old lawrentian news 2012- 2013
DESCRIPTION
Annual Publication for members of the Old Lawrnetian Society (Alumni of St Lawrence College, Kent).TRANSCRIPT
OL COMMITTEE & CONTACTS
Mark Singlesinglem@ashford
school.co.uk
Dr Ellis [email protected]
TimothyWagland
RodneyWilkening
OL Tennis &Squash
Mike DavisonHon. Secretary,OL Rifle Club
AlfredoFurmanekOL Rugby
Liaisonalfredofurmanek
@gmail.com
Tim DoddHon. SecretaryOL Golf Societytmhdodd@me.
com
Ann BrockbankAustralian OL
Branch Liaisonannbrockbank@
gmail.com
Belinda PiperAustralian OL
Branch Liaisonbelindapiper@
yahoo.com
AlistairMitchelhill
John YongeOL Cricket &Poets Society
Nick LyonsPrayer
Fellowship - [email protected]
Marie Wintermariewinter49@
hotmail.com
Kerry Brown,Alumni Managerkerry@olsociety
co.ukolsociety@slcuk.
com01843 572932
James BardenPresident Elect
01732 886355
Carol Chapman carolchapman@barnesmarsland.
co.uk
Jamie Clifford jamie.clifford.
Andrew BrownArchivist
Nick MarchantVice President
Electngmarchant@
aol.com07803 610075
ChrisThrondsen
Vice President74 Park Avenue
BroadstairsKent CT10 2EZ
John IsaacHonoraryTreasurerbjwisaac@
btinternet.com
Nick JonesHonorarySecretary
OL Society, St Lawrence College, College Road, Ramsgate, Kent CT11 7AE
Old Lawrentian News2012 2013
It is with great sadness I haveto advise that the PresidentElect, Geoffrey Philpott
(Newlands ‘56), died of a heartattack in June 2012. Geoffrey was a lovely man
and we have been deprived ofsomeone who would havebeen an excellent President. His funeral was held in the
College chapel and wasattended by over 450 people. The service was conducted by
The Rt Revd Bishop of Dover,Trevor Willmott. It was a veryemotional occasion as Geoffreywas much loved by manypeople. The wake afterwardswas held on the chapel greenand the College undoubtedlygave Geoffrey a very specialsend off. Amongst other OLs, we also
lost John Vernon (Lodge 1976)after a brave fight with Cancer.John was Head of School in1976 and was one of thebrightest OLs that the Collegehas ever produced.So 2012 has been a very sad
one, but also memorable inmany other respects.I am delighted to announce
James Barden (Grange ‘84),once elected, will take over asour President at the AGM inMarch. For years, James hasbeen an enthusiastic memberon the OL committee and I amconfident he will be an excellentPresident ably supported by astrong committee.The society is in fine fettle and
we now have 2,997 registeredmembers, including 1600 emailaddresses, 274 OLs registeredon Linkedin as ‘Old LawrentianSociety Group’ and 240 OLsregistered on Facebook. We also have a growing
number of events and reunionswhich the OL secretary, KerryBrown, works very hard toorganise. I cannot stress howimportant it is for us to have
your most up to date emailaddress. Please advise this [email protected] In December, we said
goodbye to the Headmaster,Revd. Mark Aitken, who left totake up the Royal appointmentas the new Master of the RoyalFoundation of St Katharinewhich operates a retreat andconference centre in London. Mark has done an awful lot to
transform the College over thepast eight years; he has alsobeen a huge supporter of theOL Society. We will miss bothMark and Kim but wish themwell in the next stage of theirlife.
The new Headmaster, orPrincipal as he will be called, isAntony Spencer. Antony waspreviously the Deputy Head atClifton College in Bristol andcomes with his wife, Suzanne,and four children. He is agraduate of Oxford and a verykeen Hockey player. The Governing Body is very
excited about this appointmentbecause Antony’s energy andenthusiasm should take theCollege to the next level overthe coming years.The June OL day was a great
success and we were verygrateful to a number of OLs
who helped at the careersevent for the 6th form leavers;also to those OLs who travelledfrom all over the country for thefirst OL Vintage and classic carevent. Both these events werea great success and we hopeto hold them every year on thesummer OL day. Please get intouch with Kerry Brown if youwish to attend on June 8th. The highlight of the year was
undoubtedly the OL Dinner atThe Tower of London. We are incredibly grateful to
Lord Dannatt (Tower ‘69) forhosting such a wonderfulevening which was attended by240 OLs and guests plus 180on the waiting list! This dinner was originally
scheduled at the College onNovember 3rd, however, whenthe charity Help for Heroescancelled their event at TheTower, Lord Dannatt kindlyoffered this slot to the OLSociety, which we jumped at. It was an amazing evening
with a private viewing of theCrown Jewels, a champagnereception and a sumptuousdinner in the armouries. The Bishop of Dover made a
wonderful speech with hiscentral theme being friendship,which was most appropriate.There was then the ancientCeremony of The Keys forthose hardy souls who werehappy to leave the comfort ofthe Armouries. We owe a great debt of
gratitude to Lord Dannatt, aswell as to the OL secretary,Kerry Brown, for organisingsuch a wonderful, magicalevening. See more on pages16,17 and 18.I have thoroughly enjoyed my
time as President. I do hopeyou will support James Barden,your new President Elect, byattending future OL events.Nick Marchant, OL President
AGM NOTICE - 23RD MARCH 2013
OLD LAWRENTIAN CALENDAR 2013 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
32
Notice is hereby given thatthe Annual GeneralMeeting of the Old
Lawrentian Society will be heldat 5.15pm in the library at StLawrence College, Ramsgate.Agenda:1. Attendance and apologiesfor absence. 2. Minutes of the AGM 24thMarch 2012 3. Matters arising4. To receive the President’sreport for the year since the lastAGM5. Treasurer's Report and
Adoption of Accounts for theyear to 31st August 2012 6. To elect the officers andcommittee for the ensuing year:a) James Barden (Grange1984) to be elected as the newPresident.b) Nick Marchant (Tower 1978)to be elected as a VicePresident. c) The following OFFICERShave been nominated for re-election (under Rule 11) asfollows: Vice President - ChrisThrondsen (1953), HonoraryTreasurer - John Isaac (1955),
Honorary Secretary - NickJones (Grange 1976), AlumniManager - Kerry Brown.d) Election of the Committee:To elect up to 12 members onthe committee with newnominations as follows: AlistairMitchelhill (Grange 1973), TimWagland (Newlands 1981),John Yonge (Newlands 1985)e) The following retire byrotation but are up for re-election: Tom Moulton, MarieWinter and Mark Single.7. Any other business.8. Date of next meeting.
Nick Marchant with GeoffPhilpott at OL Day
Thursday, 7th March 7.00pm - Science and
Engineering Lecture with PolarExplorer: Felicity Aston
(Theatre, £5)Saturday 23rd March 2013 -
OL Day, AGM & TheatrePerformance
12:30pm - Pre-lunch drinks &welcome in Entrance Hall
followed by lunch1:45pm - OL Shooting,
optional tour of the College2:00pm - OL Boys Hockey,
Netball, Squash4:30pm - Hot Buffet in Library5:15pm - 6:00pm - AGM inLibrary followed by Drinks
7:30pm - Opening Ceremony
of Theatre & Senior SchoolMusical ‘Little Shop of Horrors’
(limited availability, strictlyticketed event. Book ASAP at
[email protected])Proposed 4th May ‘Soiree’
Postponed until 2014 - due toextended exam dates
Saturday, 8th June - OL Day9:30am - 11:30am - OL
Careers Showcase with SeniorSchool
11am- 1pm - Junior School‘Traditional’ Fete, all welcome12:00pm onwards - Vintage/
Prestige Car Festival12:30pm - Buffet Lunch for
OLs on the green1:30pm - Cricket / tours /
Car Festival2:15pm - Tennis, Badminton
4:30pm - Prizes, SportsResults, OL BBQ
Saturday, 7th September OL Rugby & Girls Hockey
Saturday, 2nd November -OL Annual Dinner2013 Venue: SLC
Champagne Reception,Dinner, Guest Speaker,
Post-dinner drinks in Library.Sunday, 10th November
Remembrance Day ServiceSunday, 8th December
OLs and Friends, CollegeCarol Service
This year's March OL day is packed full,and we would really love you to joinus. Commencing at 12:15pm there will
be pre-lunch drinks, lunch, tours and theafternoon sports of netball, hockey,shooting and squash. The AGM and a lovely post-matches tea
and drinks will be served in the Library atapproximately 5:15pm followed by (if youbook your ticket) a great seat in thesplendid new theatre for the opening
ceremony and a performance of ‘The LittleShop of Horrors’ at 7:15pm. Tickets areextremely limited and immediate booking isadvised. Enquiries at [email protected] Please let us know asap if you wish to
join the teams on any of our OL Days (viasports liaisons or OL secretary). Please book in even if not playing sport -
so we can ensure we cater sufficiently foryou all, and pull out some lovely archivesrelevant to you!
OL DAY, AGM & THEATRE OPENINGMarch 23rd, 2013 - limited tickets available!
COLLEGE WELCOMES NEW PRINCIPALHEADMASTER’S FAREWELL
54
Iwanted to begin my finalmessage by saying howmuch I have enjoyed being
headmaster of the College andall my contact with OLs. My final event was the
wonderful Dinner at the Towerof London. The College washugely grateful to Lord Dannattfor making the event possibleand for being such a generoushost during the evening itself. We were also lucky to be able
to hear the Rt Revd TrevorWillmott, the Bishop of Doverspeaking about the importanceof friendship. I will certainly treasure the
salver that the OLs presentedme with during the evening.The start of the academic term
was very exciting. The newTheatre was up and running;the girls moved into their newboarding house and mostimportant of all, the currentLawrentians are full of life. It was good to see so many of
them reappear at the start ofterm with smiles on their facesand obvious delight at beingback. Our annual tea party on the
Chapel Green saw nearlyninety new pupils and theirfamilies being welcomed intothe school. There were nospare places in boys’ boardingand the new Bellerby is provingto be so popular that girls’boarding is nearly full forSeptember 2013.Our new buildings are so
exciting. The multi-purposetheatre space has a wonderfulfeel. Careful management ofour finances and support fromOLs has meant that we havebeen able to complete the lightand sound installations aheadof schedule. We have transferred the name
‘Taylor Hall’ to the new building. A very competitive House
Singing competition was thefirst big event to be held there.
