January 2011 offcuts_Jan Offcuts 2010.qxd.qxd - The OKS Association

OKS 

January 2011 No.31 

Months of preparation, led by Julia 

Williams, née Maynard (WL 1978-80) 

and the OKS Music Committee, 

brought together 70 OKS singers and 

orchestral musicians among 120 

performers in the Shirley Hall on 

9th October 2010. Stephen Barlow 

was the master musician of the 

evening and OKS were impressed by 

the high standard of The Crypt 

Choir. Many thanks must go to the 

following members of the OKS Music 

Committee: Howard Ionascu, James 

Lawrence, Andrew Lyle, Christopher 

Tinker, Julia Williams, Stuart 

Whatton and Peter White. Robert 

Scott reviews the concert below. 

Offcuts 

OKS ASSOCIATION 

OKS Choral & Orchestral Concert 

OKS Choral & Orchestral Concert – 

Saturday 9th October 2010 : Review 

Vaughan Williams’ dictum that “music is 

not organisation but cannot flourish 

without it” reminds one that mounting a 

concert which involves assembling an ad 

hoc choir and orchestra such as the one in 

the Shirley Hall on 9th October is only 

made possible by a few individuals spending 

a lot of time persuading the participants to 

take part. So first a big thank-you must go 

to Susan Tingle and her staff and Julia 

Williams (née Maynard) for achieving 

this feat. When it comes to performing 

quite a demanding programme on only one 

rehearsal the OKS and school musicians 

certainly derserve the plaudits for such an 

enjoyable and well-nigh perfect display of 

vocal and instrumental artistry. As one 

who likes to keep an ear open to the lower 

parts I was very pleased to hear a well 

sustained lot of cellos and basses and 

bassoons balancing the upper parts that can 

easily swamp them. Of course the whole 

programme relied on the security of the 

filling; no weakness there. 

The Petite Symphonie by Gounod set the 

standard admirably – Jane Pearce, 

Stephen and Roger Lawrence, 

Andrew Lyle and Marius Carboni, 

David and Ida Miller, Keith Maries 

and Toby Miller. I failed to identify all 

the singers in the Songs of Yale, led by James 

Lawrence, but these were put across in the 

required style. We then had the first 

appearance of the orchestral strings led by 

Bryan Gipps and conducted by Stephen 

Barlow in Ridout’s Concertino for flute and 

strings, Patrick Williams being the 

soloist with impeccable phrasing and 

musicianship. 

After the interval for drinks the massed 

choir, which included 61 OKS, launched 

into the Te Deum by Bruckner, a work very 

popular in its day, and one can see why. It 

has plenty of very loud declamatory music 

which this performance certainly expressed 

convincingly. 

The Crypt Choir came next with Howells’ 

Hymn for St. Cecilia, new to me but very 

effective, the organ part strongly executed 

by the pianist. Also new to me was Harris’ 

Bring us, O Lord, reminiscent of that other 

Julia Williams (née Maynard), Robert Scott, Roger Lunn 

masterpiece we used to sing in the Crypt, 

Faire is the Heaven. Two arrangements 

completed the choir’s contribution – Blow 

the Wind Southerly and Sourwood Mountain. I 

particularly enjoyed the latter. The former 

was made famous by Kathleen Ferrier in 

the 1940s and what can beat the single line 

Continues on page 2 

In this issue 

l The Luxmoore Reunion 

l The Charities Act 2006 

l The Working Classes 

l The Papal Visit 

l Publishing, as it is now 

l Lee Rigley 

l Sport, including World Rowing 

Championships 

And in For the Record: 

l News of OKS 

l OKS MPs 

l 59 Years of King’s Week 

l An Oxford College Newsletter 

l Golf (the full report)

Choir rehearsal, Brass rehearsal, 

barbershop and flute; Stanford, Bruckner, 

Gounod and Ridout : it was an exhausting 

but exhilarating day which left a warm 

afterglow of affection for what Edred 

Wright (Common Room 1955-78, 

Director of Music 1958-78) did so much to 

create, and others now maintain. 

The whole organisation seemed to function 

extremely smoothly throughout the day 

and is a great credit to Susan Tingle and 

her team. 

Roger Lawrence (GR 1948-54) 

Finally Stanford’s Te Deum in B flat with full 

orchestra burst on the scene. As Stuart 

Whatton’s (MO 1976-81) programme 

notes pointed out, OKS going back a long 

way sung this at Cathedral Matins, with 

Edred Wright’s congregational part. The 

remembered gusto was duly replicated! 

Through this and the other orchestral 

pieces Stephen Barlow was the master 

musician (or should I say magician), and it 

remains to congratulate Howard Ionascu 

on the high standard achieved by the Crypt 

Choir (founded by Christopher Tinker 

(Common Room 1972-80), present in the 

double bass section with Christopher 

Barlow). Singing is the backbone of the 

school’s music. 

Robert Scott (Common Room 1956-91) 

OKS Concert : 

Impressions 

As it was King’s that gave me the lust for 

singing and playing, I arrived at the Mint 

Yard Gate with high hopes and feelings of 

nostalgia. First to the new Music School to 

rehearse Gounod’s Petite Symphonie with 

eight other wind players, ably led by 

Andrew Lyle (MR 1965-70) and 

Roger Lawrence 

including my elder son Stephen (GR 

1973-78). Nostalgia hit immediately as I 

looked towards the corner of the room 

where my desk had been as Captain of Hall 

about 60 years ago. We then moved over to 

rehearse in the Shirley Hall – a building 

which was begun just before I left . 

I have a photograph which I took from 

Grange Senior Dorm, of what I like to 

think is the first man digging the first hole. 

I had to leave the Shirley Hall early to join 

the rehearsal of some barbershop numbers 

led by my other son James (GR 1983-88). 

This was in a room on the 3rd floor which 

had been constructed above the cavernous 

Junior Dorm of old, and it was stuffed with 

computers. The barbershop group was 

extremely jovial, rather loud and pretty 

chaotic; this did not bode well for the 

concert. 

After a quick lunch – a notable 

improvement on the ration-book offerings 

of the ‘50s – I listened for a few minutes as 

Peter White (SH 1970-75) efficiently 

introduced the choir to Bruckner’s Te Deum 

before going to help rehearse the brass 

section in the same work. 

Photo by Eleanor Bentall 

New Headmaster 

Appointed 

The appointment of Mr Peter Roberts 

as Headmaster of the King’s School, 

Canterbury from 2011 has been 

announced. 

Peter was educated at Tiffin Boys’ 

School, Kingston-upon-Thames, and at 

Merton College, Oxford, where he 

gained a First Class Honours degree in 

Modern History. He took a PGCE at 

London University. 

He was on the staff of Winchester 

College from 1986-2003, first as 

assistant teacher, then from 1991 as 

Head of History and also from 1991 as 

Master-in-College (Housemaster of the 

Scholars’ House) and ex-officio deputy 

to the Headmaster. He became 

Headmaster of Bradfield College in 

August 2003 and is a Governor of two 

prep schools. Peter is married to Marie 

and they have three teenage daughters. 

From a strong field, the Governors 

were delighted to appoint Peter, who 

they are confident will be a good fit for 

King’s, and the right person to lead the 

school in the years ahead. 

OKS Offcuts • Jan 2011 • Issue 31 

2 

The OKS Association • www.oks.org.uk

Dr Liz Pidoux, Luxmoore Reunion Speech. Sunday, 10th October 2010 

Those of us old enough to remember dear 

old Tony Hancock in his persona as the 

crusty loner who lived in 23, Railway 

Cuttings, East Cheam, just might 

remember an episode on the early radio 

versions of ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ entitled 

‘The Old School Reunion’. Tony’s tenants 

were the prim and scornful Miss Grizelda 

Pugh (Hattie Jacques), a wide boy of dodgy 

deals, aka Sid James, and a terminally dim, 

infantile Australian otherwise known to us 

as Bill Kerr. Assorted characters as they 

were, they all joined together in mocking 

Hancock when he began to talk about his 

alma mater, remembering the old school 

song Gaudeamus igitur. Waxing sentimental 

about the old school tie and its wearers, 

Hancock was heard to ask wistfully of 

Kenneth Williams, ‘But the chaps Tell me, 

how… how are the chaps’ 

We didn’t believe him of course: half of 

Hancock’s world was a ludicrous fantasy he 

created to protect himself against the 

desperation of his own ordinariness. He 

probably never belonged to the school he 

remembered with such apparent authority 

and sentiment; we suspected that this was a 

school he saw every day as he walked home 

from his own scruffy secondary modern. 

We imagine him standing for untold 

minutes, staring wistfully over the hedge at 

the mock Victorian Gothic buildings, at the 

strange uniforms consisting of oblique 

references to clerical history, and we fancy 

we hear him straining to pick up and 

assimilate the even stranger language 

employed by ‘the chaps’, a language so 

strange that it constituted complete 

gobbledygook to any but the initiated. We 

laughed, but we appreciated his dream, and 

what it consisted of in general terms; it was 

a deep-seated yearning to belong, to belong 

to a family not constricted by blood ties or 

even by common characteristics, but by 

extended family values, by group ethos, 

and in Hancock’s fantasy but our reality, by 

the magical, indefinable and essentially 

ineffable qualities which go to making up 

the school to which we belong, and to 

which, through friendship and through the 

important ritual of reunions, we still 

belong. 

In a sense, the King’s School, Canterbury 

conforms to many of Hancock’s fantasies. 

We reside proudly in a cathedral precincts 

largely composed of buildings stunning in 

both their age and beauty, even if the 

Luftwaffe ensured that some of them are 

now kitsch reproductions – Lardergate, 

most famously. Our male uniform has 

been modified subtly by fashion as it was 

dragged through the ages: my husband 

assures me, for instance, that the rage in 

the ‘50s when he was at Grange was for 

shoe-lace ties, crepe-soled shoes and 

slicked-back duck’s-arse hair-does. We 

have sadly lost the straw hat - remember 

those – another trick, which I am sure 

none of you Luxmoore chaps indulged in, 

was to sell it off or the silver-topped cane, 

to some passing American tourist – ‘Gee, 

Marvin, get a load of this cute headwear 

and the shiny stick – just like Fred Astaire!’ 

Little has changed for the young blades of 

King’s, including the language, and when 

the girls joined the school, they too were 

eventually accoutred in the female skirt 

version of the pin-striped trousering so 

handy for those school plays involving 

waiters. However, here we come to the 

rub: how many boarding houses at the 

King’s School can boast a reunion involving 

both sexes Well, Walpole and Broughton 

for a start, but we don’t talk about them. 

