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ISSUE No. 151

A. R. D. WRIGHTHeadmaster 1963-1975

E DITORIALEDITORRichard Hudson

Churchill’s Hall

Shrewsbury School

Shrewsbury

SY3 7AT

Tel: 01743 280630

rth@shrewsbury.org.uk

ASSISTANT EDITORAnnabel Warburg

OBITUARIES EDITORHugh Ramsbotham

Old salopian clubAlex Baxter (Director)

Miriam Walton (Administrator)

Old Salopian Club

The Schools

Shrewsbury

SY3 7BA

Tel: 01743 280891 (Director)

01743 280892 (Administrator)

School News

High the vanes of Shrewsbury gleamIslanded in Severn stream

With the happy coincidence of the Queen’sDiamond Jubilee and London Olympics it hasbeen a momentous year. There will be aparticular sense of relief in the Old Salopiancommunity that at long last the Queen’s Terrace,already dank and decaying when I leftShrewsbury in 1972, has been restored topristine glory. The ground staff have done theirusual magnificent job; once again the terrace isa worthy platform from which to contemplate theview over the town so memorably described byA. E. Housman in A Shropshire Lad.

The life of A. R. D. Wright, arguably the 20thcentury’s greatest reforming headmaster, isjustly commemorated in historian Laurence LeQuesne’s appreciation and Roger Sainsbury’sobituary. Bishop Roger Sainsbury talks of thehuge influence which ‘The Shewsy’ had onWright – and vice versa – inaugurating the socialstudies courses which continue to this day, animportant reminder, to those privileged to attendand work at Shrewsbury School, of the reality oflife for so many outside its walls.

For us schoolboys, the Wright reforms, at

least those we were aware of, swept away manyof what we considered the outdated traditions oftraditional public school life: detachable collars;compulsory daily chapel; compulsory singing ofthe school song; and house ‘feeding’ (as it wasinelegantly known). As the late MichaelCharlesworth wrote in his autobiography Behindthe Headlines, Wright in his early yearsparticularly seemed to possess an instinctivefeel for the spirit of the age. These wereturbulent years of student revolt, filtering downinto schools and memorably satirised in LindsayAnderson’s film If which seems so outlandishnow, even if, to our impressionable andrebellious minds, it didn’t seem so at the time.

Thankfully we have now moved into a differentera of reforms which are less concerned withdealing with potential revolution than changingand modernising the school to meet its futurechallenges; and the charitable outreach of theSchool is burgeoning as never before, as canbe seen in this issue of The Salopian. But if onething is certain, it will be that the vanes ofShrewsbury which have stood proud since themiddle ages, will continue to gleam, islanded inSevern stream, serene and unruffled.

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Sixty years ago, the School marked its fourth centenary with anextensive programme of events and celebrations that involvedSalopians both past and current. One major highlight of thesecelebrations took place on Friday 24th October 1952, when theSchool was honoured by a visit of Her Majesty The Queen andH.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh.

The 1952 visit is entertainingly described by Michael Charlesworthin his book ‘Behind the Headlines’. The royal couple had expresseda desire to see the School on a normal working day. As Michaelrecalls, it took many hours of debate and discussion to organise 'anormal day' for the visit, which ended up being "a mad scramble asboys appeared and reappeared, as soldiers, as gymnasts, as fivesplayers, as runners, in order to be discovered being normal".

“Altogether it was a memorable day ... There was dignity but alsolight-heartedness; as the Queen walked down the high staircase ofthe School House after lunch, she accurately 'bombed' herhusband, standing in the hall below, with her gloves.”

We are very grateful to David Longrigg (Ch 1949-54),grandfather of current Salopians Charles Gillow and Arthur Bowen,who has sent us his recollections of the day:

“I was fortunate enough to be a boy aged sixteen when theQueen, in the first year of her reign, and the Duke of Edinburgh,visited the School to celebrate its fourth centenary. It was meant tobe a so-called normal day but, of course, it was anything but that. Iwas one of 558 boys in a mass PT display, organised andrehearsed, daily for weeks, it seemed, by our main PT instructor,retired Regimental Sergeant Major Joyce. There was a Guard ofHonour; what became known as the Queen’s Terrace was opened;and the Headmaster, J.M. Peterson, introduced three previousheadmasters, the Governors and officers of the Old Salopian Club.

This was followed by a tour of the Moser Building where the Queenwas presented with a copy of Shrewsbury School Library Bindings,bound in school colours. The Royal party then visited the Darwinbuildings, where exhibitions of science, art and photography wereon display.

“The Hunt started their run – in future known as the Queen’sRun – as the Royal party passed. Plenty of boys were playing Fives;and 1st Game soccer, in which I took part, was also in action, a goalbeing scored – not by me, I would like to add! – at the time of thearrival of royalty. The Royal couple went round one of the boardinghouses [Oldham’s], lunched in School House and ended the daywith a memorable service in the Chapel where, it was noted, ‘... thesinging was all that had been hoped for, and those near HerMajesty could see that she was deeply moved by the singing of theNational Anthem’.”

A ROYAL VISIT 1952

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The Queen and Duke had spent the previous night on board theroyal train at a cutting near Much Wenlock a few miles from theSchool, and as the royal Daimler slowly departed from the School,two boys at the gates did their best to thumb a lift, much to theamusement of the Royal party!”

The Headmaster later received the following letter:

My Dear Headmaster,Both Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh very much enjoyed

their day at the School and were much impressed with the tone and

efficiency of everything which they saw, and particularly perhaps, bythe smartness of the Guard of Honour and the spirited playing of theBand and the remarkable co-ordination of the mass display ofPhysical Training. What impressed Her Majesty most, however, wasthe obvious happiness and the naturalness of the boys, shown,among other things, by their rousing singing in the Chapel; and shewas very glad to be able to meet several of them.

The Queen finally wishes me to thank you personally for the yourhospitality and for a visit to which both Her Majesty and The Duke ofEdinburgh look back with particular pleasure.

Yours sincerely, Edward Ford

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In celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Year and to mark the60th anniversary of the Royal Visit to the School, the Queen’sTerrace has been refurbished. The north-facing lawn had alwaysbeen something of a challenge and it has now been replaced withlocal Shropshire stone and some formal planting. The originalpaving stones have also been taken up and re-laid.

We were delighted to welcome back a number of formermembers of staff for the official re-opening on 14th October. Two ofthe guests had attended the original opening by the young QueenElizabeth in 1952: Old Salopian, Robin Moulsdale (I 1942-46) taughtEnglish here from 1951 to 1981 and was Housemaster of Moser's;Adrian Struvé was in the Modern Languages faculty from 1950 to1986, and was Housemaster of Churchill's and Headroom (when itwas half of School House) during this time.In slight drizzle, the Headmaster stood next to thecommemorational plaque, perched high up above the Severn(mentions of risk assessments caused much amusement) as headdressed the hundred or so guests gathered on the newlyrefurbished terrace. Guest of honour Lt Col Stephen Caney MBE(Staff 1983-99; Second Master 1993-99) spoke afterwards. Stephen

will shortly be retiring from his position as Governor, having been inthe post since 2006 when he was elected by the Headmaster andAssistant Masters of the School. Just as the speeches were comingto an end, a double rainbow appeared behind the speakers,investing the occasion with cosmic significance!

2012: THE RE-OPENING OF THE QUEEN’S TERRACE

The Headmaster and Lt Col Stephen Caney

There then follows a verse written by D.S. Colman (OS and Master)with the translation:

UNDE TRAHAM NOMEN MOLES RUDIS, ADVENA, QUAERIS. DISCE OLIM DOMINAE ME TETIGISSE PEDES. TUM VERA INCESSU PATUIT REGINA. QUIS UMQUAM. CONTEMNET TITULOS ABSTULERITVE MEOS? (Stranger, you ask whence I, a mere mass of earth derive my

name. Learn that once my mistress's foot and I met. Then shewalked as a true queen. Who will ever despise or steal away myclaim to honour?)

The plaque records the original inauguration: HANC GESTATIONEMANNO SCHOLAE FUNDATAE QUADRINGENTESIMO EXTRACTAMPRIMA INGRESSA EST ELIZABETH II REGINA AD IX KAL NOVMCMLII (Queen Elizabeth was the first to walk upon this terrace constructedin the 400th year since the foundation of the school on 24th October1952)

I am not sure if there is such as thing as a common run ofShrewsbury headmasters; but if there is, Donald Wright was not amember of it, and this was obvious even before his arrival on theSite in September 1963. For one thing, all Shrewsbury’s othertwentieth century headmasters have been appointed either fromheadmasterships elsewhere, or from housemasterships at Eton (nodoubt implying a rough equivalence between the two categories).A. R. D. Wright (‘Arthur Ronald Donald’, as he was sometimesreferred to in Common Room when derision was intended) wasneither; he was only (implied, if not expressed) a housemaster atMarlborough. Nor was this the only departure from the norm ofShrewsbury headmasters. Unlike all his predecessors, ARDW wasnot a classical scholar – indeed he made no pretence of beingeither. Nor was he a product of the traditional public school world –his own school was Bryanston, from the far left liberal fringes ofpublic schooldom, and his early teaching experience was atUniversity College School (a day school) and Leighton Park (aQuaker school).

You did not have to be a very penetrating reader between thelines to suspect that the governors had decided that Shrewsburywas due for a shake-up, and it is not very surprising that his adventon the Site was awaited, especially by the Salopian establishment,with a mixture of curiosity, alarm and eager expectation. Nor werethey left in any doubt for long about what the new headmaster waslike. He was, for one thing, a tall and imposing figure, in immediatecontrast with his predecessor, Jack Peterson. But it was not hisphysical presence that made the biggest impression on the Site,but his energy. Suddenly, after twelve quiet years of Jack Peterson’sreign, change was in the air. It was very evident that the newheadmaster was a man of action who believed in making thingshappen, and obstacles were apt to be impatiently swept aside. Anotice went up on the Common Room board whose first wordswere ‘There will be a hut’ – it turned out to be nothing more than abrisk list of much-needed reforms of the traditional method ofordering books, but the tone would not have been out of place inthe first chapter of the book of Genesis. This was a man who, whenhe saw something that needed to be done, saw no point in notdoing it immediately; and he soon saw a number of things thatneeded to be done. Impatient energy crackled in the air around him– an energy which might occasionally seem disproportionate andwhich some might feel to be misdirected, but which made theCommon Room a vastly more stimulating and exhilarating place tobe in than it had ben in living memory – indeed, since the days ofAlington – and which, if it alarmed some, evoked the enthusiasticsupport of many others.

He was an idealist who believed that ancient idols should beswept aside without much ado if they had outlived their usefulnessand stood in the way of something better. He opened his firstmasters’ meeting with a prayer and, addressing the whole school inthe Alington Hall at the end of his first term, started by playing apiano solo. He drove a fast car, fast. Jack Peterson had alwaysridden a bicycle.

This was clearly a man who was going to change things, and inthe twelve years which followed he amply lived up to theexpectations that he had created. There can be no question that heintroduced more changes at the School than any other headmaster

of the twentieth century, and this is true both in terms of bricks admortar and of the changes that he introduced in almost every areaof school life: if Jack Peterson had been halcyon, Donald was astorm petrel. Of the changes that he introduced, many wereoverdue and most have lasted: they included the abolition of firstlesson and after twelves, the end of douling and monitorialprivileges, the radical revision of the school curriculum including thereplacement of the side system in the sixth form with the blocksystem, the end of the old privileged status of the classics and themajor advance of science, the building of Kingsland Hall and theintroduction of central feeding, the expansion of music and art in thelife of the School, and the removal of the old barrier that kept schooland town so far apart by greater freedoms to go into town, theeasing of clothing regulations, and the multiplication of trips awayfrom the Site, to dances, to plays, to Talargerwyn, and on half termexeats.

It is true that not all these changes were due to Donald; somehad begun under Jack Peterson, others were initiated by thechanging attitudes of sixth formers who would no longer toleratepettifogging restrictions on their clothing and the length of their hair,and many originated with the professional architects andeducational and financial advisers whom Donald was always eagerto consult; and the spirit of the age played a large part in many ofthem, for this was the Sixties. The winds of change were blowingstrong, most of them hostile to the authority of the elderly and theweight of tradition, and favouring greater liberty and opportunity forthe young to do their own thing. But Donald was himselfsympathetic to the spirit of the age and helped to propagate it byinviting many of its leading figures down to talk to the staff, or topreach in the chapel pulpit.

Donald’s first reaction to the school was that it was a crampedand intensely introverted community (and few who remember theSite in the 50s would challenge that judgement) and all the more sobecause social life was confined to the boarding houses anddominated by the house monitors; privacy was almost entirelylacking, the provision of music and art and spare time activities ingeneral was quite inadequate, and although work in specialistsubjects was of high quality, there was no scope for broaderintellectual life, and no proper school library to nourish it. It wasthese impressions that were chiefly responsible for shaping hisearliest proposals for change, and they can still be recognised asmajor themes of these proposals – most striking in thetransformation of the Moser building and the improvement offacilities for art and music: indeed, of all the features of present-dayShrewsbury that can be traced back to ARDW’s reforms, the onesthat most strongly reflect his own ideas are surely the extraordinarydevelopments in art, music and drama that have taken place,culminating in the public sphere, at the Edinburgh Festival, theconcerts at St John’s Smith Square, Birmingham and elsewhere.

As time went by, though, these times were to an extent divertedand overtaken by urgent calls for action in other areas which had notbeen foreseen at the time of Donald’s appointment. The first was analarming crisis in the School’s finances, which threatened to put aveto at the outset on any of the major building projects which hisproposed reforms necessitated. The crisis was met, and effectivelyovercome, by the appointment of a new Bursar and a new financial

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A.R.D.WRIGHTHEADMASTER (1963-1975)

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director, and a thorough overhaul of the School’s whole financialsystem, giving the Bursary complete control over all expenditure.This was an important change in itself; but in addition, these financialreforms lay at the root of the introduction of central feeding and therapid expansion of Dayboy numbers, since the former madepossible a major reduction in the cost of catering from the old days,when it was controlled by the eight housemasters separately, andthe latter made possible a substantial increase in fee income withoutneeding to provide more boarding accommodation.

This is a good example of the way in which reform in one sphere– in this instance, finance – led on to other reforms in differentareas. It is also a good example of the way ARDW’s reformprogramme viewed as a whole, included a number of changeswhich had not figured among his original intentions. Nevertheless,they only took place because ARDW was convinced of theirnecessity by able financial advisers whose judgement herespected; and what was even more important, because they werein accordance with the changes he did desire to see in the school –in these instances, the diminution of the boarding houses asseparate identities, the introduction of a wider and stronger sense ofschool identity, and the broadening of contacts between the Schooland the town.

The pace of change was heady in the first five or six years ofARDW’s rule, and the urgent spread of it – which was ascharacteristic at his desk as behind the wheel of his car – didinvolve mistakes which were not always avoided, such as thedestruction of Bishop Butler’s statue. Nevertheless, the spirit of thetime was one of confidence and progress. Under Donald’sleadership, the news of what was happening at Shrewsburyattracted much interest and much admiration in the educationalworld, and ARDW himself became a well-known figure in that world– Shrewsbury was even referred to on occasions as ‘Mr Wright’sSchool’, not much to its pleasure – and the climax was reached withhis election as Chairman of the Headmasters’ Conference in 1970.As such one of his main tasks was to lead the HMC’s successfulrearguard action against the fumbling attempts of the labourgovernment to incorporate the public schools in the state system.There was a deep irony in this, for Donald, throughout his years atShrewsbury, was keenly interested in seeking some means bywhich public schools might open their doors to children whoseparents could not afford public school fees, and was commissionedby the HMC to make an approach to the Education minister of thenew Conservative government and try and secure her support foran ambitious scheme of state scholarships. Unfortunately theminister was none other than Margaret Thatcher, who rejected theproposal because of its formidable financial implications.

Donald had driven himself very hard ever since his arrival atShrewsbury and, given the additional burdens of his chairmanshipof HMC, it is no wonder that at the end of his term in the chair, hewas a very tired man indeed, and the governors at Shrewsburypersuaded him to take a sabbatical before taking the reins into hisown hands again on the Site. Nor was it for ARDW only that theearly 1970s stood out as something of a watershed, for theymarked the point at which the Sixties turned sour. They had been a

decade of urgent and exciting change at Shrewsbury, as in thewider public world, and there had been little doubt that its thrustwas optimistic and progressive; but it soon became apparent thatthe 1970s were to be a darker decade. On the Site too, althoughARDW’s reforms continued (most notably in the erection of the newScience Building) he found himself confronted by a series ofproblems: soaring inflation following the tripling of oil prices; theunforeseen necessity of a problematic and expensivereconstruction of The School House; a series of disciplinaryproblems with rebellious sixth formers involving issues such asdrinks, drugs and sex and the right to discuss them in the schoolmagazine; and the growing demands for the provision ofoutboarding arrangements, for bed-sitters, and for the release ofsixth formers from school discipline in general. Donald had thedifficult task of finding the right mixture of resistance andconcessions, the latter notably including the foundation of the TudorCourt bar, the first official admission of alcohol to the Site; but it washard to avoid the impression that the initiative had shifted fromARDW to the protesters.

It was unfortunate that Donald’s twelve years at Shrewsbury thusended in something of a downbeat, and I think it is true that this facthas tended to colour the image of him in the Salopian memory. Thisimage is unfair to a remarkable man and implies a seriousmisjudgement of his achievement at Shrewsbury. It overlooks theastonishing dynamism of his early years at the School, based on adeeply rooted Christian faith and a liberal idealism, together with areadiness to seek the help and advice of men with more technicalknowledge and professional experience than himself, whichenabled him to transform Shrewsbury from a conservative and old-fashioned school running gently downhill to a school with areputation as one of the most liberal and adventurous publicschools in the country. It is true that in doing this, he was only to alimited extent an innovator – he was spreading his sails to the tradewinds of his time. But he did it with a vigour and a conviction that atthe time took Shrewsbury to the front of the convoy, and in somefields at least that lead has been lasting. One of these is the field ofcultural and artistic achievement, and this is entirely fitting, for thiswas in many ways the central feature of the vision of the newShrewsbury that he hoped to create when he set out on hisheadmastership.

He was sometimes misunderstood, but he generated admirationand affection in many of his boys and a great many of his staff,some of whom remember especially that, in spite of the high pacehe drove himself, his cars, and all those around him, he wasprepared to set aside time and consideration for their personalproblems even if they made life awkward for him. If he never wonacceptance by that strange entity the Salopian Establishment as apukka Salopian, he should nevertheless be recognised by themand by the rest of us as what he was, a good and generous man,and as the headmaster who changed Shrewsbury more than anyother headmaster of the twentieth century – and moreover – let usadmit it, if with a wry smile – changed it very much for the better.Lightly lie the turf upon him.

Laurence Le Quesne

Exam successWe congratulate our leavers of 2012 on an excellent set of A leveland Pre-U results. More than 78% of the exams were awarded A*, Aor B grades, and seven pupils achieved A* in all their subjects.Particular congratulations to Jack Flowers, who not only gained anA* in both English and Latin but also achieved the highest mark inthe country in the Cambridge French Pre-U Principal Course. Jackwill be continuing his French studies at Brasenose College, Oxford.The Cambridge Pre-U Board also acknowledged the achievementof Mark Li, who was awarded the top grade of D1 in Pre-U Physics.He will be reading Natural Sciences at Caius College, Cambridge.

The AS results from our Lower 6th pupils were also extremelyimpressive.

Despite widespread reports in the media of tougher GCSEs andlower grades this year, our 5th Form pupils achieved the best set ofGCSE results the School has ever recorded. An outstanding 44% ofexams were awarded the top A* grade and 73% were either A* or Agrade. 41 boys achieved either A* or A in all of their subjects. In thetop two English sets 46 out of 48 boys achieved A* grades inEnglish Literature.

Cambridge Chemisty Challenge 2012After a busy AS exam schedule, a group of Lower 6th Formers tookpart in the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge 2012. Between them,they achieved an impressive set of results: gold medals wereawarded to Ratanon Suemanothom, Fiona Lau and Harry Cox(pictured, left to right); silver medals were awarded to Tom Bland,Varis Chirayus and Judah Rand; and a further nine pupils woncopper medals

International Young Physicists TournamentFor the eighth time in ten years, Shrewsbury represented the UK inthe International Young Physicists’ Tournament, which this summerwas hosted by Germany. Competing against teams from 27 othercountries, Alex Facey (captain), Ratanon Suemanothom, Ed Elcock,James Brent and Alistair spent a challenging and inspiring weekpresenting and defending solutions to challenging open-endedresearch problems that had been set ten months earlier.

ACADEMIC NEWS

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Pictured (left to right) are Howard Stringer, Megan Cherrington, DaveBeeston and Tom Cousins. Tom gained three A*s and Howardgained three A*s and an A – both are now heading to MedicalSchool at Birmingham. Megan has accepted a place on KPMG’s six-year school leavers’ programme, after which she will have a degreefrom Birmingham University, as well as her accounting qualifications.Dave Beeston’s three A*s and one A grade confirmed his place atLondon’s Royal Veterinary College.

Honorary Scholarships were awarded to seven pupils (left to right): Ting Wong, Rory Fraser, Derek Law, Sophia Pelling, Harry Fox, MarkHuang, Alexander Walker,

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Meanwhile, behind the scenes, John Balcombe presented theUK’s bid to host the 2014 IYPT in Britain. The bid was accepted, soit is with great excitement that we now look forward to hosting theworld’s foremost annual physics competition – commonly known asthe ‘Physics World Cup’ – at Shrewsbury School.

Classics PrizeRosie Parr (EDH UVI) wasawarded first prize in thenational Omnibus GladstoneCompetition – the UK’spremier essay prize inClassics – for her essayCountry life versus urban livingin ancient Rome. This followson from Rosie’s Certificate ofCommendation last term fromFitzwilliam College,Cambridge, for her essay onWomen in the Ancient World.

This is the third consecutiveyear that a Salopian pupil haswon the first prize in theGladstone Competition, and in each of the last six years one of ourpupils has managed either to win the first prize or the runner-upposition. Last year, Salopians won both the first and second prizes.

Rosie will receive £200 prize money and her winning essay will bepublished in the next edition of Omnibus.

Sidney Gold Medal winnersThree OS winners of the prestigious Sidney Gold Medal returned tothe School earlier this term toreceive their awards. TheGold Medal is given to themost outstanding academicpupil in the view of theSchool’s Heads of Faculties.It is not unusual for there tobe no recipient of the awardin some years, while in othersthe prize has been shared.

The most recent recipientsinclude Hugh Williams (Rb2003-08) for Physics, PhilippLegner (O 2007-09) forMathematics and MaxEmmerich (Rt 2008-10) forBiology. Philipp and Hughreceived their awards on OSDay, 22nd September, and Maxwas presented with his medalby the Headmaster during therededication of the Queen’s Terrace on Saturday 13th October.

As well as being a multiple prize winner in mathematics andscience when he was at Shrewsbury, Hugh Williams also led theSalopian team to the national final of the Particle Physicscompetition at Birmingham University, where the team successfullyexplained how the Large Hadron Collider works to young schoolpupils. Hugh went on to read Engineering at Magdalene College,Cambridge.

Philipp Legner is currently studying mathematics at St John’sCollege Cambridge. Whilst at School he won numerous prizes in

science and mathematics and captained the UK InternationalYoung Physicists’ Team, leading them to a bronze medal place inthe 2009 tournament in China – the UK’s highest ever position.

Max Emmerich arrived in Shrewsbury in 2008 and during his twoyears at the School, he won a host of top science and mathematicsprizes. In 2011 he won a place at Trinity College Cambridge to readMedicine. In part 1A of his Tripos Max was ranked in the top 5% ofhis year and in part 1B in the top 2%. He has won a variety of prizeswhilst at university and is now a Senior Scholar of Trinity College. Heis currently researching stem cell technology.

It is noteworthy that collectively all three of these outstandingacademics have been praised for their modesty, quest forknowledge and pursuit of excellence in their chosen subjects.

A Short History of the Sidney Gold MedalThe Sidney Gold Medal was instituted in 1838 and was awarded tothe best Classical Scholar going to either Oxford or Cambridge. TheMedal originally came with a purse of fifty sovereigns, but thispayment only lasted for five years! The prize was paid for byTrustees and individual subscriptions. The Trustees commissionedSir Edward Thomason to cut the original die and the image wasbased on a miniature painted by George Perfect Harding andowned by Dr Kennedy (now in the School collection). AfterThomason’s death, the business was continued by G R Collis ofBirmingham who supplied all medals after 1845.

The medal was discontinued in 1855 when the stocks wereexhausted, but was revived again in 1899. In 1980 the SalopianClub decided that the Medal should be open to all disciplines andnot purely the Classics. Since that time the majority of recipientshave excelled in the sciences.

Steve Adams

Philipp Legner (left) and HughWIlliams

Max Emmerich

Grace Ansell has been appointed as a teacher of EAL (English asan Additional Language). Grace has already been helping withconversational Chinese at the School and has also been teachingEAL and Chinese at Ellesmere College since 2009. Prior to that, shespent six years on the staff at Concord College.

Lionel Barré joins the Faculty of Languages as a Teacher of Frenchand Spanish from Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School inBlackburn, where he taught languages from 2006. Lionel is a nativeof Paris and went to school in Sceaux, famed for its beautifulchâteau and connections with the French philosopher Voltaire. Aftergraduating in English from the University of Paris X Nanterre, Lionelworked as a French assistant at West Kirby Grammar School inWirral. He subsequently completed his teacher training at theUniversity of Manchester and taught French and Spanish for fiveyears in York.

Lionel is passionate about languages and has loved leadingschool trips to France, Belgium and Spain. He is also a keengardener and is delighted to have the opportunity of establishing asustainability club at Shrewsbury School. Lionel is married to Claire,who is a teacher of French and English. They have two children,Thomas, six, and Rosie, who is four.

Sabrina Bottai has been appointed as our first Hispanic Fellow.Sabrina graduated as a teacher from our exchange partner school,Colegio San Bartolome in Rosario, Argentina. Her main duties willbe helping the Sixth Form students prepare for their AS and A2 oralexams, but there will, she hopes, plenty of additional time forrelaxed hispanic chat, as well as regular contact with Lower Schoolpupils as they start their Spanish careers.

Sabrina has teaching experience ranging from primary school toadult learners. She is currently studying towards an English degreefrom the Universidad Nacional del Litoral in Santa Fe. Her interestsinclude sport and outdoor pursuits.

Dr Matthew Clark has joined the History Faculty. He was formerly aFellow and College Lecturer in History at Pembroke College,Cambridge, and has a PhD in History from King’s College,Cambridge. He has a deep interest in modern politics and looksforward to helping pupils hone their debating skills. He is particularlykeen to participate in the school’s cultural life and is alsoenthusiastic about food and cooking. Matthew is married with ayoung child..David Cooke has been appointed as Graduate Sports Coach(Rowing). David has a first class degree in Sport and ExerciseScience from Leeds Metropolitan University and has just completedhis QTS in Secondary PE at Sheffield University.

Tom Corbett has joined the Chemistry Faculty. Tom is an OldSalopian (Rigg’s 1996-2001) and obtained a BSc in Chemistry fromthe University of Bristol. He was a member of the Royal MarinesReserve for four years, and is keen to undertake CCF duties. Tomhas spent the last two years teaching Chemistry at Moreton Hall. Heis a qualified Mountain Leader and a Duke of Edinburgh’s AwardScheme. His sporting interests include cross-country running andfootball. He is a keen Aston Villa and Shrewsbury Town supporter.

Chloé Delpy has been appointed Bordeaux Fellow 2012-13. Chloéhas a degree in Criminal Law from the University of MontesquieuBordeaux IV and has recently completed her second year of aMaster’s degree in Legal Disputes. Her interests include Frenchboxing; gymnastics; French, English and American literature; andmusic.

Caroline Farris has been appointed as Graduate Sports Coach(Girls’ Games), having been covering for maternity leave, sinceJanuary 2012, at Moreton Hall. Prior to that, she spent two yearsteaching at Casterton School. Caroline has a degree in PhysicalEducation and Dance with QTS from John Moores University,Liverpool.

Athol Hundermark has joined the School as the new Director ofRowing and Teacher of Geography. He has spent the last sevenyears as Master in Charge of Rowing at Abingdon School. He has aBSc and PGCE from Rhodes University, South Africa.

Athol previously taught in South Africa and spent four years asMaster in Charge of Rowing and teaching Geography at ShiplakeCollege. Athol is married to Nina and they have a son Hayden anddaughter Kara.

Jacob Lloyd has been appointed to the English faculty astemporary cover for Michael Schutzer-Weissmann. Jacob waseducated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, London,Jesus College, Oxford and the University of Bristol, where hecompleted his MA with a thesis on the poetry of Samuel TaylorColeridge. He has previously been providing private tuition tostudents ranging in age from 12 to 19 and is now looking forward tohis first classroom experience. His interests include drama anddebating.

Kevin Lloyd has been appointed Head of the Faculty of Design &Technology. For the last ten years, Kevin has been developing asuccessful and thriving department as Head of Design at TheKing’s School, Chester. Kevin’s aim is to bring a fresh approach toD&T at Shrewsbury. Having an interest in all things digital, he is acomputer-aided product modelling and manufacturing specialist,and a strong advocate of new technologies in product design,process and education.

Kevin initially graduated with a First Class Industrial Design &Technology Degree from Loughborough University, beforeachieving an MA in Industrial Design at the internationallyprestigious Central St Martin’s College of Art & Design in London.Before moving into teaching, Kevin ‘designed’ his way aroundAustralia, working on, amongst other things, the Olympic Torch &Cauldron for the Sydney 2000 Games. He is married to Sarah andthey have two young daughters, Madeleine and Matilda.

Alongside fatherhood and his conspicuous consumption of thewell-designed product, he is an outdoor enthusiast, and can oftenbe seen precariously perched on the mountains of North Wales.Although now at Shrewsbury, he may even be tempted by the moretame peaks of England.

Prior to joining Shrewsbury as Director of Drama, Brian Parsonswas Professor of Theatre and Director of Undergraduate Acting atthe University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He has held

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full-time faculty positions at the Central School of Speech andDrama and the University of Hull. Adjunct positions include teachingat New York University, Rose Bruford College, Mountview Academy,LIPA, Italia Conti, Arden School, Northumbria University, LincolnCenter Institute (New York) and Carroll College. As a theatredirector, he has worked at the Bristol Old Vic, Royal Court, RoyalNational Theatre and for Aquila Theatre Company in New York, forwhom he is a now a board member. Brian has won numerousnational awards for his theatre directing and has published on thesubject of Greek Tragedy. He was external examiner for theUniversity of Hertfordshire Humanities Division and is a Fellow of theHigher Education Academy of England. A keen rugby player andcoach, he has played and coached at Hull RFC, Hessle, OldAlleynians, Hatfield, Marist Rugby, Racal Decca, Gosport andFareham, Los Angeles Rugby Club and USC. Brian’s wife Dana is afilm producer and professional photographer.

