oa bulletin - autumn 2010 edition

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December2010

DIARY DATESIn 2011, the OA Club will be running the Annual Dinner and London Drinks party,

dates and format for which have yet to be confirmed.Please watch the club website for more details

Old Albanian Club

A stonemason demonstrates his skills at the OA Lodge Garden Party

OA BullETIn december 2010

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OA CluB www.oldalbanianclub.comPresident Stephen Burgess 01727 867868 [email protected] David Buxton 01727 840499 [email protected] Brian Sullman 01582 460317Membership Secretary Roger Cook 01727 836877 [email protected] SPORTS www.oarugby.com rUGbY President Robin Farrar 07985 347077

Email: [email protected] Rory Davis 01727 843538 [email protected] John King 07712 837473

[email protected] Peter Lipscomb [email protected] Chairman Brian Clark 07764 682650 [email protected] Chairman Chris Branagan 07810 180013 [email protected] Saints Chairwoman Tasha Saint-Smith 07971 849290

[email protected] www.oasoccer.co.ukClub President Simon Bates& Manager 07720 383600

01442 240247Treasurer David Hughes& Club Secretary 07890 831315

01727 769237 [email protected] Secretary David Burrows 07841 431614crIcKeT www.oacc.org.ukPresident Aln PhilpottChairman Andrew McCree 07890 831315 / 01727 769237 [email protected] Denis King [email protected] Secretary Julian baines [email protected] Enquiries Sue Barnes 07970 301345 [email protected] & Pistol Andrew Wilkie 01727 856857Angling Geoff Cannon 01582 792512Golf Peter Dredge 015827 834572 [email protected]

OA lODGEJohn Williams 01438 715679 [email protected]

SCHOOl WEB sitewww.st-albans.herts.sch.uk

Nick Chappin – EditorAndy Chappin – Design & ProductionRoger Cook – MembershipMike Highstead – Gazette

Printing - Herts & Beds Printing01923 234959


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A rollercoaster rideIt’s been a rollercoaster ride for armchair sports fans since the last Bulletin. In the last six months the England rugby team achieved a couple of notable wins against Australia to shoot back up the world rankings, and seem to be developing a truly dynamic style in the run-up to the 2011 World Cup. The England football team, on the other hand, are going backwards faster than an Australian scrummage. Their performances in the World Cup in South Africa plumbed new depths of incompetence, and there have been few signs of improvement since. I even amused myself during the recent turgid friendly against France by turning down the sound on the TV and banging two saucepan lids together to emulate the “clang” as Gareth Barry attempted to trap the ball.

Hot off the presses is the news that England has failed in its bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, so football won’t be coming home after all. Even worse, it means we will actually have to qualify – no doubt from a ‘group of death’ containing the combined might of Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino, which boast a collective

playing pool of 27 and a few mountain goats (who tend to be nimble, but a little selfish).

On the upside, our cricketers are currently on top in the Ashes series, and an unprecedented four English golfers – including world number 1 Lee Westwood – are in the world’s top 10.

The 2010 Ryder Cup was one of the most exciting in recent

years, and while the spectators were being drenched in Wales, a group of us were on our annual golfing trip to a wonderfully warm and sunny southern Spain. The highlight of a fiercely contested tournament was undoubtedly the beautiful long, straight drive through the dog-leg on the par 4 13th hole on the final day, followed by a 100 yard wedge to within four

feet and a perfectly struck putt. But that’s enough about my birdie three…

As you’d expect, sport at the School continues to flourish. On page 7, Headmaster Andrew Grant reports on some outstanding team and individual performances across a range of sports from cricket, athletics and tennis to netball and cross-country running. The OA Sports Clubs have enjoyed mixed fortunes: the OA Rugby First XV have got off to a great start in their

The England

football team,

on the other

hand, are going

backwards faster

than an Australian

scrummage


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Notice of AGMDavid Buxton, Secretary of the Old Albanian Club, wishes to invite members to the 118th AGM of the Old Albanian Club, to be held in the ‘948’ room at Woollams on the 7th December 2010 starting at 20:00.

This is ‘your’ club, we are just a sporting club. There are continuous changes going on in how we run the club and how we can provide benefits to all the membership. We invite all members to attend and indeed welcome those who would like to join the Committee and share some in of the duties and positions.

Agenda ApologiesMinutes of the previous meetingPresident’s Review of 2010Sports Clubs reportsMembership, Bulletin and Website reportsAnnual AccountsElection of OfficersA.O.B.

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first season in the National Leagues, while the Cricket Club is looking to rebuild after a disappointing summer.

Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find another fascinating insight into famous freemasons from OA Lodge Assistant Secretary John Williams, and an interesting collection of letters from OAs across the globe – including a poignant reminder from Philip Eden (OA 52) of why we should honour the sacrifices made by our service men and women in conflicts since the Second World War.

Sadly, we also bid farewell to a number of older OAs, including the colourful Brigadier Dennis Rendell – see page 19 for his obituary, reproduced with thanks to the Daily Telegraph.

Finally, my apologies for the slightly late delivery of this issue as a result of work commitments, and my sincere thanks, as always, to everyone who has contributed. A merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to one and all.

nick Chappin (75)editor


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President’s notes

Sticking togethern As Government spending cuts begin to affect us all, Old Albanian Club President Stephen Burgess is optimistic about people and their collective ability to solve problems and cope with change

Self Reliance ReviewedMy last notes talked about spending cuts and the need for self-reliance, and were written just before the election. In the event the new government turned out to be a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. We now know some details of proposed cuts and new taxes. They look to be uncomfortable for most of the population and for many people this will lead to an appreciable drop in spending power, so many of us will be worse off perhaps for a few years to come. With inflation running uncomfortably above the 2% target the next few years will bring mounting pressure on finances. We will have to conserve expenditure here and there. I would ask you to remember that good sport and good company need not be expensive.

A Donation to the SchoolThe structure and funding of your club means that it is in very good order and your committee felt that there were more then sufficient reserves. Accordingly, they decided the make a donation to the School charitable funds and £20,000 has been given to the Bursary Fund.

Your Support for the SchoolThe long-running saga of the King Harry

Playing Fields site has provided a result for the School in that building permission has been granted on another part of the site. Contracts have been decided and the School is now able to go ahead with the building of the new sports hall and swimming pool. The School has other plans for improvements, notably the development of new drama facilities, and expansion and modernisation in the Gateway within the constraints imposed by the ownership of an historic monument. The School also wants to widen

local access by increasing the Scholarship and Bursary Funds. All of this will require considerable sums. The economic background makes it difficult to mount a major fund raising campaign. The School’s development office working with the

Contracts have

been decided and

the School is now

able to go ahead

with the building

of the new

sports hall and

swimming pool


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Club has already raised some very useful contributions from OAs. We know that many OAs have enjoyed and are enjoying good careers and I hope that, despite present conditions, some and perhaps many of you will be able to contribute towards the success of your old School over the next few years.

SportLife and sport brings its ups and downs. This year this has certainly been the case for Old Albanians Sports Clubs. The Rugby Club has enjoyed great success and this has continued in the current season, with a fine start to the campaign in the higher league. The current playing style of high-speed, high-risk rugby is certainly entertaining – if occasionally heart-stopping – and I am sure the season will be a good one. The lower sides continue to do well and generally play higher sides from other clubs.

In contrast, the Cricket Club had a poor season with the 1st and 2nd Saturday League sides being relegated. This has lead to some heart-searching. A new President and some new blood on the committee should bring improvement. The aim is to produce cricket that makes the OAs one of the best clubs in the area worthy of the facilities now available. I am confident this will happen. The Cricket Club and all the sports clubs would welcome your support.

OptimismI have referred earlier to the cuts and

pressure on finances. News programmes centre on bad news rather than less sensational good news. Cuts are bad news, but the rebalancing of the national and personal economies is probably good news but we know what holds sway. Rebalancing in the private sector arguably started nearly three years ago as the economy slowed and from the second quarter of 2008 stopped growing and went in to reverse. The phase of rebalancing the state is now on the way; this is a normal

pattern and is typically followed by or coincides with a return to growth. My optimism suggests surprises on the upside.

I am also optimistic in general about people and their collective ability to solve problems and cope with change. The twentieth century with its wars, recessions and subsequent recovery along with remarkable technological and scientific advances gives us numerable examples. This has continued no less in the

twenty-first century.I am also optimistic in that most people

like to stick together and enjoy good company. I find this particularly among Old Albanians and as President over the last four years my views have been reinforced.

Good wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

Stephen Burgess President, Old Albanian club

I am also

optimistic in

general about

people and their

collective ability to

solve problems and

cope with change


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Record numbersn The largest School roll in history, the biggest Sixth Form ever, and more outstanding GSCE and A level results: Headmaster Andrew Grant looks back on another highly successful six months for the School

The academic year began with the School roll nudging over 780, narrowly setting a new record, whilst the

280-strong Sixth Form, nearly 70 of them girls, set records on two counts.

A review of the previous term’s sport makes satisfying reading: The cricket season ended with a 69% win ratio. The U15s won their District Cup, Christian Bevan making 46 and Tanveer Ranshi taking three wickets in the final against Beaumont; the U14s took not only the District Cup – George Scott continuing his prolific run of form with a century and Gareth Taylor contributing 91 against Sir John Lawes – but added the County Cup, whilst, not to be outdone, the U13s demolished Westbrook Hay in the County Cup Final, Travis Hudson taking the wicket of their County batsman after three balls and going on to return figures of 6 wickets for 5 runs off 4 overs.

In Athletics, we regained the senior boys’ District Championships by a significant margin, whilst in the girls’ competition, Hannah Johnson won the 300m and Victoria Walker the 1500m. In the junior

age groups, our First Formers finished third, the Second Formers second and the Third Formers First, which augurs well and argues steady progress.

In the County Championships we had a strong day with Omeiza Haruna taking the Pre Junior Long Jump and a second place in the 100m, while George and Ben Rose won the junior 400m and 100m respectively and were both selected to represent the county in the ESAA County Championships in Birmingham. Jordan

Bayer Goldman was runner-up in the javelin and third in the 400m and, having already finished second in the County Combined Events Championship, was selected to represent Hertfordshire and went on to finish seventh in the South East England Championships. For the girls, Victoria Walker was selected as Hertfordshire representative in the steeplechase at Birmingham.

The senior tennis team won the County Schools Championship and lost only

two matches during the season. The U15s fared even better, also winning their County Schools Championship and suffering only one defeat in the season, so the future of School tennis, with an 82% win ratio over the season, looks promising, not least with First Former Charlie Broom winning the Scottish Junior Open competition, a feat achieved some time ago by one Andy Murray.

