Versa: Issue One
Versa is a biannual publication and will be published every autumn and spring term. Versa will replace the former magazine, OA Bulletin and will offer a comprehensive insight into the many facets of alumni life.
Versa is a biannual publication and will be published every autumn and spring term. Versa will replace the former magazine, OA Bulletin and will offer a comprehensive insight into the many facets of alumni life.
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VERSA<br />
OA NEWS<br />
SUCCESS IN THE DEN<br />
ASK THE ARCHIVIST<br />
LA GRANDE FINALE<br />
A DOUBLE FOR COX<br />
POPPING<br />
BACK<br />
From unauthorised tuck shops to a<br />
team of 50 and a product in Selfridges<br />
- ADAM SOPHER (OA 2003), REVEALS ALL<br />
AUTUMN 2017
Inside<br />
this issue<br />
Editorial Team<br />
Chris Harbour<br />
Sarah Osborne<br />
Sign up to receive <strong>Versa</strong> magazine 2<br />
OA President’s notes 3<br />
OA News 4<br />
OA Events 6<br />
Reunions8<br />
Lines by Niall Matthews 9<br />
Featured OA: Adam Sopher 10<br />
Ask the Archivist 12<br />
Announcements13<br />
Play your Part 14<br />
OA merchandise 15<br />
La grande finale 16<br />
The OA Lodge 17<br />
Sports News 18<br />
Your say 22<br />
Upcoming events /<br />
How we use your data 23<br />
@oldalbanianclub<br />
@OldAlbanianClub<br />
St Albans School<br />
Archives<br />
Old Albanian<br />
Networking:<br />
St Albans School<br />
St Albans School Foundation | CHARITY NO. 1092932
2<br />
OA CLUB<br />
President<br />
Mike Hodge<br />
07774 161624<br />
mike@mikehodge.co.uk<br />
Secretary<br />
David Buxton<br />
01727 840499<br />
davidbuxton36@gmail.com<br />
Treasurer<br />
David Hughes<br />
07701 027881<br />
hughespost@hotmail.co.uk<br />
Membership Secretary<br />
Roger Cook<br />
01727 836877<br />
rogercook@btinternet.co.uk<br />
OA SPORTS<br />
RUGBY<br />
www.oarugby.com<br />
President<br />
Paul Richardson<br />
07918 633 031<br />
paulrichardson@gmail.com<br />
Chairman<br />
Rusty Osman<br />
07976 292737<br />
rustio@hotmail.com<br />
Treasurer<br />
Rick Powdrell<br />
07795 200125<br />
rpowdrell@sky.com<br />
Secretary<br />
Peter Lipscomb<br />
01727 760466<br />
peter.lipscomb@oarugby.com<br />
Mini Chairman<br />
Mike Fisher<br />
mikefisher2001@hotmail.com<br />
Junior Chairman<br />
Ian Tomlins<br />
07867 971585<br />
juniorchairman.oarugby@yahoo.co.uk<br />
OA Saints Chairperson<br />
Kate Barnes<br />
07841 706250<br />
oasaints@gmail.com<br />
FOOTBALL<br />
President<br />
Nick Jackson<br />
oldalbaniansfc@gmail.com<br />
CRICKET<br />
www.oacc.org.uk<br />
President<br />
Tony Dalwood<br />
07958 522261<br />
adalwood@yahoo.com<br />
Chairman<br />
Richard Morgan<br />
01727 843844<br />
richard.morgan50@btinternet.com<br />
Treasurer<br />
Richard Ransley<br />
07878 499432<br />
richransley@gmail.com<br />
Secretary<br />
Alison Finley<br />
01727 853985<br />
ajfinley@ntlworld.com<br />
TENNIS<br />
Membership Enquiries<br />
Maureen Harcourt<br />
07710 270361<br />
m.harcourt@ntlworld.com<br />
RIFLE & PISTOL<br />
President<br />
Andrew Wilkie<br />
01202 424190<br />
Andrew.Wilkie@ymail.com<br />
ANGLING<br />
President<br />
Geoff Cannon<br />
01727 861622 /01582 792512<br />
cannon.morgan@btconnect.com<br />
GOLF<br />
President<br />
Peter Dredge<br />
015827 834572<br />
pjdredge42@aol.com<br />
OA LODGE<br />
Assistant Secretary<br />
John Williams<br />
01438 715679<br />
johntwilliams@talktalk.net<br />
SCHOOL<br />
www.st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
Development Director<br />
Kate Gray<br />
kgray@@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
01727 515177<br />
Alumni Relations &<br />
Development Manager<br />
Chris Harbour<br />
charbour@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
01727 515185<br />
Development & Archives<br />
Assistant<br />
Hannah Nelson<br />
hnelson@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
01727 515178<br />
Campaign Assistant<br />
Sarah Osborne<br />
slosborne@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
01727 224540<br />
Editorial Team<br />
Chris Harbour<br />
Alumni Relations & Development<br />
Manager<br />
Sarah Osborne<br />
Campaign Assistant<br />
OA CLUB AGM<br />
The Old Albanian<br />
Committee will meet for<br />
the 125th Annual General<br />
Meeting on the 6th December<br />
2017 to be held at 20:00 in<br />
the ‘948’ room of the OA<br />
Pavilion, Woollams.<br />
All members are welcome<br />
to attend and new members<br />
to the committee are<br />
encouraged to join.<br />
SIGN UP<br />
to receive<br />
<strong>Versa</strong> magazine<br />
This first edition of <strong>Versa</strong> magazine (previously the OA Bulletin)<br />
has been sent to all Old Albanians. However, in order to continue<br />
receiving a postal copy of this publication, you will need to opt-in.<br />
We understand that the majority of OAs prefer the ease and<br />
convenience of reading about the School and its alumni online;<br />
therefore, we will only produce hard copies of <strong>Versa</strong> magazine<br />
for alumni who have requested to receive it.<br />
On page 23 you will read further information about how the<br />
School handles your data and the updates we are making to our<br />
communications and data policies, in light of the GDPR regulations<br />
which are due to be enforced.<br />
If you would like to continue to receive a copy of <strong>Versa</strong> by post,<br />
you can opt-in via the following methods:<br />
Sign up online:<br />
visit www.oaconnect.co.uk<br />
and follow the instructions on the homepage<br />
or<br />
Email us at<br />
development@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
or<br />
Phone us on 01727 515184<br />
or<br />
Complete and return the slip below:<br />
Name: ................................................................................................<br />
Address: ............................................................................................<br />
............................................................................................................<br />
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Email:.................................................................................................<br />
I would like to receive a free copy of <strong>Versa</strong> by post, sent<br />
to the address above.
3<br />
OA PRESIDENT’S NOTES<br />
Mike Hodge, OA President<br />
In the June 2017 edition of this publication, I closed my<br />
President’s Notes with “We have an interesting summer of<br />
politics ahead”. Maybe that was not one of the best things I<br />
have written and I will now avoid political comment! There<br />
has been much to applaud in the OA arena so let’s get on with<br />
some more positive stuff.<br />
Back in May, I had a splendid session with John Meulkens<br />
who, at 99, is our oldest OA – now living in Amsterdam.<br />
John was over here visiting and proved to be as sharp as the<br />
proverbial tack. He plays the piano every day and this keeps<br />
his fingers nimble and his brain sharp. He was at the School<br />
in the 1930s where, he reminded me, he was taught Maths by<br />
my grandfather, Frank “Pi” Walker. John still remembers his<br />
Maths lessons with affection. I remember my Maths lessons<br />
too – I am not sure “with affection”. You will see a write up of<br />
John’s visit on page 16.<br />
June was packed with OA and School events. Early in the<br />
month I met with seven of my School year in The Digby Tap<br />
in Sherborne – more of this on page 8. Then, there was a<br />
reunion lunch for the years of 1967 and 1974. I saw the name<br />
Niall Matthews (OA 1974) on the list and tracked him down.<br />
Niall’s father, John, had been instrumental in teaching me<br />
in my early days when I worked for Customs and Excise. It<br />
was wonderful to catch up with Niall, though sadly his father<br />
had died comparatively recently. You must read his thought<br />
provoking poem on page 9.<br />
On Sunday 18th June, we had the OA President’s Summer<br />
Lunch at Woollams. About 80 of us attended and a good<br />
time was had by all. Roger Cook and Geoff Cannon were<br />
made Honorary Life Vice Presidents of the OA Club for their<br />
fantastic efforts over the years. Nick and Andy Chappin were<br />
also presented with the OA President’s Cup for their work<br />
on the OA Bulletin over the last twenty years. June was the<br />
last edition they created, with the School now picking up the<br />
reins of production (see Headmaster’s Notes in the reverse of<br />
the magazine). As I have said before in previous editions, the<br />
Chappin brothers have, doublehandedly, masterminded the<br />
whole production of the OA Bulletin. The OAs cannot thank<br />
them enough.<br />
The weekend of 24th June was filled with my old School<br />
Hockey Players’ Golf meeting followed by an OA Legends<br />
XI cricket match against the OAs select XI. Both events were<br />
blessed with wonderful weather. The sun – as we all know –<br />
shines upon the righteous.<br />
I attended the School Graduation ceremony the following<br />
week where the School said ‘goodbye’ to 140 or so Upper<br />
Sixth leavers. Whilst the School might be saying goodbye, the<br />
OA Club is saying welcome to all these students. The best way<br />
to keep in touch is through the School’s Development Office.<br />
They issue a quarterly e-newsletter with updates and event<br />
reminders. In the words I delivered to the students, I cribbed<br />
from an article I had seen in the Daily Telegraph about the<br />
‘Five Life Skills’ which are said to bring health, wealth and<br />
success throughout life. I should have read this in June 1965<br />
when I walked, for the last time, out of the gates at Upper<br />
Yard. The skills are – Emotional Stability, Determination,<br />
Optimism, Control and Conscientiousness. I have to say that I<br />
don’t agree with all of this – I would certainly add ‘try to make<br />
people happy’. The future is what you make it. Try to keep<br />
smiling. The Head of School, Will Stewart, gave one of the<br />
best speeches I have ever heard delivered. Quite brilliant – he<br />
has a great future.<br />
Then into July and the annual Founders’ Day service, which<br />
was exceptional both in music and content. The Headmaster<br />
involved students from various years to take the congregation<br />
through the history of the School. It is so interesting as one<br />
would expect from a School founded in 948AD! Please do<br />
read the Headmaster’s Notes in the flipside of this magazine<br />
where he mentions the exceptional results from this year’s<br />
GCSEs and A levels. I will not comment further except<br />
to say that I compliment everyone at the School on these<br />
magnificent results.<br />
Elsewhere in the magazine, you will find reports on the<br />
various sports sections. Of special mention must be the OA<br />
Cricket where the 1st XI kept their place in their league<br />
for the next season, the 2nd XI were promoted and the 3rd<br />
XI were Champions and promoted. The newly formed OA<br />
Football side has now been accepted into the Arthurian<br />
League where I am sure they will work their way up through<br />
the leagues.<br />
Finally, I am just about to start working with the Development<br />
Office on putting together a ‘Diamond Geezers’ reunion for<br />
mid-September 2018. ‘My’ year started at the School on 18th<br />
September 1958 so 2018 will be our 60th anniversary. There<br />
will, undoubtedly, be more on this in later editions.<br />
Meanwhile, I wish all readers health, happiness and fitness.<br />
The OA Club is in very good heart and the School continues<br />
to flourish. All is good then.
