gigg:news v.66 december 2014

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December 2014 ISSUE 66 Path to Success Famous OG: John Abbott-King In Profile: Kathryn Wright For All Giggleswickians GIGG : NEWS

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Page 1: Gigg:News v.66 December 2014

December 2014ISSUE 66

Path to Success

Famous OG: John Abbott-King

In Profile: Kathryn Wright

For All Giggleswickians

GIGG : NEWS

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PICTURE CONUNDRUM

On the cover: (Starting top left going across):Johnson, A.E. (N 1909 - 1913)Wilson, J.E. (T 1908 - 1912)Wade, A.N. (S 1911 - 1912)Proctor, G. (T 1905 - 1908) Johnson, H.E. (P 1905 - 1908)Atkinson, V.R. (T 1907 - 1915)Jenkinson, C.T. (T 1906 - 1912)Stockdale, F. (T 1891 - 1891)Lodge, B.G. (C 1909 - 1912)Fryer, J.W. (C 1902 - 1905)Angus, A. (S 1908 - 1913)Marlor, E. (T 1902 - 1907)

Editorial Team: Mr James P Bellis, Miss Sophie G Clayton © Giggleswick School 2014

Giggleswick School is a Registered Charity - No. 1109826

Information is correct at press time. Check www.giggleswick.org.uk for latest information.

OGs and their families are always welcome at School. To arrange a visit please contact OG Liasion Officer, Mr James P Bellis 01729 893123 [email protected]

OG Club Correspondence address Anthony Briggs, Hon Club Secretary The OG Club, c/o Giggleswick School, Settle, BD24 0DE. or email direct [email protected]

Article deadline for next issue: Friday 1 May 2015

WHO ARE THESE OGS?AND WHAT WAS THE INCIDENT?Answers on a postcard please... or email [email protected]. You can send your submissions of photographs for the next issue to the same address.

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CONTENTS

2. Picture Conundrum

3. Young Governor

4. Soap Box

5. EditorialA look back to The Chronicle December 1914

6. Big School Bulletin Four pages of OG News

10. Sports Shorts

12. Feature Article: Headmaster Mark Turnbull

14. Famous OG John Abbott-King

15. Young OG Kathryn Wright

16. Feature: Vitaï LampadaGiggleswick School RUFC XV, 1912- 1913

18. Gigg:Circular News on the lives of OGs

21. Get Online and Get Appy

22. Events

23. OG Day 2014 A review of this year’s OG Day

24. The Inexorable Unravelling of a ManSchool Production: A View from the Bridge

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YOUNG GOVERNOR DIARYAUTUMN 2014

FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY OG North East DinnerNorthern Counties Club, Newcastle

SUNDAY 15 MARCHCandlelit ServiceGiggleswick Chapel

SATURDAY 11 APRIL 2015OG London DinnerHMS Belfast, £90, £50 under 30sPlease apply for tickets by email to [email protected] or visit http://www.giggleswick.org.uk/rwt/. Accommodation at the Doubletree by Hilton, Westminster is available at a special rate through Anthony Briggs, [email protected].

JUNE 2015OG London DrinksTBC

SATURDAY 27 JUNE 2015OG DayAll OGs welcomeSpecial reunion for former members of Style House and for those who left the school in 1964, 1989 and 2009 as well as any OGs who would like to join the occasion.

TUESDAY 14-16 JULYThe Great Yorkshire showGiggleswick Stand

The OG Club and Giggleswick School can be found on Social Media too!

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Are you aged 23-27? Keen to make a real difference to the life of your school?

Giggleswick School is again providing the exciting opportunity for a Young OG to join its Governing Body. As a full member of the board, the successful applicant will gain experience as a trustee of an educational charity and an insight into the working of a multi-million pound business.

For more information or to apply, please contact Jim Bellis, OG Liason Officer on 01729 893123, [email protected] The deadline for applications is Friday 27 March 2015 and it is expected the successful applicant would be appointed in June 2015.

To be the young Governor?In a busy life at the earliest stages of your career with a student loan to pay off why would you want to take on extra commitment and involvement for no pay and on precious weekends when you could be forging your personal life?

I have enjoyed every minute of my time as a school governor, and hope that many young OGs would consider applying for the role early next year. Taking on the role as the first Young OG Governor 18 months ago I knew that I would be faced with exciting new prospects as well as unexpected challenges; I have certainly had plenty of both. So why should you apply?

Learning new thingsI have been exposed to a huge range of projects that otherwise I would not have encountered. My very first task as a governor was to be involved in the appointment of a new headmaster. Undeniably this is one of the most important parts of a governor’s role. There was never any suggestion that I wasn’t a valuable addition to the team. I have become accustomed to looking at financial data, academic

analyses, planning reports and legal documents, none of which I had any exposure to previously. I have also been able to attend national courses designed to help school governors gain more confidence in areas with which they have less experience with.

From the moment that I arrived at my first meeting (feeling very out of place!) I have been welcomed as a valued colleague. The atmosphere in meetings is always open and encouraging, and there was no expectation that I would be good, at or even understand everything. The Giggleswick governors have a wide variety of backgrounds: in law, in business, in education. I did wonder at first what I would be able to offer to such an elite group but it is the unique eligibility criteria for the role that underlines the position of the Young OG governor. I am more able to appreciate the student perspective. Being a recent OG I have contemporary understanding of some of the issues at stake. My contributions are valued and welcomed on all issues. For anyone who wishes to apply for the role, apart from being a young OG of the correct age, there is no other single criterion necessary to be successful. I hope that every future OG governor will bring something different to the role; different backgrounds with different interests, but a shared love of Giggleswick and a desire to influence the school in a positive way.

Governorship has been a fascinating opportunity to learn more about Giggleswick. As a pupil you are unaware of the policy decisions going on behind the scenes, or the planning and consideration required for every new project (or the depth of analysis that goes into academic results!) It has been both a pleasure and also a great responsibility to be involved in decisions that essentially ask, ‘Where will Giggleswick go next?

Interacting with the Giggleswick communityI have enjoyed many events at the Richard Whitely Theatre, the Singing and Speaking Competition, Christmas concerts, OG Day and Speech Day to name just a few, and I look forward to the London Dinner in April too. I have visited the school on a more day-to-day basis, offering careers advice to 6th form pupils. So I would encourage anyone who wants to get involved to consider investigating both what you can do for Giggleswick and what Giggleswick can do for you.

If for some reason all the above doesn’t persuade you, I’ll finish with my third reason: being a company director of a multi-million pound business looks pretty good on your CV, especially when you’re 24 and have no other business experience to speak of!

If you are interested in applying for the role and want to know more about what it entails, please feel free to email me on [email protected]

Victoria Turner (CH/C 98-06)

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SOAPBOXFROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE OG CLUB

I am very proud to have been elected by the members of the club to be your President for the year 2014-2015.

OG Day this year was a most memorable day for me. Firstly, it was the day of my inauguration and secondly it was Geoffrey Boult’s last OG Function, when we were able to say a fitting goodbye to him and Katie, presenting them both with gifts for their terrific support of our club over the last 13 years, generously donated to by so many members of the club – thank you. We were also able to say thank you too to my predecessor, Rod Waldie, for all his work as President during his year of office. In introducing me, Rod covered my life story

from the ages of 8 to 67 including my time at Giggleswick, my subsequent Army Career up to my retirement after 30 years with the colours, my children at Giggleswick and my time on the OG Committee. I had little more to say on that subject other than my connection with the school has lasted for 43 years (OG Committee member, parent, pupil and brother of pupil at Gigg.) so I could have torn up the first two pages of my speech!

This year I enjoyed visiting the CCF on their annual camp at Wathgill Army Camp, inspecting a smart contingent of cadets and presenting the prizes, including the Stockdale Trophy to the winners of the various competitions. In September the OG London Drinks in Paternoster Square, allowed us to welcome and meet for the first time Headmaster Mark Turnbull. We also said goodbye to one of our staunchest supporters over the last 7 years, Andrew Beales, Foundation Director.

As I mentioned on OG Day, my theme for this year is Remembrance. For the past year I have been working on a Roll of Honour to remember those of the school who gave their lives for their country in the Great War 1914-1918, and in the summer months Andrew Beales joined me in this research and aided in the design and preparation of the resulting book of remembrance that had been proposed by Jim Bellis last year as part of our ongoing programme of commemorative projects for the Great War. The finished volume, a most fitting tribute to those brave Giggleswick men who lost their lives during that long and arduous conflict

a hundred years ago, will genuinely aid us in never forgetting. The content fills in some of the details about the names of the OG’s carved on the marble tablet memorial in the Chapel, which had been above my head as I sat in the Paley pews and of whom I knew very little. This book was dedicated and blessed at the very moving Remembrance Service on 9th November, where I and Anthony Briggs represented the club at the wreath laying ceremony, then taking the Honour Roll and laid it on the altar. Work has now begun on a similar volume about those who lost their lives in the Second World War which ended seventy years ago next year as my term of office comes to an end.

Looking forward to next year, we will be holding the OG North East Dinner in Newcastle in February, so do come and join us if you can. The OG London Dinner 2015 will be held on Saturday April 11th on board HMS Belfast, on the River Thames. Do please come and support your club at what will undoubtedly be a memorable event in such surroundings.

I end with a plea to you all: If you know of any Old Giggleswickians who fought in either of the two world wars please either let me, or Jim Bellis our OG Liaison Officer know of them and if you have any stories of their wartime escapades or have any photographs or memorabilia to share, do please get in touch so that we can remember them with honour.

