The Salopian Winter 24/25

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THE SALOPIAN

Issue No. 174 - Winter 2024/25

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From the Editor

CONTENTS

What are the things that make a community such as

Shrewsbury School so special? Plenty of answers to this

question can be found in the records of recent Salopian

endeavour which form the bulk of this magazine. One

of the answers, however, is to be found in the Obituaries

section at the end of this magazine. This contains tributes

to four former members of staff, Richard Field, James

Lawson, Peter Macdonald and Adrian Struvé. The obituary

list records the very recent death of a fifth, John Balcombe.

Retired maths teacher Mark Twells’ whimsical article on

page 80 recalls the glorious eccentricities of the legendary

Michael ‘Fred’ Hall. A new flagpole at the end of the fives

courts, dedicated on Old Salopian day last September,

celebrates two other extraordinary figures in the Salopian

pantheon, my own Housemaster Robin Moulsdale and

head groundsman Ken Spiby. In a separate ceremony

on that same day, a portrait of a former Ridgemount

Housemaster and naturalist, Peter Gladstone, was unveiled;

and a dinner to be held this coming March will celebrate

the 125th anniversary of ‘Kek’, Frank McEachran, whose

‘spells’ have shaped the poetic souls of generations of

Salopians lucky enough to have been taught by him, the

editor included.

The first 25 years of my working life were spent as a

publisher in the corporate sector. Businesses could not

function, let alone thrive, without the energy, drive and

personalities of particular individuals at every level of the

organisation. Their pictures are to be found in boardrooms,

if they have been grand, or at least mentioned in company

histories, if they have played a significant role. But come the

day of retirement, or a move to a competitor, many, perhaps

most, are quickly forgotten.

There will, however, be very few Salopians living today,

other than those who joined the School in the last decade,

whose lives were not touched in some way by one or more

of the staff mentioned above. Their careers at Shrewsbury

School reach back to the 1930s, and all overlap.

This is the great privilege, the great responsibility, of

the Salopian teacher or sports coach: to leave behind in

the young Salopian leaver, as he or she becomes an Old

Salopian, more than a set of A level grades achieved, a

university place secured, a team or crew played in, run with

or rowed in, trophies won for individual, School or House.

We all know what this gift is, even if we can’t quite pin it

down, even if we haven’t used it: a set of values, a work or

play ethic, an understanding of what it means to serve a

community, a passion. To read about the life and work of

these great teachers is to be reminded of what they gave,

and what their successors continue to give.

Front Cover: House Singing 2024.

Inside Front Cover: Tucks 2024.

From the Editor 3

View from the Pentagon 4

How Learning Happens at Shrewsbury 6

Soul Growth 8

Darwin Summer School 2024 9

AI and the Future of Work 11

Avete 12

Chief Operating Officer 13

Valete 14

The Pfirsich Preis 16

Schützer-Weissmann Letter Prize 2024 17

Field Day Volunteering 18

CCF 20

A Teaching Sabbatical in Zambia 21

Drama 24

Music 28

Art 35

Notes from the Archives and Taylor Library 39

Moser Library 42

Cricket 43

RSSBC 50

Fives 55

Tennis 57

Athletics 58

Royal Shrewsbury School Rifle Club 60

Polo 62

Shrewsbury House 1903-2024 63

From the Director of the Salopian Club 68

Old Salopian Day 2024 69

Salopian Football Legend Robin Trimby 71

Churchill’s Hall WW1 Memorial Unveiling 72

A Grand Day Out Coaching 73

Canada Beckons 73

News of Old Salopians 74

Salopian Drivers’ Club 78

Salopian Arts Club 79

Wolfenden Society 79

Piranhas, Fred Hall, Basic Year, Maths, Mort 80

The Hamburg Exchange 83

Cyril Argentine Alington 84

Saracens 88

Old Salopian Football Club 90

Old Salopian Golfing Society 92

Old Salopian Rugby 96

A Century of Salopian Fives 97

Old Salopian Yacht Club 99

Sabrina 100

Old Salopian Hunt 103

Old Salopian Squash Club 104

Publications 106

Book Review 107

Obituaries 108

Reunion for Shrewsbury School Leavers 1985-90 122

Salopian Club Contacts 123

Salopian Club Forthcoming Events 124

Editor

Richard Hudson

rth@shrewsbury.org.uk

Assistant Editor

Annabel Warburg

Obituaries Editor

Dr David Gee

Salopian Club

Holly Fitzgerald (Director)

Salopian Club, The Schools,

Shrewsbury SY3 7BA

01743 280891 (Director)

01743 280892 (Administrator)

oldsalopian@shrewsbury.org.uk

Design: Tom Sullivan

Print: www.buxtonpress.com

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SCHOOL NEWS

View from the Pentagon

New Rules for Interesting Times

May you live in interesting times.

According to Terry Pratchett, and other

venerable sources, this sentence can be

uttered as both a blessing and a curse. It

is sometimes offered as the first part of

a trilogy of sayings, with the next two

being: May you come to the attention

of those in authority and, thirdly, May

the gods give you everything you ask for.

Although I confess to only reading one

of Pratchett’s Discworld novels (to see

what all the fuss was about), it’s clear

that his ability to conjure up alternate

realities of ‘serious fun’ was exceptional.

At Shrewsbury, we continue to deliver

our distinctive whole person education,

under our banner of ‘serious fun’, in

what are undoubtedly ‘interesting times’

for anyone inhabiting the world of

independent education. For many years,

independent schools have been able

to thrive under the relatively distant,

benign and often admiring gaze of the

Department for Education. Inspection

regimes ensure that we are not just

compliant with the many regulations

that rightly shape and structure

boarding schools, but that we are always

improving.

As independent schools, we are

resolutely apolitical. We have been

free to innovate in the curriculum, to

deliver world-class pastoral care and a

vast co-curricular offering, and generally

advance the all-round 24-7 education

that makes English boarding schools

the global gold standard. In this sense,

whilst the ‘referee’ has been on the

pitch, she has largely let the game flow.

However, at the time of writing, we are

adjusting to a new referee and a new set

of rules. Since the previous issue of this

excellent and long-running publication,

we have the first Labour Government

in 14 years, a Secretary of State for

Education who is openly hostile to

independent schools, and a Chancellor

of the Exchequer whose 30th October

2024 Budget statement gave the most

hostile news for independent schools in

our history.

The imposition of a consumer tax on

education – a policy that is almost

unique in the world - will see the

advent of VAT on ‘private’ school fees

from 1st January 2025. As well as

VAT on fees, we have the additional

prospect of the removal of Business

Rates Relief and an unexpected hike in

employers’ NI contributions in April

2025. Other groups in society will also

be feeling the pain – we think of the

farming community and pensioners,

for example. However, it is fair to say

that independent schools have certainly

‘come to the attention of those in

authority’.

So, there is a new ref on the pitch: and

it feels as though they are blowing the

whistle every time we touch the ball.

This presents a challenge. How do we

respond? Do we argue with the ref – for

example, through legal challenges and

media carping? Do we take our ball

home – for example, by pulling back

from our Partnership and Community

Engagement and transformative bursary

work? Or do we play on and try to find

a way back into the game – through

more successfully communicating the

value of our game, as we adapt to the

harsh reality of new rules?

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These are definitely ‘interesting times’.

The ‘curse’ of these policies – the shrill

whistle of the new ref – is self-evident.

Schools and parents alike have had to

absorb and adapt to a tough financial

reality. Aside from the bruising

impact of a hasty midyear unbudgeted

imposition, the knock-on effects and

subplots of this new narrative threaten

to do significant damage to the

ecosystem of independent education.

And the alleged (and entirely noble)

benefits of helping to provide more

teachers and resources for the statemaintained

education sector, may prove

to be a work of fiction.

But are there any blessings? Well, yes.

There are. Firstly, there is the blessing

of opportunity. We are in a time of

change. We will not compromise on the

delivery of whole person education, the

Salopian Way. We will stay true to the

virtues that guide us day-to-day, to the

essence and spirit of the School. But we

do need to adapt and future-proof. At

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SCHOOL NEWS 5

the strategic level, we are re-modelling

what an independent school is. We need

to engage in a constructive dialogue

with the new authorities to ensure the

thriving of an education system of

which pluralism and choice should be

hallmark features.

There is actually no such thing as a

simple distinction between state and

independent education. The reality is

that there are lots of types of schools –

multi-academy trusts, stand-alone free

schools, local-authority maintained

schools, state boarding schools, faith

schools, specialist schools – and so on.

There are lots of players on the pitch.

Each has their value; their needs; the

setting they serve. There is no doubt that

independent schools such as Shrewsbury

provide exceptional quality in the

pupil experience. If we took our view

of education from the top tier of the

stadium – or the bird’s eye perspective

of the blimp above it – we would see the

makings of a team.

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This is idealistic stuff: but those working

with the young should surely be fuelled

by idealism, tempered with healthy

pragmatism. And that is where I find

myself as I write this piece. I am proud

of the education that Shrewsbury

School provides for our pupils. And I

am equally passionate about the role we

play in the wider community and the

national education system.

So, we have our new referee – with

many laudable aims and a strong

sense of fair play. How do we get

her to understand our game better?

The key challenge is to persuade the

current administration to listen to a

voice that is globally respected and

represents a slice of the nation’s children:

the English independent education

sector. We need more advocacy from

our many state school partners.

Shrewsbury is nationally respected for

its huge programme of Partnership and

Community Engagement. Our work

with the Alpha Academies Trust in Stoke

was recently showcased in the national

publication Celebrating Partnerships.

Our 120-year plus relationship with The

Shewsy, our bursary programme, our

work with over 50 state school partners,

our role as champion of the cross-sector

charity the School Partnerships Alliance

– these are not tokens. They are real,

mutually-beneficial, active partnerships.

Parents have a right to choose the

education they want for their children.

We have to work hard to keep it in

reach. Whilst independent schools

have a primary duty to the parents who

choose to pay for the education that we

work so conscientiously to provide, we

also have a wider, deeper social duty.

Our pupils benefit from being part of

wider circles. This is not one-way traffic.

It is part of whole person education. It is

part of our game.

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When the referee’s whistle blew at the

end of the England Schools U18 FA

Cup Final, Shrewsbury School wrote a

significant line in its sporting history.

We became Champions of England,

2024. The world’s oldest copy of the

Laws of the Game resides in the School’s

Moser Library. Salopians played a

prominent part in the meetings held

to codify the game in 1863. (Referees

didn’t actually become part of the game

until 1871!). This came four years after

another former Salopian had published

his paradigm-shifting, rule-changing

work of scientific enquiry On the Origin

of Species on 24th November 1859.

Salopians like to understand the rules –

and to adapt them.

So, as we move through these

‘interesting times’, we will adapt to the

new rules. We will work hard for our

pupils. We will benefit from excellent,

wise Governance and strong, coordinated

leadership; the dedication of

all our staff, both teaching and support

teams. We will keep our sharp focus on

the excellence of the pupil experience.

As we play our part in the wider

ecosystem, we will not swerve from our

commitment to Survival of the Kindest.

In this way, we will thrive. Because, we

are not just excellent; we are good.

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The game-clock is ticking as we move

into this new, alternate reality – these

‘interesting times’ that are upon

us. “Play on,” says the ref, putting

her whistle in her pocket. “May the

footballing gods give you everything you

ask for,” chants the crowd. Or, as we

might otherwise put it, Floreat Salopia!

Leo Winkley

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SCHOOL NEWS

How Learning Happens at Shrewsbury

new academic year coinciding with the first change

A of government for 14 years was always going to bring

a complex mixture of energy, innovation and at least one

well-publicised and controversial policy change to the UK’s

education system. Sir Keir’s team have set ambitious goals in

the coming years across all government departments and are

nobly going about their agenda trying to give everyone the

opportunity to have their say. For example, as this edition

of The Salopian goes to print, readers are still welcome to

contribute their ideas for fixing the NHS to the nationwide

consultation. Perhaps you can do better than some of those

already submitted, which include beer taps in hospitals, with

the inevitable boost to patient morale, and the appointment

of Arsenal Manager, Mikel Arteta as Head of the NHS, an

initiative that may not be popular with the Headmaster,

perhaps our community’s most prominent Gunner.

The Department for Education has followed suit with its

own consultation, to go alongside the first major National

Curriculum review for a generation. Narrower in scope than

the NHS equivalent and with a more precisely defined remit,

it has hopefully generated some more sensible suggestions.

One of the principal aims of this curriculum review is

to ensure a broader National Curriculum that includes

improved access to music, art, sport, drama and vocational

subjects and an accompanying assessment system

that captures the strengths of every student, ensuring

meaningful post-school pathways for everyone. The promise

is ‘evolution’ not ‘revolution’, which chimes with all things

Shrewsbury in more ways than one.

Perhaps the most important element of our independent

status, and whole-person approach to education, is the liberty

we have to design, deliver and champion exactly the kind of

wide-ranging curriculum that leads to outstanding post-school

destinations that we all aspire to. Pupils start Third Form (Year 9)

at Shrewsbury taking 16 subjects across the full range of Arts,

Humanities, STEM and Practical subjects and gradually

specialize in the areas that interest them most. Our subject

teachers wouldn’t want it any other way, as they want the

opportunity to inspire every single student passing through

our corridors and classrooms to be as passionate about their

subject as they are and when the time is right, to choose it for

further study. And that diverse range of passions is reflected

in the kinds of things Salopians go on to do. Our Summer

2024 leavers have gone on to study 100 different courses at

71 different institutions across eight countries. And while

over 70% of our students have ended up at Global Top 200

universities, including two to Harvard and nine to Oxford and

Cambridge, more noteworthy perhaps are the non-university

destinations which include prestigious music conservatoires,

drama schools, flying school, the Royal Military Academy

at Sandhurst, and a range of apprenticeships catering to

personalised skills and preferences, all of which our broad

curriculum both encourages and facilitates.

This should give us confidence that the Shrewsbury curriculum

prepares students for life after school. But one area almost

certainly more crucial to these positive outcomes, and not

typically covered in a curriculum review, is pedagogy: how

we teach, rather than what we teach. Much good work has

been done in this area nationally in the last decade and

recently trained teachers (alas I fear I do not fall into that

category) will have had the benefit of Initial Teacher Training

and an Early Career Framework that places evidence-based

teaching practices at the heart of everything they do. Clearly

it is important that all teachers, no matter the stage of their

career, are trained to adopt this approach. At the start of this

academic year, Shrewsbury was lucky enough to welcome

Carl Hendrick, Professor of Evidence-Informed Learning

and Teaching at Academia University of Applied Sciences

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SCHOOL NEWS 7

in Amsterdam, and one of the most influential figures in

this area, to deliver the start-of-year keynote address to staff.

Hendrick’s work has helped shape modern teacher training

programs and his seminal work How Learning Happens, which

sits on teacher desks across the world, emphasises the need for

all teachers to understand the principles of cognitive science,

many of which are straightforward and not overly prescriptive,

so they can be applied to the classroom.

For example, all of us, whether we are members of Mensa or

can just about get to the Wordle solution by guess six, have

a limited capacity for processing information but almost

unlimited capacity for storing it. George Miller, cognitive

psychologist at Harvard, attempted to quantify it with his “7

plus or minus 2” rule, in one of the most cited psychology

papers of all time. His research showed that the number of

objects an average human can hold in short-term memory is

seven, give or take two.

While subsequent research has refined the exact number

(downwards!) the principle still applies and means that we

teachers need to be careful how much we expect our students

to be able to process at any given time. To avoid overwhelming

them with too much new information at once, teachers (and

maybe parents too) need to break complex material into

smaller, more manageable steps. This allows students to focus

their attention on one aspect of the lesson at a time, making it

easier for them to understand and retain the information.

Even when we teachers have successfully managed to help our

students process the information we want them to, research

shows that, terrifyingly, over 50% is forgotten within an

hour, even for the most captivating topics taught by the most

inspiring teachers. As depressing as this must be for anyone

who has ever given a presentation to anyone, anywhere at

any time, forgetting and retrieval is a natural part of the

learning process. For teachers, it highlights the importance

of repeated topic-specific practice, distributed at regular

intervals throughout a course, where possible interleaved with

other topics. This has been shown to be much more effective

for long-term learning than the ‘cramming’ that is usually

associated with tests and exams.

All of us can probably recognise these principles in our

own learning journey, and they serve only to give a flavour

of our research-informed approach to pedagogy, rather

than oversimplifying what will always remain a complex

profession. With so many disciplines on offer at Shrewsbury,

it is important that teachers retain the autonomy to plan and

deliver lessons based on this broad set of principles and worth

noting that all of this work is underpinned by the knowledge

that every student has the potential to achieve great things

inside the classroom. With that in mind, we look forward

to celebrating the wonderful and diverse set of achievements

coming our way this academic year.

Richard Kowenicki

Deputy Head (Academic)

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SCHOOL NEWS

Soul Growth

Advice from a Master

Eighteen years ago, an American

English teacher called Ms

Lockwood set her class an assignment.

They had to write to their favourite

author and invite him or her to bestow

some advice on students at their school

– Xavier High School in New York City.

I am sure that Ms Lockwood had no

expectation that Jane Austen, George

Orwell or even William Shakespeare

would reply from beyond the grave;

as an erstwhile English teacher myself,

I think she was probably just hoping

for decent spelling and – if feeling

particularly optimistic – a properly

applied semi-colon.

Five of the students chose to write to

the still-living Kurt Vonnegut. This

is, in itself, not surprising. Vonnegut’s

satirical, anti-establishment and darkly

humorous prose might be designed to

appeal to angst-ridden adolescents. I

remember reading Slaughterhouse Five

in my teens and adoring Billy Pilgrim’s

fatalistic irreverence. What is surprising

is that Vonnegut – then in his eighties –

wrote back.

His brilliant response went viral:

November 5, 2006

Dear Xavier High School, and Ms

Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely,

Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:

I thank you for your friendly letters.

You sure know how to cheer up a really

old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I

don’t make public appearances anymore

because I now resemble nothing so much

as an iguana.

What I had to say to you, moreover, would

not take long, to wit: Practise any art,

music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing,

painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction,

essays, reportage, no matter how well or

badly, not to get money and fame, but to

experience becoming, to find out what’s

inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do

art and do it for the rest of your lives.

Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms.

Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home

after school, and sing in the shower and

on and on. Make a face in your mashed

potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.

Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I

hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you

don’t do it: Write a six-line poem, about

anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis

without a net. Make it as good as you

possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what

you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it

to anybody, not even your girlfriend or

parents or whatever, or Ms Lockwood.

OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and

discard them into widely separated trash

receptacles. You will find that you have

already been gloriously rewarded for your

poem. You have experienced becoming,

learned a lot more about what’s inside you,

and you have made your soul grow.

God bless you all!

Kurt Vonnegut

We live in a society, and under a

government, that does not seem to value

soul-growing. I am immensely proud,

therefore, that the following pages are

full of young people who are obeying

Vonnegut’s advice to the letter: they are

dancing and acting, writing and singing;

they are finding ways to express all the

things that it means to be a teenager

in the twenty-first century. While the

arts are tragically withering in the state

sector, at Shrewsbury, they continue to

grow and flourish. Every Salopian has

the opportunity to play an instrument,

to perform in a play, to draw, to dance,

to sing in a choir.

We all know that adolescence is tough.

We all remember the emotional

rollercoaster of the teenage years:

triumphs and disasters, giddy ecstasy

and total heartbreak. The arts give us a

place to put all of that emotion and to

turn it into something beautiful. They

let us make our souls grow.

Dr Helen Brown

Deputy Head (Co-Curricular)

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SCHOOL NEWS 9

Darwin Summer School 2024

Just hours after the Speech Day celebrations ended, the School’s domestic team worked

wonders to make Mary Sidney Hall ready to receive over 70 students from Shrewsbury International

Bangkok for our pilot Darwin Summer School. After a year of planning, everything was ready –

except for the unseasonal weather – and our eagerly anticipated

‘Darwin Science’ course was finally about to begin.

Some of our 2024 Sixth Form Leavers,

who had been celebrating at the

Leavers’ Ball, managed to grab a few

hours’ sleep before joining the team

to be part of the welcoming party at

Heathrow Airport. It was a delight to

welcome our guests, who immediately

drew on their reserves of energy after

the long journey, quickly settling into

their accommodation as a home from

home, and initially enjoying the cooler

temperatures as they stretched their legs

and relaxed on Bottom Common. The

next morning, following a welcome at

the Darwin statue by the Headmaster, we

launched fully into the swing of things.

We had designed the Summer School

to be ‘serious fun’, with a blend of

enriching educational content following

the exciting ‘Darwin Science’ course

created specially for the students by

Head of Biology Dr Morgan, together

with a wide range of co-curricular

activities and trips alongside in-House

fun and games. What we were aiming

to deliver, in essence, was a two-week

Salopian experience – drawing on the

enthusiasm, experience and expertise of

Shrewsbury staff.

The educational component of the

course looked at the historical and

cultural context of Darwin’s life and

times, as well as his scientific work

and legacy for today. We began by

exploring his birthplace on The Mount

in Shrewsbury, the many Darwinrelated

sites in the town and, of course,

the story of his schooling here at

Shrewsbury School. School Archivist Dr

Brooke-Smith and Mrs Nicholas, ably

supported by volunteers, showed off

some of the School’s Darwin treasures to

bring this story to life.

In parallel, the classes dived straight into

scientific method and theory – with a

strong emphasis on practical laboratory

work related to natural selection and

evolution. Students enjoyed a field trip

looking for fossils on Wenlock Edge,

which was integrated into teaching

about the need for geological time

in Darwin’s theory. After learning

about the furore surrounding the

publication of On the Origin of Species,

we recreated the Great Debate between

‘Darwin’s Bulldog’, Thomas Huxley,

and the more conservative religious

thinkers represented by Bishop Samuel

Wilberforce – all before visiting the

Natural History Museum in Oxford and

spending time in the room where that

momentous event took place in 1860.

Students then enjoyed visiting Christ

Church – inspiring and august academic

surroundings (and the location of

iconic scenes from Harry Potter films),

before enjoying punting on the river by

Magdalen Bridge – in the rain.

The science then got even more serious,

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SCHOOL NEWS

exploring microbiology. Thoughtfully

integrated trips saw us visit Down

House, the home of the adult Charles

Darwin and his family, where he used

the garden as a living laboratory and

spent time deep in thought as he walked

laps of his famous ‘Sand trail’.

A visit to London’s Natural History

Museum was also memorable,

particularly having access to the ‘Spirit

Rooms’ in the bowels of the building.

Here, amongst many pickled wonders,

were some of Darwin’s original

specimens sent back from his travels on

the Beagle from 1831 to 1836.

The two weeks reached their climax

with a graduation ceremony, where the

students were presented with a beautiful

Natural History Museum edition of On

the Origin of Species in front of Jemma

Pearson’s Darwin statue on Central. A

final meal had a Darwin-themed menu.

Outside the classroom, course

participants enjoyed making the most

of the School’s facilities, with coaching

and recreational opportunities in a range

of sports, art and dance. Most of the

visitors enjoyed cheering on England in

the Euros. Mr Farmer and the pastoral

team put on a number of in-House

quizzes (brilliantly channelling their

inner Bruce Forsyth!). We enjoyed

excellent catering, with barbecues in

between the downpours.

At the end of two weeks, it was time

to go – all feedback positive and plans

already being discussed for bigger and

better the next year, with more courses

and more participants.

It was a privilege and pleasure to host

our guests from Bangkok. By common

accord, the home team thoroughly

enjoyed their company and was

impressed by their academic ability,

engagement and thirst for knowledge

and understanding. I would like to

thank the Principal of Shrewsbury

International Bangkok, Mr Rob Millar

(and his team) for all the support they

gave us throughout the year as we

planned this pilot. Finally, and most

importantly, my thanks go to everyone

at Shrewsbury School who played roles

in planning and delivering the Summer

School with contributions large and

small. These collective efforts have laid

strong foundations for what is to come

in this strategically important area of the

School’s operation.

Stuart Cowper

Head of Partnership and

Community Engagement

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SCHOOL NEWS 11

AI and the Future of Work

If you type ‘AI and the Future of Work’ into a search engine,

you will not struggle to find research on this topic. Articles

from Forbes, McKinsey & Company, PWC, MIT, the World

Economic Forum, UCL and The Economist appear for me,

as well as many, many more, all writing at length about this

subject. Indeed, trying to keep up to date with the research is

arguably just as challenging as keeping up to date with all the

recent developments in AI.

As Head of Futures at Shrewsbury, responsible for offering

advice and guidance to pupils on course choices, universities,

work experience, co-curricular activities and career

possibilities, it would be more than a little remiss of me not

to take a keen interest in this area. It has been on the Futures

Department’s agenda for some time, with a range of activities

taking place in the last academic year around this theme,

including Fourth Form Personal and Social Development

(PSD) lessons, utilisation of video interview software that

produces detailed feedback via AI, and a wide range of

guest speakers sharing stories of how this rapidly emerging

technology is impacting on their professions.

In the past few months, our work on this area has accelerated,

thanks to significant support from both the parent and Old

Salopian community. In June, we did a little research of our

own, sending a survey to a wide range of former pupils to gain

a Shrewsbury-specific insight into the impact AI was having

across a wide range of industries.

The feedback and response rate were staggering, with

information sent back to us from across the globe and from

pretty much every sector you can imagine. Various themes

emerged from the survey that were not dissimilar to the online

research we had already been conducting. Put simply, if an

industry was not already using some sort of generative AI

technology, chances are they would be in the next 12 months.

There was a mixture of excitement and trepidation about the

technology available, and there were clearly concerns about

training needs and skills gaps to fully maximise the potential of

these resources.

Expanding upon the last point, a research paper published

in May in the journal Oxford Economic Papers reported that,

“Employers are significantly more likely to offer job interviews

and higher salaries to graduates who have undertaken studies

in AI-enabled Business”. Knowledge is power, as well as a

helpful bargaining tool, with the International Monetary Fund

similarly reporting that “younger workers who are adaptable

and familiar with new technologies will be better able to

leverage the new opportunities”.

Armed with all this information, our brilliant Digital Lead

Henry Exham, Dr Richard Kowenicki (Deputy Head

Academic) and I got our heads together and identified the

chance to pilot an AI-themed programme for Sixth Formers

to further support those who had a keen interest in this

area, with slots identified in the Academic Perspectives (AP)

and Future Ready Qualifications (FRQ) pathways. As

mentioned in previous Salopian articles, their aim is to add

breadth to academic life in the Sixth Form and to develop

skills that are not always covered in A Level courses but are

increasingly sought after in the 21st century workplace.

These include critical thinking, creativity, digital literacy,

research, enquiry and communication – so ideal for what

we are trying to achieve.

It has been a privilege to design and contribute to the delivery

of this course, with initial lessons focusing on AI Ethics, AI

Literacy, AI Skill Development, and AI in the workplace. Now,

linking directly back to the survey of our Salopian community,

students have moved to working on employment-related tasks

suggested by our fantastic alumni as part of this research. These

provide pupils with a chance to demonstrate and build on

the skills that are going to be so helpful for them as they edge

closer to employment.

There are many quotes from the above-mentioned survey that

I could have included in this article, but this was my favourite:

“AI will transform the world of work like nothing has before it,

but for now the human element is still king.”

The Futures Department will continue to monitor and

embrace AI developments, but to complement rather

than replace the other important work we do to prepare

pupils for the world of work. Industries will always require

talented, inquisitive and adaptable individuals who can

embrace and respond positively to change. I do not feel AI

will alter this demand. In fact, everything you read about

this topic suggests that pupils who have these qualities are

going to enjoy the changes that are predicted to take place

in the coming years.

There are interesting times ahead!

Chris Wain

Head of Futures

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12

SCHOOL NEWS

Emma T Capps has been appointed

Teacher of Art. Originally from

California, she has been an artist

and teacher since the age of 14 and

graduated from Brown University and

The Rhode Island School of Design’s

elite Dual Degree programme in

2023, with a BA in Literary Arts and

an Honours BFA in Illustration. In

2024, she completed her PGCE at the

University of Cambridge, where she also

represented the university as a member

of the women’s varsity squash team. In

her free time, she enjoys reading, sewing

and riding her bicycle around town.

AVETE

Thomas Holder has been appointed

Graduate Sports Coach. Tom is a very

keen sportsman and has competed

in a number of sports to a high level.

He has a Master’s degree in sports &

exercise science, and several coaching

awards in different sports and strength

and conditioning. He has worked in

several schools including Stonyhurst

College, Haberdashers’ Boys’ School and

Millfield. He has also had experience in

several professional football clubs. Tom

enjoys going to art exhibitions, watching

films, seeing live band performances,

theatre, musicals and opera. He also

enjoys travelling around the world.

She then taught Art in London and

Telford, in diverse roles as Head of

Art, Head of Creative Technologies,

Assistant Headteacher, Gifted and

Talented Co-Ordinator and Learning

& Teaching Coach. She has an MA

in Lifelong Learning from Middlesex

University and also post-graduate

qualifications from Oxford Brookes

University in ‘Provision and Assessment

for More Able Pupils’. In recent years

she broadened her experience, working

with adult learners in the community,

and running her own Art & Design

workshop business. In addition to

artistic pathways, Anna nurtures her two

teenage children Beth (17) and Bryn

(15), three white high flyer pigeons and

her merle cockapoo Roxy [3], and loves

gardening, being outdoors and drawing

challenges like #inktober!

Ana Carballo Garcia has been

appointed Spanish Language Assistant.

She comes from Alcalá de Guadaira,

near the city of Sevilla in Andalucia,

and did a college degree in Spanish

Philology, and then a double Master’s

degree in Teaching and Literary

Investigation at the Universidad de

Sevilla. This is her first teaching role

after finishing her studies. Ana started

writing during her teenage years, and

although she has not yet published

anything, she dreams of doing so

someday! She also loves music, films

and theatre.

Anna Moszynska has been

appointed Head of the Art Faculty.

Anna completed a BA (Hons) in

Fine Art at Cheltenham School of

Art, immediately after which she

enjoyed a studio residency with

The Schroderhuis Stichting in the

Netherlands. Having loved drawing

each day in Dutch museums, on

return to England she worked as an

assistant curator at The Ironbridge

Gorge Museum Trust, focusing

on ceramics whilst creating their

workshop programme. In so doing,

she often found herself mistaken for

a qualified teacher, so she studied to

gain her PGCE, at UCL, London.

William Mullock has also been

appointed Graduate Sports Coach. He

recently graduated from the University

of Birmingham with a BSc (Hons) in

Sports, Exercise and Health Sciences.

He has spent the last year completing

multiple coaching badges whilst playing

semi-professional football and working.

His main interests are staying physically

active, films and Liverpool FC.

Sarah Paddock has been appointed

Mathematics Fellow. She studied

Biology and Psychology at the

University of St Andrews. After

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SCHOOL NEWS 13

graduating, Sarah moved back to

Birmingham to work in a secondary

school as a Mathematics tutor and went

on to complete a Postgraduate Diploma

in Secondary Mathematics Education at

the University of Birmingham. Outside

the classroom, she enjoys choral singing,

horse riding and is a keen crafter.

tutor for nearly four years, specialising

in standardised test preparation (SAT/

ACT) and various maths subjects.

Outside of his professional interests,

he enjoys playing and watching sports,

with a particular focus on football and

American football.

hobbies are football, running and hiking

- something he is looking forward to

pursuing further in Shropshire.

Almaz Razif has been appointed Music

Fellow. An Old Salopian (EDH 2018-

20), Almaz went on to study Music at

the University of Oxford. While there

she also worked on several outreach

projects with the Oxford Philharmonic.

Besides playing piano and viola, she

is also an avid knitter and ice-skater

and was formerly a Fencing Squad

Captain (épée). Born in Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia, Almaz lived in Sarawak at

the Shell Camp in Miri then moved

to the Middle East where she grew up

in Doha and Dubai before coming to

Shrewsbury.

Sterling Rosado has been appointed

Teaching Fellow. Currently on a

Harvard Fellowship, he is a recent

graduate of Harvard College, where he

earned a degree in Mathematics and

Economics with a secondary in Spanish

language. He has worked as a private

Jamie Williams has been appointed

Teacher of Geography. Jamie has a

BA (Hons) in Geography from the

University of Manchester and has

taught in schools in Manchester,

Munich and Cambridge. During his

career he has coached football and

swimming and coordinated the Duke

of Edinburgh’s Silver Award. His main

Robbie Williams has been appointed

Housemaster of Ingram’s. He completed

a Bachelor of Personal Development,

Health and Physical Education

(PDHPE) and a Master’s in Leadership

and Management in Education.

He has worked as the Director of

Rowing and Head Coach at The Scots

College, Sydney where he also taught

both PDHPE and Geography. More

recently, Robbie has been a Boarding

Housemaster, PDHPE Teacher and

Master in Charge of Rowing at The

King’s School, Sydney. He competed for

Australia at the World Championships

in 2003 and 2004 in the U19 and U23

Coxed Four respectively and in 2015

he coached the U19 Coxed Four. Away

from work, Robbie and his wife Maja

have two young children Rex (5) and

Rhea (3) and Luna the dog, with their

third baby due to be born imminently!

Robbie loves the outdoors where he

enjoys surfing, waterskiing, fishing

and golf.

Chief Operating Officer

Dr Nick Dodd has been appointed

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

and Clerk to the Governors of

Shrewsbury School. He will join

the Shrewsbury School leadership

team from the Summer term 2025.

Nick is currently COO and Clerk

to the Governors at Bryanston

School, an all-through 3-18

independent boarding and day

school in Dorset. Before taking on

this post nearly five years ago, Nick

worked in retail and logistics, most

recently in a senior role at John

Lewis and Partners. Prior to that,

Nick worked in the Department

of Psychology at the University of

Liverpool, whilst studying for his

doctorate.

Nick is a Board member of the

Independent Schools’ Bursars

Association (ISBA) and he was

previously a trustee for the

University of Chester Students’

Union. He is married to Thea and

they have three children.

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14

SCHOOL NEWS

VALETE

Gwenan Davies

(Staff 2015-24)

Gwenan Davies became Shrewsbury’s first ever Head of Girls’

cricket in 2015 and she has made a huge impact on our

cricket programme during this time. Initially she juggled her

successful playing career with Central Sparks and her coaching

role at Shrewsbury, but more recently had been here in a

full-time capacity. She has been a football coach, a Fives coach

and Assistant Housemistress and tutor in EDH. Gwen is an

inspirational coach and a fine leader, and she developed an

outstanding girls’ programme that is the envy of other schools.

Andy Barnard was Master in Charge of cricket when Gwenan

was appointed, and he writes as follows:

“My decision to endorse Gwenan as our first Head of Girls’

Cricket is one that I will never regret. Her energy, tenacity and

experience made her the perfect fit for Shrewsbury School. For

over seven years we collaborated successfully on a daily basis,

and she subsequently ensured that our girls’ cricket moved

towards parity with the boys’ in terms of access to coaching

and resources and gained outstanding success at national level.

“She was a great mentor to the girls and an outstanding

ambassador for girls’ cricket at Shrewsbury School. She also

supported the Sports Department whenever they called on

her, supported me driving girls’ Fives forwards, and was a

constant and willing helping hand to Will Reynolds in EDH.

Her admin, social media and IT skills kept Shrewsbury

School cricket at the forefront of marketing, organisation and

decision-making. She was a “go to” person for problem-solving

and was constantly in demand from colleagues and other

schools. Together we also drove the growth of girls’ cricket

nationally by creating, managing and co-owning three national

cricket competitions under the umbrella of The Cricket Paper.

“She will be greatly missed by staff and pupils alike and deserves

success in her new quest to return to the ranks of professional

cricket. My past role as Master in Charge of Cricket was made

more exciting, vibrant and colourful by her presence.”

A generation of female Salopian cricketers owe a great deal to

Gwenan for helping them develop on and off the field. Our

first international cricketer, Issy Wong, writes as follows:

“Gwen’s impact on the girls’ cricket programme is undeniable,

putting us right at the forefront nationally. However, it is the

attention to detail and careful input into each individual player

which I think all of us who got to work with her are truly

thankful for.”

