CONTENTSPage

Editorial .. .. .. .. - • .. .. .. • •Miscellanea

Winter Term, 1971 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3Spring Term, 1972 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5

College OfficersWinter Term, 1971 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7Spring Term, 1972 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7

Meeting OfficersWinter Term, 1971 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8Spring Term, 1972 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8

Meeting Notes .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9Examination Results, 1971 .. .. .. .. .. .. 9The VIth Form Hous .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11First of Many? .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11The Choir .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 12Orchestral Concert .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 12Der Freischutz .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 13Pillar to Post .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 14Bell-Ringing Notes .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15Careers .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 16Careers Convention .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 16The Business Game .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 16The Science Society .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 17Paint in Society .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 17Outing to Reading University .. .. .. .. .. .. 18Roussel Pharmaceuticals Visit .. .. .. .. .. .. 18The Debating Society .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 19Climbing Notes .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 19Mountain Safety Lecture .. .. .. .. .. .. 20Contributions .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 21The Austrian Alps Trip, 1971 . . .. • • • • • • • • 34Snowdonia, 1971 .. .. .. .. . . • • .. .. 35French Trip, 1971 •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 35The Library, 1920-1972 • • .. .. .. • • • • 39Cirencester and the Civil War .. .. .. • • • - • • 40Rugby Football, 1971 .. .. .. .. - • • • • • 43Hockey, 1972 .. .. .. .. • - • - • • • • 46Squash Report .. .. .. .. - • • - • • • • 48Cross-Country Running Report .. .. • - .. • • 48Judo Report .. .. .. .. .. . . .. •• 49Old Rencombian Notes .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 50

EDITORIAL

As the winds or first breezes of change scurrythrough Rendcomb, the school's immediatefuture takes on a clearer shape: if currentplans prosper, the number of pupils at Rend-comb will be about 25o by the mid-1970s .Some may see this increase as a mistake andrecall fondly the not-so-distant, intimatedays when the College numbered 95 and evenless. But most people, viewing the situationin a national perspective (not always easy atRendcomb) and conceding the need for somesmall boarding schools of sound academicquality, will probably agree that 25o is adesirable number which, like the present 17o,well combines the preservation of 'family'intimacy with greater flexibility in personalrelationships and increased opportunities andfacilities.

In the transition period particularly, tol-erance, loyalty, goodwill, a readiness toexperiment, effort, humour, humanity, and asense of proportion will all be much needed.But perhaps never in its history has theCollege's future seemed brighter than at thismoment.

MISCELLANEA

Winter Term, 1971WE were pleased to welcome the new Head-master, Mr. Roger Medill, and his family toRendcomb this term. Previously he had beena Housemaster at the King's School, Canter-bury, and we trust that he finds life in Glou-cestershire at least as congenial as life in Kent .

* * *The main pitfalls are evident. Rendcomb

could ultimately become just another smallpublic school, losing much of its specialcharacter in the process. Further, not only theexceptional friendliness and democratic vitalitymight be at risk but also academic standards,as sundry outside activities, desirable inthemselves, erode the time and energies of all(too often the same few) concerned. In itsrelaxed way Rendcomb to date has kept someof the finer virtues of the small grammarschool and the College's reputation has alwaysbeen based largely on its academic level;recent G.C.E. and university results show ahealthy state of affairs. Thus the problemwill be to preserve these standards whilesimultaneously increasing the variety ofopportunity in other fields. Again, co-educationis untried here, though the experience of otherschools suggests that it brings nothing butgood. The College will also eventually haveto decide whether to restrict the entry ofgirls to the VI Form or whether to take themat 13 or 1 1, and if so in what numbers. Thetiming of such decisions could well be crucial.

We were also glad to welcome Mr. StevenJackson and his wife and Mrs. CharlotteHoldaway to the staff and wish them well here.

* * *A number of preparatory school headmasters

were entertained and shown round the collegeon 26th October.

* * *Congratulations to Julian Gray, Andrew

Stafford and Christopher Wood, who gainedOpen Awards in English, History and NaturalSciences respectively at Oxford this year.

*Weber's opera Der Freischutz was performed

at the college on Sunday, 24th October, andnumerous boys were involved in vocal orother capacities. A fuller account appearslater in this issue.

* * *A small group of senior boys went with

Mr. Willson to the London Coliseum for aproduction of Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

*

3

Parties of VI Formers went to Stratford on11th November and 29th November to seeperformances of Much Ado About Nothing andOthello. Small Upper VI groups went toSamuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape at theEveryman Theatre, Cheltenham, on 4th Octo-ber, and Peter Luke's Hadrian VII, also at theEveryman, on 21 st October. On 4th NovemberForm V went to the Playhouse, Oxford, to seeJonathan Miller's Oxford and Cambridgeproduction of Julius Caesar. Form III wenton a form outing on 3rd December to Stratfordto The Merchant of Venice and Form IV wenton 7th December to the production at theEveryman, Cheltenham, of Who Killed SantaClaus?

* * *

A party of 40 boys went to Bristol on 25thOctober to attend a lecture by Mr. DonWhillans on the recent Everest expedition.

* * *

VIth Form English specialists went to twolectures given in the Cheltenham Festival ofLiterature this year: Nevil Coghill's talk on"Chaucer's Women" and Robert Gittings'talk entitled "A Portrait of John Keats."

* * *

There were two carol services this year,one on 28th November to celebrate Adventand the second on the last day of term, 12thDecember. The Advent service was a largelyinternal event held in Rendcomb Church butthe Christmas carol service was held for thefirst time in Cirencester Parish Church inview of the limited space at Rendcomb.This innovation meant that all parents, friends,and boys of the school could join in the servicein a way that has been impossible in recentyears, and the experiment was an undoubtedsuccess. An estimated 700 people attended theservice of readings (both poetical and biblical)and carols, and boys left for the holidaysimmediately after the service.

* * *

The Christmas Party was held on Friday,10th December, and again contributed toend of term euphoria. The theme was theSpace Age and incorporated members of theCommittee and Mr. White, who dressed up asDr. Who. A large number of the staff andtheir families also went in fancy dress ofsundry hues and fashions. The sketches weremostly well received and we are grateful tothe C.P.C. for all their efforts.

The social whirl was again intense on 27thNovember when a VI Form dance was heldin the College and a younger group attended adance at Westonbirt School.

* * *

Films shown on Saturday evenings includedPlanet of the Apes, Viva Maria, Popeye, YellowSubmarine, The Undefeated, Dr. No, HannibalBrooks, Our Man Flint, Butch Cassidy andthe Sundance Kid, Caprice.

The erudite C. J. Wood, representing SouthGlos., made his mark in a schools' mathematicsquiz at Stroud on 12th November.

* * *

We welcomed the following boys to Rend-comb at the start of the Winter Term : RichardEvans, Simon Baynham, Cameron Findlay,John Garvie, Brendan Hall, David Morris,Toby Roberts, Bryan Russell, Paul Smith,Robert Stroud, Richard Yeats, George Zyg-mund, Nicholas Smith, Stephen Zygmund,Simon Buist, Nicholas Carroll, Graeme Con-nelly, Treve Evans, Anthony Flambard, An-drew Harris, Ian Hawkins, Stephen Hawkins,Stephen Hewitt, Colin Hitchcock, SimonJackson, Jonathan McGill, Andrew Mackon-ochie, Andrew Mathias, Graham Moore,Patrick O'Donahoe, David Pitt, Stuart Smith,Robin Swaine, Nigel Taylor, Timothy Wap-shott, Joseph Watson, Hamish Wilson, SimonYoung.

* * *

We said goodbye to the following at theend of the Summer Term, 1971: Alan Lamb,

4

The Christmas Party 1971

Roland Clarke, John Hindle, Roger Laycock,Hartley Moore, Ian Niel, Richard Rolt,Nicholas Thomas, Andrew Thompson, DavidWilliams, Mark Fisher, Peter Treasure,Michael Toresen, Roger Sampford.

Bridge lessons were organised this term byMr. White for a group of VI Formers, whoare now well past the elementary stage. Variousmasters have occasionally joined in thesessions.*

We acknowledge receipt of the followingcontemporaries and apologize for any om-issions : The Wycliffe Star, The Gresham,The King's School, Gloucester Magazine, TheBeaudesert Park Magazine, The Richian.

Spring Term, 1972THE BISHOP OF TEWKESBURY confirmed 14boys from the College in Rendcomb Churchon Saturday, 11th March.

* *

Two visits to the Wildfowl Trust at Slim-bridge were organised by Mr. Swaine thisterm and were much enjoyed.

* * *

The Entertainments Committee this termorganised, among other things, Hockey, Bad-minton and Chess Tournaments. Thesewere very popular and the Chess Trophy waswon by R. Ingles.

* * *

A VI Form dance was held on 7th Marchbut was only a partial success because a partyof invited ladies from Westonbirt could notcome. However, despite the resultant surplusof males, the dance was enjoyed by many andwe hope that next term's dance will be excep-tionally good. Our thanks to Nicholas Hanceand Niven Boyd for the silhouettes anddecorating arrangements and to the DelicateGoddess Discotheque for the music.

*

Films this term were as follows: Guns ofthe Magnificent Seven, In the Heat of the Night,Hombre, The Battle of Britain, The Russiansare Coming, Von Ryan's Express, The Vikingsand The Devil's Brigade. A mixed bag butmost were well received.

* * *

A whist drive was held on the last Fridayof term under the auspices of Mr. White.Seventeen tables were made up and therewere several prizes. Whist drives have beenheld in the past but this is the first at theschool for some years; we hope the practicewill become more frequent.

* * *

Squash is now a well established sport atRendcomb, as a fuller account later in thisissue indicates. To complete the sportingfinal Friday, the squash team were defeated3-1 by a 'veteran' staff quartet. On theprevious Wednesday a hockey team comprisingstaff and prefects astonished themselves byholding The Rest, containing a large numberof the 1st XI, to a 3-3 draw — but, thoughon the crest of such successes, the staffemphatically wish to deny rumours of a staff/boys rugby match.