Major Bob Drake

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INTEREST & SUPPORT IN EQUAL MEASUREAndrew Beales now occupies a gleaming new office in Wakefield where he has been appointed to head the Foundation department at the Wakefield Grammar Schools’ Trust. In the weeks since Andrew departed it quickly became apparent how much he did and how much he had achieved. It seems fitting therefore, that in this space that is normally a report on the activities of the Foundation that I dedicate some space to a retrospective of Andrew’s remarkable achievements at Giggleswick.

Surprisingly, it is over seven years since Giggleswick’s first Foundation Director was appointed. School’s such as ours have to have a person working full time to further the fund raising capability of the organisation or they cannot compete solely from fee income to fulfil their needs. The role of Andrew therefore was to seek new streams of funds and in so doing to fulfil the at times uncomfortable roll of

asking people for money. This in an era of economic austerity, is hardly designed to endear you to your victims and so it is all the more remarkable that Andrew was able to achieve significant success, raising in excess of £1.1m in gifts and pledges during his tenure and be fondly remembered by everyone who had dealings with him. His eager to please personable persona belies a razor sharp mind and an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of his client base across potential organisations and most importantly the membership of the OG club. The outward respect that he projected garnered interest and support in equal measure.

Some of the milestones during his seven years were:•Planning and executing the campaign to raise funds to enable Richard Whiteley’s bequest to become the Richard Whiteley Theatre. Encouraging support with different categories of donors, named seats, evening events, LEADER funding (an EU grant) amd harnessing the support of Richard Whiteley’s great friend Sir Tim Rice.

•Building up relationships with 4000 OGs round the world. Close to the heart of David Fox and which they undertook together. •Founding the 1512 Society. •Launching the Annual Fund, the inception of “Telethons” and The Big Give.•New informal OG get-togethers.•Attended 25 meetings of the 2012 Committee as the key player in supporting David Fox and the organising committee of the Quincentenary events in 2012.

All this was achieved whilst becoming an indispensable support to the wider school community. An expert in the application of complex yet sophisticated presentation software and the go-to man for everyone who needed something facilitating at short notice – if you needed an inflatable dinosaur Andrew would get it for you. The Old Savillian’s (at QUEGS Wakefield) do not yet know what a gem they have.

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EDITORIAL

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REMEMBRANCE

The Gigg:News for December 2014 cannot be as solemn, or in its way as momentous, as the Chronicle of exactly 100 years past. In his editorial for that Michaelmas term Chronicle the Headmaster, Mr Douglas could not know what lay ahead over the ensuing four years.

The inevitable social and economic change that runs in parallel with such a global upheaval was laid out ahead of Mr Douglas and his school. Already a number of former Giggleswickians had succumbed in combat in France, and by the time the December 1918 edition was being printed over 800 OGs would have served and 125 of them would be dead. For your interest that Chronicle entry follows this editorial.

The attrition rate of our young men was particularly high as a proportion of the numbers who served. So what does this have to do with today’s OGs? We will never know exactly what the world, Britain or North Yorkshire would have been like had that conflict not been fought, but historians are fairly unanimous that had it been

lost once it began, the consequences would have been severe. The contribution therefore of our young men was crucial.

In the OG office we have been planning a programme of events to commemorate those times. We look forward to receiving our ceramic poppies from that unforgettable installation at the Tower of London in the new year. The Remembrance service at school on November 9th was memorable for the place and time alone, though this year the silence seemed all the more still. At that service we were pleased to have our new Book of Remembrance presented and blessed. This beautiful creation is the work of our 2014 club President Major Bob drake and former Foundation Director, Andrew Beales. The final creation is everything and more that I had hoped for when I first proposed it to the OG Committee last year and our thanks go to Bob and Andrew for the time that they gave in creating it. The book is now installed in its case in the Chapel where Praepostors turn the pages each week to reveal the facts and figures on every one of the war dead, including two whom were not originally included on the memorial tablet when it was installed in the Chapel in 1921.

Not surprisingly, in parallel with our Presidents’ theme for his year of office the theme of this edition is Remembrance. We hope that our readers will allow us this indulgence.

Every institution undergoes change and as is well known we said a fitting good bye to Geoffrey and Katie Boult in July, and in August Mark and Ruth Turnbull arrived to take up their tenure in Holywell Toft. Our new headmaster has been getting to know Giggleswick very rapidly and many OGs have already met him at events in London, Harrogate and Blackburn.

JPB

From The Chronicle December 1914

When the School broke up at the end of last term the cloud on the horizon was only as large as a man’s hand, and those who had so much as noticed it thought it would soon disperse. But all too rapidly it grew, and the darkening heavens darkened too the Earth and the waters under the Earth.

Collectively we have, up to the present, not been greatly affected by the war. The fact that J. de W. Kenyon took a commission instead of coming back to be Head of the School has meant that we have lost one who promised to be a valuable and influential leader. He would have left his mark on the School-clear and characteristic. Eric Senior Smith had hardly taken up the mantle which fell from him when he too was required for military work elsewhere, and it devolved upon Hamilton to take the lead. Sergeant Merckel was called up at the outbreak of war and had not long to wait to shew his value in the firing line. There has been a large increase in the numbers of the Corps, and most of the masters have taken the opportunity of drilling and shooting. Finally, there is a long list of Old Boys who have answered their Country’s call, ready if need be “To face Some awful moment to which Heaven has join’d Great issues, good or bad for human kind.”We shall watch their doings with mingled pride and anxiety as they help “to tell the Universe what o’clock it really is.”Individually we are probably conscious of a mental redistribution of relative values in the equation of personal life. We form a juster conception of the things that matter. The machinery of school life has already had a cleaning, and the smaller forces work with more efficiency and power. Football and fighting and fagging are much what they used to be, and yet they seem to have lost something

here and gained something there as they go to form a part of twentieth-century England. Like Olympic Games and Geometry and Digging in the honest earth, these things are seen to be a means and not an end in themselves. So too we realize that school may give rise to a lop-sided estimate of individual quality. The camp has a larger capacity for those whose temperaments and interests and occupations form collectively a variegated pattern; and he that was nobody in the little vision of public school life takes his true place along with school captains in the larger life of the nation.

More than that we cannot say. We are so close to it all that it is blurred and out of focus. But it will react with our school life and make a new thing of it. The two together will form a kind of precipitate-part of both and all of neither-and it rests with us to see that the waste products of the change are thrown away and the solid matter preserved, to give rise to we know not what precious things when transformed by the alchemy of tomorrow.

R. N. Douglas - Headmaster

Settle Volunteer Parade to the Station August 1914

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RAISON D’ ÊTREIt is fair to say that one of the reasons that we are here is to achieve academic success for our pupils. Such success comes in many forms, with the eventual outcome for many being the entry to higher education. Anna Wood, our Assistant Head Academic, writes:

I am delighted to report that 47/50 pupils achieved their first choice university and our star performer, Niki Leung, became the first Giggleswickian to achieve 3 A* grades at A’ Level. She has taken up her place to read Vet-erinary Medicine at Murray Edward’s College, Cambridge.

At A’ Level our A band pupils performed partic-ularly well, achieving an 89% A* to B pass-rate; 12 pupils scoring AAB or better. At GCSE 88.2% achieved A*-C and 42.4 A*/A with our A band pupils achieving a very pleasing 82% A*/A, in line with previous years.

Further Mathematics was a high performing ‘extra’ subject in which 5 pupils achieved A** Distinctions and many others achieved A* and A grades, a clear indication of how our most able pupils are stretched.

Notable last year were the 4 pupils who won places on Headstart Engineering courses.Harry Hancock (N U6) – Leeds UniversityEllie Middleton (C U6) – Salford UniversityLiza Zholnerovych (C U6) - UCLHannah Taylor (St Y11) – Leeds University

Four students undertook academic enrich-ment through the writing of an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification). These are investigative projects which win additional UCAS points and allow students to develop deeper under-standing of a specialist area in their favoured subjects. These students were:Stephanie Caisley (St 14) – ProstheticsSabrina Gilby (C U6) – JerusalemEllen Dewhurst (St U6)– PsycopathyRachael Lightfoot (St 14) – Dentistry

As we reach the end of the Christmas term 2014, it is exciting to report that 9 students applied to Oxford and Cambridge this year, 7 of whom have been invited to interview. This is a record in recent years and a pleasing indication of the strength of the current U6th. We wish them all good fortune, both in the interviews and in the conclusion of their studies. ALW

SINGING AND SPEAKINGWith another audience of close to a thousand in the sports hall, a number of whom are returning OGs keen to see their old house perform, themes this year were based upon the universe; Stars, Heavens, Earth, Oceans, The Sun and The Moon. The annual singing and speaking competition yielded the closest competition yet, with memorable elements performed by every house. In the end Style took the judges’ overall prize for their suite of performances based around “The Oceans”. Their spirited house spoken item earned them praise from Drama Judge, Glenda Hague from Malsis School and their small group singing was deemed perfect by international soprano Sarah Fox OG. OG Jess Mahler applauded their house sung item. The small group prize went to Nowell, with Guy Daws singled out by Sarah Fox for his accom-plished guitar playing and accompaniment. Carr won the house spoken item and Paley the house sung item. Last year’s winners Morrison put on a memorable whole house performance, and Shute’s small group rendi-tion of Moon River showcased the new talent of George Ogden (Yr9) along with veteran performer Alex Walters.

The audience was entertained by solos from our music scholars while the judges retired to consider their verdicts.