There were successes, too, in academic and cultural areas. Founders’ Day saw the release of the Choir’s new CD A New

Headmaster’s notes

The senior tennis

team won the

County Schools

Championship

and lost only two

matches during

the season


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Heaven – an ideal Christmas present; get your orders in now – whilst just after the end of term at a glittering awards ceremony at the Royal Institution, L6 film makers from St Albans School were shortlisted in a national science film-making competition.

Ultimately, it was Oliver Madgwick’s ambitious explanation of ‘Weight, Mass and Gravity’ using animated Lego models that most impressed the judges of the UK Planet Scicast competition, coming top in the category for Technical and Artistic Achievement, and also taking the overall award for the Best Film 2010. Oliver’s film can be seen at www.planet-scicast.com

And so to the holiday activities: Our RAF cadets were on Summer Camp at RAF Cosford, where, among other activities, they had opportunities for flying in helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, weapons training, shooting, high and low rope exercises, a night exercise on the airfield and various sports. Our cadets distinguished themselves, with Harry Lampert voted ‘best cadet on camp’ and Alessandro Rossi taking the ‘most improved cadet’ title.

The Army section enjoyed a very successful camp at Crowborough where, in the week-long competition, they won three of the eight disciplines and were second in a further three, before being declared the best Contingent on Camp at the final parade. Immediately after that, 36 CCF cadets and a large number of staff returned to Tanzania with the £35,000 they have

raised over the past year to fund a series of projects in Mwanza under the auspices of The Banana Tree Project, a UK based charity founded in 2006 by Ed Beavington to “assist in the relief of poverty, hardship, sickness and distress of street children and orphans in Mwanza, Tanzania and to help with their education”.

With assistance from local craftsmen, builders, teachers and orphanage staff, they exercised newly acquired skills including plastering and painting to renovate local

schools and orphanages and completed their ambitious projects before setting off on the adventurous training aspect of the trip: safari in the Serengeti followed by the 5895m climb of Kilimanjaro. In contrast to the CCF’s last visit when only a handful made it to the summit, this year, 28 made it all the way.

Earlier in the holiday, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Gold level participants were busy on highly successful expeditions in the Dolomites and 40 Geographers, from

the Fourth Form upwards, braved the volcanic ash of Eyjafjallajökull and learned how to pronounce it on an expedition to Iceland. As well as ash, they experienced near 24-hour daylight, swimming in the geothermally heated waters of the Blue Lagoon, explosive steam eruptions at Geysir, subterranean lava tubes on the Reykjanes peninsula, icebergs on a glacial lagoon, and Svartifoss waterfall in the Skaftafell National Park.

2010 was, of course, the first year of the new A* grade at A level and August

At GCSE, for

the third year

in succession,

more than 80%

of all exams were

passed at grade

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brought some absolutely outstanding individual achievements: 60 of the 137 students in the Upper Sixth achieved at least three A grades and 45 students – one third of the year – recorded at least one A* grade. Of these, eight achieved three of the new top grades and Calum Pontin and David Phillips scored A* in all four of their A levels. Overall, however, with 64% of grades at A or above and 89% at A*-B, it was a somewhat middling year by our recent standards.

At GCSE, for the third year in succession, more than 80% of all exams were passed at grade A* or A and there were some truly outstanding performances from a large proportion of our Fifth Form of whom a record 63 achieved A* or A in every exam. Other records were the 37 pupils with nine or more A*s and the 29 who made it into double figures, including 10 whose 11 GCSEs and three whose 12 were all at A*.

The Fourth Form, all of whom take Maths GCSE, contrived to make even this look ordinary, however, with 68% getting an A* and 98% one of the two top grades.

As I write, the rugby season has got off to an encouraging start, with the First XV victorious against Berkhamsted, Merchant Taylors’ and Haberdashers’.

The senior cross-country squad have notched up their first victory in the RGS Guildford mob race. Meanwhile, the intermediates won their way through the first round of the English Schools Cup, with new Third Former Robin O’Connor taking individual third place behind an international one year older than him. The team are through to the Regional Final, which will be held at St Albans.

Pride of place so far, though, should go to our girls’ netball team, benefiting from the extra numbers in the Sixth Form to startle a few rivals with runners-up spot in the District Tournament in which the School was unique in entering two teams. The A team beat St Albans High School 5-3, followed by convincing wins over St Georges, Sir John Lawes, Loreto College, Roundwood Park and St Albans Girls School on the way to the final, where they met Beaumont School who, in a closely-fought match, finally prevailed 7-6.

We have a busy term ahead, in the course of which I am sure I shall see many of you at various events, and certainly at the Carol Service, which I gather is already sold out!

Andrew GrantHeadmaster


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The Science of Freemasonry n Assistant Secretary John Williams reports on all the latest news from the OA Lodge, and provides a fascinating insight into the life and work of active Freemason and smallpox vaccination pioneer Edward Jenner

The Lodge year commenced at the Installation meeting in early May when the new Master of the Lodge, David Worden, was installed in the Chair in the traditional manner by the outgoing Master, Martin Straus. The Lodge does not meet again until September, except for the summer barbeque and garden party shared with the Old Verulamians Lodge and hosted by our Provincial Grand Charity steward, Dick Knifton and his wife Gill.

At the garden party this year, held on one of the hottest days of the summer (and the day England went out of the World Cup to Germany!) Emlyn Harris, a stonemason from Canterbury Cathedral, fascinated all the visitors with a demonstration of the skills of a working stonemason using a chisel and heavy maul.

This year the garden party raised £1,215, with £100 going to Canterbury Cathedral Foundation Trust, and the remainder split between charities supported by the two lodges.

Freemasons never ask the public to contribute to their charitable giving but rely entirely on members, supported of course

by their families. For the major Masonic charities, a Festival system is organised nationally with each Province being asked every few years to support a particular charity. In 2009 Hertfordshire raised a magnificent £3.15m for the Grand Charity; and the Lodge, with an officer serving in the Royal Marines among its members, was delighted to learn in June that a grant of £250,000 has been made to the major national charity: ‘Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help’. The grant is to support their excellent work in helping current and former members of the Armed Forces. The money is to be divided and distributed to branches throughout the country, providing funding at a local level. The aim of this grant is to support local branches, allowing them to decide how they spend their money to assist hundreds of servicemen and women past and present, and their families.

Edward JennerThis year is the 30th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox. Reading a BBC history article recently on Edward Jenner, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination and the ‘father of immunology’, I learnt that he was also keen on fossil collecting and horticulture, but as usual no mention was made that he was a very active Freemason. It has been said that the discovery of the smallpox vaccine in the late eighteenth century by Edward


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Jenner has saved more lives than the work of any other man.

A current article in Freemasonry Today magazine by David Harrison available online gives full details of his life and work: http://www.freemasonrytoday.com

Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley in 1749 and at 13 he was apprenticed to a local surgeon before going on to study surgery and anatomy in London. Returning to his native Berkeley in 1773, he set up a successful practice of his own. Freemasons are encouraged to study the ‘hidden mysteries of nature and science’, and Jenner seemed to have found in Freemasonry a means by which he could convey his scientific beliefs as well as his spiritual and moralistic values. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1789 for his research on the study of the then misunderstood nesting habits of the cuckoo. Also an avid fossil-hunter and geologist, in 1819 he found a fossil of what would become known as the plesiosaur. At this time, a theory was developing that regarded fossils as the remains of species that could be extinct, a theory which Jenner came to support, saying that ‘Fossils are…monuments to departed worlds’. Fascinated by new ideas concerning any form of natural philosophy, Jenner had taken an interest in ballooning, launching his own balloon in 1784, which successfully flew a number of miles. He also enthusiastically studied the hibernation of animals

during winter as well as the mystery of bird migration. He suggested that some birds left Britain for the winter and returned for the summer – a theory that contradicted the tradition that birds slept in mud for the winter. Jenner was an active Freemason, serving in 1812 as Master of the Royal Lodge of Faith and Friendship, No. 270, based in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. This lodge was regularly visited by the Prince of Wales – the future George IV – and was a lodge that was to become associated with the Jenner family. He maintained an active correspondence with other eminent Freemasons of the period who shared his theories and ideas; Freemasons such as Sir Joseph Banks, a member of the Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge, No. 4, who served as president of the Royal Society, and Erasmus Darwin, initiated 1754 into Lodge St. Davids, No. 36 (S.C.), who was involved with the Birmingham-based Lunar Society,

Edward Jenner: the ‘father of immunology’


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a number of whose members were Freemasons. The Royal Lodge of Faith and Friendship held a Science Select Lodge organised by Jenner where lodge members had to produce a paper on a specific scientific subject; this Science Select Lodge was reminiscent of the Lunar Society meetings. Other lectures had taken place within Masonic lodges throughout the country, such as the Old Kings Arms Lodge, No. 28, London, the lectures being intricately entwined with the lodge meeting itself. Another example of scientific teaching taking place within lodges can be seen in the Lodge of Lights, No. 148, Warrington, which held lectures on Newtonian gravitational astronomy in 1800 and 1801. All three lodges are still working today.

The Royal Lodge of Faith and Friendship continued to celebrate the life and work of Edward Jenner after his death in 1823 and other members of Jenner’s family, such as his nephews Henry Jenner and the clergyman William Davies, became members. The lodge emblem, used to this day, commemorates the gift to Jenner of a wampum belt by the Five Nations of North America after Jenner personally sent them a sample of the cowpox virus along with a copy of his work on vaccination; Jenner wore this belt in front of his apron at the last masonic meeting he attended. In 1825, members of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Gloucestershire subscribed sufficient funds to

erect a memorial statue to him in Gloucester Cathedral.

Hertfordshire Wanderers visit to SerbiaOrganised by Geoffrey Goodman, a former Secretary of the Lodge, the Hertfordshire Wanderers is an informal group of masons with an urge to travel. Visits are arranged to Lodges throughout UK and Overseas, often to meetings of special interest. The Wanderers’ summer activities were dominated by the visit of a small group to Serbia. The purpose was to witness the Consecration of Harmonia Lodge of Mark Master masons, the first (English speaking) Mark Masons’ Lodge in the country. The Consecration was preceded by the Advancement of 17 Serbians into the Mark Degree, organised by

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Geoffrey Goodman


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the Provincial Grand Master for East Anglia, Peter Rollin. Although the original intention was for the Wanderers to be onlookers, they were delighted to be invited to join the East Anglian team in the ceremony. The Consecration brought a moment of glory to Geoff Goodman who, at short notice, was invited to act as Grand Junior Warden, complete with chain.

