text:
Kingswood Association News April 2014
KINGSWOOD ASSoCIATIon nEWS Edition 10 - April 2014
Hello and welcome. . .
To the latest packed edition of your Association magazine
1 2 3 5 6 8 13 17 22 27 29 30 31 45 48 51 53 54 54 55
There is much new to report. For a start, the Kingswood Association has a new President
President's Welcome Headmaster's Welcome New Members Chairman's Letter Visitors 2013 Reunions 2012 Travel Scholars Headmaster's Cricket Notes and News Association Day 2013 Family News Association Awards Obituary Tributes Interview with John Lewis Valete Dear Editor K.A. Exec Committee Sales Plus KS Encircles the Globe K.A. 2014 Calendar
Features Glastonbury 2013 KPS - Home of Headlines Kingswood in Print Behind the Scenes Rev Dr Peter Ensor Kingswood Hymns
While we report and celebrate all that is new we are also now entering on the past. More than a hundred former pupils and staff of Kingswood lost their lives in the First World War. Bravery and service were recognised and included the award of 10 Military Crosses and a Remembrance Service which takes place on the Chapel Lawn. In 2014 this Service will take place on Friday 7th November. There will also be a commemoration event in the Kingswood Theatre on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th November which will mark the centenary of the start of the First World War through music and drama. Association members will be most welcome to attend and more details will be published on the School website. you at one of the many events which will take place throughout the coming twelve months. Editorial Team
In terms of bricks and mortar, the School has a new Humanities Building which is situated adjacent to the Ferens and is already in busy everyday use. Work is well underway on a new boarding house for Hall House and a replacement for the Sedgeley Pavilion on the Upper, the original having sadly burned down, is close to completion - with the help of a major donation from your Association.
Contact Details The Kingswood Association, Kingswood School, Lansdown, Bath BA1 5RG T. 01225 734283 (School) F. 01225 734205 E. association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk www.kingswood.bath.sch.uk/old-kingswoodians/ President: Tim Lindsay Chairman: Paul Baines
From the President I arrived at Kingswood in September 1969, from St. Andrew's School Turi, in Kenya. Lowry Creed was headmaster. To be honest, England felt a bit cold, lonely and strange. I was in Middle House, in one of those 30 person dormitories with the wash basin and cubicle behind each bed (remember?) Actually, the only thing I really enjoyed about addition to the Lower Fifth. It was mostly my fault – I think I was a bit aloof and full of myself. But it got better. Laurie Campbell came in as head in 1970 – a fellow 'African', arriving as he did from Alliance High School near Nairobi. I'd known his son Ian well at St. Andrew's. I started to make good friends – the late and much missed Andy Pike, Paddy Draycott, Dave Panton. We played in all the teams together, and got to know Bath and its charms. I have good memories of a coffee bar called Image. Later the discreet and friendly Porter Stores played an important part in our lives. Then it got better still. In our Lower Sixth year the powersthat-were decided that some of us would be better housed down in Summerhill, where the kind, genial and very funny Michael Bishop presided. It should have been a bit of a bore, trekking up in the morning and back at night, but actually it was magical. Paddy, Andy, Alan Woods and I had a great year. To this day I'm not sure why we were exiled, but we ended up being grateful to whoever decided we should be.
Kingswood had turned into a great experience – the school, friends, the teaching, the sport (especially, for me, hockey), Bath, the pubs, the relaxed hippy vibe that hung in the air in those days in the West Country – I loved it all. And the teaching in the sixth form was majestic. Ray Wilkinson and Andy Smith taught us English A Level; Ken Wilson and Roy Cooke History. They were (alongside the great Arthur Sale at Magdalene later) quite simply the best teachers I have ever had. It was a privilege to sit in their lessons. My father David and his two brothers Ron and Ian had preceded me to Kingswood. Dad went to Westwood in September 1936, still speak and write regularly. One of my sisters, Diana, and my brother Rupert succeeded me. Diana was a school prefect (I never progressed beyond the giddy heights of house prefect and I'm afraid even that was revoked several times). schoolboy actors ever seen, but he was, shall we say, a touch rebellious. Laurie Campbell was extremely good to all of us, but particularly Rupert, and the family owe him a lot. 1 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
Tim Lindsay
After I left Cambridge I began working in advertising in London. In fact I still do. Kingswood had turned into a great experience – the school, friends, the teaching, the sport (especially, for me, hockey), Bath, the pubs, the relaxed hippy vibe that hung in the air in those days in the West Country – I loved it all. So much so that, in a brief career hiatus three years ago, my wife Caroline and I decided to move the family I have two girls, Ella and Jessie) down to Bath. So we bought a beautiful Georgian house in Upper Church Street and started a new life down here – working in London three or four days a week but making sure we're back in Bath by Thursday evening. It's a great place to live – the middle-aged slackers capital of England – and we have great affection for it. Something I'm sure wouldn't be the case if school hadn't been such a positive, enriching experience. Last year I attended Laurie's memorial service in the chapel and ran into Jeremy Wimpress. We'd overlapped at school and he'd known Rupert and Diana. A few months later he emailed me to tell me he'd decided I was going to be President of the Kingswood Association, overriding my protestations and telling me that not having had an exemplary disciplinary record was an additional, powerful I was powerless to resist, and so I've succeeded the inspiring Sarah Beresford-Smith in a position that until three months ago I didn't know existed. It's a great honour. And I'm looking forward to working with Paul, Simon, the rest of the Executive Committee, Angela and Michele. I hope we can tempt a lot of Old Kingswoodians into active participation in the program and I hope to meet a lot of old friends. It's going to be fun. Tim Lindsay (1969-74) President, The Kingswood Association
Headmaster's Welcome
From the Headmaster I continue to appreciate the many occasions each year when I come into contact with members of the old Kingswoodian community, and I value equally this annual opportunity to express my thanks for all the Kingswood Association does in support of the School. Kingswood rightly enjoys a reputation as a family school with a strong sense of community where individuals matter – but that
for completion in Summer 2014, is nicely taking shape in
should not be seen as purely relating to current staff, pupils and their families. The family extends, I hope, to all those for whom Kingswood has been a formative chapter in their lives – and former pupils and their parents will by some margin form the largest sub-group within that family. I was delighted that my own family – less my son, Sam, a 2013 leaver and therefore one of your most recent members – was able to join me at receptions in both Hong Kong and Bangkok earlier in the year, where the Kingswood family spirit was very much alive as current and former pupils, current and former parents, and even some prospective pupils and parents gathered to celebrate being part of this very special school.
and our fee level means that, although we offer the breadth of the very best boarding schools to both boarding and day pupils, we are a realistic option to a much wider range of families mission of being a Christian school which is ambitious, caring, inclusive, unpretentious and, I hope and notwithstanding the evident pride in the above, humble! I have no doubt that our alumni, and the support you show for the School, plays a very important role in all these achievements. Thank you. Mr Simon Morris outside the new Humanities block
We have a fantastic new Pavilion, a stunning new Humanities building and the new Hall House, due for completion in Summer 2014... Two weeks later I was delighted to attend a function in London people are, some just out of university and others well set up early in their chosen careers. I noted that all those invited had left Kingswood before I arrived in 2008; next year at a similar function we will be able to invite our 2009 leavers, those who were in the Upper Sixth when I arrived as the new headmaster and who were so welcoming when I invited them to introduce me to their school and who, without perhaps realising it, gave me many ideas for future development. certainly be failing both in my own personal goals and those envisaged on my appointment by the governors if the answer to this question were a resounding 'no', as I would be if I reported a fundamental change in ethos, culture or values. We have grown slightly in response to increasing demand – with just over 700 pupils in the senior school and around 300 at KPS – and boarding numbers are at their highest for a number of years. Academic results have been exceptional as our outstanding academic staff have created ever more exciting and challenging lessons, whilst at the same time developing innovative schemes for tracking and monitoring pupil progress. the national performance leagues. Drama, Music and Art – areas of traditional strength – have not rested on their laurels, but have sought ever more exciting ways of developing and nurturing talent. We have a fantastic new Pavilion, a stunning new Humanities building and the new Hall House, due
change in the leadership of your Association with both a new Chairman and a new President. I would like, if I may, to close by offering a personal tribute to both Jeremy and Sarah. In dedicating a huge amount of time to developing many aspects of the way the Association is run, Jeremy Wimpress has set the bar very high; he has talent and drive most certainly, but also an enviable sense of commitment and dedication. The Association has moved on leaps and bounds under his Chairmanship. Sarah Beresford-Smith has been an exceptional President, with a very keen eye for engaging – or re-engaging - members, whilst always seeking ways to support the school in its current projects. I am immensely grateful to them both. In thanking both Jeremy and Sarah on behalf of the School, I offer my very best wishes to Paul Baines and Tim Lindsay as they take up their roles at the head of your thriving Association.
Simon Morris Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 2
2013 Leavers LEAVERS' DESTINATIONS 2013 LEAVER
Amber Backwell
Accounting and Finance University of Exeter
Letitia Bailey
James Cowell
Interactive Music and Studio Production
Angus Batterham
Katja Cross
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
Daisy Bendrey
Olivia Best
Engineering Design with University of Bristol Study in Industry
Hannah Curley
William Blackmore
Natasha Dabell
Art Foundation
Entering Employment / Vocational Training
Wiltshire College, Trowbridge
Catherine Bolland
Henry Darch
Hartpury College
Meuryn Daymond
Oscar Dennis
Roseanna Dixon
Evie Domaille
Management (International Studies)
Rosie Boyd
Management with Leadership
Hannah Bracey
Luke Brett
Toby Briggs
Verity Burke
Byron Dunn
Mary Carter
English and Drama
Queen Mary, University of London
King's College, University of London
Hannah Enderby
Ho (Bosco) Chan
Charlotte Frude
Classics: Greek and Latin
Natasha Chapman Lok Yan (Veronica) Cheung
Mary Gammie
Elise Gauntlett
William Goodwin
Kristina Grant
Gap Year; English Literature
Sally Hargrave
Zachary Hart
Alexandra Hill
Martha Chilver-Vaughan
Chemistry (Industrial)
Kimberley Chivers
Plymouth University
Ho Ching (Iris) Chung
Max Courtaux
3 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
New Members LEAVER
Deborah Hitchin
Sophie Hughes
Man Ki (Justin) Hui
James Humphrey
Rosemary Hurley
Chung Ki (Raphael) Poon
Economics with Econometrics
Olivia Pridham
Kriti Rana
Keaton Reynolds-Cotterill
Madeleine Riley
UCL, University of London
Emily Rowlands
Gap Year; Sports Science Loughborough with Management University
Stefans Rozanskis
Fraser Russell
Gap Year; Geography
Namiko Sawada
Business Management / Oxford Brookes International Relations University
Patrick Seed
Kate Silvester
Gap Year; Architecture
Alexander Simons
Katherine Simpson
Gap Year; Portraiture
Charles Cecil Studios, Florence
Sanveer Singh
Mathematics and Economics
LSE, University of London
Politics and Sociology
Navin Jacob
Electronic Engineering with Nanotechnology
Amber James
Matthew Jeffery
Business and Accounting
Hannah Lemoine
Hiu Yung (Daphne) Leung
Jasmin LindsayRusher
Rose Llewellyn
Callum Lloyd-James Gap Year Nicholas Mackenzie Gap Year
Haymon (Frente) Mak Business Management
Lok Him (Sam) Man
University of Bath
Monika Mangarova
Gareth McBraida
Craig Meehan
Jacob Stuckes
Domante Miltienyte
Politics with International Studies
Siu Nga (Sonia) Suen Mechanical Engineering
Samuel Morris
Gap Year; Medicine
King's College, University of London
Lydia Thacker
Politics with a Minor
Mari Nakazawa
Sophia University, Japan
Jessica Weekes
Sport and Exercise Science
Canterbury Christ Church University
Lawrence Oppenheim
Conor O'Sullivan
Alexander Papuca
Gabriel Penn
Thomas (Harry) Penrhyn-Jones
Nicholas Phillips
Pollyanna Whitehead Early Childhood Studies Norland College Alex Wilcox
Gap Year; Mechanical Engineering
Jamie Williams
Abbie Winton
Gap Year; International Management
Wai Tak (Emma) Wong
Alexander Wynne Hughes
Man Yee (Ellen) Yuen Law
POST A LEVEL APPLICANTS LEAVER
Hannah Bottle
Philosophy and English Literature
Hannah Chilver-Vaughan
Max Gauntlett
Leeds Metropolitan University
Emma Gordon
Sam Coates
Russian and History
Kit Richards
Oxford Brookes University
Tom Curnow
Law with Business Studies
Ed Dumpleton
International Business with a year in Industry
Alex Stansfield
Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 4
Chairman's Letter
From the Chairman It was a very proud moment for me to be appointed Chairman of our Association in March this year and although it is still early days, I am enjoying my greater involvement in the activities and organisation of all that we are doing to retain and strengthen our links and friendships as old Kingswoodians. Prior to my appointment, as you will be aware, your former Chairman, Jeremy Wimpress, continued in post for a further six months – such was his dedication to the Association. I am sure you would all wish to join me in a vote of thanks for all that he achieved and for his additional support during this extra period. During that time he also undertook to collate, edit and proofan excellent publication and has been applauded by so many readers. He was also given great assistance with this particular task from Senara Derrick, our Association Assistant and we are also grateful to her for all her hard work on our behalf.
The Association continues to thrive and our calendar of events over the last year has once again been very full. appointment. In fact she gave us all quite an exciting time by a meeting with Jeremy. Working closely with any Chairman of the Association obviously has a very stimulating effect! I am however pleased to report that Senara and baby Connor are doing well and she is enjoying her new role immensely. We have been very fortunate to have the help of Michele Greene, a former parent of three Old Kingswoodians in Senara's absence I would like to extend my personal thanks to her for all that she has done and continues to do in support of all our administration, mailings, activities and events.
Paul and Sarah
The Association continues to thrive and our calendar of events over the last year has once again been very full. Since our last AGM we have seen many friends who have joined us for suppers, lunches, receptions in various parts of the country and even gatherings overseas. You will be able to read the full details of all of these events in the next Association We are also pleased to hear of the reports from the Headmaster and the Development Director, Angela Dudley-Warde who do much to support and organise events for our overseas alumni, on their overseas recruitment visits. The opportunity to introduce many of our international Old Kingswoodians to prospective parents as well as current Kingswood parents at these special events, is an excellent way in which we, as an Association can support the School with its Development plans and future recruitment, in order for it continue to thrive in the future. Whilst on the subject of recognising support to the Association, only had the privilege of working with our President for the last six months; however I am sure you would wish to join me in thanking Sarah Beresford-Smith for her excellent contribution and leadership of the Association over the last two years as our – you will be hearing more about this during our AGM shortly. I would now like to formally thank her for support and commitment and would like to present her with this small token of our appreciation. In conclusion I would like to thank you all for coming and for your continued interest and support of the School and the Association and trust you will have a very enjoyable day and dinner this evening, for those of you who are able to stay.
The Chairman welcomes Sam Morris, former Deputy Head Boy, as a new member to the Association
Paul Baines (1985-90) Kingswood Association Chairman
Kingswood Visitors We are always delighted to welcome back old Kingswoodians. "Wonderful to be back and meet some of the current students." Katherine Thatcher (1994-99) – visited on 10th May 2013
"Great to see such continuing activity and positive changes." Tony Danbury (1946-55) – visited on 15th May 2103
"My timing was excellent. What a treat to have a school lunch with the sports' teams today!" Rev Michael Franklin (1943-51) – visited on 18th May 2013
"Angela took a lot of trouble to show Mary and I the wonderful new Kingswood School!" Ray Reason (1938-42) – visited on 22nd May 2013
"A great tour with Angela to see the changes and old remembered areas." David White (1951-58) – visited on 6th June 2013
"Thank you for your kind welcome." Brian Shaw (1951-55) – visited on 25th June 2013
Association Day 2014 will be held on "Lovely to come back and see all the old places and see the new developments." Geraint Wilson-Price (1973-81) – visited on 23rd July 2013
"Look forward to seeing Kingswood come to Thailand in the Autumn!" Pakpoon Vallisuta (1972-78) – visited in August 2013
Saturday 13th September Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 6
"Good to bring our grandchildren to KS!" Professor John Cox (1949-59) – visited on 7th August 2013
"Great to see Mum and Dad's aerial picture of KS on the wall!" Chris Dixon (1975-84) – visited on 30th August 2013
Mr Mildon's daughter wrote: "My Father now lives in a nursing home. He was a pupil here before the second World War. I am so pleased he was able to come back today for a visit." Arthur Mildon (1935-40) – visited on 4th September 2013
Chris Dixon's parents
"Nice to be back." Yang Yang XU (2004-06) – visited on 17th October 2013
"Lovely to look around and re-live good times." Louise Knightley (1979-83) – visited on 6th December 2013
STAY CONNECTED... Connections@Kingswood is accessed through the 'Old Kingswoodians' section of the school website:
www.kingswood.bath.sch.uk
www.facebook.com (Search for Kingswood School) @KingswoodAssoc www.friendsreunited.co.uk
association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
Supper Group
Record numbers have attended on many occasions during the last three years.
MJSD: 8th March 2013
Senara, Jeremy & Michele
The Chairman, his wife & the President
On Friday 8th March, another excellent supper in the School Dining Hall for the March MJSD, when 50 guests gathered to
Jeremy has done much to increase the attendance of MJSD over the last three years to record numbers on many occasions.
Community also expressed their appreciation to the soon to retire Association Chairman, Jeremy Wimpress who would be standing down at the next Executive Committee Meeting.
Senara Derrick also attended for the last time before taking her maternity leave and thanks were expressed to her for all her help with the organisation of the event.
MJSD: 14th June 2013 The summer MJSD saw good numbers gather in the School Dining Hall for another catering spectacular. As always there was a lovely atmosphere and a was delighted that Daniela Austin was able to join us on this occasion and Roger was very much in all our thoughts.
As always there was a lovely atmosphere
George Hubbuck & Daniela Austin
John & Sally Yeo with David Yeo
MJSD: 6th December 2013 December's MJSD was, as has become the custom, a festive affair with Christmas crackers and even the odd party hat on display. School catering provided another wonderful menu with a choice of beef wrapped in pancetta, venison and haggis wellington or parmesan and butternut squash gratin. These delicious treats were followed by mulled plum pudding or handmade Christmas pudding. December Group
President's Table
As ever at MJSD a wonderful evening of great food, great value and a lot of fun.
New faces this year at the event included former Headmaster, Gary Best who was congratulated on the recent publication of his third novel and who was also delighted to meet up with former Governors, Jean Pratten and Reverend Ray Lansley. The Headmaster provided a detailed and interesting update on recent events and activities at Kingswood, including the excellent news about the new Humanities teaching block which is on target to be completed for the Autumn Term. After lunch, guests were able to extend their visit Grammar School. A very enjoyable occasion for all and many thanks to the Kingswood Catering Team for another excellent lunch!
The Lunch
South West Lunch: 18th May 2013 A very enjoyable time was had by all as Old Kingswoodians met for the South West lunch in the Kingswood Pavilion. After being welcomed by the Chairman, Paul Baines, members of the Association were also updated on the excellent support the School continues to give to the Open Arms Infant Home in Malawi. Mr Gordon Opie and Sixth Form student Emily Crowe gave a very enlightening talk about the most recent trip to Malawi and spoke with great passion about their experiences.
