THE OLDREDINGENSIAN

O c t o b e r 2 0 0 3

THE OLDREDINGENSIAN

THE PRESIDENT’S LETTERTHE PRESIDENT’S LETTER

We have had an extremely busy yearwhich has helped to raise theAssociation's profile, increase ourmembership, particularly amongyounger ORs, improve our financialsituation and, thus, help us to plan andorganise more events with the benefitof a wider membership involvement.But there is still a long way to go toensure survival, let alone theexpansion, of the OR community.

The high point of the year wasundoubtedly the inauguration of BigSchool. This was the culmination of anenormous triumph, which has broughtcongratulations and thanks from theSchool, Parents, Governors, Foundationand other friends of the School - evenboys. Many of you were there to sharethat triumph, but I would like also tocongratulate those of you who could notattend for the enormously generouscontribution which you made. The over£32,000 which we raised far exceededour target and expectations but we arestill short of the final cost of the project.If you have not yet contributed, but wouldlike to, please still feel free to do so. I amdetermined that we shall close theaccount within my Presidency year. TheParents' Association has already made agenerous contribution to help close thegap and we hope that other friends-of-the-school organisations quoted abovewill be equally magnanimous. If we areobliged to draw down on our reserves, itwould mean that generous OR donorswere effectively being asked to contributetwice, which would clearly be unfair.

We arranged for the inaugural ceremonyto coincide with the cricket matchbetween the School and the OR XI for theChris Kays Memorial Cup. We weredelighted that Mr. and Mrs. Kays werepresent to unveil the inaugural plaque inBig School - a further recognition of theenormous contribution Chris made tosport and charities in his regrettably shortlife.

All the annual OR events continuedsuccessfully this year and the Associationand I are again most grateful to those whocontinue to organise them. It will remaina black mark in my book that I failed toshow up for the West Sussex reunion as a

result of a foolish (but I hope excusable)mix-up of dates! We all grieved the sadloss of Ted Robson, who had done somuch to unite ORs in Australia, amongstthe seemingly accelerating list of ORswho have passed on.

We have also started on the initiatives fornew events with a wider appeal, which Iforeshadowed in my last letter to you. Weheld the first OR Question Time (à laRobin Day/Richard Dimbleby) in BigSchool and we are considering a 7-a-sideRugby tournament next September. YourCouncil has enthusiastically approvedopening the Annual Dinner (29thNovember, please note) to ladies.

We have established Operation Shepherd- a means of communicating thoroughyear representatives with the membersactual and potential - and are trying tomodernise and widen our networking.Avoiding the hazards of navel-gazing, weare also carrying out a detailed SWOTreview of our mission, aims andobjectives, strengths and weaknesses andsetting ourselves clear responsibilitiesand aims to help and increases ourmembership. We have also established amuch closer co-operation with otherfriends of the school organisations("fisorgs" I call them) to co-ordinate ourefforts, not least in fund-raising. We hopethat together we can make an even greatercontribution to helping the School and the

boys. We know we cannot create a RollsRoyce but we can at least do our levelbest to keep the old Morris Oxfordticking over.

Any ideas you may have to support andsupplement these efforts will bewelcome. We hope to see as many of youas possible at the AGM/Dinner on 29thNovember and of course at the annualRemembrance Day Service on 9thNovember.

I confess that, prior to taking over thePresidency, I had no idea how much theORs continued to achieve. Big Schoolwas a one-off, but every year assistance isgiven thorough the Enterprise Awards,scholarships and prizes to help boys toachieve much which they would nototherwise have the wherewithal toundertake. A small but dedicated groupwithin the Council individuallycontributes so much to make themhappen.

I promise that I will continue to supportmy yet-to-be-democratically-electedsuccessor who has all the qualifications,which I did not, to lead your Association.It only remains for me to thank you all foryour support over the last year -particularly in the culmination of mypredecessors' initiatives on Big School -with the time honoured salute -"FloreatRedingensis".

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John Illman CMG

John Illman leads the Inauguration Ceremony in Big School.Left to Right: Dr Philip Mitchell (Chairman of Governors), Mrs Linda Kays,Mr Raymond Kays, Mrs Mary Chaplin (Governor), Mr Tony Waring OR,Mr John Illman CMG OR (President 2003)

The Head Master’s Letter

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The Head Master’s LetterBy Andrew Linnel l

During the Summer Term 2003, an unexpected letter dropped on my mat. It was from St. James’ Palace. Itinformed me that His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales requested the pleasure of my company at aReception for Head Teachers to be held at Highgrove on Monday, 21 July 2003. Fortunately this date was theday after the end of the 2002/2003 Academic Year and just before I went on my annual holiday to France. Ifelt that the invitation was an honour for Reading School and accepted it. I was also able to tell the studentsabout the forthcoming event in my end of year House Chapels.

I was of course curious about why I had been asked. Upon arrival at the Orchard Room at Highgrove, there was nolist of which other head teachers had also been similarly honoured. As I have been around some years and had justthe previous Friday completed my twenty-fifth year of teaching in state education, there were inevitably some otherhead teachers whom I knew. I saw some old faces from my years in Kent, for example. What none of us could workout was what we had in common. It seemed that many heads were in charge of schools commended by name in theAnnual Report of the Chief Inspector of Schools for 2002. Indeed HM Chief Inspector of Schools and a number ofHM Senior School Inspectors were present. Other heads also told me that they had received Department forEducation and Skills Achievement Awards between 2000 and 2002. In Reading School’s case we have had an awardevery year: 2000, 2001 and 2002. It was certain that the room was filled with the leaders of the nation’s highestachieving schools. Interestingly, the head teacher of the nearest school who I knew was Eke Lansdowne-Bridge fromReading Alternative School who a few days earlier had been our guest-of-honour at Junior Prize Giving.

The two disappointments of the day were that it was the only really wet day of the summer and was far too inclementfor complete tours of the Highgrove Gardens to be made. Everyone, even those with umbrellas, came back soakedafter a very shortened tour of the gardens. What I saw was however most interesting and impressive. After ourcollective and premature return to the Orchard Room, more Duchy Original drinks were served with canapés and themingling started in earnest. (The second disappointment was that I did not get the opportunity to ask the Prince ofWales why he chose a school in the Borough of Slough for his sons’ education when there is a much better performingand distinguished alternative in nearby Reading!)

It is always impressive to see members of the Royal Family circulate in a room so everyone has an opportunity tomeet them in small groups. The ability to respond sympathetically and with attention to all types and conditions ofmen and women is impressive. At the same time, there is no impression given of any lack of interest. This was thecase on this day and the Prince seemed very aware of the challenges facing state education and to be genuinelyinterested to find out more at first hand.

Just before the end of the reception, The Prince of Wales gave a brief address. This contained some importantmessages of interest to O.R.’s and was very congruent with our concerns at Reading School. He stated the absolutekey role played by public servants, such as teachers, as being significant in determining the future of the nation. Hespoke about the need to stretch the language ability of students and to increase their awareness of masterpieces ofEnglish literature, particularly Shakespeare, the language of the Cranmer Prayer Book and the King James Bible. Hereminded us that schools should try to give students an accurate and well-informed sense of history, particularly ourcollective British history. The lessons of the past unlock the questions of the present-day and future. He remindedus that little of value is learnt easily and education can quite simply be difficult if it is eventually to be worthwhileand rewarding. His message was not just reactionary and wistfully looking to the past. His philosophy is morecomplex and interwoven than that. He reminded us of our duty to make students realise they are citizens of theinterconnected world, with duties to protect and cherish its complexity and diversity. This environmental theme is akey one for the Prince and is reflected in the way in which he manages and develops Highgrove. He lastly spoke ofthe need to act in way that is inclusive, so that there is not a disenchanted, unskilled and alienated rump of students,with few or no qualifications. The Prince spoke with great conviction and persuasiveness about his aims through thePrince’s Trust, in particular, to offer education and training to those who have not been properly served by the system.Like all speeches that are wide in scope and challenging in content, I did not agree with it all. Much rang true to myexperience and hopes for the future in education. No one could say, after being present, that the Heir to the Thronelacks ideas or vision.

The interesting fact for me is that I remember in late September what was said because of the content and conviction.At the time, the Prince’s delivery had been rather faltering and hesitant, particularly when he tried to leave hisprepared script. Perhaps this is a lesson to us all when we have to speak publicly. It is not easy but say what youfeel. All else will seem transitory and inconsequential and could even be mistaken for spin! Floreat Redingensis.

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Professor Denys Hinton OR (1933-1939)painted this view of the school in 1989.

In aid of the Big School Appeal Professor Hintonhas kindly donated a number of copies

signed by him but not numbered.

The sheet size is 60cm x 43cmand the picture area is 54.5cm x 38cm.

The price is £40 including postage & packing.

Contact Chris Widdows, 21 Bulmershe Road,Reading RG1 5RH.

Telephone 0118 9623721or email CWiddows@aol.com

OU R SC H O O LOU R SC H O O LIN TH E ART RO O M

A memoir of the ‘50s - By Mike Oakley

When I was fourteen, everyonedecided I should "do Art". My Latinwas terrible, my sciences, if anything,even worse, and I was therefore unfitfor any normal career. I didn’t arguewith this: at the time, I had twoambitions – to be a professional racingcyclist or to be a painter. Schooloffered little encouragement towardsthe former, so I was glad of helptowards the latter.