The most memorable ceremony was conducted by the Assistant Grand Master, Benjamin Addy, following which the men were joined by their ladies for a dinner. A special guest was Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, who presented all the visiting brethren with a signed copy of a book, ‘Britain’s Maligned Friend’, an account of the Regency of her father, Prince Paul.

In May 2011 the Wanderers intend to visit Rome, and many other events are scheduled. There is no membership fee for ‘Wanderers’

but all communication (with leader Geoff Goodman) is by e-mail [email protected]

The Lodge meets only five times a year on the second Saturdays in January, March, May and September and the first Saturday in November. All those connected with the School, including

fathers of past or present pupils are welcome to apply for membership, for which purpose the first approach should be to any Lodge member, the Assistant Secretary as below; or Nigel WoodSmith or Mark Pedroz at the School. Members of other Lodges, be they OAs, parents of past or present pupils, staff or Governors are encouraged to visit the Lodge whenever they wish, and the Assistant Secretary will be delighted to hear from them. The Lodge website address is: http://www.oa-lodge.co.uk/

John WilliamsLodge Assistant Secretary

Special guest: Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia


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Tempus fugitn When Membership Secretary Roger Cook joined the school over 70 years ago, he was taught by Joan Whatmough at Woollams; now he watches the OAs at a different Woollams!

Now that I have both a grandson and a son who are OAs, I realise that it is some years since I first played rugby for the OAs on the muddy, slightly inclined pitch at Beech Bottom and, later, helped with the fête to raise funds for the new Beech Bottom pavilion. Then, there were a few hundred OAs, most

of whom lived in the St Albans area; now there are a few thousand spread worldwide. The website and this Bulletin are the principal means of staying in touch: please continue to contribute to both!

OA tiesAs I stated last time, the price of the OA silk tie has risen slightly to £13 (post paid) while the bow tie is unchanged at £15.

Waifs & straysA list of waifs and strays from 1970-79 can be found below.

Roger Cookmembership Secretary

1970 J. G. S. AddisonDavid J. AustinRobin P. BakerDennis W. BellMichael H. BellPeter de C. BennettPaul W. C. CalthropJ. R. GilliesChristian C. L. GreyA. Jeremy GriffinRichard M. GrummittNigel T. HartridgePeter A. HaswellJames C. L. HooperPeter T. HornbyMichael A. KingPeter M. LloydJames L. MatthewsD. K. McLeanDavid M. H. MeadD. M. J. MobbsD. W. OakleyK. M. O’Connor

P. D. C. PerryRichard G. RobertsStephen G. SmithR. G. B. WilliamsRichard W. WilliamsG. H. O. Wright

1971 Jonathan P. BainesR. A. BeanMalcolm BrownDavid L CooperRobert W. CraneJ. G. FisherPhilip J. GardnerPhilip J. GibbonsN. J. HabermehlM. C. JacksonPeter A. J. LiggattR. A. LoweJohn J. B. McDonaldJonathan McEwenS. G. MorrisJames R. Rhodes

M. RobertsNigel S. RobertsRobert W. A. SmithG. WarnerJohn C. Williams 1972 John A. BeestonAndrew J. BogleAnthony R. BourneAndrew J. BruceMichael R. CarnillAndrew de M. CasselsAnthony D. CocksedgeRichard J. CorbettAnthony S. FlookBryan P. FreemanChristopher V. GillespieNicholas P. GreenJulian HallettSimon JacksonD.Andrew J. LumleyAndrew R. ManningRobert J. Mattingly

Bruno M. PajaczkowskiStephen C. ParkerMichael S. PickeringStephen J. PotterDavid J. PritchardStephen P. PutnamStephen A. RandallSimon J. M. RobertsPeter RobinsonMartin A. ShelleyPeter P. SimonD. Mark StobartDavid J. SuttonPaul L. TurnerN. R. WardDavid J. WheelerJohn R. WilliamsAndrew J. Wood 1973 Keith W. AngusRobert W. BarrSteven C. BoyceTimothy J. Brown

Waifs and Strays 1970 – 1979 If you can help with the current whereabouts of the following please contact Kate at the school [or myself]

Roger Cook


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Nigel J. BurnettNicholas D. CarterPeter R. ColesAllan L. CooperJames R. DanterRob N. DaviesTrevor J. DaviesSteve P. DoughtyPeter A. C. FlowerMichael J. GilchristN. J. GillMark A. M. HillMichael J. HodgesKeith L. HowellsAndrew M. JoblingMartin JohnsonPeter J. KingChris J. LethamP. J. LinehamDavid P. MannJ. N. McGahanChristopher B. MorganRichard A. Newland-SmithJohn P. PatienceMark D. RaesideJames F. RobertsonP. N. N. RoweNicholas M. SkinnerNicholas M. J. WestJonathan T. WildeChris J. Williamson 1974 Chris M. AllamDavid R. AndersonA. J. BeanAlastair G. D. CookCharles M. S. CooperR. J. DaleD. Scott DonaldsonI. Phil H. DykinsBrian D. EdwardsPeter P. J. GarnerJ. Russell B. GasserJulian P. HarrisNick J. InnocentMichael P. KeaneDavid R. KinghamTom M. MacaveraJ. T. J. MarshallNiall D. MatthewsDavid R. MeakinChris S. NealeJohn R. ParkerMichael G. PayneMichael J. A. RodgersW. H. C. Russell

Keith R. TomkinsDavid R. WilkinsonM. C. Williams

1975 R. B. AshworthP. D. AtkinsAndrew H. BarrPhilip A. BellNicholas J. BerryDavid E. L. BondPeter M. BrooksGraeme J. S. CarrS. M. CarterAlistair J. C. CookDavid J. DickinsonAlan P. FullerPaul M. GarfieldDavid M. GeeRichard A. GrahamStephen J. A. GreenGiles S. HallJ. R. G. HartDavid R. HopkinT. S. KingSimon R. LeeMalcolm H. LloydDonald M. McCraeChristopher D. MellorAndrew D. MorrisJames M. RaesideGordon W. RamseyMark N. RogersAndrew P. StephensNigel C. T. TibbittJonathan H. TyceStephen J. WatersMartin P. B. WaymarkAlistair Wright 1976 Richard J. AbramsonPeter G. AndersonChristopher J. BaileyAlistair D. BarnesDavid J. BatchelorM. J. BatesMark R. BennettChristopher R. BlackmoreAndrew A. BrownM. J. CameronGregory R. A. CookD. C. CrossNicholas M. DayJohn R. EliottDavid R. GrantRobert W. GreenwoodPhilip J. Hammond

A. J. HardingJack E. L. HawkinsPeter J. HaywardSteve T. HoldernessTim B. HorneGareth J. IngleSimon J. IrelandIan E. JohnsonMatthew R. JonesO. E. R. JonesJay R. KirkmanElwyn J. T. LlewellynRichard W. LordDouglas J. H. MainDavid W. M. MunroP. D. NewmanAndrew S. PelhamTim S. J. PikeNicholas C. W. RobertsNigel J. RobinsonJonathan N. RyanMichael J. SkinnerAndrew W. StevensonMalcolm C. TaylorR. W. TileyDavid A. TurtleKevin Waygood-WestPhilip G. Woods 1977Duncan S. AlexanderJohn B. AlexanderDavid K. W. BateyPeter R. BurbridgeTimothy T. ClarkAndrew J. FarrallPeter J. FrostAlan P. R. JonesWilliam J. LloydRichard S. LockN. J. MarshallDuncan J. McDiarmidR. Paul MillieCharles I. PenwardenKelvin L. PickersgillPeter RobertsAndrew J. RooneySimon F ShipleyC. J. StansburyM. R. TaylorAndrew J. WelshPaul M. Wheller 1978 Donald J. AndrewsGraham R. BartlettSimon P. BelshawMark M. Bracewell

Anthony S. BrysonKevin R. BucklerStephen E. BurnsGiles ClarkC. T. CookeP. S. CooperGraham A. McC. CorbettDavid N. CoxA. G. DeanPaul R. DeanN. G. EvansT. Paul GanderT. M. GrummittGreg HughesDavid C. JoséIan G. MacLachlanJ. B. MurraySimon M. MurrayJohn P. NormanJonathan D. I. PrestonG. J. RobertsG. R. SandemanPaul J. SandersMark R. StephensKeith R. WelshMichael J. Whittaker

1979 C. D. AlburyChris J. BainesChris L. G. BaylisPeter A. BlytheAndrew E. BriggsPaul M. CarpenterN. A. J. ChapmanMichael T. CheckettsMark H. DaviesJohn Paul F. DenisPeter J. GuppyNeil E. HendersonDavid I. HolfordPeter G. JonesRichard J. KhanSimon A. KingsleyDavid R. LesterAndrew F. LittleIain D. McDiarmidAndrew N. McDonnellJ. G. NeedhamMark W. PickeringMark C. SandersMartin A. SmithSimon G. Tanner


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Over the years we have had only a very small number of announcements of marriages and births but they must be occurring! Perhaps, in future, we might receive more about these happy moments.