Some of you will remember the emotive 

business of quitting the lofty towers of 

Luxmoore in New Dover Road for the 

comparative wendy house of Luxmoore in 

the Precincts. Incidentally, we are 

delighted to welcome three Luxmoore 

housemasters: Messrs Richard Roberts, 

Roger Medill and Bob Bee. You 

gentlemen it was, who defined Luxmoore 

in that splendid building, which I am told is 

now, rather sadly, a block of flats. Then Mr 

Bee and his wife, Martha, oversaw what 

must have been a somewhat traumatic yet 

exciting move into the Precincts. 

Incidentally, I’m told by OKS gentlemen 

(with a tribal axe to grind) that you New 

Dover Road fellows were considered a 

strange and exotic lot, lurking as you were 

at a distance on the edge of town, therefore 

on the edge of civilisation as we know it, 

and to them - when you finally moved, as 

the hooded hordes, across the ring road in 

1980, and into the jolly folly we call 

Luxmoore now - there was a feeling 

amongst those in the Precincts that this 

move was something of an Anschluss, an 

outrageous invasion of territory, made all 

the worse by your audacity in moving into 

a building which had been the back garden 

of Linacre! I met gentlemen at an OKS 

lunch a couple of years ago in King’s Week, 

OKS gentlemen of Linacre, who have still 

not forgiven you this outrage. 

I cannot imagine how you chaps must have 

felt, on hearing that, in 1991, Luxmoore 

was to be converted to a girls’ house, in the 

inimitable hands of Fiona Tennick and 

her wonderful husband, Martin, who to 

me will always define what it is truly to be 

a scholar-gentleman. Fiona it was who 

established the feisty, sociable ethos of this 

new female boarding house, eventually 

lieutenanted by the now legendary Mrs 

Pears, who, like Sir Humphrey to passing 

prime ministers, has held administrative 



3 


Continued from page 3 

and pastoral sway under three 

housemistresses in this house, and, as a lady 

of the Tough Old School of ‘Beggar it, Let’s 

Get On With It’, she’s likely to survive me 

to serve under a fourth one. 

When I first came here to teach over 

twelve years ago, incidentally with Jo 

Cook, our currently longest serving tutor, 

I would always reckon that you could tell a 

Luxmoore girl at twenty paces: confident, 

ebullient and noisily sociable, a tradition 

well maintained by Samantha Price and 

husband Iori, when Fiona retired to 

Scotland to sort out the area around 

Edinburgh. No doubt much of Lothian now 

resembles Luxmoore. Sam and Iori 

continued the Tennick tradition of fun and 

frolics, blended with bouts of serious 

fundraising and academic endeavour, and it 

is the heritage of these two fine 

housemistresses that I took over with some 

pride and a sense of privilege, living in the 

shadow of the east end of the Cathedral 

and, for the moment, a good deal of 

scaffolding. 

Why do we gather together then Three 

Housemasters: Richard Roberts, Roger 

Medill and Bob Bee; three 

Housemistresses: Fiona Tennick, Sam Price 

and ‘meself’, as Chaucer would put it; two 

assistant housemasters, Chris Millar and 

George Robertson and my much-prized 

assistant housemistress, Zoe Crawshaw. 

We have here also many much appreciated 

tutors who over the years have given their 

time and energy unstintingly to the House 

and to its pupils, and let us not forget all 

the past Luxmoore pupils here, whom we 

loved in large part very dearly, but with a 

decent distance and tone, who astounded 

us with their talents, sent us stir-crazy and 

heading for the whisky decanter with their 

trials and errors. 

So, why do we meet here today Just 

because we identify with those very traits 

in a community which Hancock’s character 

admired and longed for, and so many 

individuals in life never have the 

opportunity to experience. We are a family 

in the best sense. We are proud of our 

identity with Luxmoore House and with 

the King’s School. Many of us, teachers 

and pupils alike, owe key strengths in 

ourselves to the years that we spent here. 

We carry King’s and our boarding houses in 

our hearts for the length of our lives, and 

this is where true history lies, in the lives 

of people such as we, the lucky ones, 

cemented together by School and House 

values which never leave us. My deep and 

sincere thanks to you all for sharing this 

special day, and my sense of privilege in 

doing so is shared with you now. 

Liz Pidoux 

Luxmoore in the 1960s 

In 1960, when I succeeded The Rt Revd 

Bishop Humphrey Beevor (Common 

Room 1957-60, sometime Bishop of 

Lebombo) as Housemaster, Luxmoore 

consisted of two adjoining buildings of 

Edwardian style with large gardens, in the 

New Dover Road, Nos. 73, Combe House, 

and 75, Luxmoore. The playing fields 

beyond the gardens provided several 

pitches used for inter-house “league” 

games. The housemaster lived in 75, but 

some 40 boys were accommodated in 73 

under the supervision of the resident 

House tutor. John Goddard came with 

me from Galpin’s until his appointment to 

School House, and was followed by 

George Facer and then David Reid. 

Their role was crucial to the running of the 

house, like that of Chris Millar and 

George Robertson previously. The 

matron’s quarters were also there. 

With a total strength of over 90, Luxmoore 

was easily the largest boarding house. It 

seemed to contain a higher proportion of 

boys with expatriate parents. Was this, I 

sometimes wondered, because Canon 

Shirley found it easier to place them 

outside the Precincts than the sons of the 

Home Counties Walking or cycling “down 

to school” and back, four or more times 

daily, contributed to rude health, which 

some rivals described less politely. 


4 

The OKS Association •www.oks.org.uk

Never mind, Luxmoore rejoiced in its 

rugged individuality and sporting prowess. 

Besides, they saw more of real life, not to 

mention Simon Langton girls. House food, 

which included lunch, was usually thought 

to be better than the main school kitchens 

provided. Catering was the responsibility 

of the matron; in our era Pat Lander, an 

eccentric Australian, then for a year the 

glamorous Jacqueline Colledge whom we 

met years later in Suffolk as the wife of a 

friend, David Watson. She had become a 

gifted artist. Most happily Lena Campbell 

then took the post, “Campbelina” to our 

small sons. Her combination of 

motherliness, firm good sense, and humour 

with efficiency, was unique. 

There were other important figures on the 

domestic side like Mrs Egerton who ran 

the Sewing Room and Mr Ring the 

gardener, who had seen at least three 

housemasters come and go, and continued 

well after my time. I wish we could 

remember the name of our splendid daily 

“help”, who, despite having only one arm, 

coped as well with any household task as 

she did cradling a baby. The cooks, who 

lived in the basement of 75, were more 

transitory. 

One of the inducements to move from 

Galpin’s put forward by the Headmaster, 

when I became engaged to be married, 

was: “more room for a family, old man.” In 

fact our accommodation consisted of two 

bedrooms, a bathroom and a good-sized 

sitting room, all opening onto a public 

landing. Our movements to and from the 

bathroom were not screened from the 

study and dormitory opposite. As a major 

new concession a tiny kitchen was created 

out of a WC opposite the boys’ back 

staircase. My wife could just squeeze in to 

cook, or to wash nappies, with increasing 

difficulty when pregnant. 

Bearing in mind that my 20 year-old bride, 

Wendy, was not many months senior to 

the Head of House, Graham Pritchard, 

these domestic arrangements were 

somewhat of a challenge after just seven 

weeks of marriage. But we are still 

married. My official study was downstairs. 

Later, as the family grew, a new study was 

built for me as a kind of hutch over the 

front stairwell, enabling us to take over the 

room opposite our “flat” as our bedroom, 

greatly increasing privacy. We never 

discovered the wiring of the alarm buzzer 

under the landing floor, which, I am now 

told, had been ingeniously installed to 

signal the approach of authority after 

“Lights Out” or during ‘prep’. 

The legend of this warning system was just 

one of many lively reminiscences 

exchanged with a cheerful company of 

some twenty 1960s inmates who gathered 

at the “new” Luxmoore and for lunch in the 

St. Augustine’s Refectory on October 10th 

last. Several made solicitous enquiries 

about the three “babies” who arrived in 

’61,’64, and just before our last term 

there, in ’67. The mutual realisation that 

the eldest of the trio would be 50 next 

year was a sobering thought, and a shock to 

some. 

It was an enormous pleasure for us to meet 

them again, many for the first time for 

over 40 years, and to find that, despite this 

long interval, their features and, above all, 

personalities, were very familiar. The 

presence of former house tutors, Bob, 

Chris and George, alias Bee, Millar and 

Robertson, was a great bonus. Altogether 

it was a heart-warming experience for this 

very former housemaster and his everyouthful 

wife. Our sincere thanks are also 

due to the present generation of 

Luxmoorians who were much admired by 

their seniors. 

Richard Roberts (Common Room 

1956-67, Luxmoore 1960 - 67) 

Luxmoore in the 1990s 

The past truly is another country; our time 

in Luxmoore began in 1991 – almost 20 

years ago now, and it was in many ways a 

simpler world. The building was by then 10 

years old and thought relatively new, so 

there was none of the re-furbishment that 

is part of a new Housemaster’s lot 

nowadays. Our aim was simple, low-cost 

eradication of the boy-world, removing the 

outsize aeroplane mural in the Common 

Room, for instance, naming the studies 

after women who had achieved distinction 

in their field, and painting the doors a 

different colour for each year, so that 

juniors could easily find a sympathetic 

senior. Gradually, the boys’ photos moved 

to the back corridor, to be replaced by the 

girls’ ones; colourful theatre posters spread 

over the acres of grey concrete walls, 

trendy when it had been built but already 

by ’91 redolent of a communist prison. I 

carved out a herbaceous border in the 

front garden, which Linacre still claimed as 

theirs, and planted Albertine roses all along 

the curved wall. 

Looking back at early photographs, the 

skirts now seem very long and the girls 

remarkably smart. Waistcoats were still 

common, and I think they were still proud 

of the new uniform we had devised for 

them. There were, of course, no mobile 

phones, so the two pay- phones were very 

important. Getting hold of the right 

change, timing the length of calls to ensure 

fairness, and emptying the full coin boxes 

were all regular features of House life; 

when they broke down, it was a matter of 

general despair; phone-queues at 9.15 p.m. 

became a social event, with girls lying on 

the floor, feet up the walls, with cups of tea 

or snacks, waiting their turn in chattering 

groups. My fax machine was regarded as 

extremely modern, and MJT’s love of the 

computer positively space-age! He devised 

a House database long before that was a 

common idea, and foresaw its possibilities. 

Of course, girls generally did not have 

bank or credit cards, so the House bank 

opened in my study three times a day; it 



5 


was a useful way of both keeping an eye on 

spending patterns and making sure I saw 

everyone frequently if briefly, hearing the 

news of the day as I gave out pocketmoney. 

£30 a term was the accepted 

amount then. 

There was a lot of talk about boy - visiting, 

but things didn’t progress far in my time; 

they came into the Common Room, but 

that was all. There weren’t many exeats, so 

girls devised entertainments for 

themselves; I remember lots of cakes and 

biscuits being made in my kitchen, for 

instance. Health & Safety didn’t rule our 

lives, so a homesick girl brought pet 

guinea-pigs in a cage, which lived in the 

basement among the washing machines; 

cheering and applause down there one 

evening alerted me to betting on races 

being run round a circuit of the hot pipes! 

