darkness?<br />
<strong>The</strong> School is a veritable Marie Celeste with all the life drained from its<br />
bows. <strong>The</strong> souls fleeing the unseen tide, uncertain of what is to come.<br />
Quiet smothers the site, seeping its dismal atmosphere through corridors<br />
and classrooms. Signs of hurry lie strewn about, future dates in discarded<br />
planners sit slashed through, cups of tea on desks lie thick and frigid,<br />
books and stationery misplaced in a whirlwind of confusion. Nature begins<br />
to reclaim its territory; thick grass creeps upwards; vines snake tentatively<br />
over buildings and furious thistles spew forth: a pestilence upon the earth.<br />
Rain splatters its cold, remorseless drizzle down upon the soil reducing it to<br />
sludge. Dust returns to every surface.<br />
And yet <strong>no</strong>t all is lost, as Newton exclaimed whilst shuttered during a<br />
similar outbreak: ‘Each reaction must have an equal and opposite reaction’.<br />
Wildflowers sprout their colours where they have <strong>no</strong>t for many a year. <strong>The</strong><br />
sun continues to shift its gaze ever closer as the solstice approaches, melting<br />
away the last remnants of winter. Buds burst open, revealing greenery<br />
hidden away. Blossom graces the earth, its sweet serenade of scent gliding<br />
dulcetly through the air.<br />
Such great societal shift is <strong>no</strong>t unheard of. Wartime brought death and<br />
despair of massive scale to the nation, striking families with its cold, bony<br />
fingers plucking life from the earth. This is a force of nature. It is through<br />
pure science that the poor souls losing their lives are selected. I k<strong>no</strong>w you<br />
disagree with my theories deeply my dear friend, but bear with me. One can<br />
conclude from observation that it is the old, weak and sickly that are struck<br />
down mercilessly. However on a philosophical level, is the wartime loss of<br />
life more ethically correct, with the soldiers and nurses k<strong>no</strong>wing full well<br />
what to expect? Or is the loss of the elderly through the culling of the weak<br />
by nature preferable? Alas, we wish for neither upon our earth, but human<br />
nature and nature itself make it so.<br />
As a humanist I would be inclined to support natural selection, as the<br />
old have had their allotted time on earth and have experienced life as<br />
opposed to the young who still have so much to live through. Many would<br />
be outraged by this assertion and one might understand their discomfort;<br />
however, such is the rhythum of Life.<br />
I do fear that I delve too deeply into thought. I simply revel in reflection and<br />
conclusion as a scientist by nature! What else does one do, petrified in place<br />
with the sweet sensation of Cherry blossom on one’s lips and the soothing<br />
embrace of April showers? I shall <strong>no</strong>t keep you any longer.<br />
Your ever faithful comrade,<br />
Charles Darwin<br />
CONTENTS<br />
From the Headmaster 4<br />
Leavers’ Address 6<br />
Surviving and Thriving 8<br />
Letter from a Housemaster 14<br />
Remote Learning 15<br />
Avete 16<br />
Valete 17<br />
Shrewsbury School International <strong>21</strong><br />
School Prizewinners <strong>2020</strong> 22<br />
Scholarships Awarded for <strong>2020</strong> entry 23<br />
Biology Photographic Competition 24<br />
‘Discover Nature’ <strong>The</strong>me Week 26<br />
Sharing our Space with Nature 28<br />
<strong>The</strong> Peace of Trees 30<br />
<strong>The</strong> Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre 32<br />
Drama 2019-<strong>2020</strong> 33<br />
A mosaic for Meole Brace Primary 37<br />
Michaelmas Term <strong>2020</strong> Artwork 38<br />
Serving the Wider Community 40<br />
<strong>The</strong> Shewsy 42<br />
Supporting the Ankawa Foundation 43<br />
RSSBC 44<br />
Rugby 48<br />
RSSH 51<br />
RSSH in East Africa 53<br />
Lacrosse 54<br />
Fives 54<br />
Cricket 56<br />
Football 58<br />
From the Director 61<br />
Dubai Annual Cricket Match & Supper 61<br />
News of Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s 62<br />
One Hundred Years Ago 71<br />
Footballs’ debt to Shrewsbury 72<br />
Soulton Hall 76<br />
VE and VJ Days 78<br />
Shrewsbury Streetscapes 79<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Fives Club 80<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Football Club 81<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Golfing Society 82<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Hunt 85<br />
Sabrina Club 87<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Squash Club 88<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Women’s Sport 89<br />
Saracens 90<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> Drivers’ Club 92<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Freemasons Lodge 93<br />
Notes from the Archives & Taylor Library 94<br />
Publications 97<br />
Obituaries 99<br />
Editor<br />
Richard Hudson<br />
rth@shrewsbury.org.uk<br />
Assistant Editor<br />
Annabel Warburg<br />
Obituaries Editor<br />
Dr David Gee<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> Club<br />
Nick Jenkins (Director)<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> Club, <strong>The</strong> Schools,<br />
Shrewsbury SY3 7BA<br />
01743 280891 (Director)<br />
01743 280892 (Administrator)<br />
oldsalopian@shrewsbury.org.uk<br />
Design: Tom Sullivan tom@tangosierra.co.uk<br />
Print: www.lavenhampress.com
4<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
From the Headmaster<br />
One of my most illustrious forebears<br />
as Headmaster of Shrewsbury<br />
School was the legendary Cyril<br />
Alington. He was Headmaster from<br />
1908-1916, before moving on to take<br />
charge of Eton College for 17 years. As<br />
well as the day job, Alington managed<br />
to write over 50 books, many of which<br />
were penned and published while he<br />
was in active service as a Head. He<br />
wrote poetry, biography, history,<br />
hymns and sermons – even detective<br />
fiction. It’s hard to k<strong>no</strong>w how he<br />
found the time to write so much.<br />
Admittedly, Headmastering was a less<br />
multi-layered role a century ago than<br />
it is these days, but even so, it was a<br />
remarkable output.<br />
A brilliant cricketer and strikingly<br />
handsome, Alington was rather<br />
sickeningly gifted: quite an act to<br />
follow, even at the relatively safe<br />
distance of just over 100 years. Drawing<br />
inspiration from the great man, I have<br />
taken this year to letter-writing. At the<br />
start of <strong>2020</strong>, I began a series of open<br />
letters, called Letters From Shrewsbury.<br />
A very modest literary enterprise<br />
compared with the extraordinary<br />
productivity of Alington, but it has been<br />
an enjoyable outlet and a few people<br />
even seem to be reading them!<br />
Letter-writing has something of a ‘retro’<br />
feel in these times of email, text and<br />
social media. <strong>The</strong> traditional format of<br />
the letter has its limitations, but it has a<br />
personal, almost confessional tone that<br />
can be a lively and potent medium.<br />
At the time of writing, I am up to my<br />
nineteenth Letter From Shrewsbury.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se despatches cover a range of<br />
themes, some of them directly on<br />
education, others more obliquely on<br />
topics to do with language, learning,<br />
childhood and life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first letter was written when <strong>2020</strong><br />
was just nine days old. It was addressed<br />
‘Dear <strong>2020</strong>’. Using the image of a newborn<br />
baby, it channels the hopes that a<br />
parent has in those tender early days:<br />
‘Welcome to the world, new-born<br />
thing. I hope you find your feet quickly.<br />
And I have some other hopes for you<br />
too. Your older sister, 2019, was a<br />
fiery one. Capable of so much good,<br />
but full of contradictions and often<br />
quite disagreeable. That’s teenagers,<br />
I suppose. Mind you, she was<br />
<strong>no</strong>where near as confounding and<br />
unpredictable as her older brother<br />
2016. You never knew what was<br />
coming next with him. I wonder how<br />
he looks <strong>no</strong>w, four years on.<br />
Anyway, after 25 years of teaching,<br />
and 16 years as a parent, I k<strong>no</strong>w <strong>no</strong>t<br />
to judge one sibling by a<strong>no</strong>ther. Each<br />
child is wonderfully, bracingly different;<br />
unique individuals with promise and<br />
potential; needs and demands; fears,<br />
expectations and hopes.<br />
<strong>The</strong> poet Philip Larkin wrote a poem to<br />
the newly born daughter of his friend,<br />
Kingsley Amis. He wishes her something<br />
“<strong>no</strong>ne of the others would”. Instead of<br />
wishing her beauty, talent and love, he<br />
says: “May you be ordinary […] In fact,<br />
may you be dull.”’<br />
My hope – wishful as it swiftly<br />
proved to be – was for the blessing of<br />
ordinariness. Reflecting <strong>no</strong>w on the<br />
most extraordinary of years - surely one<br />
of the most remarkable in the history of<br />
Shrewsbury School - <strong>2020</strong> has been far<br />
from dull.<br />
We started with news of huge fires<br />
in Australia; then came the floods<br />
in England which saw Shrewsbury<br />
become an island as our loop of<br />
the River Severn burst its banks<br />
and encircled us fully. And then the<br />
coronavirus, COVID-19, gradually,<br />
inexorably and pervasively asserted its<br />
grip on the world. Its grim progress<br />
was the defining narrative of <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
turning the word ‘unprecedented’ into a<br />
commonplace.<br />
How we have craved and savoured<br />
snatches of ordinary life. Globally,<br />
nationally and here in our corner<br />
of Shropshire, we have navigated<br />
a gruelling, anxious journey from a<br />
national lockdown in March that saw<br />
all schools close. We then spent a full<br />
summer term as a remote learning<br />
community – together apart. This term<br />
demanded exceptional dedication and<br />
invention from our teaching staff and
SCHOOL NEWS 5<br />
leadership team. With many support<br />
staff <strong>no</strong>bly on furlough, and the<br />
remainder working hard to keep the<br />
site and infrastructure running, it was<br />
a magnificent team effort. A virtual<br />
Shrewsbury education ran for the<br />
nine-week summer term which ended<br />
with a memorable virtual Speech Day.<br />
Wonderful though this was, we felt<br />
deeply for the Upper Sixth leavers in<br />
particular, who ended their school days<br />
apart and away from the School. And<br />
indeed for those teaching colleagues<br />
who bade farewell to Shrewsbury<br />
distanced from one a<strong>no</strong>ther.<br />
<strong>The</strong> summer weeks were then<br />
dominated first by the well-publicised<br />
saga of the public examination results<br />
and then by careful planning for<br />
re-opening. It is fair to say that the<br />
process of assessing and submitting<br />
our grades to the examination boards<br />
was painstaking and detailed. <strong>The</strong><br />
professionalism of the teaching staff,<br />
Heads of Faculty and academic<br />
leadership was truly exceptional. Our<br />
pupils got the examination results<br />
that they deserved; and the history<br />
books will show a record haul of first<br />
choice offers to a fantastic range of<br />
destinations, including 16 Oxbridge<br />
places. <strong>The</strong>y will <strong>no</strong>t show the hours<br />
and hours of endeavour that staff put<br />
in. Nor will they convey the surreal<br />
experience that the pupil cohort<br />
of <strong>2020</strong> had of receiving results for<br />
examinations that they never sat. As far<br />
as I k<strong>no</strong>w, it was the first time since<br />
public examinations began in 1888 that<br />
they had <strong>no</strong>t taken place – even during<br />
two World Wars.<br />
With the attainment gap widening<br />
between those who had access to<br />
good remote learning, and those who,<br />
through <strong>no</strong> fault of their own, did <strong>no</strong>t,<br />
there are questions about the delivery<br />
of the public examination session in<br />
20<strong>21</strong>. More fundamentally, there does<br />
seem to be a window of opportunity<br />
for us (by which I mean the world of<br />
education) to re-think how we assess<br />
the k<strong>no</strong>wledge, skills and aptitudes of<br />
young adults. Is a large hall with rows<br />
of desks really the only format that<br />
human ingenuity can come up with<br />
for assessing learning? Do we need to<br />
have the same methods at the age of<br />
16 as we do at 18? Do we need such<br />
a battery of public examinations at 16<br />
at all?<br />
<strong>The</strong> School’s examination results are<br />
very strong at GCSE, and <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
benefit from a diverse educational<br />
experience beyond the assessed<br />
academic curriculum. This relatively<br />
happy state-of-affairs might argue for<br />
the status quo. However, as I wrote to<br />
the Daily Telegraph in October <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
the old system is ready for review.<br />
Admittedly, the world of education,<br />
like everyone else, is having to invest<br />
unparalleled energy simply keeping<br />
schools running. A radical re-thinking<br />
of assessment requires careful,<br />
serious, collaborative thinking. How<br />
do you measure the true quality of<br />
an education? <strong>The</strong> answer is that it is<br />
lifelong: the continuous assessment<br />
of an individual as they travel the<br />
years after school. Examinations are<br />
passports; life’s tests provide a broader,<br />
fuller examination of our journey.<br />
Schools must prepare their pupils<br />
for this as well as the more finite<br />
challenges of the examination hall.<br />
As well as processing the examination<br />
results, the months of July and August<br />
were heavily occupied with planning<br />
for re-opening. Government guidance,<br />
when it emerged, was detailed e<strong>no</strong>ugh<br />
to give direction, but open-ended<br />
e<strong>no</strong>ugh to give schools discretion<br />
to apply it to their settings. Safety<br />
was the priority, married to a drive<br />
to allow pupils the fullest possible<br />
educational experience under COVIDsafe<br />
restrictions. When we finally had<br />
our 818 <strong>Salopian</strong>s joining us back at<br />
the Schools in September, there was a<br />
palpable feelgood factor. <strong>The</strong> site had<br />
been quiet – used only by resident staff<br />
and their families for daily exercise –<br />
for six months.<br />
We returned to full school life under<br />
a ‘<strong>no</strong>rmal for <strong>no</strong>w’ that involved a<br />
re-designed timetable, year group and<br />
house bubbles, separate dining, face<br />
coverings, hand sanitisers and social<br />
distancing in all activities. Blessed<br />
with a run of late summer sunshine,<br />
and staying pretty much exclusively<br />
on-site, the collective appreciation of<br />
the day-to-day ordinary of living and<br />
learning together was overwhelming.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre was open,<br />
the playing fields in near-constant use.<br />
We made our way through that first<br />
half of term without COVID incident.<br />
Dull it was <strong>no</strong>t; joyous, enlivening,<br />
uplifting it was. <strong>The</strong> new ordinary felt<br />
lumi<strong>no</strong>us. <strong>The</strong> simple pleasure of being<br />
a community, albeit under restrictions,<br />
was transfiguring.<br />
It has been, in many ways, an<br />
annus horribilis. But, despite all the<br />
suffering, worry, loss and disruption<br />
that COVID-19 has caused – and<br />
will continue to deliver into the<br />
foreseeable future – it has also been<br />
an annus mirabilis for Shrewsbury<br />
School. February’s TES Independent<br />
Schools Awards saw two <strong>no</strong>minations<br />
for Shrewsbury School. We received<br />
a unique ‘Highly Commended’ for<br />
Boarding School of the Year alongside<br />
the short-listing for a Creativity Award<br />
for our work in the creative arts.<br />
Later in the year, in the Independent<br />
Schools of the Year Awards, we were<br />
listed as Finalists in the Community<br />
Engagement category. Not only did<br />
the School win this, but we were<br />
also named Independent School of<br />
the Year. Such things did <strong>no</strong>t exist in<br />
Alington’s day, though a few decades<br />
before his time the Clarendon<br />
Commission had chosen Shrewsbury<br />
as one of the nine leading and<br />
exemplary ‘public schools’. <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
humility rightly forbids and baulks at<br />
trumpet-blowing. We don’t do showy.<br />
We carry ourselves lightly and tend to<br />
shy away from the gongs and cymbalclashes.<br />
However, in a year of gloom<br />
and difficulty, this was a lovely award<br />
to receive. And we are rather pleased!<br />
What does the immediate future hold?<br />
We k<strong>no</strong>w that the eco<strong>no</strong>mic and social<br />
impact of the pandemic will be felt<br />
for many years to come. This brings<br />
more uncertainty. However, the School<br />
is in as strong a position as we could<br />
want to be in meeting the challenges<br />
ahead. <strong>The</strong> spirit of Darwin persists:<br />
his sense of intellectual adventure<br />
and his appreciation of adaptation.<br />
Recent months have seen rapid<br />
evolution. Virtual teaching and learning<br />
have expedited major tech<strong>no</strong>logical<br />
upskilling; the academic and Futures<br />
(careers) curriculum has gone through<br />
an evolutionary step change with<br />
the inception of new courses and<br />
qualifications.<br />
As the School continues its journey, we<br />
want to widen access to a Shrewsbury<br />
education with an ambitious bursary<br />
fundraising programme to arrive at<br />
the point where over 5% of the pupil<br />
body is on full transformative bursaries.<br />
Alongside this, we are engaged in a<br />
careful and consultative project on<br />
equality, diversity and inclusion at<br />
Shrewsbury.<br />
It is my strong belief that <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
culture is founded on a championing<br />
of the individual, but that this is <strong>no</strong>t<br />
to the detriment of others: quite the<br />
reverse. <strong>Salopian</strong>s are open-hearted,<br />
compassionate, collaborative, creative,<br />
community-minded. This holistic and<br />
humane approach to self-advancement<br />
is a vital antidote in a world so often<br />
powered by cold self-interest. We need<br />
the young adults who leave Shrewsbury<br />
to carry and develop virtues for life; to<br />
pursue their ambitions with purpose<br />
yet gentleness; and to champion the<br />
survival of the kindest.<br />
Floreat Salopia!
6<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Leavers’ Address<br />
Retiring Churchill’s Hall Housemaster Richard Hudson gave the <strong>2020</strong> Leavers’ Address,<br />
broadcast live from the Chapel as part of the virtual Speech day celebrations<br />
held on Saturday 27th June <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
What an odd feeling to be addressing an empty Chapel!<br />
But in my mind’s eye you are all sitting here, in<br />
front of me, most of you five years after the New Entrants’<br />
service in September 2015, your parents wondering where<br />
those five years have gone, most of you both sad to be<br />
leaving Shrewsbury, as I am, but also excited to explore the<br />
opportunities offered by world beyond the Moss and Port Hill<br />
gates, as I am.<br />
A curious statistic links you as pupil leavers, mostly aged<br />
18, and me as a staff leaver who will be 67 in three days’<br />
time: you are literally as far away from your birth as I am<br />
statistically as far away from my death.What also links us is<br />
that you and I both stand on the threshold of a new life of<br />
which we have as yet an imperfect understanding.<br />
And, if you are being honest with yourselves, I imagine that<br />
<strong>no</strong> matter how much you are looking forward to throwing off<br />
the shackles of school and<br />
entering into what you will<br />
inevitably and understandably<br />
perceive as the freedom of<br />
full adulthood, you are a<br />
little apprehensive too. More<br />
so perhaps, and with more<br />
reason to be, than I was when<br />
I left Shrewsbury School in<br />
1972, just turned 19, with a<br />
receding head of black hair,<br />
would you believe, flowing in<br />
the 70s style.<br />
But it is <strong>no</strong>t my purpose<br />
today to remind you of<br />
the uncertain and unstable<br />
world you will be entering<br />
after the comparatively<br />
protected bubble of Shrewsbury. <strong>The</strong> world of your adult<br />
lives will continue to be as full of opportunity as it will be<br />
of challenge, but very different challenges and opportunities<br />
from those faced by my generation of school leavers, when<br />
the world was in many ways a much simpler place, though<br />
of course we didn’t think of it like that.<br />
What I think I am far more qualified to do is distil from the<br />
experience of my own life, in particular my life over the<br />
past 20 years, most of which have been lived at Shrewsbury,<br />
what I have learned about how to navigate the journey<br />
of life usefully and happily. I was going to use the word<br />
‘successfully’, but this has con<strong>no</strong>tations of money, and it’s<br />
a cliché that money by itself doesn’t buy you happiness.<br />
Although as some mega-rich magnate guy was quoted in<br />
the Wit & Wisdom section of <strong>The</strong> Week a couple of years<br />
ago as saying, it “does at least enable you to park your<br />
superyacht right alongside it”.<br />
My own journey to Shrewsbury started, as some of you also<br />
will k<strong>no</strong>w, with the death of our elder son Sebastian as a<br />
passenger in a car accident in his gap year shortly after he<br />
left Shrewsbury, where he had been a pupil, like his father<br />
and grandfather, in Moser’s Hall. Some of you will already<br />
have lost a close family member before their time. One<br />
of you has, this very week.<br />
And if you have, you will<br />
k<strong>no</strong>w that life can never<br />
again be the same. A limb<br />
has been amputated. You are<br />
conscious of its loss every<br />
minute of every day, but you<br />
can go on to live a happy<br />
and fulfilled life, and it is<br />
<strong>no</strong> betrayal of a loved one’s<br />
memory to do so.<br />
So what have I learned from<br />
this experience in particular<br />
that can be useful to you?<br />
Four simple messages.<br />
First, one of my all-time<br />
favourite film quotes is<br />
the advice given to Andy<br />
Dufresne by Red in <strong>The</strong> Shawshank Redemption: “Get<br />
busy livin’ or get busy dyin”. Life is a journey, a voyage<br />
into the largely unk<strong>no</strong>wn. And here’s the thing – if it is<br />
to be a fulfilled, happy and useful life, it needs to be into<br />
the unk<strong>no</strong>wn. Well-trodden paths may keep you safe<br />
and protect you from the bears, but they won’t teach you<br />
bushcraft.
SCHOOL NEWS 7<br />
But as well as successes, there will be many unexpected<br />
and unwelcome setbacks, some of them mountains which<br />
will seem too steep to climb, rivers too broad to cross. But<br />
the only way is forward. My wife Ruth and I learned, in the<br />
months following our own son’s death, the truth of Red’s<br />
remark: if you fall down, you pick yourself up and dust<br />
yourself off, or you curl up, wither and, in effect, die.<br />
Secondly, setbacks, mistakes and suffering can all be<br />
harnessed as engines for personal growth. One of the<br />
first letters we received<br />
after Seb’s death was from<br />
one of my authors – I was<br />
a publisher in those days.<br />
He had lost his mother in<br />
a car accident when he<br />
was 19, the same age Seb<br />
was when he died. He<br />
wrote, in a letter I always<br />
have with me, “You won’t<br />
understand this <strong>no</strong>w, but I<br />
firmly believe that there is<br />
<strong>no</strong> personal tragedy from<br />
which you can<strong>no</strong>t extract<br />
the material for growth”.<br />
Obviously he was writing<br />
about an extreme event,<br />
but I firmly believe that the<br />
truth holds good for any<br />
kind of failure.<br />
Thirdly, follow your dream. Happiness and fulfilment<br />
do <strong>no</strong>t grow in direct proportion to your bank balance.<br />
Devotees, as I am, of the mesmeringly revolting series<br />
Succession, which follows the fortunes of an American<br />
media mogul and his perpetually warring family, will<br />
understand this. Before I came to Shrewsbury, I worked<br />
in the publishing industry, for the 15 years running up to<br />
my career change as CEO of the company. I arrived here<br />
17 years ago on a fraction of the salary I had previously<br />
been earning, but <strong>no</strong>t a day has gone by when I have<br />
wanted to be back in my previous job. I am <strong>no</strong>t saying<br />
that you should all become teachers, but do <strong>no</strong>t settle<br />
for a job which your heart isn’t in. At this end of your<br />
lives, the future stretches dazzlingly ahead, like a distant<br />
view of a great mountain range, ridge after ridge, with<br />
the gleam of the eternal s<strong>no</strong>ws on the horizon. Settling<br />
for less than something that will interest and challenge<br />
you, and, I would add, enable you contribute usefully to<br />
a world desperately in need of your contribution, will,<br />
before you k<strong>no</strong>w it, have you at the end of your lives<br />
frustrated and disappointed that you didn’t do what you<br />
really wanted to do.<br />
Two of the best bits of life advice I was ever given were<br />
given me by a director of the first publishing company I<br />
ever worked for. <strong>The</strong>y were, first, that when you feel you<br />
have mastered a job completely and have <strong>no</strong>thing more to<br />
learn, that is the time to be looking for a fresh challenge;<br />
and following on from this,<br />
that <strong>no</strong> job is really worth<br />
going for and accepting<br />
unless a small part of you<br />
feels that it is a little beyond<br />
your capabilities. And for<br />
the record, I am retiring<br />
<strong>no</strong>t because I feel I have<br />
mastered the job of being a<br />
housemaster – I don’t think<br />
you can ever master that –<br />
but because it’s the right time<br />
to hand over to a younger<br />
man.<br />
Finally, the experience of<br />
losing a child has taught us<br />
the value of friendship. No<br />
experience sifts out your real<br />
friends more effectively. Polonius, the pompous councillor<br />
in Shakespeare’s Hamlet has the perfect words, “Those<br />
friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,/Grapple them<br />
unto thy soul with hoops of steel”. My two closest friends<br />
are fellow Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s, both godparents to our late son.<br />
Better to have five really close friends, able to see your<br />
faults as well as appreciate your qualities, than 500 or 1000<br />
Facebook friends who will for sure <strong>no</strong>t be there when you<br />
need them, <strong>no</strong>r you for them.<br />
And so here we are, ready to ‘go to our wide futures’, to<br />
slightly misquote Praise song for my mother, an IGCSE<br />
poem which many of you will have studied; futures outside<br />
the protective walls of Shrewsbury School, a community<br />
whose essential values, of tolerance, kindness and<br />
compassion, seem to me unaltered since I attended it as a<br />
boy; values which if you use them as your guiding lights<br />
throughout the lives stretching ahead of you, will earn you<br />
that contentment and peace of mind without which your<br />
lives can<strong>no</strong>t truly be happy, and which lie at the heart our<br />
greatest of school mottoes, Intus si recte ne labora.
8<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Surviving and Thriving (1)<br />
Teaching ‘in remote’<br />
Maurice Walters, Deputy Head (Academic) explains how the Shrewsbury teaching staff continued<br />
to deliver the School curriculum throughout the Summer Term, facing the twin challenges of teaching<br />
meaningful lessons remotely and keeping pupils engaged and motivated.<br />
In the early November of 2019, I was<br />
at a meeting of fellow Deputy Heads<br />
Academic in an entirely characterless<br />
hotel in the middle of Nottingham.<br />
Rendered practically agoraphobic<br />
by years of institutionalisation and<br />
ill-equipped for small-talk on a grand<br />
scale as a result of my particular role,<br />
I gravitated, as has become habit,<br />
toward a small group of erstwhile<br />
acquaintances and we spent a merry<br />
evening digesting world events and<br />
solving global issues with the casual<br />
arrogance of those who will seldom<br />
be called upon in a crisis. Eventually,<br />
perhaps regrettably, the conversation<br />
turned to educational matters and<br />
one of my respected peers observed,<br />
swilling his cognac idly around the<br />
glass in the manner of a character<br />
from a Scott-Fitzgerald <strong>no</strong>vel, that the<br />
problem with this job was that there<br />
was <strong>no</strong> challenge in it any more. “Once<br />
you’ve been in the role for two or three<br />
years,” he continued, <strong>no</strong>t quite adding<br />
the moniker ‘old sport’ but implying it<br />
with the force of a bulldozer, “you’ve<br />
seen just about every possible issue<br />
that could arise.” I have never been a<br />
superstitious sort of chap but, in that<br />
instance, I found myself groping feebly<br />
about me to touch anything that might<br />
even pass for wood and praying quietly<br />
that such an hubristic pro<strong>no</strong>uncement<br />
could pass without incident.<br />
But Zeus, as we k<strong>no</strong>w, hates the boasts<br />
of a proud tongue and it was as I<br />
returned from a family trip to Rome in<br />
late February that I began to suspect<br />
that <strong>2020</strong> might <strong>no</strong>t be going to be such<br />
an auspicious year after all. We had<br />
already quite literally weathered several<br />
devastating storms and the weather<br />
over the Exeat break, windy, damp and<br />
dark, had certainly <strong>no</strong>t been conducive<br />
to good morale on return.<br />
It is usually the preserve of the Deputy<br />
Head Academic to sit in meetings of<br />
the Senior Leadership Team and listen<br />
attentively, but without real investment,<br />
while greater and more socially capable<br />
minds consider the complexities of<br />
day-to-day life. <strong>The</strong> trivial tasks of<br />
feeding over 800 pupils, keeping them<br />
safe and healthy, mounting an infinitely<br />
intricate co-curriculum programme<br />
bother him <strong>no</strong>t and he will seldom<br />
break his silence except to mutter those<br />
phrases calculated to stop a line of<br />
inquiry dead in its tracks: “timetabling<br />
issue”, “blocking makes it impossible”,<br />
“examination malpractice” and “I’ve<br />
got a spreadsheet for that”. You can<br />
only imagine, therefore, the terror of<br />
this particular Deputy Head Academic<br />
when it became hair-raisingly apparent<br />
that a plan for ‘remote learning’ was<br />
required and, despite my having<br />
uttered all these phrases in tones of<br />
increasing desperation, all eyes were<br />
still firmly turned in my direction.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is surely an opportunity for<br />
someone from the lofty halls of<br />
academia who has time on their hands,<br />
to undertake a study of the ability of<br />
humanity to make jargon out of a crisis.<br />
While Boris was busily washing his<br />
hands and directing us to go and do<br />
likewise, educational professionals the<br />
world over were already champing at<br />
the bit to deliver new and perplexing<br />
termi<strong>no</strong>logy. <strong>The</strong> community fora of<br />
which I am a member were suddenly<br />
bombarded by an onslaught of<br />
neologism – synchro<strong>no</strong>us learning,<br />
asynchro<strong>no</strong>us learning, real-time<br />
intervention, remote fatigue. I was<br />
very fortunate indeed, at this point, to<br />
have support from colleagues at our<br />
international schools who had already<br />
entered into a period of lockdown and<br />
were able to provide clear advice and<br />
guidance based on real experience<br />
rather than showy pontification<br />
which is often the last refuge of those<br />
experiencing complete and abject<br />
terror.<br />
When the Government an<strong>no</strong>unced the<br />
closure of schools from 20th March,<br />
we had a plan. It was skeletal and<br />
outline in form, but it was <strong>no</strong>netheless<br />
a clear one. Having listened carefully<br />
to arguments from all around the<br />
world by this point, it became<br />
apparent that this was <strong>no</strong>t the time<br />
for the implementation of showy,<br />
gimmicky tech<strong>no</strong>logy. When Noah was<br />
building the ark, his priority was the<br />
waterproofing, <strong>no</strong>t the installation of<br />
the swimming pool on the poop deck.<br />
We had, at that stage, a full week to go<br />
before the Easter break and the clear<br />
overriding objective was to establish<br />
a system with which staff and pupils<br />
were fully comfortable and which<br />
could provide a stable maintenance<br />
of high-quality education through<br />
to the beginning of the holiday. It is<br />
a testament to the resilience of the<br />
Shrewsbury teaching body that, in<br />
this first week of a new and alien<br />
landscape, they landed this impeccably,<br />
keeping the community together,<br />
preserving the shape of the timetabled<br />
day and delivering meaningful prerecorded<br />
content for their lessons on<br />
our existing school systems after a<br />
term that had already been more than<br />
usually exhausting.<br />
By the 27th March, we had more or less<br />
successfully managed to land the plane<br />
for its stopover on Easter Island and<br />
staff and pupils had the opportunity,<br />
for a few weeks, just to pause and<br />
replenish energy (albeit with lockdown<br />
measures in place).<br />
But, with the best will in the world,<br />
what we had done in that first
SCHOOL NEWS 9<br />
week was only an interim ‘survival’<br />
measure. It was <strong>no</strong>t something that<br />
could be sustained through an entire<br />
Summer Term. Shrewsbury has never<br />
been a school to putter along on a<br />
default setting of mediocrity. <strong>The</strong><br />
programme for the Summer Term had<br />
to be dynamic, vibrant, effective and,<br />
critically, wholly and demonstrably<br />
meaningful.<br />
Of course, with the news that schools<br />
were closing, the Government had also<br />
thrown in the exciting free gift of the<br />
cancellation of public examinations,<br />
initially with <strong>no</strong> sense of how pupil<br />
grades were awarded. When I was a<br />
child, I recall spending what limited<br />
money I earned from the delivery of<br />
the monthly parish magazine, on a<br />
subscription to the Star Trek fact files.<br />
This riveting publication was produced<br />
loose-leaf fashion, so that those of the<br />
persuasion could purchase binders and<br />
store the various blueprints, mission<br />
records, supply sheets etc. in a wellorganised<br />
fashion. Little did I k<strong>no</strong>w<br />
at the time that as I sat in my room,<br />
very much alone, ensuring that there<br />
was <strong>no</strong> cross-contamination between<br />
Kirk and Janeway, I was actually being<br />
prepared for the agonising process<br />
of piecing together the astonishing<br />
volume of guidance documents, update<br />
documents, update on the update<br />
documents and media news stories<br />
which were to proliferate in my inbox<br />
in this period. <strong>The</strong> spare room did, at<br />
one stage, resemble the hovel-dwelling<br />
of a demented serial killer – endless<br />
documents pinned to boards and<br />
connected by threads and pins<br />
Designing a process for submitting<br />
Centre Assessed Grades to exam<br />
boards, although by <strong>no</strong> means<br />
straightforward, proved to be far easier<br />
than I had thought. <strong>The</strong> great strength<br />
of Shrewsbury School has always been<br />
the fact that teachers here really do<br />
k<strong>no</strong>w the pupils very well, so I was<br />
able to work confidently with Heads<br />
of Faculty who had a wealth of data<br />
at their disposal in this regard. What<br />
was more complex, however, was<br />
designing an academic programme<br />
for the Summer Term for pupils from<br />
beneath whose feet the rug had just<br />
been unceremoniously pulled.<br />
This was marginally easier in the case<br />
of the Fifth Form who were able, of<br />
course, to begin their transition into A<br />
Level study. I was very keen, however,<br />
that there should be a sense of<br />
academic closure on the GCSE courses.<br />
As a boy, I once stoically refused<br />
a medal (I had recently watched<br />
Cool Runnings, I think, and was<br />
experiencing a delusional commitment<br />
to <strong>no</strong>bility) because I had tripped and<br />
fallen in the last hundred metres of a<br />
cross-country race and thus <strong>no</strong>t actually<br />
finished it. I didn’t want the Fifth<br />
Form to be in the same position – it<br />
was essential that they finished those<br />
courses so that in years to come, should<br />
anyone moot the concept that they had<br />
<strong>no</strong>t ‘earned’ their GCSE results in the<br />
fiery crucible of the examination hall,<br />
they could respond <strong>no</strong>t only that they<br />
had absolutely merited those grades<br />
through fully completing their courses,<br />
but that they had done so in the most<br />
difficult of circumstances.<br />
For four weeks then, a committed<br />
and determined cohort of Fifth Form<br />
pupils astonished us all by engaging<br />
with absolute enthusiasm and working<br />
extraordinarily hard in their GCSE<br />
subjects. Having scrambled with<br />
the inimitable, indispensable and<br />
indefatigable Dr Oakley to re-write<br />
the timetable at short <strong>no</strong>tice, we were<br />
able to migrate them across to their A<br />
Level subjects before Exeat and, along<br />
with new entrants who were able to<br />
drop in for taster sessions and for the<br />
year-group-wide Sixth Form study skills<br />
programme, they made a phe<strong>no</strong>menal<br />
start and are <strong>no</strong>w very evidently<br />
reaping the benefits.<br />
It was for the Upper Sixth, of course,<br />
that we felt the most profound<br />
sense of sadness. Being robbed of<br />
the opportunity to sit one’s final<br />
examinations is one thing, but to be<br />
robbed of a final Summer Term at<br />
Shrewsbury and all the excitements,<br />
celebrations and enjoyment that would<br />
have brought is quite a<strong>no</strong>ther. I was<br />
determined that whatever we laid on<br />
for them was going to be so much<br />
more than ‘something to keep them<br />
occupied’. Early into the Easter Term I<br />
met with Toby Percival (Head of UCAS<br />
and Higher Education) and a group<br />
of highly enthused and determined<br />
staff and, within two weeks, he had<br />
designed the outline of what was to<br />
become Shrewsbury U. Fusing together<br />
external input and advice from five<br />
Russell Group universities with the<br />
passions and expertise of Shrewsbury<br />
teachers, this was a remarkable piece of<br />
in<strong>no</strong>vation that saw <strong>Salopian</strong>s engaging<br />
with the early phases of Higher<br />
Education in a manner endorsed<br />
and supported by those institutions.<br />
Alongside this, Chris Wain (Head of<br />
Futures) made contact with the Institute<br />
of Leadership and Management and,<br />
through remarkable energy, tenacity<br />
and (frankly) sheer bloody-mindedness,<br />
converted the School into an accredited<br />
centre for the delivery of their Level<br />
Two Qualification in Leadership almost<br />
overnight. Ultimately, 95 <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
successfully achieved this award – an<br />
astonishing achievement under any<br />
circumstances and even more so under<br />
COVID restrictions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> spirit of in<strong>no</strong>vation and the level<br />
of energy of Shrewsbury teachers was<br />
utterly humbling to behold. <strong>The</strong>re were<br />
simply too many projects to mention<br />
a complete list here. From <strong>The</strong>me<br />
Weeks based on Identity and Natural<br />
History through to the launch of the<br />
HPQ for the Third Form, it became<br />
apparent that every single member of<br />
the teaching staff at Shrewsbury School
10<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
was utterly determined to ensure that<br />
every day of the remote learning period<br />
brought something new and different<br />
to the pupils and that we maintained a<br />
powerful sense of forward momentum<br />
through some exceptionally dark days.<br />
It wasn’t perfect, of course; certainly<br />
<strong>no</strong>t. One of the traits that attracted<br />
me to Shrewsbury in the first place<br />
is its integrity and honesty. We have<br />
always been willing to put our hands<br />
up when we get things wrong and to<br />
apologise. Throughout this period, we<br />
continued to listen to pupil and parent<br />
feedback and to do our best to adjust<br />
accordingly. Such adjustments were,<br />
of course, complicated by the fact that<br />
we were <strong>no</strong>t together as a staff on site.<br />
Henry Exham, our Head of Digital<br />
Learning, came into his own in this<br />
period and I owe him (as so many<br />
others) an e<strong>no</strong>rmous debt of gratitude<br />
for his responsiveness, his capacity for<br />
in<strong>no</strong>vation and his patience.<br />
It is only really <strong>no</strong>w, after the frenetic<br />
summer of administering the Centre<br />
Assessed Grade process and navigating<br />
through the various chicanes and<br />
gullies of August, that I am able to<br />
look back and properly reflect on<br />
that period and ask myself what I feel<br />
about it. <strong>The</strong> actual memories I have<br />
are remarkably fleeting: long hours<br />
spent in the spare room, hunched<br />
over a screen desperately trying to<br />
deliver Latin lessons over Zoom from<br />
behind increasingly unruly locks of<br />
hair; meetings of the Heads of Faculty<br />
where one was constantly trying to<br />
read the body language of over 30<br />
individuals with varying levels of<br />
internet connectivity. But the emotions<br />
are profound and there are two that<br />
predominate.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first of these is a remarkable sense<br />
of being humbled. Humbled by the<br />
enthusiasm, support and determination<br />
of the teaching staff, by the capacity for<br />
creativity and in<strong>no</strong>vation of colleagues<br />
and by the patience, tenacity and<br />
confidence of the pupils who rose<br />
to every challenge with characteristic<br />
aplomb.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second is, peculiarly, a remarkable<br />
and enduring sense of fun. Anybody<br />
who k<strong>no</strong>ws me even remotely well will<br />
k<strong>no</strong>w that I am fuelled by an awkward<br />
brand of humour that is two parts<br />
cynicism and one part absurd. On the<br />
20th March, we were standing on the<br />
brink of a terrifying chasm. It would<br />
have been the easiest thing in the world<br />
to have stared into it and descended<br />
into a profound despair. In my case, I<br />
was fortunate e<strong>no</strong>ugh to have around<br />
me the sort of friends who are <strong>no</strong>t only<br />
willing to laugh (albeit with a quasimaniacal<br />
tone) in the face of adversity,<br />
but to leave you in <strong>no</strong> doubt that they<br />
are going to help you find the way out.<br />
Surviving and Thriving (2)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Co-Curriculum<br />
Summer/<br />
Michaelmas <strong>2020</strong><br />
For the uninitiated, ‘Co-Curriculum’<br />
is a relatively recent coinage which<br />
basically means all school-organised<br />
activities outside the classroom. Thus<br />
the term embraces <strong>no</strong>t only sports and<br />
the performing arts, but in the context<br />
of Shrewsbury School life, societies and<br />
Thursday after<strong>no</strong>on activities. Peter<br />
Middleton, Deputy Head (Co-Curricular)<br />
explains how a full co-curricular<br />
programme was managed and enjoyed<br />
during the ‘remote’ Summer Term, and<br />
how it has continued in the first half<br />
of the Michaelmas Term, adapted to<br />
COVID-19 conditions.<br />
It has often been said that a <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
is ‘good company at a dinner party<br />
and excellent in a shipwreck’. <strong>The</strong>re’s<br />
<strong>no</strong> doubting the former; whether<br />
or <strong>no</strong>t the latter has been tested<br />
out in reality remains largely – and<br />
thankfully – unk<strong>no</strong>wn. Were a<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> ever to find themselves in<br />
such a situation, however, such is<br />
their resourcefulness and resilience<br />
that you could put money on them<br />
<strong>no</strong>t just surviving, but thriving.<br />
Such resourcefulness and resilience<br />
has, of course, been required in <strong>no</strong><br />
small measure during the last nine<br />
months both during the Summer Term<br />
lockdown period and likewise as we<br />
have returned to campus living and<br />
learning in the Michaelmas Term. It has,<br />
in many senses, been a testing time for<br />
the co-curriculum, forced, as we have<br />
been, to adapt to an entirely different<br />
way of delivering our programme. Yet<br />
it has likewise been an exciting and<br />
invigorating time that has witnessed<br />
incredible creativity, ingenuity and<br />
energy both from pupils and from staff.<br />
So what do you need to survive and<br />
thrive? Well, the following survival kit<br />
proved pretty useful in getting through<br />
the Summer Term remote period:<br />
1. Flotation Device<br />
First up you need some way of staying<br />
afloat. We were determined that the<br />
co-curricular programme – key as it<br />
is to a <strong>Salopian</strong> education – would<br />
remain integral to the pupil experience<br />
during lockdown. Tossed into the vast<br />
unk<strong>no</strong>wn of previously unchartered<br />
waters, we needed to pull together<br />
an entirely new mechanism for<br />
supporting and developing our pupils’<br />
development in the co-curricular<br />
spheres. Redesigned within a new<br />
framework centred on four <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
strands (Active; Expressive; Intellective;<br />
Reflective) a vast vessel of over 60<br />
activities was offered to pupils, some<br />
remodelled and reframed for virtual<br />
delivery, others entirely new offerings
SCHOOL NEWS 11<br />
available for the first time. Pupils<br />
signed up in their droves and engaged<br />
positively and meaningfully with the<br />
programme, <strong>no</strong>t just staying afloat but<br />
positively buoyant.<br />
2. Compass<br />
Equally important is the need for a<br />
navigational aid. A compass provides<br />
a sense of direction, helps you find<br />
your way when lost at sea, ensures you<br />
don’t just drift aimlessly. Our compass<br />
was set on a clear route as we looked<br />
to get through the term in remote,<br />
ensuring that we remained focused on<br />
our destination. This was perhaps best<br />
exemplified by the cast of the new<br />
Shrewsbury School musical Gatsby, a<br />
show that was due both to open the<br />
new Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre during <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
Week and then subsequently travel<br />
to Edinburgh to be performed at the<br />
Fringe. Neither, alas, proved possible,<br />
but at <strong>no</strong> point did the cast and crew<br />
give up. Instead, in true <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
style, they persevered in remote and<br />
continued on their journey. Two of the<br />
numbers were produced for inclusion<br />
in the virtual Speech Day programme<br />
and it is hoped that the show will get<br />
its première in due course. <strong>The</strong> ship<br />
may have docked for <strong>no</strong>w, but it’s<br />
ready to set sail again as soon as the<br />
waters are calm e<strong>no</strong>ugh!<br />
3. Sustenance<br />
Shrewsbury’s wide-ranging cocurriculum<br />
seeks to nurture and<br />
develop pupils’ interests and talents,<br />
providing the inspiration for our pupils<br />
to truly thrive. For many <strong>Salopian</strong>s, it<br />
is their participation in these pursuits<br />
that makes their time at Shrewsbury so<br />
special. We therefore wanted to ensure<br />
that we continued to <strong>no</strong>urish those<br />
interests, finding creative means of<br />
supporting pupils working around the<br />
challenges and parameters faced. Some<br />
were easier than others to deliver:<br />
the Model United Nations team were<br />
quickly up and running, for instance,<br />
with Zoom providing a relatively<br />
efficient alternative to the debate and<br />
discussion format. Others, particularly<br />
sport, were more challenging, but with<br />
a fair dose of imagination and a ‘can<br />
do’ approach, these challenges proved<br />
surmountable. Cricketers, for example,<br />
were <strong>no</strong>t only able to tap into online<br />
skills sessions but were also treated<br />
to Q&A sessions with professional<br />
cricketers including former England star<br />
James Taylor. <strong>The</strong> Boat Club likewise<br />
supported the rowers through the<br />
lockdown period with considerable<br />
dedication, and many of the pupils<br />
rose to the challenge of completing the<br />
354km ‘Conquer the Severn Challenge’.<br />
Wherever there were challenges, you<br />
could bank on a team ready to take<br />
them on!<br />
4. Cord<br />
Having a means of binding things<br />
together also proves useful in a survival<br />
scenario. <strong>The</strong>re were many ‘connecting<br />
threads’ through the remote period that<br />
served to bind the <strong>Salopian</strong> community<br />
together, whether it was the weekly<br />
virtual Floreat celebrations of pupil<br />
endeavour, enterprise and initiative, or<br />
the virtual concerts, drama showcases<br />
and weekly Grandstand-style Sports<br />
Roundup. All were means by which we<br />
could bring the <strong>Salopian</strong> community<br />
back together and collectively share<br />
and celebrate with each other wherever<br />
we were in the world. <strong>The</strong> highlight,<br />
perhaps, was the virtual Speech Day<br />
at the end of the term which found<br />
a creative means of marking the end<br />
of the year with suitable style and<br />
panache.<br />
5. Means of lighting a fire<br />
Most important of all, however, was<br />
the ability to continue supporting our<br />
pupils, providing the kindling to inspire<br />
and ignite interest. That has always<br />
been a core aim of the co-curriculum<br />
and, in difficult circumstances, the<br />
staff’s ingenuity ensured that these<br />
fires of passion continued to burn,<br />
and new ones were lit. A Dragon’s<br />
Den-style activity provided opportunity<br />
for budding entrepreneurs; the Great<br />
Shrewsbury Bakeoff saw some<br />
quite incredible culinary creations<br />
(including the Main School Building in<br />
cake form!), whilst the newly-created<br />
Peel Society was a weekly highlight<br />
for many as they explored an eclectic<br />
range of musical genres and artists.<br />
Future explorers had their appetite<br />
whetted with the How to Become an<br />
Adventurer sessions, pupils learned<br />
new skills in the Calligraphy activity,<br />
and the Magic Masterclass saw Sixth<br />
Form maestro Rohan McCourt pass<br />
on some of his considerable skills and<br />
sleight of hand, igniting new passions<br />
and developing skills in the next<br />
generation of magicians.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Summer Term may have been<br />
about simple survival, but the return<br />
to campus living and learning in the<br />
Michaelmas Term saw us back to more<br />
familiar territory and enjoying the rich<br />
variety of <strong>Salopian</strong> life on site once<br />
again. In the early part of term, we<br />
benefited from some quite glorious<br />
late summer weather, but more than<br />
anything it was the radiance of a<br />
campus revived with the sights and<br />
sounds of pupils and staff coming back<br />
together again that made for such a<br />
vibrant first term back.<br />
<strong>The</strong> campus has seen an absolute<br />
feast of activity, with the first weekend<br />
back a fine example. <strong>The</strong> Third Form<br />
race – with three waves set off at<br />
intervals – saw our new pupils don<br />
their house vests for the first time,<br />
whilst the football and hockey fields<br />
were similarly awash with the vibrant<br />
spectrum of house colours as fiercely<br />
contested Inter-House matches filled<br />
the first Saturday after<strong>no</strong>on.<br />
It got even better. <strong>The</strong> first Sunday<br />
saw seven hours of Inter-House cricket<br />
matches for the boys and an inaugural<br />
girls’ House Football competition.<br />
<strong>The</strong> former is something of a familiar
12<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
sight on the School Site (albeit <strong>no</strong>t<br />
<strong>no</strong>rmally in September); the latter was<br />
an historic first and the atmosphere on<br />
those pitches and sidelines was really<br />
something to behold. New Director<br />
of Sport Andrew Pembleton and his<br />
team deserve considerable praise for<br />
the work they put in to getting sport<br />
up and running and, whilst there have<br />
been fewer fixtures than <strong>no</strong>rmal, the<br />
sports fields have certainly been full<br />
of activity this term and our pupils’<br />
sporting development well supported.<br />
Societies and Activities have been<br />
as vibrant as ever with staff putting<br />
together a dynamic and imaginative<br />
programme. <strong>The</strong> Third Form BASE<br />
programme has seen pupils coracle<br />
building and wild cooking, the Institute<br />
of Leadership and Management<br />
mentoring programme has carried over<br />
into this term to considerable success,<br />
whilst Rovers and the CCF have<br />
delivered wide-ranging activities on<br />
campus that have been greatly enjoyed<br />
by all. MUN is likewise in full swing<br />
and plans are afoot for Shrewsbury to<br />
host an historic first online conference<br />
next term. Meanwhile the Senior House<br />
Debating competition has seen a<br />
high standard of debate with motions<br />
including the omi<strong>no</strong>us proposition that<br />
‘This House would replace teachers<br />
with computers’. Thankfully the motion<br />
wasn’t passed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> brand new Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre has<br />
been something of a talking point as<br />
our pupils have returned, and our<br />
dancers and actors were positively<br />
buzzing to have such an amazing<br />
facility to come back to. A sprung-floor<br />
dance studio (with the most glorious<br />
view down the tree-lined avenue of<br />
Central) has seen hundreds of <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
already taking advantage of the facility,<br />
with the number of pupils taking part<br />
in dance – both girls and boys – higher<br />
than ever. GCSE Drama and A Level<br />
<strong>The</strong>atre Studies groups performed to<br />
small and socially-distanced audiences,<br />
whilst the second half of term saw<br />
House Plays from Severn Hill (<strong>The</strong> Real<br />
Inspector Hound) and <strong>The</strong> Grove (Pride<br />
and Prejudice). Shrewsbury’s proud<br />
tradition of drama and the performing<br />
arts looks forward to some very<br />
exciting years ahead in its new home.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Site has likewise been alive with<br />
the sound of music and it has been<br />
a real joy to see and hear our pupils<br />
getting back to playing together<br />
again. New Director of Music Stephen<br />
Williams and his team have put<br />
together a wide variety of ensembles<br />
for our musicians to participate in,<br />
and a first concert of the year – the<br />
traditional New Entrants’ Concert –<br />
took place in the Alington Hall to<br />
an audience of Third Form pupils<br />
sitting in their House bubbles. One<br />
of the highlights of the term has<br />
been the weekly ‘Thirty in the Foyer’<br />
lunchtime concerts, a moment of<br />
serenity amidst the busyness of school<br />
life, whilst a reformatted version of<br />
House Singing will conclude the<br />
Michaelmas Term with a combination<br />
of live performances of Part Song<br />
arrangements and pre-recorded Unison<br />
videos, all of which will be broadcast<br />
to parents and pupils through a live<br />
stream. It promises to be one of the<br />
highlights of the term.<br />
It has, of course, <strong>no</strong>t quite been a case<br />
of back to <strong>no</strong>rmal, but whilst there<br />
are parameters to work around and<br />
challenges remain, in many senses life<br />
on campus is <strong>no</strong>t so different from<br />
what we’re used to. <strong>The</strong> place is abuzz<br />
with activity, the campus alive with<br />
melodies from the Maidment Building,<br />
dialogue from the theatre and exertions<br />
from the sports fields. With activity<br />
largely based on site, the sense of<br />
community has been more palpable<br />
than ever, and the restrictions we’ve<br />
faced haven’t dampened the <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
spirit. If anything, they have only<br />
served to embolden it.<br />
<strong>The</strong> analogy of the shipwreck is<br />
perhaps <strong>no</strong>t so apt after all. It turns<br />
out that the good ship Shrewsbury has<br />
weathered the storm and is very much<br />
afloat. Full steam ahead!
SCHOOL NEWS 13<br />
Surviving and Thriving (3)<br />
Pastoral Care ‘in remote’<br />
<strong>The</strong> role of the Housemaster/Housemistress is first and foremost a pastoral role. Standing, as he or she<br />
does, in loco parentis, the wellbeing of pupils under his/her care is paramount. Deputy Head (Pastoral)<br />
Anna Peak looks back on how the Housemaster/mistress body met this challenge<br />
during the remote Summer Term.<br />
<strong>The</strong> pastoral role of the<br />
Housemaster/mistress is at the<br />
very heart of our community. A<br />
house ensemble requires its leader<br />
to sensitively conduct the ebb and<br />
flow of the energetic, fun-loving<br />
and interesting personalities within.<br />
It is a job which at its heart is the<br />
joy of having a thousand different<br />
conversations daily about a range of<br />
topics, and of being frequently taught<br />
new things by the pupils alongside<br />
whom we live. Our pupils are the<br />
heartbeat of the School, and for those<br />
of us on and around site during the<br />
Summer Term <strong>2020</strong>, their absence,<br />
and the silence that came with it,<br />
was overwhelming.<br />
Human beings are social animals.<br />
We do <strong>no</strong>t need Darwin to remind<br />
us of this evolutionary characteristic.<br />
Whether we like the company of<br />
many, or a select few, the truth is we<br />
have built modern society through<br />
social interactions, although <strong>no</strong>t<br />
always positive. Every fragment of<br />
communication we create builds or<br />
weakens social bonds. As a species<br />
we enjoy coming together to share<br />
common values and beliefs. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
is <strong>no</strong> better environment than the<br />
comforting arms of a community. It<br />
is only at our most comfortable that<br />
we are willing to risk failure, to try<br />
something different, because we k<strong>no</strong>w<br />
we will be caught when we fall. It was<br />
with these thoughts in mind that we<br />
designed our pastoral framework for<br />
the remote period. We knew that we<br />
needed to keep talking, to be there to<br />
support the pupils as we all entered<br />
into the unk<strong>no</strong>wn together, and most<br />
importantly we knew that we must<br />
create familiar and solid foundations<br />
on which the uncertainty of this<br />
‘new <strong>no</strong>rmal’ could be tested and<br />
experienced.<br />
It was never going to be easy to check<br />
in with all pupils across multiple time<br />
zones, single out those in need of<br />
further support, set systems up, circle<br />
back to make sure the support was<br />
working and engage with families<br />
if needed. Add to this the need<br />
to keep a sense of house identity<br />
during this time and keep year group<br />
dynamics working, and you can start<br />
to appreciate what the landscape of<br />
remote pastoral care was beginning<br />
to look like. How would those being<br />
supported by social services fair as<br />
services began to suffer with staff<br />
shortages outside the School’s control,<br />
and how could we ensure those who<br />
needed to continue with more complex<br />
counselling and mental health support<br />
could achieve this whilst confined to<br />
their own homes?<br />
An early consideration we had<br />
was whether you can effectively<br />
Housemaster/mistress through Zoom.<br />
As useful as it is, with its amusing<br />
renaming options and mute function, it<br />
is hardly socially satisfying. You don’t<br />
get the humorous asides, the supportive<br />
glances, the feel of a hand on the<br />
shoulder. Yet despite the challenges,<br />
the time constraints, and hours it<br />
required of them in front of the screen,<br />
our pastoral staff wrapped their virtual<br />
arms around their Houses in remote<br />
and kept a sense of <strong>no</strong>rmal, to make<br />
sure what was needed was achieved.<br />
But it of course felt very different from<br />
our usual way of working. We worked<br />
from a timetable of interactions that<br />
each Housemaster/mistress followed,<br />
on the face of it a very strange and<br />
controlled way to interact, but essential<br />
if we were to ensure <strong>no</strong> one was left<br />
out. Despite the fact teachers are used<br />
to working off timetables, this felt an<br />
odd way to plan pastoral care. It’s <strong>no</strong>t a<br />
‘paint by numbers’ role, it’s something<br />
that is felt, a need that is sensed and<br />
then reacted to. We operated through<br />
a year group session twice a week,<br />
once with the Housemaster/mistress<br />
and once with the tutor, a weekly<br />
1:1 session for all pupils with their<br />
Housemaster/mistress, then adding<br />
whole house daily recorded community<br />
messages and challenges into the mix<br />
as well.<br />
At this juncture I believe it is worth<br />
pausing to ack<strong>no</strong>wledge that pupils<br />
in remote experienced the usual<br />
pattern of good and bad days that<br />
were really <strong>no</strong> different to when they<br />
are physically with us. <strong>The</strong> common<br />
issues faced across all year groups<br />
related to an ‘all over the place’ feeling<br />
of being unmoored; a very <strong>no</strong>rmal<br />
reaction to the unfamiliar. Pupils were<br />
reporting tiring easily, despite the more<br />
sedentary lifestyle they were operating<br />
under. <strong>The</strong>ir brains were working<br />
hard, juggling complex tasks whilst<br />
dealing with the different routines.<br />
Other common support centred around<br />
reactions to the fact that for some,<br />
future-based goals, projects and dreams<br />
had disappeared overnight, and of<br />
course for our exam year groups the<br />
unk<strong>no</strong>wn really was unk<strong>no</strong>wn right<br />
up to the last minute and beyond. We<br />
encouraged the pupils <strong>no</strong>t to worry<br />
and reassured them that what they
14<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
were feeling was a <strong>no</strong>rmal reaction,<br />
encouraging them to concentrate on<br />
the task at hand rather than worrying<br />
about the future, to understand that<br />
working to short-term goals was a far<br />
safer way for them to cope.<br />
<strong>The</strong> energy, creativity, adaptability and<br />
tenacity the Housemasters/mistresses<br />
demonstrated to shape the care<br />
provided through this framework was<br />
incredible, and as term wore on they<br />
continued to reinvent to keep things<br />
fresh and listened to feedback from<br />
the pupils as to how this framework<br />
felt from their point of view, allowing<br />
them to adapt and flex to their needs<br />
as and when it was suitable. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
produced activities to keep their<br />
communities engaged and encouraged<br />
group charity work. <strong>The</strong>y continued to<br />
go above and beyond by supporting<br />
wider families members, always there<br />
at the end of the phone to listen when<br />
people needed someone outside their<br />
immediate lockdown crew to talk<br />
to, even if all that was needed was<br />
agreement that the situation, to put it<br />
politely, was ‘<strong>no</strong>t ideal’. In the Summer<br />
Term Housemasters/Mistresses made<br />
more than 8000 phone calls, tutors<br />
held 750+ Zoom tutor meetings across<br />
the Third, Fourth and Fifth Form, and<br />
a<strong>no</strong>ther 4000+ phone calls were made<br />
by tutors to members of the Sixth Form.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se statistics certainly underline BT’s<br />
current advertising slogan ‘Beyond<br />
Limits’.<br />
Would I relish the idea of repeating<br />
the experience? I dare <strong>no</strong>t commit<br />
those thoughts to paper. However,<br />
should we be required to, we have an<br />
excellent blueprint by which to operate.<br />
I also k<strong>no</strong>w that those pupils who<br />
experienced our care last term, and<br />
returned a year older and wiser to us<br />
this September, have been extremely<br />
grateful for the support they received<br />
during the very odd term that was<br />
Summer <strong>2020</strong>. It is their endorsement<br />
which is the most important. It was<br />
indeed a very strange term, but thrive<br />
we did, thanks to the hard work and<br />
dedication of the pastoral team, the<br />
willingness of all to make the term<br />
work and by putting the pupils at the<br />
heart of everything we did.<br />
Letter from a Housemaster<br />
Part of the remote pastoral care plan put in place for the Summer term involved the emailing of a<br />
weekly letter to parents and guardians with the overriding purpose of preserving a sense of a House<br />
community continuing to function in remote. An example follows.<br />
Sunday 3rd May <strong>2020</strong><br />
Dear parents and guardians,<br />
I am proud to report that at the end of Week 2 I feel<br />
marginally less incompetent than I did at the end of Week<br />
1, but the road ahead is still long and hard, as I often find<br />
myself saying in your sons’ reports.<br />
After the very positive flurry of academic activity from most<br />
of the boys last week, I was worried that there would be a<br />
reaction this week, but I am happy to report that the opposite<br />
seems to have been the case. We all seem to have grown<br />
used to new ways of working, and there have been fewer<br />
absence <strong>no</strong>tifications or negative pupil comments than there<br />
were last week, and even more commendations – 50 to be<br />
precise, covering nearly half the House. So thank you boys,<br />
and thank you parents for all you are doing to remain on the<br />
straight and narrow (boys, and perhaps parents), and help<br />
your sons to do so. I have had many individual conversations<br />
with the boys this week and all those I have spoken to<br />
continue to insist that, much as they are enjoying home<br />
comforts, they would prefer to be back at school, which is as<br />
it should be.<br />
We have tried to keep House routines as <strong>no</strong>rmal as possible<br />
in these bizarre times: Fifth Form beer last night, a Head<br />
of House meeting at 9pm tonight, and of course the Zoom<br />
whole-House callovers. After a virtually full attendance<br />
on Thursday, we were 12 or so short today, and I will<br />
move away from this Sunday midday slot, which is clearly<br />
inconvenient for some families.<br />
I am happy to report large-scale involvement in the extracurricular<br />
programme and am very grateful for all you<br />
continue to do to encourage this. I myself participated in<br />
the choir anthem broadcast in the virtual Chapel service<br />
this morning, which, doubtless owing to the wonders of<br />
tech<strong>no</strong>logy, probably sounds a little better than it ought to.<br />
Fifth and Upper Sixth parents should all have received an<br />
email explaining the procedure for assessing exam grades.<br />
As I think I mentioned before, I am <strong>no</strong>t allowed to enter<br />
into any kind of discussion about this either with the boys or<br />
yourselves, and any queries should be addressed to Maurice<br />
Walters at mhw@shrewsbury.org.uk. What I can say is that I<br />
have been extremely impressed by the level of engagement<br />
shown by most members of both year groups in the exam<br />
preparation finishing school which has marked the first<br />
section of the term.<br />
Which of course finishes with Coach Weekend, starting next<br />
Thursday at 1pm and ending on Sunday evening at 9pm.<br />
A chance for us all to take a breather.<br />
Partly owing to tech<strong>no</strong>logical challenges, we were unable<br />
to an<strong>no</strong>unce the winner of the video cooking challenge at<br />
callover today, but should be able to do so tomorrow. I have<br />
seen two superb examples, one of them immensely funny,<br />
and I gather there are several more.<br />
This week’s challenge will be a Cahoot quiz on the history of the<br />
School and of Churchill’s, which in the latter case will test how<br />
observant they are in their perambulations around the House.<br />
I’ll close <strong>no</strong>w – less is more and you may already think that<br />
this is more rather than less. Please of course be in touch<br />
with any query or concern you may have at any time, <strong>no</strong><br />
matter how trivial it may seem.<br />
Very best wishes to you all, as ever<br />
Response from one parent to ‘Transfer of Care’ request sent out to preserve an impression of <strong>no</strong>rmality:<br />
[Molesworth] will be moving swiftly by foot from the dining table to the study sofa this after<strong>no</strong>on. He will probably stay<br />
there, on and off, until 9pm on Sunday. If we can persuade him to leave the premises, we will of course let you k<strong>no</strong>w.<br />
But it seems so unlikely!
SCHOOL NEWS 15<br />
Remote Learning – Under the Tech<strong>no</strong>logical Bonnet<br />
Henry Exham, Housemaster of Oldham’s Hall and Head of Digital Learning, gives a flavour of the<br />
tech<strong>no</strong>logical infrastructure which enabled the School to cope with the challenges of remote learning.<br />
What tech<strong>no</strong>logy do you actually need to run a successful<br />
remote learning programme? Well, to start with you<br />
need to make sure that teachers have suitable devices at home<br />
to deliver the curriculum and pupils have what they need<br />
to access it. Fortunately, we brought in a 1:1 device policy a<br />
few years ago which means all pupils have a suitable laptop<br />
and teaching staff are issued with a Microsoft Surface. In fact,<br />
we <strong>no</strong>w specifically recommend a Surface device for our<br />
new pupils as well. With their flexible design they are ideal<br />
for learning on, the stylus allowing pupils to hand write and<br />
interact with their device in a more creative way.<br />
Next, we needed a way for teachers to deliver lessons. We<br />
developed a combination of methods to allow for this, with<br />
some content each week being delivered live on Zoom, but<br />
the majority pre-recorded material of the teacher delivering<br />
the content. This was done on our secure media server called<br />
Planet eStream which teachers had used before, although <strong>no</strong>t<br />
for this specific purpose. Pre-recorded material allowed pupils<br />
to access the material anytime regardless of time zone which<br />
was a real benefit. Both methods allowed the pupils to see and<br />
feel connected to their teachers. Teachers could also share their<br />
device screen to go through presentations, worked examples,<br />
texts or upload videos of practical demonstrations.<br />
Following this you need a platform to distribute learning<br />
resources and set Top Schools on; a Virtual Learning<br />
Environment (VLE). We had already been using Firefly for<br />
the past five years for this purpose so there was a wealth of<br />
resources available and a tried and tested system we knew the<br />
pupils and teachers would be happy with. This allowed work<br />
to be set by the teachers, completed digitally by the pupils,<br />
marked by the teachers and then feedback provided. Over the<br />
course of the Summer Term many teachers also started using<br />
Microsoft OneNote for this workflow. OneNote allows for<br />
digital inking on any piece of work and the ability to provide<br />
audio feedback which is very powerful when in remote. As<br />
usual excellent work was rewarded with commendations<br />
and late or poor pieces of work were followed up by the<br />
Housemaster in their weekly phone call with the pupil.<br />
We were even able to deliver end of year assessments via<br />
Microsoft Forms. Although near impossible to replicate an<br />
exam experience using such a tool with pupils at home, it did<br />
provide a way to simply check progress and understanding.<br />
So, we had the nuts and bolts, but we also were keen to use<br />
tech<strong>no</strong>logy to try and make sure that pupils were <strong>no</strong>t learning<br />
in isolation. We needed them to also learn from each other and<br />
feel part of a class. Zoom lessons helped here, as did the use<br />
of discussion forums on Firefly, but the social learning platform<br />
Flipgrid proved to be most effective. Flipgrid allows the teacher<br />
to create a stimulus for discussion and the pupils post their<br />
video responses on the secure page. <strong>The</strong>y can watch each<br />
other’s and respond. <strong>The</strong>re were some incredibly imaginative<br />
applications of this platform seen across the faculties.<br />
<strong>The</strong> last piece of the puzzle was to build in some variety<br />
because although we felt this programme would mean we<br />
could deliver the curriculum, it would become very repetitive<br />
having all your subjects delivered in this way for the whole<br />
term. <strong>The</strong>refore, every week I sent out fresh ideas and<br />
applications for the teachers to try and implement. <strong>The</strong>re was<br />
plenty of live gamification using Kahoot and Quizlet. Seneca<br />
learning provided a fun way to revise. Padlet walls created a<br />
platform for sharing and collaboration. Microsoft Sway was<br />
used as an alternative presentation tool for a Natural History<br />
project (see page 26). One of the best examples of in<strong>no</strong>vation<br />
was the use of OneNote to make digital Escape Rooms<br />
where pupils had to solve a puzzle to be able to unlock the<br />
subsequent page: this continued until they reached the last<br />
page and got the final clue to escape!<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is <strong>no</strong> doubt that the pandemic has caused significant<br />
disruption, but in the sphere of tech<strong>no</strong>logy this has been<br />
positive allowing for rapid adoption and implementation that<br />
would have taken years. I have been overwhelmed by the<br />
ability of colleagues to pick up new digital skills and apply<br />
them to their teaching methods. Likewise, our pupils have<br />
developed new independent learning and digital skills that will<br />
stand them in good stead for the next phase of their education<br />
and life after school.