Watching the Cricket
The 1st XI v. BGS
Oxford Lunch, St Hilda's College: 27th April 2013 A wonderful mix of generations, with leavers ranging from 1946 to 2012 who all enjoyed sharing tales of their own time at Kingswood. It was a particular pleasure to see Victoria Cartwright and Peter Evans who had both left School in 2012 for Oxford University.
Headmaster, Simon Morris, updated everyone on the exciting new developments at Kingswood, including progress with the new Humanities teaching block now taking shape on the Ferens lawn.
extended a warm welcome to all those attending.
Paul Baines (1985-90)
St Hilda's Group
A special thank you to Linda Earnshaw (née Scutt), former Member of Staff (1982-88) and herself a former St Hilda's student, for making all the arrangements.
St Hilda's Lunch
Sir Nicholas Fenn, John Stainer & David Haynes
James Pearce & Edward Handley
Justin Dunlop, David Shepherd, Clive Maltby Tony Kingsnorth & Chris Bushell
London Summer Evening: East India Club, 6th June 2013 Once again the London Summer event took place on an absolutely lovely evening at the East India Club. The crowd that gathered included leavers from as recently as six years ago and as far back as 68 years ago - with plenty from the intervening years also present. A great pleasure to see former Association President, Sir Nicholas Fenn, among those who attended.
back for more at future events. Paul Baines (1985-90)
Many discussions and conversations took place between long-standing friends and those who were meeting for the in place. The Headmaster spoke with enthusiasm about the current School and took great pleasure in meeting so many former pupils from across the Kingswood years. Some of those who were there were regular attendees, others
Chairman & Development Director
Sophie Graham-Wood & Sophie Hartnell
We were delighted to meet up with Angela Dudley-Warde and Mark Brearey, Head of Kingswood Prep School, during their recruitment visit to Barcelona last year. The mini reunion for former pupils living in Catalonia was an enormous treat and we spent the evening merrily exchanging anecdotes from past and present as well as lots of ideas for the future. It was so good to hear how KS is maintaining its all-round inclusive philosophy as well as branching out internationally and we were impressed by the school's efforts to keep in touch with its alumni. We'd be very happy to help anyone from KS needing advice with regard to this part of Spain.
Several years ago, Martin Kasasira and I played for bitter Ugandan rugby rivals Kobs and Heathens without realising that we shared a Kingswood connection, and it was a only a chance
Eleanor Bannister (1980-82) Louise Casablanca, née Jorgensen (1980-82)
friendship was immediately struck. Over the years and under equally innocuous circumstances, I have come to know others who are resident in Uganda and share a Kingswood or Prior's Court connection and therefore appreciated the need to have a reunion. of its kind in Uganda, as far as I know. Present were Tabitha Kibuka (PC 1988-89), David Rider Smith (KS 1984-90), Kate Ochom (née Grasi), Moses Zikusoka (KS 1980-84) and brothers Edwin Kwesiga (PC 1987-91) and Timothy Mutungi (PC 198791). Unfortunately, older brothers Mark Rumnayika and Martin Kasasira, both PC and KS alumni had other commitments and were unable to attend the event. We shared a meal and enjoyed a wonderful evening together at The Bistro in Kampala and promised to make it a regular outing. Dr Paul Okello Aliker (KS 1982-84)
Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 10
During the half term holiday in late October 2013, the Headmaster and I travelled to the Far East as part of the School's overseas recruitment programme. It has become something of a tradition now to hold a reception for members of the Kingswood Community as part of our itinerary and once again it was a great pleasure to meet with members of the Association in Hong Kong and Thailand during this trip.
In Bangkok, we were delighted that this relatively new venture has grown from a very small meeting of just three former pupils in 2012, to a group of seven former pupils, two current Kingswood families and two families interested in learning more about the School and who have subsequently accepted places to join us in September 2014 - such was the warmth of the welcome they received. The evening was most generously hosted in the Sui Sian Chinese Restaurant at The Landmark Hotel, by Mr Pakpoon Vallisuta of the Quant Group. He had
Our thanks to former pupil Jackie Tsang and his parents, Johnny and Laura, for their help with the arrangements at the HK Football Club - by far our most popular venue for this occasion. The Headmaster and Mrs Caroline Morris (KS Staff since 2008) very much enjoyed meeting many former pupils and current parents. It was wonderful to see amongst many guests, Dr Kenneth Cheung who has generously supported projects and bursaries at Kingwood for a number of years. Angela Dudley-Warde, Development & Marketing Manager
Memories from Moscow "A few of my lasting memories of Kingswood were swimming late at night unsupervised in a very short and chlorinated Campbell beckoning us stragglers into Chapel with the words "come come", the inspiring Physics classes of Mr Ede, the night raids on the kitchen (in which I did not partake!), the ridiculous 'distance' rule because of the novelty of the opposite sex, the of Upper House... and many other wonderful memories and
time since leaving the School and had been very pleased to hear that Kingswood would be visiting him in the Autumn. It was also a great pleasure to be able to meet with a number of Mr Vallisuta's special guests who were keen to learn more from the Headmaster about education in the UK and in particular the way in which Kingswood continues the strong tradition of bursary support to deserving children.
old friends. After Kingswood, I went up to Cambridge to study Natural Sciences, but then decided I needed an international career, so I joined a multi-national and achieved an MBA. Having then lived in London, Paris, Jakarta, Moscow, Budapest and now back in Moscow, married on the way, we have three wonderful children. My short stay in Kingswood (1978-80) was a wonderful experience and taught me a lot about life and different values. I did visit Kingwood in 2002 with the family and told my children it was Hogwarts... which they believed for a few hours! So it was quite a surprise when I received an email out of the blue that Angela was visiting Moscow with the Headmaster. It was great to relive, for just a few hours, those teenage scholastic days and to hear how the school has changed - although the small chlorinated pool is still there - and of course great to receive a new Old Kingswoodian tie!" Peter de Groot (1978-80)
During our brief visit to Moscow, it was also a great pleasure to meet up with and media at Brighton University. Mr and Mrs Melnikov, together with Ilya's youngest sister came to meet us whilst we were attending a recruitment fair in the city and were delighted to hear about the latest developments at Kingswood. Angela Dudley-Warde
Mr and Mrs Melnikov were delighted to hear about the latest developments at Kingswood. 11 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
as a guest, who provided an interesting non-Kingswood view to the proceedings. Also very welcome was Howard Gilbert conscientious ex-President of the Association that he is, always makes a point of being with us on these occasions, as do Kenneth Wild – an "Uppingham" Kingswoodian, and his charming wife Juanita.
Exeter Lunch arrivals
Exeter Lunch: 27th September 2013 A small group of us (17) gathered for what has now become a regular annual Association feature – the Exeter and District Lunch – in the Club House of Exeter Golf and Country Club, as always excellently organised and hosted by Colin Lomax (1956-63).
What a wide range of career paths Kingswood produces, and no wonder Colin is always the perfect host! Brian Ashley (1932-36) and Avril Lehan (staff 1997-2004) both made a particularly welcome return after absence due to ill-health last year. Brian, 93, is one of the oldest Association members, Michele Greene informs me, and brought his son
"ripples" beyond the immediate company, which is partly what these get-together is are all about: Howard Gilbert was able to swap notes on School House activities with Peter Thomson (1948-56) who was at KS, not as a contemporary of Howard's but of his brother, Paul Gilbert (1950-59). Tony Deyes (1954 to 1963) and Avril Lehan shared common ground in that they had both worked for the British Council, while Howard and Colin were able to share an interest and expertise in wine (Howard is a Master Sommelier and founder member of the Court of Master Sommeliers). What a wide range of career paths Kingswood produces, and no wonder Colin is always the perfect host! And he's promised to do it for us again next year – so, Exeter and District members (and anyone else who cares to join us) October 14th, 2014 is the date for your diary.
Colin Lomax & Juanita Wild
Tony Deyes (1954-63) Torquay
Café du Marché, London: 30th November 2013 With the help of Sophie Graham-Wood, the Headmaster was delighted to host an informal pre-Christmas event at Café du Marché in London where a gathering of Old Kingswoodians from the 23-33 age group enjoyed a lovely evening together. Gordon Opie & Jessie Banovic
Sophie, Irene & Rhona
GMB Scholarship
Gary Best Travel Scholarship Dawn and Will's Laos Documentary We received the Gary Best Travel Scholarship in 2012 to enable us to realise our vision of producing a documentary in Laos exploring the enormous problem of unexploded ordnance (Uxo) that Laos still suffers, and which still greatly endangers the lives of the rural Lao population. These bombs remain littered across the country as a result of the secret American bombing campaign during the Vietnam The sheer quantity of bombs that continue to plague the lives unexploded devices remaining scattered over tens of thousands of miles, leaving huge areas of Laos impossible to farm safely. subsistence farmers, this immense loss of land has been detrimental to the lives of those peasants, who now risk their lives every time they go out to provide food for their families. Each year over 300 farmers are killed or maimed when they and children destitute and needing to fend for themselves. 13 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
GMB Scholarship In rural Salavane, one of the provinces with husband and wife tending to their rice paddy. Through broken Lao and some awful hand gestures, we asked them if they feared striking a bomb with their forks. The response was a facial expression we will never forget and simply this. 'No choice - No food.' I cannot begin to each time you raise that fork and strike the mud again potentially causing a fatal explosion. It is this terrifying uncertainty, and the living hell wanted to attempt to capture, and to show to people at home who perhaps were unaware of the situation in Laos. In order to make the documentary we travelled the length of Laos for two months, exploring the landscape, meeting and interviewing individuals who had lost limbs, family members, or simply lived in fear. We also met many people from Mines Advisory Group, and COPE (the Centre for Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise) and learned more about the facts and what assistance was being given. The money from the Travel Award enabled us to travel to very rural villages off the beaten track, and also to hire a translator when needed, which was essential to communicate with rural villagers. It was COPE which became the central focus for our documentary, as we deeply admire their work. Visiting the COPE visitor centre in Vientiane we were introduced to Phonsavath, a 20 year old man who had lost his sight and both forearms whilst searching for bamboo to eat on his 16th birthday. He spoke to us about the work COPE do in assisting victims with prosthetic limbs, providing mental health support, training surgeons and prosthetics experts and so much more.
Winning the Gary Best Travel Award helped to make this project possible, and we are immensely grateful. We realised that when a person loses an arm, they lose so much more than that, they may lose their ability to feed themselves, to clothe themselves, to provide an income for their family, and to partake in all manner of daily tasks. Mental health issues also strongly affect many survivors and it quickly became apparent that Phonsavath owed his life and his happiness to COPE, and it is to them that funds raised from the documentary will be donated. Winning the Gary Best Travel Award helped to make this project possible, and we are immensely grateful. We are greatly indebted to David Brown (1952-58 and Head of Physics 1985-99) who knew about the Travel Scholarship and put us in touch with his brother, and other members of the Kingswood community, in connection with this trip. We also owe David's brother, old Kingswoodian Dr Paul Brown (1952-58), our utmost gratitude for facilitating meetings with a number of immensely knowledgeable people and for hosting Mike Boddington, for answering our many questions. As soon as the editing process has been completed we would love to come and present the documentary to Kingswood
By Dawn Stevenson (2010-12) & Will Young (2000-12) Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 14
When my old friend Simon Lucas (197076 and former Head of Middle) asked me if I would like to join him working as a volunteer at Glastonbury there was only ever going to be one answer. The resounding 'yes' was made louder by the fact that The Rolling Stones would be would be headlining the Saturday night.
GLASTONBURY 2013: 'Love The Farm - Leave No Trace' Although it might seem an odd juxtaposition, the Stones myself in Laurie Campbell's study on an unlikely mission to persuade him that it would be a jolly good idea to allow pupils to travel to London to see the Stones performing during a week-long residency at Earl's Court. Crowd at night
years standing, fronted by a knight of the realm. Yet Laurie was always ready to surprise and not afraid to take a risk so, after consultation with other members of staff, he agreed. Not only did he agree, he was at Bath Spa station every night to meet the returning fans and provide a lift back to school. From that starting point, a small group of us has gone on to see the Stones on every subsequent tour including travelling to Paris and New York. Glastonbury was not to be missed. As volunteers, Simon and I (plus Simon's son, George and friend Adam) arrived a couple of days before the gates were opened to the public. To be on site before the crowds arrive gives a feel of the vastness of the enterprise. The festival takes place on a nine hundred acre site, more than one and a half miles across with an eight and a half mile perimeter; performing arts festival in the world'. From where we found from the hill with the Glastonbury sign, you can see where they are coming from.
15 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
Feature Article Even at this early stage in the proceedings there are many thousands of people already on site. Stage crew, security, food and drink suppliers, stall-holders and volunteers like ourselves all waiting for the moment when the gates are opened and a teeming mass of humanity (numbering around 170,000) pours onto the festival area. This crowd, in
One artist I thought looked good turned out to be called Solange. She also happened, as I discovered, to be Beyoncé's little sister! In the Acoustic Tent we caught the end of Sinead O'Connor, who was unexpectedly charming as well as expectedly talented.
tented city, which for the few days it exists will require infrastructure support equivalent to Bath. Amidst all the music and performing arts there will be accidents, incidents, hundreds of thousands of portions of food served and mind-boggling logistics to cope with. As volunteers, Simon and I worked for several shifts in a backstage parking area. A tour bus, usually with a trailer attached, is a monstrous vehicle. Getting several of those a day in and out of a relatively small area, whilst
Before the crowds
through, gave a good insight into the complexity and good humour and good manners. People at Glastonbury, whether they are visiting or working (in our case both), are generally decent towards each other. "Good mornings" are exchanged and quite often, I found, conversations are struck up. This all takes place in an environment where there is no shortage of alcohol (or other intoxicants), which are the normal ingredients for the carnage which so often ensues on high streets at weekends. The event is not trouble-free - that would be unlikely considering the numbers involved - but it seemed to me you are more likely to make a friend than an enemy. Appropriate, perhaps, that you should reap what you sow when in a farmland environment. What of all that music we had come to enjoy? There are so many stages and so much going on, in so many different areas, that you tend just to move around sampling the bands, performers and atmosphere. The Rolling Stones were the enjoyed the show as much as the performers did and were joined by millions watching on BBC. When Jagger thanked the crowd for coming and added that "if you haven't seen the band before, then come and see us again some time", we took it as a signal that this would not be 'the last time'. We saw other headline acts and many in some of the smaller venues. TheStones Stones The weren'trubbish! rubbish! weren't
...the endeavours of the volunteers raised nearly half a million pounds for charities... Bobby Womack sang 'Across 110th Street' to the Sunday night crowd at the West Holts Stage, while Mumford and Sons were closing the festival on the Pyramid Stage. The number and range of acts is incredibly impressive and all present will have found something to love whether it was old, new, borrowed or blues. You can't really talk about Glastonbury without mentioning celebrities because the famous faces are all around you; not just onstage but wandering around mixing in with the crowd as well. As we push through the throng to get to another stage, Emma Thompson passes in the opposite direction. There's Jarvis Cocker to our right and Fatboy Slim is just in front of us. Keith Allen (Lily's Dad) is in the same backstage camping area as we are. When a load of police arrive in 'our' car park, they are there in case Prince Harry needs them. We miss Mick Jagger, who stops for a drink in the backstage bar we have been frequenting. crowded public toilets standing next to Wayne Rooney, while another chats to Rita Ora in the crowd for the Stones. That's not where the celebrity ends either. Association President Tim Lindsay was there, as was John Yeo (1968–73), working at the John Peel Stage in his twentieth year of volunteering at the festival. I'm sure many other Kingswood people were there as well – you would expect us to be well represented at such an important national event. After a week under canvas, it was all over and we crawled out of the car park and set off on the journey home, tired but also excited and rejuvenated. Great to discover afterwards that the endeavours of the volunteers had raised nearly half a million pounds for charities including Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid, as well as a large number of local causes. As we left, the next group of volunteers was starting work on the clear up of the site, which would take several weeks. Both Simon and I are keen to do it all again this year: if so, we are hoping our luck with the weather holds and we avoid a Glastonbury mud bath for a second year running! Jeremy Wimpress (1969-76) Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 16
Kingswood School v The Headmaster's XI - 2nd July 2013
A summer's day on the Upper
KS Old girls supporting
KS 1st XI: [Standing] Matthew Scott (Y12), Kieran Gibson (Y12), Robert Blackburn (Y12), Felix BarnardWeston (Y11), Hywel Jones (Y11), Nick Mackenzie (Y13), Dominic Mackenzie (Y11) [Kneeling] Owen Waters (Y11), Tim Rouse (Y12), Sam Morris (Y13) (Capt)
HM's XI: (L-R) The Headmaster (Capt), Finn Barnard-Weston (2012), Harry Rouse (2012), Max Gauntlet (2012), Oli Meyer (2012), Paddy Shipp (2009), Will Samler (2009), Matt Horsley (2008), Euan Gordon (2010), Rhys Redman (2012), Will Mackenzie (2011), Nick Prettejohn (2010)
RESULT: Kingswood won by 1 wkt Headmaster's XI 176 (H. Rouse 45 / M. Brearey 34) Kingswood School 177 – 9 (S. Morris 54 / F. Barnard-Weston 18*) E.G. Handley (1948-52)
Supporters on the balcony
End of an innings
KPS - Home of Headlines A media storm is not something normally associated with Kingswood but, last october, one hit. To be more exact it was Kingswood Preparatory School - and particularly KPS Headmaster Mark Brearey - that were caught in this Lansdown-based frenzy. The interest of the Fourth Estate stemmed from a notice buried, as Mr Brearey puts it, "deep on page three of a ten page weekly newsletter". This notice was a reminder of a point already published in the school guidelines given to all parents. Simply, it asked that invitations to children's parties be delivered outside school (via email, 'phone or post) rather than in the classroom or playground in instances where the whole class was not to be invited. Later Mark was quoted as saying this was in line with the 'inclusive Christian ethos of the School' but he also makes the point about the importance of friendship in a school and that being publicly left out can Innocent as this notice might seem it was enough to act as a touchstone for a national and even international debate. The story was widely covered by local press and TV and in most of the national newspapers including; The Times, Telegraph, Independent, Mail, Mirror and Guardian. The topic was discussed on The Jeremy Vine Show, on a 5 Live 'phone-in and even became the subject for Radio 4's 'Thought For The Day'. Internationally, the story was covered in (at least) Australia, Turkey, India and there was even a report in The New York Post. To say that Mark was 'door-stepped' might be to overstate the case, but there were certainly camera crews and reporters at the gates of Summerhill awaiting parents on the school run.
Marcus Cornah (1964-71, Headmaster KPS 2004-11) outside his home in Caithness, greets Mark Brearey at the end of his charity cycle ride
with the media requests and interest. Throughout the whole event, though, Mark was very grateful for the immediate support expressed and given by Simon Morris as Principal of the Kingswood Foundation and Wing Commander Colin Burns (Retired), the Chairman of the Governing Body. The sensible conclusion drawn was that it was a positive thing for Kingswood to have sparked a debate on a subject that appeared to be of such importance and interest to so many.
The final outcome was positive... Numbers of parents asking to visit KPS with a view to sending their children rose significantly as a result of the publicity. There was support too from the parent body, although some a year for fees was a way of letting them know about an imminent increase! There were, of course, two sides to the debate, but much support could also be found on the internet, not least in discussions on websites like Mumsnet. Summerhill print by Andrew Lansley
The reporting of this discussion was, as The Independent put it, at times 'shrill' and it did seem on occasion as though the original proposition had been misunderstood. Not to mention that a photograph published of 'the School' was actually of the side of the dining hall building in main school. Mark Brearey might have felt, in a good way! Variously described as, 'partypooper Head Teacher' by the Daily Star and as 'pulling on his "Jesus was a Communist" T-Shirt' by The Guardian, Mr Brearey, KPS Headmaster was, indeed, at the eye of the storm.
