Eagle News Jan 2012 - Bedford Modern School

Returning to BMS after eleven years, to attend and speak at a
dinner on 18 June 2011 for leaving staff, I was shocked by the
signs of ageing among former colleagues still employed there, not
yet rejuvenated by retirement. But as for Monica Hetherington,
Shakespeare put it best:
"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety..."
As the gloriously long-flowering career of our Cleopatra of the
classroom drew to a close, I could reveal in my speech how I had
feared it would be nipped in the bud... In 1977 Peter Hetherington
had a calling: to give up his position as Head of English at BMS and
follow the great Romantic poets, Byron, Shelley and Keats, setting
sail for the Mediterranean. But before he did so, I was appointed
his successor, and Monica Simons was summoned for interview.
Now I am sure that at this first meeting between Monica and Peter
a spark was struck, although full ignition would be delayed. And
what a combustion it was! The Headmaster was Brian Kemball-
Cook, known as K-C. An eminent classical scholar with a Double
First from Balliol College, Oxford, he was approaching the end of a
distinguished career. Misguidedly, I imagined that Monica's
appointment would be problematic. There seemed to me to be
three weighty objections, apart from the fact that George Cullen,
the formidable Head of Games, had made it clear that he expected
a rugby player to be appointed. Firstly, Monica had graduated from
a place famous not for its dreaming spires, but for its fish dock. I
therefore spoke up as follows: ‘Headmaster, we Oxonians should
perhaps bear in mind that the University Librarian at Hull is the
acclaimed modern poet, Philip Larkin. His most celebrated poem
has a Latin title, to understand which, you sir, a scholar of Balliol,
need no translation. Allow me to quote from Annus Mirabilis:
Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(Which was rather late for me) -
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles’ first LP.’
K-C did not speak, no doubt moved beyond words by this sad poem
of missed opportunities.
The second difficulty I anticipated was that Monica had no
postgraduate professional qualification as a teacher. Again, I spoke
up, emboldened by my previous success: ‘Headmaster, may I
remind you that the outgoing Head of English, Peter Hetherington,
is no more qualified than Miss Simons. Furthermore, his
predecessor, Norman Frost, was academically unqualified, and yet
How Monica was appointed
How Monica was appointed
(with a little help from Philip Larkin)
by Richard Claridge (1953-61, Staff 1967-2000)
he was promoted to Vice Master.’ I
pressed on: ‘Headmaster, surely
there is a case for the amateur
approach – “amateur” from the
Latin “amare, to love,” a verb, as you
yourself, a scholar of Balliol, will
surely know, which conjugates in
the present tense “amo, amas,
amat.” K-C looked at me in
amazement. I was sure I had again
won my point.
Monica Hetherington directing
Troilus and Cressida in 1982
(photo: Stuart Buxton, 1978-83)
The third difficulty I foresaw was the weightiest, and I had no
arguments to counter it. K-C was on his own this time. For her
interview (as nostalgia recalls it, though Monica herself and Peter
believe she had a frizzy perm), Monica wore her hair not in a tight
bun but in a pony-tail which, from time to time, she would toss in a
winsome way, like those young American women in Friends. She
wore a pair of long, sleek, chestnut-brown, leather boots. I thought
that K-C's customary composure had slipped. The mettle of the
man who had climbed the Matterhorn, translated Homer, and been
awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palme was being tested as
never before. I held my breath. Then it happened: serenity suffused
K-C's countenance, and he made the appointment.
And what an appointment it proved to be, although, to be frank,
Monica did absolutely nothing for BMS rugby. But in all her varied
roles - in the classroom, in her direction of superb school plays -
Waiting for Godot, and The Tempest are outstanding memories for
me - in her management of the English Department and the Sixth
Form, in her careers and tutorial work, Monica set the benchmark
for professional excellence. An amateur too, in the best sense of
the word, loving her subject and caring for her students, Monica will
always be remembered fondly by hundreds of OBMs, for the quality
of her teaching, for her kindness and encouragement, and for the
cheerful, positive outlook which she imparts. And then there is her
tact, her intuitive sense of the right word or gesture, whatever the
occasion, a quality that springs from her sensitivity to the feelings
of others, and one that has endeared her to colleagues and friends.
So let everyone give praise to Brian Kemball-Cook for his
courageous judgement, and to Monica, for all the charming ways in
which she has enriched the life of BMS, students and colleagues,
past and present, surely give their thanks and their love.
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