*

The junior play this term sought and ac-quired the services of Mr. Kenneth Kendall,the B.B.C. news -reader. He kindly taped amock TV news bulletin, part of the play,and accompanied the completed tape with aletter conveying good wishes for the production.

* * *

We are grateful to Mrs. Fell and Mrs. Pricefor their gifts to the Acting Cupboard.

* * *

A proper portable school calendar cameinto existence this term and has proved avery handy source of reference.

5

Three history lectures were given thisterm by Mr. Price on "Marx," "MarxistLeninism" and "The Soviet System." Histor-ians and Economists were, of course, presentbut there was also quite a large attendance ofscientists and masters.

* * *

Preachers this term were: The Ven. G. F.Hutchins, Archdeacon of Cheltenham; theRevd. D. R. Dendy, Vicar of Bledington;Lawrence Bowser, Esq., West of EnglandSecretary U.S.C.L.; Brother Michael, Head-master of Marling Junior School; the Revd.A. M. Lee, Diocesan Youth Chaplain forCheltenham; Father O'Donnell, from Ciren-cester. The last-named was the first RomanCatholic to preach in Rendcomb Churchsince the Reformation, another indication ofoecumenical trends. A lecture on "Dr. Bar-nardo's" was given by the Revd. R. W.Browell on 9th February.

* * *

The time-honoured art of debating alsoreturned to Rendcomb this term. Twoweek-end debates were held and a fuller reportappears in this issue.

* * *

The new VI Form Common Room cameinto operation this term and has proved avery successful centre for various socialactivities.

* * *

A small party of senior boys went during theterm to Covent Garden for a performance ofWagner's opera The Flying Dutchman.

* * *

Two VI Form parties went this term to thenew Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, to see thefilm version, starring Paul Schofield, ofKing Lear; whilst another VI Form groupwent to Conduct Unbecoming at the sametheatre. IV and III Form outings were toConduct Unbecoming and The Black Macbethrespectively, both also at the Wyvern Theatre.

At the end of the Winter Term, 1971,we said farewell to the following: Julian Gray,Anthony Rose, Andrew Stafford, DavidToresen, Christopher Wood, William Tom-linson, Jason Gillham, David Walker andRichard Fry.

* * *

Among the leavers was David Toresen,who has served this magazine well as aneditor. Our thanks and best wishes to him.

*

Roma and Penelope Foster gave a much,appreciated piano and cello recital in February,following Roma Foster's successful pianorecital last term.

* * *

Contingency plans were made to overcomethe inconvenience caused by the power cuts,and under the experienced generalship ofMr. White these proved very successful.Some memories went back to more significanthardships and the atmosphere was relaxed andtolerant. In fact, the one evening when thewhole school was plunged into darkness forseveral hours proved to be a memorable one.Various activities were devised and enjoyedby candlelight, and the evening concluded witha splendid impromptu rock sing-song inSaul's Hall, lit up by a great log fire.

* * *

As a direct result of recent Snowdoniafatalities, Mr. Willson, who has a MountainLeadership Certificate, lectured to the schoolon "Mountain Safety" during the final w eekof term. A fuller account appears elsewhere.A small party of Rendcomb boys had, infact, taken the fatal route on the day beforethe Dulwich tragedy but were roped and hadcrampons for protection.

* * *

A sponsored charity walk has been plannedfor Sunday, 3oth April. It was proposed thatit might begin at 6 a.m. so that walkers might

6

sample the best of the morning but the Meetingpreferred the more gentlemanly hour of9 a.m. for the 1972 Great Trek.

Editors-N. Boyd, G. J. Dorey, M. Brown,D. Toresen

Rugby Football Captain—J. M. Gray

Intellectual and aesthetic weight has beenadded to the editorial board by the arrivalof Michael Findlay, who is to be an editorfrom next term.

*

Photographs in this issue are by MartinBrown and Angus Robertson. Drawings arecontributed by Niven Boyd, Peter Millard(Form IV), Martin Brown, Stephen Hicks(Form III), Stephen Zygmund (Form II),Hamish Wilson (Form I), Jonathan Dixon(Form IV), Timothy Wormleighton (Form II),Simon Jackson (Form I). Many thanks toall of them.

COLLEGE OFFICERS

Winter Term, 1971Senior Prefect—J. M. Gray

Prefects—N . Boyd, R. Mace, R. G. L. Roberts,D. J. A. Rose, A. J . Stafford, C. J. Wood

Public Workman-D. Toresen

Church Ushers-C. J. Wood, R. G. L. Roberts,B. M. Smith

Librarians—C . J. Wood, A. J. Stafford,R. G. L. Roberts, C. Partridge, G. J. Dorey,C. Horton

Music Librarians—C. Probert, B. M. Robertson,A. J. Pitt

Bell-ringers—M. Brown (Tower Captain),J. Smith, C. Horton, D. Pearce, M. Pitt,P. Walton

Senior Stagemen—A . C. Robertson, N. E.Hance

Stagemen—K. Underdown, A. Pearce, B. G.Fisher, W. Hall, M. Denley, N. Crowe,P. Sayers, I. Taylor, R. Weston, S. Bushell

Spring Term, 1972Senior Prefect—R. Mace

Prefects-N. Boyd, R. G. L. Roberts, B. M.Smith, J. M. Tyler

Public Workman-R. J. Read

Church Ushers—R. G. L. Roberts, B. M. Smith,D. Wiggall

Librarians—R. G. L. Roberts, C. Partirdge,G. J. Dorey, C. Horton, P. Lamphee

Music Librarians—C. Probert, B. M. Robert-son, A. J. Pitt

Bell-ringers—M . Brown (Tower Captain),J. Smith, C. Horton, D. Pearce, M. Pitt,P. Walton

Senior Stagemen—A. C. Robertson, N. E.Hance

Stagemen—K. Underdown, A. Pearce, B. G.Fisher, W. Hall, M. Denley, N. Crowe,P. Sayers, I. Taylor, R. Weston, S. Bushell

Editors-N. Boyd, G. J. Dorey, M. Brown

Hockey Captain—R. G. L. Roberts

Games Committee—N. Boyd (Vice-Captainand Secretary), R. Mace, J. M. Tyler,D. Wiggall

Cross-Country Captain—D . Jenner

Squash Captain-B. M. Smith

7

MEETING OFFICERS

Winter Term, 1971Chairman-C. WoodSecretary—R. FryCouncil-A. Rose, N. Boyd, R. Roberts,

D. Jenner, M. BrownMeeting Banker—B. SmithBoys' Banker—J. TylerShop Banker-D. MackonochieSenior Shopman—R. PearceJunior Shopmen—B. Mann, A. PearceC.P.C.—R. Morris, M. Bircher, D. Shield,

C. Partridge, N. Roberts, M. WapshottEntertainments Committee-R. Mace, M.

Bircher, N. Hance, A. MedhurstPaperman—A. JenkinsBreakages Man-P. RoseRugby G.W.'s: P. Rose, D . KnoxBadminton/Squash G.W.: R. FryO.S. Cricket G.W.: M. PittO.S. Hockey G.W.: R. BarrettRecord Warden—J. MillardCycle Committee—C. Partridge, M. Denley,

A. OtterFurniture Man—S. ReasonTable Tennis Committee — S. Robbins, R.

WestonAmplifier Technicians—A. Robertson, J. RussellRule Committee-R. Roberts, M. Garland-

Collins, B. SmithSledge Committee-K. Barraclough, P. Walton,

BarrettGroundsman-D. BellBilliards Committee—P. Graham, K. Under-

down, D. WiggallFood Committee-J. Russell, W. Tomlinson,

F. LeiversBroom Warden-N. BallDance Committee—R. Morris, W. Tomlinson,

M. Bircher, N. Boyd, J. Gray

Spring Term, 1972Chairman-R. MaceSecretary—N. BallBanker-J. TylerBoys' Banker—B. RobertsonShop Banker-A. RobertsonSenior Shopman—M. BircherJunior Shopmen—M. Findlay, D. PearceEntertainments Committee—D. Jenner, M.

Brown, D. Shield, C. Findlay, D. MorrisPaperman—D. HendryRecord Warden-P. GrahamCycle Committee—R. Ingles, W. Hall, S. ReasonTable Tennis Committee-D. Pearce, C. Lyons,

J. GarvieRule Committee—A. Pitt, J. Smith, C. JonesFood Committee—J. Tyler, J. Millard,

F. LeiversAmplifier Technicians—J. Russell, D. ShieldBroom Warden—P. RoseBreakages Man—P. LaceHockey Games Wardens—A. Medhurst, M.

Denley, T. LongworthO.S. Rugby Games Warden—K. BarracloughO.S. Cricket Games Warden-R. BarrettFurniture Man-A. PearceSledge Committee-P. Gready, R. Hudson,

A. BennettRule Committee-A. Pitt, J. Smith, C. JonesBadminton and Squash Warden—C. LyonsBilliards Committee—P. Graham, K. Under-

down, D. WiggallNominations Committee-B. Smith, R. Roberts,

R. PearceM.A.C.—B. Smith, R. Roberts, N. BoydCouncil-N. Boyd, R. Roberts, D. Jenner,

M. Brown, B. SmithJunior Advocate—M. BrownDance Committee-R. Morris, N. Hance,

M. Bircher, C. Higgins, N. Boyd

8

MEETING NOTES EXAMINATION RESULTS 1971

UNDER the supervision of Mr. Medill, thegeneral mood of the Meeting has changed.More serious business has been conducted—the Meeting rules have been, at last, revisedthoroughly, a long overdue action; and insteadof delaying business the Meeting seems farmore anxious to finish it. Occasionally theHeadmaster has used the Meeting to make anannouncement on some relevant subjects, anexample being the matter of charity appeals,on which he feels that individual directdonations are preferable to money voted to acharity from the Meeting bank. Behaviour hasimproved, and more notice has been taken ofmiscreants.

M.J.B.