We have been notified of the following successes at universities:

l Edwin Baynes (07) was awarded a 1st Class Hons in Geography from Durham. He goes on to study for an MSc in Physical Geography.

l Tim Bazalgette (07) was awarded a 1st Class Hons in Linguistics at Magdalen, Cambridge.

l John Butterworth (07) achieved a 2:1 in Maths and Statistics from University College, Oxford.

l Robert Cookston (07) has a 2:1 in Economics from Sheffield.

l Tom Haller (07) has a 2:1 in Geography from Bristol.

l Luke Howard (07) has been awarded a starred First in Geography from Magdalen College Cambridge.

l Jonathan Ketley (07) has a 2:2 in Zoology from Durham.

l Andrew Rudlin (07) has a 2:1 in Ancient History from Durham.

l Richard Osmond (06) has a 2:1 in English from Queens’ College, Cambridge.

l Ed Pisano (05) has won an Athletics Half-Blue in the 800 metres in the Varsity Match.

l Lucy Shipley (05) has passed her Masters in Archaeology from Southampton and continues to a Ph.D.

deathsIt is with regret that the following deaths are announced:

l Brigadier Dennis Rendell (38) CBE, MC. Died on the 22nd September 2010. He was formerly of the Middlesex Regiment (DCO), the Parachute Regiment and Provost Marshall of the Royal Military Police. He was a dearly loved and respected man by his family and friends. Nigel Wood-Smith comments: “He was, in his time, a great friend of the school in particular the CCF. He was a regular attender at CCF inspections and we visited him in Sussex. For about 20 years he arranged ‘visits’ to BAOR each summer, the best ones were to the Military Police in Berlin traveling over on the Military train and staying at the officers’ mess in the Olympic Stadium!” An obituary from the Daily Telegraph appears on page 19.

l John Bone (45) died in August 2010.

l Donald Wiseman (45). Donald’s death was announced in the last


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edition of the Gazette before we had had this tribute from his brother Albany, and other sources. Albany writes: “Donald was a lovely, generous man and I shall always miss him. His cycling interests always kept him in touch with the Headmaster – both keen pedallers. Everybody loved Don and I loved him. I could not have had a better brother.” An obituary appears below.

l Dr PDC Jarman (46) died in August 2010 in Minehead. After National Service in the Fleet Air Arm, Peter qualified as a doctor in 1954 and joined a practice in Farnborough in 1956. He enjoyed golf, bowls, sailing and fly-fishing and was a long-standing member and past president of Minehead Rotary Club and made visits to the Far East to use his medical skills.

l Colin Rosser (47) died 7 March 2010. He left school to work for Ryders followed by training at Oaklands College. Having been in this business for some time he decided to leave this work and went on to train as a teacher at St Marks and St Johns in London. He then taught in Luton, went on to Watford as a Youth Officer and then back to Luton. He then became Headmaster of an Environmental Studies Centre based at Stow in the Wold. He was held in high esteem for his authority, good sense and his ability to get on with everyone. On his retirement to Brockhampton with

Yvonne his later years were dogged by ill-health, much of it attributed to the polio which he had contracted in St Albans. He is sadly missed.

l Ian Topliss (48). After leaving school he went to Art College and also trained as an architect at Northern Polytechnic from 1949. His professional career was varied from designing railway sheds for British Rail to landscaping roundabouts and designing shopping centres for Buckinghamshire County Council. He met his wife to be due to his parents’ interest in amateur dramatics and married Betty in 1949. A change of career happened – and he began teaching at what is now the University of Greenwich where his love of architectural history blossomed and his obsession with all things Gilbert Scott started. He gained his Ph.D writing of the building of the Foreign Office. He also contributed to the most recent edition of Pevsner’s Guide to Buckinghamshire. After Betty died he looked after his children, then 13 and 9 years old, later marrying Jane in 1991. He was involved in many and varied aspects of life – research on Gilbert Scott, U3A, CBA Advisor, vice chair of the Bucks Historic Buildings Trust and more besides. His love of Wendover was shown not least by the symbol of the clock tower which now adorns the benches, bags and bookmarks in the town. His grandchildren were always delighted by him and his drawing sessions with them. Sorely missed.


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l Colonel Robert Hume (52) died on Tuesday 9th November at the age of 76. He died of lung and chest cancer and suffered a short illness prior to passing away. His son writes: “He spoke fondly of his School days, and between him, my brother and myself, brought a competitive streak between us as my brother and I were boarders at Berkhamstead School and great sportsmen having played Rugby and Cricket against St Albans School in our time. My father leaves a much loved wife, Anne, and two devoted sons Jon and Simon.” Max Alcock (55) After National Service he worked for a short period with ICI and then joined the BBC. He worked there for 30 years as a studio manager in radio comedy on such programmes as ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue’ and ‘Week Ending’. He was also a most prolific comedy contributor. He is survived by his brother, Robin, his widow, Hazel, three daughters and six grandchildren.

l Cllr. David Kirk (65) has died. His brother Chris Kirk (69) writes: “It is with sadness that I report the sudden death of my brother in August at the age of 63. David suffered an abdominal aneurism. David left school in 1965 and started a degree in Civil Engineering at what is now Coventry University. However, the life didn’t suit him and he entered the insurance industry, where he worked until taking early retirement in his early 50s. During that time he was also active in the

Territorial Army. On retirement, he became a County Councillor in Hampshire and was Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Young People. He is survived by his wife, Tracey, and his two daughters and two sons.

l Jean Bragg, formerly the Bursar’s secretary, died this year.

Obituaryl Donald Wiseman Donald was born in St Albans but lived in Harpenden for many years. He was an Olympic standard cyclist as well as chairing the former Oscar Faber and Partners, which was later taken over by the global engineering group AECOM.

After leaving school he gained a 1st Class Honours Degree in Civil Engineering from London University, and soon afterwards joined Oscar Faber and Partners with whom he stayed for his whole working life. He was made a partner in 1968, a senior partner in 1983 and Chief Executive also in 1983. The company expanded and when he retired in 1991 it employed 600 people. In his time he had worked on many engineering and infrastructure plans including military defence projects and state-of-the-art projects in South Africa and Nigeria.

He was a keen cyclist and achieved a great deal in that sport. He was involved with the British Cycling Team in the 1968 Mexico Olympics as Team Manager. He narrowly missed being selected

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for the Rome Olympics and was a reserve for the sprint team at the Helsinki Games. He was on several international committees and involved in the running of the Olympic Team in Munich.

For a time he was president of the Pedal Club, was a member of the RAF Club and a life member of Verulam Cycling Club.

He was always cheerful and interested in others and will be missed by his wife, daughters, son, grandchildren and brother.

Obituaryl Brigadier Dennis Rendell Dennis Bossey Rendell was born in London on 2nd October 1920 and educated at St Albans School. He enlisted in the Army in 1939 and joined the Middlesex Regiment in 1940. The following year he was commissioned.

In November 1942, 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment (2 PR) dropped at Depienne, Tunisia, with orders to destroy the enemy landing ground at Oudna. During the initial attack Rendell, then a lieutenant, led his platoon under heavy fire from armoured vehicles. Ignoring the dangers, he went forward alone to ascertain the best approach and played a notable part in the capture of the railway station.

After four days and nights of fierce fighting, Rendell’s platoon covered the battalion’s withdrawal. Despite being surrounded and virtually out of ammunition, with Rendell wounded and most of

his men casualties, they fought on, enabling the remnants of the battalion to disengage. Rendell and the survivors were captured and taken to a German regimental aid post. Rendell was subsequently awarded a Military Cross.

After his capture, Rendell made two unsuccessful attempts to escape. On being moved to Italy he failed twice more but, in September 1943, eventually got away from a camp at Sulmona.

Dodging German patrols, he went south and met other escaped PoWs in the Abruzzi Mountains, where there was already deep snow. He formed an escape organisation and enlisted the help of the local peasants to obtain food and warm clothing.

He spoke the most rudimentary Italian and contacted the British Embassy in Vatican City, where he received help from Sir D’Arcy Osborne, the Minister, and Mgr Hugh O’Flaherty. With the assistance of couriers, he obtained money and clothing for the escapees and the intrepid Italians who sheltered them.

With the onset of winter, travel in the mountains became too hazardous, and he returned to Sulmona to hide out and wait for the spring.

One day in November, a travelling fair set up in the main square of the town.

Among the sideshows was a short shooting range where customers could try their luck with an air rifle at hitting a plate 20 yards away.


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If they succeeded, the impact of the slug ‘triggered’ an automatic flashlight photograph of the marksman. Rendell and six of his fellow escapees could not resist visiting the fair. Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe servicemen were at the range, but their shooting was poor and the camera seldom flashed.

Two Luftwaffe men put up such an abysmal performance that Rendell, exasperated beyond endurance, could stand no more. He grabbed the rifle, rammed a slug up the breach, aimed and fired. A satisfying clang followed by a large flash signalled a bullseye. The fugitives, rather shaken by attracting so much attention, collected the film and slipped away quickly – leaving the Germans to pay.

Soon after this adventure the organisation was betrayed, and Rendell decided to move his team to Rome. There they became part of the ring which was being run by Major Sam Derry and O’Flaherty. On one occasion Rendell, whose highly proper manner masked a daredevil streak that erupted from time to time, approached several senior German officers at the opera house. In execrable Italian he asked one of them to sign his programme. When Rendell returned to his comrades they asked him if he had gone off his rocker – the German officer in question was the Military Governor of Rome.

Rome was liberated in June 1944 and Rendell was appointed MBE for his work with the escape

organisations. After spells in the Far East

and Palestine, he rejoined the 1st Battalion Middlesex Regiment, serving in Hong Kong and in the Korean War. Then, in 1954, the Provost Marshal asked him to organise the re-formed Mounted Branch at Aldershot. Within 12 months the Redcaps were performing in public with horses and motorcycles and went on to establish a considerable reputation in Britain and on the Continent.

A posting to 170 Provost Company in Edinburgh followed. Rendell helped to select and train horses for the Edinburgh Tattoo and stabled the 61st Indian Cavalry during their stay. Having been given the honour of commanding their last performance at the Tattoo, he dressed in the frock-coated uniform and turban and gave all the words of command in Urdu.

In 1971 he was posted as Provost Marshal BAOR and was responsible to the C-in-C for all aspects of discipline, road movement and close security of the British troops and their dependants. He returned to England in 1974 upon becoming Provost Marshal.

In office he concentrated on bringing his Corps into the public eye and ensuring that all ranks helped to support soldiers, not harass or hound them. In so doing he managed to efface the image of the “bloody red caps”.

Rendell concentrated on security and established a new branch that

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today covers the close protection of senior officers, sometimes of politicians and occasionally of members of the Royal Family. He rode out with the mounted branch once a month and kept a professional eye on the Redcaps Show Team.

He retired from the Army in 1977 and was advanced to CBE. He was invited by the RAC to head their Motor Cycle Department and at the same time became chief executive of the RAC Motor Cycle Training Scheme. He was ADC to the Queen from 1975 to 1977.

In 1981, after a serious illness, he finally retired and settled at Selsey, Sussex. He rode his 1911 P&M motorcycle in eight London-to-Brighton Pioneer Runs and many other vintage and veteran events. Aged 75, he still had 16 vintage

motorcycles, 22 ancient motor lawnmowers and four stationary engines, all runners that had been renovated by himself.

On August 8 1990 Rendell, with 13 other retired officers of the Parachute Regiment, parachuted into Poole harbour. Their ages ranged from 70 to 81 years and many had not jumped since the war. He was president of the Surrey and Sussex Branch of the Parachute Regiment Association, president of 2 Para Club (1941-45) and chairman of the RMP Association.

Dennis Rendell died on 22nd September. He married, in 1947, Mary Armes, who survives him with their son and daughter.

Rendell trying his luck at the fair while on the run – watched by two admiring and wholly unsuspecting Germans


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museum and archiveNigel Wood-Smith has been busy in the Museum and has produced a display which, although not the final one, is of great interest and has already been viewed by many OAs, members of the public and some current Albanians.