When I moved to the Senior School in’46, Art took place in a small building inthe Quad, which later became the QuadLibrary. It had excellent lighting, whollyfrom above. The Art Room was presidedover by Mr Cox, a quiet, gentle person, adignified figure on a large, pre-Warbicycle. I can remember little in the wayof actual teaching but a generallybenevolent atmosphere prevailed. I feltmore relaxed there than in the classrooms, labs, gym, swimming pool orgames field – a haven, in fact. We had Arthomework which consisted of drawingsabout four inches by five. Mine werealmost invariably copies of photographsfrom French cycling journals to which Isubscribed. Those approved of by Mr.Cox were pinned on a board in theCloisters.

My transformation into what I supposeAmericans would call an Art Majorcoincided with the retirement of Mr Cox

and the advent of John Liddell. Twothings immediately struck us about John:he had a beard – very rare in those days -and he was an enthusiast. (He was luckyto retain the beard: a student from theUniversity who came to do his teachingpractice with us was sent home by"Archie" Meads, the Second Master, onhis first morning with a blisteringinstruction in what was proper inReading School, which did not includeface fungus.) The enthusiasm was theproduct of a lively interest in all aspectsof art, a fascination with crafts and agenuine liking for his pupils. I neverheard any of my contemporaries say abad word about John which I certainlycouldn’t say about many of hiscolleagues in the Staff Room.

John Liddell’s arrival marked a radicalshift in the Art Room, with a greateremphasis on crafts and a provision forspecialist teaching of which our groupwere the prototypes – myself, GeoffPeaker, and John Quinn. We weretogether for several years and, withRodney Sigee, whose voluntaries onvarious jazz and pop tunes enlivenedmany a dignified exit from chapel,formed a close-knit group inside andoutside the School. As time went by, wecame to be regarded as a somewhatsubversive element. There wassomething not quite nice about us –bohemian, radical, even bolshie. (During

the preparation of one of thosepanoramic School photographs, two ofthe science staff actually objected tohaving the four of us ranged behindthem, as if the contagion could spread orviewers of the finished print mightassume that our propinquity indicated asympathy of view. Guilt by associationwas a live topic in the ‘50s.) We did whatwe could to encourage this: wepromulgated what we perceived as theavant garde. (I remember suggesting,rather improbably, that the School shouldmount Stravinsky’s "The Soldier’s Tale"instead of G & S.) We held outrageousopinions: politically, I was an anarchist.

Under John’s supervision, we visitedexhibitions in London and becamedevotees of the Art cinema. At film clubs(one in the Abbey Gateway, one at theNIRD at Shinfield) and in cinemas, wesaw all the seminal films as various as"The Battleship Potemkin" and the MarxBrothers' "Animal Crackers". Welistened to The Third Programme. Forme, especially, John’s most lastinginfluence was my introduction to whatbecame known as Traditional Jazz. Untilthen, I had been an undirected enthusiastfor Modern Jazz: John pointed me at theNew Orleans originals. The first record Ibought at his suggestion, Johnny Dodds’"Perdido Street Blues". I literally woreout on the wind-up gramophone and hadto buy another copy. I learnt it so well

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SC E N E S F R O M T H EKE E T O N ER A

Professor D.J. Hinton (33-39), the artist who kindly donatedprints of his evocative painting of Reading School advertisedin this issue and the last, published some of his cartoons oflife in the Keeton era in the School Magazine of the 1930s.Some of them are reprinted here.

that I can, more than fifty years later,whistle the whole thing including thebanjo solo.

John’s enthusiasm for craft took manyforms. One was italic writing: a convertwas the Rev. Jack Newman, whosubsequently had much trouble with hisbank who could not accept that a man ofhis age could completely alter hissignature. John also introduced a potterywheel on which we had much fun. Myfirst finished article was a glazed anddecorated milk-jug: unfortunately, noneof us noticed until it was fired that Ihadn’t put the spout opposite the handle.

But the summit of John’s craft activitieswas the Puppet Theatre. This consistedof a knock-down theatre, complete withcurtains, scenery, lighting and so on, anda collection of string puppets – all of itmade by John and the group. (Actually,I proved so inept with tools that I madelittle contribution.) We took the theatreall over the place: my most vividmemory was of a performance inBasingstoke for which we had to beequipped with a transformer: at that time,I think ’52, the whole of Basingstoke wassupplied with DC current. We did acircus routine. My main task was to

change the 78 rpm records, whichincluded The March of the Gladiatorsand Jelly Roll Morton’s version of "HighSociety", the traditional clarinet solofrom which I also formed part of mywhistling repertoire.

John and his wife had a cottage at Ipsden,out beyond Woodcote, and we spentmany a happy weekend there, learning toscythe the grass and, in John Quinn’scase, painting and decorating.

My next step was to have been a place onthe Fine Arts degree course at ReadingUniversity. (At that time, only twoinstitutions offered such degrees –Reading and Durham. In the late ‘80s Iremember reflecting that the art school Iwas responsible for was producing moreFine Arts graduates on its own than thewhole of England and Wales had in the‘50s.) But it was a step I never took as noone – not I, nor the School nor theUniversity- had bothered to check that Ihad taken the right "A" levels: I hadn’t.So, back to Latin – even more of aforeign language than it had been fouryears before- and my chance of a careerin art vanishing over the horizon.

At this point, John Liddell left to take

over the teacher-training course atBournemouth and his place was taken byHarry Weinberger, who had come toEngland as a refugee before the War andwas already a well-known painter.

I owe an enormous debt to Harry. Heintroduced me to what I suppose Ishould describe as cosmopolitan culture:Schubert, Thomas Mann, the Blue Rider,Rimbaud, Mahler…an endless list ofnew interests and influences. (And thiswas at a time when I was criticised by amaster for reading "Crime &Punishment" in translation "when thereare a lot of English books you haven’tread").But, above all, Harry took meunder his wing and transformed me froma dilettante into someone who tookpainting seriously, from a miserablyunhappy school boy into an outward-looking young man. I spent the summerof ’54, waiting to go up to Cambridge, inHarry’s studio, working alongside him,arguing incessantly, totally enthralled. Itwas an extraordinary privilege. LessonsI learnt that summer have stayed with meever since, not only in relation to art, butto the whole of culture and, byextension, life.

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EN T E R P R I S E AWA R D SThis gem of the travel writer's art is by an OR who left School in 2002 to teach and travel for a year in China

before going to Bristol University. It would look well in a good travel anthology and we hope that Andrew's writingis given wider circulation in the future. Andrew Young's year in China was partly supported by an

OR Enterprise Award and he wrote the following article as a thank you to the Association.

I arrived in Jinhua with another British student to teachEnglish at the beginning of September last year. To celebrateour arrival, we were invited by the head of the districteducation committee to a banquet with Communist partyofficials and the senior teachers from our school. Hardlyspeaking a word of Chinese and only having been in thecountry for a week, we were concerned that strict rules ofetiquette would result in us making some terrible faux pas.We were on our best behaviour and therefore more than alittle surprised as the respected company around usdescended into a merry, drunken, rabble.

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that eating is one of the pillars ofChinese society. Often, the first question you will be asked uponmeeting someone on the street is: "Have you eaten?" Indeedthere are strict rules of etiquette during a banquet in China. Thechair facing the entrance to the room is for the most importantmember of your party. The next most respected people sit in thetwo adjacent seats and so on round the table. Modesty preventspeople from taking up these positions, so the start of a meal oftenresembles a game of musical chairs as everyone politely insiststhey aren’t worthy. When order is regained, you start on the firstof a seemingly never-ending procession of dishes and a definitelynever-ending procession of toasts.

Toasting people in China works in a similar way as it does in theUK. It’s just that the Chinese have got the whole process downto a fine art. To show your respect for someone, you toast them:by raising your glass, cheerfully calling their name and ‘ganbei’– literally ‘dry glass’. You then down your glass as they do thesame. You can use a variety of drinks for this process. All ofthem spell trouble. A lager has the benefit of being relativelyweak but the bubbles quickly make you feel uncomfortablybloated. There’s no such problem if your tipple is one of thevarious traditional Chinese rice wines, which are actually spirits.The only problem here is that whichever one you plump for, yourthroat will feel like it’s on fire every sip you take and you rapidlywon’t be able to see the glass to sip it anyway.

You need to show your respect to everyone round the table andthey will all show their respect for you. So, if you know you’llbe dining with 10 people, go to the meal expecting to drink about10 pints or 20 shots as a minimum. After this, the fun begins.Although Chinese society is not particularly superficial, peopleare very careful to present an image to others and would hate to‘lose face’ if they behaved tactlessly while drunk. However,people love trying to get others drunk and this becomes just asimportant as the actual meal. Without a word being said, variousdrinking alliances form, victims are singled out and before yourealise it the whole table is trying to get you drunk.

People develop elaborate strategies to prevent themselves losingface. If you’re in danger of slipping into a stupor, then the onlyhope left is that your opponents will do so first. Every drop thatisn’t in their glass is a wasted opportunity. In practice this meansthat toasts are fiercely haggled over, a process which is mademore difficult because as soon as you forget to keep an eye onyour glass, someone tips a bit more in. So, with one hand overyour own glass and the other gesturing frantically at the otherperson’s, you try to convince the rest of the table that theydeserve to drink more. All this might buy you a little more time,or help to make others drunk, but in the end you always end updrinking and your glass is nearly always completely full. Thisisn’t a problem for most socialites however; they just spill it.Picking your glass up clumsily is one of the oldest tricks in thebook. There was a headmaster famous in our local area forpicking up his glass and then throwing his drink over hisshoulder, contentedly sitting back with beer dripping down thewall behind him. He could get away with this because he wasone of the most important people at the banquet – although evenhe only risked it once a night at most. A junior teacher at ourschool wasn’t so fortunate. Every time she was toasted, to theamazement of the table, she would proudly announce that shewould drink the toast with rice wine. After knocking it back andshowing the empty glass, she would wait until attention hadturned away from her then daintily dab the corners of her mouthwith a napkin while spitting it back out. The trick was workingfairly well, until one meal when she was toasted so many timesthat she built up quite a pile of sodden napkins on the floor, wasfound out, and given penalty drinks.