Gwenan has taken our girls’ U15 and U18 teams to the latter

stages of several competitions over the past eight years. The

U18 girls won the 100-ball competition in 2021 and were

runners up in 2022. In 2023, they lost in the semi-finals with

a Lords’ final an agonising game away. Gwenan has decided to

give her playing career another go and is spending this winter

in New Zealand, coaching and playing. We thank Gwenan for

her hard work and wish her well.

Will Hughes

Martin Hansen

(Staff 1988-2024)

Martin made a great start in life, pleasing his parents by taking

a teaching job in a ‘nice’ Methodist school. Things started

to turn, however, when he then took a post at the Licensed

Victuallers School, then in Slough, a school set up to support

the children of the licensed trade with houses named after

brewers, like Gilbey, Dewar, Carlsberg. You get the picture….

This was of course excellent preparation for what was to come,

as Martin then joined Shrewsbury (to parents’ relief), one of

his roles being to run the Sixth Form ‘pub’ Tudor Court and its

successor, Quod, for many years, the role in which he will be

most familiar to generations of non-mathematical Salopians.

In keeping with the job of the time, Martin threw himself into

Basic Year, the outdoor pursuits programme for the second

year in the School, synonymous with the name of its leader

over so many years, the legendary Michael ‘Fred’ Hall. His

schemes were always novel - indeed, many of the regular staff

enjoyed his Thursday afternoon compass rambles in the wilds

of south Shropshire. He also involved himself in the Rovers,

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SCHOOL NEWS 15

with the organisation of a memorable expedition to northern

Norway in 2000. In 1999 he took on the organisation of

an ailing Basic Year Summer Camp, upgrading it from the

Brecon Beacons to the French Alps. Over the three years

this ran, junior Salopians climbed (Petit) Mont Blanc, and

many other summits.

Back at home, life in the classroom was a touch more

mundane, with Martin ever creating new resources, ideas and

sharing them generously with colleagues and students. I was

hugely impressed when this was shown in particular during

the torrid online learning (a contradiction in terms, surely

…) when Martin managed to set up a mechanics in action

club and set challenges for the students that really engaged,

challenged and stimulated them to think deeply about the

maths they were studying. It was a revelation and delight

to watch the squeals of delight as eggs were catapulting,

water clocks designed and other challenges undertaken by

housebound students.

Of course there are several women in Martin’s life, and

although his wife and Freda, his daughter, are very

precious, there is another woman who occupies a major

lead role: La Tramontana - a beautiful 35ft wooden sailing

beauty which Martin has bought, restored and sailed.

He leaves as a much-loved colleague, a tremendous source of

wisdom and kindness and a can-do attitude, with a passion,

communicated to generations of pupils and staff, for maths,

the mountains and the sea. I have been privileged to have been

a part of his journey at Shrewsbury.

Ian Payne with Mark Twells

Paul Merricks-Murgatroyd (Staff 2003-24)

Paul Merricks-Murgatroyd came to Shrewsbury in September

2003 to lead a fledgling Economics Faculty. Under his 21-

year tenure the Faculty developed to become one of the most

popular and successful in the School, with 85% of pupils

achieving A* to B grades at A level over that period.

An avid fan of Newcastle Utd, who, as Colm Kealy unkindly

reminded Paul in his valedictory address, never won any

silverware over the whole of his 34-year teaching career,

the Faculty in 2017 won the ultimate and most prestigious

Economics Competition, Target 2.0, a National Economics

competition run by the Bank of England.

Modest and unassuming, Paul always showed a great

dedication to his subject with continuous support and

guidance for his often very talented pupils, even inventing

his own currency, the Murg, as an aid to his pupils’ learning.

Year on year a great deal of time and effort was dedicated to

multiple students making Oxbridge applications, resulting in

numerous success stories with PPE and straight Economics.

Outside the classroom Paul was a dedicated football, cricket

and tennis coach. He was also a keen member of the staff

football team and re-founded the School’s model railway

society, allowing him to indulge a lifelong hobby.

He tutored in three Houses, five years in the Grove at the end

of its time as a boys’ House, and fifteen years in Radbrook, at

the end of its life as a Day Boy House, with a final happy year

in Ridgemount.

Maylin Ware (Director of Finance 2008-11, Bursar

and Clerk to the Governors 2011-24)

Maylin Ware arrived at Shrewsbury as Director of Finance in

2008, towards the end of Jeremy Goulding’s headmastership,

succeeding Simon Dowson as Bursar and Clerk to the

Governing Body in 2011. He served under four Chairs

of Governors and three Heads and was closely involved

with planning and implementing many of the key strategic

decisions and developments over a 17-year period of almost

constant change. First came planning for the integration of

the first Sixth Form girls in September 2008, followed by the

move to full co-education in September 2014. This involved

overseeing the financing and building of two new girls’ houses

(Emma Darwin Hall and the recently opened Queen Elizabeth

Hall) and the conversion of The Grove and Moser’s Hall into

girls’ Houses. Other major projects were the re-construction

of the Lyle Building and re-design of the Moser quadrangle,

construction of

a new classroom

block, Hodgson

Hall and of the Yale

Boathouse. More

recently he was

involved in planning

and implementing

the merger with

Packwood Haugh

prep school in 2019.

All the while Maylin

provided successful

leadership to the

support function

during a period which embraced both the 2008 financial crash

and the 2020-21 Covid epidemic.

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16

SCHOOL NEWS

The Pfirsich Preis

The Pfirsich Preis (The Peach Prize) has been established

to honour the outstanding and inspiring commitment of

former Head of German, the late Huw Peach. It has been set

up with the generous support of Mr Peach’s wife, Sophie, and

family.

The award provides financial support to one Germanist per year

to extend their linguistic capability and passion for German by

spending up to two weeks in Germany, experiencing German

culture first-hand through intensive language lessons, cultural

excursions and staying with a host family.

Jessica Fraser-Andrews (EDH L6) was honoured to be the first

recipient of the Pfirsich Preis and to spend a week during the

summer at a language school in Munich. As she describes, it

was an enriching experience:

„In den Sommerferien habe ich eine Woche in München

verbracht, wo ich, nachdem ich den Pfirsich Preis erhalten habe,

einen Sprachkurs gemacht habe. Es war eine tolle Erfahrung und

ich habe viele Menschen aus der ganzen Welt kennengelernt. Die

Stadt hat viel beeindruckende Architektur und es hat mir gefallen,

eine Woche lang dort zuhause zu sein. Nachdem ich in der A2

Gruppe der Sprachschule angefangen hatte, stieg ich schnell in die

B1 Gruppe auf, wo wir etwas über Aspekte der deutschen Kultur

und einige komplexe Grammatik lernten. Ich kann nur allen

empfehlen, Deutsch zu studieren, denn obwohl es eine schwierige

Sprache ist, ist es so interessant, etwas über die Geschichte und

Kultur Deutschlands aus der Perspektive von Muttersprachlern zu

erfahren. Außerdem bietet das Erlernen der deutschen Sprache auf

hohem Niveau viele Vorteile, weil es die meist gesuchteste Sprache

auf dem Arbeitsmarkt ist und Deutsch kann viele verschiedene

Karrieren begleiten. „

“This summer, I spent a week in Munich, where I did a

language course after winning the Peach Prize. It was a great

experience, and I met lots of people from all over the world.

The city has so much amazing architecture and I enjoyed

calling it my home for a week. After beginning in the A2

group, I quickly moved up to the B1 group where we learned

about aspects of German culture and some complex grammar

points in German. I couldn’t recommend taking German

enough, as although it is a difficult language, it is so interesting

to study the history and culture of Germany through the

perspective of native speakers. Also, pursuing German to a

high level has many benefits because it is the most requested

language on the job market and can accompany lots of

different career paths!”

The Pfirsich Preis will be running again this year and Sophie

Peach and Head of German Richard Yardley will be welcoming

applications from the current Fifth and Lower Sixth

Germanists in the School who might be interested in receiving

funding for a language school placement in Germany in the

summer of 2025.

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SCHOOL NEWS 17

Schützer-Weissmann Letter Prize 2024

The Schützer-Weissmann Letter Prize invites entries from Third and Fourth Form pupils on a specified assignment.

The 2024 assignment was as follows:

You are the all-seeing, all-knowing statue of Charles Darwin, surveying the life of the School swirling around your base.

Write a letter to your friend Sir Philip Sidney at the war memorial end of Central,

reflecting on your lot and the current and future lives of the pupils.

Below is the winning entry by Brandon Mo (Rt 4).

Main School Building,

Shrewsbury School,

SY3 7BA

18th June 2024

Dear Philip,

It has been one hundred and fifty years since we last spoke. So much time has passed, my friend. So much time to

think.

I write to ponder once more my purpose. I seek foolish comfort, or some other way to alleviate this numbness.

This realisation that I will remain for centuries to come, unchanged. I suppose I should ask what you have seen

over the years, though I doubt there is much difference. The seasons pass with nothing but a meagre tinge, so

short-lived that it is but an elusive change in temperature. Every year, a fresh batch of them comes pouring in.

Every day, every hour, a congruent swarm of things. Where they once spat foul language and meaningless banter,

they now loiter, twiddling their thumbs on glowing rectangles. And after five years, they leave behind nothing, off

to some greater purpose.

Despite everything, I still envy them. Such is the irony. They are capable beyond measure in their shortcomings,

while I, an eternal figure, am condemned to be bound by my feet to a simple slab, transient in the minds of those

who pass. These people gaze upon me, you know. Some curious, others indifferent. Some look with admiration,

observing my fine lines and luscious curves, the way rust and moss adorn my surface. But none truly sees me,

none understands the weight of stillness.

I remember so many different people but know none. I wish there were something, some memory, something

more than a blank face to remember them by. So, I could experience the life they live, their tears an echo of a

vibrancy so very foreign to me. And I wonder. Wonder what it is like to be free. To waste time despite knowing

that it should be treasured. To make mistakes.

These cycles bring no real change. Despite renovations, innovations, and the coming and going of people, no true

transformation has occurred. I have witnessed wars, celebrations, and the slow march of progress. The world has

changed in ways I could never have imagined, yet here I stand, unchanged. Is this our fate, to be mere witnesses to

the passage of time? To see everything and yet experience nothing.

You must find my words awfully morbid, spouting my nonsense. Perhaps not. Perhaps you’ve also come to an

understanding. I remember us back then, naive about what awaited us, conversing every odd night about the

lucidity and lunacy in the wonders we saw. It grew out, though. The world seemed to dim, turning into

shades of grey, devoid of interest. I lost interest. I cut off connections, and you stopped trying after a while.

It is a lonely existence.

But sometimes, just sometimes, I catch a glimpse of something beautiful—a child’s

laughter, the vibrant hues of a sunset, the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze.

I wonder just a little if the world is good enough to be worth something.

Alas, here I stand, a silent witness to the passage of time, bound by the cruel irony

of my existence. Are we but a stark reminder of the futility of clinging to the past?

I seek a fresh mindset. Another opinion to change my stagnant view on the world.

Yours,

Charles

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18

SCHOOL NEWS

Field Day Volunteering

More than 180 pupils have chosen volunteering as their Thursday Afternoon activity.

On Field Day in October, just before the half-term break, they spent a busy day out

and about in the local community.

We ran a varied Field Day programme and managed to

visit six local schools in Shrewsbury and started a new

programme at The Discovery Academy in Stoke. Meanwhile,

our Restart Africa volunteers spent the time preparing

Christmas gifts for their mentees; our Christmas Fair group

worked steadily on products to sell at the Christmas Fair we

will be holding in Quod on 1st December 1st; 20 pupils spent

the day working in local charity shops; another group mucked

in (literally!) at the Owls Trust in Llandudno; the Beekeepers

helped out at the local apiary, preparing hives for the winter;

and we continued to visit the Mount Care Home to spread

good cheer and share stories with the elderly.

As always, I marvel at our pupils’ dedication as they continue

to take on these tasks with true Salopian good cheer and

commitment, supported by our industrious teachers.

On the morning of Field Day, I was very grateful to Kariman

Yakhoul, from Shopshire Supports Refugees, who gave an

in-depth presentation to our pupils about the current refugee

crisis. She spoke about the political and economic challenges

concerning asylum seekers and refugees, as well as sharing firsthand

stories about how refugees adapt to life in Shropshire.

She explained why we run our Shrewsbury School Homework

and Football Clubs and the lifeline that they offer young

people in Shrewsbury. Pupil volunteers opt to help at these

clubs in addition to their School commitments and were

hugely motivated to hear how one hour of their time can have

such a big impact on a young person’s life.

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SCHOOL NEWS 19

Elsewhere, Anabella Spencer-Blow (MSH L6) and Mia

Hirakawa (G L6) were busy putting together Christmas

presents for the children at Restart Africa.

The girls said: “We shopped for Christmas presents for the

children in Restart, chipping in money from ourselves and

finding various items around town. We bought items suited

for the girls we talk to every Thursday, and we’re grateful

that the boxes will be taken across to Kenya over the

Christmas holidays.

“Later we did our usual Zoom call with the children aged

around 10-13, which we very much look forward to. Each

week we chat to a group of children who live at Restart. We

chat to a group of five girls, whilst the others chat to four boys.

“The girls are always so full of joy and enthusiasm. It is a real

pleasure to share in their day and hear about their activities

in the past week. Joyce, Faith, Tabitha, Demaris and Monica

particularly love singing and getting us to dance, which is a

great source of entertainment for us all!

“Interacting with the children at Restart Africa has been

extremely valuable, and the bonds created with them are

truly rewarding. The children are usually in underprivileged

situations and any chance to contribute to Restart is

important, even if it is just having a conversation with them

each week or buying Christmas gifts, and it seems the children

really enjoy it.

“Living in different countries and environments and seeing

how much they laugh is an important reminder for me to

find the joy in every day. Particularly Joyce (Jojo) who is ten

years old and often giggling! Getting the opportunity to

call the children at Restart is not just about helping them

learn English but making genuine connections with a lovely

group of young girls.”

Grace Chen (EDH L6) was part of the group who spent Field

Day at The Owls Trust in North Wales: “Upon arrival, we

received a very friendly welcome from the lady in charge (and

her dog Collin) and she offered an intriguing and educational

tour around the sanctuary, giving us a glimpse of the

magnificent and exotic owls, including endangered species.

“For the volunteering element, we had the opportunity to

work among the habitat of the owls. Although weeding

and cleaning might not sound glamorous, it is crucial to

contributing to a safe and nurturing environment for the owls.

The work is slightly demanding, but the rewards are plentiful.

We learnt about wildlife management and ecology insights.

And volunteering with our peers also encouraged our bonding

and connections. We also had the opportunity to plant bulbs,

and we now eagerly wait to see how the yellow daffodils bloom

as Spring arrives, as a testament to our efforts.

“Overall, our Field Day was not only about volunteering, it

was also an opportunity to learn valuable skills and immerse

ourselves in nature – not to mention the delightful ice cream

treat at the end!”

Naomi Pritchard

Head of Charities and Volunteering

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20

SCHOOL NEWS

CCF

Lucy Petch being presented with the Sword of Honour by General Sir Timothy Buchan Radford KCB DSO OBE at the Sovereign’s Parade,

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Upon leaving the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the

Sword of Honour is presented to the top officer cadet

in that intake. This notable distinction was recently achieved

by Lucy Petch (MSH 2012-14), who was awarded the Sword

of Honour at the Sovereign’s Parade in December 2023 by

General Sir Timothy Buchan Radford KCB DSO OBE,

representing the King.

Sgt C Garavini (Senior Cadet in the Royal Marines Section) was

honoured to hold the Sword of Honour at the Act of Remembrance in

November 2024.

Thanks to a kind and generous donation from the Pooley

family, Shrewsbury School CCF now has its own version of

this prestigious award.

Pooley Sword was born out of the cessation of Wilkinson

Sword’s involvement in sword-making, as they ceased

trading to transfer to the more profitable business of

making razor blades.

Founder Robert Pooley (Ch 1992-97) took over many of

the assets of the Wilkinsons, and Pooley Sword was born.

So from 2005, they began to produce British Military

and Commonwealth swords using traditional methods of

craftsmanship. Pooley Sword is now the leading supplier to

HM forces and many Commonwealth and overseas defence

forces too.

The Sword of Honour will be presented to the top Shrewsbury

CCF cadet annually, and this will form part of the many

academic and co-curricular awards presented on Speech Day.

The ceremonial sword will remain at the School, but each

year’s recipient will be lucky enough to be given a beautiful,

engraved miniature sword which they can keep.

Head of CCF Lt Col Nick David comments: “We are so

grateful to the Pooley family for this generous donation.

The sword has already created much interest amongst our

cadets, and it will serve as an important motivator for them

to grasp all the benefits from cadet service. I believe that

cadet experience is one of the best personal development

opportunities available to pupils at Shrewsbury, and this award

gives both prestige and incentive to those senior cadets who

stay with us into the Sixth Form.”

This ceremonial sword is on display at the CCF offices and is

a beautiful work of craftsmanship. For sword aficionados, the

Sword of Honour is an infantry officer’s sword, emblazoned

with the King’s crown and cypher on the guard. The blade

is made from a single piece of high-carbon steel and is hand

ground, tempered and polished. The etchings include not just

the School crest and motto but the cap badges of the three

arms we belong to: Royal Marines, The Rifles (Army) and the

Royal Air Force.

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SCHOOL NEWS 21

A TEACHING SABBATICAL IN ZAMBIA

Having spent the last 25 years ‘at the chalkface’ at

Shrewsbury, the Headmaster kindly granted me

permission to take a sabbatical during the last half of the

Summer term and teach abroad for a while. Through some

friends, I had heard about the work of Project Luangwa

(PL), an NGO that does great work in rural Zambia. PL was

started by Jo and Robin Pope, both famous in the Zambian

safari scene. The South Luangwa area was ‘discovered’ in the

1950s by the legendary conservationist Norman Carr, and

as his protégé, Robin launched walking safaris and helped to

kickstart responsible tourism in the area.

the cooperation of the local community. It has been shown

that this is not possible unless they can receive material

benefit from their wildlife.”