G.C.E. 'A' levelTHE following gained passes in the subjectsindicated:—

R. R. Clarke EnglishJ. M. Gray English*, History* (D) ,

FrenchJ. S. Hindle Maths, Physics,

ChemistryA. R. Lamb Pure Maths*(D), Applied

MathsR. J. H. Laycock English, HistoryR. Mace Botany (M)C. H. Moore PhysicsI. R. Niel ZoologyE. M. Parsons English, History (M),

MathsR. C. Rolt History, ArtD. J. A. Rose Physics*, Chemistry*(M),

ZoologyA. J. Stafford English* (M), History*(M),

Econ. and Public AffairsN. 0. Thomas History (M), FrenchA. Thompson Maths, Physics, ChemistryD. M. Toresen English, History, FrenchC. J. Wood Maths*, Physics*,

Chemistry*(D)

*—Class A(D)—Distinction in the Special Paper(M)—Merit in the Special Paper

G.C.E. '0' levelD. Barling English Lang., English Lit.,

History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Chemistry,Biology

G. Dorey English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

9

B. Fisher English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Biology

P. Graham English Lit., History, LatinN. Hance English Lang., English Lit.,

History, Mathematics,Biology, Woodwork

C. Higgins English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

C. Horton English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

R. Ingles English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

C. Jones English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, Mathematics

G. Jordan English Lit., History, Latin,Physics, Chemistry, Biology

J. Millard English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Physics, Chemistry, Biology

C. Partridge English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

S. Robbins English Lit., English Lang.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

D. Shield English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

J. Smith English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Physics, Chemistry, Biology

K. Stuckey English Lang., English Lit.,History, Latin, French,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology

W. Tomlinson English Lang., English Lit.,Latin, French, Mathe-matics, Chemistry

P. Treasure English Lit., History,Mathematics, Woodwork

K. Underdown English Lang., English Lit.,Mathematics, Physics,Chemistry, Biology,Woodwork

D. Walker English Lang., English Lit.,History, Mathematics,Chemistry

J. Whiteside English Lang., English Lit.,Religious Knowledge, Latin,History, Mathematics

D. Wiggall English Lang., English Lit.,History, Mathematics,Latin

C. Yuvaboon History, Mathematics

Other Academic Distinctions

Peter Little—First Class Honours, Botany andZoology, Bristol

Martin Harrop—First Class Honours, Philo-sophy, Politics and Economics, Oxford

Julian Gray—Open Exhibition in English atTrinity College, Oxford

Andrew Stafford-Open Exhibition in Historyat Trinity College, Oxford

Christopher Wood—Open Scholarship inNatural Sciences at Exeter College, Oxford

I0

THE VIth FORM HOUSE FIRST OF MANY?

AFTER various delays, work has at last startedon the new VIth Form House in the Park,and the Duke of Beaufort will lay the Foun-dation Stone on Saturday, May 6th. Thelayout of the 48 study bedrooms will incor-porate some of the suggestions put forwardby the VIth Form.

Peter Falconer and Partner of Stroud havedesigned an efficient-looking modern buildingwith a flat roof which will provide an inter-esting and probably controversial contrast tothe traditional style of recent years. However,the architectural styles of Rendcomb alreadyreflect the changes of five centuries and thebuilding, which will at least be of Cotswoldcolour, should provide a very comfortableand attractive place in which to live and study.We are very pleased that Messrs. Partridgewill be constructing the building and thuscontinuing their long connection with the school

R. M. A . M .

"Rendcomb's Lone Girl Scholar" and "TheGirls break into Rendcomb" screamed theheadlines, and co-education had entered yetanother public school, but not so much witha bang as a whisper. The advent of the firstgirl to Rendcomb had previously been regardedwith some trepidation but, in the event,Maxine Bauer proved to be just the girl tointegrate smoothly into the school, and themisogynist's nightmare of boys' shattered livesand ruined examinations proved to be ground-less. As if to underline this whole-heartedacceptance of the new departure in Rendcomb'scolourful history, the debate on the motionthat "This House is in favour of Co-education"was passed by a large majority—a very differentresult from that of a debate on the same motionjust twelve years ago which was unanimouslydefeated. The novelty of having a girl withinRendcomb's confines soon wore off, and shewas accepted on equal terms with everyoneelse in the school. Maxine Bauer had previouslyattended co-educational schools in America,and this, together with her friendly per-sonality, doubtless helped her to adapt easilyat Rendcomb. And Maxine herself? Sheenjoys Rendcomb tremendously and advisesany girl who might be thinking of coming hereto have no fears !

D.G.J.

II

THE CHOIR

IN the past two terms, the choir has continuedto grow and numbers have now reached arecord level of fifty-four which comprisesnearly a third of the school! Coupled with thisincrease in size have been several departuresfrom tradition. In the Winter Term, twosuch ventures included an Advent Carol Serviceheld, by candlelight, on 28th Novemberand the performance of the end-of-termChristmas Carol Service in Cirencester ParishChurch. Although the latter involved someadministrative difficulties, it overcame theovercrowding previously prevalent at thisevent.

In the Spring Term, by way of experiment,Evensong was sung on t3th February. Thisproved successful and will, it is hoped, berepeated. On Palm Sunday, the last day ofterm, a special service was held in the morning.In the afternoon, the choir gave a concertin which Antonio Caldara's setting of the"Stabat Mater" and F. Suriano's "St. JohnPassion" were performed, the latter by a smallerchoir of 14 boys.

The choir sang the following anthems :Ecce nunc benedicite (Palestrina); Ascribe

unto the Lord (Travers); Now Thank we allour God (Bach); How Lovely Are ThyDwellings (Brahms); Saviour, who did'sthealing give (Freylinghausen); 0 for a closerwalk with God (Stanford); Lead me, Lord( Wesley); The Souls of the Righteous (Nares);The Shepherd's Farewell (Berlioz); 0 Prayfor the Peace of Jerusalem (Blow); Lord forThy Tender Mercies' Sake (Farrant-Hilton);Blessed be the God and Father ( Wesley);O Vos Omnes (Palestrina); Turn thy facefrom my sins (Attwood); Ave Verum Corpus(Mozart).

C.P.

ORCHESTRAL CONCERT

ON Wednesday, 22nd March, a concert wasgiven by the boys in the school orchestra.This consisted of three pieces for recordergroup; a piano solo; a duet between tenorrecorder and spinet; a sonata with violins,cello and spinet; and five pieces for orchestra.In spite of difficulties facing the performers,notably their inexperience and the notoriousacoustics of the Assembly Hall, the concertwent fairly well and was very much enjoyedby all those who attended.

C.P.

12

DER FREISCHUT Z

How lovely that we have staged and produceda full-scale opera with so much enthusiasm.As a member of the audience, I found theenjoyment of those around me proved thesuccess of the idea.

Der Freischutz was first produced in Berlinin 1821. Weber is now regarded as the founderof romantic opera and the music is interspersedwith dialogue in the manner of a present day`musical.' The leading roles, particularly thatof Agnes, are long and taxing and Weber usesa large orchestra including full brass.

John Willson, our Director of Music,achieved both balance and control in theperformance which took place on October 24th.In spite of their inexperience and youth allthe soloists could be heard, including thetrebles. They sang with simplicity and con-viction and their loyalty to both producer andconductor gave the whole performance ex-cellent discipline.

The evil scene in the Wolf's Glen gave anopportunity for boys and producer to usetheir imagination and in the 3rd Act the delightof us all at seeing our lively 1st and 3rd formerspretending to be demure bridesmaids issomething we shall always remember.

One wonders how it was done in such asmall school, where academic work is of primaryimportance, where the only means of realisingsuch an ambition was to use the gymnasiumand a temporary stage and how such a goodorchestra was assembled. Rendcomb is to becongratulated, not only on its standard ofperformance, but also on its ability to overcomeobstacles and realise ambitions.

R.F.

CAST

Killian, a peasant ANTONY PITT

Cuno, head ranger JONATHAN WHITESIDE

Rodolph and Kaspar, two youngforesters serving under him

RICHARD FRY AND DAVID SHIELD

Agnes, Cuno's daughter ... ROBERT SHERRATT

Annie, her cousin PETER WALTON

Zamiel, the demon hunter DAVID TORESEN

A Bridesmaid ... JONATHAN MCGILL

Prince Ottokar ANTONY PITT

A Hermit ... MICHAEL GARLAND-COLLINS

Chorus of Peasants, Hunters, Invisible Spiritsand Bridesmaids: Graeme Connelly, StephenHawkins, Stephen Hewitt, Simon Jackson,Jonathan McGill, Hamish Wilson, NigelRaymont, Robert Barrett, Adrian Bell,Julian Campbell, Christopher Dendy, PhilipGready, Martin Griffiths, Stephen Hicks,Timothy Hoskin, Richard Hudson, TimothyLongworth, Nicholas Longworth, PhilipLyons, Timothy Nicholas, Martyn Pitt,Alisdair Wilson, Jonathan Dixon, JonathanFletcher, Stuart Honeyball, Michael James,Philip Lamphee, Neil Lumby, AndrewMedhurst, Peter Millard, Andrew Otter,Paul Rose, Simon Wormleighton, DavidBell, Bruce Mann, Philip Smith, JohnMillard, Stephen Robbins, Jonathan Smith,Robert Morris, Clive Probert, Brian Robert-son, John Russell

Stage Band:

Flutes ...

Clarinet

Violin ...

Viola

Jonathan Lane, David BellJonathan ScawinStuart Honeyball

Jonathan Smith

13

PILLAR TO POST

THE JUNIOR PLAY this term was by JohnWaterhouse, and performances took place onMarch 18th and 19th.

Just as professional actors are told to bewareof dogs and children, so amateur theatre pro-ductions are told to avoid farce. This customhas been adhered to for former Rendcombproductions, and has finally and skilfully beenbroken. Usually, on the occasion of the JuniorPlay, one is ready to make allowances for lackof experience and also the age of the actors,but here this was not necessary. The actingwas generally superb, and the actors' resource-fulness was admirably demonstrated in thead-libbing on the first night. What is essentialto these productions is a degree of team spirit,and this was obviously present here, even ifthe cast stretched it to an unwillingness tohurt each other even when required to do so.