4<br />
OA News<br />
A GRAND<br />
Design<br />
Former St Albans School parents, Chris and Kayo, appeared on<br />
Channel 4’s Grand Designs in September. They discuss with us<br />
the highs and lows of building your own home...<br />
We’ve been lucky enough to live within the grounds of the Abbey<br />
since 2005, which was convenient for our son who would often<br />
roll out of bed 10-minutes before registration and run up the hill.<br />
Next door to us sat a three-acre area of land that was owned by<br />
a St Albans family for around 60 years. The land was overgrown<br />
and ragged, often used as a secret den for St Albans School boys.<br />
In 2008, I approached an architect friend of mine about the<br />
prospects of designing something to fit on the site. We knew it<br />
fell within the Scheduled Ancient Monument boundary and so<br />
would need the blessing of Historic England. Any development<br />
in that area has to be signed off by the Secretary of State. A little<br />
daunted, we began on what would become a 10-year journey to<br />
build a one-off, unique house that would do credit to the amazing<br />
location. Historic England played a key role in helping us<br />
determine the position, shape, size and design of the house, but<br />
we found them very positive to work with. The Abbey were also<br />
very kind in supporting the project.<br />
The project has also been followed by Gary Calvert, Head of<br />
Creative, Technical & Performing Arts, and some of his students<br />
over the years. Kevin McCloud even filmed part of the Grand<br />
Designs programme in the Gateway.<br />
Fast forward to 2017 and the house is finished and we’re in<br />
residence. It’s a beautiful house in amazing grounds with great<br />
views of the Abbey and the river flowing through our garden.<br />
You can watch the episode at www.channel4.com/programmes/<br />
grand-designs<br />
ROOKIE<br />
of the Year<br />
Ranked 100 at singles and 44 at doubles by the NCAA<br />
(National Collegiate Athletic Association), tennis<br />
star Charlie Broom (OA 2016) has been named Ivy<br />
League Rookie of the Year – the first time a player from<br />
Dartmouth has achieved this status.<br />
Broom spent his summer playing against and training<br />
with some of the best players in the world. The rising<br />
sophomore tested and honed his skills in five ATP<br />
professional level events and capped off the summer by<br />
winning his first professional title in Belgium, teaming up<br />
with Colin Sinclair of Australia to win the doubles event.<br />
Charlie has since been training back in the UK.<br />
“I’m very pleased with my achievements<br />
this summer… but I’m looking forward<br />
to training hard and competing for<br />
Dartmouth this season”
5<br />
SUCCESS<br />
in the Den<br />
We were ready to do something different and so started<br />
brainstorming ideas. As big travellers, we thought about our<br />
biggest bugbears when backpacking. <strong>One</strong> was definitely the<br />
towel. Traditional cotton towels were nice to look at but big<br />
and bulky and would get damp and collect smells. Microfibre<br />
towels were small, dull and rough against the skin but had<br />
great benefits such as being compact and quick drying. So we<br />
set out to reinvent the towel and Dock & Bay was born.<br />
After six-months building the business, we made the leap and<br />
quit our jobs. Ben moved back to Australia and I took out a<br />
£30k bank loan to invest in the business and moved over there<br />
temporarily. Following that, I returned home and built the<br />
business on my parents’ kitchen table. We’ve now sold over<br />
200,000 units worldwide and sell in 11 different markets, the<br />
growth has been rapid!<br />
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, ANDY JEFFERIES, DEBORAH MEADEN<br />
AND BEN MILLER<br />
After a grilling in the Den, Andy Jefferies (OA 2007) talks to<br />
us about his time at School, new company Dock & Bay and<br />
recent investment by Dragon Deborah Meaden...<br />
It’s 10 years ago since I left St Albans School. Good times were<br />
always had on those grounds and I think I was nicknamed<br />
‘cheeky chappy’ by Mr Gould!<br />
After leaving Leeds University, I worked in one of the UK<br />
retail banks for three years and in the last year, I worked for<br />
their Digital Division where I met Ben (my business partner).<br />
We applied for Dragons’ Den as it’s not often you get to stand<br />
in front of five investors worth a combined total of close to<br />
£700m and pitch your business.<br />
The Den was a daunting place with a gruelling one-and-ahalf-hour<br />
questioning, much of which you don’t see on TV –<br />
but we came out with a new investor in Deborah Meaden.<br />
She had been the most supportive of us, making fair<br />
challenges and putting forward a fair offer based on our<br />
business position.<br />
We have since signed on the dotted line with Deborah and<br />
have a great opportunity to work closely and use her wealth of<br />
knowledge, experience and contacts to take our brand to the<br />
next level!<br />
Get your Dock & Bay towel at: www.dockandbay.co.uk<br />
DOUBLE WORLD TITLE SUCCESS<br />
In August, Robbie Lightowler (OA 2015) represented GB at the ITU Multisport<br />
World Championships in Penticton, British Columbia, and was crowned World<br />
Champion in both the Duathlon and the Aquathlon.<br />
His first event was the Sprint Duathlon, in which Adam Thorpe (OA 2015) also<br />
competed. In the Age Group category, there were 440 men. Robbie finished first in<br />
the 20-24 age group with Adam second.<br />
In the second event, the Aquathlon – a 1000m open water swim followed by 5k run<br />
– Robbie competed in the Elite Race. In the Age Group category there were 400 men<br />
and Robbie finished first in his age group and first overall. If he had been competing<br />
in the Elite Men’s category, his dad, David Lightowler, estimates he would have<br />
placed third:<br />
“The reason for an estimate is that it cannot strictly be done on time since in<br />
Robbie’s race, wet suits were allowed but in the Elite Men they were not.<br />
Over a 1000m this would give an approximate 40 second advantage to the wet suit<br />
wearer, less about 12 seconds for having to take the suit off in transition”.<br />
“Robbie’s swim time was exceptional at 12.36<br />
– with the fastest Elite man recording 13.04”
6 OA Events<br />
1ST VII NETBALL TEAM<br />
GIRLS’<br />
NETBALL<br />
and afternoon tea<br />
On Saturday 16th September, we welcomed the return<br />
of OAs to play in our annual netball match against the<br />
first VII. Seven OAs, all of whom left St Albans School in<br />
2014, came back to brush up on their netball skills and<br />
try to defeat the current squad. Although the OA girls<br />
were unable to secure a victory, they thoroughly enjoyed<br />
their nostalgic visit to Woollams. Afterwards, the OAs<br />
and the current squad enjoyed a well-deserved Prosecco<br />
afternoon tea while they reminisced about their time at<br />
School and discussed their future plans.<br />
HAILEYBURY<br />
Sixes<br />
The annual Haileybury Sixes competition is always a<br />
highlight in the hockey calendar for OAs. On Sunday<br />
24th September, St Albans School alumni put in a<br />
sterling effort against teams such as Bryanston, Clifton<br />
and of course Haileybury.<br />
We reached the Quarter Finals, losing to this<br />
year’s winners of the competition, St Edwards.<br />
Congratulations go to OAs Robin Pendock (2011),<br />
Bradley Hudson (2010), Alex Terry (2013), Harry<br />
Di-Lieto (2013), Nial Parkash (2013), Michael<br />
Grimshaw (2010) and our two current students, Bertie<br />
Arbuthnott and Chris Fletcher.<br />
It was great to see some recent leavers returning to play<br />
after three years at University. The Development Office is<br />
keen to organise future events which encourage female OAs<br />
to get together with old friends at the School. Whether it’s<br />
a netball match, a curry night or even a gin tasting evening,<br />
please do let us know what kind of event would interest<br />
you. We are keen to hear your suggestions!<br />
Please contact the Development Office at<br />
development@st-albans.herts.sch.uk
7<br />
AN<br />
EVENING<br />
WITH…<br />
Mitchell<br />
Zhangazha<br />
We were delighted to welcome back Mitchell<br />
Zhangazha (OA 2013) on Thursday 5th October<br />
for one of our ‘An Evening with…’ events. West<br />
End actor Mitchell kicked off the evening with a<br />
fascinating discussion about his career, followed by<br />
a Q&A session hosted by Danny Swanson (Drama)<br />
on his experiences working in theatre, including<br />
the West End productions of Thriller Live!, Peter<br />
Pan, Oliver!, The Lion King and Chitty Chitty Bang<br />
Bang. Mitchell also treated us to some stunning<br />
vocals and sang ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ by<br />
Stevie Wonder, ‘Who’s Lovin’ You’ by Jackson Five<br />
and ‘Reet Petite’ by Jackie Wilson. Mitchell has<br />
acted in the West End since the age of seven and is<br />
making an excellent start to his professional career,<br />
having recently taken a lead role in the Edinburgh<br />
production of Five Guys Named Moe. We look<br />
forward to following his career in the future!<br />
Read more about this event on the School side of<br />
the magazine.<br />
OA DINNER<br />
A big thanks goes to all of the OAs who joined us for the OA<br />
Dinner on Friday 22nd September. It was a great success and<br />
one of our biggest OA Dinner turnouts!<br />
The evening started with optional School tours, a drinks<br />
reception with prosecco and culminated with a two-course<br />
Steak & Guinness pie dinner and a lemon mousse to finish.<br />
With around 100 people in attendance, tables were organised<br />
chronologically by year group and we were able to reunite<br />
many OAs with old friends. It was a walk through time and a<br />
great chance to not only reminisce with contemporaries, but<br />
also a chance to meet OAs from other years and see how the<br />
School has changed over time.<br />
MILL HILL<br />
v<br />
St Albans 1st XV<br />
We were delighted to see a great OA turnout on Friday<br />
15th September for one of the first big rugby fixtures of<br />
the term – St Albans School 1st XV v Mill Hill. As we had<br />
brought in floodlights for the occasion, OAs were able to<br />
meet in the School Pavilion and enjoy a bar and bacon and<br />
sausage butties, whilst watching a great game. SAS won the<br />
match 17-7 so it was a great end to a successful evening!<br />
We hope to invite more OAs back to Woollams for<br />
future matches so please keep an eye on your emails<br />
and social media.<br />
Alan Philpott (OA 1962) brought in a long-lost piece of St<br />
Albans School history; an old toy bear sporting a St Albans<br />
School uniform, owned by Paul Gismondi (OA 1970). The<br />
bear was Paul’s mascot during his School days, and his mother<br />
created the kit out of an old scarf and badge.<br />
Mike Hodge (OA President) gave one of his famous speeches<br />
at the end of the Dinner and paid the OA Club’s ‘annual fee’ of<br />
one peppercorn to the Headmaster.<br />
We were pleased to launch our new book, Inspiring Old<br />
Albanians, at the Dinner which proved a great success –<br />
selling out of all of the stock on the table! If you would like to<br />
buy a copy, please take a look at page 15 for details on how to<br />
purchase merchandise.<br />
We hope that next year’s OA Dinner will be equally successful<br />
and you should expect to hear from us in August 2018 with<br />
news of the next theme!