Anna Peak has taken over from Sara Hankin as Housemistress ofMary Sidney Hall and has also joined the Geography Faculty. Annawas educated at Gresham’s School, Norfolk and is a graduate ofExeter University. She was previously Head of Geography and aHouse Tutor at Loretto School in Edinburgh. She has also taught atGarden International School in Thailand, and at Epsom College.

Anna’s interests include a wide range of sports and she hascoaching experience in many of them. She is also a keen outdoorenthusiast and has Grade 8 singing and flute. Anna and her partner,Simon, have two young daughters, Clemmy and Willow.

Rebecca Weatherstone has been appointed to the French faculty.She was educated at Somerville College, Oxford and then workedas a Graduate Teacher at Old Swinford Hospital School. Rebecca islooking forward to supporting pupils in their applications to readModern Languages at Oxbridge, drawing upon her recentexperiences there. She is also excited about the opportunity oforganising and participating in trips in the Languages department.Her interests include going to the theatre, as well as French cinemaand literature.

VALE

STAFF BABIESColm and Lucy Kealy are delighted to announce the safearrival of Ruairi Thomas James on 7th July. In anticipation of the move towards full co-education atShrewsbury, Peter and Jenna Middleton are delighted toannounce that Rigg’s Hall welcomes a ‘new girl’ to join hersister Isla. Sophia Louise was born on 19th July.

Senior staff leavers (left to right): Dr David Gee (again!), David Nicklaus, Robin Case, Peter Fanning and Matthew Mostyn

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Robin CaseRobin and Alex came to Shrewsbury with their elder son, Richard –now an established teacher in the Biology Department - in 1980 toteach English, as Master in Charge of Drama and to tutor inChurchill’s.

Although Robin was a reasonable squash and rugby player(coaching the 3rd XV with Richard Raven – an unlikely but happycombination) and a good cricketer, for a while coaching the U16swith Robin Trimby, the world of drama soon took over, and left verylittle time for sports. Robin found the worlds of performing arts andsports at Shrewsbury a galaxy apart, and the drama scene ratheresoteric. Determined to change things, his first production, involvingover a hundred boys (and girls for the first time) in the draughtyAlington Hall, was a robust and coherent Tamburlaine, to befollowed soon after by the first production outside London or NewYork of the RSC’s Nicholas Nickleby, putting the seal on drama as acommunity enterprise within the School and also drawing heavilyupon other schools and local dramatic societies.

Those who knew Robin from this period recall the intensity of histeaching, often aiming to hit the target but starting from a tangent;perceptive and passionate readings of texts, punctuated by songand the occasional raid on the classrooms of other and whollyunsuspecting teachers.

In 1984 Robin was responsible for the launch of the AshtonTheatre, and with the bursar and architect, for its style and designwhich has remained so versatile and effective over the years. Therefollowed halcyon days for the Ashton Theatre: House and Schoolplays benefited enormously from the new facility, workshop dramaflourished, and Robin introduced drama into the Third FormCurriculum on Thursday afternoons. Later, when James Marshallwas Head of English, he added Theatre Studies to the A Levelcurriculum, popular then as now.

In 1988 Simon Langdale invited Robin to take over Ingram’s, andhe still recalls the horrified silence and gale of laughter when theannouncement was made in break in the Common Room. Butthese were to be the happiest and most productive years for theCase family. Robin and Alex loved Ingram’s and did their very bestto include the boys as part of their family, and relationships,conversations, pastoral care and career planning were allconducted with love.

During this period Ted Maidment asked Robin to travel toThailand – the School’s first foray into marketing overseas. Robinand Alex represented the School together, did the business with theagents, refreshed old contacts in the Thai Royal Palace, andestablished the Vajiravudh Scholarship, which flourishes tothis day.

On Robin’s retirement from Ingram’s in 2001, after 13 hugelysuccessful years, Jeremy Goulding kept him occupied with the450th Anniversary History, which still makes good reading today.But a far greater challenge soon presented itself. In 2003 thegovernors at Adcote School asked him to become Headmaster.Hoping to drive a good school which was losing money onto thebroad sunny uplands of educational value and financial security, hewas disappointed when the governors decided to close the schoolwithin a year. Fighting closure with the parents and a new Chairman,Adcote fought on, but he returned to Shrewsbury in 2005.

Robin became Shrewsbury’s second ever registrar in 2006, anoffice to which he brought the same individual style and energy ashe had brought to housemastering. The office light was on late atnight and most weekends to maintain the Third Form roll at about120, which he did with enormous success, bringing humour,

passion, and a deep understanding of the School – its richness,scholarship, individuality, all of which he prized so much – to eachparental encounter. During this final period of his career Robinmade himself a considerable specialist in prep schools and theoverseas students market. With Old Salopians and current and pastparents in Hong Kong, he has built up The Friends of Shrewsbury,the Articles of Association for which the Headmaster signed inOctober.

Throughout his time at Shrewsbury – in the classroom or theatre,as Housemaster, and as Registrar, Robin’s love for the School lay atthe core of his achievement. We will miss him and Alex, as theybegin their retirement, with Roddy their dog, but a few minutesaway, among the woods and pastures of Annscroft.

Richard Hudson

Peter FanningAnother giant of the recent Shrewsbury School hagiography, PeterFanning, Senior Master, has retired after 30 years at the Schools.Arriving at the school in 1982 as Head of English, Peter hadpreviously taught at Latymer Upper School, and before that beenthe founder and director of the Spectrum Theatre Company. At thetime Peter took over the English department, Lower School Englishwas still largely ‘Form teacher’ based, with all form teachersteaching English, whatever their specialism. Peter’s period of tenurebegan the gradual professionalisation of the department as Englishspecialists gradually began to be appointed. But to its staff, andone would hope pupils, it always retained, and still retains, itsreputation as the ‘Faculty of Fun’, in no small measure due to thepresence of energetic and passionate academic humorists such asPeter Fanning and Robin Case were.

Starting out his Salopian life as a tutor in Moser’s under Peter Coxand in School House under Hugh Ramsbotham, Peter’shousemasterly qualities could not long remain unexploited, andwithin six years he found himself appointed the foundinghousemaster of The Grove, with 30 students, this parvenueexcrescence from the Salopian soil quickly branded as ‘Botany Bay’by the older established houses, possibly with some initialjustification.

Over the next 15 years Peter moulded The Grove into aspectacularly successful house community, good at all theconventional public school endeavours, but always retaining aslightly ‘Left Bank’ feel. Peter had himself narrowly escaped arrest atthe notorious Garden House Riot in Cambridge in 1970, the legalramifications of which have found their way into the criminal lawtextbooks.

From The Grove there issued fourth a seemingly endless streamof House Singing triumphs and cutting edge dramatic productions,and, although the House won its full quota of sporting trophies, it isfor its theatrical prowess – sometimes in the broadest sense – thatthis initial period in The Grove’s short history will perhaps be mostremembered, reflecting Peter’s lifelong love affair with the stage andindeed his first career as a travelling player with his own theatrecompany.

Countless plays of every conceivable genre have made it to thestage under Peter’s unique direction, and many of his former thespsnow have budding professional careers of their own. But for manythe last 20 years of the Fanning era will be chiefly remembered forone thing above all: the unique director/composer association withdirector of music John Moore which brought no fewer than eightmusicals to the Edinburgh Fringe, many of which won top awards. Itsays much about the stamina and drive of this lifelong runner that

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more than half of these productions took place while Peter wasfulfilling his demanding duties as housemaster.

After a brief period running the Foundation, Peter was appointedSenior Master in 2003. In many ways a thankless role, with dutiesranging from organising speech day to match teas, from chapelseating arrangements to balancing powerful interest groups, not tomention egos, in the Fasti committee, a job which involves beingpart the ‘Heineken factor’, part fall guy. Fiddly, inevitablyunacknowledged much of the time with little glamour and a greatdeal of hard graft, Peter performed this role with incessant goodcheer, energy and an constant sense of the primacy of the school’srich heritage and spirit over internal politics. For much of this period

he was also acting head of marketing and communications duringa period when all schools had to start professionalising theirmarketing operation in the great battle to survive and prosper.

By his side throughout his time at Shrewsbury stood the calm,unruffled, wise presence of his wife Jane, always ready to play thefullest possible part as housemaster’s wife, brow-mopper at theEdinburgh Fringe, dinner party hostess to nervous new staff, andEFL teacher to generations of overseas students.

Peter and Jane’s retirement to Oxfordshire via the sunnier banksof the Chow Paraya river in Bangkok will rob the Severn of far morethan a friend and colleague.

Richard Hudson

MY FAVOURITE MISSABLE THINGSSMT meetings that drone on for hoursLosing my bike, when it’s pouring with showersFinding no spoons down at lunch isn’t blissThese are a few of the things I won’t miss

Common Room fruit that is only green applesPupils who text during Wednesdays in ChapelCoping with students in Quod who are pissedThese are a few of the things I won’t miss

Housemasters whingeing with rancorous emailsColleagues complaining there’s too many femalesTeabags for parents – who take match teas in QuodThese are the things I’m escaping – thank God

When the sunsetsWhen we’re homelessOr we’re feeling sadWe simply remember the things we won’t missAnd then we don’t feel so bad

Biking to lessons on grey Monday morningsFriday pm when the kids are all yawningSaturday cover for staff coaching sportNow other people are going to be caught

Dark Sunday evenings in middle NovemberMissing the meetings I ought to rememberTen drafts of coursework purloined from the NetThese are the things that I’d like to forget

A level tables attempting to rank youColleagues for dinner who never say thank-youOFSTED Inspectors with box ticking listsThese are the things I’m delighted to miss

Though you’ve made hereAn ArcadiaIf we’re feeling sadWe’ll simply start listing the things we won’t missAnd then we won’t feel too bad

Peter Fanning

Matthew MostynIn 2000, Matthew joined what was then a young and enterprisingModern Languages Faculty as a French and German teacher.Matthew immediately threw himself into Shrewsbury life, teachingtwo languages, coaching rowing to J15s, tutoring in Ridgemountand marching with the CCF.

It was hard to keep Matthew’s talents hidden in the languagesfaculty for long, and he was rapidly promoted to become theyoungest ever housemaster – of the oldest boarding house atShrewsbury, Rigg’s Hall. Matthew certainly made his mark in Riggs:though he never did clear out the garage for stabling, he did runtwo cars, the four-by-four to get to his rustic dwelling in Devon; theaubergine ‘love machine’ for attracting attention. I’m not sure themore recent pose – coaching his J15 A crew from his electric bike(he moved incongruously fast, though the legs were hardly movingat all) was the best way to get the weight off; Matthew’s diets werelegendary, and frequent.) He was a consummate musician, notablyas a keyboard player, as was seen in many house singingcompetitions, soirées and musical plays. He capped his time inRigg’s by finally winning the triple (house football, cricket andbumpers – “What else matters?”). Rigg’s still survives, no-one diedof the dog bites, the parents survived the many glasses of port;Matthew survived the many attempts by the mummies to get himmarried off - and Matthew has now moved upwards, not yet

heavenwards, but to the next best thing: to Stoneyhurst College inLancashire (‘I want to be nearer Devon’, he had said – luckily he isnot a geography teacher).

Matthew is a veteran now of so many areas of life at Shrewsbury.Academically he has been an outstanding teacher, with manyexcellent exam results, relishing the challenge of lower-middle setswhose heart is not always utterly committed to French. Heapproached his teaching with impressive efficiency, and ascolleagues who taught within a few hundred metres of his roomwould testify, massive and loud enthusiasm. As one colleague putit, ‘he really delivers the goods; lesson after lesson he puts the showon, it must take a lot out of him.’ Matthew may not be a fan offaculty meetings, but made up for this with his much-loved fountainpen, author of many a paper on future plans, or some aspect ofschool life. His contribution to the faculty team by leading Frenchtrips, or organising language days for St Richard’s where he is agovernor, won him the respect of MFL colleagues as he wasalways supportive and ready with helpful comments. His rapport withpupils was legendary, allowing Matthew to engage in a few minutesbanter at the start of each lesson, followed by a serious teachingpoint (sorry, ‘learning objective’) in the middle, interspersed withcomments regretting the demise of chalk (but not talk), the oddnostalgic reminiscence of ‘when I was at Downside’ or moment ofpanic as he wondered if the dog was left locked in all morning.

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Matthew is a genuine linguist, who has taken up writingtranslations of literary works in all that spare time, most recently on asun bed in the south of France. In class, this has been seen in hislove of grammar, surely shared by all his French and Germanpupils; and his love of Literature (‘Sack of Bile’ being the favourite –poor Joffo!). An odd combination of utter seriousness of purposeand moments creased up with laughter seem to me to characteriseMatthew.

Good luck and keep in touch! Tim Whitehead

David NickolausDavid Nickolaus joined the staff in 1982, taking over from thefamous, if not infamous, Ted Barber at a time when CDT lacked the“C” for computer (or does it stand for ‘craft’?) and was known asplain DT, an increasingly upmarket version of what we used todescribe as woodwork. During the three decades of his tenure, thescope and ambit of his operation changed out of all recognition assix generations of Salopians passed through his hands. During thistime too, Design has become a serious and popular GCSE and Alevel option, due in no small measure to the inspirational leadership,patience and passion for detail which were the hallmarks of David’sstyle.

In the school context, CDT staff too easily be seen as living on themargins of society, left in peace to develop their cutting edge skillsin shrink wrapped technology and four dimensional designs. In aquiet but determined way, David ensured that this was not the caseat Shrewsbury. Nevertheless, acutely conscious of the manydifferent directions in which the most talented and active of pupilscan be pulled, many of whom were important customers of his, hewas also the most accommodating of Faculty Heads and a popularmember of the Common Room with whom it was impossible not toget along.

Perhaps as an antidote to the long hours at the workbench, onThursday afternoons David took the skies, mounting the cloudsover the Long Mynd with the Gliding Club, another area in which heinspired many generations of boys.

David and Pam now plan to divide their time betweenShrewsbury, Wales and France, where no doubt he will spend agood deal of his time up a ladder embroiled in those usefulactivities which most senior citizens pretend to know about, but hewill actually know about, like wiring a house, unblocking the drainsand building extensions.

RIchard Hudson

Todd Jesdale“One thing you can alwayssay about Shrewsburyoarsmen when they join yourclub is that they certainly knowhow to race”. This recentaccolade from a prominentcoach at a top UK rowingUniversity must surely be laidat the feet of one man: ToddJesdale. Todd joinedShrewsbury School in 2005. Inthe seven years since then hebuilt on the solid foundationshe inherited to produce asequence of race wins almostwithout parallel in the club’s history; in doing so he undoubtedlyraised the bar for other UK schools. It was Jeremy Goulding, the

then headmaster, who had the foresight to invite Todd to coach anddevelop the club; a Henley win, a hatful of national medals, a newboathouse and four new Empachers later (one boat, appropriately,named after the Gouldings), his wisdom is self-evident. Successand investment follow a winning reputation, and RSSBC is deeplygrateful to everyone concerned for all three.

During the 1960s and 70s the East German national squad wasnigh invincible. Undeterred, a young Jesdale set about to study theirmethods and, together with a small band of fellow devotees inAmerica, designed the winning style (yes, it IS a style!) which hasstood the test of time for the last fifty years or so. Its success isreadily apparent from the number of winning coaches in the high-performance programs in the US who were either coached by Toddand now propagate a close derivative of his method or were not buthave adopted it (and there is a growing band of UK coaches in thelatter category too). A small diversion illustrates this well: while in theUS on tour two years ago and coaching RSSBC on Lake Mercer,Todd stopped the VIII and invited them to study a local crew andexamine their style. “They row like us” was his comment. It was thetop US National women’s boat, coached then by the same manwho produced their Olympic success this year.

However, coaching the style is not without its difficulties. WhenNick Henderson spent an interim two years at Shrewsbury coachingthe first two boats, he remarked how hard it was to inculcate thewhole method at schoolboy level, successful though he was indoing so; for it goes far beyond a good training program and amechanical response to instructions on posture, vital as those are. Itdemands a lifestyle based on an apparently un-necessary pair ofwords which, on closer examination, are fundamental, for theyproduce the race winners. Integrity and Courage. To train withintegrity is to commit fully with your entire being to the crew unit andthe coach. To race with courage is to face the fear of losing and tofind a positive response in your spirit. Generations of successful,thinking athletes have emerged from Todd’s program, for whom thepain of losing is greater than the pain of winning, and the thrust, cut,parry and riposte of a race is food and drink.

As well as teaching his crews how to race, Todd thoroughlyapplied his formidable grasp of the vast technical side of the sport.Despite keeping the same fundamental rig in terms of TD andinboard (because he found nothing better, yet) annual discussionaround emerging ideas and materials was standard procedure: oarlength, blade curvature, vortex tips, pitch and shoe inserts all comein this list. Some progressive ideas were included and othersdiscarded all in favour of speed, likewise new hull shapes,methodically tested. As a scientist I, of course, approve, yetsimultaneously perceive that the old empirical methods remain vitalto this dynamic system; to whit, that the same eight crew membersarranged in a different order change the boat speed and the choiceof each particular crew member for his suitability to a particular seatis fundamental. “He’s a 6 man”, for example. This in part explainssome of the unusual rigging choices over the years: if the 6 manand 5 man were both, say, bow-siders (sorry, starboard), then whatmore natural than to put two riggers on the same side of the boat inadjacent seats? Todd’s insight in this respect was almost uncanny –as was his grasp of mood during an outing: lighter moments for thecrew during an otherwise heavy outing were often introduced via aconversation on passages from Beowulf, although I sometimes hada little difficulty in discerning which was the leaven and which wasthe lump, here. Shakespeare – maybe! Small wonder, given Todd’scommanding use of language and ideas, his knowledge andperceptive insight into character, that he is an excellent sometimeteacher of English literature. He also has a wry sense of humour

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and a lively sense of spontaneity!In typical fashion Todd completely eschewed all public attention

in the run up to his departure, preferring our focus to remain on hisathletes and his, undistracted, to remain on preparation for theracing. So wherever you are now, may I invite you to raise a toast ofthanks to Todd as you read this? Todd: on behalf of RSSBC and itsCoaches, and on behalf of the Parents of the athletes you havecoached since 2005, and most importantly on behalf of thoseAthletes themselves to whom you have dedicated your entireconsiderable ability, I offer a profound thank-you. They have beenfortunate indeed to experience such a top quality of coaching andwe have been fortunate to watch you, the artist, at work. We wishyou and Natalie every happiness back home in ‘the fall’ as theleaves change in your beloved Vermont, and we trust that theMaltese Cross on its blue background will fly periodically from theflagstaff you have in your yard as you think back to some greatracing at Shrewsbury.

Philip Lapage

James BrydonShortly after Shropshire lad,James Brydon, arrived atShrewsbury from OxfordUniversity, his doctoral thesiswas recommended forpublication, and Dr JamesBrydon emerged to receivehis final honour to cap twoprevious firsts from Oxford.

James’ impeccableacademic credentials havenever needed explaining tohis pupils: every pupil in hisclasses has immediatelyrecognised his calibre as alinguist and a teacher of ambition for his pupils’ success. Jamesrapidly became involved in our Frogsbridge preparation tutorials,organising the regular series of Friday Seminars (talks by staff orpupils on language-related topics), and encouraging several pupilsto a successful Oxbridge application. One might expect that such ateacher would not be in his comfort zone in the realm of the lowerset, but in fact James has coached two set 4s to record results atGCSE, which they were very happy about! And his pupils’Cambridge Pre-U results have been outstanding. James is notknown for praising mediocrity: his pupils soon learn that only whenthey have learnt the lesson’s objectives will there be a chance of alight-hearted conversation. James’ French sets all outperformedexpectation on results days: it is not easy to replace such aneffective teacher.

James kept busy outside the classroom: he helped run twoMontpellier trips, was a fully committed tutor in Severn Hill, refereedfootball, ‘coached’ 3rd Form drama and was a willing participant innumerous week-end trips (wearing a look of resignation).

We wish James and his wife, Danica, all the best for their futureas they have recently become parents to Sophie and move up toLondon; James will teach at Highgate School.

Tim Whitehead

Richard ChartersRichard joined us to cover maternity for Paola Wright for one year. Inthat short time he had a wonderfully positive influence on theteaching of Spanish and the learning experience of those in his

classes. His enthusiasm forlanguage (and its social andcultural importance ) both inthe curriculum, and morebroadly in a life-skill sense,was nothing short ofinspirational. He was happyteaching all ages and abilities :from nurturing new studentsas beginners on theirlanguage journey, to workingwith the top end of A2 coursesteaching literature withpassion and understatedexpertise preparing many forwhat lies ahead at university. He would quietly and generously giveextra time and practice for students of all abilities outside thetimetable – and keep smiling even through the occasional pain anddrudgery of GCSE oral preparation !

Richard’s passion for travel and his anecdotes about LatinAmerica (and India where he works with a children’s charity ) mustsurely have planted seeds in the minds of his students that will growinto future adventures. Indeed Richard has a story for everyoccasion … it seems most of them true !

Richard tutored successfully in Ingram’s and participated inschool football and tennis. At a personal level I am greatly indebtedto him for all his efforts and support – it was a genuine pleasure towork with him for the year. We all wish Richard and his wife Ana wellfor the future as they both move to work at Oundle School. I hope tosee them back at Shrewsbury one day. !

Ron Williams (AssistantGroundsman, Gardener) writes:‘I came to Shrewsbury School in May1985 for a period of ten weeks;previously I had worked for the localParks department and was at thepoint of going self employed, when alady I knew, who worked in theaccounts office at the School, saidthere was a short term vacancy andasked if I would be interested. To behonest I was not, but thought I wouldat least take a look, and that sameweek met the then head grounds man Ken Spiby. He explained thathe did not need a gardener but someone to assist in preparing theplaying fields and surrounds ready for games and various events. Ihave to say, I had only ever looked up at the School from the QuarryPark, seeing the main school building, the boat house, the Chapeland, now as I know it, Ridgemount, little realising the life that wenton up there. I was told there were 110 acres (with two more at theend of each day, ie my legs... sorry that’s achers)!

There were groundsmen based at Ashton Road and gardenersbased at Severn Hill. After my talk with Ken, I agreed to start thefollowing Monday and my first introduction to the grounds work wasto go out with Ken on to the main cricket square and help prepare it.Ken left me with instructions to ‘mow out’ while he went back to thesheds to fetch a besom. I ran the mower up and then down,thinking I would now be in trouble for taking all the green growth off,leaving what looked like bare earth, but Ken seemed quite pleasedwith my efforts saying he was more interested in the root for bouncenot the green for appearance (phew)!

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I soon got to know the other groundsmen and gardeners and Iwould assist where needed but my orders always came from Kenor, in his absence, his deputy. One day we were down on therunning track and I was asked to dig, rake and prepare the longjump. This I considered to be a waste of time but Ken’s reply wasthat even if it was for one boy, (their parents, after all, pay ourwages) we should give them the best of any thing and everythingwe do. Such was the emphasis in those days.

My first impression of the school was that it seemed well caredfor and managed; the grounds in particular. The pitches wereprobably the best I had ever seen and with this in mind, my tenweeks came to an end. The reason for being asked to assist initiallywas that Ken had one of his men off sick and unfortunately he neverreturned. I remember the morning when, down at the kicking horse(now Mary Sidney), while doing something with the cricket covers,Ken came to me and said he would like me to stay. To be honest Idid not know whether to laugh or cry or if I really wanted groundswork instead of gardening. I was often asked what was thedifference between a groundsman and a gardener and my replywas about £4 a week (sorry)! I thought about what Ken had askedand agreed to stay a little longer, in fact 26 years to November2011.

For the next ten years my duties were to assist Ken and his men,as well as tidying and edging the site wherever needed – anotherthankless task, I thought, until one day when I was helping preparefor an Old Salopian day I was approached by an elderly gentleman (Iwish I had remembered his name) who told me he had been at theschool in the war years. His masters were all elderly as all the youngmasters were at war. What he said next has remained with me andgave me a real incentive to carry on. He saw that I was edging by theChapel and said “Young man,” (which I was then) “you see thosepitches and grounds out there? They are all very nice and well caredfor and it is a credit to all responsible but what you are doing is

equally important because the frame enhances the picture.”It came time for Ken to retire and Alan Lewis took over. Alan,

knowing I had an interest in the horticultural side, asked me if Iwould like to work on Ashton Road, tending the Headmasters,Ingram’s, Churchill’s, Moser’s, Rigg’s and the Sanatorium gardensand anything in-between. I accepted and for the next ten yearsenjoyed the responsibility under Alan of mowing, edging, weeding,hedge cutting and – you guessed – blowing, in preparation forparents, new boys’ teas, leaving parties, occasional special eventsand of course Speech Day.

Apart from the odd disagreement, I found that the grounds andgarden departments worked well together and under Ken and Alanwe were encouraged to assist other departments where necessary.Standards were high and phone calls, letters and word of mouthproved this. It was our job and I feel we all did our best in assistingthose responsible.

When Alan Lewis left, the responsibility of the department restedfor a short while in the hands of deputy head groundsman MarkPreece and with Speech Day looming, we wondered how on earthwe were going to be ready. I have to say the day was perfect.Changes to the department came over the next five years, withBursars, Head groundsmen and colleagues leaving. For me,medical tests and an operation followed and I felt the time for me toleave had come, not an easy decision.

I have, over the past 26 years, endeavoured to do my job withgood humour and to encourage those alongside me. I have known,come to know and still have good relationships with, Masters, staff,boys, girls, parents and visitors and I feel that my life has beenenhanced by my time at the School. It was a great privilege to bemade an Honorary Old Salopian and although a little reluctant to doso, I accepted the honour.

By the way, have you heard the one about....’

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The annual service in St Mary’s took place this year on 9thSeptember. The address was give by Ruth Padel, poet and novelist,great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin.

The word “education” come from Latin e-ducere, “to lead out”.What you will be doing this year is being led out – out of the self topay attention to other, the world outside yourself. To other people’sexperience, other people’s history, land, language and thought; tothe other of nature, the physical world and the patterns ofmathematics.

When Charles Darwin was old and distinguished, one evening inthe 1870s, he and his wife entertained his friend George Romanesat home. Over the fire they talked about what the nineteenth centurycalled “the sublime:” that sense of a presence greater and outsideyourself. Darwin said he felt it most, during his five year voyage onthe Beagle, on the summits of the Andes, looking at "themagnificent prospect all around." They went to bed. Romanes fellcomfortably asleep but at one in the morning he heard a tap on hisdoor and Darwin appeared in his dressing gown and slippers. "Ihave been thinking over our conversation," he said. "I was wrong intelling you I felt most of the sublime on top of the Cordillera. I amquite sure I felt it even more in the forests of Brazil. I am sure now,that I felt most sublime in the forests."

Go back forty years and Darwin is 23, writing about having thatfeeling in his Journal of the Voyage of the Beagle. “Primeval forestsundefaced by the hand of man,” he says, are “temples filled withthe varied productions of the God of Nature. No one can standunmoved in these solitudes without feeling there is more in manthan the mere breath of his body.”

Go back another fifteen years and he is a boy of eight, attendingthe funeral of his mother, Susanna Darwin, nee Wedgewood. Hesuffered this great loss at an early age and became a solitary littleboy, studying nature on long walks alone. He gave his attention tobotany, zoology, geology. He longed to know the provenance ofevery stone in the gravel of his father’s drive. At ten, taken onholiday to Barmouth where he studied beetles “not found inShropshire,” he wondered why every gentleman does “not becomean ornithologist.”

A modern parallel to the way in which the other – nature, thephysical world outside him – sustained that little boy in his grief, isthe British space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She was asecond generation immigrant: her parents came from Nigeria. Theyseparated, the little girl went to thirteen different schools, she wasdiagnosed as dyslexic. But from the age of three, she was in lovewith outer space. She watched Star Trek, was entranced by anastronaut on the cover of a library book, saved up to buy atelescope from Argos. It didn’t work so at 15 she went to atelescope-making class and made her own. She went on to doscience, maths and astronomy at Imperial College. ‘Outer spacesaw me through,” she has said. If education is a leading out, youcan’t get “led out” much further than outer space.

At the heart of the ikon of the Resurrection is the image of anopen door. Christ comes down to the underworld to open the gateof hell, let out the dead, and lead them into new life. Another leadingout; another image of someone who helps you open yourself to theworld. For the oddity of learning, its mystery and alchemy, is that byattending to other you grow, emotionally and spiritually, yourself.

To possess another language, for example, is to possess

another soul. English is not theonly linguistic method ofexperiencing the world. Otherlanguages, French, Greek,Chinese, categorise nouns,adjectives, verbs and feelingsdifferently. Learning someoneelse’s history, you openyourself to experience that isnot yours. While you learnabout other you also gain thepower of com-passion, of“feeling with.” Compassion isanother Latin root. The Greekequivalent is sum-pathein, “tosuffer with”, from which we getsympathize.

To sympathize with the other whom the New Testament often callsyour “neighbour” and whom the Old Testament often calls the“foreigner” or “stranger”.

The faiths that created Western civilization made generosity to thestranger central to their vision of society. Individuals often fell shortof the ideal of course, but the ideal was there in both Athens andJerusalem. In archaic Greek, the word xenos (from which we getxenophobia, “fear of strangers”) meant not only “foreigner” but alsoa “guest-friend”: someone you had an obligation to welcome. Therewere myths of people being rewarded for their hospitality becausethe “strangers” were gods in disguise. Xeniteia was the experienceof exile, of being a stranger in someone else’s land. Everyone knewhow vulnerable that made you. The pre-Socratic philosopherEmpedocles said man was “a wanderer and fugitive, driven bydecrees and laws of gods”.

Mediaeval Christianity saw human life as a journey: we are homoviator, “man the pilgrim”, strangers in this world, searching for thespiritual homeland to which we once belonged. We weren’t meantto be here – we were put in a garden, in Eden. But that went wrong.So now we are wanderers between two worlds, wayfarers on thevia, the ‘way’, of life.

Judaism too is full of exhortations to help the stranger, ‘If any ofyour fellow Israelites become poor and unable to supportthemselves,’ orders Leviticus, ‘help them as you would help aforeigner and stranger.’ ‘I was a father to the needy, I took up thecase of the stranger,’ says Job. ‘No stranger had to spend the nightin the street; my door was always open to the traveller.’ ‘Do notforget to show hospitality to strangers,’ Paul reminds the Hebrews.“Help the poor, treat them fair, just as you would a stranger, for youwere a stranger too.” There is always, in Judaism as in Greek myth,the possibility that the stranger may also be god. “Many haveentertained an angel unaware.”