Lap-tops only came in at the end of my 

time, but we were fortunate enough to be 

given by a parent a dozen, bulky grey 

computers no longer needed by his firm; 

these lived up in the House Library, which 

was still full of dusty paperbacks. The 

machines often needed MJT ’s persuasion 

to flicker back into green light on the tiny 

screens, but were regarded as very modern 

indeed. People still wrote essays and notes 

in ink, and my italic- nibbed fountain pen 

always lived on the front of my study desk, 

as there seemed to be lots of forms to sign; 

I developed a distinctive signature with a 

flourish, which was (deliberately) hard to 

fake! Rota-lists on my wall were all 

handwritten & colour-coded. 

Post was another important feature of life 

in those pre-e-mail/text days. Most 

parental communications to me were by 

letter or personal call, which I must say I 

liked – and which continued long after the 

girls left. 

The handbell was replaced by a hideous 

electric affair that sounded for all the 

world like an airport tannoy! In those pre- 

Google days, the study was an even greater 

focus as encyclopaedias and university 

prospectuses lived in there, and girls sat on 

the floor discussing options or prep. It was 

a busy hub of House life. The girls were 

forging their way in previously boydominated 

activities, such as rowing; this 

occasioned much derision but by the mid 

‘90s we had half the House doing the sport 

and a couple rowing for their country. The 

girls had to be quite determined to get 

anywhere at that point. 

We had a lovably eccentric, tiny Matron, 

who smoked like a chimney and would let 

girls off games when it was wet and cold; 

she was an expert on politics and her room 

was the scene of much impassioned debate. 

We had some colourful parents in the early 

days: one who sent bags of oranges down 

with the chauffeur, and another who did 

not recognise that letters needed stamps, 

and expected the school shop to open on 

Sunday morning especially for her! It was a 

time of great plans – the central yard was 

to become our Banana House; I grew the 

banana tree but that was as far as it got! It 

is good to see how many improvements 

have been made in recent years. 

We were forging our way in the ‘90s, the 

girls of Walpole and Luxmoore. Gradually, 

they moved from being stared 

at/admired/feared/resented to being 

accepted as an integral part of the school. 

In those early days, we were honorary 

chaps – and that included me. As I 

watched an old piece of film made by MJT 

of a Monitors’ Meeting in 1992,it struck 

me how very mature those girls were – 

young women, making their way in what 

was still a man’s world. My diaries of those 

years now chart a time past but much 

enjoyed. Gaudeamus igitur. 

Fiona E. Tennick (Common Room 1981- 

2005, Luxmoore 1991 – 2003) 


6 


LORD PILKINGTON 

We are grateful to Tom Macan, father of 

Melissa Macan (WL 1997-2002), for 

pointing out the error in our last edition where 

we described Lord Pilkington (Headmaster 

1975-86) as only the second public school 

headmaster since the War to be created a Life 

Peer (after Lord James of Rusholme). In fact the 

second was Lord Wolfenden of Westcott, who was 

created a Life Peer in 1974 at the expiry of his 

term as Director of the British Museum. Prior to 

holding a number of significant public positions, 

Lord Wolfenden had been Headmaster of both 

Uppingham and Shrewsbury. (Mr Macan is an 

Old Salopian). 

The ideology of educational change tends 

not to be a direct concern of teachers in 

the fee-paying sector, nor indeed of parents 

or OKS once done with the educational 

process. Almost certainly they are unwise 

in this, since the central principle of those 

committed to the comprehensive ideal is 

that no one of school age can be said to 

attend a comprehensive school until 

everyone of school age does so: all 

alternatives must be eliminated. 

Independent schools have few positive 

campaigners in Parliament, but Lord 

Pilkington remains someone who will 

speak out against monopoly projects. In 

the Public Bodies debate, lasting more than 

eight hours on 9 November 2010, in the 

House of Lords, Lord Pilkington (speaking 

after six hours) attacked the operation of 

the Charities Act 2006, which (regrettably) 

“went through without too much 

questioning”. 

The Bill’s topic was “the quango state”, the 

£38 bn spent in 2009 (as a yardstick the 

Defence budget is £32 bn) on 901 public 

bodies, 481 of which are due to be 

reformed or abolished. Lord Pilkington’s 

concern was with the arguable abuse of a 

quango. (Extracted from Hansard Vol. 722, No. 

62). 

“My Lords, I wish to raise problems relating to 

the charity commissioners, I am encouraged by 

the fact that my noble friend talked about their 

impartiality and integrity, which has been 

mentioned by other noble Lords. However, I 

worry about the charity commissioners because I 

feel that they have shown prejudice and 

partisanship, particularly with regard to 

independent schools. I confess to an interest, in 

that I spent all my professional life in 

independent schools. I was master in charge of 

the scholars at Eton and headmaster at two 

other independent schools. I feel that the 

Charity Commission has started to show a 

political bias, which has actually been unnoticed 

in the whole of its history since it was set up by 

statute in 1853. 

The facts is that very few independent schools 

have large endowments, but it has been 

acknowledged since 1601 that education is a 

charity and a charitable act. In consequence, 

every independent school that I know subsidises 

poor pupils with scholarships and bursaries. 

They do this by taking money out of their total 

income. The advantage given by charitable 

status is used to give these scholarships and 

bursaries. For example, at King’s School, 

Canterbury, where I was the Headmaster for 11 

years, there were no endowments whatever. It 

took 13 per cent of its mainly fee-paying income 

to subsidise scholarships and bursaries. 

The present charitable administration is 

questioning the commitment of independent 

schools to their charitable status. That is quite 

wrong and prejudiced and ought to be 

questioned. It could have an effect on the 

ancient universities, taking away their 

independence. As noble Lords know, the only 

universities to have large endowments are Oxford 

and Cambridge and one or two others, but some 

new universities are raising endowments. It is 

crucial to a democracy that a state should not 

influence their admission procedure or anything. 

Charitable status is terribly important to this. 

Because of that, I think that this legislature 

should begin to question the Charity Commission 

in this matter. 

Everyone has looked at all sorts of charities and 

we have talked of the integrity of the Charity 

Commission, but I have the audacity to qustion 

that. The Charities Act 2006 went through 

without too much questioning – and I plead 

guilty myself as I was ill at the time. The 

Charity Commission has turned very general 

clauses into a way of questioning the whole 

business of charitable education, particularly in 

independent schools. That is wrong and should 

be questioned. It is wrong that political activity 

should enter into such an organisation and I 

shall certainly be raising the issue later.” 

HELPFUL VOICES 

Possibly Lord Pilkington may gain an 

opportunity to talk to one of his King’s 

sixth-formers Kate Fall (WL 1983-85) 

is beginning to come out of the shadows, as 

the Prime Minister’s Deputy Chief of Staff. 

“Arguably the most powerful woman in 

government, she has much less time these 

days for shopping trips with Mrs C., but 

they remain close,” according to one 

commentator. “A small circle of young, 

glamorous, well-connected women, among 

them Kate Fall, 43, a friend of Mr 

Cameron at Oxford,” says another. 

All we could offer an enquring journalist is 

Robert Scott’s “very impressive list of 

paino works Kate played in her time at 

King’s”, some seventeen high-quality piano 

pieces; she gained Grade VIII Merit at 

Piano and Grade VIII flute. Kate doesn’t 

seem to have studied Machiavelli whilst 

here, but The New Machiavelli by Tony Blair’s 

Chief of Staff, Jonathan Powell (GL 

1969-73), has been attracting a large 

number of reviews, not all of them 

friendly. (If he had waited one year,he 

could have matched the centenary of HG 

Wells’ book with the same title). 

“This book is of immense value, not just as 

a manual of modern government but 

because it illustrates the arrogant, 

unselfconscious belief of the Blairites that 

they knew best about everything” (Andrew 

Gimson). 

“The book is fascinating in all its examples 

of ghastliness. Ghastliest of all is Gordon 

Brown. Brown lies, he bullies, he subverts, 

and ultimately he brings down the prince, 

the paragon of first-class temperament. All 

Blair’s failures appear to be the result of 

other men’s weakness or spite, or else of 

outrageous fortune” (Alan Mallinson). 

We can look forward to an insider’s view 

of Jonathan Powell’s book in the May issue 

of Offcuts, since we are privileged that 

Lord Garel-Jones, PC (GR 1954-60) has 

agreed to review it. 

Hugh Robertson 

Hugh Robertson, MP, Minister for 

Sport, (BR 1976-81) didn’t quite make the 

Dream Team for Zurich. “Me, Prince 

William and the Prime Minister arriving 

has turned things around,” said Becks, 

unselfconsciously setting out the right 

order of icons, the day before the 

decisions, but Hugh was with them for the 

announcement. Alas! No oil, no gas and 

reporters who fail to get themselves 

gunned down when investigating 

corruption. No win! 

However, he has been purposeful in his 

attempts to change the governing hierarchy 

of the Football Association, which he 

regards as resistant to change and 

inadequate at standing up for the wider 

interests of football against the megamoney 

of the Premier League. 


7 


THE WORKING CLASSES 

As a TV Producer part of my job is coming 

up with new ideas. This year’s most 

controversial was The Day The Immigrants 

Left which was shown on BBC1, presented 

by Evan Davies and watched by around six 

million people. 

I wanted to make a programme about 

something that people were talking about. 

Immigration is definitely one of the hottest 

potatoes in Britain but how to make a 

programme about it that anybody wanted 

to watch However important it is, once 

the news is over, wouldn’t most people 

prefer to put their feet up in front of X- 

Factor 

Then it struck me. I’d heard it so many 

times: “They’re taking our houses and jobs. 

Why don’t they just F... off back home!” I 

started to think - what would happen if the 

immigrants really did leave I decided to do 

something daring - we would conduct a 

controversial social experiment, a TV stunt 

with a real purpose, where we actually 

would take away the immigrants and give 

British-born locals the chance to take over 

their jobs. Crazy, but it could just work on 

TV. 

The BBC was excited about the idea but 

also nervous that it couldn’t be done so it 

was my job to prove it could. 

We decided to set the programme in 

Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, which used to 

be one of the most ethnically “English” 

towns in Britain until six years ago when 

thousands of Eastern European immigrant 

workers moved in. Locals now call it 

“Wizbekistan”! When the assistant 

producer and I went for our first visit we 

realised how tough it was going to be to 

get people to take part. The immigrants 

were scared to talk in case they lost their 

jobs and the locals had plenty to say about 

the subject but were, not surprisingly, 

worried about being filmed. We literally 

tramped the streets until we had enough 

people to make the experiment work. But 

with such a controversial subject we always 

had to be careful that what we filmed was a 

genuine attempt to get every side of the 

story. 

