The County Grammar School Magazine 1970

THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETYThis has been a good year for the Society . The attendance figures for ourmeetings have risen, and, for the first time in the Society's history a number of girlshave attended . In addition to the more usual talks given by members, a number ofmore varied events were organised . These included a quiz, a panel meeting, andtelescopic observations of the sun . The latter was the first practical project undertakenby the Society so far . After lunch, weather permitting, Mr . Paxton's telescopewas used to project the sun's image for the observation of sunspots . We are, ofcourse, most grateful to Mr. Paxton for the loan of his telescope for this project,and also for his great help with the Society in general .J. TEMPLE, 5G .CHESS CLUBAfter the enforced hibernation of last year, the Chess Club has, as promised,come back to life-and with a vengeance. At no time this year has membershipbeen less than 35, and has often stood only just short of that "magic" half century .To fully appreciate this, we must recall that membership has never before climbedbeyond the twenties . Nor, although noise is by no means non-existent, have Ipreviously during the four years 1 have been running the club encountered suchgenerally well-behaved members-and this despite the great increase in numbers .This may be partially due to the influx of female members in response to my appealin last year's magazine ; but the male population comfortably outnumbers them still .Our one real problem has been shortage of sets, of which, due to pilfering andcarelessness over the years, we have only six, with surplus boards, boxes and anincredible number of useless spare pieces bearing witness to the past existence of atleast another three . With the club funds, however, in modest health, further setsshould be purchased before this article goes to the press, in preparation for the nextspell of bad weather .This year, Mr. Kemp and particularly Mr . King have displayed a welcomeinterest in the club, and both Roberts and myself have represented the College(traitors!) against other schools . It is hoped that some of our more promising juniorswill one day become strong enough players to justify establishing a C .G .S . team, anachievement which, to judge by present capabilities, is by no means beyond thebounds of possibility . At present, they are involved in a junior tournament, forwhich 32 people entered . Although a result has not been reached, some intriguingand often original games have been played, with the prospect of more to come .I should like to end by thanking Roberts and Mr . King for the support theyhave given me in running the club, and the members for making my task a comparativelyeasy one . I wish them all the best of luck in the future . I have had manyhours of pleasure in the chess club over the years, as beginner, player and teacher ofnew players, and I hope many others will be able to say the same .A .B .CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP AND CHAPELMr. Kemp has been responsible for several changes in our assembly this year .Play reading groups from various years have added variety, and enthusiasm, toproceedings and we have also had a selection of interesting, non-Bibilical lessons .Modern hymn tunes are gradually being introduced and are doing a lot to improvethe quantity of the singing, if not always the quality of it . The modern hymn sheetsproduced at the end of last year are also proving popular . We, in the sixth-form, arealso pleased to report that we are now able to sit down in chapel, to rest before theday of toil begins, rather than having to stand at the back .