Learning too is opening your home, the house of yourself, to thestranger, welcoming the other in – and opening up to wonder.Central to Darwin’s science was his rampant sense of wonder, andhis sheer delight in the appreciation of all life-forms. “I used to like tohear him admire the beauty of a flower,” wrote his son Frances, whohelped him in botanic experiments. “It was a kind of gratitude to theflower itself, and a personal love for its delicate form & colour. Iseem to remember him gently touching a flower he delighted in.This sounds sentimental but it was the same simple admiration a

ST MARY’S SERVICE

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CHARLES DICKENS OF SHREWSBURY

A DIVERTIMENTO

child might have. It ran through all his relation to natural things — amost keen feeling of their aliveness.”

In response to that enjoyment of and wonder at the other, comesthe great gifts to the self of imagination and creativity, and Darwinfelt that imagination, too, was crucial to science. “You canunderstand the true conditions of life,” he wrote in On the Origin ofSpecies, “only if you use your imagination to hold on to a sense ofthe ruthlessness of the natural forces that could waste the brightsurface.”

So here is a bit of new zoology to enjoy and wonder, which I thinkcan also give us an image of what learning does for us We find it inthe eye of a dog. In all mammal eyes, rods and cones makeelectrical activity out of light waves by means of changes in pigmentin the cells. This action takes a morsel of a second but while it’shappening, the cell is busy processing the light and can’t take morelight in. So there are gaps in the process and that’s how we see: wetake in a sequence of snapshots of the world. The rate at which wedo this is our “flicker fusion rate”. Human eyes take in sixtysnapshots, sixty still images, a second. But just as differentlanguages see and divide the world differently, so different specieshave different flicker fusion rates. Dogs have a higher rate than us:they take in seventy or eighty images a second. This is why manydogs don’t react to TV: television is geared to the human flickerfusion rate.

So every second, dogs see a little bit more world than we do. Thisis the image I’d like to offer you at the start of this new academicyear: this image – the idea of trying to be open or alive to a little bitmore world every second. And, because self’s growth happens viaattention to the other, of using the extra imagination such opennesscan bring, not only to fuel your own creativity, which I am sure it willdo – but to fuel your compassion: your power to feel with the other.

There are now 7 billion people in the world. By the time you arethe age of people teaching you, there will be billions more. That’s anawful lot to hold yourself open to! But society needs us to try.Attention to other people’s experience comes to be the basis of our

own growth via that word which lies at the heart of all education or“leadings out”: understanding.

It is a privilege and honour for me to be associated with theschool, and to address you today, and I’ll finish with a poem by thepoet priest George Herbert, whose climax is that magic word,understanding. Those among you who are poets will watch howHerbert homes in on his central concept – the title-word, “Prayer” –by going out: by leaping into metaphor. This is a sonnet, a string ofmetaphors, a necklace of bright images, for what he is talkingabout. Prayer becomes a sequence of reachings out to beautifulthings, to the other, which also nourishes the inner, the self.

PRAYER

The Churches banquet, Angels age, God’s breath in man returning to his birth, The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage, The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth ;

Engine against th’ Almightie, sinner’s towre, Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear, The six daies world-transposing in an houre, A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear ;

Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse, Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best, Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest, The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,

Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s bloud, The land of spices, something understood.

Charles Dickens came to Shrewsbury in 1858; he is still here today.Of the Lion Hotel, where he stayed during one of his reading

tours, he wrote to his daughter: “we have the strangest little rooms,the ceilings of which I can touch with my hand. The windows bulgeout over the street, as if they were little stern windows in a ship anda door opens out of the sitting room on to a little open gallery withplants in it where one leans over a queer old rail and looks all downhill and slantwise at the crookedest old black and yellow houses.”

The irregularity of his lodgings perhaps inspired his description ofBleak House, the ironically named home of John Jarndyce, theepitome of childless paternity that marks Dickens’ stock-figure ofmiddle-aged, philanthropic virtue:

“It was one of those delightfully irregular houses where you go upand down steps out of one room into another, and where you comeupon more rooms when you think you have seen all there are, andwhere there is a bountiful provision of little halls and passages, andwhere you find still older cottage rooms in unexpected places withlattice windows and green growth pressing through them.

Salopians, accustomed to frequenting the Classical regularities ofSt John’s Smith Square for the School’s annual orchestral concert,

should note that Dickens singled out this building as the particulartarget of his satirical antipathy for the Classical style in architecture:“… a very hideous church with four towers at four corners, generallyresembling some petrified monster, frightful and gigantic, on itsback with its legs in the air.”(Our Mutual Friend, 1865)

As George Orwell remarked in his famous essay on Dickens(1940), “he is all fragments, all details – rotten architecture, butwonderful gargoyles”. So his predilection for the Gothic mayaccount for his choice of Shrewsbury as a setting for A ChristmasCarol, that gothic fantasy which so affected Robert Louis Stevensonthat he sobbed and said, “I shall do good and lose no time – I wantto go out and comfort someone – I shall give money.”

I beg your pardon, sir (you naturally ask), was not A ChristmasCarol set in London? Did not Scrooge have lodgings hard by hiscounting-house in the City and did not his clerk, Bob Cratchit, live inCamden Town? So it might appear – for London in 1842 was, likeShrewsbury, a medieval town. No, as I said at the outset, Dickens isin Shrewsbury to this day. Go to the old churchyard next to StChad’s. There you will find it – a little worn and cracked across themiddle, but still clearly legible – the stone that marks the spot where

Ruth Padel’s most recent book is The Mara Crossing, a mix ofprose and poems on the subject of migration – cellular, animaland human. See www.ruthpadel.com

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rest the mortal remains of Scrooge. I trust I am no Gradgrind, butthese are hard facts, not the fumes of literary fancy.

Besides, there’s further evidence. Scrooge’s house was onBelmont: there’s a photograph to prove it. The prize turkey hebought and sent to Bob Cratchit on Christmas Day hung outsidethe poulterers in the Market Square: there’s a photograph thatshows it. The boys made their snow-slide (see “Stave One: Marley’sGhost”) on the Parade; there’s a photograph of them at it. And –yes! I have it somewhere … There! Tiny Tim himself, carried on hisfather’s arm, as plain and bright as sixpence! And unmistakablySalopian!

Dickens, whose own education was somewhat informal, sent hiseldest son to Eton. An addict himself of theatrical performance, hemight have done better to send him to Shrewsbury School, thedestination of Anthony Walters who, as a six year-old, played TinyTim in Clive Donner’s 1984 film of A Christmas Carol.

But Dickens did send one of his children to Shrewsbury School.In 1864, at a dinner to mark the tercentenary of Shakespeare’s birth,Dickens announced to the company: “We meet on this day tocelebrate the birthday of a vast army of living men and women whowill live forever with an actuality greater than the men and womenwhose external forms we see around us ...” He meant, of course,Hamlet and Prince Hal, Bottom and Falstaff. He meant also, nodoubt, Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger, Little Nell and MissHavisham. And surely, too, this child of his fancy:

“... one man sat leaning back, with his torn gown halfoff him, his untidy wig put on just as it hadhappened to light on his head after its removal, hishands in his pockets, and his eyes on the ceiling asthey had been all day. Something especially recklessin his demeanour, not only gave him a disreputablelook ...”

Even were we not informed a few pages further on that SydneyCarton, this young man of “careless, slovenly if not debauchedappearance”, were not a Salopian we should surely guess it –

particularly when we learn that this patina of indifference concealsan acute perception and a sensitive heart:

“Yet, this Mr. Carton took in more of the details of thescene than he appeared to take in; for now, whenMiss Manette's head dropped upon her father'sbreast, he was the first to see it, and to say audibly:‘Officer! look to that young lady. Help the gentlemanto take her out. Don't you see she will fall!’”

Bohemian in dress and manners, insouciant of his own interest andadvantage, yet ever alert to alleviate the distress of others(particularly when they are attractive young ladies) – is not SydneyCarton the archetypical Salopian, both of the past and living amongus today? That mercurial character, source of so many triumphsand frustrations; that independence of mind and spirit, which is ourboast and occasionally our apology, are strongly marked in SydneyCarton:

"The old Sydney Carton of old Shrewsbury School,"said Stryver, nodding his head over him as hereviewed him in the present and the past, "the oldseesaw Sydney. Up one minute and down the next;now in spirits and now in despondency!""Ah!" returned the other, sighing: "yes! The sameSydney, with the same luck. Even then, I didexercises for other boys, and seldom did my own.""And why not?""God knows. It was my way, I suppose."He sat, with his hands in his pockets and his legsstretched out before him, looking at the fire."Carton," said his friend, squaring himself at him witha bullying air, as if the fire-grate had been thefurnace in which sustained endeavour was forged,and the one delicate thing to be done for the oldSydney Carton of old Shrewsbury School was toshoulder him into it, "your way is, and always was, alame way. You summon no energy and purpose.Look at me.""Oh, botheration!" returned Sydney, with a lighter andmore good-humoured laugh, "don't you be moral! ...But it's not worth your while to apostrophise me, orthe air, about it; what you want to do, you do. Youwere always in the front rank, and I was alwaysbehind.”

In a reversal of the usual relationship between the two beasts, it isCarton, the Jackal, who serves up “a compact repast” for Stryver,the Lion; meaning, in this context, that Carton goes through all thelaw-books and precedents to provide Stryver with the winning handthat he will lay out with success and aplomb in court. But doing“exercises for other boys”, as Carton clearly continues to do in adultlife, is a habit he could easily have learned in other schools. Wehave it on authority from Tom Brown, one of Rugby’s most famouspupils, that cribbing was a way of life among the noblest scions ofAlbion:

“... it will not be wondered that the masters gave thesame subjects sometimes over again after a certainlapse of time. To meet and rebuke this bad habit ofthe masters, the schoolboy mind, with itsaccustomed ingenuity, had invented an elaborate

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For those of a certain vintage, the name ‘Billy Liar’ evokes images ofa young Julie Christie in her black and white, photogenic prime, allcheek bones, pouting lips, and smoky eye make-up, and aninnocent looking, somewhat bewildered Tom Courtney.

For others too young (or too old) to remember the 1960s JohnSchlesinger film which launched the celluloid careers of this magicalpairing, the Junior School Play in July, adapted and directed by PaulFitzgerald, afforded the opportunity to see the original stage play onwhich the film was based, this time spiced up with the insertion ofblack and white video vignettes to represent the daydreamsequences.

The play spotlights one day in the life of William Fisher, a boredundertaker’s clerk who escapes the humdrum reality of his drab lifethrough daydreaming; but more than that, he lies. He lies to hisparents, he lies to his employers, and he lies to his two, very

different fiancées, while trying to connect with his one true love, Liz.Sir Walter Scott put it so well; ‘Oh what a tangled web we weavewhen first we practise to deceive.’ This was never truer than forWilliam Fisher, whose sobriquet creates the title of the play, as hisworld comes crumbling around him over the course of three acts.This play was ambitious material for juniors to pull off. But they didjust that.

On a remarkably professional set, Joe Bell took on theresponsibility of the lead role. To play Billy just for laughs is to missthe point. Yes, it was a funny play, with many moments of laughter.The older audience on the final night certainly appreciated the moresophisticated humour. But as Billy’s excuses, lies and tall tales turnon him, we see a young man who’s desperate for something betterin his life; a young man who cannot see what he has already got; ayoung man whose dissatisfaction is to be pitied, as well as laughed

JUNIOR SCHOOL PLAY – BILLY LIAR

system of tradition. Almost every boy kept his ownvulgus written out in a book, and these books wereduly handed down from boy to boy.”

We know that Tom’s father did not intend his son to be either atrue or a false scholar, for we have his thoughts as he contemplateshis son’s departure for Rugby:

“Shall I tell him to mind his work, and say he's sent toschool to make himself a good scholar? Well but heisn't sent to school for that—at any rate, not for thatmainly. I don't care a straw for Greek particles or thedigamma; no more does his mother ... If he'll onlyturn out a brave, helpful, truth-telling Englishman anda gentleman and a Christian, that's all I want.”

Two years after Thomas Hughes sent Tom Brown to Rugby, Dickenssent Carton to Shrewsbury. He knew what he was doing. Sevenyears earlier, he had sent another dissolute character, RichardCarstone, to Winchester, and he came to a bad end. He must haveknown, too, that the fame fastened on to the shoulders of Dr Arnold,

reforming headmaster of Rugby, belonged more properly to ourown Samuel Butler (headmaster from 1798 to 1836). It was Butler,“whose achievements and organisation became models for Etonand Harrow, as Hawtrey, headmaster of Eton from 1834 to 1853,generously acknowledged to Butler himself.”1 He initiated thesystem whereby a select band of senior boys – “praepostors” (lit.one who goes before) – aided the headmaster in the organisationand discipline of the School (although beating the other boys wasnot one of their privileges). Butler also instituted Private Study, thesystem much beloved by generations of Salopians whereby theyenjoy devoting much of their free time to academic study.

It is highly likely, moreover, that Dickens was well aware of theopinion that Lord Ashley Cooper (7th Earl of Shaftesbury, the greatsocial reformer commemorated by the statue in the middle ofPiccadilly Circus known as Eros) confided to his diary on November21st 1844:

“I fear Eton ... it makes admirable gentlemen andfinished scholars ... fits a man for the dining-room,the Club, St James’s Street, and all the mysteries ofsocial elegance; but it does not make the manrequired for the coming generation. We must havenobler, deeper and sterner stuff; less of refinementand more of truth; more of the inward, not so muchof the outward gentleman.”

So it had to be Shrewsbury, best nursery of the inward gentleman.Look around you on the site. And if you see some who appear on

the outward to be like Sydney Carton, “idlest and most unpromisingof men”, believe of them as Lucy Manette believed of SydneyCarton, that they are “capable of good things, gentle things, evenmagnanimous things.” And believe, too, that there may be oneamong them who is capable of the ultimate sacrifice, of giving uphis life for another – who, like Sydney Carton “had wandered andstruggled and got lost, but who at length struck into his road andsaw its end”, that he might justly claim, “It is a far, far better thingthat I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go tothan I have ever known.”

1 J. W. Adamson, Cambridge History of English and American Literature

Michael Schutzer-Weissmann

The Lion and the Jackal

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at. Joe Bell was both funny andevoked our pathos. He played therole with a softly spoken naivetywhich complemented hisblustering father who loves yet isfrustrated by his son. Ollie Murrayclearly relished playing this part,and he did so to perfection, hisflawless Yorkshire accent awonderful pastiche which theaudience delighted in.

Theo Simmons played Billy’smother, Alice; playing a femalerole is not easy, and the pitfallsare legion. This was in essence aserious part, but it could so easilyhave degenerated into a juniorversion of Danny La Rue on abad day. I am delighted to reportTheo played the part of theprotective mother with realsensitivity. If you find yourselfforgetting the character on stageis really a boy, that must be a signthat the actor has truly succeeded in suspending your disbelief.

Supporting cast members were all strong. Thomas Barthen asBilly’s best friend Arthur, finally frustrated by the avalanche of lies,provided an effective foil to Joe Bell; Jamie Nugent as Billy’s elderlygrandmother, shocked by her grandson’s shocking attitude to ‘freelove’ (it is the 1960s, after all) delivered his flat northern vowels withthe creakily thin voice of an octogenarian convincing the audienceshe would not be long for this world. (At a stroke, she wasn’t); andLiz, Billy’s real love, paced and projected with clarity andastonishing maturity by Martha Pownall from Shrewsbury HighSchool; she made us want to believe that the couple would live‘happily ever after’. The bitter ending, acted out so eloquently withno dialogue whatsoever, told us it was not to be.

The video inserts were real crowd-pleasers, too. As director, PaulFitzgerald’s idea to use a different medium, shot in monochromeand treated with a crackly, old film quality, as the means forportraying another world was spot on, and the ‘screen actors’ –Charlie Duckworth, Will Bayliss, Jack Nelson, Ben Smith andDominic Dootson clearly enjoyed the filming process while theaudience lapped up the light relief they provided on screen.

Nobody, I think, stole the show, but two actors came mightyclose. No-one will quickly forget the gloriously surreal catfightbetween Billy’s homely fiancée Barbara, wonderfully underplayedby Guy Cabral, and the force of nature topped with a peroxide

blonde beehive that was Rita, his other fiancée, wonderfullyoverplayed by Dan Edwards.

Backstage crew too all delivered on the two night run, AndrewHumpish and James London behind the scenes, with GregBunting, Rory Dootson and Nick Watkins on sound and lights;mention must also go to Mrs Bovill and Dr Samworth for costumeand make-up, Alex Davies, Will Allott and team for a set which hassurely raised the bar for future productions, and Miss Woo as theever-calm producer.

Kenneth Tynan

Soul weight

In micro chips and memory cards hides no secret lifenor any life at all,for one cannot imagine weathered leather hands like hersslipping over touch screens or keysto type one last message to the world,Hers was a realm of paper,inviting blank pulp waiting for hands to formwith mud, blood and inkwhat took God six days.

In cold ceramic pots and uniform draws hides no secret life,nor any life at all,for one cannot imagine scientists measuring a body like hers,a body so like beforebefore dancing strip lights,sleepless nurses andone telephone callNow her soul has become science,one single gram, and laboratories bright temples,and me religious,me religious while I can.

Theo Simmons (Ch, 4th form)

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A mother in Africa is visited by a reporter from the UK. She isseriously ill, with pulmonary pneumonia. He asks her if she has anymedicine. “Yes,” she replies, “I travelled by ox cart for a day to thenearest hospital, and they gave me these.”

“But why haven’t you taken any of them?” asks the reporter. “Because they have to be taken with food,” she explains. “I only

have enough food for my two small children.”“But what will happen to them without you?” he gently asks. She

turns away.This is a true story, and several things need to happen to stop it

taking place over and over again in the poorest countries in Africa.This mother needed a new, nearer hospital. She needed enoughfood for herself and her children when there was an emergency,and she needed to know that if anything happened to her, herchildren would be cared for.

In July 2012, eighteen Fifth and Lower Sixth Formers, togetherwith six members of staff, helped to keep those three essentialshappening in a rural area of Malawi. Malawi is one of the sevenpoorest countries in the world, where there are, on average, threenurses for every 10,000 people (compared to 103 in the UK). The18 Salopians helped at an orphanage, which keeps 60 childrensafe, educated and fed. They also took supplies to a new hospital,St Andrew’s Hospital, which means 100,000 people have less far totravel, and they helped out at the Nutrition Centre, which suppliesfood in times of crisis. All these are supported by the charity MedicMalawi.

In the months before they set off, the pupils organised a majorfund-raising campaign and raised £10,000 for the day-to-dayrunning of the hospital and to put towards a much-needed eyeclinic, which the next generation of Shrewsbury students will be ableto see for themselves on the next visit, in 2014.

The expedition team wrote a blog, which gives a vivid account oftheir day-to-day activities and their reflections on their experiences.A few extracts are included here and the full blog can be found onthe School website athttp://www.shrewsburymedicmalawi.blogspot.co.uk/. The photos onthese pages were taken by Andrew Spicer (Lower Sixth).

DAY 4: A TEACHING DAY….Amy Steventon and Grace Pilsbury: After first seeing around 20children waiting for us, we were astounded to be told that therewere actually 106 pupils who had voluntarily come to the primaryschool to be taught by us during their free time, as they are also ontheir summer holidays.

We started by singing Kookaburra and after a few attemptsmanaged to get it into a round with four parts. We then movedoutside into the sun to do the Hokey Kokey and sing Head,Shoulders, Knees and Toes, which the children loved. This led to usall dancing into the Macarena and a game which consisted of all ofthe children running to various sides of the courtyard while Willshouted ‘North, South, East or West’. Lastly, we sat in a big circle allsinging songs while Will played his ukulele.

After three incredibly fun but long hours, we took a well deservedtrip to the tuck shop before having a packed lunch back in thechurch.

DAY 6… DISCOVERING INVENTIONSMatt Davies: Our tour of the area surrounding St Andrew’s villagewas expertly led by our translator, Brickson, and over twenty sets ofdata were collected for the hydrology survey, an important ongoingproject. Flow rates of bore holes, depths of wells, co-ordinates andnames were all recorded from every site we visited, providing agood set of data to be sent to Chris Leek of Water Aid, our boss inthe UK. We trekked all morning, through the dust and the heat, fromwhat felt like Land’s End to John O’Groats, but was in reality onlyabout 7km. Some of the people I’ve met have to journey over 12kmjust to get checked out by the doctor. Although some travel by foot,the ‘bicycle taxi’ is a common sight! You pay according to thedistance, and sit on a padded seat behind the driver, while hecycles along the pothole-ridden dirt roads to your destination. If thebicycle breaks down, you could take it to a professional welder, orfor less money and more entertainment, to a man we visited whohas no welding kit yet can fix a bicycle within an hour using only anold broken wheel, a car radiator embedded in concrete, charcoaland some lead. I’ll leave you to your own imagination and brillianceto figure out how that works...

DAY 17… PAINTING AND GIFTSGeorge Fowler: As we worked on the world map, Seb’s iPodblaring in the background, I was tapped on the shoulder by Felix, agood friend from the orphanage, clasping a stick of sugarcane inone hand and a present for me in the other. It was a necklace, awooden carving of a fish with ‘Felix’ inscribed on one side, “toremember me by” he said. It was a touching and generous gift,even more so because he had made it.

I spent the afternoon giving piano lessons on an out-of-tuneinstrument, giving a somewhat unintentional honkey-tonk theme toMozart’s ‘Ode to Joy’. Nevertheless, it was challenging and veryrewarding to see that these bright, receptive children pick

MEDIC MALAWI COMMUNITY SERVICE EXPEDITION

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something up so quickly. As I was winding up the lesson withDoreen (my prodigy), a tall middle-aged gentleman walked throughthe church doors.”Beethoven?” he asked. He was charming, as aremost people I have met here, and for that reason, I hope it won’t betoo long before I return.

DAY 18… FOOD AND MORE FOOD….Will Heyes: I’m getting a reputation for having green fingers but it’smore like brown feet, as in Malawi we go bare foot in the soil, mudand slime, as I set to work in the vegetable garden with Fred.Fortunately today’s gardening was very simple and all I had to dowas watering. Fred invited me to have some tea with him and hadprepared a plate piled high with sweet potatoes. I admire him a lot.He is a busy volunteer who has been with the orphanage for fouryears. Lunch seemed to be a medley of all our meals so far: rice,chips, chicken, chewy beef and coleslaw. But we all needed theenergy for the afternoon ahead; we had organised to have thewhole orphanage round to Kamuzu Academy for a sports-basedparty. Oh and it was hectic!

There was football for the older lads, while the others set upgames such as musical chairs and statues, the sack race and thethree-legged race. At about 3 o’clock the screaming hordeemerged. They loved it! Each game prompted cheering andlaughing. Some of the very small children were a little hesitant, soMatron had to run around with them to give them a helping hand.After a solid hour of games, we had an early dinner of: rice, chips,chicken, chewy beef and coleslaw. With huge smiles and full belliesthey said their goodbyes and left. They had a really good time. Thenwe swept, stacked and wiped the hall down.

After an inspirational talk by Mr Conway, we were left by ourselvesto pack (and play poker.) Then retiring to bed, sleeping under amosquito net for the last time, my mind started thinking of the longtrip home. It has been a long and emotional trip, full of its highs andlows, satisfying and definitely worthwhile.

THE FUTURE:80% of blindness in Malawi is preventable or curable. The expeditioners in 2012 raised £5,000, which paid for over a month’s runningcosts of St Andrew’s Hospital. They raised another £5,000 to put towards an Eye Clinic so that cataracts and trachoma can be treated.By the time the next expedition visits, in 2014, we are aiming to have raised enough to finish and equip it.

Marking out the position of the new eye clinic Photos by Andrew Spicer (M LVI)

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School News

YOUNG ENGINEERS WIN BEST ENGINEERED CAR AWARDAgainst all the odds the Young Engineers Group hadtheir best season in the Greenpower Formula 24Competition. An offer of a sheet of lightweight alloymaterial from a parent gave us the opportunity to builda new lighter car with a monocoque constructiontogether with an improved 7 gear drive-train. With thesupport of local companies Quest 88 and RMJMouldings, the boys started to learn new skills andworked to a high level of accuracy to complete the carby the end of March.

This year the number of teams entering theGreenpower competition rose to 250 from the north ofScotland down to Cornwall. The first race of the 2012season at Silverstone at the end of April saw atrociousweather conditions and we reluctantly withdrew ourentry. So it was at the test day at Mallory Park in Maythat the team had their first opportunity to see how thenew car performed. The car ran all day without a hitchand the boys started to hone their circuit driving skills.Back in the workshops minor tweeks were made to thegear ratios ready for the next race.

Having missed the Midlands Heat in mid July, it wasnot until September that we were able to compete in afull four-hour race in a field of 32 cars from across thecountry at the North West Heat at Aintree. For most ofthe race the boys maintained a top ten position, but weeventually slipped to 14th place. During the day all ofthe cars were inspected and some of the boys werespoken to by a member of ImechE ( Institute ofMechanical Engineering ). At the end of the racemeeting our team were presented with the Award forthe “Best Engineered Car”.

We had one more race at the Castle Combe circuit in lateSeptember to qualify for the Goodwood National Finals.Unfortunately this clashed with Coach Weekend.

The following week we were contacted by Jeremy Way, Directorof Greenpower

“Having won the award for Best Engineered car at Aintree, andhaving witnessed the inspiring enthusiasm of your team of youngengineers, we have great pleasure in inviting you to attend the

National Finals as one of three wild card entries.”The team Edward Jones, George Whitehead, Mischa Manser,

Hector Kaye and Johnny Jones were boosted by this Invitation, butunfortunately we were again unable to accept this offer to raceagainst the best cars in the country. So now it’s back to theworkshop to improve the car for next season and, we hope, lookforward to more success.

John Holloway

Left to right: Edward Jones, George Whitehead, Mischa Manser, Hector Kaye (incar) and Johnny Jones

“A great place... the staff, children and helpers care so muchabout the Shewsy... the sessions in the evenings were great...themusic facilities are excellent... keep up the good work...” are allcomments from the feedback sheets from the Social Studiescourse visiting the Shewsy in November.

The Social Studies courses were started when Donald Wrightwas Headmaster. Bishop Roger Sainsbury, Missioner at theShewsy in the 1960s, writes that Donald had first travelled up withhis wife Helen to Liverpool in 1963 “with the thought of closingdown the Shewsy as a hangover from the Victorian era, but whenhe saw our engagement in Christian mission in one of the mostsocially disadvantaged communities in England, it led to himbecoming an outstanding supporter of our work and he laterdescribed his journey to the Shewsy as his Damascus-roadconversion.” In addition to the Social Studies courses for School

Sixth formers, Roger and Donald took leading parts in the buildingof the new Shrewsbury House opened in 1974. Donald and Helenkept in touch with the club and were always delighted that theShewsy was still flourishing.

The future will not be easy for the Everton area as the cuts beginto bite deeply, but the Shewsy is in good heart and the supportfrom Old Salopians and from such ventures as the School’ssponsored walk are much appreciated and needed. Theregeneration of Great Homer Street should finally be happeningover the next few years, Notre Dame High School is moving toGreat Homer Street nearer the club, Everton Park is beingdeveloped around its magnificent view across the city, and theShewsy will continue to make a vital contribution to Everton’sregeneration.

Henry Corbett

SHREWSBURY HOUSE

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INSTRUMENTALISTS WIN PLACES IN NATIONALORCHESTRASThird Former Joshua Himsworth, double-bass player and holder ofboth a Burney music and a Butler academic scholarship, began hisfirst term at Shrewsbury fresh from the National Youth Orchestra ofWales summer tour, where he was thrilled to receive the ‘MostPromising String Player’ Award. Also taking part in the tour werecellist Jacob Owen (L6) and new 6th Form Entrant Awen Blandford.

Henry Thomas (4th Form)had a busy summer playingtrumpet with the NationalChildren’s Orchestra. Hisaccount of that week is on theSchool website, together withhis description of a hectic fivedays in June when he not onlyplayed solo trumpet in front ofthe Queen, spent three daysrehearsing with the NCO andperformed in his House Soirée,but also helped the J14A crewto a tremendous win at theNational Schools’ Regatta.www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/latest-music-news/

Congratulations to Henry Kennedy(L6), who has been awarded a placeto play saxophone in the NationalYouth Wind Orchestra of GreatBritain. He has also been acceptedinto the Youth Orchestra of the City ofBirmingham Symphony Orchestra toplay clarinet and bass clarinet.

Henry Thomas Henry Kennedy

The universal view on summer’s open-air concert was that, despitethe soggy weather, it was one of the best in recent times. Theconcert is almost entirely pupil-led - not only are all the performersstudents, but so are all the sound/lighting/technical crew. Theprogramme is put together and publicised by the pupils, and it isentirely down to them to rehearse and organise themselves for theevening.

As in previous years, performances were from pupils across theyear groups. Sam Morris (G 5), Tom Lloyd (Rt 5) and Ed Shawe-

Taylor (O 5) warmed the crowd up, Will Hargreaves (SH 4) andJulian Chesshire (SH 3) showed that there is talent to look forwardto in future years, and Daisy McConnell and Sienna Holmes (bothEDH L6) showed how much talent the 2011 Sixth Form intake has.Ali Webb (S L6) was typically superb, and Charlie Straw (S U6) ‘gotthe crowd pulsating’ - according to Mr Bell. A great way to go out!

The evening raised more than £500 for the pupils’ chosencharity, Motor Neurone Disease Association.

SOUNDS OF SUMMER OPEN-AIR CONCERT

Photos by Andrew Spicer (M LVI)

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HOUSE SINGING COMPETITION 2012

Emma Darwin Hall was awarded the Unison Song Prize with their energetic homage to the late Amy Winehouse. ‘Valerie’ had the entirehouse bopping to an on stage band, ordered so no member could hide and dilute the enthusiasm.

In an exhausting but memorable finale to the first half of the Michaelmas Term, the House Singing Competition took place just hours after theTucks. With mud-splattered faces scrubbed clean and running vests hastily swapped for glad-rags, there was no hint of the weariness manyprobably felt, as each House took to the stage and sang their hearts out to a large and appreciative audience gathered in the Alington Halland – via a live video link – in the Ashton Theatre.

Winners of the Overall Prize in the House Singing Competition 2012 were Severn Hill. Their unison song was a reprise of ‘Deep in the Dark’from the School musical The Bubble, while their part song was a triple combo of Abba, Take That and Coldplay, ‘Does your mother knowhow to fix your shine’ was very entertaining with an array of coloured waistcoats and crafty choreographing.