So this was our backdrop: a wild and beautiful area and lots

of enthusiastic students to teach. What could be better! We

arrived in Mfuwe, the small village at the entry point to the

South Luangwa National Park and the home of PL. In the

1970s there was just one shop, but tourism has changed the

place hugely. Now there are scores of small stores scattered

along the ribbon of road like monopoly buildings.

Pupils reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm

The economy in this area is slightly better than in most remote

parts of Zambia. People are still very poor, but various local

NGOs do great work in the community, and correspondingly

the relations and culture are unceasingly positive. PL focuses

on education, female empowerment and helping local young

people achieve access to university. This last was the area of

work we were going to be helping with.

Other local NGOs do everything from research work and

conservation programmes to sponsoring students and reducing

human/wildlife conflict. On a very simple level, if elephants

rampage your farm and you then kill them to protect your

income, then longer term there are no elephants for the

tourists to see. Norman Carr was instrumental in effecting

change, and his legacy lives on in the mindset of the local

community towards conservation. In his words, “One of

the most important aspects of wildlife conservation is to get

The local village market buzzes with activity. While the

men hang around sitting on their old-style bicycles or small

motorbikes (Chinese copies of the basic Honda CG 125 for

any bikers reading this), the women are selling and buying all

manner of things. You can get your hair cut (I did not), buy

vegetables, purchase hair extensions (again I did not) or buy

all sorts of houseware, from buckets to brushes made from

branches.

So, to the young men and women we were there to teach. All

of them had benefitted from PL sponsorship at school and

now hoped to attend a university in Zambia; quite something

for pupils who, although bright and aspirational, had never

left the area. Clearly their geography teaching had not been a

strongpoint, as on asking for the names of the eight countries

that border landlocked Zambia, one student suggested the

USA. We also had work to do in terms of shifting their

mindset away from rote learning to that of academic enquiry,

innovative thinking and surviving financially and socially in

the city.

Our group of 23 school leavers were a delightful bunch of

young people. They were very courteous towards us, kind

and caring to each other and keen to learn. Some were

extremely bright, and our aim was to help them survive at

university and add value to them as individuals. This meant we

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22

SCHOOL NEWS

covered anything from public speaking to IT skills, role play,

budgeting, essay writing, academic honesty (yes, they soon

learned the pitfalls of plagiarism), debating, maths and so on.

For a teacher used to the limitations of course ‘specifications’

(such is the nomenclature now that the term ‘syllabus’ is

seldom used in the UK), to have a blank canvas of what and

how to teach was freedom itself!

My wife Katie was with me for the duration. She seemed

interested to discover what I did all day at Shrewsbury and was

a great help in the classroom. She became the typing skills, test

marker and spelling test ‘guru’, but I suspect any aspirations I

have to request a teaching assistant when back at Shrewsbury

will be quickly squashed.

We managed to do a daily team game or icebreaker, whether

that was Killer Wink or Elephant Races (see adjacent photo) or

a Kahoot (an online game much loved by modern Salopians),

and these games were always much enjoyed. Probably the most

successful was musical chairs, which everyone became very

excited about and luckily ended with only minor injuries!

The daily routine was unusual to us. Sunrise is at 6am and

it’s dark by 6pm – and that hardly ever changes. The fun of

being in equatorial areas! We were lucky in the time of year we

were there: temperatures ranged from 24° to 32°C each day

and we hardly ever saw a cloud. We had loadshedding (power

cuts) every day. Zambia has lots of HEP (hydro), but climate

change and drought means less water, so less power available.

When we arrived in May, there was 12 hours a day of power.

At the time of writing this in November, I hear there are only

three hours of power daily. The impacts of this are huge for

homework, hospitals and businesses.

Food was a real motivator for our students, who arrived

around 8am, as a breakfast of bread and sugary tea is provided.

Also delivered is a hot lunch, which always consists of nsima

(a mixture between porridge and rice, which tastes pretty

dull but is a carb filler) which is eaten by hand with meat and

vegetables. The pupils organise for themselves a washing-up

rota, using an outside tap in the yard.

Our living conditions were good. PL rented us a house that

was far bigger than we needed, but to Katie’s horror was full of

spiders and some small frogs. A tin roof made it noisy, so my

first purchase was a catapult (25 kwacha, which is £0.75p) for

scaring off the baboons that woke us up each morning. With

a corrugated iron roof some four feet above the bed, you can

imagine how lovely it is when a baboon decides to pee from

one of the multiple trees overhanging the house. A wet poo

splat is less common but just as nasty – and that is before

the baby baboons (dozens of them) decide to playfight

above our heads.

So we soon got ourselves into a pretty good routine: up at

05:45 as it gets light; I have fun with my trusty catapult; then

it’s off to the office to do some lesson prep before starting

our teaching day at 08:30. We finish by 3pm (or 15, as they

call it in Zambia) and go and jump in the pool at a tired

but cheap lodge

resort by the river,

which was once

a crocodile farm.

Sundowners are a

proper tradition

here amongst

the Mzungus’

(ie white folk).

We tried various

places by rivers, in

bars, overlooking

salt pans, but all

included beer and a

great sunset - which

happened every day

without fail.

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SCHOOL NEWS 23

Students having a go at textiles

We managed to have a lot of variety in the teaching, which

I felt went down well. One involved role play about job

interview technique, where I was the ill-prepared job candidate

who gets it all wrong. For example:

Interviewer: Mr David why did you leave your current job?’

Me: Oh, I didn’t really get on with anyone and frankly I didn’t

like having a female boss...

The students had very little experience of the internet but,

once discovered, were plagiarising like mad. Their first

essays from a choice of five titles that included subjects like

‘Should we spend money on space travel’ or ‘Discuss whether

marijuana should be legalised’ produced some amazing copy

and pasting efforts. Their plagiarism was not well disguised:

including hyperlinks in your essay and suggesting it is all your

own words is generally not a good idea!

The students intend to go to university in Zambia and were

almost entirely focused on professional degrees such as law,

medicine and engineering – such is the desire for employment

and status – so there was sadly very little interest in the way

of the arts or humanities. We took them on an outing to a

Youth Technical College where the students could learn

about mechanics, catering, textiles and agriculture. But a

vocational course did not get most of the students excited.

However, we know that not all of them will actually get to

university, or gain sponsorship from some wealthy US or

European ex-tourist donor.

The Freedom Statue in Lusaka, made to symbolise Africa breaking the

chains of colonialism.

Talking of them getting excited – when we announced they

were all going to the capital Lusaka on a visit, the cheers

drowned us out! Of the group, 95% had never been outside

the province, so it was brilliant to see their pleasure. We spent

three full days in the city exploring the sights and introducing

them to the possibility of university life, including a tour

around the University of Zambia, and watching them

coping with shopping mall escalators, a trip to the cinema

and so on. The bus ride there was 12 hours, with gospel

music all the way!

The photo below was our final sports day, organised (with

some help from us) by the students to include rounders,

cricket and of course football. Though note the footwear: most

played games in their sliders, as few own trainers.

All in all, we had a brilliant experience and I am pretty sure we

were of use. We have committed to return to teach again in the

summer break of 2026.

Nick David

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24 SCHOOL NEWS

Drama

Mother Courage and her Children

Brecht’s great anti-war masterpiece is notoriously challenging:

set in the seventeenth century, it shows medievalism giving

way to the modern era. The eponymous heroine Mother

Courage travels from battlefield to battlefield, surviving the

horrors of war through a series of grubby transactions.

The title role is one of the greatest parts for women in the

theatrical canon, and in Mrs Cissone-Hunter’s production it

was split between two fantastic performers, Clemmy Sowden

and Hettie Smith. They both captured Courage’s heartbreaking

combination of strength and vulnerability as she struggles to

negotiate a series of impossible decisions.

The play has an enormous cast of characters who cross paths

with Courage as she criss-crosses the countries of Europe.

Faye Pritchard was wonderful as the sassy and cynical Yvette,

whilst Edward Densem brought an endearing naivete to the

role of Swiss Cheese. Recently appointed Head of School,

Finlay Cullen was hilarious as the Cook who fights with

Courage over the price of a capon. Clara Charlesworth-

Jones gave an outstanding performance as Courage’s dumb

daughter, Kattrin. Clara’s wordless but extraordinarily

expressive performance was incredibly moving, particularly as

she climbed the cart to warn the people of Halle of the army’s

approach.

Brecht is famous for his use of music, and Lilith Pearson

provided a stunning live soundtrack to the production,

including a number of original songs. As ever, the show

benefited from a stunning set, designed and built by our

in-house technical team of Bradley Fenton, Stuart Myles and

Maisie Cutter. Mother Courage’s cart was an engineering

masterpiece, turning and opening to reveal different locations.

Congratulations to all involved.

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SCHOOL NEWS

25

The Traitor’s Wife – Edinburgh Fringe and

Shrewsbury

History is full of women who have been marginalised from

their own biographies, but there are few for whom this is more

true than Melinda Marling.

Paris in the 1930s was full of rich Americans in search of

la vie bohème. Despite their enthusiastic adoption of black

turtlenecks, gitanes and berets, they were instantly identifiable

in every Right Bank cocktail party and Left Bank dive bar.

Among them was Melinda, a pretty Park Avenue princess and

heiress to a Chicago manufacturing fortune.

As the Nazis closed in, Melinda played tennis, drank

champagne and flirted with a dashing British diplomat. Their

whirlwind romance led to a hurried wedding in 1940 as the

British embassy scrambled to evacuate. Melinda’s new husband

was Donald Maclean – and he was the deadliest agent of Soviet

Russia. Over the following decade, Maclean passed thousands

of highly classified documents to Moscow, including the

secrets of the Enigma code and the Manhattan project. He

was part of the Cambridge spy ring, a group of public school

intellectuals who were radicalised at university and recruited to

work for the KGB. Much has been written about them – how,

and why, did these pillars of the establishment turn against the

system that produced them?

However, almost nothing has been written about Melinda.

Documents released in 2015 revealed that she was not only

complicit in her husband’s treachery, but helped to facilitate

it – she photographed the documents he stole and introduced

him to powerful American politicians and businessmen who

allowed him access to confidential information. Even when

Maclean himself came under suspicion, nobody thought to

question his wife. Polite, well-dressed, the perfect hostess: who

could possibly believe that she was capable of such betrayal?

Melinda died in New York in 2010. She never spoke to

the media and took her secrets to her grave. Who was she?

How did she become the lynchpin of the most catastrophic

information leak of the twentieth century, and even more

importantly, why? Was she coerced by a fanatical husband, or

blinded by political ideology?

The more I tried to research her life, the more frustrated I

became by the almost total academic silence surrounding her.

In the thousands of pages devoted to Maclean, Burgess, Philby,

Blunt and Cairncross, she barely merits a passing mention. As

with so many female figures from history, she is pushed firmly

to the margins. She exists in the negative space created by her

husband’s infamy: not Melinda, but ‘The Traitor’s Wife’.

I decided to reclaim her narrative, following her from the

moment she met Donald in 1939 to her defection in 1952.

My version of her story is unapologetically fictional – so little

is recorded of her feelings and actions that I have made them

up. The words of the men surrounding her, however, are

largely drawn from the historical record.

I count myself incredibly fortunate to have collaborated with

an exceptionally talented composer in John Moore. John has

been writing for the stage for over 30 years: The Traitor’s Wife

is his 11th original musical and includes some of his most

brilliant – and unforgettable – music. Drawing on Russian

folk songs, 1940s jazz and the classical canon, he has created

a musical vernacular for the story that is wholly original, but

somehow recognisable. This is the third show we have written

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26 SCHOOL NEWS

together, and the fourth time we have collaborated with Sian

Stanhope, our fantastic choreographer. Her ability to create

location, time period and character through movement never

ceases to amaze me.

The greatest privilege of working at Shrewsbury is the calibre

of talent that I get to work with, and the company of The

Traitor’s Wife was no exception. Not only were they fabulous

actors, singers and dancers, but they were also a delight to be

around, always highly professional, enthusiastic and supportive

of each other. The company was led by Hattie Attwood who

gave a “powerhouse performance” as Melinda. She captured

Melinda’s complex relationship with Donald in a performance

of extraordinary emotional maturity. Donald was played by

Kit Smith in his debut performance at Shrewsbury – perhaps a

reminder that it is never too late to try something new. Critics

praised his “brooding portrayal of a troubled soul wrestling

with his demons”. The third wheel of their relationship was

Guy Burgess, superbly played by Billy Gardiner. Salopian

audiences have become accustomed to Billy’s magnificent

vocal technique, but this role gave him the opportunity to

showcase his acting ability, giving a truly poignant and moving

performance as the drunken, shambolic, but idealistic Burgess.

The spies’ treachery was facilitated by Maclean’s KGB

handler – and sometime mistress – played with characteristic

subtlety and sophistication by Poppy Godsal. As Poppy had

already started term at ArtsEd by the time of the Shrewsbury

performance, her role was taken on by her brilliant understudy,

Emma Bannister and it was fascinating to see an alternative

interpretation.

The ensemble was full of fantastic cameo performances: Hettie

Smith as Melinda’s more conventional sister; Oscar Niblett

as the callous and calculating Kim Philby; Pippa Lawton

Smith as the journalist who initially uncovers the spy ring;

Sammy Patten and James Gibbon as menacing KGB officers;

Grace Graysmark and Tommy Gardiner as the Maclean

children; Massimo Wyatt, Will O’Hagan, Ollie Connell

and Henry Clark as marvellously pompous representatives

of the British establishment. Every single member of the

cast was utterly committed on stage, and their energy and

enthusiasm were infectious.

The cast were magnificently supported by a wonderful band,

under the baton of Musical Director John Moore. The

extraordinarily talented group of Ivo Winkley, Max Darke,

Ethan Poon, James Mackinnon, Matt Keulemans, Bob Li and

Vicky Kirk accompanied the action sensitively throughout,

fuelled entirely by Mrs Kirk’s jaffa cakes.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the support

of the staff, who gave up their holiday to travel up the M6

and keep the company watered and fed throughout a hectic

few weeks. I am enormously grateful to Toby Percival, Lauren

Temple, Ian Reade and Seb Cooley for their generosity and

willingness to help out.

Our Day Out – Churchill’s Hall House Play

Inspired by Willy Russell’s time as a teacher, Our Day

Out was first written as a TV play in 1977. It proved so

popular that he subsequently rewrote it for the stage and

it has been a stalwart of school drama ever since. Nearly

fifty years on, the characters remain instantly recognisable

and the play’s critique of the education system and its

injustices are perhaps even more relevant.

The premise of the play is simple. Mrs Kay, teacher of the

Progress Class – a remedial group for illiterate pupils – has

arranged a school trip that will take her young charges from

the dirty and deprived streets of Liverpool to the relative

tranquility of Conwy Castle in North Wales. However, her

fellow teacher Mr Briggs is fearful that Mrs Kay’s woollyminded

liberalism combined with the unruly Progress Class

is a recipe for anti-establishment disaster and demands that

the headmaster allows him to accompany them. They are

accompanied by two idealistic, if wet-behind-the-ears newly

qualified teachers, Colin and Susan.

The four adults were brilliantly played by Will Himmer,

Louis Malanaphy, Jonnie Thurstan and Katrina Barard (on

loan from Moser’s Hall). Particular praise is due to Will

Himmer, who brought genuine pathos to the character of

Mrs Kay and her touching belief that all children deserve a

fair shot at life.

As predicted by Mr Briggs, anarchy escalates rapidly

throughout the trip. Two of Briggs’ older pupils, who have

tagged along on the trip despite having left the Progress

Class, start smoking at the back of the coach within minutes

of the coach’s engine starting and are caught pilfering from

the roadside café. Digga and Reilly were performed with

great energy and humour by Gethin Harrison and Harry

Warner-Reid (usually the most upstanding of citizens).

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SCHOOL NEWS

27

A brief stop at Colwyn Bay Zoo briefly brings hope to Mr

Briggs that the pupils are capable of behaving as expected,

but this is soon extinguished when an enraged zookeeper

boards the coach to retrieve a menagerie of stolen animals

– stolen in this case, from the cuddly toy collections of

Salop’s younger inhabitants.

Following a severe dressing down in which Mr Briggs

tells the pupils that “Trust is something you people don’t

understand”, the party reaches Conwy Castle, where the

children proceed to run amok. Amongst the chaos, a

young student, Carl, goes missing and is eventually found

contemplating suicide by Briggs. George Thornhill gave a

poignant performance as Carl, articulating the hopelessness

felt by the disadvantaged, disenfranchised and despairing

working class.

Our Day Out remains a fantastic piece of social commentary.

The exuberance of the children creates moments of hilarious

slapstick comedy, whilst the play’s political message is never

lost. Mr Fitzgerald’s fine production was both entertaining

and provocative, forcing the audience to question the extent

to which society has progressed towards equality since the

play’s debut.

Drama School Success

Many Salopians aspire to pursue professional careers in the

theatre and we are delighted that four of the thespian class of

2024 have proceeded to vocational training at the country’s

top conservatoires.

Hattie Attwood (above) is studying Actor Musicianship at

Mountview. Hattie joined us as a drama scholar in the Third

Form and performed in every school and house play possible

over her five years at Shrewsbury. Most recently, she appeared

as Melinda in The Traitor’s Wife, Jo in Little Women, Arkadina

in The Seagull and Anita in West Side Story.

Billy Gardiner (top right) has embarked on the Vocal Studies

course at the Royal Northern College of Music. Billy played

Guy in The Traitor’s Wife and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas as

well as appearing as the featured vocalist with our in-house jazz

ensemble, the Fraggle Brothers.

Poppy Godsal (middle right) is studying Acting at ArtsEd.

Having joined us in the Fourth Form, Poppy was awarded an

Honorary Drama Scholarship in the Sixth Form. Highlights of

her performances at Shrewsbury included Kitty in The Traitor’s

Wife and an extraordinarily mature and moving portrayal of

Nina in The Seagull.

Rachel Watson (bottom right) is studying Acting at LAMDA.

During the Sixth Form at Shrewsbury, she gave outstanding

performances in Our Country’s Good and The Seagull as well as

creating some exceptional devised work as part of her Drama

A level.