BONFIRE NIGHT

The Senior and Junior School bonfire and fireworks fair was again held as a joint affair on Friday 7 November on Pape’s Field. Despite the exceedingly moist weather, the Bonfire was lit at 19.00 and another spectacular Firework display followed. With ample refreshments pro-vided by the Parents Association, the children (and adults) thoroughly enjoyed the funfair, particularly the ferris-wheel and dodgems!

ACT OF REMEMBRANCESchool held its Remembrance Day service in Chapel which was attended by many OG’s who took the opportunity to join this particularly special event.As part of our 1914-2014 commemorations, our new “Book of Remembrance”, which includes the names of all 125 former pupils of Giggleswick School who gave their lives for the country during the Great War was presented by Bob Drake on behalf of the OG Club. The whole School observed two minutes silence, on the flat on Tuesday 11 November as the whole of Settle fell silent in the way that has again become traditional.

BA AMBASSADORDaniel Arnold, Head of School 2005-06 (P 99-06), was the youngest pilot to be employed by British Airways when he was just 20. He is currently a BA Ambassador for their new route from London – Chengdu in China. He featured in the recent BBC2 documentary “A Very British Airline” speaking what sounded like fluent Mandarin in a crowded shopping mall full of dancing pandas!

BA is using its latest Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the direct service between London and Chengdu in China’s Sichuan Province, a major tourist destination and research base of Giant Panda Breeding.

OLD FRIENDS REUNITEIn September we were delighted to welcome back an impromptu gathering of old friends from the 1970s’. Pictured around the sundial are: Scott Milne (Ch/C 67-74), John Sykes (Ch/S 67-74), Jon Blythe (Ch/C 67-74), Bob Burn (C

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BIG SCHOOL BULLETIN

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71-74), William Marshall (S 69-74), Mark Jones (S 69-74), Andy Simpson (S 69-74), Paul Slinger (M 69-74) and John Livingstone (CH/N 66-74). They had made their own plans for their own OG Day which had begun with “refreshments” at The Black Horse. I was able to offer a tour of the school including the inevitable meditation at the chapel, which is de rigueur for almost all OG visitors. It was a huge privilege to meet and hear the tales of this band of friends. They re-turned for a “second innings” at the Black Horse suitably nostalgic and refreshed.

CHEWING THE FATChris Butterfield (CH/P 57-64) & Andrew Blackwell (CH/C 55-64) both left School in 1964 & Chris Bean (C 59-63) left the year previous in 1963. In August they met for lunch at around noon and talked “without hesitation, repetition or deviation” on their times at Giggleswick and then at the invitation of Andrew went to his home to see a slide show of Andrew’s time at Gigg to be followed by Paley House photo-graphs followed by “who was that or whatever happened to....”

Chris Bean

WILD FUNNY STRANGE & GOTHIC Jonathan Broadbent (P 90-95) is currently enjoying great success in his life as an actor in the competitive world of London’s theatre land, starring as De Lorde in the Theatre Royal Plymouth’s, “wild, funny strange and gothic” revival of Grand Guignol, a role he originally played 4 years ago.

Jonathan has this year enjoyed further critical acclaim for his role as Guy in My Night With Reg at the Donmar Warehouse and he begins a second 12 week run in this as it moves to the Apollo, London, in the New Year from 17 January. Readers may be tempted by the fact that this should coincide well with the London Dinner!!

“A PRODUCTION WHOSE CAST IS CURRENTLY WITHOUT QUESTION THE FINEST ENSEMBLE IN TOWN” – The New York Times.

WARWICK BROOKES 80TH BIRTHDAYOn Wednesday 8 October Warwick Brookes cel-ebrated his 80th Birthday with a surprise party at school arranged for him by Anne Ritchie (Hon OG Staff ) and family members! The lunch went on long into the afternoon as Warwick had a great time catching up and reminiscing with old friends who were keen to congratu-late him. Messages from across the OG com-munity came in through social media. Possibly these are best summed up by one post from John Edwards (C 78-86): “Many congratulations WHB, commanding respect and affection in almost equal measure, a remarkable man”.

Warwick flanked by friends and family: L-RRear, Ray Jones, Mike Peek, Katie Jones, Jenny Thomas, Dorothy Lambert, Jack Pennell, David Blackburne, David Fox.Middle: Margaret Blackburne, Freda Hargreaves, Anne Ritchie, Christine Peek, Eve Pennell.Front: Shirley Thornton, Gilly Harper, Warwick, Susan, Sophie Brookes.

Jonathan Broadbent starring in My Night With Reg (centre) with Julian Ovenden, Downton Abbey (right)

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BIG SCHOOL BULLETIN

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WAR HORSE PROMThe War Horse Prom is a commemorative work, bringing together the now world famous stage show, spoken word and choral work. The performance was fronted by notable celebrity conductor Gareth Malone, ably assisted by the Military Wives Choir and no less a body than the Cambiata North-West Choir, performing on stage alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra, Mi-chael Morpurgo and the National Theatre War Horse cast +Joey the War Horse pup-pet. The War Horse prom coincided with the anniversary of the beginning of WW1.

Ten boys from Giggleswick, led by Tricia Rees-Jones, made up exactly one quarter of the 40 strong Cambiata North West Choir . The Cam-biata NW is a choir of boys aged 12-18 drawn from schools across the Northwest and North-ern Ireland. One of the aims of the group is to keep boys singing as their voices change. The Baritone section of the choir sang at the prom and Giggleswick provided the largest number of boys from all of the schools involved.

Matthew and David Bulmer (S), George and Robbie Magell (N), George and Oliver Collins (P), Max Reiter (P), Will Rees-Jones (), Will Richmond (N) and Miles Taylor(N) all took part.

In London Tricia and the boys spent a full week rehearsing alongside professionals from the Warhorse Cast at the National Theatre, in the BBC Rehearsal Halls at Blackheath with the conductor of the prom David Abell, Michael Morpurgo and Gareth Malone and at the Royal Albert Hall. Evening rehearsals even took place in the Youth Hostel. Over the week the feed-

back to Tricia from the conductors, directors and actors at the BBC and NT was all positive; that the boys’ work ethic was exemplary and they were praised for their enthusiasm, attitude and ability. At the Prom in front of a packed Albert Hall they performed both their singing and acting parts superbly.

The main focus of CNW was the performance of the world premiere of a composition from the War Horse composer Adrian Sutton; an anthem to peace called ‘Some see us’ were with the choir dressed as young soldiers representing the ‘lost generation’ of youths in the trenches of the First World War, and they produced a very poignant performance.

The Times 5* review singled the Cambiata Choir out as ‘Excellent’ comparing them with the best youth choirs in the country.

The Prom will be televised on BBC2 on Box-ing Day at 17:25

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR CIRCUS ARTS NEW FILMJane Rice-Bowen (St 88-92), keeps in touch with us and reports that the NCCA has released a new publicity film. It can be seen by using the following Web address: http://youtu.be/BiW2vfF_AC I Jane reports that it is a brief window into the world of circus performance and gives a glimpse of what it is really like to work and train at the NCCA.

BROADWAY BABYBroadway Baby’s iconic Bobby statuette is awarded to the best of the best shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. All shows

awarded five stars by Broadway Baby are auto-matically considered for The Bobby Award; first by the judging team and then those shortlisted are seen by a senior member of the editorial team. The Bobby is recognition that the group have created something truly special, some-thing such as THE DUCK POND.

Our creative friends in the With Wings Theatre Company, after their successful debut last year including an award nomination and a number of really positive reviews entered the fray once more. This year’s production was an imagina-tive reworking of the ballet Swan Lake, with their usual mix of physical theatre, self-scripted music and cleverly presented characters. This time however, they had a reputation going ahead of them and this brought ticket sales. The result of their reputation going forward and the word of mouth response to another captivating performance was 3 solid weeks of sell out evenings at Edinburgh University’s Bed-lam Theatre. Not surprisingly there were more award nominations culminating in winning the Broadway Baby Bobby award for the best of the Five Star shows and a string of excellent reviews:

Swan Lake hasn’t remained the world’s most popular ballet for more than a hundred years for nothing – but, if I’m honest, it’s not the sto-ryline that does it for me. It’s the choreography principally, the music secondly, and the tragic ending is always good for a cry.

So when I learned that With Wings Theatre Company had re-worked the classical ballet, and taken out the first and second elements on that list, my hopes were not high. What a pleasant surprise then, to discover they’ve tackled the flimsy storyline head-on, by adding all kinds of embellishments. The basic narrative is there: a prince celebrates his 21st birthday, re-ceives some gifts, looks for a suitable girlfriend then falls in love with a part-avian, under the curse of bad old Rothbart.

Only now, Rothbart owns a funfair, the Prince’s present is a duck hook not a crossbow and, taking a cue from Matthew Bourne, the avian lover is a man.

But that’s only part of the reason this show works so well. The rest is down to the strong cast, who have the audience regularly laugh-ing out loud; the original music performed and sung live (not every song is a winner, but the ones that are really hit the spot); and the truly emotive movement which communicates love and sadness more than words ever could.

Accessible and entertaining throughout, the show also has an off-kilter dark side which adds an extra layer. Birthday presents are handed out to the audience, then called in one by one, as a new (and alternately witty and tragic) gift is revealed.

OGs’ Robbie Magell (S14) centre stage, and Matthew Bulmer (S14) rear centre stage at the Royal Albert Hall

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BIG SCHOOL BULLETIN

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The Petipa/Ivanov choreography may not raise its head, but Tchaikovsky’s score gets more than a few mentions – each funnier than the last.