8<br />
Reunions<br />
CLASS OF<br />
1963 reunion<br />
by Mike Darby (OA 1963)<br />
MOST OF THE MEMBERS OF ‘MATHS UPPER’<br />
The 19th July 1963 was the last day of term and the nine<br />
members of Maths Upper went their separate ways (most<br />
of whom are pictured above). Fifty years later, to the day,<br />
six of us had a reunion meal at Lussmanns. <strong>One</strong> other<br />
of our number, Andy Lister, was traced to Australia, but<br />
said it was rather a long way to come! Since then we have<br />
met biannually and in 2015 managed to fix a date so that<br />
Andy could join us. On 4th July this year we were hosted<br />
by the School’s Development Office. We were given a<br />
tour of the School, and reminisced about the Walnut<br />
tree in the Orchard and the former CCF rifle range, and<br />
many other things. We were disappointed that the ‘maths<br />
room’ where we spent so much of our time with Harry<br />
Schofield (and other teachers) at the top of the Science<br />
block no longer existed, having been amalgamated with<br />
the former TLR (Top Lecture Room). We marvelled at<br />
the new swimming pool and contrasted it with the pool<br />
at Belmont. Afterwards, we went into St Albans and had<br />
a coffee in St Peter’s Street before returning to 5, Fishpool<br />
Street for an excellent meal prepared and served by the<br />
School’s caterers. All in all, it was an excellent day.<br />
If any reader of this piece has knowledge of the contact<br />
details for our two ‘missing’ members, P(eter) N R<br />
Chadwick (last heard of in Germany) or D(avid) M<br />
Griffiths (last heard of in Canada), I would be pleased if<br />
you would let me know via the Development Office.<br />
EIGHT<br />
old boys meeting<br />
by Mike Hodge (OA 1065)<br />
In June, eight of us OAs from the 1965 vintage, made our<br />
annual pilgrimage to the Digby Tap in Sherborne. We first<br />
met on 18th September 1958 on our first day at School and<br />
motivated by the first 50th year reunion in 2008, our splinter<br />
group has carried on with a small annual reunion. Apologies for<br />
absence were received from Pete Smith who was attending his<br />
Godmother’s 95th birthday. Fair enough.<br />
We chose The Digby Tap because it is a sort of ‘central’ point<br />
for us travelling OAs. Our homes range from Sidmouth, Bath,<br />
Fairford, Oxford, Belgium, Hoddesdon and Harpenden. Mike<br />
Nurton now lives in Sherborne and also gets an invite. All of us<br />
have had very different careers, which shows the benefit of the<br />
wide educational basis provided by the School. Many subjects<br />
were discussed and many things were put right. It was as if none<br />
of us had been away – the humour and stories were endless. The<br />
landlord at The Digby Tap is keen to have us back next year (8th<br />
June 2018) as it is a very good day for his takings!<br />
We ‘Diamond Geezers’ are now contemplating another reunion<br />
on or around 18th September 2018 to celebrate 60 years since<br />
we were ‘new bugs’!<br />
1967 & 1974<br />
GOLDEN JUBILEE<br />
reunion<br />
This summer marked 50 years since the Classes of 1967<br />
started, and the Class of 1974 left St Albans School. In<br />
celebration, we held a Golden Jubilee Reunion for these two<br />
year groups, bringing together just under 50 OAs, some of<br />
whom had not seen each other since their School days!<br />
The group enjoyed a tour of the School site and an<br />
update from the Headmaster on where we are today<br />
and future plans. It was then up to Woollams to enjoy<br />
lunch and a drink in the School Pavilion. For some, the<br />
reminiscing continued long into the night in the local St<br />
Albans pubs!<br />
Thank you to all who attended and we hope to see you<br />
again soon.<br />
(IN THE CHAIR) DAVE CHAPMAN, (BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT) SID OWEN, BARRY MACKENZIE, MIKE NURTON – OA STAFF<br />
FROM 1966 TO 1971, MIKE HODGE. (FRONT ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT) RICK MOORE, BILL NEALE AND DAVE MERRIOTT.
9<br />
LINES<br />
by Niall Matthews<br />
(OA 1974)<br />
time<br />
takes a cigarette i<br />
the park<br />
breathed<br />
come to a strange place<br />
we’ll talk over old times ii<br />
twentieth century boys iii<br />
distant memories<br />
diffracted<br />
reflected<br />
refracted<br />
by different shards of glass<br />
my salad days<br />
when I was green in judgment<br />
cold in blood<br />
to say as I said then<br />
but come<br />
away<br />
get me ink and paper iv<br />
fingers stained royal blue<br />
the smell of ink in the bottle<br />
when the white eagle of the north<br />
is flying overhead v<br />
arma virumque cano vi<br />
I sing of arms and a man<br />
cross-country runs along the flint<br />
wall<br />
where roman boots<br />
once beat in cadence<br />
boot caliga caligae<br />
spit<br />
polish<br />
blanco on khaki webbing<br />
the last post<br />
construe<br />
so many, many songs were waiting<br />
to be sung vii<br />
the ablative absolute long forgotten viii<br />
somehow<br />
I still conjure latin roots<br />
e ducere<br />
lead out<br />
education<br />
ductile<br />
the duke of edinburgh<br />
swiss time was running out<br />
it seemed that we would lose the race<br />
smoke on the water<br />
fire in the sky ix<br />
we mixed emotions<br />
in clever retorts<br />
we used<br />
slide rules<br />
logarithms<br />
irony<br />
sarcasm<br />
I got a silver machine<br />
it flies sideways through time x<br />
pocket chess<br />
the french defence<br />
cela se fait à paris! xi<br />
but that’s what’s done in paris<br />
baguettes and bottled beer<br />
hey babe, take a walk on the wild<br />
side xii<br />
il pleure dans mon coeur comme il<br />
pleut sur la ville xiii<br />
tears in my heart like the rain on<br />
the town<br />
je t’aime<br />
moi non plus xiv<br />
I love you... me neither<br />
me<br />
neither<br />
can’t even think of a word that<br />
rhymes xv<br />
subjunctive<br />
mood<br />
détente<br />
detention<br />
writing<br />
lines<br />
bet you’re wond’ring how I knew xvi<br />
gowns unfurling like black wings<br />
jackets of tweed or beige linen<br />
teachers<br />
some were kind<br />
going back to find<br />
to a simpler place ’n’ time xvii<br />
I could last forever<br />
outlast the sea<br />
the earth<br />
and all men xviii<br />
in our paintings<br />
the teacher<br />
always found a line to admire<br />
the smell of oil paints<br />
this my hand will rather<br />
the multitudinous seas incarnadine<br />
making the green one red xix<br />
no more will my green sea go turn a<br />
deeper blue xx<br />
der die das<br />
a sharply-dressed<br />
german german teacher<br />
carried a brown leather<br />
accusative case<br />
we rowdily<br />
declined<br />
adjectives<br />
über den wolken muss die freiheit<br />
wohl grenzenlos sein<br />
above the clouds freedom has no<br />
borders xxi<br />
do I der to eat a peach? xxii<br />
cabin’d, cribb’d, confined, bound in<br />
to saucy doubts and fears xxiii<br />
a gentle english teacher<br />
showed us the jokes in shakespeare<br />
you were half blasted ere I knew<br />
you xxiv<br />
he collected shopping bags<br />
tonight I’ll lose my head<br />
tonight I’ve got to get<br />
tonight xxv<br />
film club<br />
old oak pews<br />
film reels flickering<br />
strangers on a train xxvi<br />
fingers stretching for a lighter<br />
is there concrete all around<br />
or is it in my head xxvii<br />
walking home through the park<br />
in my striped school blazer<br />
three boys from the secondary<br />
modern<br />
looking grim<br />
fell into step<br />
a girl called out<br />
“he’s my brother”<br />
and reluctantly they faded away<br />
I never saw her again<br />
kicking around on a piece of ground<br />
in your home town xxviii<br />
at a rock concert<br />
a girl from the grammar school<br />
smiled<br />
though the music is lethal<br />
let the night take me in xxix<br />
visiting years later<br />
on the hill<br />
is the shop where I got my first<br />
camera<br />
still<br />
somebody’s shouting<br />
up at a mountain<br />
only my own words return xxx<br />
in the high street<br />
a man sitting on the pavement<br />
shouts<br />
“change please!”<br />
but we had already changed<br />
time may change me<br />
but I can’t trace time xxxi<br />
in the end<br />
maybe there were no answers<br />
only questions<br />
and I know where to find some good<br />
ones<br />
the park<br />
breathed<br />
and as for<br />
time<br />
he’s waiting in the wings xxxii<br />
i David Bowie, Rock ‘n’ roll Suicide<br />
ii Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, Somebody called me Sebastian<br />
iii Twentieth Century Boy, title of a song by T Rex<br />
iv Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra act 1 scene 5<br />
v The Moody Blues, The Dream<br />
vi Vergil, the Aeneid, opening line<br />
vii Dusty Springfield, Yesterday When I Was Young<br />
viii = an ablative absolute<br />
ix Deep Purple, Smoke on the Water<br />
x Hawkwind, Silver Machine<br />
xi Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary part 3 section 1<br />
xii Lou Reed, Take a Walk on the Wild Side<br />
xiii Paul Verlaine, Il Pleure dans mon Coeur… from Romances sans paroles<br />
xiv Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, Je t’aime… moi non plus<br />
xv Alice Cooper, School’s Out<br />
xvi Marvin Gaye, I Heard It Through the Grapevine<br />
xvii Gladys Knight and the Pips, Midnight Train to Georgia<br />
xviii Joseph Conrad, Youth<br />
xix Shakespeare, Macbeth act 2 scene 2<br />
xx The Rolling Stones, Paint it Black<br />
xxi Reinhard Mey, Über den Wolken<br />
xxii Do I dare to eat a peach? T S Eliot, The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock<br />
xxiii Shakespeare, Macbeth act 3 scene 4<br />
xxiv Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra act 3 scene 13<br />
xxv Easybeats, Friday on my Mind, covered by David Bowie on Pinups<br />
xxvi Strangers on a Train, directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a novel by Patricia Highsmith<br />
xxvii Mott the Hoople, All the Young Dudes<br />
xxviii Pink Floyd, Time<br />
xxix Mick Ronson, Music is Lethal<br />
xxx Deep Purple, Pictures of Home<br />
xxxi David Bowie, Changes<br />
xxxii David Bowie, Time
10<br />
10 Featured OA<br />
ADAM SOPHER, (OA 2003), FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR OF HIS FAMILY<br />
BUSINESS, JOE & SEPH’S GOURMET POPCORN<br />
JOE &<br />
SEPH’S<br />
Gourmet Popcorn<br />
From unauthorised tuck shops to a team of 50 and a product<br />
in Selfridges – Adam Sopher (OA 2003) talks to us about<br />
School life at St Albans and his globally successful family<br />
creation, Joe & Seph’s Popcorn.<br />
While you were at the School, did you have any idea<br />
what sort of work you wanted to go into?<br />
No, at the time I knew I wanted to go into business in<br />
some shape or form, but I didn’t really know how to<br />
get there. So I did the ‘usual’ and went to university<br />
and studied something broad to keep my options<br />
open. I went to Nottingham to study Economics, as<br />
I was quite motivated by doing something analytical<br />
and in the City, but I was ultimately interested in<br />
business.<br />
Were there any teachers who were particularly<br />
influential or memorable?<br />
I particularly remember Mr Walker, Mr Tolman, who<br />
left to join Harrow School at the time, and my French<br />