Mark proved well judged. Numbers of parents asking to visit as a result of the publicity. The school roll from January 2014 will be 320 children between the ages of 3 and 11. This is an all time high since KPS moved to Summerhill in 1995 (from the Hermitage House building in Portland Place) and incorporated the move from Prior's Court. The storm has now subsided and the TV cameras have moved on. Less well reported, however, was the fact that the
Mark describes the whole experience as being 'unnerving'
for the Cancer Care Centre at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. At Kingswood, life goes on!
force the story spread. There were points, one feels, when
Jeremy Wimpress (1969-76) Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 18
Kingswood in Print As a child with a heart condition he was banned from rough sports. His heart condition didn't stop him from running and cycling up Lansdown Road on a regular basis, nor did it prevent him from being enlisted into the work party that dug out and levelled the ground which became the Lower and now has an astro-turf pitch. John, now Dr Powell, was sent as a Methodist Missionary Doctor to Nigeria in 1942. In the middle of WW2 he set sail on a boat unprotected by any military convoy. While he arrived safely, sadly the boat and its crew did not survive its voyage home. In Africa Dr Powell, later joined by his wife Barbara and then three children, became the surgeon for a small hospital of 65 beds with one 20ft x 20ft operating theatre. Many stories, touching, comic and tragic, came from his time in Africa, including having his medical knowledge well and truly bested by a local village doctor in the perplexing case of the girl with worms. After ten years, his work was cut short by malaria, He came home to England, and settled down as a GP in Yorkshire. On retiring to his now beloved Cornwall, John started writing his memoirs of Africa, which were eventually published as 'Into Africa with Scalpel and Spanner'. He followed up with three novels 'Perchance to Dream', 'Come Play with Me', and 'Seventy Paces'. 'Beyond the Bay'. He moved from Cornwall with his second wife Florence, and now lives in Christchurch near the New Forest, but pictures of Cornwall and Africa still cover his walls and the covers of his books. It is hoped that John will attend the next 1748 Society Lunch and share some memories of Kingswood from the 1930s.
Dr John Powell (1929-35)
John is one of Kingswood's oldest old boys and, therefore, one of our oldest living authors. The Ferens Building was a brand new, state of the art teaching block when John Powell arrived at Kingswood in 1930. The son of a Methodist minister, he needed an education somewhere temperate as he was considered, now rather laughably at 97 years old, to have a weak heart. John spent many happy years at Kingswood in Upper House, a place at Medical School. 19 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
For those wishing to purchase books direct from the author, proceeds of which go to the Methodist Mission in Africa, please contact Dr John Powell via email at: Drjohnpowell@talktalk.net
Kingswood in Print
Gary Best (1987-2008) Former Kingswood Headmaster Gary Best (1987-2008) had his third novel, 'The Jacobite Murders', published and a book launch was held at Toppings in Bath in March. The launch was well attended by members of the Kingswood community. 'Wuthering Heights Revisited' have been very well received and praised for their clever plots, but he regards this one as particularly special because it is set in eighteenth century Bath and has Charles Wesley as one of the main characters - as well as Bonnie Prince Charlie, Beau Nash and Henry Fielding (plus a brief appearance by Ralph Allen). Set in 1744, the book effectively captures many aspects of life in eighteenth-century Bath but it is also full of twists and turns and there are plenty of murders, some set against the backdrop of Bath's most famous buildings, including Queen Square, Bath Abbey and Prior Park.
Anyone who loves Bath ought to enjoy it! The former head says, "I deliberately chose to have Henry Fielding as a main character because Bath has ignored its
strong links with this great writer in favour of Jane Austen, who never liked the city. A large part of Fielding's greatest book, 'Tom Jones', was written in his house in Twerton in the aftermath of the Jacobite defeat and Ralph Allen was the model behind the character of Squire Allworthy. Fielding's sister, Sarah, who was a pioneer of children's literature, lived in Widcombe. I've used Tom Jones as the name for the main hero in my novel - those who have read my previous novels will know I like linking a famous author. My aim in writing the novel was to encourage people to know an aspect of Bath history that is often neglected - the city's links with the Jacobites - but also to produce a really exciting mystery /adventure story. Anyone who loves Bath ought to enjoy it!"
Gary Best with Patsy Lewis and Colin Burns
'The Jacobite Murders' is published by Robert Hale and is available now.
Neil Francis – Kingswood Theatre Manager When neil Francis came to Kingswood for a job interview with then Head of Drama, Darrell Harding, he immediately felt that the School Theatre was a place he would like to be. He knew from talking to Darrell that both Drama and Music were very important and highly thought of at Kingswood and that excellence was the aim. Running the Theatre was an integral, vital role and one where Neil could really make a difference. As a result he was delighted to take on the job of Theatre Manager almost six years ago, in June 2008. In his own school and college career Neil had been interested in lighting and sound and had always been involved in those areas. At Reading University he studied Theatre Arts, Education and Deaf Studies and, on graduating, started work as a sign language interpreter.
Charterhouse before moving on to the Beck Theatre in Hayes and then being involved with several touring companies. For six months before coming to Kingswood he also worked at Aldenham School in Watford who, at the time, had just opened a brand new theatre. Neil is very much part of the everyday life at Kingswood and the School Theatre certainly has an everyday life. For those who have not seen the not-so-new Theatre the best way to describe its location is as being at the top of the Junior Quad (Fonthill Road end). Neil is responsible for all aspects of making sure the Theatre runs smoothly and that it is effectively and always with a ready and welcoming smile. Apart from two major productions a year (one senior, one junior) the Theatre is in non-stop use for; shows, music, concerts, examination board assessed drama pieces, School assemblies four days a week, General Studies lectures (with activities. The Theatre is also available for hire and, in the holidays, stages shows by several external companies including the Bath Unity Players. There has also been considerable excitement on the occasions when the BBC's 'Question Time' Sixth Formers have been involved with the programme production crew and their vastly expensive TV equipment.
A twentieth anniversary appeal has been running for some much needed refurbishment... 21 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
Over the years, of course, Kingswood has produced some very famous actors and writers but the School also has former pupils
Notes & News Neil has a group of twelve students who work with him and learn from him about the technical side of theatre. Students in this group start from Year 9 and Neil considers this area to be the most important and rewarding part of his job. Enthused by the theatrical experience offered pupils go on to study topics like sound engineering, lighting and theatre design. One recent leaver is now studying underwater photography. The Kingswood Theatre will shortly celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its opening. As a result of twenty years of hard labour the place is in need of some refurbishment. Over two decades there have been advances in technology that need to be addressed but there are also some more basic requirements such as the wear and (literally) tear of the theatre seating. A twentieth anniversary appeal has been running to put this much needed refurbishment in place and Neil has been very actively involved with this. He has organised and been involved in various fund-raising events and it goes without saying that he would be very grateful if any Old Kingswoodians wished to contribute to the appeal. Neil also points out that he is always very happy to show the Theatre to any former pupils who are visiting Kingswood. It is well worth a visit! Jeremy Wimpress (1969-76)
What Are You Doing Now? 1940s Paul Bolitho (1940-46) Paul was for many years Warwick Librarian and, since his retirement, has continued to give talks on local subjects. He has also written several books on local history, the most recent of which is 'Warwick's Most Famous Son – The Story of Thomas Oken and his Charity'. Hugh Sackett (1940-47) Has some good ('alumni') News: I would like to inform you - 'in memory of Mr John Gardner' (long term Classics teacher at KS though he took off as Tutor to the son of the Emperor of Ethiopia in the war years) - that he has produced not one but two recent Gold medallists at the AIA [American Institute of Archaeology] - John H. Humphrey (1960-66) in 2010 and Hugh Sackett in 2014. The photo above shows LHS with Prof Irene Lemos Prof at Merton College Oxford (where I - at KS, in Mr Gardner's care; and living in the KS HM's house - won an exhibition back in 1947)!
1960s Graham Avery CMG (1955-60) In the Queen's New Year Honours for 2012 Graham Avery was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (C.M.G.) in recognition of his services to European affairs.
If you would be interested in supporting the Theatre Appeal by a simple donation or by one of the naming opportunities available then further details can be obtained from the Development
development@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
Notes & News Graham is a Senior Member of St. Antony's College, Oxford, Senior Adviser at the European Policy Centre, Brussels, and Honorary Director General of the European Commission. After Kingswood School and Oxford University, he entered the civil service in London, where he was private secretary to Ministers of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and took part in Britain's negotiations for membership of the European Communities. In the European Commission in Brussels (1973-2006) he worked in agricultural policy, foreign affairs, enlargement policy, and was a member of the cabinets of the President and other Commissioners. He has been Secretary General of the Trans European Policy Studies Association, Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Natolin, Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute, Florence, and Fellow at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. In November, Graham returned to Kingswood to give a talk on the European Union. A report of this important occasion, written by a current sixth former, can be read on the School website at http://www.kingswood.bath.sch.uk/old-kingswoodians/
On reaching dry land he led a procession through the streets to the Methodist Church for a carol service. A Kingswood education, as Martyn points out, 'fully prepares you for every eventuality of life'. Pakpoom vallisuta (1971-78) Pakpoom studied at Prior's Court and Kingswood and has a Computer Engineering degree and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in North Carolina. Currently, Pakpoom is Chairman of The Quant Group - an investment bank
David Smith (1955-61) writes with news of a reunion dinner he organised with Andrew Teare. The dinner, for Middle house contemporaries, took place at the Queensbury Hotel in Bath on 17th October 2013.
and Acquisitions which he co-founded in 1998. He remembers the time when he was at Kingswood as very different both culturally and technologically from today. "The mode of communication back then was posting letters - we licked a lot of stamps!" Pakpoom also remembers the joy of being located in the charming City
The photograph of the attendees shows; two at the back, left to right, David G Smith and Andrew H Teare (1952-61), in the middle row, Andrew E Newnham (1956-61) and in the front row, from left to right, Eric R Craven (1951-61), Michael A Male (1953-61), Timothy G T Gale (1954-59) and Peter J Davies (1952-61). Peter Davies took the photograph and notes that his son, John, has been a teacher at Kingswood since 1994 and is currently Senior Housemaster in Upper House. Two of those attending the dinner lived locally while the others had travelled from around the country. Everyone greatly enjoyed the evening and there are plans being discussed to do it all again soon.
1970s Martyn Perkins (1968-74) Martyn lives on the Isle of Man where he is an active member of the community. Witness our picture of Martyn arriving on a lifeboat as Father Christmas! 23 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
and shades overlaid across the City of Bath and Bath Abbey. I spent a lot of time daydreaming." He played lots of sports at Kingswood, "everything everyday", and it served him well as he made the junior national Tennis team for Thailand as well as the national Squash team. He is a director of The Special Olympics of Thailand and Thailand Squash and Racquet Association. Pakpoom has taught Investment Banking and Financing in the MBA program at the Assumption University, Bangkok and is a frequent guest lecturer at graduate business school at Harvard, Wharton Duke, The University of Chicago and MIT. The Thailand Reception in October 2013 was very kindly organised and hosted by Pakpoom in Bangkok. You can read about this in our Reunions section on page 11. Meg ('Gail') Kerr (1975-77) After Kingswood, I graduated from university and returned to Australia and then moved to the Cayman Islands where I worked and played in the sun as a SCUBA instructor for settling in Miami, Florida. I attended law school at the University of Miami, and Judge Kerr – Photo courtesy of Ryan Holloway / Miami-Dade County became an attorney, married my husband Rick, and we have two wonderful daughters who are, of course, our pride and
Notes & News joy. For the next 20 years I practised law, litigating and defending workers compensation cases. Then, in April 2013, I was appointed to the bench by the Governor of Florida as a Judge of Compensation Claims. Becoming a judge is a dream come true. It is a huge honour and responsibility, and I'm loving every minute of it. The law is once again the pure application of years of thoughtful precedent which made me love it in the with my arguments. Now, my job is to listen to every detail of those arguments from both sides and apply the law. It's more demanding than I anticipated, and more rewarding because of it. One loses one's identity a little as a judge. No one calls me by my name anymore. It's Judge Kerr or Your Honour. When I go home though, my teenage daughters put everything in perspective. They are convinced that I am ignorant of anything of any
staff Christmas lunch at School. He sends warm greetings to anyone who remembers him (there will be many!). Sarah Crow (née Giles) (1991-98) Sarah and her husband, Tim, have been setting up a new Baby Unit at Kitovu Hospital as part of their work with River of Life, Uganda. The unit was set up in response to An audit performed by Sarah and Tim had shown there were
that I make it through the day without their help. Two summers ago, we took the girls to England and walked around the grounds memories. My girls are the same age now as I was when was
impact. Increasing the levels of vaccination against Polio and TB, verifying the HIV status of mothers, ensuring Vitamin K was given at birth and providing tetracycline eye ointment (which is important in preventing serious eye infections) were
Andrew Lansley (1974-81) Andrew Lansley has become well known in Bath, as the founder of WalkAndDrawBath. With an established career in education of over twenty years teaching A level Art and photography, Andrew now runs his own classes at Bath Artist Studios and Bath Artist Printmakers, whilst developing his freelance art practice. On his approach to drawing Andrew says 'it is fundamental to my exploration,
baby unit that offered good quality resuscitation and newborn care, as well as parental education and support, to improve the chances of babies born in Kitovu Hospital. A team of nurses has now been trained and the unit is operating as a clean, self-contained section which is kept at a warm temperature and has a modern, functioning incubator. As the nurses' salaries are being funded, the service offered by the Baby Unit is provided at a vastly lower cost to mothers than in other units in Uganda. The work is on-going and if anyone is interested in helping or would like to know more please feel free to contact: Sarahgiles35@yahoo.co.uk
things. Drawing connects me with my surroundings.' Andrew's work has been exhibited at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, and the Mall Galleries, London. His work
Andrew Wright (1976-81) Andrew took over in January 2013 as Managing Director of Reliance Precision Ltd., the independent family owned precision engineering company, which is based specialist markets worldwide. Reliance's products include a bionic hand, gear boxes for steering solar panels in space and internals for many of the world's mass spectrometers. Andrew had been a Managing Director at Johnson Matthey and previously a European Business Manager at BP.
1990s Bob Clark (Staff 19581990) Spotted in Bath just before Christmas, Mr Clark was down from Scotland to visit a relative and was also looking forward to attending the
Tom Pritchard (2000-2007) Tom attended Reading University and obtained a degree in Real Estate in 2007. At Reading, he held a Music Scholarship for 3 years and was very active in the University Choral Society. He was the Chair of the Reading Choral Society for two years. Tom joined CBRE in London as a Graduate Trainee in 2010. In October 2012 he passed his professional examinations and is now a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He works in the CBRE Specialist Markets division. In February 2013 he was awarded the CBRE Outstanding Graduate Award. This is a new award at CBRE in memory of a much valued colleague and an
Old Kingswoodian Piers Dawson (Middle House 2004-09) has completed the Racing Planet 4Deserts Sahara Race which took place from February 16th to 22nd. This race is 150 miles over six stages (25 miles, 22 miles, 22 miles, 25 miles, 56 miles and 3.1 miles), and is self-supported, Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 24
Notes & News i.e. each individual must carry all equipment and food needed for
President Communications for the Bournemouth University
endurance race; in fact, he hadn't even run a marathon before!
year I went onto complete the Student Development Award and the Shrievalty Award (which
was the youngest competitor to do so. Although this race was originally scheduled to take place in the Sahara Desert in Egypt, because of security concerns it was moved to Jordan. The course went through the deserts of Wadi Wadi Araba. The terrain varied between sand, sand dunes, dirt/rock tracks and grasses and the competitors had to navigate canyons, river beds, valleys and local villages. Piers from his Kingswood friends and he is most grateful to everyone who has supported him. Rebecca Simpson (2005-07) After leaving Kingswood, I studied a Politics degree at Liverpool John Moores University, I then studied a Masters in International Relations and Security at the University of Liverpool and most recently a Law conversion at BPP Law School. I had always loved politics, but my real passion began back in 2005 when I entered the Politics department in the Ferens for was highly infectious and he is hugely to thank (or some may say blame!) for my enthusiasm in Politics. University was a great experience – Kingswood had helped me prepare fully. Moving from Bath to Liverpool was an interesting transition. I was lucky enough to travel to China during my degree and also became president of the Politics society. Studying a Masters degree helped me further progress my political career through the opportunity of being taught by a number of world class professors. I have taken part in a lot of work experience, both legal and political. I'm really looking forward to my next work experience which is a mini pupillage. I aim to eventually become a solicitor, whilst in the meantime pursuing my political career. I have also recently become engaged and have moved from Liverpool to North Yorkshire. My time at chocolate, toast, numerous fond memories and a very happy year with Mrs Jenner as my Housemistress. Jesse Banovic (2006-2008) Currently I am working for THAT Group as their Marketeer, looking after all of the brand extensions, digital communications and community relations regarding our current and upcoming projects across the South West. I have been in post since mid October after graduating this year from Bournemouth University in Leisure Marketing (BA Hons) with a placement as elected Vice 25 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
with the High Sheriff of Dorset and the Bournemouth Inspector on the Safebus to improve night-time safety for students and local residents amongst other local community projects. These roles have been great and diverse and have consequently led me into many professional networks, including local councillors and dignitaries who have much interest in and support for the Hilton Hotel project we are building in Bournemouth (due for completion summer 2015). Sam Pew-Latter (2002-09) Being equally interested in art, sustainability and engineering at 16, architecture seemed like a great way to pursue all of these areas in a future career. Through the school I applied to do work experience at Batterham and Matthews Architects to test the water, being attracted by their thoughtful designs and strong sustainability agenda. During that week I was taught the basics in architectural drawing and model making and generally given an insight into the working life of an architect. That summer I was asked back by George Batterham to work for a few weeks to make some more models of their designs. One of which was a model of the new Kingswood School Sports Pavilion. These opportunities helped me reinforce career, so I decided to study it properly at Oxford Brookes in my second year. Buildings have a huge impact on our environment, but good design can help decrease this impact as well as enriching the experience of the people who use them. After three exciting years at University, Batterham and Matthews asked me to make a model of their design for the new Kingswood School Boarding House (due to be completed in September 2014) and I was subsequently offered a full time job with them where I have enjoyed working since October 2013.
2010s Finn Barnard-Weston (2000-2012) I left Kingswood in the summer of 2012 and, having decided I wanted to get straight into an entrepreneurial career, worked full-time for a for the company in my spare time during my sixth form years; now, however, I could really get down to some serious fullon apprenticeship. Accelerating my acquisition of skills and hugely rewarding. Learning the near-miraculous capabilities of the associated software tools has also been invaluable.