While senior members of the party will find it easier to decline atoast and ensure others accept, there is still a large element ofskill which determines who will end up underneath the table. Aclassic ploy is to phrase your toast in such a way that the otherperson feels bound to drink. Many were the times I was left withno argumentative room for manoeuvre when a teacher asked me:"Andy, do you think I am a good teacher? If you think so, wewill drink to it together!"

One of the few defences to a concerted drinking attack is bybeing part of a team yourself. Two other foreign student teachersand I were having a quiet dinner in a friend’s local restaurantwhen we were invited to abandon our meal and join a table withsome strangers. It quickly became apparent that, apart fromfriendliness, their main motivation was to get us drunk. Therewere three of them. The battle lines were drawn. We quicklydecided that our best plan of attack was to largely ignore two ofthe men and concentrate on toasting the third, who looked‘weaker’, until he had to retire. The war lasted nearly two hours,in which time both sides had tried to recruit the owner of the

" G A N B E I ! "Or 'Tactical Toasting' in the People's Republic of China

By Andrew Young

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restaurant – known to be a tough drinker – and had cried foulplay innumerable times. A truce was only brokered when thepoor third man’s wife arrived and immediately decided that ithad gone far enough. Honour was maintained.

As I have mentioned, the Chinese respect for elders and authoritymeans that headmasters, or matriarchs for example, have less ofa problem. I only knew of one exception to this: a Mr He, whowas the headmaster of a local school. He had a hereditaryproblem – that his surname ‘He’ sounds exactly the same as theword for ‘drink’. Combined with a vague reputation as being‘funny when he’s drunk’, this ensured that never on the varioustimes when I saw him did he get away without being got very,very drunk.

With all this attention given to drinking, you could be forgivenfor thinking that the actual food gets forgotten. However, eatingout is quite an experience in China and not just because of theoccasionally bizarre dishes. For British tastes some of theingredients in – and even the order of – the dishes comes as ashock. During a Chinese banquet, dishes are brought for theentire table to pick at fairly regularly throughout the meal. Evenmore familiar tastes may be a new experience in China due towhen they appear in the meal. Sweet dishes come with sour so,just after having had a slice of a pineapple ‘pancake’ with sugarand sprinkled hundreds-and-thousands, you’ll be offered theprawns. What seem like the foundations of any meal, such asrice or noodles, often come last. This is because thesetraditionally were, and to a lesser degree still are, relatively cheapand available – and so it shows generosity on the hosts’ part toserve a meal comprising of rarer, more expensive foods. For thisreason, a good meal in China should include a high proportion ofdishes made of meat – and the more exotic, the better.

Dog is famously included but this is in fact one of the saferdishes you could end up being served. Not many parts of theanimal are thrown away, so if you fancy chicken soup expect tofind floating feet and even a head – which you’re expected to eatthe skin off. Furthermore, as a foreigner and therefore anhonoured guest, you’ll be served up these most choice selectionsas a special favour – although it is also true that some Chineseknow our slightly less adventurous tastes and so go out of theirway to dig up strange recipes for their own amusement. Aftersome time eating in China, you get to know all too well the

barely contained look of excitement on your hosts’ faces as youmunch away on your ‘chicken’, and they say "you know – that’snot exactly chicken…"

Still, I recommend you try everything you get offered, as it’susually fairly good. Fried cow’s intestine with green pepperactually came to be one of our favourite dishes. If nothing else,when else are you going to get the chance? You don’t often findspicy snake down at your local takeaway.

However, even the most adventurous of you might want to avoidcow embryo in omelette, which I had the pleasure of sampling ata friend’s restaurant. With hindsight, it should have sounded awarning that my Chinese hosts took one look at it and said"errgh. Andy – you eat it". Also, looking back, its appearancedidn’t bode well. About 3-4 inches long, it was only a halfdeveloped shape, with stumps for legs and two huge glisteningeyes – all a uniform grey-ish colour and still in the embryonicsac. Because it is so small, when you bite into it, you take offabout half the body. What I hadn’t anticipated was that there wasno actual meat at all – the skin is only just holding together a redsludge that comes pouring out the other half you’ve set backdown on your plate. The taste is difficult to describe, but it seemsraw. I didn’t finish the second half, but the omelette wasn’t bad.

Andrew Young (far left) with host ‘Kenny’ (centre) and friends

KE E T O N!

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GEORGE HAYDN KEETONHEAD MASTER 1914 - 1939

By Sidney Vines

By one of those odd coincidenceswhich happen sometimes in life,(certainly in my own) my years atReading School comprised the decadeof the thirties. I arrived in January1930 and left in December 1939. WhenI came (aged 8) Ramsay Macdonaldwas Prime Minister and there waspoverty in Reading unimaginabletoday. In St Mary's Butts small boysplayed in winter in bare feet. Knots ofmen stood all day talking andsmoking, for year on end, with nothingto do except go to the UnemploymentExchange once a week and draw their10/- weekly dole. Things had improveda little by 1938 because the countrybegan to rearm - thus creating jobs.The supreme irony was that theterrible scourge of unemployment wascured by the Second World War.

We, at Reading School, were largelyinsulated form all this, though one thirdof the annual intake were scholarshipboys from poorer families, while theremaining two thirds paid, I think, £5 aterm - not a large sum. I remember at theTuck Shop you could buy a lunch of peason toast for 4d (equal to about 1.5p inmodern currency). As can be seen, it wasnot luxurious living but it sufficed.

By December 1939 we were at war andthe next year, 1940, boys only a year ortwo older than us were flying Spitfires inthe Battle of Britain. The boys of myvintage soon followed them into theArmed Forces, some to survive and somenot. We had been well prepared by theeducation we received at Reading School

to fight for our country because of thespirit inculcated by the Head, Mr. G. HKeeton. In 1930 he was about 55, ofmedium height with silvery grey hair andspectacles. He had a patrician look, ahandsome man with his emotions wellunder control. He was austere. We werein awe of him. When he walked down thecorridor there was usually a group ofboys round the time table, pushing anshoving, but the instant the Headappeared, silence reigned. He did notneed to say anything - his force ofpersonality was enough. His remotenessfrom the boys could not have applied tothe staff, for he obtained completeloyalty from them and that you can onlyachieve when they like and respect you.

Many of them devoted their whole livesto the School and ran school societiesafter school hours. Mr. Nightingale(Birdie) ran the Chess Club. Mr.Saunders (Sugar) ran the DebatingSociety. There was the Thespian side ofthings, where Birdie, with the help of Mr.Francis (Fanny) and Mr. Timms (Timmy)ran both the annual school play and theGilbert and Sullivan operettas. Timmywas the star, playing the comic roles likeSir Joseph Porter KCB in HMS Pinafore.It never occurred to me that they weregiving up their leisure time which theycould have spent with their families, toteach us how to grow up as civilisedhuman beings. Mr. Saunders, forexample, ran the debating Society onSaturday evenings, where we discussedsuch motions as whether Hitler waspeace loving. Saturday was the oneevening in the week when there was nohomework and we were of the age whenthe fascination of the opposite sex wasjust being discovered. Despite this wewent to debates, tried to learn the arts of

public speaking, whilst Mr. Saunderssuffered the pain of our callow and illexpressed speeches. I loved it all andoften stayed at school until after 7 p.m.,when the pangs of hunger forced mehome.

The devotion of his staff was quiteextraordinary, and for this Keeton mustget the credit. When he became Head ofReading School in 1914 Keeton was 39.The next year came the amalgamation ofKendrick School and Reading School.Kendrick had around 215 pupils andReading approximately 110, withpractically no Boarders. By 1939 theSchool had some 600 boys of whom 120were Boarders. It obtained funds to builda new swimming pool and gymnasiumwith changing rooms. It was flourishing.

Keeton was a Victorian. His favouritemaxim was "Mens sana in corpore sano".He practised what he preached, for at 55he was very fit and his mind was razorsharp. He oversaw some fine scholasticachievements, with scholarships toOxford and Cambridge, but he wanted toinculcate what he called the publicschool spirit, to make us honourablegentlemen, worthy of taking our place inthe destinies of the British Empire. Toencourage this he favoured Classics, bothLatin and Greek, the Officer TrainingCorps, all games, but particularly ruggerand cricket and the many out of schoolclubs.

Part of the public school spirit was theskill of leadership, which some are bornto and some have to learn. Keeton was atpains to foster this by means of games,the OTC and above all the prefectorialsystem. Most became prefects in theirlast year, and it brought some coveted

KE E T O N!GE O R G E KE E TO N - HE A D MA S T E R 1914 -1939

George H. Keeton was an awesome Head Master. As he moved around the school a cave system operated. His progresswould be heralded by the urgent warning "Keeton! Keeton!" and a flurry of boys returning to their desks or resuming adignified demeanour before his eagle eye could single them out. He was educated at St. Edmund's School, Hunstanton andOakham School. His father was Dr. Haydn Keeton, the organist of Peterborough Cathedral for more than 40 years and whonumbered Sir Malcolm Sargent amongst his pupils. George Keeton gained an open Classical Scholarship to EmmanuelCollege Cambridge in 1897 and obtained a First Class in the Classical Tripos of 1900. In 1899 and 1900 he played for theCambridge University XV and in 1903 for the England XV. He was a Master at Reading School from 1901 to 1903 and thenwent to take charge of the Classical VI at Fettes College, Edinburgh, until 1910. This was a post to which he returned duringWW II after he had retired from the Headship of Reading School. Characteristically he did this to replace a Master whowas serving his country. Between 1910 and 1914 he was the Head Master of Pocklington School, East Yorkshire.