16<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Avete<br />
Henry Bennett joins<br />
the Philosophy and<br />
<strong>The</strong>ology Faculty<br />
from St Edward’s<br />
School Oxford, having<br />
graduated from<br />
Durham University.<br />
He is a keen sportsman and at<br />
St Edward’s coached rugby and<br />
junior rowing crews and was Head<br />
of Tennis. In his spare time he enjoys<br />
golf, skiing and cycling.<br />
Louisa Corcoran<br />
JP joins the History<br />
Faculty. Louisa<br />
assists with the<br />
Debating Society, is<br />
assembling a new<br />
Law Society and will<br />
be responsible for the mock trial<br />
competition. Alongside teaching,<br />
Louisa is an H.M. Coroner and<br />
magistrate. Outside of work, she<br />
is a member of the UK and the<br />
International Associations of Women<br />
Judges, which is her commitment to<br />
equal rights for women and to the<br />
rule of law. Louisa is also an avid<br />
reader, walker and likes to travel.<br />
Chloe Fagan joins<br />
the English Faculty<br />
from <strong>The</strong> Perse<br />
School where she was<br />
also Middle School<br />
Tutor, games coach<br />
and Assistant Charities<br />
Co-ordinator. Chloe has experience<br />
of costume design for whole-school<br />
productions and at <strong>The</strong> Perse ran a<br />
weekly drama club among a range<br />
of other co-curricular activities. Her<br />
personal interests include running<br />
and hiking, art history and theatre,<br />
playing netball and tennis.<br />
Hannah Gale joins<br />
the Chemistry Faculty<br />
from Ormiston Sir<br />
Stanley Matthews<br />
Academy where<br />
she was Teacher of<br />
Science and Head<br />
of KS3 Science.<br />
Hannah was also responsible for<br />
mentoring trainee teachers and ran<br />
the KS3 STEM Club and the Science<br />
Club. Hannah has a keen interest in<br />
the outdoors, particularly mountain<br />
biking and walking, and is passionate<br />
about performing arts and dance.<br />
Kayleigh Maw<br />
joins us as Assistant<br />
Director of Sport. She<br />
was previously Head<br />
of Elite Performance<br />
at Cheadle Hulme<br />
School where she was<br />
responsible for the Sports Scholarship<br />
Scheme, taught academic PE and was<br />
also Head of Hockey. Kayleigh is a<br />
competitive hockey player; she was<br />
selected for the Welsh Senior Hockey<br />
team aged 19 and has continued<br />
to compete at national level. She is<br />
currently captain of a team competing<br />
in the English Hockey Premier<br />
League. Kayleigh has attended many<br />
Duke of Edinburgh expeditions and<br />
has a passion for mountain biking,<br />
camping and walking.<br />
Hannah Morrey joins the English<br />
Faculty from Hanford School, where<br />
she was Teacher of English and<br />
on the Senior Leadership Team as<br />
Head of Boarding. She also worked<br />
in Admissions at a previous school.<br />
Hannah enjoys running and is a keen<br />
walker. Last year she completed three<br />
100km ultra challenges, raising money<br />
for charity.<br />
Ana Pedraza<br />
Rascado (k<strong>no</strong>wn as<br />
Ana Pedraza) joins us<br />
as Head of Spanish<br />
from Bromsgrove<br />
School. Alongside<br />
teaching Spanish,<br />
Ana has been involved in PSHE work<br />
around mental health, self-esteem<br />
and wellbeing. She also worked as<br />
Assistant Housemistress for three<br />
years in a previous school. Ana’s<br />
interests include theatre, dance and<br />
costume making, and she is currently<br />
involved in charity work helping<br />
homeless young people.<br />
Andrew Pembleton<br />
joins us as Director of<br />
Sport from Millfield<br />
School where<br />
he was Assistant<br />
Director of Sport and<br />
before that Head of<br />
Physical Education<br />
at Marlborough College. Andrew<br />
is a world Rugby Level III coach<br />
having coached at representative<br />
level in New Zealand and a qualified<br />
RFU referee and has been heavily<br />
involved in rugby, hockey and tennis<br />
at Millfield. Andrew enjoys cycling,<br />
s<strong>no</strong>w sports and travelling. He is an<br />
avid reader and has written many<br />
articles for the Millfield Independent<br />
School Parent Magazine.<br />
Nicola Perkins<br />
joins the Design<br />
and Tech<strong>no</strong>logy<br />
Department from<br />
<strong>The</strong> Leys School,<br />
where she was<br />
Head of Design and<br />
Tech<strong>no</strong>logy and Co-ordinator of<br />
STEM. Nicola has been extensively<br />
involved in coaching cross-country<br />
and represented Wales at crosscountry<br />
at under-20 level.<br />
Sue Skipper joins<br />
us as Teacher<br />
of Mathematics<br />
(maternity cover).<br />
She is an experienced<br />
Mathematics teacher<br />
and recently moved to the UK from<br />
South Africa with her husband Mike<br />
Skipper (Head of Academic Music).<br />
Alongside teaching Mathematics,<br />
Sue has also worked in Learning<br />
Support. In her last role she was<br />
Deputy Housemistress and part of<br />
the pastoral team. She has also been<br />
involved in community outreach<br />
programmes, organised Readathons,<br />
run a Speakers’ Society and provided<br />
after-hours tutoring.<br />
Amy Smiter joins us<br />
as Head of Physics<br />
from the Priory<br />
School where she was<br />
also Head of Physics.<br />
She has been Head of<br />
Department in three<br />
previous schools. Amy has also run<br />
STEM Clubs and in a previous role,<br />
became the Institute of Physics Future<br />
Physics Leader for the Telford region,<br />
with the aim of raising standards of<br />
Physics teaching in socially deprived<br />
areas. Amy’s interests include<br />
hiking and jogging, music, furniture<br />
re<strong>no</strong>vation, knitting and board games.<br />
Amy is married to Adam Smiter.<br />
Stephen Williams<br />
has taken over<br />
from John Moore as<br />
Director of Music. He<br />
was a professional<br />
singer and conductor<br />
for 20 years and<br />
more recently has<br />
extensive experience of running<br />
music departments: he joins us from<br />
Bryanston School where he was<br />
Director of Music, having previously
SCHOOL NEWS 17<br />
been Director of Music at Uppingham<br />
School for 11 years. Stephen’s <strong>no</strong>nmusical<br />
interests include running and<br />
climbing, and he has experience of<br />
high-altitude mountaineering. He also<br />
enjoys reading contemporary fiction.<br />
John Wright joins us as Housemaster<br />
of Churchill’s Hall from Winchester<br />
College, where he was Head of<br />
Geography. He also spent three<br />
years as an Assistant Housemaster<br />
at Winchester College. John coaches<br />
football, hockey and tennis and is<br />
also experienced in running overseas<br />
and residential educational trips.<br />
He has previously been involved in<br />
the CCF Royal Marines Section with<br />
weekly training and camp adventure<br />
training. He<br />
has also been<br />
a Chaplaincy<br />
Tutor, giving<br />
termly talks in<br />
Chapel and to<br />
the Christian<br />
Union.<br />
Valete<br />
John Moore<br />
Director of Music<br />
1989-<strong>2020</strong><br />
Richard Hudson writes:<br />
I have k<strong>no</strong>wn John for most of his 31 years at Shrewsbury,<br />
since 1996 when our late son Sebastian arrived as a music<br />
scholar. <strong>The</strong> way John looked after and nurtured him, and<br />
supported the whole Hudson family when he died in 2001<br />
showed the true nature of friendship, subsequently extended<br />
to our other three children all of whom were involved, along<br />
with their father, as band members in successive Edinburgh<br />
Fringe productions.<br />
Over a socially distanced glass or two of wine the other<br />
night, JFM and I reminisced about a handful of the more<br />
memorable moments we have shared on various school<br />
music tours, reminding me once again, as if I need any<br />
reminding, of the formidable energy, charisma and wit of this<br />
amazingly versatile musician. Countless stunning concerts<br />
here in Shrewsbury, at venues in Paris, Austria, Germany,<br />
Italy, France and the US, in St John’s Smith Square, the<br />
Cadogan Hall, Birmingham Town Hall and Symphony Hall<br />
and most recently the University have been well documented,<br />
as have at least ten trips to the Edinburgh Fringe with musicals,<br />
the vast majority of which he composed himself, working<br />
with other legendary names from the past: Peter Fanning,<br />
Alex Went, Peter Hankin and in the present day with Helen<br />
Brown, most recently on Gatsby which I still hope will see<br />
the light of day, or at any rate the stage lights at Shrewsbury<br />
or in Edinburgh, or maybe both.<br />
How best to sing this man’s praises? I thought I’d dwell<br />
briefly on four of John’s qualities which in my view have<br />
made him such a superb Director of Music over so many<br />
years. I have had the advantage of having sat through and<br />
occasionally played in (you see we have a lot of bars rest to<br />
count as trombonists!) countless rehearsals and performances<br />
under his baton.<br />
First is John’s ability to achieve absolute control through<br />
the force of his personality, the unqualified respect for his<br />
musicianship which is shown by young and old, and his<br />
rare ability to see into the soul of the music he is asking you<br />
to perform. I have never seen John issue a sanction; in fact<br />
I suspect he has never given one. He hasn’t needed to. His<br />
pupils will always do the best they can, and never want to let<br />
him down.<br />
Secondly, his prodigious k<strong>no</strong>wledge and understanding of the<br />
repertoire – a man equally at home with classical music, jazz<br />
or rock, and perhaps just as importantly, a man who can relate<br />
equally well to the practitioners of each. I have seen this at first<br />
hand <strong>no</strong>t only in the classical concert hall but in smoky jazz bars<br />
in Prague.<br />
Thirdly, of course, his amazing skill both as a pia<strong>no</strong> soloist and<br />
accompanist. You’d be hard-pushed to find a finer sight-reader<br />
anywhere in the country. To hear him navigate his way through<br />
the most technically brutal and unpianistic of saxophone
18 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
accompaniments, usually with minimal time to rehearse, is an<br />
experience in itself. But there again, John is the greatest and<br />
most convincing of improvisers, perhaps <strong>no</strong>t only in his playing.<br />
And one more, less glamorous, quality. John is willing to get<br />
his hands dirty. It’s never been his style to leave to minions<br />
the tedious practical work of getting stands on and off stage,<br />
sorting music or moving instruments. He is always the last to<br />
leave the venue, ready to load that nearly forgotten side-drum<br />
into the van.<br />
I could on for ever. I guess the secret of John’s success,<br />
beyond his raw technical ability, has been his astonishing<br />
skill as a communicator, equally at home with the School<br />
Symphony Orchestra, his Community Choir, parents or Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s, whom he has entertained at numerous functions<br />
over so many years.<br />
John’s period of tenure spanned four headmasters,<br />
each very different in style and temperament, two of<br />
them highly accomplished musicians in their own right.<br />
Generations of Grove boys will remember him as an<br />
inspiring tutor acting in a partnership made heaven with<br />
Housemaster Peter Fanning to nurture a House which<br />
pulsated with creative energy, an energy which long<br />
survived the departure of Fanning and John’s move to<br />
Churchill’s, in an open act of seduction by the writer (and<br />
his co-leaver).<br />
By accident as well as design, John and I are ending up<br />
retiring at the same moment. I feel ho<strong>no</strong>ured to be retiring<br />
in this truly great man’s shadow, delighted that we will<br />
continue to be working together on a joint project in our<br />
respective post-teaching lives.<br />
Richard Hudson<br />
Staff 2003-<strong>2020</strong><br />
Housemaster, Churchill’s Hall 2007-<strong>2020</strong><br />
Mike Tonks writes:<br />
To think – it’s 17 years since a sprightly 50-year-old Richard<br />
Hudson joined the Shrewsbury School Common Room, his<br />
first teaching job after a career in publishing. During that<br />
time, he has always ensured that <strong>no</strong> matter what other roles<br />
he has taken on he has always been, first and foremost an<br />
inspirational teacher of English. But we can add to this 13<br />
years of Housemastering, editor of the <strong>The</strong> <strong>Salopian</strong> magazine,<br />
stalwart of school music, director of house plays, participant<br />
in numerous Edinburgh Fringe productions, Gover<strong>no</strong>r of a<br />
number of prep schools, in recent years putting us all to shame<br />
with his adventures as a running machine.<br />
As Housemaster Richard has, in my view, been a beacon for<br />
the timeless qualities of decency, civility, fair-mindedness and<br />
integrity. But don’t let that lead you to believe that winning<br />
doesn’t really matter in the house of Blue. Oh <strong>no</strong>, I can tell you<br />
that beneath that mild-mannered exterior beats the heart of a<br />
truly fierce competitor who always, and I mean always, wants<br />
Churchill’s to win.<br />
It became clear to me fairly early on in his time at the helm<br />
of Churchill’s that while the finer pursuits of debating, music,<br />
house singing, Bentley etc were important and came easily,<br />
there was a<strong>no</strong>ther area of life that he really wanted Churchill’s<br />
to excel at and that was football. With the faithful labrador<br />
Toby at his side, he was legendary among the boys for his<br />
half-time team talks that were able to encapsulate the nuances<br />
and intricacies of the beautiful game. Rather than extolling the<br />
virtues of total football or overlapping wing backs, the Hudson<br />
directive was clear: ‘Come on boys! It’s <strong>no</strong>t complicated. You<br />
just have to score more goals than they do!’<br />
Being part of the musical life of the School has also been<br />
fundamental to Richard’s time here. Big Band tours to Prague,<br />
playing with the orchestra in numerous locations across the<br />
country, Richard has been at the heart of all things musical.<br />
If time permitted, I could regale you with stories of Richard<br />
falling foul of the Cumbrian police on his way to Edinburgh<br />
Festival while driving a van full of instruments, costumes<br />
and antique rifles, being detained at the weighbridge with<br />
his tailgate having happily bounced along much of the M6.<br />
Even in such circumstances I am reliably informed that his<br />
unswerving positivity found time for a hearty fry-up after<br />
a night in the cab of the grounded van, followed by the<br />
purchase of a CD from the services – the CD being entitled<br />
‘Trucking Greats’.<br />
Several colleagues have commented on Richard’s forgetfulness.<br />
He is infamous for regularly forgetting or misplacing keys,<br />
scarf, hat, bike, colleagues’ names and yes even his car. A<br />
journey to Tally was cut short and tracks retraced as Richard<br />
had forgotten Toby the dog. I am also led to believe there<br />
was even an occasion where he attended the Leavers’ Ball<br />
only realising part-way through the event that he had left his<br />
daughter waiting for him in Churchill’s.<br />
My own time with Richard has been terrific and we have been<br />
through an interesting period in Shrewsbury’s history. We have<br />
spent many hours over the years in open, frank and honest<br />
conversation about the state of the Shrewsbury nation. We<br />
didn’t always necessarily agree but such conversations were<br />
always warm, humane, supportive and with the best interests<br />
of Shrewsbury School at heart. At a time when many navigate<br />
life with such apparent certainty, I have always found Richard’s<br />
openness to self-doubt and reflection hugely impressive.<br />
In summary Richard Hudson is quite simply the stuff of legend.<br />
He possesses an irreverent wit and a fearlessness in the face of<br />
authority. He is a colleague who when he asks ‘How are you?’<br />
gives you a sense that it is a genuine enquiry and <strong>no</strong>t merely<br />
a <strong>no</strong>d to social niceties. A fierce campaigner for reasonable<br />
degrees of Housemaster auto<strong>no</strong>my, Richard has run Churchill’s<br />
with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye that suggests<br />
to those of us who k<strong>no</strong>w him that he perhaps sees rules as<br />
being for the obedience of fools but the guidance of wise<br />
men. He has ensured that all who come into contact with him<br />
are reminded of what it genuinely means to be a <strong>Salopian</strong>:<br />
understated achievement, compassion, an innate respect for<br />
all things scholarly and a genuine care for his fellow man.<br />
Richard, you will be greatly missed.
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
19<br />
Nicola Bradburne<br />
Staff 2008-<strong>2020</strong><br />
Arriving in 2008 from Idsall as Head of Girls’ Games before any girls had<br />
joined Shrewsbury School, Nicola’s brief - to build up and establish girls’<br />
games as Shrewsbury evolved to into a fully co-educational school - was<br />
as large as it was successful. She took girls’ games from zero to where<br />
it is today, with Shrewsbury enjoying a national reputation in Fives,<br />
Hunt, Rowing, Cricket, Lacrosse and increasingly in netball and hockey.<br />
Nicola’s pastoral strengths, in her dealings with both girls and boys,<br />
were legendary, the latter much in evidence in Severn Hill, where she<br />
tutored, briefly as Assistant to the Housemaster, throughout her 12 years<br />
at Shrewsbury, during which time she also had to battle serious illness<br />
while raising her family. Nicola has moved to become a Housemistress at<br />
Ashville College, Harrogate, where husband Dom is Director of Sport.<br />
Martin Kirk<br />
Staff 2010-<strong>2020</strong><br />
Andy Briggs writes:<br />
Martin joined Shrewsbury in 2010 as Head of Physics, having previously<br />
taught at Thomas Telford School, his move coinciding with that of his<br />
beloved football team ‘<strong>The</strong> Toon’ to the Premier League after winning the<br />
Championship early in the year.<br />
During the ten years he was at Shrewsbury he moved forward the success<br />
and strength of the Physics Department. Cheerful, friendly, reliable,<br />
hard-working, resourceful and patient, these were just some of his many<br />
qualities that helped him lead his dynamic department.<br />
He was a much valued tutor, first of all in Ingram’s under Mike Wright,<br />
and for the past few years in Emma Darwin Hall. He was a central pillar<br />
of the Rovers’ Thursday After<strong>no</strong>on activity where he could indulge his<br />
great passion for hill walking.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Shropshire hills and his garden <strong>no</strong>w beckon. Martin is also looking<br />
forward to spending more time with his second love – after Vicky of<br />
course – the Lake District, hopefully also catching an occasional game at<br />
St James’ Park.<br />
Lesley Drew<br />
Staff 2011-<strong>2020</strong><br />
Helen Brown writes:<br />
My father once told me that every institution needs a<br />
conscience: someone who has <strong>no</strong> interest in politics<br />
or personal advancement and is prepared to hold the<br />
institution that they work for to a higher standard. For<br />
the last eight years, Shrewsbury’s conscience has been<br />
Lesley Drew. As an inspirational English teacher, a caring<br />
and deeply committed tutor and as teacher-in-charge of<br />
Charities, Lesley’s integrity and kindness were at the heart<br />
of the Shrewsbury common room.<br />
She arrived at Shrewsbury after a distinguished teaching<br />
career that had taken her from Shropshire to the plains of<br />
Africa and back again. Lesley’s connection with Malawi<br />
was one of her greatest legacies to Shrewsbury, forging a<br />
link between the school and the charity, Medic Malawi,<br />
that allowed many generations of <strong>Salopian</strong>s to experience<br />
life-changing visits to one of the world’s poorest countries.<br />
She also acted as liaison between Shrewsbury and <strong>The</strong><br />
Shewsy, our youth club in Everton, regularly leading<br />
residential trips for both Shrewsbury students and Shewsy<br />
members. Under Lesley’s aegis, fundraising at Shrewsbury<br />
reached impressive heights, with hundreds of thousands of<br />
pounds making its way to a variety of worthy causes.<br />
As a teacher, Lesley was endlessly patient; she loved<br />
teaching bottom sets and was particularly devoted to the<br />
SEN students in her care. Her dogged determination that<br />
every student could – and would – enjoy literature was an<br />
e<strong>no</strong>rmous gift to the many students who passed through<br />
her classroom. I was personally e<strong>no</strong>rmously grateful for<br />
her contributions to the Drama faculty, where she worked<br />
for many years. Lesley has retired to Sussex, where she<br />
looks forward to gardening, amateur dramatics and being a<br />
grandmother.
20 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Andrew Murfin<br />
Staff 2014-20<br />
Will Hughes writes:<br />
Even though I managed to get Andrew a period of extra time<br />
in this piece to do justice to his achievements, it is <strong>no</strong>w time<br />
to show him the red card and order him off to Bryanston.<br />
Red is certainly an appropriate colour when discussing ‘Murf’,<br />
as he is the man who gave Kukri the red card, changing the<br />
Shrewsbury staff kit from conservative navy blue to fiery red,<br />
giving birth to the Red Army. Among Andrew’s other <strong>no</strong>table<br />
achievements, surely one of the greatest must be being the<br />
coach of an unbeaten U14B football team, which earned<br />
him the tag of Jose Murfi<strong>no</strong> and elevated him into the ranks<br />
of other great Shrewsbury footballing evangelists, Matthew,<br />
Myles, Mike and Murf.<br />
Andrew has been a driving force in improving risk assessment<br />
in sport and his work on head injuries and return to play<br />
protocol has been crucial for pupil safety and staff protection<br />
from litigation. He fought a long and hard battle, using his<br />
ninja standard keyboard warrior skills, to get defibrillators in<br />
place in School and then was the one who sprinted to get the<br />
defib from KH which was crucial in saving the life of a pupil.<br />
Luckily there were <strong>no</strong> pigeons near the defib as Andrew<br />
has an irrational fear of birds which has caused plenty of<br />
entertainment in the PE Faculty with stuffed birds to the fore.<br />
With pupil safety again the top priority, Andrew then pushed<br />
successfully for a more open door for CRY screening to be<br />
made available for all pupils. Andrew has always had pupil<br />
welfare uppermost in his thoughts.<br />
Andrew has brought Yorkshire grit and a <strong>no</strong>-<strong>no</strong>nsense<br />
approach to all he has done at Shrewsbury. He has become a<br />
k<strong>no</strong>wledgeable and formidable AQA PE moderator and made<br />
several friends with<br />
our local school<br />
PE departments.<br />
He is an excellent<br />
practitioner in the<br />
classroom, teaching<br />
the physiology<br />
component of the A<br />
level and making it<br />
accessible to all. He<br />
can be a task master<br />
too and demanded<br />
high standards from<br />
his pupils. One of our favourite Murf stories was an overheard<br />
conversation where a pupil was asked by a classmate who,<br />
if he had two bullets, he would shoot out of: Adolf Hitler,<br />
Donald Trump or Andrew Murfin. He paused for thought and<br />
then said, ‘I would shoot Murfin twice’.<br />
Andrew has also overseen an impressive Dedicated Athlete<br />
Programme whilst dedicating a bit of time to his own<br />
athleticism. He could be found sprinting around the Saturday<br />
morning Park Run in the quarry, returning in time for Period<br />
2, following this with 100 lengths of the pool in the family<br />
swim period later in the after<strong>no</strong>on as his cool down.<br />
Andrew has led the department well in his final and most<br />
bizarre term and his weekly sports round up, including tuxedo<br />
and comedy specs, have been brilliantly put together. He has<br />
also become the leading tiktok-er in the department.<br />
Andrew will be a hard act to follow here at Shrewsbury and<br />
he can be proud of how well the <strong>Salopian</strong> sports flag has<br />
flown on his watch. We wish him well at Bryanston and<br />
congratulate him on a job well done.
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
<strong>21</strong><br />
Shrewsbury School International<br />
From Shropshire to Bangkok, Hong Kong, China and beyond…<br />
Along with a select band of pioneers,<br />
Shrewsbury School was one of<br />
the first British Independent schools to<br />
establish an international presence. Our<br />
overseas journey began in 2003 with<br />
the opening of Shrewsbury International<br />
School Bangkok Riverside, a coeducational<br />
day school educating<br />
pupils aged 3 to 18 in a truly<br />
inspirational setting on the banks of<br />
the Chao Phraya River. Now a thriving<br />
school of over 1700 pupils, in the heart<br />
of the Thai capital, it is <strong>no</strong> exaggeration<br />
to say that it is seen as one of the<br />
benchmark educational establishments<br />
in the country and the wider region.<br />
Owing to ever-increasing demand,<br />
in 2018 we opened Shrewsbury<br />
International School Bangkok City<br />
Campus and Shrewsbury International<br />
School Hong Kong, both offering superb,<br />
spacious, purpose-built facilities for girls<br />
and boys aged 3 to 11 with specialist<br />
primary teaching staff delivering a rich<br />
educational experience.<br />
<strong>The</strong> attraction to both local families and<br />
expatriates is clear: our international<br />
schools have become recognised for the<br />
highest levels of academic achievement,<br />
excellence in sport, creative and<br />
performing arts, and a wide variety of<br />
co-curricular opportunities with which<br />
the Shrewsbury name is sy<strong>no</strong>nymous.<br />
All this while preparing pupils for the<br />
modern world in the comfort of their<br />
local environment.<br />
<strong>The</strong> benefits to Shrewsbury School<br />
UK are also multiple: the international<br />
schools have helped to underpin and<br />
expand our bursarial, partnerships and<br />
community initiatives, while creating<br />
meaningful international links for<br />
our pupils and staff. <strong>The</strong>re has never<br />
been a more critical time to develop<br />
closer links and greater understanding<br />
between nations, and where better to<br />
start than with the young leadership<br />
minds of the future?<br />
<strong>The</strong> success of our international schools<br />
can be attributed to a few key factors:<br />
an exceptional partnership with our<br />
investors, with whom we share a<br />
long-term commitment to delivering<br />
the Shrewsbury ethos and philosophy<br />
in a local setting, including an<br />
unwavering commitment to whole<br />
person education; the identification<br />
and ongoing nurturing of outstanding<br />
talent at all levels; and the continuing<br />
close association and interaction with<br />
Shrewsbury School in the UK.<br />
While many school groups continue<br />
to focus on reputational risk as a<br />
one-way street, our approach to our<br />
international schools has been one<br />
of close and deliberate collaboration<br />
rather than imposition. In practical terms<br />
this is achieved through UK Gover<strong>no</strong>r<br />
attendance at Advisory Boards at the<br />
international schools three times a year,<br />
and year-round interactions between the<br />
international Principals and their senior<br />
teams with their peers at Shrewsbury<br />
School in the UK. Operationally, teachers<br />
share learning resources across the<br />
world and are continuously exploring<br />
ways to foster even greater collaboration<br />
using the digital tech<strong>no</strong>logies that have<br />
very much come into their own in the<br />
last few months. <strong>The</strong>se collaboration<br />
opportunities are immense, whether<br />
looking at academic programmes, alumni<br />
networks, careers opportunities or staff<br />
training and personal development, and<br />
the pace of progress has been inspiring.<br />
Looking to the future, we are well<br />
underway with the next phase in<br />
our international growth. We have<br />
an<strong>no</strong>unced the opening of new schools<br />
with our existing partner in the Shanghai<br />
and Guangzhou regions in China over<br />
the coming years. <strong>The</strong> Shrewsbury<br />
International Schools in China promise<br />
to be breath-taking in both scale and<br />
ambition and will help to bring academic<br />
excellence through a wide-ranging<br />
curriculum that uncovers and encourages<br />
a genuine love of learning, alongside<br />
inspirational teaching that challenges each<br />
pupil to strive for her or his personal best.<br />
Beyond China, we are actively exploring<br />
opportunities in focus countries with a<br />
growing demand for the premium British<br />
international education the Shrewsbury<br />
name epitomises, including India, Japan,<br />
Korea and Vietnam. Although it’s early<br />
days we are genuinely excited by initial<br />
discussions with prospective partners<br />
keen to join us in the next chapter in our<br />
international growth story.<br />
As well as developing our own schools<br />
around the globe, we are actively<br />
growing wider global partnerships,<br />
forming links with other schools,<br />
institutes and organisations with a view to<br />
developing a global mindset and sharing<br />
educational perspectives across borders.<br />
As a member of the G30 association of<br />
prestigious secondary schools, we enjoy<br />
links as far afield as Australia, India, South<br />
Africa and the United States.<br />
With so much going on, the next few<br />
years promise to be busy and exciting in<br />
equal measure as we continue to expand<br />
and evolve the Shrewsbury presence<br />
around the globe.<br />
Dr Maghin Tamilarasan<br />
As International Development Director at Shrewsbury School,<br />
Maghin Tamilarasan is responsible for overseeing the interface with<br />
Shrewsbury’s international sister schools in Thailand and Hong Kong,<br />
identifying and executing new business development opportunities<br />
and establishing wider global links.<br />
Before joining Shrewsbury School, he held several senior roles in<br />
industry covering global strategy, business development, operations<br />
and tech<strong>no</strong>logy, most recently with Rolls-Royce plc.<br />
Maghin grew up in the UK, the Middle East and India. He is married<br />
with two young daughters.
22 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
SCHOOL PRIZEWINNERS <strong>2020</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> Sidney Gold Medal<br />
<strong>The</strong> Harvard Book Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Richard Hillary Essay Medal<br />
<strong>The</strong> Darwin Science Prize J<br />
<strong>The</strong> Noneley Exhibition<br />
<strong>The</strong> Dukes Prize for French<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth French Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bentley Prize for German<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bain Prize for Spanish<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Spanish Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Moss Prize for Classics<br />
<strong>The</strong> Cross Prize for Classics<br />
<strong>The</strong> Classical Civilisation Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Philip Sidney Prize for English<br />
<strong>The</strong> Kitson-Clark Prize for English<br />
<strong>The</strong> Upper Sixth <strong>The</strong>atre Studies Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth <strong>The</strong>atre Studies Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bright Prize for History<br />
<strong>The</strong> Murray Senior Prize for History<br />
<strong>The</strong> Dorothy David Prize for<br />
Philosophy and <strong>The</strong>ology<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Philosophy<br />
and <strong>The</strong>ology Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Robertson-Eustace Prize<br />
for Geography<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Geography Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ar<strong>no</strong>ld Hagger Prize<br />
for Mathematics<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Mathematics Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Computing Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ar<strong>no</strong>ld Matthews Science<br />
Prize for Biology<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ar<strong>no</strong>ld Matthews Science<br />
Prize for Chemistry<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ar<strong>no</strong>ld Matthews Science<br />
Prize for Physics<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Biology Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Chemistry Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Physics Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Upper Sixth Eco<strong>no</strong>mics Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Eco<strong>no</strong>mics Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ramsbotham Prize for Business<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Business Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> James Meikle Prize for<br />
Physical Education<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Physical<br />
Education Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hill Art Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Art Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> History of Art Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Photography Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> A Level Music Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Duffell Prize for Design<br />
and Tech<strong>no</strong>logy<br />
<strong>The</strong> Lower Sixth Design<br />
and Tech<strong>no</strong>logy Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bentley Elocution Senior Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bentley Elocution Fourth<br />
Form Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bentley Elocution<br />
Third Form Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> McEachran Prize<br />
V.M. Munday (O.S.)<br />
E.J. Bayliss (Rt)<br />
J.A. Dowd (Rb)<br />
E. Huffer (Rb)<br />
A.C. Cowan (MSH) and<br />
C.E. Hancock (M)<br />
T.C. Gray (Rb)<br />
E.S. Edwards (EDH)<br />
T.A. Bonthrone (SH)<br />
A.M. Mason-Hornby (G)<br />
T. Levin (Ch)<br />
A.G.C. Sparkes (I)<br />
R.G. Shepherd-Cross (O)<br />
A.A.E. Cowan Taylor (MSH)<br />
J.A. Dowd (Rb) and<br />
L. Gabbitas (EDH)<br />
A.K. Sillar (G) and<br />
M. Tai (SH)<br />
M.E. Matthews (EDH)<br />
I.G. Morgan (G)<br />
L. Gabbitas (EDH)<br />
L. Xu (Ch)<br />
J.H. Snell (Ch)<br />
J.M.N Meisner (SH)<br />
K.A. Ford (EDH)<br />
B.L.J. Cook (M)<br />
X. Ai (Rt)<br />
H. Hsieh (R)<br />
Y. Zhou (G)<br />
J.E. Huffer (Rb)<br />
O. Siu (I)<br />
S. Yang (SH)<br />
C.M.R. Russell (G)<br />
T. Yamada (O)<br />
E.A. Parr (Rb)<br />
Y. Zou (MSH)<br />
K Nishii (Ch)<br />
L.G. Evans (PH)<br />
D.C. Hague-Saunders (Rt)<br />
L.G. Evans (PH)<br />
G.G. Gowar (S)<br />
H. Yu (SH)<br />
E.H. Hughes (MSH) and<br />
G.C.B. Insalata (EDH)<br />
FM. Baynes (G)<br />
G.P.E. Kannreuther (MSH)<br />
and M.P. Nuijten (MSH)<br />
A.H.B.M Razif (EDH)<br />
A.K. Tonks (MSH)<br />
N.E. Dee (G)<br />
R.B.G. Hartley (Ch)<br />
K.E.R. Woodman (M)<br />
H.A.J. Clark (R)<br />
J.H. Snell (Ch)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Rolls Royce Science Cup<br />
Fifth Form Academic Prizes<br />
Fourth Form Examination Prizes<br />
Third Form Examination Prizes<br />
<strong>The</strong> Goulding Family Prize for Drama<br />
<strong>The</strong> Junior Drama Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Keighley Prize for<br />
Stage Management<br />
<strong>The</strong> Russell Prize for Music<br />
<strong>The</strong> Woollam Family Prize for Music<br />
<strong>The</strong> Guyer Prize for Music<br />
<strong>The</strong> Gordon Riley Prize for Music<br />
<strong>The</strong> Senior Debating Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Sportsman of the Year<br />
<strong>The</strong> Sportswoman of the Year<br />
<strong>The</strong> Elle Gurden Trophy for<br />
Outstanding Contribution to<br />
Girls’ Sport<br />
<strong>The</strong> David Spencer Memorial<br />
Trophy for Outstanding Contribution<br />
to Boys’ Sport<br />
Tony Barker Award for All-Round<br />
Sporting Excellence<br />
<strong>The</strong> Charities Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> West Family Prize for<br />
Community Service<br />
<strong>The</strong> Guy Lovett Award<br />
<strong>The</strong> Haynes Cup<br />
<strong>The</strong> Cabral Family Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Societies Leadership Award<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Salopian</strong> Award<br />
<strong>The</strong> Praepostors’ Prize<br />
<strong>The</strong> Headmaster’s Prize<br />
J.H. Snell (Ch) and<br />
Y. Zhou (G)<br />
G.C. Collings (Rb),<br />
G. Cooper (G),<br />
J.A. Davis (PH),<br />
Y. Feng (M),<br />
J. Hansiriphan (O),<br />
H.K.M. Hurst (EDH),<br />
S. Li (M),<br />
R.D.R. Prentis (Ch),<br />
P.M. Stephens (MSH),<br />
E.L. Ware (MSH)<br />
S.J. Chudasama (G),<br />
O.C.J. Edmondson (PH),<br />
E.A. Hall (G),<br />
T. Lam (G),<br />
H.R. Marshall (Rb),<br />
P. Poon (I),<br />
J.C. Roberts (Rb),<br />
A. Shukla (Rt),<br />
W.A. Singleton (R),<br />
Z. Zhang (Ch)<br />
A.A. Brownsmith (Rb),<br />
G.P.L. Holliday (I),<br />
M.K. Levings (O),<br />
J.H. Mackin<strong>no</strong>n (O),<br />
J.C. O’Brien (MSH),<br />
H.J. Rees-Pullman (Rb),<br />
J. Shin (Ch),<br />
N.F. Toms (EDH),<br />
E. Veter (G),<br />
L. Williams (SH)<br />
E.S. Niblett (MSH)<br />
K.E.R. Woodman (M)<br />
A.A.J. Tulloch (Rt)<br />
F.T. Coughlan (SH)<br />
S.F. Milner (M)<br />
A.S.T. Eyre (Rb)<br />
N.A. Mielczarek (Rb) and<br />
H. Yu (EDH)<br />
J.H. Snell (Ch)<br />
P.J.H. Clark (Rb)<br />
I.E.C.M. Wong (G)<br />
O.J.I. Moir (MSH)<br />
L.G.J. Nares (I)<br />
A.W. Garrett (Ch)<br />
A. Biggs (PH)<br />
F.J. Sansom (PH)<br />
A.S.T. Eyre (Rb)<br />
A.T. Wheatcraft (R)<br />
J.E. Huffer (Rb) and<br />
A.M. Mason-Hornby (G)<br />
H. J. Bateson (R)<br />
I.E.C.M. Wong (G)<br />
L.J. Elliott (G)<br />
O.J.I. Moir (MSH),<br />
A.G. Powell (I),<br />
S.G.B. Coulson (Rt),<br />
S.F. Milner (M)
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
23<br />
SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED FOR <strong>2020</strong> ENTRY<br />
Third Form<br />
Academic<br />
Butler Scholars:<br />
Miranda Read<br />
Gabriel Hartland<br />
Fergus Scholes-Pryce<br />
Kennedy Scholars:<br />
Holly Yang<br />
Oliver Bing<br />
Sarah Levings<br />
Dickie Tyacke<br />
Tom Bland<br />
Mollie Pearce<br />
Alington Scholars:<br />
Frances Tschipan-Townley<br />
Jiyu (John) Li<br />
Felix Feeny<br />
Clemmy Sowden<br />
Music<br />
James (Jim) Bach (Choral)<br />
Aoife Brennan<br />
Oliver Connell<br />
Oscar Con<strong>no</strong>r<br />
Loic Dutton-Burrows<br />
Limonée Fearn (Choral)<br />
Libby Hunt (Choral)<br />
Jiyu (John) Li<br />
Lincoln Luk (HK)<br />
Benjamin O’Sullivan<br />
Meadow Perks (Choral)<br />
Henry Riley-Smith (Choral)<br />
Sport<br />
Alice Beardsmore<br />
Sophia Coulson<br />
Charlotte Taylor<br />
Taylor Barrow<br />
Catty Collings<br />
Joe Dat<strong>no</strong>w<br />
Jessica Fraser-Andrews<br />
Olivia Kerley<br />
Jack Kinrade<br />
Harry Parker McLain<br />
Sir Michael Palin All-Rounder<br />
Alice Beardsmore<br />
Oliver Bing<br />
Oscar Con<strong>no</strong>r<br />
Loic Dutton-Burrows<br />
Limonée Fearn<br />
Isabella Hayward<br />
Libby Hunt<br />
Edward Key<br />
Sarah Levings<br />
Louis Malanaphy<br />
Daniel Ogunleye<br />
Meadow Perks<br />
Isabella Plews<br />
Miranda Read<br />
Clemmy Sowden<br />
Frances Tshipan-Townley<br />
Grace Young<br />
Art<br />
Iona Biggs-Lovell<br />
Lucia Cyples<br />
Poppy Prideaux<br />
Charlotte Taylor<br />
Molly White<br />
Lyla Williams<br />
Drama<br />
Clara Garavini<br />
William Himmer<br />
Meadow Perks<br />
DT<br />
Lucia Cyples<br />
Peter Hickman<br />
Lower Sixth Form<br />
Academic<br />
Harry Clarke<br />
Carys Crowther<br />
Flora Fraser<br />
Roland (Lewis) Gray<br />
Charlotte Holliday<br />
Ugne (April) Jonikaite<br />
Katherine (Kate) Rutherford<br />
Martha Smith<br />
Music<br />
Patrick Tuft<br />
Yin Sum (Bubbles) Wong<br />
Sophie Voisey-Smith<br />
Margaret Cassidy Scholar:<br />
George Staden<br />
RSSBC Rowing Scholar:<br />
Julian Walsh<br />
Sports Scholars:<br />
Adam Marshall<br />
Georgia Norman<br />
Kate Richardson<br />
Laurie Sheridan<br />
Libby Thomas<br />
Art<br />
Kaitlyn Orme<br />
Drama<br />
Hamish Gray<br />
<strong>The</strong>a Haugan
24 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Biology Photographic Competition<br />
<strong>The</strong> high standard of photos and tremendous variety of subject-matter made this year’s<br />
Biology Photographic Competition very difficult for the judges.<br />
Junior Category<br />
(Third-Fifth Form)<br />
Winner – Vanessa Wu (EDH 4)<br />
Commended – Boris Petukhov (SH 4)<br />
Runner-Up – Abigail Wong (M 4)<br />
Commended – Nicholas Argyle (SH 5)
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
25<br />
Senior Category (Sixth Form)<br />
Runner-Up – Bertie Shepherd-Cross (O L6)<br />
Winner – Araminta Plumptre (MSH U6)<br />
Commended – Oscar Hamilton-Russell (R L6)<br />
Commended – Caspar Hamilton (I U6)<br />
Staff Category<br />
Runner-Up – Stewart Harrison<br />
Winner – Colm Kealy<br />
Commended – Nicole Matton<br />
Commended –<br />
Sara Luzny
26 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
‘Discover Nature’ <strong>The</strong>me Week<br />
A ‘Discover Nature’ theme week during lockdown gave pupils in the Fourth Form and Lower Sixth a chance to step away<br />
from their screens and connect with nature in their gardens and local parks. <strong>The</strong>y were asked to share their observations<br />
and experiences in words and photos using Microsoft Sway. <strong>The</strong> snippets featured here don’t do justice to the full glory of<br />
the creativity, imagination and enthusiasm of pupils’ presentations. But we hope they give a sense of how pupils’ worlds<br />
connected, from Russia to Uganda, Kenya, Manhattan, Hong Kong, China, Shrewsbury, Bridg<strong>no</strong>rth, Cheshire, Switzerland…
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
27<br />
Our lives are made from the things<br />
we pay attention to. Slowing down<br />
and observing – these are radical<br />
things to do in our accelerated age.<br />
It is only by being in lockdown<br />
that I have seen new treasures that<br />
I’d previously have overlooked.
28 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Sharing our Space with Nature<br />
“If you are looking for people who are passionate about the environment, our generation is probably<br />
the best place to look.” – Jude Huffer (Rb 2015-20)<br />
Launched in September 2019<br />
by dedicated members of the<br />
Shrewsbury School Natural History<br />
Society Mimi Mason-Hornby (G 2015-<br />
20) and Jude Huffer, the pupil-led<br />
Eco Committee has quickly gathered<br />
enthusiastic support from fellow pupils<br />
and is developing an exciting vision for<br />
the future.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> environment and conservation<br />
of nature have always been issues that<br />
are close to my heart. Having been a<br />
member of the School’s Natural History<br />
Society for a year, I realised that I<br />
wanted to help the School do their<br />
bit to become more environmentally<br />
friendly,” says Mimi.<br />
She and Jude share the view that “the<br />
main reason people do <strong>no</strong>t do anything<br />
to help in the fight for the environment<br />
is because they don’t think they can<br />
make a difference. So we wanted to<br />
empower people of our age to help<br />
make a difference and show them that<br />
things can change.”<br />
During the Michaelmas Term last year,<br />
they successfully gathered a team of<br />
dedicated ‘Eco-warriors’ behind them,<br />
and numbers swelled quickly to almost<br />
40. <strong>The</strong> group had just e<strong>no</strong>ugh time to<br />
finish planting up the Biology Wildlife<br />
Garden, positioned next to the Art<br />
Building, before Shrewsbury headed<br />
into lockdown in March – along with<br />
the rest of the world. Despite being<br />
scattered far and wide during the<br />
Summer Term, the Eco Committee<br />
continued to meet online, even more<br />
regularly than before. Grand plans<br />
for the future were made to increase<br />
biodiversity and ‘share our space with<br />
nature’, alongside increasing recycling<br />
and becoming more sustainable.<br />
Over the last eighteen months there<br />
has been an incredible energy and<br />
positivity, especially amongst the<br />
younger generation, which is coupled<br />
with a determination to reverse<br />
the damage caused to our natural<br />
world and restore and upgrade the<br />
ecosystems near to them. <strong>The</strong> driving<br />
force behind the Eco Committee is the<br />
genuine belief that our pupils can make<br />
a difference, and that everything we all<br />
do, <strong>no</strong> matter how small, will help.<br />
With the start of the new academic<br />
year in September and the return of the<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> community to the School Site<br />
once more, Lara Lees-Jones (M) and<br />
Cathy Lau (M) picked up the reins of<br />
the Eco Committee leadership. In their<br />
words, they aim “to make our brilliant<br />
school even better by creating new<br />
habitats for wildlife, spreading<br />
awareness, and lessening the impact<br />
we have on the planet”. Membership<br />
of the Eco Committee continues to<br />
rise, with more pupils joining all<br />
the time. Numbers are at around 50<br />
pupils at present.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y have formed themselves into<br />
six working parties. <strong>The</strong> recycling<br />
and sustainability groups have been<br />
investigating “ways we can adjust and<br />
find new strategies to become more<br />
eco-friendly as a school as a whole”.<br />
A group led by Poppy Stephens (MSH)<br />
have been working hard planning
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
29<br />
the screening of Damon Gameau’s<br />
optimistic and informative documentary<br />
film 2040, exploring solutions to the<br />
climate crisis, followed by a postscreening<br />
discussion with external<br />
guest speakers to raise awareness<br />
amongst the school community. <strong>The</strong><br />
wilding group is making plans for<br />
wildflower meadows and pollinator<br />
gardens, as well as celebrating more<br />
of our native species on site.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir hopes and plans are part<br />
of a wider vision, shared by<br />
environmentalists of all ages around<br />
the world, for “regenerative solutions<br />
to improve our planet”, as the film<br />
2040 describes it. As a nation, we are<br />
arguably guilty of excessive tidiness. An<br />
aspiration for neatness and uniformity<br />
is the driving force behind the design<br />
of the vast majority of Britain’s public<br />
spaces. Yet the result of this uniformity<br />
is invariability, uniform lifelessness,<br />
sterility. Excessive tidiness entails a<br />
massive loss of biodiversity. Since<br />
1940 we have destroyed four million<br />
acres of flower-rich meadow in the<br />
UK. We could recover at least half that<br />
amount if only our gardens, both civic<br />
and private, were freed from chemical<br />
interventions and turned back primarily<br />
to native flowers and shrubs. Instead of<br />
the work-intensive grass mo<strong>no</strong>culture,<br />
we could have virtually labour-free<br />
pocket-sized meadows that require only<br />
a single cut in later summer. Correctly<br />
managed, these pockets could support<br />
thousands of species of organism, in<br />
an explosive mix of colour and texture,<br />
across the whole spectrum of life.<br />
Spending time outside in natural<br />
environments has been proven to<br />
reduce stress levels – as these last<br />
few months have demonstrated more<br />
than ever. We also k<strong>no</strong>w that it has<br />
immeasurable effects, consciously or<br />
unconsciously, on the mental wellbeing<br />
of the whole School community. <strong>The</strong><br />
explosion of colour, scent and sound<br />
through the natural rhythm of the<br />
year and the turning of the seasons,<br />
interrupts the business of life, the trains<br />
of internal thoughts, and can encourage<br />
our community to feel positive about<br />
the future for wildlife.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Eco Committee is proud of the<br />
Biology Wildlife Garden and would<br />
love the opportunity to continue to<br />
welcome more wildlife to our school.<br />
This November, with the expert<br />
guidance of members of the Chelmarsh<br />
Ringing Group, the Natural History<br />
Society ringed 26 birds and eight<br />
different species in one day. Probably<br />
the last time bird-ringing took place<br />
at the School was about 40 years ago.<br />
So far 19 different bird species have<br />
visited the garden.<br />
<strong>The</strong> future at Shrewsbury is going to<br />
be a greener one, although perhaps<br />
the biggest hurdle to scale will be to<br />
shift everyone’s ideas of beauty and<br />
increase tolerance. Natural systems are<br />
chaotic and complex, yet full of hidden<br />
surprises; it will take some courage for<br />
the Eco Committee to lead the way<br />
in recognising this. All schools have a<br />
major role to play in the education of<br />
‘nature-based solutions’ and planning<br />
for a future that includes and values the<br />
natural world. With its links to Darwin<br />
and celebration of the natural world,<br />
Shrewsbury School needs to be at the<br />
forefront – led by the pupils.<br />
Jackie Matthews
30 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> heirs to Sir Philp Sidney have celebrated the<br />
natural glories of the School Site in a volume of poetry<br />
inspired by its unique collection of trees. Six poets in the<br />
Creative Writing Society collaborated with the Natural History<br />
Society to produce <strong>The</strong> peace of trees that all night whisper<br />
<strong>no</strong>things, an anthology edited by Edward Bayliss (Rt) and<br />
beautifully illustrated with photographs by Mr James Yule of<br />
the Art Department.<br />
<strong>The</strong> collection, which became even more important to its<br />
contributors as the pandemic scattered them across the world<br />
when Shrewsbury went ‘remote’, also includes works by Anna<br />
Cowan (MSH 2015-20), Eustacia Feng (M), Giorgia Insalata<br />
(EDH), Guy Macey (I) and Will Unsworth (S).<br />
While the natural world has always inspired poetry, according to<br />
<strong>The</strong> Peace of Trees<br />
Sidney, poems can make our experience of nature even better.<br />
In one of the first works of English literary criticism, Sidney<br />
wrote in his 1589 apologia, or defence, of poetry that “Nature’s<br />
world is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden”. Nature as we<br />
find it is so-so, he suggests, but to get to the heart of it, to really<br />
understand the idea of it, you need poetry.<br />
This was the idea that underpins this collaborative project<br />
where the numbered trees of each poem correspond with<br />
the numbers on the Shrewsbury Tree Walk map so carefully<br />
assembled and curated by Mrs Jackie Matthews and Dr David<br />
Law, and the rest of the Natural History team. <strong>The</strong> link can<br />
be found at https://www.shrewsbury.org.uk/news/<br />
shrewsbury-tree-walk. Thanks to the wizardry of Euan<br />
Parr (Rb), performances of most of these poems are to be<br />
Twins<br />
Deodar Cedar<br />
I came to the cedar in the rainless dawn<br />
When a rainbow of dewdrops specked the lawn,<br />
And found tree alone, embracing a void<br />
Isolated from the flood of <strong>no</strong>ise.<br />
But if you have eyes that can see beneath<br />
<strong>The</strong> soil carpeted by mo<strong>no</strong>to<strong>no</strong>us green,<br />
Your sight would be lost in a mazy way<br />
That wound between roots in a strange array.<br />
A tree in itself, each unruly k<strong>no</strong>b,<br />
Writhed and coiled like its brethren above,<br />
Who, though reversed in shape,<br />
Had the same dull greenness within its veins.<br />
As the storm writhed and foamed<br />
<strong>The</strong> cedar boughs silently moaned,<br />
But surely beneath this muffled blur<br />
<strong>The</strong> rioting of roots could be heard.<br />
When darkness came and sponged the sky<br />
Clear of bloodless clouds and ghostly light.<br />
No one can tell apart in the dim<br />
<strong>The</strong> churning shadows with tangled limbs.<br />
Between them I stood, on the mirror like ground<br />
And wondered if there was to be found<br />
On the other side, a soul lost as I<br />
Tallying the seconds before sunrise.<br />
Eustacia Feng (M L6)<br />
Deodar Cedar
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
31<br />
Weymouth Pine<br />
Weymouth Pine<br />
Her feminine wiles had got her this far –<br />
Seated at the table of Kings, in their lands<br />
Within her hall, courting a new kind of man.<br />
A sapling, young and ripe, ready to bear fruit<br />
And to make ready her faction, a heartening prospect.<br />
And through maturity, she learned to brace the winters<br />
Mailed and armoured in the rigid stale soil.<br />
And then the rings appear, more and more, courtier after courtier<br />
Until the partner is found, and gripped with fierce affection,<br />
Small droplets fall and disperse, and new life is roused.<br />
Labour approaches as the miners further their intervention<br />
through the thick dark soil.<br />
But, to <strong>no</strong> avail: a wider, more grotesque figure is born,<br />
Born from life’s injustices.<br />
Gluttony, a sin of gravity she creates more of what she hates,<br />
She leeches off her neighbours.<br />
And bursts.<br />
Slowly<br />
Withering<br />
Away.<br />
Edward Bayliss (Rt U6)<br />
lifted from the pages of the collection and digitally<br />
summoned into existence via a QR code on each<br />
featured tree. So, with a mere waft of a mobile phone,<br />
the trees themselves will pour forth poetry to enrich<br />
any arborial amble through the 800-plus trees of our<br />
beautiful campus.<br />
<strong>The</strong> process of ‘composting’ imaginations began in<br />
Lent Term last year. We responded to a wide range of<br />
stimuli, from the oral and folk traditions of ‘<strong>The</strong> Green<br />
Man’ and other local legends, from an article in <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> by Andrew Allott, former head of Biology,<br />
to Ovid’s Metamorphoses and modern poetic and<br />
visual treatments of this monumental Latin work which<br />
explores the idea of change so profoundly. But we had<br />
<strong>no</strong> idea how drastically life would change, <strong>no</strong>r in what<br />
ways the conditions of writing these pieces would alter<br />
so dramatically with the onset of national lockdown in<br />
March <strong>2020</strong>. <strong>The</strong> title of the volume is taken from the<br />
poem ‘Philemon and Baucis’ by Thom Gunn, from his<br />
collection <strong>The</strong> Man with Night Sweats (1992), which<br />
was written in part in elegiac response to the AIDS<br />
pandemic of the time.<br />
Written from afar, some of these poems therefore conjure<br />
a spirit of the place recollected, if <strong>no</strong>t in tranquillity, but<br />
with intimate fondness, somehow capturing the dynamics<br />
of mutability and an unforgettable chapter in <strong>The</strong> Schools’<br />
five centuries of history. Yet they also express the urge<br />
to seek reassurance and inspiration in the natural world’s<br />
simultaneous ability to project strengths that – pace Larkin<br />
– appear to console by seeming to transcend even the<br />
idea of change itself. Everything changes, writes Ovid,<br />
<strong>no</strong>thing perishes.<br />
If you would like to receive a copy, please contact<br />
James Fraser-Andrews at jrfa@shrewsbury.org.uk.<br />
James Fraser-Andrews
32<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
<strong>The</strong> Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
In September <strong>2020</strong> the new Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre opened its doors. Incorporating the former<br />
Ashton <strong>The</strong>atre, the new performing arts building is a fantastic addition to the Site.<br />
Opening, as it has done, in the middle of a pandemic, it is also a potent symbol<br />
of optimism and even defiance. Helen Brown tells the story.<br />
In September <strong>2020</strong>, the Drama Faculty moved into its new<br />
home, the Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre. Thanks to the generosity of<br />
Sir David Barnes and the <strong>Salopian</strong> community, pupils at<br />
Shrewsbury <strong>no</strong>w have access to a state-of-the-art Performing<br />
Arts building. <strong>The</strong> intimate re-configured auditorium is served<br />
by generous Front of House facilities, whilst backstage there<br />
are workshops, dressing rooms and cutting-edge sound and<br />
lighting facilities. <strong>The</strong> building also provides teaching space for<br />
both practical and written work, with classrooms and studios<br />
for drama and dance. Studio 1, with its mirrored wall, ballet<br />
barre and sprung floor has transformed the provision for dance<br />
within the School, and we are <strong>no</strong>w able to offer weekly classes<br />
in ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary.<br />
Sadly, the COVID pandemic has limited the opportunities for<br />
live performance, but we were delighted to host a screening<br />
of the Royal Ballet’s ‘Back on Stage’ performance to a socially<br />
distanced audience, and hope to offer more screenings of live<br />
events throughout the winter. In October, the Fifth Form and<br />
Upper Sixth Drama students took to the stage for the first time<br />
with their assessed devised performances. This was a showcase<br />
of the originality, imagination and talent of <strong>Salopian</strong>s, with both<br />
year groups producing engaging, entertaining and sometimes<br />
heart-breaking work.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Fifth Form<br />
began with Rufus<br />
Thornhill, Kate<br />
Woodman and<br />
Abby Wong, who<br />
told the story of<br />
Albert Einstein’s<br />
first wife. Despite<br />
her contribution to<br />
the development of<br />
Einstein’s groundbreaking<br />
theory of relativity, Meleva Maric has been consigned<br />
to the margins of history. Kate brought real pathos and<br />
humanity to the role of a woman whose talents were thwarted.<br />
Phoebe Carter, Elea<strong>no</strong>r Keulemans, Renee Wong and Camilla<br />
Lawson were also inspired by a real-life story: the fraud of the<br />
Cottingly Fairies. In 1917, a pair of teenage girls near Bradford<br />
convinced the world that they had taken photographs of fairies<br />
in the woods near their home. <strong>The</strong> hoax convinced a number<br />
of high-profile experts, including the writer of Sherlock<br />
Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. <strong>The</strong> girls’ retelling of the story<br />
was charming and spirited, demonstrating an imaginative use<br />
of physical theatre techniques.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y were followed by Ed Pickersgill, Eva Garavini, Jack<br />
Sheldon and Tom Bright, who had adapted Roald Dahl’s<br />
chilling story of a landlady-turned-taxidermist who stuffs<br />
and mounts her lodgers. Ed and Eva were compelling as<br />
the landlady and her latest victim, whilst Jack and Tom<br />
demonstrated great versatility and physical discipline in their<br />
role as the chorus. <strong>The</strong> final piece was based on verbatim<br />
material from the charity ‘Henpowered’. <strong>The</strong> charity brings<br />
chickens into care homes in order to give elderly men a hobby<br />
and a purpose. Laurie Morgan, Harry Webster, Alex Clarke and<br />
Ryan Leong gave nuanced and touching performances that<br />
captured both the humour and the poignancy of the residents’<br />
experiences.<br />
Two days later, it was the turn of the Upper Sixth, who<br />
produced performances exploring two of the greatest poetic<br />
love stories. Annie Stocker, Phoebe Stratton-Morris and Ed<br />
Tarling were inspired by the work of hyper-realist director<br />
Katie Mitchell to create a powerful retelling of the relationship<br />
between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. Using text drawn from<br />
Plath’s posthumous collection, ‘Ariel’ and Hughes’ ‘Birthday<br />
Letters’, they sought to illuminate the experience of Plath’s<br />
daughter Frieda, as she seeks to make sense of her mother’s<br />
life, marriage and suicide.<br />
Orlando Williams,<br />
Arthur Myrrdin-Evans,<br />
Imogen Morgan and<br />
Olivia Barnes delved<br />
further into literary<br />
history, choosing to tell<br />
the story of Caroline<br />
Lamb’s doomed<br />
romance with Lord<br />
Byron, the man she<br />
famously dubbed ‘mad,<br />
bad and dangerous to<br />
k<strong>no</strong>w’. Immy gave a<br />
visceral performance as<br />
Caroline, showing her<br />
descent from society<br />
darling into scandal<br />
and madness. Orlando<br />
and Arthur, as Lord<br />
Melbourne and Lord Byron, played the men who loved – and<br />
ultimately destroyed – her, whilst Olivia made a delightfully<br />
impish Queen Victoria.<br />
Throughout the pandemic, the theatre community has<br />
clung ever more closely together. We were delighted to<br />
light the theatre in red on September 30th in support of our<br />
beleaguered colleagues. In return, theatres have continued<br />
to support schools and educational outreach programmes.<br />
We were thrilled to be able to offer our drama scholars the<br />
opportunity to work one-on-one with Sir Ian McKellen, who<br />
volunteered his services as a director for students applying<br />
for drama schools. Sir Ian offered support and guidance to<br />
Phoebe Stratton-Morris and Orlando Williams, who worked<br />
with him on character development and verse-speaking.
SCHOOL NEWS 33<br />
Drama 2019-<strong>2020</strong><br />
Even pre-COVID, this was a year like <strong>no</strong> other. Director of Drama Dr Helen Brown explains …<br />
<strong>The</strong> academic year 2019/20 was one of huge upheaval for the Drama Department, even pre-COVID. As the bulldozers moved<br />
in to start work on the new Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre, the School’s thespians became <strong>no</strong>madic, performing in venues across the School<br />
Site. <strong>The</strong> Moser Library, Alington Hall and the Chapel were all pressed into service, and the challenges of creating site-specific<br />
theatre gave rise to some fantastically creative solutions.<br />
Doctor Faustus (review by LJD)<br />
What does heaven look like? Or hell? <strong>The</strong> Butler Room in<br />
the Moser Library isn’t the first place that comes to mind, but<br />
was a crazily successful setting for the Upper Sixth <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
Studies production of Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.<br />
<strong>The</strong> students had chosen to adapt the original in the style of<br />
Kneehigh, a theatre group who re-tell traditional plots using<br />
comedy, puppetry, song and dance. Faustus sells his soul to<br />
the devil, in return for living it up while he remains on earth.<br />
In this show, ‘living it up’ involved dancing to Justin Bieber,<br />
rapping a recitation of the Seven Deadly Sins, and Anya<br />
Tonks elegantly doing the splits on the top of the library<br />
study desks.<br />
<strong>The</strong> high-energy cast were costumed as archetypal American<br />
High School pupils, led by Freddie Lawson as a surprisingly<br />
convincing sports ‘Jock’ and Grace Anderson as a rather<br />
threatening cheerleader, with costume designer Ella Inglis-<br />
Jones appearing as a devil when they least expected to<br />
conjure one.<br />
Book-loving Faustus, played by Mollie Matthews, had plenty<br />
of gravitas, with her earnest sixteenth century verse lines,<br />
delivered amidst the madness of a passiagiata to ‘Bat out<br />
of Hell’, followed by a moment when everyone else in the<br />
room was wearing Giles Bell full-face masks. Her depiction<br />
of Faustus’ growing doubts was moving, and then hilarious,<br />
when faced with Emily Hartland’s cutely squeaky Angel hand<br />
puppet, and Freddie Lawson’s cheeky impersonation of<br />
M. Portier, red devil puppet held aloft. Sound effects were<br />
crucial to the success of the show, and Archie Tulloch, in his<br />
first term, served the cast well from behind the desk.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were so many laugh-out-loud transpositions from the<br />
original, Ford Fiesta jokes and all, and, satisfyingly, it was just as<br />
‘bonkers’ as Director of Drama Helen Brown had promised.<br />
Peter Pan (review by LJD)<br />
Peter Pan has been the subject of numerous adaptations for<br />
stage and screen since its triumphant première in 1904. J.M.<br />
Barrie’s story of pirates, mermaids and fairies has retained<br />
its magic despite espousing social values which seem a little<br />
uncomfortable to a contemporary audience: today’s little girls<br />
would (thankfully) kick up a stink if required to darn socks<br />
and wait to be rescued. This production, devised by members<br />
of the Upper Sixth in the style of children’s theatre company<br />
Polka, was an anarchic, gender-fluid romp that brought some<br />
much-needed festive glitter to the Alington Hall.<br />
<strong>The</strong> play begins in the Darling family nursery where, amid crisp<br />
white bed linen and conventional moral certainties, Wendy,<br />
Tom, John and Michael are growing up under the beady eye of<br />
Nanna the dog (a masterful cameo by an unnamed member of<br />
the Drama Faculty). <strong>The</strong>ir world is turned upside down by the<br />
death of Tom; Michael becomes a nervous stammerer, John is<br />
“so angry he’s broken three trains” and Wendy desperately tries<br />
to make everything better. One night, Peter explodes into their<br />
lives, whisking them off to Neverland with the aid of a happy<br />
thought and fairy dust provided by his trusty sidekick, Tinkerbell<br />
(an unforgettable Ollie Shutts).<br />
In this version, the real dramatic action lies <strong>no</strong>t with Peter but<br />
with Wendy. On the cusp of adolescence, she is pulled between<br />
the freedom of childhood and the responsibilities of adulthood.<br />
On the one hand, her naive sexual awakening as she flirts with<br />
Peter; on the other, the dark uncertainties of womanhood –<br />
creepily represented by the sequinned mini-dress she is given by<br />
Captain Hook, gloriously played by Saffron Milner as an angry<br />
Dolly Parton in six-inch heels and rhinestones.<br />
This Wendy – played with warmth and charm by Ella<br />
Niblett – is also processing grief. Her trip into Neverland<br />
is <strong>no</strong>t just a k<strong>no</strong>ckabout adventure, but a way to reconcile<br />
her with the past and equip her for the future. Thus,<br />
she wrestles with the limitations placed on her by her<br />
womanhood – “But who cleans?” – makes friends and<br />
embraces her independence. All this, while figuring out<br />
where grief must end and happiness begin.<br />
<strong>The</strong> production was full of delightful vignettes, including<br />
the brilliant transformation from nursery to pirate ship (for<br />
which credit must be given to the technical wizardry of<br />
Adam Wall and Brad Fenton) and the burgeoning romance<br />
between Tinkerbell and Martin the Cabin boy (an adorably<br />
goofy Louis Street).<br />
It was particularly lovely to welcome so many members of<br />
the wider Shrewsbury community – all of whom, fortunately<br />
for us, still believe in fairies.