Back from their Hawaiian training camp, Churchill’s produced awell-nigh impeccable rendition of the Beach Boys’ ‘Get Around’ andclaimed the Part Song Prize, neatly reversing with Severn Hill lastyear's Overall/Part Song result.

School House’s much anticipated ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ turned out tobe Ken Dodd’s ‘Happiness’ with a plethora of tickle dusters and thecustomary goofy teeth; not only did this give them fourth place inthe Unison but earned the coveted Entertainment Prize.

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MODEL UNITED NATIONSOn the first day of half term, Miss Burge and Mr Peach, fiveAzerbaijanis, five Israelis, five North Koreans, and one buddingjournalist, Hugo Wright, set off to Croydon for the 31st Royal RussellModel United Nations conference.

Perhaps carried by the momentum of the Tucks, or lifted by thevertiginous highs of the House Singing Competition – or was it thatbacon butty at breakfast from KH? – the team got ‘stuck in’ in trueSalopian style from the outset and returned four days later with abrace of awards.

As always, it was an intense, dramatic, emotionally-charged, funand exhausting few days of internationalism, idealism,Machiavellianism, and intelligent debate and oratory, with the oddreference to Harry Potter or Korean YouTube hits thrown in.

What makes the Royal Russell conference stand out is thefriendly and welcoming atmosphere of the school’s staff and pupils,the high standard of the debates, the international feel (with schoolsfrom Ireland, the USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, Greece and Turkey)and the sheer range and breadth of the other features of theweekend like the MUN Press Corps (this year with a Salopianjournalist working in it), MUN-TV, the MUN chapel service, the fancy-dress discos and this year’s remarkably ambitious, big-screen,outdoor X-Factor (of which more anon).

James Humpish, the Israeli ambassador, made the first bigimpression. His opening address to the General Assembly, whichwas loosely based on Blake’s Jerusalem, was chosen as the bestopening speech. And he certainly got the ball rolling for the team.On the following morning Salopians were in the thick of the debatesin committees, and – as usual – showed their staying power, as thedebate moved to the General Assembly on the last two days. NorthKorean ambassador, Daniel Edwards, stood out in GeneralAssembly, taking the podium more than any other Salopian, and

delivering some excellent speeches. Kim Jong-Un will be delightedthat – in rhetoric at least – his ambassador served him well andimperialists were well and truly smashed!

At the end of the conference, our Azerbaijani team were awardedthe top prize, the Distinguished Delegation Award (alongsideHaberdashers’ Askes’, Herts and Terenure College, Dublin) and Iwas delighted that our Israeli team picked up a Highly CommendedDelegation Award, too. In addition, the following won DistinguishedDelegate awards for their work in their committees: Ben Gould, SamAnsloos, Ed Elcock, Alfie Rius, Rory Fraser, Toby Harvey-Scholesand Guy Cabral (an extraordinary achievement for a Fourth Former).Following on from his success on the first day, James Humpish wontwo Distinguished Delegate awards; one for his work in the HumanRights committee and one for his contribution to a special CrisisCommittee, which was set up on the second day of the conferenceto resolve the fallout of a fictitious terrorist attack on the UN.

In addition, Shrewsbury had three of the 16 entries for the MUN X-Factor. Alex Moore sang and played guitar in a complex and moodyBen Howard number ‘Everything'. Sam Ansloos then delivered asoaring rendition of Tom Petty’s ‘Free Falling’. However, it wasShrewsbury’s very own waist-coated boy band, ‘Ed and the OtherPeople’, who somehow danced and beat-boxed their way to victorywith an original and hilarious, if wobbly, mash-up of Gotye’s‘Somebody that I Used to Know’ and ‘Gangnam Style’. Speaking tothe MUN Press afterwards, Ed Elcock announced that his bandwere donating the £150 X-Factor prize money to the ‘Shewsy’ youthclub in Everton.

Overall, it was a great experience for all, and we are very muchlooking forward to the Paris MUN in December.

Huw Peach

There must be a metaphor in here somewhere!

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CCFROYAL MARINES – THE PRINGLE TROPHYThe Pringle Trophy competition is a two-day, gruelling event in whichteams from the nineteen schools across the UK with Royal MarinesCCF Detachments compete at the infamous Commando TrainingCentre RM (CTCRM) at Lympstone. The competition pushes thecadets' stamina, determination and teamwork to the limit, but it is aunique opportunity for them to experience what commando trainingentails.

Directed by a team of Royal Marine Instructors, who set a ruthlesspace and look for similar levels of proficiency and purpose to thoseof regular Commandos, the first day is spent being assessed ondifferent military skills including navigation, weapon handling,camouflage and concealment, sniper stalk, battle skills and combatmedicine. The second day starts with tests on turnout, drill andknowledge of the history and traditions of the Royal Marines.

The final and most demanding challenge is the infamousCommando assault course. This test of physical fitness, strengthand sheer grit involves a punishing combination of ropes, ditches,walls and tunnels. It also includes the notorious ‘regain ropes’suspended high above an icy tank of water – an ultimate test ofstrength and tenacity.

Cpl Will Heyes’ graphic account of the experience of taking part ison the School website.

The following extract describes the first day of the competition.

“At 0530, while most Shrewsbury School students were stilltucked up in bed, the Pringle teams woke for breakfast in the Galleyat 0600 and after a mad rush to gather webbing, bergens, bagrations, magazines and rifles, we were deployed onto Woodburycommon by 0700 as the sun was rising. Our first stance of the daywas relaxed as it was simple weapons handling tests; thanks to LtCorbett’s intensive weapons training on the previous Thursday, we

quickly showed off our ammunition loading skills and our well-tunedstoppage and loading drills. An easy start to warm up the day.

Having speed-marched down, the battle exercise (Battle-Ex) gaveus our first stance of blank firing, and we were ready to make somenoise. Our mission was to find and secure a fallen RAF jet pilot witha leg injury and bring him out of enemy territory. After the briefingand loading up, we patrolled off into the common. Within a fewminutes, a white smoke grenade went off, as we were briefed thefallen captain would do when he spotted our patrol. Unfortunatelythis spooked one L Cpl. who started to fire on the casualty, but aftera very loud call of ‘CEASE FIRE!’ the extraction was began. While‘Charlie’ section prepared the casualty, ‘Delta’ section (includingme) came under fire from a hidden enemy waiting in ambush.When he gave his position away, thunderous rounds went down aswe covered Cpl Wilson carrying the pilot on his shoulders back tothe extraction point. Mission completed and successful.

By 0930 we had started the First Aid stance. Run by Navalmedics (who will not stand for errors!) there was no room formistakes. Patrolling up through an area that 45 Commando troopshad cleared of enemies, it was our detachment’s job to search forand collect the casualties of the recent ambush. Quickly we found aman with a chest wound lying in the gorse and hastily got to worksecuring his wounds, when from behind us shouting from a bundline was another marine in a state of shock calling for help. SgtYoung and I and ‘Delta’ section met this call, only to find the restlessmarine going mad in shock, after removing his shirt to try andextract his friend with a head injury; Sgt Young could only get him ina head lock and force him to calm down. His friend had a largegash to his head and was very quickly fading intounconsciousness. I found myself desperately trying to keep himtalking by having a conversation with him about his favourite kind of

“Cam and Com” (Camouflage and Concealment)

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cake (it did the job) and after all marines’ wounds were patched up,they were carried to the ambulance and extracted for the hospital.We had high hopes after that stance, a major boost to morale!

Camouflage and concealment was next on the sync matrix. Wewere given ten minutes to cut down the local vegetation and shoveit down webbing pouches, in loops in hats and elastics on armsand webbing. Then we tried to break our human figures and blendinto the surrounding area. None of us were spotted during thisstance, either because of our amazing hiding abilities or our poorspotting abilities, as it was our own team looking for our hiddencomrades.

The next stance was the stalk. Still in head-to-toe camouflage,we were given one single round to take a sniper shot at an enemyOP (observation point) without being spotted. Ten seconds to getinto a starting position, we split up suddenly into the gorse foliage. Icannot give any account of the stalk apart from my own. I ran as farforward as I could to get the best head start. It went very quicklyand I think I recall pushing one of our lance corporals over duringthe start in my obsessive sprint to the front line. Finding pathsthrough the gorse I crawled for ten minutes, eyes fixed on the treesthat labelled the enemy territory. Conscious of telegraphing (the actof wobbling the base of plants so they shake massively at the topand hence the main reason snipers would get spotted) I movedforward as quickly as I could. By the time I reached enemy territory Iwas not in any position to be able to fire a shot at the OP, as thegorse was about three feet off the ground, so I crawled further in.When I heard the five-minute call go I felt it was my only chance toscore points for my team especially when I hadn’t heard any othershots from my friends. I plucked up the courage to kneel up, slowlyso as not to shake the grass on my jungle hat too much, andspotted the OP through the gauze bushes and fired a single shot.My job was done and all I could do was stay absolutely still andhope I wouldn’t get spotted. The radio of the YO (young officer)went mad as the OP tried to direct him to try and find my figure.They failed, and luckily they stopped looking when three other shotswent off during the last minute, as my friends took their shots at theenemy. L Cpl Plaut and I both scored points for our team during thestalk, but it was not enough to secure first place.

After half a day of hard work, cadets start to get tired and make afew mistakes. On the way to the Leadership stance, I becamenavigationally challenged. I led the team speed-marching into awood. We recognised it as being part of the RM endurance course...so we weren’t in the right place at all. We speed-marched for thewhole half-hour of the changeover time and arrived just in time forthe stance. And with our training of leadership tasks, we set to workand completed as much as we could to the best of our abilities,despite our exhausted state after yomping the last half hour.

Inspirational words came from Cpl Wilson’s tongue on the way tosection attacks. It had been the section attack demonstration, fromthat year’s winning Pringle team, during the Fourth Form recruits’nitex, which had inspired Willow and myself to join the Marinessection. It was the most important stance to us and we had to win it.Bombing up two mags each, we were briefed by Sgt Young: wehad trained on many occasions for section attacks and for ourMarines they are now second nature. Patrolling forward through thethickest Woodbury gorse, Cpl Wilson at the point of our arrow-headformation, it all happened very quickly;

Cpl Wilson – “CONTACT FRONT!!” (Everyone hits the deck andstarts to fire.)

Sgt Young – “SECTION, TEN METRES TO YOUR FRONT, TWOTIMES ENEMY GUNNERS, RAPID FIRE!!” (The fire increasesmassively.)

Sgt Young – “THREE I/C TAKE OVER, TWO I/C ON ME!!” (I leapto my feet and hurdle over to Henry in the gorse; he briefs me onthe battle plan and I sprint back to my section.)

Cpl Heyes – “DELTA SECTION, PREPARE FOR RIGHTFLANKING MANOUEVRE UNDER COVER OF SMOKE!!”

And with that the plan of attack began, ‘Charlie’ section givingcovering fire while ‘Delta’ moved forward, pivoted and assaulted theenemy position through the smoke. Struggling with magazinechanges and stoppages, the section fought through the enemy dig-out and reformed a bound away, where L Cpl Dempsey and I weresent to check the dead bodies. Jumping into the ditch where theenemy had concealed themselves, John face-planted into a gorsebush. He shook it off and covered my descent into the ditch in anequally uncomfortable manner. Bodies checked, we checked ourmen for ammunition and wounds. The end of a very successfulexercise.

The day in the field ended in much more relaxed style, with easyObservation stance and map reading stance. Back at CTCRM wequickly cleaned the rifles and squared them away in the armoury,got some scoff from the galley, and some last minute drill practicebefore getting our heads down to clear our head for the final day ofPringle.”

Cpl Will Heyes RM (Ch UVI)

Sgt Henry Young attempting a Regain

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FIELD DAYPupils took part in a vast array of different activities on Field Day this October. Will Heyes' account of competing in the Royal Marines PringleTrophy is on page 28. The photos on this page give a flavour of what four other groups got up to.

Photos 1 and 2: Third Form boys spent half the day in a very hands-on first aid session, and the other half of the day in a workshop run byprofessional actors on the subject of bullying.

Photo 3: Thirty-eight Fourth Formers and six Lower Sixth pupils took part in a paralympic-themed day, including wheelchair basketballworkshop run by an ex-GB basketball player.

Photo 4: Eight writers spent most of the day putting together the second issue of Public Nose.

Photo 5: CCF cadets preparing to march on their stomachs.

Photo 6: Nine senior boys, two recent Old Salopians and a guest rider from Moreton Hall (aspiring professional) all took part in a mountainbike training day using a notorious track nick-named 'The Wobbler' at Crogen, near Bala.

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FASHION SHOWThe annual Quod Fashion Show was hosted this year by TVpersonality Carol Smillie. and raised more than £2,000 for theTeenage Cancer. The event was organised by a group of Sixth Formgirls, who worked with local boutiques to select a collection ofclothes, arranged tickets, publicity, models (Sixth Form girls andboys), and planned the show itself.

Shrewsbury boutiques who participated included Wysteria Lane,Hayley J, Carol Grant, Monsoon, Chequers and Rackhams, as wellas Mansers and The Looking Glass – a vintage shop in Bridgnorth.

Carol Smillie with two of the organisers, her daughter Christie Knight(left) and Cressida Adams (right)

Participants and organisers of the Summer Open Air Concert andthe Quod Fashion Show presented a cheque for £3,480 to AdamJohnson from The Teenage Cancer Trust, when he came to give atalk to the Lower Sixth on Teenage Cancer. Left to right: Tom Lloyd,Ed Shawe-Taylor, Christie Knight, Sam Morris, Adam Johnson(from the Teenage Cancer Trust), Cressida Adams

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CRICKET

Despite the worst summer weather on record, Shrewsbury Schoolcricket flourished throughout the spring, and summer months, rightup to the U15 ESCA T20 finals at Arundel and the U17 National 40over final in Oxfordshire in September. In another outstanding yearof achievement Shrewsbury School continued to provide thesternest opposition for all domestic and overseas teams. Thereputation of our cricket continues to grow, but will be severelychallenged in the season to come following the departure of ourmost successful 1st XI ever. Reputations take along time to beestablished, but can easily be eroded and undermined therefore; itgoes without saying that our developing players and teams have ahuge challenge ahead in 2013. The forthcoming tour to South Africathis December marks the exciting beginning of a new cricket era atschool and a great opportunity for all involved.

The 1st XI squad, containing many of the team that won the U15ESCA/ECB T20 in 2009 & the U18 HMC T20 in 2011, played withpositive intent and maturity throughout the season, but wereeventually frustrated as their time at school drew to a close. AnotherT20 semi-final defeat at the hands of Millfield School and a washedout Silk Trophy was scant reward for a team that has provided theschool with outstanding success, a great number of role models,excellent standards of play and at least two more professionalcricketers. As an example of the dominance of this departingsquad, here is their playing record since December 2010.

Played 55 Won 50 Lost 4 Drew 1 Abandoned 8

In addition our newly formed U17s worked well with their coach MrHughes in progressing to the National Final but eventually lostnarrowly to an excellent Gillingham School. The exposure andexperienced gained by this squad, containing a greater number of

U16 and U15 boys, will hopefully underpin a similar run in 2013.Mr Greetham ensured that the U15 XI again played well above

expectations. They lost , narrowly and early, in the Lord’s TavernersCompetition to the eventual winners, Denstone College, but gainedrevenge in the later rounds of the T20 as they went on to reach theESCA/ECB T20 finals day. Here they came unstuck against, theeventual winners, Bolton School, despite an outstanding firstinnings batting display.

As you can see from this table the school did very well overall, ifyou consider wins (76%) to be the priority. We are obviouslysatisfied with these figures, and feel that they reflect well on all thesquads, but take much more comfort from the continual progressand development of our players. This is not as easy to measure butas ‘headline measures’ of the progress I would like to highlight threeimportant facts.

– Since 2008 we have produced seven professionally contractedcricketers.

– The Saracens XI, who won the Cricketer Cup this season forthe first time since 1987, contained seven 1st XI players fromteams since 2008 and three 1st XI players from this season.

– We now offer more hours of cricket coaching to ShrewsburySchool boys, of all abilities, than ever before.

1st XI

1st XI Results: Played 22, Won, 19 Lost 2, Drew 1,Abandoned/Cancelled 7Pre Season: Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1T20 Matches: Played 8, Won 7, Lost 150/over Matches: Played 10, Won 10, Lost 0,Abandoned/Cancelled 7

An early April start saw the team once again hard at it in our annualPre-season festival. As in the previous year two wins againstWorksop College and Worcestershire Academy still did not providethe 1st XI with enough confidence to master Millfield School whowould also prove to be too good for us later in the season atArundel.

From that loss in April until the beginning of July, the 1st XIperformed excellently well and looked a very good bet to retain theirHMC T20 title and go on to win the Silk Trophy for the third time, butone poor batting display and some poor weather put paid to theirambitions.

Henry Lewis captained the team for the second season with realauthority and vision. He once again opened the innings on a regularbasis and this season scored a good number of important runs. Hisback foot play was more assured and he often dominated the earlyexchanges of matches. His off spin bowling proved less fruitful inthe 50 over matches, but still remained a real threat in our T20campaign. He has been an outstanding captain and leader duringthe past two seasons. He will be a very hard act to follow.

Stephen Leach had another excellent season and scored agreat number of important runs. He was not as prolific as he waslast year, but as a cricketer he has grown up a great deal and has areal passion for the game that I know will take him a long waytowards fulfilling his dream of becoming a 1st class professionalcricketer. His grand total of 2704 runs (485 (2012) +1,051 (2011) +

ALL SCHOOL TEAMS RECORDS 2012

P W L A/C1st XI50/50 10 10 0 720/20 8 7 1 0Pre-season 3 2 10Total 21 19 2 7

2nd XI 7 6 1 93rd XI 5 4 1 4

U17 5 4 1 0

U16A 4 3 1 6U16B 4 2 1 1

U15A 18 13 3 2U15B 8 6 2 2U15C 5 2 3

U14A 14 10 3 6U14B 10 5 3 2U14C 7 7 0 6

Total 129 100 23 52

673 (2010) +411(2009) +84(2008)) in five years as a 1st XI playerspeaks volumes for his contribution. He has been the backbone ofthe team and made real progress throughout his time. He hasworked hard at all aspects of his game and I wish him luck as hesets out on his road to professionalism with a stint in Australia thiswinter.

Jack Hudson-Williams, despite offering his bowling to thecaptain, rarely dominated with the ball, but took great comfort intaking on more responsibility with the bat. His batting average ofover 54 in our 50 over matches indicated his greater maturity andwillingness to take on responsibility. He has been a player in the1st XI for the past three seasons and set the highest standards offielding I can remember. His fielding performance in the T20 semifinal loss to Millfield was simply the best I have seen. He is nowliving, studying and developing his cricket in Western Australia.

Just over 250 runs in all formats of the game for Jack Bailey thisseason hardly seems enough but his willingness to work harderand occupy the crease often set up winning situations for the team.His game really progressed and he can be rightly proud of all hehas achieved in the 1st XI. I am confident to say he is one of ourmost accomplished batsmen of this century but unsure that he willcontinue to play the game despite being blessed with so muchnatural talent. I must further congratulate him on his ability in thefield and a number of outstanding catches during his career.

Ruadrhi Smith took his bowling to the highest level andconsistently unsettled our opponents even on the flattest surfaces.His twenty wickets, most often taken with the new ball, made lifeeasier for the other bowlers and again enabled him to stand out asone of the most exciting seam bowlers on our circuit. His dynamicand athletic fielding greatly improved our team performance timeand again. His batting in 50 over matches was too fragilethroughout the season and this is where he will need to focus hisattention if he is to break into the Glamorgan 1st XI in years tocome. By contrast he proved to be most valuable in scoring over200 runs in our T20 campaign with his strong stroke play andathletic running between the wickets.

Alistair Pollock returned to service with real desire to bat andbowl with equal authority. He achieved both comfortably, but Isense, not to the level of satisfaction he desired. He remains for meour most competitive all-rounder in recent years and he cannot inanyway be faulted for his tireless commitment on the field. It wasfitting and pleasing for me to see him play such a major role in thesuccess of the Saracens winning team this summer. He has beenan excellent player for the past two years.

Jamie Board as our first choice wicketkeeper did much tosharpen our fielding skills throughout the season. He worked hardat his concentration and technique during the past two years andleaves a much better player. As he improved his technique, hisbody language and his enthusiasm rubbed off on his team matesand they became an efficient fielding unit around him. He has beena key factor in the successes of this team and will now be seekingto further improve his cricket with a gap year in Western Australia.

Mark Prescott provided the essential grounding for the team thisyear. Despite his lack of consistent opportunities he nevercomplained once but continued to support the team in every waypossible. He not only sustained his position in the squad but grewin stature as the season wore on. He was a key ingredientunderpinning the multi talented squad. As the season drew on heremained in contention as a bowler and a batter and finished theseason with the ball as strongly as any in the squad. Hiscommitment and contributions over his career in the 1st XI singleshim out for praise but more satisfying than this were his good grace,growing maturity and sensitivity to others.

James Aston to his great credit moved his career forward andbecome one of our very best T20 bowlers in 2012. In total he tooksome 27 wickets, in all formats of the game, but could easily havegot more if some of our close catching had been better. Hisimproved ground fielding helped the team out, but it was his ever-present consistency that made him such a valuable team member.He leaves with a high quality record and an encouragement fromme to continue the work he has done to date.

Edward Pollock had a dynamic and positive impact on the team.His stroke play is exciting to watch and brought him a harvest of642 runs in all formats of the game. As he contemplates theforthcoming tour and next season he will surely wish to better hisrecord. I think if he reflects, for just a short period, on one or twoof his shot selections throughout the season he will be able tomap his own progress and surely achieve that an improvedrecord. His bowling did not offer control for the team or himselfbut I know that he will be working hard throughout the winter tobring this skill back in line and make a more significant majorcontribution with the ball in the future.

Henry Blofield made a significant impact in the first half of termbut faded a little as the summer drew on. His contribution to the1st XI and the U17s was still significant but I know full well that hewill be seeking to offer greater control and penetration as the SouthAfrican tour and the 2013 season occur. A return of 17 wickets isencouraging during his first full season. His position in the 1st XIrarely opened up batting opportunities of real significance but thegrit and discipline he showed against Millfield last April give megreater encouragement for the future. I know that he desperatelywishes to contribute more with the bat and some winter work on histechnique will greatly help him achieve that goal.

Matthew Gregson, Charlie Farqhuar and Will Mason forvarious reasons did not play a full part the squad in 2012 but I wishto put on record their contribution to the development and standardsachieved. They played their part in the success and the first two(who will be in the U6) have much more to offer next season.

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Henry Lewis

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Stephen Leach and Jack Hudson-Williams

1st XI Results – 50-over matches11th April Worksop College (h) Shrewsbury won by 7 wickets

Worksop 204 for 5, Shrewsbury 207 for 3 (S. G. Leach 106 no)

12th April Worcester Academy (h) Shrewsbury won by 77 runsShrewsbury 188 for 7 (E. Pollock 53), Worcester Academy 111 for 7

13th April Millfield (h) Millfield won by 4 wicketsShrewsbury 121 all out, Millfield 126 for 6

21st April King Edwards Birmingham (a) Shrewsbury won by 9 wicketsKES 83 all out ( J. Aston 4 for 17 , H. Blofield 3 for 18) Shrewsbury 87 for 1

25th April Shropshire U21s (h) Cancelled Waterlogged Pitches

29th April MCC (h) Cancelled Waterlogged Pitches

5th May Trent College (a) Shrewsbury won by 118 runsShrewsbury 253 for 5 (J. Hudson-Williams 70) Trent 135 all out (R. Smith 4 for 9)

9th May Wrekin College (40 overs match) (h) Match Abandoned, RainShrewsbury 246 for 6 (M. Prescott 64, A. Styles 63, R.Smith 63), Wrekin 7 for 1 (2 overs)

12th May Repton (h) Shrewsbury won by 9 wicketsRepton 102 all out (R. Smith 5 for 24), Shrewsbury 103 for 1 ( H. Lewis 52 no)

19th May Sedbergh (h) Shrewsbury won by 23 runsShrewsbury 161 for 9 (S. Leach 51) Sedbergh 138 all out

26th May Malvern (a) Shrewsbury won by 8 wicketsMalvern 180 all out Shrewsbury 180 for 2 (S. Leach 71 no, H. Lewis 71)

30th May Myerscough College (40 overs) (h) Shrewsbury won by 5 wicketsMyerscough College 143 for 7 Shrewsbury 145 for 5

16th June Manchester Grammar School (40 overs) (h) Match Abandoned, RainShrewsbury 208 for 5 (H. Lewis 73, E. Pollock 66), Manchester 101 for 5 (30 0vers)( H. Blofield 3 for 16)

23rd June Warwick (a) Shrewsbury won by 141 runsShrewsbury 327 for 8 ( E. Pollock 73, J. Hudson-Williams 96, A. Pollock 83), Warwick 186 all out

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Shrewsbury vs Millfield Semi-Final With an air of confidence, Shrewsbury looked to defend their titlewon less than 300 days ago on the same Arundel Castle ground.After an unbeaten run of 17 games in T20 games spread over 2seasons and with nine of last year’s victorious side selected to play,Shrewsbury looked to challenge Millfield on the third occasion thatthe two sides had met at this stage of the competition. Gloriousweather greeted us this time in stark contrast to the damp, earlyautumn conditions last year. The ground looked a picture, a stagegood enough to host the four best schools in the country in theshortest format of the game.

After Millfield had won the toss and decided to bat, they set aboutthe Shrewsbury attack with relish; Smith was often wayward in hislength and though Aston was a little more consistent, he paid theprice for bowling too full at times. The power play yielded 46 runsand gave Millfield the first advantage. The introduction of HenryLewis saw the pace taken off the ball and with it, he took a verysharp caught and bowled (his 7th of the season) to remove WillJenkins with the score on 53.

The introduction of the slow bowlers, Blofield, Prescott and Lewisput a brake on the Millfield run rate as 8 runs an over quickly fell tobelow 6 and Millfield started to lose wickets, Lewis removed WillSobzcak, courtesy of a well judged catch in the deep by SteveLeach and Mark Prescott was chipping away at the Park End. Threevery athletic catches by Jack Hudson-Williams all off Prescott’sbowling reduced Millfield to 93-5 at the end of the 15th.

The onslaught in the final 5 overs never came about, as some

tight bowling aided by some exceptional fielding ensured thatMillfield never scored a boundary in the final quarter of their innings.Mark Prescott finished with the exceptional figures of 4-14 off his 4overs and Shrewsbury were highly satisfied that Millfield had beenrestricted to 115-7 off their allotted 20 overs.

Shrewsbury’s reply never really got going; the loss of 4 wickets inthe power play being a blow they never really recovered from. Only3 batsmen (and extras) got into double figures and although AlistairPollock hung around at one end, the big hitters missed out and itwas left to the lower order to try and rescue the innings. Millfield, totheir credit, bowled well and set effective run-saving fields thatstrangled Shrewsbury’s supply of runs. Shrewsbury were finally allout when Alistair Pollock skied one to mid-off with 10 ballsremaining.

Shrewsbury failed once again to overcome Millfield at this stageof the competition, though to be fair, on the day they were a betterside and Shrewsbury will go away looking to rebuild with nine oftheir side leaving this year (this particular year group were alsoUnder 15 ESCA National Champions in the T20 format). However,an Under 17 side composed of mainly 4th and 5th formers havereached the semi-finals of the National Under 17 competition andthey are optimistic that they can challenge the best schools in thecountry once again next year.

A full report on the 2012 cricket season is on the School website:www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/2012-cricket-report

27th June Uppingham (a) Shrewsbury won by 75 runsShrewsbury 229 for 6 (H. Lewis 83, J. Hudson-Williams 89), Uppingham 156 all out (A. Pollock 4 for 29)

30th June Denstone (a) Cancelled Waterlogged Pitches

2nd July Oundle (Silk) (h) Match Abandoned, RainShrewsbury 131 for 1 23 overs

3rd July Bishops (Silk) (45 overs) (h) Shrewsbury won by 9 wicketsBishops 173 for 8, Shrewsbury 174 for 1 (S. Leach 75 no, E.Pollock 85 no)

4th July Eton College(Silk) (h) Cancelled Waterlogged Pitches

6th July Saracens (h) Cancelled Waterlogged Pitches

1st XI T20 Season Results6th May Adams Grammar/Oswestry School & Ellesmere College

Adams 43 all out (18 overs) (E. Pollock 4 for 3, H. Blofield 3 for 5), Shrewsbury 44 for 0 (3 overs)Shrewsbury won by 10 wickets

Ellesmere 36 all out (18.4 overs) (M. Prescott 2 for 1, R. Smith 2 for 1), Shrewsbury 44 for 2Shrewsbury won by 8 wickets

Shrewsbury 212 for 8 (J. Bailey 94), Oswestry 69 for 8 (A.Pollock 3 for 10)Shrewsbury won by 143 runs

20th May Denstone Shrewsbury won by 6 wicketsDenstone 97 for 6, Shrewsbury 99 for 4

20th June Shifnal CC (Friendly) Shrewsbury won by 8 wicketsShifnal CC 99 all out (J. Aston 4 for 10), Shrewsbury 102 for 2

26th June Felsted (at Bedford) Quarter Final Shrewsbury won by 5 wicketsFelsted 123 for 8 (H. Lewis 5 for 20), Shrewsbury 127 for 3 (R. Smith 54)

28th June Millfield (at Arundel) Semi-Final Shrewsbury lost by 19 runsMillfield 115 for 7 (M. Prescott 4 for 14), Shrewsbury 96 all out

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Batting (100+ only) Inn N.O. Runs HS 100s Av

S. G. Leach 12 4 485 106* 1 60.62

J. G. Hudson-Williams 8 3 273 93 54.60

E. J. Pollock 12 4 427 82* 53.37

H. G.Lewis* 11 2 356 83 39.55

A. W. Pollock 8 3 161 83 32.20

J. F. Bailey 6 1 129 46 25.80

M. R. J. Prescott 5 1 101 64 25.25

R. A. J. Smith 7 0 128 64 18.28

Bowling (7+ only) Ov M Runs Wkts BB Av

R. A. J. Smith 75.3 16 183 20 5-24 9.15

H. G. Lewis* 41 2 134 9 3-23 14.88

E. J. Pollock 40.2 6 157 9 3-23 17.44

J. N. Aston 87 12 270 15 4-17 18.00

H. C. Blofield 80 9 269 14 3-16 19.21

M. R. J. Prescott 51.3 3 167 8 2-13 20.87

A. W. Pollock 74.2 8 254 9 4-29 28.22

*Captain

Wisden 1st XI Report and Averages Season 2012

Presentation of the ESCA Midlands Trophy to U15A XI captain George Lewis

The appalling weather in the Summer of 2012 was not enough todampen what for me was a terrific term of tennis. The 1st VI inparticular were the most committed and determined boys I havecoached in my five years at Shrewsbury and I have no doubt thatnext year the level will be ratcheted up again. The main highlightsfor me were the 1st VI win over Uppingham and the performance ofthe 1st IV at the Youll Cup in Eton.