teacher Mrs Percival. They were great teachers. Mr<br />
Tolman was my Form Tutor and Economics teacher<br />
– he got me really passionate about economics. Mrs<br />
Percival taught me French which has become very<br />
useful in my business.<br />
Was there anything during your School experience<br />
that you feel was particularly valuable?<br />
I guess it’s all the different elements that School teaches<br />
and provides you with, like the academic side as well<br />
as extra-curricular activities like sports – which wasn’t<br />
really my thing! I met some really good people who<br />
I have stayed friends with too. There are two or three<br />
people from School in particular who I’m still close<br />
to, so that has a long-lasting impact. I even ended up<br />
sharing a house with a lot of the people who went to<br />
Nottingham from School, so there was that continuity.<br />
On the side, I set up a website whilst at School. At the<br />
time the web was relatively new, so I taught myself<br />
basic HTML and launched a website. I put my GCSE<br />
revision notes on the website and called it GCSE<br />
Guide. I sold that about three years ago. I also ran<br />
a tuck shop from my locker which the Headmaster<br />
actually closed down!<br />
What did you do after leaving Nottingham<br />
University?<br />
I graduated with a First and got a job in the City at<br />
Deloitte management consulting – they allowed me<br />
to defer my start date for a year so that I could go<br />
travelling with a guaranteed job offer at the end. I<br />
travelled all around the world including Australia,<br />
New Zealand and Asia. It was a great experience<br />
and I learnt about all different customs, cuisines and<br />
cultures. It definitely broadened my horizons.<br />
I spent two years working for Deloitte’s telecom and<br />
media clients, such as BT, Daily Mail and various<br />
others, doing consulting projects all over Europe.<br />
From there, I made the move to Dixons where I<br />
learnt an awful lot, as they were going through quite a<br />
challenging time. I then started getting itchy feet again<br />
and wanted to do something in a smaller business<br />
where I would have more of an impact.<br />
“Take advantage of all of the opportunities that<br />
school and university have to offer. They will<br />
always help at some point in life”
11<br />
How did you end up in your current job?<br />
My dad was retired and had been making popcorn<br />
(which he’d been making since we were kids). My<br />
mum was a stay-at-home-mum and was eager to<br />
do something in a work environment. The three of<br />
us decided to have a go and launched a premium<br />
popcorn company. The recipes are so different to the<br />
norm with unique flavours and premium packaging.<br />
We air-pop the corn and don’t fry it. We also sieve out<br />
all the small pieces so you won’t get any corn kernels<br />
leftover. All of it came together well and we really<br />
loved the taste. I took some tasters into Dixons and<br />
everyone really liked them, and so did our friends and<br />
family. In October 2010, we attended a BBC food show<br />
in West London, which is a big consumer show with<br />
lots of stands where people can taste and buy products.<br />
In the course of two days we sold out and said “Ah,<br />
this has gone well, we might have a business here”.<br />
After the food show, Selfridges got in touch and said<br />
they were interested in working with us. It was here we<br />
decided to develop the business.<br />
What do you do on a day-to-day basis?<br />
Too much is possibly the answer! Today I’m visiting<br />
a new building that we’re hoping to move our offices<br />
to because we’re out-growing our existing offices<br />
in London. I’m working on a new product. I am<br />
catching up with my team, including the operations,<br />
marketing and sales teams. In September, I was in<br />
Dubai selling popcorn to the Middle East, and there’s a<br />
lot of customer management too. We work with many<br />
large customers such as Cineworld and Waitrose, so I<br />
respond to them daily. There’s a real variety.<br />
I work with my parents, and my brother has joined<br />
the business now. We are spread across the building<br />
though, so we’re not stepping on each other’s toes all<br />
the time. My dad looks after popcorn production, my<br />
mum looks after our warehouse and I look after the<br />
sales strategy and marketing side of the business.<br />
What have been your biggest challenges to date?<br />
<strong>One</strong> of the biggest challenges with any business is cash<br />
flow. We need to make sure that we have enough cash<br />
to fund growth, especially with a business growing<br />
as fast as ours. It’s especially important because some<br />
retailers don’t pay for 60 days after we’ve delivered the<br />
product.<br />
We manufacture in our own production kitchens<br />
and don’t outsource. We have a large team of over 50<br />
people and we’re growing rapidly, which is a challenge.<br />
Six years ago, when we first launched popcorn flavours<br />
such as the Gin and Tonic popcorn, people asked us<br />
what we had done with the usual salted and sweet<br />
popcorn, because that was all the UK knew. There were<br />
a number of challenges getting customers to actually<br />
try it!<br />
And your biggest success?<br />
The first was seeing our products in Selfridges. It’s<br />
great seeing your product on a shelf but the biggest<br />
success is seeing it sell. I also get a lot of pleasure<br />
seeing a number of our team start as graduates and<br />
develop and grow into bigger roles in the business,<br />
as well as going on to do really interesting, cool jobs<br />
elsewhere.<br />
Is there anything surprising about your work?<br />
When you get to where we are now, and you walk<br />
into a bar in London, I start to notice our popcorn<br />
on the shelves which is cool but also quite a scary<br />
feeling. We don’t necessarily supply them directly<br />
because we’re working through a distributor, so we<br />
don’t know where our products are always going to<br />
be. It’s also cool seeing celebrities and people tweeting<br />
and Instagramming about our popcorn. It keeps our<br />
momentum going.<br />
Do you have any advice to pass onto current<br />
students at St Albans School?<br />
Take advantage of all of the opportunities that school<br />
and university have to offer. They will always help at<br />
some point in life. People you meet may end up being<br />
your customers in later life. Languages that you learn<br />
may also be useful, especially when communicating<br />
with customers and distributors overseas. Make use of<br />
your connections. It’s not easy starting a business. From<br />
the outside when you watch Dragons’ Den for example,<br />
it can look very easy, but it’s tough work. You’ve got to<br />
have a great, strong product and work really hard for it.<br />
If all of your ideas come together and you’re lucky, you<br />
can do really well and it’s the best career!<br />
For more information about Joe & Seph’s Gourmet<br />
Popcorn, visit www.joeandsephs.co.uk
12<br />
ASK<br />
the Archivist<br />
St Albans School dates back to 948AD and as such,<br />
there is a wealth of historical records to look after in<br />
our Museum. Our archives are extremely important in<br />
providing evidence of activities and telling a story of<br />
the institution and the individuals who are connected with it.<br />
The archives also increase our understanding of culture and<br />
beliefs of the time, both in education and in the city of<br />
St Albans.<br />
This ‘Ask the Archivist’ section will be a regular feature in<br />
<strong>Versa</strong> and we encourage you to do just that, ask the Archivist!<br />
If you have any questions about the history of the School or<br />
would like to know about the records in the Museum, please<br />
write to us and let us know. It can be anything from; ‘who<br />
are the famous alumni of the School?’ to ‘what was the most<br />
successful 1st XV rugby team at the School?’.<br />
In this edition, we ask Archivist, Nigel WoodSmith, how<br />
have we commemorated fallen OAs and do we have a<br />
complete record of all OAs who went to war?<br />
Alderman Major Nigel WoodSmith writes…<br />
In 2012, HMC (the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’<br />
Conference) asked schools what they intended to do to<br />
commemorate the centenary of the First World War. We<br />
had already been thinking about this since commemorating<br />
the hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the OTC<br />
(Officers’ Training Corps), whose training programme had<br />
been put forward in 1906 by St Albans, Uppingham and the<br />
Imperial War College.<br />
Paul Downey (OA 1977), a brilliant 15-year-old in 1974, had<br />
started a project to obtain more detailed information about<br />
the names on the two War Memorials in the Upper Yard. We<br />
decided to find and publish a record of all those who served.<br />
The first task was to make a list. Michael Hollins (OA 2012)<br />
and Gareth Hughes (former parent) each produced a list of<br />
over 400 boys who they thought had fought and the combined<br />
list was the starting point.<br />
The initial request to OAs for help in finding names<br />
produced the remarkable and sad story of Arthur Skett which<br />
we immortalised in two books: The Death of Arthur Skett and<br />
The Life and Death of Arthur Skett (available on Amazon).<br />
Also discovered were the names of three OAs who were<br />
missing from the First World War Memorial; George Alfred<br />
Scott, Leslie Harry Shrewsbury and Frank Walter Wilks. They<br />
joined the 87 other Old Albanians on the Memorial, at the<br />
time, to be remembered.<br />
Soon we had collected over 1200 pages of information which<br />
remains an archive. Current students, Ben Plumer and Ben<br />
Craig, have been editing the pages down into seven volumes,<br />
which are soon to be published as A Headmaster at War.<br />
Extracts from the diary of Major E Montague Jones can be<br />
read on our archives website st-albans-sch-archives.co.uk.<br />
Montague Jones was the Headmaster of St Albans School<br />
from 1902 to 1931. In 1914 he had gone to war, writing simply<br />
to the Governors: “I have been called upon to serve with the 1st<br />
Herts Regiment…in consequence I have been obliged to make<br />
temporary arrangements for the carrying on of my work during<br />
this period”.<br />
Each year the School holds a Remembrance Service in the<br />
Abbey at which OAs, especially servicemen and women,<br />
are welcome to attend. The Service is followed by the Act of<br />
Remembrance at the War Memorial, commemorating all<br />
Old Albanians who made the ultimate sacrifice in defence<br />
of freedom as a result of war, peace-keeping operations or<br />
terrorist actions.<br />
So what research is left to do? Well, Volume 7 is partially a<br />
workbook – as Gareth Hughes and Michael Hollins will tell<br />
you, the work never ends – we hope that some of you will find<br />
the time to investigate some of the names we still have little<br />
information about.<br />
If any OAs are inclined to research the School’s history and<br />
War records, please contact Archivist Nigel Woodsmith at<br />
NAWood-Smith@st-albans.herts.sch.uk for names of OAs<br />
and tips on how to research.