We obviously couldn’t send away a whole 

town of immigrant workers, so we just 

targeted a cross section of jobs – croppickers 

on a farm, production line workers 

in a packing plant, waiting staff and cooks 

at the Indian restaurant, etc. and with their 

permission we replaced them with our 

local British “wannabe” workers. Then it 

was time for the action to begin. 

When it came to the big day the local 

workers just seemed to hang themselves. 

We’d tried our hardest to find people who 

genuinely needed a job and had the kind of 

skills that would fit, but in the final 

reckoning, they turned up hours late, 

others called in sick and those who did 

come to work found all kinds of excuses as 

to why they weren’t able to keep up with 

their fellow (immigrant) workers. They 

even accused people of setting up the 

conveyor belt too fast (in fact it was slowed 

down a bit for their first day), complaining 

about being told what to do by a foreigner, 

and giving up half-way through the day 

because it was too difficult. 

When the final show went out, it was a 

hugely controversial hit, watched by 6 

million people and written about in all the 

papers, on the radio, TV and the internet. 

The most common reaction was “It made 

me ashamed to be British”. It wasn’t quite 

the result we were expecting but it 

certainly made people sit up and think 

again about an important subject! 

Deborah Colman (GR 1983-85) 

(The programme Deborah describes went out on 

BBC1 Wednesday 24 February 2010). 

IS THAT PUBLISHING WELL I’LL BE DAMNED! 

The publishing bug 

There was a certain inevitability that, with 

hindsight, I would go into publishing and 

become an editor. My father was a Fleet 

Street journalist before the war, and I 

enjoyed writing small contributions for my 

prep school magazine, for The Cantuarian 

and Richard Branson’s recently started 

Student magazine while I was at King’s, and 

then decided that Linacre had enough 

home-grown talent for me to bring out a 

house magazine, Oracle, which I think 

managed only two editions, and was run 

off on a spirit duplicator machine in the 

staff common room. I have no idea how the 

machine worked, but you had to generate a 

master copy of each page that was 

transferred to blank sheets of paper, as you 

cranked a handle, by the use of a liquid that 

smelt like meths. The master copy had a 

limited life, but could manage many more 

copies of Oracle than I could ever hope to 

circulate. However, the excitement of 

having an idea for a publication, 

commissioning contributors for it, and 

witnessing the mechanics of going into 

print, confirmed for me my love of 

publishing. 

At university I got involved in the college 

magazine straightaway, being offered the 

editorship in my second year. There was 

the added attraction that, instead of having 

to move out into digs, a room in college 

came with the job. However, I probably 

have the dubious distinction of being 

responsible for an upheaval in the college’s 

magazine output. I wanted to produce a 

publication that had a mix of literary 

creativity and journalistic treatment of 

stories and issues of topical relevance, and 

decided that a record of how the (talented 

and enthusiastic) sports teams and leisure 

activity clubs had fared through the year 

would sit uncomfortably with this approach 

– and so left them out. There were 

complaints, inevitably, but eventually all 

this information found a place in 

subsequent official college magazines, 

glossily and professionally produced and 

very different animals from the scruffy 


8 


undergraduate magazine I had published. I 

like to think this liberated the 

undergraduates’ magazine to be as freewheeling 

and creative as I hoped they 

would henceforth be, but to be honest I 

don’t know what became of it after I left 

university. 

Getting into publishing 

Once I had graduated I applied for a 

number of graduate trainee posts with 

large London book publishers, but without 

success. However, many publishers still 

look to recruit a small number of staff this 

way, and I would recommend this route to 

anyone keen to get into publishing. The 

pattern is to move you around a number of 

different departments, whether your stated 

interest is in sales, editorial, or any other 

publishing function, so that you get an 

overall view of how the company works in 

a way that few are lucky enough to enjoy. 

My first move into publishing was in a role 

and on a publication that was completely 

outside the direction in which I had been 

aiming: I became Assistant Editor on a 

monthly financial magazine. I know nothing 

about the world of finance, but as the 

magazine had a tiny circulation and only 

two full-time staff, the job involved many 

additional responsibilities, such as 

commissioning, editing, proof reading, 

marketing and production (I was sent down 

to the printer to see how the magazine’s 

articles were first turned into lines of hot 

metal type – an anachronism even in the 

1970s.) I hated the job and didn’t last long, 

but I had gained an excellent grounding in 

the mechanics of creating, producing and 

selling a publication. 

I decided to make a determined effort to 

get into book publishing again. As my 

degree was in English it was natural for me 

to approach literary publishers, and I 

started with all the ones whose names I 

already knew, then the ones who published 

my favourite authors, but got nowhere. I 

then moved on to non-fiction publishers, 

where I struck lucky, and have been ever 

since. 

Looking back, I am glad that the world of 

non-fiction publishing was kind enough to 

draw me in, as I don’t think I would have 

taken to fiction. I had very high-minded 

ideals of what made good literature and, 

for example, would have rejected any 

Jeffrey Archer typescript outright, thus 

proving myself a complete commercial 

failure as a fiction publisher. Instead, I 

found I enjoyed working with 

photographers, illustrators and book 

designers to create pages that were as clear 

and as visually stunning as possible, and 

liked the fact that we were working 

together as a team to create something that 

was both attractive and informationpacked. 

Little or none of this happens with 

a work of fiction. To generalise hugely, in 

the world of fiction publishing the sales 

department decides what size of page the 

novel should be printed on, how many 

pages the book should have, and will look 

to the designers to come up with an 

arresting cover. The marketing and 

publicity departments produce ideas for 

generating interest and sales of the book. 

Your job as an editor is to have an excellent 

knowledge of what is selling well, and a 

finely tuned sense of what makes a good 

piece of fiction. Once you have made a 

sound case to the company to sign up your 

author, your work on that book is mostly 

complete, and you must get on and hunt 

down the next talented writer. Some 

people live for this, and it can be 

profoundly rewarding to spot and nurture 

new talent, as well as to work with and 

develop the output of established authors. 

Going with the flow 

The mechanics of printing have, of course, 

developed hugely over the years that I have 

been involved. Having come in at the very 

last gasp of hot-metal setting, I have seen it 

move from camera-ready copy to 

photosetting, from supplying typed sheets 

of text to typesetters to the virtual 

eradication of typesetting as an industry 

once authors started supplying their text 

on floppy disc. Once upon a time printers 

proofed up your text, now you generate 

the pages in-house, and send printers the 

text and illustrations exactly as you want 

them to appear. The competition, too, has 

been nibbling away at fiction and nonfiction 

publishing’s pre-eminence in 

communicating words and pictures, from 

talking books, videos and DVDs to the 

internet and – probably soon – e-readers. 

The texts of many out-of-copyright books, 

including a number of classics, are freely 

available on the internet, and while they 

don’t have the physical appeal of a book 

they have the advantage that one can carry 

out a number of mechanical tasks that 

some scholars find useful, such as word 

counts, word frequencies, and so on. 

Anyone thinking of going into publishing in 

the next few years has to take two things 

on board: firstly, the book publishing world 

has shrunk and will continue to do so, and 

secondly, following on from this, a 

publisher nowadays is someone who 

publishes the material he owns in a number 

of different formats. For many companies, 

the money made from selling physical 

copies of books is one of the smallest 

sources of revenue; income from digital 

sales, on the other hand, is steadily 

increasing, previously unheard-of 

publishing roles such as Digital Sales 

Director or Electronic Publisher reflect 

this. 

The right rights 

The buzz phrase now is ‘Content is king’. 

Publishing the content in the 21st century 

is so changed from what it used to be that 

the very word ‘publisher’ is almost an 

anachronism; perhaps a term like ‘media 

provider’ is more appropriate, and 

commissioning editors will become 

‘content scouts’. For years it has become 

important for publishers to own the 

majority if not all of the rights to anything 

they handle. These rights include the right 

to publish in all languages, in any country, 

in book, magazine and serial rights, film 

rights, rights to publish (as a whole or in 

extracts) by all electronic means (both in 

existing forms and in forms yet to be 

invented), and the rights to license 

illustrations to, for example, picture 

agencies or newspapers. While publishers 

still need people on their staff to bring new 

ideas into the company, an increasing 

percentage of new jobs are in marketing, 

and in working with new digital 

technology; in other words, going out and 

selling subsidiary rights to the maximum, 

and having the technical skills to work with 

electronic handling and transmission of the 

different types of content. 

Simon Tuite (LN 1965-70) 


9 


THE PAPAL VISIT TO BRITAIN 

Edward Pentin (MR 1985-89) is a 

journalist, based in Rome, who worked for 

Vatican Radio before becoming the Rome 

correspondent for the National Catholic 

Register (USA). He also reports on the 

Holy See and the Catholic Church for 

Newsweek and edits the Holy Land Review, a 

Franciscan publication specialising in the 

Church and the Middle East. After the 

first-ever intervention by an Iranian Shi’ite 

Muslim at a Synod at the Vatican on 14 

October, Edward was allowed to interview 

Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad (who was 

under the supervision of an Iranian 

government official) at the country’s 

embassy to the Holy See in Rome. The 

interview mentioned in the first paragraph 

may be found at 

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/aconversation-with-an-iranian-ayatollah/ 

Edward covered the Papal Visit to the United 

Kingdom for Newsmax.com and Zemit Catholic 

News Agency, as he here describes: 

One of the great benefits of being a 

reporter is that it can give you a front row 

seat on history, a privileged viewpoint from 

which to observe great moments in the life 

of a person or nation. And few events have 

been as historic in recent times as Benedict 

XVI’s visit to Britain in September 2010 – 

the first ever State visit to the country by a 

Pontiff, and one which was largely deemed 

a success both for Britain and the Holy See, 

despite – or perhaps because of – the many 

tensions that preceded it. 

Many highlights remain in my mind: the 

great set-piece events such as the Pope’s 

address on faith and reason to civil and 

political leaders in Westminster Hall where 

the patron saint of politicians, Sir Thomas 

More, was tried and condemned; the 

beautiful Anglican liturgy in Westminster 

Abbey during which the Pope and the 

Archbishop of Canterbury knelt in prayer 

together before the tomb of St Edward the 

Confessor; and the beatification of Cardinal 

John Henry Newman – an Englishman so 

admired by this Pope that he made an 

exception to his own rule, and travelled to 

Birmingham to beatify him in person. 

But it’s also the smaller observations one 

remembers: the Pope respectfully 

removing his zucchetto (his white skull cap) 

when the National Anthem was played; the 

way he gently plucked babies from the 

crowds to kiss them from his Popemobile; 

and the moving silence of a vast crowd, 

deep in prayer, who had joined the Pope 

for a vigil in Hyde Park. Also striking was 

the sight of the Pope being driven down 

the Mall, lined with large Union Jacks and 

the flag of the Holy See. It was perhaps this 

moment more than most which made me 

realize the historical weight of this visit – 

one of many historical firsts which would 

have been unthinkable not so long ago. 