One exhibit is a vellum page of a bible which shows some of the verses of the prophet Ezekiel. It has been dated at between 1120 and 1140 and is incredibly boring since it just gives the dimensions in cubits of the ideal temple. However, a chance viewing of this by Rosemary Stevens, who is very interested in calligraphy, has resulted in her doing research on it over the last five or six years.

Vellum is tough so it in the past it had many uses, from cleaning shoes to making shoe bags and the covers for books. The slits on our page indicate that it was used for the latter purpose and so Rosemary has made up – in new vellum (pigskin not calf skin) – a facsimile of the book which it might have been used to bind. She has presented this to the school and it is on show in the museum.

l Arthur Lewis MBE (36) sent us a copy of the Albanian dated September 1941 which lists the

POWs and casualties. It contains his wife’s two brothers but she has kindly agreed that it should belong in the archive.

l Heritage Day in September 2010 proved to be as great a success as ever with over 200 visitors taken round by second and sixth formers. So many people have passed under the Gateway but have never seen inside.

l Robin Ollington has been prolific as ever. He has revitalised the Bacon Panels which he made in 1940 and has embellished them with the Bacon Coat of Arms. They are now on display in the museum’s ‘Bacon Alcove’. He has also dug out some sketches he made of the Abbey and of his ideas about an entrance arch for the school – never to come about! From his collection of past material he has let us have a letter from Jean Garnier. Written in 1979, it recounts some of Jean’s life at the school but also of his last, not very happy days, in the Ridgeway Nursing Home in Radlett just prior to his death.Robin’s next book Crime and Punishment at St Albans School, with a foreword by Michael Palin, is hoped to be available before Christmas.

Mike Highstead

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A lifetime of singingn Peter Soul (62) looks back over his 55-year singing career, which began as a member of the St Albans School choir

Someone said to me: do write about the fun of singing in choirs. But where to start...?

At the beginning, I guess, as with any piece of music! The first choir I remember belonging to, as a treble around 55 years ago, was at St Albans School. Twice a week the whole school would troop across to the Abbey for a short service, led of course by the choir. That must have been the genesis of my love of singing in cathedrals — where the acoustics give your voice no support, but reward you instead with a stunning reverberation.

At that time the school choir was trained by Peter Burton, the organist and choirmaster at the Abbey. He also took general music lessons in the school, and I remember him as a delightful man with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Explaining the structure of a Bach fugue to us, he had the class singing his improvised words to its theme (both of which I can still remember). But alas, sometime after my voice broke and I dropped out of the choir, Mr Burton died tragically in a swimming-pool accident. His place was taken by Peter Hurford, both at the Abbey and in the classroom.

At this point I have to face a vivid recollection. When my voice

had settled down again, my father and I (in what proportions I am not at all sure!) decided that I ought to rejoin the school choir. My father accordingly wrote a letter to the Headmaster, WT Marsh. A day or two later, at morning assembly in the school hall, I was standing on the balcony among the sixth form and Mr Marsh was on the stage. He cleared his throat: “I have just received a letter from the parent of a boy asking that he be allowed into the school choir. The letter mentions that the choir is directed by Mr Hurford, whereas EVERYBODY KNOWS that it is in the capable hands of Mr Buck here.”

Whatever he said after that did not register with me as I slunk back, certain that everyone would realize — either then or when I reappeared in the choir — who it was that he seemed to want to shame. How could I be keen to be in the choir again, but not have noticed who was now conducting it? I doubt if I reported the incident to my father: he was a dedicated choirman himself and so should have been on my side, but then at times he could be as censorious (in private) as WTM. And I must have been in a great dilemma over whether to turn up at choir practice, or to stay away (which could have brought this whole story to an end). But somehow I found the courage to rejoin.

I can still hear faintly in my head snatches of some of the pieces we sang in the choir: Britten’s Te Deum in C, Dering’s Quem vidistis and a


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lively setting of the Benedicite (and the second time around, as a bass, I had of course to relearn music that I had previously sung as a treble). Actually, a more striking musical memory of school is that whenever I hear Dvorak’s New World Symphony, Elgar’s Enigma Variations or The Planets by Holst, I am transported straight back to the small lecture room upstairs in the old science block, where I first listened to (or anyway, first appreciated) these and other masterpieces, on LP records, in the after-school music club. But I digress.

To university: particularly at Bristol (from 1962) and then later at Warwick, there was much to distract me from singing in choirs — but it rarely succeeded! I started to meet the ‘great choral works’, once thoroughly learnt, never forgotten: Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Britten’s War Requiem (composed only four years before I sang it), Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Verdi’s Requiem and others, plus countless shorter pieces, serious or light-hearted. While I was a student I sang in half-a-dozen cathedrals, and toured twice to Germany. I shall never forget the sight of the no man’s land between West and East: watch-towers, barren earth, and a lonely village just beyond...

My first employment was in Harlow. There I joined a chamber choir and a choral society encountering, as I had at university, a wonderful spread of both intimate

and ‘grand’ music and, later on, touring to the USA, to Italy and to Paris. That tremendous first trip came about more or less by chance: an American choir had asked to visit Harlow (as part of a UK tour), having picked us out of the concert-announcement section of the Musical Times. The choir arrived, and then later as the echoes of our joint concert died away, it was decided unanimously that Harlow Chorus should pay them a return visit. In the end three other choirs made us welcome too, spread across 300 miles from Staten Island, New York, to the remote town of Wells River in Vermont. Our final concert there concluded with the great Amen chorus from Handel’s Messiah — but that wasn’t the final evening: for this a real American barn dance was laid on for us.

I was Secretary & Administrator of Harlow Chorus for three years, until the time came to change my (paid) job and my location. After settling in on the edge of Reading, I sang with a medium-sized choir for a couple of years and then switched to a group of just ten singers, performing unconducted and unaccompanied. That was when I learned to control my voice and to concentrate, as never quite before. Without a conductor, how do you know when to start singing and when to stop? You just do!

Our little group stopped singing for good in 1987 and I then joined Thames Voyces, a chamber choir based in Bracknell. For several


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years I was its Secretary, and I am still a member (though not quite the longest-serving). We give five or six concerts a year, and until a few years ago we also visited cathedrals, abbeys and chapels to sing for services. I kept count of these occasions (since I organized many of them): 28 visits to 14 different venues, spread over 17 years. They included two trips round the M25 to St Albans. The longest journeys were to Canterbury, Worcester and ... Bristol, taking me back to the Beethovenic reverberations (I don’t mean that they were still sounding!) of the first large-scale concert I had ever participated in, long ago in the cathedral.

But the highlight of my (first) 23 years in Thames Voyces was without doubt a trip we made two years ago, travelling to the town of Oloron, close against the French

Pyrenees near Pau — a visit I arranged in collaboration with my sister and husband, who live down there. By day the sun shone from a cloudless sky as we spread out to explore the landscape, and in the evenings, at the end of a concert, les applaudissements seemed to go on for ever.

But enough of my lifetime of singing (for a bit): what about you and your voice? I would say that nearly everybody is capable of getting fun out of singing. And in a choir you meet similar-minded people, you gain self-confidence and coordination, and you become part of a team. There are choirs to suit all levels of vocal expertise nearly everywhere: ask at your local library, or take a look at www.gerontius.net and click on Find Choirs. Check up also on the WEA, the U3A and adult-education

From the Archive: music practice in the 1970s


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colleges: their programmes sometimes include come-and-sing groups for those who aren’t quite sure if they are able to. Don’t be put off a choir because it may focus on sacred music: contrary to the usual saying, the Devil doesn’t have all the best tunes! Start young if you can, but any time is better than not at all.

A word about conductors: I have known at least a dozen well (though I’ve sung in rehearsals and concerts under many more). They come with different temperaments, but I will say this for all of them: anyone with the knowledge to prepare a musical performance, and then the courage and the ability to hold it together, aided by just a little white stick (or even bare hands alone), deserves nothing less than the full support of his or her singers. If mutterings are ever heard from within the basses ... well, I really do try to offer only constructive criticism, in return for everything that conductors have taught me.

I would never have wanted to be a professional musician myself, but I have been lucky in all my amateur opportunities, I know. Long experience means that I can sight-read better than most, also learn music quickly, and then probably remember it well for the next occasion. And my luck is still in, because today (as I write this) I have been singing in Southwark Cathedral, giving support to a Wokingham church choir.

What I do wish is that from my

undergraduate days onward, I had kept a note of all the music I sang. Although I’ve accumulated hundreds of printed concert programmes over the years, I have taken part in at least as many other performances too, of which I can remember (with their programme contents) only a fraction now. These days, when a piece of unfamiliar music is handed out to me, I always wonder if I’ve actually sung it before! And how many times have I helped a presentation of, say, Fauré’s Requiem on its way? The number must be well into double figures by now. But it’s the first occasion that I remember the most clearly, in the Great Hall of Bristol University: not only do I still have an LP recording of the occasion, but also that evening in November 1963 was just four days after President Kennedy had been shot, and so the performance was dedicated to his memory.

Let me end with a tale of coincidences and circles: as I reached the lower sixth at school, a Michael Soul arrived in the first form — and from Welwyn Garden City like me. He was no relation (or none that our families could discover), but it took the school administration a little while to accept this and supply all the information required by a new boy’s parents!

Fast forward now to a few years ago, when a lady dropped out of Thames Voyces because of having to make a move across into Hampshire.


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Soon afterwards she emailed me: “There’s a bass called Michael Soul in the choir I’ve just joined, and he says you knew each other at school.” We took to exchanging occasional emails, and then last spring he told me he had been invited back to St Albans to join with the present school choir in recording a CD in the Abbey. Had I heard about the project? I had not, but when I contacted the school for more information an invitation was immediately forthcoming.

And so it was that one afternoon in May a couple of old Souls met up with some other Old Albanians who had kept their singing voices in trim, and we slipped into the rear choir-stalls ... behind a youthful choir that had seen who knows how many boys (and recently girls) come and go, in the time since I left it. Under the skilled direction of Mick Stout (this time I’ve checked the conductor’s name!) we first held our breath almost, as we performed Leighton’s setting of the Coventry Carol and For the Fallen by Douglas Guest, and then sang our hearts out in Parry’s Jerusalem and Vaughan Williams’ arrangement of All people that on earth do dwell. The CD, when it was sent to me later, featured other lovely music too that the choir had recorded earlier in the week. It all sounded most professional, in the superb Abbey acoustic that I had known for so long.