Helen Brown

Director of Drama

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28 SCHOOL NEWS

Music

The Exeat in May was welcomed with an impressive and

well-attended Junior Music Showcase which showcased

the musical talents of a number of our Third and Fourth Form

pupils. Highlights included the lively Percussion Ensemble in a

rendition of Grieg’s Hall of the Mountain King and Habanera,

Don Wong’s rousing performance of Shostakovich’s Cello

Sonata in D minor and the beautiful Love Song from Celtic

Suite by Gavin Whitlock by the Junior Saxophone Quartet.

To further enhance performance opportunities for some of our

exceptionally talented musicians, we were fortunate to gain

two recital slots in St Alkmund’s Church in Shrewsbury, which

enabled the following six students to present a 20-minute

recital: Hazel Cheung (clarinet), Ranen Choi (piano), Richard

Pinsent (flute), Charlotte Von Butler (cello), Chit Soo (piano)

and Lydia Chen (violin). All did the School proud, delighting

the local audience and impressing with their immense talent.

Following a short hiatus for exams, the term concluded with

two rather special and spectacular concerts, the Leavers’

Concert and the Summer Cabaret Night (see below).

The first, the annual Leavers’ Concert, was an impressive

and as ever emotional evening, in which we celebrated

our outgoing musicians. This year the concert featured

performances by 17 Upper Sixth musicians, five of whom

were accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra. It seems unfair

to focus on a few out of so many exceptional performances,

detailed in the programme below. It was a pleasure to spend

the evening with such dedicated and immensely talented

young musicians. I just hope they continue to play as they

embark on the next chapter of their lives.

The start of the new academic year began in style with the

New Entrants’ Concert (see below) two weeks in, followed by

an opportunity to showcase three of our outstanding musicians

in a lunchtime concert in St Chad’s. Marina Kam on marimba

returned for her third and final visit, this year joined by Hazel

Cheung on clarinet and Lydia Chen on violin. All three pupils

should be incredibly pleased with their performances, which

were very well received by the local supporters.

The annual concert for the Shrewsbury Drapers is always

a highlight for our return to school and this year was no

exception, providing the perfect performance opportunity for

a number of our Hong Kong musicians to air their repertoire

before embarking on the concert in Hong Kong in October.

In addition to the Hong Kong ensembles, we welcomed

performances by the vocal consort, directed by Richard

Robbins and the impressive musicianship of three of our

Lower Sixth Music Scholars, Evie Mowatt (saxophone), Toby

Hall (voice) and Mia Hirakawa (cello).

October Exeat was welcomed with excitement and energy

showcased in the House Singing competition (see below),

a highlight of the year both from an entertainment and

musical perspective, always an enjoyable tonic to start

the break.

Maria McKenzie, Director of Music

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SCHOOL NEWS

29

Personal achievements:

Chit Soo gained a Distinction in his grade 8 cello exam

Barney Welch gained a Distinction in his grade 8 drum exam

Tom Ellis gained a Distinction in his ARSM piano diploma from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music

Don Wong passed his ATCL cello diploma from Trinity College London

Joanna Carmalt was the youngest performer at the Arthur International Music Festival in Jastrzebie Zdroj, Poland

this summer, where she was given the opportunity to play the first movement of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano

Concerto with a live orchestra, conducted by Robert Kabara. Joanna was amongst 500 applicants from around the

world and was selected as one of the final eight to perform a concerto with an orchestra. In preparation for the

course, Joanna spent a week in Poland studying at an intensive music course where she participated in masterclasses

and rehearsals before performing the concerto.

Leavers’ Concert 2024

Max Wheeler (Ch) - Violin

Concerto – de Beriot

Chamber Orchestra

Ivo Winkley (I) - Trumpet

Trumpet Concerto in Eb major - Haydn

ii. Andante

Chamber Orchestra

Chester Yuen (Ch) - Flute

Concertino for Flute Op. 107 -

Chaminade

Chamber Orchestra

Audrey Se-To (M) - Voice

Après un Rêve - Fauré

Chamber Orchestra

James Gibbon (RAJC) - Voice

My Way - Paul Anka

Chamber Orchestra

Athena Hui (EDH) - Flute

Ballade Op. 288 - Reinecke

Rose Farquharson (G) - Voice

Love is a Game - Adele arr.

Mr R Robbins

String Ensemble, Drums & Piano

Vuk Zivkovic (Ch) - Flute

Andante Pastoral et Scherzettino –

Taffanel

Daisy Scott (G) - Voice

There Are Worse Things I Could Do -

Warren Casey & Jim Jacobs

Grace Huxley (QE) - Voice

Popular from Wicked -

Stephen Schwartz

Luke Williams (SH) - Voice

Me & Mrs Jones - Gamble,

Huff & Gilbert

Drums - Ethan Poon, Double Bass -

Jensen Kong

Natalia Toms (EDH), Oliver Cool

(RAJC), Heston Wong (R),

Max Darke (I) - Sax Quartet

High Life - Will Gregory

Anna Mallett (EDH) - Voice

Lost Boy - Ruth B

Billy Gardiner (SH) - Voice

If I Ain’t Got You - Alicia Keys

Emma Bannister (EDH) - Voice

I Wish You Love - Laufey

accompanied by The Fraggle Brothers

Natalia Toms (EDH) - Flute

Darben the Redd Foxx - James Moody

accompanied by The Fraggle Brothers

The Fraggle Brothers

Ivo Winkley (I), Max Darke (I), Billy

Gardiner (SH), Ethan Poon (OS)

Lullaby of Birdland - George Shearing

Leavers 2024: the final bow

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30 SCHOOL NEWS

New Entrants’ Concert 2024

Our new Third and Fourth Form Foundation Fortnight

concluded with a New Entrants’ Concert on Saturday 14th

September, featuring the entire Third Form performing in

the Alington Hall. This was not only an excellent way to

meet the most musically-talented of the new Salopians,

but it also offered each member of the new Third Form the

opportunity to perform to a full audience in the tightlypacked

Alington Hall.

The soloists for the concert included the most diverse range

of instrumentalists and singers we have ever heard in a New

Entrants’ concert, including drummers, pianists, an oboist

and tuba player and even an accordion player, definitely

a first for Shrewsbury School! Highlights included Zara

Wang’s (M 4) performance of Beethoven’s Sonata No. 8 and

Ethan Brennan-Todd’s (R 3) performing Here Comes the

Sun as both a singer and drummer.

The concert culminated with the entire year singing Let It Be

by The Beatles, accompanied by a band comprised of Third

Formers and featuring a fantastic guitar solo, played by Joe

Edington-Buck (S 3).

Katy Landon, Head of Wind, Brass & Percussion

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SCHOOL NEWS

31

Old Salopian Graduate Music Fellow

In March 2020 when I was in the Upper Sixth, exhausted after completing my

mocks, I left school for Coach Weekend intent on only one thing: to sleep.

But I got more than I bargained for. A week later the first nationwide COVID

lockdown was declared which spiralled into a series of events that saw me

graduate with a degree in Music four years later without any ‘real’ A Levels. I’m

grateful, of course, not to have lost anyone in the global calamity. But of my

school life, what else never happened? Getting to perform Beethoven’s Third

Piano Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra, Speech Day, Leavers’ Ball and

many other events. With the clarity of hindsight, it was lucky that I made the

most of my time here as a student and still have fond memories of Shrewsbury,

such as winning the Unison prize in the House Singing Competition, and the

curly fries in KH! Returning as a Music Fellow to the place that’s both not

changed but is also so different this time around, now with students and tutees

of my own, I’m grateful, too, to be building new memories here. In just seven

weeks I’ve had many new experiences, from paintballing to running the Tucks

voluntarily (!), and will soon be conducting from the podium for the first time

in the St Cecilia concerts. I’m excited to see what the rest of the year brings.

Almaz Razif (EDH 2018-20)

Choral Matters

Though we’ve only reached half term, the choral department

has been bustling with activity. My desk, often a blizzard of

music and plans (and empty mugs), is especially busy with

preparations for upcoming Remembrance services and finetuning

Christmas carol selections. The Chapel Choir began

the term with a rambunctious performance of Wood’s classic

O thou the Central Orb in St Chad’s to fire the starting pistol

of term.

Shortly after, the Chamber Choir raised over £300 for

Macmillan Cancer Support in a concert themed around

night and stars. The Chamber Choir was accompanied in

Ola Gjeilo’s Evening Prayer by the plucky Ranen Choi on

the alto saxophone, his fast-fingered playing rising from the

choir like incense. One piece required the singers to perform

while playing water-filled wine glasses, adding a mesmeric

dimension to their preparation for the choral St Cecilia

Concert. This year’s concert promises to be our biggest yet,

featuring all choirs – the Chapel, Chamber and Community

Choirs – performing American composer Christopher Tin’s

epic ode to flight and human achievement, To Shiver the Sky,

with accompaniment from the school orchestra. I’ll share

more about how it goes in a future update.

The Chapel Choir has also been active, performing a

harvest-themed evensong in the auburn and austere

Shrewsbury Abbey before half term, with pieces by Joanna

L’Estrange, John Rutter and George Dyson. Standout solos

from Nat Gibbon and Dan Mparadzi added a memorable

touch, despite a heart-stopping moment when Dan

accidently closed the Book of Common Prayer he was

using to sing the collects from, just as he was about to start

singing. Luckily he can lip read as I mouthed “page 24”,

into the long seconds of silence.

A smaller ensemble of talented singers has performed publicly

on several occasions as well. Notably, soprano Hetty Smith

delivered a beautiful rendition of Kate Rusby’s Underneath

the Stars alongside eight fellow singers at St Alkmund’s.

Dan Mparadzi and Aoife Brennan have been excellent

choir leaders this year, with Dan’s stentorian baritone rich

with authority and power and Aoife’s stratospheric soprano

soaring to ever greater heights.

The choirs have a busy few months ahead, with Christmas

Carol services, a Gospel-inspired morning prayer to ring

in the new year, a recital at St Alkmund’s, and a visit to

Westminster Abbey for an evensong at the start of the

Summer term. I hope to see you at all (or some) of them!

Richard Robbins – Head of Choral Music

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32 SCHOOL NEWS

Hong Kong Spectacular

During the October 2024 Exeat, 19

current Salopians returned as normal to

their homes in Hong Kong and China.

However, this break was a little different,

as Giles Bell (Admissions Tutor) and I

flew over to join them at Shrewsbury

International School, Hong Kong to put

on a spectacular Celebration Concert.

This was the first time since the opening

of the International School back in

2018 that we have been back for such

an event, but it was certainly worth

the lengthy flight. Our musicians

were simply stunning, performing

to an incredibly high standard in

a programme that was diverse and

enjoyable for all. Our parents in Hong

Kong were extremely welcoming and

clearly very appreciative of the whole

concept. We were fortunate to be able

to work with some of the younger

musicians from the International School

who joined us in creating an orchestra

in a true Gala style climax, performing

Danger Zone from the film

Top Gun to end the concert.

We’ll definitely be back!

Maria McKenzie

Director of Music

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Symphonic Sunday Gala Concert

The 2024 Symphonic Sunday programme concluded with

a Gala Concert on Sunday 16th June in the full-to-bursting

Alington Hall. Nearly 200 local school children were

involved in the concert, which featured two orchestras and a

choir. The concert began with two pieces from the Sinfonia,

the beginner ensemble featuring children who can play

five notes up to approximately grade 3 standard. Despite

being a relatively young ensemble, the children performed

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy and Sword Dance with confidence and

flair to a supportive Alington Hall.

Next, the Symphonic Sunday Orchestra took to the stage,

with a diverse programme consisting of a lively Opening

Night to the delicate writing of Toreador’s Song and Habanera

from Bizet’s Carmen Suite No 2. The standard of the

orchestra was simply staggering when one realises that there

were only four rehearsals across the academic year to prepare

for the gala concert.

A recent addition to the Symphonic Sunday programme

is the addition of a choir. This year the joint piece was an

arrangement of Elton John’s Sing for orchestra and choir.

The children really enjoyed performing this piece which

included the majority of the 200 children involved. The

whole concert was a real spectacle of fabulous music making,

hugely enjoyed by the musicians and audience alike.

As the programme goes from strength to strength, we are

excited for the year ahead, with even more pupils joining us

this year.

If you know any young musicians who would like to join,

please sign them up using the links below.

Symphonic Sunday

registration:

Symphonic Sunday Sinfonia

registration:

Summer Cabaret Night 2024

Each year on the eve of Speech Day, the marquee on Top

Common becomes the venue for a feast of music.

The amuse-bouche for this year was the School’s premier

small jazz group, memorably entitled The Fraggle Brothers,

warming up the audience with smooth, silky, sophisticated

and innovative versions of jazz standards. This group of leavers

(Billy Gardiner, Max Darke, Ivo Winkley, Jensen Kong) led by

the inimitable Music Fellow, Ethan Poon, have left very deep

footprints here and are truly epoch-making.

The entrée then proceeded with the Jazz Band, conducted

by Mrs Landon, performing seven roaring tunes to great

acclaim. This ensemble’s energy and enthusiasm proved to be

infectious, and the audience of parents and friends responded

with raucous applause and whoops of delight. The outstanding

highlight was arguably Daisy Scott’s groovy rendition of Crazy

Little Thing Called Love with Ranen Choi blowing everybody

away with a funky solo on his saxophone.

The main course was undoubtedly the Big Band, under the

leadership of the indefatigable Mrs McKenzie. This glorious

outfit, with a sound as unstoppable as a battleship in full

sail, made the audience either want to jump, jive and wail or

simply melt with the pure beauty of their music. Amongst the

plethora of highlights, it is hard to pick only a few. Harlem

Nocturne featuring Max Darke on sax and Luke Williams on

piano was seductive in its laid-back bluesy interpretation.

It was impossible not to notice the effortless virtuosity of

Nat Toms in Against All Odds. Best known to the musical

cognoscenti at school as a trumpet and piano player par

excellence, Ivo Winkley surprised them all by singing a

luxurious When Sunny Gets Blue. Last (but by no means least),

there was the unforgettable, sublime vocal mastery of Billy

Gardiner singing My Way.

Yes, it was a feast. But more accurately, it was a monster

celebration of jazz!

Mike Skipper

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34 SCHOOL NEWS

House Singing 2024

Fresh from the rigours of the Tucks at Attingham Park, the

entire School gathered as usual on the last evening before Exeat

to celebrate the extraordinary unifying power of singing in the

annual House Singing Competition.

The part songs offered by each House were more diverse

than ever this year, ranging from the Latvian composer

Ēriks Ešenvalds’ magical setting of O Salutaris Hostia to a

fabulous arrangement of The Hanging Tree (from The Hunger

Games) skilfully arranged for EDH by Upper Sixth Former

Marina Kam, who deservedly won the prize for an original

arrangement.

Both in vocal delivery and thoughtful and entertaining

presentation, the unison songs were a testament to the strong

House spirit at Shrewsbury, and the judges commented on

this, particularly in the winning performance of Waterloo by

QEH, the first House to perform. The winning part song

was the last of the evening, a polished and entertaining

performance of Happy Together by The Turtles confidently led

by Oliver Connell of Rigg’s Hall.

Since the inauguration of the accompaniment being provided

by totally ‘in-House’ bands three years ago, the standard of

the bands has risen across the board, and there were also some

notable virtuoso individual performances within the bands.

The depth of contemporary vocal performance at Shrewsbury

was also very evident in the range of solo items performed by

Upper Sixth students during the adjudication interval. These

ranged from stunning performances of Frank Sinatra and

Whitney Houston classics to an evocative and heartfelt original

song, Old Soul, by singer-songwriter Lilith Pearson.

Kathryn Turpin – Head of Singing

House Singing results 2024

Part Song – Rigg’s Hall

Unison – Queen Elizabeth Hall

Overall – Emma Darwin Hall

Most Entertaining – Ingram’s Hall

Most Improved – Ridgemount

Best Arrangement – Marina Kam (EDH) The Hanging Tree

Musical Leadership – Isabella Hayward & Olivia Kerley

Band – Ingram’s Hall

Queen Elizabeth Hall – Unison Song winners

Emma Darwin Hall – Overall winners

Rigg’s Hall - Part Song winners

Judges

This year we were delighted to welcome the following judges to adjudicate:

Quintin Beer is a choral director, prize-winning conductor and well established as a versatile musician. He is currently

Director of Music at St Peter’s College, Oxford where he runs the College Choir and oversees all music-making activity

in the College.

William Goldsmith is the incoming Head of Packwood Haugh, having been Head of St George’s School Windsor Castle, a

Choir School, for six years. Previous roles have included Head of St Leonard’s Junior School, Head of Boarding at Highfield

and Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral School and Ludgrove.

Claire Venables has worked in music education, as a Music Teacher and Head of Music, for 17 years, where she taught

Music and Music Technology to GCSE and A Level. She is now Head of Performing Arts and Music at Terra Nova

School in Cheshire.

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ART

The past year has been a remarkable period of growth and

achievement for the Art Faculty. Our students have excelled in

their examinations, producing outstanding work across various

disciplines. At A level, we have seen terrific artwork in Art,

Craft and Design, Photography and Graphic Communication.

These accomplishments reflect the dedication and creativity of

our students and the support and guidance provided by our

talented Faculty team.

Our GCSE students have also demonstrated exceptional skill

and creativity in Art, Craft and Design. Their fine art outcomes

have been impressive, showcasing a range of scales and

techniques.

This year, we welcomed several new colleagues. Miss Moszynska

has joined us as the Head of Faculty, bringing a wealth of

experience and a fresh perspective. Miss Capps has joined as an

Art Teacher, and Miss Jones has taken on the role of Art Technician.

Their contributions have already had a positive impact

on our students and the overall dynamic of the Faculty.

We have also expanded our outreach efforts. We launched a

new Art Ambassador Programme, where Sixth Form students

conducted workshops at Greenfields and Mount Pleasant Primary

Schools. This initiative aimed to inspire younger students

and foster a love for art from an early age. The programme

concluded with a celebratory event on 12th December, bringing

together pupils from all participating schools to showcase

their work and celebrate their achievements.