Kelly Apter - The Scotsman.

LIANE RETURNSStyle House recently held their annual house dinner and as is the custom they invited a woman of notable achievement to interest and enlighten the assembled young ladies. This year former head of Style Liane Dowling (St 03-05) was called back from her missionary work in the south, where she has recently moved, to further her career in the world of advertis-ing and marketing. Having made her mark in the sector in Manchester she has been given a contract with Saatchi’s. It was no surprise that the creative girls of Style were very interestedin what she had to say. Ironically it was ten years to the day since she had stood in the same dining room delivering her speech as head of house!

A SINGULAR HONOURThe Royal Marines’ 350th Anniversary Royal inspection of Royal Marines Cadets

The Royal Marines can trace its origins back to the formation of “the Duke of York and Albany’s maritime regiment of Foot” at the grounds of the Honorable Artillery Com-pany on 28 October 1664.

This year the Royal Marines are celebrating their 350th anniversary. This significant an-niversary has been commemorated through a series of planned events to be held throughout the RM350 campaign. One such event, on the 9th of July, took place at Buckingham Palace, when 500 Royal Marine Cadets and staff were inspected by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, in his role as Captain General of the Royal Marines.

Giggleswick’s CCF was represented at this event by Captain Neil Wharton (Hon OG) and eight cadets, Henry Mitchell (S L6), George Corner (P Y11), Chris Mills (P Y11), Adrian Geipert (N Y11), Kenny Tam (P Y11), Euan Ogilvie (P Y10) and Chiara Geipert (St 11-14).

The day before the march into Buckingham Palace there was a whole day of practice and preparation at Portsmouth. It was a very tough and demanding day and the fact that it was very hot did not help either. The Blues uniforms were very thick and warm, absorbing the heat of the sun. We were split into different troops according to height and these were the troops which we would train and march with. After a tough day of training everyone was prepared for the march. The next day began with a typi-cally early military start at 6.30 am. All uniform was checked and most importantly the turnout had to be at its most perfect. We then drove to Wellington Barracks where we changed into our blues. There was one final check of our uniforms and then it was time for the march to

Buckingham Palace.

All the Royal Marines cadets and staff formed up on Horse Guards parade and began to march down the Mall. It was a great experi-ence, hundreds of spectators were looking on and taking pictures. At Buckingham Palace we marched through the gates and formed up on the lawn in the Palace gardens, in front of VIP’s and parents of the parading cadets.

The Duke only inspected one troop in which Henry Mitchell from Giggleswick was parading and he had the pleasure to be inspected by Prince Phillip himself. The other troops then paraded past the His Royal Highness before marching out of the Palace, back to Wellington Barracks. It was a great experience to form up in the gardens of Buckingham Palace and to have the Duke of Edinburgh watching over us and even Her Majesty the Queen who was observing through the window of the palace. All of the cadets who had the pleasure to take part will never forget this unique experience.

Cadet Corporal Kenny Tam

Captain Neil Wharton gives the salute to HRH Prince Phillip on behalf of his troop

L to R rear: Cadets George Corner, Chiara Geipert, Captain Neil Wharton, Henry

Mitchell, Adrian Geipertfront: Kenny Tam, Chris Mills, Euan Ogilvie

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BIG SCHOOL BULLETIN

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JUNIOR BOYS’ TAKE TITLE

A small, but talented team was entered for the English Schools Fell Running Championships at Calder High School, Mytholmroyd.

From the first race of 90 runners, Jack Hutchinson and Molly Bratt in the Year 7 event had excellent runs, Jack finishing sixth boy and Mollie seventh girl in their first races for the senior School. Mollie’s run was good enough to see her finish in the top half of the boys’ race.

In the Junior Race for both Year 8 and 9 pupils, going up the hill, in only his second fell race, Henry Turnbull (Y8Ct) led the Giggleswick runners with Euan Brennan (Y9M). A few places further back, Tom Humphries (Y9P) and Eve Hutchinson (Y9C) were well to the fore in the field of 130 runners.

With Euan, Henry and Tom taking 5th, 6th, and 17th places they were clear winners of the Junior Boys’ English title by 20 points, our first national team title at this event.As the best four finishers in at least three categories count towards the total for the overall champions, Giggleswick finished in a remarkable fourth place, made all the more so by having the smallest team at the championships.

ISRUFC LAMBS SELECTIONS74 boys from 24 schools turned out for the U13 and U11 Independent Schools Lambs trials at Stonyhurst College. The standard of the players was good and the boys all seemed to enjoy being put through their paces in the morning; some of them learning new skills and training drills before taking part in a round robin of games. From these boys we can offer congratulations to Chris Jowett (scrum half ) and Henry Turnbull (centre), who have been selected for the U13 squad. Congratulations also go to Anthony Clark

from Giggleswick Junior School who was selected for the U11 squad.

NARROW MISS IN GOLF COMPETITIONMikel Salegui (Y11 M), Jevin Robertson (U6 N) and Henry Mitchell (U6 S) represented the school in the 1st round of the ISGA Competition against St Bees, who have a specialist golf academy with a full time pro so the competition was stiff. Losing 3-0 the boys all played some good golf. Playing off scratch, this was the first time that the boys had played this course. A special mention goes to Mikel Salegui who took his match to the 18th green, against an opponent who recently won the County Cup. The team now goes through to the Plate competition.

A SUCCESSFUL SEASON ON THE ASTROTURFThe hockey season has been very successful with several victories spread amongst the 9 teams that regularly play matches. Some excellent hockey has been played resulting in notable scalps for XI along the way, including Sedbergh away (3-2) and Barnard Castle at home (5-0).

The 1st XI in particular has enjoyed a winning streak, with Captain Matilda Boult

leading from the fore, some excellent hockey was demonstrated along the way. Mention should also be made of Gracie Willacy who has been a key player and is only 14 years old!

The 2nd XI has also had a strong season with victories over Sedbergh away (2-0) and further victories over Ampleforth, Rossall, Pocklington, Ashville and Barnard Castle. Senior players Catherine Mills and Alex Sherrell (captain) have both been outstanding throughout the season.

The 15th November was an historic day for the 3rd XI skippered by Abi Lamb when they beat Barnard Castle to record their first victory for 3 years!

At the time of writing the U14XI has already won 6 matches this season indicating real depth for the future and demonstrating the commitment and quality that girls continue to bring to Giggleswick sport.

Many girls including Matilda Boult, Olivia Kirby and India Birley, have had Representative Honours.

Sally Ayari

A MIXED SEASON WITH THE OVAL BALLThe rugby season began brightly for the senior fifteens with good wins over Arnold School at home. The team are a very fresh new side and had lost no less than 12 upper sixth players including players of the international quality of Hedgley and Prell of whom more later. This was always going to cause struggles against the bigger schools once the annual raft of injuries set in. Very pleasing large wins over old rivals Ashville and Ermysteads followed and later in the season they were to score 91 unanswered points against Rossall.

However the fixture versus Ampleforth in which Giggleswick played most of the rugby was a typical case as we had left nearly a complete XV of injured senior players back at school to take on really quality opposition. Typically we raised our game and were running them very close until the last minutes required tired substitutes to plug holes. The lessons learned by the senior teams this year will certainly pay dividends in the future, but for now Dan Cook Director of Sport must sympathise with Stuart Lancaster as he builds for greater things!

Representative Honours for our senior rugby players are led this season by Oliver Snowden (S L6, Flanker) who has been selected for the Yorkshire U17s and will play against fellow members of the school XV; Toby Brook, (U6 N, Prop) and Edward

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L-R,Henry Mitchell, Jevin Robertson & Mikel Salegui

SPORTS SHORTS

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Keighley (L6 M, 2nd Row) who have been selected for the Northern Lambs Independent Schools u18s. They will also play a Hymers College XV in January. George Tankard (P y10) has also been selected for the Lambs u15s.

HONOURS FLOW FOR PRELL AND HEDGLEYReaders will have been pleased to read of the international success of Taylor Prell (S 12-14) in the last edition of G:N. At that point Taylor had recently been selected for the U18 equivalent of the 6 Nations and had played against Wales. Since then Taylor has played for the England U19s in the FIRA tournament in Europe where he was player of the tournament. He then travelled with England U18s to South Africa where he was again feted for his performances against the “Baby Springboks”, England winning 30-22. He has since started for Yorkshire Carnegie in the Green King Championship against Rotherham Titans who featured fellow OG Alex Rieder (M05-09) and who continues to make headlines for the South Yorkshire side, where he scored in their recent Championship defeat by league leaders Bristol.

Last year’s XV Captain, George Hedgeley (M12-14), pictured below has also been making his mark in starting for Darlington Mowden Park in National Division 1. George has also been selected for the Scotland U20s squad and played for them against famous Scottish club side Boroughmuir in November.

SARK SHAGS FLY AGAIN THANKS TO OG CLUB SUPPORTRobbie Magell (CH/N 06-14) is pleased to report that the annual invitational match between the Shark Shags and St Jacques took place on the 23rd August. This major occasion in the social and sporting calendar of the Island of Sark could not have been sustained this year without the support of the OG club in providing funds for shirts and kit hire, whilst the active playing support of other OG’s ensured that the team was viable. Players from Giggleswick included Robbie and Jake Magell (N U6) and Will Harr (CH/N 07-14).