13<br />
ANNOUNCEMENTS<br />
OBITUARIES<br />
It is with regret that the following deaths<br />
are announced:<br />
Ronald Francis Tarling (OA 1955)<br />
Informed by Ronald’s sister, Mrs Wheeler,<br />
that Francis died on 14th February 2017,<br />
at home.<br />
John Hulett (OA 1946)<br />
Died 4th March 2017.<br />
Richard James French<br />
(OA 1947)<br />
1931 – 2017<br />
Obituary by daughter,<br />
Gillian French<br />
Richard (Dick) French attended St Albans<br />
School on a scholarship between 1942<br />
and 1947. After an enthusiastic start:<br />
‘always cheerful and willing, but not<br />
very good’ (Algebra, 1942), he settled<br />
into a respectable School career earning<br />
commendations for his sporting prowess<br />
in rugby, shooting and swimming<br />
and he left with a credit in his general<br />
matriculation.<br />
Selected for officer training during his<br />
National Service, he afterwards embarked<br />
on a period of travel and adventure in<br />
a series of postings which took him<br />
to Hong Kong, the Cocos Islands and<br />
eventually to Indonesia, where he met his<br />
wife Franceline. They lived first in Suffolk<br />
before settling in the West Midlands<br />
with their three children. Dick’s affable<br />
character afforded him a steady career<br />
in sales management and he devoted<br />
his time to his family and his hobbies,<br />
including sailing and camping. His great<br />
love was for music: he played cornet,<br />
guitar and ukulele, sang in a barbershop<br />
quartet, sang in and conducted Male<br />
Voice Choirs and was a member of the<br />
local operatic society. He died on 8th<br />
August 2017 after a short illness.<br />
Philip Maxwell Eden<br />
(OA 1952)<br />
1934 – 2017<br />
Obituary by son, Roland<br />
Eden (OA 1981)<br />
Dad attended St Albans School from<br />
1947 to 1952. He was grateful to “Jumbo”<br />
Jenkins his Maths Master, and his English<br />
teacher who taught him the essence of<br />
writing clearly. I remember one story of<br />
dad placing a rotten fish behind a radiator.<br />
In 1952 he joined the Navy where he<br />
reached the rank of Sub Lieutenant. He<br />
had an interest in languages which may<br />
have contributed meeting his first wife<br />
Barbara, a German Au Pair working in<br />
Harpenden. He travelled to 52 countries<br />
during his career at Shell and Barclays<br />
where he became Assistant Director of<br />
Technical Service advising on the viability<br />
of energy related projects.<br />
Philip was a Buddhist and wrote<br />
articles for The Middle Way as well as<br />
teaching and recording a number of<br />
lectures. He became Vice President of<br />
the Buddhist Society.<br />
I recently found this caption on his<br />
bookshelf: “Death is not a cessation of<br />
life but the laying aside of one form of<br />
existence and transition to another”.<br />
William F. Harwood (OA 1947)<br />
1929 – 2017<br />
Obituary by the family<br />
Born in 1929, William (Bill) Harwood<br />
had an enjoyable childhood with<br />
amateur dramatics and visits to the sea.<br />
He attended the School from 1939 to<br />
1947. He was a keen rugby player and,<br />
influenced by his father’s love of music,<br />
an accomplished pianist. His School<br />
friends remember his playing of the<br />
Chopin Polonaises.<br />
Aged 19, he joined the Army and<br />
developed practical skills, including car<br />
mechanics, which became useful when he<br />
toured Europe by motorbike.<br />
He was always in love with water,<br />
grabbing every opportunity to sail. He<br />
bought a 25ft yacht “Nim” and frequently<br />
set sail on the Crouch in Essex and the<br />
Thames estuary.<br />
He met Anne at a wedding in St Albans;<br />
they were married in 1961 and had four<br />
children: Melanie, Vanessa, Justin and<br />
Melissa. After the divorce, he moved to<br />
Ruislip and took lessons in ballroom<br />
and square dancing to keep up with his<br />
partner, Rita’s bronze and silver medals.<br />
He was a good listener, and showed an<br />
interest in people, with an open-minded<br />
and non-judgemental disposition and,<br />
above all, was a loving and caring dad and<br />
grandfather; always wanting the best for<br />
them. He was devoted to his partner, Rita.<br />
He showed strength, love and humour<br />
right up to his last days with us all.<br />
WEDDINGS<br />
Congratulations to the following<br />
OAs who have recently tied the<br />
knot!<br />
Isabel Gilbert (née Currie), OA<br />
2006<br />
My husband, James, and I got married<br />
on the 17th December 2016 at the<br />
Tower of London. We were honoured<br />
to be able to use such a special<br />
location which has been James’s<br />
regimental home since 1685. It was<br />
also the first place James took me<br />
for dinner, when we both returned<br />
from serving in Afghanistan in 2013.<br />
After the service at the beautiful<br />
little chapel, we had our reception at<br />
Trinity House, just across Tower Hill.<br />
Amongst our guests we had 10 OAs,<br />
including Ed Roberts who kindly did a<br />
reading during the service, and Maddy<br />
Buckley and Katie Wade-Wright (née<br />
Lilly) who were bridesmaids. We had<br />
an incredible day, made even more<br />
magical by the twinkling Christmas<br />
trees everywhere! Since our wedding<br />
and honeymoon, we have moved to<br />
South West London and are currently<br />
planning how to celebrate almost one<br />
year as Mr and Mrs.<br />
William Bestelink, OA 1967<br />
After leaving St Albans School in<br />
1967, I had four years at Hull (where<br />
I studied History and Theology) and<br />
two years at Cuddesdon College,<br />
Oxford. In 1973, I was Ordained in<br />
the Church of England in Cromer<br />
Church, Norfolk and spent the whole<br />
of my Ministry in the Diocese of<br />
Norwich. I did two assistant curacies<br />
and for 30 years held three positions,<br />
most in rural parishes. I also became<br />
Rural Dean, Rural Officer and a<br />
Canon of Norwich Cathedral.<br />
In 2009, I retired early and moved<br />
to Cromer. I continue to take<br />
Services and play the organ at several<br />
Churches. My rural work continues<br />
serving on a helpline. I also participate<br />
in The Cromer Society and volunteer<br />
at Felbrigg Hall, a local National Trust<br />
property, where I met my wife, Genny.<br />
We had a small family Wedding, as it<br />
was the first for both of us, at Metton<br />
Church near Cromer, and today we<br />
continue to live in Cromer.