This was fitting as it is the onlyevent in which every studenttakes part. An outstanding SixthForm production of ‘One Flewover the Cuckoo’s Nest’showcased the exceptionalacting talent in College. The newly created Bellerby,
inside the old Taylor Hall, hasbeen a masterpiece of creativedesign making use of muchdead space. The girls aredelighted with their new roomsand relaxation areas. Inspectors graded the College
academically ‘excellent’ lastyear and our 2012 A-Levelresults enabled leavers tolaunch into the next phase oftheir lives, with the majoritygoing to their university ofchoice, including some of thetop universities in the country. The number of GCSE A*
grades was most encouraging.We had 88 A* grades in all,which was 15.5% of the totalpasses. This figure is risingyear-on-year, as is the numberof A* and A grades which thisyear was 38.5%. This enhanced performance
does not happen by accident. Itis partly a result of some verygood teaching which has to be
supported by the hard work ofthe students as well. As I come to the end of my
time in College and move on tobecome the Master of theRoyal Foundation of StKatharine in Limehouse, I lookback with my time spent withOLs with real affection. I have enjoyed the company
of so many OLs. I think mygratitude to the OLs and mysense of just what decentpeople they are is bestsummed up in a story about myson, Reuben. He never went tothe College but moved with usat eighteen, having just left thesixth form at my previousschool. He has many OLsamongst his friends. They wereso welcoming to him when wearrived that I am sure he willhave created friends for lifefrom amongst that community. I believe the links between the
College and the OLs have beenstrengthened over my time asHeadmaster and I hope theywill go from strength to strengthin the coming years. Nick Marchant and his
committee have made a realdifference and I would like torecord my thanks to them as Icome to leave. I have left ideas for the further
development of their work.There will be permanent areasto display OL memorabiliacreated by the start of nextterm. A timeline of significantevents in the life of the Collegeis also in production to runaround the walls of the corridoroutside the Dining Room. I have also left plans for an
extensive OL room in the heartof the College which I hope intime to return to see completed. I feel I am leaving the College
at a very optimistic time and amconfident that the College itselfand the OL Society will havevery bright futures.
Reverend Mark Aitken
St Lawrence College isdelighted to announceAntony Spencer as the
new Principal of St LawrenceCollege. His appointment follows the
departure of Reverend MarkAitken who, after eight years atthe helm, and following anoutstanding ISI inspection,decided it was time for a newchallenge.Mr Spencer, 41, will join the
College in April 2013. He iscurrently Academic DeputyHead at Clifton College inBristol which, like St LawrenceCollege, is a co-educationalday and boarding school for 3-18 year olds with a healthy mixof UK and international pupils.Mr Spencer met his wife,
Suzanne (also a teacher), atOxford where he studiedPhilosophy, Politics andEconomics.However, unlike many of his
Oxford contemporaries, theworld of politics was not his goaland, having turned down anoffer at Sandhurst, he qualifiedas a Chartered Accountant atErnst and Young. He believes this business
background brings an addedinsight to the role of Principal.So why teaching? “The desire
for teaching was always there”,he said, “reinforced after a spellof voluntary teaching at myformer boys’ grammar school inDerbyshire.” As well as teaching
Economics and BusinessStudies, Mr Spencer is also akeen hockey player, coach andumpire. The couple’s four children;
Ben, 14, Kathryn, 13, Joseph,12 and Daniel, 8, will all bejoining St Lawrence. “Our first impressions of the
school are very positive – it hasgreat facilities and a uniqueethos with a close community,”he said.Mr Spencer says that he is
looking forward to thechallenge of leading a verygood school and helping theschool to make an impact onthe local area. His focus for his first term will
be getting to know the schooland the pupils, with anemphasis on “listening”. “I’d agree wholeheartedly with
the Inspectors that St LawrenceCollege is an excellent school,but it also has enormous
potential for the future.” Mike Bolton, pictured below,
has been appointed as ActingPrincipal until Mr Spencer’sarrival in April.Previously an Acting Head at
Sevenoaks School, Mr Boltonhas an MBE for services toeducation.“It’s a privilege
to stand in atsuch an excitingtime for theschool,” he said. And what will
his focus be forthis term? “To work with
staff to ensureeverything is inplace for thenew Principal.”
Above, new Principal,Antony Spencer and family; below aActing Principal Mike Bolton
It’s an exciting time to study at St Lawrence College. Our results and facilities are first class.
Why not take advantage of the 10% boarding discount availableto children and grandchildren of Old Lawrentians?
Reverend Mark Aitken withthe Bishop of London at hisinstallation service as Masterof the Royal Foundation of StKatherine
76
My wife Olive and Ihave been togetherfor forty years and
throughout that time at thetop of our ‘bucket list’ hadbeen a trip along the ‘SilkRoute’, closely followed byThe Orient Express. To celebrate the four
decades we jumped at theopportunity to visit thoseplaces echoing with thesmells and images ofcamels and caravans,mosques and Madrassas. Joining a German group
of forty in Frankfurt withthirty four Norwegians andsix English speaking (twoDanes, two Dutch, andourselves), we flew toTurkmenistan and joined aprivate train toKazakhstan with stops atBukhara, Samarkand andTashkent in Uzbekistan.Here the former leader
had had built, in mainlymarble facing, magnificentbuildings and some largemonuments andstructures with himself ingold on top. A crater of about 150
yards in diameter, setalight in 1966, was stillburning vigorously andwas one of our firstbreathtaking sights. The land of Tamerlane,
Ghenghis Khan, Alexanderthe Great was starkagainst the backdrop ofdesert.
Miles and miles of sandwith tufts of scrub madeone appreciate thevastness. Kazakhstan isthe 4th largest land masscountry in the world with oiland gas amongst otherresources barely exploited.Due to the ravages of
conquerors, weather andtime, most historical siteswere either buried in thesand or decayed, but whatwe saw was largelyrecently reconstructed,madrassas, mosques andmausoleums now lookingclean and smart. Those great names of
the past like Alexander theGreat were in factruthless. Exercising power and
fear. Were they reallyGreat? How about Stalin,Hitler, Pol Pot etc in ourrecent century? Seven hundred years
ago with no phones,internet, and aircraft, butcamels and distance tocontend with, apreemptive strike wouldensure the initiative wasmaintained, and by killingall and destroyingeverything, a surprisecounter attack was notpossible. ur trip was a wonderful
reminder of the flesh andbricks that havecontributed to history.
John Isaac, Tower ‘55
THE CHAPLAIN’S THOUGHTS ONCE IN A LIFETIME
One of the many questionsthat Old Lawrentians askme is, ‘is it still the
same?’ They are of coursereferring to the ethos of theschool. My reply is always ‘yes’and I qualify this by hoping thatwhat I am experiencing now asChaplain is the same, or at leastsimilar to what they haveexperienced as pupils. When talking about the ethos
of an institution we refer to thefeel and moral atmosphere of aplace. This is hard to quantify inconcrete ways, however, thereare important factors that makeSt Lawrence College (SLC) aunique place to work, study andsimply experience.First and foremost the ethos of
SLC is shaped and sustained bythe Christian teaching that hasunderpinned it since itsbeginnings in 1879. Thesevalues have been taught froman evangelical perspective,rooted in scripture and prayerboth explicitly and implicitly. The College is part of the
Church of England, which as weknow has a tradition of being abroad church; therefore it isuseful to attempt to define whatthe evangelical tradition of SLCis within these parameters. The evangelical tradition
stands on four convictions.Firstly, revelation, that Godcommunicates via scripture withauthority shaping our faith andconduct. Its interpretation is verymuch dependent on theguidance of the Holy Spiritworking within a community. With this in mind, prayerful
consideration of scriptureinforms the essence of thecommunity, whilst listening tothe needs of the community; theresult creates an approach tothe gospel that brings the Wordalive amongst the people of theCollege. Secondly, creation, the
recognition that the world is
God’s and therefore ourobligation is to respect thenatural world because there is apurpose to the environment thatwe share over and above ourmaterial needs. Thirdly, incarnation, Christ
entered the world to be at onewith us; students are taught totake the trouble to see withother people’s eyes, to entertheir world, to be alongsidethem, to replace the ego withservice. Fourth, redemption, Christ
entered the world to reconcileus to God, students are giventhe opportunity to understandthis idea and embrace thegospel for themselves, they arealso encouraged to practiceforgiveness and reconciliationwithin the context of their ownrelationships. How does this work in
practice? Students come to SLCknowing that attendance inChapel is compulsory. Manystudents who come to theCollege are either of no faith, orthey are of another faith and findthis requirement daunting. Myjob as Chaplain is to present theGospel in a way that does notthreaten them as individuals;however, they should still bechallenged as individuals, bothon issues of morality and ethics.