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privileges. You had the use of a study ina corridor just off the entrance to BigSchool. The word "study" was aeuphemism, for what went on there wasmostly gossip. You could cut a period ifyou wanted. You had a prefect's tie and aprefect's cap. You could give minorpunishment such as lines but the Captainand Vice Captain of School were allowedto use the cane. No one misused theprivilege until the very end of my time,when a Captain said to a boy that hewould carve his initials on the boy'sbackside. The boy told his mother, thestory got back to Mr. Kemp (who hadjust taken over as Head) and the privilegewas immediately withdrawn. It seemsbarbaric today that boys were allowed tocane other boys but the system was nevermisused in Keeton's time, which sayssomething for his judgement in selectingfor Captain and Vice Captain.

Something must be said about discipline.Until the Education Act of 1944, there

was a Junior School where boys wentfrom the ages of 8 until 12. The Headwas Mr. C.P. Peach, who was a martinet.He wielded the cane freely for minormisdemeanours, or for what he judgedinsufficient effort in schoolwork. I hadthe cane frequently and never resented itbecause I knew I deserved it. I was a boywho tried to do enough to get by, but nomore than I had to. The cane was the onlysanction which had any effect on mywork and under Mr. Peach I did very wellin the exams. Mr. Keeton used the canebut sparingly, so consequently I did lesswell. Of course we now live in differenttimes in which exams dominate far morethan they did. I wonder if it is better?

We were told that we were the boys ofthe Empire "on which the sun neversets". It did, and with the independenceof India in 1947, the ending of theEmpire was merely a matter of freeingthe various colonies in the best waypossible. We had no idea that this was tohappen, so it could be said that we weretraining to run an Empire which soonwould cease to exist. It could also be saidthat it was the purpose of ReadingSchool to produce leaders of industry,business and the professions in Reading.There were plenty of solicitors andbankers but I heard of none in eitherHuntley and Palmers or Suttons.Amongst the boarders in South Housewere the Boulting brothers, Roy andJohn, whose films have becomeimmortal. And H.E. Dollery (the hero ofmy time) who scored a century for theSchool against the MCC at the age of 14,and went on to become a professionalcricketer with Warwickshire. He playedseveral games for England, but his bestyears were lost to the war. He had theconsolation of captaining Warwickshirein 1951 when they won thechampionship.

It could be said that we were not beingeducated for the industrial and technicalworld of the 20th century. We learnednothing, for example, of the internalcombustion engine. Against thesecriticisms must be set outstandingachievements. We were brought up to becivilised Christian gentlemen who lovedtheir heritage (I was given a love ofpoetry which has sustained methroughout the years of war and peace.It was admirable and I remain gratefulfor it.)

GEORGE KEETON AND"THE WAR OF

AMALGAMATION"By John Oakes

A total of 418 Old Redingensians servedin World War 1, of whom 84 were killedin action or died of wounds received.Martin Parsons and John Oakes wrote intheir book Old School Ties: "Casualtyfigures of almost 20% was a high price topay". It is not surprising, given what wenow know about the nature of war, that"those sitting in the audience at SpeechDay in 1914 were yet to be aware of whatawaited them on leaving school" for theyhad been engaged in an altogether morepressing matter - the "War ofAmalgamation". This conflict had beenopened in 1913 when the Corporation ofReading resurrected a scheme foramalgamating Reading School, whichwas costing them a great deal of money,with Kendrick Boys’ School which waspopular, overcrowded and in bad repair.

D.G. Williams, the editor of the ReadingSchool Magazine, wrote in the April1914 issue: "Reading School has passedthrough many crises during the past 800years, but it has never faced such adeadly one. The prospect is indeedgloomy; that a policy strongly opposedby the wishes of both parents and OldBoys of both Schools should be persistedin, argues simply madness. What thereasons are at the back of it all we canonly surmise; what is clear to us is thatReading School will keep true to its oldtraditions to the last minute of itsexistence and Masters and boys alike will‘play the game’ and work for theexistence of the school as if its existencewere secure instead of being in mostdangerous jeopardy." It may not havebeen coincidental that J. Bromley Boornepublished his school song, FloreatRedingensis, in the next issue (July1914) of the magazine and dedicated it toDr. Eppstein who vehemently opposedthe plan to amalgamate with Kendrick.There was a class war going on, thougheveryone was loath to admit it.

The Times Educational Supplementdated 3rd November 1914 carried anarticle about the forthcomingamalgamation which was clearly unusualenough to excite national interest. Theissue coincided roughly with the

On 25th June 1926 Reading Schoolwas honoured by a visit fromHRH the Prince of Wales, later theDuke of Windsor. This historicpicture shows him in deepconversation with George Keeton.The Prince had just openedCaversham Bridge and was said tohave enjoyed his visit to our schoolvery much. The visit was to markthe successful development of afirst class school following theamalgamation of Reading andKendrick Boys’ Schools. CharlesChapman (23-27), whose obituaryappears in this issue, was onparade with the OTC on the day.

9 10

GE O R G E KE E TO N A N D STA F F JU LY 1939Back row standing:

L A Ruffell S J Cox L H S Emerson E O Daughtry S G Timms P T Taylor B L R Dowse F Nelson

Middle row standing:W G Bott RSM E Rollings ??? W J Streather G Vale F H C Redington C P Peach C A Poole C N C Field (Bursar) H Lonsdale A L Meads A J Kelson Rev E G Levien B C Harvey Miss M M Barkas F A Rolfe

Sgt Maj J Fobester Sgt J Lockwood

Front row sitting:D G Francis C A Nightingale E J Woodford J G Fry Miss A S O'Reilly J L Sylo-Jones G H Keeton P C Edwards J W Saunders F B Chapman W E Mowton G J Lamb A J Grigg

11

resignation of the Head Master, Dr.Eppstein, who saw the scheme as apersonal failure, and the appointment ofGeorge Haydn Keeton who wouldundertake the fusion of the two schoolsand bring a new Reading School intobeing.

The Times, as ever, summed the matterup succinctly: "The fact remains that,quite apart from the necessity which hasdictated the policy, the aspiration of thenew school is a noble one. The aspirationis to maintain and develop ReadingSchool as a boys' school of the firstgrade; to organise it primarily, but notexclusively as a day school; to maintainand increase its power to give a liberaleducation in preparation for theuniversities, the professions and businesslife; and, above all, so to conduct it as tomake it readily accessible to boys of allclasses". Surely few would argue withthat.

The necessity which dictated the policywas largely to do with money. As theTimes stated "the growth of the Schoolhad not been commensurate with theoutlay in capital expenditure and annualmaintenance". Like the ScottishParliament building today, the buildingcosts of the new school opened inSeptember 1871 exceeded the estimatesby a long way. The Trustees were forcedto borrow money to pay for it andReading Borough Council provided thecollateral. The school was neverprofitable despite the best efforts of anumber of heroic Head Masters. MichaelNaxton's ‘History of Reading School’gives a detailed and lucid account of thevaliant but ultimately unsuccessfulattempts to solve the debt problem andmake the place pay its way. None of themworked and in 1908 an Order in Councilmade Reading School a ‘PublicSecondary School for Boys’. Itsadministration passed to the Corporationof the Borough of Reading which foundit to be a financial burden and spent anumber of years creating uncertaintywhilst attempting to bring itself to dosomething about it.

The presence of boarders in ReadingSchool always troubled the goodburgesses of the borough since they feltthat their rates were going on theeducation of rich folk from out of town.Without boarders the school could nothope to meet its debts. The ‘PublicSchool Spirit’, Chapel, OTC, Old Boys’Club, Debating Society, Cricket and

Rugby had always underpinned thephilosophy of successive Head Mastersand Governors of Reading School. Theiraim was to prepare pupils for University,Sandhurst, Woolwich, Cooper's Hill (theIndian Civil Engineering College), theIndian Police or the Navy. All of thesethings required a special commitment bythe staff and were, for some indefinablereason, based on the presence ofboarders. Parents do not want to committheir progeny to a school with anuncertain future and so boarders werehard to come by despite theadvertisements which appeared in therailway magazines of the period. Sadly,though not surprisingly, since it had beenliving with uncertainty about its futurefor years, numbers were falling off atReading School and the boarding houseswere woefully under populated. The 40year old Kendrick Boys' School on theother hand had been starved of funds andits buildings were inadequate and in poorrepair. It was attracting plenty of pupilsfrom amongst the families of aspiringbusiness men, farmers, tradesmen,clerks, butlers, publicans, railway menand prison warders of Reading. Theseparents did not, in general, contemplatesending their sons to university. This theyconsidered to be above their station.What they wanted was for their sons tojoin the family firm or to get a‘respectable job’.