34<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Monsters (review by HRB)<br />
<strong>The</strong> murder of Jamie Bulger remains one of the most<br />
troubling events in recent memory. In 1993, the toddler<br />
was abducted from a shopping centre by Robert Thompson<br />
and Jon Venables, both aged ten. Thompson and Venables<br />
tortured and murdered the little boy, whose body was found<br />
on railway tracks two days later. <strong>The</strong> nation was appalled.<br />
How could children do something so horrific? Could a child<br />
be born evil? Who was to blame?<br />
Niklas Radstrom’s play, based in large part on verbatim<br />
material from the trial, attempts to answer some of those<br />
questions. <strong>The</strong> audience, seated in-the-round in the<br />
claustrophobic surroundings of classroom DS2, are cast as<br />
the 38 adults who saw Jamie and his killers on the way to<br />
his death, but who did <strong>no</strong>thing to intervene. It is challenging<br />
– and at times distressing – to watch; it makes us question<br />
our responsibilities as a society as well as the role of theatre<br />
within that society. With its emotive name and subject matter,<br />
Monsters might seem to be simply fuelling the tabloid hysteria<br />
that surrounds cases such as Bulger’s death. How do you turn<br />
a crime like that into art without being accused of feeding off<br />
other people’s pain and misery?<br />
Radstrom is insistent that the play is <strong>no</strong>t trying to upset<br />
people: ‘<strong>The</strong> intention is always to create a space for<br />
dialogue. When the play was performed in Scandinavia,<br />
audiences didn’t want to leave. <strong>The</strong>y wanted to talk, because<br />
the play had given them permission to think about what<br />
happened, and why and what they might be able to do about<br />
it. In the end, only one thing could have stopped Bulger’s<br />
murder – a single adult saying to those boys, “Hey, what are<br />
you doing?” Nobody did.<br />
Tom Daly and Oscar Niblett delivered moving performances<br />
as the two boys, sometimes sullen and defensive and<br />
sometimes heartbreakingly naïve: amid a harrowing<br />
description of the crime, Robert’s question, “Did they<br />
take him to hospital to bring him back to life?” is a jarring<br />
reminder of his youth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> interrogation is led by two police inspectors, played<br />
by theatrical veteran Orlando Williams and newcomer<br />
Joe Meisner. As they slowly unpick the events leading<br />
to Jamie’s death, their professional detachment starts to<br />
crumble: how can one remain aloof from the horror of<br />
‘children killing children’?<br />
Lucy Lees, Annie Stocker and Phoebe Stratton-Morris played<br />
the boys’ mothers, each struggling to come to terms with<br />
the loss of a child. <strong>The</strong> mothers of the murderers and<br />
the murdered echo each other’s pain: how can a mother<br />
stop loving her own child, even when the child isn’t<br />
there anymore? All three performances were astonishingly<br />
powerful, demonstrating a maturity and sensitivity beyond<br />
the actors’ years. <strong>The</strong>ir refrain, “My love is there even when it<br />
isn’t needed,” the ring of simple truth.<br />
<strong>The</strong> audience’s complex emotions are articulated throughout<br />
by the chorus of onlookers, made up of Imogen Jones,<br />
Imogen Morgan, Olivia Barnes and Ed Tarling. Like the<br />
chorus of a Greek tragedy, they occupy a liminal space<br />
between the actors and the audience, challenging us to<br />
question our role as spectators who do <strong>no</strong>t intervene:<br />
“I don’t k<strong>no</strong>w what you expect to experience, <strong>no</strong>w that<br />
you’ve come to the theatre to see two children killing a third.<br />
So you want to upset yourself with an experience that is<br />
frightening? Disturbing? Moving? Educational? Do you think<br />
it is useful to watch the enactment of two children killing a<br />
third? Do you think you can tell your friends, ‘Last week, I<br />
went to the theatre and saw two children killing a third?’”<br />
This is a play that asks questions, many of which are<br />
unanswerable. It was a brave choice by first-time student<br />
directors Ed Tarling and Phoebe Stratton-Morris, and has<br />
provided the School with one of its most thought-provoking<br />
nights at the theatre.<br />
A View from the Bridge (review by HRB)<br />
Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge is set in Red Hook:<br />
in Miller’s day, a thriving commercial port, and <strong>no</strong>w home<br />
to troubled housing projects and artisanal coffee-shops. <strong>The</strong><br />
play tells the story of a decent, hardworking longshoreman,<br />
Eddie Carbone (played by director Orlando Williams) who<br />
lives in Red Hook with his wife Beatrice (Phoebe Stratton-<br />
Morris) and niece Katherine (Kate Woodman). Trouble<br />
arrives in the form of Beatrice’s cousins, two illegal Italian<br />
immigrants entering the country ‘under the water’ to escape<br />
the poverty and unemployment of post-war Sicily. Marco (Ed<br />
Tarling) is a strong-but-silent type, so he and Eddie get on<br />
fine. However, Eddie is instantly suspicious of the younger<br />
brother, Rodolpho, whose flamboyant disregard for traditional<br />
gender roles sets Eddie’s teeth on edge. Williams’ thrillingly<br />
claustrophobic version, staged in the intimate surroundings of<br />
Quod, translated the action to a mo<strong>no</strong>chrome square – a bit<br />
like a boxing ring, a bit like a prison cell – with the audience<br />
surrounding it on three sides.<br />
<strong>The</strong> intimacy between actors and audience made us all<br />
too complicit in the uncomfortable truth of Eddie’s desire<br />
for Katherine; a desire that leads him to thwart her love<br />
for Rodolpho and ultimately betray his own most deeplyheld<br />
principles. This is a play about passion, ho<strong>no</strong>ur, truth:<br />
challenging ideas for a young cast and director to grapple<br />
with. <strong>The</strong> fact that they did so with such maturity and<br />
commitment is testament both to their talent and to the<br />
genuinely collaborative working relationship they have built<br />
up during their time at Shrewsbury.<br />
Williams’ extraordinary and visceral performance showed<br />
a man who has become a stranger to himself, a paragon<br />
of manhood unmanned and set adrift both by his own<br />
desires and by challenges to his masculine assumptions.<br />
He was ably supported by fellow Lower Sixth Drama<br />
Scholar Phoebe Stratton-Morris, who brought great warmth<br />
and compassion to the role of Beatrice. Ed Pickersgill and<br />
Kate Woodman – both still in the Fourth Form – delivered<br />
extraordinarily confident and nuanced performances as<br />
the star-crossed Katherine and Rodolpho, capturing the<br />
poignancy of first love.
SCHOOL NEWS 35<br />
<strong>The</strong> Greek chorus to this tragedy is the lawyer Alfieri, who<br />
narrates the action from the safety of his office. Thoughtfully<br />
played by Olivia Barnes, Alfieri provides a link between Red<br />
Hook and the outer world, enabling us to escape the intensity<br />
of Eddie’s obsession and see things with perspective. <strong>The</strong><br />
final moment of the production, where Barnes covered the<br />
blood-spattered set with white dust sheets, was an inspired<br />
piece of direction, paying homage to the cyclical nature of<br />
the play.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Extended Project Qualification has provided the<br />
opportunity for a number of fantastic student-directed<br />
performances over the last few years: this stands as one<br />
of the finest, and huge congratulations are due to the cast<br />
and crew.<br />
Murder in the Cathedral (review by RTH)<br />
Last year I wrote that Under Milk Wood had set a new<br />
standard for junior school plays at Shrewsbury School. That<br />
standard has been equalled or exceeded by Heather May’s<br />
latest production, Murder in the Cathedral. It is perhaps<br />
difficult to conceive of a more different setting – from the<br />
distinctly unspiritual gossipy cosiness of Llareggyb, modelled<br />
in miniature in the Ashton <strong>The</strong>atre to the transcendent<br />
vastness of Canterbury Cathedral, for which the School<br />
Chapel did <strong>no</strong>ble duty.<br />
Eliot’s rarely performed verse play charts the events leading<br />
up to the murder of Thomas à Becket in 1170 at the<br />
instigation of Henry II. A reflection of Eliot’s own journey to<br />
faith from the dissatisfied ag<strong>no</strong>stic poet of <strong>The</strong> Waste Land,<br />
written in the immediate aftermath of WW1, to his conversion<br />
to Anglicanism in 1935 – to the dismay and ridicule of<br />
his fashionably ag<strong>no</strong>stic modernist friends – Murder in<br />
the Cathedral is an intensely personal play about spiritual<br />
courage in the face of worldly temptation.<br />
Heather May chose to view the play through the lens of<br />
its creator, interweaving haunting, nihilistic lines from <strong>The</strong><br />
Waste Land (“I will show you fear in a handful of dust”) with<br />
Becket’s unflinching faith, a reflection perhaps of his later<br />
self at the culmination of his spiritual journey. Laurie Morgan<br />
created a compelling persona for the anguished and neurotic<br />
post-WW1 Eliot, struggling to make sense of the devastation<br />
of Europe and its values.<br />
<strong>The</strong> action of the play proper is, on a superficial level at<br />
any rate, relatively straightforward, as various groups –<br />
priests of the cathedral, women of Canterbury, knights,<br />
tempters and eventually the Death Bringers in turn – address<br />
the Archbishop, played with clarity, presence and poise<br />
throughout by Ryan Mupesa. <strong>The</strong> Priests and women of the<br />
town worry for Becket’s safety; four tempters appear and<br />
one by one attempt to persuade Becket of the folly of letting<br />
himself be murdered; Becket delivers a sermon hinting at his<br />
forthcoming death; four knights appear and threaten to kill<br />
him; the knights leave, giving Becket one last chance to flee;<br />
he does <strong>no</strong>t, and is murdered.<br />
In a throwback to the world of <strong>The</strong> Waste Land, both<br />
Rufus Thornhill as a squaddie and Edward Pickersgill as a<br />
general gave compelling performances as tempters, who<br />
in various ways attempt to pull Becket away to a sensuous<br />
and materialistic world. Notable amongst the Women of<br />
Canterbury, commenting on events like the Chorus of a<br />
Greek Tragedy, were Kate Woodman, whose glorious singing<br />
of ‘I vow to thee my country’ was a leitmotif throughout, her<br />
voice simultaneously expressing foreboding and fatalism.<br />
In contrast, Third Form drama scholar Alice Lewis, in<br />
a<strong>no</strong>ther compelling performance, was often a voice of hope,<br />
searching the skies for birdsong and the hope that Spring<br />
will bring regeneration and avert danger. A<strong>no</strong>ther Third<br />
Form drama scholar Hattie Atwood, who opened and closed<br />
the show articulating the fear of the women of Canterbury,<br />
speculating over why they can’t tear their eyes away from<br />
witnessing the impending disaster, with the portentous<br />
opening line ‘Are we drawn by danger?’, produced a<strong>no</strong>ther of<br />
many haunting performances.<br />
Lighting and sound by our resident technicians Adam Wall<br />
and Brad Fenton combined with original music composed<br />
and played by Ivo Winkley to produce a constantly changing<br />
series of often chilling and eerie tableaux hovering between<br />
this world and the next, so that one often felt one was<br />
looking at a series of gorgeously lit medieval paintings.<br />
This was a haunting and challenging play demanding and<br />
receiving total commitment from this young cast of 40, all of<br />
whom clearly sensed they were part of something very special.
36<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
And a might-have-been …<br />
<strong>The</strong> Winslow Boy (Churchill’s Hall)<br />
Two weeks away from performance, Terence Rattigan’s <strong>The</strong><br />
Winslow Boy fell prey to the Summer Term lockdown. This<br />
Churchill’s Hall house play, directed by Richard Hudson and<br />
Rider Hartley was to have brought together House stage<br />
veteran Mungo McLaggan as Arthur Winslow, apprentice<br />
Oscar Niblett as Ronnie Winslow with rising stars Alice Lewis<br />
as Grace Winslow and Suzanna Pearce as Catherine Winslow.<br />
Alas, fate determined otherwise.<br />
National Youth <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
Kate Woodman (M 4) has won a place in the National Youth<br />
<strong>The</strong>atre. This is an extraordinary achievement; thousands<br />
of young people audition every year and only the most<br />
talented and committed are offered a place. Founded<br />
in 1956, the NYT is the world’s foremost youth theatre,<br />
producing exceptional work that tours to the West End and<br />
the Edinburgh Festival. Alumni include Helen Mirren, Daniel<br />
Craig and Daniel Day-Lewis. Kate attended the NYT Summer<br />
course in July, and will then be able to audition for all NYT<br />
productions until she is 25 - so we can look forward to the<br />
next decade of Kate’s performances!<br />
Kate has been a stalwart of Shrewsbury Drama since arriving<br />
as a Drama Scholar in 2018. Her performances have included<br />
Under Milk Wood, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Matter of Life and<br />
Death and Murder in the Cathedral.<br />
And <strong>no</strong>w for something completely different …<br />
A bust of V. I. Lenin <strong>no</strong>w looks over Top Common from the Barnes <strong>The</strong>atre<br />
technician’s office, <strong>no</strong>t as evidence of any political affiliation. In 1977, Gerald<br />
Wilson (R 1967-72) found himself on a work placement in Kiev, then part of<br />
the Soviet Union. He brought back this bust and presented it to his friend and<br />
contemporary, the Editor, as a historical curiosity. <strong>The</strong> bust has lived variously in<br />
the Hudson household on the record-player, where he was frequently mistaken<br />
for a 19th century composer, and for the last 13 years in the Churchill’s Hall<br />
dining room, from where he was annually removed to feature discreetly in every<br />
single one of 12 Churchill’s House plays in the Ashton <strong>The</strong>atre. On his departure<br />
from Churchill’s, RTH has bequeathed the bust to Adam Wall, the theatre<br />
technician, in grateful appreciation for his support over many years.
SCHOOL NEWS 37<br />
A mosaic for Meole Brace Primary School<br />
‘Community’, ‘Respect’, ‘Perseverance’.<br />
Thanks to an exciting collaborative<br />
project led by the Shrewsbury School’s<br />
Creative Arts Group, this is the hopeful<br />
and inspiring message that greets<br />
everyone arriving at Meole Brace<br />
Primary School. Following a very<br />
successful joint project last year when<br />
Shrewsbury School pupils created a<br />
glorious mural for the school hall, the<br />
Creative Arts Group were invited to<br />
create a new piece of artwork that<br />
encapsulated the school’s Christian<br />
ethos and values.<br />
Designed by Shrewsbury’s Head of<br />
Art Lucy Caddel, the artwork takes<br />
the form of a mosaic that Shrewsbury<br />
School students and pupils from Meole<br />
have worked on together. Drawing<br />
inspiration from the words of the<br />
school’s values and its motto ‘Let your<br />
light shine’, but also from the Pre-<br />
Raphaelite stained-glass windows in<br />
nearby Trinity Church and from historic<br />
traditions in mosaic patterns, the design<br />
is both strikingly simple and subtly<br />
complex. “An additional complexity<br />
was that everything had to be drawn<br />
back-to-front and then worked on<br />
upside-down!” Lucy laughs.<br />
“Our students have loved working on<br />
the mosaic with the pupils at Meole<br />
each Thursday after<strong>no</strong>on during the<br />
Easter Term,” says Lucy. “<strong>The</strong>y’ve been<br />
a real credit to Shrewsbury School<br />
and have been brilliant at helping the<br />
younger children and explaining what<br />
to do.”<br />
Hayley Lakin, Deputy Head at Meole<br />
agrees: “Kim Robson, our Art Lead<br />
ensured that children from across<br />
the school took part, resulting in a<br />
truly collaborative mosaic. This was a<br />
fantastic opportunity for our children<br />
to work with the older students at<br />
Shrewsbury School to develop art and<br />
design techniques as well as mosaic<br />
skills.” <strong>The</strong> project inter-wove lots<br />
of cross-curricular learning too, from<br />
tessellation, numeracy and geometry to<br />
ancient history: the techniques used in<br />
creating the mosaic - even the recipe<br />
for making the ‘pasta amido’ glue to<br />
secure the tiles in place – date back to<br />
Roman times.<br />
“We were pleased that part of the<br />
project included training staff at Meole<br />
in mosaic-making, which meant that<br />
they were able to continue working<br />
on the mosaic during the lockdown<br />
with children of key-workers,” Lucy<br />
explains. “Now everyone is looking<br />
forward to the final stage of flipping<br />
the mosaic over into concrete and<br />
grouting it, so that it can be displayed<br />
on a plinth in the entrance garden for<br />
generations to come.”
38 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
A small selection of some recent work<br />
by our Art students, including Lower<br />
Sixth Form oil painting and copperplate<br />
etching workshops led by Mr Gabbitas.<br />
Michaelmas Term <strong>2020</strong> Artwork
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
39<br />
<strong>The</strong> Big Green Draw<br />
During the final week of the first half of Michaelmas<br />
Term, the Art Department encouraged the whole school<br />
to unleash their inner artist and join in with the Big Draw<br />
<strong>2020</strong>. This is a nationwide event designed to inspire<br />
everyone, regardless of age or experience, to get drawing.<br />
Dubbed ‘<strong>The</strong> Big Green Draw’ this year, the theme for<br />
<strong>2020</strong> was ‘A Climate of Change’.<br />
In the Inter-House challenge, pupils and staff representing<br />
each of the 13 Houses were set the task of drawing some of<br />
the magnificent trees around the School Site, using acrylic<br />
paint and broccoli and asparagus as ‘brushes’. All the trees are<br />
part of the ‘Tree Walk’ created by the School’s Natural History<br />
Society last year, and also celebrated in poetry recently by the<br />
Creative Writing Society (see page 30).
40 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Serving the Wider Community<br />
As well as winning the TES <strong>2020</strong> Independent School of the Year award, Shrewsbury is delighted and<br />
ho<strong>no</strong>ured to have received the Community Outreach award. Stuart Cowper, Director of the School’s<br />
outreach programmes, discusses this multi-faceted and constantly expanding area of School life.<br />
Shrewsbury’s recent Independent<br />
Schools of the Year <strong>2020</strong> award for<br />
Community Outreach bears testament<br />
to the culture of kindness that exists<br />
at the School, underpinned by our<br />
educational philosophy and ethos.<br />
Whether cherishing and developing<br />
long-standing projects or moving swiftly<br />
to meet new and pressing challenges<br />
of the day, it is very much within our<br />
DNA to be actively contributing to the<br />
world around us.<br />
Pride of place in our partnerships,<br />
<strong>no</strong>t just because of its remarkable<br />
longevity and history dating back to<br />
its foundation in 1903, is of course our<br />
relationship with Shrewsbury House<br />
(the Shewsy). We work closely together<br />
at leadership and management levels<br />
throughout the year and are constantly<br />
seeking ways to further strengthen<br />
the bond from the perspective of<br />
Shrewsbury students and the young<br />
people who use the club. All year<br />
groups are involved, with visits to and<br />
from the Shewsy, shared residential<br />
programmes planned at Tally for after<br />
COVID-19, Gap year opportunities<br />
<strong>no</strong>w on offer, shared trips to Malawi<br />
in support of the eye clinic there and<br />
a good deal of our annual fundraising<br />
firmly targeted at helping the Shewsy<br />
deliver an ever-wider range of services<br />
to its community. Next year will see<br />
our next whole school sponsored walk<br />
across the beautiful Shropshire hills in<br />
aid of the Shewsy’s work – over fifty<br />
years after the first such event.<br />
All pupils are encouraged to be<br />
involved in meaningful charity<br />
fundraising, volunteering and service<br />
during their school journey. Supported<br />
closely by their teachers, the wider<br />
school staff and <strong>Salopian</strong> community,<br />
fundraising efforts may be done by<br />
individuals either at House or whole<br />
School level. In 2019, over £65,000<br />
was raised for 25+ charities at home<br />
and abroad. Volunteering and service<br />
begin in the Third Year with Duke of<br />
Edinburgh, the BASE Programme and<br />
Outdoor Week. In subsequent years,<br />
increasingly we are finding space<br />
and opportunity in the co-curriculum<br />
for <strong>Salopian</strong>s to contribute to worthy<br />
causes and to those in need of support<br />
in contexts such as the local Food Bank<br />
Plus, hospitals and care homes, charity<br />
shops, local primary schools, refugee<br />
integration and conservation projects.<br />
Our Global Social Leaders have been<br />
creative and dynamic in setting up<br />
and delivering their own projects –<br />
winning the international sustainability<br />
competition in 2018 for their project<br />
‘Refugee Help’.<br />
We are also endeavouring to widen<br />
access to the best of what we offer<br />
at School to the wider community –<br />
whether in the academic, pastoral or<br />
co-curricular spheres. This involves a<br />
blend of doing what we have always
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
41<br />
done, quietly so, and being in the<br />
vanguard of new and exciting projects<br />
in collaboration with new partners.<br />
In the academic sphere many teachers<br />
and departments offer support to local<br />
state school students aiming for highly<br />
competitive courses at top universities as<br />
well as access to lectures, conferences<br />
and societies. We are proud to be in small<br />
select company nationally having secured<br />
a Department for Education Grant<br />
(match-funded by the School) to develop<br />
the next phase of our partnership work<br />
with the Marches Academy Trust in<br />
support of Maths teaching and careers<br />
advice. Working with Imperial College<br />
London and Oundle School we have set<br />
up a STEM Potential project in support<br />
of bright young students across the<br />
country aiming to raise performance and<br />
aspiration. We are working to support<br />
Model United Nations in partner schools.<br />
We are working increasingly to support<br />
trainee teachers, establishing links locally<br />
and in Liverpool with PGCE and Schools<br />
Direct Providers. Many staff have roles<br />
as trustees or gover<strong>no</strong>rs in local state<br />
primaries and secondaries.<br />
In the pastoral sphere we are sharing<br />
ideas in support of those with SEND<br />
(Special Educational needs and<br />
Disability) needs and are exploring<br />
ways of sharing training to promote<br />
student welfare. During the first months<br />
of the COVID lockdown we provided<br />
and manufactured PPE for GP surgeries,<br />
care homes and local hospitals. Many<br />
staff and students volunteered to<br />
support the NHS and its work, and the<br />
School was available if needed to help<br />
with accommodation for key workers.<br />
In the co-curricular sphere music<br />
remains strong in the community.<br />
Dating back to the 1950s, the<br />
Community Choir thrives today, and<br />
the general public is able to enjoy a<br />
wide range of concerts on site or in<br />
local venues. In recent times ‘Symphonic<br />
Sundays’ have brought together local<br />
youngsters to play and to perform<br />
together when otherwise opportunity<br />
would be limited. Our ‘Thursday<br />
Concert Party’ has brought music and<br />
entertainment into the lives of local<br />
school children and residents of care<br />
homes – both live and, scaling things<br />
up using tech<strong>no</strong>logy, remotely, as the<br />
pandemic closed off visits to protect<br />
the vulnerable elderly. In art, as well as<br />
working in local primaries throughout<br />
term, the national ‘Big Draw’ event<br />
is <strong>no</strong>w offered to local state school<br />
primaries bringing youngsters on site<br />
to partake in a wonderful carousel of<br />
creative activities on offer – including, last<br />
year, alpacas and robots amongst other<br />
things. In sport we look to widen access<br />
to our wonderful indoor and outdoor<br />
facilities with access to the cricket school,<br />
astro turfs, squash courts and more. We<br />
have extended our Dedicated Athletes<br />
Programme to ambitious and talented<br />
sportsmen and sportswomen from<br />
local schools – all in support of their<br />
development as athletes.<br />
What is impressive beyond the range<br />
and quality of what is already being<br />
delivered and has been mentioned<br />
above is the amount of goodwill<br />
towards this area of our work. Within<br />
the School, it’s a source of pride that<br />
pupils, teachers and support staff are<br />
all enthusiastic about and committed<br />
to our partnership and community<br />
outreach work – thinking about how<br />
to make things happen for maximum<br />
mutual benefit. Our many partners are<br />
similarly positive and engaged, working<br />
hard with us in strong collaboration.<br />
Together a huge amount of great work<br />
is taking place – and much more is in<br />
the pipeline.
42<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Shrewsbury House (‘<strong>The</strong> Shewsy’)<br />
Three Shewsy Junior Club members enjoying playing in the park just by the Shewsy, hanging on in there and socially distanced!<br />
Positive, good relationships are at the heart of what the<br />
Shewsy is about. And the Coronavirus pandemic of<br />
<strong>2020</strong> can’t take those away. So the Shewsy staff team has<br />
had a WhatsApp group working all the way through these<br />
last months, keeping each other in touch with what we can<br />
do. And it’s a supportive, understanding, caring team led<br />
by Youth Worker and Team Leader John Dumbell, assisted<br />
by Nicola Coker and our team of sessional workers and<br />
volunteers. <strong>The</strong>re has been great unity, resilience, honesty<br />
and humour, and those qualities are so vital to a successful<br />
Shewsy staff team.<br />
During the first lockdown, what was possible was some<br />
excellent building refurbishment work and sorting out of<br />
equipment (including new equipment such as the gift from<br />
Toni Duggan, pictured below), alongside social media contact<br />
with the young people, Instagram postings and quizzes,<br />
Twitter advice and updates.<br />
In the most recent lockdown, Youth and Community Centres<br />
like the Shewsy have been happily able to work with small<br />
vulnerable bubble groups: a possible helpful re-set during<br />
the pandemic has been a growing realisation of the deep<br />
importance of quality youth work. <strong>The</strong>re has been a very<br />
welcome Government promise of funding for the Youth<br />
Service, including for capital and refurbishment work on<br />
buildings and facilities.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Shewsy flourishes as relationships between youth<br />
workers and young people are strong, genuine, respectful,<br />
engaging. And that is certainly the case at the moment, as<br />
queues – socially distanced, of course – formed outside the<br />
Club when we were able to re-open in the summer; that is a<br />
lovely tribute to John, Nicola and the team.<br />
Structures matter as well as relationships, and the Shewsy is<br />
at the moment in the process of seeking to simplify helpfully<br />
our structures, with good consultation with both Members<br />
and our Board of Management. <strong>The</strong> partnership of local<br />
Everton people, Shrewsbury School, St Peter’s Church and<br />
the Diocese of Liverpool will remain importantly in place<br />
in any new proposed structure, and it is interesting too that<br />
partnership has become an increasingly appreciated word<br />
and reality in the recent pressurised times. Our partnership<br />
arrangement goes back to the founding of the Shewsy in<br />
1903.<br />
So for 20<strong>21</strong>, may both relationships and structures enable<br />
the Shewsy to continue to serve the young people and the<br />
community of Everton, Shrewsbury and beyond, and many<br />
thanks to the <strong>Salopian</strong> Community for your interest and support.<br />
Henry Corbett, Warden Shrewsbury House<br />
Former club member and helper, Toni Duggan, England Women’s football<br />
international and <strong>no</strong>w playing for Atletico Madrid’s women’s football team, is<br />
pictured in the Club after donating this Teqball table to the Shewsy this year.
SCHOOL NEWS 43<br />
Supporting the Ankawa Foundation in Iraq<br />
Dr Helen Brown describes how Shrewsbury School staff have worked voluntarily<br />
with the Ankawa Foundation to support young Iraqi graduates to work in schools.<br />
Former Head of Spanish Trish Henderson and I travelled<br />
to Iraq, the summer of 2019, to deliver a teacher training<br />
programme for a UK-based charity, the Ankawa Foundation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ankawa Foundation (AF) works within communities<br />
in Northern Iraq, providing funds and expertise to local<br />
initiatives supporting refugees and Internally Displaced<br />
Persons (IDPs) in this war-torn corner of the world.<br />
<strong>The</strong> summer school project was intended to train young<br />
Iraqi graduates to work in schools. Iraq has <strong>no</strong> teaching<br />
qualification, and the education of millions has been severely<br />
disrupted by the last three decades of conflict. At the same<br />
time, many young people have been through horrific trauma<br />
and are dealing with long-term mental health issues arising<br />
from their experience of violence and instability.<br />
We were able to offer bespoke mentoring to Iraqi<br />
teachers in PE, English, Maths and Art & Design, as well<br />
as providing lectures and seminars in pedagogy and<br />
educational philosophy. <strong>The</strong> Iraqi teachers with whom we<br />
worked were all eager to improve their teaching practice<br />
and were hugely grateful to all those who helped them<br />
plan lessons and develop strategies for safeguarding and<br />
behaviour management.<br />
Rasha – who fled from Baghdad during the insurgency –<br />
told us that “We are so touched that teachers in England are<br />
standing beside us. It helps us feel that we are <strong>no</strong>t alone.”<br />
We planned to return in <strong>2020</strong>, continuing to mentor<br />
the teachers we trained last summer and rolling out the<br />
programme to more schools across Erbil. <strong>The</strong> global<br />
pandemic made this impossible. However, undaunted, AF<br />
decided that we would offer the same programme remotely.<br />
In the spring, I appealed to the Shrewsbury School<br />
Common Room for volunteers and was overwhelmed by<br />
the generosity of the response. Seven Shrewsbury teachers<br />
took part in the project, giving up two weeks of their<br />
summer holiday to offer their expertise: Maurice Walters,<br />
Toby Percival, Lauren Temple, Heather May, Revd Andy<br />
Keulemans, Anita Wyatt and Naomi Pritchard.
44<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
RSSBC<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>2020</strong> rowing season broke all the wrong type of<br />
records and while it is easy to let the frustration of<br />
cancelled events, trips and a very flooded River Severn take<br />
the headlines, it is important to celebrate the time we did get<br />
to enjoy on and off the water with the Boat Club.<br />
<strong>The</strong> annual Boat Club Dinner held in September 2019<br />
provided the Club with a very different presentation. <strong>The</strong><br />
Boat Club was extremely privileged to be joined by Gerry<br />
Lander, the son of former Captain of Boats, John Lander, who<br />
left the School in 1926. Gerry spoke from the heart of his<br />
experience growing up after his father died fighting in the<br />
Hong Kong Defence Force Artillery prior to their surrender<br />
to the Japanese in 1941. It was amazing to hear Gerry’s story<br />
and about the significant achievements John had whilst at<br />
the School (including winning the Ladies Challenge Plate in<br />
1924) and at Cambridge University with a further four Henley<br />
wins and a gold medal at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. <strong>The</strong><br />
Boat Club is ho<strong>no</strong>ured to have been presented with these<br />
medals, along with the war medals awarded to John for his<br />
service in the Second World War, which will be displayed for<br />
the benefit of all those that pass through the school gates, to<br />
appreciate what has gone before them and hopefully inspire<br />
future generations of <strong>Salopian</strong>s.<br />
spirits of the crews. <strong>The</strong> results were secondary to building up race<br />
experience, but it was fantastic to see one of the J15 boys’ fours<br />
coming out 1st in a field of eleven crews. <strong>The</strong> J16 coxed fours came<br />
in 4th out of eight crews in J18 4+ and 2nd out of six in J16 4+. <strong>The</strong><br />
J15 girls achieved in 3rd in the four and 6th in the quad, with the<br />
J15 boys’ quad also coming 3rd.<br />
Over the October half-term the Club travelled to Lac du Causse<br />
near Brive la Gaillarde in France for a week-long small boats<br />
training camp. With few distractions and plenty of quality time<br />
on the water, all those who attended made significant progress.<br />
<strong>The</strong> week ended with some racing and a chance for the rowers<br />
to put their recent technical progression to the test.<br />
Shortly after half-term, six Shrewsbury crews took to the<br />
water at the annual Fours Head of the River on the Tideway<br />
course in London. <strong>The</strong> event was reduced slightly in size<br />
from the original 450 crews in the draw due to the expected<br />
adverse weather conditions. Fortunately the weather held out<br />
for a great after<strong>no</strong>on of racing, with all six crews putting in<br />
strong performances. <strong>The</strong> Senior boys’ crews came 3rd and<br />
6th in the Junior Fours category, the Senior boys’ quad came<br />
13th in a strong field, and the Senior girls came 9th, 12th and<br />
15th out of 24.<br />
Fours Head Girls Quad<br />
Our guest speaker was <strong>no</strong> stranger to the Club, as Rebecca<br />
Romero (current 2nd VIII Coach) provided unique insight into<br />
what drove her and the challenges she faced in realising the<br />
unique and phe<strong>no</strong>menal achievement of winning Olympic gold<br />
and silver in two different endurance sports. Rebecca’s success<br />
in winning silver in the Women’s Quad in Athens in 2004 and<br />
gold in the Individual Pursuit in track cycling in Beijing in 2008 is<br />
mind-blowing. Her drive and determination were clearly evident<br />
as she spoke and shared some of the key traits she utilised in<br />
high pressure situations.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first head race of the season saw J15s and J16s travel to<br />
Bedford to race at the Autumn Head. <strong>The</strong> event took place in<br />
driving rain throughout the day that did little to dampen the<br />
Fours Head coxed four<br />
In November we hosted the Grange School in our first ever<br />
fixture of the inaugural Girls’ School Cup, which should have<br />
seen match racing between girls’ crews from around the<br />
country to culminate in a final event in the summer. It was<br />
great to be able to get out on the river after a challenging<br />
few weeks and test whether all the land training had been<br />
productive. Crews raced numerous times, with the Sixth<br />
Form girls racing in two coxless quads, the J16s in two<br />
coxed quads and the J15s in an octuple. <strong>The</strong> results saw
SCHOOL NEWS 45<br />
Grange Match J15 Girls<br />
Grange Match Senior Girls<br />
Grange Match Senior Girls<br />
Grange Match<br />
Shrewsbury narrowly win 3:2 in what was a fun after<strong>no</strong>on for<br />
all involved.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Boat Club took 50 J15 rowers to race in the Head of the<br />
Float held in the Liverpool Docks at the end of November.<br />
<strong>The</strong> weather was kind in comparison with Bedford and it<br />
was great to get all the J15s out racing. Unfortunately, due<br />
to shipping operations, the event didn’t run to time which<br />
meant the crews didn’t compete in all the events planned but<br />
J15 Boys<br />
Head of the Float<br />
had a good run in those they did race in. <strong>The</strong> boys won J17<br />
Eights and the girls won J15 Octuples.<br />
January and February saw training significantly hampered<br />
by extreme river conditions, as the Severn rose to its highest<br />
J15 Boys
46<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
J16 VIII<br />
mark in 20 years. In anticipation of flooding, some of the<br />
boats had been loaded onto trailers which allowed the senior<br />
boys and girls to travel to the River Dee to get some time<br />
out on the water, kindly hosted by King’s Chester and Royal<br />
Chester. <strong>The</strong> J15s continued to enjoy getting out on the water<br />
in small boats at Bomere while the Severn rose to head<br />
height at the bay doors.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Boat Club only had one chance to race at the start of<br />
<strong>2020</strong>, sending the J16s and Seniors to the Wycliffe Big Head.<br />
It was great to see a provisional 1st VIII taking to the water<br />
on the Gloucester Berkeley Canal and dominating the field,<br />
winning the first division overall. <strong>The</strong>y were the fastest crew<br />
out of 17 J18 and Senior Men’s eights, including some strong<br />
competition from schools such as Abingdon, Radley, St<br />
Edward’s and Shiplake.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Senior girls and J16s weren’t to be outdone and despite<br />
the Senior girls racing in mixed boats, they won the Women’s<br />
Coxless Quad event. J16 boys won their event with an<br />
impressive row, ten seconds clear of their nearest competition<br />
from Radley.<br />
Sadly, for all involved, the racing season ended there, with<br />
all further events cancelled due to the COVID-19 restrictions.<br />
While the racing stopped, the training did <strong>no</strong>t, with millions<br />
of metres covered on bikes, ergos and on foot as the boys<br />
and girls rose to the various challenges set over lockdown.<br />
One of the challenges set to the athletes and coaches was<br />
to ‘Conquer the Severn’ by completing 354km by running,<br />
rowing or cycling the distance (cycled distance was halved).<br />
Whilst the coaches took a more measured approach of<br />
covering the distance over six weeks, there were some<br />
phe<strong>no</strong>menal feats from five of the rowers (Dan Grinnall,<br />
Sophia Urquhart, James Crews, Tim Manka and George<br />
Bramwell) who completed the distance in under three weeks.<br />
It is at this point in every ‘<strong>no</strong>rmal’ year where I would be<br />
writing of the successes or disappointments that go hand<br />
in hand with a Henley Royal Regatta campaign. Whilst it<br />
would be foolish to try and predict an outcome, what I can<br />
say with certainty is that our 1st VIII and 1st Quad would<br />
have been hard to beat and have rightly earned their names<br />
on the ceiling of the Boathouse among the generations that<br />
have come before them. We celebrate our departing Upper<br />
Sixth rowers and wish them every success for the future. <strong>The</strong><br />
Sabrina Club welcomes them with open arms to continue<br />
their journey with the sport we love.<br />
Athol Hundermark
RSSBC Training Camp at Lac du Causse, France<br />
SCHOOL NEWS 47
48<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Rugby<br />
1st XV:<br />
Played Won Drawn Lost Points For Points Against Points Difference<br />
15 9 0 6 357 374 -17<br />
What I will remember most about<br />
this season is the effort and<br />
resolve that the boys demonstrated<br />
throughout every training session and<br />
fixture. It was always difficult living<br />
in the shadow of the previous year,<br />
but as the boys began to find their<br />
own way of playing they were able to<br />
put together a new style of play that<br />
worked for them. A lot of the drive<br />
came from the leadership team who<br />
deserve credit for pulling the boys<br />
together: skipper Jack Goodall, and<br />
vice-captains Frank Mansell, Oli Shutts,<br />
and Will Stanford-Davis.<br />
<strong>The</strong> season got off to a positive start<br />
in the sunshine of September as the<br />
whole squad put on a tremendous<br />
performance to defeat Oswestry 45-0.<br />
With the ball spread wide, and Bilal<br />
Khan showing off his pace and power,<br />
it looked as though the season would<br />
be rosy. <strong>The</strong> squad was brought swiftly<br />
back to earth with a stuttering display<br />
against Wrekin, with a try in the last<br />
minute of the game handing victory to<br />
our fiercest rivals. Worse was to come,<br />
as a shoddy display in the national<br />
cup against Bishop Heber saw the side<br />
concede a number of soft tries on the<br />
road to a dismal 52-17 loss. <strong>The</strong> team<br />
were struggling, and at the end of the<br />
first half of the next game against King<br />
Edward VI Five Ways it looked as if<br />
the side would once again capitulate to<br />
a<strong>no</strong>ther drubbing.<br />
And then, suddenly the team started to<br />
find some belief. Whether that came<br />
from the tremendous go forwards<br />
of Jamie Catto and George Daly, the<br />
sniping runs of Henry Davies, or the<br />
tackling prowess of Jonjo Wood, the<br />
team started to show some grit and<br />
determination. Having been 30 points<br />
adrift at half time, the team had scored<br />
24 in the second half, and from this<br />
point the season changed. In training<br />
the boys worked harder, jostling each<br />
other to improve, and they began<br />
to enjoy their sessions much more.<br />
Skipper Goodall maintained a positive<br />
outlook, but more leaders started
SCHOOL NEWS 49<br />
to crawl out of the woodwork and<br />
support him, with Nathan Mielczarek,<br />
Henry Davies, Harry Sutherland and<br />
Jamie Catto setting examples for the<br />
squad.<br />
<strong>The</strong> next four games were excellent<br />
victories, most importantly in the return<br />
fixture with Wrekin College (22-17).<br />
Through the rest of the season there<br />
may have been losses, but the boys<br />
always played with their hearts on<br />
their sleeves, showing the grit and<br />
determination that one would expect<br />
from a <strong>Salopian</strong> rugby player. <strong>The</strong><br />
highlight was probably the superb<br />
game against local rivals Adams’<br />
Grammar School (19-10), but the final<br />
game away on the 3G pitch against<br />
Warwick 2nd XV will live long in the<br />
memory. <strong>The</strong> superb surface offered<br />
us the speed of game that suited our<br />
game style, and it was an incredibly<br />
fast-paced match. Both sides enjoyed<br />
throwing the ball wide, and with endto-end<br />
action, Shrewsbury ran away the<br />
winners at 28-22.<br />
It was a pity that at the end of the<br />
15-a-side season, the onset of COVID<br />
cut short the sevens programme. <strong>The</strong><br />
boys had worked incredibly hard, and<br />
it was ‘gutting’ that we did <strong>no</strong>t have the<br />
chance to take them down to Rosslyn<br />
Park. Hopefully the boys will be able<br />
to get together with the Old <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
Rugby Club in the future and make up<br />
for lost opportunities.<br />
At the end of a season like this, it is<br />
always difficult to offer everyone the<br />
credit in print that they deserve. This<br />
is especially difficult <strong>no</strong>wadays, when<br />
all the squad players routinely give so<br />
much. Indeed, over 30 players have<br />
represented the Shrewsbury 1st XV<br />
this season, which shows <strong>no</strong>t only the<br />
strength of depth in the School, but<br />
also the development strides that have<br />
been made.<br />
It is fitting that at the end of five years<br />
at the School, I do say a few words<br />
about the leavers.<br />
• Jack Goodall has been a tremendous<br />
asset to Shrewsbury rugby, and through<br />
the year his leadership developed<br />
impressively. With a strong pass from<br />
breakdown he offered the fly-halves<br />
time with the ball, and he will be sorely<br />
missed next season.<br />
• Frank Mansell was a joy to watch<br />
at first receiver, for he took the ball to<br />
the game-line, and passed the ball late;<br />
a brave option, but one that opened<br />
holes for his teammates.<br />
• Jamie Catto certainly made up for<br />
a missed season at Lower Sixth, using<br />
his bulk to smash chunks out of the<br />
opposition. Never one to step forwards,<br />
his aggressive defence consistently won<br />
us ball, and his ability to put us on the<br />
front foot dragged us back into many<br />
games.<br />
• Harry Sutherland is one of those<br />
players you always want – capable of<br />
playing anywhere on the park, and<br />
happy to do anything asked of him.<br />
A second row playing in the centres,<br />
Harry quickly learned about backline<br />
positioning, and his centre defence and<br />
ability to pass out of the tackle was<br />
superb to watch.<br />
• Henry Davies was a player who<br />
played well above his weight division.<br />
Perhaps the slightest hooker in U18<br />
history, Henry’s grit and support<br />
play were second to <strong>no</strong>ne. Probably<br />
the team’s highest try-scorer across<br />
the season as he was always on the<br />
shoulders of any line break. A superb<br />
season.<br />
• <strong>The</strong> sight of Bilal Khan charging<br />
down his wing was e<strong>no</strong>ugh to scare<br />
the daylights out of most of the wingers<br />
that he came up against. <strong>The</strong> school<br />
shirts appeared to be spray-painted<br />
on to Bilal, such was the time that<br />
he spent in the gym, but that did <strong>no</strong>t<br />
curtail his speed, and he scored many a<br />
devastating try over the season.<br />
• George Daly had such an engine<br />
that he just kept on running throughout<br />
games. Happy to get stuck into the<br />
dirty work, George developed his game<br />
to such an extent that he became one<br />
of the first names on the team sheet.<br />
• Nathan Mielczarek was a hardened<br />
back row, who never backed down,<br />
and put his heart and soul into his<br />
rugby.<br />
• On his day Oli Shutts was a hugely<br />
destructive player, capable of blowing<br />
holes through the opposition pack. It<br />
was a pity that injury issues curtailed<br />
his season.<br />
• Will Madden moved up from the<br />
river in the first term, and was quick<br />
to pick up his rugby skills. By the end<br />
of the season he had built a place in<br />
the first team, with his hard graft and<br />
excellent fitness a great asset to the<br />
team.<br />
• Harvey Rowlinson worked hard to<br />
win a place in the team, and put in a<br />
number of strong performances across<br />
the season, providing power in the<br />
engine room of the second row.<br />
• Frankie McLaughlin returned from<br />
a broken collar bone to show his skills<br />
once again, and at would have <strong>no</strong><br />
doubt thrived during the sevens season<br />
if he had been given the opportunity.<br />
Throughout the season the boys<br />
have benefitted from the work of<br />
the Shrewsbury staff and several<br />
external coaches who have given huge<br />
amounts of their time to aid the boys’<br />
development. My thanks go to Peter<br />
Cook, Norman Stalker, Chris Wain,<br />
Rhodri Evans and Steve Rintoul.<br />
Chris Cook
50<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
U15<br />
v Birkenhead A lost 19 – 34<br />
v Adams’ Grammar A won 5 – 0<br />
v Oswestry School H won 32 – 24<br />
v Lacon Childe H won 45 – 0 County Cup R1<br />
v Abraham Derby A won 31 – 0 County Cup R2<br />
v Meole Brace A draw 5 – 5<br />
v Adams’ Grammar A cancelled County Cup SF<br />
A tough start to the season with a trip<br />
up to Birkenhead School. <strong>The</strong>y were<br />
well into their season and sped to<br />
a 20-0 half time lead. Ryan Mupesa<br />
made one searing break up the hill<br />
but was caught short and a long way<br />
from his support. <strong>The</strong> second half<br />
saw Shrewsbury settle as a team. Two<br />
lovely breaks from Tom Griffin saw him<br />
collect a brace of tries and Jack Sheldon<br />
broke from a maul following a line-out<br />
to outstrip the cover defence for a<br />
fine try. Nevertheless, a defeat meant<br />
there was plenty of work to be done<br />
on securing balls in the ruck before<br />
the following week’s match at Adams’<br />
Grammar School.<br />
This became the battle of Newport as<br />
Shrewsbury fought to take advantage of<br />
the sloping pitch. John Williams stood<br />
out for his weaving runs and he made<br />
good ground, but there was <strong>no</strong> score<br />
at half time. <strong>The</strong> team rose to the uphill<br />
challenge in the second half. We started<br />
well and Ed Dale sneaked over from<br />
the base of a ruck to score after five<br />
minutes. It required a massive defensive<br />
effort to keep them out for the rest of<br />
the match. <strong>The</strong> rucking was excellent,<br />
and we won the ball countless times.<br />
Caesar Supple and George Stanford-<br />
Davis drove hard and made good<br />
ground as we battled to escape from<br />
our own 22. Tom Griffin stood out in<br />
the backs and Orlando Bayliss had a<br />
great game at full-back. Shrewsbury<br />
returned home having held out proudly<br />
for a 5-0 victory.<br />
A mix and match game soon followed<br />
as Oswestry School brought a<br />
combined U15/14 side. Shrewsbury<br />
dominated the first half leading 22-0<br />
at half time. A great debut by Tim<br />
Soontornpoj was the highlight as<br />
he looked sharp every time he had<br />
the ball. Switching players with the<br />
U14s gave Oswestry hope but U15<br />
reinforcements in the centres steadied<br />
the ship before Shrewsbury scored the<br />
final try to seal the match 32-24.<br />
Lacon Childe School arrived in the<br />
first round of the County Cup and<br />
Shrewsbury once again showed their<br />
dominance as Morgan Matthews, John<br />
Anthony Leigh Livingstone, Albert<br />
Moores and Will Corbett chipped in<br />
with their first tries of the year. Freddie<br />
Greenwell made some outstanding<br />
runs and timed passes to perfection to<br />
allow others to score. Ed Carryer also<br />
demonstrated that he can create space<br />
as Harry Harnaman was able to exploit<br />
the space that Carryer created. A 45-0<br />
score line underlined the dominance.<br />
A wet February meant fixtures were<br />
cancelled and it was nearly a month<br />
before the team got to play again<br />
as they travelled to Telford to take<br />
on Abraham Derby School in the<br />
next round of the Cup. Seb Powell,<br />
Will Unsworth and Jack Sheldon (2)<br />
contributed with tries that highlighted<br />
that this game was won by the<br />
forwards, Archie Barlow orchestrating<br />
the play from No.10 as Shrewsbury<br />
settled into their game and pods of<br />
forwards smashed into the opposition.<br />
<strong>The</strong> game finished early with a nasty<br />
injury to a home player as Shrewsbury<br />
marched on with a victory by 31 points.<br />
Once again, inclement weather meant<br />
the season was put on hold as fixtures<br />
were cancelled and <strong>no</strong>body was<br />
allowed anywhere near the grass.<br />
With the Cup semi-final approaching,<br />
a quickly arranged match with our<br />
friends at Meole Brace School was the<br />
ideal preparation. Vladimir Polyntsov<br />
was rewarded for some excellent<br />
work on the astroturf following his<br />
recovery from a broken thumb as he<br />
stepped into the team. Will James and<br />
Will Goodall continued to fight for the<br />
starting place in the semi-final side as<br />
they guided play from the breakdowns.<br />
Johnny Fielden also looked to take his<br />
opportunity with some nice runs, but it<br />
took a lovely break from Ryan Mupesa<br />
to achieve the only score in a 5–5 draw.<br />
Preparation stepped up for the second<br />
battle of Newport as Shrewsbury<br />
were drawn to visit Adams’ again in<br />
the County Cup semi-final. <strong>The</strong>n, the<br />
whole world stopped for the COVID-19<br />
lockdown, and the rest is history.<br />
Mark Roberts<br />
U14s<br />
A disrupted season, but a lot of<br />
progress was made and competition<br />
for places was rife. We regularly<br />
fielded two teams at U14 level and<br />
saw the squad gel, recognising the<br />
importance of teammates, whether<br />
they were established and experienced<br />
A team players or developing B team<br />
ones. We started with a bang, clinging<br />
onto a narrow and nail-biting win<br />
against Birkenhead School, who had<br />
been playing together the previous<br />
term. <strong>The</strong> season ended early with a<br />
good win over neighbours Oswestry.<br />
<strong>The</strong> twins Hugo and Todd, playing<br />
fundamentally different roles on the<br />
pitch, one at prop and the other on<br />
the wing, were useful ball carriers<br />
and got us going forward often. You’ll<br />
have to ask them who scored the most<br />
tries! <strong>The</strong>eka Niumpradit is one of<br />
the best and fiercest tacklers we have<br />
come across and he loved clattering<br />
knees together all over the pitch. Tom<br />
Paine and Tom Brown showed a lot of<br />
experience, pace and power at scrumhalf<br />
and in the centres and look like<br />
very promising players for the future<br />
indeed. We also have to say thank you<br />
to coach Steve; the experience and<br />
patience he shows in training and on<br />
match day is unrivalled.<br />
Morgan Bird
SCHOOL NEWS 51<br />
Looking towards Caer Caradoc<br />
With a wealth of talent in the Upper Sixth this year, the<br />
season of 2019-20 was one we had earmarked as long as<br />
three years ago as a potential high-point, with some excellent<br />
support from younger years coming through. It was also a year<br />
in which we were determined to offer a<strong>no</strong>ther exciting trip to<br />
East Africa, having had to scale back our ambitions in 2017 due<br />
to some political turmoil in Kenya at the time. Now, with a very<br />
strong team and a wonderful itinerary planned, we were sure<br />
that this could provide the springboard to some very successful<br />
performances in the Lent term.<br />
<strong>The</strong> season started, as always, with the Third Form Race, with<br />
some good potential on show in the form of Brad Keay (R)<br />
who took the individual win for the boys, ahead of a hugely<br />
successful pack of Port Hill runners who managed to take<br />
five of the next ten places and secure first place in the team<br />
event with only 39 points. It didn’t appear to be a vintage<br />
year for the girls, who came through a little slower than in<br />
the previous couple of years, but it was a good showing from<br />
Emily Windsor Clive (EDH) to take the win, which helped<br />
Emma Darwin Hall to maintain a very strong record in this<br />
event, winning by a single point ahead of Moser’s.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Tucks race was staged in considerably more favourable<br />
conditions from the previous year, which was very nearly<br />
postponed due to heavy winds. This time around there were<br />
<strong>no</strong> such dramas and we were treated to some beautiful<br />
autumnal sunshine at Attingham Park, only the second time<br />
we had hosted the race at this new venue. Sam Western (S)<br />
successfully defended his title from the previous year, but<br />
probably the biggest story of the day was the silver medal<br />
achieved by Will Singleton (R) in perhaps the finest-ever<br />
performance by a Fourth Former in Tucks history. <strong>The</strong><br />
girls’ race was once again won by Chessy Harris (EDH),<br />
making it four wins from four – an incredible achievement.<br />
Rigg’s also managed to maintain a similar string of success,<br />
defending the team title for the fourth year running. <strong>The</strong><br />
Grove managed to win the girls’ race, despite Emma Darwin<br />
taking all three podium positions. <strong>The</strong> Grove managed<br />
to claim every position from 5th to 12th in a phe<strong>no</strong>menal<br />
display of team running. A new House trophy was awarded<br />
to the House with the best average position across its top 50<br />
finishers, and this went to Churchill’s Hall in the boys’ race,<br />
and Emma Darwin Hall for the girls.<br />
RSSH<br />
In late November we once again hosted the Old <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
Hunt for our annual race, which saw a good turn-out,<br />
including some recent leavers. Ed Mallet (OS, Severn Hill)<br />
set an electric pace at the front that <strong>no</strong> one could match<br />
for very long, and eventually won at a canter in a very<br />
impressive display. Sam Western took the silver medal, ahead<br />
of Harrison Cutler in third. Chessy chalked up a<strong>no</strong>ther win,<br />
claiming the Peter Middleton Trophy, a new addition this<br />
year. It was a<strong>no</strong>ther warm and friendly race between Hunt<br />
runners past and present, and a great opportunity to catch up<br />
with old friends.<br />
Our U15 boys put in a good cup run in the ESAA Cross<br />
Country Cup, reaching the national final via a dominant<br />
display in the regional round. <strong>The</strong> final didn’t quite go to<br />
plan, with Archie Collings (Rb) lost to an injury just before<br />
the race, and Ben Weston (R) having to run through a painful<br />
foot injury. Nevertheless, Will Singleton gained our first topten<br />
spot for seven years, helping us to 14th position overall,<br />
which given our injuries was a very satisfying result.<br />
As term reached its climax in the final week before Christmas,<br />
the Paperchases saw a great display of cross country running<br />
and House spirit, held on a bright but cold Friday after<strong>no</strong>on<br />
in early December. Sam Western once again took the gold for<br />
the boys, finishing a good 30 seconds ahead of his nearest<br />
rival Harrison Cutler (R), who as a Fifth Former was showing<br />
signs that he was coming into some serious form just in time<br />
for the K<strong>no</strong>le and Coventry races in January and February.<br />
Oscar Hamilton-Russell (R) took third, a<strong>no</strong>ther 30 seconds<br />
or so behind Harrison. <strong>The</strong> girls’ race was reliably won by<br />
Chessy, around 90 seconds ahead of Livy Elliott (EDH), with<br />
Anna Cowan (MSH) taking third <strong>no</strong>t very far behind. <strong>The</strong><br />
Grove once again managed to pack in well and take the team<br />
trophy, despite again failing to claim any of the individual<br />
podium spots. <strong>The</strong> U15 House race was won confidently<br />
by Brad Keay, ahead of Tim Strebel (I) and Hamish Griffiths<br />
(PH) – all Third Formers of great promise for the future. In<br />
the girls’ race, Eva Hall (G) took the gold, ahead of Eloise<br />
Jones (MSH) and Irina Linger (G).<br />
<strong>The</strong> K<strong>no</strong>le Run is one of the two biggest moments in our<br />
season. Falling in mid-January and after our preparations<br />
before Christmas, we were feeling confident of a good team<br />
display. However, we had lost Oscar to an ankle injury on
52<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Sam Western in the K<strong>no</strong>le<br />
the day before term started, and Sam Western had come down<br />
with a severe cold the week before the race, so we knew it<br />
would be difficult to challenge at the very top. Sam set off<br />
gainfully at the head of the leading pack in the first lap, but<br />
quickly realised that he hadn’t yet recovered from his illness<br />
and slipped back out of contention in the second lap. Will<br />
Singleton ran a masterful race however, passing Sam and<br />
picking up several other places in a second half which saw<br />
him climb from about 15th up to his final position of 7th –<br />
quite incredible given his age. His efforts – alongside those<br />
of Sam (18th), Max Green (28th), Harrison Cutler (35th), Will<br />
Owen (39th) and Orlando Williams (40th) – were e<strong>no</strong>ugh to<br />
secure for us 3rd place. Chessy Harris ran terrifically well to<br />
manage 5th place in the girls’ race, helping us to 9th place as a<br />
team, which marks our best turn-out here for a while.<br />
My wife having gone into labour that morning, I was unable<br />
to attend the King Henry VIII Relays in early February (it was<br />
a tough call), but this proved to be as exciting a race as ever.<br />
With Oscar still injured, we knew our chances of a podium<br />
finish were distant, but it was nevertheless a strong team which<br />
made the trip. Harrison Cutler took on the opening leg, and<br />
ran a very strong time of 12:12, keeping us well in contention<br />
among the head of the field. Max Green (I) ran the second<br />
leg in 12:39, marking a fantastic moment for him and keeping<br />
us amongst the top ten or so. Tom Jackson (R) matched this<br />
Pack<br />
time in the third leg, before Paddy Barlow (R) did exactly what<br />
he needed to do with a time of 12:50 (he had been hoping<br />
to break 13 minutes), but we were around 9th place at this<br />
point. Will Singleton then blistered through the field in 12:06,<br />
passing three runners and teeing us up for an anchor leg by<br />
Huntsman Sam Western, who posted the eighth-fastest time of<br />
the day in an astonishing 11:41 and claiming 5th place overall.<br />
Our B team also ran very strongly, taking 19th place with three<br />
runners finishing inside 13 minutes. <strong>The</strong> girls also performed<br />
admirably, taking 14th place with Chessy running the joint-<br />
10th-fastest time of the day in 13:52.<br />
Unfortunately, with COVID gathering momentum at the end<br />
of the Lent Term, this proved to be our last significant outing<br />
as a club. Nevertheless, during the Summer Term our runners<br />
were keen to maintain their fitness and checked in regularly<br />
via Zoom to chat about their progress. We were able to get<br />
almost everyone together in one mass-meeting online in June<br />
to say goodbye to our leavers, and in particular to thank our<br />
Huntsman Sam Western, Huntswoman Francesca Harris, Senior<br />
Whip Tom Jackson, Junior Whip Paddy Barlow, and Girls<br />
Whip Anna Cowan. We very much hope to be able to invite<br />
them back in person soon and thank them properly for the<br />
excellent years of service they have given to the club.<br />
Ian Haworth<br />
Drenched U15s at ESAA regional rounds
SCHOOL NEWS 53<br />
RSSH in East Africa<br />
In the first week of the 2019 Christmas break we took 18<br />
pupils out to Kenya and Ethiopia for a truly unforgettable trip,<br />
which combined soaking up the wonderful culture of East<br />
African running as well as providing the opportunity to get in<br />
some serious training, enabling us to peak just in time for our<br />
big January races. Arriving at Pembroke House Prep School<br />
in Gilgil, we visited the Restart Centre, an orphanage which<br />
is very close to the club’s heart, and were able to present a<br />
cheque for over £2000 which had been raised by the runners<br />
the previous month by ascending the Wrekin over and over<br />
again, climbing a total of over ten vertical miles of altitude.<br />
It was truly inspiring and humbling to see the impact that the<br />
Restart Centre has on the children’s lives, and how the money<br />
we raised can be spent to make such a massive difference.<br />
From Gilgil we travelled to the Hartley’s farm in Laikipia,<br />
where we were treated to some wonderful experiences, from<br />
a sunrise run around the fringes of the estate, flanked by<br />
zebra and ostrich, to a swim at some waterfalls surrounded<br />
by gazelle, and an incredible campfire and barbecue under<br />
the stars. Our next stop was Iten, the self-proclaimed ‘Home<br />
of Champions’, where so many successful Kenyan runners<br />
live and train. This provided a great chance to concentrate<br />
on our own running, doing drills in the red earth and getting<br />
up before sunrise to do our long runs in the forest, egged on<br />
by local children who seemed both delighted and perplexed<br />
to see our exhausted faces hove into view. After a week<br />
in Kenya, we crossed the border into Ethiopia, and made<br />
our way to Bekoji to visit our old friend Coach Sentayehu<br />
Eshetu, a legend of Ethiopian running, who visited us here<br />
at Shrewsbury back in 2012. He led us through some tough<br />
workouts around his dusty track amid some fine local talent<br />
who made it all look rather easy, as well as his famous ‘trees’<br />
session in the eucalyptus forest on the edge of town. Our last<br />
stop was Haile Gebrselassie’s training resort on the outskirts of<br />
Addis Ababa, a luxurious complex in which we could enjoy<br />
the first decent shower we’d had in a while and let the muscles<br />
recover a little before a last sunset run through the village.<br />
Ian Haworth
54<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Although the season was cut<br />
short this year, the Shrewsbury<br />
lacrosse teams had many <strong>no</strong>table<br />
results and gained a seeded placing<br />
in the National Schools’ draw for the<br />
first time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> U15s had an impressive set<br />
of results throughout the season,<br />
winning seven out of eight fixtures<br />
in the Michaelmas Term. Some<br />
highlights include beating Withington<br />
Girls 8-5, with an outstanding<br />
performance by all. Captained by<br />
Liberty Clarke and Rachel Ellis, the<br />
team went from strength to strength,<br />
placing top in two tournaments in<br />
the run up to the Nationals. New<br />
Third Form entrants made a great<br />
impact on the team and became<br />
recurring members of the starting<br />
lineup.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 1st team had a successful<br />
season, starting well by placing top<br />
three at the Welsh Rally. Following<br />
this they made an impressive<br />
comeback in the North Schools<br />
tournament at Queen Margaret’s<br />
York, to beat Bolton in the last<br />
plays of the game once again to<br />
place top three. Captained by<br />
Georgia Kannreuther and Mimi<br />
Mason-Hornby, the team gelled<br />
Lacrosse<br />
throughout the season, producing<br />
some impressive performances<br />
against strong opposition, such as<br />
Malvern St James, Queen’s Chester<br />
and Birkenhead. <strong>The</strong>y finished the<br />
season 67 goals for, and 37 against.<br />
A mention must go to our recordbreaking<br />
goal-scorer, Georgia<br />
Kannreuther, who took 42 goals<br />
throughout the season.<br />
<strong>The</strong> U18 2nd team travelled to<br />
Cheltenham Ladies’ College to<br />
compete for the first time as a squad.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y held their own admirably: for<br />
several it was their first outing on a<br />
lacrosse pitch!<br />
Nationals <strong>2020</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> 1st and U15 teams headed to<br />
Nationals in Aldershot, to compete in a<br />
weekend of high-level matches against<br />
the best schools in the country.<br />
Due to bad weather, the 1st team<br />
matches were postponed until the<br />
Sunday, where they eventually had<br />
some great results against St Bart’s,<br />
Claremont Fan Court and St George’s<br />
Harpenden. This enabled them to<br />
progress into division 1 to compete<br />
for the title. Unfortunately, it was <strong>no</strong>t<br />
meant to be, as they were k<strong>no</strong>cked<br />
out by Sherborne in the dying seconds<br />
Fives<br />
of the game. A great effort by all in<br />
difficult conditions, and for some, a<br />
tremendous last effort in Shrewsbury<br />
colours.<br />
<strong>The</strong> U15s got going on the Monday,<br />
attending Nationals for the first time in<br />
the School’s history. <strong>The</strong>y had a tough<br />
draw, with four previous winners in<br />
their pool, but came out triumphant,<br />
holding their own against prestigious<br />
lacrosse schools, beating Wycombe<br />
Abbey, Godolphin, Monmouth,<br />
St Swithuns, and Westonbirt. This<br />
resulted in them topping the group<br />
and qualifying for the championship<br />
division. <strong>The</strong>ir quarter-final game was<br />
against Benenden, ending 2-2 at full<br />
time after an end-to-end, hard-fought<br />
game by both sides. <strong>The</strong> championship<br />
was then taken to goal difference from<br />
the earlier stages, which resulted in<br />
them <strong>no</strong>t progressing any further in<br />
the competition. It was a disappointing<br />
way to go out, but the girls can be very<br />
proud of all they achieved on their first<br />
trip to Nationals as a squad.<br />
Well done to those who have earned<br />
National Academy places: from the<br />
senior squad, Isobel Morris and Lucy<br />
Lees; from the juniors, Isabella Harpin,<br />
Eloise Jones, Jennifer O’Brien and<br />
Genevieve Bright.<br />
U15s at Harrow for the Hughes Cup<br />
Like many, the Fives Club had the season pulled from<br />
under us just a week before the Nationals Championships<br />
were due to take place. On the positive side, while we<br />
missed the highlight of the end result for some and the big<br />
event, we had managed to fulfil many of our fixtures and<br />
complete the House competitions (just!).<br />
In those House competitions, Radbrook and Port Hill stood<br />
out in the U14s, as they so often have in recent years:<br />
Radbrook’s Jack Home & Will Jenkins ran out winners 12-6,<br />
13-10, partly perhaps as Port Hill’s star player Seb Motala-<br />
Evans was unavailable on the day. In the plate final Oldham’s<br />
(Tom Pain & Ed Clarke) beat Churchill’s. Many thanks to<br />
Revd Aldous for energetically driving this competition and<br />
maintaining the highest standards of punctuality, appearance<br />
and decorum.<br />
<strong>The</strong> U16 and Senior finals were both played on the very day
SCHOOL NEWS 55<br />
that lockdown closed the School, finishing essentially minutes<br />
before the players went home for six months. <strong>The</strong> finals were<br />
all the more competitive for being the last competitive sport<br />
for the foreseeable future; the friendly match on in the next<br />
court, for the same reason, had a ‘last hurrah’ party air to it.<br />
U16 winners were Ingram’s, with Digby Taylor-West and<br />
Fourth Former Guy Bradshaw proving too consistent for<br />
Digby’s School partner Rory McDonald-O’Brien & Henry<br />
McGowan: Ingram’s won 12-7, 12-6 to claim the Pepperpot<br />
Trophy.<br />
Digby continued into the Senior final, playing with Sixth<br />
Form entrant Morgan Bevans against the School’s 2nd pair<br />
Tom Castling & Marcus van Wyk who represented Radbrook.<br />
Ingram’s were the underdogs in this match but clearly a<br />
strong pair, Morgan being orthodox and consistent and Digby<br />
a strong cutter. A description of the Radbrook pair’s play<br />
would <strong>no</strong>t include the adjectives orthodox and consistent:<br />
rather they had played together for years and were capable of<br />
impressive wins and stubborn displays of attacking flair. So it<br />
was a contest of very different styles but Ingram’s, having got<br />
the upper hand at the end of the first game and held on to<br />
win the second, continually gained in confidence and closed<br />
out the result in straight games: 12-8, 12-7, 12-5.<br />
School matches up to March had continued as usual: that is,<br />
with the usual battles against disruption, <strong>no</strong>t least this year<br />
from high winds. On our weekend away at Highgate and<br />
Eton, Sunday morning was greeted by fences and wheelie<br />
bins being blown about around the hotel. That said, the<br />
South East was spared relative to Shropshire and we returned<br />
to find the Site recovering from a mi<strong>no</strong>r apocalypse, with<br />
trees scattered hither and thither, having broken from their<br />
previously static disposition with carefree abandon. Even<br />
Sunday Chapel had been cancelled, such was the fury of the<br />
elements. This had all had little or <strong>no</strong> impact on the fives<br />
players in their sheltered battlefields; we had enjoyed success<br />
against Highgate, especially in the U16s (a <strong>no</strong>table event<br />
in the senior 1st pair court, where Peter Clark and Arthur<br />
Garrett met Highgate’s pair of southpaws, in a highly unusual<br />
court comprising four left-handers; our pair conceded to me<br />
afterwards that <strong>no</strong>ne of the players was really sure where to<br />
hit the ball!). Eton provided tougher opposition, especially<br />
to our juniors, but in the U16s we felt that, despite having<br />
a way to go, we were <strong>no</strong>t out of touch with the level. At<br />
senior there were some good matches, the difference in<br />
first pair being Eton’s Archie Backhouse, finalist in 2019 in<br />
Shrewsbury. Again, we felt in six weeks we might close some<br />
of the gap and there had been signs the Eton pair was <strong>no</strong>t<br />
invincible.<br />
That weekend was particularly busy for our U15s, since<br />
having played against Highgate (all four pairs lost albeit in<br />
good games) they travelled on Sunday to Harrow for the<br />
Hughes Cup, where they overturned their result against<br />
Highgate to win 4-2 but ended in 3rd place having lost to<br />
Harrow and Eton (but with third pair recording 1-1 draws<br />
against both). Again, despite being behind at this early stage<br />
in February, the feeling was the gap was <strong>no</strong>t large and could<br />
quite possibly be closed.<br />
<strong>The</strong> girls’ team meanwhile had had a number of their usual<br />
university and School fixtures and were looking strong.<br />
Indeed they were undefeated, including against Oxford<br />
University, despite captain Issy Wong’s absence. First pair Issy<br />
and Harriet Shuker won the U<strong>21</strong>s Nationals on March 1st –<br />
the first Shrewsbury Schoolgirls to achieve this – and were<br />
going into the Schools Nationals as favourites.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Northern Championships at Shrewsbury had provided<br />
the usual experience across the age ranges, with lots of<br />
U<strong>21</strong> National Champions <strong>2020</strong><br />
Fourth Form involvement as parents’ meetings on Sunday<br />
meant they couldn’t travel to away fixtures.<br />
Our preparations for the Nationals were as far advanced<br />
as playing the <strong>no</strong>w-traditional last preparatory fixture, the<br />
Grant Williams invitational. As Grant reported, high water<br />
was the challenge on this weekend: “We were wondering if<br />
Shrewsbury School was going to be an island in the newly<br />
named “Sea of Shrewsbury” but the floods had abated and<br />
against all the odds for Shrewsbury in early March, the sun<br />
came out and it was relatively warm.” Peter Clark and Arthur<br />
Garrett had a good win at 1st pair; their preparation for the<br />
Nationals seemed to be on course. Overall, after a policy of<br />
spreading the Invitational side’s strength over the top six pairs,<br />
the School came out winners 6-4.<br />
A<strong>no</strong>ther great highlight of the fixture was a return to the fives<br />
courts of OS Antony Peel, who had <strong>no</strong>t played since a terrible<br />
injury in his Upper Sixth year and been out of the country for<br />
some years. Now returning to the UK, he dug out his gloves<br />
and combined the closest of matches with the broadest of<br />
smiles of the fixture.<br />
It was to be the last competitive fixture of the season. While<br />
there is talk of holding a postponed National Championships,<br />
at the time of writing this looks unlikely. House competitions<br />
were completed on 20th March, on the day the School Site<br />
closed and two days before the Nationals had been due to<br />
begin. We look ahead to a<strong>no</strong>ther possibly disrupted season,<br />
but are pleased that many of those who left without that<br />
final event of the season will <strong>no</strong>netheless stay in touch and<br />
continue playing our <strong>no</strong>ble sport.<br />
<strong>The</strong> players in the Grant Williams invitational<br />
Seb Cooley
56<br />
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Cricket<br />
Given the COVID-19 situation since February <strong>2020</strong>, this is<br />
the shortest cricket report I have ever written. Nevertheless,<br />
I feel that in the circumstances we have offered much to<br />
many. Many thanks to all the staff (full-time and part-time)<br />
who, together with our very professional grounds staff, have<br />
offered an excellent service in the prevailing conditions.<br />
Michaelmas 2019 – Lent <strong>2020</strong><br />
During Michaelmas Term 2019 and for a large part of the Lent<br />
Term that followed, our extensive winter cricket programme<br />
continued as usual: a focus on rest, recovery and rehab<br />
during October, with yoga sessions, debriefing and planning,<br />
and video analysis work; then in November and December a<br />
return to a technical focus, with one-to-one sessions for the<br />
Lower and Upper Sixth, lunchtime one-to-one sessions for<br />
Lower School pupils, open sessions every Wednesday (four<br />
coaches in four lanes), and squad sessions for the 1st XI and<br />
Junior squads every Thursday.<br />
In the Lent Term, the transfer of Cricket Professional Adam<br />
Shantry from his Michaelmas Term 2nd XI football coaching<br />
duties back to focusing on cricket added greatly to the<br />
provision of coaching for our Higher Tier players. With so<br />
many quality cricketers in school, across all the age groups,<br />
the aim is to see all those designated as higher tier players<br />
on a regular weekly basis. <strong>The</strong> time that Adam and Head<br />
of Girls’ Cricket Gwenan Davies put into these players will<br />
improve individual skills and thereby team performances in<br />
due course.<br />
Summer Term in Remote<br />
When the Lent Term ended abruptly, we had to put in place<br />
a comprehensive remote programme for all our young<br />
cricketers, with a wide variety of content covering a range of<br />
developmental areas. From April through to the end of the<br />
Summer Term, pupils across all age groups and ability levels<br />
accessed all resources via our weekly diary and interacted<br />
regularly via video conferencing, phone calls and email.<br />
Players were provided with themed technical skill sessions<br />
each week, with several levels of progression built in. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
were able to test themselves while attempting batting,<br />
bowling and fielding drills in their own environments. Online<br />
interactive pages were also created, so that players could<br />
participate in challenges and receive tailored, individual<br />
feedback from our team of full-time coaching staff.<br />
We were extremely fortunate to be able to host a live Q and<br />
A session every week, each featuring an Old <strong>Salopian</strong> who<br />
has progressed to the professional game. James Taylor joined<br />
us for an exceptional 90-minute session, talking about the<br />
highs and lows of his inspiring story. Other guests included<br />
Joe Leach, Ed Barnard, George Garrett and Ruaidhri Smith,<br />
each of whom gave priceless advice to our young players.<br />
Budding captains tackled several hypothetical scenarios,<br />
including leading the side through the last few overs of a T20<br />
semi-final, and selecting a squad and outlining tactical plans<br />
for an end of season tournament.<br />
In addition to the School’s excellent strength and conditioning<br />
provision, our partners at Lancashire CCC gave us access to<br />
their ‘at home’ cricket conditioning programme. This covered<br />
speed work, stamina building sessions, and upper and lower<br />
body strength exercises that could all be completed without<br />
access to a gym.<br />
In addition to the key features above, pupils also enjoyed:<br />
• Replays of Shrewsbury School matches from previous years<br />
• Access to our online dashboard, containing indexed<br />
Shrewsbury School player highlights from the past three<br />
seasons<br />
• Login details for Glamorgan CCC’s remote offering,<br />
including drills, masterclasses and tips from their professional<br />
coaching staff<br />
• An online umpiring course from the ECB<br />
• A guide to cricket groundsmanship and pitch preparation<br />
• Tips on dealing with self-isolation<br />
• A school-wide catching competition, judged by<br />
Worcestershire CCC’s Ed Barnard.<br />
For three weeks in June, we were pleased to be able to<br />
run twice-weekly outdoor nets training (socially distanced<br />
and following new ECB guidelines) for 20 boys and girls<br />
identified as ‘elite’ players and living close e<strong>no</strong>ugh to the<br />
School to be able to take part.