PLAY<br />
YOUR<br />
PART<br />
Support the future of the arts at St Albans School<br />
The success of our Building Futures fundraising campaign has enabled the start of the refurbishment of<br />
New Hall into a modern Centre for the Performing Arts. With Phase <strong>One</strong> of this project on schedule to<br />
be completed by mid-April 2018, our fundraising endeavours continue apace to enable Phase Two of this<br />
project to proceed.<br />
Play your Part – a continuation of the Building Futures campaign – aims specifically to redevelop the<br />
main and balcony floors of New Hall, and provide a 300 seat multi-use auditorium. The development plan<br />
focusses on providing current and future students with the best possible opportunities available to unlock<br />
their potential.<br />
Play your part and help our students to be their very best<br />
At St Albans School, we believe that the arts are vital to our vibrant community and bring out the<br />
best in our students. The Centre for the Performing Arts will engage and inspire on a grand scale,<br />
enabling students to thrive in an atmosphere that fosters creative expression and personal growth.<br />
Students will be immeasurably enriched by a modern and innovative facility that impacts their<br />
academic and student life.<br />
How you can play your part<br />
Fundraising target:<br />
£1 million<br />
For further information,<br />
please contact the<br />
Development Office or visit<br />
www.st-albans.herts.sch.uk/<br />
Building-Futures<br />
Our fundraising target for Phase Two is £1 million. As part of the Play your Part campaign, we are<br />
seeking gifts from donors who truly understand the great value of the arts to our School. Please help<br />
play your part by making a gift to support our budding actors and musicians. A one-off donation,<br />
or a transformational naming-gift, will enable us to achieve our vision to help each pupil flourish,<br />
develop self-knowledge and self-confidence.<br />
Take a leading role and play your part in supporting the future<br />
of the arts at St Albans School.<br />
t: 01727 515187 e: development@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
FOUNDATION
15<br />
OA MERCHANDISE<br />
We have recently expanded our range of OA merchandise. Why not pick up a stocking filler for the OA in your life?<br />
3<br />
4<br />
1<br />
9<br />
8<br />
6<br />
11<br />
2<br />
7<br />
10<br />
5<br />
If you would like to purchase any merchandise, please contact oaevents@st-albans.herts.sch.uk or call 01727 515187.<br />
Alternatively, you can shop online at www.oaconnect.co.uk or complete the form below, and send to:<br />
Development Office, St Albans School, Abbey Gateway, St Albans, AL3 4HB. International prices may vary.<br />
[1] OA Umbrella<br />
£22 (+ £11 UK p&p)<br />
Lightweight storm proof umbrellas<br />
featuring the School crest and<br />
printed in OA colours.<br />
[2] St Albans School Mug<br />
£10 (+ £2 UK p&p)<br />
Bone china mug with School<br />
history on base.<br />
[3] St Albans School Tea Towel<br />
£5 (+ 50p UK p&p)<br />
Featuring a list of School rules<br />
from 1570.<br />
[4] Born Not For Ourselves:<br />
A History of St Albans School<br />
£25 (+ £5 UK p&p)<br />
A hardback book telling the story of<br />
St Albans School through the years.<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
[5] St Albans School At War<br />
£15 (+ £2.50 UK p&p)<br />
A paperback book on collected<br />
memories of pupils who experienced<br />
a St Albans School education<br />
during World War II.<br />
[6] OA Socks<br />
£7.50 (+ £2 UK p&p)<br />
<strong>One</strong> size cotton socks in the official OA<br />
colours. Suitable for men’s size 8-12.5<br />
[7] St Albans School Tote Bag<br />
£4 (+ £1 UK p&p)<br />
Natural coloured tote bags with<br />
the School crest. Fashionable<br />
and handy for shopping.<br />
[8] OA Silk Tie<br />
£13.00 (+ £1 UK p&p)<br />
100% silk tie in OA colours.<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
[9] St Albans School Hymn Books<br />
£10 (+ £2 UK p&p)<br />
School hymns throughout<br />
the years.<br />
[10] Inspiring Old Albanians<br />
£12 (+ £2 UK p&p)<br />
A paperback book which is a<br />
miscellany of famous former<br />
pupils and others associated with<br />
St Albans School.<br />
[11] St Albans School Notebook<br />
£5 (+ £2 UK p&p)<br />
High quality A5 notebook with a<br />
black matte finish, pen hold, ribbon<br />
bookmark and the School crest.<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
Qty<br />
Name<br />
I enclose a cheque for £<br />
payable to St Albans School Foundation<br />
Address<br />
Please debit my: Visa/Delta MasterCard UK Maestro<br />
Name on card<br />
for £<br />
Card Number<br />
Telephone<br />
Email<br />
Expiry Date<br />
Signature<br />
/ Start Date /<br />
(if applicable)<br />
<strong>Issue</strong> No.<br />
(if applicable)<br />
Date<br />
Security code:
16<br />
LA<br />
GRANDE<br />
finale<br />
by John Meulkens<br />
(OA 1935)<br />
JOHN MEULKENS VISITING THE SCHOOL IN MAY 2017<br />
Notwithstanding the fact that I am very much<br />
in my twilight years, it was once again<br />
possible to pay a visit to my alma mater<br />
last May and profit, as so often from its traditional<br />
hospitality. With EasyJet to Luton, it’s a short 45<br />
to 50-minute flight from Amsterdam Airport.<br />
Comparing favourably with the taxi drive from my<br />
home to the airport that, depending on the traffic,<br />
might take twice as long.<br />
The programme was again executed in grand style: Tea<br />
at Woollams, a visit to the School Museum and drinks<br />
at the Fighting Cocks with the following OAs who<br />
so graciously came over to meet me; Roy and Merle<br />
Bacon, Ian Jennings, Mitch Parker, Chris Harbour,<br />
Geoffrey Dale and Robert Sharpe (all the way from the<br />
South Coast!). Then, to top it off, we had dinner in the<br />
Refectory with Headmaster Jonathan Gillespie and his<br />
charming wife Caroline.<br />
It was great to meet, for the first time, our OA President<br />
Mike Hodge, who so interestingly told me that my<br />
first Maths Master in 1929 “Pi” Walker was, in fact, his<br />
grandfather; a severe and much respected teacher. All in<br />
all, a truly delightful visit and again much appreciated<br />
by my cousin-by-marriage who, incidentally joins me<br />
on such expeditions, as it is not advisable to do it on<br />
one’s own – especially at the airport.<br />
Although life now is quiet and peaceful, there is<br />
“never a dull moment”. Besides working incidentally<br />
on an oil painting and reading a great deal in order to<br />
increase my knowledge of the world’s history – music<br />
is constantly an important element in my day-to-day<br />
life. Hardly a day goes by without playing the piano.<br />
In addition to this “homework”, I attend piano recitals<br />
wherever possible.<br />
As a result of these visits, I had the privilege of being<br />
introduced to a Hungarian master pianist (who now<br />
lives in Amsterdam) – Klára Würtz. Accepted as a<br />
student at the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy at the<br />
early age of 14, Klára went on to win a scholarship<br />
to study under Sir András Schiff in England. She has<br />
now performed over 200 concerts in countries such<br />
as America, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Slovina<br />
and Ireland. During our chat, after being told of my<br />
advanced age she promptly said; “I’ll come and play at<br />
your 100th birthday”. My immediate reply was; “you<br />
promise?” and her answer was, “yes, I promise”.<br />
Since then I have been present at several of her recitals<br />
in nearby towns and I am happy to say that she has<br />
become a very dear friend.<br />
As I still had to wait a couple of years and everything<br />
was very much in “the lap of the Gods”, I thought<br />
it practical to organise the recital a year earlier, to<br />
celebrate the start of my 100th centenary. The idea<br />
was readily accepted and a Saturday afternoon in<br />
November agreed. The organisational work involved<br />
has kept me busy during many months. The result may<br />
well be seen as a highlight in my long life.<br />
During my May visit to the School, Jonathan Gillespie<br />
told me about the plans for the New Hall development<br />
– to make it into the Centre for Performing Arts,<br />
complete with a purpose built Music Faculty. A project<br />
that most certainly enhances the School’s already<br />
impressive reputation. During our talks I suggested<br />
that we might consider having pianist Klára Würtz<br />
give a repeat performance of her November recital, as<br />
and when the Centre is officially opened. In order to<br />
discuss this matter, we have provisionally planned a<br />
visit to St Albans in January.<br />
Needless to say I will do my upmost to be present at<br />
the concert.<br />
“Although life now is quiet<br />
and peaceful, there is<br />
never a dull moment”
17<br />
THE OA LODGE<br />
then & now…<br />
by John Williams<br />
(OA 1964)<br />
The first Master of the Old<br />
Albanian Lodge was Edward<br />
Percy Debenham. He was born<br />
at Ivy House in St Albans in 1858 and<br />
educated at the School. He qualified as a<br />
Solicitor in 1881 and following the death<br />
of his father in 1883, joined the family<br />
firm of Thompson & Debenhams of<br />
London and St Albans. He was initiated<br />
into Halsey Lodge No. 1479 in St Albans<br />
in 1882 and was installed as Master in<br />
1890. Debenham was a Clerk to the<br />
Governors of St Albans School – at<br />
the time still referred to as St Albans<br />
Grammar School. After the ‘Great’<br />
war, in the 1920s there were numerous<br />
members of Freemason’s Lodges in St<br />
Albans who had been educated at the<br />
School. They established a committee<br />
in 1925, with the aim of founding a new<br />
Lodge in the Province of Hertfordshire,<br />
the Old Albanian Lodge No 4999,<br />
for the benefit of Old Boys, staff and<br />
those connected with the School. The<br />
Old Albanian Lodge was consecrated<br />
at Freemason’s Hall on Saturday 19th<br />
May 1928 by Bro. Charles E. Keyser,<br />
FREEMASON’S HALL<br />
Provincial Grand Master of the Masonic<br />
Province of Hertfordshire.<br />
For the remainder of 1928, Lodge<br />
meetings were held by dispensation in<br />
St Albans Town Hall. Afterwards, the<br />
members and their guests dined at the<br />
Red Lion Hotel. In early 1929 however,<br />
the Lodge began meeting in the Old<br />
Assembly room in the School’s Gateway,<br />
but continued to dine in the Red Lion.<br />
In the 12 months from October 1928<br />
to 1929, no fewer than 14 candidates –<br />
including the then Headmaster, Major<br />
E. Montague Jones – were initiated into<br />
the Lodge and with additional ‘joining’<br />
members, the Lodge was on course<br />
to becoming one of the foremost in<br />
the Province.<br />
Old Albanians who received a copy of<br />
the ‘black book’ containing ‘Notes on St<br />
Albans School’ at the start of their School<br />
careers may recall that Sir Francis was<br />
the son of Sir Nicolas Bacon, one of the<br />
School’s early patrons and instrumental<br />
in obtaining the ‘Wine Charter’ which<br />
was later confirmed and extended by<br />
Charters, granted by King James 1st.<br />
King James had been initiated into the<br />
Masonic Lodge of Scoon and Perth in<br />
1601. Sir Francis, also a Freemason and<br />
one of history’s finest philosophers,<br />
played a large part in the development<br />
of early Freemasonry. 20 years after his<br />
death, in 1645 during the turmoil of<br />
the civil war, Freemasons in London<br />
established what was to become the<br />
Royal Society. It was the world’s first<br />
assembly of scientists and engineers<br />
dedicated to understanding the wonders<br />
created by the ‘Great Architect of the<br />
Universe’. As continues in all Freemason’s<br />
Lodges today, ‘all discourses on divinity<br />
and state affairs’ is barred – i.e. there<br />
shall be no discussion of religion<br />
or politics!<br />
EDWARD PERCY DEBENHAM<br />
The Lodge ‘year’ commenced at the<br />
Installation meeting on 13th May, when<br />
the outgoing Master of the Lodge, Alex<br />
Bain-Stewart, installed the Master Elect,<br />
Alistair Cooper (OA 1988) as the 90th<br />
Master of the Lodge. The incoming<br />
Master was initiated into Harrow St<br />
Paul’s Lodge, and joined the OA Lodge<br />
in 2010. He is now a successful property<br />
developer and residential landlord. He<br />
was proposed into the Old Albanian<br />
Lodge by Colin Harris and Ian Parker<br />
(who taught him economics at School).<br />
Alistair was a St Albans councillor from<br />
1997 to 2005, chairing the Planning<br />
Committee from 2002 to 2004. He is a<br />
charity volunteer for the local homeless<br />
drop in centre, Centre 33 and is a keen<br />
supporter of the RSPCA and other<br />
animal charities.<br />
ALISTAIR COOPER (OA 1988)<br />
The Lodge meets five times a year<br />
and all those connected with the<br />
School, including fathers of past or<br />
present pupils are welcome to apply<br />
for membership. Members of other<br />
Lodges, be they OAs, parents, staff or<br />
Governors, are encouraged to visit<br />
the Lodge whenever they wish. The<br />
Secretary or Assistant Secretary will<br />
be delighted to hear from them.