The Town Council vacillated for a longtime but was forced, in the end, to bow to

necessity. It rejected the idea of erectingnew buildings for Kendrick School anddecided to send its pupils to its expensive‘Public School’ in Erleigh Road. Dr.Eppstein departed to teach, briefly, atBradfield College and later to be Rectorof Lambourne in the Diocese ofChelmsford. Thus George Haydn Keetoncommenced his long and distinguishedHeadship of Reading School. He wasunable to get away from his own schoolimmediately so Mr. Newport, the elderlySecond Master, assumed the Headshipuntil he could do so. The Editor of theSchool Magazine could now write in hiseditorial: "On the outbreak of war abroadand our own participation, the nationshowed a united front to the world bylaying aside all internal struggles. Someof these feuds will doubtless be resumedat the termination of the war, but it is agreat satisfaction to be able to record apeaceful and honourable ending to a feudin which we ourselves were involved,and we believe and hope that it is ended.We refer, of course, to the so-called 'Warof Amalgamation'. The school is to befused with the Kendrick School, and it isa matter of congratulation that those whoopposed the scheme of amalgamationshould not merely abide by theirdecision, but offer their services to helpthe scheme work successfully".

Keeton took up office proper in January1915. He had a difficult job on his handsso the Town Council postponed theamalgamation until he could establish

George Keeton as an Assistant Master on Eppstein’s staff in 1902. He is in thelight jacket seated on the ground

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himself. His first speech, made when hewas officially ‘chaired’ in Big School asHead Master, proved interesting. He hadhis ‘pre-amalgamation’ audience eatingout of his hands with remarks such as"never had there been a time when theEmpire more required the qualitieswhich were associated most closely withthe public school spirit, and whichdepended on a regard for truth, forhonour, and for duty. (Applause). Thatspirit has gone a long way to form themoral code of this country - it has longbeen a force working through manygenerations of public-school boys, whichhad affected large numbers who hadnever been near a public school...... Ihope and believe that the School willlong flourish, and that in it we will seestill flourishing the old public-schoolspirit. (Cheers.)". He established his rulein Reading School. He now needed tomeld the two schools together on the firstday of term in 1916, a task made all themore difficult because the number of'Kendricks' - two hundred and eight -well and truly outnumbered the onehundred and eighteen 'Redingensians' - apoint not often made. How did he do it?

His method was to expunge all but theminimum reference to Kendrick Boys'School. It is said, though probablyapocryphally, that he waited for theKendrick boys to walk up the drive forthe first time and exhorted them to "burntheir caps". The registers, now in thearchives, show that every Kendrick boywas entered as though he had joinedReading not Kendrick school. Heappealed to the large number of boyswho had joined from Kendrick School"to transfer to Reading School, of whichthey were now members, all theenthusiastic devotion and affection thatthey had given to their former school"and asked both sections of the School "torealise that they were now one corporatewhole. There must be no idea of divisionor separateness, and there must be noconduct based on such an idea". Hispersonality, which, according to SydneyVines, inspired awe amongst the boys,must have ensured that no one could seethe join between the ‘Redingensians’ andthe ‘Kendricks’. Seven new Masterswere taken onto the staff to deal with theincrease in numbers. Only one of them,Mr. A. Keeble, BA Royal UniversityDublin, was from Kendrick School. TheHead Master of Kendrick, The Rev. Mr.Priestley, was appointed Bursar ofReading School. That was it. The rest ofthe Kendrick staff had to shift for

themselves and the town was muchtroubled by their plight. Keeton, writesMichael Naxton, was unfairly blamed forthis since the Education Authority tookthe decision.

George Keeton believed in his prefectsand he used them as the front line in hisplan of amalgamation. From a transcriptof his speech made at the time by aprefect, R.F. Wright, we can almost hearthe authentic voice of the man, as headdressed them in their Common Roomon Friday April 30th 1915: "As it is amost important term I think it fitting thatI say a few words to you. Quite probablythe Kendrick School will be coming upnext term and it is your duty to see thatthe school is ready for the amalgamation.It will not pull the school down. If Ithought that would happen I myselfwould not continue as Head Master. ButI have some suggestions to make. On twooccasions last term there had been sometrouble with junior boys - for the mostpart from a rebellious spirit against theprefects. This spirit must be stamped out.I think that perhaps it would be better ifa little greater distance were to be keptbetween prefects and junior boys. Iespecially desire keenness. I think thepresent prefects are all keen, but it isnecessary to be keen in every thing. Bythis keenness you will inspire it inothers". R.F. Wright, incidentally,became Captain of School himself andwas awarded a Thomas WhiteScholarship to St John's College, Oxfordin 1916. He had previously gained anExhibition for Classics at WorcesterCollege. We may safely assume that histranscript of George Keeton's addresswill have been accurate!

Perhaps one of the most controversialaspects of George Keeton's head-ship isthat prefects were allowed to cane boysfor misdemeanours a 'privilege' that hissuccessor, Kemp, was to rescind in theface of some protest early in his tenure.Perhaps we might judge Keeton in thelight of his instructions to prefects whichopen with these words: "All prefects areappointed by the Head Master, and suchboys are chosen as will in his judgementexercise a manly influence on the schoolby their character and their position. Theprefects are responsible to the HeadMaster for the prevention of incipientbullying, ungentlemanly language, andsmaller points of School discipline,where the influence of a bigger boy canbe felt sooner than the authority of amaster. The Head Master is convinced

that the greatest safeguard in a publicschool against bullying and still greaterevils and the greatest incentive tomanliness and the formation of Christiancharacter amongst smaller boys, is theinfluence that can be, and thatfortunately has been, exercised by a bodyof prefects, whose honourable andgentlemanly behaviour, as well as theirposition in school, have raised them tothis office."

Such a statement could not now be madewithout serious criticism. I leave you toyour own analysis of it whilst offeringonly that Keeton was a man of his times.He was a powerful personality and hisschool ran with machinelike efficiency.Such people are bound to attractcriticism but in retrospect he was anupright, honest and straightforwardcitizen who did not pretend to grand andtheatrical gestures. His most often statedadvice was that "if a man spends the firsthour of his day at his prayers, his bathand his breakfast he will be alright". Nota stirring piece of advice but it wouldserve us well enough today.

Only two records of Kendrick Boys’School remained. One is the 'Register ofApplicants to Kendrick Boys’ School', adocument which listed all the applicantstogether with their parents name andprofession, a document which is a goldmine for those interested in the history ofReading Town. The second is somethingof a more permanent nature. In 1916 itwas decided to "remove from KendrickSchool to Reading School Chapel themarble tablet bearing the names of OldBoys who fell in the South African War,and add to it those who fell in the presentWar. Mr. Harry Hutt, the designer of thetablet, which cost £70, will superintendits removal, the cost of which will beborne by the Education Committee (atthe request of the Old Kendrick'sAssociation)." To my personalknowledge we have allowed this tablet togo un-remarked for at least 30 years,probably more. That is a shame and wemust redress the matter at some futuredate. The present Governors and theHead Master, in a late reference to thecontribution the 'Kendricks' made to thepresent school, named the newestbuildings after John Kendrick. TheReading Foundation, on which three ORsserve, has sold the property onceoccupied by Kendrick Boys’ School andthe proceeds are on hand to assist theschool in future.

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&&N O T E S N E W SN O T E S N E W S

OR NEWS

'Question Time' in Big School, Monday 15th September 2003at 3 p.m. By kind permission of the Head Master, the OldRedingensians Association invited six distinguished ORs toanswer questions on any topic from an audience of mainly 6thformers. The Chairman was the President of the ORs, JohnIllman CMG, former Ambassador to Peru. The panel consisted ofSir Ivan Callan KCVO CMG (54-61), former Ambassador tothe Sultanate of Oman, Peter Fiddick (51-57), author, journalist,broadcaster and media commentator, Christopher Palmer (50-58), businessman and entertainer, Maurice Philips (51-58),former Social Services Advisor and now owner and manager ofthe Safari Garden Hotel in The Gambia and Cedric Scroggs (53-59), Sir Thomas White Scholar, sometime Visiting Fellow ofNuffield College Oxford, former Chief Executive of Fisons andnow Chairman of the South East Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust.In his letter to John Illman after the event Andrew Linnell says:"The response to this initiative has been wholly positive andstudents appear to feel they would wish a similar event to berepeated in the future. The Senior Master and I think we shouldstart at 2 p.m. if we do it again". It is clear that we should do itagain and the challenge to the OR Council will be to persuadepanellists from both older and younger members to participate.

The Kirkwood Bursary as instituted in June 1999 to record theoutstanding work of the then retiring Honorary Secretary, KerrKirkwood, during his long and distinguished tenure of that officebetween 1990 and 1998. The winner receives a bursary valued at£250 to defray the cost of University fees. The selection panel isjointly chaired by the Head Master and the incumbent ORPresident. The panel sets out to select the 6th Form pupil who hasbeen most active in charitable and community services but it alsotakes personality and enthusiasm into account. Raghuv Basin, thisyear's winner, who was also awarded a £25 book token, hadduring his year 12 mentored a year 7 and a year 9 boy. The

Mentoring Scheme, introduced by the Head Master, has been veryeffective in raising standards and adding value as the currentphrase has it. Rhaguv, who intends to take up a place at KebleCollege, Oxford next year, was also recognised for organisingjunior Community Sports Leaders.

Past President Rodney Huggins (44-52) is a board director of agovernment finance sponsored charity called British ExecutiveService Overseas. It is a development agency providingprofessional expertise to organisations in less developed countriesand economies in transition worldwide.

In August this year, as an arbitration expert and tax tribunal judge,he was sent on a legal assignment to the city of Cheboksary in theRepublic of Chauvasia. It is situated 650 kms east of Moscow onthe Volga River. His task was to advise the local centre for anticrisis development and judges in the commercial courts aboutprocedures in England and Europe involving companies who areeither in receivership or liquidation. In addition, Russia is onlyjust creating self regulating professional bodies such as LawSocieties, Institutes of Chartered Accountants and InsolvencyPractitioners. Rodney also gave advice on setting up theseprofessional associations locally.