Notes & News I have now left the employment of Image Centre and have started an art publishing company called White Bear Studios, in partnership with my parents and my grandfather, who have all been in the art business for over thirty years. Their experience is very useful to have on tap, though I seem to do most of
work. Their experience in broadcast television was hugely shows Jackson working with Walk Tall Media in creating
are publishing is Paul Brason, who was commissioned last The Ghost Series by Paul Brason year to paint a triptych in oils of His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh (http://www. paulbrason.co.uk/portrait_2011_2012.htm). We are publishing editions of Paul's 'Ghost' series (http://www.paulbrason.co.uk/ non-portraits.htm) and are already in discussions with several more artists about brand new commissioned works. I started at Kingswood at pre-prep level and won an art competition in my was chosen as the school Christmas card and was apparently sent to thousands of people! I have always appreciated the school's and activation of all the strengths gifts and talents of each individual. I feel optimistic about the future and will be looking to provide art to grace the walls of the school and its pupils' families at every opportunity! (www.white-bear-studios.com) Jackson Kingsley (2001-2010) At Kingswood, Jackson spent his time making the most of the extensive art and theatre facilities. His creativity and interest in technical theatre led him to the
He now runs his own production company: Cinematica Media and creates corporate videos for a long list of blue chip companies. He continues to collaborate with Walk Tall Media to create some truly exciting and innovative projects. Jackson's next goal is to establish Cinematica as one of the top production companies in the world as well as continuing to pursue creative and exciting projects every day. Charles Price (2005-12) We were delighted to hear from Charles Price, about his experience in taking part in the National Scout Service and Parade which took place on Sunday 21st April 2013 in the presence of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge. Charles has provided us with the following report: The event dates back nearly 80 years and recognises the outstanding achievements of both adults and young people. It was a day of celebration which brought together various groups and their invited guests to share in this prestigious and special event, including Gallantry award holders who have been nominated for their bravery and heroism as outstanding adult volunteers. On parade were Queen's Scouts, who have worked hard to achieve the highest youth award within Scouting. I gained my Queen's Scout award last year and this year was selected to be part of the parade's Colour Party. Training for this role began in November, staggered across snow and rain. However, on the day the Colours were marched onto the parade in glorious sunshine. Each Colour
studying he began working with broadcasters such as the
honour for me to carry the Flag of St George. Marching into the Quadrangle in front of 400 young people and 2000 parents was an incredible feeling. The Duchess of Cambridge, an occasional volunteer with the Scout Association, made a great effort to speak to as many scouts as she could including me, although she spent considerably longer talking to the Northern Irish scout next to me - perhaps because he was wearing a kilt! The Colour Party led the parade out of the Quadrangle, through Windsor Castle and into the St George's Chapel, where an inspirational service was held. This included renewing our Promise with Bear Grylls, the
television and establishing himself as a freelance cameraman.
something I will never have the opportunity to do again. The
and documentaries in various capacities. After graduating he was employed by Team Wild TV, the world's biggest online outdoor sports and hunting channel. As Head of Corporate Video production he put his skills as a producer and director to use and handled a lot of their daily programming, travelling the world with a small team of professionals and making exciting documentary style videos. He was also responsible for their commercial content, creating videos for their sponsors that included car manufacturers, outdoor equipment, lenses and clothes. In the same year after graduating, he left Team Wild TV and began freelancing as a lighting cameraman and director. He formed a great bond with the production company Walk Tall Media who
have memories and friends that will stay with me forever. It was great to be part of such a special day for the Scout Association, and I hope that the event shows to others how exciting it is to be part of the Scout Movement.
diverse range of industry professionals - from cameramen to directors and producers. The university also enabled him to put the theory into practice on a regular basis by
Association Day
Mark Pillinger & friends
Happy with lunch
Simon Morris & Sarah Beresford-Smith
Sue Cook & Joyce Allison
Our blazers still fit!
Ray Reason & Alfred Sims
Association Day: Saturday 21st September 2013 39 years. I did come back for an Old Boys hockey match a year or two after leaving, but current Executive Committee member Bobby Forster ran rings round me. Maybe that humiliation explains the extended period of absence.
The reason for being there, apart from the very fond memories I have of my time, was that some months earlier Jeremy Wimpress and Sarah Beresford-Smith had more or less ordered me to be President of the Association in succession to Sarah, to work with new chairman Paul Baines and the team. I was so surprised that I couldn't think of a reason to say no. So here I was at the AGM in the chapel, being elected. I still can't quite believe it. Sarah and Jeremy had drilled into me the 'friendship, fellowship and fun' watchwords they had adopted for their great strategy for the Association. If it's not about that, what is it about? And the day was a true demonstration of those ideas in action. exact contemporaries, Ian Martyn and Neil Hutchings, in the Creed Room before the AGM. The last time I'd seen Ian (one
Association Day still holds multiple school middle distance records) was standing on Braunsweig Railway Station as the late and much missed Andy Pike and I went back to England after spending a month with Ian in Germany. And the last time I'd seen Neil was on TV in the late 70's, playing for Wales B Rugby. Wonderful to see them both.
Sarah Beresford-Smith
Sports Dinner with Tim Reeman
That evening, appropriately, there was a rugby dinner in the Dining Hall. The legendary Dave Trick took to the microphone and told a series of engagingly scurrilous rugby stories. My brother Rupert represented Kingswood against Bryanston when Dave was in their side. He was, apparently, unplayable. He looked as if he might have slowed down a bit since then but who hasn't? It was an enjoyable return to a place that I remembered I'd enjoyed very much. Of course the school has changed greatly, but certainly not out of all recognition. I hope I can help Paul and the team continue Jeremy and Sarah's reinvigoration of the Association, promoting and enabling gettogethers like the one Ian, Neil and I had. It certainly seemed like a worthwhile thing to be doing a fortnight ago.
Ian Martyn & Tim Lindsay
Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby), Martha & Paul Baines & David Trick
Neil Hutchings & Roy Cook
That evening, appropriately, there was a rugby dinner in the Dining Hall.
Here's to friendship, fellowship and fun. Tim Lindsay (1969-74) Nick Turner & Geraint Wilson-Price
Names in old blazers
John Lewis with David Kelshall (1996-2003)
Girls with Angie Wright
Sports dinner pre-drinks
Ten Year Reunion
Claire Ashdown (1996-2003) & Okiem Warmann (1998-2003) Former Head Girl and Boy with Gary Best
The detention group!
Rebecca Owen (1993-2000) to Michael Nelson on 18 May 2013 at Dunkerton, Bath Tania Krikorian (1993-98) to Gary Sangster on 27 July 2013 Tom Briggs (1997-2003) to Jessica Morrell (1996-2003) on 10 August 2013 at Kingswood Briony Krikorian (1993-2000) to Mark Slade on 14 September 2013 Katie Taylor (1994-2001) to David Curtis on 28 September 2013 at Orchardleigh House, Frome Peter Harvey (1996-2001) to Charlotte Kerley (1991-2001) on 31st December 2013
L-R: Guy Dunscombe, Zara Swift, Ali Boyce, James Owen, Natasha McArthur (née Alderson), Briony Krikorian-Slade (née Krikorian), Alena Useinovic, Rosie Owen, Claire Best, Rebecca Nelson (née Owen), Charlotte Ruxton (née Pushman), Graham Walker, Matt Ruxton, Kate Suanders (née Hollington), Becca Smith, Sarah Gatorade (née Bickenson), Rachel McArthur
TOM & JESSICA BRIGGS
REBECCA & MICHAEL NELSON
Tom Briggs (Groom KS 1996-2003), Tom Bergmann (Best Man KS 1996-2003), David Kelshall (Best Man KS 1996-2003) and Jesse MacKewn (was Raby at KS (KS 2001-2003))
They were joined by lots of family and friends and a large number of ex-Kingswoodians including Mother of the Bride Kathryn Morrell (ex-KS Prep teacher), Bridesmaid Harriet Morrell, Best Men David Kelshall and Tom Bergmann and Groomsman Jesse Raby. Tom and Jess were particularly happy that Rev. Mike Wilkinson conducted the ceremony. The reception was held at Summerhill, where Jess had enjoyed her 18th birthday party some ten years earlier! Thanks to all who came and made it such a memorable day. Tom and Jess
PETER & CHARLOTTE HARVEY
Former Head Girl and Head Boy are married!
L-R: Daniel Kerley, Chrissy Blythin (nee Bergmann), Annabelle Williams, Sandy Chow, Clara Lunt, Charlotte Harvey (née Kerley), Peter Harvey, Claire Woolcock, Ruth Gallaugher, Ben Tagoe, Steven Harvey (Former Deputy Head)
Charlotte Kerley and Peter Harvey were married at Waltham on the Wolds Village Hall on 31st December 2013, joined by many close friends and family. Charlotte and Peter were Head Girl and Boy at Kingswood for the academic year 2000-2001. Their old Deputy Head Master (and Pete's older brother) conducted the ceremony (it was like old times for many guests)! Charlotte said, "It was a wonderful day, with many old Kingswood pupils there to celebrate with us, after many years of friendship."
Births 6 Jan 2013
A daughter, Maggie
to Becky (née Goodson) and Gerald Lalanne
A daughter, Meira May
to Hayley (née Cooper) and Michael Amos
A son, Charlie
to Tom and Daisy Curling
A son, Jackson Roy
to Jack and Natasha Durling
A daughter, Sophie, sister for Lauren and Chloe
to Fiona Li Chan (née Li) and David Chan
A son, Gilbert Jack
to Henry and Jacqueline Seddon
A son, Ludwig Alexander, brother for Hugo
to Christian and Franziska Figge
A daughter, Florence Ada, sister for Jack and Megan
to Steve and Victoria Ward
A daughter, Alana, sister for Alvina
to Anna (née Lam) and Alfred Lung
Jackson Roy Durling
Maggie Lalanne
Gary Best Travel Scholarship The Gary Best Travel Scholarship is open to all Kingswood School leavers up to the age of 25. undertake travel to a deprived part of the world and engage in work which is likely to be linked to a charity or an aid organisation. The work must have an altruistic and socially from the date of the award. This year the award was made to two students -
MISS KRITI RAnA in recognition of her forthcoming trip to Nepal, where she will be a volunteer in a shelter home called Aamako Ghar, based in Kathmandu. The shelter cares mainly for elderly women who have been abandoned by their families. Kriti will also help with a local school in teaching English. She wishes to help those who live in her native country which remains one of the poorest countries in the world, and who have not had access to the privileges that she herself has experienced.
THoMAS HARRY PEnRHYn-JonES in recognition of his forthcoming trip to Jakarta, Indonesia where he will be a volunteer assisting with the work of the Foundation for Mother and Child Health (FMCH). The Foundation set up a feeding programme called Yayasan Balita Sehat to help address the serious malnutrition affecting younger children in local poor communities and to educate Mothers in the care student to assist with the programme and will pave the way forward for future volunteers to follow.
Heap Trophy Awards - 2013 The strength of sport at Kingswood School is based around the principle of everyone contributing to the best of their ability. It is with this in mind that the Kingswood Association which recognised two students who encapsulated the philosophy of competing enthusiastically at whatever sport and for whichever team they were asked to play in without it necessarily being at the top level. (Jo Heap, the donator of the trophies, was himself a sportsman who played wholeheartedly though not always at the top level.). As you would expect at Kingswood there were several contenders for these awards: On the boys' side, Angus Batterham, Matt Jeffery and Alex Wilcox, would all have been very worthy recipients but in the end there was a clear cut winner. He is one of the leading sportsmen in the year, but he has played in a variety of positions to best suit the team, whilst he has also been an inspiration to the younger players and a great help to the captains in all three terms. The winner of the Heap trophy for boys is nICHoLAS MACKEnZIE. For the girls' there were also worthy considerations for Sophie Hughes, but in the end the award went to another leading player within the year group and someone who has remained calm and reliable throughout the year and always willing to play wholeheartedly for whichever team she was selected; the winner of the Heap trophy for Girls' goes to TASH CHAPMAn.
The Dikran A. Knadjian Award for Medicine In Memory of Dikran A Knadjan - Head Boy (KS 1964-70) Awarded to Sam Morris on 5th July 2013 Sam is undertaking a gap year in Malawi helping at the Open Arms Infant Home. He will be returning to study medicine at King's College Hospital in September 2014. Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 30
Obituary Tributes
HOWARD ANDERSON (1960-66)
security and they wanted to cut shots of one particular, perfectly In an age when many Westminster
their debates broadcast, Howard Anderson, who has died aged 64, played a crucial part in pioneering the televising of parliament. Known as the "electric ferret" for his ability to uncover stories and get them on air against all the odds, he was a man of passion, enthusiasm and occasional explosive rages. His work as a broadcaster covered UK politics, architecture, wildlife, the secret service and music. But it was at Westminster as editor of The Parliament Programme (1988-93) for Channel 4 that he made his greatest impact. least from Margaret Thatcher, to the televising of the Commons; members turned up in dark glasses. As Howard put it: "MPs had to be dragged screaming or at least, droning on, into the viewers how the place worked. He proved adept at negotiating The Parliament Programme had launched in January 1988. garden and then from a bunker in the QEII centre opposite the Commons, he put together a daily half-hour programme of interviews with MPs plus footage from the Lords – which had allowed the cameras from 1983 – and eventually from the Commons. "Howard's understanding of the place meant he knew how to make parliament come alive on TV," said David Lloyd, former Channel 4 commissioning editor. "He was also one of the rare intellectuals in British television who thought it should have a sense of journalistic purpose." Such was his editorial panache and ability to cajole even the most recalcitrant politicians to appear, that the Parliament Programme soon won plaudits even from broadcasting refuseniks. As he himself would have put it: "We made them happy budgies."
but was delighted by the absurdity of it all. Born in Woodford, Essex, he came from a modest background. His father left home when Howard was young and his mother, a primary school teacher, scrimped to send him to Kingswood, a Methodist boarding school in Bath, which he hated. He interest in Middle East politics – before returning to study
that never left him. He held strong leftwing views and, as a student, marched against apartheid. Years later, he staged stints on the Leicester Mercury, LBC radio in London and the BBC's Breakfast Time, he moved to Newsnight, where he acted as mentor to many, including Michael Crick. In 1980 he married Fiona Chesterton. The couple had two daughters, Sarah and Rachel. Based initially in London, they then moved to an old rectory near Huntingdon and Howard became chairman of the parish council. His later career included the Midnight Special talkshows on the
including a two-part documentary on Antoni Gaudí. In the mid-90s he went to Russia to make a series called Soviet Echoes and uncovered rare footage of dissident Russian musicians including Mstislav Rostropovich. Years later, he used this in the Bridcut and shown at the Aldeburgh festival and on BBC4. By then Howard had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. He He is survived by Fiona and his daughters. Howard Anderson, journalist and television producer, born 16 August 1947; died 18 March 2012. This obituary was originally published in The Guardian on 27th March 2012 and is reproduced with their kind permission.
Life with Howard brought daily dramas behind the cameras. On one occasion, the Labour politician David Blunkett walked into the cable-strewn gallery just before the show. "Someone help the poor bloke – I don't want him tripping over the wires," shouted Howard. Blunkett, who hated being pitied for his blindness, walked over and thwacked him with a rolled-up Hansard.
ROGER AUSTIN
One of the programme's triumphs came with the fall of Thatcher in 1990. The team polled Tory MPs to see if she
Roy Cook speaking at the service celebrating Roger's life on April 20th 2013
election. Howard recalled: "MPs who pompously refused to say how they were voting would happily tell us which way their colleagues would go." The poll forecast that she would be four votes short of an outright win – in Howard's words, "spot on". The following year he made Mr Major's No 10 for Channel 4's
(Staff 1970-2001)
First, a brief history of Roger Austin. He was born on the 6th of October 1940, about two weeks before the ending of the Battle of Britain which saved this country from a German invasion. He died 72 years later on the 6th of April 2013. His birthplace, on the northern edge of Birmingham, was Walsall - whose football team he continued to support into his late years. He attended the local Grammar School
Obituary Tributes for two years and then moved to Wrekin College in Shropshire - whose Headmaster was later to be Stephen Drew, whom many will remember as a master at Kingswood in the 1980s. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and almost immediately went out to East Africa, taking a Diploma in Education at Kampala in Uganda. He then became an Physics, Chemistry and Maths for 7 years. It is likely that he knew, at other Kenyan schools, at least some of the Campbells, John & Patsy Lewis, Nicholas Thorne, Pam Titterington, John Kingsnorth, and Andrew Walker, all of whom transferred to Kingswood in the next few years. We What a comment it is on the lasting and cherished effect that Roger has had, that two of his former pupils from Kenya are here today. In the 1970s he was married to Val and they had two children – Matthew in '71 and Rachel in '73. Sadly, somewhat later the marriage ended. Meanwhile Roger had begun his career at Kingswood where he taught for 31 years until his retirement in 2001. In the year 2000 he met Daniela and they married in 2004, his family being thereby increased by a step-daughter, Alessia. Two years later cancer reappeared. It had attacked him several years before but been defeated. This time it was not. That's Roger's history; the bare bones! It tells us something - such as his appetite for travel - but not much. What kind of a man was he? What effect did he have on those around him - pupils, colleagues, friends? What do we remember and treasure about him ? that many of our interests corresponded. We both sang in the school choral society, I'd been in charge of the Athletics for 10 years or so and Roger took over, and lasted much longer! We played many games together - volleyball, basketball, squash, tennis, rugby. Yes, we actually PLAYED rugby in the days when we were annually allowed to put up a staff team Football Union prohibited such games resulting from the difference of ages, I suppose because members of staff were in serious danger of being injured. We even played golf once… However, Roger did not spend all his time playing games. He taught them, coached and organised them – all sorts – at varying levels throughout his career. This short extract from a poem about Roger, written by ATW and DJJ, is inspired by their love of him and their shared experiences at Kingswood: "Whether coaching or competing, he championed sport for all With duels on the tennis court and Friday volleyball. Rog played rugby in the common room until one errant pass Flew straight towards the window, then on and through the glass. He ran the school athletics with his understated approach, The kids enjoyed competing and worked hard for their genial coach.