With a slight slope to the rock hard field the Shags kicked off uphill to a formidable St Jacques team, a side who knew each other and how one another play. Sark had to show what they were made of, scoring a try and a conversion in the first 10 minutes. However with the downhill momentum St Jacques played clever rugby putting two subsequent tries past the Shags.

Eventually the downhill momentum of the heavier Sark forwards came into effect and Sark worked their way down the field

towards the line. As they surged for the line they collided with the posts and, as they were only small, they splintered at the bottom and toppled over onto the pitch! After deciding to carry on regardless Sark scored a try. With 5 minutes to go another Sark try took the score to 24-19, within distance of a win for the first time in Shags history. Unfortunately the comeback had started too late and an unfortunate knock-on ended the game with a close St Jacques victory.

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Taylor Prell with England Coach John Fletcher and the FIRA Player of the Tournament Trophy.

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It is a real privilege to be taking up the post of Headmaster of Giggleswick. It comes at an exciting time as we seek to shape the future success of the school.

As a geographer, it was easy for me to see the attraction of the setting of Giggleswick. Having been born in York, but sadly never quite realising my birthright of playing for the county, I was at least prepared for the ways of Yorkshire. And my career, beginning in banking and then spending 20 years in boarding schools, made me all too aware of both the reputation of Giggleswick and of the benefits of boarding. I was also aware that these factors combined to create a particularly strong community. It is this community that offers the support and friendship of which so many OGs are proud. It has been particularly important to me, therefore, that I spend my early months in post getting to know the members of the community. This has meant meeting and listening to all the constituents including pupils, parents, teaching and support staff, OGs, the local community and feeder schools. From these meetings the key values of participation, respect and excellence come through very clearly.

Already I have enjoyed a number of OG functions, and I am aware that the OGs understand and embody these values. OGs seem to have a real respect that allows everyone to be who they want to be. They care about others and their communities and there is no sense of arrogance or over inflation that other schools may create. They are down to earth, open, and willing to give to be supportive of each other.

THE PATH TO SUCCESS

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1313

Our Learner Profile

The senior management team of the school is currently working on the strategic plan for the next five years. We want those in the school to continue to strive for excellence, but we also want them to be even more ambitious with their futures. Many of you will be aware of the challenges young people face today in getting onto the first rung of the career ladder. We want to ensure that everyone who leaves our school is equipped to meet these challenges. To achieve this, we are reviewing the sixth form curriculum which, along with government A Level and GCSE reforms, provides us with a real opportunity to get off the treadmill of exams and create a genuinely exciting and enriching programme of sixth form study. We want the outcome from this to be Giggleswickians that are:

CURIOUS and actively enquiring about the world around themSKILLED and accomplished in a range of abilitiesAWARE of others in the world and empathetic, tolerant and compassionate towards themCREATIVE, original and innovative in dealing with challengesPROACTIVE, dynamic and enterprising in their approach to lifePASSIONATE about learningRESILIENT or tenacious, viewing failure as beneficial or an opportunity

This is not a radical vision. There is no revolution going on at Giggleswick; indeed much of what we do is being done by other good schools. We present ourselves as different at our peril. There are rules by which we have to play or we lose the credibility of the sector. Equally, there are tough financial constraints; Giggleswick is not a rich school and this means it cannot afford to take great risks. Nevertheless, we are approaching the future with new energy, fresh ideas and new resourcing. We will be reviewing how we deliver these characteristics through our pastoral system and co-curriculum as well as the academic curriculum, and this may well mean some more significant changes to how we run the school.

Of course, achieving future success is best done through collaboration. We want to empower all the stakeholders to feel they can change things for the better. This is why we are undertaking the biggest student survey the school has ever done. Equally, we do not want staff to feel held back by a lack of skills or resources to meet the educational needs of the future, and we want our staff to go out and seek new experiences to feed back into their teaching. One of the biggest challenges is going to be the digitisation of learning and we are looking carefully at how we should address this, both through direct learning strategies in the classroom, and through much more effective reporting to ensure we can more successfully target the support a pupil needs.

There is a lot to achieve in the years ahead and we know that the path to success will not always be smooth. Our ambition to seek a partnership with a local independent prep school sadly could not be made to work in the end. Our initial financial forecasts suggested that we could build a successful junior school at Malsis, however the process of due diligence revealed far greater investment was required, while income generated from anticipated land sales was not going to be as high as initially anticipated. This left us with an additional requirement of £1.5million above our initial planned investment in the school and the business model was no longer justifiable. It is always very sad to see a once great school unable to continue but I am convinced that Giggleswick did all it could to try to save the school, and made the right decision in the end.

As Giggleswick moves forward into a new era we must build upon our strengths and the OGs are very much a pillar of strength for the school. However, we should be wary of a rowing boat mentality in which we move forward while always looking into the past. The past is relevant and significant, but it is also important for the future of the school that we look forward. OGs are a fundamental part of this forward vision and it would be wonderful if everyone could ask how they can contribute to making the future happen.

THE PATH TO SUCCESS

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John (Jack) Abbott-King OG1883 - 1916

In Headingley RFC’s Centenary Brochure of 1978 there was a tribute to a player who nearly 100 years later is still a legend at their club. “In September 1906 a young forward returned to his native Leeds from South Africa and joined Headingley Rugby RFC. No one at the time could have imagined that this new recruit would one day play for England”.

Jack King was born at Kirkstall on 21st August 1883, he arrived at Giggleswick in 1897 as a fourteen year old and leaft aged sixteen in 1899. He was in Dormitory A (later to become Paley). Surprisingly the future rugby legend did not play rugby in the XV at school, but won colours in the XXX.

In 1902 Jack went to live in South Africa so that he could gain agricultural experience. He worked at the government agricultural college at Eisenberg as its stockman. During his stay in the Cape he played for Durbanville and Somerset West. Returning to England in 1905, to his native Yorkshire he made a home and career as a farmer at Ben Rhydding near Ilkley.

Upon his return to Yorkshire he quickly joined Headingley, RFC keen to continue playing the sport that he had found a greater taste for in the rugby heartland of the Veld. He was first recognised in his selection for Yorkshire in 1906, in an era when county selection was a sign of greater potential and a source of great pride. He was selected for every county match until the outbreak of war in 1914, playing for the White Rose county 31 times in all and captaining the side between 1911 & 13.

Jack gained his first England cap versus Wales the year following his selection for the North in 1909. This was no mean test as the Welsh forwards of 1910-11 were “a mighty opposition”. Jack King’s display however, made him a fixture in the side for the next two years. One Welsh critic dubbed him “the Little King of Headingley, who was truly ubiquitous…..the trouble he caused the Welshmen was not so evident as it was in fact”.

Probably never weighing more than nine stones he made himself the finest exponent of the art of tackling low, bringing down the heaviest opponents without hurt to himself.

“He made up for his lack of inches by his courage and determination, his very deadly tackling and his speed”.

He trained for hours on the family farm with his brother Arthur, throwing a ball at a chalk circle on the barn door whilst they took turns at running past at speed and fielding the ball on the full, at all angles and heights in order to perfect the art of taking and giving passes in and from any position.

Although only 5 ft 5ins tall, his chest measured 45 inches and he was probably England’s smallest international. Between 1911 and 1913 King received 12 caps for England, playing against Wales, France, Ireland, Scotland and South Africa. He was so versatile that he was able to successfully play at no8, second row, and hooker. His friend and rugby journalist, the great EHD Sewell wrote of him:

“He was the very embodiment of everything that makes the true sportsman.”

When World War One broke out, Jack King immediately left the farm in the care of his sisters and enlisted in the Yorkshire Hussars with his Headingley team mate, TD Lumb. Initially he was turned down as the minimum height was 5ft 6ins. King refused to leave the recruiting office until he was accepted and joined as a Trooper on the 9th August. Later he transferred to the Liverpool Scottish regiment in order to see front-line action as the Hussars were initially only engaged in patrolling and policing duties. Fittingly he was promoted to Lance Corporal, refusing to listen to any suggestion that he should take up a commission.

On August 9th 1916 the 1/10 Liverpool Scottish had tried three times to take Guillemont Hill and three times they had been repulsed, “the flower of this grand regiment going down before the hellish machine-gun fire”, Jack King was one of

them.

Shortly before his death he wrote to EHD Sewell:

“I am absolutely A1 in every way. But one can never tell, and so long as I don’t disgrace the old Rugby game, I don’t think I’ll mind”.

After his death his Commanding Officer wrote to sisters:

“When I saw him, absolutely cool and collected under a murderous machine-gun fire, with shells falling all around, one thanked God for such a man to set such a priceless example. He was absolutely lion-hearted”.

JPB

FAMOUS OG: JOHN ABBOTT-KING

Prior to the France game in 1911, JAK is cross legged front left.

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YOUNG OG : KATHRYN WRIGHT

Kathryn WrightStyle, 1990-1995

As a solicitor in her previous life, she had no background in the hotel industry or the knowledge of how to create a website. But what she did have was passion, motivation and inspiration to create something truly unique for other parents.

The idea of Luxury and Little Ones came about after Kathryn spent many hours searching for hotels both in the UK and abroad which were luxurious enough for herself and her husband but enjoyable too for their children. Somewhere they could all relax and have fun. After some research she found there was not a single website that had all the information she wanted as a parent or that highlighted luxury hotels which were perfect for children and adults. She had lots of questions which she wanted answers to in order to be sure this was the hotel for them but the website did not have them. So Luxury and Little Ones was born.