The production was, on the whole, full ofpolish and professionalism, pleasing everyonewho was present. Paul Rose took the part ofAlbert Drinkwater with great verve, despitehis tendency to show the audience whichjokes he thought they ought to laugh at, andthe delivery of his words and the timing of hisactions were excellent. Jonathan Dixon playedthe difficult role of sidekick (an easy part tooverdo) very successfully, and his nervousnessand guilty expressions brought the housedown. What was surprising was the strengthof the acting in the female roles, headed byRoderick Thomson as the dominant MabelDrinkwater, who, considering his age oftwelve and a half, was brilliant; and Christo-pher Dendy as the forward, passionateMavis. These made a delightful pair andthey were backed by Cameron Findlay as theover-anxious Lily. All three settled into theirparts very well, giving convincing performances.

14

The Christmas Party 1971

The beginnings of the new Sixth Form Boarding House

Who is this?

All-male productions tend to lapse slightlyduring romantic scenes, but Dendy's thrustingperformance, coupled with Philip Lyons'portrayal of the provocative Sonya, who suc-cessfully 'vamps' most of the males in theplay, made us feel that the girls of Rendcombhad finally arrived.

The two toughs were powerfully depicted byBarraclough and Reason, the former never onceletting his Irish accent lapse, a very difficultachievement. Last, but by no standards least,was Timothy Hoskin as the weak-willed,weak-bodied Ernie. He neatly avoided thepitfalls of excess, making a worthy follower ofRichard Briers.

The lighting, make-up, costumes and setwere of the high standard which we have cometo accept at Rendcomb, and which perhapsare too easily taken for granted; we are gratefulfor all the hard work which had clearly beendone in this field. No one could possibly mis-take the untidy 'Coronation Street' house.Great attention was paid to detail with theproperties, down to the potty and frying panwielded by the two ladies during the 'chase.'The organiser of sound effects must be con-gratulated on his achievement of introducingall the sound effects at his disposal into theplot, and also the attainment of a degree ofrealism due to the specially recorded newsbroadcast which Mr. Kenneth Kendall kindlymade for us at the B.B.C.

Pillar to Post was in the style of the BrianRix farce, with lovely young (half-dressed)ladies being deposited about the stage, and thehumour and slapstick was obviously enjoyedby the actors as much as anyone else. Thebawdy puns were readily appreciated by allin the audience and the producer must bepraised for his imagination in manipulatingthe actors on such a small stage, and for a reallyenjoyable performance (in which the prompters'services were not once required on either night)in a term crowded with sundry other schoolactivities.

G.J.D. and M.G-C.

CAST

Horace Truefoot, a postman JONATHAN DIXONMabel Drinkwater ... RODERICK THOMSONAlbert Drinkwater, a postman, Mabel's

husband ... ... PAUL ROSELily Truefoot, Horace's wife CAMERON FINDLAYErnie Drinkwater, Albert and Mabel's son

TIMOTHY HOSKINMavis Omeroyd CHRISTOPHER DENDYMr. O'Flaherty KEVIN BARRACLOUGHSonya Le Roy ... PHILIP LYONSMr. Brown ... STEPHEN REASONTwo Male Bodies

BRENDAN HALL AND TIMOTHY NICHOLAS

BELL-RINGING NOTES

AFTER the loss of Andrew Thompson andDavid Williams, this year's band began asa new and comparatively unpractised one.However, we should be able now to keep atour present strength for at least a year.

Rendcomb ringers helped ring for theCarol Concert in Cirencester Parish Churchat the end of the Winter Term. It was awelcome change to ring different bells after aterm at Rendcomb.

We would like to thank Miss Bliss for herregular help and support with our learningand ringing and for the effort she has put intofurthering the Rendcomb band.

M.B.

15

CAREERS

ACTIVITY in careers guidance has followedlast year's pattern with the additional intro-duction in the form of the Business Game.

Careers courses have recently been attendedby: Brown (Chemistry at The City Universityand Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineer-ing at Birmingham University); Probert (In-dustrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering atBirmingham University); Jenner (British HomeStores and Lloyds Bank); Tyler (Shell-Mexand National Westminster Bank); Mackono-chie (Wimpey and Son).

R.K.

CAREERS CONVENTION

ON February 24th a Careers Convention for theFifth and Sixth forms was held in the AssemblyHall. First there was a film and a talk oncareers in the RAF by the Schools LiaisonOfficer, Squadron Leader Walton. Next,Mr. Wilkinson, a practising solicitor fromCirencester, gave us a lively lecture on hisprofession. In the second half of the con-vention Mr. Joddrell, a chartered surveyor,talked about the wide variety of careers underthe general heading of surveyor. To round offthe convention there was a film on bankingcareers accompanied by a talk by Messrs.Rouse and Simpson of Lloyds Bank.

C.H.

THE BUSINESS GAME

THE game is designed to introduce studentsto the associated decision-making of businessmanagement. It, therefore, involves the inter-pretation of company reports and the formingof policies, dependent on the actions of theircompetitors.

The organiser, International Computers Ltd.and the Institute of Chartered Accounts, holda meeting in London before the game todiscuss the faults and merits of the last one.

Three schools (or "companies") competeagainst each other, and the company with thegreatest profit after seven "plays" goes into thenext round. There were 243 schools in thefirst round.

Marketing, transport, production costs, plantinvestment, research and development, andthe retail price of the "finished article" are thevariables to be considered.

Our board consisted of fifteen members,with about ten "shareholders" voicing theiropinions in our many heated discussions.The schools in our group were King William'sCollege, Isle of Man, and Harold Hill G.S.,Essex.

With a tight budget and a great deal of plantinvestment, "Rendcomb Enterprises" wasmaking the biggest profit when the reportshowing all three companies' finances cameout. (Total assets being £16,693,900.) Thesecond such report showed us to be £260,000behind "Company 1." ("Company 2" wasnever a dangerous rival). In a final bid to win,and find out the result of rather exaggeratedmoves for future reference, we lost even moreof the market, and failed to reach the secondround.

However, the "game" was closely foughtand the members of the board gained a lotfrom it. Many thanks to our Financial Adviser,Mr. Kelsey, for all his work.

With the invaluable experience of this"game" perhaps Rendcomb will do betterwhen we next compete in Autumn 1972.

C.J.W. (MANAGING DIRECTOR)

16

THE SCIENCE SOCIETY

THE following films have been shown atrecent meetings: The World Thinks Tomorrow;A Walk in the Forest; Paint. In addition, onthe last Friday of the Spring Term threeScience Society films were shown for thosenot attending the whist drive. All wereproduced by the Ford Motor Company.

The first was filmed at Le Mans during thefamous 24-hour race. It showed not only therace itself but also effects of such an eventon the community.

The second one followed the life-history ofa new Ford truck from drawing-board toproduction-line, enlightening us on the com-plexities of such a vast project.

Finally, there was a film about a group ofOxford students, sponsored by Ford, who tooka Ford truck over 10,000 miles of desertterrain to prove its reliability and also tocollect samples for scientific research.

Activities next term will include a visit tothe Atomic Energy Research Establishmentat Harwell and a lecture on "Pharmaceuticals"by C. J. Wood, who is now doing researchfor I.C.I.

Accounts of a lecture and two outings follow.

R.K.

PAINT IN SOCIETY

ON March 23rd two representatives fromthe Berger group of companies, Messrs. Pikeand Stay, gave a short talk on the uses andqualities of paint. A film was shown first,illustrating and tracing the history of paintand painting from cavemen and ancientEgypt, to the present day.

Mr. Stay then gave a quick resume on theliterature provided before the visit. Thisoutlined the various uses of paint, how toapply it, and basically what it is composed of.He then gave the school the chance to firequestions at them.

They gave comprehensive replies to thequestions asked from all possible aspects, toconclude a very interesting talk.

S.R.

17

OUTING TO READINGUNIVERSITY

WE left Rendcomb by coach at 10-00 a.m.and arrived at Reading in time for coffee andbiscuits in the 1st year laboratory, one and ahalf hours later. After a brief descriptionof the course we were shown round the appliedscience and engineering department. Firstyear work was general in nature and wascarried out in suitably equipped laboratories,while 2nd and 3rd year work was on projects.Each project was carried out by a team ofstudents within the limits of a fixed budgetprovided either by industry or the university.

The projects we visited were mainly todo with energy conversion and they includeddevelopment work on the 'Sterling Engine'and associated research into a 'superconductingheat pipe' and fluid-bed breaking. We thensaw an engine with a water-filled piston thatwas still in the very early stages of developmentand an electricity generator similar to a high-powered Van der Graff machine, called anelectro-gas dynamic generator using particlesof helium gas to convey electric charges.Before lunch we also looked at some projectson turbulence in air and liquid flows.

After a cheap but well cooked lunch in theStudents' Union canteen, we glanced in atthe University library and then walked overto the department of cybernetics and appliedinstrument physics which is on the otherside of the spacious memorial park in whichthe University is built. Here were demon-strated elements of computer technology andfeed-back control systems. While in thisdepartment we visited some adjacent labor-atories and were shown two industrially-backedprojects into the viscosity and elasticity oflubricating oils under varying conditions.

After a talk from Professor Felbert about theUniversity we had tea and biscuits and re-turned to Rendcomb by coach after a mostenjoyable day.

J.M. and D.J.S.

ROUSSELPHARMACEUTICALS VISIT

ON Thursday, November 18th, a party ofVI Form scientists paid a visit to the Swindonplant of Roussel Pharmaceuticals. Not onlywas this trip of general and educational interest,but also systems of employment were dis-cussed with our two guides.

We were told of the fast growth of theplant, which is a British subsidiary to theInternational Roussel Uclaf Group, centred inFrance. The control laboratories (for checkingregularly the products of the plant) and thesterile areas were found to be of most interest.The latter were sealed to entry of any unwantedbodies by a constant air pressure rather abovenormal inside the laboratories, so that airflowed only out, and ultra-violet radiationbaths for those entering who then must wearsterile suits for working with the chemicals.However, the largest part of the plant was takenup by the bottling, packaging and tubing sideof the business. Unfortunately their searchlaboratories were closed to us for obviousreasons of security.