SCHOOL NEWS 57<br />
Michaelmas Term <strong>2020</strong><br />
For the first time since the 1980s, the School ran a short<br />
cricket programme in September, which went some way<br />
towards meeting the needs of both House and School<br />
cricketers starved of cricket during the summer.<br />
<strong>The</strong> wonderful weather in the first few weeks of term<br />
allowed us to play on excellent dry pitches. Many thanks to<br />
all the officials, cricket, teaching, grounds and house staff<br />
who made the events possible.<br />
School Fixtures: Shrewsbury School Boys’ 1st XI<br />
Won 1 Lost 1<br />
1st XI Boys v Malvern (40-over White Ball match)<br />
Shrewsbury School 161 ao (Cooke 77, Walker 32<br />
Malvern 162-6 (Parry 4-26)<br />
Malvern win by 4 wickets<br />
1st XI Boys v Warwickshire CC<br />
Warwickshire 201-5 (Gallimore 2-24)<br />
Shrewsbury 204-3 (Lees 61*, Cooke 53, Parry 34*)<br />
Shrewsbury win by 7 wickets<br />
House Competition<br />
In the House Cricket Competition, Oldham’s did the double,<br />
winning both the U15 and the U18 trophies. <strong>The</strong>y beat<br />
Ingram’s in the final of the U15 Competition and Severn Hill<br />
in the final of the U18s.<br />
Girls’ Competition<br />
Team Kynaston 84-4 in 18 overs (Georgia Norman 35,<br />
Ellie Leigh Livingstone 2-7)<br />
Team Shuker 85-5 in 15 overs. (Sophie Thomas 20,<br />
Alice Hughes 1-4, Scarlett Whittal 1-10)<br />
New staff and new resources<br />
We are delighted that Jack Shantry is <strong>no</strong>w assisting our<br />
coaching team, sharing his experiences gained during<br />
ten years in the professional game with Worcestershire<br />
CCC. He has recently been accepted onto the ECB Level 3<br />
coaching course.<br />
We are also pleased to retain Eve Jones, who has been a<br />
massive part of the girls’ cricket development at the School,<br />
going in to her third year of coaching at Shrewsbury. She will<br />
be looking to pass on her experience as the current Captain<br />
of the Central Sparks. With the loss of Paige Schofield,<br />
returning home to the south, we have gained Lauren Rowles<br />
who is an experienced Level 3 Coach and former Captain<br />
of Worcestershire Women. Currently working with the<br />
Warwickshire U17 county side, it will be great to have her<br />
experience to further develop our girls across the board.<br />
Finally, it is fantastic to have Lloyd Tennant (Level 4, Head<br />
Coach of the Central Sparks, England Academy Fast Bowling<br />
Consultant) as a coaching consultant, who will drop in and<br />
out of the winter sessions this year, to work with our talented<br />
seam bowlers, both girls and boys.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cricket department has purchased a new mobile<br />
4g streaming unit, which will enable us to live-stream our<br />
games both home and away. We will also be using Pixio<br />
Player Cam tech<strong>no</strong>logy, enabling us to track a single player<br />
and monitor their movements whilst fielding. We also <strong>no</strong>w<br />
have two automatic feeders for our bowling machines, and<br />
two new ball feeders which deliver ‘drop feeds’, empowering<br />
our players to carry out technical drills individually.<br />
Notable Individual Achievements<br />
• JJ Fielding is currently taking part in trials for the England<br />
U19 squad, who are due to tour Australia in the early part<br />
of 20<strong>21</strong>.<br />
• George Hargrave (Rb 2012-16) scored his second Varsity<br />
century for Oxford University in September.<br />
• Ed Barnard (PH 2012-14) was appointed captain of<br />
Worcestershire Rapids for their T20 campaign in August<br />
and September.<br />
• Gwenan Davies (Staff Coach) scored 169 runs at an<br />
average of 28 in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.<br />
• OS Issy Wong (G 2015-20) was selected to be a part of<br />
the England Training Bubble at Derby & Loughborough<br />
University and signed her first professional contract with<br />
Central Sparks.<br />
• Harriet Shuker (L6) was elected Warwickshire U17 Captain.<br />
• Eve Jones (Staff Coach) signed her first professional<br />
contract with Central Sparks and was elected Captain.<br />
• Issy Wong, Eve Jones and Gwenan Davies were all<br />
selected to play for Central Sparks during the summer,<br />
with contributions from all three throughout the Rachel<br />
Heyhoe Flint Trophy.<br />
Andy Barnard
58 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Football<br />
Playing records:<br />
1st XI Playing record<br />
Played Won Drawn Lost Goals<br />
For<br />
Goals<br />
Against<br />
26 11 5 10 65 49 16<br />
Goals<br />
Difference<br />
Under 16A Playing record<br />
Played Won Drawn Lost Goals<br />
For<br />
Goals<br />
Against<br />
16 6 1 9 34 36 -2<br />
Goals<br />
Difference<br />
Under 15A Playing record<br />
Played Won Drawn Lost Goals<br />
For<br />
Goals<br />
Against<br />
20 9 1 10 50 53 -3<br />
Goals<br />
Difference<br />
Under 14A Playing record<br />
Played Won Drawn Lost Goals<br />
For<br />
Goals<br />
Against<br />
14 9 2 3 75 41 34<br />
Goals<br />
Difference<br />
Captain Finn Sansom in the Boodles semi-final v Queen Ethelburga’s<br />
As we reflect on the 2019-20 season, we can look back<br />
on so many unbelievable moments and a roller-coaster<br />
of emotions that only football has the ability to stimulate.<br />
Our development programme has continued to provide<br />
opportunities for players of all abilities to improve their<br />
technical and tactical understanding through quality coaching,<br />
a comprehensive fixture list and having access to some of<br />
the best grass pitches in the country. This year we had seven<br />
teams play in the ESFA National Competitions and made<br />
a <strong>no</strong>ticeable mark in County Cup competitions. Our U14A<br />
and U15A teams both reached their respective county finals.<br />
Sadly, with the global COVID-19 pandemic taking a grip<br />
worldwide in early March, these finals did <strong>no</strong>t get played.<br />
It was a disappointment for these two age groups <strong>no</strong>t to<br />
have the opportunity to contest a final after some excellent<br />
performances in the earlier rounds. Nonetheless, it was<br />
pleasing to see them do so well on the county stage.<br />
Furthermore, the playing record of our Junior A teams against<br />
fellow independent football schools Bradfield, Millfield and<br />
Repton was also favourable, winning, as they did, five out of<br />
the eight matches played. Our U14 age group, of whom we<br />
had high expectations, settled into school football brilliantly<br />
and their record of playing 14, winning nine and losing only<br />
three games bodes very well for the future. A special mention<br />
must go to Louis Crofts (PH) who scored 35 goals this season.<br />
This age group is certainly worth keeping an eye on as it<br />
develops and progresses through the School.<br />
Ist XI<br />
<strong>The</strong> 1st XI started with pre-season preparations taking place<br />
at Blackburn Rovers Academy. Whilst <strong>no</strong>t the glamorous<br />
location of past years, it would prove to be a wonderful<br />
week, delivered by Blackburn’s experienced and highly<br />
qualified Academy staff. Technical, tactical and physical work<br />
were embedded in preparation for the start of the season at a<br />
fantastic Category 1 professional academy.<br />
After an excellent season in the 1st XI as a Fifth Former in<br />
2018-19, Finn Sansom (PH) was selected as the 1st XI captain.<br />
Not since R.J. Lloyd in the 1975 and 1976 seasons has a
SCHOOL NEWS<br />
59<br />
Boodles quarter-final v Brentwood<br />
Lower Sixth boy been given the ho<strong>no</strong>ur of captaining the<br />
1st XI over a two-year period. This selection is testament to<br />
Finn’s all-round character and the impact he has made as a<br />
1st XI footballer.<br />
<strong>The</strong> curtain-raiser for the season is always the ISFA Sixes,<br />
this year hosted at Winchester College. Despite <strong>no</strong>t having<br />
our captain with us through illness, the competition would<br />
highlight the potential we had as a group. In a tough<br />
qualifying group we emerged as winners, beating a strong<br />
Bedes side (eventual Hudl League winners), as well as<br />
future ISFA quarter final opponents Brentwood. We would<br />
lose to Bradfield 2-1 in the quarter-finals, a game we largely<br />
dominated.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2019-20 season will, however, always be remembered<br />
for the drama that was the ISFA Boodles U18 National Cup.<br />
Following on from our heart-breaking quarter-final defeat<br />
to Millfield in a penalty shoot-out last year, we set out in<br />
this year’s competition with a home draw v Leeds Grammar<br />
School. As always, the season target is a last 16-spot as a<br />
minimum, with the hope to go further. A comfortable 5-2 win<br />
set up a mouth-watering tie in Round 3 against the ISFA Sixes<br />
winners, City of London. We played the same opponents<br />
in the last 16 in the 2016-2017 season, beating them 3-2<br />
en route to the semi-final. In an equally tight game this<br />
time round, a solitary Nathan Day goal in the second<br />
half secured a famous victory. Fortune favoured us again<br />
as the draw gave us a<strong>no</strong>ther home tie, this time against<br />
Kimbolton School. A comprehensive first-half display saw<br />
us ease to a 5-0 win. A Harry Cooke hat trick was the main<br />
headline of a team performance in which we dominated<br />
possession and territory.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Quarter-Final draw gave us an away tie at Brentwood<br />
and the need to travel for the first time in the competition.<br />
A large London day school with a footballing tradition<br />
that boasts ex alumni such as Frank Lampard, as well as<br />
the length of the journey, meant it would always be a<br />
challenging prospect.<br />
<strong>The</strong> gravity of the task was made even more evident on<br />
the eve of the game. Key central midfielder Jack Parry (S)<br />
rolled an ankle in a shape session the after<strong>no</strong>on before the<br />
game, an injury that was confirmed later that evening as a<br />
broken ankle. It was a major blow but through adversity<br />
we would witness the team rise to the challenge they were<br />
faced with.<br />
Joe Archer (I 5) was given the opportunity in the starting<br />
XI. He produced a battling, tenacious midfield performance<br />
beyond his years which dove-tailed fantastically with Captain<br />
Finn Sansom.<br />
Despite the scrappy, nervous play early in the game we soon<br />
started to dominate with large spells of possession. A Guy<br />
Gowar header gave us a first-half lead, bang on the half-time<br />
whistle. This lead was doubled in the 53rd minute as Harry<br />
Cooke tapped in after the goalkeeper had parried a Luke<br />
Bourne Arton strike. Two ‘dubious’ free kicks in the last 15<br />
minutes offered Brentwood the chance to get back into the<br />
game, the equaliser coming with two minutes left on the<br />
clock. However, despite the disappointment we dominated<br />
possession in the first period of extra time.<br />
Finn Sansom put us back into the lead before Luke Bourne<br />
Arton added our fourth goal after a swift counter-attack was<br />
confidently finished. Finn capped a wonderful captain’s<br />
performance with a curled free kick from 25 yards to make<br />
it 5-2. Brentwood scored a consolation third late on but the<br />
plaudits and the semi-final place would be ours.<br />
Wednesday 5th February was the date for our second semifinal<br />
in four years, this time against Queen Ethelburga’s. It<br />
was a huge occasion for the School with the game being<br />
played in front of vocal home support on Senior. In a cagey<br />
first half that saw few chances, one sensed the occasion<br />
was having an impact on both sides. However, we arguably<br />
had the better of the chances – captain Finn Sansom bought<br />
a good save from 20 yards and a<strong>no</strong>ther half chance from<br />
Nathan Day flew over the bar. <strong>The</strong> QE winger was proving a<br />
danger down the right side but a largely uneventful first half<br />
drew to a close with the game finely-poised at 0-0. In the<br />
second half QE started to dominate possession and it wasn’t<br />
long before they took the lead – an in-swinging free-kick fell<br />
to their dangerman who smashed it into the bottom corner<br />
(1-0). Semi-finals are nervy occasions, and the first goal can<br />
often prove vital, and so proved to be the case here. <strong>The</strong><br />
second goal came on 57 minutes from an uncharacteristic<br />
Owen Jones error who, unfortunately, under-hit a back pass<br />
which was intercepted by the QE centre-forward, arguably<br />
the player of the match, rounding the onrushing Ben Lees<br />
to double the lead (0-2). QE’s third followed, a<strong>no</strong>ther terrific<br />
strike from their winger curling into the bottom corner,<br />
giving goalie Lees <strong>no</strong> chance. Despite the 0-3 score line, we<br />
continued to push forward and, from the first genuine bit<br />
of quality delivered into the box, Owen Jones powerfully<br />
headed in at the back post. Despite a<strong>no</strong>ther couple of half<br />
chances, QE managed the final ten minutes to claim the<br />
victory and a place in the ISFA final (against Millfield) at the<br />
MK Dons’ Stadium. Despite the disappointment of the defeat,<br />
we could reflect on a terrific cup run. Getting to the last four<br />
of this highly competitive tournament is a wonderful platform<br />
to build on for next year’s squad. <strong>The</strong> pitch-side and online<br />
support from the <strong>Salopian</strong> community – staff, parents and<br />
pupils (especially the ‘Salop Army’ led by Louis Street) – was<br />
appreciated by both teams and highlighted the power of<br />
sport to bring the community together.<br />
Hudl League<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hudl League continues to give us a ‘league’ focus<br />
throughout the season, competing against nine of the<br />
strongest sides on the Independent Circuit. Our performances<br />
this season again show that we are able to compete against<br />
the strongest sides in ISFA. Our points tally this year in<br />
the league didn’t reflect how well we played, especially<br />
against Bradfield and Repton. <strong>The</strong> win v Royal Russell, the<br />
powerhouse of ISFA Football these past four years, was a<br />
terrific performance and highlighted that on our day we can<br />
beat the best teams on the circuit. <strong>The</strong> league also gave us<br />
the opportunity to blood several Fifth Form/Lower Sixth lads,<br />
especially during the last four games of the league season.<br />
This taste of 1st team action was great experience for these<br />
players and gave them an appreciation of the standard of
60 SCHOOL NEWS<br />
Boodles semi-final. <strong>The</strong> goal<br />
1st XI football. Against Repton we selected an Under-17 side<br />
(Owen Jones the only U6 pupil), with five Fifth Form boys<br />
playing that after<strong>no</strong>on. Although we lost 2-0, it was testament<br />
to our development programme and the work done at the<br />
younger age groups, that these younger lads were able to<br />
step up and perform at this highest level.<br />
It is hugely satisfying for our football programme that four of<br />
our 1st XI players were selected by ISFA in 2019 to represent<br />
their National U17 & U18 representative sides.<br />
At U17 level, Goalkeeper Alex Wilson Scholar Ben Lees (PH),<br />
Captain Finn Sansom (PH) and winger Guy Gowar (S) were<br />
all selected for the U17 Representative side. Finn would also<br />
go on to play in the U18 International v Australia in January.<br />
Owen Jones (R) was also selected for the U18s and played in<br />
games against the English Colleges, in which he scored, the<br />
Welsh Colleges and the game v Australia, both these games<br />
hosted at Shrewsbury. It was also great to see Vice Captain<br />
Punn Vajrabhaya commit to a Football Scholarship in America<br />
with Merrimack College.<br />
House Football<br />
House football continues to be the bedrock of our football<br />
provision. In a competition dating back to 1888, it is<br />
wonderful to see the enthusiasm of the current <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
House communities uniting in their shared aim of winning<br />
the coveted 1st House k<strong>no</strong>ckout trophy. Port Hill claimed the<br />
2019 title (their fourth in the competition’s history) beating<br />
Rigg’s in the final. <strong>The</strong>y still have some way to go to emulate<br />
Severn Hill and Rigg’s however, who lead the way with 20<br />
wins apiece. School House claimed the 2nd House title and<br />
Port Hill beat School House in extra time to win the U15<br />
House competition.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Future<br />
This season highlights a huge number of positives. From<br />
individual player development, to the continued number<br />
of boys enthusiastically playing the game at all levels, there<br />
continues to be lots to build on. Our record in the past<br />
five years in the Boodles National Cup of one quarter-final<br />
and two semi-finals would rank us in the top eight ISFA<br />
Schools, a pleasing level of consistency. This ranking will<br />
also mean we will enter the Boodles draw in Round 3 in<br />
<strong>2020</strong>-<strong>21</strong>, alongside the other seven top ranked sides over<br />
the past five years. We can<strong>no</strong>t rest on our laurels, however.<br />
More and more Independent Schools are recognising the<br />
positive impact that football can have, <strong>no</strong>t only in the<br />
number of pupils playing within individual schools, but<br />
also from a recruitment perspective.<br />
We must continue to position ourselves as a school that<br />
promotes a programme of development for all, that is playercentred<br />
and <strong>no</strong>t results-focused, but has the ability to produce<br />
players and teams that are able to compete at the highest<br />
levels with genuine ‘home-grown’ players. <strong>The</strong> need to add<br />
additional quality from external sources will, however, still be<br />
a key focus in the coming years.<br />
We wish all our 2019/20 leavers the very best with their<br />
future footballing pursuits and we hope to see them back<br />
at School as part of the Old <strong>Salopian</strong> squad in the coming<br />
seasons.<br />
Steve Wilderspin
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 61<br />
In this strangest of years, the richness<br />
of variety of news items supplied<br />
for the News section suggests that Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s have, far from hibernating,<br />
remained as dynamic as ever. Perhaps<br />
one result of the pandemic has been<br />
to reinforce the value we place on<br />
social connections and, in the case of<br />
the <strong>Salopian</strong> Club, the void forcibly<br />
created in our activities has been<br />
palpable. A number of our sporting<br />
clubs – football, cricket, rowing, golf,<br />
fives and netball – have valiantly<br />
From the Director<br />
carried on when circumstances have<br />
allowed, but otherwise any meetings<br />
we have needed to arrange have,<br />
like so many other organisations,<br />
relied on Zoom. At a time when so<br />
many have been compelled to live in<br />
less-than-glorious isolation, it may be<br />
timely to remind <strong>Salopian</strong>s about OS<br />
Connect, our free platform whereby<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s of all ages can connect<br />
direct with friends and contemporaries<br />
as well as network, offer mentoring<br />
and advertise jobs (www.shrewsbury.<br />
org.uk/os-connect). It is also worth<br />
emphasising that, at a time of great<br />
challenge for the School, the practical<br />
and moral support of the Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> body has played an often<br />
unseen but nevertheless e<strong>no</strong>rmously<br />
valuable role.<br />
As we reach 20<strong>21</strong>, our hope must<br />
be that we shall finally move on into<br />
broader lands and better days.<br />
Floreat Salopia.<br />
Nick Jenkins<br />
Director of the <strong>Salopian</strong> Club<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> Club Forthcoming Events<br />
• More details can be found on the <strong>Salopian</strong> Club website: www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/salopian-club<br />
• Sporting fixtures at: www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/os-sport (click on individual sport)<br />
• For general enquiries please email: oldsalopian@shrewsbury.org.uk<br />
As we go to press, detailed planning of <strong>Salopian</strong> Club events for the first part of 20<strong>21</strong> remains impracticable.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Club office will be in touch with all members about events once the future becomes clearer.<br />
<strong>2020</strong> Dubai Annual Cricket Match and Supper<br />
It was during the 2019 Dubai <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
get together, whilst conversing with<br />
fellow Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Charlie Barlow, that<br />
he suggested how good it would be if<br />
the following year we could arrange a<br />
cricket match to be followed by prizegiving<br />
and the usual supper. <strong>The</strong> seed<br />
was planted and the challenge set.<br />
In early December 2019, Martin Cropper<br />
was able confirm the date for the event<br />
as he would be visiting Dubai for the<br />
annual Public Schools Exhibition, which<br />
the School had usually attended in the<br />
previous seven years. So, with a date<br />
set for Friday 13th March I set about<br />
the challenge of putting together two<br />
cricket teams – one a pure <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
selection and the other a Rest of the<br />
World XI.<br />
With Jebil Ali Cricket Ground booked<br />
for a 20/20 game, a feeler email to<br />
the Middle East <strong>Salopian</strong> community<br />
was sent out early – providing plenty<br />
of <strong>no</strong>tice! In due course a pure Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> team was confirmed and<br />
I had managed to scrape together<br />
a Rest of the World XI, with even a<br />
couple of subs.<br />
Fellow Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Anthony ‘<strong>The</strong><br />
fireworks man’ Samuel helped me<br />
confirm the venue for the evening<br />
prize-giving and supper, which was<br />
located on the world-famous Palm<br />
Jumeirah, boasting iconic views and<br />
a re<strong>no</strong>wned menu. <strong>The</strong> guest list was<br />
up to 40+, including old boys, staff,<br />
current/prospective parents, family and<br />
friends of the School. We were all set.<br />
What could go wrong?<br />
7/2/<strong>2020</strong> – Martin informed me that<br />
he would <strong>no</strong> longer be travelling to<br />
Dubai in March for the exhibition<br />
due to the ever-growing worldwide<br />
coronavirus situation.<br />
26/2/<strong>2020</strong> – <strong>The</strong> Chinese National<br />
football team, which had come over<br />
to Dubai for a week of winter training<br />
were refusing to travel back due to the<br />
coronavirus situation and needed our<br />
cricket pitch for their daily training. I<br />
put up a fight with the owners but alas,<br />
it was an unequal fight as the Chinese<br />
were spending circa $275,000 a week<br />
at the hotel and I’d only put a deposit<br />
down of £100.<br />
In the following weeks, as the<br />
pandemic worsened, public group<br />
sporting events were all shut down and<br />
cancelled in the UAE.<br />
By the time Friday 13th March rolled<br />
around, lockdown was just around<br />
the corner – but <strong>no</strong>t quite! <strong>The</strong> troops<br />
rallied and a team of 12 made it onto<br />
the field for the evening supper. <strong>The</strong><br />
night consisted of the usual <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
conversation we all k<strong>no</strong>w and love<br />
with plenty of laughter and temporarily<br />
suppressed thoughts on what was going<br />
on elsewhere.<br />
Once <strong>no</strong>rmal travel resumes and if you<br />
happen to find yourself in Dubai on a<br />
visit or a work placement, please do <strong>no</strong>t<br />
hesitate to get in touch –<br />
rupert.con<strong>no</strong>r@gmail.com.<br />
Rupert James Con<strong>no</strong>r (S 1992-97)
62<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
News of Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
1940-49<br />
Bryan Birch FRS (Rt 1944-49) has<br />
been awarded the Sylvester Medal for<br />
“driving the theory of elliptic curves,<br />
through the Birch-Swinnerton-Dyer<br />
conjecture and the theory of Heegner<br />
points”. <strong>The</strong> Sylvester Medal is awarded<br />
by the Royal Society (London) for<br />
the encouragement of mathematical<br />
research. It was named in ho<strong>no</strong>ur of<br />
James Joseph Sylvester, the Savilian<br />
Professor of Geometry at the University<br />
of Oxford in the 1880s, and first<br />
awarded in 1901.<br />
1950-59<br />
a wall coincidentally was a 1916-17<br />
plaque, presumably of what I think<br />
was then called Number 6 <strong>The</strong> Schools,<br />
showing my father Leslie Atwell in Mod<br />
Rem. It also showed he had won the<br />
science prize (Lower Div). My father<br />
told a story of being at a chemistry<br />
class. <strong>The</strong> master said, “<strong>The</strong> atom<br />
can<strong>no</strong>t be split”. My father, always<br />
of an independent mind, said “Who<br />
says?” For this, he was despatched,<br />
presumably in some disgrace, to his<br />
Housemaster. Fortunately the latter<br />
(C. J. Baker) was sympathetic to<br />
young Atwell. He later became Head<br />
of House. For the last 100 years all<br />
three generations of our family have<br />
been very actively involved in the<br />
manufacturing chocolate industry.<br />
mixed reviews, but regrettably a more<br />
fulsome expression of gratitude appears<br />
elsewhere in a collection of essays (also<br />
published through lulu.com) entitled<br />
Lament for Democracy.<br />
Robert Corbett (I 1953-58) No<br />
exciting news from here as we have<br />
been rather tightly locked in due to<br />
my severe illness last year. I am much<br />
better <strong>no</strong>w and singing that well k<strong>no</strong>wn<br />
song by Queen! In case anyone might<br />
be interested, a book on the Berlin Wall<br />
and its collapse has just been published<br />
by a historian called Iain McGregor<br />
which features an embarrassing amount<br />
of input about yours truly. It might<br />
be a little journalistic for those as well<br />
educated as all <strong>Salopian</strong>s are but it<br />
is History and it tells a good story of<br />
what turned out to be probably the<br />
most important turning point in the<br />
later history of the Twentieth Century.<br />
(It was top of the Amazon bestseller<br />
list, for what that might be worth!).<br />
<strong>The</strong> book is called Checkpoint Charlie,<br />
published by Constable.<br />
Robert Adams (S 1953-58) On 30<br />
November 2019 I attended my first<br />
ever Annual Meeting and Old <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
Dinner to which I was invited by<br />
Peter Birch, as a former member<br />
of the <strong>Salopian</strong> RSSH 2nd VIII. <strong>The</strong><br />
dinner was most enjoyable with 19<br />
other members present (many former<br />
Huntsmen, unlike me!). I became 80<br />
years old on 29 January <strong>2020</strong> (having<br />
been born in Shropshire, in Woore,<br />
near Market Drayton, just after the<br />
beginning of the WW2).<br />
David Atwell (S 1952-57) On the<br />
weekend of March 7/8, my son Giles,<br />
(S 1987-92) and I came to Shrewsbury<br />
to watch our beloved Oxford Utd FC<br />
beat the Town. We visited a muchchanged<br />
house layout nicely hosted<br />
by the current Housemaster Adam<br />
Duncan. To our amazement, up on<br />
John Cooke (M 1948-53) After a full<br />
and active life, enjoyment has finally<br />
caught up with me. I celebrated my<br />
85th birthday in hospital having a<br />
leg amputated – a new experience<br />
to add to my ‘life list’. Frustratingly<br />
inconvenient, but far less traumatic<br />
than I would have predicted. It has<br />
<strong>no</strong>t gone at all smoothly and staples<br />
left in have encouraged a deep<br />
infection that may have reached the<br />
bone, which has delayed fitting a<br />
prosthetic and is predicted to cause<br />
at least a<strong>no</strong>ther six weeks in hospital,<br />
where total lack of interest in food has<br />
resulted in a welcome loss of some 50<br />
or more pounds – mostly muscle mass –<br />
leaving me gaunt and weak as a kitten.<br />
Obviously France has been cancelled<br />
this year, but still dominates my thoughts<br />
for the future – I miss my garden, my<br />
chickens, good food and plenteous wine,<br />
<strong>no</strong>t to mention friends. <strong>The</strong> day before<br />
going to hospital I got the first proof<br />
of an autobiographical volume of 500<br />
pages entitled Sublime Lunacy recording<br />
people, places and pleasures from my<br />
life. It can be had, grossly discounted,<br />
through lulu.com (or grossly inflated<br />
through Amazon). Shrewsbury gets<br />
Martin Ferguson Smith (R 1953-58)<br />
Professor Martin Ferguson Smith has<br />
been elected a Corresponding Member<br />
of the German Archaeological Institute<br />
(Deutsches Archaeologisches Institut)<br />
“to ack<strong>no</strong>wledge and commend [his]<br />
contribution to the field of Ancient<br />
Studies”.<br />
In April Martin wrote an article on<br />
COVID-19 and Epicurean philosophy.<br />
A link to it can be found at www.<br />
martinfergusonsmith.com under<br />
‘RECENT NEWS, APRIL <strong>2020</strong>’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> piece has <strong>no</strong>w been republished<br />
several times, with slight alterations,<br />
most recently by former Shrewsbury<br />
Classics master John Godwin in AD<br />
FAMILIARES, a publication of Classics<br />
for All.<br />
Robert Raikes (I 1946-51) I am <strong>no</strong>w<br />
living just <strong>no</strong>rth of East Grinstead, at<br />
<strong>The</strong> College of St Barnabas, Lingfield, a<br />
residence for retired clergy and others<br />
who have worked for the church in<br />
the UK or abroad. My main ‘outside’<br />
interest and occupation is the nearby<br />
Bluebell Railway. In 1951 I went on a<br />
two-week Railway Operating Course<br />
with the Royal Engineers through the<br />
School CCF; so <strong>no</strong>w maintaining that<br />
strange connection with steam trains<br />
and the clergy. I would be delighted
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 63<br />
to welcome any OS who are down<br />
this way… meeting on the railway if<br />
so inclined!<br />
Christopher Gill (Rt 1950-54) Despite<br />
the questionable advice of Headmaster<br />
Jack Peterson that we should <strong>no</strong>t<br />
push ourselves forward in adult life,<br />
but wait until we are called, my<br />
conventional life has had a few modest<br />
successes. Inspired by Rusty Wood<br />
(WW2 RNZNVR) I was determined to<br />
do my National Service in the RN and<br />
within weeks of leaving <strong>The</strong> Schools in<br />
December 1950 found myself as a new<br />
recruit in Victoria Barracks, Portsmouth.<br />
Subsequently, serving as a junior officer<br />
in HMS Birmingham, flagship of the<br />
Mediterranean fleet, I was asked by the<br />
Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Ralph<br />
Edwardes, what I was going to do after<br />
I left the Navy. I blurted out that I was<br />
going to go into the family business to<br />
make myself financially independent as<br />
a prelude to going into national politics.<br />
In youthful exuberance I might even<br />
have added “to put the Great back in<br />
Britain”! Whilst I was still at school Mr<br />
Le Quesne had opined that I would go<br />
to South America and start a revolution,<br />
but I never doubted that the need for<br />
such drastic action was much nearer<br />
home. As Member of Parliament for the<br />
Ludlow constituency (effectively the<br />
Southern half of Shropshire) I read the<br />
Maastricht Treaty from cover to cover<br />
and became an implacable opponent<br />
of European Eco<strong>no</strong>mic & Monetary<br />
Union, subsequently being the very<br />
first Parliamentarian to publicly state in<br />
successive interviews that we should<br />
leave the European Union. Almost 20<br />
years later that aspiration to leave the<br />
EU has <strong>no</strong>w been realised.<br />
Antony Hickson (I 1948-53) It’s a<br />
long time ago since I left <strong>The</strong> Schools,<br />
but I do come back every year for<br />
the OSH v RSSH run. I always finish<br />
last but I enjoy the visit and meeting<br />
everybody each time. I am a member<br />
of three running clubs, TH&H first<br />
claim, Stade Geneve (I used to live<br />
in Geneva where I was employed in<br />
computing for the medical sector for<br />
14 years) and Avon Valley Runners, my<br />
local club.<br />
After retiring I started researching<br />
<strong>no</strong>t only my own family, but every<br />
Hickson in the world. I visited every<br />
Hickson family in England and Wales<br />
(1,001) and many in other parts of the<br />
world – Scotland, Ireland, Australia,<br />
New Zealand, Canada and the USA<br />
to mention the main ones. I only got<br />
back to 1600 in my own family, but a<br />
German branch (von Einem) achieved<br />
success to the year 1000. My greatgreat-grandmother<br />
was German. I have<br />
created a very large website for all<br />
Hicksons.<br />
In between running and gardening, I<br />
have become a Lego enthusiast and<br />
enjoy travelling the world, visiting a<br />
different country every year for about<br />
two months at a time.<br />
My two eldest children work in<br />
education. Andy is a Professor at a<br />
Malaysian University and Rosalind Head<br />
of Drama at a private school. She also<br />
puts on a <strong>The</strong>atre Festival in the City of<br />
Wells each year.<br />
Robin Hodgson (R 1955-60) Lord<br />
Hodgson has published a pamphlet<br />
on UK overpopulation and its effects.<br />
In his pamphlet Lord Hodgson points<br />
out that the population of the United<br />
Kingdom has grown fast in recent<br />
years – an increase of 6.6 million<br />
since 2001 with a further increase of<br />
5.6 million expected by 2041. <strong>The</strong> UK<br />
is a geographically small island, and<br />
one which is relatively crowded by<br />
comparison with France and Germany.<br />
Issues of population growth tend<br />
to have been seen only through an<br />
eco<strong>no</strong>mic prism, Lord Hodgson argues,<br />
so that we have also been careless<br />
about the <strong>no</strong>n-eco<strong>no</strong>mic consequences<br />
of rapid population growth for our<br />
environment, our ecology and our<br />
society. To house the expected<br />
increase in population we are likely<br />
to have to build over an area the size<br />
of Bedfordshire by 2041 which will<br />
further increase the rate of species<br />
loss and lead to further environmental<br />
degradation. Shortages of water are<br />
expected to occur within the next<br />
twenty years.<br />
To develop a national strategy to<br />
address these challenges, Lord Hodgson<br />
recommends the establishment of<br />
an Office for Demographic Change<br />
to provide independent authoritative<br />
analyses. Full copies of the pamphlet<br />
can be downloaded free of charge from<br />
Civitas: https://www.civitas.org.uk/<br />
publications/overcrowded-islands/<br />
Anthony Nayler (SH 1955-59) I<br />
have been retired for some while,<br />
after an interesting work life, first of all<br />
working for the family business (selling<br />
equipment for the international oil<br />
and gas industries around the world),<br />
then starting a wine importing and<br />
retail business, followed by opening<br />
a finance brokerage, leasing all kinds<br />
of equipment to major companies<br />
and finally as a landscape gardener,<br />
as I finally realised I much preferred<br />
working in the open air. Last year, my<br />
wonderful partner Vicky and I upped<br />
sticks from Kent and purchased a<br />
property in the picturesque village<br />
of Daglan in the French region of<br />
Dordogne.<br />
Blake Simms (R 1953-57) has<br />
donated to the School a trophy for team<br />
effort in memory of his father “a very<br />
distinguished Destroyer Captain, rescuing<br />
nearly 1000 from the drink in the Atlantic<br />
plus 44 Italians from a U-Boat that he<br />
sank, [also steaming] the most miles,<br />
over 250,000 during the war, before his<br />
untimely death off Benghazi in December<br />
1942.”<br />
He has also given a rib to the RSSBC<br />
renamed ‘Strike Hard’, the motto his<br />
father chose for his brand-new Destroyer,<br />
HMS Hurricane, christened by his<br />
mother. His other famous ships were<br />
HMS Lamerton and HMS Javelin (after<br />
Mountbatten had shortened the latter by<br />
155 ft two years beforehand). <strong>The</strong> rib had<br />
previously been called Canitcumtoo.<br />
Selby Whittingham (S 1955-59)<br />
Looking through old theatre tickets<br />
recently, I found two for <strong>The</strong> Doctor’s<br />
Dilemma on Friday 15th June 1956,<br />
seats GC17 and 18 (Shrewsbury<br />
School Dramatic Society). <strong>The</strong>se were<br />
for myself and my mother, a keen<br />
Shavian. Among the actors was our<br />
Kensington neighbour, Willie Rushton<br />
(in his last term), whom I remember<br />
then as being more of a personality<br />
than a natural actor. Meanwhile I, and<br />
the Watteau Society, are girding up for<br />
the 300th anniversary in 20<strong>21</strong> of the<br />
death of a<strong>no</strong>ther fan of the theatre,<br />
Antoine Watteau. In 1984, for the 300th<br />
anniversary of his birth, I contributed a<br />
paper on British collectors of his works<br />
to a colloquium at Paris organised<br />
by the Louvre. I have had help from<br />
a number of Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s with my<br />
researches.<br />
Anthony Wieler (Ch 1950-55)<br />
continues to support the Gurkha<br />
Welfare Trust and has sent us this<br />
link about their invaluable work in<br />
Nepal: https://www.youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=Ry88q9jJ2oA
64<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
1960-69<br />
Patrick Balfour (SH 1955-60) informs<br />
us that the planned row-over by the<br />
1960 RSSBC crew to celebrate the<br />
60th anniversary of their record win<br />
at Henley did <strong>no</strong>t happen because<br />
of the cancellation of the Regatta.<br />
But it featured in the second day of<br />
the virtual regatta Henley at Home,<br />
curated by Matthew Pinsent and<br />
available on You Tube.<br />
Guy (aka Nick) Faber (Ch 1958-63)<br />
After leaving Shrewsbury I spent three<br />
years at Bristol University, leaving<br />
with a Third in Law having spent the<br />
after<strong>no</strong>ons in a local bookmakers and<br />
the evenings in the Union bar. I was<br />
articled with a small firm in Paper<br />
Buildings in the Temple, surrounded<br />
by barristers’ chambers. I remember<br />
Quintin Hogg QC (later Lord Hailsham)<br />
was next door. He used to arrive on an<br />
old bike with his trousers held up with<br />
brief tape. After two years in London<br />
I returned to my Northern roots and<br />
started my own solicitors practice in<br />
1971 in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. I<br />
acquired a few partners over the years<br />
– fortunately I was good at selecting<br />
solicitors who were far better lawyers<br />
than I was – but after 30 years I had<br />
had e<strong>no</strong>ugh of the hassle and retired as<br />
an equity partner.<br />
A few years ago we moved our<br />
main home to Oxford to be nearer<br />
children and grandchildren. When <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> arrives I start by checking the<br />
obituaries in the hope that my name<br />
is <strong>no</strong>t included. If any of my <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
contemporaries are still alive and<br />
would like a coffee or a cheap lunch<br />
somewhere near Oxford or Harrogate,<br />
do please get in touch.<br />
guynfaber@hotmail.com<br />
Peter Hargreaves (R 1964-69)<br />
During lockdown at Grafton Cottage in<br />
Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire,<br />
Margaret and I were kept busy in our<br />
garden which we have opened to<br />
the public under the National Garden<br />
Scheme for the past twenty-seven years.<br />
When June came and we were advised<br />
we could <strong>no</strong>t open the garden as usual,<br />
we were wondering what to do next,<br />
but continued maintaining the garden,<br />
having already had excess watering<br />
in view of the extremely high May/<br />
June temperatures. <strong>The</strong> end of June<br />
arrived, our first opening was due and<br />
we were advised that we could have<br />
visitors in slots of 25. One Sunday after<br />
BBC Gardeners’ World we received 100<br />
guests in the four slots. At the end of<br />
the season we were able to send £1,840<br />
to the NGS and £1,325 to Alzheimer’s<br />
Research, all very rewarding, but much<br />
harder than a <strong>no</strong>rmal year.<br />
Peter Hunter (S 1964-69) has been in<br />
Ibiza in August to help Producer Sophia<br />
Swire to premiere her film Art on Fire<br />
about the legendary Burning Man Art<br />
Festival, when 85,000 Burners gather<br />
for eight days in the arid heat of the<br />
Nevada Desert to view and celebrate<br />
4000 works of art and then leave<br />
without a trace remaining behind.<br />
Peter’s brother Grahame (S 1967-72)<br />
studied at Oxford, Berlin and Yale,<br />
gaining a Masters in Architecture,<br />
and is also alive and well, having<br />
recently spent a few years helping Rory<br />
Stewart’s Charity Turquoise Mountain in<br />
Afghanistan.<br />
Keith Miller (O 1959-64) Lockdown<br />
provided an invaluable opportunity to<br />
sort out the detritus of a lifetime.<br />
Attached is a photograph which<br />
resurfaced during my excavations.<br />
Although personally <strong>no</strong>t included<br />
in the photograph, I would<br />
estimate its date as pre-1936,<br />
this being the year that British<br />
Army abandoned puttees and<br />
marching in 4s, both of which are<br />
demonstrated in the photograph.<br />
I was unable to find any reference<br />
to the then Prince of Wales<br />
visiting the School. Curiously I found<br />
this photograph within the pages of a<br />
Victorian Atlas which I bought from a<br />
second-hand bookshop in Edinburgh<br />
in 1980. Perhaps some current<br />
OS might recognise a father or<br />
grandfather in the detachment of<br />
boys? (Robin Brooke-Smith writes,<br />
“I have a feeling that it is 1932 and<br />
that is the Prince of Wales in the<br />
Boater.”)<br />
To the left is a photo from Corps<br />
camp at Towyn in the spring of<br />
1963 with myself third from left,<br />
front row. Can any of you identify<br />
yourselves or others?
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 65<br />
John Pilling (Ch 1958-62) As an<br />
undistinguished Old <strong>Salopian</strong> and father<br />
of two daughters who were too old to<br />
have had the opportunity to become<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s and went to Uppingham<br />
and Moreton Hall respectively, I am<br />
proud to say that we can <strong>no</strong>w boast<br />
two granddaughters who are starting<br />
at Shrewsbury this term. Both girls<br />
are at <strong>The</strong> Grove. Molly White is<br />
the daughter of our eldest, Serena,<br />
and Lyla Williams of our youngest,<br />
Vicky, who was at Moreton and has<br />
many old <strong>Salopian</strong> friends, including<br />
Rupert Hunt, whose daughter also<br />
starts at Shrewsbury this term.<br />
Andrew Wilson (SH 1958-62) I<br />
recently achieved my first hole in one at<br />
the age of 75 off a 16 handicap at <strong>The</strong><br />
Metropolitan Golf Club in Cape Town. I’m<br />
actually a member at Royal Cape Golf Club,<br />
so achieved it playing away.<br />
1970-79<br />
Charlie Bell<br />
(Ch 1971-72) I<br />
recently retired<br />
from a long<br />
career of teaching<br />
at Mercersburg<br />
and Hotchkiss,<br />
Shrewsbury-like schools in the States,<br />
and I’m spending all my time finding<br />
ways to share the story of my longago<br />
running trip – a 10,000-mile lap<br />
of the US on foot – online, in print<br />
and in person. <strong>The</strong> invisible viri<br />
have postponed plans for talks and<br />
storytelling sessions, but at last I have<br />
launched a website that introduces<br />
the full story, including a short video.<br />
Like hundreds of other <strong>Salopian</strong>s,<br />
I am grateful to Willie Jones for his<br />
love of literature and teaching, and<br />
for his support of my early attempts<br />
at creative writing nearly 50 years<br />
ago. I’d love to reconnect with friends<br />
from my English-Speaking Union<br />
year; indeed, my wife and I were<br />
planning a summer trip to England –<br />
her first! – before COVID invaded. My<br />
contact information is on the website:<br />
https://longrun.us/<br />
Timothy Burling (Rt 1972-76) After<br />
studying PPE at Oxford, I worked<br />
for Arthur Andersen in London<br />
and Manchester, qualifying as a<br />
Chartered Accountant. In 1991, we<br />
emigrated to the USA and I worked<br />
as a finance executive in a number<br />
of different businesses, mainly<br />
manufacturing. My longest career<br />
move was 12 years with Flextronics,<br />
an electronics manufacturing business<br />
based in Silicon Valley. Since Flex,<br />
I’ve worked on and off for several<br />
other businesses but am <strong>no</strong>w mainly<br />
retired, dividing my time between<br />
the Boston area and Cheshire. I was<br />
married in 1983 and in due course<br />
we were blessed with two children,<br />
one of each. We divorced in 2000. In<br />
2002 our son, Oliver, passed away<br />
from a brain tumour aged 17. In 2018,<br />
our daughter, Claire, was married<br />
and she’s <strong>no</strong>w expecting their first<br />
child. Somewhere in the middle of<br />
all of this, I learned to fly, got my<br />
instrument rating and flew a small<br />
plane around the US for a few years<br />
which was great fun. As I got older, I<br />
quit flying and started boating in New<br />
England and Florida.<br />
Since early 2019, I’ve been fighting<br />
stage 4 mela<strong>no</strong>ma. As well as my<br />
fiancée, Penny, and my family in<br />
Cheshire, there’s a great team in<br />
Boston rooting for me. So far so good<br />
– fingers crossed!<br />
Robin Copestick (M 1976-79)<br />
Robin’s career in the wine industry<br />
has spanned 35 years and he is<br />
<strong>no</strong>w Managing Director of Freixenet<br />
Copestick, based in Newbury.<br />
Freixenet Copestick is the largest<br />
importer of sparkling wine in the<br />
UK and employs more than 60<br />
people. <strong>The</strong> company’s key brands<br />
are Freixenet, which is the number<br />
one sparkling brand in the UK, and<br />
‘i Heart’ wines which is the 10th<br />
largest selling wine brand in the<br />
UK. Still a keen golfer and squash<br />
player, Robin spends his time between<br />
London, Newbury and Padstow as<br />
well as a large amount of International<br />
travel. Robin has one son, Freddie,<br />
who much to his disappointment has<br />
become a much better golfer than him!<br />
Peter Holden (M 1969-73) was<br />
a member of the NHS Emergency<br />
Preparedness Resilence and Response<br />
Group, and involved in the UK’s<br />
response to C-19 planning, part of it<br />
from a cruise ship in quarantine in<br />
the South Pacific. Peter is still senior<br />
partner in a general medical practice<br />
in Matlock, becoming one of the first<br />
Consultants in PreHospital Emergency<br />
Medicine in May <strong>2020</strong>. He is<br />
Chairman of the Intercollegiate Board<br />
for Training in PreHospital Emergency<br />
Medicine responsible for the training<br />
of the doctors on the Air Ambulance<br />
services throughout the UK, having<br />
given up flying duties after 20+ years<br />
in 2018. He is still busy with the BMA,<br />
including representing the medical<br />
profession in Europe.<br />
Mark King (M 1972-76) took<br />
early retirement from collecting air<br />
miles in the civil service and was in<br />
part-time work (or furlough) as an<br />
examiner for an A level <strong>no</strong>t done<br />
at Shrewsbury, despite having <strong>no</strong><br />
teaching experience. He is still doing<br />
mostly armchair consultancy (because<br />
there’s little money in saying ‘<strong>no</strong><br />
return on investment here’) on his<br />
specialist topic: public and private<br />
sector misalignment in ‘identity<br />
management’.
66<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Periods of being assistant gardener<br />
at home are interspersed with<br />
jaunts to wild areas: New Ireland in<br />
New Guinea, and polar cruising in<br />
Greenland and in Antarctica arranged<br />
by the Friends of the Scott Polar.<br />
Worthy rural tasks such as Royal<br />
Institution maths masterclasses, school<br />
gover<strong>no</strong>r, local councillor, scout<br />
executive chair have <strong>no</strong>w reduced to<br />
church treasurer. He is an enthusiastic<br />
member of the Wine Society and<br />
of the local community choir, often<br />
using scores from the School’s concert<br />
choir, and – from the pencil marks<br />
it seems – still making the same<br />
mistakes as 45 years ago. Mark is <strong>no</strong>w<br />
writing the father-of-the-bride speech<br />
for his elder daughter and watching<br />
out for the Oxford Brookes Rowing<br />
results to discuss with son Alex (M<br />
2012-17), <strong>no</strong>w in his final year there.<br />
Tim Willasey-Wilsey (M 1967-71)<br />
Tim has been appointed a Visiting<br />
Professor at King’s College London<br />
where he lectures on conflict in South<br />
Asia in particular Afghanistan and<br />
India/Pakistan with the associated<br />
issues of Kashmir and the current<br />
stand-off with China in <strong>no</strong>rthern<br />
India. He also writes for academic<br />
journals in the UK, US and India.<br />
Since leaving the Foreign and<br />
Commonwealth Office in 2008 Tim<br />
has been International Advisor at<br />
NatWest Bank. He is also on the<br />
Council of Chatham House (the Royal<br />
Institute of International Affairs).<br />
Simon Entwistle (I 1977-81) My<br />
nephew Harry Clarke achieved an<br />
academic scholarship at Sixth Form<br />
entry and joined Churchill’s Hall in<br />
September from Monmouth School,<br />
thus renewing the family connection<br />
with Shrewsbury.<br />
Simon Frew (PH 1982-87) At the end<br />
of last year Simon was appointed a<br />
Program Leader by the Toronto Centre<br />
because of his extensive k<strong>no</strong>wledge<br />
and experience of prudential banking<br />
supervision in the UK, Bermuda, Qatar<br />
and Cayman Islands. This role was<br />
aimed to enable him to continue to be<br />
based in the City of London. However,<br />
COVID-19 put plans for this role on<br />
hold. Instead Simon has been working<br />
on Middle Eastern banking issues<br />
from his home in <strong>The</strong> Barbican, while<br />
supporting his shielding parents in<br />
Shropshire.<br />
Simon can still be contacted via his<br />
travelblog www.sifrew.com<br />
Simon on the first day wearing his Turnbull &<br />
Asser face mask with virus-killing filter<br />
have settled in, I am also aiming to<br />
keep going with my Business English<br />
Language Training to Adults enterprise,<br />
Straight Talking, both locally and online<br />
- https://straighttalking.eu.<br />
John Sharman (M 1983-88) I’ve just<br />
come from dropping my daughter,<br />
Sophie, off for her first day at Moser’s<br />
Hall. I was in Mosers from ‘83 to ‘88. I<br />
had been told by Martin Cropper that<br />
she was the first daughter of an Old<br />
Moserite to go to Moser’s but Matthew<br />
Morris, who was in Mosers from 1985-<br />
90, signed his daughter, Millie, up a few<br />
weeks ago, so both Sophie and Millie<br />
made a little bit of <strong>Salopian</strong> history<br />
today.<br />
1980-89<br />
Adrian Boyle (I 1983-88) was elected<br />
Vice President of the Royal College<br />
of Emergency Medicine in <strong>2020</strong>. He<br />
runs the Emergency Department at<br />
Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge<br />
which is one of the busiest Major<br />
Trauma Centres in England.<br />
Will Campion (M 1980-84) has<br />
launched a highly successful free<br />
podcast www.moneymazepodcast.<br />
com/podcast. <strong>The</strong> show is free to listen<br />
to and aims to entertain, give access<br />
to influential and successful guests,<br />
provide industry k<strong>no</strong>wledge and<br />
clear and concise advice for anyone<br />
interested in pursuing a career in<br />
finance. <strong>The</strong> show is <strong>no</strong>w listened to in<br />
over 75 countries worldwide and has<br />
thousands of listeners.<br />
Angus Mackenzie (M 1977-82)<br />
My wife and I have bought, and are<br />
moving to, a property (a ‘cortijo’)<br />
in the countryside (on the ‘campo’)<br />
close to a village called Riogordo in<br />
the Axarquía region in the province<br />
of Málaga in Andalucia in Spain. It<br />
comprises a main house (called ‘Casa<br />
Comares’) plus two self-catering letting<br />
units (‘casitas’) with adjoining land<br />
including a swimming pool. <strong>The</strong> google<br />
map coordinates are https://goo.gl/<br />
maps/aKoeNFrD5R9Wj1R77. You can<br />
also zoom in on the satellite image<br />
for an aerial view of the property and<br />
surrounding area (a postal address is<br />
somewhat more tricky on the campo).<br />
<strong>The</strong> current owners have been running<br />
a very successful letting business out<br />
of it. Our plan is to take this over<br />
and continue with it. We have always<br />
wanted to run a guest accommodation<br />
style livelihood together and <strong>no</strong>w<br />
we have the perfect opportunity to<br />
fulfil our dream of doing so. Once we<br />
Will Sillar (O 1977-81) We’re<br />
thoroughly (though shamefacedly)<br />
enjoying the Age of Zoom, which<br />
allows me to work in the City without<br />
ever leaving Shropshire. Adelaide starts<br />
her Upper Sixth year in <strong>The</strong> Grove<br />
while Karen continues to develop as an<br />
artist and printer (www.karensillarart.<br />
co.uk). I’m also Chair of Gover<strong>no</strong>rs at<br />
Terra Nova in Cheshire, which goes<br />
from strength to strength. With a £3m<br />
investment programme and many<br />
other plans, it’s a busy school and<br />
I’m looking out for one or two Old
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 67<br />
TNs who might like to join the board.<br />
You don’t need to be local – one of<br />
our Gover<strong>no</strong>rs is Head of Harrow<br />
International in Bangkok! Links with<br />
Shrewsbury remain strong – all four<br />
OTNs in the Upper Sixth this year are<br />
Postors and three are scholars.<br />
1990-99<br />
Murray Campbell (O 1992-97) I have<br />
set up www.inandoutgardenhouses.co.uk<br />
which is a business making and installing<br />
all-year-round garden houses suitable for<br />
home offices, gyms, bars, etc.<br />
Mark Davies (R 1993-98) and his<br />
wife Samantha are proud to introduce<br />
Henrietta Rosemary Joanna, born 3rd<br />
December 2019, a sister for Heath.<br />
the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital<br />
overlooking the Houses of Parliament,<br />
with special guest and fellow OS Sir<br />
Michael Palin.<br />
Justin Jeffrey (SH 1985-90) has spent<br />
the last three years exploring Brunei’s<br />
rivers by kayak, working as a field<br />
research assistant on a Universiti Brunei<br />
Darussalam camera-trapping project in<br />
the Upper Belait catchment area. This is<br />
a biodiversity hotspot across the border<br />
from Mulu, a World Heritage Site in<br />
Sarawak. You can follow his continuing<br />
adventures on Instagram<br />
@rainforestkayaker<br />
of my important contribution to the<br />
safety of air navigation, especially for<br />
general aviation”. Due to lockdown,<br />
there was <strong>no</strong> presentation, so I<br />
attach my photograph from the very<br />
memorable presentation in 2014 with<br />
the Duke of Edinburgh.<br />
2000-09<br />
Jonathan Beeston (Rb 1995-00) I<br />
have been offered a place to study at<br />
King’s College London for a Masters<br />
Degree in Psychology and Neural<br />
Science of Mental Health. Since my<br />
father died in 2019, mental health<br />
has become somewhat of a passion<br />
for me and I am eager to learn more<br />
about the subject. I am also Curator of<br />
Artefacts at the Royal Thames Yacht<br />
Club and a Conservative candidate<br />
for Cheltenham Borough and County<br />
Council. <strong>The</strong> elections were due to go<br />
ahead on 12th May this year but for<br />
obvious reasons were postponed until<br />
next May.<br />
James Galloway (Rt 1991-96) is<br />
a senior lecturer and consultant<br />
rheumatologist at King’s College<br />
London, where he has been working<br />
since 2012. He lives in South London<br />
with his husband.<br />
Artem Bocharov (SH 2000-06)<br />
After graduating with an MBA from<br />
the University of British Columbia’s<br />
Sauder School of Business, Artem<br />
found himself part of a team project<br />
which <strong>no</strong>ticed how inefficient the<br />
winemaking process is. BarrelWise<br />
was born, offering a bespoke solution<br />
to a problem which every winemaker<br />
faces. In Artem’s own words. “When<br />
you open a bottle of wine, you’re<br />
uncorking months, often years, of<br />
hard work. Winemaking is a lengthy,<br />
technical process. Harvesting, pressing,<br />
and fermentation is just the start of it.<br />
Once in the barrel, up to 20% of the<br />
wine evaporates, and to avoid bacterial<br />
growth in this excess space, it has to be<br />
constantly checked and topped up.”<br />
David Elliott (SH 1990-95) is CEO<br />
of the charity Trees for Cities which<br />
this year planted its millionth tree, in<br />
Sebastian Pooley (Ch 1992-97) I was<br />
ho<strong>no</strong>ured to be elected Fellow of the<br />
Royal Aeronautical Society earlier this<br />
year in addition to my Fellowship of<br />
the Royal Institute of Navigation which<br />
I received back in 2014 “in recognition<br />
John Crook (Rb 2000-05) I have<br />
recently been awarded a BAFTA<br />
Scholarship to study an MA in Editing<br />
at the NFTS, <strong>The</strong> National Film &<br />
Television School. I have been awarded
68<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
£10,000 towards tuition fees, along with<br />
being given a mentor for one year.<br />
I will start the two-year MA course<br />
in January <strong>2020</strong>. See https://www.<br />
shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/<br />
shrewsbury/2019/09/20/bafta-awardfor-shrewsbury-editor/<br />
David Fraser (PH 1999-2004) David<br />
leads the global press office for Philip<br />
Morris International, based in Lausanne,<br />
Switzerland. <strong>The</strong> School Bank,<br />
apparently, gave him valuable insights<br />
into his future role, as the company<br />
aims to switch smokers – who would<br />
otherwise continue to smoke – to<br />
better, smoke-free alternatives. Prior to<br />
this appointment, he worked for Help<br />
for Heroes as Head of Communications<br />
& Public Affairs.<br />
Patrick Higham (O 2003-08) News<br />
with me is that Rachel gave birth to<br />
our daughter Florence Catherine Rose<br />
Higham on 28th July <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
Alistair Hudson (M 1997-02) is<br />
delighted to an<strong>no</strong>unce his marriage to<br />
Ruoci (‘Ros’) Lin, which took place in<br />
Singapore on 17th December, attended<br />
by his family on Zoom.<br />
Chris Hughes (SH 2004-09) On<br />
19th September in Pimlico, London, I<br />
married Grace Mahony. Although the<br />
day was very different from the one<br />
we had been planning, we were very<br />
pleased to be able to go ahead with it<br />
and thankfully were able to have some<br />
people there with us on the day.<br />
Philipp Legner (O 2007-09) Mathigon,<br />
an EdTech start-up founded by Philipp<br />
Legner, has raised $500,000 through seed<br />
funding to build the ‘textbook of the<br />
future’ for mathematics. Using a unique<br />
digital content format and a virtual<br />
personal tutor, its goal is to make online<br />
learning more interactive and engaging<br />
than ever before. Every course is filled<br />
with interesting stories, puzzles, and reallife<br />
applications, to show students why<br />
mathematics is both incredibly powerful<br />
and surprisingly beautiful. Mathigon is<br />
completely free, and has been used by<br />
more than 1.5 million students all around<br />
the world. It was called “a mathematical<br />
wonderland” in <strong>The</strong> Guardian, and<br />
is officially endorsed by the UK<br />
Government for remote learning.<br />
Richard Jenkins (M 2004-09)<br />
We are delighted to an<strong>no</strong>unce the<br />
engagement of Richard Jenkins, son<br />
of Nick Jenkins (M 1974-78) to Lucy<br />
Haworth (Charterhouse 2007-09), with<br />
the wedding planned for July 20<strong>21</strong>.<br />
Richard works in corporate finance<br />
in London for Grant Thornton and<br />
Lucy is a solicitor for Latham and<br />
Watkins. <strong>The</strong> couple have recently<br />
moved to Cholmondeley, Cheshire<br />
and <strong>no</strong>w divide their time between<br />
there and London.<br />
William Jones (Rt 2003-08). After<br />
successfully defending his PhD on<br />
malaria transmission in birds at Uppsala<br />
University in Sweden, William has<br />
accepted a research position at the<br />
University of Debrecen in Hungary<br />
where he is studying Madagascan<br />
ornithology.<br />
Dr Andrew Lyness (Rb 1996-02)<br />
I live in Whitehorse, in the Yukon<br />
Territory with Tracie and our twoyear-old<br />
son Brecan. Having taught<br />
at universities in the USA and British<br />
Columbia, I am <strong>no</strong>w Chair of the<br />
Indige<strong>no</strong>us Governance Program<br />
at Yukon University – Canada’s<br />
first full degree program <strong>no</strong>rth of<br />
the 60th parallel. <strong>The</strong> majority of<br />
Yukon First Nations have signed<br />
comprehensive modern-day selfgovernance<br />
agreements, and so, with<br />
17 governments and barely 40,000<br />
people across an area 1.4 times the size<br />
of Germany, our democratic landscape<br />
is sparse but complex. Life in the<br />
subarctic is peaceful and occasionally<br />
very cold. In <strong>2020</strong> we have been<br />
fortunate to have avoided much of the<br />
world’s problems and feel incredibly<br />
lucky to have been minimally impacted<br />
by the pandemic thus far. Our family<br />
spends a lot of time out in the<br />
expansive wilderness surrounding our<br />
small town, travelling by ca<strong>no</strong>e, skis<br />
and on foot. I am a keen backcountry<br />
skier and in winter I teach avalanche<br />
skills courses through the Canadian<br />
Avalanche Association, as well as<br />
serving on the board of directors for the<br />
Yukon Avalanche Association. If any<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s find their way <strong>no</strong>rth – please<br />
get in touch!<br />
Justin Martin (SH 2002-04) Following<br />
the passing of my wife, Ella, and with<br />
the time and space that lockdown<br />
brought, I have managed to take the<br />
plunge and do something that I had<br />
always held a light for since leaving<br />
Shrewsbury. I have begun my PGCE<br />
teacher training via the Schools Direct<br />
programme teaching Geography at St<br />
Mary’s Catholic College in Wallasey<br />
on the Wirral. I am fortunately back<br />
at home with my parents for this year<br />
and my son, Teddy, continues to<br />
change every day. He has most recently<br />
embarked upon a fascination with<br />
tractors and shoes.<br />
Alastair Newman (I 1996-01) has<br />
been ordained a deacon in the Church<br />
of England.<br />
Guy Prall (O 1997-02) I have been<br />
living between sunny Kent (UK) and<br />
Los Angeles, California, spending<br />
pretty much all of my time writing<br />
a new album which I am aiming to<br />
have released by early 20<strong>21</strong>. Guitar is<br />
my main instrument but I have been<br />
playing pia<strong>no</strong>, drums and violin too.<br />
I also love to do music for film and<br />
adverts and have had my work featured<br />
in numerous online campaigns. I run<br />
a fledgling property business called
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 69<br />
Kayman Developments with Jonathan<br />
Davie (SH 1997-02) which is going<br />
from strength to strength! In my spare<br />
time I enjoy the outdoors. Surfing,<br />
s<strong>no</strong>wboarding and roadtrips on my<br />
motorbike are some of my favourite<br />
activities.<br />
Lara Gabbitas (EDH 2015-20) Due to<br />
Coronavirus I decided to postpone my<br />
History degree at Durham for a year to<br />
travel and gain some work experience.<br />
I’m currently working at Ardvreck<br />
School in Scotland until Christmas. After<br />
Christmas I’m looking to gain work<br />
experience or an internship in law or<br />
business.<br />
Alex King (M 2012-17) has reached<br />
the family cruising altitude of 6’3”<br />
and follows his uncle John (M 1976-<br />
81) and cousin to compete at Henley<br />
Regatta. He looks forward to returning<br />
his floordrobe to his student bubble at<br />
Oxford Brookes after living at home<br />
on a different time zone (minus 40<br />
years and five hours) in an AONB with<br />
excellent <strong>no</strong>ise-cancelling headphones.<br />
He has obtained a clean sweep of pots<br />
from regional events for Gloucester<br />
Rowing Club. His next task is to<br />
convert a Computer Science Degree<br />
into a salary.<br />
David Sharpe (G 2004-09) has been<br />
appointed CEO of Mansfield Town FC.<br />
2010-20<br />
Felicity Davies (MSH 2008-10) has<br />
a new role as Head of Community at<br />
Giant Ventures. Giant is a new venture<br />
firm with a mission to back purposedriven<br />
tech<strong>no</strong>logy founders. See www.<br />
giant.vc<br />
Arthur Gell (Rt 2014-19) Arthur<br />
and Jasper Mitchell (S 2014-19) have<br />
recently walked the Pennine Way,<br />
covering the 200 miles in seven days,<br />
raising over £3000 for Macmillan Cancer<br />
Support.<br />
James Lambie (I 2006-11) moved to<br />
New Zealand in 2011 and has written a<br />
compelling article about the challenges<br />
of living with Cystic Fibrosis. See<br />
https://www.cfnz.org.nz/life-with-cf/<br />
stories/james-from-waikato/<br />
Laura Elliott (G 2015-20) <strong>The</strong> last<br />
year of school is re<strong>no</strong>wned for being<br />
the quickest year in the schooling<br />
process. In our cases this was too true,<br />
finishing our final year at Easter. On the<br />
14 August I flew to Thailand for a Gap<br />
year. <strong>The</strong> first few weeks here have<br />
been amazing; seeing sights without<br />
queuing due to the obvious lack of<br />
tourists, and having nights out we<br />
couldn’t remember existed in England.<br />
Despite gaining a place a Newcastle<br />
university for Combined Ho<strong>no</strong>rs (20<strong>21</strong><br />
entry) I am <strong>no</strong>w in the process of<br />
writing a new personal statement for<br />
Midwifery, a more specific degree I can<br />
use globally.<br />
James Fearn (I 2015-17) has been<br />
commissioned into <strong>The</strong> Royal Wessex<br />
Yeomanry and will serve with them<br />
until January 2022 when he will start at<br />
Sandhurst for the regular commission.<br />
James has started his final year at<br />
Oxford Brookes, studying International<br />
Relations and Politics.<br />
Bruce Hay (Rb 2006-11) Dr Bruce<br />
Hay, son of former Shrewsbury School<br />
Gover<strong>no</strong>r Dr Fiona Hay, has been<br />
featured in the Sydney Morning Herald<br />
(20 June <strong>2020</strong>) as one of the hospital<br />
staff billed as ‘the quiet achievers in the<br />
nation’s response to the coronavirus<br />
pandemic’.<br />
Felix Mason-Hornby (R 2013-18)<br />
Now in my third and final year of<br />
my Paramedic Science Degree, I am<br />
looking at the prospect of being a fully<br />
qualified paramedic in May of 20<strong>21</strong>.<br />
This year has been busy, tough and<br />
at times emotional as I have found<br />
myself, mid-degree, gaining a job as a<br />
healthcare assistant and phlebotomist<br />
in the COVID intensive care units at St<br />
George’s Hospital London. Twenty-five<br />
weeks of COVID intensive care has
70<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
given me an eye-opening experience<br />
and some of the heartbreaking stories<br />
I’ve seen unfold whilst working in full<br />
PPE and masks in 40+ degree heat<br />
have shown me how fragile life can be.<br />
Now online university has started back<br />
up and things have become relatively<br />
more <strong>no</strong>rmal, I find myself working<br />
on the St George’s COVID testing unit<br />
where I swab up to 200 patients per<br />
day in order for operations to go ahead<br />
in the hospital. Through all this I have<br />
been lucky e<strong>no</strong>ugh to work with some<br />
of the country’s best and most talented<br />
doctors and nurses and to feel a part of<br />
the team has been a pleasure.<br />
Hugo Morgan (R 2010-15) Having<br />
graduated from Durham University in<br />
July 2019, I put my job on hold and<br />
left to go travelling. I spent the next<br />
eight months exploring New Zealand<br />
and the East Coast of Australia. I was<br />
lucky that my trip was only cut short<br />
by a few weeks as the world went into<br />
lockdown. I moved to Liverpool at the<br />
end of September to start a new job as<br />
a Graduate Engineer in the Maritime &<br />
Aviation team at Royal HaskoningDHV.<br />
consultant and agent in the arts, based<br />
in Edinburgh for the most part.<br />
Having <strong>no</strong>w graduated from Edinburgh,<br />
I continue to work from the Scottish<br />
capital but operate internationally.<br />
Should anyone ever need guidance or<br />
assistance with buying or selling art,<br />
don’t hesitate to get in touch!<br />
www.therafikigallery.com<br />
<strong>The</strong>o Simmons (Ch 2010-15) has<br />
written and directed a film, produced<br />
by Olivia Bradley (EDH 2013-15) with<br />
cinematography by Ollie Lansdell<br />
(PH 2011-16). <strong>The</strong>y are currently<br />
crowdfunding for post-production, via<br />
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/<br />
upper-air-short-film/x/24692561#/<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir website is: www.upper-air.co.uk<br />
and their facebook page https://www.<br />
facebook.com/upper.air.film<br />
forward to being able to share the final<br />
product with the <strong>Salopian</strong> community.<br />
<strong>The</strong> links below are to a Youtube video<br />
that briefly introduces the film and our<br />
instagram page which will post updates<br />
on a regular basis.<br />
https://www.youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=z6T5b-iOZ3Y&t=35s<br />
https://www.instagram.com/<br />
voyageintothenight/<br />
Daisy Raichura (EDH 2013-15) has<br />
launched an online auction house,<br />
specialising exclusively in jewellery and<br />
watches. <strong>The</strong> company is called Church<br />
Lane auctions. <strong>The</strong> first auction will<br />
be on 7th November, with a second<br />
on <strong>21</strong>st November before a final<br />
Christmas sale in December, all of them<br />
concentrating on fine jewellery.<br />
Leo Sartain (SH 2011-16) At the end<br />
of the Upper Sixth, I was awarded the<br />
History of Art prize and let slip that I<br />
wanted to become an art dealer. What<br />
followed was a four-year History of Art<br />
Masters at Edinburgh University. In my<br />
third year I founded an Art Dealership;<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> Rafiki Gallery’. Since then I have<br />
successfully produced exhibitions of<br />
contemporary art and worked as a<br />
Panwa Sutthi<strong>no</strong>n (Rt 2014-19) Since<br />
January <strong>2020</strong>, I have been working<br />
on a feature film titled Voyage into the<br />
Night that I co-wrote, co-produced<br />
and directed. We have just wrapped<br />
filming with a cast and crew primarily<br />
comprised of other Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s in<br />
my year. Freddy Williams (Rt), Jasper<br />
Mitchell (S), Harvey Hancock (I),<br />
Fingal Dickins (R), Elwood Rainey (Rt),<br />
Arthur Gell (Rt), Pun Vataya<strong>no</strong>nta (S),<br />
Elliot Crossley (Ch), Will Sissons (Rt)<br />
and Koby Ferdinand-Okpala (SH) are<br />
among the many who have played a<br />
part in bringing this film to life with<br />
significant roles ranging from actors,<br />
co-producers to composer. <strong>The</strong> film<br />
should be completed by the end of<br />
September and we intend to submit it<br />
to compete in film festivals all around<br />
the world. It is a drama/mystery/thriller<br />
with shooting locations including<br />
London, Wales, Scotland and Bangkok<br />
with the latter being made possible as<br />
we shot scenes during Fingal, Elliot and<br />
Harvey’s time working at Shrewsbury<br />
International Bangkok shortly before<br />
the pandemic sent them home. We are<br />
all very proud of our work and look<br />
Anya Tonks (MSH 2015-20) I<br />
am working as a Gap Student in<br />
Shrewsbury International, Bangkok,<br />
currently in the PE department with<br />
mainly the younger age groups ranging<br />
from EY1 (age 3) to Year 9. I am also<br />
dropping in and out of the A level DT<br />
lessons assisting them with the final<br />
projects. Finally, I am working with<br />
all age groups teaching dance after<br />
school and even running a staff dance<br />
class starting next week. I am only a<br />
few weeks into my gap year and I am<br />
already having the time of my life.