The win over Uppingham was Shrewsbury’s first in 18 years at 1stVI level. Whilst our 3rd pair of Will Milligan-Manby and Dom Gibbonsfought hard throughout the season and made significantimprovements in their game they were unable to win any sets at 1stVI level. The second pairing of Jack Hodges and Michael Cheung(both 5th formers) were inspirational on this day winning all four oftheir sets and by winning their final two sets the first pair of HarryBromley-Davenport and Will Phillips were able to clinch the victory5-4. This win injected huge confidence through Shrewsbury tennis. Ihad grown fed up with hearing excuses for losing and evenoverhearing our opponents make reference to a lack of fight in ourperformances in previous years. On this occasion and at the YoullCup there was overwhelming evidence of a change in our boyscharacter shown by a willingness to fight. I would go as far as to saythat if I were picking a composite 1st VI from the last five years atShrewsbury then Will Phillips, Harry Bromley-Davenport, MichaelCheung and Jack Hodges would make the team. At Eton the seniorboys lost in the first round to Warwick after hitting a net cord onmatch point. They then battled through to the quarter finals of theClark trophy losing to the eventual finalists Epsom once more afterhaving a match point. In every match I was so proud of the level ofplay and the level of commitment and courage shown. In onematch tie break vs Merchant Taylor’s, Michael Cheung and JackHodges found themselves 6-2 down. Michael Cheung then playedthe most brilliant tennis winning seven points in a row with cleanwinners – fantastic self belief shown to win the match at such acritical juncture. The junior pairing of Tom Robinson and LisleGannon were inspired by the senior boys and produced somemagic of their own. In the quarters of the plate they played versusRugby winning the first set 6-3 before going down 6-1 in the secondto a pair who were more experienced and technically moreproficient. Tom led the pair really well in the deciding tie break and

the Shrewsbury pair walked about the court as if the previous sethad never happened winning the match tie break 10-5. Tom andLisle then lost to Reed’s in the semi finals who went on to win thetournament. Tom and Lisle certainly showed me that they weremade of the right stuff.

All in all there is much to be encouraged about ShrewsburyTennis at present. The U15A and U14A teams both had winningseasons suggesting that there is enough talent coming through tofeed through into the senior teams of the future. The new 3rd formalso look to be a strong bunch. The House tennis matches continueto be of a much higher standard than in years gone by withOldham’s beating The Grove in the Senior House Tournament andRidgemount beating Port Hill in the Junior House Competition. Atthe annual tennis dinner awards were given to Jack Hodges forplayer of the season, Tom Robinson and Henry Clay for U15 playersof the season, Will Schofield for the most improved player and toWill Milligan-Manby for his outstanding effort and commitment to histennis. Next year I have decided to end U16A and U16B matchesso that the school can run four senior teams instead of two with thetop 3 years competing for places in the teams. The main thrust ofthis idea is to increase the level of inter year competition and toaccelerate boys progress up the school teams as fast as possible.Below Top Squad (for 1st VI and future 1st VI players from all yeargroups), there will be a new squad for 5th and 6th form teamplayers. I am confident that the level in this second tier of players willconsequently rise in the future due to the extra inter yearcompetition. It has certainly been the case with Top Squad. Tennis isabout so much more than nice looking technical shots and bypromoting boys with the necessary character, Shrewsbury Tennisshould be ready to move forward to new heights.

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TENNIS

1st VI Tennis squad 2012 – back row (left to right): I. Z. Atkins,K. M. E. Williams, R. E. Home; front row: E. N. Murphy, H. V. Harris,A. R. Paul

1st Tennis squad 2012 – back row (left to right): M. J. Harding,J. Hodges, C. Cheung, D. N. Gibbons; front row: W. A. Milligan-Manby, H. N. Bromley-Davenport, W. A. Phillips, W. A. M. Norman

COACH IN RESIDENCE WEEK

Writing this report summarising our very first Coach in Residenceweek, it doesn’t quite seem real that we have just experienced theinspiring coaching and training from one of the world’s leadingcoaches - Ethiopia’s Sentayehu Eshetu - who has discovered anddeveloped multiple Olympic champions and world record holders.‘Coach’ as he likes to be known, made the long journey from EastAfrica, widely regarded as the ‘home’ of distance running, toShropshire and to The Hunt, whose history dates back to 1831, andcan therefore also lay claim to being the ‘home’ of running. Theunion seemed fitting, and as we welcomed Coach just hours aftertouching down from Addis Addiba, we already sensed that we werein for a very special week.

Having only ever been out of his native Ethiopia once before, nodoubt the bracing cold winds of Shropshire will have been a shockto Coach, but having had a good look around the School during hisfirst day here, he felt more than at home once the afternoon Benjiessession got underway on the first Monday and he was given chargeof the sixty or so boys signed up for the run. As we walked downCentral, the heads turned as the boys waited by the Darwin Statuecurious to catch a glimpse of the great man, resplendent in hisyellow, green and red Ethiopian national tracksuit top. I can’t saysuch reverence and awe is afforded to us normally as coacheswhen we make our way towards the Benjies sessions, but then wehaven’t coached any Olympians (yet!). After a brief introduction,Coach took charge of the warm-up routine, where he spent 15minutes preparing the boys in exactly the same way as he would hisown athletes in the small town of Bekoji. The routine was certainlydifferent, but a very interesting insight into the great man’s methods.Indeed, much of the week saw such innovative coachingtechniques, not least the unforgettable ‘tree’ session on the Fridayafternoon (a session that four days on I for one am still achingfrom!) and the highly technical hill work undertaken on the schoolbank midweek. There was the unique experience of early morningtraining, with a brave handful rising at 5.30am to undertake aspeedwork session as the sun gently crept over horizon, tough

track sessions, and individual guidance and encouragement to allof our runners. All of this was invaluable in terms of experience, andwe are hugely grateful to the Old Salopian former Huntsman whofinanced the trip and made it possible.

It was certainly a hectic schedule for Coach, who workedalongside over a hundred runners including prep school athletesfrom Packwood and Birchfield, and some of our talented femaleathletes. There was also something of a media frenzy surroundingCoach’s visit, with a BBC crew hastily making their way to theSchool to produce a piece about the Hunt’s experience with Coach,interviews with Radio Shropshire, press releases in the local papersand running magazines, and countless photo shoots. No wonder,of course, given Coach’s credentials; amongst his former charges,he can include the great Bekele brothers, triple Olympic medallistTirunesh Dibaba, and his protégé Derartu Tulu, who became thevery first African female athlete to win Olympic gold. We really werein the midst of a legend of the sport, and I have no doubt that hisvisit will have a lasting impact on all who were a part of the week.We as coaches have learned a huge amount, and certainly countourselves extremely fortunate to have been a part of this once in alifetime opportunity. We very much hope that this won’t be the endof the relationship, however, and indeed, Coach returns to Bekojiwith a suitcase full of running spikes and kit, partly donated by theHunt and the running store Up & Running in Shrewsbury, all ofwhich will benefit Coach’s next generation of athletes, some ofwhom may go on to be future Olympians. And who knows, perhapsthe boys and girls who experienced the coaching of Sentayehuhere last week may end up in Bekoji one day for the return visit...

Peter Middleton

The week also included a screening of ‘Town of Runners’ inQuod. Released last year, the film features Coach and two younggirls from Bekoji as they attempt to 'make it' as athletes. Although itis predominately a film about running, it also gives an interestingand inspiring insight into Ethiopian life. For more information, visitwww.townofrunners.com/run-with-us/Education/Shrewsbury_School

NEW BOYS’ RACEOn the first Saturday of term, the entire 3rd Form competed in theannual New Boys’ Race, a tough little 2.3km cross-country routemade all the more challenging this year by the hot conditions. Notonly is this an opportunity for early bragging rights among the boys,but it’s also very much a team event and the terrific camaraderie ondisplay by all the new House cohorts was a real treat to witness.

After Ed Mallett, this year’s Huntsman, performed his firstceremonial duties of the year by starting the event with the traditionalrallying cry and toot on the ancient bugle, 120-odd boys dashed offacross Central chasing the ‘hare’ of the event, Senior Whip SebBlake. Both Mr Middleton and Mr Haworth were very excited aboutthe potential of talent it was believed existed in this new collection ofSalopians, and they were not disappointed. A blistering early pacewas set by Freddie Huxley-Fielding which at one point may havemade our hare wish he’d done a little more pre-season training!

As the leading runners darted round Top Common and downOldham’s Gap, it was clear that this was going to be a very fast raceindeed. Tension built over the next five minutes as the boys madetheir way round the rest of the course, only for the leader to pop up infront of Chapel for the finishing straight long before anyone (with the

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RSSH

possible exception of Mr Middleton, though more on that shortly)had predicted.

The early pace-setter, Freddie Huxley-Fielding of Rigg’s, hadmanaged to lengthen his lead and crossed the line in an astonishing7.59, smashing last year’s record-breaking time set by OscarDickens by a full 17 seconds. To put this into context, the School’scurrent fastest runner, Huntsman Ed Mallett, completed the course inthe same race four years ago in a winning time of 9.01. Mr Middleton,Freddie’s Housemaster, looked slightly less than dignified inpunching the air several times, but then not only had he seen hischarge win the race, but he had correctly predicted his time to thesecond!

In second position came Charlie Tait-Harris of Port Hill, in anextremely strong time of 8.39, closely followed by William Hayward ofRigg’s in 8.45. Six runners managed to complete the course in undernine minutes, which is an exceptional athletic achievement at thisearly stage in these boys’ running careers. Indeed what was perhapsmost encouraging for the Hunt coaches was not just Freddie’sincredibly quick time, but the strength in depth on show among thisyear group, promising great things in years to come.

The race was not all about the very quick, however; further downthe field there were some impressively gutsy performances fromboys who were not used to running, and who nevertheless gave theirall in the unforgiving late-summer sunshine to do themselves andtheir Housemasters extremely proud. Everyone who completed thecourse can look back with a real sense of achievement, and theHeadmaster’s words of congratulations after the race were certainlyrichly deserved.

To the team event: the first six finishers from each House scoredpoints for their team, with the lowest points total winning. It wasunsurprising perhaps that Rigg’s, with their Housemaster alsoMaster in Charge of the Hunt, should take the honours. Theirdomination, though, was less predictable; their sixth finisher placed31st, making a team total of just 70 too strong for anyone else. In

second place was Port Hill, with a very creditable 102 points, whileOldham’s – something of a dark horse of a team – clutched third,with 130 points.

Well done to all who ran, and thanks to everyone who supportedthis hugely enjoyable event.

Ian Haworth

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Freddie Huxley-Fielding

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RSSBCHenley 2012

The striking view of the blue and white striped boat tent across theriver, which, for competitors, is that adrenaline-pumping sight as onerounds the corner in Henley at the first approach, was softened andcolourfully complemented this year by the presence of the newlybuilt Gloriana, the pageant-leading 18-oared Royal barge. Proudlyadorned from stem to stern with no fewer than ten large National,Royal and House flags streaming out to their full extent in the wind(which cruelly blew relentlessly straight down the course against thecrews for the full five days) she graced the Regatta in many ways.

The wind combined with the current this year to slow all the crewsdown considerably, a fact which drew comment from the RegattaChairman in his address at the presentation ceremony: the winningtime in the Grand this year was about 50 seconds slower than that oflast year. Think of what that means next time you try a 2k ergo: putthe brakes on the flywheel and draw the effort out by nearly a minute!But then, the Henley course is even longer, at2112m (or, for the traditionalists, 1 mile 550 yards –the longest straight course attainable when theregatta started in 1839). It was, as the Chairmanalso commented, a tough regatta.

The First VIIIMeeting Monmouth in the first round was not as easy as somemight think, although as it happened this shake down round wasexactly what the crew needed to steady the inevitable nerves.Monmouth shot off the start, “front-loading the race”, as their coachcommented, “so as to probe any weaknesses in the Shrewsburycrew. Unfortunately there were none!” Shrewsbury quicklyrecovered a canvas deficit and steadily overpowered a tough crewwith a reputation of never giving up. So to face Ridley College, theCanadian National Champions. Perhaps the memory of aresounding victory last year on the Thursday against St Joseph’s(USA) helped, for “Shrewsbury made a Selected crew look likenovices” was the comment of one Member. Shrewsbury’s start wasfast, but so was Ridley’s; then, having settled to race pace, an early,therefore risky and surprising, strong push saw the Shrewsburyboat almost lift itself out of the water to take the lead by a length. Itis possible, following a race, to pin it down to within a stroke or twowhen a crew member cracks under pressure; one can onlyspeculate here, but the headwind conditions somehow seemed toaffect Shrewsbury far less than Ridley from about this point of therace. Shrewsbury romped home in style to a two and a quarterlength victory. Thus was the Shrewsbury-Radley Friday rivalrypropagated for the third consecutive year with the score at one-allfrom the previous two. In the event Radley were simply faster. To beheavier by almost a stone a man into a strong headwind has acertain ring to it! The crew valiantly raced and, in typical fashion, didnot crack; typical also that the emotion after the race was highlycoloured by the sense of having let down the coach simply throughnot winning, but Todd’s post-race talk was cathartic. Most of thedeparting U6 from this crew have raced in the first VIII at Henley forthe last three years and under Todd they have never been less thanquarter-finalists. Todd has been an inspirational – and challenging –coach, and there have been some memorable victories overtalented crews along the way. But this is an annual competition, andthe remaining squad is forward looking and there is a job to do overthe next year or so. We wish Athol Hundermark, the newlyappointed coach, every success as he takes over in September.

Philip Lapage (River Master)

Olympic medallist Matt Langridge was one of theguests of honour at the Boathouse Opening. He ispictured opposite with Salopian rowers (left toright): Bridget Lapage (Girls’ Captain of Boats),Isobel Diment, Peter Gadsden with Matt’s Beijing2008 silver medal, Max Kimpton-Smith (Captain ofBoats), Cesca Molyneux with Matt's London 2012bronze medal, and Charlotte Harris.

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Junior World Rowing Championships,Plovdiv, Bulgaria, August 2012Tom Marshall (SH) and Harry Lonergan (O) looked as if theywould have a chance at being selected for the Junior GBWorlds team from the beginning of 2012: at all the longdistance trials they were always in the top five crews in the UK.However, things are never sealed until after the exhausting five-day trial in July at Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham. Harry had areasonably easy time of it by producing a great pair of seatraces on the first day. These placed him in the top group ofathletes immediately and his place in the top World IV wassealed. However, Tom’s experience was at the other end of thescale, race after race every day. However, success on the lastmorning and huge relief that Tom had secured a place in theWorlds VIII!

The championships werelate in August this year,meaning a long trainingcamp for both Salopians atthe GB training facility atCaversham, where they were ableto rub shoulders with athletespreparing for the Olympics. Tomwas now stroking the GB VIII – notbad for a boy who had oncestroked the RSSBC J15 B VIII!

So off to Plovdiv, Bulgariawhere on Sunday 19th August, in30-degree heat, Tom strokedthe Junior VIII to a bronze medal

in the final, just being pipped by Germany by a canvas. Italy wonthe gold. Later in the day, Harry rowed in the junior men’s coxlessfour, but finished just outside the medals in fourth position.

Junior Home Internationals, Cardiff, July 2012Bridget Lapage was selected to represent Wales in the girls’ juniorquad. Rowing at 2 on a beautifully sunny day in Cardiff, the crewwas last off the start, having had unexpected contact with a buoy.However, from the halfway mark they surged forward with animmense effort and came through to the silver position, onlynarrowly missing the gold.

GB Junior VIII – Tom Marshall is in the back row, second from right

The new ergo room in the Yale Boathouse

Tom Marshall

The School Football programme began in Portugal at the end ofAugust. The Under 15 and 1st XI squads travelled to Lisbon for aweek in the sun to begin a warm weather pre-season programme atthe Jamor National Sports Centre. Each squad trained for sevendays and played three matches against highly talented Portugueseteams. This was an ideal start to the busy term ahead.

At the time of going to press, both the Under 15s and the 1st XIsare still in their Cup competitions. The Under 15s have beatenWolverhampton Grammar and Bolton School in earlier rounds andnow proceed to round 4 in the ISFA Investec Cup, travelling to StBede's Manchester.

The 1st XI have progressed well in the ESFA Schools Trophy,beating St Thomas More School, Walsall and Idsall School, Shifnalto set up the annual 5th round tie away at Thomas Telford School.

In the ISFA Boodles Cup they have a 4th round tie at home toBolton School. In the previous rounds they beat Highgate, RoyalRussell School and Latymer Upper School, which involved matcheswith three tough London schools. The Latymer Upper School gamewas a tense affair as the opponents took a 2-1 lead with threeminutes to play. Ben Gould, the 1st XI goalkeeper went into theopponents’ penalty area for a last minute corner and scored! Hethen saved three penalties in the resulting shoot-out. It was aremarkable end to a very hard fought contest.

The 2nd XI are having much success in their Shropshire Leaguematches and these are perfect preparation for 2nd XI players to bepromoted into the 1st team when needed. In recent weeks, nofewer than five players have been moved up to the 1st XI squadincurring a few problems following injuries, illness and suspensions.From the squad of 14 players who were due to play against

Thomas Telford recently only nine went on tour at the start of theseason.

The remaining squads are working hard in training and havingmixed results in their school matches. The inter-house Leagueprogramme is drawing to a close as the House knock-outcompetition is about to start.

At the time of writing, there are only two weeks of the term left andover 200 school matches have been played. I must thank AndyRichards and his team of groundsmen who have provided excellentpitches for all our footballing needs.

Steve BigginsMaster-in-Charge of Football

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FOOTBALL

1st XI Squad

1st XI captain Ed Lloyd (left) and Tim Atkins (right)

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U15A Squad

1st XI goalkeeper Ben Gould on the offensive in the dying seconds of ISFA cup tie versus Latymer Upper

1950-1959Philip Phillips (DB, 1951-56) has been awarded a Jubilee Medalby British Rowing. To mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Year, sixtymedals were awarded to people who, through their dedication,have helped to lay down a legacy for future generations of rowers.

Phil Phillips was a member of the 1955 crew that won thePrincess Elizabeth Cup – the first major win the RSSBC had had inmany years. He went on to win numerous other trophies as anoarsman and rowed in a well-known four from Derby Rowing Club(including Mike Sweeney, current Chairman of the Henley RoyalRegatta), who achieved the requirements to qualify for theOlympics,. He later became a GB selector and a highly successfulcoach and was an active multi-lane umpire until his retirement. Inhis medal citation, Phillip is described as a major catalyst at DerbyRowing Club: “His enthusiasm, dedication and sheer hard work asa club official and coach over the last 50 years leaves a legacyclearly identified. Without his input, the Club would not be what it istoday.”

1960-1979Professor Michael Proctor (O 1963-67) has been pre-elected asProvost of King’s College, Cambridge. He will take up office in thenext academic year.

Adrian Morris (O 1977-1982) has been appointed as Prep SchoolLeader at Harrow’s new International School in Hong Kong, whichopened in September 2012.

Max Kinnings (PH 1979-84), novelist and screenwriter, hasrecently been appointed Head of Creative Writing at BrunelUniversity, working alongside novelists such as Fay Weldon and WillSelf. Max’s new novel, Baptism, is published by Quercus (seePublications, page 60). Further details of Max’s work can be foundat www.maxkinnings.com

1980-1989Patrick Ellwood (O 1980-85) writes: “After living in Turkey for sevenyears, my wife and I decided it was time to move on to somewhere

NEWS OF OLD SALOPIANS

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Old salopian News

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTORIn recent months our sports clubs have enjoyed significant success.The Saracens won the Cricketer Cup competition during thesummer and the Yacht Club secured the Charterhouse Bowl, whilstparticipating in the Arrow Trophy Regatta in October. During lateSeptember we held a successful Old Salopian Day, featuringfootball, fives and cross-country sporting fixtures against Schoolteams as well as the opening of the Yale Boat-house. At this event,two Old Salopians collected Sidney Gold medals (Shrewsbury’shighest academic award) and another OId Salopian received theaward during the rededication of the Queen’s Terrace in October.The Michaelmas term has been very busy for us socially, withevents in Yorkshire and Somerset, the traditional “City Drinks” inLondon and various Christmas drinks parties in Birmingham andShrewsbury.

Having fired the opening salvo of the careers initiative in thesummer edition of the magazine, I feel a short update is in order.The Club was delighted to welcome David Chance (0 1970-75) asthe Chair of the careers committee in August and following ameeting with him various targets have been set, including:

establishing a School Careers Fair in the Lent term (nowconfirmed for 14 March 2013)continuing the series of Club-sponsored careers talks anddinners with current pupilsestablishing professional networks comprising OS and parentsgrowing the membership of the current “Headlines” groupforming university networks to promote the careers services toyoung Old Salopians.

Our biggest challenge is to develop an effective network ofprofessional groups comprising individuals willing to guide youngOld Salopians who are trying to kick-start their working lives. Weemailed over 4000 Old Salopians and parents in mid-September,seeking help with this initiative, and received just over 100 replies.By combining these responses with people who had previously

volunteered to supportcareers talks at theSchool, we have grownthe “Headlines” (careersassistance) group byover one third (now justunder 400-strong). Wealso received notificationsof interest in assistingwith the administration ofprofessional bodies andserving on the careerssub-committee.Nevertheless, we believethere is still much to do indeveloping an effectivecareers offering, andputting the right structurein place. (One of our major considerations is to avoid over-saturation of some of the professions represented within the“Headlines” population). We are extremely keen to enlist theservices of as many parents as we can, as research reveals thatsimilar, successful careers support programmes at other schoolsenjoy a much higher proportion of parental support.

Over the past year we have received over 70 requests for help(careers advice, work experience and gap year assistance) fromyoung Old Salopians and current pupils. Those seeking help tendto be realistic on the whole, and understand that the service is notintended as a “job placement programme”. Initial responses to arecent users’ feedback questionnaire reveal that we are making adifference. We have received some very positive replies, includingsome good suggestions for improving the service. If you are able tohelp in any way, please write to me, Alex Baxter, Director of theSalopian Club, via email at alexbaxter@shrewsbury.org.uk. I lookforward to hearing from you

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new. In March 2012, we purchased 35,000m2 (8+ acres) of land inPortugal and then set about selling the house, the house contents,the car, the motorbike and the business we had in Turkey. In May weflew to Portugal and bought a Land Rover and caravan and drovethem back to Turkey – 4,000 km (six days of travelling). Then on 4thAugust, we loaded up all of our possessions and animals and setoff for Portugal.

In total, the journey took us 16 days, travelling for up to 12 hours aday and sleeping in the caravan with all the animals every night.Along the way, we saw the Greek Army on manoeuvres, tastedsome great wine in Italy, and paid a fortune in tolls to get acrossFrance. The police in Cannes moved us on one night telling to becareful because of ‘robbers’ in the area. Spain was straight roadsand finally in Portugal we had a great BBQ chicken meal (frango)with a small drop of port. What an adventure!

We are now in the process of turning our smallholding nearCarroqueiro, Monsanto in Portugal into a tourist ‘glamping’(glamorous camping) retreat.”

Michael North (M 1989-94) married Anita Leirvik in Oslo in January2012.

Andrew Zino (M 1989-94) married Joana in 2004. They live inMadeira and now have three children aged five, three and two.Andrew has purchased a travel agency www.naturemeetings.com,a specialist in guided walking on Madeira.

James Crellin (Ch 1990-95) and Victoria are delighted toannounce the birth of their son, Oscar Louis, born in February 2012.

1990-1999Daniel Simon (G 1991-96) and his wife, Melora and two-year-oldson Nathaniel have moved to Palo Alto. Daniel has joined OnyxPharmaceuticals as Director, Corporate Strategy & Innovation.

James Nichols (S 1994-99) and his wife Jennifer are delighted toannounce the birth of their son, Jack Louis Charles, born on 3rdOctober 2012, a brother for Jessica.

Alastair McKeever (PH 1999-2003) married Megan Shute inMarch 2012 in St Petersburg, Florida. They are currently living inNew York.

Richard Taylor (O 1994-99) married Inge Husselbee at DunkeldCathedral, Perthshire in May 2011. Their son, Riley Richard, wasborn in February 2012. After years of climbing trips across the

world, including the North Ridge of Everest in 2004, Richard nowruns his own architecture practice, studioEAST, based in Perth(Scotland).

2000-2012Jack Travers (I 2000-05) recently completed the Berlin Marathonafter cycling to Berlin from Amsterdam - all in a week! Jack says:‘On the face of it - a big challenge. In reality it was exactly that,although it was far more enjoyable than I could have imagined. Itwas wonderful to complete personally but more important was toraise money for the Alex Wilson Appeal, which is such a wonderfulcause.” They have raised almost £2,000 in aid of the Alex WilsonAppeal. If anyone would like to sponsor them retrospectively, pleasego to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JackTravers

In August 2012, Will Loxton (R 2001-06) and his friend ChristianLayton-Hannam set off to cycle from the north to the south ofAmerica, then from the west coast to the east coast – a total of over4,600 miles. Their aim was to raise £10,000 for the Soldiers, Sailors,Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) and Livestrong charities

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and to try and set a new Guinness World Record, by completing thejourney in under 44 days, 1 minute and 26 seconds.

Will writes: “On our final day, ten miles outside New York, I washaving some big issues with my bike. That day we rang GuinnessWorld Records enquiring about the specifications for the person towitness us finishing at the New York City Hall (the official finishingpoint). After telling us that we were allowed to use any resident ofthe city, they told us that someone had already beaten the recordwe had set out to beat, having completing the ride in 39 days. Aswe were on our 38th day, we had to finish that night – which we did.

We have sent off all the evidence to be verified and hope to befeatured in the 2014 Guinness Book of Records.”

Fergus Macleod (Rt 2001-06) has won the coveted ConductingFellowship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Fergus was aviolinist in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain during histime at Shrewsbury. He went on to Cambridge to study music andmade his professional conducting debut in 2009 with the TokyoPhilharmonic Orchestra.

Will Hedley (Rt 2003-08) has been awarded the David McLintockprize in Germanic Philology. Will read German at St Hilda’s College,Oxford. This prize is awarded, if there is a candidate of sufficientmerit, to the candidate whose final papers in Old High German theexaminers judge to be the best.

Michael Webb (S 2003-08) was awarded the top First inEconomics in his final exams in PPE this year at the University ofOxford, where he was at Balliol College. Michael was also awardedthe Hicks and Webb Medley Prize for best overall performance inEconomics Finals, and the John Hicks Foundation Prize for bestperformance in Quantitative Economics.

During his undergraduate years, Michael spent time inAfghanistan and Pakistan as a freelance correspondent, havingpreviously learnt one of the local languages, Dari. His three-partseries on the region was published by The Economist in March2010, and he has since advised British Military Intelligence. Michaelhas held several other advisory and intern positions, mainly for MPsand the UK Government.

Michael was a distinguished Salopian, and during his five yearsat the School he was awarded the Quinn History Prize, the MossPrize for Classics, the Bentley Elocution Prize, the McEachran Prize,a Miles Clark Scholarship and the Marshall Travel Prize, the SeniorDebating Prize, the Burney Prize, the Senior Piano Prize and the

Graham White Organ Prize. He was a Praepostor and an activeparticipant in numerous societies. He was also founder and editorof The Falopian, which no doubt was useful experience for himwhen he co-founded and edited the online magazine The Alligator,which was shortlisted for the Guardian Student Publication of theYear in 2010.

Michael is now pursuing postgraduate studies in politics andeconomics at MIT.

James (‘Jimmy’) Taylor (R 2003-08) (pictured below) made a verygood start to his Test career in the 2nd Investec Test match againstSouth Africa at Headingly on 2 - 6 August, scoring 34 runs againstfierce South African bowling in a strong partnership with KevinPetersen and contributing well to the England fielding. He alsoplayed in the Lord’s Test Match on 16 – 30 August

We were delighted that Jimmy found the time to return in July toplay for the Saracens in the Third Round of the Cricketer Cup, andto help them on their way to the Final. Jimmy has also been workinghard to raise support and funds for the new Sixth Form scholarshipaward, in memory of his great friend Alex Wilson (Rb 2003-08).

Warwick Brennand (O 2005-08) has just started Law School inLondon, having graduated from LSE this summer. He won Schoolor Departmental Prizes in each of his three years of study. In hisfirst/second year 2009-11 he won the LSE100 Prize for bestperformance in the examination, and he followed this by winning theGoodwin Prize in 2010-11 for best Year 2 examination performance.In 2011-12 he won the BSc IR Year 3 Examination Prize.

Joseph Allan (R 2005-10) has been made a Scholar at UniversityCollege, Oxford after achieving a distinction at the end of his firstyear exams in English. He has been heavily involved in drama andhas appeared in a number of productions, including two at theOxford Playhouse. During the summer, he also went to theEdinburgh Fringe Festival with the OUDS production of Machinal.

Calum Harvey Scholes (R 2005-10), who was awarded ascholarship to Magdalene College Cambridge, has now also beenawarded a prize for his first year achievements in Linguistics. In hissecond term at Cambridge, Calum set up and captained theCambridge dodgeball team in the inaugural Dodgeball Varsity

Will Loxton and Christian Layton-Hannam at the Grand Canyon

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Match. Taking on a well-established Oxford side, Calum’s fledglingCambridge team (whose training consisted of a couple ofscreenings of the 2004 film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) putup a remarkable fight and eventually lost the match by 3 games to 4.

Tom Elliott (I 2006-11), currently studying French and English andTrinity College, Oxford, got the top marks in his first year FrenchLiterature exams, for which he was awarded a prize and £150.

During the summer, Tom had a very successful run directing TheTrinity Players in Noël Coward’s Tonight at 8.30 at the EdinburghFringe, having carried on the Salopian tradition of a one-night-onlyperformance at the Ashton Theatre just before heading north to theFestival. His production earned several 4* reviews:

“Production values, classy accents, music, costumes, drawingroom set, sound effects, (especially the ringing telephone), it’s alldirected by Tom Elliot with farcical pace and timing. The whole castis terrific, especially Lucinda as Piggie, and Lucy [Rands, (MSH2008-2010)] as Clare. Absolutely spiffing!” – Vivien Devlin,Edinburghguide.com.

In the 2011 edition of The Ingramite, Ollie Nolan (then in the ThirdForm) said of Tom ‘Surely he will go on to great things at Oxford.’Even Ollie might not have expected to have been proved right quiteso quickly.

Christopher Hardman (SH 2007-12) has been accepted into theHallé Youth Orchestra to play clarinet.