The Art Building has also undergone extensive renovation and

reorganisation. Significantly, we have created distinct studio

zones for Textiles, Photography, Ceramics, Printmaking and

Fine Art. These dedicated spaces provide our students with the

resources and environment they need to explore their creativity

and develop their skills. The renovations have revitalised our

facilities, making them more conducive to artistic expression

and learning.

In November 2024, we had the pleasure of hosting an exhibition

by Old Salopian Alice Hughes (MSH 2016-21). Her witty

contemporary textile designs captivated attendees and served as

an excellent teaching resource for our students. The exhibition

was well attended by many Old Salopians, fostering a sense of

community and continuity within our alumni network.

Overall, this year has marked a true renaissance for the Art

Faculty. We are proud of the progress we have made and the

achievements of our students. As we look forward to the coming

year, we are excited about the potential for even greater

accomplishments in Art, Craft and Design.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all students, staff and supporters

who have contributed to the success of the Art Faculty

this year. Together, we will continue to nurture creativity,

inspire passion and achieve outstanding outcomes in the years

to come.

Anna Marie Moszynska

Head of Art

Ruby Wu’s sculpture on display in the mini gallery

in the Faculty. Ruby is now studying Architecture at

Cambridge University

Art Scholar Kitty Forrest’s winning design for this year’s

Christmas card competition

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36 SCHOOL NEWS

Joe Datnow (L6) editing in the photography studio

Lola Reid (L6) working on her portraiture

The Third Form have been studying the seven formal elements of art in an art

foundation course. These shots show a range of outcomes drawn in tone, working

from real life observation of form and shadow.

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37

Studio shots from the Michaelmas term: Charlotte Taylor

and Alice Pilott in the art studios working on paintings for

their A level Personal Investigations

Explorations in photographic portraiture by Grace Grey,

Michael Sandford and Elizabeth Sinclair

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38 SCHOOL NEWS

Highly commended Christmas card competition entries by current

Art Scholars Sisi Wei and Jessie Deng

Students began the term drawing from artwork created by GCSE and A level classes who took their exams in summer 2024

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39

Notes from the Archives and Taylor Library

An unforgettable highlight of the Michaelmas Term was the

news that remains of Sandy Irvine (S 1916-21) in the

form of his boot and foot had been found on Mount Everest.

Incredibly his sock still clearly shows his name tape - A.C.

Irvine - in red lettering. It was found at the head of the Central

Rongbuk Glacier approximately 7000 ft below the position

of Mallory’s body which was found in May 1999. Mallory

and Irvine disappeared near the summit of Everest in June

1924 and speculation has been rife ever since as to whether

they made it to the top. The new discovery does little to solve

this puzzle, but is one more small piece in the jigsaw as to

the course of their final fateful hours. This is a remarkable

discovery in the centenary year of their disappearance and the

events staged by the School this year to honour and remember

the death of one of our own.

Sandy Irvine

Ringing the Changes

Irvine’s sock and name tape

The end of 2024 brings some important changes to the

running of the Taylor Library and Archives. After more than

ten years I have decided to retire. In consultation with the

Head, a new shape and dispensation for the collections has

been developed. I will continue as Taylor Librarian Emeritus,

and my successor will hold the new title of Archivist and Head

of Special Collections, thus recognising the fact that the role

encompasses at least four important areas of responsibility:

• The Taylor Library and its internationally recognised

collections of rare books and manuscripts

• The School Archives covering the full range of the School’s

long history

• The School’s fine art collection including the Moser

watercolours and many other works of art and historical

artefacts

• The items of art, furniture, silverware, glass, etc located

around the School Site and properties.

On 9th December the Headmaster announced the

appointment of Naomi Nicholas to this new role.

In the meantime and going forward, the normal routines

of the Library and Archives continue on their well-established

courses.

As if to mark a changing of the guard, we heard the sad news

of the death of James Lawson, former much-loved Librarian

and Archivist (see his obituary on p117). Naomi Nicholas

and I attended James’s funeral at St Margaret’s Church,

Ratlinghope, on a lovely late summer’s day, along with a good

number of former colleagues, family, locals and friends. James

taught me in the Upper Sixth, was a colleague in the History

Faculty, and was a huge help to me in my years as Archivist

and Taylor Librarian. He is much missed.

Michaelmas term

In the first weeks of the Michaelmas term all Third Form

pupils (c 130) and all Sixth Form entrants (c 90) visited the

Taylor Library for a conducted tour and lesson by Naomi.

Naomi travelled to Wem to deliver a talk on the History of

Shrewsbury School to the local University of the Third Age group.

The former High Sherrif of Shropshire, Charles Lillis and his

wife Veronica, visited to see the Irvine exhibition in the Moser

Gallery and the Taylor Library.

The Librarian of Lincoln College Oxford, Lucy Matheson,

paid us a visit following several visits by us to Lincoln College

in recent years. It is good to build upon this excellent

working relationship.

Dr Cuenas, Chairman of the Board of Rosario College in

Argentina, paid us a visit in September. Each year we provide a

talk and visit to students of Rosario College in July. As a senior

medical practitioner he was very interested in our collection

of medical books donated by two local physicians, Dr Andrew

Griffiths in 1688, and Dr Edward Philips in 1712. The larger

collection came from Dr Griffiths, many of which were bought

when he was attending lectures in Leyden in 1680.

In October my assistant Naomi Nicholas mounted a display in

Quod on the History of Football at Shrewsbury for the Prep

Schools’ Annual Football Festival. At around the same time

we were given a remarkable photograph of Shrewsbury Town

FC dated 1895-96 – only nine years after the Town Club

was formed. The photo contains two players who are Old

Salopians - L. Salt and A. Ellis (wearing the School shirts

with the Maltese Cross).

Volunteers

Our new team of Upper Sixth volunteers, Grace Shan, Lilith

Pearson and Tolly Nicholas, have made an excellent start with

work on book cleaning and curation and help with visits such

as Alpha Academy’s Darwin-themed trip from Stoke-on-

Trent. Tolly has done excellent initial work on compiling a

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40 SCHOOL NEWS

database of Old Salopians and Staff who fell in combat. This

is for a nationwide scheme called the Boarding School Book

of Remembrance (BOBOR) Project run by the Boarding

Schools Association. This is an online record of any pupil or

staff member who died in conflict. Although most records

will relate to World Wars I and II, it also includes alumni who

fell in battles such as Trafalgar, Waterloo and later conflicts.

The end product will be a comprehensive online resource at

https://www.bobor.org.uk/ covering the Rolls of Honour and

other records of the fallen.

Old Salopian Day

Old Salopian Day saw a large number of visitors in the Library

and Gallery. It is always a great pleasure to meet so many

old friends and make new acquaintances. Naomi Nicholas

presented a display of Andrew Irvine on Everest as well as a

presentation of Oriental Manuscripts.

A feature this year was a talk I gave in the Ashton Theatre on

the enigma of the disappearance of Irvine and Mallory on

Everest in June 1924. At the time of my talk, Irvine’s boot had

not yet been discovered.

During the day, Old Salopian Guy Myint Maung (Ch 1980-85),

seeing the state of the blinds in the Taylor Library, kindly

agreed to give financial support for their replacement with

state-of-the-art conservation blinds.

London Rare Books School (LRBS) Course

Preparatory work is well underway for this year’s London Rare

Books School Satellite Course in April, which will build upon

the success of last year’s initial course. In October we held a

planning meeting with the LRBS Director, Andrew Nash, and

the Course Tutor, David Pearson (Senior Fellow at London

University School of Advanced Study, of which the LRBS

is a part), along with Lisa Simth and Laura Whitrick from

Lettings. David stayed for an extra day to work with Naomi

on identifying books that will help with hands-on work during

the course, such as books that contain marginalia, autographs,

bookplates, booksellers’ stamps, armorial bindings and other

indicators of ownership and provenance.

This year it will be a four-day intensive course on ‘Book

Provenance 1450-1850’. We plan to offer accommodation

on site and we will host a candlelit dinner in Kingsland Hall

on one evening of the course. It is wonderful that the Taylor

Library is such a rich collection of rare and old books perfectly

suited to these sorts of courses.

enquiry following his visit last year at the LRBS April Course.

He says, “Since we last met… I’ve continued to think of

that lovely early 16th century schoolbook you showed me:

a book of my second most favorite Italian grammarian,

Sulpizio, printed by de Worde, in a Garret Godfrey binding.

Everything about it is remarkable.” His enquiry related to

the book’s provenance and a marginal note of the name

Edmond Johnson who may have been an owner of the

volume in the 16th century.

Right: Sulpitius, Opus

grammaticum. London:

Wynkyn de Worde, 1504, 4to,

contemporary Oxford binding by

`dragon binder’. the only copy

known apart from a single leaf in

Cambridge University Library.

In October we had a visit

from Douglas Ingrams,

whose father David and

grandfather were alumni

of Shrewsbury and whose

great grandfather, William

Smith Ingrams was the first

Housemaster of Ridgemount

(1903-21). W.S. Ingrams

is not the ‘Ingram’ whose name is attached to Ingram’s Hall

today. We were able to uncover and explore a fascinating range

of items relating to his ancestors and he brought a photo

album belonging to Ingrams’ wife Gertrude. Douglas was

particularly interested in any records of two West Indian boys

called Stuart, who were adopted by William and Gertrude

Ingrams. They both had distinguished careers in the School

between 1907 and 1913. C. A. Stuart became a Praepostor and

was one of the fallen in WWI. The Praepostors photo of 1914

(below) shows him on the left end of the back row.

Academic Visits and Enquiries

In late September I visited the Old Library at St John’s College,

Cambridge, where we have had close relations for some

years. It is always a pleasure to keep alive the long-standing

relationship between the School and the College that stretches

back to the early days of the School. Our first Headmaster in

the 16th century, Thomas Ashton, was a fellow of St John’s. I

was able to spend time looking at their collection of material

on Samuel Butler (the 19th century author) who was both an

Old Salopian and graduate of St John’s. We hold the original

manuscript of his book Life and Habit.

The Moser Library hosted the Rugby Group on their visit to

the School on 9th November and they were shown around the

Taylor Library.

Dr Ray Schrire, Lecturer in Early Modern European History

at Tel Aviv University, has followed up with an interesting

Book Conservation and Repair

We sent the following consignment of books for repair and

conservation to our book conservator, James Cassels:

Assault on Mt Everest (1922). Mt Everest The Reconnaissance

(1921). History of Shrewsbury, 2 Vols (1825). Workes of Ben

Jonson (1640). Miller’s Gardener’s Dictionary (1731). Loudon’s

British Wild Flowers (c 1852). Atkins’ History of Glostershire

(1712). George Herbert’s The Temple (box). Sermons of Henry

Smith (box).

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41

We have been able to install a bust of the great 19th century

Headmaster, Dr Samuel Butler, in the Taylor Library. It was

formerly in the entrance foyer of Mary Sidney Hall. A full-size

statue of Butler once stood in the rear entrance to the Moser

Library until it was destroyed in the 1960s (for details, see

the obituary of James Lawson on page 117). The rubble was

used in the foundations of the Taylor Library! This acquisition

perhaps makes up in a small way for its scandalous destruction.

Acquisitions

From time to time rich new items come to us in the Archives.

Out of the blue in September the Bursary sent up a wonderful

historical resource in the form of an 18th century 50-page

record book entitled, Index to the School Records to be kept

by the Bailiff for the time being. It contains a comprehensive

record of all manner of cases, endowments, ordinances

and transactions at the School dating from the School’s

foundation in 1552 up to the end of the 18th century. These

include items such as: accounts, petitions, court cases, royal

grants, correspondence, various business of the Mayor and

Corporation, property deeds, book purchases and donations

to the library (including the chained library), church and

ecclesiastical matters, Lord Chancellor’s Decrees, dealings with

St John’s College Cambridge, etc.

Of particular interest is the entry dated 1562 on page 41

relating to proceedings in Chancery against Gibbons Chaloner

(headmaster) for delivering money from the school chest to King

Charles. During the Civil War between King and Parliament

the School provided the King with £500, a considerable sum

in those days. Also mentioned is a copy of the King’s letter.

This adds significantly to our historical resources and provides

new insights for our researches. The page illustrated here covers

some of the earliest moments in the School’s history, including

the founding charter, early grant of tithes, and the Ashton

Ordinances of 1578.

Record of founding documents, income from Royal grant of tithes, and

Ordinances of first Headmaster, Thomas Ashton

Above: Reverend Samuel Butler DD.

Headmaster 1798-1836. Afterwards Bishop

of Litchfield. Right: Sketch of Samuel

Butler’s statue.

Origins of the RSSH

A long-time correspondent and a devotee of researching the

origins of the Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt, Christopher

Jacobs, writes, “The record of Shrewsbury ‘fox & hounds’ in

1819 is intriguing and worth exploring. I’m a great sceptic of

apocryphal tales but this one has ‘legs’. The Hunt had to start

sometime, and I doubt any record of the event would have

been made or kept. Also it seems from Auden’s 1908 Register

that Illiffe’s, Broomfield’s, and Gee’s houses ran separate runs

in the 1830s. This is backed up by the G.W. Fisher, Annals of

Shrewsbury School, London, Methuen, 1899 p394.

“That takes us back to the 1820s, and Auden’s 1908 Register

makes reference to the May 1880 issue of the The Salopian that

in turn mentions the Old Salopian huntsman who entered

Shrewsbury in July 1819. I posit that Dr E.J. Parry is the

prime candidate for the OS who seems to have returned late in

his career to practise medicine in Shrewsbury. He would have

been the Huntsman in 1825-6.”

This evidence trail points to 1819 as a credible date for the

origin of the Hunt, even though the first surviving written

record of a run is dated October 1831.

Robin Brooke-Smith

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42 SCHOOL NEWS

Moser Library

The end of the academic year was

truly showcased in the Moser

Library on Speech Day, with more

visitors than before coming in to see

the pupils’ fantastic achievements

from throughout the year. There were

displays from the Turing Competition,

Gold Crest Award displays from Design

and Technology, a diverse collection

of outstanding EPQ projects with six

on loop on a screen in the Churchill

Room, a display to celebrate 50 years

of beekeeping at Shrewsbury School

and eloquent deliveries from students

performing their Bentley and McEachran

Prize entries, to name just a few.

To round off the academic year, staff

were invited to the Moser Library Eton

Mess event, where they could peruse the

choices for their summer reading whilst

enjoying an Eton Mess.

In the run up to the Leavers’ Ball the

Moser Library displayed a selection of

new fashion and art books. The Moser

Library staff creatively displayed a

mannequin wearing a prom dress made

entirely of pages from recycled, damaged

books. It was a talking point for staff,

pupils and visitors alike, so, when a

competition was announced from the

School Library Association, we decided

to enter the prom dress display. We were

absolutely thrilled to hear that we had

won when we returned after the summer

break. What a wonderful way to start

the year.

The first summer reading challenge was

run by the Library over the summer

break and we were delighted to

announce Violet Heintz (M 5) as the

winner. Her reflection on the five books

that she read over the summer on her

interpretation of the word ‘beginnings’

was diverse and beautifully written.

It was a joy to welcome all Third

Form entrants into the Library on two

occasions over Foundation Fortnight.

Their English teachers brought them

in for a library induction session and

then they came back in their respective

Houses for a scavenger hunt, a fun way

to find their way around the Moser

Library. It was also an opportunity

for them to be presented with a book

that the Shrewsbury School Parents’

Association (SSPA) had kindly donated

to each new Third Former.

It was then the turn to welcome

new Sixth Formers into the Library,

an opportunity to show them the

wonderful resources, both print and

online, that the Moser Library can offer

to assist them with their studies. All

Sixth Formers studying the EPQ have

several sessions in the Library to develop

their research and referencing skills.

It is wonderful to see the Academic

Extension Reading brochure in print,

produced to assist pupils in finding

out more about their academic

interests. The brochure also includes

some recommended reading from top

universities for prospective students.

If the book is available in the Moser

Library, the library classification number

is alongside the title.

On 11th September 2024 we

welcomed author Simon James Green

to the Moser Library. He delivered a

thought-provoking talk on his own

experiences of Section 28, modern-day

book censorship, including important

landmarks in LGBT history.

Once again, the creative and innovative

rotating range of displays are warmly

received by those who come to the

Moser Library, with Wednesday Addams

proving popular with our spooky reads

display.

The House Competition has been

launched. It is wonderful to see pupils

commenting on who has the most

House Bookmarks when they visit the

Library. The House at the top of the

leader board in May will be presented

with the Moser Library Trophy.

Looking forward to the months ahead,

Shrewsbury School will be hosting the

Librarian Rugby Group meeting. We

have Elizabeth Hutchinson coming to

talk about AI within a school library

setting. We will be welcoming back

Shropshire-based author Amy Beashel

for two creative writing workshops,

one for Lower School and one for Sixth

Form, and we will be turning the Moser

Library into a winter wonderland with

our Reindeer Reads staff event, with the

customary festive competition – this

year it will be Name the Reindeer.

Jodie El-Gazaar

School Librarian

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SCHOOL NEWS

43

CRICKET

1st XI Girls

Played 16 Won 9 Drawn 1 Lost 6

The 1st XI Girls enjoyed yet another

successful year, going one better

than the previous season by reaching

the National Semi-Final. The girls’

contributions were significant this year,

with two players in the School’s top five

batting rankings and three in the top

five bowling rankings.

Their season began at Bradfield College’s

pre-season festival, where they won one

game out of three; it was clear from

those three days that the girls had a

lot of work to do to reach their true

potential. We started to see glimpses of

this potential in our first block fixture

of the year against Repton, where we

narrowly lost by five runs to a fullstrength

Repton side. Millie Parry

carried the team with the ball, taking

3-25 in her 4 overs, whilst we also

saw Alice Beardmore’s deadly bowling

capabilities when she took 2 wickets

in her final 2 overs via some ruthless

yorkers.

The first round of the Cup was quickly

upon us, and the girls took a trip to

Wrekin College where some of our

batters started to make their mark.

Aamna Khan smashed 70 from 47 balls,

whilst the ever-reliable Esther Hurford

scored 45 from 49 balls at the other

end. The girls then turned the screw

with the ball, Charlotte Taylor taking

3-6 & Aamna Khan showing her allround

capabilities taking 3-3. With a

comfortable 116-run victory, we headed

into the next round.