One Hundred Years Ago...<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 71
72<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Football’s debt to Shrewsbury<br />
How Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s helped to form the first FA Rules In 1863.<br />
An 1875 print of the old school with the road to Coton Hill football field just visible on the right hand side<br />
Association Football is the world’s<br />
most popular sport, regularly<br />
played by an estimated 245 million<br />
people. <strong>The</strong> last World Cup was<br />
watched by 3.5 billion. As an organised<br />
game, it began in this country with<br />
public schools each playing their<br />
own version of football, including<br />
Shrewsbury with its Douling rules. By<br />
the mid-19th century, old boys’ sides<br />
in the London area and at Oxford and<br />
Cambridge Universities were playing<br />
each other. Matches were often a game<br />
of two halves under each school’s rules,<br />
sometimes a compromise, that resulted<br />
in disagreement between players and<br />
confusion for spectators. Cambridge<br />
University undergraduates were the first<br />
to find a solution that eventually led to<br />
the Football Association’s original code<br />
of football rules in 1863. What may <strong>no</strong>t<br />
be k<strong>no</strong>wn is the role played by Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s in bringing this about.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Cambridge Link<br />
In 1552 Shrewsbury School was<br />
founded when Edward VI granted a<br />
Royal Charter to the town’s burgesses<br />
and bailiffs. After a few false starts,<br />
Thomas Ashton was appointed<br />
headmaster in 1562 and did <strong>no</strong>t<br />
disappoint. He was educated at St<br />
John’s College, Cambridge, elected<br />
a fellow, and was their senior bursar<br />
in the 1530s. In that role he came<br />
to understand the financial, political<br />
and educational aspects of running<br />
a college and used his experience at<br />
Shrewsbury.<br />
To prevent the town’s authorities from<br />
having sole influence in selecting<br />
masters and from raiding the School’s<br />
reserves, Ashton cleverly persuaded<br />
St John’s College to have primary<br />
responsibility for the appointment<br />
of all masters and authorisation of<br />
any expenditure over £10. To keep<br />
the burgesses onside, a number of<br />
scholarships and fellowships were<br />
available for their sons at St John’s<br />
each year. This close relationship with<br />
Cambridge was to be of immense<br />
importance during the 19th century.<br />
<strong>The</strong> start of football<br />
In 1798, 24-year-old Samuel Butler<br />
became headmaster. He openly hated<br />
football, which he de<strong>no</strong>unced as “only<br />
fit for butcher boys” and “more fit<br />
for farm boys and labourers than for<br />
young gentlemen”. Unsurprisingly, it<br />
was banned. He was supported by the<br />
Revd Arthur Willis, his assistant master,<br />
who would ride around on his pony<br />
and trap to stop pupils from playing<br />
the game. In his later years Butler<br />
eventually allowed boys to play football<br />
on the cricket field. This may have<br />
had more to do with the an<strong>no</strong>yance of<br />
having irate farmers on his doorstep,<br />
protesting about the boys trespassing<br />
in their fields, than a conversion to the<br />
merits of the game.<br />
Despite school life being marked by<br />
few comforts and hard discipline,<br />
his rigorous classical teaching saw<br />
university numbers increase. Between<br />
1825 and 1835, it was claimed <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
won more scholarships and ho<strong>no</strong>urs at<br />
Cambridge than any other two schools<br />
in the country.<br />
He was followed in 1836 by Dr<br />
Benjamin Kennedy who had been<br />
educated at Shrewsbury and St John’s<br />
College, Cambridge. He earned a<br />
reputation as the country’s finest<br />
classics teacher during his 30-year term,<br />
enabling a consistent flow of <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
to the universities, especially St John’s,<br />
Cambridge.<br />
In contrast to Butler, Kennedy was a<br />
reformer and he thought it was a moral<br />
advantage for boys to have exercise<br />
in their leisure hours. One of his first<br />
acts as headmaster was to hire a field<br />
for football at Coton Hill, about half<br />
a mile from the School, previously<br />
part of Butler’s dairy farm. Football<br />
soon became the most important sport
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 73<br />
<strong>The</strong> 1870 Shrewsbury School 1st XI in their white shirts and knickerbockers with dark blue socks and dark blue velvet cap with silver braid and tassel.<br />
and was based partly on the game<br />
played at Harrow, where Kennedy<br />
had previously been a master. <strong>The</strong><br />
organisation of games and the creation<br />
of rules were left to the boys since<br />
few, if any, of the masters had any<br />
experience of outdoor sport or were at<br />
all interested.<br />
Douling football<br />
<strong>The</strong> Douling rules were first printed in<br />
1855. Strangely, the goalposts were 40<br />
feet apart and the reason is unk<strong>no</strong>wn.<br />
A goal was scored when the ball was<br />
kicked between the two posts, without<br />
a crossbar, at any height. <strong>The</strong> length of<br />
a match was determined by the side<br />
that “first achieved the best of three<br />
goals”. In 1868 it took seven games<br />
before the decisive goal was scored in<br />
the annual match between Aquatics<br />
and Landlubbers.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ground measured 150 x 120 yards<br />
compared to today’s maximum of 130<br />
x 100 yards. Of all the public schools’<br />
offside rules Shrewsbury (along with<br />
Harrow) had the strictest, allowing<br />
“<strong>no</strong> one to stand wilfully between the<br />
ball and his opponents’ goal” and <strong>no</strong>t<br />
touch or kick the ball when off-side.<br />
This meant <strong>no</strong> goal-hanging, as one of<br />
the main purposes of ‘Douling’ was to<br />
keep everyone active <strong>no</strong>t stationary.<br />
Passing forward was impossible<br />
leading to the tactic of ‘dribbling’<br />
the ball, with forwards close behind<br />
‘backing up’. When the move broke<br />
down, a<strong>no</strong>ther player took possession<br />
and kept play progressing up the pitch.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second set of rules in 1870<br />
introduced a ‘scrimmage’ whenever<br />
the ball went into touch. Later called a<br />
‘squash’, the forward players on either<br />
side formed two lines before the ball<br />
was thrown in, as in rugby today. <strong>The</strong><br />
captain wrote in the 1876 Football<br />
Book that “squashes teach fellows <strong>no</strong>t<br />
to be afraid of meeting shoulder to<br />
shoulder, and fighting it out by sheer<br />
hard work”.<br />
While hacking, handling and running<br />
with the ball were <strong>no</strong>t allowed,<br />
catching the ball was an integral part<br />
of the game at all the major public<br />
schools with the exception of Eton.<br />
At Shrewsbury, a ball could be<br />
caught from a kick by a<strong>no</strong>ther team<br />
player only if the catcher was onside.<br />
A ball caught on the volley from an<br />
opponent’s kick entitled a ’Fair Kick’,<br />
which was drop-kicked or punted<br />
from hand with the opposition five<br />
yards away.<br />
Rugby School’s rules were just a<strong>no</strong>ther<br />
version until 1823 when Webb Ellis<br />
ran with the ball and touched the<br />
ball down for ‘a try at goal’. <strong>The</strong> boys<br />
decided the way to deal with this<br />
was to hack a player down. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
principles, running with the ball and<br />
Dr Kennedy and his staff in 1860. Masters left the boys to organise their own games.
74<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
<strong>The</strong> map of the old school in the town shows the school’s site had <strong>no</strong> room for a sports field. Instead, cricket and football were played at Coton Hill, about half a<br />
mile’s walk along the Chester road.<br />
hacking, became the central feature<br />
of ‘rugby’ in contrast to ‘foot-ball’<br />
playing schools like Shrewsbury, who<br />
did <strong>no</strong>t allow handling and hacking<br />
<strong>no</strong>r pushing, striking or holding an<br />
opponent.<br />
<strong>The</strong> public schools were reluctant to<br />
ditch their own rules when the FA<br />
introduced its first universal code in<br />
1863. At Shrewsbury, these rules were<br />
unpopular as they required ‘waiting for<br />
the ball’ while ‘Douling’ was a game<br />
of constant action. It was <strong>no</strong>t until the<br />
emergence of the FA Cup competition<br />
Among five <strong>Salopian</strong>s who left Shrewsbury in 1854 for Cambridge University were Herbert Luckock (top<br />
left) and Edward Horne (top right) who were signatories to the 1856 CUFC rules.<br />
in 1871, requiring all competing teams<br />
to play under the Association rules,<br />
that change became widely accepted.<br />
<strong>The</strong> School played under Association<br />
rules in their first inter-school match<br />
against Uppingham in 1876. As more<br />
out-matches took place against clubs<br />
and other schools, interest in Douling<br />
rules declined, finally ending in 1903.<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s at Cambridge<br />
University and the first FA rules<br />
By the end of Butler’s reign in 1836,<br />
half of the <strong>Salopian</strong>s who had won<br />
places at Cambridge were at St John’s<br />
and Trinity Colleges. Under Kennedy<br />
this rose to nearly three-quarters.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y had enjoyed their Douling Rules<br />
football at Shrewsbury and wanted to<br />
continue playing. <strong>The</strong> problem was<br />
agreeing whose rules would apply.<br />
Among the first to step up was Edward<br />
Montagu when an initial attempt was<br />
made in 1838 to form a Cambridge<br />
University Football Club. He wrote in<br />
later life that with other Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
he “was one of seven who drew up<br />
the rules for football when we made<br />
the first football club”. <strong>The</strong>reafter,<br />
every few years a different set of<br />
undergraduates would review and<br />
revise the rules. Trinity College, which
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 75<br />
This 19th century photo shows Coton Hill playing field which had a pro<strong>no</strong>unced slope at one end. It is <strong>no</strong>w covered in houses.<br />
was at the centre of this activity and<br />
hosted many of the meetings, was<br />
adjacent to St John’s, so there was<br />
always a strong <strong>Salopian</strong> numerical<br />
presence and involvement.<br />
In 1846, Charles Thring (brother of<br />
the future Uppingham headmaster<br />
Edward) and Henry de Winton,<br />
“persuaded some Etonians to join them<br />
in forming a University Football Club”.<br />
Two years later a meeting of two<br />
representatives each from Shrewsbury,<br />
Eton, Harrow, Winchester and<br />
Rugby thrashed out the first printed<br />
Cambridge Rules. <strong>The</strong> procedure was<br />
repeated in 1856 involving two Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s, Edward Horne and Herbert<br />
Luckock.<br />
<strong>The</strong> pace quickened in 1862 when<br />
Thring (<strong>no</strong>w an assistant master<br />
at Uppingham) revised the ten<br />
Cambridge Rules and published his<br />
own Rules of the Simplest Game<br />
which he claimed was an antidote<br />
to rugby football. His letter to <strong>The</strong><br />
Daily Telegraph in September 1863<br />
encouraged a ‘parliament’ to be<br />
formed to “issue a new code of laws<br />
for football”. A month later, Ebenezer<br />
Morley convened in London the first<br />
of a number of meetings. Although<br />
the footballing public schools chose<br />
<strong>no</strong>t to participate, a key meeting did<br />
take place in Cambridge in October to<br />
amend the existing Cambridge Rules.<br />
It was chaired by an Old <strong>Salopian</strong>, the<br />
Revd Robert Burn, a fellow and tutor<br />
of Trinity College with delegates from<br />
Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Marlborough<br />
and Westminster.<br />
Critically, their 14 rules, which<br />
included <strong>no</strong> running with the ball<br />
in hand and <strong>no</strong> hacking, had been<br />
published in <strong>The</strong> Times in the week<br />
before the ‘parliament’s’ fourth<br />
meeting. <strong>The</strong> discussion from the<br />
start seemed to be going the way of<br />
the rugby lobby who wanted both<br />
handling and hacking. Deadlock was<br />
apparent until Morley introduced the<br />
new Cambridge Rules, saying they<br />
“seemed to embrace every requisite<br />
of the game with great simplicity”.<br />
This timely intervention ultimately led<br />
to the rugby faction finding itself in<br />
the mi<strong>no</strong>rity. It allowed the newlyformed<br />
Football Association at the<br />
sixth meeting to finalise its first code of<br />
rules – without running with the ball in<br />
hand and without hacking.<br />
Thomas Ashton establishing links<br />
with St John’s Cambridge was key.<br />
Building on that, the excellent<br />
classical teaching of Samuel Butler<br />
and Benjamin Kennedy, as well as the<br />
latter’s encouragement of football, saw<br />
St John’s and Trinity Colleges admit<br />
the majority of Shrewsbury-educated<br />
undergraduates. <strong>The</strong>y were keen<br />
to continue playing football and be<br />
involved in each new set of Cambridge<br />
University football rules. In the final<br />
act it was thanks to Robert Burn’s<br />
wise chairmanship that the revised<br />
Cambridge rules solved the FA’s<br />
conundrum in 1863.<br />
So, whenever you watch or play<br />
football, remember with pride that<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s were at the heart of the<br />
first rules of Association Football – the<br />
world’s most enjoyed game.<br />
Jonathan Russell (O 1959-64)<br />
This is the author’s short amended<br />
version of a chapter on Shrewsbury<br />
School in a recently published book<br />
about early public school football<br />
codes, entitled Puddings, Bullies and<br />
Squashes, edited by Malcolm Tozer.
76<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Soulton Hall<br />
“Tradition and the individual talent” - T. S. Eliot’s great phrase,<br />
which he applied to the literary and artistic tradition. It does<br />
equally well for education, where the individual meets the<br />
tradition of learning and its body of k<strong>no</strong>wledge. <strong>The</strong> impact<br />
will greatly add to the individual, and may - with luck - add<br />
a little to the tradition. But sometimes the individual can add<br />
a great deal to the tradition – as in the case of Tim Ashton (S<br />
2000-05).<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ashton tradition dates from Tudor times when Sir<br />
Rowland Hill – ancestor of Viscount Hill, who tops the<br />
famous Column outside the Shire Hall in Shrewsbury - built<br />
Soulton Hall, near Wem, where the Ashton family – a cadet<br />
branch of the Hills – still live.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Daily Telegraph of December 8th 2019 describes,<br />
rather crudely - so typical of the paper – but <strong>no</strong>ne the less<br />
accurately (less typical) the Hall as a “40ft cube”. Simplyshaped<br />
as it is, and built of locally fired clay bricks and<br />
adorned with 17 th century chimneys, it reminds me instead<br />
of the beginning of Ben Jonson’s great poem, to Penshurst<br />
Place;<br />
Thou art <strong>no</strong>t, Penshurst, built to envious show,<br />
Of touch or marble; <strong>no</strong>r canst boast a row<br />
Of polished pillars, or a roof of gold;<br />
Thou hast <strong>no</strong> lantern, whereof tales are told,<br />
Or stair or courts: but stand’st an ancient pile,<br />
And, these grudged at, art reverenced the while.<br />
I am sure Soulton, like Penshurst, can tell many a tale,<br />
but it is – again like Penshurst – a modest pile, <strong>no</strong>t flashy<br />
or ostentatious. Penshurst Place is, of course, the seat of<br />
the Sidney family, who so wisely sent their son Philip to<br />
Shrewsbury School in 1564, the Headmaster of which at the<br />
time was Sir Thomas Ashton, who is famous for his Whitsun<br />
Tide play of 1568, and <strong>no</strong> doubt several others, performed<br />
in the town of Shrewsbury; later, of course, he had a<br />
distinguished career at the court of Queen Elizabeth I.<br />
As in the poem about the Tudor Sidneys at Penshurst, so the<br />
current Ashtons at Soulton are good stewards of the estate,<br />
farming commercially with methods sympathetic to soil and<br />
landscape, and well respected in the local community.<br />
Tim’s parents, John and Ann, have developed the estate for<br />
first class accommodation and dining, and a fine venue for<br />
gatherings (‘functions’ is in current usage, but it is dreadful<br />
word in this context), especially weddings. <strong>The</strong> Ashtons’<br />
hospitality, I have <strong>no</strong> doubt, would rival that of the Sidneys<br />
... whose liberal board doth flow<br />
With all that hospitality doth k<strong>no</strong>w;<br />
Where comes <strong>no</strong> guest but is allowed to eat<br />
Without his fear, and of thy lord’s own meat.<br />
But Tim himself has made two <strong>no</strong>table impacts upon the<br />
estate and its environment – hence the nexus between the<br />
individual and the tradition. In 2014, he began collaboration<br />
with historians and stonemasons to create a late Neolithic<br />
Long Barrow in the <strong>21</strong> st century Shropshire landscape. As<br />
for our Stone Age and Bronze Age ancestors, so the Soulton<br />
Hall Long Barrow is a resting place of the dead – or more<br />
personally, the urn-encompassed ashes of our deceased<br />
loved-ones.<br />
Although Tim has designed and built the Barrow so that<br />
sunlight at the <strong>Winter</strong> and Spring Solstices falls among the<br />
urns in radiant shafts, he eschews mystical and Druidical<br />
connections, pointing out that ancient barrows and henges<br />
were major aspects of their cultures, requiring sound project<br />
management, administration and mass employment! Instead,<br />
he focuses on a natural resting place in the ancient landscape<br />
and over-arched by the wheeling constellations – a resting<br />
place for those of all faiths or <strong>no</strong>ne. And thus it is with those<br />
who already rest there.<br />
About 400 metres away is Tim’s other architectural project –<br />
an open-air theatre called <strong>The</strong> Sanctuary.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 77<br />
of Severn Hill is a distant relative of Sir Thomas Ashton, first<br />
Headmaster of Shrewsbury, and re<strong>no</strong>wned actor.<br />
So Soulton Hall survives and renews itself because of the<br />
intelligent impact of individual talent upon the swelling<br />
tradition. And as with Penshurst, so with Soulton:<br />
... those that will proportion thee<br />
With other edifices, when they see<br />
Those proud ambitious heaps, and <strong>no</strong>thing else,<br />
May say their lords have built, but thy lord dwells.<br />
Hurrah for the Sidneys; hurrah for the Ashtons!<br />
Responding to the parlous state of large and small theatre<br />
companies and actors during the current COVID-19<br />
pandemic, Tim put the diggers to work to build a grassy<br />
space that would be suitable for outdoor performance, and<br />
provide much-needed employment and income for live<br />
theatre. Two raised ovals, open at both ends for entrances<br />
and exits, with simple tiers where an audience can recline<br />
and watch, face each other in sympathetic and symmetrical<br />
harmony.<br />
<strong>The</strong> first show in the Soulton Hall season – Shakespeare’s<br />
Two Gentleman of Verona – took place at the end of August,<br />
and the season continued with A Midsummer Night’s Dream<br />
and a variety of other shows throughout September, <strong>no</strong>t in<br />
the new theatre, but in the lovely walled garden to the West<br />
side of the Hall itself. <strong>The</strong> National Youth <strong>The</strong>atre brought<br />
a specially devised site-specific piece of promenade theatre<br />
entitled <strong>The</strong> Last Harvest in October. We witnessed the last<br />
harvest in <strong>21</strong><strong>21</strong> in <strong>The</strong> Sanctuary <strong>The</strong>atre, and progressed<br />
back in time as we returned to the walled garden in the<br />
present – October <strong>2020</strong> – where the glib political speeches<br />
and the inability of the government to look after the country<br />
– let alone the world environment – in COVID times had<br />
clearly led to the last harvest, near-starvation and the collapse<br />
of community a hundred years later. A powerful message<br />
from the young to those entrusted with our future.<br />
Plans for the new space when fully grassed – and a tad drier<br />
– are <strong>no</strong>w well in place for the Spring. Hardly surprising Tim<br />
Robin Case<br />
PS For those who wish to find out more about hospitality,<br />
the columbarium (a resting place for cinerary urns) or the<br />
theatre at Soulton Hall, you can of course find a website<br />
or call the Sslopian Club for Tim’s email – which will keep<br />
the Director on his toes!
78<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
VE and VJ DAYS<br />
An Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Gurkha remembers.<br />
was 19 years old when commissioned from being a<br />
I Gentleman Cadet at the Indian Military Academy at Dehra<br />
Dun into the Somerset Light Infantry and seconded to 1<br />
Gurkha Rifles, having been in India for six months. This was<br />
entirely against the advice of Captain Griffiths, my Company<br />
2ic in the Dogra Regiment, and my better judgement in<br />
that, so bad was I at languages, I was told I would never<br />
learn any language other than Urdu, and even then the men<br />
would probably only follow me through being inquisitive,<br />
so mangled would my use of it have been. Even so, I was<br />
told to put my name down for an Urdu-speaking regiment<br />
of the Indian Army and <strong>no</strong>t for British service as “being<br />
posted to the Indian Army will be something that will always<br />
stand you in good stead”, he said on hearing I had failed my<br />
Elementary Roman Exam.<br />
In the Regimental Centre at Dharmsala I had to start linguistic<br />
life from ‘a pace behind’ but did pass my Elementary Roman<br />
Urdu exam so was allowed to learn Khaskura (<strong>no</strong>t Nepali,<br />
which was the ‘court’ language) by a brilliant linguist, son of<br />
the first CO of 2/1 GR in 1885. I offended protocol by going<br />
for a long walk instead of attending a wedding so jumped<br />
to the head of the queue of 12 officers awaiting posting and<br />
went to the training battalion, 14 GR, south of Dehra Dun,<br />
still 19 years old. We had <strong>no</strong> sight of newspapers or sound of<br />
news and so busy were we in our training that we gave little<br />
thought to what information of the war in Europe filtered<br />
through to us and we only learnt about it in retrospect.<br />
In <strong>The</strong> Call of Nepal I wrote: I enjoyed talking to the soldiers<br />
and was stupidly pleased when they understood me. I looked<br />
forward to being posted to an active battalion before the war<br />
ended. While still under training ‘Victory in Europe Day’,<br />
k<strong>no</strong>wn to the Western world as VE Day, came and went: I<br />
arrived.<br />
Celebrations for VE day included a feast in every company.<br />
I was given a drink. I was very thirsty and the light was dim.<br />
<strong>The</strong> metal tumbler I was offered seemed to contain water and<br />
I swigged a large mouthful before realising that it was raksi,<br />
colourless country spirit. I was taken completely by surprise<br />
and the sheer violence of the stuff choked me. I asked for<br />
some water and, when more colourless liquid was poured<br />
into a<strong>no</strong>ther glass, did a repeat performance. Here was a<br />
new sahib being tested. For the first time in my life I became<br />
gloriously drunk and found, to my delight, that I could<br />
converse fluently with the men, understanding them and<br />
being understood by them. A regimental nautch was a replica<br />
of Hill culture where women did <strong>no</strong>t dance. Young men<br />
took their place. Costumes were stylised to reflect male and<br />
female performers. Each unit had its own nautch clothing<br />
and make-up. It was very much later, when I was the only<br />
British officer left, that I was inveigled to dress up as one of<br />
the dancers. I soon mastered the rhythm of the movements<br />
and found myself singing a song, the refrain of which was<br />
repetitive and pointless. <strong>The</strong> key word was ‘relimaiñ’ and that<br />
became my nickname for many years. I had been accepted: I<br />
<strong>no</strong>w belonged.<br />
Now that there was emphasis only on the war against the<br />
Japanese, I was delighted to get a posting to 1/1 GR, who<br />
were about 120 miles <strong>no</strong>rth of Rangoon by then. I was <strong>no</strong>w<br />
20. We were in 100 Brigade with 4/10 GR and 3/14 Punjab<br />
Regiment, in 20 Indian Division.<br />
Compared with 1/7 GR, 1/1 GR’s war was modest, the<br />
battalion only arriving in the theatre in the preceding<br />
January having served in Iraq, Persia and North Africa after<br />
six months’ leave. <strong>The</strong> Japanese were on the run but still<br />
dangerous. I can<strong>no</strong>t <strong>no</strong>w recall why I did <strong>no</strong>t include the<br />
arrival of VJ Day in <strong>The</strong> Call of Nepal, so memory of that<br />
time, 75 years later, must take its place.<br />
I was attached to D Company and to B Company for an<br />
extended patrol but the only enemy I personally met were<br />
wounded and dying, one of the former trying to shoot me<br />
as I was interrogating him but who was restrained by my<br />
protecting Gurkha. I became the Intelligence Officer and<br />
was sent to Rangoon on a Photo Interpretation course during<br />
which time we heard about the first atomic bomb dropped<br />
over Japan. <strong>The</strong> Officers’ Mess was a Burmese house on stilts<br />
and having our evening meal the Adjutant, Captain Gordon<br />
Keen, was called to the phone. We heard a series of staccato<br />
exclamations growing in intensity and excitement. He came<br />
back, grinning. “<strong>The</strong> war’s over. <strong>The</strong> Japs have surrendered,”<br />
he said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Mess Havildar was ordered to bring whatever booze<br />
there was and it was all drunk: all except A Company (which<br />
was on detachment in Henzada on the River Irrawaddy)<br />
came out of their billets and marched around the village<br />
square, firing off their reserve ammunition. I felt deflated in<br />
that my input to winning the war was <strong>no</strong>thing.<br />
Next morning only I had <strong>no</strong> hangover at breakfast when the<br />
phone clanked again. Gordon, badly hung over, staggered<br />
off to take the call. This time we heard <strong>no</strong>thing staccato, only<br />
low-toned “oh <strong>no</strong>, <strong>no</strong>, oh <strong>no</strong>”. He came back into the dining<br />
room and said, “<strong>The</strong> war is <strong>no</strong>t over, last night’s call was<br />
wrong. Brigade has told me we have to send” – details given<br />
– “out on operations once more.”<br />
A week later the war did end but it was an anti-climax, albeit<br />
a relief.<br />
A<strong>no</strong>ther party was held in a Burmese house. I forget what<br />
we drank, if anything, but all present had to sing a song.<br />
A south Indian catholic beautifully sang ‘Ave Maria’, the<br />
CO sang ‘Salko patta, Relimaiñ’ and the only song I could<br />
remember was ‘Home James and don’t spare the horses…<br />
the night has been ruined for me’ which, after all these years,<br />
seems quite the wrong sort of song to have sung.<br />
John Cross (Rt 1939-43)
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 79<br />
Shrewsbury Streetscapes<br />
In April 2019 local architect and artist James St Clair Wade (DB 1976-81) began work on a project<br />
to record the historic streetscape of Shrewsbury in a series of unique architectural views allowing the<br />
whole length of each street to be seen simultaneously.<br />
Something which started as a gap<br />
filler between architectural jobs<br />
took on a new focus during the <strong>2020</strong><br />
lockdown and from first drawing the<br />
Tanner’s building on the bottom of<br />
Wyle Cop, James has <strong>no</strong>w drawn both<br />
sides of Wyle Cop, High St, Mardol and<br />
St John’s Hill. He is currently drawing<br />
Shoplatch and will gradually work his<br />
way up Pride Hill in a project that aims<br />
to draw most of the streets within the<br />
loop of the River Severn.<br />
With the future of Britain’s high streets<br />
increasingly uncertain following the<br />
rise of internet shopping and COVID,<br />
capturing Shrewsbury over this time is<br />
like a historical snapshot. Many of the<br />
shops originally drawn <strong>no</strong>w <strong>no</strong> longer<br />
exist. It’s a souvenir of Shrewsbury at<br />
a very particular moment in time - a<br />
record of how buildings change as<br />
people live in them.<br />
Working from photos, James uses an<br />
Ordinance Survey to get the scale right<br />
and the rest is by eye. Using his 25<br />
year old Caran D’Ache box of coloured<br />
pencils and a Pentel P 205 pencil, each<br />
A3 section takes around 20 hours.<br />
Once a whole street is completed, each<br />
section is digitally joined together to<br />
make a pa<strong>no</strong>rama – the longest – Wyle<br />
Cop North being over 2m long.<br />
James estimates that it is likely to take<br />
at least three more years to finish the<br />
project at a rate of 150 hours per street.<br />
Sharing the images and progress videos<br />
on a Community Facebook Page, the<br />
project has <strong>no</strong>w over 1,300 followers,<br />
many of whom are keen historians of<br />
Shrewsbury’s past and love to share<br />
their memories.<br />
With Darwin’s birthplace, <strong>The</strong> Mount<br />
recently ceasing to be a Government<br />
Office, James was asked to draw the<br />
building, a process which was recorded<br />
by Andrew Spicer (M 2009-14) in a<br />
short ten minute film <strong>The</strong> Mount in<br />
Miniature. Andrew has his own film<br />
company – Fairholme Films.<br />
<strong>The</strong> project has <strong>no</strong>t been without a<br />
bit of controversy as James chose <strong>no</strong>t to<br />
spend 25 hours drawing Princess House,<br />
the utilitarian 1970s block which currently<br />
dominates the Market Square. Instead<br />
he designed a simple classical building<br />
that reflects County Goldsmiths – the<br />
one imaginative element in an otherwise<br />
historically accurate portrait of the county<br />
town.<br />
Asked whether he has a favourite, James<br />
comments that it’s the combination of<br />
Shrewsbury’s buildings that create the<br />
character of the town. It is the variety and<br />
quality of the ordinary buildings that he<br />
finds such a delight to draw.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>re may be other towns in the UK<br />
that are better k<strong>no</strong>wn but you would<br />
have to go a long way to find anywhere<br />
that has quite the variety and intricacy of<br />
Shrewsbury’s streetscape.”<br />
Limited Edition Prints available.<br />
Website: streetscapeproject.com<br />
Instagram and FaceBook – Shrewsbury<br />
Streetscape Project<br />
YouTube: Shrewsbury Streetscape<br />
Project
80<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Fives Club<br />
While our 2019/20 season, like<br />
many other sports, was cut<br />
short, it was one of the most successful<br />
seasons in our history: defending both<br />
the Division 1 and the Division 2 titles<br />
and winning the EFA Club Competition.<br />
Many in the Club have equalled or<br />
bettered their competition bests, and<br />
while we are <strong>no</strong>t quite there in winning<br />
individual competitions, we have more<br />
players consistently getting further in<br />
tournaments.<br />
Having never before defended either<br />
the Division 1 or the Division 2 titles,<br />
in true <strong>Salopian</strong> fashion we decided to<br />
do them both in one go; a feat that is a<br />
first in Eton Fives history. <strong>The</strong> cherry on<br />
top was winning the EFA Competition,<br />
having fallen short in the final for a<br />
number of years. For us this shows<br />
that we have a vibrant Club with lots<br />
of active playing members who have<br />
demonstrated consistently their ability<br />
on the court; something we are very<br />
proud of.<br />
This season also marks the end of<br />
an era. Richard Barber has stepped<br />
down as President of the Club. He has<br />
a long history in Eton Fives and has<br />
held senior positions in our Club for<br />
literally decades, navigating us through<br />
many ups and downs. It is time that he<br />
merely enjoys the game of fives and<br />
allows someone else to take over the<br />
stewardship of the Club.<br />
We had a celebratory dinner in his<br />
ho<strong>no</strong>ur and, while <strong>no</strong>thing we could<br />
have organised would have reflected<br />
all he has done for our Club, it was a<br />
great evening with many generations of<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> Fives players present.<br />
That evening was also the occasion<br />
to welcome our new President, Mike<br />
Hughes, a<strong>no</strong>ther stalwart of the<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> Fives Club and we wish him<br />
luck in his presidency. <strong>The</strong> picture<br />
above shows the incoming President<br />
presenting our departing President with<br />
a token of our gratitude.<br />
We have been working hard to<br />
maintain contact with recent leavers<br />
from school and university, and we are<br />
very pleased to see a number of recent<br />
leavers play for the <strong>Salopian</strong>s both in<br />
Richard Barber and Mike Hughes<br />
the league and in the victorious EFA<br />
trophy team. We are delighted that we<br />
have been able to get them playing for<br />
us. <strong>The</strong> future is looking very bright.<br />
On to much less important news: this<br />
season marks the end of my tenure<br />
as Club Secretary and Sam Welti is<br />
taking over. I wish him the very best<br />
in breathing fresh enthusiasm into the<br />
Club and building on the successes of<br />
this season.<br />
Chris Hughes<br />
Club Secretary<br />
EFA Winning Team<br />
Mike Hughes, Grant Williams, Henry Blofield, Guy Williams (c), Sam Mcloughlin, Will Sissons
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 81<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Football Club<br />
Following the lockdown, the Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Football Club got<br />
back into full swing, having ended last season with relegation<br />
in the Arthurian League for both the 1st XI and 2nd XI teams.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 1st XI are <strong>no</strong>w in Division 1 (which is the second<br />
division of six) and are off to a fantastic start with four points<br />
from six. Meanwhile the 2nd XI (<strong>no</strong>w in division five) have<br />
three points from six.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Club has gone through a transitional period and our<br />
focus is to keep promoting younger players, with a view that<br />
football becomes secondary to the social aspects that come<br />
with joining the Club.<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s 2 – 2 Old Berkhamstedians<br />
Old Rugbeians 1 – 3 Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
Old Berkhamstedians 2s 2 – 3 Old <strong>Salopian</strong> 2s<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> 2s 0 – 4 Old Ardinians<br />
Anyone wanting to get involved should please email<br />
oldsalopianfc@gmail.com<br />
Arthur Dunn Cup<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s 4-0 Old Shirburnians<br />
<strong>The</strong> first round of the Arthur Dunn Cup, played a Senior on<br />
17th October <strong>2020</strong>, saw a very convincing 4-0 win for the Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s. We started the game strongly putting together a<br />
very nice flowing move for the first goal. Tom Kelly was laid<br />
in behind the back line and squared it to Dan Humes who<br />
put it away with a very relaxed finish. From here on in it was<br />
all us, and for the second goal, all Max Pragnell. Carrying the<br />
ball from just inside the opposition’s half, he dribbled his way<br />
through a number of players only to slot it into the bottom<br />
left corner, 2-0 Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s.<br />
<strong>The</strong> second half saw much of the same, Tom Kelly getting on<br />
the end of a Charlie Pilkington header making it 3-0. A shout<br />
out must go to Tom Shaw who made an outstanding penalty<br />
save to keep it at 3-0 before Adam Parker went down the<br />
other end, rounding the keeper to make it 4.<br />
A great result for the Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s. On to the 2nd round!<br />
With thanks to Andy Nunn Photography.
82<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Golfing Society<br />
<strong>The</strong> OSGS had a busy end to 2019, as can be seen by the match and meeting reports below. However, despite a full <strong>2020</strong> Fasti<br />
being planned, COVID-19 caused us to cancel or postpone almost all our events in <strong>2020</strong>. But as soon as Clubhouses are allowed to<br />
re-open, we will once again be back in full swing. See our website www.oldsalopiangolf.co.uk for full details and the latest news.<br />
OSGS vs <strong>The</strong> Schools, Hawkstone Park, Shropshire,<br />
Sunday 13th October 2019<br />
Twelve Old <strong>Salopian</strong> golfers arrived on a wet and overcast<br />
morning to take on a team from <strong>The</strong> Schools. Canadian<br />
Foursomes was played, where everyone drives, you play<br />
your partner’s ball for the second shot and then choose<br />
which ball to play for the third shot.<br />
Gerald Smith, local Hawkstone member, led off the Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s, playing with the Hon. Sec. against Will Austen<br />
off 7 and Dr Paul Pattenden. This was a very closely fought<br />
match that finally ended with the last putt on the 18th Green<br />
where <strong>The</strong> Schools were victorious.<br />
Dan Legge, former Captain of School Golf in 2014, <strong>no</strong>w<br />
working as a surveyor in London, partnered Peter Stewart<br />
and they had a tremendous victory in the country against <strong>The</strong><br />
Schools pair of Egor Simarov and Archie Eyre.<br />
<strong>The</strong> third OS pair of Chris Conway and John Upton also had<br />
a<strong>no</strong>ther good win in the country over Shelden Yuen and Nick<br />
Argyle.<br />
Our fourth pair of the President, Anthony Smith and David<br />
Moorhouse, who had made the trip all the way from Fulham<br />
in London, lost 4 & 3 to the Captain of School Golf, Sam<br />
Austen and Dr Tim Foulger.<br />
Our fifth pair of Dan Evans and James Onions lost 1 down<br />
to Mark Schofield, Master i/c of Golf playing with his son<br />
Daniel, who I’m told hit his drives a country mile off 26!<br />
Our sixth pair of Ainsley Reid and Rod Spiby had a<br />
serious loss out in the country to Hugo Hulse and Simeon<br />
Wainwright.<br />
After golf we sat down for supper in the Hawkstone Hotel<br />
and all those who had won their respective matches won a<br />
sleeve of balls as a prize. <strong>The</strong> overall result of the Match was<br />
the same as last year with a draw.<br />
OSGS vs Malvern, Blackwell Golf Club,<br />
Sunday 13th October 2019<br />
<strong>The</strong> teams assembled at Blackwell Golf Club for bacon rolls,<br />
with heavy rain making for hazardous driving conditions on the<br />
roads. <strong>The</strong> conditions for driving off the 1st tee were <strong>no</strong> better,<br />
as puddles of water appeared on the 9th and 18th greens. After<br />
consulting numerous weather apps, the prospects for any golf<br />
looked bleak. <strong>The</strong> alternative was to spend the morning in the<br />
bar watching the Rugby World Cup in Japan.<br />
As the rain eased, common sense prevailed after an ingenious<br />
solution to our predicament was proposed by Harry Lewis.<br />
<strong>The</strong> format for the day’s golf was amended as the Captains<br />
agreed to play fourball eightsome matches in the wet over 9<br />
holes, to be followed by foursomes matches in the after<strong>no</strong>on.<br />
Malvern adapted better to the fourball eightsomes format and<br />
went into lunch with a one-point lead.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Malvernian Golfing Society has experienced a<br />
remarkable season. In addition to winning the Halford Hewitt<br />
and the Darwin, Malvern were losing finalists in the Grafton<br />
Morrish. To cap it all, Clive Edginton (an Old Malvernian)<br />
was elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of<br />
St Andrews.<br />
Shrewsbury graciously ack<strong>no</strong>wledged these achievements<br />
over lunch but after a little too much chirping from Malvern,<br />
the <strong>Salopian</strong>s were determined to play well in the after<strong>no</strong>on<br />
foursomes.<br />
Before play commenced, the inappropriately dressed Harry<br />
Lewis was requested to undertake the Kümmel run. (Note to<br />
Hon. Sec.: opportunity for a sale of a<strong>no</strong>ther OSGS tie!)<br />
Playing top, James Skelton and David Blofield performed<br />
brilliantly to beat Malvern’s strong 1st pair on the 18th and<br />
wipe out the morning’s deficit, with Skelly holing an 8-foot<br />
putt to clinch victory. Our 2nd pair of Angus Pollock and his<br />
nephew James demolished the opposition and registered a<br />
win out in the country. Harry Lewis and Chris Bullock had<br />
a great tussle against two wily bandits and held their nerve,<br />
coming down the stretch to register a<strong>no</strong>ther win. Shrewsbury<br />
victorious in all of the first three matches and the Tony Duerr<br />
Tankard retained.<br />
Rob Ainscow, on debut, and his experienced partner<br />
Jonathon Mawdsley were giving too many shots to the final<br />
Malvern pairing and lost a close encounter. This was the final<br />
match out on the course after a good lunch and the players<br />
returned to the Clubhouse in near darkness after the trophy<br />
had been presented to the Shrewsbury Captain and all other<br />
golfers had left the bar!<br />
A wonderful day of competitive golf played over a<br />
magnificent course that drained superbly after the deluge<br />
of rain. Malvern may have<br />
won the Hewitt and the<br />
Darwin but the prestigious<br />
Tony Duerr Tankard remains<br />
with Shrewsbury winning the<br />
Match 3-2!<br />
Thanks to Angus Pollock,<br />
Match Manager, for this report<br />
and his leadership of the<br />
OSGS at this Fixture.<br />
Angus Pollock being congratulated<br />
by the Malvern Captain, Craig Sharp,<br />
as Shrewsbury retain the Duerr<br />
Tankard.<br />
Campion Trophy Final 2019<br />
– ‘<strong>The</strong> Clash of <strong>The</strong> Titans’,<br />
Royal Birkdale Golf Club, <strong>21</strong>st October 2019<br />
This year’s Campion Trophy Final was played between two<br />
titans of the game: President of the OSGS, Anthony Smith,<br />
playing off a handicap of 5, who has been a former Captain<br />
of our Halford Hewitt Team and has played in over 100<br />
Halford Hewitt Matches; and Will Campion, playing off a
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 83<br />
handicap of 4, a<strong>no</strong>ther former Captain of our Halford Hewitt<br />
Team and the eldest son of Ian Campion, our late OSGS<br />
President, who donated this Trophy in 2009.<br />
Anthony brought in his wife, Pauline, to be his Caddy and<br />
Will brought in his youngest son, Ben. <strong>The</strong> Match Referee<br />
was the Hon. Sec., who thankfully didn’t have to refer to his<br />
Rule Book. <strong>The</strong> final was played in a great spirit, with some<br />
superb golf from both <strong>Salopian</strong>s.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 1st hole at Royal Birkdale is a Par 4 and is reckoned to<br />
be one of the toughest starts to any Open Championship<br />
course. It was halved, as were holes 2 and 3. Anthony went 1<br />
up with a par 3 at the first short hole on the 4th. <strong>The</strong> 5th was<br />
halved in par.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 6th hole at Royal Birkdale is a par 5, stroke index 1,<br />
where Anthony was getting his only shot off Will. Anthony<br />
played a magnificent approach shot and held his putt for a<br />
birdie 4 net 3, winning the hole to go 2 up.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 7th is a par 3, where Will left his approach putt short<br />
but managed to hole a long put to match Anthony’s par and<br />
avoid going 3 down. Will won the 8th hole with a par and<br />
they both halved the 9th in 4, so Anthony was 1 up at the<br />
turn. Par is 35 and Anthony was out in 38.<br />
Will won the 10th with a single putt after Anthony put his<br />
drive in the rough. <strong>The</strong> match was <strong>no</strong>w all-square. Will got<br />
his par 4 at the 11th to go 1 up. <strong>The</strong> 12th, 13th and 14th holes<br />
were all halved.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 15th hole is a par 5, stroke index 2, of 499 yards in<br />
length. Both players played a driver and Will put his ball<br />
into the rough on the right and played a provisional ball.<br />
Anthony drove down the fairway. Sadly, we could <strong>no</strong>t find<br />
Will’s first drive and with Anthony’s second shot further down<br />
the fairway, Will played his provisional ball from the lefthand<br />
rough and hit a superb shot onto the green in 4 shots.<br />
Anthony played a short iron up to the green. Will missed his<br />
putt for a par 5 and Anthony made par – so we were back to<br />
all-square with three holes to play.<br />
On the par 4 16th, Will holed a single putt to birdie and win<br />
the hole, going 1 up with two holes left to play. <strong>The</strong> 17th is a<br />
par 5, 508-yard hole which was playing into the wind. Both<br />
players played three shots to get onto the green. Once again<br />
Will holed his putt down the green from about 10 feet and<br />
won the match 2 & 1.<br />
Anthony warmly congratulated Will on his victory and we<br />
later worked out that Will played round the whole course in 2<br />
over par. Will put his win down to his single putts at the 7th,<br />
10th, 13th, 14th, 16th and 17th holes. This said, both players<br />
played some excellent golf and this was a fantastic match!<br />
Floreat Salopia!<br />
Thanks also to David Umpleby for organising the Draw and<br />
to Royal Birkdale for hosting the match.<br />
Charles Hill - Hon Sec, Will Campion - <strong>The</strong> Campion Champion 2019, Antony<br />
Smith - <strong>The</strong> OSGS President<br />
Our new OSGS Logo Balls<br />
Anthony Smith & Will Campion after the latter’s victory on the 17th Green<br />
OSGS Meeting at Ashridge Golf Club, Hertfordshire,<br />
Friday 25th October 2019<br />
<strong>The</strong> annual visit to Ashridge is a special occasion as we can<br />
invite a guest to come and play with us. <strong>The</strong> meeting was<br />
played in Four Ball Teams – playing a Stableford competition<br />
from the Medal Tees.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Four Fourballs were as follows:<br />
Team A<br />
Simon Shepherd OSGS (6) & Lachlan French (11)<br />
John Bolton OSGS (19) & Mike Shen (26)
84<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Team B<br />
Charles Hill OSGS (11) & John Galbraith (13)<br />
Mark Summers OSGS (18) & Robin Moser (15)<br />
Team C<br />
John Parker OSGS (18) & Geoffrey Lane (<strong>21</strong>)<br />
Stephen Shaw OSGS (12) & Andrew Shaw (17)<br />
Team D<br />
Michael Cox OSGS (24) & Tim Cox (20) (signed up as a New<br />
Member of OSGS on the day. Welcome to the Club, Tim!)<br />
Andy Pollock OSGS (4) & John Rowlinson OSGS (22)<br />
<strong>The</strong> course was in good condition and the greens were<br />
running fast. <strong>The</strong> heavy rain forecast to arrive with us at<br />
midday did <strong>no</strong>t materialise until we were in the clubhouse<br />
eating the Ashridge Lunch washed down with the Club<br />
Malbec. Everyone had a great day out and the following<br />
prizes were awarded:<br />
Longest Drive on 1st Hole - Simon Shepherd<br />
Nearest the Pin on 3rd Hole - David Bonnett<br />
Nearest the Pin in 2 on 9th Hole -<br />
Charles Hill<br />
Nearest the Pin on 11th Hole - John Bolton<br />
Team A won the overall competition with 84 points and each<br />
player received a sleeve of the new Crested OSGS Pro VIs!<br />
Teams B, C and D all had 79 points and as a result each of<br />
the 12 players all received a single Crested OSGS Pro VI ball.<br />
Hindmarsh and guest James Brady on 36 points.<br />
Our Hewitt Captain Andy Pollock and seasoned partner<br />
Simon Cullingworth were runners-up on 37 points. And two<br />
clear, taking the Trophy for 2019 came Frank Higham and<br />
Peter Thwaites with a very creditable 39 points.<br />
Much fun was had by all, the weather cleared after 5 holes<br />
and, although we were <strong>no</strong>t joined by the Old Bailey Judges<br />
at lunch this year, the Society members and guests enjoyed a<br />
sumptuous New Zealand lunch, before heading home after a<br />
thoroughly enjoyable day’s golf. Our thanks to the members<br />
of NZGC for allowing us, once again, to use their splendid<br />
course on a Saturday morning.<br />
Thanks to Simon Shepherd for this report and his leadership<br />
of the OSGS at this fixture.<br />
If anyone who is reading this OSGS report is inspired to join<br />
the OSGS, please feel free to email charlesgchill@hotmail.<br />
com and I will sign you up and give you full access to our<br />
website.<br />
Charles Hill, Ho<strong>no</strong>rary Secretary OSGS<br />
OSGS Meeting at New Zealand Golf Club, Surrey,<br />
Saturday 2nd November 2019<br />
<strong>The</strong> final fixture of the OSGS Fasti for 2019 took place at<br />
New Zealand Golf Club in Surrey, on a very wet and windy<br />
Saturday morning. Coinciding with the Rugby World Cup<br />
Final in Yokohama, the prevailing feeling was that we might<br />
have preferred to play our vanquished opponents from the<br />
semi-final again, the eponymous All Blacks, but sadly this<br />
was <strong>no</strong>t to be.<br />
Undaunted by the weather conditions and with Club<br />
Members watching the match and resolutely <strong>no</strong>t venturing<br />
forth, 8 <strong>Salopian</strong> pairs including one guest and the very<br />
welcome Dan Legge, recent Captain of Golf at Shrewsbury<br />
School, took out cards in a better-ball Stableford competition<br />
against the bogey card. Whilst bogey might flatter scores<br />
on certain days, the weather conditions certainly merited a<br />
helping hand – and scoring as a result was very respectable<br />
indeed: playing for the magnificent Robert Walker Foursomes<br />
Cup, in third place but sharing both the nearest the pins<br />
and both the longest drives between them, came Stefan
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 85<br />
With recent movement restrictions, it may be that some<br />
have made a home gym, using whatever is to hand,<br />
or have mobilised the old bike, with the help of some<br />
lubrication, to go around local cycle tracks. But there is, of<br />
course, always the simplest form of exercise: running. And<br />
all those days of Hunt Runs prepared us well for spending<br />
an hour or so getting out into the countryside, which in turn<br />
clears the mind of all stress. Yes, this really does work!<br />
Looking back before the February floods, the Coronavirus<br />
Pandemic and the sunny spring, there was traditional activity,<br />
in which members of our Club involved themselves.<br />
On Saturday 30th November 2019, OSH Day began with the<br />
gathering of eager Hounds of the RSSH, beside OSH runners<br />
and many supporters, at 2pm on <strong>The</strong> Drum. <strong>The</strong>re were two<br />
Huntswomen and six Huntsmen lined up for the first photo<br />
of the day (below), with Lillian Wilcox (EDH), Alex Mott (Rb<br />
2003-08), Oli Mott (Rb 1998-03), Ed Mallett (S 2008-13), Liv<br />
Papaioan<strong>no</strong>u (EDH 2014-16), Sam Western (S), Will Painter<br />
(R 1967-71) and Peter Birch (DB 1966-71).<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Hunt<br />
diversion up a steep bank behind the Cricket School. Former<br />
Huntsman Ed, being on good form, ran a superb run, killing<br />
just 32 seconds ahead of current Huntsman Sam. <strong>The</strong>n a flurry<br />
of present-day Riggites made good positions, before Matty<br />
<strong>The</strong>vathasan (PH 2014-19) and Tom Hughes (Ch 2013-18) could<br />
get into the finish funnel. Ex-Huntswoman Liv was our first lady<br />
home, and it was excellent to have Suzy Watts (MSH 2014-16)<br />
and Passy Goddard (G 2014-16) come “home” to run once<br />
again.<br />
Soon after the run, we all packed into the Hunt Gym in the<br />
Stott Pavilion to devour the tea, sarnies and cakes, before Ian<br />
Haworth, the Master-in-Charge of the Hunt, an<strong>no</strong>unced the<br />
results of the athletes’ efforts. Chessie Harris took the Peter<br />
Middleton Cup for the first girl home and Ed Mallett picked<br />
up the Will Ramsbotham Cup for the fastest time (20 mins 14<br />
secs). This year, the OSH conceded victory to the RSSH and<br />
the Huntsman, Sam, held up the David Loake Trophy for the<br />
winning team.<br />
Also, six winners of <strong>The</strong> Tucks Run stood smiling for the<br />
photographers (see below), being James Franklin (PH<br />
2002-07), Francesca Harris (EDH), (Chessie has won an<br />
amazing four times), OSH Captain Oli Mott, Ed Mallett, Liv<br />
Papaioan<strong>no</strong>u. and Huntsman Sam Western, who has won the<br />
race twice.<br />
In fairly good weather conditions, at 2.30pm the OSH team<br />
of 15 lined up with 27 boys and girls of the RSSH and two<br />
members of staff for the Throw-Off from beside the School<br />
Wall. Despite recent severe flooding around Shrewsbury,<br />
the 5.9k (or 3.7 mile) course, which is similar to modern<br />
Paperchases, was reasonably good going and the water was<br />
<strong>no</strong>t too deep in the Rad Brook crossing. <strong>The</strong> Ridgemount<br />
Drive part of the route was reinstated, with a surprise testing<br />
As ever, we are grateful to the Groundsmen for their help<br />
getting the course marked out and to Ian and all staff<br />
who always make the day back at School work so well.<br />
Fourteen OSH Committee Members then sat down at<br />
4.30pm in the Hardy Room of Kingsland House to proceed<br />
through the Agenda of the AGM & Committee Meeting,<br />
where we were pleased to elect Liv as our new Ho<strong>no</strong>rary<br />
Secretary. A little later, 20 diners arrived for the Annual<br />
Dinner in the Peterson Room. This year our guests, the<br />
Huntswoman and Huntsman, were accompanied by all the<br />
Whips, Anna Cowan (MSH), Tom Jackson (R) and Paddy<br />
Barlow (R). <strong>The</strong> full report and the link to the results page<br />
can be found on the OSH website pages.<br />
Two weeks later, on Saturday 14th December 2019, there<br />
was the trek down to London for the 67th Alumni Race,<br />
which is run over a challenging 5-mile cross-country course<br />
at the Roehampton end of Wimbledon Common. Thames<br />
Hare & Hounds, which organises this event, has <strong>no</strong>w<br />
improved this great run by introducing chip timing for the<br />
300 or so entrants, as well as starting it from a new area of<br />
the Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields, to negate the<br />
congestion of so many runners in the early stages.<br />
<strong>The</strong> very impressive OSH Team of ten was headed by<br />
Huntswoman Liv and three Huntsmen, Cal Winwood (I 06-<br />
11), Ed Mallett and Oscar Dickins (R 11-16). <strong>The</strong> course had<br />
some soggy areas to negotiate, but this was <strong>no</strong> problem for
86<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
our Hunt-trained athletes, especially Ed, who impressed us<br />
supporters with his 8th place quick finish and then Oscar<br />