I remember, too, the excitement behind 

the scenes, particularly of Britain’s 

ambassador to the Holy See who, at the 

end of the first day, eagerly described to 

me how every bridge the Pope’s motorcade 

passed under from Edinburgh to Glasgow 

was filled with cheering crowds. That, and 

the warm reception the Pope received in 

Glasgow, convinced the organizers that this 

controversial visit would be a success. 

Edward Pentin with the Pope 

Extensive preparations had been made and 

that was clearly visible on the face of Lord 

Patten, the Government’s chief organizer, 

who looked exhausted on the plane down 

from Glasgow to London. 

Also memorable were the protestors – so 

many different voices it seemed as if 

Speaker’s Corner had spread across central 

London. There were Islamists bizarrely 

chanting that the Pope was a terrorist, 

Protestant fundamentalists going with form 

and calling him the Antichrist, and of 

course Peter Tatchell, one of the 

protestors’ leaders, campaigning for 

women priests outside Lambeth Palace. Yet 

all were well behaved and the atmosphere 

among them was at times jovial, even 

festive. 

These were a truly memorable and 

momentous four days, ones which I and 

many other journalists (nearly 4,000 were 

accredited) will always be grateful for 

having had the privilege to cover. 

Edward Pentin 


10 


To Trust and To Love: Sermons and Addresses 

by The Very Reverend Michael 

Mayne, OKS, Dean of Westminster, 

1986-1996, edited by Joel W. Huffstetler 

(publ.Norwich Books I 

9780232527988) 

In editing To Trust and To Love, a collection of 

hitherto unpublished sermons and 

addresses by Michael Mayne (MO/LX 

1943-49), Joel Huffstetler, Rector of St 

Luke’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland, 

Tennessee, author of a critical study of his 

writings, has enabled the reader to sense 

the continuing guidance of this most 

exceptional priest, pastor, preacher, 

thinker, teacher and writer. 

The sermons and addresses are suffused 

with Mayne’s unshakeable belief in the 

power of God’s transforming, inclusive, 

love for human beings. Throughout, his 

conviction that ‘the God who is Love, the God 

revealed in Jesus is a tolerant and forbearing 

God’ is apparent. He speaks of the scandal 

that some use the Gospel of God’s wrath 

rather than his love, insisting on ‘the absurd 

generosity of God’s love ...not just for religious 

people, but for all people.’ 

The suicide of his father, a 

Northamptonshire country parson, 

dominated Mayne’s early life, plunging him 

and his mother not only into painful 

bereavement, but also into poverty. 

Through the support of clergy charities, he 

was able to come to King’s in 1943. 

Although he went up to Cambridge to read 

AUTHORS 

So literate and distinctive as a novelist is 

James Hamilton Paterson (WL 1955- 

61), (see Offcuts Nos. 5, 12) that it may be 

a surprise to find that his latest book could 

qualify for an EcPol study of Britain’s post- 

War industrial decline. 

Empire of the Clouds : When Britain’s Aircraft 

Ruled the World (Faber, £20) was warmly 

reviewed by Jonathan Glancey – himself 

the recent author of Spitfire: the Biography – 

in The Guardian (6.11.10): 

“New Elizabethans like the young 

Hamilton-Paterson thrilled to the feats of 

test pilots scything the latest experimental 

jets over and along genteel south coast 

resorts, or else pirouetting above them at 

crowded Farnborough air shows. The 

assumptions for boys of Hamilton- 

Paterson’s generation, born during the 

Second World War, was that British was 

rip-roaringly best. 

One new aircraft after another appeared to 

take to the skies above southern England, 

each piloted by a self-deprecating daredevil 

who would as soon jump into the cockpit 

of some untried bomb-on-wings as whirl a 

girl in a swirling frock around the floor of 

the Café de Paris. 

English, and with the intention of 

becoming an actor, the Headmaster, Canon 

Shirley, whom Mayne greatly admired, 

wrote to him, ‘You’re not going to become an 

actor; you’re going to be a priest.’ And so it 

was that Mayne was ordained as priest in 

1957. After a curacy in Hertfordshire, he 

became successively domestic chaplain to 

Mervyn Stockwood, the flamboyant former 

Bishop of Southwark, Head of BBC Radio 

Religious Programmes and Vicar of Great 

St Mary’s, Cambridge, before serving as 

Dean of Westminster from 1986 to 1996. 

In a sermon given at his installation as 

Dean, aware of the complexity of its role as 

place of worship, national shrine, and 

tourist destination, he emphasised certain 

facets of the life of the Abbey which he saw 

as his prime charge, and which he believed 

should speak of ‘its nature, its purpose and its 

goal.’ The first of these was that it should 

maintain the spirit of the medieval 

Benedictine community, so that by its 

example of warmth and hospitality it 

would ‘build up of the body of Christ in love’. 

The second, that worship should offer to 

all-comers, religious and non-religious, ‘a 

deeper understanding of the beauty and the love 

of God.’ The third that the Abbey’s chief 

function should not become its own 

maintenance, but that good stewardship of 

its fabric ‘should be matched by loving and 

generous giving to the needs of the poor and 

deprived.’ As a meeting place for the 

nations, Mayne wished the fourth facet of 

his charge as Dean to be that the Abbey 

While it was hard not to admire such men, 

it was harder – much harder – to thrill to 

the inner workings and commercial 

dimwittedness of the companies that built 

the craft they flew. And it is here, at the 

core of this book, that Hamilton-Paterson 

is at his convincing best. Britain certainly 

had the boffins and blueprints to fly into 

the future; what it lacked was the necessary 

should continually manifest development in 

its understanding of the mysteries of God. 

To Trust and To Love illustrates most vividly 

the spiritual and pastoral qualities which 

Mayne did indeed bring to the life of the 

Abbey during his time as Dean. 

As in his other published work, sermons 

and addresses, To Trust and To Love 

demonstrates that the arts have essential 

spiritual significance for Mayne. Drawing 

on art, music, and literature, especially 

poetry, and modern drama, he weaves 

together his reflections on the mystery of 

God’s love for humanity, and his belief that 

‘life is the setting in which we learn how to trust 

and to love.’ 

To Trust and to Love is not a random 

selection, but a collection carefully crafted 

from addresses and sermons stretching 

across a period of over twenty years. It is 

not a quick or easy read. Every sermon or 

address warrants careful reflection. 

Worthily, in publishing these reflections, 

Huffstetler has enabled Mayne’s voice to be 

heard anew. 

Publ. Norwich Books I 9780232527988 

Footnote: The novelist Susan Hill wrote a tribute 

to “My hero : Michael Mayne” in The Guardian, 

9.10.10. This can be read online at 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/Oct 

/09/michael-mayne-hero-susan-hill. 

Janice Reid (Common Room, 1992-2010) 

back-up by politicians, management and 

labour. The decline of its aircraft industry 

– one that had shone like fireworks in the 

1940s – makes for sorry if illuminating 

reading.” 

Clive James describes Empire of the Clouds as 

“the best book I have ever read about the 

post-war British aviation industry… a 

sobering analysis of how so much 

inventiveness could come to nothing.” 

Edmund de Waal (MR 1977-81)’s The 

Hare with Amber Eyes has been awarded 

the Costa Biography of the Year. The 

annual Book of the Year columns have 

been profuse in their praise: “The best 

book of the year” (Anita Brookner), 

“memorable”, “enchanting”, “gripping” 

are some of the compliments (The book 

was reviewed in the previous issue of 

Offcuts). 

In the Times Literary Supplement’s Book of 

the Year sisters A S Byatt and Margaret 

Drabble both make it their first choice, 

whilst Michael Howard calls it “the 

book, not only of the year, but of the 

decade.” 


11 


Young Scientist Journeys 

This the first of The Butrous 

Foundation’s Journeys Trilogy. 

Young scientists of the past talk to 

today’s young scientists about the 

future. 

The authors were members of the Student 

Science Society in high school in Thailand 

in the 1960s. Now near their own 60s, 

they share the most important things they 

learned about science specifically and life 

generally during their own young scientist 

journeys in the years since they published 

the SSS Bulletin, a scientific journal for the 

International School Bangkok. 

Reading this first book is a journey, 

which takes the reader to hundreds of 

amazing “places”, like nanotechnology, 

Song Dynasty China, machines the length 

of football fields, and orchids that detest 

wasps. 

But the best reason to take the journey 

through these pages is that this book will 

help Young Scientists to prepare for all 

their other journeys. Some of these will be 

physical ones from place to place, such as 

to scientific conferences. Others will be 

professional journeys, like from Botany to 

Astrobiology, or from lab intern to 

assistant to researcher to lab director. But 

the main ones, the most exciting of all 

Young Scientists’ journeys, will be into the 

Great Unknown. That is where all the 

undiscovered elelments are, as well as all 

other inhabited planets and every new 

species, plus incredible things like 

communication with dolphins in their own 

language, and technological innovations 

that will make today’s cutting-edge marvels 

seem like blunt Stone Age implements. 

For further information please write to 

info@butrousfoundation.com 

The Butrous Foundation is dedicated to 

empowering today the scientists of 

tomorrow. This foundation already 

publishes Young Scientists Journal, the 

world’s first and only scientific journal of, 

by, and for all the world’s youngsters (aged 

12-20) who want to have science careers 

or want to use science in other careers. 

100% of proceeds from sales of The 

Journeys Trilogy will go to the Foundation 

to help it continue to fulfil its mission to 

inspire youngsters everywhere. 

Who is this book for 

Teenagers interested in science 

Teachers keen to inspire young people 

School/college libraries 

Schools looking for an ideal science prize 

Parents seeking the perfect Birthday gift. 

Miss Christina Astin, Physics 

teacher and lately Head of 

Science at King’s is co-editor of 

this book which was launched at 

Waterstone’s in Canterbury on 

25 Novvember. She also has 

contributed Chapter 2. 


12 


Gavrilo Princip: The Assassin who 

Started the First World War 

Dear Editor, 

I was a schoolboy at King’s from 1961 to 

1965, during which period I managed not 

to distinguish myself in any way, apart from 

being placed bottom of the entire school in 

mathematics, and being expelled from the 

CCF for incorrigible indiscipline—an 

event which led to a surprising if 

temporary popularity. 

History was my ‘best’ subject, and has 

become an abiding passion. As I wrote in 

the preface to my latest book, about the 

assassin who began the Great War : 

‘I first became interested in Gavrilo 

Princip when researching the history of 

assassination, at the national police library 

in Hampshire. (The comma in this 

sentence, as Lynne Truss might have 

pointed out, is important.) In the account 

of what happened in Sarajevo in 1914 by 

Joachim Remak (Remak, 1959) Princip 

springs to life in all his youthful 

vulnerability and murderousness; and from 

there on I was hooked. Further research 

followed; a play or two; and then this 

book. 