Luxury and Little Ones source and approve luxury child-friendly accommodation for time-pressured parents looking for a holiday which will be relaxing for the whole family. On the website you can find all the information parents need, from accommodation which provides essential baby items to hotels which offer children’s spa treatments. They don’t forget the parents either, so you can expect to find information on the spa, restaurants and any child care that is offered.

The biggest learning curve in Kathryn’s venture has been digital marketing and social media. With limited marketing knowledge, this is something she had to learn and build skills on, and quickly.

“From a very early age, my parents and my years at Gigg gave me the confidence to believe that anything is possible, and that whatever you set your mind to do is achievable. Scarrig obviously had its benefits – if you had the determination to force yourself to run round in the mud and the freezing cold then the world’s your oyster!”

Since launching two years ago Luxury and Little Ones has been awarded a number of prizes including a Loved By Parent Award, Mumpreneur Website Award, and Jaqueline Gold “WOW” winner and has recently featured as one of Globetotting’s top 5 favourite family holiday websites.

Website: www.luxuryandlittleones.comFacebook: facebook.com/LuxuryandLittleOnes

THE YOUNG OG PROJECTThe first volume of the Young Giggleswickians Project has now been published. Online copies will are available to download via the OG Website.

We are now taking submissions for the second volume. If you are an OG under 40, we would like to hear from you.

All we need you to supply is:

• 100-150 words about yourself and what you are doing now• A photo(s) of you and/or your work

For more information please contact Sophie Clayton, 01729 893 004

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Giggleswick School RUFC XV, 1912- 1913

Of all Henry Newbolt’s poems the best known for which he is now chiefly remembered is probably Vitaï Lampada. Written in 1892, the title is taken from a Latin quotation by Lucretius, roughly meaning ‘the torch of life’. It refers to how a schoolboy, a future soldier, learns selfless commitment to duty on the sports field of his school (Clifton College) and it includes the famous line, “But his captain’s hand on his shoulder smote Play up! play up! and play the game!”

Giggleswick was typical of almost all of the public schools in England in the number of boys from the school who volunteered to fight in World War One. Of the fifteen members of the 1st XV rugby team of 1912-1913, all fifteen fought, three were killed in action and eight more were wounded. What follows are some notes on these young men who were destined for a different sort of field. Fascinatingly at the time the Chronicle (December 1912) always included an item on characters of the XV at the end of each season. Brutally honest, these pen-portraits sometimes forgot that these players were but boys. Perhaps though, the stern but fond phrasing indicates a world better suited to preparing them for the battlefield:

Alan Angus, Shute (Captain), was Head of School in both 1912 and 1913. He won the Birkbeck medal for gymnastics in 1912-13. Serving as an officer in the Northumberland Fusiliers, Angus saw ‘very severe fighting’ and was invalided home after being wounded in 1918 and was “Mentioned in Despatches”. He would serve again later, in the war 1939-45.A fine forward who combines the qualities of weight and speed; a sound tackler, backs up well, dribbles well and goes hard all the time. As a captain he has done splendid work, and has made the most of his material. His inability to play in several of the matches has been a great handicap to the side.

Norman Murgatroyd, Shute, Captain of the XV in 1913. He served in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and fought on the Western Front in

France. A good forward, making use of his weight, quick in the open and a fine dribbler. He generally tackles very well, though sometimes failing unaccountably in this respect.

Sydney Hoffman, Paley (XV Secretary). He fought in Egypt and France with the West Yorkshire Regiment. The fastest of the three-quarters who, when he goes round can generally score; he is rather apt to run inside. He can tackle, and has improved considerably. His accident has been most unfortunate for the side.

Alfred Earlham Johnson, Nowell (cover photos) joined the Manchester Regiment, fighting at Gallipoli in 1915, where he was wounded. His wounds forced him to leave the army, later he

Henry Newbolt

VITAÏ LAMPADA

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emigrated to Canada where he became a fruit farmer. An excellent back who it has been necessary to convert into a three-quarter; when he has become accustomed to the position he will be good, as he goes hard, tackles well and can take his passes.

Sidney Blair, Head of Paley and Praepostor, XV and XI cricket. He was at Liverpool University when war broke out. He joined the Royal Lancashire Regiment and was killed in action in France on 16 May 1915, aged 19. Has all the qualifications necessary for a good three-quarter, pace, dash, ability to tackle and a safe pair of hands, and when he learns the game will be good. At present he is continually standing in the wrong place and is not to be found where he is wanted.

Stanley Hickson, Carr , XV and Cricket XI, joined the West Yorkshire Regiment. He was mentioned in despatches after being severely wounded in July 1916 when he was shot 4 times, including in the abdomen. Will make a good half when he gets more size and weight. He has a good notion of making an opening, collars very well, and makes up his mind quickly. He plays a hard game throughout. He should learn to throw his passes hard and quick.

Andrew Hamilton, Nowell, Captain of the XV in 1914 and of the XI in 1915. He joined the RFA and was wounded at the Second Battle of Ypres on the Western Front in September 1918 where he won the Military Cross for bravery. He went up to Christ Church, Oxford after the war. In a letter to The Chronicle in 1918 he wrote: “Remember me to all the masters I knew, to those of the boys who are left, who were there in 1915.”An improving forward who, when he has made up his mind to go hard in the open as well as in the scrum, will be very useful. At present often loses the advantage he gains in dribbling by not tackling the man who takes the ball. A very fair place-kick.

John de Winton Kenyon, Paley. Left in the summer of 1914 – at the end of his Lower 6th year, he had been in the XV and XI for 2 years. Despite having been appointed Head of School for the following year, he left to join up when war broke out that August, enlisting in the King’s Regiment and was killed in action aged 18 in France on May 15, 1915 (the day before his team mate Sidney Blair). Had he stayed at school, he would have been half way through the summer term of his Upper Sixth. Not quick enough in getting the ball away; has learnt to fall on the ball and to tackle, but at present is slow in spoiling the opposing half. He will be good in time.

Laurence Hickson, Carr, brother of Stanley. Having left school in December 1912 and becoming a Soap and Oil merchant, Hickson served in the Durham Light Infantry, fighting in both France and Italy. He was gassed in Flanders in December 1915. A much improved forward, playing hard and keenly, dribbling well and tackling well. A very useful man.

Arthur Leche, Paley, joined the Somerset Light Infantry and was killed in action at Beaumont Hamel on July 1 1916, aged 20. It was the first day of the Battle of the Somme; his body was never found. A forward who works hard in the scrum, but is a drone at other times, a slow trot alternating with a walk being his normal pace.

John Stephenson, Carr, also XI Cricket. He fought with the Royal Army Service Corps.A good back, who tackles well, and nearly always finds touch with his kick. He stands too near the scrum at present, and so often has to run back for the ball which is generally kicked over his head. This is a fault easily corrected.

Sidney Lambert, Shute, fought with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. A hard working forward in the scrum but very slow to move in the open. He can dribble and tackle, but is not often found doing it. He is improving and will one day be good.

Charles Durward, Nowell. Fought with the Highland Light Infantry regiment and was wounded at the Battle of Passchendale in 1917. He was invalided out of the army and went on to Edinburgh University. Works well in the scrum but must try to be on the ball in the open, to break up quickly and tackle hard and low.

Harold Skevington, Shute, joined the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry Regiment, fighting in France; he was severely wounded in March 1918. His brother, Arthur, left Giggleswick in July 1914 and was killed, aged 19, as his Commanding Officer wrote, ‘leading his men with the utmost gallantry.’ A three-quarter whom frequent accidents have kept much off the field. He will be good when he learns to keep his place, as he can tackle, and can take his passes and has plenty of dash. He must learn to pass hard and low.

Fred Tattersall, Shute, served with the Manchester Regiment; he was wounded and then gassed in France in 1917. A fast light forward, who will be of great use when he has made up his mind to work hard all through the game in the scrum and out. He tackles well and dribbles well and must try to be always on the ban.

With thanks for the initial research of Mark Mortimer (Staff 2000 - 06)

The 1912 Cricket honour board names many of these featured here. Sadly the Rugby board is in posses-sion of another party and we would be delighted to receive a photo.

VITAÏ LAMPADA

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BIRTHS

Bartley to Annabel nee Jones (C 95 - 00) and David, on 2 November 2014, Milo Alexander.

Keron to Peter (Staff ) and Julie, on 20 June 2014, Otto.

ENGAGEMENTS

Scott, Julie to Peter Keron (Staff), Julie and Peter became engaged on 15 August. They plan to marry in the School Chapel on 18 July 2015.

MARRIAGES

Tseayo, Fanentor (M 92–95) married Jennifer Ashworth at Giggleswick Chapel on Saturday 4 October 2014. The bride certainly made a dramatic entrance arriving at top pitch by helicopter.

DEATHS

Allison, David (C 52-63)8 Nov 1944 – August 2014, aged 69.After attending school locally he went on to Catteral Hall at Giggleswick School in May 1952, moving up to Senior School in May 1958. He was in Carr House, a Praeposter and represented the school in the Rugby XV, the Gym VIII, the Shooting VIII, as well as being a Corporal in the Combined Cadet Force and in the CCF Band. He left Giggleswick School in July 1963.

He continued to enjoy shooting and rugby after leaving school being involved at both Bradford and Baildon.

David was a sociable and genuine, heartfelt person who loved the outdoors, at one time helping out with game-keeping on syndicate shoots near Thirsk, enjoying bird watching both at home and at RSPB reserves and other venues. A much loved father of Sarah and the late Tim, who sadly died in 1992 in Canada during his gap year, a tragedy that left David heartbroken. He was also dear father-in-law of Jonathan, much loved granddad of Harriet, Arthur and Clementine, dear uncle of Emma and a much loved and respected friend.