We concluded the visit with a discussionwith two members of the Roussel staff aboutthe whole business of drug manufacture andthe connections and results with the public.

M.B.

18

THE DEBATING SOCIETY

DEBATING at Rendcomb was revived thisterm on the topical motion that "This Houseis in favour of Co-education" and the atten-dance was, not surprisingly, high. The motionwas proposed by David Barling and secondedby Martin Bircher, who between them con-vinced the doubters that the merits of co-education in the cause of peaceful co-existencefar outweighed the disadvantages. The opposersof the motion, Niven Boyd, and his seconder,Bob Morris, faced a difficult task in persuadingthe audience that co-education was best forall concerned when it was not allowed into theconfines of a boarding school, but certainlymade a good job of attempting it. Variousmembers of the audience also spoke when themotion was thrown open to the House, mostly,it must be admitted in favour of the motion;points in favour of co-education were raisedby Martin Brown, Jonathan Tyler, NicholasHance, Robert Barrett, Richard Hudson,William Buckingham, Antony Pitt, MartynPitt and Graham Jordan. Only two peopleraised doubts about the wisdom of what wasproposed, both, it may be noted, in juniorforms : Phillip Lamphee and David Pitt.The motion was carried by 70 votes to 14.

The second debate of term, in many ways amore successful one, was on the motion, "ThisHouse is in favour of Britain's entry into theCommon Market." The opinion of the Houseprior to the debate was not polarised to theextent as it had been over co-education, andthe superior oratory of the proposers swung thevote in their favour. Kim Stuckey proposedthe motion, with Gregory Dorey seconding,and their argument was copiously illustratedwith facts and statistics to prove the economicnecessity for Britain's entry. The opposition,led by Brian Ingles and seconded by BrianSmith (who is, however, a dedicated European !),made an emotive appeal to British nationalism,although, it must be admitted, at times with nogreat display of confidence. Perhaps under-

standably with the complicated subject underdiscussion, few of the House felt able to speak,but Clive Mathias and Graham Jordan spokein favour of the motion, while John Millardspoke against it. When the motion was putto the House, it was carried by i6 votes towith 2 abstentions.

D.G.J.

CLIMBING NOTES

THE first major event of the autumn term wasa visit to the Peak District. The party split upinto two groups, meeting at the pub in Flash(the highest village in England), then movingon to the bivouac site. We rose at 3-3o a.m.,and returned in time for breakfast.

On November 6th, the climbing group wentto Snowdonia, camping overnight in theLlanberis Pass, and on the following dayclimbed Pen-yr-oleu-wen, Carnedd Dafyddand Carnedd Llewellyn, but were preventedfrom conquering the other three of the group,Yr Elen, Foel Grach and Foel Fras, by highwinds, one being strong enough to blow oneperson off his feet!

Between these expeditions, visits were paidto Cleeve Hill and Wintour's Leap, in varyingweather conditions, and to the Brecon Beacons.Also, a start was made on the Cotswold Way,usually on Monday runs supplemented byWednesday walks, and Offa's Dyke Long-Distance Footpath.

We returned to Snowdonia for the firstfew days of the winter holidays, to get practicein snow technique for the Alps. On the firstday we climbed up into Cwm Glas, searchingfor snow, but found little, and climbed ParsleyFern Gully to the summit of Crib Y Ddygsl,descending by the Miner's Track. The nextday, we tried to climb the remaining three ofthe Carneddau group, but were again forcedback by high winds. When we returned, itwas generally agreed that we should returnhome, and so we spent the night hopping from

19

one service station to another down theM6 and M5.

In the Spring, very little rock-climbing wasdone, the major climbing activity being thetaking of a party of beginners to Wintour'sLeap on the penultimate Sunday of the term.Offa's Dyke Path was continued, and the routeof the planned charity walk was checked bymap runs on Mondays and Wednesdays.Also, on the Mondays of the last half of theterm, the climbing group learnt how to skion an artificial mat at Dudley.

We went twice more to Snowdonia. The firstoccasion was at half-term, where we learnt howto build an igloo, before doing a snow and iceclimb in Cwm Glas, coming down the samepath as the ill-fated scouts used the next day,at night! The final two days were spent infrustrated attempts to find good conditionsfor snow and ice climbing.

Two weeks later we went up again, campingovernight in the Llanberis Pass. Sunday wasspent in practising ski-ing in Cwm Cywionin mild sunlight and fairly good snow.

B .R. M.

MOUNTAIN SAFETY LECTURE

ON March 21st, Mr. Willson gave a lectureto the greater part of the school on mountainsafety. The lecture was aimed at those whowere at that time or who might in the futurebecome involved in Rendcomb expeditions,those who might take to the mountains inlater life and the responsible citizen whoseright it is to be informed about such a matterof life and death, particularly in the light ofthree separate fatal mountain accidents in-volving schoolchildren which had occurredduring the preceding four months.

Mr. Willson began by presenting his audiencewith the question of whether or not Mr. Medillwas right in allowing Rendcomb climbing tocontinue. The main justification for this, ashe saw it, was that, even if there were noclimbing at school, many boys would sooneror later in life be drawn towards the mountains,and it is therefore better for them to beproperly equipped and trained physically,psychologically and technically to understandand meet the dangers, rather than have tolearn the hard way, perhaps too late. Hedivided mountain victims into three types:those succumbing to a combination of ex-haustion and severe weather, those falling andinjuring themselves, and those hit by thingsfalling on them. He then talked about thesecases, giving advice on avoidance of avalanche-prone areas in dangerous conditions, and athorough covering of the causes of exposureaccidents. Here he was aided by Mr. Swaine,who delivered a brief synopsis of the biologicaleffects of temperature change on the humanbody. Mr. Willson outlined the precautions,in the way of clothing, equipment and fitnesstraining necessary to cope with the hazardof severe weather. He then took for his subjectthe avoidance of falls in winter conditions,having as exhibits an ice-axe, crampons, ropeand abseiler. After a brief summary, questionswere invited.

J.S.

20

IRELAND 1971Julian Campbell (Form HI)

He opened the door,Fighting the sharp catch,Stepped into the new morning.An ecstasy of clearly defined diamondsSparkled from the white vegetation;The cold air surged, bitingDeep down in his body.His stiff boots rubbed his feet,The ice cracked in submission,Like powdered glass.His coat was cold, he pulled itTight around him.Like a breaking pane of glass,Peace was shattered.The man dropped,A coat falling from a rack.Like wind and rainComing in through the broken pane,People ran towards the limp bodyAnd the trickle of blood.A smoking rifle lay at the base of a tree.A mile away ranA man, full of a happy devil.

AT THE HAIRDRESSER'SMichael Findlay (Form V)

THE summer holidays end abruptly with visitsto school outfitters, shoe shops and theinevitable barber.

That particular summer, my hair had grownfor seventeen weeks and was beginning tobecome respectable from my own point ofview, and embarrassing from my parents'!I finally agreed to being 'trimmed' and oneday during the latter part of my final week offreedom I was taken to Cheltenham, feelinglike an old horse on its final journey—to theknacker's yard. I was fed the customarypropaganda, such as, "They always do itnicely at Cay. House," and, "It's time it wasshaped properly." I was oblivious to all these

homely remarks at such a time, and remainedsilent in the back of the car with a sullenfrown of self-pity engrained on what couldstill be seen of my face.

On arrival in Cheltenham, my impendingdoom seemed all the more vivid and I stampedalong The Promenade feeling my hair blowingfreely in the warm breeze. Cavendish Houseseemed even stuffier than usual and theescalators seemed to escalate far too swiftly.Eventually I was in the salon with the buzzof razors and click of scissors deafening me.I watched with horror as a man was shorn bythe barber I had booked.

"If it's bad," I thought, "I shall kill myself.I shall become a monk and never speak again."

The barber had finished with his firstvictim and was grinning inanely at me.

"He was first," I said desperately, pointingat someone sitting beside me.

"No," he assured me, "You booked.You're next." I sat in his chair and staredat his diploma, expecting to see the name`Sweeney Todd' scrawled on the dotted line,in blood.

"Just a trim, sir?"I nodded. Barbers have a remarkable

knack of starting with a trim and ending witha 'short back-and-sides.' Ignoring my fearduring this traumatic experience, the barberchattered on aimlessly.

"What I like about this job is that you canlook around the room while you work."

My hands sweated, my neck itched, andmy hair floated helplessly down onto the floor.

"A wig," I thought. "That's the answer."I looked at a price-list for wigs on the wall

and decided against it."All finished, sir."I looked up and saw my face again."Thank you," I grunted.I paid and left."I shall become a dustman," I mused.

"A hairy dustman."

21

EARLY MEMORIESPhillip Lamphee (Form IV)

THOUGHTSJonathan Fletcher (Form IV)

The alarm rang.Out into snow and lashing rain we ran;We hunched up under heavy coats,Shuffled through the crisp and gleamingFallen leaves,Flooding the narrow pathway through the

churchyard;Under the resolute chestnuts,Standing tall,Spurring the nipping, acrid autumn winds.

We hurriedInto the clammy darkness of the sunken lanes,Out of the screaming light of the town.Down we trudged, squelching through theFreezing puddles;The clinging mud grabbed at our staggering

legs;The slippery stonesTore wildlyAt our scrabbling feet.

Up an icy bank.We rushed across the frosted glassy grass,Skidding as the frozen tufts tripped us;Our boots crunched into the tough and icy

paths.ClamberingOver a rugged concrete wall, which scratched

andGrazed our knees,We chargedOn past the welcoming lights.At lastWe reached our aim.Home.Home from school.

WHAT a silly place to go. Any river with evena small amount of sense would turn round atsuch a thickly woven clump of bushes. Itmeant a large detour up a steep hill, the topof which was screened by the thicket of thorns.I wheeled right and started up the slope.It hadn't been much of a useful afternoon;I had intended to get away from life, and myparents in particular, and go somewhere tothink. I had no plan as to what to think about—just think. I had started to think, buthad given it up when I came to the conclusionthat my parents weren't really as bad as itseemed; it was my fault.