His favourite tracksuit bottoms were red, with a stripe of white, He could not bear to part with them - even when they got too tight." Roger is remembered specially by the athletes where, to quote motivator and organiser left an indelible mark on the memory of a whole generation" Des also wrote in his 1992 account for the liberating exuberance that dispelled the dullness of training sessions on dismal days" But Roger was a man of many parts and his contribution to the rest of school life was immense. He is remembered for helping or leading many trips abroad - all over the world archivist* the other day his name kept coming up on the computer here, there and everywhere - Canada, Africa, India, Pakistan, ski trips or climbing mountains. When on a school trip to Kenya in 1987 he had to get a boy down from 13,000 feet on Mt Kenya because he was suffering from pulmonary oedema. Then there was the helping at the holiday camps for the National Children's Home - and his own personal ascent United Hospital Friends' appeal. When did this man ever rest? *KS Archives will also contain at least three audible records which Roger left for us. There is a CD of 'Brass into Gold', the KS 250th Anniversary historical drama, where he provided the voice over, impeccably professionally executed in those inimitable rich sonorous tones. Then there are two other tapes. Roger had considerable expertise with a video camera, and though he was never persuaded to step out at an orienteer's event, he substantial snow of 1974 which so nearly cancelled everything and the second on a truly tropical summer day at a schools' relay event in Bristol - and included the presentations which followed. RJL One could say that these activities were, sort of, "extras". What were his day jobs - the ones he was appointed for and paid to do ? Well. There was housemastering. On arrival he went straight into Middle House, then Hall House where he soon became Senior Housemaster and remained so until 1983. For the next 15 years he was in charge of the Dixon – the daytime habitat of that strange and potentially dangerous species called the Sixthform. He was responsible for the General Studies programme, The wrong man in any of these roles could have been which won him not fear but respect and affection. Heavy handedness was irrelevant. What else? Did you think I had forgotten the teaching of Physics? Not at all! The word 'passion' has been used today but in another context. Des Brown in his tribute related it to Roger's attitude to his subject, together with an "infectious enthusiasm" - even if some managed to remain immune to the contagion. He was dedicated to sharing his understanding of Physics and in passing on to his pupils the desire to discover and Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 32
Obituary Tributes understand more - why else were his classes of the morning so often late for lunch? I can't do better, at this stage of reviewing Roger's place in the school and in the lives of its pupils and staff, than to read "He simply shared himself, informally and unthreateningly, whether in the Common Room, the classroom, The Dixon, the tuck shop, on the pitch or on the piste. His oblique sense of humour and iconoclastic sense of fun made his the company that anyone was glad to share and gave memories that everyone will be glad to keep." What of the last few years - the post-Kingswood days? I'm sure that he pursued his wide interests along a variety of routes but his life changed in all sorts of ways. He married again - that changes any man! His family and his group of friends were enlarged. He was, in fact looking forward to being a grandfather - a granddaughter is on the way - and I understand he was practising the role with the 5-year-old twin offspring of neighbours.
that if he wanted to talk about it, we would, but otherwise I wouldn't mention it. He didn't mention it until almost the last week when one word did come out - "frustration". For a man who had been extraordinarily active and athletic all his life diminishing irretrievably must have been, above all, utterly frustrating. How did he bear it? Much of the answer is that he was a brave and determined man. Another part must be the strength and loving devotion and sustaining support of Daniela. In the last few years both of them must have thought they were living on the edge of a precipice. Roger was such a lovely man. We will miss him. M R Cook (1959-1991, Second Master 1976-1991)
ROGER FRANKLIN AYLOTT (1949-1955) Roger was born in Woodford on the outskirts of London in
gents at Lansdown known as the Circus (an ironic title?) and he enjoyed this for several years until his health interfered too much. Gradually, as we all know, his physical condition deteriorated and his life became more and more restricted and involved unpleasant episodes of therapy. In these years I saw him quite often - I would call in for a chat on my way home and there was always the offer of cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit or a piece of cake - we shared a hot cross bun on the Wednesday before he died. Despite his weakness and his physical frailty we had some merry times; we set the world to rights of course and, from time to time, we had a jolly good moan. In addition to - Roger thoroughly enjoyed a moan - as Daniela attested. Well, we all knew this, but I asked her who his chief targets were "Financiers" she said (no dissention there!); "politicians;" "Which ones?" I asked. "All of them" she answered. "He didn't trust any politicians" (with apologies to any politicians the dogs." He had counted up the programmes on one channel and found there were 34 out of 37 REPEATS! His feelings on this were so strong that he refused to pay the TV Licence, and therefore had no TV for three and a half years. At last he relented, just in time for the Olympic Games, which I'm sure must have given him great delight. Later he would have been less pleased because he passionately wanted England's Rugby team to beat Wales! able, or determined, to do. We invited him and Daniela to my birthday party at my daughter's in London last year, hoping against hope that they would come, but fearing the opposite. They did come and they were in great form. I'm not sure whether they came by car but I discovered from Daniela that Roger still loved to drive. Perhaps it offset the tedious immobility. He was tickled pink recently when he received his disability sticker allowing him to park wherever he wished especially on double yellow lines. He was apparently proud But how did he bear it? In all the time I visited him he almost never complained about his condition. I worked on the principle 33 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
home leave taken by our parents who were Methodist missionaries in China. Shortly afterwards the family returned to the mission province to face war time confusion and anxiety. Japanese incursions into China and dangerous and when the time came to leave in 1944 our mother took her two boys across China from east to west by river boat and truck to Kunming. We secured a DC3 Darjeeling waiting to return to the UK which we reached on VJ day, 15 August 1945. Two other former Kingswood students have connections with (1948-56). In 1947 a couple of years after the war we returned to China, to be overtaken by civil war and the advance of Mao Zedong's communist armies which in 1949 prompted another risky departure running the coastal blockade by boat to Taiwan, then travelling by ship to Hong Kong. We had been taught at home in China, but our parents had arranged for us to take the KS entry examinations and to their great relief A.B. Sackett wrote to say we had passed. So we went to Kingswood. Roger never forgot and remained forever interested in the culture and language of China and from his childhood experiences came the two fundamental pillars of his life, the importance of family and faith, to both of which he was totally committed. After school and National Service in the RAF he studied in London, obtained his degree and moved to Beccles and then Norwich to join the staff of Norwich City College where for many years he inspired and empowered students. On retirement
Obituary Tributes he became a governor of the Hewett School, Norwich.
SHEENA E. CAMPBELL
He also encouraged his wife and son to build up their Summit internet and media business in Yorkshire which, among other things, offered inmates at the nearby Wolds Prison training,
(Headmaster's wife 1970-87)
Roger and Marion had been married in 1966 after a whirlwind courtship. Their life-long loving partnership produced twin sons Hedley and Caspar of whom Roger was always immensely proud. He revelled in having grandchildren and was happy to baby-sit at any opportunity even if it meant travelling half way across the country or even to the other side of the world. In later life Roger became something of an all round sportsman which will come as a surprise to those who remember his keenness for middle distance running and cross country at Kingswood. Early on he played in the lower grades of the Wimbledon Rugby club and over the years enjoyed tennis, squash, skiing, sailing and There were also gentler activities such as bee keeping for standard he had learned at KS and which attracted wide admiration because he was a perfectionist. A keen traveller, Roger visited many parts of the world, including those countries he travelled across during his and Marion's nine months long honeymoon journey overland across Europe and Asia to visit our parents who were by then working with Chinese communities in Sarawak. He returned four times to China and during the last year of his life visited the US, India and Africa, going on safari with his sons in Kenya. Roger's faith was present in his strong and successful support for his parents' work in home circuits, particularly in Fulham, London, and his long period of service at Norwich Cathedral, where he was a steward. Looking out for other people, visiting the sick and being "Mr Fixit" were all second nature to him. He had the knack of seeing the value and interest in each individual, the imagination to work out what could be done for those that needed help and the practical skills and drive to carry out the tasks. He died in London on 26 May 2013 after being diagnosed a short time before with a rare condition affecting his heart. Despite the seriousness of the doctors' predictions he was unbowed, optimistic and courageous as always, thrusting words to:"Rage, rage against the dying of the light". His passing leaves a huge gap in many lives, but particularly those of his family for whom the shock of his going was made worse by its suddenness. He was the centre around which their lives revolved and in recalling a remarkable life which touched many other lives positively. In Marion's words he was "the best of men". Adrian Aylott (1949-1956) Taken from the edited version of the eulogy delivered at the funeral service in Norwich Cathedral on 14 June 2013.
Many of you will remember Sheena Campbell - wife of Laurie (Jock) Campbell, Headmaster at KS from 1970 - 1987. There is a saying that "Behind every successful man there stands a woman", well this was exactly the situation for Laurie and Sheena. Behind all Laurie's enthusiasm and drive lay the support of his wife. Theirs was a true partnership which touched the lives of so many people in different countries for 57 years until Laurie died in 2011 and part of that time was at Kingswood. But it would be an unwise man who underestimated the role that Sheena played in this remarkable relationship. If Laurie appeared to be the man with the vision, Sheena was often the woman there to put things into practice. If Laurie appeared sometimes to do most of the talking, there are many who can recall instances where a few, quiet well-chosen words from Sheena brought things back to reality. If Laurie appeared to take the lead in public, it was Sheena who was active in private, creating a home in all kinds of new settings, making new friends welcome and sustaining a sense of family. Sheena was a woman of committed and practical Christian faith, a faith which was lived out and made real in all kinds of ways across the world. Sheena died on 9th January 2014 in Leicester. We celebrated Mum's life on January 23rd at Trinity Methodist Church in Newport, where Laurie served as the minister from 1987 - 1994 and where they both continued to worship after he retired. Sheena moved to Leicester to a Care Home in July One of the readings chosen for Sheena's funeral included this love of Christ be shown in practice in love for others. "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me." She lived a long and full life, from her birth in Singapore to her meeting Laurie in Edinburgh, to their wedding in August 1954. (Now for a Macdonald to marry a Campbell is no small matter!) Then onwards, as Sheena moved to join Laurie in Kenya in 1954 at Alliance High School. She was a full-time wife and mother, supporting Laurie in different posts until he became headmaster at AHS in 1962. In 1970 they moved to Kingswood. Again Sheena took on the role of headmaster's wife full-time. Her practical help and hospitality during their time at Kingswood is remembered in various ways; from offering rooms to stay in the family home, entertaining visitors to the school, providing costumes every week, talking to the house on duty at Sunday lunch at the high table, providing coffee at the PR Monday evening meetings at the Headmaster's house not to mention the provision of ball-room dancing lessons for nervous KS students prior to the annual summer ball. Some of you may Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 34
Obituary Tributes also remember how she extended her care for family to both her own elderly mother and her mother-in-law. But that was the way of things for the Campbell family, that life was shared with all kinds of other people. While Laurie was stationed in Newport, Sheena was active in the church as a Welcome Steward, in the Wives group, on District Committees, with the Methodist Network Luncheon club and the Afternoon Fellowship group and all the while, maintaining her love for Guiding as she hosted meetings for the local branch of the Trefoil Guild. She still dedicated a lot of time to her grandchildren who came for half term breaks or summer holidays and she often visited her family in their own homes too. Sadly over the last 10 years of her life Sheena's health and memory deteriorated. It led to her and Laurie's roles reversing; he became the practical one caring for her and supporting her as she grew frail and forgetful. Whatever your memories of Sheena Campbell, we are sure that you will remember that even from behind the scenes, Sheena was always there, supporting and helping in her own gentle way. Adapted from Rev Dr Stephen Wigley's tribute to Sheena 23rd January 2014 by Sheena's children: Ian, Mary (KS 1975-77) and Andrew (KS 1972-78)
HOWARD CLARK (1961-67)
Robin Percival and Howard Clark in August 2010
Howard Clark, who died of a heart attack at his home in Madrid on 29th November 2013, was a personal friend and former work colleague. As pupils at KS we travelled on the same train to and from Liverpool. However it was when he left school and became active in the British peace movement that our paths crossed.
Howard was born in Bath in 1951 where his father was a Methodist minister. He left KS (and Lower House) in 1967 and went to East Anglia University to read English. After Editor). During this time he helped launch several campaigns and organisations including London Greenpeace, the British Withdrawal from Northern Ireland Campaign, Campaign against the Arms Trade and the At Ease organisation, which offered counselling for members of the armed forces. In 1976 he moved to York where he was at the centre of many of the local campaigns for peace and social change. and in 1979 he was a co-ordinator of nonviolent training for the occupation of the Torness nuclear power site, near Dunbar, by the Torness Alliance. 35 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
In 1980 he moved to Bradford where he worked with the Alternative Defence Commission which produced the report Defence Without the Bomb. In 1985 he started to work full-time in London for the War Resisters International, a job which put him at the centre of the international peace movement. Here he worked closely with nonviolent activists throughout the world including South Africa, peace and south Asia and anti conscription groups in south America and elsewhere. In 1994 he was a founder of the Balkan Peace Team. This began a serious engagement with nonviolent activists in Kosovo, an experience which became the basis of his book, published by Pluto Press in 2000, Civil Resistance in Kosovo. In 1996 Howard moved to Madrid with his partner Yolanda. They had two children Ismael (born 2000) and a daughter Violeta in 2002. Though most of his time was spent in Madrid, his continuing work with the WRI, now as its chair, meant he continued to travel widely as well as working on various academic projects related to nonviolence and peacemaking. In 2009 he edited and published (again Pluto) People Power: Unarmed Resistance and Global Solidarity. In the summer he would retire with his family to their house in Tubilla del Agua, a village north east of Burgos. It was there that I spent my summer holidays in 2010. Howard is survived by his partner, his two children, a sister Helen (ex Trinity Hall) and his mother. Howard's ashes were scattered in Tubilla. An obituary appeared in The Guardian in 18th December 2013 from which I have drawn liberally. There will be a celebration of Howard's life in central London on 17th May. Robin Percival (1958-1965)
DONALD EDWARD CREASY (1939-48) Born in the twenties (just), the second of four closely spaced children, Donald spent his early childhood in the leafy London suburb of Osterley and went to primary school in Heston. When he was seven years old he suddenly developed a speech impediment, a handicap that was to stay with him for the rest of his life. It was so bad that initially he had to write everything down. In 1938 the family moved to Muswell Hill in North London to be nearer the family business which was being moved from Hoxton to Hornsey. When World War II started his father, who was children away to boarding school and found places outside London for them to spend their school holidays. Donald spent ten happy years at Kingswood. His father had been there as Donald's grandfather had been a Methodist minister.
Obituary Tributes Donald greatly enjoyed his time at Kingswood, looking forward to the beginning of each new term. He was a small boy, not much good at games, but he found he liked cross country running and became captain of the school team in his last year. He also ran the school printing press which taught him to be a perfectionist, a trait which sometime irritated his family and colleagues in later life. He persuaded his father to allow him to stay at Kingswood for an extra examinations, in order to captain the school running team and stage manage the annual school play. From Kingswood he went as a civil engineering scholar (again, just) to Caius College, Cambridge, where he took up rowing (initially as a cox because of his small stature) and met Jean who was at Homerton College training to be a teacher. He of his father's objections (no money, no job) they were married Royal Engineers, was still doing his two years National Service at a military port in Scotland. This was useful experience but time dragged with Jean still living with her family in Exeter and he was glad to be demobbed the following year. Donald spent the next three years working for a large and sea defences. They lived in a caravan that was towed was born and, deciding that a caravan was not a suitable home for a toddler, Donald went to work for the Public Works Department in Nigeria which was still a British colony. Their second daughter, Jillian, was born in Lagos and they had another daughter, Ruth, during their second tour of duty, this time in the South Cameroons. Life there was almost idyllic with an equitable climate and a lovely house with servants to do the housework whilst Jean looked after the children. As Provincial Engineer, to administer but there were no suitable schools and with Susan just outside Benson and Helen, their fourth daughter, was born years, died a few months afterwards at the age of eleven. After eighteen years they moved from the Benson house to a cottage in Marcham. The vicar of Benson wrote in the July 1978 Benson Parish News: "This month we take leave of Jean and Donald Creasy who, with their family, are leaving Benson to take up residence in Marcham. They have been vitally concerned in the life and activity of the Parish Church It would take too long to list all the Creasy family have done for the Church in Benson; much of their work has been done behind the scenes, but we shall be eternally grateful to Donald for the lead he gave with the restoration of the Church. With his professional skill and his insistence on perfection he has been the spearhead of the restoration work." Seven years before their move to the cottage in Marcham, Donald changed employment yet again and now worked as a lecturer in the Training Centre of the Cement and Concrete new job – he had no training as a teacher and still had his
pronounced stutter. Donald was active in the new village and while he was chairman of the Parish Council he designed and built the Youth Shelter on the Cricket Field. After ten years the Cement and Concrete Association had a reorganisation and the Training Centre was sold. The part time job Donald found teaching in a technical college was not entirely satisfactory and he and Jean decided to cash in on an asset. At the same time as they moved to Marcham they had bought a large, semi-derelict house in the South of France which they had been slowly renovating. It was now turned into a guest house where they could live and work during the summer, returning to Marcham in the winter when Donald was able to continue some free-lance lecturing and they could spend time with their friends in England and their now extending family. In 1995 Donald was diagnosed as having Parkinson's Disease. In time this meant giving up his lecturing work and active physical work became very tiring. He was, however, able to spend more time with his extended family – there were now six grandchildren – and in playing bridge which he had been taught by his father in the 1930s. In 2005 Donald and Jean celebrated their golden wedding in France and a little later decided to They continued to happily visit the house as guests with no responsibilities, in contrast to their days as hosts when more than a thousand guests had stayed with them over the years. wood-turning. As a memento of their golden wedding he also restored and rewired the two lamps at the churchyard entrances. He always tried to live up to the maxim – in contemplating any action think about the overall consequences; if the situation is likely to be worse because of the action, don't do it! He was also very aware that he failed to live up to the charge given by his headmaster on leaving school: Go forth into the world in peace Be of good cheer Hold fast that which is good Render no man evil for evil Strengthen the faint-hearted Support the weak Honour all men Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit This obituary is taken from words which Donald Creasy had himself prepared .
GEOFFREY MICHAEL CROWTHER (1956-62) Geoff was born on October 3rd 1944 in Newcastle-uponTyne. His father, Stanley, was a Methodist minister and his mother, Doris, was a school teacher. Having attended local primary schools in Bradford and Baildon, Geoff was sent to Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 36
Obituary Tributes Kingswood School from 1956 to 1962. He then did a year's unhe was just three days too young to start his teacher training that year. In 1963 he went to Westminster College, Oxford, for three years, studying to teach science. Here he
at Oken School in Warwick and then moved to be Head of Science at Westlands School, Sadly their daughter, Jennifer, born 17 months later, had major heart defects and only lived for ten days. Geoff then had a period out of education running his own photographic business in Rugby, during which time Andrew was born. In 1976 the family moved to Kibworth in Leicestershire In 1985 he took a post with MESP –the Mini-Enterprise in Schools Project - which took him and his colleagues to schools the project disbanded and rather than returning to teaching - he felt things had changed so much with the advent of the National Curriculum that he would be out of touch – he changed career again and bought a printing business in Lutterworth from a friend. This operated until he retired in 2009 but didn't stop then as he was still doing printing work to the last! In 2006 Geoff and Chris parted on amicable terms. Geoff had met Jayne and in 2010 they moved up to Leven (E. Yorkshire) and married in 2011. Last year Jayne's son, Simon, and his partner had a baby girl, Holly Jayne, and Geoff was pleased to reach the status of step-grandad! Geoff was a 'larger than life' character and a man of many talents and interests and anything he started was pursued with great enthusiasm. His interest in both printing and photography was developed at Kingswood School and both gave him much pleasure and served him well throughout his life. As a member of KS Scouts, he went on canoeing trips along the River Wye and this prompted him in later years to organise yearly trips in the summer holidays for the pupils he Photography continued to play a major part in his life at college. Many people who were at Westminster at the same time will have photos which he took, either as portraits/house photos raising funds for WUS week or as end of season team photos. Some of these are in the college archive. He also helped with the running of the Film Society and was responsible for the lighting at college performances. Later he tried to encourage a love of photography and printing in others by running clubs in the schools where he taught and evening classes for adults.