The message that they hearcan be accessed at differentlevels, thus giving the studentthe opportunity to connect ‘theissue’ with the Christianmessage as and when they areready. The students tend to findthis approach informative and itis always reassuring to learnthat what they have heard inChapel is sometimes taken intothe classroom for further debateand discussion. Whilst students may have
different moral and ethicalvalues there is respect for thevalues that are given in Chapeland there is also respect for thevalues that are held by others,and this is where we arrive atthe core of the ethos at SLC. Despite our differences,
whether they are social, racial,or professional, we are onecommunity. As one communitywe recognise the function of theindividual and what that personmay stand for, however, for thetime we are at SLC we holdback from pursuing our ownneeds and we accept the valuesof the community as a whole. These values are mutual
respect and equality within theparameters of responsibility,politeness, and understanding.As I have already mentioned,these values are informed by aChristian framework. Whilst this may sound a
utopian situation, it does workand it enables the individual toput into play the bestcharacteristics of their ownpersonalities, religious beliefsand moral outlook. As you can see the ethos of St
Lawrence College is not entirelystraightforward. It is a close knitcommunity and it is by nomeans perfect. However, it is agreat place to work and studyand is passionately loved bythose who are (and were) part ofit.
Reverend Peter Russell
OL PRAYER FELLOWSHIP AUSTRALIAN REUNION
98
On Sunday November18th, 2012 we met inthe Highway Bar at the
Greengate Hotel, one ofAustralia’s oldest wateringholes on Sydney’s Northshore. This year we also donned
name badges revealing ourschool nicknames - well, thosesuitable for relatively politecompany, anyway!We had a fantastic turnout,
with around 25 OLs, friendsand family. It was wonderful tosee so many familiar facesand catch up with old friends,including Tony Gilbert, theHaywards, the Nightingalesand the Baillies.The Down Under Chapter has
been meeting for 19 years,with the inaugural reunionconsisting of Geoff Sexton,Paul Priday, Tony Gilbert andNoel Symonds. John and ValBarrow recounted the tale ofone of the early get togethers,which was held on a boat. Paul ‘Commander Dixon’ took
charge ensuring the vesselwas seaworthy, even if thecrew were not! We all missedPaul and Connie Dixon at thereunion, and were saddenedto hear of Paul’s passing inDecember - he and his largerthan life character will bemissed by all.
Frank Armstrong, left, andJohn “Dentman” Denton, right,were resplendent in their
College blazers,impressing allwith their sveltefigures.Ann “Brockers”
Brockbank,r e c e n t l yback froma trip toH o n g
Kong, impressed us allwith news of herrecent and ratherdaring abseil downSydney’s AMPbuilding for charity. Antony “Gos”
Bowesman wasable to drop in tocatch up witheveryone before zippinginto town to catch Coldplay ontheir Australian tour. Antony took part in the Oxfam
Trailwalker 2012. This is a verygruelling 100km charity walkwhich he and his team finishedin under 18 hours. The photo
shows Antony on the right stilllooking very fresh after the first33 kms!It was lovely to see Wayne
and Kit Chin again, and our“Fair Dinkum” section doubledthis year with the addition of asecond genuine Australian,
Kathryn “KP” Piper, whoattended with her
husband Mike.Completing the
Aussie pairing wasBelinda “Peg Doll”
Piper, accompaniedby her husband
Lachlan and theyoungest member of
the group, their sonMax.Apologies were
received from Julian andAngela Boulnois, Greg
Carson, Laura Pheils, aswell as Paul and Margot
Priday, who were organisingtheir daughter Polly’s wedding.All in all a truly good time was
had by all, and we’re alllooking forward to meetingagain in October or November2013. More details can be obtained
from Ann at [email protected] or Belinda at [email protected] laterin the year. All are welcome toattend.
It is humbling to read the news of so many OLswho value the Christian education theyreceived at St Lawrence College and are now
leading that Christian life and showing the loveof Christ in what they do.
Sometimes the seed takes awhile to germinate. One OL,Simon Dixon left, (Deacon‘81), wrote to me of theconversion he had at a BillyGraham crusade in 1989 that“made sense of all thosechapel service sermons”. Simon lives in Washington
DC and is the Director of Worship Music at theFalls Church (no mean task with a congregationof 4000+) and has recently been ‘on tour’ in theUK. Another OL, Phil Jolley (Lodge ‘65) wrote of the
“spirituality of the school (which is) staggeringlywith me always”. Phil still works in the EuropeanChristian Mission (ECM). Philand Martina’s newsletter -Jolleys’ Jottings - describes abusy life which I suspect barelyscratches the surface of thework they actually do!I was very pleased to hear
from John Warlow, right, (Tower
‘73). Now in Australia, he is a psychiatrist andhas developed a framework for understandingand helping people. I would recommend hiswebsite (www.christianwholeness.com). It isamazing to hear the use this aid is put to acrossthe world, but particularly in mainland China.Tabitha Webb (née Watling, Laing ‘98)
remembers the missions at the school, and Iwas pleased to hear her sing at the Albert Hall.It was wonderful to meet so many of you at the
Tower of London in December. Bernie Bell(Lodge ‘77) described the lives of the children ofmissionaries who spent much of the year awayfrom their parents (I remember him as my HouseCaptain!) and many others who were pupilsacross the generations. Your news and updates are invaluable. Your
prayers for the School, the Chaplain and thework of staff in supporting the current students,are incredibly important and I would suggest, aresponsibility for us all. It has also been aprivilege to pray for some of you going throughmore difficult times. If you have news let meknow; if you have need of prayer then do let meknow, but perhaps make it clear whether you arehappy for me to share that by email - when indoubt I do not!
Nick Lyons (Lodge ‘82), Editor, Prayer Fellowship
From left standing: Chris and Anne Baillie,Tim & Sylvia Nightingale, Noel Symonds,ValBarrow, John Barrow, Mike Le Pelley,Wayne & Kit Chin, Elizabeth Symonds,Tim Hayward,Geoff Sexton,Antony Bowesman, Frank and Sherrie Armstrong, Chris Hayward,AnnBrockbank,Tony Gilbert,Andy Anderson, John Denton. Seated: Kathryn Piper, Lachlan,Max, Belinda Piper
St Lawrence Collegeboasts five Olympians intotal - including two gold
and one silver medalist. The most familiar Olympian is
perhaps A.C.B. Bellerby, who in1908 performed below his best tofinish 16th in the Long Jump and20th in the High Jump. C.H. Williams, finished 11th in
the same long jump event. Heleft the College in 1906 and wentto Emmanuel, Cambridge beforebeing ordained.Williams never won the Open
Long Jump while at school buthe won the 100 yards in 1905and 1906. In 1906 he finished2nd in the Public SchoolsSports in both these events. He won his colours for 2nd XI
Hockey and was 4th in the GymCompetition in 1906. At Cambridge he won his full
Blue in the Long Jump in 1908.In 1914 he left England forNigeria as a missionary. Bellerby, the son of a Margate
music master, not only won theVictor Ludorum for his jumping,hurdles and shot in 1907 butalso his 1st Colours in Footballin 1906 and in Hockey in 1907. He was also in the Shooting
VIII for three years and wasawarded his 2nd XI CricketColours in 1907. At Cambridge he gained his
Athletics Blue, winning the HighJump against Oxford in foursuccessive years. He wasawarded his Blue for Hockey in1910 and 1911 and played inseveral International Trials. He returned to the College in
1911 as Games Master, laterbecoming Housemaster of theLight Red House. In 1917, hedeparted to serve as an ArmyChaplain but was invalidedhome. In 1919 he returned asChaplain and Games Master
and made a major contributionto St Lawrence Hockey in the1920s, coaching the 1st XI. He left in 1926 to become
Headmaster of King Edward’sSchool, Witley.The only OL (or Secobian) to
win a silver medal in 1908 wasC.F. Power, who played forIreland at Hockey. Power leftthe College in 1896, before theofficial start of Hockey in 1901. He entered the College in
1889 and represented the 1stXI Football when he was only14. By the time he was 16 hehad won Football and CricketColours and was in theGymnastics VIII. In 1896 hesecured the Challenge Cup inAthletics by winning the HighJump, 100 Yards and the ¼Mile. By July 1898 he hadcompleted a course in brewingand from 1902 started torepresent Yorkshire at Hockey.E.G.D. Wright was also a
football star. After winning hisFootball Blue for Cambridge inthree successive years (1904-06), he went on to play forEngland and captained HullCity for seven years. His Gold Medal came in the
1912 Olympics as part of theGreat Britain Football team atStockholm. After his Sciencedegree at Cambridge he won
the Marcheson medalfor Geology at Imperial Collegebefore embarking on a careerin mining in South Africa. Wright first played for the 1st
XI Cricket in 1899 when only 14and was awarded his 1st XIFootball Colours that year. Hewas a regular member of bothFootball and Cricket 1st XI forfour years and was part of thefirst Hockey XI in 1901 andcaptained the 1903 team. In1901 he won the GymnasticsCompetition and in 1903 inAthletics won the Hurdles, LongJump and Shot. H.K. Cassels won a Gold
medal for Hockey with theGreat Britain team in 1920. He was the son of the first
Bishop of West China, and wasSchool Captain in his final term.He played for the 1st XI Cricketbefore his 15th birthday. In1914 he won his 1st XI Coloursfor Cricket (topping the bowlingaverages) and in the next twoterms achieved the same inboth Football and Hockey. Following the move to Chester
in 1916 he captained theFootball team, which won all itsmatches. He flourished in hisfinal Cricket season achievinga batting average of 80.7. Cassels left Chester in April
1917 to join the Royal FlyingCorps: a year later he was aprisoner of war. Following hisrepatriation he returned to coachthe 1st XI Cricket for a term. At Cambridge (Queen’s) he
represented the University atFootball and then won his first(of two) Hockey Blue in 1920. Teaching took Cassels to
China and Australia. After theSecond World War he returnedto the UK as a Housemaster atMillfield.Andrew Brown, OL Archivist
OL OLYMPIANSDEACON HOUSE MEMORIES 1972-1983
1110
Deacon House only existed for 11 yearsand was a sort of graph of the number ofday boys in the College. In 1972 the
number of day boys had risen to the point wherethere were too many for Newlands to house. Atthe same time the number of day boys inCameron was growing. The decision wastherefore taken to create a new house, Deacon,to be named after John Deacon, President of theCouncil from 1895 to 1901 and a very generousbenefactor of theschool. Deacon would
take 2nd formersfrom Cameronand 3rd formers,who would havejoined Newlands.The boys wouldthen pass on toNewlands whenthey reached the4th form. Of course this