Then I noticed the pill-box, relic of the war,memorial of the unattempted invasion. Thecast-iron door opened stiffly and I scrambled in.I was not, however, the first person to reach it.The floor was inches deep in cigarette packets,newspapers, wrappers and all the usual junkof a secluded spot in the country. But theslits in the wall and the concrete-pillar seatsprovided ample scope for vivid imagination.A column of German troops marching awk-wardly down the other side of the valley.The Panzers on either flank. Stukas howlingonto the town over the far hill; and two ofus here, between the Jerries and death.Rat-tat-tat-rat-tat-rat-rat-tat. Down wentthe front rank. I turned round to get moreammunition and my hand was licked as if withsoggy sandpaper. A cow had joined the army!

Having deserted, I carried on along theriver towards the road. I decided it was timeto do a little more philosophising. Hundreds ofpeople flashing past yet I was alone, to allintents and purposes, with no means ofcommunication to those humans. Like beinga millionaire in a desert, I mused. Useless;pointless; hopeless.

Still, I couldn't live without those people,useless as they seemed, and it was also time toeat. So I hurried back along the road to mybike, not far from the thorn bush, and joinedthe noisy throng in the race for survival.

22

THE UPPER-CLASS WOMANJonathan Dixon (Form IV)

The woman wore too much make-up. Herlizard eyes had lids like waves, they were sogreeny-blue. Her lips were vivid orange andthe wrong shape. While she talked she wavedher plump hands idly, as if the vast array ofrings she wore were an intolerable burden.I wondered why she didn't take them off.She talked on, incessantly waving, as if shewere signalling to someone. I felt my eyelidsdrooping. Suddenly, I was snatched back toreality by an interrogative tone in her voice.She had asked me a question!

"Er . . . . pardon?" I stammered, consciousof her eyes regarding me as if I had some viledisease.

"I asked you, " she said coldly, "what youare doing at school?"

"Oh . . . er, well ... I . . . um . . . nothingspecial."

She regarded me with horror, then in apatronising voice said kindly, "Well, I do notexpect you can help it, going to a modernschool." She laid great emphasis on the`modern' and I began to feel uncomfortable.I hoped it wasn't going to show in a blush,but, sure enough, I felt my colour rise andthe hairs at the back of my neck prickled.

"When I was at school we worked veryhard." That was a lie, she probably had agoverness, and had never been to school withcommon people. "But then, I went to a properschool . . . "

"Oh, but . . . er . . . I go to a proper schooltoo," I interrupted.

"I," she said in a frightful voice, "was taughtnever, under any circumstances, to interruptmy bet . . . . elders." She had meant to say`betters,' but had thought better of it at thelast moment. I began to feel depressed.Why, oh why, did my parents have to dragme along to these posh parties, where I wasso out of place?

The woman had gone. For that I wasextremely grateful. I was rescued from mycorner ten minutes later by my parents.I was still clutching a sherry. I put it down,feeling vaguely nauseated.

In the car my mother said, "Well, wasn'tit worth going to see Mrs. Baker?" I didn'tanswer. I was still seeing the frown of con-tempt on the plump woman's face, and herband, arrayed with rings, idly waving, re-flecting the light from the crystal chandelier.

THREE STEPS TO HEAVENDennis Jenner

I-Ching raps on the door of my mind:it opens, and I enter the real world of my

subconscious.I see and I touch the fantasies of my youthwith efficacious faith:the country house with stereo in the parlour,the invincible force and the immovable object,the rich old eccentric who bequeaths to me;and to crown it all—the elixir tree.Is this all—what the dark side of the moon?The grave cloth gape—but this one is not

empty....I pass where angels fear to treadthrough the charnel-houses of my mind

and the pollution of the Lethe.And ever on with frozen tread to the doorway

back to madness:But it is not there ... all is despair in the real

unreal,

23

THE COMING OFSPRING AND .. .

Andrew Harris (Form I)

CRUCIFIEDMartin Griffiths (Form III)

LIKE a boy awakening from a dream, springcreeps into our world, shining forth its radiancewith splendour. Its breezes refresh thememories of the forgetful, bringing backmemories of romances once forgotten tominds of the old.

Spring is a time for romances, both old andyoung, its blooms blossoming in the sun,buds springing from green boughs : surelythese suggest romantic scenes of happiness andlove.

The streams that were ice in the clutchesof winter turn into transparent blue waters,cascading over mountainous terrain, orflowing through valleys rich in floweringdaffodils, and budding branches upon greentrees.

The thought of death as coldness overtakesthem rallies them on to fight and conquer.In the end, victorious, the plants return totheir original blossoming state.

. THE DESOLATIONOF WINTER

LIKE a grand army triumphantly conqueringcountry after country, winter enters the worldstealthily marching through submissive plants,allowing them to suffer and die. A gleam ofsun serves as a moment of hope to the sufferinglife but is soon tranquillised into the miseryof submission.

A break in winter's spell of desolation letslife return to normal for a short period.While rejoicing at the thought of overcomingwinter, the plants forget winter is never com-pletely beaten. Once again the anger ofwinter has overpowered the gay plants intobleak solitude; hungry and forlorn, the plantsare driven into nakedness.

What is the pluperfect of sum?I fade away into an ancient time,Far away in the depths of my mind,I find myself seated on an ass.It walks in a stately way.And people throw palms at me.

I wake again,As the master shouts,I said, boy, what is the pluperfect of sum?I mutter an apology,And give him what he asks.

I fade away again into my dream.There are people all around,I'm in a court,In the defendant's place.A man in white robes questions me,I answer straight away,Without thinking at all.I'm led away, down into a cell;And I wake up.

Returning to sleep,I see some Romans,I see a cross, wooden and large.The nails force throughMy hairy hands,And I scream aloud in agony.As the thirst gets greater,And the blood pours out,The heart-beat quickens,And breathing strains.The storm is come,The lightning flashes!And the thunder rolls!And the bell goes;And I wake up.

24

A WILD SCENEStephen Hawkins (Form I)

I can't remember its name or even whereit is, but it is there, forward in my mind,nameless, locationless, its barren rock, toweringpinnacles of the sea's tyrannical temples,hidden beneath in the shape of caves, myriadsof them with their walls resounding with thesea-god's gentle approaches.

It is arrived at through a leafy glade whichin the day looks like a fine woven tapestry andat night like a ghost's grey, shadowed army ofsentries with fixed bayonets.

As you approach the little rock wall overwhich you have to climb to enter this city ofcold, blue, reclining Buddhas and paganceremonies, you may have hoped, from thesounding of the lyrical sea, that you wouldcome upon a golden stretch of precioustiara.

But hopes would be rudely shattered asyou entered the citadel over the wall. Thereis a crude path, hardly even a worn, well-trodden track, an almost vertical, slimyturquoise way which takes you down to thebottom.

This gargantuan, awe-inspiring, stern-lookingcove, monument of the silver-sheened neigh-bour, the moon, and her marvellous effects onthe sea and tide, looks unkindly around.

When the bottom has been attained, you cantake stock of your situation. This tarnishedjewel beside an off-silver sea is built in a roughsemi-circle. From left to right, in the cove,there are caves hidden and open and on theextreme right is a little point that sticks apodgy thumb out into the sea.

Let us take a visit on a stormy night. Nightof any sort is bad enough beside the sea, but astormy night really has to be seen to be be-lieved.

As soon as the first clap of thunder isheard the more timid permanent inhabitantsof this Eastern paradise is an English settingscurry under an outlying boulder. Don't

think that this wild extravaganza of the orientis entirely uninhabited. There are limpetsand barnacles, crabs and mussels, all going intheir own way to safety.

By the time the lightning has first appearedand the storm has tightened its hold aroundthe darkening bay, with its shivering fingers,even the stout-hearted lobsters scurry into thesea to avoid this other unusual water thatpours from heavenly buckets onto an un-suspecting world and horrified bay.

The wind is up, the dark reflections of thecliff's many towers fall onto the water. Themoon is obscured, the rocks are momentarilyaflame, the pebbles are shimmering, gleamingand then 'dying' for a few minutes and thesea is thrashing the coast, letting it know whois the master.

The earth and our little cove have justsurvived the ravage from the elements andas the wind falls, the stern, tall cliffs pause fora moment and maybe give an emotional sighof relief as life comes back to normal again.

25

THE CHOIRBOYTimothy Hoskin (Form III)

END OF THE ERANigel Bradbury (Form IV)

Little Martin Woodstock, the nephew of thevicar,

Deputy head choirboy at St. Matthew's,Edinburgh Square.He sits in the pew with his Eton-style collar.The cleanest and best-kept boy of allWith his grey Sunday suit, and his blue SundayTie,His little red cassock, and his blueOff-balanced cap.

Ruthless "Plunger" Martin, leader of a tribe.On the north end of the Island by thePlatform.Dancing in a frenzy, shouting, screaming,

cursing.Painted brown, black, and red, with humanBlood.With skin-scraped knees, and a blood-stainedSpear,His grease-sodden hair, and his red, sore feet.

THE AD-MAN'S CREEDStephen Hicks (Form III)

I believe I can sell anything,Anywhere, any time, to anyone.I believe that with a few wordsI can sell the Empire State Building.I believe I could make anyonePay something ludicrous for anything.I believe the nation is such a sucker,I could sell the moon twice over.I believe words are the key toEveryone's dream of a fortune.I believe I can sell size five shoesTo a mug with size three feet.I believe I can sell long-sightedGlasses to short-sighted eyes.I believe in cheating and fraud,And I can sell anything. So There!

THE desert stretched out to a hill-less horizon.There was the occasional dune of dust thatmade it seem like a real desert, but this barrenplain told of the anguish of man's suicidalsadism. This was not ordinary sand—it was asterile dust, deposited out of the white-hotvapours of atomic explosions. The dunesmarked where once stood the marvels ofman's imagination; now razed down to tinystumps of condensed metal. Overheard awatery blur marked where the sun was, as itvainly tried to force its rays through a saturatedgaseous solution of radio-active dust oncecalled air. This decrepit scene covered themajority of a distorted land-mass which usedto be called North America. To the south laya more recognisable southern continent, onwhich grew a few patches of moss where thedust was damp enough. The sea was coveredin a black slime—the semi-decomposedremnants of a once unlimited mass of lifewhich had rotted until even the bacteria in itdied. In the sky huge flashes of lightningoccurred as radioactive isotopes of cobalt anduranium gradually changed back into harmlesslead. Every day a new island was born asvolcanoes spewed up the remnants of thosecivilizations which had been drowned duringthe upheavals. In the colder polar regionshuge glaciers of melted and re-frozen icemarked where man had continued his wars inthe only habitable parts of the earth. Nowthese too were sterile.