I am not an historian by profession, and 

have wrestled with the challenges of that 

occupation since I first became absorbed 

with the events of 28 June 1914 and my 

need to write about them. Princip 

himself, the young Bosnian dreamer who 

made his dream into a reality, had captured 

my attention, and I was to discover a good 

deal of information on him—much of 

which proved to be speculative, biassed, or 

of doubtful veracity. 

My interest expanded to the mysterious 

Colonel ‘Apis’, who had supported and 

equipped the assassins, if not actually 

planned and directed the whole thing 

himself; and to the character and ambitions 

of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the 

happily married paterfamilias with his 

volcanic temper and impossible 

inheritance. 

I hope the subject may prove of interest to 

my fellow OKS, if only because they would 

never have marked me down as a 

prospective author: and I would be happy 

to supply further information as needed. 

Finally, the book is dedicated as follows: 

To the Masters at the King’s School, 

Canterbury, 

1961-1965 

Who attempted to teach me history 

With best wishes 

Peter Villiers (WL 1961-65) 

Peter Villiers was a senior tutor at the National 

Police Staff College, Bramshill from 1986- 

2004. Gavilo Princip : The Assassin who 

started the First World War (publ. The Fawler 

Press, 978-0-9566211-0-8) available online 

from cpibookdeliver.com). 

WORKING FOR EL SALVADOR 2010 (article No. 2) 

The El Salvador project is an entirely 

student-organised volunteer project that 

first ran in 2002. A group of students from 

the Imperial College Civil and 

Environmental Engineering Department 

travelled to El Salvador in order to assist 

with the development of communities 

devastated by the 2001 Earthquakes and the 

1980-1992 Civil War. 

Since then, the project has gone from 

strength to strength, with a team of up to 

13 students volunteering a number of 

weeks of the summer break to work on a 

variety of reconstruction projects. The 

actual in-country project lasts for a period 

of six weeks, however the planning, 

fundraising, and post-project work 

represents over a year’s worth of effort. 

During their time in El Salvador the 

volunteers work in partnership with the 

local community. 

As in previous years we owe a tremendous 

debt of gratitude to REDES, a local Non- 

Governmental Organisation (NGO) which 

has facilitated the entire project. 

This year there was an extremely high level 

of interest from students at Imperial 

College to take part in this project, 

surpassing the number of students we could 

take for logistical and financial reasons. 

Accordingly, we took 13 students from 

across the year-groups with a mixture of 

construction, language and other skills, 

hence creating a balanced team. 

Monday to Friday was spent living within 

the community where the team were 

working, and the weekends were spent with 

REDES being shown some of the culture 

and history of El Salvador. 

The 2010 project was a great success, but 

was of a different nature to the previous 

projects. Up until this year, the emphasis 

has been on the construction of seismicallyresistant 

houses. However, in 2010 the focus 

of the project changed to the improvement 

of sanitation in the small villages of San 

Simon and San Francisco in the department 

of Morazán. 

The team spent the six weeks constructing 

ten ‘aboneras’, which are essentially 

outdoor composting toilets, and ten ‘pilas’, 

which are outdoor sinks and water storage 

units. The project allows students to gain 

invaluable experience learning about the 

application of engineering by being 

physically involved in the construction 

process. All volunteers get a chance to apply 

practically some of the skills they have 

learnt in their university courses. These 

include mixing concrete, constructing 

‘french drains’ and cementing breeze 

blocks. Overall, by the end of the project 

one of the major personal gains from the 

volunteers’ point of view was confidence in 

their engineering skills. 

The beneficiaries were carefully chosen in 

order to determine who was in the most 

need of better sanitation and who would 

gain the most from the installation of these 

units. . We feel that we have greatly helped 

the local community in numerous ways, 

from improving their living environment to 

providing them with hope for the future. 

The volunteers have also experienced 

development work, improved their 

engineering skills and learnt about 

engineering in a developing nation. 

The team owe a great deal to the sponsors 

who have allowed us to take part in the 

project this year, specifically J.P Morgan, 

who donated us $60,000 through their 

Give-It-Away scheme. This year marked the 

registration of Engage for Development as a 

charitable company. Engage for 

Development facilitates The El Salvador 

Reconstruction and Development Project, 

consisting of members of the El Salvador 

Project Alumni Group. It has been a great 

experience to work for them. 

Matthew Fitch (MO 2001-06) 

SanFranciscoandSanSimon,thevillages 

wheretheprojectwasbasedin2010 


13 


Lee Rigley 

Long-standing readers of Offcuts 31st 

edition may recognise the name of 

someone who has been instrumental in its 

production from the very first edition, and 

has produced all of these but one. 

Lee Rigley’s King’s career (now in its 

20th year), might appear unremarkable at 

first sight. Surely, printing is a routine (if 

essential) requirement of daily life and a 

relatively simple mechanical process If 

that is our impression, we are mistaken; 

indeed, our 31st edition rejoices in a 

success story which reflects well on King’s 

nurturing of enquiring and spirited minds 

whose hard work and determination 

contribute so much to its history and 

achievements. 

In 1990, the School outsourced most of its 

printing requirements, producing in-house 

only the Rotulus and the Calendar on two 

venerable semi-automatic presses (one 

foot-operated!) located at Blackfriars, 

under the auspices of the Caxton Society. 

Offering printing as an ‘activity’ for 

enterprising pupils, CS was run by Martin 

Miles (Common Room 1980-), supported 

by George Neeve, a master printer who 

had recently ‘retired’ from the University 

of Kent. 

However, when the Stationers Company 

(keen to foster printing skills in schools) 

offered the School a grant towards new 

presses and equipment, the School’s 

former workshop in Broad Street offered 

an ideal site and work began to create what 

is now the King’s School Press and 

Premises offices. 

This edition of Offcuts has been 

produced at the King’s School Press 

by Lee Rigley. OKS publications are 

dealt with by Sue Wittich and all 

features and photographs for Offcuts 

or information for inclusion in For 

the Record should be sent to her: 

s.wittich@kings-bursary.co.uk, 

Tel: 01227 595778. 

Both Offcuts and For the Record are 

edited by Stephen Woodley 

(Common Room 1969-98), who is 

indebted to Paul Pollak, Peter 

Henderson and to all the OKS 

and Foundation Staff. 

The grant required the School to offer 

computer design, imaging, binding and 

finishing, as well as printing, so as to 

encourage greater pupil involvement. The 

Press opened in July 1992 and the need for 

additional staff led to the idea of providing 

opportunities for training both pupils and 

apprentices. The government had launched 

a youth training initiative (YTS) and local 

enquiries revealed a recent graduate 

interested in a career in the printing trade. 

Lee, a man of Kent, was born and brought 

up in Margate and educated at Hartsdown 

High (now a Technology College). Here, he 

developed a passion for learning and 

acquiring new skills and was encouraged to 

try work experience at Exotic Signs, a local 

sign writing firm. This sharpened his 

design skills and led him to pursue a design 

course at Thanet College from age 16 

where he did very well, undeterred by any 

who did not share his ambition and 

drawing skills! 

On leaving college, Lee joined Exotic Signs 

full time; however, the 1989/90 recession 

took its toll and, with typical generosity, 

Lee volunteered for redundancy. 

Fortunately, this was at precisely the time 

that the School had embarked on its quest 

for a YTS trainee keen to learn the printing 

trade with an emphasis on print design. 

This was just what Lee was looking for, and 

his first job was designing a cover for the 

new King’s Recreation Centre. Printing 

was still very much a manual operation at 

that time and Lee well remembers having 

to separate and print each colour to create 

the required final image. At first, the 

School’s printing requirements were 

mainly black and white and avant-garde 

colour designs were the preserve of the 

new Recreation Centre. 

Lee was ‘apprenticed’ to George Neeve 

and quickly demonstrated a thirst for 

knowledge and keenness to develop his 

computer design skills. Whereas many of 

his peers were content with ‘on the job’ 

training, Lee pursued myriad design, IT 

and publishing courses and taught himself 

all the leading publishing software 

programs. His academic achievements are 

impressive, and it is no surprise that he was 

willing to commit an evening a week 

travelling to the London College of 

Printing which led him to the JM Dent 

Bursary Award for exceptional 

commitment to studies. 

Lee’s spirit of adventure remains 

undimmed: he has recently completed a 

Fitness and Gym instructor training course 

at the Recreation Centre and is currently 

undertaking a Level III Personal Training 

course so that he can ‘train other people to 

lose their bellies and run marathons’ whilst 

acquiring the fitness needed to become a 

triathlete. 

When George Neeve retired in 2001, Lee 

gained a well-deserved promotion to Press 

Manager. Amongst many other tasks, the 

Press now designs and prints the termly 

Calendar, the Cantuarian, Rotulus, OKS 

Offcuts, King’s Week literature, all school 

printed stationery, Recreation Centre 

publications, weekly service sheets, 

Commem and Speech Day programmes. 

Lee also designs and maintains the 

Recreation Centre website, signage inside 

and outside school properties, as well as 

publications for local charities such as the 

Church of St Martin and St Paul, the 

Citizens Advice Bureau, and local schools. 

Lee is married to Anne-Marie (née 

Baker) and they have a son Benjamin aged 

4. Lee and Anne-Marie met through 

King’s where she worked in the OKS and 

Foundation Office. They live in 

Canterbury and Anne-Marie is Events 

Assistant in the University of Kent 

Development Office. 

Although his long-term aim is to be able to 

run his own business looking after the 

interests of local schools and charities 

(including, of course, the King’s School!), 

Lee cannot tear himself away and hugely 

enjoys the School’s friendly and sociable 

atmosphere, whilst relishing the proximity 

of the Recreation Centre. 

Nick Lewis (Bursar 1989-2002) 


14 


Musical Canterbury 

A Recital 

What has become an annual September 

Flute and Piano Recital in the Eastern 

Crypt by Patrick Williams (WL 1968- 

72, flute) and Stephen Barlow (GR 

1968-72, piano) attracted the usual large 

and enthusiastic audience on Friday 24th 

September. Fortunately there is an 

excellent piano on which this excellent 

pianist expressed the music in a way which 

can be described as penetratingly musical – 

the touch, phrasing and nuances were at 

the highest level. The acoustics of the 

Crypt very much suit the flute also, and the 

balance between the instruments was 

perfect from where I was sitting in my 

favoured position at the back; favoured 

because I find concentration can be 

Music Hinterland 

distracted by watching! However it does 

have the disadvantage of not being able to 

hear the spoken introductions which the 

audience obviously appreciated. 