meant that Deacon House was not ‘normal’being neither junior nor senior. Its membersjoined Cameron or Newlands for inter-housecompetitions with a few exceptions; Deacon, inits own right, won the 1973 Day Cup for EmpireTest Shooting and in 1974 entered a play in theDrama Competition.Accommodation was ‘The Shack’, the wooden
building parallel to the Masters’ Lawn, previouslyoccupied by Newlands, who now moved into themain building. Gordon Lloyd was Housemaster, with Mike Gill
as his House Tutor, and in the first year therewere 30 boys in the house, 17 3rd formers and13 2nd formers. In addition, Newlands lent thehouse three senior boys to act as prefects. Over the next four years the numbers remained
in the 30s, but in 1975, as day boy numberscontinued to increase, there was no intake of2nd formers into Deacon. They now remained inCameron, while 9 boys who would in earlieryears have moved on to Newlands as 4thformers, remained in Deacon. The house wasslowly becoming normal. Mike Gill left the school and was replaced by
John Harper as House Tutor. For a short periodRobin Overton was also associated with thehouse. Two years later, in 1977 the house,although still with only 38 members, began toretain boys for the whole of their career. Whetherthey stayed in Deacon into the 5th and 6th formswas their choice, and those who did were not
numerous since the old building had very limitedstudy space suitable for senior boys. In 1978Deacon moved into the main building, on theground floor, with proper study accommodationfor its senior boys. In 1980 the number in thehouse was at the same level as all other houses. Sadly at that moment the number of day boys
began to decline. In 1981 there were only 11boys in Deacon and in 1983 the number of dayboys was such that, once again, a single house
was sufficient andDeacon came toan end.Over 11 years,
91 boys hadbegun their SLCcareer in Deaconbefore moving onto Newlands; 71had spent theirfull SLC career inDeacon and therewere 37 survivorsnow moving into
Newlands, a total of 199 (what a pity we couldnot reach the double century!).During its brief existence Deacon contributed
fully in every aspect of school life. Simon Perkinsheld the office of School Captain and StuartLloyd was deputy; we provided a captain ofhockey (Stuart Cook) and captain of cricket(Philip Hobcraft). We won our share of sportingtrophies, most often in minority activities,particularly shooting, sailing, golf, cross countryrunning and general knowledge. In major sportscricket was our best, with two wins at junior leveland a grand finale by winning the senior cricketthree days before we ceased to exist! Deacon was a happy and vibrant house. Who
can forget the Christmas parties, catered for bythe wives of the Housemaster and House Tutorand entertained wonderfully by the musiciansand comically by the Housemaster andprefects? Who can forget the smell of toast(probably half-burnt) emanating from the housekitchen in the old shack? What about the livelyactivity around the table tennis table or thesnooker table? There are many who felt that dayboys had the best of both worlds - a full life withall the social and sporting opportunities which aschool such as SLC can provide but being ableto sleep in their own beds at night. Deacon hadits own unique character; what a pity it came toso premature an end.
Gordon Lloyd, first, last and onlyHousemaster of Deacon
Deacon House 1972-1973 Bellerby, pictured in the frontrow in the centre, with hisDark Blue team-mates
This is a heavily edited version of Andrew Brown’s very informative piece.Please go to the OL Website - www.olsociety.com - for full story & pictures.
Dr Tom Gill, (Manor Grange ‘98), AssistantDirector of International Programs atPenn State College of Agricultural
Sciences, Pennsylvania, USA, has beenrecognised for his outstanding efforts at inspiringstudents to explore international agriculture.Tom received the 2012 Young Professional
Award from the Association for InternationalAgriculture and Rural Development. Theorganisation bestows the honour annually torecognise early career contributions toachieving its goals and objectives.Tom joined Penn State College three years ago
as a special assistant to help develop Africaprograms in the college’s Office of InternationalPrograms. Since then he has taught a variety ofundergraduate international agriculturaldevelopment courses and currently serves asthe coordinator for Penn State’s InternationalAgriculture undergraduate minor.“Dr. Gill’s strong record and reputation for
excellence is highlighted by his commitment tointernational agriculture and rural development,his personal integrity, his overall productivity andhis outstanding scholarship,” said MarkBrennan, Penn State associate professor ofcommunity and leadership development. Tom revised and currently teaches INTAG 100,
Introduction to International Agriculture, a corecourse for the International Agriculture minor.He also co-created and currently co-teaches
two new courses in international agriculture,including a senior seminar course with a travelcomponent to Washington, D.C., allowingstudents to meet with officials at the U.S.Agency for International Development, theWorld Bank and other groups engaged ininternational and rural development.Tom also created and launched the Ag2Africa
program, a College of Agricultural Sciencesinitiative to provide increased opportunities forfaculty, extension staff and students to engagewith partners in Africa.“Dr. Gill was also a key member of the team
that formulated a four-day workshop on globalfood security for Fulbright students from aroundthe world, which helped kick off the Year of FoodSecurity at Penn State,” explained DeannaBehring, Director of International Programs inthe College of Agricultural Sciences.“He is a great teacher who is highly dedicated
to his field and extremely knowledgeable aboutinternational agriculture. I expect him to have an
OL UPDATES OL UPDATES
1312
ERIC HOLDAWAY B.E.M.
DR THOMAS GILL
JOHN MURPHY
In the summer of 1968, the boys at SLC usedto head off to Manston Air Force Base (as itwas then) to watch the filming of the movie
‘The Battle of Britain’. The filming of the aerial‘dog fights’ were filmed over Ramsgate and SLC
incredible influence on current and futureinternational agriculture and development.”Before Penn State, Tom was completing a
doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Ecology fromthe University of Florida, during which time heworked with smallholder farmers in Kenya withthe Christian Reformed World Relief Committee.He received his master’s degree in Tropical
Agricultural Development from ReadingUniversity, and his bachelor’s degree inGeography from Emmanuel College, Universityof Cambridge.
Forty four years after leaving the College,Eric Holdaway (Courtenay ‘67) returned forthe 2011 Old Lawrentian dinner with fellow
Courtenay boy Billy Hollis. Since then he has been a very welcome face at
a number of OL events including the vintage cardisplay, entering two magnificent Swallows. Healso had the chance to play the chapel organ.June OL Day attendees were entertained in theChapel with some beautiful pieces, oftenaccompanied on the flute by wife Gill. Whilst a pupil at SLC, Eric (a talented musician
and organist even then), was charged withplaying the organ during chapel services. Eric recalls: “My contemporaries used to put in
odd ‘requests’ to see what I would come up with
before or after the service. John Sharples wasalways coming up with ideas, I remember. If theywere lyrical - like ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ it waseasy to dress it up as a Bach Chorale Prelude. Idid the same with ‘A Fistful Of Dollars’ afterseeing it in the cinema in Ramsgate the previousafternoon! I can also remember doing a couple of Bond
themes like ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Diamonds Are ForEver’, not forgetting the plethora of Beatlestunes like ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Sgt Pepper’ - plus allthe pieces I was supposed to practice for myorgan exams! Ironically, I still do that sort of thingnow! The SLC factor has never disappeared!”Most recently, Eric attended the Tower of
London dinner proudly wearing a new and muchdeserved honour - the British Empire Medal. Eric became a recipient of the ‘B.E.M’ in
recognition of his commitment and service to hislocal community. At one point, he was involvedwith no less than 23 charitable and voluntaryorganisations! He has organised the ‘gang show’ (national
guides and scouts community entertainment) forthe past 20 years, been involved with the settingup and running of the village fair trade coffeeshop, supporting local trade and raising moneyfor both local causes and Dabaso, Kenya(twinned with Eric’s town Weston).Eric was stunned by a surprise party his wife
and friends had organised in secret to celebratehis award. One hundred and thirty friends andcolleagues, who had become part of Eric’s lifeduring 40 years in the Hutton area, attended.
using a Catalina aircraft as a camera platform.The draw at Manston was the fighter aircraft
staged out of there. Imagine the excitement of allus boys taking a look at those aircraft at the time.We would bring a packed lunch from the schooland spend the afternoon. It was a wonderful timeand one of my fondest memories of SLC as in1969 I left the UK. I attended the University of Victoria in British
Columbia, Canada, followed by training tobecome a pilot and commercial pilot. How I cameinto the aviation industry was not only due to theBattle of Britain filming at Manston though, butactually through my father’s encouragement. He saw service in WW2 serving as a
Midshipman on a Royal Navy ship, HMS Nelson,in the Mediterranean Sea. Following the war hereturned to the Royal Canadian Navy andtrained to become a fighter pilot, based inHalifax, Nova Scotia, as well as flying off of theCanadian aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure. It was his flying experience that intrigued me - I
just didn’t want to join the armed services to do it! He went on to command several Canadian
warships, and to eventually become a Navaldiplomat, hence our enrolment at SLC. In 1976, I started a career with Transport
Canada as an Air Traffic Controller. Moving frompilot to Air Traffic Controller is actually a smallstep, however with a lot more training. My finalposition (before retiring after 36 years of service)was as a supervisor in Vancouver TerminalControl Unit, in Vancouver, employed by NavCanada, a private not-for-profit corporation. I still fly, but now for pleasure. Retiring in
January 2012, I wouldn’t exactly say that I’m afree man now though, as I am on duty 24/7 thesedays, as full-time dad. My two little girls(Elizabeth, nearly five and Claire, nearly three)are my bosses! I must say, it’s a lot harder workthan actually ‘working’, but far more rewarding. My brother, Brian Vincent Murphy, was also at
SLC, also leaving in 1969. He lives in Virginia,USA. He became an electrical engineer, finallyending up as a managing engineer for Nortel. My youngest brother, David, a senior officer in
the Royal Canadian Air Force, has also flown(heavy transport aircraft) for the last 30 years. I have made the trek back to SLC several times.