In the evening, after our recording session, we repaired to the school library on the floor that was built

across the old school hall at balcony level a while ago, for drinks and nibbles. I looked at where the balcony used to be, and marvelled at the length and the richness of the musical circle that I had travelled — but which I might never even have started along. From start to finish, the day was an experience that I couldn’t possibly have imagined, 55 years ago...

A tuneful homecomingn Bradley Smith (07) recently returned to St Albans School to perform as part of the 17-strong accapella group known as ‘The Gents of St John’

Tenor Bradley Smith, the former head chorister and lay clerk of St Albans Abbey, joined St John’s College Cambridge in 2007 on a choral scholarship and has sung with the Gents ever since. The group, drawn from the College choir, has an international reputation with an impressive list of engagements from London’s Wigmore Hall to the Sydney Opera House. The performance at St Albans School in October was a mixture of religious and secular pieces, and Bradley said: “It’s great to be back. This is where it started and nothing seems to have changed.” Now that he has graduated Bradley, who used to live in Radlett, now leads and directs the Gents.


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SCatching up Down Undern Roger Seymour (52) reports on a recent meeting in Australia with fellow OA John Hartley (39), and provides some of his own memories of his time at School

Recently I had the pleasure of spending some time with John Hartley (39) at his home in Bowral, New South Wales. John has recently celebrated his 90th birthday and I felt that I should talk to him about the School and his recollections of his time as a scholar. I had met John Hartley briefly a few weeks before.

John lives about 5 miles (or 8 kilometres) from my home in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. We had quite a long conversation about the School and learnt that although our paths had never crossed a number of the masters and their idiosyncrasies were common to both of us. The first master that got mentioned was, of course, W.T. Marsh. Others that came up in the ensuing conversation were, John Willé, George Wishart, Ernie Nightingale, Bob Tanner, Jean Garnier and many others.

John mentioned that at the beginning of World War II he saw “Stoker Bill” on the platform at the station at St Albans. W.T.M was in his naval uniform of Lt Cmdr, (Supply and Secretariat) and totally ignored John Hartley.

When at School John was a very

active athlete. He was a member of the 1938 1st XI, a member of the 1937-38 1st XV and a member of 1938 Athletics Team. He was a proficient quarter miler, so much so that he was invited to run for the London Athletics Club whilst still at school, John Willé accompanying him on his outings for this club.

John Hartley left the School just before the outbreak of WWII and in due course joined the Army, but his military career was curtailed by spinal meningitis and he was invalided out. It took him a long time to recover and on the completion of hostilities he joined The Times as a journalist. His reporting career took him to many places, and he is very proud of the fact that he was the official correspondent for The Times covering the visit of Princess Elizabeth to Canada. He was also the official correspondent for the paper when Princess Elizabeth tour across Africa and on to Australia was planned. Queen Elizabeth’s accession took place in 1952 in Kenya during this tour, and John’s intimate knowledge of the events in Kenya at that time allowed him to be the official biographer of the episode for which he had assistance from Cmdr Tom Parker, Prince Philip’s Private Secretary.

He began to recognise that in the future, television would be the significant communication media and he joined ITN as Chief News Correspondent. In due course he went from ITN to the BBC and


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finally out to Australia to the ABC. His career in television is unsung but must be recognised as he was instrumental in changing the format of news presentation from the early version of the news being read by a presenter followed by newsreel documentary to the format used all over the world today.

When I receive the latest edition of the OA Bulletin I read those parts that provide information, recollections and memories written by past members of the School. Other parts I read at a somewhat slower pace.

However, I sometimes despair of my particular contemporaries as none seem be able to pen to paper and set down those elements that stand out in their memories of events and people during our time at School. So I feel that should fill that gap with some personal memories.

I entered the School in September of 1942 at the age of nine and three-quarters. My recollection of that first day was the Assembly in the Main Hall and that I was more than fearful: standing in the front of the stage looking up at the Headmaster and all the other masters. I wondered what was going to happen to me. Later, when I had come to terms with my new environment certain masters and a mistress stood out and even today I remember them.

Firstly, R.O. Saunders, who was the author of the little black book given to all new entrants to the School. I still have mine. The book

gives a short history of the School and its relationship with the Abbey and the town. Is it still given to new entrants? One of Saunders’ specialities was showing his collection of small but beautifully made Roman weapons of war. He was also very paternalistic towards the new and young members of the School.

The mistress at the School that I recall was Mrs Vaughan Thomas, wife of the well-known radio broadcaster Wynford Vaughan Thomas. One day she invited a small group of her scholars to tea at her home in Sandridge Road, near the Cricketers pub. We met her husband at this tea party.

“Slab” Marshall has been mentioned in earlier issues of the Bulletin, one of the School’s physics Masters but not Ernie Nightingale. Who could forget his antics with the Wimshurst machine? And those of us that took physics must remember his famous textbook. Back to “Slab”. I remember going to his office in the Science Block one day and on opening the door, after the dutiful knock, finding that it was impossible to see where he was because of the density of tobacco smoke!

Other masters I can recall were “Johnny” West who taught geography, and who doesn’t remember the doleful comment “God help you in July” uttered by “Happy” Heather? He tried very hard to instil into me the basics of English grammar but with little success. However, that success fell


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to an Old Albanian, R.V. Turner. Roy Turner was my superior at Vickers Shipbuilders, Barrow-in-Furness. On the occasions when I presented him with various documents for comment and approval, he would peruse them, then sigh, hand me his copy of Fowler’s English Usage and say “try again”. Why didn’t we have such a wonderful book as a text whilst at School? I have it available on my computer even now.

“Scruffy” Schofield was far from scruffy mentally. He was the senior mathematics master and had been a Wrangler, Mathematical Tripos, Cambridge University. John Willé was also a mathematics master and I have always given him credit in teaching me the intricacies of double differential equations long before I went to University; he also took quite an interest in students who showed some prowess in athletics.

A lot of mention has been made of RSM “Sam” Kilpatrick in previous editions of the Bulletin but I don’t recall any mention of his predecessor, Sergeant “Charlie” Argent. During the period between the 1st and 2nd World Wars, Charlie Argent was also an international soccer referee and he would sometimes show us photos of those matches that he had refereed.

Others that merit a mention are chemistry master George Wishart, and

G.E. Pryke. “Percy” was a Prefect when I was in the Junior School, later to become a master, returning

to School after a period in the Army. Whilst a Prefect he was awarded a rather rude sobriquet that I will not mention here.

“Basher” Dent should also get a mention. I was never taught German by him but he always seemed a jovial sort of man. He had a glass eye that he acquired whilst in the Tank Corps during the Second World War.

Jean Garnier has had previous mention but nobody has recalled that he was habitually late arriving at School speeding in on his bicycle and being recorded as late in the duty prefect’s log. This annoyed him immensely.

Not much has been said about “Fred” Read, who was Deputy Head and taught English. He had the attribute of using a few succinct words to reduce a schoolboy, whether errant in his work or behaviour, to a quivering wreck!

One event that has never been recorded is that there was a private visit to the School by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. The visit was organised so that the Archbishop could meet “Squits” Wortley. Both Geoffrey Fisher and “Squits” had been at Exeter College, Oxford at the same time. This event is known probably only to me as I was the one detailed off by W.T. Marsh to be the Archbishop’s guide and the visit took place after School hours.

“L.G.” Walker has been mentioned on a number of occasions, but no comment has been made to the


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fact that he owned a boat that was berthed at Burnham on Crouch, Essex. He used to take members of the Cadet Corps sailing there sometimes.

The Easter school holidays saw pupils entrained for the Lake District. L.G. Walker was the organiser and leader on our walks. Bob Tanner and Percy Pryke were also involved on one or two occasions.

One memory of “Bob” Tanner, or “EWT” as he was sometimes known, is of his singing capabilities. EWT had a good bass voice and was a member of the School choir. At one Christmas Choral service the congregation was hard put not to applaud loudly. Unbeknown to all of us he had climbed to the clerestory of the Abbey and gave a solo rendition of a carol. The acoustics of the Abbey were not good but seemed to improve solely for this dramatic element of the service.

“Beery” Webster taught history with a flair that was different from most history masters. He tended to act the event that was the subject for the day.

“Bunny” Warren tried hard to instil a sense of music into the souls of unreceptive scholars. He would play a short piece of music on the piano in the large lecture theatre in the Science block and then try to get us to write down the notes of the tune he had just played with seemingly little success.

One has to ask the question: “Why do we write about the School

and masters with some degree of affection?” There must have been an incentive that requires definition. I have thought long and hard but have not come to any specific conclusion. I think that the impact of individual masters with the overlay of a strong Headmaster is the answer. Did the School give us any particular strengths such as integrity, perseverance, clarity of thought? Not necessarily, but I do think that the grounding for these and other elements were inculcated there and that they blossomed in later life.

In the swim n Roger Austin writes to express his sadness of the news of the death of James Marsh, his team-mate in the 1951 School swimming team

I was very sad to read of the death of James (“JRW” or “Jimmy”) Marsh in the last Bulletin, who I last saw after the memorial service in the Abbey for his father WTM.

I enclose a photograph of the school swimming team taken in 1951 in which he appears in the centre of the second row. The members are, from top left, left to right: Fomison, Austin, Harris, Kemish, Marsh, Cook, Whittingham and Bradshaw.

Half the team independently decided to join the services. Marsh went to Dartmouth, and Austin and Bradshaw to Sandhurst. Whittingham joined the RAF, while Harris entered the Church


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and became Bishop of Southwell. Fomison became a mining engineer in Africa and Cook, I believe, a biologist.

At reunions no-one seems to know what Kemish did on leaving, and his name appears in the ‘waifs and strays’. He was certainly the fastest and most versatile member of the team. I did not swim in the team but only dived as second string to Cook. After Sandhurst I served for two years before leaving to read medicine to become a trauma surgeon, to put people together rather than blow them apart.

Funnily, at one OA/School match, other members left it to Bradshaw and me to swim the 100 yards freestyle. Certainly we were fit from Sandhurst and we were used to being told what to do!

Happy days!

Reflections on Armed Services Dayn Better late than never: Philip M Eden (52) applauds the institution of the Armed Services Day on 26th June 2010 to honour the sacrifices made by the service men and women since WWII

Many of us who left school in the decade following the Second World War were inevitably caught up in conflicts in places such as Palestine, Cyprus, Korea and Malaya, often as a consequence of National Service. Yet until the Falklands War, and more recently the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, their contribution and, indeed, often sacrifice were scarcely acknowledged either officially or unofficially.