achieving a superb 17th place, followed by our regular<br />
attendee, Ben Hebblethwaite (R 1986-91) at <strong>21</strong>st place. Our<br />
important fourth counter was Cal at 24th, together with<br />
Charles Tongue (G 2000-05) at 25th. Tom Hughes has been<br />
training, which showed, as he came in at 66th and then Liv<br />
finished at 90th, which equated to 4th place in the Ladies’<br />
category. Olly Russell (Master-in-Charge of the Girls’ Hunt<br />
and our team guest runner) was 96th. James Humpish (SH<br />
2008-13) was 151st and newcomer, Tom Fea (I 1986-91) was<br />
198th. <strong>The</strong>re were some very big teams this year, with strong<br />
competitive runners, making it a tough race, but we still<br />
achieved 4th place out of 34 Schools’ Alumni Teams present.<br />
Do see the full report on the OSH website pages.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re have been opportunities to ‘follow <strong>The</strong> Hunt’,<br />
including ‘blue-ribbon’ events such as the K<strong>no</strong>le Run, back<br />
in January <strong>2020</strong>, in Seve<strong>no</strong>aks, Kent, which is excellent<br />
for spectators. In February, the Shropshire Schools<br />
Championships at Oswestry is always well attended, followed<br />
five days later by the King Henry VIII School Relays in<br />
Coventry, where supporters can watch the action and<br />
excitement of this important national schools’ event. <strong>The</strong>n<br />
on March 14th, a select number of Hunt runners joined<br />
the Shropshire team competing in the All England Schools<br />
County Championships, held at Sefton Park, Liverpool, where<br />
thousands of competitors and supporters were present for<br />
this last big event before the ‘lockdown’ for the pandemic.<br />
On Sunday morning, 15th March, it was a pleasure to see<br />
so many members of the Hunt and the OSH running the<br />
Shrewsbury 10k, taking a course that traversed the School<br />
Site. Jamie Lambie, a personal trainer at the School, won the<br />
race and Peter Middleton (Deputy Head Co-Curricular) was<br />
4th. Liv was winner of the Women’s race and it appeared that<br />
everyone had achieved personal best times. <strong>The</strong> report on<br />
the School website says that there were 40 staff and pupils<br />
taking part!<br />
Back on the School Site on the following Wednesday, it<br />
was the spectacle that is the RSSH Steeplechases, showing<br />
all the colours of House teams chasing around Top and<br />
Lower Commons in this annual relay event. Even though the<br />
Huntsman, Sam, had the fastest lap, Rigg’s won, yet again, in<br />
this very last sports event at the School, before it closed down<br />
two days later and the big blue Moss Gates were shut. Now<br />
solitary running is keeping fitness going and virtual events are<br />
being invented. In this vein, David Jenkins of Thames Hare<br />
& Hounds Running Club has started the Lockdown Alumni<br />
Race, where schools’ alumni are invited to submit timings of<br />
5k runs, which leads to weekly listings showing teams and<br />
individual places and times.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 68th Alumni Race, in Roehampton, has also been<br />
cancelled. However, TH&H did organise a Virtual Alumni<br />
Race, where entrants could run a 5 mile Cross-Country<br />
course of their own choice, on either Saturday 12th or<br />
Sunday 13th December, <strong>2020</strong>, and then upload their times<br />
to the website. This prompted 19 OSH runners to make up<br />
“Team Shrewsbury” for the race. <strong>The</strong> great thing about the<br />
Annual Alumni Race is that it accommodates all ages and<br />
abilities, with this race showing how a larger OSH Team<br />
can pick up several trophies. In the Open Race category,<br />
our Team took 1st Place, which is the first time it has won<br />
since the competition started in 1953. Brothers Ed and<br />
George Mallett, Seb Blake and Will Hayward were the<br />
“point counters” with very strong running. <strong>The</strong>re were three<br />
Ladies, Liv Papaioan<strong>no</strong>u, Ali Ardissi<strong>no</strong>, and Flic Hayward,<br />
who were just pipped to 2nd Place by 2 points, but <strong>no</strong> less<br />
impressive for that. <strong>The</strong>n the 60+ category Team of David<br />
Thomas, Tim Bedell and Michael Johnson took 1st Place with<br />
Richard Hudson and Michael Johnson coming 2nd in the<br />
65+ category. Out of 33 teams, there were 353 competitors<br />
entered, of whom 295 finished, making Shrewsbury’s success<br />
even more outstanding.<br />
As 20<strong>21</strong> arrives, we remain optimistic that <strong>The</strong> OSH will be<br />
able to compete in <strong>no</strong>t only the usual annual events, but also<br />
some new ones.<br />
As ever, it would be great to hear from you, so do contact<br />
me, either by email on info@crbirch.com or by the OSH<br />
Twitter and Facebook pages. Visit the OSH website pages<br />
(within the School website) on www.shrewsbury.org.uk/<br />
page/os-hunt where you can see information about the<br />
OSH Running Vest, Silk Tie and Scarf and also details about<br />
obtaining the Records of <strong>The</strong> Hunt since 1831. Other contact<br />
details are on the OSH website, including for our Hon.<br />
Sec. Liv Papaioan<strong>no</strong>u, who would be pleased to hear from<br />
anyone interested in getting involved with new events.<br />
Peter Birch<br />
DB 1966-71, Huntsman 1970-71, OSH Chairman<br />
George Mallett (S 2007-12), James Humpish (SH 2008-13) and Ed Mallett (S 2008-13) before the 68th Alumni Race in December <strong>2020</strong>
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 87<br />
Sabrina Club<br />
A <strong>no</strong>te from Charles Wright, President, Sabrina Club:<br />
It was very sad that we could <strong>no</strong>t meet to support the School in the Schools’ Head and that Henley was yet a<strong>no</strong>ther victim<br />
of the current state of affairs. I would particularly have liked to thank those on the Committee who had already done all<br />
the planning for those events and whose efforts have always produced such excellent results, as well as those who run the<br />
publicity and organise the crew and its events. We were also looking forward to supporting the Sabrina crew and hope that we<br />
shall be able to do so again in the future.<br />
Sabrina Members’ News<br />
room. Unfortunately, this year the dreams of many athletes<br />
were shattered. Despite this, Yale’s Heavyweight Crew’s<br />
brotherhood is so strong that this will just be fuel to the fire.<br />
Lucas Rowley (O 2017-19)<br />
I have been been rowing at Imperial since the start of<br />
September and was asked if I wanted to take part in GB trials<br />
this year. I gave it a thought and decided I would. I was in<br />
a pair with a guy from Windsor Boys’ School named Tom,<br />
who was the second best lightweight U23 rower last year and<br />
narrowly missed out on going to U23 World Championships.<br />
Dom Sullivan (I 2017-19)<br />
On 23rd August 2019, I arrived at Yale University, my home<br />
for the next four years. My life was changed at that moment.<br />
<strong>The</strong> past year has been chaotic, filled with so many ups<br />
and downs. Due to the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak,<br />
my freshman year was, to my dismay, cut short; my online<br />
classes have since <strong>no</strong>t compared to my time spent under the<br />
sweeping ceilings of Yale’s grandiose lecture halls.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Heavyweight Crew Team was a definite reason that<br />
Yale became my home. Like many <strong>Salopian</strong>s, we trained<br />
twice a day, six days a week, a feat which <strong>no</strong>w seems<br />
purposeless given the lack of our season. However, during<br />
the countless hours spent on the Housatonic River, many<br />
relationships were born. Though it sometimes feels that our<br />
lives revolve only around rowing, that isn’t true. It’s tough<br />
to see everything we’ve trained for taken away from us,<br />
leaving us feeling flustered and helpless. Nevertheless, these<br />
are unprecedented times where every person is affected,<br />
reaching far beyond the realm of rowing.<br />
On the Yale Crew Team alone, we have athletes from New<br />
Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland,<br />
to name just a few. In the past few months, I have learnt<br />
so much about so many cultures and how each culture<br />
reacts to a given situation. Yet despite our differing cultures<br />
and backgrounds, every person on the team had the same<br />
mentality when they found out the news that the season<br />
had been cancelled: heartbreak and utter disappointment.<br />
Nonetheless, we also have the same mindset for the coming<br />
year: <strong>no</strong>body will come close to us next season; we will be<br />
ruthless and relentless in our attitude.<br />
Yale’s work ethic is about training to the best of your ability<br />
in every single stroke, but always having fun with it. <strong>The</strong><br />
loudest room on campus is our erg room, where <strong>no</strong>n-stop<br />
encouragement is given by coaches, coxes and oarsmen.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is <strong>no</strong>thing like it. Every test day, the overwhelming<br />
feeling of camaraderie and the one collective mindset that if<br />
we give it all, we will be National Champions for the fourth<br />
year running, gives me goosebumps when I step into the<br />
Going into the Sunday 5K time trial, we didn’t have much<br />
pressure to do well or anything to lose. We had had a few<br />
on and off sessions in our training before we went but we<br />
seemed to be rowing well in our warm-up. In the time trials<br />
we were set off behind an Oxford pair that included a St<br />
Paul’s rower from the Henley winning crew and a guy who<br />
rowed in the Junior World Championships coxless four a few<br />
years ago. We brought everything together in the row and it<br />
felt quick. We knew we had done well when we overtook<br />
the Oxford pair. Our performance placed us 8th in U23 Pairs,<br />
4th in full U23 Pairs and 26th in Open Men’s, including those<br />
trialling for the Olympics.<br />
Pat Lapage (R 2003-08)<br />
I have been in the US for 12 years <strong>no</strong>w, between getting my
88<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
degree at Harvard and spending eight years coaching there.<br />
It has been a great experience so far, and I have definitely<br />
grown to call Boston my home city!<br />
I am currently the recruiting coordinator for the heavyweight<br />
men’s team at Harvard. We have a team of about 50 rowers,<br />
and I work with two other coaches: our Head Coach, Charley<br />
Butt; and the other assistant coach, Jesse Foglia. It’s a great<br />
set-up. I’m lucky to work with two outstanding coaches, and<br />
I feel as if I learn something new every day.<br />
<strong>The</strong> recruiting side of things is an interesting challenge. In<br />
the US, a sports team can ‘support’ an application through<br />
the admissions process. It gives that applicant a bit of a boost<br />
when they apply and can increase their chances of being<br />
admitted. It’s my job to spearhead the recruiting process to<br />
identify the best-suited rowing candidates and help them<br />
through the application, as well as deciding which ones to<br />
support. <strong>The</strong>re’s definitely a bit of pressure associated with<br />
this process, as all US universities are doing it. But that makes<br />
it all the more fun!<br />
As well as the recruiting, I coach the 2V (2nd VIII) in our<br />
racing season. We start racing on the first weekend of April<br />
and race for five consecutive weekends. In mid-May we have<br />
Eastern Sprints. If we win Eastern Sprints we will generally<br />
come over to the UK for Henley. Last year we did this and<br />
won the Prince Albert Challenge Cup for student coxed fours.<br />
We had a great semi-final where we beat Oxford Brookes by<br />
just a few feet in a come-from-behind win – a great feeling!<br />
At the end of May we have the IRA National Championships,<br />
and our season finishes with the Harvard Yale Race – our<br />
version of the Boat Race!<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are a few things I’ve picked up along the way that I’ve<br />
found useful as a coach. Firstly, it’s important to k<strong>no</strong>w what<br />
you don’t k<strong>no</strong>w! If you need to ask someone for advice or<br />
get a second opinion on something, that’s generally very<br />
helpful. It will either give you a new perspective or confirm<br />
what you originally thought. Secondly, coaching is often<br />
about anything except the sport itself! <strong>The</strong> oarsmen perform<br />
better when they’re doing well in the classroom and in their<br />
personal lives, so it’s important to have a good relationship<br />
and understand the pressures they’re facing. And finally,<br />
it’s much easier to teach skills to people with the right<br />
personality, than it is to teach personality to people with the<br />
right skills. That’s where the recruiting piece comes in to play.<br />
Coaching is most enjoyable when all those things slot into<br />
place!<br />
I am very fortunate to have the job I’ve always wanted to<br />
do and a great home set-up (my wife is also a coach, and<br />
my dog loves the launch!). Rowing at Shrewsbury was the<br />
launchpad for me, and it helped me get to where I currently<br />
am with my sport. If you’re on the fence about considering<br />
whether to do a sport at the university level, I would<br />
definitely recommend putting yourself in a position where<br />
you can consider it. It can be a great way to meet people,<br />
stay in shape, and maybe even get you your ideal job!<br />
Sabrina in training<br />
September <strong>2020</strong> saw a historic Sunday morning, with Sabrina oarsmen and oarswomen in training together on the Severn.<br />
Incremental changes in the personnel, fixture list and social<br />
events of the Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Squash Club have seen it grow<br />
from a min<strong>no</strong>w to a respectably sized trout since its release in<br />
London waters five years ago. Indeed, the healthy diet of onand<br />
off-court activities spread out across the impending year<br />
for the team at the season’s offset hinted at a future in which<br />
the Club’s progression towards maturity seemed inevitable.<br />
<strong>The</strong> expanded field of possibilities that such a trajectory<br />
seemed to entail had an intoxicating effect on our Captain<br />
Ben Stirk, who began the season with a set of visualisation<br />
exercises that included picturing i) the team trebling its<br />
current budget & ii) seeing his own bust replace that of<br />
Charles Darwin at the kernel of the School (ambitions<br />
apparently achievable within eight years).<br />
<strong>The</strong> level-headed and <strong>no</strong>-doubt prescient aspirations of<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Squash Club
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 89<br />
our Captain did <strong>no</strong>t account for the arrival of that strangest<br />
of guests on our shores, however. Indeed, the appearance<br />
of COVID-19 has prompted some mi<strong>no</strong>r adjustments to<br />
the timeframe in which the Club’s enhanced cashflow and<br />
effigies can be expected to manifest. Nonetheless, it did <strong>no</strong>t<br />
deprive us of a sterling half-season – one smattered with<br />
successes and setbacks of a more modest nature – on which<br />
it is my duty to report.<br />
Facing our old rivals, the Tonbridgians, the season began<br />
with a bang. This fixture is one we’ve come to relish, as<br />
the healthy dislike both teams have of one a<strong>no</strong>ther tends<br />
to amplify the competitive spirit and necessitates a fairly<br />
merciless attitude on court. As usual it delivered, and at the<br />
turn of nine o’clock we found ourselves in a tight spot at two<br />
games apiece, before James Kidson swatted us to victory with<br />
some characteristically tricksy squash.<br />
This triumph was short-lived unfortunately, as the Old<br />
Etonians and the RAC under-35s brought us down to earth<br />
with two 4-1 losses, in spite of a good couple of wins from<br />
our first-string Jonny Williams. <strong>The</strong> team then made the<br />
annual pilgrimage up to <strong>The</strong> Schools to clash against the<br />
current boys’ squad, led by the indefatigable Myles Harding.<br />
As ever, this was a fun fixture played in good spirit; one<br />
that never fails to stoke the ambitions of the current crop of<br />
boys through their exposure to a crack group of prominent<br />
alumni. Surprisingly, this was won by the OS 5-0, with Myles<br />
dropping his first ever match in straight games, a result that<br />
he certainly won’t wish to be published. This upset aside,<br />
the undeniable hero of this bout was our VC Rupert Parry,<br />
who put on a startling display of stamina and grit to hold the<br />
barbarians at the gates over two consecutive games.<br />
Next up was the Londonderry Cup: a challenging and<br />
typically short-lived affair that sees the best Old Boys’<br />
teams from around the country pitted against one a<strong>no</strong>ther.<br />
<strong>The</strong> OS inevitably drew Millfield, the <strong>no</strong>.1 seeds, in the<br />
first round and promptly crashed out (5-0) before having<br />
a similarly desolate time against a strong Cranleighan side<br />
(4-1). Max Baccanello’s efforts in the latter encounter deserve<br />
mentioning, as he overcame a highly experienced opponent<br />
in three games.<br />
We then faced a series of tricky fixtures with a nail-biting win<br />
over Roehampton (3-2), a comfortable win over Repton (5-0)<br />
and a last one against a more informal travelling side but one<br />
always enjoyed, the MBBs (captained by Rory Best’s brother)<br />
(4-1). This purple patch was solidified by three consecutive<br />
victories by a much-improved Nick Davies and a series of<br />
good performances from our skipper Ben Stirk. Unfortunately<br />
this run of good fortune was <strong>no</strong>t to last indefinitely, as our<br />
return fixture against the Tonbridgians coincided with several<br />
injuries, and our depleted team’s rugged determination could<br />
<strong>no</strong>t prevent us from being comprehensively flattened (0-5).<br />
Alas this was to be our last match of the season, owing to<br />
the arrival of COVID; and so we ended what had been a<br />
promising and hugely fun season on a slightly dour <strong>no</strong>te.<br />
Since sport seems likely to regain its legality in the coming<br />
months, the Club will be open to any new recruits who are<br />
looking to play as part of a team in London. Any skill level<br />
can be accommodated; and playing/eating regularly at Lord’s<br />
is worth signing up for in and of itself. Please contact Ben<br />
Stirk at Ben.Stirk@cbre.com if interested.<br />
Floreat Salopia!<br />
Jonny Williams (R 2005-09)<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Women’s Sport<br />
Netball<br />
This season has been a period of change for the netball<br />
team. Not only have we changed league, but we have also<br />
had a number of younger players joining. <strong>The</strong>y have been<br />
a fantastic addition to the team and we have started to see<br />
some great results. Out of the three games we were able to<br />
play this season, we won one, drew one and lost one game.<br />
Although the coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to our<br />
games, we are very much looking forward to getting back<br />
on the court.<br />
Alice Long and Elen Murphy have <strong>no</strong>w taken over the reins<br />
of the OS Women’s Netball team. <strong>The</strong> team was previously<br />
managed by Elle Gurden, who has been an integral part of<br />
paving the way for women’s netball. Without Elle, the team<br />
would <strong>no</strong>t be where it is today, and it is because of all her<br />
hard work and support that we are able to play together.<br />
Thank you, Elle, for everything you have done.<br />
We are always looking for new players, so if you’re<br />
interested in playing recreational netball on a Monday night<br />
in Pimlico (London), please do get in touch with us.<br />
Rowing<br />
<strong>The</strong> Sabrina Club are looking to get a women’s crew<br />
together, hopefully with the potential to do some summer<br />
regattas. Once the lockdown period is over, Sabrina rowing<br />
will take place in both London and Shrewsbury, so if you’re<br />
interested in taking part please do get in touch with us.<br />
Equally, if you’re just looking to exercise then there will be<br />
Sabrina club gym sessions (circuits, watt bikes, weights etc)<br />
happening at the School Boat Club fairly regularly.<br />
Fives<br />
To kick off OS Women’s Fives in London, we are looking<br />
to submit a team into Division Three for next year. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
are eight fixtures (home and away) in the season and we<br />
want to get a minimum of four players who are keen to<br />
play. More information on this will follow, as we’re still<br />
working out a couple of details, but if you are interested in<br />
getting involved please reach out to either of us or Sam Welti<br />
(Secretary of Fives).<br />
Alice Long (MSH 2010-12)<br />
Elen Murphy (MSH 2011-13)
90<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>2020</strong> Saracens Cricket tour<br />
brought with it a refreshing taste of<br />
<strong>no</strong>rmality in what has been a disjointed<br />
summer due to the Coronavirus<br />
Pandemic. Following the Cricketer<br />
Cup’s cancellation, some questioned<br />
whether the Devon tour would go<br />
ahead this year but, undeterred, 24<br />
Saracens made the annual trip down<br />
to Instow.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was a wonderful atmosphere at<br />
the Wayfarer Inn on Sunday evening,<br />
passed largely without incident - it was<br />
just fantastic to feel unshackled from a<br />
year of lockdowns and quarantines.<br />
Day 1 - Monday 10th August: (rain<br />
affected) Saracens (169 for 6 off<br />
25.0 overs) beat NDCC (128 all out<br />
off 23.4 overs) by 41 runs.<br />
A Pollock 48* D Humes 29 P Clarke 27*<br />
D Humes (3-31) P Clarke (2-32)<br />
<strong>The</strong> majority of the squad arrived at the<br />
picturesque North Devon Cricket club<br />
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Lulled<br />
into a false sense of security by the<br />
previous week’s record-temperatures,<br />
the squad had <strong>no</strong>t foreseen the<br />
tumultuous rainstorm that greeted them<br />
that morning – the ground was quite<br />
literally under water. <strong>The</strong> barmen in the<br />
clubhouse were licking their lips…<br />
An unscheduled session in the bar on<br />
Day One could prove lethal later in<br />
the week. With many of the younger<br />
touring party champing at the bit and<br />
still in their peak ‘University’ conditions,<br />
re-enforcements were required in the<br />
form of the “Senior Pros”, Ben & Tom<br />
Chapman and Nick Graham.<br />
Luckily for the management, each was<br />
on-hand to deliver a stark warning and<br />
re-focus attentions on any cricket that<br />
may be played later that day. Rumours<br />
have it that this was very much a “do<br />
as I say, <strong>no</strong>t as I do” message, as they<br />
themselves slotted into the Instow Arms<br />
for a long lunch.<br />
<strong>The</strong> sand-based drainage system meant<br />
cricket was very likely to happen<br />
once the rain had stopped and, with<br />
Saracens umpire Mark Williams holding<br />
fort, a 4pm start was agreed with 25<br />
overs per side.<br />
Jabba (Richard McKay) and Will Mason<br />
opened the batting as they have done<br />
for years. Mackay, still in bother from<br />
the night before, floundered around for<br />
a few balls before having his middle<br />
stump removed. Mason’s less than<br />
Saracens<br />
Devon Tour <strong>2020</strong><br />
elegant “dil-scoop” third ball meant he<br />
quickly followed his partner, who had<br />
already informed the middle order that<br />
“this pitch is unplayable”.<br />
Dan Humes (29), returning to Devon<br />
for a second year, and Peter Clarke<br />
(27), on his first tour, set about rebuilding<br />
the foundations and did so<br />
with grit and skill. But it was tour<br />
veteran, Alasdair Pollock, who stole the<br />
show with a swashbuckling 48*. <strong>The</strong><br />
Saracens finished 169-6 from 25 overs.<br />
NDCC felt to us as if they were in the<br />
driving seat and all the talk at tea that<br />
the Saracens’ total was 50 runs under<br />
par proved to be mistaken. A snarling<br />
Pollock, who has proudly never lost a<br />
game in Devon, removed both openers<br />
promptly and with minimal fuss. Dan<br />
Humes bowled quickly and bagged a<br />
couple himself too. <strong>The</strong> cauldron was<br />
bubbling and the Saracens smelled<br />
blood.<br />
Henry Lewis, who has recently taken<br />
on Cricketer Cup captaincy, was quick<br />
to inform anyone who would listen that<br />
he had one eye on his 20<strong>21</strong> campaign<br />
when he eventually turned to Peter<br />
Clarke and Arthur Garrett – the spin<br />
twins. Contracted to Worcestershire<br />
and Warwickshire respectively, they<br />
set about dealing with NDCC’s lowermiddle<br />
order with their u<strong>no</strong>rthodox<br />
left arm bowling. NDCC’s innings<br />
never really got going and the Saracens<br />
completed a 41-run victory.<br />
It was a clinical fielding performance<br />
and after the rousing post-match<br />
speech from Ron Barnard, everyone<br />
donned their formals and got ready for<br />
a roast in the clubhouse.<br />
Day 2 - Tuesday 11th August (timed)<br />
Saracens (245 all out off 48.4 overs)<br />
lost to NDCC (284-6 dec off 57.5<br />
overs) by 39 runs.<br />
G Hargrave 91 H Lewis 35* A Garrett 35<br />
T Spencer-Pickup (4-67) W Street (2-32)<br />
Stripes are earned on the Tuesday<br />
of tour - the Lundy breeze seems<br />
harsher and the opposition a little<br />
more daunting, sensing a hangover or<br />
two, eager to bat and punish lethargic<br />
bowling. Year after year, it has proved a<br />
tricky stint in the field for the Saracens.<br />
Despite the dip in energy, there was a<br />
monumental shift in the tensions within<br />
the changing room. <strong>The</strong> infamous first<br />
dropped catch (it hadn’t happened yet)<br />
and a large match day squad meant<br />
negotiations between those volunteers<br />
to “sit off for ten” were ferocious.<br />
Despite all the background <strong>no</strong>ise, Toby<br />
Spencer Pickup and Will Street were<br />
simply outstanding with the new ball.<br />
In a herculean effort both ended up<br />
bowling all the way through to lunch<br />
with approximately 14 overs each.<br />
NDCC were looking precarious at<br />
110-5.<br />
If the morning session was better than<br />
expected, then the after<strong>no</strong>on was true<br />
to form. NDCC had batsmen tucked<br />
away down the order and it was they<br />
who put the Saracens to the sword,<br />
finally declaring on 284-6. George<br />
Thomason dropped the first catch and,<br />
after denying it so aggressively to the<br />
point of nearly driving off, eventually<br />
completed the lap, catching a few<br />
funny looks from an U11 training<br />
session whilst doing so.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Tuesday run chase has had so<br />
many heroes over the years; centuries<br />
galore from Tom Cox, Tom Chapman’s<br />
e<strong>no</strong>rmous six into the wind, and more<br />
generally senior pros in the engine<br />
room stepping up when it counts.<br />
Charlie Byrne has been a key figure in<br />
recent years too, but unfortunately he<br />
hadn’t been seen since failing to listen<br />
to the Senior Pros’ Monday warning<br />
(“do as I say, <strong>no</strong>t as I do”). <strong>The</strong><br />
Saracens were in search of a new hero.<br />
George Hargrave batted beautifully<br />
and for a long time looked to be the<br />
match winner. <strong>The</strong> previous year he<br />
had scored a blistering century against<br />
the Brase<strong>no</strong>se Strollers, and with the<br />
scoreboard reading 180-4, the script<br />
looked set.<br />
Unfortunately, Hargrave fell for 91<br />
and in doing so sparked a subsequent<br />
collapse, with Humes and Atkin soon<br />
following behind. Lewis and Pollock<br />
wrestled back momentum but still 70<br />
runs out, Pollock top edged to deep<br />
mid-wicket, leaving Lewis to bat with<br />
a shaky tale of Street, Jacob, and<br />
Spencer-Pickup.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Saracens were eventually bowled<br />
out for 245. A disappointing result in<br />
the end, light relief only to be found in<br />
Pollock’s first loss in Devon.<br />
Day 3 - Wednesday 12th August<br />
(timed) Saracens (<strong>21</strong>5 all out off<br />
51.1 overs) lost to Brase<strong>no</strong>se College<br />
Strollers (<strong>21</strong>6 for 9 off 47.1)<br />
by 1 wicket.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 91<br />
G Thomason 58 A Pollock 31<br />
P Clarke 4-68 A Pollock 4-78<br />
TM called an early meeting on<br />
Wednesday morning - there were some<br />
<strong>no</strong>table absentees, mainly in the form<br />
of Tom Chapman who was seemingly<br />
still celebrating his team’s ‘Clubhouse<br />
Olympics’ success from the night<br />
before.<br />
In an attempt to lure Tom back into<br />
the touring party TM roused the troops<br />
with a breakfast treat, courtesy of the<br />
government’s ‘Eat out to Help out’<br />
scheme. If a double black pudding<br />
fry-up wasn’t e<strong>no</strong>ugh to tempt Tom<br />
Chapman, then <strong>no</strong>thing would be.<br />
In the week’s flagship fixture vs<br />
Brase<strong>no</strong>se College Strollers, Lewis<br />
won the toss and elected to bat. An<br />
eager crowd watched as the Saracens<br />
top order, many of whom had<br />
dominated schoolboy cricket over<br />
the last five years, were swept aside.<br />
Humes, Hargrave, G Lewis, Clarke,<br />
Garrett, all went in quick succession.<br />
And so, yet again the engine room<br />
were summoned, and thankfully<br />
responded. H Lewis (30), Pollock (31),<br />
and Thomason – having cheered up<br />
post run – with an excellent 58. <strong>The</strong><br />
Saracens reached a competitive total of<br />
<strong>21</strong>5 all out.<br />
Having avoided a potential<br />
embarrassment, it was <strong>no</strong>w all about<br />
putting in a Monday-like fielding<br />
performance if we were to have any<br />
chance of getting a result. Without<br />
bowling restrictions, Lewis was able<br />
to keep his options tight – essentially<br />
Pollock bowling alongside the spin<br />
twins. Not that he had much choice<br />
in the matter: Pollock bowled all<br />
day. Literally, all day. Finishing after<br />
29 overs (4-78), this was one of the<br />
most courageous and skilful spells of<br />
bowling you’ll see.<br />
Sadly, even that was <strong>no</strong>t quite e<strong>no</strong>ugh<br />
to complete a landmark victory. In a<br />
nail-biting finale the Strollers won by<br />
one wicket in the final over of the day’s<br />
play. Credit must go to the opposition<br />
for what was a perfectly executed<br />
chase.<br />
Day 4 - Thursday 13th August (T20)<br />
Saracens (150 all out off 20.0 overs)<br />
beat Bideford CC (131 all out off<br />
19.5 overs) by 19 runs.<br />
G Thomason 65* G Hargrave 30<br />
P Jacob 3-11 W Mason 2-17<br />
With the Somerset Stragglers cancelling<br />
their season due to COVID, a new<br />
fixture was required for <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
Fortunately, Bideford CC stepped up<br />
and agreed to play a T20.<br />
Two of the touring party received their<br />
A-Level results on the morning of the<br />
13th but there was <strong>no</strong> bad luck in sight<br />
as one win and two university spaces<br />
were delivered. A complete lack of<br />
internet and reception in Instow did<br />
make for an uneasy hour or two at<br />
the beginning of the day – who needs<br />
UCAS points when you can get double<br />
egg and bacon for £2.75 (thanks Rishi!)?<br />
<strong>The</strong> remainder of the Saracens<br />
dragged themselves out of bed for a<br />
short drive to Bideford CC and, once<br />
again winning the toss, batted first.<br />
George Thomason found fuel reserves<br />
others couldn’t and batted superbly,<br />
dispatching Bideford’s young attack to<br />
all parts. He finished with 65* and was<br />
ably supported by Hargrave (30). <strong>The</strong><br />
Saracens scored 150 off 20 overs.<br />
Pat Jacob left it late to an<strong>no</strong>unce his<br />
presence on tour (cricketwise anyway),<br />
but thankfully bowled beautifully and<br />
ripped through Bideford’s top order<br />
with minimal fuss, showing that he<br />
is still a class act. Bideford in reply<br />
finished 19 runs short in a chase that<br />
ended up being closer than it should<br />
have been thanks to some truly awful<br />
bowling.<br />
Not wanting to finish on that, it is<br />
worth mentioning that Stephen Barnard<br />
added a<strong>no</strong>ther milestone to the Barnard<br />
family’s imperial record of School<br />
cricket contributions by becoming Tour<br />
Manager (TM) this year. Unfortunately,<br />
injured and unable to terrorise batsmen<br />
with his hostile fast bowling, he more<br />
than made up for it through flawless<br />
planning and COVID-secure operations<br />
to host what was a<strong>no</strong>ther memorable<br />
trip to North Devon.<br />
Tour Dates 20<strong>21</strong>: Sunday 8th August –<br />
Thursday 12th August<br />
Contact:<br />
07910737803 | Stephen Barnard<br />
0779<strong>21</strong>20375 | Henry Lewis<br />
07884314567 | Ben Chapman
92<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
SALOPIAN DRIVERS’ CLUB<br />
Two years on from the founding meeting on Central, the <strong>Salopian</strong> Drivers’ Club continues to grow, despite <strong>2020</strong>’s challenges.<br />
Driving On Difficult Roads<br />
So much has happened in twelve months, let alone the two<br />
years since the <strong>Salopian</strong> Drivers’ Club burst onto Central at<br />
its first unforgettable meet. Subsequently, last year witnessed<br />
rapid growth in SDC social gatherings, some of which piggybacked<br />
onto national events; but more tailored and intimate<br />
driving-based socials have been tried out since and declared<br />
a success.<br />
Remember the days?<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2019 NEC Classic Motor Show hosted our last Midlands<br />
gathering, a relaxed affair at which several new members<br />
were present. To avoid the inevitable queues, the group<br />
enjoyed a leisurely 10.00am breakfast, prior to going their<br />
separate ways after venturing through the Exhibition Centre’s<br />
vast halls.<br />
As car shows became more spasmodic from the autumn,<br />
the SDC took the plunge and hosted its first formal evening<br />
soirée away from Kingsland House. Twenty-five members<br />
attended dinner at the eminent Turf Club in London on<br />
24th January, with decidedly positive feedback received<br />
subsequently. We welcomed Richard Tait-Harris (the father<br />
of Charles (S 2012-17) as the main guest speaker, alongside<br />
the British Touring Car driver, Tom Chiltern. Although the<br />
sit-down meal commenced at 7.30pm, the last SDC member<br />
departed soon after midnight, which tends to be indicative<br />
of a good time having been had! Costing £80 per head, the<br />
dinner was also <strong>no</strong>ted for its outstanding value, resulting in<br />
the committee making a provisional booking to repeat the<br />
exercise on the evening of 5th February 20<strong>21</strong>.<br />
Buoyed, somewhat justifiably, by the growing number of Old<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s joining the Club, the committee focused on firming<br />
up more ambitious events for <strong>2020</strong>’s calendar, including the<br />
potential for an ice-driving experience in Eastern Europe.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n COVID-19 struck.<br />
Miles Preston’s black and cream 20/25 (pictured right in the foreground) was<br />
one of fifteen pre-war Rolls-Royces to participate in the formal photography for<br />
the <strong>2020</strong> Ghost.<br />
<strong>The</strong> lost year<br />
<strong>The</strong> ensuing lock down and subsequent political and<br />
eco<strong>no</strong>mic consequences have touched us all, making it<br />
inevitable that severe restrictions on gatherings would affect<br />
social groups, including ours. Yet, the SDC was far from<br />
paralysed. While regular email communication between the<br />
committee and members continued unaffected, bi-monthly<br />
Zoom video conferencing replaced previous formal School<br />
Boathouse meetings. In line with the changing situations
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 93<br />
over the spring and summer months, and to adhere with<br />
government advice, the committee cancelled all individual<br />
SDC events, while remaining hopeful that get-togethers at<br />
national events would still be possible. Sadly, all of them fell<br />
by the wayside, including the <strong>2020</strong> NEC Classic Motor Show.<br />
As always, our 80-strong members were kept informed with<br />
regular email updates and we are grateful for everyone’s<br />
understanding.<br />
While the SDC could <strong>no</strong>t meet as a group, individuals still<br />
managed to get out and about. Perhaps the most significant<br />
contribution to the motoring scene goes to Miles Preston,<br />
who joined the Rolls Royce assembly plant at Goodwood<br />
with fifteen other pre-war Ghost owners, on 4th September<br />
<strong>2020</strong>. <strong>The</strong> purpose was <strong>no</strong>t only to celebrate perhaps the<br />
most distinguished motor marque, but also to welcome<br />
the latest Ghost model, which was launched three days<br />
previously.<br />
Pending the obvious situation beyond our control, the<br />
SDC continues to plan its 20<strong>21</strong> calendar. Due to the OS<br />
Weekend cancellation, the club held its AGM online during<br />
mid-October, the minutes of which have been emailed to<br />
members. If you would like to join us, further information<br />
about free membership is available from Miles Preston,<br />
miles.preston@milespreston.co.uk. Additionally, the SDC<br />
remains extremely thankful to Colonel Nick Jenkins and the<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> Club Office for their continuing support.<br />
Rob Marshall<br />
While lockdown meant that SDC social activities had to be curtailed, some<br />
members took advantage of the extra time. Robert Marshall (R 1994-99)<br />
resprayed and rebuilt this dilapidated Triumph, which he reports will be<br />
completed by summer 20<strong>21</strong>.<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Freemasons Lodge<br />
COVID-19 has reduced, but <strong>no</strong>t eliminated, the activities<br />
of the Lodge this year. Although our planned gathering<br />
at <strong>The</strong> Schools in May <strong>2020</strong> did <strong>no</strong>t take place, we<br />
have had our regular London meetings, in March and<br />
September, at the Civil Service Club. <strong>The</strong> law limiting<br />
us to six attendees reduced, but did <strong>no</strong>t eliminate,<br />
our September gathering, which was followed by an<br />
excellent dinner at the Naval & Military Club/the ‘In<br />
& Out’.<br />
OS Lodge has for some 95 years been an interesting and<br />
alternative way of keeping in touch with Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s,<br />
and supporting <strong>The</strong> Schools at the same time. Charity,<br />
as well as Fraternity, is a fundamental tenet of what<br />
we are about, the principles of which are illustrated in<br />
the various ceremonies, which have changed very little<br />
in over 200 years. As part of our charitable activities,<br />
we operate a Lodge Bursary Fund, which is held as<br />
part of the <strong>Salopian</strong> Foundation. Through this, we are<br />
supporting one of the Rowing Scholarships.<br />
We have adapted to act as a London-based resource<br />
for Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s, with dinners in March and<br />
September which are open to all. We are to the best<br />
of my k<strong>no</strong>wledge the only <strong>Salopian</strong> group which has<br />
dinners in London on a regular basis.<br />
Something new for the new <strong>no</strong>rmal?<br />
For further information on what we do, and any<br />
membership enquiries, please see<br />
www.oldsalopianmasons.com – or else contact the<br />
Secretary, Chris Williams (R 1978-83) on 07956 964937<br />
or at chrisjhwilliams@yahoo.co.uk.<br />
Also, please see details of our governing body, United<br />
Grand Lodge of England, at www.ugle.org.uk or<br />
www.londonmasons.org.uk<br />
Information about the Order of Women Freemasons can<br />
be found at www.owf.org.uk<br />
Chris Williams (R 1978-83)
94<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Notes from the Archives and Taylor Library<br />
Left: Arthur Bramwell (R) and Ed Bayliss (Rt), Sixth Form volunteers. Right: Mrs Naomi Nicholas<br />
As the pandemic swept in last March, our Upper Sixth<br />
Archives Volunteer, Anna Cowan, cheered us up by<br />
observing with <strong>Salopian</strong> cool that we shouldn’t worry<br />
because the Taylor Library had survived the Plague, the Civil<br />
War, the Spanish Flu, and two World Wars. Anna made a<br />
great contribution to the work of the Library, helping with<br />
a range of cataloguing work and assisting with exhibitions<br />
and visits. After the lockdown, the work of the Library has<br />
continued largely unabated and there is much to report<br />
as we enter the new academic year and a ‘new <strong>no</strong>rmal’.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se <strong>no</strong>tes aim to provide a flavour of our activities over<br />
the last year.<br />
<strong>The</strong> new school year has brought some changes to our<br />
team. In addition to Mrs Naomi Nicholas, our invaluable and<br />
dedicated Assistant Taylor Librarian and Archivist, we had two<br />
new volunteers, Ed Bayliss (Rt U6) and Arthur Bramwell (R<br />
L6), who became the core of our volunteer team. In addition,<br />
Isobel Goodman joined us as a new specialist volunteer.<br />
She is a graduate in History and French from Oxford, an MA<br />
in Special Book Collections from Edinburgh, and a former<br />
Librarian trainee from Queens’ College Cambridge.<br />
<strong>The</strong> only casualties of the pandemic were some events and<br />
visits that had to be cancelled or postponed. Sadly, our<br />
usual Speech Day and Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Day Open House were<br />
cancelled. <strong>The</strong>se are the highlights of the year and it is always<br />
great to see so many visitors in the library on these days. We<br />
hope to see you back soon. Some other public visits have<br />
been postponed until spring and summer 20<strong>21</strong>.<br />
As well as various class study visits, we hosted students from<br />
Shrewsbury University Centre.<br />
Fourth Formers study rare Bibles<br />
Students from Shrewsbury University Centre<br />
Events<br />
<strong>The</strong> Shrewsbury<br />
Darwin Festival<br />
A highlight of the year<br />
was a public open day for<br />
the annual Shrewsbury<br />
Darwin Festival in<br />
February. We provided<br />
a special Exhibition of<br />
Darwin’s letters and<br />
memorabilia in the Moser<br />
Gallery and a series of<br />
public lecture tours of the<br />
exhibition and the Taylor<br />
Library.<br />
Fourth Formers explore the world of rare books with Mr Bell<br />
We had hoped to begin a series of study tours of the Taylor<br />
Library for all Third Formers beginning in September, but due<br />
to the virus have had to postpone this until the new year.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 95<br />
A series of requests for information on other Medieval and Ancient manuscripts. L to R: Oxyrincus MS (c 1st century AD) for Prof. Klaas of Ghent Univ; MS 31<br />
Julianus Toletanus, 12th century. A Miscellany of <strong>The</strong>ological Texts, for Prof. Pierre Humbert, of Douai, France; MS 3 Prick of Conscience, Vatican funded project, for<br />
Prof. Johnston of Purdue Univ. USA.<br />
Taylor Library Enquiries<br />
We have a steady stream of scholarly enquiries about items<br />
in the Taylor Library. Most of the rare items in the Library are<br />
listed in on-line international catalogues such as the English<br />
Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) and the Incunabula Short Title<br />
Catalogue (ISTC). <strong>The</strong>se are available to scholars worldwide.<br />
Some examples of recent enquiries are:<br />
Paulo Sachet of Milan University requested images and<br />
information on Incunabula 42 <strong>The</strong>saurus Cornucopiae.<br />
Andrea Pistoia, PhD student at the École Pratique des<br />
Hautes Études in Paris requested information on our MS 32<br />
Summa de penitentia etc.<br />
Shrewsbury<br />
School MS 1, Liber<br />
Sapientiae. We have<br />
been working with<br />
Dr Sarah Gilbert, a<br />
Paleographer and<br />
Manuscript Historian<br />
at Durham University,<br />
on images relating<br />
to marginal <strong>no</strong>tes by<br />
Robert Grosseteste,<br />
Bishop of Lincoln in<br />
1235-64.<br />
Dr Gilbert belongs to a<br />
project group consisting<br />
of historians, scientists,<br />
and everything in<br />
between, working<br />
on producing editions, translations and commentaries of<br />
the scientific works of Robert Grosseteste. Most of the team<br />
are based at the universities of Durham, Oxford and York,<br />
with partners in Rome, Milan, Beirut and Washington DC.<br />
Dr Gilbert’s task is to reassess the corpus of manuscripts<br />
containing Grosseteste’s handwriting, of which ours is<br />
thought to be one of the most significant.<br />
John Cherry enquired about the bronze matrix of the<br />
Shrewsbury Town Great Seal 1426. This ancient seal<br />
is affixed to a resolution of thanks by the Shrewsbury<br />
Corporation to the School’s Governing Body for the gift<br />
of the High Cross (at the top of Pride Hill) in our fourth<br />
centenary year of 1952 in token of the long-standing link<br />
between the School and the town. <strong>The</strong> School re-erected the<br />
High Cross of the town at the top of Pride Hill from where<br />
it had been removed in 1686. This illuminated document<br />
records the thanks of the town and their best wishes for the<br />
future of the foundation. It is signed by the Mayor, James<br />
West (Housemaster of Ingram’s). It is sealed by the ancient<br />
seal of the Burgesses of the town, which has been in use<br />
since 1426.<br />
Conservation Heating<br />
In January <strong>2020</strong>, specialist Preventive Conservation<br />
Environmental Heating, Monitoring and Control systems<br />
were installed in the Taylor Library. <strong>The</strong> new system ensures<br />
constant monitoring and control of relative humidity and<br />
temperature throughout the library. This replaces a very out<br />
of date dehumidifying machine.<br />
Digitisation<br />
A new high-quality digital camera, professional scanning<br />
software and tailor-made rig for digitising images of rare<br />
books and manuscripts has been purchased. We are <strong>no</strong>w<br />
awaiting a day’s training on the use of the rig.<br />
Visitors<br />
We have had a rich variety of visitors to the Library. <strong>The</strong><br />
highlights have included:
96<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Prof Wilson of Imperial College came to speak to the<br />
Science Faculty. His reward was an evening in the Taylor<br />
Library and especially a close look at the Darwin collection.<br />
A visit by students and staff of Shrewsbury University<br />
Centre to see the Darwin Collection.<br />
BBC Shropshire visited to make a broadcast programme on<br />
our Darwin Exhibition for the Shrewsbury Darwin Festival.<br />
Richard Hoyle, Chairman of the Victoria County History of<br />
Shropshire, spent a day working on the ‘Town Chronicle’, a<br />
handwritten chronicle of life in Shrewsbury from 1372 – 1602.<br />
He also worked on the Salop Corporation Books donated by<br />
Leonard Hotchkiss, former headmaster (1735-54).<br />
Prof Hanna (Keble College, Oxford) spent a day researching<br />
the remarkable Richard Bostock donation in 1606 of 12<br />
medieval manuscripts. His focus is on the Bostock family<br />
from Cheshire.<br />
Mark Bland visited, and under the guidance of Naomi<br />
Nicholas, studied Demosthenes Logoi Duo 1591, Parchment<br />
scrolls of the Library Catalogue of 1606-33, Ortelius’s atlas,<br />
and Ben Jonson’s Workes, 1606.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Archives<br />
<strong>The</strong> Archives has handled a large and fascinating array of<br />
enquiries great and small. <strong>The</strong> following are some of the<br />
more memorable:<br />
Michael Palin (R 1957-61) requested information about<br />
some of his forebears at the School. He was surprised to<br />
learn a number of things he didn’t k<strong>no</strong>w before including, in<br />
his own words, “the startling news that my father was caught<br />
by a Maharajah!” <strong>The</strong> details are: “E.M. Palin (left school in<br />
1919) was caught for 4 by the Maharajah of Palitana in a<br />
house cricket match in 1919.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> National Geographic requested the loan of Andrew<br />
Irvine’s famous Ice Axe, recovered from Everest, for a major<br />
Exhibition on the History of Mount Everest in Washington DC.<br />
We provided biographical details of the life of Hugh Brooke<br />
at Shrewsbury – one of the great characters of the 20th<br />
century and housemaster of Rigg’s Hall.<br />
We provided a brief bibliography on Shrewsbury School for<br />
the 150th anniversary of the Headmasters’ Conference.<br />
Details of a chess match between the School Chess Club and<br />
Brighton College in 1849.<br />
William Price spent a day researching papers relating to the<br />
Commission of Enquiry (c.1890 - 1920) into the formation of<br />
a new Diocese of Shrewsbury. Basil Oldham was secretary to<br />
the Commission. <strong>The</strong> proposal was passed by a large majority<br />
in the House of Commons but was defeated by one vote in<br />
the House of Lords.<br />
We collaborated in the making of a video on the History of<br />
Shrewsbury School football.<br />
We contributed to special exhibitions on the history of<br />
football and the RSSH for Prep School football and crosscountry<br />
events.<br />
We provided details of a Salter and Bage Survey of the village<br />
of Berrington in the 1770s.<br />
We contributed to a chapter on the early Rules of Football at<br />
Shrewsbury in a new History of Football (see page 72 of this<br />
issue).<br />
We helped research the <strong>no</strong>torious 1st XI football tour of Nazi<br />
Germany in April 1937.<br />
Simon Baynes MP (I 1973-78) requested information on<br />
MPs from Shrewsbury School. Our researches unearthed 55<br />
OS MPs since 1798.<br />
In response to a request for information on Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s<br />
at the Battle of Waterloo for a lecture at Eton, we came up<br />
with two: Hill, Thomas Noel. Assistant Adjutant General in<br />
Waterloo Campaign (Medal); and Windsor, Edward Charles.<br />
Captain 1st Royal Dragoons. Killed at Waterloo, 18 June,<br />
1815. Aged 25.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Shewsy – We provided details of the life of Revd Digby<br />
Kittermaster, founder of Shrewsbury House.<br />
Donation of Old Books<br />
In July I was invited, along with Naomi Nicholas, by<br />
Peter Moore Dutton (SH 1963-68) to visit his home at<br />
Tushingham Hall in Cheshire for lunch and to look at his<br />
ancestral collection of rare books. He expressed his wish to<br />
donate some choice items to Shrewsbury School. We had<br />
a memorable visit to his lovely home. Peter’s wife Val laid<br />
on a delicious lunch and we came away with a fine gift of<br />
18 books for the Library, which included a Geneva Bible of<br />
1581, a Bishop’s Bible of 1574, a Cranmer Bible of 1560 and a<br />
rare Geneva ‘Breeches’ Bible of 1601. This is a most generous<br />
benefaction for which we are most grateful. Also present was<br />
John Richards (M 1957-62) who kindly donated two very fine<br />
old Family Bibles.<br />
Dr Robin Brooke-Smith<br />
Taylor Librarian and Archivist<br />
From left: Robin Brooke-Smith, Naomi Nicholas, John Richards, Peter Moore Dutton
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 97<br />
PUBLICATIONS<br />
inflaming passions and generating fierce<br />
argument. This book tells it all!<br />
had diverged significantly. Bluntly,<br />
most people don’t k<strong>no</strong>w how to use<br />
tech<strong>no</strong>logy securely and this contributes<br />
to the stress of modern life. People worry<br />
that their data isn’t secure but don’t feel<br />
empowered to do anything about it.’<br />
Mike Dickson (R 1977-82)<br />
Bob Willis: A Cricketer and A Gentleman<br />
Hodder and Stoughton<br />
ISBN: 978-1-52934134-8<br />
<strong>The</strong> book comprises a biography and a<br />
section of personal tributes and records,<br />
edited by Bob’s brother David. It charts<br />
the life of a fascinating and complex<br />
man, who had a 14-year career with<br />
England before becoming cricket’s most<br />
trenchant analyst. Most unusually for a<br />
sports book, it reached number three in<br />
the Sunday Times Bestseller list, a tribute<br />
to his popularity. This is the author’s<br />
second collaboration on a biography with<br />
a former England cricket captain, having<br />
also written Michael Vaughan’s Time to<br />
Declare in 2010.<br />
Tim Cawkwell (1961-65)<br />
Cricket on the Edge 2019<br />
Sforzinda Books<br />
ISBN: 978-1-66154904-6<br />
England won the cricket World Cup<br />
on 14 July. <strong>The</strong>y followed that with a<br />
pulsating Ashes Test Series over 25 days,<br />
marginally shaded by Australia. <strong>The</strong> Third<br />
Test produced one of the great innings<br />
in the history of Test cricket: Ben Stokes’s<br />
135 <strong>no</strong>t out. In the background, the wellestablished<br />
one-day competition took<br />
place, the newly established T20 Blast<br />
ended in a cliff-hanger on Finals Day, the<br />
long-established County Championship<br />
provided days of absorbing cricket.<br />
For the two contenders for the title,<br />
Essex and Somerset, it came down to<br />
the last session of the last game of the<br />
long season. Raging through it all was<br />
the debate on the merits of the ECB’s<br />
re-boot of Blast cricket as <strong>The</strong> Hundred,<br />
Selby Whittingham (S 1955-59)<br />
Selby Whittingham looks back on a life<br />
in the Arts, from the New Elizabethans to<br />
Generation Z. See https://brazen-head.<br />
org/<strong>2020</strong>/10/18/english-impressions/<br />
Paul Vlissidis (Rt 1974-79)<br />
How to Survive the Internet:<br />
Protect your Family from Hackers and<br />
Cyber Stalkers<br />
<strong>The</strong> author writes, “While shooting<br />
the first celebrity series of Channel 4’s<br />
Hunted I began to realise that our digital<br />
lives had reached a tipping point where<br />
the complexity of the tech<strong>no</strong>logy and<br />
our k<strong>no</strong>wledge of how to use it securely<br />
Rory Fraser (Ch 2010-14))<br />
Follies: An Architectural Journey<br />
Zuleika<br />
ISBN: 978-1-91619778-7<br />
An illustrated travel account of Rory<br />
Fraser’s journey painting England’s follies<br />
the summer after leaving university. From<br />
towering monastic ruins to the modern<br />
‘man cave’, Fraser introduces us to an<br />
architectural cabinet of curios including<br />
treaso<strong>no</strong>us renaissance symbols, lavish<br />
banqueting houses, temples to lost loves,<br />
Chinese pagodas, nuclear bunkers and<br />
the ‘Taj Mahal of Gloucestershire’. <strong>The</strong><br />
characters behind these buildings jostle<br />
across the pages: medieval visionaries,<br />
gunpowder plotters, <strong>The</strong> Rolling<br />
Stones and <strong>The</strong> Hellfire Club, as well<br />
as designers Wren, Vanbrugh, Kent,<br />
‘Capability’ Brown and Repton – and their<br />
often zany patrons. Fraser’s philosophy<br />
is that follies, though often marginalised,<br />
serve as focal points for architecture,<br />
landscape and literature. As such, they<br />
create a series of portals through which<br />
to understand the periods in which they<br />
were built, providing an alternative lens<br />
through which to track and celebrate<br />
the English character, culture and love of<br />
individualism. Fraser’s exquisite sketches,<br />
both visual and verbal, seek <strong>no</strong>t only<br />
to record these hidden wonders, but<br />
treasure them, bringing them to life.