While living in Kibworth he was responsible for starting up the village newspaper, the Kibworth Chronicle, which this year reaches its 35th anniversary. Geoff had received his invitation to the celebrations later this year and was looking all the photographs for the paper. Since moving to Leven two years ago he had become involved with the 'talking newspaper' and other charities. Even in so short a time he had made his contribution. Kingswood always held a special place in Geoff 's affections and he delighted in visiting whenever he could whether it was for reunions (for both KS and Trinity Hall as Chris went to TH!) or just because he was passing nearby. He attended several regional reunions both in the Midlands and in Yorkshire and always had his camera at the ready to take Following major heart surgery, from which it initially appeared he was making a good recovery, Geoff died at home on February 22nd 2013. C. H. Crowther
MICHAEL CROWTHER-WATSON (1934-44) Michael was born in Newbury on the 13th September 1925, son of Edward, a Wesleyan minister, and his wife Adeline. His early childhood was spent on the move, as required by the Methodist church. Life became a little more stable in 1934 when he was sent to Kingswood. There Michael began a piece about his time at KS and, in particular, the musical life. (Editor: Michael's article appears in 'Have Your Say' on page 51). In 1946 he met and married Marjorie Millward. Their son, Robin, was born in Malta on 30 May 1949, by which time Michael was a sergeant in REME. Marjorie returned to England when her father became ill, pregnant with second son Malcolm Noel, who was born on 3 December 1950. Michael rejoined his family four years later - they travelled England in a caravan while Michael worked recommissioning radio transmitters for the Army. Later they bought a cottage in Milton Coombe, Devon. They kept bees - a lifelong interest Michael and Marjorie parted company.
set up in the car and house – his handle was Photoman – what else! He owned a Hutchison telecom 'Rabbit' phone – the precursor to Orange. Computers were a major interest and upgraded to the Commodore 64 and 128 and then an Amiga until he needed more professional ones for business purposes. 37 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
In the late 50's he met my mother, Jill. They began to explore David and others. Michael settled in Kent, at a bungalow
In 1960 I was born. My mother tried to live in Kent but
Obituary Tributes the dilapidated state of the house and Michael's frequent absences on work meant she gravitated to her parents in East Anglia. Michael, however, visited every Friday, a practice that continued for many years. Through bee-keeping he set up Pollination Services Limited, using a lorry to transport his hives of bees around Kent. Next was Watson's Postal Bingo - this didn't last long owing to a change in the gaming laws. Then came Eurocircuits, a printed circuit design and manufacture company. Throughout the 60's and 70's Michael's interest in France and boats developed. My little brother Tom was born in 1966 and shared Michael's interest in boats and things mechanical. Michael had Labrador dogs and Tom used to relish running In later years at West Kingsdown Michael created a beautiful garden. He also opened and ran a rehearsal and recording facility on the premises - Squirrel Studios.
gliding there but detested the politics. Not many people have been in both the German Army and the Royal Navy! After the war he got a job with an engineering company in Stockport, and we ended up living in Cheshire. Pat did an external degree in Economics with London University and became the Personnel Manager at the company. His specialism there was recruitment and especially psychometric As a schoolboy I remember him subjecting me to loads of psychometric tests. I dread to think what the results were like. While I was at Primary School, in Cheshire, on many Northern Air Division at Stretton, near Warrington. We've torpedo planes over to Malta in the early 1950s. Apparently spaces. He'd sometimes take me to Stretton where I'd sit
In 1990 he met Jackie who was to partner him for the following 23 years. Together they did great things in West Kingsdown and later in Borough Green. They travelled, but always most importantly to France. Michael was a joiner of organisations, notably the Freemasons and the gastronomic societies Chaine des Rotisseurs and Sacavin. Throughout these last years Jackie has been the great sustaining force for Michael, supporting him through good times and bad and putting up with his many foibles.
He was a keen photographer, though equipment and materials were hard to get back then. We have a number of photos – all small square black and white of course - of me on beaches, sulking on a trike or walking a puppy. Another hobby was making marmalade, which he did with varying success. I well remember a time when the pressure cooker he used blew up and covered the kitchen ceiling with the stuff.
He had a great personality. As Tom has said, "when Michael was in the room, it always felt full."
He was a member of the Magic Circle, and could still do sleightof-hand tricks for his great-granddaughters in his eighties.
Penny Ganz (née Crowther-Watson)
When I went to Kingswood in the 1950s, following him and his two brothers (Davis Campbell Elliott and Robert S. Elliott, both
DR ALEXANDER GEORGE PATRICK ELLIOTT (1931-39) My father Pat – as he was universally known – was born in Dublin in 1920, where his father was a Methodist minister. At that time Ireland was still part of Britain, so he was British by birth. Soon after, southern Ireland became a republic, so he became retroactively Irish, with a dual nationality which served him well when working in places where an Irish passport was much safer than a British one! Like many others of my generation I didn't see much of my father during the war, though he had a very strange war indeed. In 1939 he became a Conscientious Objector, not wanting to join the forces because he couldn't tolerate the idea of harming innocent civilians. Something changed his mind enough to join the Navy, indeed the Fleet Air Arm,
woodwind player as he'd been, on both clarinet and saxophone. I was dreadful at this but he played semi-professionally, and never lost his enthusiasm for both instruments.
Air Divisions were closed down in 1957, as a 16 year old was Commanding the Division. Soon afterwards, he and my mother were divorced and she went off to Australia. On another musical note (pun fully intended, sorry), a few years ago he told me of a wartime trip to New York, when as a very junior member of a Navy team sent to buy American day a man came into one and asked if they had a spare they had this Limey there that day. Pat was promptly carried off to some hotel to play on two recordings. The man was actually the famous band leader, Artie Shaw! Unfortunately Pat couldn't recall the two numbers they recorded. Pat moved to London when he became Personnel Director
K.S. he went on a school exchange to Erfurt in Germany in the late 1930s. When he got there he found that, like all the other older students, he was enrolled in a German Army Reserve as a 3rd Lieutenant or some such. He enjoyed the
London, but when he and his second wife Anne got married they bought a house out at Maidenhead in Berkshire, from where he commuted in a huge Humber Super Snipe which impressed me greatly, especially when he drove it at over 100mph on the new M1 (quite legally I should add). Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 38
Obituary Tributes Later on, after their children Jonathan & Nicola were born, Director of the Bank of Ireland, then turning into an academic at Trinity College Dublin, where he lectured in Occupational Psychology, did his doctoral thesis and became "Doctor Elliott". Obviously we saw much less of them then, but never lost the family contact as do some people. He died aged 92 in Dublin in early December 2012, having been ill for some time. Both at his packed funeral (which reception afterwards, many people gave astonishing tributes, TCD Master's programme in Sudan. He is survived by his brother Bob, his wife Anne, two sons, I doubt if anyone could adequately sum up this man in just a few words. I certainly can't. He was one of that rare breed – a true Gentleman, multi-talented, good-humoured, thoughtful, slow to anger and quick to be generous. He was a complex, interesting, and much-loved man, but above all, a good father. We shall miss him. Tony Elliott (1952-60)
MATTHEW OSBORN FORSTER
time for some outstanding rugby and for realising one of his other lasting passions – pantomime! He loved literature and music. He had a sharp sense of humour, and he made sure that the more self-important members of the teaching staff were portrayed in the best possible taste! During his time at Westminster, he came under the spell of one of his co-stars on Price – to whom he became engaged before other world events took over. And National Service. As a Junior Houseman, aged 24, my father was drafted into the Royal Army Medical Corps and posted to Hong Kong. After basic training, he was approached to join the newly formed Malayan Scouts (one of the early incarnations of the SAS), to tackle the Chinese-backed Communists who were threatening British control of rubber estates. It was left to him to work out how best to provide medical care for up to 200 soldiers engaged in guerrilla warfare. He was on patrol for weeks at a time, enduring the same hardships and discomforts as the regular soldiers – leeches, being permanently wet (yet dehydrated), and physically exhausted by the terrain and the notice by helicopter and lowered on a wire to attend injury and illness. Being told - "You're a better dentist than you are a doctor, sir!" – was absolutely OK by him. He warmed to the cheeky humour of an inferior rank and was not afraid to speak up about the inadequacy of resources for the operations they were expected to undertake. In summing up my father's National Service attachment, the CO commented
views freely and with courage, which does not always help him
Matthew was born some eight months before the General Strike of 1926 to a civil engineer from Tyneside and the daughter of a Methodist minister. His uncle, Thomas Wolverson Barratt and other members of his mother's family had either attended, or had close associations with, the school and so it was that he started at Kingswood shortly before the outbreak of war. His mother had ambitions of him getting into medicine and he dutifully applied himself to the sciences.
and tries to do what he thinks is right." He went on to suggest that if Captain Forster "wishes to continue to speak the truth, he must become more thick-skinned and mentally robust to withstand the slings and arrows of outraged people".
The upheaval in 1939, when the Admiralty displaced the school to Uppingham, probably added to the rich experience he had of school, and the lasting friendships that were forged, most notably, with Christopher Wright, David Lindsay, and Dick Trafford (all Kingswood Old Boys). He often spoke to me of the rugby and cross-country at Kingswood, and the privilege and distinction of having been coached by the great 'Sedge'.
On my father's homeward passage across the Indian Ocean in 1951, he managed to pay his entire mess bill from his winnings at bridge. Powerful memory! Good job too because he remembered that he was engaged to my mother, and they were married within weeks of him getting home. Having pretty much set his sights on a career as a surgeon, of A&E at Westminster Hospital. Some additional work at a general medical practice in Pimlico, however, revealed to him how good he was at listening to patients and how have pitched either way. So it was fate, maybe, that a senior colleague performing visiting surgery at the hospital in Potters Bar, in what was then Middlesex, heard of a vacancy in general practice into which my father stepped.
Hospital in 1949. These were probably some of the happiest and
This was the time when doctors did home visits and were on-call at night, and their wives were on permanent telephone reception. In the winter of 1963, my father borrowed a Land Rover to ensure he could continue to care for his patients whenever they called. Coming down to breakfast and seeing Dad with his pyjamas on underneath a pair of trousers,
wishes (apparently, he did a mean dissection!), but there was also
because he'd been up all night. On the extremely rare
Oundle, but they settled matters at the Schools' Sevens at Rosslyn Park and Kingswood went on to win the competition. After Kingswood, my father won a place at King's College,
Obituary Tributes occasions when Dad was able to pick us up from school, we would inevitably go via a patient's house and be sitting in the car for hours. No wonder all his boiled sweets got eaten. We never had a direct measure of Dad's professional qualities. We were obviously too young. But it was clear from the numbers of bottles of whisky delivered to our door at Christmas that he and Mum were regarded extremely highly throughout the community. We even got free entry into the lasting bonds formed with the families in his care. As pressures grew on the doctors in Potters Bar, my father was instrumental in setting up a Group Practice, and introduced a system of appointments to ensure that as many patients could be seen as possible. After some 19 years in general practice, however, it became clear that he could not stick to the eight minutes allocated to each patient attending his clinic. It was impossible to listen to, diagnose and treat someone effectively in this time. After much anguish, he decided to quit general
My parents were involved in a head-on car accident in 2008. My father became progressively more anxious and confused shortly after this date. He eventually succumbed to dementia, and died on 21st February 2013. Robert T Forster (1971-75)
KEN HALL (Staff 1958-2003) Where does one begin in trying to do justice to a man who contributed so much to this school over such a long period when it is someone who has
Student Health Centre at the University of Sussex. We were all moving to the south coast.
part in one's own life.
For someone who had helped set up an operating theatre in Buckingham Palace to perform surgery on George VI who had lung cancer; someone who had been at Ian MacLeod's deathbed when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer; someone who was so widely respected, valued and, yes, loved, he must have been seriously disenchanted with his job.
Ken started work on the Upper in 1958 and became Head Groundsman in 1964. He took over from Bill King, who retired after 42 years. Ken managed 45 years on the Upper: what great loyalty and service to the school.
One of the pivotal events that provoked this decision was a course Dad attended at University College London on more holistic medical care which took account of a patient's mental state. Recognising the exciting potential, he went to meet the founding practitioners at Sussex who were tackling both the medical and psychiatric problems that exist within the student population. An early part of his training was having lengthy and intensive psychoanalysis himself. His interest in psychotherapy grew, and he became Secretary for the Guild of Psychotherapists on top of his job at the Health Centre. On retirement from the University around 1990, he continued to practice for some years from the family home, where my parents have lived since 1975. My father was a very private man. For as long as I knew him he always had his own study, which he guarded. He tended to have vivid 1:1 relationships with individuals rather than seek the company of large groups, in the presence of which he would tend to hold on to his opinions. He was patient, tolerant, and fair. As his children, we put these qualities through rigorous testing. When we lived in Potters Bar in the early 1960's, one of our favourite pastimes was digging tunnels with the children of our next door neighbours. Whether it was through concern for our safety, or embarrassment at the state of their back yard, our tunnelling was banned. The temptation for us, however, was just too much, and I can reveal that we did have one or two run-ins with the slipper for outright disobedience. colleague and, for odd weeks in the year, he would indulge his would land one. More often, however, he would get some gentle Connemara sympathy administered by the ghillie when another
Kingswood. I did not really get to know him until 1977 when I spent an afternoon doing what was then termed 'hard labour'. Not the most effective punishment for a boy who loved the outdoors; I remember feeling that I had enjoyed one of the best afternoons of my Kingswood career. From that point on, Ken would acknowledge me as I made my way to or from the Upper. For many of my generation, Ken was the 'bucket & sponge' man on the side of the pitch on a Saturday afternoon. He challenged anyone who trespassed on the Upper in no uncertain fashion including - famously, in 1970 - the newly appointed Headmaster, Laurie Campbell. He was a shrewd judge of a sportsman and had clear memories and of Jason Gardner running on the track. We used to enjoy reminiscing about stars we remembered: Munnings, Wigley etc. When the BBC used the Upper for one of its episodes of Superstars, Ken was involved. Mike Channon and Kevin Keegan were amongst a glittering cast that took part. On my return to school as Director of Sport in 1990, I renewed my relationship with Ken. It did not all go smoothly – I was young and keen and thought I was Ken's line manager (I soon found out that Ken did not believe in that sort of set up). In the Summer Term, I came up with a whole host of ideas as to how I thought we could improve the sports' facilities. Ken let me go through them all, then gave me his answer: NO. Slightly perplexed by this response, I enquired as to which bit of my plans he did not like. Again his answer was pretty short: NO TO EVERYTHING. He then took me over to the score box to his favourite bench, and the conversation went something like this: Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 40
Obituary Tributes "I have been working here for 30 years and so we are not going to fall out about this, but I will look after the grounds and you look after coaching the pupils". That established who was boss and everything followed on from there. We never did fall out, though we did not always agree. Like most Masters in charge of Cricket, I was convinced I knew best about the wicket and wanted less grass left on, more rolling done etc. We would discuss all of this and then Ken would do it his way! Although I hate to admit it, he was probably right and he knew his square. A visiting Aussie coach was put in his place when he remarked that he thought that the wicket a little too green, perhaps too much grass on it. He asked Ken if he "You've played here before then?", was Ken's response. Ken moved on, leaving me to deal with our visitor; nothing more really needed to be said! Ken did things his way and I loved the rhythm he gave to a Kingswood life. You could plot the seasons by what Ken and his team were doing: Ken arriving for work in his green Ford mowers on ropes, which all started just as you began teaching a lesson); Ken trundling across the Upper on the old red 28 acres of grass; hay making and the sight-screen (The Sail) going up in the Easter holiday. Then there was Ken's plate of sandwiches on a Saturday afternoon and the form that needed to be studied in the morning break, ready to watch the 3.30 race on his old black and white TV in the shed. Of course there was also Ken sunbathing by the score box on a summer's evening – he was always so brown. This may all sound as though Ken did no work but that was certainly not the case. The Upper always looked immaculate, the grass banks were always cut beautifully, the Lower was brushed each week and the rugby pitches were always the best in the area. The Middle Field (a part of the grounds he loved) looked like a lawn; good batsmen scored runs on the wickets he prepared. He did it his way, and his way always involved fun. If you needed something, Ken always knew someone who could sort things out for you. Everybody knew him and everybody liked him. He loved practical jokes and we were all on the end of those from time to time. I did once get my own back, just as mobile phones were becoming more popular. Picture the scene: a sunny day on the Upper and Ken sitting by the score box, enjoying the sun. The shed phone rings; Ken gets up and ambles over but just as he gets there, the phone stops ringing. He settles back down on the bench. The phone goes again and, just as he gets there, it stops. He knows something is going on but can't quite work it out; the only people he can see are playing cricket. When it happens again, he walks out to the Middle, and says: "I don't know how you're doing this, Opie, but you are involved!" Ken was always with people. If you look at what has been many lovely tributes. "He was such a nice man". How many times have I heard that from staff and colleagues this week? I treasured our friendship. Ken struggled a bit to adjust to 41 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
his new life after he retired from KS. We spent some time discussing this and, from time to time, he would call into the Upper for a catch-up. We would sit together by the score box and remember former good school cricketers, agree about our love of Somerset Cricket, disagree about the merits of the Welsh rugby side, laugh (kindly) at the antics of former Bursars etc. He would extol the virtues of horse racing - which I never quite understood – discuss the wildlife, the weather and then do a lap of the boundary. I was very proud, when he retired, that he gave me the special heavy cricket bails for those windy days on the Upper; I felt I had sort of made it! recognise any old boy who turned up on the Upper and remember some fact about them. He was very kind to a whole host of people who worked with him: Jack Tinball (104 and still going strong), Paul Scooter and Dougie. We had pupils joining the school because Ken knew their parents. He had that twinkle in his eye and was able to charm all the ladies. He loved life and made things better for other people. He was living proof that if you live in harmony with nature, you will never be poor – even if you are rubbish in backing the right horse. Ken, thank you for all that you did for this community, in so many ways, for so many years. Taken from a tribute given by Gordon Opie (1976-81) and Housemaster (1998-2009) and Deputy Head (2009-to date) at Ken Hall's funeral in the School Chapel
DOUGLAS HALL BROWN (1935-43) When Douglas came to KS almost 90% of the boys were the sons of Methodist ministers, supported Church. The policy followed John Wesley's intention that the sons of his preachers received continuous education while their fathers were free to be stationed wherever the church required. Our fathers knew each other and we may have lived in places where our school friends had lived. Douglas, a son of the manse born in 1924, entered Westwood in 1935 to join a company of youngsters already sharing a common background. His 'continuous' education moved him across the road to the main school the following year and again in 1939 to Uppingham as war broke out. To be billeted in the Falcon Hotel in a room over the bar was an unusual dormitory for a Methodist minister's son. Douglas lived through that wartime period of KS exile learning his classics, taking up the piano, enduring rugby and hockey, and traipsing around the village to follow his timetable. His service as a prefect in Middle House and his Higher School
Obituary Tributes He trained in Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was then called, while the war came to an end in 1945. Douglas took advantage of a government grant to go to Cambridge to read law, graduating in 1948. During this period of war service, overseas experience and a university environment, he was not alone in searching his mind for the his father. He offered and was accepted for the Methodist ministry, sent to Richmond College for training until 1950 and, As one of Wesley's itinerant preachers, Douglas travelled around England from circuit to circuit, with pastoral charge in Totton (Southampton) 1956-60, Leigh Park, Havant 1960-65, Cleethorpes 1965-71, Stalybridge 1971-76, Wembley 1976-81 and Tonbridge 1981-89. He retired to Cheltenham with his wife Lois, a devoted companion throughout his ministry and mother of their two children. Douglas died on 26th September 2013 after a fall, aged 89. He had courageously endured Parkinson's disease for some years. No more suitable tribute could be made than that of his son Christopher (KS 1971-8) at his funeral. "In his quiet and unassuming way he heeded the cry of the poor, the sick, the lonely and oppressed in a ministry of over sixty years, entering into suffering and joy alongside people in hospitals, schools, prison cells and their homes. He had no interest in hierarchy or self-advancement; there was never a man less ambitious for himself. He was a naturally private person and it was not easy for him to live the public life of a church minister and community leader, but he did so with gentle grace, courage gently confronting prejudice wherever he found it." This friend for eighty years, at KS and in Methodism says, "Amen." David Ensor (1934-42)