18<br />
Sports News<br />
A DOUBLE<br />
for Cox<br />
by Peter Dredge (OA 1960)<br />
Golfers are avid followers of the weather forecast, especially in<br />
the locations where matches and events have been arranged.<br />
Experience this season has shown that long range (over<br />
a week) forecasts have been wildly inaccurate and even<br />
an indication for a following day is generally unreliable.<br />
Nevertheless, the fixtures this season have been played in<br />
mostly dry conditions due to good fortune, although the<br />
Secretary must be afforded some credit! The matches, as<br />
always, were great fun with our opposition and over the<br />
years we have established great camaraderie and friendships<br />
on and off the course. Results were mixed with a good<br />
victory over Mid-Herts GC, draws against Berkhamsted and<br />
Haberdashers, and a single defeat against Old Cholmeleians,<br />
the first loss to them for several years and, in a way, it was<br />
good to see them return happily back to Highgate.<br />
The OA Cup venue this year was Berkhamsted GC and John<br />
Cox succeeded in retaining the trophy he won last year<br />
at Sandy Lodge. A significant achievement by our lowest<br />
handicap golfer, 4. Graham Tate was runner-up with three<br />
players tied for third place, Mike Lamprell, John Cash and<br />
Brian Hayden-Smith. John Saunders secured the Dockree<br />
Tankard being the competition for the Antelopes.<br />
CAPTAIN GRAHAM TATE (OA 1960) (RIGHT) PRESENTING THE CUP TO<br />
WINNER JOHN COX (OA 1974) (LEFT)<br />
Our Captain, Graham Tate, kindly organised an open day at<br />
his home course, Dunstable Downs GC, and then proceeded<br />
to win the Pop Rush trophy from runners-up John Saunders<br />
and Peter Dredge.<br />
At the time of writing this report, the annual away trip this<br />
year will be to Lakeside Lodge, Huntingdon and full details<br />
will follow in the next report.<br />
All OAs are most welcome to attend any of our events.<br />
I would be pleased to provide details and to include any<br />
interested OAs on the mailing list. My email address is<br />
pjdredge42@aol.com<br />
OA<br />
Tennis<br />
by Maureen Harcourt<br />
We have had a very successful season in the Watford and District Tennis League.<br />
Our Men (Division 2) have come second, our Ladies (Division 3) have come first<br />
and our Mixed Team (Division 4) have come second. This means all three teams<br />
have gained promotion. Family sessions on Sunday mornings have gone well<br />
throughout the season and have enjoyed good attendance. We have instigated a<br />
new club session on Tuesday evenings for Ladies Team practice, ably lead by our<br />
Club Coach Margie Edge. Margie is building up her coaching sessions and is<br />
busy every day of the week delivering group and individual lessons. If anyone<br />
is interested in booking some coaching sessions she can be contacted at<br />
22safina@gmail.com<br />
The Sue Barnes Memorial Tournament on Sunday 11th June was a delightful event<br />
which was well attended and played in great spirit. Family and friends of Sue joined<br />
in, in some cases having to dust cobwebs off rackets and digging deep for suitable<br />
outfits! Nick Barnes officially “opened” the bench by cutting the ribbons – in OA<br />
colours of course! As it was such a success we have decided that it should become<br />
an annual event.<br />
For the first time this year we are entering a Mixed Team into the East Herts<br />
Autumn League and a Ladies Team into the Hertfordshire Senior Winter League.<br />
We shall also continue to put a mixed side into the Datchworth Autumn League.<br />
BENCH OPENING CEREMONY WITH<br />
NICK BARNES (OA 1966)<br />
We continue to welcome new players to the Club so do contact either myself<br />
(m.harcourt@ntlworld.com) or Margie if you are interested in finding out more.
19<br />
THE OA<br />
FOOTBALL CLUB<br />
returns<br />
by Nick Jackson (OA 2005)<br />
After several years of dormancy, OA Football has returned<br />
and in a big way. After dipping their toes in a few competitive<br />
Old Boys games earlier this year in a cup run that saw them<br />
reach the quarter finals of The David Willcott Trophy. The<br />
Old Albanian Football Club have now begun their crusade for<br />
league silverware as they embark on their 2017/18 campaign<br />
in Division Five of the Arthurian League.<br />
The Arthurian League, an English association football league<br />
for teams of independent school alumni, has existed since<br />
1961 and currently consists of 57 teams representing 36<br />
separate clubs. Driven by former students Alex Addison (OA<br />
2005) and Nick Jackson (OA 2005), St Albans School is now<br />
being represented by its alumni with a vision to field both<br />
Second and Third XIs in future years.<br />
The Club, featuring exclusively Old Albanians from the School,<br />
has been proactive with their recruitment drive, leading to<br />
talent being represented across decades of Old Boys.<br />
‘’I felt a warm welcome joining and despite age differences,<br />
the St Albans School unity that has been bred into all of us<br />
still holds strong no matter of current careers or stages of life’’<br />
– Bryn Edwards, OAFC member.<br />
With an ever growing talent pool available, it is an excellent<br />
opportunity to reconnect with old friends and establish new<br />
ones through competitive sport. For all those interested in<br />
finding out more or to receive the latest Club match reports<br />
and latest updates please email oldalbaniansfc@gmail.com<br />
The Old Albanian Football Club are currently first in Division<br />
Five of the Arthurian League.<br />
Latest Results:<br />
POS P W D L F A GD PTS<br />
1 Old Albanians 8 4 2 2 18 18 0 14<br />
2 Old Columbans 5 4 1 0 21 5 16 13<br />
3 Old Brentwoods III 5 3 1 1 18 10 8 10<br />
4 Old Brentwoods II 6 2 4 0 17 9 8 10<br />
5 Old Cholmeleians II 5 1 1 3 11 14 -3 4<br />
6 Old Foresters III 6 1 1 4 9 17 -8 4<br />
7 Old Chigwellians III 7 0 2 5 8 29 -21 2<br />
SAINTS FAIL<br />
to fire<br />
by Kate Barnes<br />
Hampstead has always been a tough away fixture and the<br />
match on 8th October was no different. We are slightly<br />
feared in this League due to our strong reputation.<br />
Hampstead had no reservations that beating us was the<br />
only option by any means necessary!<br />
Saints spent the first 20 minutes pinning Hampstead<br />
in their own 22. The question was; who would score<br />
first? To the Saints’ dismay, the home side prevailed. 5–0<br />
Hampstead. Saints upped a gear, creating some good link<br />
play between forwards and backs. Robertson crossed the<br />
line and converted her own efforts, 7-5 Saints half-time.<br />
The second half began at a fierce pace, until Saints lost<br />
front-rower Cook to a broken fibula, causing a reshuffle,<br />
leading to a loss in focus. Suddenly Saints started to chase<br />
the game, making some uncharacteristic errors. The home<br />
side capitalised on this scoring further tries to finish the<br />
game 22-7 victors.<br />
Two weeks later, Saints are taking on Lewes. An unknown<br />
entity to the League and the team had no intention of<br />
underestimating the newly promoted side.<br />
Saints score the first try through rapid winger McKenna,<br />
extras by Robertson, 7-0 Saints. It didn’t take long for<br />
Lewes to respond, firing back after some slick hands,<br />
producing a score 7-5 Saints. Both sides were producing<br />
attacking rugby and strong defence, Saints had a player<br />
in the bin but put on another score as King raced over<br />
converted by Robertson, followed by another to make it<br />
19-5 Saints. Just on half-time Lewes snatched a converted<br />
score, 19-12 Saints.<br />
Concentration after the break lapsed and Lewes scored<br />
within five minutes to level. Players started to feel the<br />
weight of extra work and Lewes scored another try and<br />
conversion to lead 26-19. Knowing the end of the match<br />
was approaching, Saints found some energy to score again<br />
through McKenna, 26-24 Lewes. Despite several attempts,<br />
Saints found no way through and were held up twice<br />
over the line. The home side eventually cleared their line,<br />
finding themselves in the Saints’ 22. Fast hands and using<br />
the overlap, they scored in the corner. Final score 31-24.<br />
Head Coach Brown said; “To come away with a bonus<br />
point was a credit to the players. Given the personnel<br />
changes, injuries being carried and positional switches,<br />
I could not ask for more from each player. A couple of<br />
better decisions could have swung the result, but that’s<br />
history now”.