I walked the halls, dorms, dining hall and playingfields and it was very interesting seeing photos ofmy brother and I in the archives. I will returnagain soon so that my wife and girls can seewhere I spent a few of my teenage years.
John G Murphy, (Grange '66 - '69) [email protected]
EricwithLadyCass
OL TOWER OF LONDONOL UPDATES
TABITHA WEBB
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Tabitha Webb, née Watling, (Laing ‘98) hada busy 2012, singing inthe ‘Les Misérables’ film
(as one of the ‘ladies of thenight’), and appearing asChristine in a specialproduction of ‘Phantom ofthe Opera’ in Paris. She also performed (with a
six-month baby bump) atthe Royal Albert Hall. It wasn’t easy filming ‘Les
Mis’, dressed up as arather sordid-lookingprostitute (complete withsyphilitic ‘sores’ madefrom Rice Krispies!),while having to rush offset every so often withmorning sickness. However, shegot through the sickness and was rewarded witha beautiful baby boy, Elias in December, pleasesee page 18.Tabitha is now enjoying motherhood and taking
a well-earned rest from the West End.
5OTH ANNIVERSARY OF 583 CLUB
In 1999 the OL News included an article thatstarted: “At the suggestion of the members,Terence Moore (Tower 1958-63) has written to
let readers know about the existence of thisClub. It takes its name from the entries in the old‘School Lists’ which included a three-digit recordof the year and term of arrival at SLC andmembership comprises the intake into TowerHouse in the Michaelmas term of 1958. Exactly how the Club was formed is lost in the
mists of time but probably went back to illicitconversations in dormitories after ‘lights out’. As, no doubt, with many other years, the 583
Tower intake was a close-knit one and theconversation turned to keeping in touch onceeveryone had ventured into the big, wide world.What was perhaps unique was that they actuallydid something about it! Most of the membershave met annually since 1964 for a dinner (orlunch) in London. When OL Secretary Kerry Brown contacted
Terry Moore to enquire whether the Club wasstill in existence, he replied: “I am delighted toconfirm that the 583 Club is very much extant.Though I boldly stated in 1999 that the firstdinner took place in 1964, no-one is quite sure
whether it was 1963 (when the majority of us leftthe College) or the following year. However, onthe basis that it was 1964, our next meeting inNovember this year will be the 50th, probably aunique achievement in the annals of SLC.”In case any of our contemporaries can still
remember us, the members are: - Clive Bennett,Richard Broad, David Cheal, Jeremy Johnson,David Laing, Terry Moore, David Perfect, TimPrescott, Peter Ross, Max Sinclair and MikeWallis. David Cheal now lives in Northern Irelandbut has been very loyal in flying over for ourmeetings. Mike Wallis has lived for many yearsin Brazil but keeps in touch.We met for many years at the old Naval &
Military Club (the ‘In & Out’). More recently, wehave patronised various London restaurants. Last year, for the first time ever, we met for
lunch rather than dinner. This was necessitatedby Peter Ross starring (as a dog) in his golf clubpantomime! He narrowly avoided ‘black-balling’but the majority appeared actually to favourlunch and we are planning a repeat this year -probably (and inappropriately as none of ushave anything to do with agriculture!) at theFarmers’ Club in Whitehall.
An invitation to the Tower of London 500years ago would probably not have beenmet with the same degree of excitement
as when the invitation to 2012’s OL Dinnerdropped into my inbox.
Given that the event was a sell-out within a fewdays of the invitations going out, I was clearlynot alone in eagerly anticipating this occasion.Wrapped up against the chill of a December
evening, we approached the spectacularlyilluminated Tower and joined a queue of peoplemore smartly dressed than the average tourist.
Names checked off the list, we passed throughthe gate and joined a tour group just starting off. Our friendly Beefeater guide pointed out
various places of interest with many a bloodytale to tell about them. Then we came to the Crown Jewels building
with its massively thick steel doors, movingwalkway and more bling than any of us will seein a lifetime. The crowns with all their sparkling jewels were
fabulous, but myfavourite has to be thegolden punch bowl,which is about the samesize as the averagegarden pond, and itsladle, which wouldeasily dispense the dailygovernment guideline ofalcohol units in one go.We then made our way
to the White Towerwhere we had our phototaken in front of HenryVIII’s magnificent suit ofarmour with its veryimpressive codpiece! Upstairs provided a
champagne reception where the noise and heatlevels gradually increased, where hugs andkisses were exchanged and life stories swappedbetween sips of champagne. A group photo was taken before we all made
our way back downstairs and across thecourtyard to the New Armouries for dinner.Lord Dannatt welcomed us all and our guest
speaker, the Rt Revd Trevor Willmott, TheBishop of Dover, said grace before we sat downto a delicious meal, alongside which the wineflowed (certainly on our table it did)!A slideshow of school photos played on a loop
on large screens, providing entertainment and /or embarrassment. Speeches were made - NickMarchant’s bidding farewell as he steps down asPresident of the OL Society, and the Bishop’sextolling the virtues of friendship. An inscribed silver salver from the OL Society,
was presented to Revd. Mark Aitken,Headmaster at this, his last OL function beforeleaving SLC at Christmas. The school
song was sung– the wordswere helpfullyprinted on thereverse of theticket as a cribsheet for anywho might haveforgotten them!After that therewas the opportunity to witness the ancientCeremony of the Keys that has taken placeevery night for the last 700 years, before a lastnightcap back in the Dining Suite.And then, all too soon, the evening was over,
and burly Beefeaters were ushering us on ourway. More hugs and kisses as farewells weresaid with promises to meet again soon, before
we went our separate ways.Our thanks go to Lord
Dannatt for this fantasticvenue. It really was a most
memorable evening enjoyedby such a variety of OLsspanning 70 years indifference of age - fromJames Johnston aged 16(pictured left) to JohnCollins, aged 86!Alison Hope (now
Pailing) Bellerby ‘80
OL TOWER OF
1716
“A most enjoyable andinteresting evening -good company, goodfood, good location.Many thanks to Kerryfor her splendiferousefforts.” - Malcolm Iliff
LONDON DINNER
“What an amazingevening.Thanks somuch.” - Philip Cook
“Thank you so muchfor organising anoutstanding Dinner -every detail wasperfect.”
- Nicky Collier
“It was great to see youall, even if just briefly, amagnificent and splendiddo that is going to bedifficult to top.”
- Chris Dorling
“A fab evening! Manythanks, such a successfulevent. Cheers.”
- Spud Spalding
“We had a wonderful andtruly memorable evening.It was marvellous to havea private viewing of theCrown Jewels and to seethe Ceremony of theKeys at close range.”
- Chris and Delia Burley
“May I just take a briefmoment to say a
heartfelt thanks ... Itwas fascinating to takethe tour, and the meal
was excellent.Theceremony of the keysand the rather out oftune rendering of the
last post rounded off abrilliant evening.”
- Peter Davies
“Thanks for such awonderful evening It
was well worth comingall the way from
California for.”- Bernard Bell
“A wonderful evening,truly memorable.”
- Anne Sedgwick
Deborah (Dee) Koppang (Laing ‘97) andDermot O’Leary married on Friday, 14thSeptember 2012.
Deborah and Dermot met whilst both working inTelevision in London. After 10 years together inLondon, and a proposal in New York (whereDeborah was working) last November, theyfinally decided to tie the knot! The wedding took place in the very quaint and
picturesque village of Chiddingstone, Kent, at anintimate ceremony at St. Mary’s Church byRevd. Martin Beaumont and the O’Leary family’sCatholic Priest (who came out of retirement forthe day), Monsignor Arthur Barrow. The reception followed at Chiddingstone
Castle, which was a fantastic party - bringingtogether all their British, Irish and Norwegianfamilies.
OLs in attendance were Sasha Martell, WendyAdams, Emma Murhpy (née Cuthel), KristinaCrutchley and Sarah Grainger. Due to workcommitments, they managed a quick ‘mini-moon’ to Italy after the wedding, taking theirproper honeymoon over the new year, travellingto Bhutan and Cambodia.
FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTSFAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS
1918
Tabitha Webb (née Watling, Laing ‘98) andher husband Robbie are pleased toannounce the birth of Elias Lawrence
Webb on 2nd December 2012 (named in partafter the College).
James Perks (Newlands Deacon ‘04) and KeeleyHarrison, pictured left, chose the College Chapel fortheir special day on Saturday, 1st December 2012.
James had two best men (both OLs); Tom Perks andAndrew Hodges.James, now a manager for Miles and Barr Estate Agents
Thanet, met his bride locally. The wedding itself was sure to be perfect as Keeley
owns her owns u c c e s s f u lWedding Business‘Bridal Way’ here inRamsgate. A very short
reception was heldafter the service atthe groom’s familyhome, with thenewlyweds havingto quickly dash offto make their planefor a honeymoon inMontego Bay,Jamaica. A much larger
celebration partywas then held atThe Pegwell BayHotel in lateJanuary making foran extra special,lengthy weddingcelebration.
WEDDINGSBIRTHS
Joff Manning (Lodge ‘03) andEibhlín Morley were marriedon 24th November 2012 in St
Muredach’s Cathedral, Ballina,Co Mayo, Ireland. The reception was at Belleek
Castle, Ballina. Adam Greves (Manor, ‘03) was
the best man with other fellowOLs in attendance.Dr Trevor Clarke’s daughters, Ruth Harrington (J.S. and Laing 1990 - 2004) and
Sarah Scrivens (J.S. and Laing 1991 - 2005) both became mums in 2012. Ruth ispictured with daughter, Abigail and Sarah with her twins girls, Miriam and Cerys.
FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTSFAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS
2120
Paul Dixon, 27.01.1923 - 22.12.2012Junior School 1933 & Newlands 1938)
Paul, who passed away in his 90th year,was born in Broadstairs and started at theJunior school in 1933, moving on to the
College as a day boy in Newlands House. On leaving the College in 1938 he joined The
Union Castle Shipping Co in London. At theoutbreak of the 2nd World War Paul tried toenlist in the Royal Navy but was rejected onmedical grounds having contracted polio as ayoung child. However, this did not deter him andhe passed his medical for the R.A.F. at theheight of the Battle of Britain. Paul recountedthat he was simply asked to stand on one leg -and so stood on his good leg! He trained in Canada and obtained his pilot’s
wings for Catalina flying boats. On returning tothe U.K. he was posted to Coastal Command,which subsequently led him into the Fleet AirArm flying attack fighters.Paul married Jean Hall in 1943 and they had
two children, Simon & Sara. (Sara pre-deceasedhim in the mid ‘80s).At the end of the war Paul was transferred from
flying to ground staff and flight training duties.In 1956 Paul and the family moved to HMAS
Albatross (Naval Air Station) in Nowra, Australiaon an exchange posting. In 1959 the familyreturned to the U.K. and Paul’s Naval servicecontinued until 1966 when he retired with theprestigious rank of Commander. He and Jean then emigrated to Australia where
he joined the Royal Australian Navy on a five-year short service Commission. Finally retiringafter 30 years of military service, he settled inSydney’s eastern suburbs where he and Jeanwere involved in the real estate industry.In 1982 Paul and Jean moved to their five-acre
retirement home on the shores of Wallis Lake atCoomba (near Foster). Following a battle withcancer, Jean passed away in May 1998. With the establishment of the OL Australian
N.S.W chapter, Paul made contact and made aconcerted effort to travel to the luncheons. In 2001 Paul married Connie Vinning, a long
standing family friend and they spent theremaining 12 years together amongst their circleof friends and with Simon.The Australian NSW OL’s
Chapter express sympathy toConnie and Simon along withother close family members.The OL gatherings werealways enlivened when Paulpresented his latest, often racyanecdote. His ‘tall tales’ werealways delivered with himwearing his very short collegetie which he always wore at theannual reunion. Paul’s friendship and humour was appreciated
greatly by all who knew him and he will be sadlymissed, but not forgotten.
Brian Wilkin Gale, 13.01.1939 - 27.09.2012, (Manor 1952 - 1957)
Brian was a keen shot atschool and continuedas a regular member of
the OL Rifle Club. He couldbe relied upon to producegood scores and he took agreat interest in making newand existing members of theclub feel welcome. He had a real interest in
hearing of people’s experiences as well asrecounting his own. We remember him for somuch - not least for his dry sense of humour andquirky observations. Being an accountant, ateach OL AGM, he never failed to make someappropriate observations about club finances! Brian was born in Esher, Surrey, in January
1939 and has two younger sisters, Janice andAnnabel. The family home had moved to EastGrinstead and it was there after leaving school,that Brian joined Richard Plaice, an Accountancyfirm, to undertake his ‘Articles’.In 1962 he met Frances, marrying her in 1966.
They had two daughters Lucy and Rebecca andfour grandchildren: Laurie, Jasmine, Finn, andRuby to whom Brian is remembered with speciallove and affinity as a ‘Peter Pan’ grandfather,being really a boy himself, he loved anychallenge and adventure.In 1967, they moved to the West Country and
Brian joined John Heathcoat, a textile company,as their company secretary. This company wastaken over by Coates Patton and Brian wastransferred to their Head Office in Bristol in 1971. Brian and Frances moved to Nailsworth in 1973
and then to Kings Stanley, their present home, in1979. Brian next joined a firm of family bakers inAvonmouth as their Company Secretary/Accountant and then moved to Danfoss in 1986. He retired from Danfoss in 1999 and looked
after a number of private clients, tax returns andvarious honorary jobs for local charities. As well as shooting with the OLRC, Brian was a
keen golfer, fisherman and swimmer. He lovedhis family and friends, as proved by the numberspacking St George's Church Kingstanley, tostanding room only, for his Funeral andThanksgiving in October 2012. There will always be a smile and a story when
recalling Brian Gale. A remarkable man, sorelymissed but fondly remembered.
Robert Fromow and Vernon Moffett
Kristina Crutchley (Laing ‘94)married Scott Appleford inthe college chapel on 20th
October 2012. The reception was held at thePavillion in Broadstairs with ahoneymoon in the DomincanRepublic. “Everyone commented on how
the College Chaplain, Revd. PeterRussell thoroughly engagedeveryone and how friendly andinformal the service was. Hugethanks must go to Tricia Maughanthe College’s wedding organiserwho was the greatest help,” saidKristina.
Photography: Mark Proctor
WEDDINGS
Geoffrey Philpott03.98.1938-14.06.2012(Newlands 1946-1956)
Geoffrey Philpott,beloved father ofJoanne, Caroline,
Geoffrey and Annabelle,friend of many, andcommitted supporter of StLawrence College, passedaway unexpectedly onThursday, 14 June 2012.Geoff attended St Lawrence College in both
Junior and Senior schools from 1946 to 1956(Newlands). To have known Geoffrey Philpott was to have
known a man humble in himself butoverwhelming in generosity and friendship toothers.
John Arnott Johnson 21.3.1947- 14.06.2012 (Junior School andTower 1955- 1964)
John Arnott Johnson,Kent Fruit Farmer andpassionate keeper of
Clydesdale horses, sadlypassed away 14th June2012. Our sympathy goes to
wife Maggee and childrenGeorgina and Thomas andfamilies.
OBITUARIES
OL DAY MARCH 2012FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS
2322
Dr Michael G Rolfe 12.08.1923-22.05.2012(Tower 1937 - 1942)
Widow Rosemary and son Philip are sadto announce that Michael passed awaylast May.
John Norman Vernon, 04.10.1958 - 07.07.2012 (Lodge 1968 - 1976)
For those of us who studied with JohnVernon, he was infuriatingly clever. It didn’tmatter what the subject was, he was the
star pupil. On Speech Day, we clapped and Johnwent up to get the prizes.
John didn’t just shine inthe classroom. Hedirected his house play;edited the school andpoetry magazine, spokein debates, got involvedin community service,was the senior librarian,head of his house(Lodge), and then headboy. After St Lawrence,
John won an Exhibition
He simply brought people together from a widerange of background and interests and by hisown example showed them, showed us, how tofind common ground in the solace of others. Be it at the cricket ground, the rugby ground, at
St Andrew's church in Reading Street, Geoffrey'stable was always open and welcoming of othersyet he never sought the head of the table, theplace of honour, but preferred the lower place ofservice. But as we all knew, behind such generosity was
a deep pride in family and an equally deepconviction that without faith in Jesus Christ hewas, as St Paul writes “a sounding gong or aclanging symbol”. But as in all things Geoffrey’sfaith was quiet and unassuming.While Geoffrey’s death robbed the OLs of afitting President, what he believed in, what hestood for, the way he treated others before heconsidered himself are surely all marks of whatwe hope will be found in everyone privileged tobecome members of the College community.May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
Rt Revd Bishop Trevor, Bishop of Dover, atCanterbury.
Scholarship to St Edmund Hall, Oxford to readEnglish Literature. John could have chosen anycareer and nearly signed on to go to Law Schoolthen applied to teach English in Japan. Law school could easily wait a few years, but
this chance to immerse himself in an exoticcountry in the Far East would not come again.He took it and had a great time. He becamefluent in the language - and fell in love withAtsuko Takashima, whom he married. When the English teaching came to an end,
John’s next move came as a surprise to some -an international banker. Maybe his ease withwords had hidden to his friends his brilliance atmathematics. John worked for internationalbanks - both in the UK and Japan (where heoperated in Japanese) before moving into thefield of teaching bankers. John’s company, ‘Renaissance Training’ was
very successful. John could have easily been apublished writer on history or literature -however the book he did write was ‘TheFundamentals Of Banking’. At St Lawrence and throughout his life John
was a voracious reader. Looking back at histeenage years he wrote, ‘Books and theknowledge that gushed from them were mypassion.’ He was usually reading about six titlesat the same time, and these were not lightnovels. But though he was certainly bookish andintellectual, John was also very sociable, alwaysready to go to the pub, usually The EllingtonArms at SLC, or a party. And he enthused overthe simple gifts of life: the English spring; hisstray tortoise; long walks in the country-side withhis brother; visits to cathedrals; Bach and Elgar;proper beer (it had to come from the barrel) andabove all he was devoted to family and friends. During his sickness John’s friends and family
came to appreciate his character even more.Though he most certainly suffered, there was nowallowing in self pity, but stoicism, good humour,and a factual account of the situation. One tweetsaid: ‘The diagnosis is Acute Myeloid Leukaemia,the treatment is heavy Chemotherapy.’There was standing room only at John’s
funeral. His daughter, Erica, spoke with greatpoignancy; his father, Peter with great dignity.Fittingly Peter ended his eulogy for his son witha line from Hamlet, a play John first came to lovesitting in Mr Binfield’s VI form set at St Lawrence.‘Good night sweet prince and flights of angelssing thee to thy rest.’
Tom Hawksley
Great sunshine, great fun and a great turnout- including a girl’s netball team which hadbeen sadly missed for a few years!
Old favourite mad scientist AND Deputy Head, DrGill, started the festivities welcoming a good andjolly crowd of OLs back to the school with a drinksreception in the Entrance Hall. Lunch followed, then tours to the Tower (and other
places). A fine group of shooters celebrating their50th Anniversary, competed against the school(more on page 25) as did our OL hockey players,squash players and netballers. All played with tremendous spirit and fortitude,
and the large amount of spectators were certainlynot left wanting for a good afternoon's viewing. Afantastic curry supper had been prepared foreveryone but with the weather being more like July;the bar won out for most favoured haunt! The AGM was short and sweet, ending with a
touching presentation to our outgoing PresidentNick Marchant. He had been trying to step down forsome time - but having done such a brilliant job allthese years, we just wouldn't let him!