Howard Stringer (PH 2010-2012) (pictured below) competed inthe English Schools’ National Decathlon Championship Finals inSeptember at Bedford International Athletics Stadium (PaulaRadcliffe’s home track). He was competing against the country’sbest young men all-rounders, many of whom already competeregularly at international level.

Howard achieved many new personal best achievements andcame 23rd out of 34 athletes after two hard days of competition.

Howard is currently studying Medicine at Birmingham University.

WORKING FOR LOCOGTom Hill (S 1997-2002) has been working for the LondonOrganising Committee for the Olympic and ParalympicsGames Ltd (LOCOG) for the last two years.

He writes: “After completing my A Levels at Shrewsbury in2002 I volunteered to be a volunteer at the ManchesterCommonwealth Games that summer. It was one of the bestexperiences of my life. Being part of such a large event wasan amazing experience. Seeing the city looking soimpressive, the excitement on the spectators’ faces, thefriendliness of the volunteers and the performances of theathletes was inspiring. As the Games came to a close Ithought that if London was going to bid for the Olympics,then they would have a great chance of winning – and that ifthey won, I would want be involved again.

Spool forward a decade, and I am writing this at the closeof the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London – and myfifth Olympics. Manchester inspired me to visit Athens in2004, Torino in 2006, Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010.There is something intoxicating about being in the place theworld is looking at – and for those two weeks of the Olympicsthe world is looking at the host city. All those Games werememorable: Athens was historic, Torino passionate, Beijingenormous and Vancouver – well Vancouver just partied! Ihad enjoyed being a spectator – and in Beijing even a Radioreporter – but in Vancouver I was starting to get a tiny bitjealous. Jealous of all the guys in uniform who were wearingaccreditation – they were involved in running this enormousevent. I was more determined than ever that I would behelping London in 2012.

So it was that in August 2010 I found my way to theHeadquarters of the London Organising Committee for theOlympic and Paralympic Games to start a new job. And whata two years it has been. I don’t think I will ever again work insuch a unique company. Any organisation which needs to

grow at such a quick rate, has a hugely diverse group ofclient groups, suppliers and partners and of course theworld’s biggest immovable deadline is going to provide anexperience which will be hard to match. When I joined I wasemployee number seven hundred and something; by thetime we reached July 2012 there were 200,000 peopleworking on London 2012.

Of course I’m biased – after two years of hard work – but Ithink the Games went rather well! As an organisingcommittee you can’t make the Olympics the best ever – butyou can put all the pieces in place and create the rightenvironment for the spectators and the athletes to give youthe greatest Games. And in London, as I had hoped, thespectators and athletes delivered. We are blessed to havesome of the greatest ever Olympians competing at themoment. From Usain Bolt to Michael Phelps, Chris Hoy,Jessica Ennis, Katherine Grainger and Ben Ainslie theathletes turned in star performances that left mouths hangingopen. But it was the spectators that were the true stars ofLondon 2012. As the Australians had done in Sydney 2000,the British public truly embraced the Games! Yes we cheeredloudest for Team GB, but we cheered for everybody else too.The stadiums were packed, the streets of London throngedwith crowds, and the atmosphere created at those venueswas beamed into the television sets of the country, and ofcourse the whole world. If the Olympics are to stay relevanttoday they must inspire young people to take up sport. Ibelieve that the London Olympic and Paralympic Gamescannot have failed to have done just that.

So if Athens was historic, Torino passionate, Beijing hugeand Vancouver a great big party I think we can safely say thatLondon was all of those things and more. For me, Londonwas a truly Great Games and I feel humbled and privilegedto have been a very small part of it.”

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Nearly one hundred Old Churchillians, wives and partners, drawn of all vintages, gathered at Shrewsbury on Saturday 30th June for areception and dinner to celebrate the first 137 years of the House’s existence – the foundation of which by the Revd C J S Churchill predatesby seven years the construction of the current building in 1882. Since that time, of course, Churchill’s Hall has been repeatedly extended andmodernised, but the essentials of the building remain the same.

The latest enhancement is the new porch and stained glass window designed by James Wade of Arrol & Snell, and the evening beganwith a champagne reception in Churchill’s to dedicate the window to, and toast the memory of, the late legendary Michael ‘Fred’ Hall, well-known to so many Churchillians as a beloved and eccentric tutor, brilliant mathematician and head of the loved or loathed Basic Year. Aplaque commemorating this unique man was unveiled in the presence of Headmaster Mark Turner, Old Churchillian Chairman of GovernorsRichard Burbidge, and current Housemaster Richard Hudson whose speech of dedication included many personal reminiscences ofMichael Hall. (In his previous career as a publisher, Richard published Michael Hall’s autobiography Around the World in Forty Years.)

The company then moved on to Kingsland Hall for an excellent four-course dinner. Musical entertainment was provided by currentChurchillians, including their Housemaster. Former housemasters Peter Owen (1977-83) and Philip Lapage (1994-2005) were also of thecompany. The older guests dutifully climbed into their carriages at 11(ish). The younger contingent partied far into the night, and indeed thenext day.

Floreant Churchilliana!

Housemaster Richard Hudson with Old Churchillian Chairman ofGovernors Richard Burbidge

OLD CHURCHILIANS DINNER

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As President of the Salopian Club you may think it a little strangethat I am writing this on behalf of Shrewsbury School Foundation.However, I have been involved with the Foundation for many yearsand, I have recently been re-elected as its Chairman.

The Foundation has rarely communicated with its Alumni throughThe Salopian so I thought I would take this opportunity to bring younews of what has been happening and, in particular, of the greatstrides it is taking to raise much needed funds for the School. I amsure that many of you are already familiar with the Foundation,having generously supported its work over the years. However, forthe benefit of those of you who might not be, allow me to fill you inon a little of its history.

The Foundation is a separately run charity. It was established in1965 to raise money to support bursaries and scholarships forexceptional pupils (who might not otherwise have been able toafford a Shrewsbury School education) and to fund a number ofother prioritised projects, thus ensuring it remains one of the topschools in the UK.

It is a fact that, with the cost of education increasing, the need forbursarial support is growing and independent schools likeShrewsbury are having to rely more and more on parents andalumni for philanthropic support. In the last year alone, the Schoolhas provided over 50 bursaries, towards which the Foundation hasraised well over £500,000. This is thanks to the many Old Salopiansand parents who gave through its Annual Programme.

In addition to providing bursarial support, the Foundation hasalso been working with the School to raise £850,000 for the newboathouse which was officially opened in September during OldSalopians’ Day. Thanks to the generosity of Old Salopians MarkYale and Peter Bowring, current parents Rupert and ElizabethLywood and many other Old Salopians and Sabrina Club members,the School now boasts one of the best rowing facilities in thecountry, far surpassing those of its rivals.

My role as Chairman comes at a very exciting time for both theFoundation and the School. Over the coming months, theFoundation will be reviewing a number of opportunities to enhance

the School’s teaching programme whilst, at the same time,ensuring it continues with its bursarial support, as this is thebedrock of the Foundation – and the School. All this, I hope to bringfurther news of in the next edition of the The Salopian.

Being an Old Salopian myself, I look back with great fondness atthe time I had here in the 1960s and the wonderful education itafforded me. Therefore, I want to give something back to my almamater and help future generations of boys – and girls – to similarlybenefit from, and enjoy, all that it has to offer. I hope you feel thesame and, if you have not already done so, I encourage you to joinme in supporting our school, and its aims, through the AnnualProgramme.

As we draw close to Advent, on behalf of everyone at theFoundation, may I take this opportunity to wish you a very happyand joyous Christmas and a good 2013.

Peter WorthChairman, Shrewsbury School Foundation

For further information about the Foundation contact:Shrewsbury School FoundationThe Schools, Shrewsbury SY3 7BATelephone: 01743 280890Email: foundation@shrewsbury.org.ukWebsite: www.shrewsbury.org.uk

FIRST EVER HISTORY OF ETON FIVES Richard Barber (SH 1955-60), President of the Eton Fives Association and immediate Past President of theSalopian Club, has written the foreword to the first ever history of Eton Fives, published in November: “AsPresident of the Eton Fives Association I have been a tremendous advocate of the history of this remarkablegame being written, because its origins are of great interest and known to few and today it has grown into amajor sport in schools all over the country and indeed around the world.”

The book has been written by two of the most knowledgeable and literary Fives players in the land, DaleVargas being a former President of the EFA and Second Master at Harrow for many years. Thoroughlyresearched, pleasingly recounted and attractively presented with over 200 illustrations, the book is published incolour throughout. An appendix lists the names, with short notes, of the champion players and many coachesand administrators.

Published by Quiller Press; ISBN 978-1-899163-98-4Copies available from: JJG Publishing, Sparrow Hall, Hindringham, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 0DP Tel: 01328 878198 or order by

email to greenwood.quiller@btinternet.com

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Glorious sunshine greeted the three hundred or so Old Salopiansand guests who participated in this year’s memorable Old SalopianDay on 22nd September. Proceedings started with a thanksgivingservice in the Chapel for the life of Richard Raven (M 1945-50),featuring a moving and often humorous eulogy to RNER by his sonHugh (S 1985-90).

Following the service a sandwich lunch was served in theAlington Hall during which the School awarded two Sidney GoldMedals to Old Salopians Philipp Legner (O 2007-09) and HughWilliams (Rb 2003-08). The citations were read out by Mr MartinCropper, Director of Studies and the medals were awarded by MrPeter Worth (M 1965-70), President of the Salopian Club. Themedals were instituted in 1838 and are awarded to the topacademic student in a given year.

There was just time to squeeze in the Club’s AGM before a fullsports programme got underway. Old Salopian sportsmen were inaction on football pitches, the fives courts and on a “benjy” circuit. Itwas a fantastic day for the Old Salopian footballers who wereundefeated in all five fixtures. The Old Salopian 1st XI won a thrillingcontest 4-2, the 2nds overcame their opponents by a huge 12-1margin and the 3rd XI drew 1-1.

A big draw for those with a penchant for rowing was the openingof the Yale Boathouse (see report on page 51).

Away from the sports theme, the School opened its doors to allOld Salopians affording them the opportunity to visit Houses, tourthe Ancient Library and visit the Arts Centre. “It seemed to be a daywith something for everyone and a thoroughly good time has beenhad by all,” as one Old Salopian put it. Alex Baxter

OLD SALOPIAN DAY

Despite the chilly conditions, a large crowd of 180 supportersenjoyed an enthralling Alex Wilson Memorial match on 23rdSeptember, which ended in a 3-1 win for the Old Salopian XI.Despite many of the players having played the previous day in theannual Old Salopian Day fixtures and a few nursing hangovers aftera heavy night in Shrewsbury, the standard of play was exceptionallygood. The action was thick and fast with both sides creating scoringchances. It was perhaps fitting that Henry Wilson scored the firstgoal of the match towards the end of the first half.

Somehow the OS XI managed to get back into the game andagainst the run of play scored two goals in quick succession. TheAlex Wilson XI pressed hard for most of the second half, dominatingpossession and very nearly getting the equalising goal. A late goal,

just before the final whistle, by Jack Brydon (O 1999-04) sealed theresult for the OS side and the second Alex Wilson Memorial Matchwas over for another year.

Afterwards a drinks reception was held in the Alington Hall,supported by Shrewsbury School Foundation, during which HenryWilson announced that the Alex Wilson Scholarship Fund hadreached the £60,000 milestone, which has allowed the Scholarshipto be officially launched.

Alex Wilson Squad: George Barker, Michael Barnard, MikeWilliams, Ben Williams, James Franklin, Mark Tomley, MattMcKeever, Toyin Mustapha, Tom Kelly, Henry Wilson, Adam Parker,Ed Taylor, Raoul Alexis, Rhys Bevan, James Tucker, George Wade-Smith, Steve Johanson, Ali Lloyd, Freddie Pragnell.

OS Squad: Rich McGarry, Oli Harrison, BenFreeman, Harry Fildes, Rob Hawkin, GeorgeBlakemore, Ben Alderson, Olly Heywood,Hamish McKenzie, Jack Brydon, Ben Cooke,Sam Roberston, Dave Cookson.

Launch of AlexWilson ScholarshipWe are delighted to announce that the AlexWilson Scholarship was launched this summer.It aims to give a local boy the chance to benefitfrom the outstanding educational and sportingfacilities in the School’s Sixth Form.

Candidates are required to be state educatedand to have achieved three A and three Bgrades at GCSE. They should be able to attainfirst team standard in two sports, preferablyfootball, rugby or cricket, and to excel in one ofthese. We can no longer accept anyapplications for September 2013, but anyoneinterested in finding out more information aboutthe Scholarship should contact the Director ofSport, Paul Greetham on 01743 280697 or emailpg@shrewsbury.org.uk

ALEX WILSON MEMORIAL FOOTBALL MATCH

22nd September 2012 After a week of indifferent weather culminating in torrential rain onFriday 21st September, Saturday dawned to bright sunshine, clearblue skies and a few fluffy white clouds – the sun really does shineon the righteous!

Nick Randall, Captain of Sabrina Club, introduced the guest ofhonour, Matt Langridge. The Headmaster began by thankingprovidence for the fine weather and praising the successful appealby the School Foundation Office, expressing his gratitude to all thegenerous donors including Sabrina Club members, Old Salopiansand parents, who had made the project possible.

The existing large Pugh Boathouse (opened in 1921)accommodates over forty racks in four bays for all sizes of boats.The new adjacent Yale Boathouse, which replaces the original smallboathouse, built in 1860, can accommodate up to 20 eights in twobays. The cavernous room above is purpose-built to hold over 40ergos. The two boathouses are linked by a bridge to the first floorproviding a wonderful view for spectators watching Bumpers andother events throughout the year.

There were three distinct parts to the project, all named after or inmemory of the major benefactors – the Yale Boathouse; the GiffordRoom (the ergo room on the first floor of the new boathouse),named by the Lywood family; and the Bowring Room (theClubroom and associated facilities) in the Pugh Boathouse, namedby the Bowring family.

In his opening speech to over four hundred attendees, Mark Yale(SH 1976-81, 1st VIII 1980 and 1981) challenged today’s oarsmento achieve the maximum potential possible, aided by the newfacilities and the coaching staff. The ability to meet and overcomethe challenges encountered in high level competitive rowing wouldform the basis of their ability to survive in the harsh world of industryand commerce awaiting them when they left school or university,and the companionship of rowing together as part of aninterdependent team would stay with them for ever.

After many decades of being utilised as a gym and ergo roomand recent further fundraising spearheaded by the new SabrinaClub President Martin Slocock (Rt 1948-53), the original clubroom inthe Pugh Boathouse has now been majestically restored

simultaneously with adjacent rooms with the expert technicalassistance of Paul Manser (DB 1974-79, 1st VIII 1979). The newkitchen facilities are deliberately included to encourage Sabrinamembers to organise crew reunions and perhaps practise in arowing eight or sculling boat.

Other notable attendees to the day’s event included GerryLander, son of JGH Lander. JGHL stroked the 1st VIII to their firstLadies' Challenge Plate win at Henley Royal Regatta in 1924 (seeThe Salopian Summer 2012 edition). During the Sabrina Club AGMheld later in a packed newly refurbished clubroom, Gerry presentedhis father’s miniature of the Ladies’ Challenge Plate vase, presentedto him by the Club after their historic Henley win.

Members of the Pugh family who attended were delighted towitness the opening of the Yale Boathouse and view the refurbishedupper rooms of the Pugh Boathouse. Many coaches from previousyears were among those attending and included Nick Bevan, AlanLaurie, David Gee and Bill Sayer. Jan Blomfield represented her latehusband Roger who sadly died earlier this year. Roger had beenthe driving force behind the new Rowing Tank completed in 2002and had given considerable encouragement to the new YaleBoathouse Project.

The guest of honour at the Boathouse Opening was MattLangridge, Olympic bronze medalist in the Men's Eight in London2012 (and silver medalist in Beijing 2008) and gold medalist in pastJunior and Senior World Rowing Championships. Matt generouslyspent time with many of the current pupils, talking to them abouttheir training and his experiences of competing at the highest level,also allowing them to handle his Olympic Medals and try them onfor size.

Nick Randall

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OPENING OF THE YALE BOATHOUSE

Headmaster and Mark Yale

Henley Royal Regatta2012Using a professional caterer for thesecond year and holding the eventover lunchtime, we also movedfrom Butler’s Field to the HenleyCricket Club ground.

Overall, both the Wednesdayand Saturday lunchtime drinksevents were well supported anddeemed to be a huge success.

Ten Old Salopians werecompeting at Henley. It is a longand distinguished list and weapologise for any omissions orerrors. Richard Hawley-Jonesentered the Britannia Cup withAgecroft. Competitors in the PrinceAlbert Challenge Cup includedCamilla Aylwin coxing EdinburghUniversity, Jack Lowrie for DurhamUniversity and Ben SpencerJones for Imperial College. Ben, Captain of Boats at Imperial thisyear, reached the semi-finals. The Temple Challenge Cup saw ChrisBlake in a combined Pembroke College/Lady Margaret Hall crewwhile the Thames Challenge Cup saw three Salopians: Will Grayrowed for Upper Thames RC, Tim Perera for City of Bristol, andWill Robins for Thames RC. Will Robins was a finalist.

Medal winners included Fred Gill, of Cambridge Blue Boat-winning fame, rowing at stroke for Molesey and Oxford Brookes inthe Visitor’s Cup and Patrick Lapage of Harvard-Yale winning fameat stroke for the third consecutive year for Harvard University in theLadies’ Plate. Gill’s crew were not seriously pushed, their smallestmargin of win being two and a quarter lengths and their final won‘easily’.

The same cannot be said of Lapage and it is of some note thatthis was his second hard-fought Henley medal won with a margin ofonly one foot. Harvard came from over a length down at the mile-post to storm through the enclosures at a rating of 40, rising to 42for the last 20 strokes (yet still somehow covering) to snatch thesmallest of margins in the nick of time for a win over Leander. It wasthe fastest time of the day by three seconds. The crew unity understress was fabulous. “Thank goodness he’s got two feet now,” wasthe text from a family friend, one of his races having been won onBucks station and the other on Berks!

Shrewsbury Room Leander Club availableduring Henley Royal Regatta 2013As usual, the Shrewsbury Room at Leander (room 11) will beavailable to Sabrina members for the duration of the Royal Regattain 2013.

Interested parties should contact Nick Randall onnick@ruthinsim.co.uk and a draw will take place sufficiently early in2013 for the unlucky losers to book other accommodation.

The winners of the draw will be expected to take the room for fivenights (Tuesday to Saturday) at a cost of approximately £200 pernight (B&B for two people).

Sabrina AGM The AGM was held on Saturday 22nd September on a gloriouslysunny autumn afternoon shortly after the opening of the new YaleBoathouse (see separate report). Martin Slocock, President ofSabrina Club, presided over the meeting which was held in thenewly refurbished Clubroom of the Pugh Boathouse. The Presidentwelcomed the packed attendance and started with the retirementand election of a new Honorary Secretary. The Club thankedMalcolm Davies (R 1951-56), the retiring Honorary Secretary, formany years’ assiduous work for the Club. Rod Spiby (DB 1979-84)was elected as new Honorary Secretary. During his time at theSchool, Rod had held the position as Treasurer of the Boat Club,Head of Dayboys (also the first Head of Porthill when Dayboys splitinto Porthill & Radbrook) and a member of the 1st VIII that won theSpecial Race for Schools in 1984.

Athol Hundermark, the new Head Coach, was invited to speakand inform Sabrina Club of his plans for the School Boat Club. Atholis fresh from success at Abingdon School where he has developeda hugely successful boat club, which culminated in winning thePrincess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2011and 2012.

Guest of honour to the AGM was Gerry Lander, who presented asa gift to Sabrina Club his father’s silver miniature of the 1924 LadiesChallenge Plate. J. G. H. Lander stroked the School eight to win theevent (please see 2012 Summer issue of the Salopian, pages 53-54). Sabrina Club intends to encourage crew reunions in the newlyrefurbished Clubroom, which includes facilities for dining to a highstandard. Although the Secretary will be contacting members in duecourse, please feel free to contact him at rod.spiby@bulleys.co.uk ifyou wish to organise a reunion for your crew. Paul Manser will alsoassist with the provision of boats for those who feel energetic,nostalgic and able.

Report compiled by: Nick Randall (Captain) tel: 01824 707953 oremail nick@ruthinsim.co.uk

Rod Spiby (Honorary Secretary) tel: 07970 283704 or emailrod.spiby@bulleys.co.uk

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SABRINA CLUB

Newly refurbished Clubroom of the Pugh Boathouse made possible by kind donationsfrom Sabrina Club members

After a fine victory in the quarter-final of the Cricketer Cup over theOld Malvernians - winners of the trophy for the last two years - theSaracens were brimming with confidence for their semi-final againstthe Bradfield Waifs. This proved to be a tense and exciting matchand Saracens' supporters were kept in suspense until the last over,when Tom Cox (Captain) hit the winning 4, taking the Saracensthrough to the final for the first time in 23 years. We would be facingour old foes, Harrow Wanderers.

We arrived early at the beautiful Shenley ground, smartly kittedout by our generous sponsors, STC Packers. The regulation warm-up took place before a ridiculous situation occurred when we had tohave a photo with the trophy before the match had even started -the superstitious in the side were not happy! The toss was won bythe skipper and he chose to have a bat; though it should be notedthat for the previous three hours he had reached a state of neardelirium over the bat/bowl dilemma he faced. Thankfully he listenedto the wise old heads in the team and the Sarries opened with Lewisand Leach fresh from receiving their A level results three daysearlier.

Both the youngsters got the Sarries off to a great start, showingcaution and patience whilst compiling a useful 50 partnershipbefore Lewis fell. Some dubious umpiring and poor shot selectionmeant that wickets were soon being lost at alarmingly regularintervals. There was even the regulation run-out involving a Leach(clearly runs in the family), ending a very impressive innings of 44from Steve. The Sarries looked in a great deal of trouble at 105-5with fewer than 20 overs remaining, when debutant Alastair Pollockjoined the skipper at the crease. It should be noted that Pollock'slate call-up to the side was entirely down to him coming on theDevon Tour the week before; had he avoided it, as he probablywished he had done after the Monday night, we would have beenlooking for alternative replacements.

These two batted us back into the game and when the skipperwas out with 5 overs to go, the platform was set for the Sarries to dowhat they do best and 'go big' at the end. GO BIG was exactly whatPollock did and projected us up to 199-7 with some mighty blowsbefore falling to the final ball of the innings for a magnificent 49. It

was there for all to see, the unquestionable evidence in the fleshthat the Sarries’ tour to Devon is in fact good for you!

The end of innings boost had morale very much on the up as wehad a sumptuous lunch before taking the field to defend what manyin the crowd thought was only a par score. The intent from theHarrovian opening pair was clear from the off, as they went abouttrying to dismantle the Barnard brothers. The irony of this was that itwas our very own version of the 'Mitchell Brothers' who had tried todismantle themselves when squabbling over which end they weregoing to bowl from. Luckily it was resolved by over 2, when the oneslightly more partial to sunburn was too quick for a Harrovian tryinghis second pull of the over. This wicket didn't stop the attackingnature of the batsmen, as a couple of shots and plenty of fresh airswipes followed.

The next 6 overs proved to be the period in which the Saracensstamped their foot on the game and got one hand on the trophy.From one end Mike Barnard bowled with control and accuracy,Steve Barnard steamed in from the other with extreme pace andaggression. Mike took 1 and Steve took 5, and the Harrow top sixwere back in the pavilion before 10 overs had been completed; thegame was as good as over. It was a supreme spell of bowling fromSteve who deserved all the plaudits he received, but the role of hiselder brother should not be forgotten.

It was a while before the next wicket fell, as Harrow attempted togain some level of respectability after the early collapse. The latenight duo of Corbett and Blofield twirled away from either end,making it obvious why the batsmen had decided to try to score asmany off the seamers as possible in the early stages. As it was, andhad been in so many matches, it was the holding back of JamesKidson which made the difference; he immediately got the wicket ofthe final dangerous Harrow batsman, as Jack Brydon continued hisfine competition form with a tidy stumping. The following over sawan LBW swiftly followed by a fine low catch from Brydon off Blofield,to leave the Saracens only one wicket away from glory.

Victory came in the very next over as a sharp chance at slip wastaken by Chapman - to cue mass celebration on the pitch and hugecheers from the large band of Salopian supporters. The fans had

been tremendous all day and their supportwas hugely appreciated by all the players. Itwas particularly fitting to see members of the1987 winning side at the forefront of thosepassing congratulations on to the newCricketer Cup champions.

2012 will go down in history for theSaracens and will be remembered by manyfor a long time to come. The squad for thisyear (including Linley Portsmouth, MattMcKeever, Joe Leach, Jimmy Taylor and BenWilliams) built up great camaraderie andrespect for each other over five rounds, andthis undoubtedly had a huge impact on thesuccess that they achieved. There was greatand deserved partying on the final evening.However, that is now forgotten, and thechallenge is to repeat the feat next year,beginning away from home against theMarlborough Blues.

Ben Chapman

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Old salopian News

SARACENS

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Old salopian News

OS YACHT CLUBIn the dark and a cold drizzle, with a falling tide in a narrow, patchily-lit channel on the first Friday in October, two crews from the OldSalopian Yacht Club once again took to the water for the annualArrow Trophy regatta at Cowes. Though facing the night withcustomary Salopian stoicism, few had high hopes for the weekend.But a few beers and a tasty on-board supper soon raised spirits onthe cruise down the Solent, with landfall in the Pier View pubcompleting the transformation.

What a difference the next morning: we awoke to gloriousweather and the prospects of a hard day’s racing with twenty ofSunsail’s Benetteau 40s thrown around short inshore courses withthe competitive fury of a dinghy race. Sadly for the adrenalinjunkies, but happily for the insurance bill, the sunshine came with adown-side – light winds that made much of this year’s racing amore peaceful experience than previously, but one that favouredthose with light-air sailing skills. Saturday evening once again sawan excellent dinner at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, leavingseveral crew members glad that the following day brought moresunshine and equally little wind.

Despite the frustrations of low wind conditions, all on boardenjoyed a great weekend. Whilst the Shrewsbury White crew did notquite have last year’s striking success, our Blue crew upheld theClub’s honour by once again winning the Charterhouse Bowl in thefleet racing. Once more being the only school to enter two crews,we were able to offer places to sailors of all abilities and ages andwere delighted to have had three 18-year-old crew members onboard.

Next year’s event will be held on the weekend of 12/13 October2013 and we are keen to hear from any Salopian sailors who wouldlike to join us, especially more recent leavers. Emaildavid.richards@trinity.oxon.org for more details or to registerinterest.

David RIchards

Shrewsbury Blue making the most of the wind

James Heaven looking optimistic

Mark Mortimer once said that members of the Old Salopian Huntare not members for life, but members for ever, dead or alive!

There are some 200 of those members who have provided emailaddresses, which enables them to receive updates and news fromthe OSH. So, if any of you have never received an email from theOSH, then please get in touch with Peter Birch (info@crbirch.com) ,who will add you to the mailing list.

Some of you will have been around the School site on SalopianDay recently, where the OSH also made anappearance.

The Salopian Day event, on Saturday22nd September, was blessed with warmsunny weather and a small select band of"old hounds", for the celebration of the Benjy,along with the New Huntsman, Ed Mallett(UVI S), Master-in-Charge, Peter Middletonand Athletics Master, Ian Haworth, as well asa group of able Hunt Members.

Former Benjy Record Holder, Tim Bedell(S 1974-78), tested the course withdetermination and The Hon. Treasurer, DavidThomas (Rt 1971-75), relished the run astraining for his next Triathlon competition.The Chairman, Peter Birch (DB 1966-71,decided it was prudent to be “Whipper-in” at the rear!

After the Benjy, it was felt that there was still enough energy to runto the English Bridge, on to Port Hill Bridge and back to the Drum,which certainly made the perspiration flow from the brow!

Thanks go to Bob Parker (Hon OS) for his encouragement andalso to Tim Morgan-Owen (I 1974-79), who kindly presented awonderful collection of his grandfather's 19th century Huntmemorabilia to the History of the Hunt display in the new Hunt Gym(within the Stott Pavillion).

PLANNED EVENTS FOR THE YEAROn Saturday, 15th December, The OSH will be entering a team in

The Alumni Race, run over WimbledonCommon and organised by The ThamesHare & Hounds. Any age group is welcometo join in, but do get in touch with DavidThomas (emaildavid.t.thomas@hotmail.co.uk ) well beforethat date, to get your name down for enteringthe race.

The OSH original tie and The OSH runningvest are available from Peter Birch.

The OSH website pages can be found atwww.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/os-hunt, wheremore information and past reports andphotos can be found.

If anyone reading this has any photos ofpast Huntsmen taken in a group shot, do get

in touch. It could be a photo taken at a dinner or some othergathering or occasion, where two or more Huntsmen happen to besnapped together.

Peter Birch (info@crbirch.com)

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OS HUNT

OLD SALOPIAN RACEOn Saturday 24th November as the deluge of rain transformed theschool campus into a mudbath and swelled the Rea Brook to araging torrent, a group of hardy enthusiastic runners congregated atthe Darwin Statue for the annual Old Salopian Race where theRSSH are pitted against the OS Hunt. It always proves an enjoyableoccasion, and we were particularly looking forward to what lookedlike a grueling test in such dreadful conditions (though perfect forcross-country running!). Whilst the Hunt have won this race for thepast four years running, last year the race was much closer with anumber of more recent Old Salopians returning (including formerGB Universities runner Oli Mott, who placed 2nd last year). Thisyear, too, saw the OS Hunt field a strong team, and although theHunt retained the trophy, the gap was only 16 points, and looks tobe very tight in future years!

In the early stages of the race, a lead pack was formed withcurrent Huntsman Ed Mallett at the helm, with Senior Whip SebBlake, Rory Fraser, Ian Haworth, Peter Middleton and Old SalopianOli Laws all grouping together and keeping the pace relativelysteady. It was only with the more technical elements of the coursecoming into play (particularly the crossing of the waist-high ReaBrook river!) that the field began to string out and Mallett andHaworth pushed the pace on. Oli Laws looked to be struggling onthe slippery downhills, but in the closing stages gave an impressivekick going up the hilly Ridgemount Lane, demonstrating some fineform that this year has seen him run the Great North Run half-marathon in 69 minutes. Laws - who has in the past representedGB at cross-country - killed in the race, the first time he has taken

the trophy since 2002. Current Huntsman Ed Mallett was third, withRSSH coach and last year's winner Ian Haworth in third, impressivegiven he is returning from injury.