Grime, Peter (St 45–50)Sept 1932 – 14 June 2014, aged 81.Peter married Rosemary in 1965 and had 2 children Richard and Catherine who he cherished and supported in their chosen careers and hobbies.Peter was interested in medicine and studied at The Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin in the early fifties. After his training, he moved back to England, and was proud to have practised in Leeds, under Professor Leslie Pyrah, a pioneering surgeon who introduced Urology as a specialist field of medicine.He decided to pursue a career in Public Health and studied at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He then chose to provide solutions to the public health problems in Lancashire and the North West region of England. One of the initial serious health problems he tackled was around the Polio epidemics, organising large scale vaccination programmes. Peter organised the compulsory clearing of slum housing in Preston to enable a better health experience for the families who lived in deprivation. He pioneered breast screening units in shopping centres like Blackburn enabling women to have an earlier diagnosis and an improved prognosis from breast cancer.

When Peter retired as a Public Health Consultant he continued influencing Health Care Policy, representing the British Medical Association and advising European Commissioners on European Medical standards, and was a sub editor of a Public

Health Journal. He enjoyed sailing and walking in the Lake District and discovering and painting the beautiful flora in Tenerife.

Roberts, Michael (St 43-48)8 April 1930 - 21 November 2014, aged 84.The first of three generations of Roberts’ to be educated at Giggleswick. He had suffered from pneumonia, and spent the last four years in a residential home. He enjoyed his time at school, and recalls the bad winter of 1947, when all the milk churns had to be fetched on a sledge from the farm and carefully bought down the hill past the Chapel!

Garsed, Kenneth (S 37-41)7 Sept 2014, aged 90.

Linley, Martin Edward (C 64-63)15 Nov 1943 - 1 June 2014, aged 70.

Jones, Michael (St 39 - 43)8 June 1925 - 11 July 2013, aged 88.

Saunders, Robert (N 39-49)30 Dec 1930 – 20 April 2014, aged 83.

Gaunt, Allan (Sh 63-71)20 July 1955 – 2 July 2013, aged 57.Allan was a keen OG and took an interest in the school. He leaves wife Bev and daughters Laura and Hannah. They, together with friends recently completed a cycle ride from Whitehaven to Tynemouth in memory of Allan, and over £7000 was raised which was shared equally

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Peter Grime

GIGG:CIRCULAR

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between St John’s Hospice Lancaster and Cancer Care.

Ellis, Chris (N 39-46)12 July 1928 – 9 September 2014, aged 86.The former owner of FH Ellis and Car and Kitchen, born in Settle and attended Giggleswick School before calling up for National Service, serving in Germany. In the 1950s Chris took over FH Ellis, the garage business started by his father Fred in the 1920s. In the 1970s Chris was one of the founding partners of the now well-known gift shop called Car and Kitchen in Settle. Chris’s daughter, Elizabeth, and son-in-law Ken became partners in the late 70s and this business remains in the family to this day. As well as running the two businesses, Chris also found time to work tirelessly and enthusiastically for many local organisations. He helped to raise funds for the building of Settle Swimming Pool and supported it continuously by collecting waste paper.

He was a founding member of the Settle Carlisle Railway Business Liason Group, formed to save the line from extinction and was, for a long spell, chairman of Settle Chamber of Trade. He helped establish the Tourist Information Centre in Settle and for many years had the thankless task of drawing up the rota of volunteers.

For more than 60 years, Chris and his wife Nancy lived in Langcliffe where he was a member of the parish council, representing Langcliffe Church at the Deanery Synod.Chris loved Settle and had a wealth of tales going back decades. His greatest love however, was for his family, who have been greatly moved by the many generous tributes paid to him. Chris is survived by his wife Nancy, three daughters, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Davidson, John Burnett (Sh 37-45)28 Feb 1927 - September 2014, aged 87.John Burnett Davidson was Head of Shute and Head Boy (1944-45). Burnett was his mother’s maiden name from the large Burnett family who farmed 1 mile north of Gretna in the Scottish border lands at Cranberry Farm. Father Sid hailed from Kirkpatrick Fleming, again just north of Gretna. Sid qualified as a Highways Surveyor and accepted the position as Head of the former Settle Rural District Council who newly married had arrived in Settle in 1925. Sid was persuaded to join North Ribblesdale RFC as a committee member and proceeded to be a hands on committee man until his death in 1984, aged 86. This long standing connection to the local sporting clubs paid dividends as the next three generations made their impact. John was the older brother of the late O.G. Malcolm Davidson (Sh 43 – 49) and great uncle to recent OGs and outstanding sports players Tom Davidson (Sh 06-08) William Davidson (Sh 09-11) and Robbie Davidson (11 – 13) as well as former Head Boy and Rugby XV player Jack Davidson (2003 – 2008), most latterly of fly half and cricket XI opening batsman John Davidson (Shute LVI). JBD is pictured below holding Robbie with Will (Centre) and Tom (right)

John was keen on sport as well as striving for academic excellence. He would turn out for Settle CC and North Ribblesdale RUFC and any spare time was spent visiting farms accompanying local vet Bill Semple. It was this experience and the insight into the daily life of a vet which inspired him to study at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary College in Edinburgh. Upon graduation, John joined the veterinary practice of Pugh and Bruford in Sevenoaks, Kent, where he would meet, and marry Wendy Hood, with whom he had

two sons, Duncan and Michael. John’s first post in Sevenoaks meant that his appearances for Settle CC and “Ribb” were limited to guest appearances upon visits home to Yorkshire. He captained Sevenoaks in 1955 – 57 and was capped for Kent County.

“JBD” was fond of his Scottish heritage which was always very important to him and all his life he retained great affection for the country and its people , but he was always a Yorkshireman at heart despite the distance that his career and life took him from his roots.Single-minded and ambitious, his direction in life changed completely in 1964 when he was appointed Head of Research and Development at Merck Sharpe and Dohme’s UK subsidiary in Hertfordshire. These were the early days of the company’s development of several ground-breaking vaccines and medications in the animal health division, for which John was responsible. This involved him in extensive international travel, especially to New Jersey in the United States, where he and his family moved in 1974, following John’s promotion to Head of Marketing. In 1980, John and Wendy left for South Africa, continuing his career with Merck as Director for Southern Africa. John retired to the UK in 1987.

In later years, John and Wendy returned to the US, South Carolina where John, who had always been a keen sportsman, kept himself fit swimming and playing golf in the glorious climate and idyllic setting of Hilton Head Island. In 2007, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, the debilitating effects of which he fought with characteristic resolve and courage. John is survived by his wife Wendy and sons, Duncan and Michael.

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GIGG:CIRCULAR

John Davidson with Robbie, Will and Tom

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5

Bow Tie £12.50Hand Tie Bow Tie £20.00Compact Mirror £26.00OG Tie (Polyester) £12.00Quincentenary Tie £7.00OG Club Crest Tie £12.00OG Tie (Silk) £21.00OG Cu� Links £30.00OG Brooch £12.00Silver Cu�inks £100.00Silver Pendant £45.00Chapel Choir CDs

Litany (1998) £5.00

Cards & BooksPack of 6 Cards Christ in Glory – Chapel East Window £3.00Images of Chapel12 Postcards of the Chapel by Various Artists £5.00The Yorkshire Mu�nA Giggleswick Miscellany £5.00Cadets at Giggleswick 1910-1980 NJ Mussett £8.502014 CalendarKatie Boult - Images of The Chapel £5.00

All prices are inclusive of VAT at 20%. UK postage and packing £2.99 Overseas rates available on request.

Cheques payable to Giggleswick School.Any surplus generated by the sale of these items will be gifted to the Giggleswick School Foundation. Giggleswick School is a Registered Charity. No. 1109826

Giggleswick MerchandiseGift ideas for Giggleswickians everywherewww.giggleswick.org.uk/shop 01729 893 004

OG Cricket Sweater £22.50OG Umbrella £20.00OG Scarf £25.00OG Rugby Ball £20.00OG Mug £10.00OG Socks £10.00OG Shield £30.00OG Wallet £20.00OG Chutney £4.50OG Keyring £5.00

BIG SCHOOL BULLETIN

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If you are one of the increasing army of smart phone users you will be pleased to hear that Giggleswick School now has its own app. It provides up to date information about School life and links directly to sources of School and OG news. The app is free and can be downloaded from both the Apple App Store and Google Play. Just search for “Giggleswick”.

This is not a mini website, it is a news app designed specifically to bring you, as supporters of Giggleswick School, as much up to date information as possible - all accessible from your handbag or pocket!

When you have the app you will find it connects to an online diary of events, gives updates on the latest news about the School, Pupils and OGs, and provides a directory of useful numbers and information.

The app also offers parents and OGs information about businesses that support Giggleswick School. If you would like to advertise your business on the app please contact Sue Hird, Director of Marketing, 01729 893 009. [email protected]

The OG Club on Social MediaThe OG Facebook Page has around 500 members. If you are not one of them, just search for Old Giggleswickians on facebook. There is also a group on LinkedIn. You can also follow goings on via Twitter @giggschool

Event details are easy to find and sign up to via social media on the app. >>

<< The latest news about the School is updated several times a day. The OGs have a dedicated

feed into the app.