The Archives are missing the odd edition of ‘The Lawrentian’ and ‘The OldLawrentian’. If anyone wishes to donate a copy, please do get in touch.
OL RIFLE CLUBOL DAY - MARCH 2012
2524
An enthusiastic OL side met at the squashcourts in the Sports Centre for the first timeof what will hopefully once again become
a regular fixture. The team, composed of Anthony Leal, Ben
Mills, Freddie Smith, Jack Stanton, and RodneyWilkening, came up against an enthusiastic, fitand young College side, losing 4 games to 6.There were 10 individual matches in total and
the first round started off fairly evenly with theexperience of Anthony Leal having the upper
hand over his novice opponent and RodneyWilkening beating the College captain. The second round proved decisive, however,
and College fitnesswon through, althougha strong performanceby Jack Stanton sawhim beat a goodCollege player.A well-earned curry
in the library ended atiring but enjoyableafternoon!Rodney Wilkening
Astrong OL side made this year'sfixture a very competitive andexciting game with a large crowd
clearly enjoying the match. The College were more dominant in the
second half but the OLs did not give upas both sides scored in a very tightgame. Alejandro Arraz of the collegeteam finally broke the tie, scoring his15th goal of the season and ensuring a 4-3 win for the college.
We were delighted towelcome back OLNetball to the March
Day events after an absence ofthree years. SLC stepped onto the court withtrepidation having previously seen the OLs playto a good standard when they were younger. It was a good start for SLC who managed to
creep into the lead from the first quarter. BeckyPeskett and Bethany Mayes were shooting welltogether and playing to the OL’s weaknesses,which happened to mainly only be their fitness!Emma-Jayne Standeven, Lauren Shipley andAnna McIntosh played a brilliant game and ClairMarchant surprised herself with her agility andspeed on the court, having had two babies in twoyears. The OLs lost 10-4. Of course I am always
pleased to see a win for SLC but it was just asrewarding watching the OLs again on the court.I hope they all keep their promise and come backfor a rematch at the end of next year’s season.Sarah Glynn Brooks (Head of Academic PE)
OL HOCKEY
OL SQUASH
In 2012 the Club celebrated50 years of shooting - anamazing achievement. It was
the late Colonel ‘Tommy’Thompson who started theClub in 1962.On March 24th 2012, 10 OL
shooters, pictured, travelled toRamsgate to take on theCollege team in the .22 rangefor the CS Gale Cup. Under thewatchful eye of Range OfficerNigel Cavaglieri we took up ourpositions, four at a time, in theindoor range. Once again theOLs beat the College, this timewith 507 as against their 436. At the end of March the start
of the fullbore season saw us atBisley, where we scored 393against the Old Albanians’score of 343. In April we foundourselves up against sternercompetition in The 'Q' Match,shot at 500 and 600 yards. Wecame a disappointing 5th. Laterin the month, our ‘A’ team came2nd at the Long Range match,at 900 and 1000 yards.At the end of May we held a
special day to mark our 50thAnniversary. It was hot andsunny, and this augured well foran enjoyable competition,shooting at 600 yards’ range. Tim Wagland, acting as
‘Anniversary Secretary’, hadlocated ‘lapsed’ shooters andhad cajoled Aidan Stowe, LouisStephens, Keith Elliott, YusefAli, Andrea Marzari, AndrewWatson and Mike Skull to put inan appearance! Combined withthe regular members, this gaveus 17 OLs on the firing point. As the majority of our guests
had not shot for a number ofyears, it was decided individualscores would be based on the‘predicted score’ method,giving everyone a chance. Sureenough, the system workedwell and guest Andrew Watsoncame first, scoring 46 (out of50), this being closest to thescore he had predicted.
Later, in the clubhouse, Hon.Sec. Mike Davison talked aboutthe Club’s history and presentedAndrew with a tankard tocommemorate his win.Six teams took part in June’s
All-Day Match, shot at 300,600, 900 and 1000 yards. Theweather was very blustery inthe morning and consequentlyscores were lower than usualand we came 4th with 531. In July we put up a team of 5
for the Public School Veterans,‘the Vets’, and took 31st placeout of 100 teams. At the end of September the
season finished with the ClubChampionship, with Richard
Bird winning the two main cups. Afterwards the Club held its
50th AGM. Andi Parker-Smithwas appointed Captain startingin 2013. On a sad note, we were sorry
to hear of the death of twofellow shooters and friends.John Johnson and Brian Gale. On a brighter note, we are
pleased to report, as a result ofthe Anniversary celebrations,we have gained four newmembers which means thatmembership now stands at 16.
To join please contact: Mike Davison, Honorary
Secretary, at [email protected]
When OLRC members (andAnniversary secretary) TimWagland and Alistair
Mitchelhill were asked to create acommemorative journal celebratingthe Rifle Club’s 50-year history, itwas certainly not a job for the fainthearted! To everyone’s delight at the
Anniversary match, Tim and Alistairwere able to present a fascinating andcomprehensive bound volume, full ofinteresting articles, reports, andphotos spanning the full 50 years! A copy has kindly been promised to
the College and OL Society, and a special place hasbeen reserved for it in the (soon to be ready) OldLawrentian display cabinets. There may be anopportunity to buy your own copy (price on application).We also hope to upload a version to the OL website -www.olsociety.co.uk/societies-clubs/rifle-club/overview.
50th ANNIVERSARY COMPILATION
The OL team consisted of: Emma Jane Standeven (‘10), Clair Marchant (Brown)(‘98), LaurenShipley (‘11),Anna MacIntosh (‘10) Linda Harman(‘03),EJ's mum! The college squadconsisted of Abbie Scott (captain) Bethany Mayes, Robyn Underhill, Suista Gurung,Sushma Rai, Mazino Malaka, Becky Peskett and Toby Udofia.
OL NETBALL
OL DAY - JUNE 2012OL DAY - JUNE 2012
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On a windy day in June anOL tennis team featuringNiall Anderson, Dominic
Farrell, Adrian Gates, FelixJohnson, Rodney Wilkeningand special guest IanAnderson, paired up against astrong and unbeaten College1st VI squad.It soon became apparent that
it was going to be a difficultafternoon for the Old Boys.Experience and a few extra
pounds of “muscle” would notbe enough to outplay theyoungsters. Good play fromFelix and a high level ofenthusiasm and motivationfrom Dominic remained
unrewarded, however. The Andersons (father and
son) also put in a strongshowing but again fruitlessly. Luckily Wilkening and Gates
managed to save face, winningall three of their sets to the
frustration of the boys whoalways try their best to beattheir coach!A good afternoon’s tennis was
enjoyed by all with the OLslosing by 3 sets to six.
Rodney Wilkening
An enjoyable afternoon of cricket tookplace during the annual OLs v theCollege 1st XI match.
With a bumper crowd looking on, TimCollins, the school’s captain won the tossand the OLs were duly inserted. In their 20overs, the OLs were able to muster acompetitive total, thanks largely to RobbieNewbery, who made 42. Contributions fromAlex Underhill, K.B. Asiedu, Nick Marchantand Will Bowra saw them to 113 for 8. In reply the College lost an early wicket,
when Alex Cape was leg before to DannyWhittle for 6. However an assured 40 fromTim Collins steadied the ship. The result was still slightly uncertain,
when he was bowled by Will Bowra withthe score on 80 in the 15th over, but a fewblows from Dom Holl meant that theCollege was able to secure victory by 8wickets with 2 balls to spare.
OL TENNIS
Thanks to the following OLs who played:Alex Underhill, S Herwin, K.B.Asiedu, CharlieCollins, Robbie Newbery, Nick Marchant, Danny Whittle, Will Bowra and KieranThompson.
OL CRICKET
June OL Days just get betterand better … Saturday 16thJune 2012 began with a
wonderfully generous group ofOLs attending a ‘late breakfast’function in the Library, talkingabout, and demonstrating, variedcareers, jobs, and study coursesto Upper School pupils. Pupils and OLs enjoyed the
informal event. It proved a greatopportunity for the pupils to bothlearn more about what life has tooffer after SLC; converse withunknown adults and networkwith OLs, as they will soon be.The OLs also enjoyed the
experience. Links were forgedbetween professionals in‘complimenting’ areas. Thisevent proved an extremely good‘first go’, and this year (June 8th,2013) the two-hour morningevent is happening again - withmore of the school attending;more of you already signed up -and more of you wanted -please! As the above event finished,
some spectacular cars and bikeswere just pulling up aroundPrefect’s lawn be admired in theJune sunshine. Pupils, OL and Junior school
families, were able to enjoy boththe Traditional School Fete(including special tours for OLsof the JS) and the vehicle displayfor the late morning and earlyafternoon.A lovely welcome reception and
lunch was provided for the OLs.Cricket, tennis, and a number of
tours through the nearly finishedtheatre and new Bellerby House(old Taylor Hall) filled theafternoon. Some of the vintagecars even risked the old track upto Newlands to make sure theydidn’t miss all the cricket! In addition to all the above we
were extremely lucky to havesome talented musicians play forus in the chapel. The organ, fluteand even bagpipes took theirturn in a wonderful few hours ofdelightful music - thank you toOL Eric Holdaway and family!During the evening, the
Headmaster Revd. Mark Aitkenkindly hosted a superb BBQsupper for all OLs and the seniorschool teams on the sunkenlawn. A great ending to a really funday - there was even someimpromptu entertainmentprovided by certain OLs who willremain nameless!