GRAHAM HEYWOOD (1950-56) Graham Heywood, 75, of Abbots Leigh, Bristol, passed away at home on 24th January 2013. His family was with him as he passed away, following a short but brave liver cancer. He was born in Falmouth in 1937, and then brought up during the war in Teignmouth, where in October 1941 he survived a bomb that landed beside his house. The bomb was thought to have been dropped accidently by a British bomber returning home. He survived only because his father, a talented handyman, had constructed wire frames over each of the windows in the house. This frame fell onto his cot and the rubble from the blast was prevented from crushing him. His parents entered his nursery fearing the worst due to
him safe and unharmed at the bottom, having slept through the whole ordeal. He attended Kingswood School in Bath, where he represented enabling him to attend Brasenose College, studying Modern History and gaining an Upper Third. By his own confession he could have done a lot better, had it not been for the Cricket, Rugby and Bridge interests he enjoyed so much. Having left BNC in 1961, he joined WD&HO Wills in Bristol; here he was pleased that the Directors were not interested in his Oxford connections, rather in his role in National Service, where he had helped RAF Sopley win the RAF Cricket Cup. His career in WD&HO Wills was a progressive climb up the ladder embracing HR, Distribution, Production & Marketing, highlights being the Bristol Powerboat Grand Prix and working alongside Graham Hill towards the latter part of his racing career. Along with one of his University friends he planned to visit abroad, well before this became popular. His friend however cried off at the last minute, so travelling solo he embarked on holiday. In his own words, 'I went with no expectations, but was rewarded by a vision in a white and blue bikini who was reading 'The Carpetbaggers'. Diana, a beautiful brunette, married him in 1965 and they produced a daughter and a son and four grandchildren. His career at WD&HO Wills came to an end with the Hanson takeover. He was retired at 48 on a good pension, but lucky enough to get a job with Bristol and West BS as an HR Manger which lasted until 1997. He played at Lodway Cricket Club up to the age of 50, playing an active role in the junior sections, recruiting some very talented players to the team. As a family we would often hear the tale of his 8 wickets for 48 runs v's Thornbury where he 'swung the ball both ways'. He continued to enjoy his tennis at the Clifton Lawn Tennis Club right to the end, with his two favourite phrases being, 'yours', and 'good shot!'. After retirement he threw himself into the local community with the Parish Council & the Civic Society from which he recently retired as Chairman. He would like to think that his peers would describe his contribution to these activities as, 'getting things done, in a nice way'. Since 2000 the Civic Society successfully initiated, The Millennium Record, The Village Character Statement, The New History of Abbots Leigh, The Limited Edition Walks Map, Photographic History of Abbots Leigh, which has stalled a bit but should appear in 2013. All of the above he found very rewarding as Abbots Leigh is such a delightful village. Socially, he played a role alongside his good friend Don Pople in organising Roses & Rosé Summer Party, The Festival in the Field with Sports for the children and Pétanque for the adults, The Tennis Tournament, The November 5th Fireworks Party (usually during a downpour) and The Christmas Drinks Party, now overtaken by the New Years Day Brunch. His love for the village and its people was second only to the love for his family. Obituary provided by Graham's family
DR DAVID RITCHIE IVES MA, MB, B.CHIR, FRCP
(1952-58) David was born to Doris and Glendinning, in Sidcup, Kent, in 1939. His father, A.G.L. Ives, was Secretary of the King's Hospital Fund, a Governor of Kingswood School and author of 'Kingswood School in Wesley's Day and Since'. One of four children, David's family home was The Cedars in Tonbridge, Kent. His grandfather had been a Methodist minister, and so like his father and brothers Robert and Richard, he too went to Kingswood. In his early years, David was quiet and scholarly. Winning House, and a School Prefect. However he was also popular, enjoying times of much laughter and making lifelong friends. Strong and athletic, in 1952 he won three cups at the school in one day, and was duly named 'Victor Ludorum'. His friend remembers David as 'shy and strong, a good and very fast runner and rugby player on the wing in every way, both sensitive and kind'. It was to be his strength of character and sense of quiet David had intended to pursue Classics, and was planning to apply for an Oxbridge place in 1957. However, the year proved to be one of enormous challenges as his father suffered horrendous injuries in the notorious Lewisham train crash. With Oxbridge plans on hold, it was only after his father's recovery that his interest turned to medicine. David won a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1959. Kingswood friend, Peter Gornall, recalls that they were anatomy dissection and physiology partners. He particularly remembers David's pride when their physiology experiments went well. However, Peter says, 'He was a lot less happy when I was doing gastric acid experiments on him, and when it came to my turn (during blood sugar experiments), I was the guinea pig while he learned venepuncture!'. It was while completing his medical training at University College Hospital, London, that David met 'Nurse Carter', or Rosie. Romance followed and they married in 1967. He and Rosie took their young family to the US in 1971, where David worked as the M.R.C Travelling Fellow and Research Fellow in Medicine at Harvard Medical School Endocrine Unit. Indeed, travelling across North America with the family in a Volvo estate was part of the adventure. Later, in 1973, David returned to Cambridge as a Senior 43 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College and studied bone disease at Addenbrooke's Hospital. It was here that he found he really enjoyed teaching medical students. Returning to clinical work in 1980, David quickly became a Consultant Physician in Geriatrics at Leicester General Hospital. During his career, David strove to ensure the integration of Medicine for the Elderly in Leicestershire, and to provide equal access of care to medical specialties for elderly patients. Being pragmatic, he volunteered to be part of the commissioning team new wing design achieved closer liaison between disciplines such as Orthopaedic surgery, Physiotherapy and Nursing staff. All worked together to support rehabilitation, to help patients get home more quickly and safely. Over twenty years, David took a lead role in Geriatrician training and worked hard to improve the standing and provision of Medicine for the Elderly. For this he gained recognition for his work as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. David's yearning for knowledge was infectious, and his enthusiasm for medicine and teaching inspired medical students and junior doctors, many of whom are By the time he retired from the NHS in 2004, David had achieved his goal as Geriatrics became part of Integrated Medicine at the LRI. He was regarded as the epitome of a caring dedicated doctor, providing outstanding quality of care for his elderly patients. In retirement, David enjoyed travelling and sharing his interests with others, whether languages, history, art, walking or gardening. He had a great love of gardens, with his own full of rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias. Indeed, on rhododendrons at the foothills of the Himalayas. He had wonderful times travelling to places such as the rain forests of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Of his many trips, a recent visit to Pompeii and Herculaneum with a group from Sidney Sussex College enthralled him, and he climbed Vesuvius with great energy. As in his school days, David liked to think that he was still 'quite athletic'. David was proud to have attended Kingswood, and he continued to support it through the 1748 society. In 2010, he was delighted to present a framed print of the original school buildings in Bristol to the Headmaster. David died on 3 February 2013. His friends and colleagues remember a highly respected physician, a gentleman, a trusted friend and a devoted family man. Obituary provided by David's family
LT. MICHAEL DOUGLAS SPEAR (1951-56) Michael was born in May 1939 into a Royal Naval family with links to Kingswood through his father, the Reverend
Feature Article Arthur Douglas Spear, who had attended Kingswood between 1918 and 1925, before going on to serve as a Methodist Chaplain in the Royal Navy. With his father away serving at sea, as the Second World War broke out Mike and his mother moved to spend the war years deep in rural Warwickshire with his grandparents. Following the war the family moved to Plymouth where he attended Plymouth College prior to moving to Kingswood from 1951 till 1956.
Retiring from tankers, and through his father who by this time was their Honorary Chaplain, he became very involved in his local Sea Cadet Corps in Hastings. He was appointed 1st Lieutenant there in 1984, remaining active with the Hastings unit until 1999 in both part-time and full-time capacities. In 1986 he accepted a full-time Sea Cadet Corps appointment and enjoyed various sea-going positions with them until 1995 when he found employment working locally as Chief Engineer with a coastal
From an early age Mike had demonstrated an interest in all things mechanical. Coupled with the family links to the sea this led him, almost inevitably, into a career in the Merchant Navy. He joined the BP Tanker Company in 1956 as an Engineer Cadet, working his way up to become a Chief Engineer in 1970.
carefully recorded and catalogued. He died suddenly at home
He continued working 'deep sea' on tankers until 1983. Whilst this life took him away from family and friends for long periods, the extended periods of shore leave enabled him to indulge his passions – boats, trains and cars, all subjects about which he was both passionate and knowledgeable.
retired from sea-going in 2000, by his own reckoning he had travelled some 1356790 nautical miles in the course of his duties. He spent his retirement continuing to indulge his various interests,
between Naval ceremony and personal family, both of which were hugely important to him. A quiet man, a knowledgeable man, happy to educate and a patient teacher, as his niece said in a moving tribute read during the service, he will be missed by those with whom he served and most especially by his family. Liz Devey
Former glory
Readers may be aware that the mulberry tree at the front of the School was badly damaged in the storms of May 2012. First indications were that the fallen tree and fractured trunk might mean the end of this piece of Kingswood history. Amazingly, however, although no longer upright, the tree has survived and continues to grow and come into leaf each season. Long may that continue.
John Lewis... (1947-56, Staff 1972-97, KA Secretary 1997-2007, KAn Editor 1997-2012, Member of KA Executive 1997- ) in conversation with Mary Wimpress (1977-79). Q: You have stayed close to Bath, the School, and the Association. Where are you now, and what are you up to?
Q: How is Patsy?
RJL: I retired 'upriver' 16 years ago, to the slopes of Bathford,
Wednesdays and Fridays. We try to do a few things together;
where the welcoming community offered, just for a start, various voluntary jobs including; 'Millennium photographer', 'sheep watcher', 'snow warden' and joining the 'speed watch team'. The monthly History Society is stimulating on winter evenings, and I enjoy the garden in summer. Browne's Folly is a regular target for a 20-minute stiff uphill walk.
RJL: but usually we sing in separate choirs.
Q: You've devoted a huge amount of time and energy to the Association and to KAn; what are the highlights? RJL: As a Retired Housemaster, it's been a real pleasure collecting in the 'matches & hatches' and other items. Other projects have included the publication of an A5 volume, "Tributes 2", and the transfer of the KA stock of digital photographs to the KS Digital Archive. It's also a matter of pride to be a founder member of John Allison's MJSD suppers. Q: And still cheering on Kingswood sport?
RJL: Yes, I continued to coach KPS Orienteers for another 12 years after retiring. I'm also delighted to support a
Fonthill House photograph (1978)
Q: You and Patsy were an important double act at Fonthill, creating a home from home for the girl boarders? RJL: Yes, in those days, it was understood that a girls' house should be a family house, so having two children and a dog was a good start. I did my 15 years as a Housemaster; Patsy
John and Patsy Lewis at home in Bathford
Q: As a former KS pupil, you have seen more Headmasters than most; how did school life change over the years? RJL: I knew ABS as a pupil, then later LJC and GMB. In Sackett's time, of course, it was only boys and a much smaller school. A lot of the staff then had taught before the war. It was a very stressful educational process, though a lot of people were being encouraged who then got to Oxbridge; that was a main aim for many. The big change under Laurie Campbell was going co-ed, and you had to call the boys by their Christian names. The key thing I remember from Campbell was that the school was small enough for him to know everybody pretty well; it was a very special time. Orienteers, as having more than 600 pupils meant we were no longer often the top Small School but up against the very large national school teams!). 45 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
Featured Interview going in the Easter holidays, the cheapest time to hire boats. When we started in 1973, we'd just go around Birmingham, then later to Manchester and London. We also took two boats to Stratford and Tewkesbury, then back up the Severn. The cruises really peaked in 1979 (7 boats and 54 pupils and staff): a very happy memory.
Q: The subject of girls doing Science at A Level, especially Physics, is much in the news. What are your thoughts? RJL: It's disappointing that, nationally, over
KS Orienteering badge hunters' group (July 1979)
Q: My recollection of orienteering at Kingswood is that it was all down to you; I'd never even heard of orienteering before. RJL: When I came back to Kingswood in 1972, I hadn't heard of Orienteering. I was asked what activity I was going Upper House dormitory. Someone suggested Orienteering; when I asked what it was, they said "oh, you just take a few people out in a minibus, drop them off in the Mendips, go to the pub, and pick them up later". Well, I didn't think that was Orienteering! I started to do it properly with some enthusiastic tyros in 1973. Over 41 years, we've had a good few national champions and internationals. Two 2013 British champions at M35 and M45, and there are more in the pipeline who are going to make it, and two successful school teams to celebrate.
Q: You still keep an eye on the KS orienteering? RJL: I do, from a bit of a distance now, but I enjoy chronicling the outstanding deeds of young orienteers from the Bath area in the local paper, which usually includes some Kingswood names. In Scotland in 2012 it was a delight to celebrate - along with enthusiastic parents - a victorious KPS Orienteering team, some of whom will surely put KSODA (Kingswood School Outdoor Activities Group) back into the Top 10 at future National championships. Nowadays, I'm content just to walk new areas, often with a camera to catch passing KS runners. As the Hon Sec of KNAVS (Kingswood Navigators - orienteering former pupils, parents, staff and their children), it's a heart-warming achievement to have just seen a 36th competition with the school, with KNAVS winning for the 12th time.
Q: I managed to miss out on Kingswood's 'golden age of Canal Boat Cruising'. I am now kicking myself for this. Where did you go? RJL: We used to take 12-berthers out from Birmingham,
the last 25 years, only 20 per cent of A Level Physics students have been girls. Kingswood's average is 17 per cent, although in some years it's been much higher, even over 80 per cent. I must say I can't often remember teaching four times as many boys as girls. One thing that did change was that Physics became non-compulsory to study medicine. We do need more physicists and engineers, though, more serious than that. My number one recommendation to parents would be to encourage girls to aspire to the excellent careers to which Physics opens the door.
Q: Another Kingswood scientist – and former pupil – of your retirement?
RJL: Yes, John and Mary Ede introduced me to the Bath Child Contact Centre in 1999. It's a neutral space, run by volunteers, where children of separated families can spend time with their absent parent. Many worthwhile Saturday afternoons have been spent there, and I have just received
Q: Your love of photography began as a boy at Kingswood; is that still going strong? RJL: I often have a digital camera in hand or a mobile phone, and lately a Mini iPad. My interest dates as far back as 1949, starting in the KS Ferens Darkroom. Those skills were still being used there in the b/w days of 1972. Local Bathford many camera opportunities to enjoy abroad and, of course, chronicling three grandchildren growing up. More of RJL's photos can be seen here: http://www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk/index.htm http://brownsfollysheepwatch.blogspot.co.uk/
EDITOR'S NOTE: Did you take part in the KS canal and river cruises during the 1970s? We'd love to follow this up for the next edition of KAN, so do share your memories/photos with us. Email: association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
Rev Dr Peter Ensor... ...has recently taken up a new appointment as a senior lecturer in the Theological department at the Kenya Methodist University. I had a safe and smooth journey to Kenya on 18th September this year and have a new home within the campus of the Kenya Methodist University just outside Meru Town. It is an of the campus. The campus itself is spacious and beautifully landscaped. It borders both on a forest, where elephants, baboons and monkeys roam, and on a plain which stretches across the Meru District to the Nyambene hills 30 miles away, which, on most days, are clearly visible from the campus. Though it sits astride the equator, the Meru District is also about 5000 ft. above sea level, which gives us temperatures in the 20s Celsius most of the time, the variations during the year only being due to the rainy and dry seasons.
The general scene is one of vibrancy, growth and optimism, and is very encouraging. KEMU as a whole has over 10,000 students, distributed between 5 faculties and 6 centres. Of these about 2000 are associated with the Meru campus (the 'mother' campus of the whole university). They study a wide variety of subjects at different levels; some are part-time, others full-time; some are residential, others distance learners. While not all the students are Christians (let alone Methodists), the university is owned and run by the Methodist Church in Kenya and has a marked Christian ethos. The chapel services at the Meru campus, though not compulsory, are normally attended by hundreds of community members. Moreover, the worship and preaching is Bible based, contemporary, inculturated, and passionate. There are about 150 theological students studying with KEMU at present, of whom about 60 are associated with the Meru campus, 30 of them residentially and full-time.
Having witnessed the ministry skills of some of these students both on mission in a local circuit and in the university chapel, I have been impressed by their gifts and devotion, and it has been a privilege to play a part in their academic training and ministerial formation. This term I have taught New Testament Introduction, Luke-Acts, and the book of Revelation. Next term I expect to teach Hebrew and a Systematic Theology course. I have also had contacts with the Methodist Church outside the university. Methodist work began in the Meru District exactly 100 years ago. At that time there were no churches. Today Christianity is the major faith of the area (as it is of Kenya as a whole) with hundreds of congregations (Methodist and other), many of them with hundreds of members, scattered all over the District. One Methodist church I preached in a few weeks ago had about 500 adults in its English service, 100 in its Kimeru service and 300 children in its Sunday School! The building is not big enough to contain the English service and late-comers have to stand around the porch during the service, joining in as best they can. Another church I have preached in is about 7 months old. It has already gathered a community of about 90 people and is raising funds to buy a plot and put up a worship centre. The general scene is one of vibrancy, growth and optimism, and is very encouraging. After a long wait, I have now received my freight from UK, a work permit from the Kenyan government, and a 4-wheel-drive assistance from the Methodist World Church assets, I feel that I can settle down more fully and plan for the longer term. Peter Ensor (1964-70)
Valete
vALETE ANDERSON
Howard Anderson
AYLOTT
Roger Franklin Aylott
Victor Ernest Bayley
Bernard David Booth
Douglas Hall Brown
Timothy David Kilner Brown
Sheena E Campbell
HM Wife 1970-87
Roger Chope
Charles Howard Clark
Donald Edward Creasy
Geoffrey Michael Crowther
DICKENSEN
John Evratt Dickensen
Alexander George Elliott
Ken Hall
Graham Heywood
HOLLINGWORTH
Hugh Caudwell Hollingworth
David Ritchie Ives
Donald Peter Rose
Frank Rodney Searle
Michael Douglas Spear
Michael Crowther-Watson
WETHERILL
John Homer Wetherill
Judy Ann Wilkinson
Edward Thomas Williams
1960-66 Staff 1970-2001
Kingswood Hymns If I were to take my title literally, this little piece would expand to the size of a book, for all the Wesley brothers' hymns should qualify for discussion. My intention, however, is much narrower: I want to look at three hymns with music composed by men who were on the Kingswood staff, and to lay a myth about a fourth. Anchor, using John Wesley's translation of a hymn by John Rothe "Now I have found the ground wherein /Sure my soul's anchor may remain", and Lansdown, setting Charles Wesley's words "And can it be, that I should gain /An interest in the Saviour's blood?" Both these tunes were included in the Methodist Hymn Book of 1933 [MHB] and it is pleasing to note that Alfred Beer was amongst the roughly half of copyright holders who waived their fee. The third tune is by John Sykes (1909 - 1962) and is called Disposer Supreme (because it is a setting of Isaac Williams' translation of JeanBaptiste de Santeüil's "Supreme, quales Arbiter"), and was published in the Additional Tunes section of Hymns and Songs, the 1969 supplement to MHB. Of these three, only Anchor was included in Hymns and Psalms of 1983 and neither composer is represented in Singing the Faith, the newest Methodist collection. So the time has perhaps come to celebrate a handful of hymns that once were sung with gusto in Kingswood chapel, and are now in danger of oblivion. Alfred Beer was born in Great Barr, north of Birmingham, the son of a schoolmaster also called Alfred and who originally came from Devon. His family background must have been musical for his sister Catherine also became a music teacher. It was also a Methodist family, witness his father entering the Wesleyan ministry in his later years. The family moved several times and in 1881 Alfred père was teaching in Hythe, Kent. Young Alfred followed in his father's footsteps and at age 16 was a 'schoolmaster assistant' in a Buckinghamshire village, and in 1901 was an 'assistant tutor' in Stanley House school, Margate. In 1904 he was appointed 49 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
to Kingswood as Music Master by W. P. Workman. This must have been a great change after the small school in Margate with only 58 pupils and 5 masters, but he obviously found the atmosphere congenial for in that same year, in partnership with a colleague Frank Richards who provided the words, he composed a school song In Via Recta Celeriter, published by Novello & Co. This was followed by The Kingswood March, for piano, published by Weekes & Co. in 1908. (I confess to mild surprise that these items of strictly local interest were accepted by London music publishing houses.) He and Workman obviously got on well: Workman encouraged him in what was really the creation of a music department teacher) – and a notably successful creation it was. As early as November 1905 the school tackled the greater part of Mendelssohn's St Paul. In later years he was to do works by Elgar, Gounod, Purcell, Handel and Haydn which would tax any school's ability today. Workman also asked him to write a tune for Charles Wesley's "And can it be", feeling (correctly!) that Sagina was inappropriate for such profound words. The tune's name, Lansdown, proclaims its origins to those in the know. Beer presented the tune to Workman on his birthday, and extended the gift by producing other new tunes on that date in following years.