The staff just managed to field a team again this year with helpfrom the Headmaster who again showed fine form in running neckand neck with Severn Hill's DAGN, who whilst an Old Salopianhimself, was claimed as a member of the staff team this year tomake up the numbers. Slightly more dubious was our claim toDavid Blake as a staff team member. In reality, David came to takepart in a unique day with four members of the Blake family takingpart. David brought his sons Alex and Kris to give Senior Whipsome competition. The four Blakes all looked strong with the threeBlake sons all posting top ten placings, with their father David notfar behind in 17th.

The presentations were held after the race in the Stott Pavilionwhere there was an opportunity amidst the Hunt regalia andmemorabilia to reminisce about past glories and fond memories.Those with stamina stayed on into the evening for the OS Dinner(following a gin-soaked Committee meeting!), where Dr David Geewas named as an honorary member of the OS Hunt and presentedwith his tie to go along with the 1st VIII tie he was presented twoyears ago to become an honorary member of The Hunt. David thisyear completed the Tucks for the 53rd year – an astonishingachievement!

As ever, this was a terrific occasion, and one we always lookforward to. This year didn't disappoint, and we already look aheadto next year's race with eager anticipation!

Peter Middleton

Our new President Anthony Smith (I 54-59) has had a purple start tohis Presidency. At Blackwell Golf Club in June, he won the EustaceStorey Putter to become our Scratch Champion, not for the firsttime. At Royal Birkdale Golf Club on 1st August, he won the 2011Campion Trophy to become our Matchplay Champion, defeatingJames Shaw (R 64-68) 4x3. In July, our President played in theOSGS team that won the G L Mellin Salver (for over 55s) at West HillGolf Club.

The results were as follows:Round 1: Shrewsbury beat Cranleigh 3-0Peter Worth (Captain) and Andy Pollock won 2upAnthony Smith and Michael Brabner won 2x1Will Painter and James Shaw won 2x1 Round 2: Shrewsbury beat Bradfield 2-1Peter Worth and Andy Pollock won 4x2Anthony Smith and Michael Brabner lost 2x1Will Painter and James Shaw won 4x2Semi-Final: Shrewsbury beat Sherborne 2½x½Peter Worth and Andy Pollock won 1upAnthony Smith and Michael Brabner halved All SquareWill Painter and James Shaw won 3x2Final: Shrewsbury beat Oundle 2-1Peter Worth and Andy Pollock lost 1downAnthony Smith and Michael Brabner won 3x2Will Painter and James Shaw won 1up

It is worth noting that in the semi-final, Peter Worth and AndyPollock were 5 down after 5 holes and won 1up. Shrewsbury’scheerleader, Anthony Parsons, Hon Secretary to the G L MellinTournament, witnessed this heroic retrieval. This is the secondvictory in the G L Mellin for Shrewsbury in the first three years of thecaptaincy of Peter Worth, emulating the record of his distinguishedpredecessor, Christopher Wallace.

In the Peter Burles Salver, (for over 65s) Shrewsbury lost 2-1 toBradfield. Our team was: Peter Jeffrey and Robin Humble andStephen Shaw and Robert Sentance, who made a promising debut.

A second Salopian victory came in the Bunny Millard Salver (forover 75s). In the Final, Shrewsbury, represented by Robert Lanyonand John Smith, beat Lancing. Shrewsbury last won the BunnyMillard Salver in 2004, represented by Robert Walker and RobinMoulsdale.

In the OSGS National Matchplay Championship for the 2012Campion Trophy, amongst those who have reached the 5th roundstand, Will Campion, arguably in pole position, Mark Ferguson,Gerald Smith, Lee Jones (the impertinent winner against thePresident), Malcom McMullan (with the scalps of Richard Barber,Jonty Campion and Ben Chesters under his belt) and Ben Alderson(with the scalps of Andy Pollock, Dan Graham and Mark Summers):impressive headhunting!

The 16th Grand Scottish Tour attracted 24 members with glorioushospitality dispensed yet again by Robert and Andrew Lister at theirhome overlooking the 16th at North Berwick.

The winners of meetings may be listed as follows:North Berwick: Gerald Woods (38 points)Muirfield: Robert Lister and Stephen Shaw retained the

Lewis/Bell QuaichGullane No 2: Hilary Ward and Fraser Higson (41 points)Sabrina Club at Huntercombe: Rob Hillman (former School

Captain of Cricket) (37 points)New Zealand: John Bolton (34 points)Huntercombe: Winner of the Tony Duerr Salver: Nicky Renton (38

points)Worfield: Winner of the Todwick Tankard: Charles Hill (40 points)Trentham: Winner of the Tommy Hall Cup: Julian Mitchell (37

points)The first Triangular Schools Challenge comprising Shrewsbury,

Tonbridge and Dulwich – the brainchild of Stephen Shaw – wasplayed at Tandridge on 4th May. The OSGS team was:

Malcom McMullan and Michael Smart (36 points)Richard Barber and Gerald Woods (36 points) William Hawksley and Nick Renton (40 points)John Bolton and Stephen Shaw (33points) (oops). The Old Alleynians were the victors with an aggregate of 148 pts,

the Tonbridgians were runners-up with 147pts and OSGS were tail-enders with 145 pts: some very creditable scoring.

In the Public Schools Midlands meeting at Little Aston,Shrewsbury were joint runners-up with Harrow on 101 points toWrekin (107 points).

The scores were:James Mainwaring and Stefan Hindmarsh (37 points)Richard Bevan and Neil Crawford (33 points)Jonathan Hope and Tom Price (31 points)Martin Cars and Andy Pollock (30 points)Jonathon Mawdsley and Richard Jones (25 points).

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OSGOLFING SOCIETY

OSGS President Anthony Smith, winner of the Campion Trophy, withrunner-up James Shaw (right) and Will Campion (centre) whorefereed the match and presented the Campion Trophy, which hisfather Ian Campion donated to the Society to mark his years asPresident and the contribution of the Campion family over manyyears at the highest levels to Old Salopian golf

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Old salopian News

In the finals of the Grafton Morrish, OSGS beat Repton 2-1 butlost to Birkenhead, the holders, in the third round. OSGS wasrepresented by Jonty Campion (Captain), Mark Ferguson, MichaelNettleton, William Painter, Simon Shepherd and Mike Thelwall-Jones.

In the Queen Elizabeth Coronation Schools Trophy, played atBarnton, Edinburgh, Shrewsbury met Merchiston, midst shades ofBannockburn. The Salopian brave hearts included Mark Ferguson(Captain), Ben Chapman, Max Lilley, Stefan Hindmarsh, BenChesters and Ed Foster. It is unlikely that we will venture over theborder again in the foreseeable future.

Three Salopian proprietors of golf clubs have generously offeredto hold OSGS meetings in 2013 at Christian prices.

At Worfield, near Bridgnorth in September, Oliver Eaton (Rt1985-91) arranged a delightful visit for us – a challenging course,speedy greens, immaculate condition and delicious food. Thisattracted 28 players on the eve of the Salopian Day at The Schools.

It is pleasing to report that 15 leavers joined OSGS in July 2012.OSGS membership stands at a record number of 373. I thank allmembers for their support and encouragement.

The draft Fasti is taking shape as outlined below: those dates initalics have yet to be confirmed. Tim Lewis

FIXTURE DATES – 2013

Date Event CourseMARCHWed 9 Halford Hewitt AGM & Draw East India ClubSat 16 Halford Hewitt Get-Together tbaWed 20 Spring Meeting (South) Denham

APRILFri pm 5 Grand National Meeting HoylakeThurs 11-Sun 14 Halford Hewitt Cup* Sandwich/DealThurs 18 University Challenge BransfordFri pm 26 Triangular Match Tandridge

MAYThurs 2 Match v The Schools Hawkstone ParkWed 8 Scottish Tour North BerwickThurs 9 Scottish Tour MuirfieldFri 10 Scottish Tour Gullane 2Sat 11 Grafton Morrish Qualifying* Olton (Solihull)

JUNEMon 3-Thur 6 Schools Putting Tournament Royal WimbledonFri 14 Match v Old Cholmeleians Hadley WoodFri 21 June Summer Meeting WorplesdonWed 26 Public Schools Midlands Meeting Little AstonFri 28 Pre-Speech Day Meeting Arscott

JULYTues pm 2 Henley Regatta Meeting HuntercombeThurs 11-Sat 13 Peter Burles Salver (65 and over)* West HillThurs 11-Sat 13 Bunny Millard Salver (75 and over)* West HillFri 12-Sat 13 G.L.Mellin Salver (55 and over)* West Hill

AUGUSTSun pm 11 West Country Tour Westward Ho!Mon am 12 West Country Tour Saunton Tues am 13 West Country Tour Saunton Sat 17 Match v. Old Reptonians (South) WorplesdonMon 19 Old Schools' Competition Trevose

SEPTEMBERThurs 12 University Challenge SwindonFri pm 20 Shropshire Meeting WorfieldFri 27-Sat 28 Grafton Morrish Finals* Hunstanton/Brancaster

OCTOBERSun 6 President’ s Meeting & AGM TrenthamSun 13 Match v. Old Malvernians BlackwellSun 27 OSGS Scratch Championship Blackwell

NOVEMBERFri 1 Winter Fourball AshridgeSat am 9 Saturday Morning Foursomes New Zealand

Key: Italics mean to be confirmed

Members are asked to contact the Organiser for any event in which they may wish to play

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For generations the Salopian Club has encouraged the continuedinvolvement in sport that often started on the playing fields ofKingsland. The various Old Salopian sports clubs continue toflourish and Old Salopians have been key figures in keeping thesports facilities at the School up to a first-class standard.

The Salopian Club has come to see that the same involvement inSchool and Club sport should be happening in the creative arts.Old Salopians are able to support both School arts activities andother Old Salopians active in the Arts. To that end the Salopian Artsand Activities Society has recently been formed under theChairmanship of Nigel Davies (R 1983-88) with three specific aims:

To promote interest, support and participation in a wide rangeof activities among Old Salopians (both at the School andelsewhere).To encourage Old Salopians to continue such activities afterSchool and to maintain links with the School in them.In particular, to promote and support all Old Salopian activity inArt, Music and Theatre (including advice with careersdevelopment) and to support the School Art, Music and DramaDepartments.

The first Arts and Activities trip took place on 8 November – to seeYes, Prime Minister at the Trafalgar Studios, London featuring CliveHayward (SH 1978-83) playing the part of Bernard Woolley.

There are many examples of how all three aims are beingaddressed, but one in particular is aimed at the first – to supportarts activities by attending School events both at Kingsland andelsewhere. For some years now, the School musicians have been

visiting Machynlleth in mid-Wales to give concerts at TheTabernacle, an extraordinarily fine arts centre which has becomerenowned for attracting the finest musicians to perform in theauditorium – once a Wesleyan Chapel.

Hugh Ramsbotham, ex-master, Housemaster of The SchoolHouse, Secretary of the Salopian Club, and the 2010 Presidentbecame involved in The Tabernacle when he retired fromShrewsbury. He was Chairman of the Machynlleth Tabernacle Trustfor some years and continues as a Trustee. He invited John Mooreto bring some musicians at the end of one term, and theShrewsbury Musicians Concert has now become an annual eventmuch enjoyed by an audience accustomed to hearing national andinternational musicians play, particularly during its annual Festival,directed by Julius Drake and held every August.

The Tabernacle Arts Centre also includes MOMAWALES, aleading art gallery, which held an exhibition of John Alford'spaintings of the Shropshire Hills during the A E Housman centenaryin 1996. The late Sir Kyffin Williams (CWM 1932-35) was Presidentof the Friends of the Tabernacle and his legacy to the Trust enabledit to start the creation of a new gallery, now almost completed.

The School Music Scholars will perform in this remarkable venueonce again on Thursday 7 February 2013 at 7.30pm. Salopians ofevery sort who can get there will be most welcome. The ticket priceof £5 includes wine. For more details, check the Salopian Clubwebsite: http://www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/os-events-0

FOCUS ON THE ARTS

Other forthcoming music events of particular interest to Old SalopiansSaturday 12 January: Ali Webb (UVI, S) and friends, perform original and cover songs , Ashton TheatreSaturday 19 January: Shrewsbury School Music Scholars at Emmanuel Church, Didsbury Sunday 3 February: Shrewsbury School musicians in concert at the Warehouse, London followed by a receptionThursday 7 February: Music Scholars Recital at The Tabernacle, MachynllethSunday 24 February: Instrumental and Choral Concert, St Alkmund's Church, ShrewsburyFriday 1 March: School Big Band at The Edge, Wenlock EdgeWednesday 6 March: Chapel Choir sings Choral Evensong in Hereford CathedralSaturday 20 April: Galin Ganchev, Music Scholar – piano recital, Shrewsbury SchoolSaturday 27 – Sunday 28 April: Concert performance of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, Shrewsbury SchoolWednesday 5, 12, 19 June: Organ recitals by Chapel Choirmaster Alex Mason and guests

The Tabernacle Auditorium, Machynlleth

Robin Brooke-Smith, (S 1961-66, staff 1986-95,and stepson of Michael Charlesworth)

Storm Warning: Riding the Crosswinds in the Pakistan-Afghan BorderlandsRadcliffe Press/I.B. Tauris ISBN 978-1-780764085

Robin Brooke-Smith’s fascinating book provides a newperspective on Northwest Pakistan. In this first-hand account of hisyears as Principal of Edwardes College, Peshawar,from 1995 -2000, he traces the build-up to 9/11and the upheavals that have followed. This is acompelling behind-the-scenes look into theheartlands of global jihad. The story begins andends at Shrewsbury School and takes us on anintriguing adventure, with occasional echoes ofMichael Charlesworth’s book on ShrewsburySchool, Behind the Headlines.

We are invited on a journey that will sometimescharm and sometimes horrify. We feel the tensionsof the daily struggle in a difficult and oftendangerous place. We relish many simple andamusing incidents and delightful encountersamong the ordinary folk of the region. We are takenfrom Shrewsbury into the eye of the rising storm ofglobal jihad in one of the most dangerous andfascinating cities on Earth. We see a newperspective on life and daily realities in NorthwestPakistan and the troubled borderlands betweenAfghanistan and Pakistan.

The Afghan-Pakistan Borderlands are critical tointernational security. They are often dangerousand little explored by outsiders. Recounting hisexperiences as Principal of the prestigiousEdwardes College in Peshawar (founded as a Church MissionCollege in 1900), Robin explores the creation and growing influenceof the Taliban, and provides a unique and close-up view into thisfascinating area. The College provides a cast of colourful charactersand a long and illustrious history. Its alumni have included formerPresidents, Ministers, Generals, and a host of remarkableindividuals including Mohammed Najibullah, the last Soviet-eraPresident of Afghanistan.

Behind it all is the sinister drumbeat of a country and regionlurching into a crisis and the dangerous conspiracies surroundingthe author. Finally we are swept up into the global disaster of 9/11and the troubled years that have followed.

The story ends where it began, on the Queen’s Terrace back atShrewsbury School following the Michael Charlesworth Memorialluncheon hosted at the School in March 2011 by the former ChiefSecretary of the North West Frontier Province Government. Adistinctive analysis of the state of the borderlands – and its possiblefuture – this book is illuminating reading for all who are interested inPakistan, Afghanistan and the turbulent recent history of the ‘Af-Pak’region, and the strange and enduring links with Shrewsbury.

Andrew Lambirth

Brian Horton: Blue Remembered HillsStudio Publications, 2012 ISBN 978-1-908486-24-0

‘Horton’s work is subtle as well as beautiful and should be allowed toseep gradually into the well-springs of the soul. It derives much of itspower from a commemoration of the unexpectedly ordinary – suchas the rocks in an estuary, the winter skeleton of a tree or theforeground frieze of wildflowers overlooking a secluded river orharbour.’ Andrew Lambirth (Art Critic for The Spectator).

Brian Horton (I 1947-52) is a landscape painter who can tracehis roots back through the history of English art. In his new and

revealing book on the artist, published to coincide with an exhibitionof his work at Messum’s Gallery in London, Andrew Lambirthexplores the great tradition of Romantic landscape painting in thiscountry and the particular influences that have enabled Horton toprogress from slightly awkward beginnings to develop anindependent style and vision that mark him out as one of England’smost imaginative landscape painters.

Like the artist himself, Brian Horton’s landscapes radiate a quietpower. His gouaches and oils present many-sided reflections of theBritish landscape, whether he is painting Scotland, Cornwall, theshores and hills of the Lake District, or the Cotswolds. Of his ownwork Horton says, “I like to try and engage with a hint of paradisethat lurks in the back of the mind and, though based on reality, mypictures are not painted to imitate a photographic image, but frommy own thoughts and feelings; perhaps a private vision, but onewhich I hope others might recognise.”

After leaving Shrewsbury, Horton went on to Exeter College,Oxford. Following National Service, he enrolled at CheltenhamCollege of Art, where he met Sheila, his future wife. They married in1957 and have three creative daughters: a sculptor, ceramicist andpainter. Following a spell working for Lloyds in the City of London,and then taking over an interior design company with a friend onLower Sloane Street, Horton returned to paintings in 1967. Heworked as a painting restorer, finding time for his own paintings only

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PUBLICATIONS

Snowfall near Cockham, courtest of Messum’s

occasionally. These gradually took over, however, and he became aprofessional painter. Horton has exhibited at the Royal Academy,the Royal Watercolour Society and has had a regular series of soloshows with David Messum for more than two decades.

Christopher Gill (Rt 1950-54)

Cracking the WhipBretwalda Books Ltd, 2012 ISBN: 978-1909099067

Review by Hugh Ramsbotham:It is perhaps fitting that as the relationship with Europe once again

seems to bring alarm to the Conservative Party, Christopher Gillshould publish the second volume of his memoirs, Cracking theWhip. After two years in the Navy, Christopher spent 30 years as afarmer and businessman before winning the Ludlow seat in the1987 General Election. With that agricultural and businessbackground, his arrival at Westminster coincided with issues thatimmediately brought him into conflict with the Tory policy - the polltax, the fishing policy, the common agricultural policy, and more.The story of the Tory rebels is well known and is told in great detail inhis first volume, Whips’ Nightmare.

The second volume covers the years in opposition andChristopher’s increasing despair over policies affected by Europe,his involvement in the Freedom Association, and his discomfort inthe official Tory Party, making his retirement from Parliament in 2001,and perhaps his eventual move to UKIP, inevitable.

His account of political life in the last 25 years – through his owndiaries and opinions – is fascinating, even if the role and behaviourof the Whips as described can only make the literal meaning of thename very apt. Presumably on the bookshelves of political studentsand historians for many years to come, it might also be wisereading for any aspiring member who thinks of taking the moretraditional route into politics via experience of the real world first.

And as the demands for a referendum and the question of EUmembership once again fill the air, perhaps a faint sound of ‘Iwarned you’ might understandably be heard from the Ludlow hills.

Max Kinnings (PH 1979-84)

BaptismQuercus, 2012 ISBN: 978-1-780871813)

This is the first of a series of crime novels featuring blind hostagenegotiator, Ed Mallory. When Christian fundamentalists hijack aTube train on the Northern Line, the stage is set for a terrifyinghostage situation...

On July 22nd 2005, with London on high alert after the recentterrorist attacks and attempted bombings, Max Kinnings wastrapped on a tube train just outside Stockwell Station unaware ofwhat was taking place on the next train down the line.

Inspired by the nerve-shredding psychological impact of thisexperience, Baptism explores the worst nightmares of the LondonTube traveller.

“A tense blockbuster with worryingly credible characters.”The Times

Martin Downer (DB 1944-49)

The Tank RoomMardi Books (2012) ISBN 978-0-9571316-4-4

Matt, an undergraduate in 1950s Liverpool, moonlights in jazzbands for beer money and to meet girls. He becomes intimatelyinvolved with Yvette, sexy young city girl, and Harry, waywarddaughter of landed gentry. The girls, Matt and their friends entertangled relationships. Yvette or Harry? Eventually Matt must decide.

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Martin Downer with Admiral Nimitz’s telephone on the USS Missouriat Pearl Harbor

MENS AGITAT MOLEMIn the summer issue of The Salopian, we included one of Eric Arthur Barber’s Latin translations of English poems and asked readers ifanyone could identify the original. Hearty congratulations to Paul Taylor (Rt 1976-81) for his swift and correct reply. It is Tennyson’s TheMiller’s Daughter:

Yet fill my glass: give me one kiss: Sed mihi da calicem plenum, semel oscula iunge:My own sweet Alice, we must die. Nos quoque mors, coniunx o mea cata, manet.There’s somewhat in this world amiss Parte aliqua claudet rerum natura, sed olimShall be unriddled by and by. Expediet causas, quae lafuere, deus.There’s somewhat flows to us in life, Non nihil in vita mortalibus adfluit; isdemBut more is taken quite away. Plura datis penitus demere fata solent.Pray, Alice, pray, my darling wife, Tu memor assidue, coniunx dilecta, precare,That we may die the self-same day. Nos simul exstinctos auferat una dies.

E. de B Bewley (Rt 1944-49)

Edward Bewley entered Ridgemount in1944 after a childhood rather different from

that of his contemporaries. Born in Londonwhile his parents were home on leave fromthe Colonial Service in Nigeria, he wasbrought up in his grandparents’ home inCounty Armagh essentially by Simpson thefamily retainer, as Nigeria was notconsidered a suitable place for children.When he was six his parents returned toIreland and after a succession of boardingschools, he reached Ridgemount. It maybe there that he became Tim – he was afterall Irish – but certainly from then he wasalways Tim. He much enjoyed his five yearson Kingsland, especially all the sport inwhich he excelled at House level, and itwas natural that he then entered TrinityCollege Dublin to read Law. In the next fiveyears he gained his BA, LL.B, Bar examsand was called at Gray’s Inn in 1956

Concern that income from the bar wouldnot sustain him, the newly married Timfollowed his father into the Colonial Serviceand was posted to Northern Rhodesia. Thiswas a life he much enjoyed, but sadly hismarriage did not survive it and he returnedto practise at the Bar for two years, afterwhich he was able to return to Africa as aMagistrate in Nyasaland. In 1964 he went toHong Kong as Magistrate; 43 years later hemoved from being the Senior CriminalJudge on the Supreme Court Bench tobecoming a Commissioner on the SupremeCourt of Brunei, from where he retired, nowas The Hon Mr Justice Bewley, in 1996.

Tim had met and married Mary in HongKong. She was a passionately Welshteacher who had defied her familyexpectations of a quiet, rural domestic lifein Caernarfon, and with their threedaughters they lived a full and happy life inHong Kong (where Mary founded theWelsh Society and later represented theCymry ar Wasgar, the gathering of Welshpeople from across the world, at theNational Eisteddfod in her home town ofCaernarfon).

During his 22 years as a Judge in HongKong, Tim was involved in many legaldramas, including drug cartels, policecorruption, people smuggling, Omegawatch forgery, in fact the whole range ofinternational crime. He loved it, and was ahighly respected Judge, often having todecide on draconian laws, usually without ajury, but always with great fairness andwisdom. His hearing difficulties preventedhim from accepting a seat on the Court ofAppeal.

It was perhaps inevitable therefore thatthe Bewleys retired to Anglesey, whereMary could rejoin her family and friends,where Tim’s friends in Ireland were within

easy reach, where there were fine golfcourses, and from where he could easilyreach Old Salopian gatherings which hemuch enjoyed, especially on AberdoveyGolf Course. He never lost his passion forsport, although non-Salopian activities inhockey (he played for Trinity College andfor the next 42 seasons) and rugby existedalongside cricket, golf and racing. He issurvived by Mary and his children andmuch missed by his very many friends.

A. W. R. (Bill) Brook (CWM 1931-35)Bill Brook was a Yorkshireman through andthrough and apart from five years atShrewsbury and the war years in the Dukeof Wellington’s Regiment, he lived andworked in West Yorkshire. His father (ArthurKenneth, SH 1906-07) was serving in thesame regiment when Bill was born in 1917.

At Shrewsbury he moved successfullythrough the School, though without any aimof going to university. He enjoyed rowing,was a Lance Corporal in the OTC and avery keen member of the Rovers, anassociation that kept him in contact with theSchool and the OS Club throughout his life.

On leaving school, he became anapprentice wool sorter in Bradford and aftertwo years moved to Jarmains, WoolScourers, where he was in charge of woolsorting until the outbreak of war, when hejoined the Royal Artillery in a SearchlightRegiment.

In 1946, after service in France, he wasdemobilised. The wool trade was still underthe wartime ‘wool control’ and he could notobtain a license to deal in wool until 1950.In the interim period he traded as amerchant with a former apprentice sorterand then with a license he formed his owncompany, Brook Wools Ltd in Milnsbridge,Huddersfield, which traded successfullyuntil his retirement in 1980 when thebusiness was wound up.

Bill was an enthusiastic member of theTA as Lieutenant Colonel, in theHonourable Artillery Company and a loyalSecretary of the MacMillan Club for twentyyears. He and his wife Bessie wereenthusiastic gardeners and competitivebridge players, and devoted parents,grandparents and great-grandparents.

W. R. (Rae) Cullimore (Ch 1932-37)W. R. Cullimore was in Churchills from 1932to 1937 prior to going up to Gonville andCaius College, Cambridge. Always knownas Rae, he was born in Fleet, Hampshire,where his father was in the Army working atthe Royal Aircraft Establishment, the initialsof which gave rise to the name Rae.

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OBITUARYC. H. A. Appleton (R 1939-43)C. N. Aspden (S 1966-71)The Hon Mr Justice E. de B. Bewley

(Rt 1944-49)A. W. R. Brook (S (CWM) 1930-35)M. P. Birley (Staff 1947-50)R. H. Crawford* (Rt 1938-43)W. R. Cullimore (Ch 1932-37)R. B. Draper (Ch 1930-34)J. A. O. Evans (O 1941-45)Professor M. R. P. Hall (Rt 1935-40)E. Hancox (R 1945-50)Dr J. M. D. Hooper (M 1939-44)T. E. W. Jones (O 1952-57)J. Kemp (Rt 1958-63)J. M. Kirk (SH 1949-51)C. L. Mason (O 1947-51)Reverend A. R. McGlashan (R 1946-51)P. O’Connell* (M 1924-28)R. Parkin (DB 1967-71)S. W. Payne (I 1959-64)A. G. B. Randall (O 1940-43)G. L. Ridgway (DB 1943-47)F. D. Robinson* (O 1941-45)D. H. Shaw (M 1938-42)M. R. T. Sills (O 1950-54)D.M. Stewart (S 1963-67)P. B. D. Sutherland (SH 1938-43)C. G. N. Whittingham (Ch 1962-67)P. S. Willcocks* (I 1955-60)J. P. Williams (O 1941-43)M. B. Wedgwood* (R 1922-27)M. R. N. Wood (M 1940-44)L. P. Woodcock (DB 1972-76)A. R. D. Wright (Headmaster 1963-75)*an obituary will appear in the next edition

Winner of the Bentley Elocution Prize andthe Maths Prize, the law and businessseemed inevitable; his Housemaster alsodescribed him early in his school career as“a sound gentleman to whom we shouldlike to give an official post of responsibility”and described his last report as one that“makes an excellent ending to anincreasing satisfactory record by a sound,sterling member who has contributed hisshare unostentatiously”. A report that wassomehow prophetic.

After qualifying as a solicitor, he joinedthe family firm in Chester which hisgrandfather had joined, followed by hisson, Rae's father. The firm became BirchCullimore and there were also threegenerations of the Birch family in the firm.Rae's practice was based largely inagriculture and agricultural estates, servingtwo and sometimes three generations ofthe same family as a genuine familysolicitor.

However, there was another side to hispractice, which was of great value to hisfirm. Having inherited three businesses inChester, he had the businessman's attitudeto the law, often seeing a problem from thatpoint of view as well as the strictly legalone. He was therefore in demand as a localcompany chairman, being at various timesChairman of the Chester Water Company,the Wrexham and East Denbighshire WaterCompany and the Blossoms Hotel, Chesterand was on the board of the CheshireObserver newspaper until taken over.

Outside his strict legal practice, Rae wasfor over 30 years Legal Advisor to the Deanand Chapter of Chester Cathedral and forover 2O years served as Chapter Clerk,serving under three Deans latterly at a timeof many changes in Cathedraladministration. He was also, for manyyears, a deputy Under-Sheriff for Cheshire.

Outside his practice, Rae was a pastchairman of the Cheshire branch of theCountry Landowners Association (as it thenwas). His father's family had originally comefrom Thornbury near Bristol and he tookgreat interest in the family farm there, whichis still in the family.

After retiring, he and Stella moved toSherston near Malmesbury to be near theirdaughter, Vivienne. Rae leaves Stella, whowas the greatest support throughout hisprofessional and other careers, daughterVivienne and son John, six grandchildrenand two great-grandchildren. His funeraltook place at Sherston Parish Church andwas attended by a large congregationrepresenting the many interests in Rae's life.

With thanks to Randal Hibbert

R. B. Draper (Ch 1930-34)Bryan Draper came to Shrewsbury fromEtonhurst Prep School. His school reportstalk of a highly accomplished andenthusiastic violinist who did not shineacademically but who reached the rank ofLance Corporal in the OTC before leavingschool early, clearly to the disappointmentof his Housemaster.

His father and uncle had started abusiness, but when Bryan reached theSixth Form they fell out and his uncle tookall the patents with him to start a similarbusiness on the other side of the road -thus nearly causing the business to gounder. Bryan had to leave, not going intothe Forestry Commission as he hadintended, but joining his father to try andrescue the family firm.

This they did very successfully and by thestart of the war they were supplying brakeand clutch linings and woven asbestosmaterials to the military; this meant that hewas in a reserved occupation and was notcalled up until quite late in the war. Hejoined the Royal Corps of Signals andserved in France and then Germany beforebeing demobbed. His proudest momentwas probably when, as L/Cpl Draper,Chairman and Managing Director, heshowed Queen Mary around the factory inAugust 1943.

After the war the business continued toflourish and was floated on the StockExchange. Some years later, father and sonacquired his uncle’s business, thusreuniting two branches of the family ageneration after the original split, H. P. TristLtd becoming Trist, Draper Ltd. He retired in1975.

After the death of his wife Ina in 1984, hemarried Winifred and had 17 happy yearsenjoying the company of his two sons, two

grandsons and two great grand-daughtersas well as two step children, six stepgrandchildren and several step greatgrandchildren.

Bryan’s passion for music and the violin,encouraged at Shrewsbury, continuedthroughout his life. He was one of thefounding members of the Bath SymphonyOrchestra, playing both violin and viola atdifferent times. He also played in theTrowbridge Symphony Orchestra and inmany orchestras and groups for concertsand operas around Bath and Wells.

He continued to play in the TrowbridgeSymphony Orchestra until he was almostninety, before his dementia meant he nolonger had the concentration to keep hisplace in the music. He had maintained thelove of music for so long, and alwaysshowed interest in its development atShrewsbury, especially when his sonChristopher followed him to Churchill’s in1960-64.