JOIN US AT OL DAY - 8TH JUNE 2013
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OL DAY - SEPTEMBER 2012
After many years of OL rugby beingmissing from the calendar, SLC Directorof Sport, Adam Izzard, arranged a match
against local club side Thanet Wanderers. The youth of the OLs was evident, as was the
experience and larger physicality of theWanderers. The OLs began as the much brighter side and
tried to play a much quicker brand of rugby, isfamiliar to the current school. Thanet Wanderers had other ideas though
and were happy to keep the game tight in the
forwards allowing thebig boys up front to tryand dominate the game. OL captain Alfredo
Furmanek opened thescoring after somesuperb free flowing rugby allowed the OLsspace. Thanet Wanderers were not going to liedown though and they stormed back into thegame. The exchange of possession continuedthroughout with the tight game, beginning totake its toll on the lighter weight OLs. Thankfully, the more exciting brand of rugby
shone through and the newly formed OL rugbyteam held firm to win 28-12.
Back row from left: Alice Neden, Mosophe Laniyan, Abbie Scott,Aradoyin, Lucy Buckingham,Arina Rai, Elspeth Neden, Laura Shipley,Holly LeBaigue, Jasmin Callaway, Kitty McConnell, Rachel Cunard, EJStandeven, Bethany Mayes and Lowri Jones. Front row, from left:Melanie Tan, Mary Chukwu, Sina Dietzsch, Smriti Rai, SaleenaGurung, Sarita Gurung, Sushma Rai, Emily Mills, Natasha Jamiesonand Suista Gurung.
The annual OL Girls Hockey match was amuch tougher test for the College this year.All the girls had played for the 1st XI whilst
they had been at the College. The fact that Lowri was playing regularly at
Southgate ensured that the OLs were wellorganised being able to defend and rely on thecounterattack. The College worked hard but theOLs controlled the game for long periods. Jasmine, Laura, Kitty and Holly worked
tirelessly and with the support of Lowri they
proved to be too strong. EJ and Rachel triedhard in front of goal. Alice and Elspeth are bothgoalkeepers but played half a game each. The College helped by giving a couple of
players from the 1st team squad. This enabledthe OLs to have some fresh legs as they tired.Three goals (two from Lowri) were enough tosecure a narrow win.
OL HOCKEY
This June’s OL Day will, once again, be fun-filled - and there really is something tointerest everyone.
We would be extremely delighted to hear fromyou if you (or someone close to you) has avehicle you think should be displayed at the oldschool; if you would like to play in the chapel; orif you would like to be part of the cricket or tennisteams that day.We also hope to hear from as many of you as
possible to book in for the career morning. Remember - no formal presentations, just an
opportunity for you to encourage future OLs andtalk about what you love doing/have done (tofellow OLs too, of course). Call Kerry on 01843 572932 for more details.The OL Society and the College love to see
OLs back at the school having a great timemeeting up with friends, reminiscing, showingyour family where you used to come, and takingpart in a very large party. We really hope to see you all … and to ensure
we organise enough of everything ... please,please, book in! OL RUGBY
Rugby players in the new Old Lawrentians’ kit
Just in Time is a retrospective collection ofpoetry, ‘autobiographical [and] covering aperiod of seventy years’, as detailed in the
author’s introductionAddressing what Binfield terms ‘the
mercurial nature of memory’, thepoems explore various events, placesand people which have featured in aclearly eventful life, beginning with theauthor’s recollections of life as anevacuee during World War II, andmoving into meditations on schooland visits to family members (‘SundayVisit; Father’s Parents, Eton Wick,1941’). Later sections treat Binfield’s
national service and also his time asHeadmaster of Saint Lawrence College, a posthe held for thirteen years.Just in Time is, ultimately, an exploration of one
man’s memories and, in that sense, a poeticmemoir. Blending vers libre and rhymed verse, the
collection is a fitting monument to a life of publicservice, pedagogy and passionate devotion tothe arts, lived against an ever-changingbackdrop of war, personal tragedy but also levity- glimpsed in the Audenesque sing-song of‘Oxford Coffee Morning, Staged in Free Rhyme
and Adaptable Time Mosso and Mezza Voce’with its evocation of the Oxford RP of a now lostworld: ‘you’ve an essay to complete/on Paradise
Lost?’ Relax. It’s intellectual décor. Like Gore Vidal
in Palimpsest, the first volume of hismemoirs, Binfield seems to be insearch of a past which isirredeemable: to be recalled but neverrelived. ‘I go back and forth betweenthe present (now already past) topeople and places that I knew longago, duly noting along the way anumber of familiar faces, some morereal than others’ Vidal writes, andBinfield does much the same.‘Tempus fugit’, Just in Time seems to
remind us: and hence, carpe diem. Many Old Lawrentians will know and remember
John Binfield very well. Teaching English at SLCfrom 1961, he later became Housemaster ofLodge in 1969, and appointed Headmaster in1983, retiring in 1996. Best known and loved forbeing the inspiration to many a buddingthespian, John Binfield directed the mostspectacular plays at St Lawrence Collegethroughout his 35 years at the college. Now‘semi’ retired, John is still living in Broadstairs.
Christian Taylor, Head of English
OL GOLF BOOK REVIEWS
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This book sets out to challenge oneof the most dangerous fallacies inthe popular thinking of today’s
world - that there is a basic antagonismbetween Islam and Christianity. Taking as its starting point -the key
texts of the scriptures of the two faiths -together with those of Judaism, whichformed a common ancestor of both (i.e.the words of the Old and NewTestaments and the Holy Qur'an), thisbook identifies a Divine Plan at work forthe operation of the world, and for its healingwhere it has failed to follow that divine purpose.This study focuses on the complementary
nature of the truths progressively entrusted tothe founders of the three Abrahamic Faiths. It suggests ways in which together they can
form a united force today, capable of both
repelling the forces of militantmaterialism and religiousfundamentalism, and replacing thepresent disastrous effects of unbridledself-interest with practical steps tobring peace and plenty to a dividedworld.“It is a real achievement and I’m
delighted to see it completed. It’scertainly a timely work and I hope ithas a wide readership,” said the RtReverend. Rowan Williams - former
Archbishop of Canterbury.Basil’s book is available to buy at £6 per copy
(includes UK postage and packing). Pleasesend/make payable cheques to Mrs RWoodward, 151 Porlock Avenue, Stafford, ST170XY. Email [email protected], or call(01785) 665883 for more information.
Iwould like to open my reportby extending an invitation toall OLs to join our society.
You do not have to be a good,or even regular golfer, to takepart. We have golfers of allabilities who enjoy the ‘AprèsGolf’ as much as the playing.We opened the 2012 season,
as ever with Captain’s Day,held at the London Club. It wasopened up to guests and thewinners in our pair’s formatwere OL Paul Bailey and hisguest David Knox. The Spring meeting was once
again at Littlestone and ourCaptain Neil Cossey won thesingles with David Steedsecond and Paul Bailey third.At the Grafton Morrish
Qualifiers, held at Knole Park,we narrowly missed out onqualification for the finals butour team of Stephen Billings,Charles Crawford, Paul Bailey,Nick Taylor, Nell Cossey andTim Dodd came very close. The Triangular match against
Kings Canterbury and DoverCollege was won by Dover in aclose contest.Our summer meeting at North
Foreland is one I would urgeEast Kent OLs to attend; it isalways a fun day with 18 holes
on the main course followed bylunch and then a stroll round theexcellent par 3 course. We always invite guests to this
meeting and the winner of theguest competition was SimonFleet. The winner of the OLsingles was Bob Gray with NeilCossey in Second place.Always a high point of the year
is Walton Heath and the matchagainst Old Paulines. Despitelosing the match, a very rareoccurrence, a good time washad by all and we wereentertained by Bob and HarrietGray at their home. Redlibbetts was a small group
but non the less enjoyable withBob Gray coming out on top.The year ended with our
Autumn meeting at Knole Park
followed by the AGM. Thesingles competition was won byPaul Bailey, who also won theSpring and Autumn combinedprize of the Katrina Salver.Stephen 'Sammy' Samuels
stepped down as President ofthe Society after seven years atthis year’s AGM. He wassucceeded by Bob Gray, whowas unanimously elected. The Society would like to
thank Sammy for his service tothe Society, not just in hiscapacity as President but forhis huge contribution over thelast 54 years from the very firstmeeting of the Society to date.
Timothy Dodd, Honorary Secretary OLGS,
[email protected] 961266
In a closely contested game,on January 31st, 2013, itwas Barden’s team which
opened the scoring. Tim Smithplaying opposite his son Jakemanaged to find some space inthe circle to deflect a cross fromChris Laslett into the goal. St Lawrence responded well,
committing players forward andplaying with pace and skill itwasn’t long before theydeservedly levelled the score. The visitors brought on
Richard Laslett (OL) to try andprovide more weight to their
attack. However it was ChrisLaslett who finished crisplyfrom the top of the circle havingwon the ball in midfield. The second half was
dominated by the school side,who continued to play in theirfast, attacking style of hockey. Eventually the home side was
rewarded with a goal from aflowing attack which was wellfinished to level the scores at 2-2. Steve Laslett returned to
midfield having gone off to tendan elbow injury, and hisinfluence enabled Barden’steam to counter attack well, asboth teams looked for thewinning goal. With less than aminute to go veteran JimmyLaslett with a thunderous crossfound Tim Smith at the far postto coolly slot home the winner. St Lawrence though will take
much from this game knowingthat for large parts of thiscontest they were the betterside, and were unlucky to lose.
James Barden
SLC V JAMES BARDEN’S XI
HOCKEY
A record turnout of 40 OL golfers enjoyed playing in the 50th anniversary match against Old Paulines
ABRAHAM, A BRIDGE SO NEAR - BY REVEREND BASIL W. HAZLEDINE (GRANGE 1932-38)
JUST IN TIME - A COLLECTION OF POEMS - BY JOHN BINFIELD (HEADMASTER OF SLC FROM 1983-1996)