Ten miles underground, below the earth'snorth magnetic pole, the last insane remainsof mankind were surviving.

During the wars some people had frozenthemselves in neutral animation units, andhad programmed robots to store them in thearctic ice. When the earth had shifted itsaxis, however, many of these deep-freezeshad been thawed out by temperate weathersand the units had faltered. Some of theoccupants had peacefully died, but others

26

had been exiled to an eternal suspendedanimation—never to be woken as the long-termtime switches had been destroyed. The lastsurviving colony of humans had fled into thedeepest trenches of the arctic ocean—and whenthese had been crushed, closed and fused byunderwater H-bombs they were left trappedin the bowels of the earth. This had not beenentirely the fault of man. He had built machinesto wage his wars for him, but you cannot beata machine. All of mankind had been sentscurrying for shelter as the machines sterilizedearth, and then they had wiped themselvesout completely.

Now man was a thing of the past. Mutatedraces fed off the algae in the caverns underthe oceans. Man had been turned into aless intelligent and much more brutal form,and within a few years practically all homo-sapiens had been exterminated by this racein the caverns.

A few dozen had fled to the surface; and nowthe last group of intelligent humans trekkedacross no-man's land, hoping to cultivatethe mosses of the southern continents andretire into some deep crevasse that had beenhewn out by nuclear bombs.

The bizarre vehicle crawled across thecrystallized terrain. Lead plates providedsufficient damping to the fierce radiationsthat were emitted from every dust particlein the air. Cosmic rays, too, pounded the shellof mankind as the protective Van Allen belts,which once dampened these deadly thunder-bolts, had long since been blasted out of earth'sorbit. Spindly legs kept the machine fromcontacting the ground dust as even the three-foot thick lead could not keep out such strongradiations as would be issued forth from this.At last, after weeks of clumsy travelling, thevehicle reached the southern continent.

The findings were disappointing. Instead offinding some simple ferns which could bemutated and cultivated to give edible varietiesthe party found dying mosses and lichens.Without such a source of food it looked as

though mankind would have an ignoble end—feeding off a limited food supply on board hiswould-be vehicle of salvation. However,man was doomed to die less peacefully.His nature told him that his death was to bemagnificent—but suicide. The final decisionwas made as the machine examined an islandabout five miles off the coast. Little did manknow that had he waited and let nature takeher proper course the earth would return,in the course of millions of years, to herformer beauty. Little did he know that hisvicious and small-brained rivals would matureto form a much more peace-loving and suc-cessful race than he ever had. When thecommand was given to set off the chain ofreactions which would result in the destructionof this last surviving group a few of the otherrace watched from ancient derelict cities at thecoast. All at once the sea boiled, creationshook and to them Atlantis had sunk.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OFTHE WALL

Derek Wiggall

A friend is always around when wealthyChances give him purpose to swindle.A friend is always gone, when not healthy,And profits dwindle.

A friend always skilfully explainsWhat they said behind your back.A friend goes home when it rains;Then puts you on the rack.

Be careful, my friend, whom you chooseIn this elusive world of ours.For only you will be destined to lose;Be left to count the hours.

27

PIRATESStephen Hawkins (Form I)

THE very word 'pirates' should conjure up toany person who is capable of the most trivialflight of imagination a picture of gay, swash-buckling, romantic or devilish men interestedonly in gold, rum and women. I personallycan say that although this concept of a pirateis at first appealing, the real story is of wickedmen, not caring for anything except themselvesand their personal profit in a gory, hot en-vironment.

But if you forget all that the realistic bookstell you and go to a cinema to see a celluloidtangle in which the hero invariably survives,few strands of truth can be gleaned from thisover-grown, Hollywoodian forest of musicadventure and romance. Maybe a visit to`Old Jamaicee' or Trinidad will be enough todestroy some of this pipe-dream. Here theclimate is so hot that for an English, Frenchor Spanish settler life would be one big fightagainst the climate, the insects and the in-hospitable natives.

Secondly, look at records from those citiesand villages which were unluckily fired andpillaged by the pirates. No one would goout to have their city or village pillaged byanything, but when there were pirates reportedlurking around the coast it was just as well topack up and go, because when pirates attackedthey really attacked.

Some pirates, however, used more subtlemeans of obtaining what they wanted. Onepirate went to the Governor of Gambia pre-tending to be an envoy and managed to getaway with ten thousand silver pieces. Theseare the only ones with the faintest trace ofglamour.

Some pirates just looked gruesome but somereally were gruesome. Perhaps one of thenastiest of them all was a woman. She marrieda pirate captain and once had a whole ship'scompany shot. The pirates are renowned fortheir dreadful tortures and victims' deaths.

Pirates were a dreadful lot and should neverreally have been glamorised but somehowI don't know what we would have done ifthose old films had not been there on Sundayafternoons and maybe it is better if this is theidea we remember, not the horrible truth.

EARLY MEMORIESJonathan Fletcher (Form IV)

I remember, for a start, my first house,On Watling Street, before the motorways.But I don't recall a smelling, growlingCaravan of trucks, except for one red bus,Turning the corner oppositeOne cold October morning.It just remains, Gibraltarian,Against the balding trees.But now which has certainlyFailed to make the standard time requires,The glass veranda dawdles into focus.Gateway to the garden, garage, greenhouse.Its contents? I cannot say at all;Except the cat.Great furry monster, dirge for the rats,Queen of the cats. She spent her nightsWith a saddle-back boar, preening his vermin,Sharing his straw. But it fades;And enters now a fence,Frontier of Shakespeare's county,And limit of my wanderings.

28

RELIGIOUS CHANGE AFTERMATHMartin Brown Robert Morris

(1)Bleak waste—a desolation of matter;Empty syllables for a meaningless existence.Shuffling, in chill dampness. Uncomforting,

ragged sleep.Disease-infected scurrying and scraping—Silent noises, unnerving nerveless being.Musty rags; ageing darkness; deathly

endlessness .

(2)Bent in deep pondering, musing at humbleness,Greatness holds reverently aloof.Viewing the passing of ages as daily

occurrence, inImmortality. Stooping to consider sweet natureAs gentle amusement for heavenly boredom.

The darkness in the sky,A suspension of particles,Settles on the ground-

unmasking all the evil past.

The trees are autumn-naked,The land all bare and dry—

a charcoal mattress.Nothing stirs, there is no life.The bomb fell a long time ago.

The time passes; days, weeks, or years?I begin to imagine things,My mind gets lonelyAnd then tells me I am dead

the same as everyone else.At last there is peace.

29

WELL, IT'S LIKE THISKevin Barraclough (Form III)

LITTLE BENNY sauntered into my study,closed the door behind him and stood up,looking at me.

"Good morning, Mr. Law," he said. Icasually returned the compliment.

Benny was now six years old, about fourfeet tall, and exceptionally awkward. Hisparents had sent him to me, so that I couldexplain Christianity to him. I called him overto sit on my knee.

"Now listen, Benny. Your parents havesent you here so that I could tell you aboutthe most important thing in life."

"If it's about the birds and the bees, I'vealready learnt it at school," he answered.

"No, it isn't about that. I will tell youabout it now.

About two thousand years ago, there was ababy born in a stable. This baby was to becalled Christ."

"What, like I'm called Benny?""Yes, almost, well, not really, but anyhow;

he was born in a stable ... ""I was born in a hothspital.""Yes, well, Jesus was born in a stable.""Who's Jesus?""Jesus was the one who was going to be

called the Christ . . . er, like you're calledBenny. However, wise men came to worshiphim, because they knew he was going to bethe wisest man in the world."

"But my mother says my father is thewisest man in the world, and Jimmy's parentssay that Jimmy's father is the wisest man inthe world."

"Er, yes, well, er, they aren't exactly thewisest men in the world because Jesus was,and is."

"You what?""Never mind," I said, shrinking from the

idea of explaining to him how Jesus is not dead."Then they told me a lie.""Well, er, not exactly, because er . . . Well,

anyhow, let's not bother about that."

"Now you know that there is only one God,and he has only one son, and that is Jesus."I paused and waited for Benny to interrupt,but he did not, so I continued.

"Now Jesus grew up, and never committeda sin in his blameless life. And while he wasgrowing up, he helped his parents a lot, andthey, in return, loved him dearly."

"My parents don't love me, because theyspank me sometimes and send me to bed."

"But they only do that because they loveyou."

Benny looked very puzzled and I waited forit to sink in. He then slapped me across theface.

"Benny!""I only did it because I love you.""Oh ye gods," I cried in despair."Mr. Law," said Benny in a puzzled tone,

"you said there was only one God. But youjust said, 'Oh, ye gods,' and that means thatthere must be more than one God, and thatmeans you're lying, and Mummy says Ishouldn't trust anybody who lies."

"Oh, shut up," I said, losing my grip onmyself.

For the next hour, I read him parts of theNew Testament and by the time I had finishedhe was asleep. I had missed out parts that hewould not understand (when Jesus tells hisdisciples to turn the left cheek when slappedon the right!).

However, I had done what I set out to do,and I think, perhaps, Benny has some ideaof what Christinaity is about. But, perhaps,I will not open the door of Christianity inBenny's face, and leave him to the possibilitiesof getting the wrong ideas about religion,although, somehow, I don't think Benny willchange as a result of my devastating lecture.

30

EARLY MEMORIES GREENJonathan Dixon (Form IV) Neil Lumby (Form IV)

Green; it is cool like a gentle breeze,Like slime and moss, wet and slippery,Growing and appearing, everywhere,Gloriously reflected in one's mind.Living in palms and seas,Of far-off lands and dreams,Rolling against the sandy shores,Rushing and foaming against the reefs,Where coloured fishDart in and outThe green-gleaming corals.Seaweeds that swayLike the mermaid's hairAre scattered on a green-tingedSandy underworld.