Dr J. M. B. Hooper (M 1939-44)

John Hooper was the first of three brotherswho were in Moser’s and he had anextremely successful School career. Clearlyan excellent Praeposter, he also developeda love of – and skill in – rowing that was tolast long. The VIII at Henley was followed bya place in his College VIII and in thewinning Isis crew of 1945. His interest inscience and in all that was going on aroundhim made medicine a natural choice; hisHousemaster’s last report talked of “anexceptionally full and successful climax tohis School career having shown all thesigns of doing good service to thecommunity. He will be the right sort ofdoctor.”

John qualified at Guy’s Hospital in 1950and spent two years as a hospital resident,at the same time meeting and marrying Jill,who was nursing and working with aresearch team at St Mary’s Paddington

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L/Cpl R. B. Draper, Chairman and ManagingDirector of English Asbestos Co. Ltd.,explaining the carding of asbestos to HerMajesty Queen Mary, 16th August 1943

studying new born babies (as theywelcomed their first child Susan). Thencame his deferred National Service and hewas posted to Northern Ireland as SeniorPhysician. After two years there (and thearrival of their second child Jonathan), theHoopers returned to England and Johnspent some time working as locum andlooking for an opportunity to work in ruralpractice – something being sought after byvery many applicants. The family wasdelighted when in 1957 he was thesuccessful applicant in Cranbrook, Kentand after a few months in a caravan at thesurgery, eventually the family home/surgerywas created, two more children James andElizabeth arrived, and a very happy andlong career began.

John was a totally committed familydoctor and with Jill alongside as nurse andsecretary, the Cranbrook practice wassuperbly served, and loved. He acted atBenenden School as Medical Officer, wasvery involved with the parish church and onthe Parish Council; the little availablerecreation time was spent sailing or onwonderful camping and sailing holidayswith his family. There was enough landround their home/surgery for smallholdingactivity and trees were planted and animalsraised. John also much enjoyed hisassociation in the City of London throughthe Coachmakers Livery Company andwas so proud when at the Queen’sDiamond Jubilee she chose to travel on thestate landau built by the Hooper CarriageCompany.

Retirement saw the surgery convertedinto a popular holiday let and Johnappointed as Churchwarden - and theoccasional employment as Cruise Doctorwith Swan Hellenic to provide annual tripsto sea. Then illness intervened and his lastyears were not easy - but this did not stophim being totally absorbed in everythingaround him, watched over devotedly by Jilland Elizabeth. It seemed that the entirepopulation of Cranbrook gathered for hisfuneral - and the words “kindness”,“dignity” and “grace” were much heard,and “it is no exaggeration to say that Johnhas been one of those local saints in hisown generation, that richly encourage andinspire all of us, all whose lives hetouched”.

His Housemaster had clearly got it right.John Hooper was “the right sort of doctor”.

T. E. W. Jones (O 1952-57)Tim Jones was almost bound to besuccessful at Shrewsbury. Brought up onMerseyside by his Welsh parents, imbued

from very early days with a love of sportand of the Welsh mountains and sea – itwas as though Kingsland beckoned fromthe beginning. When he showed ability inthe Classics as well, his cup was filled.Distinctions in Greek, Latin and AncientHistory gained him a Scholarship and aplace at Balliol College, Oxford. AsHuntsman he joined his love of sport withhis love of the countryside; his passion forfootball led him to captaining Oldham’s andgaining second XI colours – hisHousemaster commented that he wasperhaps rather small and too easilyknocked off the ball for a secure place inthe 1st XI. He was a much respected andliked House Monitor and Corporal in theCCF – his only sadness was that he was inhis own mind probably the only Welshmanwho couldn’t sing and so, although hegained a love of music at School, hisactivity was limited to attending concertsrather than performing.

A brief spell working in a factory in Rouenafter School took him to Oxford proficient inFrench and Spanish and with an interest inlanguages that never left him. He captainedthe Balliol football side, continued cross-country running and played cricket – whilstalso gaining his degree in Law and theaward of a Keasbey Bursary from theKeasbey Memorial Foundation. Ongraduation, he became articled to RobertDavies and Co in Warrington – allowing himto play football for the Liverpool Ramblers,to continue his dedicated support at OldTrafford and to walk the Welsh hills. Butonce qualified, in 1965, he moved toLondon and a year later married Ursula,whom he had met at the College of Law.He spent three years with Woodruffes andthen for nearly 20 years he was PrincipalSolicitor at the British Waterways Board – atime that enabled him to explore with hisfamily (now including two sons and adaughter) the canals throughout Britain.Tim’s career ended with eight years as

Group Solicitor with a local buildingcompany in his home town of Harpendenand five years carrying out property andparliamentary work for Luton BoroughCouncil.

In a full working life, Tim found time forhis many interests, most of which heshared with his family. He loved travel,immersing himself in the literature andlanguage of the places he visited; his loveof sport and support for Welsh rugby,Manchester United and Cardiff City took upmuch time and energy – even whenseverely handicapped by Parkinson’sdisease, he got to Wembley for the 2008Cup Final with Cardiff. And at one match hereceived loud cheers from the Welshsupporters when he returned the ball to thepitch with a surprisingly strong kick from thedisabled section. He was an enthusiasticgardener, an imaginative cook, a conquerorof the daily Times Crossword (oncereaching the final) – and essentially a manwho loved life and lived it to the full. He helda deep affection for Shrewsbury; and hislife – full of scholarship, of energy, ofresponsibility, of sport, of the countryside,of his care for those around him, and of fun– clearly mirrored his five years as aschoolboy. He was much loved, and he willbe much missed by his family and his verymany friends.

J. M. Kirk (SH 1949-51)

John Kirk came to Shrewsbury fromPocklington School and Oaklands PrepSchool, both in Yorkshire, and soondiscovered that sport was very much moreinteresting and enjoyable than the moreclassical education he found. So threeyears of sport, especially rugby and boxing,led to a decision to move on to a moretechnical education and experience.

Aged 16, he gained an apprenticeship atBlackburn Aircraft in Hull and aged 20 hestarted three years’ military service with theRoyal Engineers. This included a posting to

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the South Pacific to support the BritishScientific team conducting Britain’s firstHydrogen Bomb tests on Malden island,Bikini Atoll. In 1958 John joined W&T Avery,the world’s largest weighing machinecompany, as a trainee salesman; he retiredas a Director 33 years later, having workedin various parts of the UK, withWorcestershire being his final home.

He married Moya in 1963 and his family –three children and five grandchildren – werea great source of pride and joy. His love ofsport, developed at Shrewsbury, continuedthroughout his life; he boxed for hisRegiment and he played rugby forCombined Services and numerous clubsas he moved round the country. Whenplaying days were over, he found great joywatching his children and grandchildrenfollow in his sporting footsteps. His otherinterest was in the British Legion and hewas privileged to be Treasurer and thenPresident of his branch in Worcestershire.

John discovered at the age of 72 that hewas in fact only an Old Boy of ShrewsburySchool rather than an Old Salopian, havingleft School early. This was immediatelyrectified and John continued to be a keensupporter of the School of which he was soproud.

A. R. McGlashan (R 1946-51)

Tim Lewis writes: Alastair Robin McGlashanwas born in Plymouth on 16th March 1933,the son of Lieutenant Commander (E)Alexander Davidson McGlashan, RN, andIrene Margaret McGlashan (née Cooke)later of Midford, near Bath. He was to writelater that, at the Annual Inspection of theCCF in 1947, he saw his father for the firsttime since 1942. In Michaelmas Term 1950, Rigg’s had fourPraeposters - K A Masser, (Captain ofBoats), P C Heal (Huntsman), J R Holt (laterHead of School) and A R McGlashan,(School Captain of Boxing). A fifth HouseMonitor was T R Bell, an American fromChoate, who propelled the rugby ball intorpedo style, to considerable advantage.

The nickname for the Head of Housewas ‘Happy Holt’. The atmosphere in

Rigg’s was untroubled and light-hearted.His cricketing friends remembered theHousemaster as ‘Batty’ Brooke. Hiseccentricities caught the imagination ofmost of us. Robin McGlashan, in all of this,was serious. He had been Head Boy at hispreparatory school Carn Brae, winning thetop scholarship to Shrewsbury in 1946.Robin would later admit that his academicreputation came mostly through dint ofstrenuous application. This was largelyexpended in slaving over homework in theevenings, to make sure that he handed inthe very best work that he could turn out.For the classical scholars like him,homework took the form of translating bitsof classical English prose and verse intocorresponding forms of Greek and Latin,for example an extract from a speech ofEdmund Burke into Greek rhetorical prosein the style of Demosthenes, or Herrick intoOvidian elegiac couplets.

This required a deep knowledge of andsensitivity to the particular styles of Cicero,Sophocles and the rest of the classicalauthors, and to the nuances of metre andlanguage. His compositions were handedin and marked, and the aim was to get ashigh a mark as he could, somewhere in thealpha bracket was usually attainable, withas few minuses as possible. As a HouseMonitor, he was a listener, who could fix youwith the beadiest of stares: he was alwaysfair and reasoned. He knew the value ofsilence.

At the time, the Classical Upper Sixthwas choc-a-block with scholars offormidable erudition, under the strict ruleand teaching of Stacy Colman (Balliol,where else?). P.J. Ingrams (Ch 1949-54)called him ‘Colmanus igitur’.

Butler, Kennedy, Moss beamed downupon them all. Within such company,McGlashan won an Open Exhibition toChrist Church, later to be awarded anHonorary Scholarship on account of his 1stClass Honours in Classical Moderationsand taking a 2nd in Literae Humaniores.Robin was also a Boxing Blue atbantamweight. Small of stature, he packeda ferocious punch.

After Oxford, he did his National Servicein Cyprus, forgoing the rank of officer.

At Ridley Hall, Cambridge, he read theNew Testament section (Part 3) of theTheological Tripos at St John’s College,where he was an Honorary Scholar, taking1st Class Honours.

In 1959-60, Robin was ‘Archdeacon’ atRidley Hall. This is the term used at Ridleyto denote the Senior Student of his year,who is elected by his fellow students as

their representative and is the go-betweenthe student body and the staff of thecollege. While at Ridley, he was also one ofthree Anglican students from the UKselected to attend a five-month graduatecourse at the World Council of ChurchesConference Centre in Switzerland, atBossey, near Geneva. His Principal ofRidley described Robin as “one of theablest men both academically andpractically that we have had in livingmemory”. While at Bossey, he met theRevd C. Selvamony, who was Principal ofone of the South India Theological Collegesand who initiated an interest in India thatwas to become such a major strand in hislife.

Ordained in 1960, he was curate at StHelen’s Parish Church and at OrmskirkParish Church.

In 1963, the Church Missionary Societyaccepted Robin for a post in the Tamilmedium theological college in SouthernIndia. After an initial period studying Tamil,he insisted on living in a village toaccommodate himself to non-academicTamil, and in tune with a dictum of the thenGeneral Secretary of CMS Max Warren, to“sit where they sit” so as to understand themilieu of those with whom he would sharehis days.

He taught New Testament Greek, andwrote a Greek grammar in Tamil that is stillin use. He remained for 11 years with theChurch Missionary Society, as a CollegeLecturer and as an Adviser in ReligiousEducation.

From 1974-75, he worked as ChaplainIntern, University of Chicago Hospitals inUSA. He returned to UK as Curate at theChurch of the Holy Redeemer in Lamorbeynear in Sidcup. From 1977, he served foreight years as Chaplain to the West ParkHospital in Epsom. He began a new careeras an Analytical Psychologist in privatepractice in 1987.

As a Tamil scholar, Robin wrote a numberof books in Tamil on New Testament books,under the name of Alastair McGlashan. Histranslation of the Periya Puranam (TheHistory of the Holy Servants of the LordSiva) – one of the great books of Saivitereligious literature, published by TraffordPublishing in 2006 – received criticalacclaim.

He is survived by his wife, Margaret,whom he married in 1977, and by adaughter, Vivienne.

C. L. Mason (O 1947-51)Christopher was identified at Shrewsburyas someone who would give everything to

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any chosen career and that it was likely toinvolve service to others. He was seen asan excellent House Monitor and Captain ofRugby, generally good at all games, and adoer rather than a typical ‘academic’. SealeHayne Agricultural College was apparentlyinevitable since the age of eight, when hehad read his first book abut farming.

His first farming experience was inScotland and was much affected by an 11-week harvest stint as a student at TorrorieFarm, Dumfries. He soon became managerfirst of Southwick and then of Torrorie. Aftersome years he was able to take over thetenancy and he spent 30 happy years therewith his wife Jean and three children.

He ‘gave everything’ to his farming butequally to the community, as Chairman ofthe Rugby Club, of the Young FarmersClub, of the Agricultural Show, of theDumfries Academy School Board. and ofthe Young Offenders Prison VisitingCommittee. He also served as a JP for 17years.

In 1998 he and his wife retired to theGlenkens where, whilst enjoying buildingtheir garden and exploring new technologyof sources of energy, he again becameinvolved in local affairs, especially as localChairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’sAward Scheme and Director of theGlenkens Community and Arts Trust, whichtransformed the disused primary schoolinto a Community Arts Centre.

Clearly Christopher was someone whogave so much to those around him, givingan example in his work and in his servicethat inspired and encouraged all, especiallythe many young people whose lives hetouched.

R. A. C. Miller (I 1960-61)Andrew Miller passed through Shrewsburyperhaps without realising it. He enteredIngram’s in January 1960 “very much largerand more mature than his colleagues”, andhe found the restrictions of boarding schoollife not easy. His size and speed helped infootball where he was a good, fast andlively member of 1st House in his firstMichaelmas term, and he was a verypromising oarsman (though described byhis Housemaster as “likeable, and a goodkeen and clumsy games player”). Anappendix operation making him offchanges for the Lent Term of 1961 did nothelp; and he was in love. On the secondday of the Michaelmas Term 1961 he tookhimself home, and decided to take his ‘O’levels at the Technical College inShrewsbury.

After College he travelled to America and

worked in the music world in Texas until thepossibility of the Vietnam draft brought himback to England, where he joined theInternational Entertainment Agency. Clearlya brilliant music promoter, he launchedAndrew Miller Promotions in 1976 andnever looked back as he promoted tours byMike Oldfield, Gallaher and Lyle,Supertramp, Twiggy and Joan Armatrading.In 1976 he showed his customarydedication and commitment to the jobwhen he called on Joan Armatrading, onthe day she headlined the Royal Albert Hall,between his wedding reception and hisdeparture on honeymoon, with his new wifeAnna (who had also worked withInternational Entertainment Agency), still inher wedding dress.

Andrew Miller was known as a gentlemanoperating in what can be a cut-throat world,often relying on a handshake as a contract.This was the case with Barry Manilow,whom he promoted for thirty years, andmany others. He staged a memorableManilow concert attended by 50,000 atBlenheim Palace and returned there withVan Morrison and Joan Armatrading in2004 and Rod Stewart and Diana Ross in2005.

Held in high regard by his businesspeers and his long standing clients, Andrewwas also greatly admired for his charitywork on behalf of Nordoff-Robbins MusicTherapy. Together with Willie Robertson,who pioneered the introduction ofinsurance cover for performers, they raisedfunds to build a therapy centre in London,and inspired other countries to developtheir own facilities. They went on to enablethe building of a BRIT School of PerformingArts in Croydon. In 1990 he staged‘Knebworth 90’ where Pink Floyd andGenesis featured, alongside PaulMcCartney, Eric Clapton, Elton John,Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Cliff Richardand the Shadows, Dire Straits, Status Quoand Tears for Fears. The stars appeared forfree in front of 120,000 fans and millionswatching on TV; and there are many starsof today - including Katie Melua, Adele,Imogen Heap, and Jessie J - who areundoubtedly indebted to him for theirtraining at the BRIT school. In 1994 he andRobertson received the Music IndustryTrust Award.

Andrew married twice and had twodaughters. “He was a very, very good man,very principled and good-hearted. Thehuge amounts of money he raised forNordoff Robbins and BRIT was a wonderfulthing, a terrific legacy.”

A. G. B. Randall (O 1940-43)

Brian Randall followed his brother Bernardinto Oldham’s in 1940 from MerchantTaylors, Crosby, and immediately enteredinto all that Shrewsbury offered anenthusiastic sportsman, particularly on theriver. There was not much in the traditionalarea of classics that attracted him but heflourished in the sciences; and with a touchof magisterial snobbery he was reported asbeing “more interested in his sport and hisfuture career than in academics”.

Be that as it may, Brian wasdisappointed when his father withdrewhim and moved him into the familytanning business for two years before hewas called up for National Service in1945. He had always wanted to join theFleet Air Arm but having lost his brotherBernard and a first cousin in the war, bothof whom were flying, he agreed to do hisservice in the coalmines as a Bevin Boy -though as he was involved in movingexplosives around he was hardly out ofdanger.

In 1948 he returned to the family BootleTanning Company, which comprised anumber of tanneries in Liverpoolmanufacturing sole leather for shoes andboots. However, due to the advent ofsynthetic materials for footwear, theindustry was in decline and in 1955 after70 years manufacturing. the family madethe decision to close the tanneries. After abrief spell with British Enka, Brianestablished a card and gift shop“Carolinas” (named after his three

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Photo taken at The Schools in 1941: BrianRandall (left) and his brother Bernard(right) are both wearing Oldham’s boaters.Bernard was killed in the War. Seated inthe car are their mother, Mrs E. Randalland their surviving brother, C. L. Randall(now aged 84)

children) in Formby, where he loved beingtotally involved in village life, of which hisshop soon became a centre. Hemanaged his shop until well into his mid-seventies. He was a founder member ofthe Formby Rotary Club and became alife member after 40 years service.

Brian’s two passions were sailing andtravel. He was first Commodore andfinally President of the West LancashireSailing Club and very many hours werespent in his beloved GP 14 or talkingabout it in the Clubhouse. Offshoresailing and overseas travel to less wellknown destinations were annual events,at first with his family and, as they grewolder, with an old friend. Together, forexample, they drove through Russia andthe Eastern Block (before the Berlin Wallcame down), travelled on the SiberianExpress to Outer Mongolia, and were withthe students in Tianamen Square.

Proud of his family, it was a joy for himto see his son Nick follow him toOldham’s (1972-76) and see him gofurther by being in the winning crew atHenley and the National Schools’ Regattaand going on to give sterling service tothe Sabrina Club and as Chairman of theOld Salopian Club; and then hisgrandsons Philip (O 1999-2002) andChristian (O 2007-12). And he loved beingwith his daughters Carol and Linda;though never persuading them to join himsailing, many hours were spent with theirhorses when they were young; and thenwith all his six grandchildren. His belovedwife Beryl died in 1994 and his daughterCarol devoted her life to his care througha long illness, which he fought bravelyand without complaint.

D. H. Shaw (M 1938-42)It is perhaps extraordinary that one of themost outstanding amateur sportsmen ofhis time passed through Shrewsbury andleft no record of any sporting involvementduring his five years at School. In factDarrell Shaw’s reports merely talk of avery quiet School career, showing littleinitiative or zeal, except perhaps forplaying the cornet (without any lessons).His final report simply states that he wasgoing into the army – as all his colleagueswere – and it seems almost as though hewas not expected to do anythingnoteworthy in his life.

It is not so extraordinary that boys whodo not perhaps shine in their teens,blossom once they have reachedadulthood. On leaving Moser’s, Darrell didindeed join the army and served in India.

After he returned in 1948, he joined theShiloh Group of textile companies as amanagement trainee. He learned thebasics of carding, spinning and windingon the mill floor, studied textile technologyat Salford Technical College, and wasappointed General Manager of Shiloh’scondenser spinning plant in 1955. Hejoined the board of the company in 1961and modernised its spinning capacity toproduce a unique range of yarns forcustomers, such as the Ladybirdchildren’s clothing brand. But whilespinning was his business passion, hesaw the writing on the wall for theLancashire industry and gradually shiftedShiloh into the more promising healthcare market. He became Chairman in1970 of a newly formed subsidiary whichmanufactured incontinence products andwork wear, and later specialised insterilisation and de-contaminationservices. He retired from the Board ofShiloh in 2003 aged 79, a man muchrespected by his workforce and by hiscustomers. The spinning business wassold off, and failed, but the health careprospered under a new owner, SynergyGroup.

However, it was in his sport that Darrellmade a considerable mark. He was agifted all-round sportsman but it was attennis that he excelled. He representedLancashire from 1949 to 1964, winningthree county singles trophies. In 1959,partnering Alan Mills (later the longestserving Wimbledon referee) he won allthree rubbers – 15 matches – in group 1of the inter-county championships atEastbourne, an achievement that hasrarely been matched. As a result of this hewas selected to play for England.

Many of his sporting triumphs wereachieved while he pursued his day jobrunning the cotton mill. When he qualifiedfor Wimbledon (1951-54), his father wasreluctant to give him time off; so on thefirst Monday he went to ManchesterPiccadilly Station, bought a newspaper,checked to see if he was playing that dayand, as he wasn’t, he went back to themill. As manager he was only allowed twoweeks’ holiday a year, so the Wimbledonrounds could only be managed as daytrips. He once took on the New ZealanderMark Otway in the Northern Tournament inhis lunch hour. Officials were generallysympathetic, one Yorkshire refereeannouncing, “We’ll give young Darrell a20-minute break between finals, he’sprobably had a hard night at t’mill.” Theessence of his playing style was captured

in a photograph of him mid-dive,horizontal, during a Wimbledon encounterwith Herbie Flam in 1953; he wasparticularly thrilled when his uncle spottedthe picture in a Rome railway bookstall onthe cover of an Italian magazine.

Besides his tennis, he played in goal forthe Liverpool Ramblers and later enjoyedsquash at a very high level. When ageforced him off the squash court, he tookto golf and played regularly, and well, untilhe reached 80. He then joined a smallgroup who played pool at the NorthernClub in Manchester. His other hobby wasowning second-hand sports cars; hechanged his car half a dozen times ayear, and in one year 24 times – attractingthe attention of the Inland Revenue, whichassessed him as a car dealer despite hisassurance that he lost money on everytrade. He was eventually advised to seepsychiatrists about what had become anobsession. The first two failed to helphim, but he declared his third consultationto have been a complete success –because the psychiatrist went straight outand bought a second-hand car.

Malcolm Gracie, a close friend whoplayed tennis, squash and golf with himfor very many years, writes, ”Darrell Shawwas a lovely character, if slightly eccentric,an excellent family man who was unluckyto lose his wife at an early time in life, agood father to his two daughters, and afirst class all-round sportsman. Hisbehaviour on the sports field as well asthe social scene was exemplary and Ihave never met a single person who hadanything other than good things to sayabout him. What was rather surprisingwas the modesty and indeed shyness thatcharacterised him – when it was his timeas Vice President to become President ofthe Lancashire County Tennis Association,he resigned rather than accept the office.I am proud to have known him.”

Perhaps that modesty and shynessappeared, when he was at school, as the‘lack of zeal or initiative’. The world ofsport, and of business, is much relievedthat neither of those was apparent in hislong and full life.

J. P. Williams (O 1941-43)At the beginning of the War, John Williamsmoved with his parents and brother Hughfrom his bomb-damaged home inBlackheath to his grandfather’s countryhouse in Shropshire. He arrived inOldham’s in his fourth term of secondaryeducation, having started at DulwichCollege, whilst his brother Hugh started

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his first term at the same time. The latestart at Shrewsbury proved to be a bit of ahandicap at the beginning, but he wasclearly flourishing by the end of his schoolcareer. Perhaps the ceasing of Latin to bereplaced by Art was of importance;perhaps it was position of House Captainof Agriculture, a crucial role during thosewar years.

Service with the Royal Marinesfollowed, spent mainly in the Pacific,where he developed a love of the seawhich was always with him; as a youngman he would spend his summerweekends crewing with friends and takingpart in ocean races. His interest in art ledhim to a degree at the LondonPolytechnic School of Architecture, but itwas towards books and publishing thathe moved and soon, with his wife Deirdre,he owned a printing and publishingcompany in Ludlow, specialising in FineArt books, until in 1973 a disastrousexplosion and fire destroyed all that theyhad, and very nearly their lives. OnlyJohn’s quick thinking and courage savedthem both, but they were badly injured.

After that he owned and ran a stationeryand second-hand bookshop inFramlingham, of which he was veryproud, printing for Time-Life magazine. Inthe early 1980s he became good friendswith Sir Hugh Casson and, workingtogether, they set up a watercolourfacsimiles business, which eventuallybecame the Watercolour Foundation,launched at the Royal Academy, of whichhe became Chairman.

John’s interests and passions werewide – travel, music, especially the piano,all forms of transport including steampower, painting, political and militaryhistory, and philosophy – with engineeringand architecture being particular

passions. He was an articulate writer – hisauto-biography is a delight – and a storyteller and conversationalist. He andDierdre, together for 42 years, had verymany friends who miss him tremendously.

Arthur Robert Donald Wright(Headmaster 1963-75)The Rt Revd Roger Sainsbury writes:Donald Wright, who died on 19 July, aged89, had already made his mark as soldierand educator, most recently as ahousemaster at Marlborough, when I firstmet him in November 1963. He had drivenfrom Shrewsbury School to Liverpool withHelen, his wife, during his first term asHeadmaster, to see the work of ShrewsburyHouse, the school’s Mission, founded in1903.

I had been appointed Missioner by theprevious Headmaster, Jack Peterson,earlier in the year. We were told that Donaldhad come to Shrewsbury School “with fresheyes and without traditionalpreconceptions”, and that he mightsuggest that Shrewsbury House should beclosed, as it was a hangover from theVictorian era, like other public schoolmissions. But, when he saw ourengagement in Christian mission in one ofthe most socially disadvantagedcommunities in England, it led to hisbecoming an outstanding supporter of ourwork and that of the Beacon GroupMinistry, of which Shrewsbury House was apartner.

He later described this journey toLiverpool as his “Damascus-roadconversion”. Together, we started socialstudies courses, based at ShrewsburyHouse, for boys from the school, whichopened many eyes to the challenge of theinner city; and a number of those boyshave since become important pioneers invarious forms of work in urban areas.

He took a leading part with the dioceseof Liverpool in building a new ShrewsburyHouse, in partnership with a new St Peter’sChurch, opened in July 1974 by PrincessAnne.

One of my abiding memories of Donaldis at the gate of Shrewsbury School, at theend of a sponsored walk with boys from theschool and boys and girls from the club. Heasked one of the club boys as heapproached the gate, “Are you last?” Hereceived the angry reply: “I'm not last. I amjust at the back,” as in Scouse “last” means“useless”. In fact, the club boy was at theback because he was helping a strugglingschoolboy to finish the walk.

Eddie Cartwright, a former club boy and

voluntary helper in the 1960s, who becamea professionally qualified youth worker,Field Officer for the Merseyside YouthAssociation, and Reader in the diocese ofLiverpool, commented: “Donald Wrightalways looked stern, but his heart was inthe right place, and he loved ShrewsburyHouse and West Everton.”

Henry Corbett, the present Warden ofShrewsbury House, says that the socialstudies courses are still going, and nearly50 sixth formers from the school visitEverton over three days each year.Donald’s conversion to “the Shewsy”, andhis vital support of the new Shewsy, are wellremembered.

Donald was the youngest boy of aWolverhampton family described as“Church of England, but still touched by aMethodist past”. I also believe that he wastouched by the Quaker tradition; for, as aboy, he went to a Quaker school, where hewas taught by the young W. H. Auden; later,when he was a teacher, one of his firstposts was at Leighton Park, a well-knownQuaker school in Reading.

Perhaps, however, his experience in theSecond World War, when he was a captainin the Royal Artillery, involved in the landingin Normandy, and later stationed near theRussian line in the East, where he saw atfirst hand some of the horrors of modernwarfare, also helped to shape thecompassionate Christianity that so many inShrewsbury School, Liverpool, and, duringhis retirement, Wiltshire appreciated.

In a family tribute at the funeral, his sonPatrick said: “Early in life, my fatherdeveloped a sense of what education couldand should be. His was a Christian idea,and also a liberal one. He was convincedthat education was about finding andreleasing potential in people, openingdoors in minds, equipping people to maketheir own decisions in the future.”

This understanding of education was tobe very important in his time asHeadmaster of Shrewsbury School, and in1971 as Chairman of the Headmasters'Conference.

One of his staff at the schoolemphasised that his primary concern wasto revitalise the religious life of the school,and he invited a range of distinguishedspeakers to preach in the chapel, includingHenry Chadwick, David Edwards, DavidJenkins, Dennis Nineham, Harry Williams,Stuart Blanch, and Donald Coggan.Coggan later invited him to beArchbishop’s Patronage Secretary, andSecretary to the Crown AppointmentsCommission.

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COMING EVENTS

Printed by Creative Digital Printing, Shrewsbury (01743) 263030

Thursday 7th February: Curry supper at ASHA’s, Newhall Street, Central Birmingham.

Thursday 14th March: Careers Fair (U6th & OS students) at Shrewsbury School.

Sunday 12th May: Sporting lunch for UVI pupils, Masters in Charge, Coaches and representatives from the OldSalopian Sports Committee; Guest Speaker, Tim Lamb (1966-71), Chief Executive of the Sportand Recreation Alliance.

Friday 7 June: Old Salopian Birmingham and Midlands Branch Summer Reception at The Lord LeycesterHospital, Warwick.

Wednesday 3rd-Sunday 7th July: Henley Royal Regatta (School reception on Wednesday 3rd July and Sabrina reception onSaturday 6th July).

For more details, please visit: www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/osevents

When Coggan retired, according toHenry Carpenter’s biography of RobertRuncie, Donald played an important part in“consulting a wide range of people aboutthe type of person who should be chosenas the next Archbishop of Canterbury”.

He still held that position when, in 1983,Runcie appointed the Commission onUrban Priority Areas to “look into ways inwhich churches can more effectively helpthose who live and work in our inner cities”,a Commission that was to produce one ofthe most significant church reports of the

past 50 years, Faith in the City. I believe thatDonald, because of his experience atShrewsbury House, may have had someinvolvement in the Archbishop’s veryimportant initiative.

During his time at Lambeth Palace,Donald also chaired the William TempleFoundation, and he shared Temple’sconcern about the impact ofunemployment: “The gravest evil and thebitterest injury of the unemployed is thespiritual grievance of being allowed noopportunity of contributing to the general

life and welfare of the community.”Helen, whom he married in 1948, was a

great supporter of his work, both atShrewsbury School and Lambeth Palace.They enjoyed 20 years of retirement inCoulston, in Wiltshire, where he was a veryactive member of his parish church, and acampaigner for defending the localenvironment.

He is survived by Helen and theirchildren.

This obituary was published in TheChurch Times in November 2012.