John Sykes was another musician, a generation later than Alfred Beer but carrying a similar charisma, who gave his teaching career to Kingswood. When he came to Kingswood, Alfred Beer was already suffering from deterioration in his vision, and his sight steadily got worse. After being told of impending blindness he had a near breakdown and Workman sent him to Norway to recuperate. (Norway? Why Norway?) On his return he wrote the tune Norge for the words "Lord God, by whom all change is wrought" (MHB 55), verse 4 of which had special of which were published in 1918 by Weekes & Co in a booklet entitled Kingswood Tunes and Descants. He continued teaching at Kingswood until 1928, eventually becoming totally blind, with his wife playing a second piano to enable him to learn next term's choral music during the holidays. What is it about Lansdown and Anchor that lift them above the other worthy tunes that Beer wrote? First must come that elusive but essential partnership with the words - a hymn its wider unity. Both tunes win hands down on this count.
Feature Article (The composer recounts that he learnt the words of "And can it be?" by heart before writing the music.) Beer's handling of harmony is not forward looking and belongs to his time: there are many suspensions, last inversions of dominant sevenths and accented passing notes, many secondary sevenths and much chromaticism. However this chromatic harmony was used with taste, and the four (!) appearances of the diminished seventh in Anchor are sincere rather than synthetic - one giving an inspired lift to the climax at the start of the last line. Incidentally, the descending scale in that last line mirrors what we used to do to the last line of Lansdown when singing lustily in chapel - what should have been a downward leap of a sixth tenor part for a bar. Did we recognise a subconscious unity? Two other matters were important - Beer knew the limitations of the adolescent voice, keeping his melodies within a sensible range - and he knew how to build a grand climax at the end of a tune.
and gives them a rousing climax in the last line. My fourth hymn is a setting of Francis Thompson's words "O World Invisible, We View Thee", which is more properly known as his poem The Kingdom of God. I think most of us who sang these mystical words lustily in Kingswood chapel thought the music had been written by John Sykes - and still do. I am sorry to disappoint, but this is the myth I have to lay. In fact it is by Martin Shaw (1875 - 1958) who was an almost exact contemporary of Alfred Beer, though rather more forward-looking in his style, and the best known of the three men. (To my surprise I discovered that all three of these
which Shaw, Vaughan Williams and Percy Dearmer edited,
John Sykes was another musician, a generation later than Alfred Beer but carrying a similar charisma, who gave his teaching career to Kingswood. He was appointed by A.B. Sackett in 1936 and died in the school sanatorium in 1962. As an organ scholar at Balliol (and F.R.C.O. while still a schoolboy) he knew a thing or two about playing the organ; as a composition pupil of Vaughan I should like to think that we can still find some ways of sharing Williams he knew a our enjoyment of these hymns with a younger generation. thing or two about writing music. Both of and is the only one of my four hymns still in print, in the these gifts he spread prodigally about the school, whether 1931 edition of Songs of Praise. (I believe it is also in The it was playing Reubke's Sonata on the 94th Psalm after Public School Hymn Book.) As somebody once said "Martin morning chapel, or writing incidental music for one school Shaw writing in the style of Vaughan Williams" which was play after another. During his time at Oxford he wrote a immediately corrected to "in the style of John Sykes!" The couple of hymn tunes (one called, unsurprisingly, Balliol), words present all sorts of problems to a composer, not least but the one we all knew started life at Kingswood as part of which is metrical variation between verses. Part of Shaw's of the music he wrote for a Senior Literary Association solution, and something which lifts the setting out of the production of Dorothy Sayers' play The Zeal of Thy House ordinary, is that the last verse is given entirely new music, of a in 1940. The play concerns William of Sens' rebuilding rather declamatory nature - though Shaw allows that it could be sung to the same tune as previous verses. Those who have century and starts with the cathedral choir singing this sung the proper version will remember the strong effect of hymn. According to a manuscript copy, Sykes named the the closing line "Not of Gennesareth, but Thames!" with its tune after the play, and it was known as The Zeal of Thy crotchet rest before the last two words. House. When, after his death, it was published in Hymns and Psalms, the editors changed the name to make it the So, four hymns, three composers, two generations - and one of music catching the power and mood of the words, of sharing our enjoyment of these hymns with a younger simple, straightforward and strong as it is. The harmonies generation. You never know, it might - just might - happen are noticeably more modern than those of Beer, and in the that they come back into fashion. use of false relations at the cadences (F natural and F sharp) Sykes is considerate for the range of adolescent male voices,
Peter Clulow (1947-56) Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 50
Have Your Say... The Editor values receiving personal news from members and also newspaper cuttings (including obituaries) which have been spotted by readers. Please send to The Editor, Kingswood Association, Kingswood School, Bath, BA1 5RG or email association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk From Mike Crowther-Watson (1934-44) SUBJECT: Music at Kingswood Dear Editor, I was delighted to read the letter from David Sawyer in the KA News (March 2013) about his musical experiences while at Kingswood in Uppingham. It has inspired me to add some personal recollections.
Sykes" - who crossed the road from Kingswood to Westwood once a week to give us singing lessons. Our favourite was "Donkey Riding" which we sung with great gusto and sometimes changed the words. Later when I became a resident in Hall House, the Assistant House Master was Sykes. His accommodation was at one end of our long dormitory. He possessed a state-of-the-arts Radio Gram, a large piece of cabinet furniture containing a Wireless Receiver and a Record Player, - 78 rpm shellac, of course. If we were lucky, and Sykes had suitable wined and dined, after lights-out he would play a recording of Rachmaninoff 's 2nd piano concerto, very loudly. We lay on our backs, in the dark, overcome by this romantic performance. During the war years Kingswood was evacuated to Uppingham. Uppingham had very superior facilities for the study of music. The Head of Music was Sterndale Bennett, son of the composer of "The May Queen", amongst other almost forgotten works. There was a Chapel with a particularly manual pipe organ. Most impressively there was a new Music at either end of a long corridor, with rows of practice rooms on either side. All were sound-proofed with double doors and provided with a piano. The end teaching rooms had "grands". The K.S. teaching staff consisted of our lovable Percy Hancox (known as "Plugger") and Bernard Oram, who replaced Sykes when he enlisted for military service. There were several Uppingham teachers. Amongst them (the only ones I remember) were the beautiful, talented Barbara Groom (violin) and "Madeleine", a young and gifted cellist. Other instrumental teachers were imported from The Leicester Philharmonic Orchestra. They also boosted the Uppingham School Orchestra in concerts conducted by Sterndale Bennett (who was later knighted and conducted at "The Proms"). Some players from the KS Orchestra were also invited. It was a one-way arrangement. With this background it was not surprising that I decided to take music as a principal subject in my Higher School inclined was Donald Helps who played the French Horn. I was taught the clarinet by Mr. Palmer, principal clarinet player from the Leicester Phil. We both studied harmony with Percy Hancox (who always addressed us as "My son..."). 51 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
At boarding school there is a gap in things-to-do on Sunday evenings. One has completed the statuary prep, attended church services and prayers, written the obligatory letter home, and perhaps taken a walk. Of course, there was always Senior Lit. and a few other societies. However, when I was elected Secretary of The Music Society, I had the idea of evening recitals given by some of our very talented instrumentalists. These included Spooner (violin), Peeling (piano), Bartle (piano/ organ) to name a few. Then came another idea - starting a new orchestra: The Music Society Orchestra. was there and I was not a very good clarinettist. I obtained orchestral parts for works by Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Berg and Prokoviev. We rehearsed and performed "The Soldier's Tale" and "Peter and the Wolf ". Music purchases were discretely added to my father's music account. The sheet music had to be duplicated or copied. In those days these facilities did not exist, so we had to hand copy all our parts from the conductor's score. Music paper was scarce but we found a substitute in sheets of lavatory paper. Some genius non-absorbent material and therefore easily smudged. "Peter and the Wolf " deserves some special mention. The score demands three French Horn players. This was a obviously Donald Helps, the second David Sawyer and the had decent instruments: Smith's was something else. In a scruffy cardboard box in a neglected cupboard in the music school were some of the main essential parts of a French Horn. They were dirty, tarnished, dented and incomplete. Smith liberated some spare pieces of gas piping and used them to re-assemble a horn. It worked! Bobby Bartle (who later became a "Bevin Boy") was our pianist at rehearsals. His ability to read and play the conductor's score of works by the likes of Stravinsky was legendary. We would have been lost without his talents. The last I heard of him was as the resident organist in a London church. I sang in the choir and did some quartet work under Oram, but my voice was never strong enough to sing tenor solo. At the oral H.S.C. examination held in Birmingham, HelyHutchinson was our examiner. He was, of course, a friend of Hancox (who knew everyone, including Myra Hess and Solomon). Hely-Hutchinson played a whole-tone scale. "What was that?" he asked. I replied "A whole-tone scale, Sir". I was it. It was perhaps surprising, in a traditional musical climate where one of our set works was Elgar's "Dream of Gerontius". But I must admit to having privately studied such composers as Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Ernst Krenek and "Les Six".
Dear Editor choral activities. After singing an anthem with gusto and lots of deep breathing, I found that when I sat down I could hold my breath for a surprisingly long time. Years later, having joined the "Duke of Wellingtons", I was subjected to gas mask (respirator) training. The innocent squad was paraded in full kit with packed respirators and made to sprint round a hut in which some foul and irritating tear gas had been released. The other recruits chased round, panting, while I took lots of deep breaths as though singing an anthem. We were then sent into the hut and the door closed. After what seemed an eternity we received the order, "Respirators on". By then, most of the platoon were in great distress, coughing and choking as they struggled to obey. But I was able to hold my breath before putting mine on and exhale without discomfort, thanks to my choral singing at KS. to give a concert in the Assembly Hall, for which there was an afternoon rehearsal. We installed Donald Helps with his French Horn in the nearest practice room and awaited the arrival of the orchestra. At a given signal Donald played that brilliant and motif theme. It worked! The symphonic horn player stopped in his tracks and sought out the young performer. This meeting truly assisted Helps in his career as a professional. He later joined The Halle Orchestra under Sir John Barbirolli.
very short notice. All this at a time when the country was preparing to combat a possible invasion and beginning a long What a miracle he found Uppingham! But it was several years before Kingswood could return to Bath and what problems they must have had when they did return! I did not have to look far to see how large the School has become. Angela D-W was wonderful to my wife and I and showed us everything we wished to see. We saw that there were girls everywhere, lady teachers in many classrooms (quite foreign to the KS I knew), greatly improved art and music rooms and even a recording studio! The School also has many lovely tennis courts on what was the old Moke Field, the squash courts, new classrooms being built and a new theatre. All round progress everywhere! an adaptability to change! It is encouraging to note that faith in the original foundations of the School has been successfully maintained through all the vicissitudes that must have taken no mean achievement and must also enhance the lovely City of Bath. Ray Reason
My ambition at this time was to become a recording engineer. I did several practice "mike-ups" with a tolerant Hancox at the grand piano in "Big Hall". After the Army, I joined achieving my early ambition. I have a studio audio system in my house, my fantastic speakers were actually among those used in the recording of Wagner's "Ring Cycle" for Decca, under George Solti. I have four programming more exacting and rewarding than playing bridge, and I like to believe it helps to keep "the little grey cells" going. With best wishes to David Sawyer, without whom this would never have been written, Mike Crowther-Watson (M.C. Watson at School) Editor's Note: Sadly Mike passed away not long after this piece was written. An obituary and photograph are published on page 37
From: Peter Lewis (1967-76) Subject: KAn 9 Dear Editor, March 2013 edition of the Association News. It seems quite extraordinary that my "parting company with the rock face" 38 years ago should still be recalled, but whilst the scar on my leg is barely noticeable, Tony Haines' I still enjoy the mountains and have even roped-up for a few sessions at my local climbing wall recently, to the embarrassment of my offspring who, of course, perform at a much higher level.
From: Ray Reason (1938-42) Subject: Adapting to change
RJL noted some time ago that I still participated in Mountain Marathons, but over recent years I've decided I prefer my endurance events on two wheels rather than two feet. Indeed I rode over the Llanberis pass (scene of the above mentioned accident) on a memorable ride last year: a 600 km jaunt from Chepstow to Menai and back.
This year's challenge will be the 1400km London-Edinburgh-
by an adaptability to change which has nevertheless managed to remain faithful to the original foundation of the School."
distance cycling association - which has attracted over 1000 entries from all around the world. I wonder if any other association members are involved, either as riders or as volunteers at the checkpoints?
No doubt John Wesley would have been delighted if he had been able to hear Mr Morris' comment made after all these years, and I am sure he would have concurred with this statement. Kingswood has certainly changed – AND HOW! years. It must have had its biggest change when the Admiralty took over the School and Mr Sackett (the Headmaster at
I wonder too if Tony recalls taking me to the pub and buying me a pint after our excursion to Bangor A&E? On his retirement such tales may now be told… Regards, Peter Lewis Kingswood Association News: Edition 10 / 52
Exec Committee
Kingswood Association Executive Committee 2013-2014
President: Tim Lindsay (1974)
Chairman: Paul Baines (1990)
Treasurer: Charles Gerrish (1969)
Headmaster: Simon Morris (2008 to date)
KA liaison with the Governing Body: Robert Sandry (1965)
Treasurer of the Trust: John Ellis (1966)
Former President: Sarah Beresford-Smith (1986)
Director of Marketing & Development: Angela Dudley-Warde
ELECTED MEMBERS oF THE ExECUTIvE CoMMITTEE (MAx 12) RETIRInG In 2014
Joanne Raisbeck, nĂŠe Kelly (1999) Tony Haines (Staff 1971-2012)
Tim Westbrook (1965)
Robert Forster (1975)
Chester Lewis (2012)
John Lewis (1956)
Jeremy Wimpress (1976)
David Hunter (1993) 53 / Kingswood Association News: Edition 10
Robin Lewis (Staff 1975-92)
Nick Turner (1981)
Kingswood Encircles the Globe
Association Merchandise To oRDER any of the items, please contact the Association email association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk. Lapel Pin School Mug Business Card Case Red Tie Black Tie
£4 £5 £7 £10 £10
Wesley Horse Brass £25 Shield £35
(Prices do not include postage and packaging)
KINGSWOOD Tributes II TRIBUTES TO THOSE STAFF WHOSE SERVICE TO THE SCHOOL EXTENDED TO 24 YEARS OR MORE This volume is a reprint of published tributes to 46 long serving KS staff, KINGSWOOD A Tribute II teaching and non-teaching, who retired between 1950 and 2012. (It is a companion volume to KINGSWOOD: A Tribute*)
£16.00 (+ £2.00 p&p) To order your copy please telephone 01225 734283 or email association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
focus Kingswood
Kingswood In Focus is available to all members through Focus, the website (www.kingswood.bath.sch.uk). or downloaded if you would prefer. If you would like a printed copy of the
who will be happy to add your name to the mailing list.
We continue to increase our list of KA contacts worldwide. If you could help us expand it further and would like to have your name added as a contact, please email association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
AUSTRALIA: Mark McConnell (1985-89) E. mark@mima.com.au 9 Raleigh Crescent, St Ives, New South Wales 2075 Australia CAnADA (West): John P Romeril (1945-49) E. romeriljma@shaw.ca 9957 Swiftsure Place, Sidney, B.C. V8L 4E3 Canada FRAnCE (north): Bob Kirtley (1954-61) E. bobkirtley@orange.fr 2 Chemin de la Poissonniere, Cinais CHINON 37500, France HonG KonG: Anna Lam (1994-99) ITALY: Mary Campbell-Bianchini (1975-77) E. maryhamcam@virgilio.it Via Zoppega 22, 37032 Monteforte D'Alpone, Italy JAPAn: Chris Dixon (1975-84) E. dixonyan@gol.com Saitama-ken, 359-1132, Japan
KEnYA: Louise (Lulu) Keeble (1999-2001) E. kenyachef@gmail.com PO Box 24296, Nairobi, Kenya SLovAKIA: John H Baron (1959-62) E. johnbaron@nextra.sk
UGAnDA: Paul okello Aliker (1982-84) E. poaliker@yahoo.com PO Box 4299, 14 Bukoto Street Kampala, Uganda UnITED STATES: Colin Mably (1954-60) E. cmably@aol.com 10369 Andrea Lane, La Plata, MARYLAND
E. development@kingswood.sch.bath.uk | T. 01225 735283
Kingswood Association - Coming Events 2014 LONDON RECEPTION PRESIDENT'S SUMMER LUNCH
Thursday 5th June 2014 12.00pm - 3.00pm A warm invitation is extended from the Association President, Mr Tim Lindsay, to join him for lunch in London at The Lansdowne Club For details phone 01225 734283 or email association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
MJSD DINING CLUB
HEADMASTER'S XI
7.00pm for 7.30pm A warm invitation to all in the Kingswood Community to come for supper in the School Dining Hall.
Wednesday 25th June 2014
Fri 14th March t Fri 27th June t Fri 5th Dec 'Friendship, Fellowship and Fun'
For further information phone 01225 734283 or email association@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
Join us for cricket on the Upper
Saturday 13th Sept 2014 Kingswood School
CAMBRIDGE REUNION Saturday 29th March 2014 Lunch at Clare College, Cambridge
Followed by Dinner in the Dining Hall
Limited numbers available.
GOLF FOR ALL
EXETER LUNCH
Friday 9th May 2014
Cumberwell Park, Bradford-on-Avon Wiltshire BA15 2PQ
12.15pm for 1.00pm
Golf Clinic and tuition for those new to golf and beginners as well as a Stableford competition for teams of 4. The afternoon of golf will be followed by dinner
Telephone 01225 734283 or email Development@kingswood.bath.sch.uk
For further information please contact Colin Lomax on 01392 877140
HEADMASTER'S 23-33 EVENT Saturday 29th November 2014 Drinks and Canapes at Café du Marché, London
SOUTH WEST LUNCH Saturday 17th May 2014
KINGSWOOD REMEMBERS
The Kingswood Sports Pavilion Upper Playing Fields
Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th November 2014
Bookings being taken through
A commemoration of the Centenary of WWI through Music and Drama in the Kingswood Theatre
http://www.kingswood.bath.sch.uk/old-kingswoodians/ From there log on to Connections @ Kingswood and search on names, dates, locations and even universities
Kingswood School