98<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
is keyed to important words in the<br />
translation and aims to be accessible to<br />
readers with little or <strong>no</strong> Latin) seeks to<br />
explain both the factual background to<br />
the poems and also the literary qualities<br />
which make this poetry exciting and<br />
moving to a modern audience.<br />
Victor Temple QC (I 1954-58)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Mission of Vincent Nilworth<br />
<strong>The</strong> funny and action-packed tale of<br />
a small town, incorrigible hoodlum<br />
eponymously named Vincent Nilworth.<br />
Self-described as ‘strictly tongue in cheek,<br />
fun to read and totally lacking in culture’<br />
this is a wonderfully entertaining and fastpaced<br />
read introducing, amongst other<br />
matters, the Lucifer Memorial Prize, the<br />
Hammersmith Bridge Flower Box Society<br />
and the doctrine of Affinity of Souls.<br />
Given the unusual, otherwise unworldly<br />
backdrop to this <strong>no</strong>vel, it is certainly<br />
<strong>no</strong> contemporary legal drama, but the<br />
hallmarks of a distinguished advocate are<br />
unmistakable, <strong>no</strong>t least by reason of the<br />
clarity and richness of the text.<br />
<strong>The</strong> book can be ordered by e-mailing<br />
Victor on Victortemple.8@gmail.<br />
com, together with your <strong>no</strong>minated<br />
UK address. Your obligation is then<br />
two fold— to enjoy the book and<br />
more importantly to confirm that you<br />
have donated £10.00 to the Barristers<br />
Benevolent Association, which has an<br />
easy to use Gift procedure on its website.<br />
John Godwin (Head of Classics, 1984-2014)<br />
Juvenal: Satires Book V<br />
Liverpool University Press<br />
ISBN: 978-1-78962<strong>21</strong>7-1<br />
Juvenal’s fifth and final book of Satires<br />
consists of three complete poems<br />
and one fragment and continues and<br />
completes his satirical assessment of the<br />
Rome of the early second century AD.<br />
<strong>The</strong> poems treat us to a scandalised<br />
exposure of folly and vice and also the<br />
voice of sweet reason as the poet advises<br />
us how to live our lives – all delivered<br />
in the hugely entertaining tones of a<br />
great master of the Latin language. <strong>The</strong><br />
text is accompanied by a literal English<br />
translation, and the commentary (which<br />
Malcolm Hamer (DB 1954-58)<br />
Drawn to Death<br />
A Chris Ludlow Golf Mystery<br />
ISBN: 978-1-83975036-6<br />
Following the success of his five previous<br />
volumes, sports agent and writer Malcolm<br />
Hamer returns with Drawn to Death,<br />
the sixth in his ‘Chris Ludlow’ golf<br />
mystery series. Hamer’s latest release sees<br />
Ludlow’s own book spark a potentially<br />
deadly backlash from the art fakers it<br />
threatens to expose. Coupled with his<br />
risky efforts to help a journalist friend<br />
write a piece about drug use in golf,<br />
Ludlow has plenty of problems to dodge<br />
once again.<br />
John Stuttard (SH 1958-63)<br />
<strong>The</strong> 20-Ghost Club - <strong>The</strong> Oldest Rolls-<br />
Royce Club in the World<br />
1949-2019<br />
John Stuttard writes: “My latest book is<br />
currently coming to the boil and will<br />
be published in early January. This one<br />
will be 360 pages of A4 with 650 photos<br />
about pre-War Rolls-Royces and how they<br />
were saved from extinction/scrapping after<br />
WWII by the 20-Ghost Club, the oldest<br />
Rolls-Royce Club in the world, which<br />
celebrates its 70th birthday this year. I was<br />
its Chairman for nine years.”<br />
Dr Peter King (O 1964-69)<br />
A Gazetteer of the British Iron Industry,<br />
1490-1815<br />
Volumes I and II<br />
Bar Publishing<br />
ISBN: 978-1-407315-12-6<br />
A new process of making iron, using a<br />
blast furnace and a forge, both powered<br />
by water, was introduced into the Weald<br />
in the 1490s, and spread to other parts<br />
of England and Wales from the 1550s.<br />
This book provides a history of every<br />
ironworks of the charcoal blast furnace<br />
period, except the Weald. It also covers<br />
early coke ironworks (built before 1815)<br />
and water-powered bloomeries (of the<br />
previous tech<strong>no</strong>logy). After introductory<br />
material on the industry generally,<br />
each chapter deals with the ironworks<br />
of one district, including also other<br />
water-powered mills processing iron,<br />
steel furnaces,<br />
early ironworks<br />
powered by steam<br />
engines, and a few<br />
other works. <strong>The</strong><br />
period covered<br />
is an era in the<br />
tech<strong>no</strong>logy of an<br />
important industry<br />
in Great Britain.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 99<br />
OBITUARIES<br />
WJ Adams S 1945-50<br />
WEK Anderson Staff 1975-80<br />
JV Armitage Staff 1958-59<br />
JDF Barnes R 1949-54<br />
FJD Boot S 1949-54<br />
JR Bridgeland Staff 1977-82<br />
GA Brook Staff 1979-84<br />
RB Brooks R 1970-74<br />
DE Brown Staff 1946-79<br />
FB Burns O 1948-52<br />
CC Cherry R 1955-60<br />
DFA Chillcott R 1966-70<br />
AA Conn Staff 1966-73<br />
RH Cope Ch 1952-57<br />
DJ Crompton Staff 1985-96<br />
T Crooks M 1963-68<br />
JCL Crown M 1978-82<br />
DG Davidson Rt 1934-39<br />
PT Davies Rt 1941-45<br />
DWM Davis S 1947-51<br />
JW de la Motte I 1957-61<br />
AL Dyke O 1941-46<br />
CIGS Edwards R 1955-60<br />
PD Fairclough Rt 1950-54<br />
R Farnell Ch 1948-52<br />
PH Gammon S 1952-58<br />
G Garrett Staff 1964-73<br />
MW Gatti I 1954-57<br />
JF Hall-Craggs Rt 1945-50<br />
DM Hallworth SH 1944-49<br />
DJ Hammett Ch 1967-72<br />
N Hari PH 2013-18<br />
CJM Hartley SH 1955-60<br />
GD Hayter R 1944-49<br />
WF Hobson O 1939-43<br />
JR Holt R 1946-51<br />
J Hope Simpson Ch 1942-47<br />
DEP Hughes Staff 1956-79<br />
JBE Hutton Rt 1945-50<br />
ESO Jacson O 1952-56<br />
PJ Lear DB 1949-52<br />
PV Le Neve Foster R 1945-50<br />
J Lingford-Hughes Ch 1940-45<br />
Jean Massey Matron M 1992-2000<br />
FM Merifield SH 1947-52<br />
H McKeag Rt 1954-56<br />
BN McKibbin SH 1943-48<br />
JR Muir O 1954-58<br />
BS Nicholson DB 1947-50<br />
DF Ormrod DB 1942-46<br />
DJ Owen Hughes I 1945-50<br />
CR Paterson SH 1950-55<br />
JG Pearson SH 1952-56<br />
PJ Phillips DB 1951-56<br />
RWA Price M 1973-78<br />
DJ Pullin R 1946-50<br />
GC Rowe DB 1938-42<br />
DM Rowlinson S 1969-74<br />
JW Scarratt G 1996-2000<br />
DWG Smith SH 1945-49<br />
KA Spiby Staff 1957-94<br />
IH Stott I 1947-52<br />
FJB Sykes SH 1955-60<br />
CE Talbot O 1945-49<br />
MF Turner O 1945-50<br />
AJ Waterworth I 1975-79<br />
DJ Weaver SH 1944-48<br />
RO Weaver SH 1942-45<br />
JN Webb SH 1948-53<br />
MJ White RB 1992-95<br />
RV Wildblood Ch 1941-45<br />
JRW Worrall SH 1938-42<br />
JC Yeoward I 1946-50<br />
Sir Eric Anderson, K.T.,<br />
Headmaster 1975-80<br />
Widely regarded as the<br />
greatest Independent<br />
School Headmaster of his<br />
generation, Anderson,<br />
with typical modesty,<br />
always insisted that that<br />
title properly belonged to<br />
Dennis Silk of Radley; but<br />
that Anderson’s influence,<br />
wide experience and<br />
extensive connections<br />
in the Independent<br />
sector were unrivalled, is<br />
incontrovertible. Several of<br />
the assistant masters who served under him were inspired by<br />
his example to become headmasters of leading Independent<br />
Schools themselves and took him as their model. His name<br />
is always associated with Eton, and rightly so, for twentythree<br />
years of his academic career were spent there, fourteen<br />
of them as Headmaster and (after a six-year interlude as<br />
Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford), a further nine as Provost,<br />
the resident Chairman of Gover<strong>no</strong>rs. Earlier in his career,<br />
however, he had served as an English master, first at Fettes<br />
and then at Gordonstoun, subsequently returning to Fettes as<br />
a Housemaster, before successively becoming Headmaster of<br />
Abingdon (1970-75) and of Shrewsbury (1975-80).<br />
During his distinguished career Anderson encountered<br />
many pupils who were later to become prominent figures in<br />
national life, four of them exceptionally so. At Gordonstoun<br />
he nurtured the Prince of Wales’ love of Shakespeare and<br />
cast him in the title role of Macbeth, in the school play: at<br />
Fettes he was Tony Blair’s Housemaster, and at Eton the<br />
Headmaster of both David Cameron and Boris Johnson.<br />
This unique connection with the heir to the throne and three<br />
Prime Ministers made Anderson’s name familiar in much<br />
wider circles than the strictly educational.<br />
He was born into a ‘solidly middle class’ family in Edinburgh<br />
on 27th May 1936, the eldest of the three children of William<br />
Anderson, who ran a long-established and well-respected<br />
firm of kilt-makers and outfitters, and of his wife Margaret<br />
(née Harper). He was educated at George Watson’s College,<br />
Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews, where he took<br />
a First in English and met his future wife Elizabeth Mason<br />
(always k<strong>no</strong>wn as ‘Poppy’), who also took a First in the same<br />
subject. He subsequently took a higher degree in Literature at<br />
Balliol College, Oxford. He and Poppy married in 1960 and<br />
they celebrated their Diamond Anniversary, quietly at home<br />
in Oxfordshire, less than two full days before he died.<br />
Although Eric’s headmastership at Shrewsbury was brief<br />
(the change from the use of Eric’s surname to his first<br />
name marks the movement of this tribute from the public<br />
to our domestic <strong>Salopian</strong> sphere), the character, assets and<br />
qualities which were later, at Eton, to enable observers to
100<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
describe his headmastership as a ‘Golden Age’, were all in<br />
evidence here. From both Abingdon and Shrewsbury, Eric<br />
was, in effect, recruited as the result of invitation rather than<br />
of application on his own initiative; and at each of these<br />
schools, in turn, he felt an initial reluctance to move on<br />
further. While at Abingdon, he was approached by Dr Walter<br />
Hamilton, who then exercised the same influential role in<br />
Independent Education which Eric was later to achieve, with<br />
the words, “Young man, I think you ought to be the next<br />
Headmaster of Shrewsbury”. (Hamilton happened at the time<br />
to be Chairman of our Gover<strong>no</strong>rs.) Eric and Poppy paid an<br />
incognito visit to look at the School and they recorded that it<br />
was their first impression of the natural and friendly manner<br />
in which boys and masters greeted each other on ‘<strong>The</strong> Drum’,<br />
in front of the School Building, which caused a dramatic<br />
change of mind. <strong>The</strong> next five years strongly reinforced those<br />
very favourable impressions. Similarly, in 1980, Eric and<br />
Poppy had serious doubts about accepting the invitation to<br />
move on to Eton. <strong>The</strong>y were happy where they were and<br />
Eric was deeply concerned that his tenure at Shrewsbury had<br />
been ungraciously brief. It took the concerted encouragement<br />
of gover<strong>no</strong>rs and senior colleagues, who knew that he was<br />
the man for the challenge and ought to accept it, to persuade<br />
him to proceed.<br />
When asked what he considered to be his greatest asset, Eric<br />
instantly replied, “My wife”. <strong>The</strong>irs was a true partnership,<br />
<strong>no</strong>t only in personal, but also in professional life. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
were determined to be – and thoroughly enjoyed being –<br />
totally immersed in the life of the School. One of them (and<br />
usually both) would appear at every school occasion – plays,<br />
concerts, lectures and matches. <strong>The</strong>y gave a high priority to<br />
establishing personal relationships with colleagues and pupils<br />
alike. Eric was always eager to escape from his study and,<br />
accompanied by his dog, Dusty, he took every opportunity<br />
to talk to the boys he encountered on the Site. Poppy,<br />
meanwhile, chatted to them in the School Bookshop, over<br />
which she presided, or in the intervals of her popular Scottish<br />
Dancing classes. <strong>The</strong>ir colleagues, with their wives, were<br />
frequently entertained at home; all new boys were invited to<br />
tea during their first term; their extensive k<strong>no</strong>wledge of who<br />
everyone was and what they were doing could at times be<br />
almost disconcerting<br />
This extensive personal k<strong>no</strong>wledge and interaction proved<br />
invaluable in the crises and disciplinary incidents which<br />
schools like Shrewsbury and Eton experience from time to<br />
time. Eric’s calmness, realism and innate good sense stood<br />
him in good stead on such occasions, enabling him to take<br />
problems in his stride. His adherence to his own personal<br />
standards of rectitude, probity and loyalty supported him in<br />
matters of discipline. His authority was natural; he did <strong>no</strong>t<br />
need to rely on his position. A kindly and friendly person by<br />
preference and disposition, he could be steadfastly firm when<br />
the situation required it. In general his sanctions were both<br />
imposed with humanity (and occasionally with humour) and<br />
also equably accepted, because their recipients were already<br />
well aware of their headmaster’s ability and integrity. Eric<br />
succeeded in the difficult task of being both well respected<br />
and well liked: colleagues and pupils recognised that he was<br />
the master of his brief.<br />
After the whirlwind developments of Donald Wright’s regime,<br />
Eric realised that he had to focus on the less glamorous task<br />
of the consolidation of the social changes of the previous<br />
decade and on the rationalisation and reorganisation of the<br />
existing facilities of the School. <strong>The</strong> result was a period of<br />
‘All Change’ in which a wide range of school properties were<br />
remodelled, adapted and reassigned, in order to put them to<br />
their most effective use. With characteristic self-deprecation,<br />
Eric liked to say that the successor of ‘Wright the Builder’ had<br />
only been able to contribute some squash courts! He restored<br />
stability to School House, realising that its ethos was a vital<br />
component in the morale of the whole school, by quickly<br />
and decisively reversing the temporary internal division of the<br />
House, which had been in place between 1974 and 1976 and<br />
which had failed, partly on account of financial exigency. Eric<br />
was also particularly keen <strong>no</strong>t only to develop the facilities<br />
but also to enhance the current standards in drama, the Fine<br />
Arts and in music. While at Abingdon he had developed an<br />
enthusiasm for rowing; he maintained this enthusiasm at<br />
Shrewsbury, strongly supporting the Boat Club and realising<br />
that its performance played a significant part in establishing<br />
the School’s reputation. Again, it was characteristic of him that<br />
he had <strong>no</strong>ted that this sport, at schoolboy level, required the<br />
highest degree of excellence, for <strong>Salopian</strong> crews at Henley had<br />
to compete with opponents drawn from all over the world.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re was one major principle to which Eric was adamantly<br />
attached: that education must be judged by its quality, by<br />
the excellence of its standards and attainment and that<br />
selection was an integral factor in achieving this. Second<br />
only to that, it was imperative to extend its availability. Eric<br />
devoted himself to finding, recruiting and developing talent,<br />
wherever he could find it. His first impression was that the<br />
masters at Shrewsbury were abler than the boys: his opinion<br />
was that the ability of the boys should challenge and stretch<br />
the masters. Accordingly he initiated a scheme of Sixth Form<br />
Scholarships to attract able recruits to the School. He spent<br />
a great deal of time and care interviewing their parents,<br />
in visiting preparatory schools and in addressing Rotary<br />
Societies and corporate bodies such as the Master Cutlers of<br />
Sheffield, in pursuit of this objective. After seeing him and<br />
hearing him speak, many in these audiences entered their<br />
sons for Shrewsbury. Aware that the School’s distance from<br />
the metropolitan areas might deprive it of the stimulus of<br />
comparison with the highest intellectual standards and lure<br />
it into complacency, he took care regularly to invite eminent<br />
speakers to address the School. He initiated the Harvard<br />
Fellowship Scheme, in which able and talented young men<br />
(and in recent years, young women, too) came over to join<br />
the Common Room for their first post-graduate year. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
have brought great enrichment to Shrewsbury during the last<br />
four decades. Eric considered that his single, most significant<br />
decision was to double the number of Day Boys entering<br />
the School. This, too, was part of his drive to raise academic<br />
standards: Shrewsbury had become the administrative,<br />
legal and medical centre of an extensive (mainly Welsh)<br />
hinterland. Professional families were flooding into the town<br />
and, ever since, their sons have made a major contribution<br />
in all aspects of school life, and pre-eminently in academic<br />
attainment. Donald Wright had advised the Gover<strong>no</strong>rs that<br />
his successor should be someone able to raise the academic<br />
standards of the School: by 1980 that aspiration had been<br />
triumphantly achieved.<br />
<strong>The</strong> general feeling that their move to Eton was entirely<br />
appropriate was tinged with regret, which perhaps Eric and<br />
Poppy shared at the time, that they had been plucked too<br />
early from their comparative seclusion at Shrewsbury to<br />
face the full glare of metropolitan and world-wide scrutiny.<br />
Certainly they both retained a deep affection for the School<br />
and at his last <strong>Salopian</strong> Speech Day Eric admitted: “I love<br />
the atmosphere of Shrewsbury – the faintly concealed<br />
enthusiasms, the friendliness of boys and masters, the<br />
devastating individual and corporate sense of humour” and<br />
he spoke of how he would miss the beauty of the Site and<br />
of the Shropshire countryside. Much later he said that of all<br />
the schools he worked in he would most have enjoyed being
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 101<br />
an Assistant Master at Shrewsbury, which he remembered as<br />
a Common Room of individuals, many of them highly able,<br />
all of them dedicated to the job, a few of them eccentric<br />
in ways that great schoolmasters can be. He observed that<br />
on the surface <strong>no</strong>thing was taken too seriously, but that<br />
beneath the humour and fun there was serious intent; and <strong>no</strong><br />
school, he thought, had a better team of housemasters than<br />
Shrewsbury in the seventies. He and Poppy bought a holiday<br />
home in Shropshire and took care to maintain their links with<br />
the School, the town and the county. In 1991 Eric accepted<br />
an invitation to be President of the Shropshire Horticultural<br />
Society and after the Flower Show he, in turn, invited its<br />
committee members to Eton and gave them a conducted<br />
tour. He served on the Governing Body of the School<br />
between 1994 and 2000 and he returned in 2002 to attend the<br />
celebration of its 450th Anniversary. He was elected President<br />
of the <strong>Salopian</strong> Society in 2004-05 and has subsequently paid<br />
a number of private visits.<br />
Beyond school walls Anderson had established himself as an<br />
authority on Sir Walter Scott, whose journals he had edited<br />
and published in 1972 and of whose residence, Abbotsford,<br />
he was a trustee. He greatly enjoyed his role as chairman<br />
of the National Heritage Lottery Fund between 1998 and<br />
2001. Anderson was entrusted with the responsibility of<br />
recording the memoirs of Queen Elizabeth <strong>The</strong> Queen<br />
Mother, which were later to be made available for the use<br />
of her biographer; this was a <strong>no</strong>table tribute to Anderson’s<br />
ack<strong>no</strong>wledged discretion. ‘A Scot to his eyebrows’, he<br />
was appointed Knight of <strong>The</strong> Thistle, the highest Scottish<br />
Order of Chivalry, in 2002. Golf and Angling were his<br />
private recreations; he was enthusiastic about both and he<br />
wrote recently to an Old <strong>Salopian</strong>, currently the Ryder Cup<br />
Director of the European Tour, who had been his pupil<br />
when Headmaster, that if he had <strong>no</strong>t had the opportunity<br />
of being the Headmaster of Shrewsbury and Eton, then,<br />
outside the sphere of education, his was the job that he<br />
would most have coveted.<br />
Sir Eric Anderson died in his sleep, at his home in<br />
Oxfordshire, on 22nd April <strong>2020</strong>, aged 83 years. He is<br />
survived by his wife Poppy and by their son David, Lord<br />
Anderson of Ipswich Q.C., former Independent Reviewer<br />
of Terrorism Legislation in the United Kingdom, by their<br />
daughter Kate, also a teacher, who is married to Will<br />
Gompertz, the BBC Arts Editor, and by their grandchildren.<br />
David Gee<br />
Sir James David<br />
Francis Barnes C.B.E.<br />
(R 1949-54)<br />
David Barnes was born<br />
on 4th March 1936 in<br />
Blantyre, Nyasaland<br />
(<strong>no</strong>w Malawi), the son<br />
of Eric Barnes, a colonial<br />
official, and his wife<br />
Jean. After preparatory<br />
school at Earnseat on the<br />
Lancashire-Cumberland<br />
border, David came to<br />
Shrewsbury and to Rigg’s<br />
in 1949, where his son<br />
Jonathan was to follow him in 1980. It was at Shrewsbury<br />
that David developed his deep interest in animal behaviour,<br />
spending a long time in the school biology laboratories;<br />
he also commanded the Shrewsbury C.C.F. He went on<br />
to Liverpool University to study Veterinary Science, where<br />
he also became much involved in debating, but he found<br />
some aspects of his course rather uncongenial and decided<br />
to leave the university. To fill in the time before doing his<br />
National Service, he worked as a laboratory assistant in ICI’s<br />
pharmaceutical division at Alderley Park, Cheshire. He then<br />
joined the Royal Artillery, where he served as a Second<br />
Lieutenant and Battery Commander in Eagle Troop. He<br />
returned to ICI on a permanent basis in 1960, where he met<br />
Fiona Riddell. <strong>The</strong>y married in 1963.<br />
Rejoining as a commercial assistant, he was to remain in ICI<br />
and its successor companies for the remainder of his career.<br />
He established himself quickly and within four years he<br />
was head of European sales. He was appointed Overseas<br />
Director in 1971, Deputy Chairman in 1977, Chairman of<br />
the Paints Division in 1983 and he was promoted to the<br />
ICI Board in 1986. David was the only commercial director<br />
who had grown up in the business, and he clearly saw that<br />
the opportunities for expansion lay in ICI’s pharmaceutical<br />
division, where the company had developed its own worldbeating<br />
heart and cancer drugs, rather than in the older,<br />
capital-intensive heavy chemical branches of the company.<br />
He argued that the time had come “to hang on to the<br />
jewels and to discard the tarnished tinsel”. <strong>The</strong> result was<br />
the creation of Zeneca in 1993, of which David became<br />
Chief Executive. <strong>The</strong> choice of name was controversial, and<br />
David took great care to ensure that it had <strong>no</strong> unfortunate<br />
con<strong>no</strong>tations, asserting that it would be vindicated by the<br />
company’s performance.<br />
Subsequently there were regular requests for mergers, but<br />
here again David was discriminating and initially sceptical,<br />
describing one rival alliance as “two drunks holding each<br />
other up” but, when persuaded, he was open to a wellconsidered<br />
proposal, and that transpired when the Swedish<br />
company Astra came along. <strong>The</strong> formation of AstraZeneca,<br />
which was to achieve a world-wide reputation, was<br />
complete, and David was deputy chairman of the company
102<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
from 1999 until his retirement in 2001. In the later part of his<br />
career David was content to play a supporting, rather than an<br />
executive role, though he remained deputy chair of Syngenta,<br />
the spin-off of AstraZeneca’s and Novartis’ agrochemical<br />
interests, until 2004, but he emerged from retirement in 2014,<br />
to prevent a take-over by the US group Pfizer, declaring, in<br />
a<strong>no</strong>ther vivid phrase, that “they will act like a praying mantis<br />
and suck the lifeblood out of their prey”: the take-over bid<br />
duly failed.<br />
David was a champion of research into genetic modification,<br />
which he saw as an essential component in the effort to feed<br />
developing countries. He was appointed CBE in 1987, he was<br />
knighted in 1996 and he received the Centenary Medal<br />
of the Society of the Chemical Industry in 2000. He was<br />
on the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce, of<br />
Redland plc, and Thorn-EMI, and was Deputy Chairman of<br />
Business in the Community. He was also a <strong>no</strong>n-executive<br />
Director of Prudential.<br />
David’s outstanding success as a businessman resulted from<br />
a powerful but unusual combination of qualities, which<br />
enabled him to raise his companies to international status.<br />
Personally unassuming and self-effacing , approachable<br />
and entirely devoid of pomposity, he was able to build<br />
harmonious personal relationships both with his colleagues<br />
and his rivals but he also had the clear-sightedness to detect<br />
both opportunities and consequences, together with the<br />
determination and decisiveness to act at the critical moment.<br />
David’s charitable and pro bo<strong>no</strong> interests and commitments<br />
were generous and extensive. He was involved in many<br />
medical and scientific charities. He was a Trustee of the<br />
British Red Cross and a strong supporter of Imperial Cancer<br />
Research Tech<strong>no</strong>logy and of Voluntary Service Overseas. He<br />
was a Gover<strong>no</strong>r of Ashridge Business School in Herefordshire<br />
and he also served on the Governing Body of Liverpool<br />
University. However, it was family life which was David’s<br />
highest priority and it was there that he found his greatest<br />
fulfilment. A countryman at heart, he enjoyed modest<br />
shooting, “but <strong>no</strong>t where there are hundreds of birds going<br />
over”, and he and Fiona greatly enjoyed travels on their<br />
narrow boat called ‘Great Expectations’.<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong>s have particular cause to be grateful for David’s<br />
membership of the School Governing Body between 1997<br />
and 2006, during which he was very much in favour of the<br />
decision to admit girls to the Sixth Form. <strong>The</strong>y are grateful,<br />
too, for his devoted service as a Trustee of the Shrewsbury<br />
School Foundation over many years and most recently for his<br />
most generous benefaction to the new School <strong>The</strong>atre, which<br />
bears his name. David was also involved in funding several<br />
boys during their time at the School. He enjoyed receiving<br />
regular updates on the boys’ progress and was still in close<br />
contact with at least one of them at the time of his death.<br />
This was one of the many generous initiatives that he took<br />
to assist others, revealing both his characteristically charitable<br />
disposition and his devotion to the School.<br />
David died on his 84th birthday, 4th March <strong>2020</strong>, and he is<br />
survived by Fiona and by their children, Jonathan and Alison,<br />
by five grandchildren and by one great-grandchild.<br />
With grateful ack<strong>no</strong>wledgement to both <strong>The</strong> Guardian and<br />
<strong>The</strong> Telegraph.<br />
Jeremy Bridgeland<br />
(Master 1977-82)<br />
Jerry Bridgeland joined<br />
the Chemistry department<br />
at Shrewsbury in 1977<br />
after five years teaching<br />
at Gordonstoun. He came<br />
to Shrewsbury following<br />
a recommendation from<br />
his former college tutor<br />
to the Headmaster, Eric<br />
Anderson. Jerry was<br />
born in Hastings in 1948,<br />
second son of Harold<br />
and Eve, and younger<br />
brother to Michael. He<br />
attended Merchant Taylor’s School, Northwood, before<br />
reading Chemistry and taking a PGCE from University<br />
College, Oxford.<br />
While at Oxford, Jerry was <strong>no</strong>table for his many and varied<br />
sporting endeavours, winning two full Blues and seven Half<br />
Blues. He captained the swimming team and represented the<br />
University in Water Polo and Modern Pentathlon. His efforts<br />
in 1971, particularly in the shoot and swim, helped Oxford<br />
to its first Varsity triumph in the Modern Pentathlon for a<br />
decade. While at Oxford, Jerry met his future wife, Yvonne<br />
Goodwin. <strong>The</strong>ir two sons, Charlie and Edward, were both<br />
born during their time in Shrewsbury.<br />
While at Shrewsbury, Jerry was active in many aspects of<br />
school life, especially anything involving water or outdoor<br />
pursuits. He played for the staff rugby team, coached<br />
swimming and water polo, and ran a popular ca<strong>no</strong>eing<br />
club. He was an energetic and enthusiastic House Tutor<br />
as the new Port Hill was being formed in Day Boys under<br />
David Gee. Jerry was very involved in the CCF and in 1980<br />
travelled to Canada to represent the UK in the NATO Reserve<br />
Officers’ Military Competition. In 1982, Jerry left Shrewsbury<br />
to return to Gordonstoun and to take over as Housemaster<br />
of Duffus House. His second spell at Gordonstoun included<br />
the alarming and extraordinary experience of a night-time fire<br />
within the boarding house: that it should be attended to by<br />
a team of pupils from the school’s own fire department was<br />
surely unprecedented; and thankfully boarders, family and<br />
firefighters were all unharmed. Jerry led groups of pupils up<br />
numerous ‘Munros’ and founded the school’s surf life-saving<br />
service, which patrolled local beaches. Jerry’s warmth and<br />
influence are demonstrated by the fact that, until recently,<br />
both the head of Gordonstoun and the housemaster of<br />
Duffus House were old boys from his time in the house.<br />
In 1990, Jerry was appointed Headmaster of Ardvreck, a prep<br />
school in Perthshire. Throughout their time in Scotland, Jerry<br />
and Yvonne retained strong connections to Shrewsbury, with<br />
both boys joining Severn Hill during the 1990s.<strong>The</strong> family’s<br />
return south was completed when Jerry became Headmaster<br />
of Prestfelde School in 1995. It was thanks to this role that<br />
Jerry will be warmly remembered by a younger generation of<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s, given the high number of Prestfeldians who<br />
moved on to Shrewsbury during his headship.<br />
Jerry’s twelve-year tenure at Prestfelde was a highly successful<br />
period for the school, <strong>no</strong>table for a significant growth in pupil<br />
numbers, the introduction of girls, and the completion of new<br />
music and pre-school buildings. It was also characterised by<br />
his efforts to modernise the school and prepare it to thrive<br />
in the new century. Jerry led by example, with a typically<br />
energetic and hands-on approach. One of his first objectives<br />
at Prestfelde was (unsurprisingly) to upgrade the school
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 103<br />
swimming pool and he also enjoyed applying his scientific<br />
background to help deliver a spectacular annual school<br />
fireworks event. As a true all-rounder, he was spotted driving<br />
minibuses on the morning school run, if one of the regular<br />
drivers fell ill, while one Prestfelde parent was particularly<br />
surprised to find Jerry manning the parking booth at the<br />
Prince Rupert Hotel, on a day when his son was unable to<br />
fulfil his summer job obligations!<br />
Following retirement from Prestfelde in 2007, Jerry and<br />
Yvonne moved to Harley, just outside Much Wenlock.<br />
Jerry’s many subsequent activities included time as a<br />
Gover<strong>no</strong>r of Ellesmere College, Moreton Hall and Abbots<br />
Bromley School and a spell as an Ofsted inspector. He was<br />
a generous contributor of his time to many local charities<br />
and organisations, including the Rotary Club, Shrewsbury<br />
Darwin, Shropshire Historic Churches Trust, Confide<br />
Counselling, and Shrewsbury Children’s Bookfest. He<br />
continued to love life outdoors and led local walking groups<br />
on hikes in the Shropshire Hills. In the last decade of his life,<br />
Jerry also enjoyed exploring Australia and New Zealand, as<br />
he and Yvonne made regular trips to visit their younger son<br />
Edward and his family in Sydney.<br />
Jerry died, after a short illness, on 14th May <strong>2020</strong>, aged 71<br />
years. He is survived by his wife Yvonne, their sons Charlie<br />
and Edward, and six grandchildren. He is greatly missed by<br />
his family and by many friends. Despite the COVID-related<br />
restrictions on direct attendance, Jerry’s funeral in Harley<br />
was a memorable and moving event, as well over a hundred<br />
friends and neighbours lined the roadside outside the church.<br />
It is hoped that in due course there will be a memorial<br />
service to mark Jerry’s life and his significant contributions<br />
to Shrewsbury School, Prestfelde and the wider local<br />
community.<br />
Geoffrey Brook (Master 1979-84)<br />
Geoffrey Brook came to Shrewsbury in Michaelmas Term<br />
1979. After graduating from Durham University as a Bachelor<br />
of Arts, he had subsequently received a Bachelor of Science<br />
degree from Birkbeck College, London and had taught at<br />
Halliford School, Shepperton and at St George’s College,<br />
Weybridge. During his five years at Shrewsbury he made<br />
a major contribution as Head of Geography, as a rowing<br />
coach, as an officer in the C.C.F. and in the Audio-Visual<br />
Department, as well as being a very active House Tutor. He<br />
also directed the musical Oh, what a lovely war. He gained<br />
a further academic qualification as a Master of Education<br />
from Birmingham University in 1982. He was an in<strong>no</strong>vative<br />
teacher and he provided the encouragement which led<br />
Gordon Woods to set up an academic residential field course<br />
in the Durham area. Geoffrey was also was greatly involved<br />
in the wider administration both of Geography and of<br />
rowing. In the former sphere he was Chairman of the Ellis<br />
Geography Panel and also of the Geographical Association<br />
Independent Schools’ Working Group: in the latter sphere he<br />
was Secretary General (and later President) of the Coupe de<br />
la Jeunesse. In 2013 he received the British Rowing Medal of<br />
Ho<strong>no</strong>ur. In December 1984 he left Shrewsbury to be Head<br />
of Geography and Master in charge of rowing at Winchester,<br />
where he remained a member of the Common Room until<br />
2002. He was an active freemason and secretary of the Old<br />
Wykehamist Lodge. He died on 9th February <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
David Brown<br />
(Master 1946-79)<br />
David Brown was educated at<br />
Sedbergh School and St John’s<br />
College, Cambridge, where<br />
he read Part I of the Classical<br />
Tripos, before changing over<br />
to the Geography Tripos. He<br />
was awarded a war-time Blue<br />
for hockey in 1943 and 1944<br />
and he also represented his<br />
college at cricket. He came to Shrewsbury in 1946, to teach<br />
Geography. Perhaps his most lasting work will be seen to<br />
be in the long uphill struggle of putting that subject on the<br />
map. At the time of his arrival Geography enjoyed neither<br />
the status <strong>no</strong>r the popularity which it was later to achieve<br />
and the subject was simply an adjunct of the History Side.<br />
David’s cause was greatly assisted by the adoption of the<br />
‘block system’ for A levels in the 1960s, which enabled more<br />
pupils to choose the subject and which led, in turn, to the<br />
appointment of a second geography master.<br />
<strong>The</strong> prominence which Geography has subsequently gained<br />
in the curriculum and the large number of Sixth Formers<br />
<strong>no</strong>w specialising in the subject is a gratifying vindication<br />
of David’s pioneering work. His Geography department<br />
became visible when the Lyle Building (<strong>no</strong>w converted and<br />
expanded as the Chatri Centre) was opened in 1965. One<br />
floor of the building was allocated to the teaching of the<br />
subject – a vast improvement on its previous location in an<br />
unwieldy form room in the Main School Building: for the first<br />
time there was adequate space and equipment, thanks to<br />
David’s steady insistence and Donald Wright’s enthusiasm. In<br />
2015 a further expansion and improvement occurred when<br />
Geography teaching was transferred to occupy the whole of<br />
the ground floor of Hodgson Hall. Recently there have been<br />
six colleagues teaching in the Geography Faculty, all pupils<br />
study Geography in the Third Form, about 90 opt to study<br />
the subject for GCSE and about 75 take the A level course.<br />
For some years David also taught the Third Form and<br />
showed those qualities of patience and sympathy for the less<br />
gifted, which were among his strongest characteristics. In<br />
those days he was an active House Tutor to David Bevan in<br />
Ridgemount and took a large part in running the cricket, as<br />
coach of the School’s Under 16 XI; he also helped to devise
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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
the Athletic Standards competition. He played cricket for<br />
the Kingsland Ramblers, which he inaugurated to provide<br />
enjoyment and recreation for those who were <strong>no</strong>t members<br />
of the established school teams. In his spare time David<br />
played hockey for the local club and for Shropshire.<br />
In the late 1950s David made a<strong>no</strong>ther major contribution<br />
in first finding and then developing and administering<br />
Talargerwyn, the then abandoned hill farmhouse near<br />
Penmach<strong>no</strong>, which has subsequently been used by<br />
generations of <strong>Salopian</strong>s. David’s vision found ample<br />
fulfilment, if <strong>no</strong>t always in the ways which he originally<br />
intended. It has been used variously for hill-walking<br />
expeditions, for geographical and environmental study, for<br />
academic weekends, for the bonding of house groups and<br />
especially as a relaxed environment in which to enable<br />
new pupils to get to k<strong>no</strong>w each other in their first term.<br />
Talargerwyn was in its heyday, as a welcome change of<br />
environment, in the years in which <strong>Salopian</strong>s were still much<br />
more rigorously confined to the Site than <strong>no</strong>wadays and<br />
before access to television and other forms of entertainment<br />
in the media became widely available. David loved the<br />
countryside, taking great delight in the beauty of trees.<br />
On the domestic scene, David hosted ‘<strong>The</strong> Little Brown Jug’,<br />
an informal gathering which took place once a week, usually<br />
after an evening ‘Third Lesson’, at which masters could meet,<br />
relax and have a drink. It provided a valuable opportunity for<br />
the exchange of ideas and – equally valuable and important –<br />
it did much to strengthen the sense of community.<br />
A<strong>no</strong>ther contribution to the School was the London Artists’<br />
Exhibition that David established. As a great appreciator<br />
of visual arts, David had an eye for a talented painter. He<br />
travelled and met with artists who then went on to exhibit at<br />
this exhibition, which was held each summer to include the<br />
Annual Speech Day.<br />
David had married Jacquie in 1953 and in 1969 they moved<br />
out to Nesscliffe, where they had bought the Old School,<br />
and there the Brown family inaugurated the Nesscliffe Art<br />
Gallery, which brought in a steady stream of visitors and<br />
where exhibitions, both by London Artists and by other<br />
exhibitors, painters, potters and craftsmen, both established<br />
and previously unk<strong>no</strong>wn, were regularly held, as well as<br />
musical occasions.<br />
In January 1977 David had a sabbatical, during which he<br />
spent time in India. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Salopian</strong> Newsletter recorded:<br />
“Mr. D.E. Brown and family vanished into the mystic East for<br />
a period of six months. <strong>The</strong>y are at present resident at an<br />
ashram in Poona, exploring a different mode of life. David<br />
was subsequently given further leave of absence and will<br />
probably be in the East for much of 1977-1978. Latest reports<br />
from the ashram in Poona suggest that his stay is proving<br />
stimulating.” In the event David returned to Shrewsbury after<br />
five terms: on his return he worked part-time for a while<br />
but retired from the staff in December 1979. David and<br />
Jacquie had separated in 1977 and David made his home in<br />
Gloucester, still keeping in contact with the ashram in Poona.<br />
During a visit to the ashram in 1989 David met his future<br />
partner-to-be, Inge Breuss, and in 1992 he went to live<br />
with her in her homeland of Austria, first in the Alps and<br />
then in Vienna, where they enjoyed a healthy and active<br />
life together until he decided, at the age of 98, to move<br />
back to England, to spend his last days closer to his family<br />
and in the country of his birth. His family, Caroline, Tony<br />
and Surahbhi (formerly Jenny) live in Scotland, Northern<br />
England and Germany, respectively.<br />
<strong>The</strong> tribute paid recently to him by his pupil Sir Michael<br />
Palin (R 1957-61) and the latter’s appointment as a Fellow<br />
of the Royal Geographical Society will <strong>no</strong> doubt have given<br />
David immense pleasure. Michael wrote: “Between the ages<br />
of 14 and 18, I boarded at Shrewsbury School. <strong>The</strong>re I met<br />
David Brown, who taught me geography for A level. He was<br />
wonderfully eccentric. He had a shock of dark, curly hair<br />
and would scratch his head and gesticulate wildly. All the<br />
maps in the geography room were German because he said<br />
German cartographers were better than English ones. This<br />
wasn’t long after the war and it was brave of him to order<br />
those. It was David who suggested I study geography A level,<br />
in one year, rather than two. I thought the pressure would<br />
be too much, but he was right. I did it and got myself a year<br />
ahead. He could see that I had the ability and he pushed me.<br />
I responded to his enthusiasm and he taught me to think for<br />
myself. He was left-wing and his views were different from<br />
what you might expect at an English Public School.”<br />
Later, on hearing of David’s death, Michael wrote to Caroline<br />
as follows: “I was so sorry to hear of your father’s death.<br />
To enjoy life into one’s 100th year is quite something. I<br />
remember him for his independence of mind, his ability to<br />
motivate his pupils and for setting me up for what turned<br />
out to be a second career in geography. Indeed ‘Services<br />
to Geography’ appeared on the citation for my knighthood<br />
earlier this year. I’m sure David wouldn’t have approved of<br />
knighthoods but I’m equally sure he would have been quite<br />
proud. And I shall always be thankful to him.”<br />
David died on 25th October 2019.<br />
Barry Burns (O 1948-52)<br />
Barry Burns was born on 24th December 1934 in<br />
Blundellsands near Liverpool and he attended Terra Nova<br />
School before entering Oldham’s in 1948. He followed his<br />
elder brother Tony and preceded his younger brother John<br />
into the House.<br />
Barry would often say that he particularly valued the social<br />
skills he learned at Shrewsbury. He made lifelong friends<br />
there, which was a consistent feature throughout his life. On<br />
leaving school he completed his military service in Hamburg,<br />
Germany, and then joined the family firm, Robert Cox Watson<br />
Todd, which imported Quebec yellow pine and was based in<br />
Bootle, Merseyside. Given his naturally friendly nature, Barry<br />
became the chief salesman at the firm and was responsible<br />
for client accounts and relationships all over the UK.<br />
A very keen sportsman, Barry matured as an athlete after<br />
leaving Shrewsbury, where he had featured as a house team<br />
member, rather than representing the School. Such was his<br />
enthusiasm that he was willing to try out almost every sport<br />
(with the possible exception of golf, where his 5 iron over<br />
extra cover off the tee often frustrated him and his partners).<br />
He became a fine amateur tennis player: his uncanny knack<br />
of keeping the ball in play made him famous in the Southport<br />
and District Leagues, where he was a stalwart at the Birkdale<br />
Tennis Club. Not content with playing to a reasonably high<br />
level, he gave something back by training and qualifying as<br />
a grade one umpire. He achieved his ambition of officiating<br />
at Wimbledon where he foot-faulted a young Italian<br />
professional five times in his first match.<br />
His dedication to a cause was also apparent in football. Many<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s continue to enjoy the amateur game after their<br />
education at the Liverpool Ramblers at Moor Lane, Crosby,<br />
and Barry was <strong>no</strong> exception. He was a fantastic organiser,
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 105<br />
whether as fourth team captain, selector for the Burns<br />
Bashers at the Easter Festival, as President, or as the person<br />
the club often turned to in a crisis. His enthusiasm and fitness<br />
allowed him to play until well into his 60s and his mantra<br />
of ‘ball to feet’ still serves well today. Many an opponent<br />
or team-mate would marvel how simple the game was<br />
with Barry hugging the right touchline and playing short,<br />
effective passes.<br />
Many <strong>Salopian</strong>s will k<strong>no</strong>w of Barry from his words of<br />
encouragement from the touchline, as he was a regular at<br />
home and away matches from the 1970s onwards and he<br />
accompanied the First XI on a number of pre-season tours<br />
to Europe and the USA. Tennis players might have played<br />
against the Barry Burns VI, as the match against the school<br />
was usually the season’s ‘curtain-raiser’.<br />
He was immensely proud of his link between the Ramblers<br />
and the Public Schools. <strong>The</strong> Ramblers continue to fulfil<br />
fixtures with a number of schools where the virtues of<br />
amateur sport and sportsmanship are highly valued. In 1978,<br />
Barry joined the committee of the Independent Schools<br />
Football Association, the only <strong>no</strong>n-teacher ever to have been<br />
invited to do so, and he remained until his death, 42 years<br />
later. He became so admired and appreciated that he was<br />
eventually made President and through that association, yet<br />
again, he made countless friends for life.<br />
Barry married Patricia (Trish) Ford in 1956. Together they had<br />
three children, Jimmy, Caroline and Andrew. Andrew died at<br />
the age of 19 from a congenital heart condition but <strong>no</strong> one<br />
could have received better loving care and attention from<br />
his parents. Barry died on 22nd August <strong>2020</strong>, aged 85 years,<br />
having lived a full life. In one of his last communications with<br />
his family he said “keep batting”, typifying his enthusiasm<br />
and spirit.<br />
Jimmy Burns (O 1973-77)<br />
Revd Alistair Conn (Chaplain 1966-73)<br />
Alistair was born in Twickenham in 1937. He attended the<br />
Mall School and then St Paul’s, where he was captain of both<br />
the Boxing Club and the 2nd cricket XI. He was posted to<br />
Wuppertal for his National Service and was commissioned<br />
in <strong>The</strong> Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). He was appointed<br />
Education Officer, where his role was to help sergeants to<br />
get through their basic exams. It was during his National<br />
Service that Alistair developed his lifetime love of reading. He<br />
read history at Downing College, Cambridge between 1957<br />
and 1960, specialising in the medieval period of English and<br />
European History and also in historiography. He obtained his<br />
boxing Blue as a featherweight. He then studied at Lincoln<br />
<strong>The</strong>ological College and was ordained in Durham Cathedral,<br />
as a deacon in 1962 and as a priest in 1963. He was a curate<br />
at St Paul’s in West Hartlepool in the Durham Diocese from<br />
1962 to 1965. Alistair then spent a year at Busoga College<br />
in Uganda as School Chaplain and Assistant Housemaster,<br />
where he taught English, History and R.E. In the holidays he<br />
toured Uganda and Kenya.<br />
Alistair had secured his job at Shrewsbury School before he<br />
went to Uganda: he had had a meeting with Donald Wright<br />
on the pier at South Shields, before Donald caught a ferry to<br />
Norway with his family! Donald attached great importance<br />
to the Chaplain’s role in the School and Alistair had to<br />
endure the ordeal of being instituted and inducted by the<br />
Bishop in the presence of the whole school, swearing the<br />
necessary oaths of allegiance to the Queen and ca<strong>no</strong>nical<br />
obedience to the Bishop. <strong>The</strong> late 1960s and early 1970s<br />
were very difficult years for all School Chaplains, for they<br />
were exactly those years in which the obligatory attendance<br />
at Chapel and obligatory membership of the C.C.F. were<br />
the twin targets of teenage malcontents: they coincided,<br />
too, with the first general introduction of alternative<br />
services, breaking the pattern established as far back as<br />
<strong>166</strong>2 (modified subsequently but <strong>no</strong>t substantially altered in<br />
1928). Alistair responded with great steadfastness and with<br />
a flair for interpreting old truths in language and imagery<br />
which enabled him to communicate them successfully to his<br />
schoolboy congregation. His ministry was greatly assisted<br />
by his willingness to take part in a wide range of school<br />
activities. In his seven years at Shrewsbury Alistair taught<br />
English and R.E. and helped Robin Trimby to coach the<br />
Under-14 football and cricket teams. He met his future wife,<br />
Bella, at Shrewsbury. <strong>The</strong>y used to go to Shrewsbury Town<br />
matches together; Alistair remained an avid Town fan and he<br />
continued to go to football matches until his health declined.<br />
He was an enthusiastic member of the Masters’ football XI:<br />
his aggressive tackles prompted his colleague Mark Mortimer,<br />
<strong>no</strong>ted for his gentle, satirical wit, to observe, “When I survey<br />
the Reverend Conn, it’s best to have my shin pads on!”<br />
Alistair and Bella were married in the School Chapel in 1968<br />
and in the following years their first two daughters were<br />
born. When reflecting on his life, Alistair recalled his time at<br />
Shrewsbury with great fondness.
106<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Alistair and his family then moved to Scotland, where he was<br />
the rector at St Anne’s, Coupar Angus (in the diocese of St<br />
Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane). He was also the Assistant<br />
Editor of the Scottish Episcopal Church’s newspaper. Alistair<br />
and Bella’s third daughter was born in Scotland. Despite<br />
having three young children, Alistair still found time to watch<br />
the local football team and to play cricket! In 1978 he became<br />
vicar of St Peter’s, Ravenshead, in the Southwell Diocese<br />
and served as Rural Dean of Newstead from 1990 to 1993.<br />
He then became rector at All Saints, Collingham and St<br />
John the Baptist, Collingham (along with three other local<br />
churches in the Southwell Diocese) and served as Rural<br />
Dean of Newark from 1995 to 2002. Alistair retired in 2002,<br />
serving with permission to officiate until 2017. He had an<br />
active retirement; he was a literacy volunteer at a local<br />
school, he undertook several courses and he spent many<br />
happy hours at Trent Bridge.<br />
Alistair had lots of interests. He was an avid reader and<br />
had thousands of books, covering a broad range of topics.<br />
He loved listening to jazz and he had an encyclopaedic<br />
k<strong>no</strong>wledge of it; he would make corrections to sleeve <strong>no</strong>tes,<br />
concert programmes and book chapters where the author<br />
had got something wrong! He enjoyed watching films and<br />
was a regular cinemagoer. He loved playing and watching<br />
sport throughout his life. He enjoyed walking with family<br />
and friends and he completed many of the National Trails.<br />
He loved learning<br />
and helping others to<br />
grow and learn.<br />
He was described<br />
as being ‘stimulating<br />
company’, ‘a man of<br />
very great integrity’,<br />
‘a great support’<br />
and it was said that<br />
‘his judgements<br />
were always sound,<br />
humane and brave’.<br />
As one parishioner<br />
said, “While many<br />
of his sermons<br />
were beyond my intellect, I was aware of his many acts of<br />
kindness around the village for so many people that were<br />
unk<strong>no</strong>wn to most of those in his congregation”.<br />
Alistair’s health deteriorated rapidly after Bella died in<br />
2014. He was diag<strong>no</strong>sed with dementia in 2016. He died<br />
peacefully on 26th March <strong>2020</strong>, aged 82 years. He will be<br />
remembered for his kindness, his caring and gentle nature,<br />
his dry sense of humour and his strong sense of fairness<br />
and social justice. He lived a deep and full life, but also<br />
lived a life in the service of others.<br />
Lucy Conn (daughter)<br />
Air Commodore Derek John Crompton<br />
(Bursar 1985-96)<br />
Derek Crompton was born in Hereford on 28th November<br />
1932, but his family moved to Doncaster while he was very<br />
young and he grew up there. He was educated at Doncaster<br />
Grammar School and Durham University, as one of that<br />
generation who took advantage of post-war educational and<br />
social reforms. His experience gave him a healthy respect for<br />
the power of education and of scholars more generally. He<br />
loved his subject, history, and continued to read widely all his<br />
life. It was at Durham that he met Eunice, his future wife.<br />
After graduating, he joined the RAF on National Service. He<br />
enjoyed it so much that he ended up making a career of it,<br />
serving for over 30 years, before retiring to become Bursar of<br />
Shrewsbury School. <strong>The</strong>re he enjoyed the twin challenges<br />
of leading the support and maintenance staff, while<br />
simultaneously corralling the academic staff. In spite of his<br />
respect for academics, his family were sometimes treated<br />
to lectures on how civilian teachers might have benefited<br />
from a period of National Service! When he considered an<br />
objective was important, he could be extremely singleminded<br />
in pursuit of it. At one stage in his courtship of<br />
Eunice, she told him that she did <strong>no</strong>t want to see him<br />
any more; undeterred, Derek turned up on the doorstep<br />
the following Saturday. “I haven’t come to see you,” he<br />
explained, “I’ve come to see your Dad!” Derek and Eunice<br />
were happily married for 61 years.<br />
Derek was a wonderful father, who took great pride and<br />
interest in the activities and achievements of his children. He<br />
had a great sense of fun and he was a great raconteur. He<br />
loved company and had that rare ability to be able to talk<br />
to anybody, whatever their background. He considered that<br />
human relationships were the most important thing in life.<br />
He had his passions: his garden was one, golf was a<strong>no</strong>ther.<br />
He played off a handicap of somewhere between 6 and<br />
14 for some 50 years, at courses as varied as Wentworth,<br />
Tewkesbury, Church Stretton and Ludlow. <strong>The</strong>re were<br />
countless occasions when he would go out of his way to<br />
help people, friends, colleagues, and young people starting<br />
out, either studying or trying to start a business. In the last<br />
stage of his life, he greatly enjoyed the role of Grandfather.<br />
Kids loved him because he was just like them – permanently<br />
youthful. He greatly enjoyed a party. For him, life was<br />
something to be lived to the full. He had a healthy respect for
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 107<br />
institutions. Shrewsbury School was one of them. He always<br />
believed in the great importance of taking the time to talk to<br />
colleagues and management by walking about.<br />
Neil Crompton (son)<br />
Neil’s last point was certainly true of Derek’s time at<br />
Shrewsbury. He also paid careful attention to the individual<br />
concerns of the members of staff for whom he was<br />
responsible. On one occasion a member of the grounds staff<br />
had asked to talk to him about his pension. Derek’s secretary<br />
questioned whether he had time to do that that week. “Make<br />
time,” was his polite but firm reply.<br />
On his retirement from the School, the following tribute was<br />
paid to him in the School’s magazine. “It says much for his<br />
capable management that the School was able to build a new<br />
boarding house, <strong>The</strong> Grove, during that period, to finance<br />
the magnificent extension to the Science Building and the<br />
provision of superb facilities for Information Tech<strong>no</strong>logy,<br />
and also to pursue a policy of refurbishment of the boys’<br />
residential accommodation in the boarding houses. Derek<br />
had to assimilate and implement the veritable avalanche of<br />
government and local regulations concerning employment,<br />
health, safety and welfare which piled remorselessly on<br />
his desk; he received with fortitude and responded with<br />
firm discrimination to the daily demands of his academic<br />
colleagues, each of whom was convinced that his own<br />
particular expensive project should be accorded top priority<br />
and required immediate execution. Derek’s military training<br />
enabled him skilfully to survive, and when necessary,<br />
effectively to return all this financial and administrative fire!<br />
A visitor to Shrewsbury might walk round its immaculate<br />
school grounds, inspect its new buildings, observe its teeming<br />
population, appraise its varied activities and sample its many<br />
facilities: and to do so would be to apply the acid test to any<br />
Bursar’s administration: si monumentum requiris circumspice.<br />
It is a test which it could both truly and appropriately be<br />
said that Derek Crompton passed with flying colours! He is<br />
remembered at Shrewsbury with respect and affection.”<br />
David Gee<br />
Derek wrote a humorous article entitled ‘How to get your<br />
wicked way with the Bursar’ in which he offered helpful<br />
advice, from which the following points are extracted:<br />
“I would wear your Blues or Palatinate tie, if I were you,<br />
failing that your Guards tie or even your RAF Regiment tie<br />
(if you don’t possess one, borrow one)...... Do <strong>no</strong>t present<br />
the only two arguments that he ever hears, namely that<br />
your proposal will be good for public relations or that it will<br />
impress the parents....do <strong>no</strong>t take your dog with you... don’t<br />
say ‘I hope you managed to get away this year’. Only ask<br />
for one thing at a time......and don’t tell him that you have<br />
agreed it with the Headmaster. <strong>The</strong> real key to succeeding<br />
is planning: your chances of success are in direct proportion<br />
to the length of <strong>no</strong>tice you give of your requirement. It is a<br />
good idea, as you leave, to ask about his mother-in-law and<br />
his cat: if you have failed in your current mission it shows<br />
him what a reasonable chap you are and next time he will<br />
look at you with new eyes. Oh, and finally, do <strong>no</strong>t forget to<br />
take a bottle of Scotch with you!”<br />
Derek Crompton died on 7 November 2019, aged 86<br />
years and is survived by his wife Eunice and children Neil<br />
and Zoe.<br />
Terence Crooks (M 1963-68)<br />
Shrewsbury introduced Terry to two of his lifelong passions<br />
– the French horn and the outdoors. Born in Birmingham<br />
on 12th March 1950, Terry moved first to London, with his<br />
parents, Jim and Rosamunde, before settling in the Yorkshire<br />
village of Bramhope. He remained a proud Yorkshireman,<br />
despite spending most of his life living outside the county.<br />
He enjoyed his time at Shrewsbury and he always<br />
remembered it fondly. He was already a good pianist when<br />
he came to the School, but it was his introduction to the<br />
French horn that would set him on a new musical journey.<br />
When he moved on to King’s College, Cambridge, to study<br />
Natural Sciences, he played the horn in the Second University<br />
Orchestra. Following that, from the beginning of his career<br />
in chemistry to the end of his life, Terry played second horn<br />
in the Slough Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a popular and<br />
valued member of the orchestra for over forty years, and had<br />
a wide k<strong>no</strong>wledge and love of classical music.<br />
A<strong>no</strong>ther formative experience while he was at Shrewsbury<br />
was a cadet training exercise in the Brecon Beacons. Terry<br />
found that he was able to cope with and enjoy mountain<br />
walking, and he pursued this new hobby with relish. Walking<br />
trips followed across the British Isles and abroad. It was on<br />
one such trip to the French Alps in 1976 that Terry met his<br />
future wife, Sue. Terry and Sue enjoyed many memorable<br />
holidays around the world and their mountain ventures<br />
included climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and Mount<br />
Kinabalu in Borneo. At home he was an active member of<br />
the Middle Thames Ramblers, and his other interests included<br />
photography, astro<strong>no</strong>my, gardening and playing tennis.<br />
Job opportunities being greater in the south of England<br />
than the <strong>no</strong>rth, where he would like to have lived, Terry<br />
found employment in the Research Department of Wyeth<br />
Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company on the outskirts of<br />
Slough. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there was<br />
more countryside around Slough than he had imagined.<br />
Subsequent employment was at G.D. Searle in High<br />
Wycombe and at Roche in Welwyn Garden City, though both<br />
ended in redundancy when their research and development<br />
sections were closed. His last job was at Lonza Biologics,<br />
back again in Slough, with a change of direction to quality<br />
assurance and auditing of supply companies. Being involved<br />
in the development of compounds that led to the successful<br />
treatment of AIDS provided what was, perhaps, the greatest<br />
satisfaction in his working career.<br />
In 2018 Terry was able to attend the fiftieth anniversary<br />
reunions both of leaving Shrewsbury School and of starting<br />
at King’s College, Cambridge, and he enjoyed the chance<br />
to meet up with old friends. <strong>The</strong> last few months of his life<br />
saw a rapid decline in his health, caused by a rare form of<br />
pulmonary fibrosis, which deprived him of his enjoyment of<br />
walking and his ability to play the French horn. He died on<br />
24th March 2019, aged 69 years, and he is survived by Sue,<br />
their daughter Elea<strong>no</strong>r, son Ed and grandson Jack.
108<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Donald (Dick) Davidson<br />
(Rt 1934-39)<br />
Donald (‘Dick’) Davidson<br />
was born in Worcester<br />
in 19<strong>21</strong>. His father was a<br />
Scottish General Practitioner<br />
and his mother a French<br />
nurse. Donald was the eldest<br />
of four siblings; he had one<br />
brother and two sisters.<br />
He came to Shrewsbury, and<br />
to Ridgemount, in 1934 and<br />
went on to St John’s College<br />
Cambridge, in 1939, to read medicine. This was followed<br />
by three years at St Thomas’ Hospital, London. As a medical<br />
student he was <strong>no</strong>t permitted to serve in the Second World<br />
War. However, immediately after completing his training he<br />
joined the RAF in 1946. He worked in India and elsewhere<br />
before returning to civilian life in 1948 to take up various<br />
hospital posts around the country, including assignments in<br />
Portsmouth and Wales.<br />
He moved to St Peter’s Hospital as a medical registrar in<br />
1950 and then became a GP in Dr Eric Ward’s practice in<br />
London St, Chertsey, in 1951. <strong>The</strong> practice moved to the<br />
‘new’ health centre in 1970 and Donald remained there<br />
until retiring from the NHS in 1988.<br />
While working at St Peter’s he met Rachel, who was a<br />
physiotherapist at the hospital, and in 1952 they married.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y had three children, William, Sarah and Jane, and three<br />
grandchildren. In 1957 Donald and Rachel bought a newbuild<br />
house in Chertsey, and that has remained the family<br />
home ever since.<br />
Donald was always interested in learning and was a very<br />
k<strong>no</strong>wledgeable and intellectual gentleman. He was also<br />
a good sportsman, boxing for his school and gaining a<br />
football blue at Cambridge University. He was also a keen<br />
golfer; first at Laleham and then, as a founder member, at<br />
Foxhills in 1975.<br />
Donald had many other interests. In the early 1960s he joined<br />
the local Scottish Society and he was a proficient Scottish<br />
dancer. He served in St John’s Ambulance for about 15 years<br />
and was a strong supporter of everything they do. He also<br />
loved to sing and he joined the Weybridge Male Voice Choir<br />
in 1996.<br />
He died peacefully in his sleep at home in Chertsey on 29th<br />
August 2019, aged 98 and a half. His beloved wife, Rachel,<br />
was by his side. Donald was an active Christian and regularly<br />
attended Christ Church, Ottershaw, where a thanksgiving<br />
service was held for him on 30th September 2019.<br />
Bill Davidson<br />
David William Mansell Davis (S 1947-51)<br />
David Davis was born on 24th August 1933 in Whitby,<br />
Cheshire, the only child of Elcie and Cecil Davis. He spent his<br />
childhood in Yardley and then in Stratford-upon-Avon, where<br />
he went to the King Edward VI Grammar School. He later<br />
attended Prestfelde, where he was Head of School in his final<br />
year. At Shrewsbury he became a dedicated oarsman, rowing<br />
for Severn Hill and successively in the 3rd, 2nd and 1st VIIIs.<br />
He was awarded his 2nd VIII colours and a trial star. He<br />
always remembered Shrewsbury with great affection.<br />
In January 1952 he joined the army to do his National<br />
Service and went from the Royal Signals in Catterick to the<br />
Intelligence Corps and finally to the RAF’s 646 Signals Unit at<br />
Obernkirchen. With this training, an aptitude for crosswords<br />
and statistics and a love of the English language, he was<br />
ideally suited to work at GCHQ in Cheltenham, which he<br />
joined in January 1955. He worked in variety of roles in<br />
different divisions within GCHQ and had a very interesting<br />
and fulfilling career there until his retirement in 1993.<br />
After leaving the army, he joined the Stratford-upon-Avon<br />
Boat Club where he was an active member for about eight<br />
years and Captain in 1958 and 1959. He spent a lot of time<br />
travelling between Cheltenham and Stratford for training and<br />
to compete in regattas, winning his maidens, juniors and<br />
seniors in various rowing and sculling events.<br />
David met his future wife Patricia Spencer in March<br />
1960 and they were married in July 1961. He gave up<br />
his beloved rowing when he took on the responsibilities<br />
of looking after a young family, but always maintained<br />
a keen interest in the achievements of the Shrewsbury,<br />
Stratford and National crews.<br />
He was interested in ancient history, genealogy, and<br />
fiendishly difficult crosswords, which he often managed to<br />
complete. He always kept fit, despite <strong>no</strong>t rowing anymore,<br />
playing squash for many years, but he gave this up when<br />
Pat developed rheumatoid arthritis and needed his constant<br />
support. Despite Pat’s illness, they enjoyed many holidays<br />
around the UK and managed trips to Europe, North America<br />
and New Zealand. Her sudden and unexpected death in<br />
July 1999 at the age of 59 was a terrible blow, from which<br />
David never fully recovered. He took up squash again and<br />
discovered the rowing machines at his local gym, always<br />
beating his friend and training partner to 2,000 metres.<br />
David was a kind and generous man with a keen sense<br />
of justice. He died peacefully in Cheltenham on 13th May<br />
<strong>2020</strong> aged 86 years. He is survived by his daughter Susan<br />
and son Andrew.<br />
Andrew Davis
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 109<br />
John de la Motte (I 1957-61)<br />
John de la Motte was born in Bue<strong>no</strong>s Aires, Argentina on<br />
18th May 1944 and died in Alsace, France on 24th March<br />
<strong>2020</strong>, one of the early COVID-19 fatalities. He had been a<br />
passionate internationalist all his life. Encouraged by an uncle<br />
living nearby, John came to Shrewsbury and to Ingram’s in<br />
Michaelmas Term 1957. His interests and activities were wideranging<br />
and he ended up on the History Side, eventually in<br />
the Upper VIth under Michael Hart and Laurence Le Quesne<br />
– probably the best academic experience then available at<br />
Shrewsbury.<br />
John was very active in the Debating Society, eventually<br />
becoming its Vice-President and gaining some enthusiastic<br />
reviews for his participation in debates, speaking<br />
k<strong>no</strong>wledgeably and with vigour in support of a Conservative<br />
government – “a rabid reactionary conservatism that kept<br />
the House enthralled”. He also put much effort into the<br />
Dramatic Society, taking the part of the Colonial Secretary<br />
in <strong>The</strong> Applecart, as Rumour in Henry IV Part II and <strong>no</strong>tably<br />
in Emlyn Williams’ <strong>The</strong> Late Christopher Bean, as Rosen, a<br />
dealer in dodgy Old Masters, which Alec Binney hailed as<br />
“a most elegant performance”, in a role which will have<br />
prepared John well for becoming an apprentice stockbroker<br />
with Thomas Clarke and Co., in the City of London, which he<br />
did on leaving school.<br />
John stayed in stockbroking for five years, much enjoying<br />
London life, fringing on the political world, in which his<br />
mother was very active (she stood as a Conservative in West<br />
Ham, unsuccessfully, of course) and he made regular visits<br />
to Switzerland as a member of the St Moritz Tobogganing<br />
Club (i.e. the Cresta Run), until a nasty smash at Shuttlecock<br />
Corner resulted in a stay in St Mary’s Hospital Paddington<br />
to get patched up. <strong>The</strong>n, in a big change, he joined IBM,<br />
working initially in London and then transferring, after two<br />
years, to IBM Europe, based in Paris, where he stayed until<br />
his retirement in 2001.<br />
France proved a happy place for John and, in what must<br />
be the best advertisement for the then popular Club Med<br />
holidays, he met Françoise. <strong>The</strong>ir marriage in 1975 began a<br />
long and fruitful partnership. When Françoise retired in 2005<br />
they moved down to her home base in Alsace, which, like<br />
Paris, was a good location in which to indulge their love of<br />
good food and good wine.<br />
John was a man possessed of great humour, which he would<br />
share widely, even when health matters eventually got in the<br />
way. This first occurred when Françoise had to have a kidney<br />
transplant. Her recovery from that allowed them to travel<br />
again and in 2017 John was able to fulfil a long-held ambition<br />
to take them both to Russia. This was a return visit for John,<br />
for he, like all the <strong>Salopian</strong>s involved, had been greatly<br />
influenced by going to Leningrad and Moscow in April and<br />
May 1961 under the leadership of Michael Hart and David<br />
Gee. Particularly memorable on that first occasion was the<br />
singing of <strong>The</strong> Carmen while marching at the rear of the May<br />
Day parade on Moscow’s Red Square.<br />
However, this second time John returned with pneumonia,<br />
which left him with severe breathing problems and then,<br />
in 2018, he had a mild stroke. He recovered well from that,<br />
regaining most of his speech, but he was a prime target<br />
for the dreadful virus, from which he died on 24th March<br />
<strong>2020</strong>, aged 75 years. Tragically, within a week, Françoise<br />
became a<strong>no</strong>ther victim. <strong>The</strong>y leave two daughters, each<br />
with successful careers. Isabelle is an Events organiser for<br />
Disney in Paris and Caroline is a producer of radio news<br />
programmes in Montreal, Canada.<br />
Richard Salter (S 1957-61)<br />
Richard Farnell<br />
(Ch 1948-52)<br />
Richard was born in Shipley,<br />
Yorkshire on 27th November<br />
1934. At the beginning of the<br />
war, when Richard was six years<br />
old, he and his twin brother John<br />
went with their mother to New<br />
Zealand for over three years. After<br />
surviving a dangerous crossing (in<br />
fact that very ship was tragically<br />
torpedoed and sunk on its return<br />
voyage to England), both boys fell into their new way of life<br />
with gusto. Richard loved to recount how he went to school<br />
barefoot across the sands in Takapuna. Back in the UK and<br />
reunited with their father, there was a further addition to<br />
the family, a brother David, who <strong>no</strong>w lives in California. It<br />
was then time for the twins to be shipped off to prep school<br />
in Yorkshire and subsequently on to Shrewsbury and to<br />
Churchill’s, where both brothers excelled at cricket.<br />
National Service followed, when Richard and a close friend<br />
both passed the War Office Selection Board. <strong>The</strong> friend went<br />
to Mons and Richard to Eaton Hall. <strong>The</strong> joke was that whilst<br />
Mons turned out officers, Eaton Hall turned out gentlemen,<br />
and Richard certainly remained a gentleman until the day<br />
he died. He won and kept the Sword of Ho<strong>no</strong>ur and was<br />
posted to the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, where he<br />
was promoted to the acting rank of Captain at the end of his<br />
second year and served alongside his friend, Lieut-General Sir<br />
Michael Gray. In later years he retained an avid interest in all<br />
things military and was a big fundraiser for SAAFA.<br />
After leaving the Regiment, he joined the family business,<br />
Farnell Electronics. He married Olivia on 8th April 1959.<br />
Richard was made a Freeman of <strong>The</strong> City of London<br />
and admitted into the Worshipful Company of Scientific<br />
Instrument Makers but sadly never achieved his ambition to<br />
drive a flock of sheep over London Bridge!<br />
He loved to read the National Geographic Magazine; he
110<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
was always craving adventure. Richard travelled extensively<br />
through Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, where he had many<br />
interesting experiences. One particular trip was very rough<br />
and ready, when he spent most of his time in the back of<br />
lorries and on the top of local buses!<br />
He travelled widely to exotic places, even before David<br />
Attenborough got there! On one three-month trip together,<br />
Richard and his wife Olivia lived with different tribes. At<br />
one stage they lived with the headhunting Iban tribe in<br />
Borneo, sleeping on straw mats on the floor along with<br />
150 Dyaks whilst lying underneath shrunken human heads.<br />
Goats and pigs snuffled below them and they joined the<br />
tribe to hunt with blowpipes for indescribable items for their<br />
supper. Richard loved every moment: Olivia was able to<br />
cope, provided that they could spend the occasional night<br />
in an hotel! Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime,<br />
at the end of this trip Richard managed to engineer<br />
an introduction to the Maharajah of Jaipur and they<br />
ended their travels in luxury, being passed on from one<br />
Maharajah’s palace to a<strong>no</strong>ther.<br />
Seven years ago Richard suffered an aortic aneurism and he<br />
became paraplegic. His proud Yorkshire spirit sustained him<br />
through his life. He was a true hero. He is survived by his<br />
wife Olivia and two sons and two daughters.<br />
Olivia Farnell<br />
Philip Hugh Gammon (S 1952-58)<br />
Philip Gammon made a spectacular start to his sporting<br />
career at Shrewsbury, winning the New Boys’ Race on<br />
Top Common, by a substantial margin. From that excellent<br />
beginning he proceeded to other achievements, of which the<br />
best remembered was his being School Captain of Football in<br />
1958, having also been in the 1st XI in the previous year. A<br />
con<strong>no</strong>isseur of <strong>Salopian</strong> football remembers his forming what<br />
is <strong>no</strong>w called a “strike partnership” with the previous captain,<br />
Brian Gourley. Philip also flourished on the cricket field as<br />
house captain and in athletics, in the long jump, low hurdles<br />
and sprint events. He was Head of House in Severn Hill and<br />
a Praepostor.<br />
From Shrewsbury he went on to St John’s College,<br />
Cambridge, where he was Captain of Football – a<br />
considerable achievement in a college <strong>no</strong>ted for good<br />
sportsmen – as well as gaining a degree in Natural Sciences.<br />
<strong>The</strong>reafter he pursued a career in industrial management,<br />
where he was <strong>no</strong>ted for his sensitivity to the human factor.<br />
On one occasion he had to tell the works council, when he<br />
was working in London, that he would be leaving them to<br />
take up a new appointment in Wales. When the trade union<br />
conve<strong>no</strong>r, who was at the meeting, heard the news, he said;<br />
“But Mr Philip, how will we manage without you?”<br />
Philip married Mary. With their children, Rachel and Jonathan,<br />
they moved to South Wales, where they lived happily, Philip<br />
taking an active role in village life. Grandchildren followed<br />
and latterly a great-grandson, Reuben, who was a special joy<br />
to Philip. <strong>The</strong> family enjoyed life in their homes in Wales and<br />
their French home in Fanjeaux, in south-west France.<br />
John Gammon (S 1948-53)<br />
Graham Garrett (Master<br />
1964-73)<br />
Graham Garrett was born in<br />
Streatham in 1933, the second of<br />
the three sons of Percy and Gladys<br />
Garrett, and he was educated at<br />
Alleyn’s School, where he became<br />
Head of School, was School<br />
organist and played an active<br />
part in school sports. He won an<br />
Open Scholarship to Caius College,<br />
Cambridge to study Mathematics and subsequently taught<br />
the subject at Manadon Naval College, Plymouth. He worked<br />
briefly for Shell on computing oil movements, but his true<br />
vocation was teaching and this conviction was reinforced<br />
when he moved to Radley College to teach mathematics.<br />
He came to Shrewsbury in 1964 to be Head of Mathematics<br />
and to introduce the new School Mathematics Project, of<br />
which he was a pioneer, and in the school holidays he visited<br />
different parts of the world with the same purpose. He was<br />
appointed Housemaster of School House in 1967 and he<br />
laboured unceasingly to discharge this great responsibility.<br />
Not many could sustain the hours of work which formed part<br />
of Graham’s <strong>no</strong>rmal routine and <strong>no</strong>t many have deployed<br />
his remarkable administrative ability. He was admirably<br />
supported in the domestic management of the House by<br />
his wife, Jill. Despite the magnitude of his many tasks he<br />
always showed remarkable resilience and cheerfulness,<br />
ready always for football and cricket, ready always to play<br />
the organ in Chapel.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 111<br />
He left Shrewsbury in 1973 to become Headmaster of<br />
Wellingborough School, a position which he occupied for<br />
twenty years and where his personality shone. He considered<br />
that his role as Headmaster was to create ‘a thriving and<br />
cared-for community’. He knew all the boys and made time<br />
for everyone, pupils, teachers, parents and former members<br />
of the school; and he continued to teach Mathematics. He<br />
regularly played the organ and umpired football and cricket.<br />
He had a great love of music and he ensured that different<br />
types of music flourished at the school. Academic standards<br />
rose. During his headmastership, several new teaching<br />
blocks and halls were constructed, including facilities for art<br />
and modern languages, a new sports hall and a design and<br />
tech<strong>no</strong>logy centre; new playing fields were acquired and a<br />
new Pre-School was established. Perhaps the most significant<br />
of these developments was the admission of girls and the<br />
development of a fully co-educational school. Graham<br />
led school parties to India, Kashmir, Bhutan and Thailand.<br />
<strong>The</strong> school flourished under his leadership and it has been<br />
described by one of his housemasters as a ‘Golden Age’;<br />
many perceived that Graham “had a commitment to the job<br />
that put him in a class of his own”.<br />
Graham was a committed Christian. He was a Lay Member<br />
of the Church of England Ordination Selection Panel, Chair<br />
of the Gover<strong>no</strong>rs of Quainton Hall School and a member of<br />
the Admiralty Interview Board. After retiring to Cambridge,<br />
his activities included working with the National Youth<br />
Orchestra, membership of the Fairhaven Singers and playing<br />
golf. He was Chairman of the local Bird Club and of the<br />
Neighbourhood Watch. He trained as a Cambridge Guide<br />
and he maintained his connection with young people by<br />
conducting careers interviews around the country.<br />
His son, John, came to Shrewsbury and to Ridgemount in<br />
1976, and he paid warm tribute to his father’s love of truth,<br />
to his honesty, kindness and humour. Graham’s marriage<br />
to Jill in 1959 inaugurated a partnership of love and family<br />
affection which was to be the foundation of Graham’s life<br />
and which endured for nearly sixty years. It was a tribute to<br />
Graham’s transparent honesty and consummate negotiating<br />
skills that a Hatton<br />
Garden’s jeweller<br />
allowed him to take six<br />
different engagement<br />
rings to Yorkshire,<br />
for Jill to choose one!<br />
Jill cared lovingly for<br />
Graham throughout his<br />
seven-year battle with<br />
Alzheimer’s. He died on<br />
15th September 2019<br />
aged 85. He is survived<br />
by his wife, Jill, his<br />
three children, Caroline,<br />
John and Alison, and<br />
his eight grandchildren.<br />
John Hall-Craggs<br />
(Rt 1945-50)<br />
John may have been<br />
a quiet man but he<br />
certainly got things<br />
done: he was a lifelong<br />
oarsman, practical<br />
engineer, steam<br />
enthusiast, visionary<br />
entrepreneur and<br />
tireless supporter of<br />
his local community.<br />
From his Shrewsbury<br />
days onwards, <strong>no</strong>tes<br />
were made in small<br />
pocket books; a diligent<br />
correspondent, he kept<br />
hundreds of copies of letters and built up a vast network of<br />
contacts, through which he found connections and common<br />
ground.<br />
He came to Shrewsbury from a rowing family. His father,<br />
R.B.T. Craggs (Dick) was a founding member of Ridgemount<br />
and was coached by Kitchin; he went Head of the Cam, as<br />
did John, and they both won the Boat Race for Cambridge.<br />
Three generations of the Bretherton family coincided with<br />
Dick, John and Wade; Raymond Owen coached John and his<br />
son coached Wade.<br />
John wrote, “I had most satisfaction from my time at<br />
Shrewsbury in entering whole-heartedly into the rowing<br />
world, and aged 16 stroked the second VIII. I lost most of<br />
the next year due to a bad ankle sprain but I had a good<br />
final year, and at Henley we were the second fastest school<br />
crew. Of this Shrewsbury crew, Ian Welsh, K.A. Masser<br />
(Bill) and John later rowed in the Boat Race crew of 1956.<br />
All three had also been members of C.W. (Cuddy) Mitford’s<br />
Lower Maths set. Shortly before the Boat Race he sent a<br />
message: “Just a line to say Good Luck, or what is more to<br />
the point Good Performance. You three just can’t let the<br />
old Maths set down, so please remember all we said about<br />
Power, application of Force, conservation of Energy and all<br />
the rest of it. Have at them and show <strong>no</strong> mercy.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> winters were cold in the late 1940s; John would talk of<br />
the lawn being flooded at Ridgemount to provide a skating<br />
rink, and a <strong>no</strong>tice from the Headmaster read “this madness<br />
must stop forthwith” when boys were sliding down the<br />
frozen school bank.<br />
“I went straight into National Service – a fairly shattering<br />
experience but the Royal Engineers regiment was good, I<br />
got on well with my troop and luckily I was fitter than most<br />
people. Being with the Plant Squadron on the Medway<br />
allowed me to row for the sappers for two years. <strong>The</strong> second<br />
year we were close to winning the Wyfolds at Henley.” In<br />
the sappers he learnt what was termed Man Management<br />
‘pick up a shovel on the job with your men!’ <strong>The</strong>se skills<br />
were used at the Schools’ Regatta when a four-lane course<br />
was needed; at home where he dug the cess pit for the<br />
condemned cottages he had bought; and again when<br />
constructing his own railway where tons of earth were<br />
moved by wheelbarrow. “In the lull between the army and<br />
Cambridge, I had to pass Littlego (a Latin exam required by<br />
the university). I stayed with a cousin at Maidenhead and<br />
joined the rowing club, winning through to the quarterfinals<br />
of the Thames Cup.” This despite John sleeping on<br />
the balcony of the boat club following ejection from his<br />
cousin’s house.<br />
When he joined Lady Margaret Boat Club at St John’s<br />
College, Cambridge they were on a winning streak and he<br />
rowed with enthusiasm. He was a lifelong supporter of the<br />
club and welcomed the advent of women’s rowing in<br />
the college.