Before we faced our next opponents

in the Cup, the girls had two block

fixtures against Sedbergh School and

Myerscough Old Trafford Boys’ 4th XI.

The girls secured a 66-run victory over

Sedbergh, with Jenny O’Brien chipping

in with the runs this time with a fine 58

not out, and Clemmy Sowden taking

2-6 with the ball. The Myerscough Old

Trafford match was a fantastic fixture,

going down to the wire – giving the

girls an opportunity to perform under

pressure. After a fantastic bowling

performance (Sarah Levings 3-12, Alice

Beardsmore 3-15 and Charlotte Kirk

3-19), we were under the pump with

the bat. We were 81-8 chasing a total

of 118; enter Sarah Levings and Olivia

Millar. After a fantastic and methodical

37-run partnership from Sarah and

Olivia, we were over the line with 5

overs to spare.

The next round of the Cup became a

little tight, as we needed two results

in three days. We therefore played

Denstone in the morning and Solihull

in the afternoon. After posting 127 from

our 100 balls v Denstone, thanks to a 57

not out from Aamna Khan, we displayed

a ruthless bowling performance to claim

victory by 35 runs. Jenny O’Brien was

the star of the second innings, taking

two catches, one stumping and one run

out. In the afternoon it seemed we had

more than one opponent to compete

with: in came the thunderstorm that

had been promised! The girls had

done the job with the ball – bowling

Solihull out for just 70, Bel Ellsmore

producing a fast and furious spell of

3-10, whilst the reliable and consistent

Millie Parry also took 3-12. Our batting

innings unfortunately did not match

our bowling innings; at 30-3 the panic

started to set in. We were behind

the DLS rate and losing wickets in

ridiculous fashion. Thankfully the calm

and composed U6th, Rose Farquharson

and Jenny O’Brien steadied the ship and

got us ahead of the rate before the storm

eventually hit, leaving us 18 runs ahead

on DLS. Through to the quarter-finals

we went!

Before the end of the first half of term

arrived, we faced Rugby School and

Marlborough College in two ‘marquee’

T20 fixtures. Unfortunately, we travelled

to Rugby School with a depleted side

due to exams and lost by 21 runs, Parry

being the pick of the bowlers again –

taking 3-12. At Marlborough for their

annual Speech Day fixture against us,

we produced a complete performance

with some tired bodies! After restricting

Marlborough to 117-6 (Kirk 2-10 &

Khan 2-25), we chased the total in just

18 overs (Khan 48).

As we headed into the business end of

the season, the girls prepared for the

National Quarter-Final match by facing

Cricket Wales’ Development XI. After

losing the toss and being asked to bat

first, the girls produced a comprehensive

batting performance, posting 237-6

in just 40 overs (Hurford 69, Khan

40, O’Brien 34, Farquharson 27 &

Kirk 24*). In response, Cricket Wales

were restricted to 187-9 (Khan 3-31

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44 SCHOOL NEWS

& Hurford 2-34). A comprehensive

victory and thorough preparation for the

quarter-final that lay ahead.

Three days later, the girls made the

mammoth journey north to face

Sedbergh School in the National

Quarter-Final. After winning the toss

and electing to bat, Sedbergh’s skipper

quickly regretted this decision as after

just 26 balls Sedbergh were 9-2 thanks

to Alice Beardsmore and Charlotte Kirk.

The rest of the team then followed suit

with the ball and restricted Sedbergh to

just 48-6 from 100 balls (Parry 2-8 &

Kirk 2-7). Shrewsbury wasted no time

in chasing the low total (Millar 21*

& Khan 15*), losing just one wicket.

We were now through to the National

Semi-Final and one step closer than the

previous year.

We faced yet another lengthy journey

for the next round of the Cup, this

time heading east to Ipswich School.

Our opponents on this occasion were

unknown; we hadn’t played Ipswich

before and had heard very little about

their cricketing abilities. Winning the

toss and electing to bat first on a very

good wicket, the girls unfortunately

struggled to get going. There were some

nerves amongst the group given the

occasion, and unfortunately those nerves

got the better of us. Khan top-scoring

with 20 summed our innings up in a

nutshell, as we limped to a total of 99-8

in our 100 balls. We needed to take

early wickets and pile on the pressure

if we were to defend such a low total,

but unfortunately Ipswich’s opening

batter had other ideas and showed her

class. Ipswich chased our total with 10

balls to spare and our exciting Cup run

came to an end just one result short of a

National Final at Lord’s.

The girls finished the season with a twoday

game at home to Bradfield College,

which was a fantastic fixture from both

the cricketing and the social aspect.

It is a real sign of how far girls’ cricket

has come in the last ten years that

not only are we now turning out four

teams consistently every week, but we

are also playing competitively in four

different formats of the game. The

girls’ programme continues to go from

strength to strength, with a number of

girls competing for places regionally

in professional squads and consistently

finishing in the top four schools in the

country.

Gwen Davies

2nd XI Girls

Played 8 Won 1 Lost 1 Abandoned 6

The 2nd XI girls did not play many

games due to the weather and

opposition schools pulling out of

games, but they have trained hard all

year. Notable highlights have been

Imo Voelker’s persistence in training

with both bat and ball. By the end

of the season, she had shown great

improvement and was striking the ball

with great confidence. She has also

been very helpful in terms of looking

after the kit. Rosie Morris, having had

a season off last year, returned with a

vengeance and has the ability to turn

the ball sharply. She also looks the

part when batting and I look forward

to watching her play for England one

day. Skipper Georgie Sykes continued

to bewilder batters with her ‘variation

bowling’ and her batting looks more and

more professional. She too could play

for England! Georgie Evans is another

consummate professional. She worried a

little too much about her bowling, but

as soon as the coaches weren’t watching

she was lethal! Her batting too suggests

much promise. Annabella Subbiani had

also returned from a rest period and was

another player who grew in confidence

throughout the season. Gabby Bowman,

Iona Cowie and Jess Li have been

learning the game, having upgraded

from Recreational Cricket, and will be

the core of next year’s team.

I have really enjoyed working with a

great group of girls who have not only

been good fun but have also been really

dedicated and worked hard to improve

all aspects of their game.

Giles Bell

U15A Girls

Played 13 Won 4 Lost 2 Abandoned 7

The U15A girls have had an outstanding

season, and it has been a true pleasure

to coach them. Their dedication and

positive attitude towards every aspect

of the game was exceptional. Not only

have they honed their individual skills,

but they have also embraced a positive

mental approach to achieve some

impressive results.

This dedication led us to reach the top

16 of the National Schools 100-ball

Cup, where we narrowly lost to Repton.

Despite some cancellations due to

the weather, we celebrated significant

victories against Sedbergh, Bromsgrove

and Wrekin. I have been impressed

by the girls’ development this season.

Each player has shown significant

improvement, a testament to their

incredible commitment to the team.

Among the individual highlights, Millie

Parry stood out with her steady batting,

bowling and exceptional captaincy.

She is developing into a fine cricketer

and has set a high standard for girls’

cricket at Shrewsbury. Aamna Khan

has been a fantastic addition to the

team, highlighted by her impressive

93 against Sedbergh. Emilia Griffiths

and April Hunt have made substantial

contributions with the ball, emerging as

our leading wicket-takers this season.

Overall, I could not be prouder of this

team’s progress and development.

I wish them all the best in their

future endeavours. The future of

Shrewsbury School’s girls’ cricket is

indeed in safe hands.

Georgie Hartley

U14A Girls

Played 6 Won 5 Lost 1

The 2024 season has been a successful

one for the U14A Girls Cricket team,

with the girls winning all except one

game in the season, which was a loss

against a strong touring side from

Wellington College. The season started

with back-to-back one-run victories over

Wrekin College and Prestfelde, where

some crucial bowling in the death

overs came to Shrewsbury’s rescue on

both occasions.

Following on from this, the Girls

achieved a successful 7-wicket away win

at Sedbergh, with Rosie Cooper taking

an astounding hat-trick in the first

over of the game. Rosie finished with

impressive figures of 3-4. With the bat,

Willow Sowden, Rosie Cooper. Maddie

Geary and Helena Cornwall-Legh all

contributed to carrying Shrewsbury over

the line with time to spare.

Shrewsbury achieved two more

impressive victories against Packwood

and Bromsgrove respectively. Away at

Bromsgrove, Rosie Cooper produced

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SCHOOL NEWS

45

a masterful display of batting, scoring

an excellent 93* off 69 balls. She was

ably supported by Maddie Geary and

Helena Cornwall-Legh, who both

scored a quick cameo innings of 20

to help Shrewsbury post a huge total

of 203/4. This was then defended by

brilliant bowling from India Grant who

took 3-4 in two overs, and Phoebe Bell

who took 2-4 in two overs. Against

Packwood, Shrewsbury fielded first and

put in an impressive performance, with

skilled run-outs from Helena Cornwall-

Legh and Willow Sowden, and strong

bowling from Maddie Geary who

took 2-11 off 3 overs. Packwood’s first

innings score of 119 was chased down

by Minnie Tomlinson and Hannah

Rigby whose middle-order partnership

of 53 got Shrewsbury over the line.

Unfortunately, after this fixture there

was a long run of cancelled fixtures,

mostly due to the weather, which left

only the final fixture of the season

against Wellington College. Wellington

batted first, scoring 124, with Helena

Cornwall-Legh and India Grant being

the pick of the bowlers. Shrewsbury put

up a noble fight, with Hannah Rigby

and Helena Cornwall-Legh scoring most

of the runs in response, but eventually

Shrewsbury fell 15 runs short.

The Girls can be extremely proud of

what has been a successful season, where

all 12 squad players have improved

dramatically in all elements of their

game. They have also been a credit to

themselves in the way that they have

approached their season, representing

the School with the highest level of

grace and sportsmanship. They have

brought good humour to their fixtures

and to their training sessions, and they

are sure to be a skilled and exciting crop

of cricketers going forward. Well done!

George Muston

Boys’ 1st XI

Played 17 Won 14 Lost 2 Drawn 1

Pride, in Roman Catholic theology, is

one of the seven deadly sins, considered

by some to be the gravest of all. The

cricket staff at Shrewsbury may need

to spend considerable time in their

closest confessional, because the level

of pride felt for the achievements of

the departing Upper Sixth is almost

unquantifiable.

The octet who leave us this year will go

down in Shrewsbury’s rich history as

one of the most successful groups of

players ever to have taken to the field.

They lifted the Cricket Paper National

U17 Cup in 2022 and became the

first side in the competition’s history

to retain the trophy 12 months later.

This year they reached the HMC

T20 semi-final, where they fell to a

narrow defeat against St Peter’s York.

A win would have seen them qualify

for the final at Lord’s.

In the aforementioned game they

were deprived of the services of their

talismanic all-rounder Theo Wylie,

who again earned selection for the

England U19 side against the touring

Sri Lankans. His cricketing development

has been inextricably linked with

Shrewsbury since the age of nine, and

the disappointment of losing a national

semi-final will be more than offset by

the knowledge that another burgeoning

cricketing career began at Shrewsbury.

His destructive ability with the bat

and skillful slow left-arm bowling

earned him a two-year contract with

Warwickshire CCC, and he adds his

name to the growing list of Salopians to

forge a career in the professional game.

The side was expertly led by Jack Home,

with desire, nuance and skill in equal

measure. A true Salopian, he challenged

opposition batsmen, bowlers and, at

times, his own coaching staff, although

always with the best intentions. He

possesses his own unique line of postwicket

celebrations that have irked

batsmen across the country, and after

making his debut at the age of 14, will

surely go down as the young man with

the most 1st XI appearances in the

history of Shrewsbury School cricket.

Less than three weeks after departing

Shrewsbury, he made his professional

debut for Worcestershire CCC in the

T20 Blast and went on to claim 16

wickets in the Metro Bank One Day

Cup in a sensational breakthrough

season. In August, he and Theo found

themselves on opposing sides as

Worcestershire took on Warwickshire

in the Metro Bank Quarter-Final

at Edgbaston, an occurrence that

caught the attention and admiration

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46 SCHOOL NEWS

of many, including the BBC cricket

correspondent. In September he put

pen to paper on a three-year contract

with the New Road side, becoming the

13th Salopian in the last 16 years to sign

professional terms.

The remaining leavers are Will Jenkins,

Ollie Parton, Oscar Cooke, Josh

McDonald, Ed Clark and Ed Prideaux.

These players will all have a special

place in our hearts, and the service

they have given to the School is of the

highest calibre. Each of them has won

us many games over the years, although

the highest praise that can be given is

that they will not only be remembered

for their cricketing feats; they will be

remembered for their character. They

have worked tirelessly throughout

their time here, exhibiting resilience,

bravery and a humility that belies their

phenomenal accomplishments.

As ever, injury and exam season, along

with numerous call-ups for club and

country, meant that we were rarely able

to field our strongest side. When we

did, we won every school fixture except

the T20 defeat. The 177-run defeat of a

stellar Repton side was one of the finest

performances from a Shrewsbury side in

living memory, while every single block

fixture across the summer resulted in an

aggregate Shrewsbury win. The strength

of the cricket programme is a ringing

endorsement of the work of Director of

Cricket Will Hughes, who continues to

build on the strongest of foundations

left by Andy Barnard.

Promising signs for the future were

evident, with regular cricket being

played by Lower Sixth Formers Teix

Bolingbroke, Louis Hursthouse and

Theo Darke, while Isaac England,

Freddie Ogilby, Jared Shepherd and

George Battersby stepped up admirably

from the U16 team. Harry Parton also

made his debut as an U15 and has an

exciting future ahead of him.

Freddie Ogilby was selected to represent

the Ireland U19 side in a tri-series

against their England and Scotland

counterparts in September, where he

averaged 45 at the top of the order.

Jack Home then received his maiden

England U19 call-up to their winter

training camp in South Africa, and in

doing so became the third Salopian to

represent their country in 2024. This

scarcely believable achievement is surely

a first in Salopian cricketing history.

The groundwork for success was laid

during the winter, where a record

number of training sessions took place.

Over 550 one-to-one, squad and small

group lessons were delivered to boys

of all ages, and with specialist wicketkeeping

and spin bowling coaches added

to our armoury, and tours planned for

South Africa and Dubai in early 2025,

our desire to provide the best possible

cricketing experience for those in our

care is unwavering.

The journey of the class of 2024 is over,

at Shrewsbury School at least. I have

no doubt that this group of young men

will go on to make an equal success of

everything the rest of the world has to

offer. We will miss them dearly.

Adam Shantry, Cricket Professional

Batting

Theo Wylie 558 runs @79.71

Jack Home 432 runs @36

Teix Bolingbroke 386 runs @22.71

Olly Parton 365 runs @24.33

Freddie Ogilby 320 runs @26.67

Bowling

Olly Parton 34 wickets @16

Will Jenkins 22 wickets @21.5

Jack Home 20 wickets @14.90

Ed Clark 11 wickets @17

Theo Darke 10 wickets @26.90

Josh McDonald 10 wickets @25.4

2nd XI Boys

Played 12 Won 6 Drawn 1 Lost 4

Hats off to this year’s captain, Monty

Cort. In a squad replete with happy

volunteers to go in at four or five, the

livelier bowling seen off, Monty stood

almost alone as determined opening bat.

The season brought the usual highlights:

Ed Bell finding the away swinger to

Repton’s left-handed opener, bowling it

three times then following with his more

usual in-swinger to take out middle

stump. Billy Gardiner sending the ball

over extra cover for six in the second

over at Denstone. Both early-season

moments, though, were in losing causes,

as the team could get bogged down,

recording dots as if trying to pass a

Morse Code exam focused on the letters

h, i and s. At Denstone, having been

104-2 from the first ten overs, the team’s

final total was 196 after 30.

Speaking of bogged down, we must

remember the impressive development

of the outfields which in April answered

cheerfully to the description of ‘bog’:

another highlight was an Ed Bell six

on Chances which left the umpires in

no doubt whatever where it landed,

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SCHOOL NEWS

47

for that was the spot where it stayed,

about a quarter of its sphere above what

might previously have been considered

ground level. By Exeat, the outfields had

returned to rewarding shots along the

ground, as is their wont.

Therefore, this season, without the

sheer horsepower of last year’s middle

order, demanded a different approach of

pushing for the available runs. It is an

inevitability universally acknowledged

that after a couple of sessions focused

on running between the wickets, the

run-out will be the dominant mode of

dismissal. To the credit of the entire

team, following several enthusiastic

rants on the part of their coach and

the obligatory middle practice, there

was only one run-out and for the

second part of the season the dot ball

count was decimated, the run rate

greatly improved, and results swung

the other way.

Meanwhile over the opening weeks, a

batting engine that looked weaker in

its mid-range tuned up and filled out.

Indeed, as exams extend their tentacles,

the Sixth Form amalgamate with the

U16s to form essentially one supersquad:

subsequently it could be very

fairly said that the team batted like a

Spinal Tap amp: all the way to 11.

A particular highlight, new to the

calendar, was last year’s captain George

Stanford-Davis bringing his college

team down on tour from Durham. This

competitive but friendly fixture towards

the end of June was a delight, the

opposition including a few Salopians of

recent years. It was a warm day and the

schoolboys’ burgeoning totals between

the wickets were not equalled by the

opposition, who were towards the end

of their tour and had also played on the

previous day.

To our leavers:

Monty, as mentioned, was our

captain and opening batsman. With

strength added to last year’s timing,

he found the cover boundary was

in range and it received plentiful

attention. Outwardly he’s as calm and

phlegmatic as you would hope of an

opener (provided you don’t run him

out). Provider also of 31 economical

overs of off-spin, taking six wickets.

Ed Bell, delivering a ball left-arm-over

from heights that would interest the

RAF, was transformed from economical

to dangerous on his discovery of an inswinger

to the right-hander. High on the

list of batsmen who might send the ball

to a different postcode, he was excellent

value throughout the season, notably

once forgetting which way round his

brother bats.