He was privileged to meet the Minister of Justice, PresidentPutin’s personal representative and the Chief Justice of theRepublic. There is no doubt that Russia experienced a steepeconomic decline after the break-up of the Soviet Union. But areform programme is producing results especially in the courtsystems and professional bodies. The result is sustained demandfor knowledge of western financial, legal and trading practices.Rodney endeavoured to provide this in a limited but vital field. Hewas sponsored by the Moscow Narodny Bank.

(Will Lunn adds that Rodney has kindly donated his late fatherRowland Huggins' 1st XV honours cap to the safe keeping of theORs, with the request that it be placed in the Canning Cabinet inthe Library. The Cap was awarded for the 27-28 season).

The Farmery Medals were won this year by J. Chevassut ofCounty House and M. Richards of School House.

The Rev'd. Canon Colin Hill OBE (39-46), formerly Vicar ofCroydon and Chaplain to the Queen, has been researching forsome three years a C16th Archbishop of Canterbury, JohnWhitgift 1583-1604, who founded his Free School and Hospitalof the Most Holy Trinity at Croydon in 1596. The thesis, whichwas submitted to the University of Wales, Bangor, was awardedan M.Phil.

Mike Oakley (44-54) writes in response to Patrick Cartwright'sremarks about Masters' nicknames: "I always understood thatBonk's nickname came from his habit of striking one behind theear with his knuckle. It was very painful, I can still feel it! Thatconstant 'knock knock' on the skull was usually accompanied byhis endless mantra: 'You'll be wading through those Russianrivers...' I never knew why he had that particular obsession. Washe perhaps a member of the ill-fated expedition to Archangel at

The panel: Maurice Phillips, Christopher Palmer,John Illman, Cedric Scroggs, Peter Fiddick, Sir Ivan Callan

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S C H O O L N E W S

Reading School Presentation Evening, Friday 12 September2003. Our President, John Illman CMG, was on the platform withthe Chairman of Governors, Dr. Phillip Mitchell, the Head Master,Andrew Linnell and his staff, John Redwood MP and the RightWorshipful Mayor of Reading to present the OR prizes. Thesewere: -Tom Bishop Award Rory BrookerElphick Memorial Music Prize Feng RaoK. Kirkwood Bursary Raghuv BhasinK. Kirkwood Prize Benjamin SaundersCapt. W.J. Streather Memorial Prize Nicholas SteedmanBoarders Scholarships Ben Morris

William DragonettiOliver FrickerTimothy Wray

Jeremy Ramsey Art Bursaries Charles BettsJonathan WhiteheadPeter OcampoJonathan Payne

S.G. Timms Testimonial PrizesYear 8 - Alexandros Bozoglou LivanisYear 9 - Benjamin Pennington

Past Presidents, Frank Terry, Tony Waring and Rodney Huggins,were seated amongst the honoured guests in the audience as wasJeremy Ramsay and Kerr Kirkwood, both present to see their

Bursaries and Prizes distributed. The generosity of the ORAssociation in providing 22 Enterprise Awards was acknowledgedin the programme and in the Head Master's Annual Reportdelivered from the platform. The Head Master also thanked the many OR donors who had contributed to the renovation of BigSchool in his report.

The retirement of Roy Perkins and Brian Turnbull from thestaff of Reading School would have been marked in the old SchoolMagazine by a proper appreciation of the extraordinarycontribution they made. Roy Perkins inspired and led the bestmathematics department in the country. In addition to that he wasa School Governor and for many years a 6th Form Tutor. He ranhockey for years, also Rugby and cricket teams and he organisedand led some notable overseas cricket tours, the last to the WestIndies. Brian was an outstanding House Master, first of East Houseand then School House. The latter, a new house with an historicname, was founded by Brian. He was also what was knownamongst his colleagues as Master i/c Gigs, that is he ran theceremonies such as the Commemoration Service. He was largelyresponsible for the smooth change over from the old Speech Dayto the new Presentation Evening. So well did he handle this thatPresentation Evening now seems like a tradition. His efforts on thegames field, like those of his good friend Roy, were superb. Youwould know where to find them both on a summer afternoon afterschool. They would be taking nets or on the veranda of the KeetonPavilion with their team. They both spent many Saturdayafternoons in their referee's kit on Rugby and hockey fields or theirumpire's coat on cricket fields - home and away. They attended,with fresh enthusiasm every time, innumerable elocution andmusic competitions, school plays and concerts and OR dinners.Recently an OR wrote to ask if the present staff is as dedicated tothe School as it was in, say, Keeton's day. It is, but Brian and Roymight argue that it is all a normal part of teaching at ReadingSchool

GCSE League Tables 2003. Many ORs will have been pleased tosee that Reading School topped the Daily Telegraph table. Schoolwas also top in the Guardian and Independent. Andrew Linnellcautions us all from complacency but he and his staff are due agreat deal of praise for this achievement, as are, of course, thecandidates themselves.

A Level League Tables 2003. Our School was 17th in the DailyMail League Table of the top 600 State schools. Of the top twentyonly 5 were single sex boys schools and one a mixed school, therest being girls schools. Kendrick was 4th and the trend towardsgirls gaining higher marks in public examinations is continuing.Andrew Linnell and his staff, by respecting their pupil's, haveshown that there is an answer to this puzzling problem.

the end of World War 1? When he taught me, the Cold War wasin full swing, so Russians rivers were much in everyone's mind".

Mike adds: "In Frank Terry's article (The Opera. The OldRedingensian May 2003) he writes about the great G&Scontroversy of 53-54. John Liddell, who was Art Master at thetime felt that he had to support the Music Master but, with typicalgenerosity, didn't want to deprive the production of the art anddesign resources of the School - so he detailed me to put hissurreptitious designs into effect. I was greatly assisted byGeoffrey Peaker (46-53) who had already started on a course atReading University (and was later to become Regional StaffInspector for Art and Design). We spent many a happy hour in BigSchool, splashing paint about. Although I have a good visual

memory, I can't recall those sets at all, unlike those for Birdie'sproduction of St. Joan, which I remember clearly". Editors Note. Mike Oakley's article "In the Art Room" appears inthis issue.

Garth Scotford, OBE, QFSM (54-59) is emigrating to Perth inOctober 2003. He was the last Chief Executive of the RoyalCounty of Berkshire and was Guest of Honour at the Junior PrizeGiving in June 2002. Garth's wife was for two and a half yearsHeadteacher of Thamesbridge College, Reading and in the early90s was a Deputy Headteacher at the Thomas Aveling School,Rochester when our Head Master, Andrew Linnell, was DeputyHeadteacher of the neighbouring Sir Joseph Williamson'sMathematical School.

Reading School Presentation Evening - Friday, 12September 2003 in the Great Hall at the University ofReading. John Illman presents the Kerr Kirkwood Bursaryto Raghuv Bhasin applauded by Councillor Jeanette Skeats,The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Reading

15

SP O RT

This was held at Reading Golf Club on June 3 on a pleasant sunny day. As there were two trophies to play for, thePresident's Jug and the Secretary's Prize, it was decided to make the former a 36 holes Stableford competition and the latterthe best of 18 hole round.

At the lunch break, after the firsts 18 holes, Gareth Price came in with the excellent score of 40 points. Whether he over-celebratedI do not know, but he was unable to repeat the performance in the afternoon!

We were pleased to welcome John Smith (1949-54) who joined us for the first time and hope to see him on future occasions.

SP O RTTH E OL D RE D I N G E N S I A N S GO L F I N G SO C I E T Y

RE P O RT O N T H E JU N E 2003 ME E T I N G

MI X E D FO RT U N E S I N ORCR I C K E T WE E K

Last year I sadly reported the deterioration of the Schoolcricket square, which had for many years been one of the bestin the south of England. In this year’s O.R. cricket week, thepitches were closer to their former glory, but they were stillsubject to uneven – generally low – bounce. The major workon re-laying was due to commence in early August, and wehope for a return to its former excellence next year.

These problems have not proved to be detrimental to the School1st XI, which has had a splendid season, losing only one game,and scores were generally good for the O.R. games. Outstandingperformer of the week was indisputably Caversham &Redingensians C.C. captain, James Smart, who scored two 60sand was the leading wicket-taker.

The game against the Drones – comprised largely of PangbourneCollege Old Boys – had been disappointingly low-scoring inprevious years. This year, the O.R.s batted first and compiled 246for 8 declared, with major contributions from Dewey, Smart andBonneywell. When the opponents slumped to 71 for 6, an easyO.R. win appeared likely, but a stubborn seventh wicket stand of116 made a win for the visitors a real prospect, until school-master John Bonneywell mopped up the tail for a 16-run victory.

President's JugWinner with 72 points Rudolph BissolottiRunner-up with 65 points Jack HoltThird with 58 points John Childs

Secretary's PrizeWinner with 40 points Gareth PriceRunner-up with 37 points Rodney Lunn

Nearest the pin John Downes

We were delighted that the immediate Past President, Dr.Dudley Bruton, was with us in the evening to present theprizes. As usual the Club's catering department looked after usvery well and the Course was in very good playing condition.

On behalf of the Society, I would like to thank Goss Groupplc for their generous support in the form of prizes and theO.R. Association for its much appreciated financial supportand not forgetting the talents of Will Lunn for hisphotography on and off the course.