The 1951 School swimming team


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Understandably, the Second World War overshadowed the more minor conflicts which followed; but that was no excuse for the widespread ignorance of and indifference towards many of these lesser conflicts. In my case I was posted to Korea in mid 1953; prior to that, I was for a brief time attached to the Royal Marines in Malaya at the time when Britain was struggling to contain the Communist insurgency there. Whereas many people find it difficult to justify satisfactorily our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, I at least have the satisfaction of believing that the wars in Malaya and Korea were wholly justified and of immense significance. Had either of those countries fallen under Communist control at that time it is very likely that Communism would have swept across the rest of Asia because the West would have appeared weak and unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to prevent the march of this perverse political creed. Indeed, the loss of Korea could, I think, most likely have precipitated a Third World War involving nuclear weapons.

On many occasions over the years, however, I have frequently come across individuals who should have known better who had no idea that Britain was even involved in the Korean War, together of course with many other countries such as France, Greece, Turkey and Australia under the auspices of the United Nations and under American

leadership. In the USA there has always been a keen appreciation of the significance of Korea, and in South Korea itself veterans are treated almost with reverence as I discovered when I visited the country again on business in the 1980s.

For those in Korea the war was, of course, anything but minor. Well over four million people died and in April 1952 the British Army at the Imjin river faced a situation only once before encountered in its entire history: odds of 40 to one against the invading Chinese. It took the British Government more than 50 years to sanction the building of a memorial to those who died in conflicts since 1945 and it seems only pressure from the public, appalled at the severe injuries suffered by troops caught by roadside bombs in Afghanistan, which has finally led to wider recognition through the institution of Armed Forces Day of the sacrifices made by service men and women during the past sixty five years.

Higher mathematicsn Regular Bulletin contributor Anthony J Lane unearths some interesting facts about former master “Scruffy” Schofield’s equally brilliant mathematician son

When “Scruffy” Schofield was teaching me maths during the war, some years before he had the rather more rewarding job of teaching


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Stephen Hawking, I had no idea that he had any family. I think it can’t have been until when he was a Curate in Wellingborough, and my son-in-law was teaching his son the piano, that I came to know of the existence of Scruffy’s son, Rodney. It turned out that he was a brilliant mathematician like his father before him, and that when he left Cambridge, he went on to Oxford to study for Church of England Ministry. I did eventually encounter him briefly when we were both in Retreat at Glastonbury. (Yes, other things do happen at Glastonbury). I think by then he was Director of Ordinands in the Bath and Wells Diocese, but going on later to lecture at a Theological college in Malawi for some years.

Since returning and retiring he has been ordained in the Catholic Church, and contemporaries of his (he was an OA circa ’62) might be interested to know that he is currently the Parish Priest of Sherborne, Dorset. I write now since just before Christmas I missed the opportunity to meet him again, being regrettably unable to attend the launch of his most recent book at Sarum College in Salisbury Cathedral Close: an event graced, ecumenically, by the Bishop of Salisbury. So I thought I should at least put on record the details of the book concerned. It’s entitled Bordering on Faith, published by Melrose at £14.99, and based to some extent, I should guess, on his experiences in Africa. The dust-cover describes

how it examines the sometimes indeterminate borders between Orthodox Christian religion and local cultural traditions, which can be found not only in the past, but also in the changing scene of the present.

I seem to remember hearing of another member of the Schofield clan, brother of Rodney. I don’t know whether he was older or younger, but I believe he was a distinguished Cambridge academic, though not a mathematician. Perhaps some other OA could complete the family history? Scruffy’s grandchildren could well be making a mark in the world.

It is a pleasure to receive the Bulletin in distant parts, I will be sad if the printed

Memories of homen Prompted by our latest instalment of ‘The Berts’ reminiscences of School life in the late 1950s, Colin Smith writes from Phoenix, Arizona to add a few memories of his own

It is a pleasure to receive the Bulletin in distant parts, I will be sad if the printed version ceases. And one is always reminded of home. I was travelling across the Mid-West recently in an RV and went for Sunday service at the West Kansas Episcopalian Cathedral (part of the C of E). The greeter at the door caught my English accent and asked where I was from in England. I said St Albans and went to the Abbey twice a week from school.


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“Oh,” he said, “I went to a service there last Sunday!”

I was also pleased to see so many 1958-9 reminiscences from The Berts, even including one about me. They were right – I did get banged about a lot, but that was because I was the First XV Full Back for most of the 1958 season.

Also Tony Hendra was with me at St John’s, not Queens’. I met him last year at our St John’s 50 Years from Matriculation dinner, where he was as unassuming as ever, despite his fame. However, this was the reason why I couldn’t also make the 1959 School leavers dinner as well, as it would have required two trips to England. It was Chris Yetton who was at Queens’, by the way.

When I last saw him, Richard Kingslake was at Glasgow University. I met him in odd circumstances. On the bus into the city from Bearsden, where we were apparently both living at the time, I noticed him sitting in the seat in front of me.

One other fact stated, which I can’t verify independently, is that Stephen Hawking was in the Maths set below us (1957-1959), which in my set (1956-1958) was Smith, Yetton, Kingslake and Hudson with Dick Tahta. As far as I remember Stephen was in the Natural Sciences set in

those years. It was also our year that built the computer of which I was the programmer.

Burton rememberedn WJ “Bill” Bell (59) recalls some fond memories of the late CPP Burton

My memories of Peter Burton are vivid. For a start his full name was Claud Peter Primrose Burton, which for obvious reasons he did not publicise. He was one of the kindest men that I have encountered, although this was not his school persona. For example, it must have been in 1953, when acting as a choral master at a Royal School of Church Music course at Rossall School near Fleetwood, Lancashire, he went out of his way to collect and transport myself and another chorister from St Michael’s and All Angels Church in Welwyn Garden City to Fleetwood and return in his own car.

He was very highly regarded in Church music circles, not only as a Cathedral organist, but also as a choirmaster, and his untimely death in trying to rescue a troubled swimmer was typical of his selflessness.

It was very interesting to read memories of the staff in this issue; keep it up.


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TRaising the barn Robin Farrar looks forward to building on a hugely successful season throughout the Club as the OAs enter the semi-professional arena

I am delighted to report that the whole Club has got off to a great start in the new season.

As you know, 2009/10 proved to be a brilliant season for all of our teams; the most successful in the proud history of our Club. Three of our senior sides, including the Seconds and Thirds, topped their respective leagues and the prize for OA Saints was no less than a place at the top table of womens’ rugby,

the Premiership.The Fourths and Fifths recorded

their fair share of success and the Development squad, together with both Colts sides maintained the high ratio of victories which we have come to expect of our ’stars of tomorrow’. I am pleased to confirm that the Club is maintaining the same number of senior sides over the current season.

After seven years of steady progress in London One, under the guidance of Bruce Millar, the Firsts seized promotion to the National Leagues with an emphatic play-off victory over Old Patesians, thus becoming the undisputed top old boys club in the whole country.

Rugby

Action from an early season fixture


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Their achievements were capped in being crowned County champions in, fittingly, the very last game to be played at OMT’s Durrants ground in May.

So congratulations go to every single person involved in making last season such a memorable one, not least our indefatigable Chairman Rory Davis who happily leads us for another year.

Even before the campaign had come to an end, Rory and his team, with new talent arriving to replace officers who were taking a well-earned rest, began to prepare for the future, fully aware that past successes have had the effect of raising the bar a considerable notch for all concerned.

Have no doubt that all our teams will experience tougher opposition, week in, week out aptly illustrated by both Firsts mens’ and womens’ fixture lists which demand forays deep into a number of traditional rugby strongholds and, of course,

return encounters where our players and supporters alike must play their part in ensuring that ‘Fortress Woollams’ remains true in both name and nature!

Focus on the job in hand and optimum levels of personal fitness will therefore be the challenge to every player donning the stylish, new hoops as we strive to build upon the strength in depth, and the support for each other, which served our cause so well in the last campaign.

Sure to be leading by example will be our new player/head coach James Shanahan. ‘Shanners’, with a wealth of experience at National level, will work alongside Bruce and Mark Langley until Bruce moves ‘upstairs’ mid-season in order to concentrate on his duties as Director of Rugby. For the season ahead, these men have assembled an exciting squad with a formidable blend of ‘old’ favourites and new faces.

Those readers who have already

Chairman Rory Best accepts the Community Club of the Year award on behalf of OA Rugby


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witnessed our style of running, attacking rugby have been suitably impressed. For the remainder we hope to welcome you to Woollams on a Saturday afternoon in the near future. Why not arrange to treat yourself, pre-match and sample one of the excellent new menus which we have arranged for 2010/11 with our colleagues in OA Sport?

The best illustration of the whole squads strength is that, at the time of writing four weeks into the new campaign, our mens’ Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth XVs all boast a 100% record of wins, a remarkable performance by any standards. In National 2 our First XV have beaten Hinckley, Shelford and Canterbury gaining maximum points, having scored four or more tries in each match. Our only reverse has been at Worthing where we were close enough to our hosts to come away with a bonus point.

There is also late, great news to report off the field, with OARFC recently having been voted ‘Herts Community Sports Club of the Year’ for the second year running; our achievements standing out from nearly 20 other, worthy nominations from across the County. Congratulations to the Clubs’ management for maintaining such high standards and thanks also go to our players and VPs who make their own personal contribution to building upon our enviable reputation in the community.

Robin FarrarPresident, OArFc

All changen OA Rugby’s Press and Publicity Officer Nick Hallett (65) highlights some of the major changes that spectators can expect in National Division 2 South

Following the achievement of promotion to this new Division at the end of last season, the average OAs supporter and his dog may be forgiven for thinking that this coming season is just a little harder and faster. Wrong!

To start with there is not just the referee turning up, borrowing a touch judge from each side, playing 80 minutes and off home. In this Division the referee is one of the RFU’s elite top forty panel and he arrives complete with two touch judges, also appointed from a panel by the RFU. All three are ‘miked-up’ with two-way portable radios and the touch judges can indicate foul play to the referee just as in the World Cup.

If that weren’t enough, OAs have to provide a ‘Fourth Official’, whose job is to deal with time off the pitch for blood injuries and yellow cards, list and monitor the comings and goings of all substitutes and finally, just when a relaxing pint is in sight, fight dirty for a fax line to send all the match data over to the RFU by one hour after the final whistle.

There’s more. Should one of the ‘Team of Three’ referees succumb to an injury during the match, a ‘Fifth Official’ has to be kitted out and on


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permanent standby to take over the running of a line. Again, OAs as the home team are obliged to provide this person, in practice it is hoped that the Herts Society of Referees will take the opportunity to let their people sample the big time.