Apart from Fauré’s Fantasia, a minor 

masterpiece, this programme was full of 

splendid adaptations of works by Bach 

(four Chorale Preludes and a Concerto in 

A minor), Haydn (from Piano Trio, Hob 

XV:16), and four Songs (without words) by 

Poulenc. 

I’m sure the composers would have 

relished these performances, as all of us 

present certainly did. 

Robert Scott (Common Room 1956-91) 

The Editorial team were pleased to receive this letter from Ben Jones (MR/MT 1979-83):- 

“Having immensely enjoyed taking part in the recent OKS concert, I thought I’d let you 

know about a recent story that is vaguely connected. 

In addition to my normal translation and publishing work, I have a string quartet (the 

Impromptu Ensemble). Sadly, our viola player recently died and we needed a replacement, 

so a friend in Canterbury recommended a man called Lyn Parker, who had recently moved 

into the area. Lyn duly came and played with us, in the inaugural concert of the Broadstairs 

Music Recital Society (q.v. http://thanetmusic.wikispaces.com/BMRS). 

During one rehearsal, the topic turned to Beethoven’s late quartets, and I remarked that we 

were unable to play them as our copy (inherited from my brother Adam (MR 1964-69)) 

consisted of the 3 lower parts with a handwritten sheet of A4 on top saying “Stefan Bown 

owes me Violin 1 part”. Lyn exclaimed, “You know Stefan!” and it then transpired that 

Lyn was also an OKS, contemporary with Stefan and Adam. Lyn (WL 1966-71), Stefan 

(SH 1965-70) and I all played at the recent Shirley Hall concert, although Adam could not 

make it this time. 

While on the ‘small world’ theme, it is interesting to note that OKS play a very significant 

role in local music: I lead the Thanet Light Orchestra; Clifford Lister (WL 1971-75) 

conducts the Thanet Festival Choir and Seventy Choir (with Bryan Gipps (LN 1966-69) 

often leading their orchestra); and I am often joined in the pit for Ramsgate Operatic 

Society by Will Ward (MR 1965-70). 

Occasionally we also bump into Amanda Wyatt (née Mills GL 1981-83) at larger 

orchestral events.” 

Canterbury 

Festival 

A welcome feature of one of the 

outstanding events of this year’s 

Festival was the presence of three 

young OKS – Sebastian Rex, Nick 

Crawford and Rose Wilson- 

Haffenden – in the Caius College 

Choir that sang with the Armonico 

Consort Choir in Super Size Polyphony 

in the Nave on 23 October. The 

“extraordinary vocal effects of 

Renaissance polyphony” were 

delivered “with scintillating effect” 

(Kentish Gazette) as the choirs “soared 

and swooped through 100 years of 

musical development”, from 

remarkable 15th century French and 

Flemish work, interspersed with 

plainsong, to Striggio’s Ecce Beatam 

Lucem and finally Tallis’s Spem in Alium. 

An audience of over 800 demanded 

encores – and got Spem again. 

The Caius trio apart, it was mostly 

reflected glory that was to be found, 

through parents and spouses. One of 

the gems of the Festival was Mid Wales 

Opera’s production of Verdi’s Falstaff 

at Margate’s historic Theatre Royal 

conducted by Nicholas Cleobury, 

whose wife Heather taught at King’s. 

And the climax of the fortnight was 

Canterbury Choral Society’s 

performance of Fauré’s Requiem and 

then Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, 

with Richard Cooke conducting. 

The Sixteen 

Harry Christophers (MR 

1967-72) (see more 

detailed item in FTR, 

Magd. Coll. Ox.) brought 

his world-famous choral 

group The Sixteen to the 

Cathedral Nave on 11th 

December, to perform an a 

capella programme, The 

Angel Gabriel. 


15 


Moderately Musical Meister Omers 

Chris Battersby (MO 1971-75) writes in 

response to an article in last May’s Offcuts: 

“Reading Mark Gutteridge’s report of MO 

and the inter-house music competition in 

1974/5 brought back happy memories of 20 

boys shouting out the chorus of Fortuna 

Imperatrix Mundi and actually winning against 

stiff competition from musicians. However, 

I would disagree that MO was completely 

devoid of musical talent at the time – there 

was just a shortage of people in the King’s 

tradition of Choir School/Music 

Scholar/Oxbridge/impoverished freelance 

tenor. 

Both Richard Paine (MO 1971-75) and 

myself shared a study with Mark and set off 

on rather different musical tangents after 

school. After learning a set of jigs and reels 

we obtained two of the first-ever Covent 

Garden busking licenses, presumably 

making us the first OKS to qualify as 

licensed beggars, and hit the Big City. On 

the intelligence that the French prefer the 

Scots to the English, we then hired a couple 

of Macbeth costumes and headed for Paris, 

which proved fun and lucrative but 

draughty. Richard then returned to 

university to take a PhD on the Catalan 

composer Federico Mompou, and is now 

Rights and Media Director of Faber Music. 

My lack of musical talent and looks forced 

me into a career in management 

consultancy. However, in 1987 I took up 

the Euterpian cudgel again and formed the 

skiffle band Macavity’s Cat (thanks to Mr 

Woodley for the name), the “Best Cider and 

Curry Band in the Country” according to 

NME. We went on to become the house 

band at the Mean Fiddler in Harlesden, 

appear three times in a row at the Reading 

Festival, headline the Melkweg in 

Amsterdam on New Year’s Eve, and still 

hold down our day jobs. I’m now playing in 

a jazz quintet and still enjoy making a noise. 

I would like to say this is down to King’s, 

but my memory of the school in the ‘70s is 

that music was very “them and us”, and 

about skill rather than entertainment, graft 

rather than fun. I do hope it has changed as 

everyone (with the possible exception of X 

Factor finalists) benefits from having a tune 

inside them. Which brings me back to 

Carmina Burana, and the recollection that if 

MO could walk away with the House music 

cup, anything was possible. “ 

The latest remarkable work to be 

printed (only 10 copies, so far) at the 

School Press is The King’s School, 

Canterbury Register 1750-1859. 

This, the joint work of Robert Scott 

and Peter Henderson, is based on the 

King’s School Entry Book, which was 

started by Headmaster Osmund 

Beauvoir in 1750, supplemented by 

other school records. The Register 

ends in 1859 because that is the 

starting date of the Register published 

in 1932. It is hoped to provide more 

details and an appraisal at a later date 

Unknown OKS 4: John Burnby (1747-1805): Cricket and the Cathedral 

John Burnby was born in 1747, the son of 

a Canterbury tailor. He was briefly at the 

King’s School from 1756 to 1758 and later 

became an attorney and something of a 

writer. His two most notable works were 

published while he was in his twenties. 

An Historical Description of the Cathedral 

and Metropolitical Church of Christ, 

Canterbury came out in 1772. The book 

sold well, but did not bring the author 

recognition. Gostling’s Walk in and about 

the City of Canterbury appeared two years 

later and rapidly established itself as the 

best guide to the city’s buildings. Worse, 

Burnby’s book appeared anonymously, and 

as later editions were published “together 

with an elegy written by the Rev. John 

Duncombe”, the Vicar of St Andrews and St 

Mary Bredman, the work is often said to 

have been by Duncombe. 

The Kentish Cricketers appeared in 1773. 

This was a poem written in response to 

Surry Triumphant by John Duncombe 

(again). Duncombe’s parody of the ballad 

of Chevy Chase had provided a full account 

of Kent’s defeat in a match at 

Bishopsbourne; Burnby focused on the 

county’s victory in the return fixture at 

Sevenoaks Vine. These two pieces are thus 

among the earliest and rarest of cricket 

books. Burnby’s verse is not of the greatest 

literary merit, though the description of 

the Duke of Dorset (Kent’s top scorer in 

the first match) is lively and effective: 

And far unlike the modern Way 

Of blocking every Ball at Play, 

He firmly stands with Bat upright, 

And strikes with his athletic Might, 

Sends forth the Ball across the Mead, 

And scores six Notches for the Deed. 

His occasional verse, containing much of 

personal interest, was collected in Summer 

Amusement (1782), including a revised 

version of The Kentish Cricketers. His 

combative character is evident in a 

readiness to enter into the controversies of 

the day, writing to the Kentish Gazette and 

publishing pamphlets on such matters as 

the sale of corn, the poor rates and 

freedom of election. 

His later years were unhappy. He was 

separated from his wife and she died in 

1786, and his son Thomas, a Lieutenant in 

the Navy, was lost when HMS Invincible 

sank off the Norfolk coast in 1801. He died 

in Dover Street in 1805, and received a 

surprisingly full notice in the Gentleman’s 

Magazine, where he was described as “a 

man of very eccentric character, 

imprudent, intemperate, and, of late years, 

in distressed circumstances.” Today his 

poetry brings him a measure of fame. A 

copy of The Kentish Cricketers, bound 

with Duncombe’s verse and another work, 

recently sold at Christie’s for £30,000. Yet 

even here, bad luck followed him: the 

catalogue described him as a clergyman. 


16 


The OKS 

Association 

Hugh Robertson MP, Minister for Sport & Olympics 

is delighted to invite you to the 

The OKS Association Dinner & AGM 

on behalf of 

The President and the OKS Committee 

Tickets: £75 (£45*) 

Dress: Lounge Suits 

www.oks.org.uk 

(The full report appears in For the Record) 

The OKS Golfing Society had narrowly 

gained a place from Knole Park as the 

highest scoring non-automatic qualifier for 

the 2010 Grafton Morrish at Hunstanton 

and Brancaster. Normally a squad of seven 

or eight players are chosen for this 

demanding Autumn event, with a raft of 

OKS golfers hoping to be selected. This 

year there were a number of withdrawals, 

and at the last minute we were grateful to 

be able to call on the ever-reliable 

Hamish Fleming (GL 1966-70), Seniors 

Champion of Cambridgeshire. 

Moreover, we had straightaway to meet 

Malvern, twice winners in the last seven 

years and winners also of the Halford 

Hewitt in that time. So our strategy had to 

be to pick a sacrifice pair (Toby 

The House of Commons 

Thursday 31 March 2011 

19:00 to 22:30hrs 

Reception & AGM: 19:00hrs 

Dinner: 20:00hrs 

GOLF: GRAFTON MORRISH 

Pentecost, GR 1998-2003, and Lyons) to 

draw out their top pair playing second. A 

defeat like Sticker and Woods’ it turned out 

to be, despite brave birdies at the 8th and 

10th. 

Our first and third pairs, respectively 

Fleming and Matthew Wells (MR 2002- 

07) and Jonny Hudsmith (MT 1985-90) 

and Nick Bragg (GL 1973-78), had the 

daunting task of both winning. The match 

between the first pairs was tight 

throughout, went up to the 18th all square, 

and that hole was halved for a very 

honourable half-point. So everything hung 

on the bottom game. 