The next meeting will be held at Reading Golf Club onTuesday, October 7.

Rudolph Bissolotti,Hon. Sec.O.R.G.S.

E-mail rudolph@bissolotti.u-net.comTelephone 020 7843 9132

TH E DAY'S R E S U LT S W E R E:

Terry Cartwight in action

From the sociable viewpoint, Tuesday’s game was the highlight.This saw a one-off game to celebrate 50 years of ORs JohnEvans and Terry Cartwright playing cricket together. Electing tobat first TC’s XI made slow progress, taking 57 overs to reach232 for 8 declared, during which Smart bowled 26 consecutiveovers of accurate off spin. In reply, the Evans’ XI seemed to bein desperate trouble at 39 for 4 just after tea. A stand of 173between cricket week stalwarts Dick Owen and John Grimsdalechanged the whole complexion of the game and only one morewicket was lost in five wicket victory with four overs remaining.Many former players were there for the closing overs and therewas much reminiscing in the County Arms afterwards.

The Wednesday fixture against the Old Blues has proved to bea tough match ever since they took away the O.R.’s long-standing undefeated record four years ago. Hoping to avengelast year’s sound beating, the old boys fielded their strongestteam of the week, but could still only muster 190, which provedto be wholly inadequare as the Blues’ opener Phillips scored104 not out in an eight-wicket win.

Thursday and Friday saw our now traditional two-day gameagainst Bowden, the Cheshire-based team captained by O.R.,Sean Walters. Interestingly poised overnight, with the O.R.s 213for 8 in reply to Bowden’s 271, no play was possible on theFriday because of heavy rain. Bowden owed their huge total totheir Australian opening batsman Smith, who scored 124 beforelunch on the first morning. The only Redingensians bowler toescape heavy punishment was Smart who took 5 for 69 in 20overs.

16

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O.R.s beat The Drones by 16 runsO.R.s 246 for 8 dec – R. Dewey 88, J. Smart 66,J. Bonneywell 46; Drones 230 all out – Sumner 82, Bedford 45; J. Bonneywell5 for 29, J. Braid 3 for 53

John Evans’ XI beat Terry Cartwright’s XI by 5 wicketsTerry Cartwright’s XI 232 for 8 dec – M. Pryce 65,P. Knight 42, C. Purdie 35 n.o., C. Wilson 34;J. Smart 4 for 75John Evans’ XI 234 for 5 – R. G. Owen 89 n.o.,J. Grimsdale 72

Old Blues beat O.R.s by 8 wicketsO.R.s 190 all out – J. Smart 68, T. Cartwright 37,M. Lyford 27Old Blues 194 for 2 – M. Phillips 104 n.o.

O.R.s v Bowden (2-day game) – match abandoned as a drawBowden 271 for 9 dec – R. Smith 124; J. Smart 5 for 69O.R.s 213 for 8 – J. Braid 53, J. Smart 44, J. Evans 27;S, Walters 2 for 53

We are again indebted to the headmaster for allowing the useof the school facilities and to the O.R. Association for theirgrant, which ensures that we have the funds to continue theweek. As last year, Mark Lyford did sterling work inrecruiting players – particularly younger O.R.s..

The week will be held from 19th to 23rd July next year. If youare interested in playing, please contact Mark Lyford on07901 668374, email markly71@yahoo.co.uk or TerryCartwright on 01252 795578, email terryc@whiteoaks.co.uk.We are also seeking a couple of new opponents, so if you haveany suggestions, let one of us have the details.

Terry CartwrightAugust 2003

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TH E CH R I S KAY S

ME M O R I A L GA M E S 2003 By Mark Lyford

There are some people with whom it is sheer pleasure tospend time. The huge number of people who haverecently come along to spend time with the memory andspirit of Chris Kays shows that he was one of them. Ninemonths ago Chris was tragically killed in the Baliatrocity - an event which shocked us all immediately. Thenews that one of Reading School's finest ambassadorswas amongst the victims was hard to believe. As thedetails filtered through it became clear that Chris wasdoing what he does best on that fatal night in Bali -mingling with the crowd and making countless newfriends to add to what must be one of the most impressiveaddress books ever.

After much discussion amongst friends, colleagues and, ofcourse, loving parents, Ray and Lyn, about how best tocelebrate and remember our mate Kaysie, it was decided thatwe would recognise his input into school Rugby and Cricket.In conjunction with Abbey RFC (Chris played many seasonsthere from junior to 1st team) a memorial day was plannedwith two games played, one involving Reading School OldBoys and Abbey, the other an invitation match between thePresidents XV and an All Star team. In addition it wasdecided to create a trophy in his name to be presented eachyear at the OR cricket match against School. In this way theChris Kays Cup match will be played every year at ReadingSchool and he will always be remembered.

As a rugby player Kaysie was one of the best ReadingSchool has ever had. He played rugby wherever he went -smiling all the while! He was one of those you could alwayscount on and a veteran of many OR XVs, that is unless hewas too far away to get there! It was common, when therallying email for players for a match went round, for a replyto come from some far flung corner of the globe sayingsomething along the lines " Sorry, can't make it this timeguys, am in Thailand, but make sure you win and have fun".Kaysie was never one to just think can't make it- so ignore it.He was always keen to find out what happened, who wasthere, if we had a laugh and who wore his No. 9!

Ashley Cole had the privilege of getting together theReading School Old Boys team to play in the Chris KaysMemorial Games - a matter of 40 players actually took partand countless others came along to be involved in a veryspecial day. The match itself was played in a style and spiritwhich personified Chris - total exhilaration and enjoymentand, of course, a Reading School win! Chris would havebeen proud. We wish he could have played. In all over 2,500people came to Abbey RFC that day, a true testament to theesteem and regard this little man with the big heart was heldin by all who knew him. As it was also Chris's speciality theday went long into the evening!

Cricket was CK's second sport but one that gave him somuch enjoyment and yet another group of people to infectwith his personality. Chris had captained the School 1st XIand played many OR Cricket Weeks. With his constant grin,

chatter and loopy off spin he made the afternoons in front ofBig School so much fun for everyone else involved. If Chrisowned the 9 shirt for his ability with the egg-shaped ball, healso made the No. 11 his own for his bat-wielding skills! Iwish every cricket team had a Kaysie!

So we decided to initiate the Chris Kays Cup for the Schoolv OR fixture, and the recent match was one that Chris wouldhave enjoyed and excelled in. It was certainly played in theway he would have liked. In a break with tradition the ORteam was stacked with players from his era and we almostwon it, the School hanging on for a draw with 9 wicketsdown. None of the boys playing for the School knew Chris.However they certainly learned what it meant to all the ORsplaying and I am sure that in the future they will be playingfor that cup with the same spirit, intensity and fun as Kaysiedid in his time.

Once again the draw of playing for Chris was a spur forthose who knew him - a former 1st XI Captain played hisfirst match in 10 years just to be involved. The crowd alsocame in good numbers, many from Chris's generationgetting together for the afternoon and enjoying manymemories. I was fortunate to get the team together and theresponse was fantastic - all those who played wanted toshow for their friend, Kaysie.

I would have loved to be able to put his name down at No.11. We miss you my friend, but we will never forget.

THE CHRIS KAYS CUPSATURDAY 28TH JUNE 2003

SCHOOL v OR XI

OR XI 216 all outSchool 159 - 9

Some members of the OR XIT. Cartwright (55-62), M. Leary (93-2000), J. Cole (82-89),J. Dance (84-91), O. Beckett (81-88), N. Lunnon (82-89),G. Orpwood (82-89), A. Cole (84-91), M. Orford (95-2002),M. Lyford (82-89), R. Palmer (83-90).

PETER LINCOLN-GORDON(36-45)

By Gerald Malkin

Peter died in Kenya, age 75 years,on 18th April 2003. He was born inBengal, India, the middle of threesons, whose father worked for theIndian Civil Service. He left Indiawhen he was 8 years old and beganhis days at Reading School in theJunior School under C.P. Peach.W.H. Keeton was then HeadMaster of the Senior School,followed by C.E. Kemp.

Peter was a fine sportsman,excelling at cricket as a stylishbatsman and medium pacedbowler. He was taught by W.G.Bott and B.L.R. Dowse 'to use hisfeet'. He played for three years inthe 1st XI, captain in 1945 andpreviously under M.A. Salmon andL.A. Sears. He was particularlyproud of his 109 'not out' in 1944against The Archbishop TennisonSchool. He subsequently playedsix times for Berkshire.

I met Peter at Parklands Club,Nairobi, playing cricket in 1953.He was then farming, which hadbecome his life. He married Moira,a nurse trained at Great OrmondStreet Hospital, in the late 50s. Herparents farmed extensively at FortHall, Nyeri.

Peter was very happily married, afamily man with two daughters,Linnie and Carol. A proudgrandfather with two boys, both,like Peter and Moira, devoted tosport.

Peter and Moira lived at Naivashasince 1994 in a house which theybuilt. They were able to sell part oftheir land which became a golfcourse on which they both enjoyedplaying.

My wife Jean and I met Peter andMoira twice in the last nine years atNaivasha and Muthaiga Golf Club,Nairobi. We have correspondedregularly since then. We met atLewes during their last visit toEngland.

REFLECTIONS ON THESUMMER OF 1945

by Tony Waring

Whilst at school it is said you neverlooked down when rememberingthe names and exploits of fellowpupils. Consequently, as anaspiring cricketer, I would sit onthe terrace at school wondering ifone day I might emulate the heroes

of the 1st XI who appeared fromthe Keeton Pavilion immaculatelyturned out with blazer top pocketswith initials of the coloursawarded.