112<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
He had told the Cambridge Appointments Board he wanted<br />
to work for an engineering company near a river, so he was<br />
employed by Plenty & Son, Newbury and continued to row.<br />
In 1957 he rowed in a Leander IV ‘against the Russians’ at<br />
Henley, and in an ‘Old Man’s IV’ at Henley in 1961. This<br />
provided the Regatta organisers with a timetable challenge,<br />
as three of the crew were also coaching school or college<br />
boats. In 1959 he was invited to coach at Pangbourne<br />
College, then k<strong>no</strong>wn as the Nautical College Pangbourne,<br />
which he did for 11 years. Thrillingly one of his crews came<br />
through to win the Princess Elizabeth Cup in 1963. John<br />
commented, “<strong>The</strong> boys were very responsive and though<br />
rough, they always rowed very hard. Each year there would<br />
be a boy of whom the College despaired, whose success in<br />
the boat helped his school work.”<br />
John would follow his Henley crews on a bicycle. On<br />
a particularly crowded path, having virtually rammed a<br />
stubborn bystander who refused to move, John dismounted<br />
and ran on after his crew. <strong>The</strong> boys reported the bike was<br />
hurled into the river. John’s Alsatian would accompany him<br />
on the towpath, sometimes judiciously nipping the ankles of<br />
other cyclists.<br />
In the early 1960s John belonged to the Kitchin Society, a<br />
dining club for schools’ 1st VIII coaches. Amongst them<br />
was Ronnie Howard, coach of Radley. <strong>The</strong> Society was<br />
dismayed at the dwindling state of rowing at Leander. Being<br />
on the Committee, John was in a position to invite Harold<br />
Rickett, the Leander President, to a Kitchin Society meeting.<br />
Thus was formed the Leander Cadet Scheme, for whose<br />
creation John had worked tirelessly. <strong>The</strong> Kitchin Society<br />
was also heavily involved with the Schools’ Regatta on the<br />
Pangbourne reach. At first they boated from the College<br />
hard and later moved to the Childe Beale Trust. In 1964 the<br />
<strong>no</strong>w National Schools became 4-lane, and John’s work on<br />
the course was ack<strong>no</strong>wledged. “My lasting impression is of<br />
a happy, friendly occasion. <strong>The</strong> site was delightful although<br />
the original facilities were very basic, there was a great<br />
feeling of goodwill,” he said.<br />
“John’s brain fizzed with rowing history and he often held<br />
court in the rowing section of Way’s Bookshop in Henley,”<br />
according to Diana Cook of the bookshop. He co-wrote<br />
volumes ll, lll, and lV of the History of Lady Margaret Boat<br />
Club, and wrote a pamphlet on ‘Lady Margaret and the<br />
Origins of the First Boat Race’. He collected shelves of<br />
rowing books, maintained records and kept memorabilia of<br />
family rowing achievements.<br />
Much of his working life was spent in Newbury. Plenty’s was<br />
a private engineering company with a team of Cambridge<br />
engineers, and John joined them at an exciting time. He was<br />
charged with setting up the apprentice scheme, which suited<br />
his gift for supporting young people. At the Christmas party<br />
the lads competed for how many times they could get John<br />
to take his <strong>no</strong>tebook out during the evening. John says, “<strong>The</strong><br />
job was very creative and it was left to me to make my own<br />
role, taking Plenty’s out of the steam age. We developed<br />
new product lines of filters, mixers and plant, expanding<br />
their exports. Brazil was their first overseas base, then South<br />
Africa, Spain, the Middle East, Singapore, Germany, Australia<br />
and India. <strong>The</strong>se operational bases proved crucial to the<br />
winning of contracts. Plenty’s pumps went to the North Sea,<br />
with separators on the early gas platforms. From <strong>no</strong>thing<br />
Plenty’s created a new market for its products.”<br />
New pipeline filtration was launched for the Gas Boards<br />
in 1957, and for ten years Plenty’s held a highly profitable<br />
mo<strong>no</strong>poly position. <strong>The</strong>y had learnt to concentrate on<br />
one field and become world experts rather than general<br />
engineers. At the time of the three-day week in 1974, the<br />
foundry of Plenty’s needed power continuously. John<br />
volunteered his 36” Dennis mower as a substitute. He had<br />
bought two Dennis mowers at the house sale of Stargroves.<br />
<strong>The</strong> secluded mansion was bought by Mick Jagger and used<br />
as a recording studio by the Rolling Stones and also by Rod<br />
Stewart.<br />
John left Plenty’s in 1980. He went on to found Oakland<br />
Capital Management, Abacus Development Capital and set<br />
up Wind Harvest with Zond U.S. He was Chairman of the<br />
southern region of Understanding British Industry, Chairman<br />
of Newbury College and a member of the CBI. He served as<br />
a JP and in his local village he was a proactive Chairman of<br />
the Parish Council, leading the fight to keep open the village<br />
school, which <strong>no</strong>w has over 100 pupils, and stewarding two<br />
low-cost housing developments.<br />
John was very interested in railways, with a 9½” gauge<br />
light railway he built in the garden. He ran the railway in a<br />
generous manner, welcoming the different talents of visitors<br />
from track laying, signalling or driving his steam engines. It<br />
was all fun, and for 30 years with a loyal team he ran the<br />
railway for the village fête, latterly giving as many as 2,000<br />
rides during the after<strong>no</strong>on. He had installed an “0” gauge<br />
track in the roof at Brightwalton and amassed an extensive<br />
collection of books, papers and magazines on the history of<br />
miniature railways.<br />
He died at home on 30th March <strong>2020</strong>, in a room he had<br />
helped to build, and leaves his widow Olivia and children<br />
Wade, Rosey and Clare and five grandchildren.<br />
Olivia Hall-Craggs<br />
Christopher James Munro<br />
Hartley (SH 1955-60)<br />
Christopher, the son of Ronald<br />
and Suzanne Hartley, was born<br />
on 14th July 1942 and spent<br />
his early years in Oxford. He<br />
came to Shrewsbury from the<br />
Dragon School. After leaving<br />
school he was commissioned<br />
into the 13th/18th Hussars.<br />
When reporting for his initial<br />
interview with the Colonel<br />
of the Regiment (designed to<br />
check his suitability for the<br />
Officers’ Mess), Christopher arrived with three <strong>Salopian</strong><br />
friends who helped him put paid to the Colonel’s<br />
decanter of single malt! <strong>The</strong> test duly passed, Christopher<br />
served for five years. He subsequently began a career in<br />
stockbroking in the City, working for a number of firms<br />
(including Carr Sebag and BZW). Before finally retiring,<br />
after some eventful years in broking, Christopher divided<br />
his time between London and Bodmin in Cornwall, where<br />
he and his second wife Catherine had acquired a small<br />
estate (which features in the Domesday Book). <strong>The</strong> barn<br />
and four cottages there became the basis of a successful<br />
holiday rental business which Catherine ran, leaving<br />
Christopher free to pursue his love of gardening and other<br />
functions of a country squire.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 113<br />
Christopher was always a self-assured man, with an<br />
enthusiastic and flamboyant approach to life. He was<br />
a snappy dresser. He had strong opinions, which were<br />
vigorously expressed, and he possessed a single-minded<br />
sense of humour. Unsurprisingly, he was a slight thorn in<br />
the side of the establishment, while he was at school. He<br />
rowed for Doctor’s under the watchful eye of P.H. Blyth,<br />
often up against the auld enemy Headroom, which were<br />
coached by the legendary Hope-Simpson (“Juggins”).<br />
Rowing for the School, he progressed to the First VIII<br />
under Peter Gladstone who, while regarding him as a bit<br />
of a loose can<strong>no</strong>n, recognised his considerable ability. He<br />
rowed bow in the First VIII in 1959, and again in 1960,<br />
when it won the Princess Elizabeth Cup in record time.<br />
Christopher was very good at sculling, which, like<br />
cross-country running, requires considerable guts and<br />
dedication, and he was one of the few allowed to use<br />
one of the two new sculling boats, built by the boatman<br />
Gerry Sturges. He won the Victoria Sculls in 1959 and<br />
came second in the Chester Head of the River Sculling<br />
Competition in the same year. Sadly he abandoned sculling<br />
when he left school.<br />
Christopher died on 24th May 2018, aged 75. He was<br />
dogged by ill-health over recent years and fought a long<br />
and brave battle with prostate cancer, to which he finally<br />
succumbed. He is survived by his wife Catherine, by their<br />
two daughters, Melissa and Victoria, and by Lucinda, his<br />
daughter from his marriage to his first wife, Lisa.<br />
Patrick Balfour (SH 1955-60)<br />
George Dominic (‘Nick’) Hayter (R 1944-49)<br />
Nick Hayter was born on 30th December 1930. He lived<br />
a fortunate life, though, like any other, it had its ups and<br />
downs. His father died of TB when he was young, so<br />
he was raised by his mother Gaye and by his step-father<br />
Tommy Twidell. During the war, Tommy was appointed<br />
Headmaster of Highgate School, where they resided with<br />
around 50 other boys, whose families were essential to<br />
the war effort and were unable to be moved to the safety<br />
of the countryside. Nick tells two memorable stories from<br />
this time. During the Blitz, he would climb to the top of<br />
the tallest building and watch the German bombers and<br />
the searchlights and anti-aircraft defences over London,<br />
which was obviously a very vivid spectacle and aided<br />
by Highgate’s elevation. Once, when all the boys and<br />
staff were on the playing fields, a V1 ‘buzz bomb’ was<br />
heard overhead and then the engine cut out. Everyone<br />
lay on the grass and hoped for the best. <strong>The</strong> bomb<br />
landed right in the middle of the cricket pitch but did<br />
<strong>no</strong>t explode. If it had, Nick’s life-story would have<br />
ended right then and there!<br />
From Highgate, Nick came on to Shrewsbury and to Rigg’s.<br />
As a young boy he remembered having to break the ice<br />
of the bath that had been filled the evening before. <strong>The</strong><br />
water was cold but clean. <strong>The</strong> same water was used by<br />
progressively older boys until the most senior boy was last.<br />
He got the warmest water but also the dirtiest! One winter<br />
the boys used tea trays from the dining hall as toboggans<br />
to slide down the banks of the River Severn. One boy was<br />
given a proper toboggan sleigh and he flew down the<br />
bank much faster and further. Sadly he travelled right onto<br />
the ice, which broke and the story goes that he was never<br />
seen again! Nick’s most endearing memory of Shrewsbury<br />
was that of his beloved Housemaster, Jimmy Street. He<br />
took Nick under his wing in lieu of his late father and Nick<br />
adored him. He certainly received more love from Jimmy<br />
Street than from his own family and he recounted this to<br />
us throughout his life.<br />
After leaving Shrewsbury, Nick commenced medical<br />
training at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. It took him<br />
nearly nine years to graduate, as he regularly travelled to<br />
the Continent each winter to indulge his passion for s<strong>no</strong>w<br />
skiing, which meant missing exams!<br />
Nick was a highly competent all-round sportsman. As a<br />
cricketer, he scored a century against the MCC at Lord’s; as<br />
a golfer, he played off a handicap of 4. He also played a<br />
few games of football for Queens Park Rangers second XI,<br />
until a serious knee injury put an end to his running.<br />
Nick met the love of his life, Jane, in 1955 and they<br />
were married in 1957. Jane was a talented golfer, who<br />
represented England at the age of just 16. <strong>The</strong>y remained<br />
happily married until Jane’s death in 2004. Soon after<br />
their marriage, four children arrived in quick succession<br />
– David, Joanna, Philip and Mark. In 1966, the family<br />
decided to emigrate to Perth, Western Australia. This<br />
initiative was a great success, and Nick and Jane never<br />
regretted their decision.<br />
Nick began work in General Practice upon his arrival<br />
and he subsequently spent three years working for the<br />
Commonwealth Medical Service. He then made the bold<br />
decision to commence practice in the CBD (Central<br />
Business District) of Perth. At the time, he was the first to<br />
do so. Now there are more than 30 doctors there, but he<br />
was the first.<br />
Nick was a member of Royal Perth Golf Club for 50 years<br />
and was a Life Member of the South Perth Bridge Club;<br />
he spent much of his time engaged in these two passions.<br />
Other passions included classical music and, later in life,<br />
cruising. He was an accomplished cook and he adored<br />
his food, particularly French cuisine. He and Jane hosted<br />
many grand dinner parties, where they produced meals<br />
worthy of any Michelin starred restaurant.<br />
Nick always kept Shrewsbury close to his heart and he<br />
remained a proud ‘Old <strong>Salopian</strong>’ throughout his life. He<br />
died on 22nd July 2019, aged 88 years.<br />
David Hayter (eldest son)
114<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
William Francis Hobson (O 1939-43)<br />
Bill Hobson was born on <strong>21</strong>st July 1925 and bred in<br />
Cumberland and proud of it. He was the only son of Francis<br />
Mary and William Anthony Hobson. His father died when<br />
Bill was two and he lived with his mother and his paternal<br />
grandfather at Wood Hall, Cockermouth until 1939. At the age<br />
of seven he went to Lime House School in Wetheral, Carlisle,<br />
before completing his education at Shrewsbury, where he<br />
loved the cricket, rowing and shooting, during his time there<br />
in the war years.<br />
Bill served his Army years as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal<br />
Artillery, with whom he went to India. After returning to<br />
Cockermouth in 1948, Bill settled at Hillside, Lamplugh Road,<br />
and secured a job in the Civil Service at Sellafield (then<br />
Windscales) until 1985.<br />
Through the 1970s and early 80s Bill was first treasurer and<br />
then chairman of the Cockermouth Anglers’ Association,<br />
responsible for numerous purchases of fishing rights along<br />
stretches of the Derwent and Cocker, in order to provide<br />
quality fishing for local people, as well as establishing Cogra<br />
Moss as a rainbow trout fishery, in 1975. Voluntary work<br />
on various committees for the River Authority and North<br />
West Water resulted in an invitation to a Buckingham Palace<br />
Garden party. In 1976 Bill had a short spell as a media<br />
pundit, with an appearance on Look North, to comment on<br />
the severe drought that had afflicted the country.<br />
Having moved to Papcastle in retirement, Bill joined the<br />
parish council and spent many happy hours walking<br />
through his beloved fells with his dog by his side. He was an<br />
archetypal ‘Old School’ Englishman, typical of his generation.<br />
Truly a local man, the River Derwent had coursed through<br />
his veins since childhood and he had never lived in a home<br />
without a view of Skiddaw or Grasmoor.<br />
Bill died on 16th March 2019, aged 93, and he is survived by<br />
Lore, his wife of 65 years, together with their children, Nadine<br />
and Miles, and grandchildren, Ben, Lauren, Raffe and Joss.<br />
<strong>The</strong> warmth and friendship shown to him by local people<br />
should never be underestimated <strong>no</strong>r forgotten.<br />
James Hope Simpson (Ch 1942-47)<br />
Jim was born in 1928, in St Alban’s, Hertfordshire, the son of<br />
a GP and the eldest of three brothers. With the outbreak of<br />
war, the boys were evacuated and Jim spent some time at a<br />
school in Herefordshire before coming to Shrewsbury where<br />
his uncle Russell was a master. He became a Praepostor and<br />
he rowed in the 1st VIII of 1947. During National Service he<br />
became a Warrant Officer in the R.A.E.C. He went on to read<br />
Classics at Queens’ College, Cambridge, where he combined<br />
his academic studies with rowing. He rowed for his college in<br />
the Ladies’ Plate at Henley in three successive years, 1950-52<br />
and he also rowed in the Wyfold Challenge Cup in 1952.<br />
On leaving Queens’ he embarked on a long teaching career.<br />
After three years at King’s School Canterbury, he taught at<br />
Bedford School, where he also continued to coach rowing.<br />
Former pupils, who worked with him when he was editor of<br />
the school magazine, remember him as an unconventional<br />
teacher, one of the few who encouraged them to look<br />
outside their narrow school environment and think about<br />
wider issues.<br />
From 1970 until his early retirement in 1989, he taught at a<br />
large comprehensive school in Essex, where he became a<br />
deputy head teacher, with senior pastoral responsibilities. At<br />
this time he also sang regularly with the London Symphony<br />
Chorus. In his retirement he settled in Prestbury, near<br />
Cheltenham, and continued to sing with a local choir for<br />
many years. He remained strong and active until the last few<br />
weeks of his life, taming his garden, reading widely, and<br />
following the twists and turns of politics with keen interest.<br />
He was a passionate supporter of the NHS, and he also<br />
campaigned successfully to save the local bus service from<br />
closure.<br />
For his nephews and nieces he was the cornerstone of the<br />
family, and he followed their lives and careers with great<br />
interest, always looking forward to their visits. <strong>The</strong>y, like<br />
all those who knew him, recall his kindness, his inherent<br />
decency and, above all, his thoroughly mischievous sense<br />
of humour. He died on 28th July 2019, aged 90, after a<br />
short illness.<br />
David Evan Peter Hughes (Master 1956-79)<br />
Popular phrases such as ‘living life to the full’ or ‘making the<br />
most of life’ may be clichés but they also sum up the life of<br />
Peter Hughes who recently died just after his 88th birthday.<br />
He was also an accomplished chemistry teacher, who had<br />
a very full and successful career, holding both Head of<br />
Science and Headmaster positions in some of England’s top<br />
private schools. <strong>The</strong> tributes from his friends and colleagues<br />
show that he was also entertaining and well-liked; and his<br />
published chemistry school text books, his work for <strong>The</strong><br />
Cambridge Examination Board and his scientific journal<br />
articles, co-authored with his pupils, all attest to his intellect<br />
and ability to communicate science.<br />
Peter was born in 1932, in London, to a teetotal father, who<br />
also had an illustrious career, but in the Civil Service, and<br />
Peter accompanied his father to Buckingham Palace when<br />
he was ho<strong>no</strong>ured with an OBE. Peter won a scholarship to<br />
St Paul’s Boys’ School, London and from there was awarded<br />
a scholarship to study chemistry at St John’s College, Oxford.<br />
It was there that he met his future wife, Iris Jenkins, and<br />
according to one friend proposed to her at a May Ball he had<br />
jointly organised at Trinity College for that very purpose.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 115<br />
As well as studying chemistry, he was a serious and<br />
committed Anglican. At university and throughout his<br />
career he was keen to reconcile science and religion and<br />
he later gave many talks and speeches to both academics<br />
and congregations on this topic. He emphasised the beauty<br />
and precision of factual science, but added that the moral<br />
and spiritual guidance of Christianity is also essential to any<br />
philosophy of k<strong>no</strong>wledge.<br />
After graduating from Oxford, National Service and marriage<br />
to Iris, he took up a teaching post at Shrewsbury, where he<br />
remained for 23 years and had a family of three children:<br />
Gwyneth, Rosamund and Edmund. He was well-loved by<br />
colleagues and his drinks parties were legendary, lively and<br />
fun, but never lacking in decorum. He and Iris would offer<br />
Sunday lunch to anyone who did <strong>no</strong>t have a meal organised.<br />
One colleague said of him: “Your father was a good man, a<br />
clever man, a funny man, a big-hearted man and ever kind<br />
and humane”.<br />
As Head of Science at Shrewsbury, and then Second<br />
Master, he designed and built new laboratories, which were<br />
much admired. This was an activity he was to repeat with<br />
enthusiasm. He also appreciated music and the arts at the<br />
School and helped with sporting activities, bridge club and<br />
hill walking and there were few new opportunities and<br />
interests that he did <strong>no</strong>t embrace. He even found time to<br />
become an expert gardener which he applied well in his<br />
retirement in Shrewsbury.<br />
<strong>The</strong> valedictory article in <strong>The</strong> <strong>Salopian</strong> paid him the<br />
following tribute: “It is mainly due to Peter Hughes that<br />
Science at Shrewsbury has expanded and flourished in such<br />
a remarkable way in these last fifteen years. A meticulous<br />
and articulate teacher, he has also showed his qualities as<br />
an organiser and has that creative imagination which has<br />
translated the modern theories of science teaching into the<br />
practical channels of the form room and laboratory. Certainly<br />
we owe it largely to Peter that amongst the many projects<br />
which Donald Wright activated and propelled to successful<br />
conclusion, the largest has been the creation of a Science<br />
Building which few schools in the country can parallel.<br />
But it would be wrong to think of Peter as being limited to<br />
science, for few scientists have so broad a view of life and<br />
few members of staff have been better informed or have<br />
covered so wide a ground in their reading. And <strong>no</strong>ne have<br />
entered more fully into school life. He has been a regular<br />
member of the Concert Choir (as befits a Welshman), he<br />
took an important part in the old style CCF, he has been seen<br />
to disport himself in true Kingsland Rambler style on the<br />
cricket field; and above all, his Christian witness has been<br />
clear to see, both in Chapel and St Chad’s, of which latter<br />
congregation also he and Iris have been regular members.<br />
Since 1972 Peter has been Second Master, with responsibility<br />
for the curriculum and timetable and indeed for much of<br />
the school administration. Here again his flexible mind has<br />
been of great service in the never-ending consideration of the<br />
patterns of teaching and the varying demands of the various<br />
Faculty Heads, of which some sort of synthesis has to be<br />
made every school year.” It is worth mentioning, too, that<br />
Peter was asked to accompany Eric Anderson on a visit to<br />
Iran, to advise on the provision of an independent boarding<br />
school in that country, a project which was abandoned when<br />
the Shah was overthrown in a coup some months later.<br />
Peter was an ambitious man too, and second in command<br />
was <strong>no</strong>t quite e<strong>no</strong>ugh, and so he took up a post as Head of<br />
St Peter’s School, York, where he organised the building of<br />
a<strong>no</strong>ther science block, this time opened by Prince Charles.<br />
But a long-term position at the helm was <strong>no</strong>t for him,<br />
and he moved back to the chemistry teaching he loved at<br />
Westminster School. Once more he applied his talents to<br />
overseeing the development of new science laboratories,<br />
this time opened by Her Majesty the Queen. It was this later<br />
career move that gave him the most enjoyment. <strong>The</strong> people<br />
he and Iris met, and other teachers he mentored, became<br />
very close friends and some of them were Bridge partners<br />
who travelled abroad together. He continued playing Bridge<br />
as long as his health allowed him to travel, even after retiring<br />
back to Shrewsbury aged 79. He was determined to squeeze<br />
every drop out of life and his hobbies.<br />
His wife Iris was a lover of history and interested in classical<br />
civilization and Peter shared her passion in the many<br />
holidays they enjoyed abroad; and they visited countries<br />
and historic sites which are <strong>no</strong>w inaccessible, such as in<br />
Yemen and Libya. Peter’s spirit of adventure extended to<br />
some tough mountain and hill climbing in both Wales and<br />
Scotland. Being somewhat reckless and overconfident in his<br />
enthusiasm to explore new terrain, he would stride out on<br />
his own. Sometimes mountain conditions were dangerous<br />
and his friends waited with some concern for him, (for he<br />
was usually the oldest member of the party), to find his<br />
way down the mountain to the rendezvous. He always got<br />
there unaided with <strong>no</strong> concerns and he kept on walking for<br />
pleasure into his eighties even as his health deteriorated.<br />
Iris and Peter held double celebrations for both Golden and<br />
Diamond Wedding Anniversaries – one in Shrewsbury and<br />
one in London – to cater for all relatives, colleagues and<br />
friends. <strong>The</strong>se were joyous occasions and he gave his guests<br />
personal and entertaining speeches in which everyone got a<br />
mention. His friends and family remember the occasions with<br />
fondness and a<strong>no</strong>ther Royal endorsement – a letter from Her<br />
Majesty the Queen congratulating them on their Diamond<br />
Anniversary – is a tribute to their long and happy marriage.<br />
Peter cared for Iris as long as he could when she developed<br />
dementia and she felt secure and happy in his presence.<br />
Sadly their daughter Rosamund is <strong>no</strong> longer with us, but<br />
he is survived by his wife Iris, daughter Gwyneth and son<br />
Edmund. As a father, husband and friend he is much missed.<br />
Gwyneth and Edmund Hughes
116<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
John Lear (DB<br />
1949-52)<br />
Peter John Lear,<br />
k<strong>no</strong>wn to all as John,<br />
was born on 6th<br />
August 1935. He grew<br />
up in Shrewsbury<br />
and arrived at<br />
<strong>The</strong> Schools from<br />
Kingsland Grange in<br />
1949. Although only<br />
a prelude to what<br />
was to become an<br />
extraordinary life,<br />
Shrewsbury School<br />
was a defining period<br />
for the young boy,<br />
instilling in him true <strong>Salopian</strong> values that served him well<br />
throughout his life. John was a natural sportsman, who won<br />
prizes and represented the School in boxing, football, cricket<br />
and gymnastics. <strong>The</strong> love of physical activity and competition,<br />
nurtured by the School, was to become something that would<br />
determine his professional life and lead to one of the most<br />
celebrated Olympic careers in British history. Blessed with<br />
an almost photographic memory, John delighted in recalling<br />
his time at the School, enthralling all with tales of wicked<br />
praepostors, canings and chasing after High School girls.<br />
John was lucky e<strong>no</strong>ugh to be taught by several legendary<br />
Shrewsbury teachers, including Frank McEachran, whose<br />
‘Spells’ are still current in <strong>Salopian</strong> life today. John left<br />
Shrewsbury with a love of architecture, mystical stories and<br />
jazz, the last of these enthusiasms developing after liberating<br />
a WW2 long wave radio from the CCF and tuning into the<br />
banned American Jazz radio stations via an aerial atop one of<br />
the boarding houses.<br />
After school and National Service, John studied Physical<br />
Education at Cardiff. His continued passion for gymnastics<br />
led him to the weights room, where he discovered a natural<br />
aptitude for strength sports and Olympic Weightlifting. After<br />
becoming British Champion in the sport and representing<br />
England at several international competitions, John began<br />
coaching junior lifters. His considerable coaching talent did<br />
<strong>no</strong>t go un<strong>no</strong>ticed and a number of international coaching<br />
positions quickly ensued, including National Coach to both<br />
Iran and South Korea. In 1972 John accepted the position of<br />
National Coach of Olympic Weightlifting for Great Britain.<br />
In an unprecedented career spanning five decades, John<br />
represented Great Britain as National Coach in nine Olympic<br />
Games and ten Commonwealth Games, a feat unmatched by<br />
any coach in any sport.<br />
John coached innumerable Olympic, World and<br />
Commonwealth champions during his career and was a<br />
key member of the British Olympic Committee for over<br />
twenty years. He was instrumental in the development of<br />
Great Britain’s Olympic success in multiple disciplines and<br />
contributed hugely to the development of our Olympic<br />
campaigns and strategies. His exceptional strength coaching<br />
skills remained in demand across countless sports to the<br />
very end of his career, assisting everyone from the English<br />
rugby team to the National Ballet! He developed strong<br />
links with British Rowing and was personally responsible<br />
for the strength development of the Pinsent and Redgrave<br />
Fours, which went on to huge Olympic success, as well<br />
as numerous Gold Medal winning women’s crews. Due to<br />
his long-time support of national rowing, John was invited<br />
to become a full member of Leander Club and Stewards,<br />
an ho<strong>no</strong>ur which he enjoyed immensely, always spending<br />
the entirety of Henley Regatta in either full Olympic or<br />
<strong>Salopian</strong> regalia.<br />
His ideas and concepts still influence opinion: Lord Seb Coe<br />
was recently quoted in <strong>The</strong> Times, referencing ‘Lear’s Law’,<br />
with regard to sports investment. A prolific writer on the<br />
subject of strength development, John was the author of<br />
over 20 books, many of which are still in use today. In<br />
the outpouring of international tributes since his passing,<br />
he was described as one of the greatest unsung heroes of<br />
British sport.<br />
John visited every corner of the world during his life and he<br />
always had a tale of far-flung adventure to tell. Yet, despite<br />
his travels, he always thought of Shrewsbury as home<br />
and was often seen driving around in one of his beautiful<br />
Cadillacs or other American cars, naturally with jazz on the<br />
stereo.<br />
John was a fascinating character, raconteur and true polymath<br />
who would captivate a room wherever he went. He was a<br />
wonderful friend, father and grandfather and a truly dedicated<br />
Old <strong>Salopian</strong>, never missing a reunion, Speech Day or Carol<br />
Concert. He was a generous do<strong>no</strong>r to the School and its great<br />
champion wherever he went. He passed away on 22nd June<br />
<strong>2020</strong>, aged 84 years, and was buried in his home county of<br />
Shropshire, wearing his Old <strong>Salopian</strong> tie and matching socks.<br />
Michael Rickard (Rb 1997-2002)<br />
John Lingford-Hughes (Ch 1940-45)<br />
John Lingford-Hughes, or John L Hughes as he was k<strong>no</strong>wn at<br />
school, was born in Leeds in 1927. John came to Shrewsbury,<br />
and to Churchill’s, having been at Brockhurst in Church<br />
Stretton, following his elder brother David. Many of John’s<br />
activities and achievements at Shrewsbury are described<br />
in a letter in 1946 from J.F. Wolfenden, Headmaster, to the<br />
President of Trinity College, supporting John’s application to<br />
Oxford. It said that he was a promising violinist, a talented<br />
musician and leader of the School Orchestra, that he had<br />
been awarded the Senior Orchestra Instrument Prize in 1945,<br />
and that he had “read a lengthy and learned paper on ‘<strong>The</strong><br />
Music of Ancient Greece’, which those who were capable<br />
of understanding it rated very highly”. John also coxed the<br />
2nd VIII and won his School shooting colours. John was<br />
responsible for the Farming activities of his House – it was<br />
during the war after all – though he did <strong>no</strong>t remember having<br />
to do too much. He used to tell his daughters about the time<br />
he saw a German plane out of a window during a class in<br />
School House. He was also editor of <strong>The</strong> Wollopian in 1945.<br />
After John left school, and before he went up to Oxford, he<br />
completed two years’ National Service in the RAF. In early<br />
1946, he was chosen to join an inter-services course to learn<br />
Russian, which he did at Cambridge. whilst billeted at Stowcum-Quy.<br />
As John was ‘authorised to wear civilian clothes’<br />
in the RAF, he was amused that he had to borrow someone’s<br />
uniform before he was allowed formally to ‘de-mob’ .Whilst<br />
he did <strong>no</strong>t talk much about what he did during those years,<br />
other than ‘decoding’, some of his contemporaries went on to<br />
become senior individuals at GCHQ.<br />
Following his National Service, John read English Language<br />
and Literature at Trinity College, Oxford. After Oxford he
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 117<br />
studied law in Guildford, following in his father’s footsteps<br />
(J.I. Hughes, Professor of Law at Leeds University). John<br />
completed his articles in Aberystwyth and qualified as a<br />
solicitor in 1955.<br />
John was keen to live on the Welsh borders, so that he could<br />
engage in country pursuits, particularly fishing, shooting and<br />
beagling. He came to Shrewsbury as a solicitor and brought<br />
‘Lingford’ into his surname. He met Sylvia Garside while<br />
playing tennis at the Shrewsbury club on Town Walls and<br />
they were married in 1959. <strong>The</strong>y lived off Town Walls and<br />
had two daughters, Anne and Helen. John became Secretary<br />
of the Shropshire Beagles. Fishing was important to John and<br />
he fished in many countries with his wife, including New<br />
Zealand, Costa Rica and Zimbabwe and he regularly visited<br />
Eire and Scotland. John was a meticulous fisherman, often<br />
seeing what his catch (typically trout from rivers and lakes<br />
on the Shropshire-Welsh border) had eaten before tying the<br />
same flies for his next fishing trip. He had a couple of articles<br />
published in <strong>The</strong> Field, including one about ‘Vegetarian<br />
Trout’. After his retirement, John and Sylvia travelled widely,<br />
allowing him to indulge his love of photography. Many of his<br />
pictures were turned into Christmas cards or framed on the<br />
walls of their home.<br />
John never lost his interest in ancient history. Whilst in his<br />
last year at school he wrote a paper about ‘Ancient Ships’ in<br />
the Aegean, including the trireme. In the 1980s he became a<br />
supporter of the Trireme Trust, whose Chair, John Morrison,<br />
was at the same Cambridge college as his elder daughter,<br />
Anne. Much to his delight, John and his wife flew out to<br />
witness the successful sea trials at Poros in 1990.<br />
Shrewsbury School remained an important part of John’s<br />
and his family’s life. Many masters and their families became<br />
close friends. <strong>The</strong> family lived<br />
on Ca<strong>no</strong>nbury for several years<br />
and hosted Sixth Formers sitting<br />
Oxbridge exams. In 1970 the<br />
family moved to Yeaton House,<br />
just <strong>no</strong>rth of Shrewsbury, where<br />
they hosted many celebrations,<br />
tennis matches and parties.<br />
Yeaton House provided John<br />
with the country life he wanted<br />
for him and his family and a<br />
break from ‘the office’. John and<br />
Sylvia only recently moved back<br />
into Shrewsbury, to Stiperstones<br />
Court, in Abbey Foregate, very<br />
close to where they started their<br />
married life off Town Walls.<br />
John was immensely proud of<br />
his daughters. In 1979 Anne<br />
joined Shrewsbury School for<br />
‘seventh term’ and succeeded<br />
in gaining a place at Oxford. John commented that he had<br />
never expected his daughter to follow in his footsteps to a<br />
boys’ school! He also taught Anne to row on the Severn in<br />
a boat borrowed from Gerry Sturges, so that she could be<br />
the third generation to row at Oxford. John himself was<br />
Secretary of Sabrina Club for many years. Helen acquired<br />
his skills in sport, languages and music – they often played<br />
the violin together. Many of John’s accomplishments are<br />
to be found in his grandchildren, Georgina being gifted in<br />
languages and Finn and Lily in sport. John died on 13th<br />
June <strong>2020</strong>, aged 93 years.<br />
Sylvia, Anne and Helen Lingford-Hughes<br />
Mrs Jean Massey<br />
(Matron, Moser’s Hall<br />
1992-2000)<br />
Jean did an excellent job<br />
in looking after the boys’<br />
needs, both physically and<br />
emotionally. It was a great<br />
tribute to her that quite a<br />
few of her charges stayed<br />
in touch with her after they<br />
had left the School. Jean was<br />
born in Boston, Lincolnshire,<br />
in 1939 and married John<br />
Massey in 1959. She was a Services wife, following John<br />
round the country to his various postings in the RAF for 26<br />
years and finally moving to Shrewsbury, where John joined<br />
the Support Staff at the School. As their two children, Andy<br />
and Kathy, grew up, Jean also became involved in school life,<br />
acting as stand-in for matrons in other houses. She became<br />
a full-time Matron in Moser’s under Robin and Irene Field in<br />
1992, spending eight happy years in the House. In retirement<br />
she particularly enjoyed looking after her large extended<br />
family of five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.<br />
Her funeral service took place at Shrewsbury Crematorium on<br />
1st August 2019.<br />
Robin Field, Housemaster (M 1991-2002)<br />
Michael Merifield (SH 1947-52)<br />
Michael Merifield, with his identical twin brother Anthony,<br />
entered School House in the Michaelmas Term of 1947, with<br />
Derbyshire County Council bursaries. At the time their<br />
father was Head of a pioneering Special School in<br />
Chesterfield. <strong>The</strong>ir first Shrewsbury Headmaster was<br />
John Wolfenden, who, some 30 years later, recalled the<br />
circumstances of their arrival, when he was greeted by Anthony<br />
Merifield at a Dulwich College Speech Day, where Michael’s son<br />
Mark was boarding while his parents were in Ottawa.<br />
In his fifth year at Shrewsbury, Michael became Head of<br />
House, having to deal sensitively when the Housemaster,<br />
Tom Taylor, died unexpectedly in the Lent Term, leaving<br />
Mary Taylor to keep the domestic side of the House running.<br />
In 1951-52 he also captained Doctor’s at cricket and became<br />
Huntsman. After two years’ National Service, latterly with<br />
the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment in Munster, he went up to<br />
Trinity College Oxford for three years to read history, before<br />
moving to Magdalene College Cambridge for a year’s Colonial<br />
Office Course. <strong>The</strong> Colonial Office posted him to Northern<br />
Rhodesia, where Michael served as a District Officer in two
118<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Districts in Barotseland, a Protectorate in Northern Rhodesia<br />
on the Zambezi, and then as District Commissioner at Feira<br />
on the Mozambique border. After Feira, he became Private<br />
Secretary to Northern Rhodesia’s last Gover<strong>no</strong>r and, after<br />
Independence, Comptroller in State House to Kenneth<br />
Kaunda, the first President of Zambia.<br />
On return to England in late 1965, he joined the Ministry of<br />
Defence and his work included postings to Lagos, Belfast and<br />
Ottawa. Having married Sue in 1968, he was accompanied<br />
on the overseas postings by his wife and young children (a<br />
son and two daughters). Since his retirement in 1994, Michael<br />
has contributed actively and consistently to several local<br />
activities, being Church Warden at St Barnabas, the Parish<br />
Church of Dulwich, a long-standing conve<strong>no</strong>r of the Dulwich<br />
Scottish Reeling Society, and an active worker for Dulwich<br />
Helpline (<strong>no</strong>w LinkAge Southwark.) He was also a leader of<br />
a church house group, following a practice to which he was<br />
introduced by Michael Tupper.<br />
He enjoyed visits overseas and with his wife Sue travelled<br />
with friends the length of<br />
the Silk Route from China to<br />
Iran, to Machu Picchu and<br />
Mali (including Timbuktu)<br />
and more recently on several<br />
European river cruises.<br />
He was sailing on one of<br />
these cruises, from Odessa to<br />
Kiev, with his wife, and with<br />
Anthony and Pam Merifield,<br />
when he had a serious<br />
stroke, with complications<br />
from which he died in Kiev<br />
in October 2019 aged 85. At<br />
his Memorial Service in Dulwich many tributes were paid<br />
to Michael as a true gentleman, and his warmth, active<br />
compassion and commitment at both work and play. He<br />
is survived by his wife Sue, his children Mark, Ruth and<br />
Alison, and his twin, Anthony.<br />
Brian Steven Nicholson<br />
(DB 1947-50)<br />
Brian Nicholson, the younger son<br />
of Frank and Edith Nicholson,<br />
was born in Shrewsbury on<br />
23rd September 1933. After<br />
attending Prestfelde School he<br />
joined his brother Percy Kenneth<br />
Nicholson in Day Boys. On<br />
leaving Shrewsbury he followed<br />
his brother Ken as an apprentice<br />
Post Office Engineer. Brian spent his National Service in the<br />
Royal Corps of Signals, was posted to Egypt and returned to<br />
the area during the Suez Crisis. On his return to the UK he<br />
continued to work for the GPO but decided on a change of<br />
career and trained as a lecturer in telecommunications. This<br />
was followed by a move to Nottingham and subsequently<br />
by a further move to Birmingham as a Senior Lecturer.<br />
He finally became the Chief Examiner in the principles of<br />
telecommunications for the City and Guilds.<br />
Brian married Margaret Stone on 26th September 1959 and<br />
they had two daughters, Jane and Catherine. In his leisure<br />
time Brian enjoyed travelling, which included several visits<br />
to North America. He had a lifelong interest in cricket, still<br />
playing for his local team in his fifties. Brian and Margaret<br />
retired to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where Brian continued to<br />
follow cricket and enjoyed his garden. He also took up golf,<br />
marine navigation and bowling. Among many other interests,<br />
Brian had a passion for reading wartime memoirs, bird<br />
watching and computing.<br />
Brian died, after a short illness, on 15th October 2019, aged<br />
86 years, but he had had the happiness of celebrating 60<br />
years of marriage a month earlier. He is survived by his wife,<br />
their two daughters and by their grandchildren Steven, David,<br />
Andrew, Sarah and Benjamin.<br />
Jane Lyde (daughter)<br />
Jonathan George<br />
Pearson<br />
(SH 1952-56)<br />
Jonathan Pearson was<br />
born on 19th May<br />
1938. His family have<br />
a long association<br />
with the School – his<br />
father, two uncles<br />
and his brother all<br />
being educated at<br />
Shrewsbury. Jonathan<br />
coxed the 1st VIII<br />
in 1954 and 1955<br />
and in the latter year<br />
the crew won the Princess Elizabeth Cup at the Henley<br />
Royal Regatta. After Shrewsbury, Jonathan studied at the<br />
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester and later qualified<br />
as a Land Agent. He spent the rest of his working life in<br />
Land and Estate Management, firstly as sub-agent to the<br />
Duke of Rutland at Belvoir Castle and Haddon Hall. In<br />
1968, at the age of 30, he was appointed Agent to the<br />
Marquess of Northampton at Castle Ashby, for whom he<br />
worked until his retirement. He continued to live on the<br />
estate until his death.<br />
Jonathan had a great love of trees and in the late 1960s he<br />
set off to the Sahara with two friends in an Austin Gipsy,<br />
with the idea of planting trees to halt the spread of the<br />
desert. He never went back, so it is <strong>no</strong>t k<strong>no</strong>wn whether<br />
any of the trees survived!<br />
In 2002/2003 Jonathan served as High Sheriff of<br />
Northamptonshire. He was a great supporter of several<br />
local charities.<br />
Jonathan died on 10th December 2019 and he is survived<br />
by his wife Anne, two daughters, two stepsons and four<br />
grandchildren.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 119<br />
George Colin Rowe<br />
(DB 1938-42)<br />
Colin Rowe was born<br />
on 24th November 1924,<br />
the son of Charles Eric<br />
and Dorothy Rowe. His<br />
family lived near Muswell<br />
Hill in London and Colin<br />
first attended Northfield<br />
School in Watford and then<br />
joined Kingsland Grange<br />
Preparatory School when<br />
they moved to Shrewsbury<br />
in 1933 and his father<br />
became Private Secretary to<br />
Major H.H. Hardy, the Headmaster. Colin joined the School,<br />
as a Day Boy, in the Michaelmas Term of 1938 and joined<br />
the Officer Training Corps, being a member of the group that<br />
won the Platoon Competition in summer 1942. He enlisted<br />
in 1943, joining the Royal Artillery, where he attained the<br />
rank of Captain. He served in the Far East – in India, Malaya,<br />
Hong Kong and Singapore. After the war, Colin became a<br />
Chartered Accountant and worked in industry, successively<br />
for Ind Coope and Allsop Ltd, (<strong>no</strong>w Allied Breweries plc),<br />
Harvey and Sons Ltd, (Barrow Hepburn and Gale Holdings<br />
Ltd), British Tanners Ltd, (all tanneries/shoe components)<br />
and Hollis Bros. & ESA Ltd, (timber importers). In 1983 the<br />
last of these was taken over by Robert Maxwell. Although<br />
Colin was unhappy about this latest development, he was<br />
given a grace and favour flat adjoining that given to Lord and<br />
Lady Wilson (the former Prime Minister and his wife). Colin<br />
used to complain that his Daily Telegraph often smelled of<br />
pipe tobacco, Harold having borrowed it from their letter<br />
box whilst having his morning smoke outside the building!<br />
On 3rd April 1954 Colin had married Jill Finnemore, forming<br />
a happy partnership which lasted for sixty-five years. Colin<br />
remained active until late in his life, giving up tennis aged<br />
85 and golf two years later. He died ‘of old age’ on 19th<br />
September 2019, aged 94 years, and is survived by his wife<br />
Jill and son James.<br />
James Scarratt (G 1996-2000)<br />
James had an extraordinarily kind and generous character<br />
and, despite his quiet demea<strong>no</strong>ur, this made him an<br />
extremely popular member of <strong>The</strong> Grove. He often told<br />
his parents that his years at Shrewsbury were among the<br />
happiest times of his life. He enjoyed the friendship and<br />
camaraderie of the community life in a boarding school.<br />
<strong>The</strong> encouragement he received in all the various aspects of<br />
school life helped to shape his future. In particular, the Arts<br />
department fostered his lifelong interest in all things artistic,<br />
and he was himself an accomplished artist. Music was also<br />
a<strong>no</strong>ther great love and he enjoyed the musicals that Peter<br />
Fanning and others so ably organised; he took part in the<br />
Edinburgh Fringe and he was also a member of a barber<br />
shop quartet. Being an unassuming type of person, he was<br />
never happier than when kicking a ball around at <strong>The</strong> Grove<br />
with his chums, but he was conscientious e<strong>no</strong>ugh to attend<br />
to his studies as well.<br />
He was accepted to study History of Art at Edinburgh<br />
University, receiving an M.A. at the end of his course, and<br />
he subsequently went on to Oxford Brookes, where he was<br />
awarded a BSc in Estate Management. He soon achieved<br />
membership of RICS and spent the remainder of his time<br />
working in London as a Chartered Surveyor. He lived in<br />
Clapham at the time of his death, having enjoyed both his<br />
professional career and his social life in London. He was a<br />
much loved uncle to his nephew and nieces, and he sadly<br />
died of a heart attack at the age of 38.<br />
Ken Spiby (Head<br />
Groundsman 1957-94)<br />
If it is true that the reputation<br />
of a headmaster rests on<br />
the quality of his staff<br />
appointments, Jack Peterson<br />
must rate very highly solely<br />
on the recruitment of Ken<br />
Spiby as head groundsman<br />
in November 1957. Not<br />
only did Ken, supported to<br />
the hilt by Vera, completely<br />
transform the School Site,<br />
he became more of a dyed-in-the-wool <strong>Salopian</strong> than most<br />
of us. He came from a long line of Midlands country folk,<br />
groundsmen, park keepers, nurserymen – the soil ran in<br />
Ken’s bones – but it was still a surprise when at the age of<br />
twenty-eight he was appointed as head groundsman. He<br />
was badly needed; the square was in a poor state, <strong>no</strong> boy<br />
had scored a century for many years, and the Site looked<br />
far from its best. But when he first appeared, we were all<br />
impressed by his cheerful competence, his enthusiasm, his<br />
thoughtfulness and his determination to make the playing<br />
fields and the Site the best in the country.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re were many difficulties to overcome. Not only were<br />
the playing surfaces poor but the Common itself retained far<br />
too much moisture and did <strong>no</strong>t drain satisfactorily. <strong>The</strong> 1st<br />
XI football pitch was re<strong>no</strong>wned for its mud – a factor which<br />
placed <strong>Salopian</strong> teams at a considerable disadvantage when<br />
they encountered much lighter conditions when playing<br />
away. And the condition of ‘Senior’ was immortalised by<br />
the despairing cry of a supporter of a visiting team: “Get it<br />
down the deep end, Repton!” Determined to investigate and<br />
solve the problem, Ken hitched a lift in a helicopter from a
120<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
visiting General and detected hitherto unsuspected drains.<br />
What should have been one of the loveliest cricket grounds<br />
in the country had a twenty-yard bank topped with ancient<br />
trees jutting straight into the playing area, diminishing its size<br />
and proportion and completely blocking the view from the<br />
pavilion: the old ‘Pier’.<br />
During his first winter Ken paced out and traced every drain<br />
on the Common. Within a year they had all been replaced.<br />
But the Pier was a<strong>no</strong>ther matter. <strong>Salopian</strong>s had sat beneath<br />
its sheltering trees since time immemorial and Ken knew that<br />
<strong>no</strong> Site meeting would grant him permission to remove it. So<br />
staff and boys returning one Michaelmas Term had a shock<br />
to find that the Pier had gone – or rather it had been resited;<br />
it looked exactly the same shape but it was some<br />
fifty yards further towards Ingram’s and carried the shape<br />
of the boundary slope onward in a natural curve. Within<br />
a few years the new Pier had blended in quite beautifully,<br />
but it took great courage to make the alteration in those<br />
days, when staff and boys at Shrewsbury were <strong>no</strong>t <strong>no</strong>tably<br />
progressive. It was only after the operation had been<br />
completed that Ken let it be k<strong>no</strong>wn that the trees had been<br />
riddled with Dutch Elm disease!<br />
And all the while, under Ken’s supervision, the Site<br />
blossomed and bloomed. He was a perfectionist, but his<br />
people loved working for him. He was always the same<br />
to everybody, from the headmaster to the most junior of<br />
us boys, but few sights were more fearful that that of Ken<br />
approaching on the warpath, striding across the Common<br />
in defence of his beloved grounds. Visiting schools and Old<br />
Boys’ sides were astonished at the standards he had set – and<br />
<strong>no</strong>t a weed in all those acres, the beautifully kept garden<br />
next to the Chapel; he made us all very proud indeed of<br />
our lovely school. But Ken never ceased in his efforts, there<br />
were always some improvements to be made, some other<br />
project to get his teeth into. Despite the long hours and<br />
hard physical work, Ken remained the same calm, unruffled<br />
custodian of the Site. Naturally his reputation spread and<br />
Ken was <strong>no</strong>t unambitious. Eton, Lord’s, they all came fishing,<br />
but by this time Salopia had got under his skin and both he<br />
and Vera were very much part of the community. Indeed<br />
they could always be seen at any concert, or supporting<br />
various <strong>Salopian</strong> activities whilst both Rod, who became a<br />
distinguished <strong>Salopian</strong> oarsman, and Martin remember the<br />
family involvement with affection. When the time came for<br />
Ken to retire, he even posed as a visiting grandfather, in order<br />
to inspect the grounds at the school of his likely successor,<br />
just to make sure he was up to the job!<br />
Most of us returning Old <strong>Salopian</strong>s sought out Ken and<br />
Vera as soon as we could. <strong>The</strong>y were loyal and enthusiastic<br />
followers of all <strong>Salopian</strong> sport but particularly of Saracens<br />
cricket. <strong>The</strong> pair of them hardly missed a Cricketer Cup<br />
game, home and away in fifty-odd years, and we all shared in<br />
the nail-biting disasters and occasional triumphs. How fitting<br />
it was that we were able to organise a retirement dinner at<br />
Lord’s where the great Dennis Compton toasted his health.<br />
Ken was a great and lovely man for Shrewsbury, respected and<br />
held in great affection by all; and <strong>Salopian</strong>s recognise how lucky<br />
we are to have enjoyed the friendship of a true gentleman.<br />
Nicko Williams (SH 1954-58)<br />
Michael Townsend (I 1947-51)<br />
An addendum to the obituary for Michael Townsend that was<br />
published in the last edition of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Salopian</strong>:<br />
By way of clarification, Michael Townsend’s Ireland and<br />
Hertford Scholarships were won while he was up at Oxford<br />
as an Open Scholar of Balliol: he also, uniquely, won, at the<br />
first attempt, all four of the University Prizes for Greek and<br />
Latin Prose and Verse, having already been awarded the<br />
Sidney Gold Medal at Shrewsbury. His second in Greats in<br />
1955 came as a considerable disappointment and effectively<br />
led him away from the academic career at Oxford which had<br />
beckoned until then.<br />
Michael Fisher Turner<br />
(O 1945-50)<br />
Michael Turner was born<br />
on 27th October 1931, the<br />
son of Dr Arthur Turner<br />
and of Winifred Fisher.<br />
Michael was the youngest<br />
of three brothers; Philip<br />
and Geoffrey were<br />
considerably older than<br />
he and all came to<br />
Oldham’s. <strong>The</strong> family had spent many years in India but by<br />
the time that Michael was born, Dr Turner had become Head<br />
of the Spinning Department at Shirley Institute in Manchester<br />
and the family had moved to Wilmslow. <strong>The</strong>y subsequently<br />
moved again, this time to Northern Ireland, where Dr<br />
Turner had become Director of the Linen Industry Research<br />
Association in Lambeg. Northern Ireland would have a strong<br />
influence on Michael in later years. At Shrewsbury, Michael<br />
specialised in History, developed an interest in Eco<strong>no</strong>mics<br />
and was an oarsman. After leaving school, he returned to<br />
Northern Ireland to read Eco<strong>no</strong>mics at Queen’s University,<br />
Belfast. In the Easter Vacation of his final year, he met Wyn<br />
Farrell and soon afterwards they were married.<br />
His Eco<strong>no</strong>mics degree helped Michael to secure a position<br />
with Lloyds Bank, initially in the West Midlands. He spent<br />
the next six years there but freely admitted they were <strong>no</strong>t<br />
happy ones; the hoped-for career advancement failed to<br />
materialise and the couple set sail on an assisted passage<br />
to New Zealand in 1961, where Wyn’s sister was already<br />
living. Michael decided that his future there lay in teaching<br />
and he joined the staff of the Wanganui Collegiate School.<br />
He was soon also put in charge of the Waiting House, a sort<br />
of overflow for new boys and a few seniors, where Wyn<br />
cheerfully acted as Matron. <strong>The</strong>ir daughter Anne was born<br />
and all seemed set fair, until Michael suffered serious sight<br />
loss, following a detached retina.<br />
Now registered blind, Michael moved to Auckland and<br />
became Deputy Chairman of the Royal New Zealand<br />
Foundation for the Blind, teaching Braille by correspondence,<br />
to which he later added tutoring for two Auckland colleges,<br />
St Peter’s and St Cuthbert’s. He also served as secretary to a<br />
firm of Chartered Accountants and as a financial planning<br />
consultant. Seeking a new challenge, the family moved again,<br />
this time to rural King Country, where he became fascinated<br />
by the story of the local Power Trust, a community venture
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 1<strong>21</strong><br />
that had begun connecting customers to an electric power<br />
supply as early as 1911. He was so fascinated by this venture<br />
that he helped to interview surviving participants for the<br />
subsequent book published by the Trust. When the railway<br />
closed and travel became even more difficult, Michael and<br />
Wyn moved back to Wanganui in 2007 and to a retirement<br />
village, where Wyn died in 2018.<br />
Despite his sight loss, Michael returned to the UK several<br />
times, usually arranging it to coincide with a function of the<br />
Weavers’ Company, membership of which was instituted<br />
by his father and carried on by succeeding generations.<br />
His most recent visit was in 2019, aged 88, during which,<br />
as well as attending two Weavers’ functions, he included a<br />
week-long tour of Ireland and indulged his love of trains<br />
by travelling on both of our remaining sleeper services. He<br />
was enthusiastically planning a similarly courageous and<br />
ambitious visit to old haunts in <strong>2020</strong>, which the Pandemic<br />
obliged him to postpone and which an unexpected hospital<br />
visit with heart problems thwarted altogether – <strong>no</strong> doubt<br />
despite his protestations to a Higher Authority that he was<br />
perfectly fit. He died on 30th September, aged 88, and is<br />
survived by his daughter Anne and granddaughter Baylee.<br />
Tony Turner (O 1964-68)<br />
Andrew James Waterworth (I 1975-79)<br />
Andrew Waterworth, who has died aged 59, was an<br />
exceptional sportsman, keen musician and lover of the<br />
great outdoors, who had a successful career in financial<br />
PR after leaving the Army. Brought up in Cheshire, he<br />
attended Mostyn House Preparatory School before arriving at<br />
Ingram’s Hall in 1975, then under the care of Michael Eagar.<br />
Following in the footsteps of his elder brother Richard and<br />
preceding his younger brother Nigel, he was the second of<br />
many Waterworths to have been educated at the School over<br />
the past five decades. He was a natural ball player: three<br />
years of 1st XI football, capped off with selection for the<br />
representative Public Schools team (<strong>no</strong>w called the ISFA XI)<br />
in 1978 and three years of 1st XI cricket were testament to<br />
this. Indeed his sporting accomplishments continued during<br />
his time in the Army, where he represented the Service in<br />
cricket, as well as playing Combined Services football – a feat<br />
that few others will match.<br />
Andrew’s time at the School was <strong>no</strong>t all plain sailing<br />
however. A covert cigarette in the boiler room while Mike<br />
Eagar was safely out at a dinner in Kingsland Hall resulted<br />
in the fire brigade being called to Ingram’s and a stern call<br />
home from the housemaster. Incredibly, this was <strong>no</strong>t his first<br />
experiment in pyrotechnics. On one particularly cold day<br />
as a much younger lad, he had been found by his mother<br />
emulating his childhood heroes the Native American Indians<br />
by starting a fire on the floor of the playroom at home.<br />
After leaving Shrewsbury, Andrew started his military career<br />
at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Commissioned into<br />
1st Battalion <strong>The</strong> Grenadier Guards in December 1980, he<br />
was posted to Berlin and later deployed on operations in<br />
South Armagh, interspersed with the precision and exacting<br />
standards of Public Duties, which were a source of great<br />
pride and entertaining stories for him. Andrew left the Army<br />
in 1986 and forged a successful career in financial PR in<br />
the City, first with the agency Hill Murray (which became<br />
Ludgate) and then Financial Dynamics (which became FTI<br />
Consulting). In 2012 he established the London office of USheadquartered<br />
Prosek Partners and led it until 2018 when he<br />
became interim MD of Carinish Consulting, a private service<br />
consulting business.<br />
A long-standing friend has described him as follows: “A<br />
natural grafter and always incredibly conscientious about<br />
all the people he ever commanded or worked with,<br />
Andrew carried these caring qualities through a very<br />
successful career in financial PR, which spanned over 30<br />
years. He was a man with style, charm and savoir faire,<br />
and would have been a success at anything he turned his<br />
hand to, but blessed with too much natural humility, he<br />
never appreciated how good he was at so many things or<br />
indeed how highly he was regarded.”<br />
Andrew’s interests were wide-ranging. He had a great<br />
love for the outdoors, be it fishing, walking or battling the<br />
elements in the wild and rugged landscapes of North Uist.<br />
He had a passion for music of many and varied genres. He<br />
was a talented musician and despite <strong>no</strong> formal training, he<br />
composed songs, sang beautifully, and happily entertained<br />
people in private houses and public houses whenever the<br />
opportunity arose.<br />
Above all, Andrew was a family man. He married Nicky<br />
in 1987 and they have three children: Josh, Tilly and Kitty.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y were the real centre of Andrew’s life and his spirit<br />
lives on in them.<br />
Andrew had been responding well to treatment for leukaemia<br />
at Guy’s Hospital, London, when he contracted COVID-19.<br />
Despite the excellent care he received on the haematology<br />
ward and later for two months on the Intensive Care Unit, he<br />
died on 16th June <strong>2020</strong>. He faced both illnesses with great<br />
stoicism and bravery, often signing off his messages with a<br />
thumbs up and a Guardsman emoji – ‘keep soldiering on’<br />
being the rough translation. COVID restrictions necessitated<br />
a small family funeral which came to a close with a song<br />
written and recorded by Andrew; an unusual though fitting<br />
tribute to a man whose rendition of <strong>The</strong> Grenadiers and<br />
Scipio on electric guitar to a packed Hippodrome and<br />
improvised pia<strong>no</strong> performances at family gatherings will live<br />
long in the memory.<br />
<strong>The</strong> family intends to celebrate his life with friends and<br />
colleagues when government restrictions allow.<br />
Patrick Duncan (SH 2000-05)
122<br />
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS<br />
Joseph Raymond Waistell Worrall (SH 1938-42)<br />
Joseph Raymond Waistell Worrall was born in Roundhay, Leeds<br />
on 15th July 1924 and came to School House in Lent Term 1938.<br />
After leaving Shrewsbury in December 1942 he immediately<br />
volunteered for and joined the RAF.<br />
Ray was the last survivor of Operation Sherwood, the audacious<br />
World War II escape plan, devised by the future MP and Shadow<br />
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Lt Colonel Airey Neave.<br />
<strong>The</strong> operation, which ran between May and August 1944, entailed<br />
hiding downed Allied airmen in the Forest of Fréteval, situated deep<br />
in Nazi-occupied France, and close to one of the German Army’s<br />
largest ammunition bases. By the time the camp was liberated by<br />
Neave himself, there were 152 airmen living in the forest.<br />
In November 1943, Ray completed his training as a flight<br />
engineer, and was posted to Bomber Command at RAF<br />
Scampton. In January 1944, he was marked for a Lancaster<br />
squadron and posted to RAF Winthorpe, where he met and<br />
joined his crew. At the beginning of March, the crew was posted<br />
to RAF Syerton, a Lancaster finishing school, after which they<br />
joined 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron.<br />
Ray began operations in a Lancaster, named by the crew “E” for<br />
Easy, in April 1944. This marked the beginning of what he was<br />
later to describe as “the luckiest period of my life”, a reference to<br />
his survival during the subsequent months, when history records<br />
the death rate for aircrew with Bomber Command was 44.4%.<br />
On 25th July 1944, shortly after his 20th birthday, fortified by a<br />
supper of egg and chips, Ray and his crew set off on their 26th<br />
mission. <strong>The</strong>ir target was Stuttgart, the home to the Daimler and<br />
Porsche factories, several military bases and a railway hub. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
never reached their target. Whilst flying over Normandy, they<br />
encountered enemy fire. <strong>The</strong> Lancaster was struck and immediately<br />
went into a steep dive. Ray never knew if the aircraft was hit by<br />
enemy fire or an aircraft above them which had got into difficulties<br />
and jettisoned its bombs. Ray and his crew baled out at 10,000 feet,<br />
an experience he likened to Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole.<br />
Moments before he jumped, he thought to himself, “Oh God, what<br />
a waste my education has been. I should never have volunteered.<br />
My parents will be heartbroken.”<br />
Immediately after Ray landed, which was the first time he had<br />
ever set foot on foreign soil, he buried his parachute and ran as<br />
fast as he could, until he could run <strong>no</strong> more. For the next few<br />
days, depressed, frightened and lonely, he lived on his wits and<br />
off the land. On the third day, moments after he had walked<br />
past a German staff car filled with soldiers, he was spotted by a<br />
boy on a bicycle, who was member of the Resistance. <strong>The</strong> boy<br />
recognised him as an Allied airman because he was chewing<br />
gum, which was <strong>no</strong>t available in France. If the occupants of the<br />
staff car had been as observant, Ray’s life story might have been<br />
very different.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Resistance took Ray to a remote farmhouse, where he was<br />
reunited with his radio operator. <strong>The</strong> next day he was taken to<br />
the Fôret de Fréteval, deep in Northern France, where he and<br />
151 downed Allied airmen lived under the <strong>no</strong>se of the Nazis, until<br />
late August.<br />
Following his return to Britain, Ray was posted to 45 Group<br />
(Atlantic Transport Command) in Canada, from which he spent<br />
the remainder of the war delivering Lancasters, Halifaxes and<br />
Liberators to India, Africa and the Middle East. Once the<br />
war ended, before he was demobbed in 1947, Ray was an<br />
Instructor at RAF Dishforth, and then assistant Adjutant at<br />
Group HQ Heslerton.<br />
Ray was unable to talk about his experiences until the 1960s,<br />
because it was forbidden to publicise stories about escape in<br />
which the evader had been helped by a secret underground<br />
organisation. Once that prohibition was lifted, until shortly<br />
before his death, Ray helped raise donations for the RAF<br />
Escaping Society (RAFES), by delivering in excess of 150 talks<br />
about his wartime experiences to organisations such as <strong>The</strong><br />
Round Table, <strong>The</strong> Rotary Club, and <strong>The</strong> Women’s Institute. In<br />
2004 Ray published Escape From France, <strong>no</strong>w in its second<br />
edition, which details his experiences during WW2.<br />
After leaving the RAF, Ray read Business Studies at Leeds<br />
University, graduating in 1950 with a B.Com. He worked in<br />
the family business until 1959, when he decided to read law.<br />
In 1963 Ray joined Gray’s Inn and was called to the Bar. After<br />
successfully completing pupillage with Gilbert Grey, who<br />
went on to become one of the country’s leading criminal<br />
QCs, he accepted a tenancy at 37 Park Square in Leeds.<br />
Other members of the Chambers included Harry Ognall,<br />
who later became a High Court Judge, Brian Walsh before<br />
he took silk, and John Munkman, the author of several<br />
leading legal text books.<br />
In the 1970 General Election, Ray stood as the parliamentary<br />
candidate for the Liberal Party.<br />
Ray was in practice at the Bar in Leeds, specialising in family<br />
law, until 1982, when he accepted an appointment as Chairman<br />
of <strong>The</strong> Industrial Tribunal, a post he held until just before his<br />
72nd birthday in 1996. Ray used to quip that by retiring whilst<br />
still 71 years old, when he was entitled to carry on for a further<br />
12 months, he had taken early retirement.<br />
Ray was an active member of the Northern Bar Lodge and of<br />
the Zetland Lodge in the Province of Yorkshire West Riding and<br />
also a valued member of the Old <strong>Salopian</strong> Lodge. He was a Past<br />
Provincial Officer in Yorkshire West Riding and the recipient of a<br />
certificate for 50 years’ service in Freemasonry.<br />
In retirement, until his health prevented it, Ray travelled<br />
frequently to France, and he was an active member of the<br />
Escape Lines Memorial Society, RAFES, and the Bomber Barons<br />
Club at Sherburn Aero Club.<br />
In September 2015, the President of France appointed Ray<br />
to the rank of Chevalier in the Ordre National de la Légion<br />
d’Honneur, which he accepted on behalf of those members<br />
of the Resistance who risked their lives and suffered torture to<br />
protect and save him and his fellow downed airmen. On the<br />
occasion that was held to celebrate receiving this ho<strong>no</strong>ur, Ray<br />
mentioned in particular Virginia d’Albert-Lake, whom he had<br />
met on one of his trips to France. Virginia was one of those who<br />
had been responsible for guiding downed airmen to the camp at<br />
Fréteval. Although she was arrested by the Gestapo and endured<br />
horrific torture before being incarcerated in Ravensbruck<br />
concentration camp, she said <strong>no</strong>thing about the forest and its<br />
secret inhabitants.<br />
In 1952 Ray married Frederica (Rica) to whom he was devoted.<br />
Rica died in 2012. Ray died peacefully on 29th April <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
aged 95. He is survived by their children, Lynne and John, and<br />
grandsons Freddie, Alexander and Henry.
SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 123<br />
John Cyril Yeoward<br />
(I 1946-50)<br />
John Yeoward was born on 9th August 1932 in Hooton on<br />
the Wirral, the younger of the two sons of Cyril and Catherine,<br />
and was brought up on the family farm. He remembered<br />
that, during his early boyhood, the bombing of Liverpool and<br />
Ellesmere Port was a daily occurrence. His family moved to<br />
Herefordshire after the war. After Preparatory School in Hemel<br />
Hempstead, he came to Shrewsbury and to Ingram’s in 1946.<br />
He enjoyed all forms of ball games and he was awarded his<br />
House colours for cricket, football and cross-country running.<br />
On leaving school, John reported to the Light Infantry<br />
Brigade Training Centre at Bordon, to begin his National<br />
Service. He passed the War Office Selection Board, having<br />
given a very helpful and k<strong>no</strong>wledgeable talk on ferrets to the<br />
presiding officer, whose farm happened to be overrun with<br />
rabbits! He volunteered for service in Korea and having been<br />
commissioned, he served some time with the 1st Battalion<br />
Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry and joined his unit in Korea<br />
in January 1952. Being sent out to rescue a patrol which had<br />
become trapped in a minefield, he had the horrific experience<br />
of having a friend, who was following immediately behind<br />
him, being blown up by a mine. Subsequently, John was sent<br />
with ‘B’ Company 1st Battalion KSLI to guard an extremely<br />
overcrowded camp of many thousands of Prisoners of War on<br />
Koje do, an island 25 miles south of Korea. It was a turbulent<br />
situation, in which there was a continual threat of disturbance<br />
and outbreaks. This assignment was followed by a further<br />
couple of months in the front line. On return to the UK, John<br />
served in the Hereford Light Infantry, a territorial regiment, for<br />
four years.<br />
While still in Korea, John had learned, to his great<br />
disappointment, that his father had sold the family farm. Much<br />
of his subsequent life was centred around Field Sports. Having<br />
made <strong>no</strong> alternative plans, John accepted the position of<br />
2nd Whip in the North Herefordshire Hunt Kennels. During<br />
his second season he was appointed Master of the United<br />
Pack in Shropshire. A very helpful association with Sir Alfred<br />
Goodson and his College Valley Hounds in Northumberland<br />
followed, and during this period John bought a farm of his<br />
own, Newcastle Court, and turned his attention from hunting<br />
to farming, adding Moor Farm to his business, concentrating<br />
first on a beef herd and subsequently on Beulah sheep.<br />
In 1962 John married Gillian Shaw Ball: their son; Peter, was<br />
born in 1963 and their daughter, Joanna, in 1964. John became<br />
heavily involved in local activities. He was a founder member<br />
of the Parish Council in Newcastle, near Craven Arms, taking<br />
his turn as Chairman. He chaired a steering committee to<br />
build the new Village Hall and create the Millennium Green<br />
and he also chaired a Trust to raise funds for the village youth<br />
groups, coaching their young cricketers. For many years he<br />
was a member of the Agricultural Land Tribunal, he was<br />
President of the Clun and District Royal British Legion and<br />
he regularly attended St John’s Church, Newcastle. In 1982<br />
he was appointed High Sheriff of Shropshire. He died on 3rd<br />
August 2019, aged 86 years, and is survived by his wife Gillian<br />
and their children, Peter and Joanna.<br />
A GOSPEL<br />
In the beginning there was Energy, Creation uncreated, pure subjectivity<br />
Can you <strong>no</strong>t feel it pushing through your veins?<br />
For you are That, and I am That, the subject and the One.<br />
How could we come to see ourselves as objects? Confrontations?<br />
Unthing yourself – be free – Creation has <strong>no</strong> limits.<br />
<strong>The</strong> scientist with his telescope kills all he sees – looking outwards<br />
His expanding universe is a story of ever-widening limitations –<br />
Looking inwards the barriers are all down, and you’re alone,<br />
All One – the Creator new-created – THAT IS THAT –<br />
Nothing more to say – <strong>no</strong> words to say it – we are free.<br />
Now open to the flowers, the birdsong and the hills –<br />
Look up and feel your heart responding to the No-thing that is there –<br />
That’s wonder, where we briefly touch the hem and feel the mystery OF THAT.<br />
David Brown (Staff 1946-79)
Independent School of the Year <strong>2020</strong><br />
TES Boarding School<br />
of the Year Award <strong>2020</strong><br />
‘Highly Commended’<br />
Community Outreach<br />
Award <strong>2020</strong> ‘Winner’<br />
TES Creativity Award <strong>2020</strong><br />
‘Shortlisted’<br />
www.shrewsbury.org.uk