20<br />
OA Rifle Club<br />
OLD<br />
TRICKS<br />
new tricks<br />
by Andrew Wilkie (OA 1965)<br />
SHOOTING AT 300YRDS<br />
Well, we’re still here and in a low key understated<br />
sort of way, flourishing. We hear from others<br />
at Bisley that we are actually one of the better<br />
off Old Boys’ organisations thanks largely to the School’s<br />
continued support and the elevation of shooting to a School<br />
sport. The even better news is that the new Maths building<br />
includes a basement range and has been given the go ahead<br />
by planners. There will of course be a disrupted period during<br />
construction but the future is looking positive indeed.<br />
Our Herts Rifle League winter season 2016/17 (Division 2,<br />
Team 4) resulted in our finishing fourth (ex6), not bad for<br />
such an unusually elevated division and it shows we held our<br />
own against declared averages. Our final position belies some<br />
very good scores; clearly the challenges of range closure put<br />
the team on its mettle.<br />
Martin Warr spent the season shooting for the Herts County<br />
Rifle Team. Congratulations to him. With his current average<br />
he should have another season of county shooting ahead in<br />
2017/18. Keep up the good work. I’m not so sure my own<br />
average will have the same result in Dorset but it looks like I<br />
might get a go at the new NSRA County Veterans competition<br />
seeing as I’m over sixty; ten years over!<br />
Herts Rifle League summer season 2017 (Division 2, Team 4)<br />
was a similar story but this time the damage was done in the<br />
early rounds and we ended up in fifth place. Not too shabby<br />
but could do better. Priscilla and John Simmons both had<br />
success at the NSRA Bisley Open Meeting in August.<br />
The annual Coles Trophy match against the School took place<br />
on 30th June. The result was a close win for the School with<br />
Macrae handicap scores of 400.076 to the school and 399.987<br />
for the OAs. Congratulations to the School team.<br />
Owen Simmons has dusted off his contacts list and called for<br />
competitors for this year’s BSSRA 25-yard competition. If<br />
you would like to take part then please let him know (contact<br />
details at the front).<br />
Our team for the winter 2017/18 (Division 2, Team 4 – again!)<br />
season comprises:<br />
:<br />
Andrew Wilkie 97.0<br />
Andrew Moore 93.4<br />
Martin Warr 97.4<br />
Nick Tubby 93.8<br />
Kris Gruber<br />
(Reserve)<br />
Full bore shooting kicked off on 1st April this year with a<br />
practice shoot at 600yds. A week later we shot the short range<br />
Q Match at 500 & 600yds, coming fifth out of six teams.<br />
Not one of our better performances given the early practice<br />
but shooting was disrupted by the delays getting target frames<br />
in place and by painfully slow marking. More delays followed<br />
during our match against the Old Lawrentians. This time we<br />
came second as expected with 458.24 against 466.36.<br />
The plan was to have a practice shoot at 1000yds before the<br />
Long Range Q match at 900 and 1000yds. Yours truly duly<br />
booked targets and then disappeared off to Australia for six<br />
weeks. Well thanks to the electronic booking system the team<br />
arrived at Bisley to find they were booked in at 1100yds.<br />
We don’t have kit to shoot at this distance so after much<br />
discussion they were offered an electronic target at 300yds<br />
(See photo).<br />
This summer Alun Lewis turned his wordsmithing talents<br />
to shooting, updating the NRA Facebook page during the<br />
Queen’s Final at Bisley. Tech savvy at 70, a new trick for an<br />
old dog. I wonder can you get a tingle from a lekky bone? At<br />
the time of writing we have just shot our last full bore event of<br />
the season The Arnold Cup match. First presented in 1936 the<br />
competition was balanced 32 to Alleynians and 31 to us with
21<br />
three ties (66 matches). This year the match was shot 2 & 7 at<br />
300 and 600yds. I am delighted to report that we won with a<br />
score of 272.29 against 250.16 to the Alleynians.<br />
Congratulations to all on levelling the overall total at 32 each<br />
and completing a run of five successive wins for the Old<br />
Albanians. The match was followed by our annual dinner in<br />
the London Middlesex where we were hosts to the Alleynians<br />
team and their partners.<br />
Club kit is available for all disciplines so if any of you would<br />
like to relive the excitement of corps camp or that first shoot<br />
on the School range, the opportunity is there. The grey hair<br />
count is still high and we need to keep working on reducing<br />
it. So go on – you know you want to!<br />
GONE FISHIN’<br />
by Geoff Cannon<br />
Notwithstanding our declining membership, we have<br />
continued our activities visiting local rivers and lakes around<br />
St Albans. Outings have been organised to Derbyshire,<br />
fishing the River Wye for wild brown trout and some<br />
members visited Galway, having degrees of success with trout<br />
and salmon. Our long weekend in Norfolk was a great trip,<br />
fishing the River Yare, a carp lake and a trout fishery nearby.<br />
Lots more outings are planned for the future and we would<br />
welcome any new members who wish to come along. If<br />
you’re interested, please contact Geoff Cannon via the<br />
details at the front of the magazine.<br />
OA CRICKET<br />
Club<br />
by Richard Morgan (OA 1979)<br />
OACC has had another excellent season on the pitch this<br />
summer with two promotions in our four sides. The 1st XI<br />
was captained this year by Alex Goldstone and played its<br />
third year in Division 1 of the Herts League after the two<br />
successive promotion seasons of 2013 and 2014. Without<br />
any star players or spectacular individual performances, a<br />
really good all round team effort by a small and dedicated<br />
squad of first-team players resulted in eight wins, two<br />
draws and six losses in the campaign and a creditable sixth<br />
place at the end of the season.<br />
Our 2nd XI spent a long time at the top of Division 6A but<br />
were pipped to the championship by London Colney in the<br />
penultimate game of the season. They finished in second<br />
place and were promoted to Div 5B for 2018. So that is two<br />
promotions in three years for Ghulam Rasool’s team.<br />
The 3rd XI, led by veteran Tariq Hassan, were allconquering<br />
in Division 10A, winning all but one of their<br />
league games, ending the season unbeaten and top of the<br />
division by a very large margin. They are promoted up to<br />
Div 9A next year. Another veteran and OA, Tom Preest<br />
(OA 1988), hit his first century for the Club after 20 years of<br />
trying, against Boxmoor on 27th May and promptly retired<br />
hurt 100, not out!<br />
We have successfully introduced a number of very<br />
good players from our thriving Junior Section into the<br />
senior teams over the last two or three years and that<br />
continues this summer with 14 to 17-year olds playing and<br />
contributing substantially in our 3rd and 4th XIs. This was<br />
the case particularly in the 4ths, captained by Simon Bates<br />
with great enthusiasm to third place in their division, just<br />
missing out on promotion this year.<br />
The Junior Section, led again with great vigour by Alison<br />
Curran, had another good season with boys and girls from<br />
age 5 up to 17 playing regularly on Sunday mornings and in<br />
midweek and weekend matches from Under 9s upwards.<br />
3RD XI CHAMPIONS<br />
However, all is not wholly positive as the Club is currently<br />
under-resourced financially and we are in need of more<br />
people to commit to running and supporting the Club so<br />
we can operate effectively in the Woollams environment;<br />
new sponsors and added income for the Club are now<br />
an urgent necessity; and we require admin support and<br />
committee leadership going forwards.<br />
We’re keen to hear from any readers who would like to<br />
support the Club, either with donations, sponsorships,<br />
becoming Vice-Presidents or indeed helping out off the<br />
pitch, and of course from any people who’d like to play for<br />
us, either regularly or occasionally. Please contact me at<br />
richard.morgan50@btinternet.com
22<br />
YOUR SAY<br />
Over the summer we conducted a survey of our alumni<br />
in order to both understand the needs of OAs and to<br />
improve the way we communicate with you. Here is a<br />
snapshot of the results obtained which are helping to<br />
shape our activities moving forward.<br />
303<br />
OAs<br />
took<br />
part<br />
Ages ranging<br />
from 18 – 99<br />
You want<br />
more casual<br />
events and<br />
gatherings<br />
£<br />
51% 91%<br />
of OAs received<br />
some form of financial<br />
support from<br />
St Albans School<br />
of OAs want to attend<br />
events on the School site<br />
CCF & Rugby most<br />
popular School interests<br />
£<br />
154 OAs<br />
offered some form of<br />
educational support to<br />
current pupils<br />
More<br />
articles<br />
+<br />
You want Class<br />
reunions at key<br />
milestone years<br />
about OAs, historic features and<br />
career profiles in this publication
23<br />
UPCOMING<br />
EVENTS<br />
Calendar<br />
Wednesday 13th December<br />
Carol Service<br />
St Albans Abbey<br />
Tickets are strictly first come, first served. OAs are welcome<br />
to bring a guest and are warmly invited back to School after<br />
the Service for some festive mulled wine and mince pies.<br />
Friday 15th December<br />
Recent Leavers’ Drinks<br />
(Class of 2017)<br />
The Peahen, St Albans<br />
To celebrate finishing your first term at university, we are<br />
inviting all recent leavers from the Class of 2017 to a get<br />
together this Christmas holiday. Hot food will be provided<br />
and your first drink is on us! (This event is exclusively for the<br />
Class of 2017)<br />
Thursday 1st February 2018<br />
An Evening with… Chris Wilkinson OA<br />
St Albans School Library<br />
Chris Wilkinson (OA 1963), the founder of Wilkinson Eyre<br />
and a world-leading architect, will be giving a lecture in the<br />
Library. Pupils, OAs and parents welcome.<br />
Saturday 3rd February<br />
1st XI Hockey Team V Aldenham School<br />
School Pavilion, Woollams<br />
OAs are welcome to join us in the School Pavilion<br />
to watch the 1st XI Hockey Team take on Aldenham.<br />
The match starts at 13.45 and refreshments will be available.<br />
Thursday 1st March<br />
Durham Regional Dinner<br />
Kings Lodge Inn<br />
Open to all OAs (including Undergraduates, Postgraduates<br />
and Graduates of Durham University) who live in Durham<br />
and the surrounding areas. We are planning to host a meetup<br />
in March at the Kings Lodge Inn, Durham. Please let<br />
us know if you are provisionally interested in attending by<br />
emailing Sarah Osborne on slosborne@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
Tickets for most of our events will be available to book<br />
online via the OA section of the School website or by<br />
telephone/post/email via the contact details below.<br />
Development Office<br />
Tel: 01727 515187<br />
Email: development@st-albans.herts.sch.uk<br />
St Albans School, Abbey Gateway, St Albans, AL3 4HB<br />
HOW WE USE<br />
your data<br />
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)<br />
The General Data Protection Regulation will come into force in May<br />
2018, extending the data rights of individuals. It requires us as an<br />
organisation and a charity to update our data processing policies<br />
and adopt appropriate and extensive measures to protect your<br />
personal data.<br />
Presently, we hold information on you as an OA on our database,<br />
including your name, address, email and telephone number.<br />
Depending on the extent to which you have been involved with the<br />
School, we may also hold information on donations you have given,<br />
Gift Aid declarations and possible correspondence we may have had.<br />
It is important to note that we will never share your data with other<br />
organisations or individuals. We are committed to respecting your<br />
privacy and the GDPR will enhance our data policies, not replace them.<br />
Currently, we contact individuals on our database with School<br />
news, event invitations, fundraising campaigns and occasional<br />
surveys. We have always given you the opportunity to opt-out of<br />
these mailings. However, under the new regulations coming into<br />
force, we may need you to opt-in to specific mailings and how you<br />
receive them – giving us affirmative consent to use your data.<br />
We will continue to keep you informed about the incoming<br />
regulations and will be back in touch if action to opt-in is required.<br />
We hope you enjoy hearing from us and being part of the Old<br />
Albanian community.<br />
If you have any questions about how we handle your data,<br />
please do not hesitate to get in touch with the<br />
Development Team at development@st-albans.herts.sch.uk