After a nervy start, Hudsmith and Bragg 

hauled themselves back and took a one 

hole lead after 13 holes but lost it. The 

15th, 16th and 17th were halved, but Bragg 

holed a putt downhill to level the match, 

and set up a play-off by the top pairs, with 

Wells and Fleming facing a Frenchman and 

a German-Italian who had never expected 

the OKS to take them to the wire. The 

19th and 20th were halved: so down to the 

21st (the 1st hole again) and this time 

Malvern had us. 

It was a performance to be proud of. 

Malvern had close to their strongest team, 

while three of our top choices were 

missing. This is something for Felix 

Bottomley (GL 1997-2002) to build on 

when he takes over as captain of the 

Grafton Morrish next year. 

Nicholas Lyons (LN 1972-77) 


17 


CRICKET: FIFTY FINEST by Andrew Bee 

A chimpanzee shares 96% of its DNA with 

humans yet the 4% difference appears quite 

vast. They’re hairier for a start and the 

female of the species is never that 

attractive, not like a human. Cricketers, 

however, from 1880, the time of the first 

Test match on home soil, would still find 

cricket as attractive now as it was then, 

insomuch as the cricketers’ preferred 

summer game would still be the same 

regardless of the date – it has changed less 

than 1 %, in other words. 

Top cricket writers from the past routinely 

claimed the game had changed too much to 

allow accurate comparisons between 

innings from generation to generation: they 

quote the better prepared wickets, the 

change in LBW laws, the value of boundary 

clearances, the no ball law, the duration of 

the game, the time for the new ball, the 

helmet, the covering of wickets, 

floodlights, the ‘third’ umpire, even hawkeye. 

Piffle! The 1880 Test had sticks to bowl 

at, twenty two yards apart, by two teams of 

eleven players, two innings over several 

days, slip fielders, runs, wickets, leather 

ball, run outs, wicket-keepers, umpires, 

tea, lunch, evening session, boundary 

ropes, pavilions, it had 99% of today’s 

DNA – it hasn’t actually changed that 

much, just evolved to become more 

efficient. So comparisons can very 

definitely be made. 

In this book I use a 14 stage statistical 

analysis to look at a multitude of factors to 

identify the finest fifty innings. I passed the 

list to my father, Bob Bee, who pored over 

it with the scrutiny of an old teacher, 

eyebrows bushier, hair greying from the 

sands of time. Father can compare his gut 

reaction to a Compton innings with that of 

a Botham; he has a ‘nose’, a sixth sense that 

can measure greatness by the warm 

afterglow and so, tapping into his quite 

remarkable knowledge and recall, we 

drafted the list back to 1948. When the 

mathematical formula felt right it was 

simply a case of applying it to innings pre- 

War also and a book was born. 

Fifty Finest took five years of a 

schoolmaster’s holidays to research and 

write up, roughly from the time of Kevin 

Pietersen’s 158 at the Oval in 2005 to 

Broad’s 169 at Lord’s last August. A couple 

of innings were even from an OKS, only 

one from Tonbridge though. 

For a signed copy contact Andrew Bee on 

beea@svs.org.uk or purchase from 

publisher Bridge Books, ISBN 978-1- 

84494-066-0 (pb 9-99). 

Andrew Bee (MT 1979-83) 

Everyone who knew Bob Bee (Common Room 

1960-93) in the heyday of David Gower 

(LN 1970-75) will recall that the latter’s 

batting could inspire Bob to lyricism. Less well 

known is the family’s commitment to schoolteaching. 

The Revd Nicholas Bee (SH 

1977-82) was some years in prep schools before 

being ordained into the Church in Wales. He is 

now priest-in-charge of eleven small parishes in 

West Wales, and lives only two miles from where 

Mrs Martha Bee grew up, her father the 

much-loved GP in Tregarron. Andrew himself is 

now Head of Geography at Sutton Valence 

School, after teaching at Colfe’s, and Sara Bee 

(MR 1984-86) – whom many will remember 

singing in The Serenade - teaches Sciences to ‘A’ 

level at Cottam School, Bristol. 

Andrew was invited to speak to the Cricket 

Society on 15 December. 

1st XV TRIUMPHS 

In the past two years, King’s 1st XV has 

had great success, losing only 5 of their 29 

matches. The captain has been Freddy 

Close, half the team represent Kent, and 

winger Kola Lawal has scored 25 tries in 

two seasons, breaking all records. Three 

players have played for England teams: Rob 

Stephens for England A and Saracens last 

year, Jack Masters for England under-16s, 

and Charlie Kingsman represents England 

uner-17s and Saracens junior academy. 


18 


Rowing from Westbere Lake to West Lakes, South Australia 

When I first tried rowing at King’s, to do ‘something different’, I could not have imagined that I would carve out of the sport a career that 

would eventually take me around the world. My passion for rowing started at the boatshed at Westbere, continued at Warwick University 

and has eventually led me to the far shores of Australia. Now based in Adelaide, I recently took up a High Performance Coaching 

Scholarship with the Australian Sports Commission. This scholarship is to support emerging elite coaches to develop skills and knowledge 

to coach in high performance programs. The scholarship is administered through the South Australian Institute of Sport (SASI), where I 

coach and work several days each week. 

So far most of my scholarship work has been with junior (school age) athletes, a natural progression as I am also Head of Rowing at a highly 

regarded girls’ (and currently the top rowing) school in Adelaide. This year I was selected in the Australian Junior Rowing Team as coach of 

the women’s coxless four. This was an interesting campaign to be involved with, as the current strategy for Australian junior team selection 

is to identify and select athletes who have the potential to row at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. This means the athletes are not necessarily the 

fastest ‘boat movers’ now and it is our job to teach them correct technique for long-term development. 

The international rowing calendar is designed around the European season, with the major international competitions held during the 

summer holidays (July/August). However this means the Junior World Championships fall right in the middle of Year 12 for Australians, 

prior to mid-semester exams. To minimize the impact of training on Junior athletes, Rowing Australia have been trialling a new strategy 

where selected crews train locally for most of the campaign but travel to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for a seven day camp in May, 

June and immediately prior to going overseas in July. It is a tough challenge to prepare a crew for world-class competition in such a short 

time-frame. However, the focused, intense training in the crew boat at the AIS (four sessions per day) makes it less disruptive to their Year 

12 studies. Back in their home states the athletes are expected to train with their clubs for up to 20 hours per week. Training comprises a 

combination of rowing, gym and cross training (swim, bike or run). It is a challenge for these athletes to balance their studies and the 

training; however, in my experience most athletes who row during Year 12 are well organized, achieve high standards academically and are 

goal-orientated, focused and motivated. This applies to the athletes I coach at school level as well. 

My crew won a Bronze medal at the World Junior Rowing championships in Racice, Czech Republic. It was a close race and for much of 

the race they were well positioned in second place. They held their form well in the ‘run to the line’ but were pipped at the post by a fastfinishing 

American crew (0.2 seconds). The Germans were only 0.2 seconds behind in fourth place. The South Australian girls in the crew 

then went to the World Youth Olympic Games in Singapore where we won a Gold medal in the women’s pair. 

I owe my passion for rowing and subsequent progression into a high performance coaching career – 

which I find so challenging and enjoyable – to the opportunity to ‘have a go’ at rowing at the King’s shed at Westbere Lake. 

Vicky Spencer (MT 1992-1994) 


19 


RACE FOR 

GOLD... 

On beautiful Lake Karapiro in New 

Zealand, in three days at the beginning of 

November, two OKS made history. At the 

World Rowing Championships, Fran 

Houghton (WL 1993-98) won Gold and 

Tom Ransley (MR 1999-04) won Silver. 

It was Fran’s fourth title, adding to those 

she won in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and Tom’s 

first medal on the world stage. 

Fran had taken a year off after the 2008 

Olympics in Beijing and had been injured, 

but came back to regain her place in the 

Great Britain quadruple sculls. Her crew 

had missed Gold in Beijing by just a few feet 

and, in the run-up to the London Olympics, 

were determined to make amends. 

Ukraine, the reigning World Champions, 

were also out to win, as were the Germans, 

past winners and traditionally strong in this 

event. The weather made racing difficult, 

with a blustery crosswind and rough water 

which upset several other favoured crews. 

Ukraine went off very fast and took an early 

lead, closely followed by GB, then Germany 

and Australia. Through the middle of the 

race Ukraine and GB were neck and neck 

with the others falling behind, the British 

girls looking strong and confident. 

Germany challenged, but in the last 500 

metres Fran’s crew drew away and won the 

Gold medal in style. Afterwards, she said: 

“Absolutely fantastic...that’s why I row, to 

row a race like this!” 

Tom had rowed for Cambridge in the 2008 

Boat Race, and in 2009 had won the Grand 

Challenge Cup at Henley, as Stroke of the 

GB VIII. At Lake Karapiro, he was in 

another crucial role, at No. 7 in the GB 

Tom Ransley, rear, 2nd left 

crew. The men’s VIIIs final was another 

gripping race. This time, it was a strong, 

well-matched German crew that went off at 

a terrific pace, taking over a length’s lead 

from the rest of the field but, to quote the 

Daily Telegraph, “the confident British crew 

rowed stroke for stroke with Australia and 

Holland before edging through to challenge 

for the Gold”. At 1800 metres they were 

closing strongly, but the Germans had just 

enough left to deny them the win. If they 

can build on this for the 2012 Olympics, 

this could put Tom in line to equal the 

achievement of Fred Scarlett (LN 1988- 

93) who won Olympic Gold, also as No. 7 

in the GB VIII at Sydney in 2000. 

Mike Brown (SH 1944-49) 

Footnote : there were in fact two King’s-trained 

men in the GB VIII at Lake Karapino, since Tom’s 

Stroke was Dan Ritchie who, as a member of 

Herne Bay Amateur Rowing Club, together with 

Luke and Hannah Moon (who also went on to 

distinguish themselves in the sport), benefited 

from training in their formative rowing days on 

Westbere Lake, coached by the King’s Boathouse 

Manager, Andy Turner, as a valuable part of the 

”King’s Community” programme. For background 

on the latter see the Autumn 2009 Cantuarian, 

pp. 48-50. 

Event Dates for 

your Diary 2011 

19 March: 

Legacy Luncheon, KSC 

27 March: 

Lent Sports Day, Birley’s 

31 March: 

Dinner & AGM, London 

14 May: 

May Reunion, KSC 

9 June 

Legal Dinner, London 

11 June: 

Marlowe House Reunion, KSC 

17 June: 

OKS Careers Day, KSC 

23 June: 

London Drinks, The Antelope 

2 July: 

Harvey House Reunion, KSC 

3 July: 

King’s Week Lunch, KSC 

17 September: 

Meister Omers Reunion, KSC 

For more information on future 

events please see the website 

www.oks.org.uk 


20

January 2011 offcuts_Jan Offcuts 2010.qxd.qxd - The OKS Association

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