I remember my childhood as a dream,An ever-changing dimension of miraclesWhere nothing seems real now.The tubs of geraniums in the "front,"A concrete garden littered with flowersThat always seemed dry or dead.The railway lines not far away,Their intermingling points stretching on.On to infinity far away.Then I recall moving away,Gone were the soot and noise of the town.Instead the peace of a small villageAnd the square miles of garden,An Eden for climbing and smoking: free,Free it was, and wild.The village school with its old, cracked bellThat called me to its tumbling wall,Where you could watch for earwigs.I remember watching the building of a house,A new house, the first new one I had lived in,The dappling of the leaves on the new brick,And the sunlight on the windows.The cows in the field across the fence;I knew each one like an old friend,As I did Nelson, the old, one-eyed horseThat lived in perfect unity with Ned,The grey donkey in the same field.The years dragged by in a lazy spiral.I grew, and learnt, and left the villageTo go to boarding school to learn some more.But I know that the village is still there,And the memories I have of it, and it of meCannot be erased by any human hand.I go to town sometimes and there's our old

house,Lived in by someone else. The trains still runBut diesel now, inferior to steam.In my mind, however, steam trains still clank byAnd their soot falls gently ... burying my

memories.

3 1

THE REJECTPaul Rose (Form IV)

NUMBER 71824C rolled slowly along the con-veyor belt. His slowly-forming brain registeredas new parts slotted into place, and his alloybody grew more and more like the drawing onthe wall. The vast hall was almost silentexcept for the soft purr of an electric motor,and dull thuds as new components were weldedinto his open chest. He did not question hissurroundings; that thought had not enteredhis head because it had not been put therein the early stages of his life. He passed intoa dark place and waited for what he knewwould happen. Something would, but he wasnot certain what. All at once a blue flashseared across his cuboid brow and he lost allsight. Sparks passed through and through himand the conveyor belt underneath him shook.His mentality faded . . . .

The next thing he knew was that there wasan empty place on the line, and he was on aprivate belt with no-one else on it. Joy passedinto him via a capacitor and two diodes.He was destined for higher things than theothers; maybe even the kingship was vacant!Full of lights, he left the hall, and continued hislonely path along a dim passage; the ceilingwas only just above him, and from time to timethe walls brushed against his arms. Then thebelt stopped, and he was irresistibly pushed ontoa small trolley, which began its short journeyat once. The question was still not in his head.

Short minutes later, 71824C moved onto adais. Below him was a great glowing platformwith a few mortals on the other side. He wasright! He was to be crowned on the gildedfloor in front of him, and his electric thoughtsmoved the trolley forward only a few feet.Annoyance was not in his megawave braincells, so he slowly stepped forward towardsthe coronation platform. He put a foot in it,and fell through among a mass of moltenmetal and energy beams.

Down in the collector basin below the twodustman grinned at each other.

"That disposal unit is a marvel," said one."Aye," answered his colleague, "but I

reckon that faulty assembly line is costingUnited Robots a bundle."

O GOD, IF THERE BE A GODSAVE MY SOUL, IF I HAVEA SOUL

Gregory Dorey

It has been saidThat the solar system is like an onion withThe concentric layers representing the orbits

of the planets andThe sun as the base for the layers. MenAre sometimes comparable to the solar system,

forOften they know of nothing beyond their

comfortable lives ,butThe parallel is still more complicated, for

everyone is like anOnion at heart, a commonOnion.The exterior we present to the world is likeThe wrinkled brown skin of the onion, veryDifferent to that inside. When we peel offThe perhaps bluff, probably handsome, possibly

pleasantOutside, we are left with the layers of the

interior; deceit,Violent nature, cruelty, vice, theFilth of man's character, theLayer of dirt underneath. AndIs it wrong to take the comparison any further?Is it not true to say that when we tear off ourOuter layers, whenWe reveal our true natures, is it not then true, toSay that we cause those nearest usTo cry,Like anOnion?

THE AUSTRIAN ALPS TRIP1971

LAST summer, Mr. Willson took a party ofthree boys, Bruce Mann, Keith Underdownand Antony Pitt to the Austrian Alps. Heand Pitt motored down through Belgium andGermany and then walked across the StubaiAlps to meet the other two who had travelledby coach. We returned along a similar routeto the van in Solden, climbing on the way along rock ridge to the summit of the Wild-spitze, one of the highest mountains in theStubai.

We then returned to the Otztal Alps : from thefirst hut, a long glacier and snow ridge took usup the Similaun. Next we climbed theFineilspitze. The but to which we descendedwe found full of Italian soldiers, and so wehad to continue to another hut. The followingday we went up a glacier for six hours, butbecause of fatigue and heat we had to turnback, although our aim, the Weisskugel, hadbeen in sight a long time. The last day in thatarea we went up the Fluchtkogel and Kessel-wandspitze. It was an interesting day: wehad a little of everything—footpath, glacier,rock ridge and snow slope.

Over the next two days we went up to theBreslauer Hut, and climbed the OtztalerWildspitze—the highest mountain in theTyrol. Another English party on our route(rather harder than the normal route) washaving acclimatisation and technical problems.Consequently our arrival on the summit wasdelayed and we were greeted there by athunderstorm.

The last day, our planned tour alreadycompleted, we spent lazily riding in chairliftsbefore taking Bruce and Keith back to Inns-bruck to catch their coach.

Mr. Willson and I returned to the Otztalto try again at the epic mountain on which wefailed last year — the Hoher First. A quicklook at the proposed route showed it to benearly impossible, so we climbed the north

face instead. It proved a very interestingclimb, being partly on hard snow and partlyon ice, with three pitches of rotten rockat the top. We were pleased to reach the crosson the summit. The descent was via a trickyrock ridge and crevassed glacier. The cloudcame right down on the glacier and so visibilitywas limited but we could see spectacularthirty-foot ice walls, and enormous sheer-sidedcrevasses of interminable depth. Finally wearrived back at our tent, late in the evening,sixteen hours from our departure in themorning.

We were lucky with the weather all thetime. There were a few cloudy days, but onno day were we kept in. We are going againthis year with even higher hopes : the northface of the Similaun, one of the most seriousice climbs in the Otztal, for example.

A.P.

34

SNOWDONIA 1971

Ox the last afternoon of the summer term12 beginners and 3 senior boys left Rendcomband travelled to Snowdonia. By 6-oo p.m.camp had been pitched in the Ogwen Valley.

The following morning dawned unbelievablydear and the party climbed Tryfan, arrivingback in time for lunch. The afternoon wasspent introducing junior members of the partyto rock climbing. The next day the partywalked over Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr-two of us continuing onto the next in therange, Y Garn—in very hot, clear weather anddescended into the Llanberis Pass where wecamped for the rest of the stay. The riverat this site is larger than the one at Ogwenand when a dam had been built it was possibleto bathe and nearly deep enough to swim in.On Wednesday morning the junior boyseither lay in the river or visited the villageshop while Mr. Willson climbed the "FlyingButtress" with three of us, who were intendedto lead the route in the afternoon. However,it was decided that it was too hot to do this,so the afternoon was spent at the camp site.

The next morning the whole party aroseat 3 a.m. and left the camp site three-quartersof an hour later to climb the Snowdon Horse-shoe. The aim of this 'Alpine' start was tocomplete the route before the temperaturerose too high. It was very enjoyable climbingthe first mountain, Crib Goch, as the sunrose over the Glyders. We arrived at theSnowdon cafe at 8-45 a.m. and persuadedthe proprietor to open early. On the lastmountain, Llinvedd, one boy felt sick. Sowhile Mr. Willson stayed with him the restof the party came back down to the valley.The sick boy came down later in the afternoon).

We arrived back at midday.

On Friday the party climbed the "FlyingButtress" and in the afternoon we had to return.The weather throughout the whole week wastruly incredible and rather uncharacteristic

Wales. This helped to make the week such

an enjoyable success and I thank Mr. Willsonfor taking us.

D.J.B.

FRENCH TRIP, 1971

ON Tuesday, 17th August, the party set offfrom Rendcomb at 10-40 a.m. After a 44-hour drive, we reached Canterbury where westopped, got out of the coach, walked to and"did" the Cathedral and, finally, walked backto the coach—all in the space of 4o minutes!We then drove on to Dover where we disgorgedinto the hotel. After a welcome hot meal, theevening was spent exploring Dover. Returningto the hotel, we went to bed, only to discoverthe great volume of sound produced when anadjacent hoverport and several flocks ofseagulls had a noise-making competition.

The next morning we got up for an earlybreakfast. A coach took us to the ferry at1 a.m. and, after very little delay, weall got onto the ferry, which left at 12-3o.We had a smooth, uneventful crossing. Mostpeople had business at the "Bureau de Change."There was no sea-sickness among ourselvesand the hour spent crossing passed veryquickly. On reaching Calais, we disembarkedand were shepherded through Customs andonto our French coach by an employee of theSchool Travel Service.

Everyone having been surprised at theopulence of the coach, we set off on oursix-hour coach journey to Rheims. Mostpeople soon adjusted to driving on the 'wrong'(or right) side of the road and distraction wasprovided by the primitive state of Frenchagriculture (such as the horse-drawn ploughseen just outside Calais). The most conspic-uous difference between French and Englishcountryside was immediately noticeable—therewas an almost total lack of hedges betweenfields.

A short stop at Saint Quentin showed usjust how backward sanitation can be. Firstattempts at spoken French met with varying

35

success. However, a technique soon evolvedwhereby repeating a key word several timesseemed to produce results. Attempts atcoherent grammar were soon abandoned.

The journey was resumed and we soonreached Rheims. After depositing our luggageat the hotel, we had an evening meal-the firstof a monotonous series of chicken and chips.The evening was spent examining Rheims bynight. A torrential rain storm with violentthunder and lightning enlivened things,scattering cafe tables and chairs and wrenching