Remember the Woollams pitch? It’s not now quite as you may recall it because it has to be relined from last season to allow a marked plot behind the ‘Technical Area’, where medical people and substitutes used to crowd the touchline, for the substitutes now to sit away from the touchline. Also, if the subs want to warm-up they have to do so in the dead ball area behind the posts.

Remember the Woollams crowds? Well, we now have to expect travelling supporters to number far in excess of last season. Clubs such as Richmond and from the South West of the country have quite a following. Also, the price of admission has risen to £7.50, but regular faithful can buy a season ticket for just £60.

In keeping with the demands of semi-professionalism, players can now be cited by their opposition for foul play and videos of matches are expected to be available all season on the RFU’s website. For serial miscreants, three yellow cards now means a visit to the Disciplinary Committee.

Running beneath all this is the fact that Division 2 South and North and Division 1 are organised by the National Clubs Association (the clubs who in the old days used to

charge admission and covertly pay players) who retain seats on all the major committees of the RFU, whereas previously OAs were a ‘South East’ club who were run and disciplined by the Herts Society.

Oh, and by the way, half time is now officially ten minutes!

OA Cricket

Starting afreshn OACC have had a transitional season in 2010 and results have been somewhat disappointing, reports Richard Morgan – but he looks forward to a fresh start in 2011

Next season we start afresh but in Division 3 of the Saracens Herts League. Several new, young players have been recruited and a new management team is coming on board. The management team includes Tony Dalwood, Richard Morgan, David Rourke (on his return from a 12 month sojourn in Australia), 1st XI skipper Ravi Vijh, and our first overseas player, Aussie Scott Tyson, who has returned to England for good!

The OA Cavaliers entered the Chess Valley Sunday leagues for the first time and had a good set of results. Our 2nds and 3rds were improved on last year and the Colts section continues to thrive with over 300 registered colt players in age ranges from Under 6 to Under 15. The new Development XI entered the Herts League Development


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division and is a success story for us to build on in future seasons. We aspire to the success that the rugby club is achieving and our best wishes to them for 2010-11.

OA Angling

Fishermen’s talesn OA Angling Society Secretary Geoff Cannon reports on a successful summer, and looks forward to the club’s winter activities

We have enjoyed an interesting selection of outings during the summer. Members have made two enjoyable trips to Ireland, one salmon and sea trout fishing on the west coast, the other coarse fishing in the Shannon valley - both very successful.

Three of our members also

visited northern Spain for a few days’ salmon and sea trout fishing. Although there were many fish in the river, they did not co-operate.

We great regret we have to announce the death in Somerset of one of our older members, Dr Peter Jarman, a keen trout fisherman.

We do hold monthly outings throughout the year and would welcome new members to our Club. Anybody who is interested should contact Geoff Cannon whose details are below.

Geoff CannonHonorary Secretary,

OA Angling club

14-16 Church End

Redbourn AL3 7DU

Tel: 01727 861622 (daytime)

01582 792512 (evening)

Fax: 01727 861623

E-Mail: [email protected]

From the Archive: the 1st XI from 1964


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OA Golf

Doing the roundsn Don Carnell reports on a wide-ranging programme of events during 2010 under the captaincy of Rick Drakard, and invites OAs of all ages and abilities to join the Club and enjoy some friendly golf.

A busy year began with our Annual Dinner at Harpenden Common Golf Club, attended by 42 members and their ladies.

The initial match of the campaign is traditionally against Mid-Herts GC, and we salvaged a well-earned draw with 4 matches each. For the first time, we entered a team of 6 for the Grafton Morrish Trophy, a scratch foursomes event. Despite a creditable performance by our team of Peter and Chris Dew, Peter Clarke, Stuart Watson, Tony Bolton and Will Lake, we were unable to reach the final stages. We will have another attempt in 2011.

The OA Cup, held at South Beds GC, was won by Rick Drakard (Rick’s uncle Frank won the Cup in 1935) with 40 stableford points, with Colin Spurr and Mike Lamprell a close second and third. The Dockree Tankard for the Antelopes was won by Trevor Miles.

The Captain’s Away Day took place at Flackwell Heath GC where Peter Clarke OA is General Manager. The team game winners were the Captain, Brian Woodward and Bede

Fox from Tony Drakard, Robin Farrar and Peter Dredge.

We managed a win against Old Haberdashers but lost to Old Cholmeleians on their hilly Highgate course and our team of 6 came fifth in the London OB foursomes competition, also at Highgate.

The annual trip to Thorpeness encountered some decent weather and the big winners were Graham Ledger, Rick Drakard, Archie McDonald and Colin Spurr.

Finally, on the opening day of the Ryder Cup, a bit of a washout, we suffered equally damp weather (but completed the round!). John Machell and Rick Drakard won the Briggs Goblets from Larry Rumsey Williams and John Cash.

We will have a full programme of events in 2011 and all OAs are most welcome to attend. Handicaps range from 2 to 28 and our main aim is to enjoy some friendly golf and social occasions with chaps who attended the School and to provide a venue to meet with contemporaries, renewing old friendships. All age groups represented.

Please contact Peter Dredge for further details on 01582 834572 or e-mail [email protected]

Don Carnell

OA Tennis

Moving up the laddern Excellent facilities, new coaches and a growing membership: OA Tennis Club Membership Secretary


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Sue Barnes reports on another successful season for the club

After their seventh season of competing in the Watford District League, the OA Tennis Club are proud to announce that once again they have gained promotion in two out of four of the divisions they play in, with the men coming Third and just missing out on promotion. The Ladies came second and the Mixed A team came First in their division this season and will now play in Div 2 and Div 3 respectively. It is now up to our new Mixed B team to go up the ladder, although this year they came middle of their league!

A mixed team has also been entered into the Datchworth Autumn League for the last three seasons, and are now on course for winning their division for the third year running.

If, while reading this, you feel you would like to play for any of the above teams, we would be delighted to have you on board. Many congratulations to all members who have played for any of the teams and contributed towards our current success. We are still very proud of our recent collection of silver cups and plates, on display in the Clubhouse.

The OA Tennis Club is situated at the Old Albanian Grounds on the Harpenden Road. The tennis members are privileged to play on 4 fantastic astroturf courts, set within the magnificent grounds of Woollam’s. We are a

relatively small tennis club with roughly 100 members, but we are looking forward to increasing our membership and have managed to keep our annual subscription lower than most other Tennis Clubs in the St Albans area. The current members are made up of a combination of Minis, Juniors, Coaching, Social and Team members.

We are now fortunate to have three LTA-trained coaches at the Club and we will be pleased to welcome all new players, whether they be beginners, Juniors, Seniors and of course, those who would be interested to play in teams. We particularly welcome Nicky Cosbie-Ross, our latest coach, who is extremely eager to increase the Mini and Junior tennis section. If you would like to find out more about the Mini and Junior Section, please ring Nicky on: 07795 110080.

During the holidays we held Mini and Junior Camps, which were extremely popular and hopefully these will continue throughout the holidays, weather permitting!

At the moment we are applying for floodlights, which would make it possible to play during the evenings, all the year round.

If you would like more information on joining OA Tennis, please contact Sue Barnes on 07970 301345 or at home in the evenings on 01727 868857.

Sue Barnesmembership Secretary


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OA Shooting

Give it a shotn Honorary Captain Andrew Wilkie invites would-be marksmen to give shooting a try – with equipment and rifles provided by the Club

The Ladies of Ware trophy for the Summer 2009 was presented at the Herts Open Meeting in June 2010 and the other week we took the opportunity to grab a team photo on the School range. We also had the opportunity to have a look at some of the history of the trophy and this revealed previous School and OA wins.

The first was by the School B Team in 1958 and then again in 1959

by the A team. From records kept by the shooting master of the time, Major L G Walker, the winning team members were:

1958 PimbleyFredenburghNewellRömerSpencer

1959CleghornSimmonsLawrenceNewellRömerThe wins are recorded by two

silver shields on the back of the trophy. Interestingly, in 1958, the School A Team (Crawford, Boon, Simmons, Cleghorn, Meacher) was

The Ladies of Ware Trophy


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also in the shoot off but they were beaten by the B Team’s handicapped score. But, that’s not all; recorded on the front of the trophy, the OAs also won the trophy in 1992 again from Division 4.

From OA R+PC records the team members were:

1992SimmonsBuxtonWilkieMooreJaySince those early School wins the

targets have become more difficult and the league teams have reduced from five to four persons. At the

same time the rifles have become more accurate and the shooters older. Ah, progress!

This winter season we are in Division 2 having lost in Division 3 during summer 2010 (!). Far from being disheartened the team has got off to a solid start with Moray McMillin recording what looks like a possible (100/100). Fingers crossed the divisional scorer thinks the same.

Full bore has continued throughout summer 2010 starting in April with a friendly practice shoot with the Old Alleynians and ending with our annual match for the Arnold Cup, followed by dinner at the London and Middlesex Pavilion at Bisley.

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The Summer league 2009 team, left to right: Wilkie, Moore, McMillin, Warr


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This was a close match won by the Old Albanians by a single point and seven ‘V Bulls’ (Central bulls, as opposed to the more shaky post ‘night before’ version around the edge of the bull area). The result ends a run of three wins by the Alleynians. It’s fair to say that we were somewhat fortunate being able to get off to a flying start at 300 yards following the debacle of our previous outing at 1000 yards when wind, rain and fortune conspired to cause a total meltdown of our efforts. Results for other matches, the Old Lawrentians (OAs 285.17, Lawrentians 290.17) and Q Match were unspectacular but not disastrous. Excuses for the season range from sun, wind and age to bullets and eyesight but we all still enjoy paying a fortune for the privilege of lying down in a cold damp field making occasional holes in the centre of a distant paper target.

“.22” Small bore shooting continues to be our main activity and for the moment at least we shoot alternate Mondays (Bank holidays and non-term time excepted) at the School range by kind permission of the Headmaster

Any of you who would like to have a go or re-live their school day successes are most welcome to join us. Club rifles and equipment are available for try-outs. No excuses then!

Here’s looking forward to an enjoyable winter season.

Andrew Wilkie Hon. captain

To arrange a shoot contact:

Owen Simmons (President & Hon. Secretary)

01438 840 674

Andrew Moore (Hon. Treasurer)

01727 830 344

Andrew Wilkie (Hon. Captain)

01727 856 857


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From the Archive

The art room in the 1970s: Bob Tanner unfortunately not pictured

A chemistry lesson in progress: also from the 1970s, with Mr James Pincock directing the experiments

oa bulletin - autumn 2010 edition

Documents

oa contactoa club

club website

secretary david burrows

fifa world cup

john king

world rankings

england rugby team

england football team