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GET ONLINE AND GET APPY

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EVENTS REVIEW

London DrinksThursday 18 September

My memories of a Paternoster are of an entertaining if rather hazardous continuously circulating lift in the science block at university. The similarity between the two places stops there. Paternoster Square is a smart, sophisticated and prestigious location for any occasion and in September we were again made welcome for our Autumn drinks event by Gateleys LLP at their roof top terrace in Paternoster Square next to the imposing towers of St’ Pauls Cathedral. Thanks must go to Rod Waldie for sponsoring our visit to Paternoster Square. There was not surprisingly a groundswell of anticipation for members keen to meet our new headmaster Mark Turnbull who spoke to the assembled company of 80 younger and older OGs with enthusiasm about his vision for the future. It was good too to have our President enjoying an away day from Pateley Bridge! This event is quickly becoming a favourite for members in the south and an excuse for an excursion for those from north of Watford. We look forward to gathering again in London in the summer at a venue to be announced.

Yorkshire and Lancashire DinnersFriday 3 October and Friday 14 November

The autumn dinner cycle began again at the Oakdale Golf Club, Harrogate on 3rd October and processed again to the Dunkenhalgh Hotel at Clayton-le-Moors, Accrington. Both these occasions were the usual mixture of old friends reuniting for some “craic” and new attendees, joining to hear news of the school from the current staff, including Senior House Staff and the Headmaster. Thanks must go collectively to the efforts of Chris Harwood, Alastair Sames and Dina Pejcinovic for their organisation of these essential events and in taking time out from their busy lives to make these events possible.

Photo Key London Drinks, Gateley’s LLP, Paternoster Square 1. Roger Hargreaves, Michael George Powell, & Chris Bean. 2. Major Bob Drake 3. Alice Boult & Abigail Wilkinson 4. Richard Morely, Phoebe Lebrecht, Abigail Wilkinson, Jim Bellis & Chris Woolsey. 5. Stewart Kidson, James Knighton, Richard Smith, Mark Turnbull & Major Bob Drake 6. Tom Figgins, Alex Bowring & Mark Gemmell.

OG Day 2014 was billed as the “Most Family Friendly OG Day Ever”, and so it transpired as numbers attending rose past 150. The focus of the day this year was the retirement and farewell to Geoffrey and Katie Boult and it was their wish that OG Day would be as welcoming to families as we could make it.

The traditional arrival for coffee was followed by a group photograph on the Headmaster’s Lawn and the usual tours with members of the new Upper Sixth then took place. The AGM confirmed the appointment of the club’s officers for another year and we moved on to enjoy the school’s hospitality in the dining hall. Again as has become traditional, the Sixth Form guides joined us for lunch. It was here that our new President Major Bob Drake was presented with his badge of office and Rod Waldie as retiring president, along with Mike Barr presented Geoffrey and Katie Boult with tokens of appreciation that had been kindly contributed to by so many OGs. Geoffrey will be looking forward still more to his visits to the golf course armed with his new set of clubs.

Again there was a strong representation of younger OGs who chose to head straight to Top Pitch for a relaxed afternoon awaiting the arrival of the strawberry tarts! The cricket was as usual a competitive affair thanks to the efforts of the Gemmell brothers, the Shepherds, Edward Buck, John Marshall et al. The sound of leather on willow was for a time drowned out by the more compelling sound of igniting shotgun cartridges at the shooting ground behind the chapel where a number of OGs enjoyed this revived event, and thanks must go to Robert Lambert and Dr Nick Walker for helping to make this possible. The shooting was a slight distraction for the face painters who were keeping the small children entertained but the veteran tennis players were certainly not put out of their stride as they battled against members of the school tennis team.

The day ended with the traditional chapel service where some 80 OGs and family enjoyed an entertaining sermon by Alex Ladds after which they were able to reminisce to the tune of the organ as Jason Lowe played the Londonderry Aire, so popular at the Candle lit services of the past. Those not suitably exhausted then repaired to the Black Horse where, as has now also become a feature of the day, the conviviality continued late into the evening. JPB

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Since the last edition of Gigg:News, club members have been busy attending our traditional events.

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The OG Club Prize

The OG Club Committee 2014

President Robert Drake

Chairman Michael Barr

Treasurer Dina Pejcinovic

Secretary Anthony Briggs

Vice President Vacant

Immediate Past President Rod Waldie

Yorkshire Dinner Chris Harwood

Lancashire Dinner Alastair Sames

OGGS Secretary Robert Barker

Andrew Fraser Nick JefferiesTamara MarkarianNeil Ratcliffe

Headmaster: Mark Turnbull

OG Liaison Officer James Bellis

OG Day 2014 was billed as the “Most Family Friendly OG Day Ever”, and so it transpired as numbers attending rose past 150. The focus of the day this year was the retirement and farewell to Geoffrey and Katie Boult and it was their wish that OG Day would be as welcoming to families as we could make it.

The traditional arrival for coffee was followed by a group photograph on the Headmaster’s Lawn and the usual tours with members of the new Upper Sixth then took place. The AGM confirmed the appointment of the club’s officers for another year and we moved on to enjoy the school’s hospitality in the dining hall. Again as has become traditional, the Sixth Form guides joined us for lunch. It was here that our new President Major Bob Drake was presented with his badge of office and Rod Waldie as retiring president, along with Mike Barr presented Geoffrey and Katie Boult with tokens of appreciation that had been kindly contributed to by so many OGs. Geoffrey will be looking forward still more to his visits to the golf course armed with his new set of clubs.

Again there was a strong representation of younger OGs who chose to head straight to Top Pitch for a relaxed afternoon awaiting the arrival of the strawberry tarts! The cricket was as usual a competitive affair thanks to the efforts of the Gemmell brothers, the Shepherds, Edward Buck, John Marshall et al. The sound of leather on willow was for a time drowned out by the more compelling sound of igniting shotgun cartridges at the shooting ground behind the chapel where a number of OGs enjoyed this revived event, and thanks must go to Robert Lambert and Dr Nick Walker for helping to make this possible. The shooting was a slight distraction for the face painters who were keeping the small children entertained but the veteran tennis players were certainly not put out of their stride as they battled against members of the school tennis team.

The day ended with the traditional chapel service where some 80 OGs and family enjoyed an entertaining sermon by Alex Ladds after which they were able to reminisce to the tune of the organ as Jason Lowe played the Londonderry Aire, so popular at the Candle lit services of the past. Those not suitably exhausted then repaired to the Black Horse where, as has now also become a feature of the day, the conviviality continued late into the evening. JPB

28 JUNE - OG DAY 2014

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THE INEXORABLE UNRAVELLING OF A MANThe one-act, verse version of A View from the Bridge opened on Broadway on September 29, 1955. It ran for 149 performances. Its two-act version premièred in London’s West End under the direction of Peter Brook. Opening at what is today the Harold Pinter Theatre in 1956. The cast included Richard Harris as Louis and Anthony Quayle as Eddie. Arthur Miller may have written this exploration of love, immigration and betrayal sixty years ago but in this version the emotions and themes were as relevant today as they were when first written.

Arthur Miller’s play A View from the Bridge is a tragic masterpiece of the inexorable unravelling of a man, set in a close-knit Italian-American community in 1950s New York. To undertake the production and direction of such a critically acclaimed modern classic is a tall order indeed. To undertake it as a school drama production requires deep faith in the ability of your ensemble to perform at the limit of their experience and talent. This is exactly what Gareth Warburton and Bethan Stoll did with their cast. The review below by Gill O’Donnell summarises up the quality of the cast and characters to a tee.

This is in every sense of the word a very stark production, relying totally on the ability of the actors to convince, and they certainly do. On a bare stage with only a basic minimum of props there was really no place for the young actors to hide, nor was there any technical wizardry to assist them and yet they managed to hold the audience captivated throughout as the tension ratcheted turn by excruciating turn to the point where an explosion of violence became inevitable.

In his opening speech the lawyer, Alfieri - played with considerable skill by Tom Driver - explains that his work is in dealing with the petty troubles of the poor but points out that the story of Eddie Carbone is one of great tragedy, particularly in the impact it has on the community. It is this growing sense of tragedy and inevitability which the group conveyed so effectively in this claustrophobic setting. The choice to stage the play so that the cast have an audience on three sides meant that all the focus is on the acting, and at every moment when a character is on stage the actor has to be totally focused and in role.

The stunning performance by Sabrina Gilby as Eddie’s wife, Beatrice, was a shining example of how much can be conveyed without any words being spoken. It was totally fascinating to watch the play of emotions across her face as she reacted to the events unfolding around her.

Similarly Miles Warburton conveyed the complexity of Eddie’s emotional situation not only through his words but with every part of his body so that a slump of his shoulders spoke volumes about his character. These two pivotal performances would have been breath taking in any production, but to be the work of two young people they were staggeringly so. The play pulsed with a raw emotional intensity from start to finish, which suggested considerable attention to detail and great dedication.

The accents never faltered and the connection with the audience was outstanding. Ellisia Humberstone was magnificent as Catherine, and her evolution from child to bride was both convincing and achingly difficult at times. The object of her affections, Alexander Walters as Rodolfo, was played with a subtle ambivalence so that Eddie’s suspicions seemed to be grounded in reality even while Rodolfo’s responses to Catherine appeared sincere.

The stunning performance by Sabrina Gilby as Eddie’s wife, Beatrice, was a shining example of how much can be conveyed without any words being spoken.

The production was without a doubt an amazing piece of drama, of which the young cast - and the staff who have worked with them - should be inordinately proud.

Gill O’Donnell

The accents never faltered and the connection with the audience was outstanding.