One of these heroes was PeterLincoln-Gordon, a stylish batsmanwith a debonair and suave mannerthat made him shine out as anatural leader. As a result ofknowing Peter's younger brotherDavid, who was in my form, I wasaware that the Lincoln-Gordonshad a colonial background and thattheir father had been taken prisonerby the Japanese on the fall ofSingapore.

On returning for the 1945 summerterm I found myself playing wicketkeeper in the 1st XI which in thatyear was captained by PLG. Beingthe baby of that very successfulside I was in awe of my heroes,particularly the likes of EricMartin, Ken Ware, Geoff Draperand, of course, Peter. Despitehaving a certain aloofness healways led by example, passingwords of encouragement overerratic bowling or dropped catches.Such leadership reflected throughthe team's performances that the1945 season was deemed a goodyear for School cricket.

On leaving school, Peter wasselected to play for BerkshireCounty Cricket in company withother notable OR cricketers, D.W.Stokes, R.D. Mackey, L.A. Sears,M.A. Salmon, all of whom hadbeen coached at School by BillBott, the former Worcester countyprofessional. When coachingWGB demanded that you play astraight bat at all times. That is howPeter Lincoln-Gordon personifiedthe way in which the game shouldalways be played.

LEN FISHER (27-33)who died in June 2003

By his daughter,Mrs. Julia Overson

Len was born in 1916, the son of apoliceman. On leaving school hejoined the Highways Departmentof Berkshire County Council as acivil engineer, In WW2 he wasseconded to the War Departmentand re-joined Berkshire CountyCouncil in 1946. He also workedfor Berkshire County Council for afew years prior to his retirement.

He was a staunch supporter of theOR Association and his wifeEvelyn was a talented organist,being a member of the Berkshire

Organist Society. On the death ofEvelyn he donated all her organand choral music to ReadingSchool and financed theconstruction of a music cabinetnow housed in the organ loft in theSchool Chapel. After Evelyn'smemorial service held at GoringChurch, Graham Ireland M.Mus.,B.Mus., FRCO, LRAM gave arecital in 2001 in her memory, justprior to his retirement as Directorof Music at Reading School.

CHARLES R.H. CHAPMAN(23-27)

By Kerr Kirkwood

Charles was born in 1910 and diedin April 2003 at his home inShiplake-on-Thames. He was oneof the most senior Old Boys on ourregister. He was a choirboy fromand hailed from Bristol. His familymoved to Reading in 1919. AtSchool he was an all-roundsportsman, playing Rugby andcricket and doing well in athletics.He was keen on the OTC and wason parade when the Duke ofWindsor visited the School in1927. He joined the TA as a gunnerin 1939 and served in the NorthAfrican theatre, being mentionedin despatches in 1944. In businesshe was with Sun Life Assurance.Messrs Widdows and Kirkwoodrepresented the OR Association athis funeral service on 24th April.

E. "TED" A. ROBSON (38-46)By Kerr Kirkwood

The death of Ted Robson on 7thApril 2003 in Melbourne, Victoriasevers a long connection with theVictorian OR Branch and ourparent body in Reading as it wasdue to his enthusiasm that theAustralian Old Boys entered thefold in 1990 and membership inAustralia now totals 40. He passed

away aged 74 after a short illness.

He organised the Annual VictoriaLuncheon at Brighton Beach atChristmas. He had a great affectionfor the Reading School staff whotaught him. He also invited ORs inN.S.W. to create their own branchand helped promote an OR bi-annual dinner in Merimbula,N.S.W. in March 2002.

As a National Serviceman hejoined the Merchant Navy as aRadio Officer in 1947 and heemigrated to Australia in 1950. Inbusiness he was a leader inmarketing and advertising for theAustralian Grocery trade. Heleaves a widow, Alex, and twosons. C.R. Tice (31-38) waspresent at the celebration of his lifein April 2003.

A.W. TICE (23-35)By Kerr Kirkwood

Alan was born on 11th April 1917and died in April 2003 in Sydney.He entered West Wing as a boarderin January 1923 and left in July1935 with Matriculation. He had agood sporting career at School andplayed for the 1st XV and 1st XI.He was a useful (southpaw) boxer.He saw war service in the RASC inthe 8th Army in the Western DesertCampaign and rose to the rank ofCaptain. Alan was predeceased byhis wife of 55 years in 2000. Heleaves two daughters and twostrapping Rugby and basketballplaying grandsons. His twobrothers Charles and Don are ORs.

MARIAN JESSIE (PEGGY)MAULE OR

By Chris Widdows

Family and friends, including thePresident of the Old RedingensiansAssociation, John Illman CMG,

18

O B I T U A R I E S

Reading School 1st XI 1945Back row: W G Bott (coach), A R Waring, E W Davis,R W Gittins, P J Burgess, G H Taylor, J A Goodworth

Front row: G D Draper, M L Duggins, P Lincoln-Gordon (Capt),K W Ware, E A Martin

19

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EDITORSJ. V. Oakes

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORSMark Lyford

Kerr Kirkwood

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President & Chairman: J. Illman0118 945 5365 - Email: john@illman007.fsnet.co.ukMembership Secretary: C. J. Widdows0118 962 3721 - Email: CWiddows@aol.comHon Treasurer: I.R. Moore0118 935 3505 - Email:ian229@hotmail.comSocial Secretary: B. G. T. Titchener01962 774519 - Email: social@oldredingensians.org.ukHon Secretary: J. V. Oakes0118 988 3881 - Email: Oakes538@aol.com

OFFICERS FOR 2003

F O R T H C O M I N G E V E N T S

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 9th NOVEMBER 2003. At 1030 a.m. the Venerable Peter Coombs, Chaplain to the OldRedingensians Association, will lead a Service of Remembrance in the Reading School Chapel. ORs and members of theSchool are invited to attend. This year the service will be about "Keeping the Peace", a matter which is exercising thegovernment severely at the moment. John Illman CMG, the President, will be giving an address on the theme and hopes thatyou will attend and support this service.

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE OLD REDINGENSIANS ASSOCIATION 29th NOVEMBER 2003.This year, by kind permission of the Head Master, the AGM moves back to Big School. A notice is included in this mailingto all ORs.

THE ANNUAL OR DINNER 29th NOVEMBER 2003 will be held this year in Junior School. The Council hasenthusiastically approved of the change which will see partners attending this year. We will probably be able to cater for 90persons in the old dining room. There will be a cash bar open throughout the dinner. Profits from the bar will go towardsthe Big School Appeal and we would thus encourage you to use it as much as possible. The Head Master has kindlyconsented to the new grand piano from the Music School being available and we hope that this will lead to someentertainment.

The President elect has chosen to reduce the amount of time taken in the past with formalities, thus allowing diners moretime for socialising. The keyword for the night is enjoyment and we are confident that the inclusion of partners will bring alivelier and freer atmosphere to the event. An application from is included in this mailing and we urge you to make yourbookings as quickly as possible.

RU G B Y 7STHE INAUGURAL ANNUAL READING SCHOOL RUGBY 7s TOURNAMENT.

September 2004

With the enthusiastic approval of the Head Master and John Vaughan, the Director of Sport, this new event will be held atReading School during September 2004. Details and contacts will soon be available on the OR web site(www.oldredingensians.org.uk) and through Friends Reunited.

and her stepson Mike Maule, ORCouncil Member, gathered at StPeter's Church on Monday 28thJuly 2003 to celebrate the life ofPeggy Maule who died on 15thJuly 2003. The service was led byCanon Richard Kingsbury and thetribute was given by the Revd.Alveen Thoresen. For almost thirtyyears Peggy was AdvertisingManager for the Caversham Bridgefrom which she retired in 1997.

Peggy was born in Clapham, SouthLondon and her home waswrecked by a land mine in theblitz. At the age of 22 she joinedthe ATS and by the time she was 24she was a Company SergeantMajor in charge of 400 girls. Afterthe war she and her sister Bettymoved to Reading and made a

career in banking, both living inAlbert Road. She met Eric and in1956 they married and she becamethe stepmother of Eric's fourchildren. In time ten grandchildrenand four great grand childrenswelled the Maule family ranks.Eric died in 1996.

Peggy's interest in other people andher desire to help them involvedher in voluntary work in the RedCross and on the Council ofManagement of Hemdean HouseSchool. She was also closelyinvolved with Buscot Ward in theRoyal Berkshire Hospital, makingtiny garments for the prematurebabies. She and Eric maintainedstrong links with Reading Schooland she remained an OR until herdeath in July.

G.A. NASH ('NAGGER')(38-44)

By Clive Rowden

Graham Nash died in July 2003after falling into a coma in SouthAfrica from which he neverrecovered. On leaving School hewent to the old Miles AircraftCompany in Woodley as anapprentice in the DesignDepartment.

When the war ended he tookadvantage of his experience inairframes and started a furnitureframe business supplying the bigmanufacturers. He also learned tofly and was always ready to takeyou up for a "flip". Graham wasalways concerned with the old,disabled and disadvantaged

sections of society and spent agreat deal of time involved invarious societies.

He was an amiable man with agood sense of humour and a manwhose word was his bond. He willbe sadly missed by his manyfriends and acquaintances.

Clifford Payton, the Secretary ofReading Old Boys Lodge, addsthat Graham was initiated intoKendrick Free and AcceptedMasons in 1966. Subsequently, on6th October 1976, he became ajoining member of Reading OldBoys Lodge. He was electedMaster in October 1980.