James Mackinnon, poached this year

from tennis, skippered the 3rd XI and

made a strong case to step up, hitting

an over for 24 as he turned around a

chase which Ellesmere had thought

out of reach. He led the 2nd XI when

Monty succumbed to exams. It is said

of wicketkeepers that the better they

are, the less you notice them. James

didn’t keep wicket for us (that role

was immaculately filled by Freddie

Allwood) but his bowling is of the same

philosophy: the stats tell me he was

our top wicket-taker for the season (8

wickets in 20 overs including 3-7 against

Bromsgrove) but he snuck those figures

through under the radar.

Sammy Patten had his pre-exam cricket

compromised by a hyper-extended

soccer season. He nonetheless (or

perhaps consequently) managed to

bowl some overs with his unreadable

natural variations of line and length

and his ever-present good cheer. His are

the safest hands in the squad and when

playing at catch-volleyball (a favourite

training drill of the 2nd XI) Sammy is

the man you want on your team.

Louis Crofts was similarly afflicted by

football but, wishing to make use of an

active mind, he nonetheless made time

for cricket until the thick cloud of exams

landed on June with a heavy thump. He

will liven up any training or net session

with a lateral observation.

Billy Gardiner considers an innings

wasted if he hasn’t induced various

neuroses and heart conditions into

any squirrels and bird life resident in

the nearby trees and hedgerows; his

favourite sight on a cricket field is that

of the opposition’s deep mid-wicket

scanning the shrubbery behind him

for what seems a reasonable route of

access to its hitherto unexplored depths.

Opening with George Battersby, he

put on 69 in 6.3 overs at Denstone in

the course of what was (and this is a

competitive field) the most vivid display

of run-scoring - bordering on aerial

bombardment of adjacent real estate -

we enjoyed all season.

Tom Paine played some early season

games as an effective all-rounder. He’s

an impressive athlete who brought pace

with the ball and strong ball-striking as

well as a large bucket of suncream.

Honourable mentions to Lower Sixth

and Fifth Formers:

Freddie Allwood, our steadfast ’keeper

and a fluent middle-order run-scorer

whose 59 not out (from 60 balls) at

Denstone was the exemplar of his

season. He scored a total of 194 runs at

just over a run a ball.

Louis Malanaphy, an opening bowler

whose surname is pronounced

differently by everyone and sometimes

in several ways by the same person (erm,

me) in the course of a single afternoon.

To compensate for this unpredictability,

he is a mightily consistent bowler who

gives the batsmen little or nothing to

play with. His opening overs are almost

always economical and consequently

apply pressure which spreads beyond his

spell. He offers significant runs with the

bat too: 223 in 8 innings including a 79

not out. He has been the cornerstone on

which this season has been built.

Rob Main, a technically strong toporder

batsman who was already a

mainstay this year and, after a winter

updating his videos of Geoffrey Boycott

to another more recent England captain

of the same county, will be back next

year to score a lot of runs. That’s a very

unkind comparison: Rob is far more

diplomatic than G.B., he scores faster

and people don’t make sport of running

him out.

Our own G.B., the antidote to a studied

forward defensive: George Battersby.

George loves cricket. If he had a GCSE

exam finishing at 12:30 and cricket

started at 1 o’clock, George would be

the first man to arrive. He also loves

scoring runs (see Billy Gardiner above)

and was our highest run-scorer of the

season. Do not try to speak to George in

the unlikely event he has been dismissed

in the first few overs. He is likely to

spend more time with the 1st XI than

the 2nd XI next season. 246 runs in four

innings, average 61.5.

Jack Bell, left arm spinner whose release

point, being higher than even his

brother’s, is beyond the interest of the

RAF but is instead overseen by NASA.

A capable ball-striker, though his wagon

wheel might unkindly have been called

more of a mid-wicket spoke until the

last few weeks of the season when, with

the carrot of a shorter boundary and the

off-side field up, he gave himself space

and sent two sixes over extra cover. He

is capable of playing proper cricket shots

in every direction; he could next season

become the improbable reincarnation of

Billy Gardiner. He’s a right-handed bat,

Ed, for future reference.

The 2nd XI strives to be a joyful place

for developing one’s craft. On the fronts

both of enjoyment and of development,

it has been a good season.

Seb Cooley

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48 SCHOOL NEWS

U15A Boys

Played 19 Won 14 Lost 5

The Boys’ U15A cricket team enjoyed an

excellent season. They played throughout

the summer with a real sense of collective

endeavour and a refusal to be beaten. This

saw them edge close games, and in the

national 20/20 competition carry them all

the way to Arundel Castle for finals day at

the beginning of September.

The team was astutely led by Leo Ling,

whose leg spin in the middle overs was

often a defining factor in the outcome of

games. His bowling was complemented

by Rufus Darke, Hugo Lowther (when

he wasn’t keeping wicket) Arjan Barard

and James Hall, who all took important

wickets in a team crammed full of spin

bowling options.

In the seam department, Jake Van

Cutsem could always be relied

upon with the new ball and had an

outstanding all-round season. Hugh

Alwood bowled with moments of real

skill and Humphrey Myrddin-Evans

saved his best bowling performance for a

national semi-final vs Scarborough.

The batting was led by Harry Parton,

who is a very natural striker of a cricket

ball; when he was at the crease the

scoreboard was always moving quickly.

Rufus Darke’s unbeaten century in a run

chase vs Eton was a standout moment

of the season that carried us very

close to winning the Clarke Williams

trophy. Frustratingly, a last-over loss to

Marlborough College saw us edged out

in the festival at the end of the season.

The season was also made up of

moments that were possibly less eyecatching

but where boys showed real

character. None more important than

when Sam Spiby made the telling

contribution with the bat in a narrow

regional final win vs The Wrekin in a

two-wicket win in the 20/20 regional

final. Hugo Lowther played an

outstanding hand away at Bromsgrove

to carry us home with the bat in what

was described (possibly by him) as a

‘coming of age innings’. Canon Farrer

picked up regular wickets despite only

having bowled left arm spin for a matter

of weeks, and Henry Sykes demonstrated

his high ceiling with his fast bowling by

picking up four quick wickets to wrap up

a win vs Wrekin in April.

In the Cup games, the team was

supplemented by Arjan Barard and Will

Parkinson-Witte, who played up a year

from the Third Form and who made

increasingly significant contributions

throughout the summer. Both look like

excellent prospects for next season.

Not only were the team very successful,

they were a delight to coach and made

big strides with cricket, as young men

and with their head tennis in the warmups.

Outside of pre-season warm-up

games, the team’s record reads played 17,

won 14, lost 3. An outstanding season for

a group who will remain strong as they

progress through the School.

Greg Smith

U15B Boys

Played 8 Won 5 Lost 3

An excellent season for the 15Bs which

saw them make fine progress in all

aspects of the game. The team were

well captained by Sam Gardiner, who

proved to be a useful all-rounder too.

Oscar Wincott was a leading light with

bat and ball and Henry Forrest was

the leading run scorer over the season.

Konrad Blake was the leading wickettaker

with 7 wickets. The boys worked

hard in training and their fielding really

improved from their U14 days.

Adam Duncan

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SCHOOL NEWS

49

developed. Early victories against strong Repton and Sedbergh

teams set the season up well. Their dedication and hard work

were evident in training and matches, demonstrating a highly

competitive approach to their cricket.

Captain Arjun Barard was the leading all-rounder in the side,

scoring 286 runs and taking 10 wickets with his testing legspin.

Will Parkinson-Witte also impressed with the bat and is

a promising talent as a wicket-keeper. Hugo Odd made fine

progress throughout the summer with bat and ball and

should look to kick on next year.

It was fantastic to see a whole team performance in the County

Cup Final, with Will Dickson hitting a quick-fire 30 from

11 balls, Will Parkinson-Witte scoring 46 opening the

batting and James Barnett claiming 5 for 12 off 3.2 overs to

finish the season exceptionally well.

As we look forward to the next season, the focus will be on

building on this year’s successes and addressing areas for

improvement. Well done and good luck next year!

Rhodri Evans and Steve Wilderspin

U14A Boys

Played 9 Won 6 Lost 3

Despite several abandoned fixtures in the middle of the

season, the U14As showed great progress in their individual

technical ability and collective tactical awareness as the season

Top run-scorers:

Arjun Barard: 286 runs @71.50, Best 68*

Will Parkinson-Witte: 245 runs @40.83, Best 83*

Will Dickson: 76 runs @25.33, Best 45*

Top wicket-takers:

Hugo Odd: 11 wickets @21.82, Best 5/11

Arjun Barard: 10 wickets @14.10, Best 3/30

James Barnett: 9 wickets @8.89, Best 5/12

U14B Boys

Played 11 Won 4 Drawn 1 Lost 6

A somewhat challenging yet rewarding season, as the group

had a wide range of abilities that initially required work to

ensure that they were focused and safe to be around a hard

ball. The general focus of this group improved over the

season, and we saw progress and improvement in all areas.

As we would expect, the group started well against a young

Packwood team, but after that their limitations with bat, ball

and in the field were highlighted against Prestfelde, Repton,

Oswestry, Packwood again and Bromsgrove, as all games were

lost. Work continued each session and signs of improvement

were obvious in each game. A good performance and win

in a friendly against the U15Bs helped with the confidence

and resulted in a more focused performance and win against

Ellesmere and a draw against Denstone, which would have

been a win before the rain came.

A tight game against Manchester was narrowly lost before

the performance of the season resulted in a win in the final

game away at Malvern. It was clear to see in this game that

all players had learned and developed and were now able to

better understand how to manage their own performances

and how to try and win a game. They all finished the season

better cricketers than when they started and will continue to

grow and develop in the U15s next year. It was pleasing to

see a few players represent the 14As and for James Barnett to

step up on a permanent basis, do very well, and contribute to

winning a trophy.

Of note this season were the all-round performances of

Jack Edwards, having never really played cricket before. His

batting, bowling and fielding were pivotal in games. Big

hitting from Henry Trevor culminated in a score of 60 at

Manchester. Seb Eckley-Majercak was Captain and worked

hard to learn and develop his leadership skills; he ended up

as top scorer on 118 and contributed to the bowling attack,

taking 8 wickets and with best figures of 3/28. Will Gosling

and Oliver Standeven proved to be reliable and effective

bowlers and took valuable and timely wickets in games.

Taisei Miyakoshi knuckled down and worked very hard on

his bowling and produced some reliable and effective spells

resulting in important wickets. His enthusiasm in the field

was obvious, along with his will to win and improve, and it

was pleasing to see him finish strongly having clearly enjoyed

the season.

Colin Heath and Steve Biggins

U14B Hall of Fame

Top Run Scorer: Sebastian Eckley-Majercak – 118

Highest Individual Score: Henry Trevor – 60

Highest Strike Rate: Will Gosling – 150

Top Wicket-Taker: Jack Edwards – 10

Best Bowling Figures: Jack Edwards – 3/22

Best Economy: Oliver Busby – 2.2

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50 SCHOOL NEWS

RSSBC

Over the first week of the Easter holiday, 33 J15 rowers

took part in a training camp based at the School. They

set up home in Oldham’s and enjoyed four days of back-toback

sessions on the water, broken up by some good food

and video analysis sessions. It was very useful to get plenty of

water time after a Lent term disrupted by high river levels. The

crews made very pleasing progress on the Severn in crew boats,

and many got the chance to go out in small boats at Bomere.

It was great to have the Lead Senior Boys’ and Girls’ coaches

working with the J15s as well as the two 1st VIII coxes, who

both generously volunteered three days of their time to both

cox crews and coach the coxes. The impact they had was

tremendous and inspiring.

In the final week of the Easter holiday, the J16 and Senior

rowers travelled to Spain for their annual training camp. The

Boat Club returned to Laias in Galicia on the banks of the

river Minho. The camp was worth the journey, as the team

enjoyed fantastic weather conditions that were matched by

the hotel and training facilities. The still water conditions

made technical changes easier to coach and correct, and the

improvement from the start to the finish of the camp was

tangible both visually and by the times recorded. The rowers’

great application on the water was matched by their efforts

revising between sessions. It wasn’t all hard work, though, and

the chance to relieve some aching muscles in the geothermal

pools that the hotel is based on provided a great distraction.

On the first weekend of the Summer term, the J15s and J16s

travelled to Nottingham to race at the Junior Inter Regional

Regatta held at the National Water Sports Centre at Holme

Pierrepont. The crews were selected to represent the West

Midlands region at this national event, which included crews

from Scotland and Wales. Thirteen regions were represented,

with all crews taking part in a time trial to sort the boats into

A, B and C finals. Four of the five Shrewsbury crews secured a top

six result, thereby securing themselves places in their respective A

finals. The J16 Girls’ eight missed out by the narrowest of margins

(0.1sec) to go into the B final of their event.

The competitive finals were incredibly tight, with the J16

and J15 Boys’ Coxed Fours missing out on the medals in

the closing metres of their races to both place fourth. Katie

Webber (QE 4) put up a valiant display in the WJ15 1X

to place 5th in her final. The WJ16 Eight dominated their

race event to win the B final in impressive style. The J16

Boys’ Eight put in a tremendous performance in their final,

getting off to a very fast start and moving into second place.

In the closing stages of the race, they held their nerve under

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SCHOOL NEWS

51

increasing pressure as the field came back on them. The crew

held out to secure a well-deserved bronze medal.

On the second weekend of the Summer Term, nine

Shrewsbury crews travelled to Dorney Lake to take on Eton

in the annual match for the W.E.K. Anderson Bowl. The

crosswind conditions that greeted the crews were typical of

Dorney Lake, so while they were challenging, they were a

useful experience for the crews to have to manage themselves

getting attached to the stake boats. The crews raced in two

runs down the track, with the first race taking place over

2000m and the second over 1000m. The racing saw some

fairly close match-ups, with the J16A crew in a particularly

tight battle the whole way down the 2000m course, only

narrowly losing to Eton. The J15A crew made a strong start

to their race and held off a robust fight back from Eton to

win their match-up. Despite some strong performances from

the remaining crews, Eton prevailed to retain the W.E.K.

Anderson Bowl by six wins to one.

Over the second weekend of May, an armada of RSSBC

crews took to the water at the annual Shrewsbury Regatta.

On the Saturday the majority of crews raced in eights and

fours, while on the Sunday most of the crews were in smaller

boats. The weather was glorious and there was a tremendous

atmosphere among the spectators and supporters. Twenty-two

crews took to the water on the Saturday, with some closely

contested races. Highlights included the J16B Eight taking

on King’s Chester’s J16A Eight in the heat of their event. The

crew produced a terrific race and won by three-quarters of a

length, earning them a place in the final against our own J16A

boat. The J15A and B crews also put in strong performances,

earning places in the J15 final against each other. The J15

A girls had a tremendous battle down the track with King’s

Chester, narrowly missing out by three feet on the line. There

were wins in the J16 Coxed Four, WJ17 Coxed Four, J15 VIII,

J16 VIII and J18 VIII events.

On the Sunday, 32 crews took to the water. There was some

exciting racing over the short course past the front of the

Boathouse. It was fantastic to see Violet Heintz (M 4), in her

first regatta in the single, producing a great set of races to win

the WJ15 Singles.

There was a haul of sculling success, with Katie Webber (QE

4) winning the WJ16 Singles and Tara Lloyd (M L6) winning

the Women’s Singles event. Katie and Tara then teamed up

to win the Women’s Doubles event. Robbie Lapping (S 5)

claimed victory in the J16 Singles event while Jake Datnow

(SH 3) went back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday winning

the J14 singles event.

The J15 Boys won the J18 Coxed Four event. The J15s from

The Grove and EDH paired up to face each other in the WJ15

Coxed Fours event. The photo of them on the start line even

made it on to the main BBC website news home page under

the headline “Town stages rowing regatta in ‘Perfect’ weather”.

The Grove took the win.

The Senior boys and girls paired up to form a number of

mixed doubles. It was great to see the crews racing for the

fun of it, with lots of smiles and a few near-shipwrecks for

spectator entertainment. In the final race of the day, Jeremy

Gundle (O U6) and Natasha Loumidis (M U6) took the

honours, with a tremendous race past the vociferous crowd of

supporters at the Boathouse, to win the Mixed Doubles event.

Twelve Shrewsbury crews raced at the National Schools’

Regatta on 25th and 26th May at Dorney Lake. The event

saw 5,295 competitors racing from 157 schools and clubs. The

crews took part in a 1900m time trial followed by seeded finals

over the full 2000m Olympic course. All the crews put in

creditable performances, with ten out of the 12 crews placing

among the top 12 nationally and earning a place in the A or B

final of their event.

The highlights of the Regatta were wins for both the Senior

Boys’ Coxed Four and the Senior Girls’ Coxless Four. The

Senior Boys’ Coxed Four placed second in the time trial, so

went into the final with work to be done. They made a strong

start and led the field through the first 500m. They built on

this lead through each of the markers to break contact and

go a length clear in the closing stages and secure the School’s

first win at the Regatta since 2017. The crew won the Hedsor

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52

SCHOOL NEWS

Cup for Championships Coxed Fours, which the Boat Club

last won in 2012. It was a fantastic performance from the

entire crew: Toby Moore (I U6), Matt Levings (O U6), Hugo

Rees-Pullman (RAJC U6), Ben Potter (RAJC U6) and cox Nat

Toms (EDH U6).

The Senior Girls’ Coxless Four had to wait until Sunday to

show what they could do. They made a clear statement with

a commanding row in the time trial to place first by five

seconds. In the final, the girls were clinical in their execution at

the start and took a two-second lead through the first timing

mark. They steadily increased the lead to go clear water

up through the thousand-metre mark. The crew looked

extremely well drilled as they maintained their length and

composure in the closing stages of the race to take gold and

the Colts Cup in the Boat Club’s first ever girls’ win at the

National Schools’ Regatta. A fantastic achievement for the

crew of Katie Hale (MSH U6), Tara Lloyd (M L6), Anni

Stamer (EDH U6) and Sophie Whiteman (EDH U6).

Results Final Finish

Girls Championship Coxless Four A 1st

Girls Championship Coxed Four B 3rd

Championship Coxed Four A 1st

Championship Coxed Four C 4th

Championship Quad D 3rd

Championship Coxless Four B 2nd

Girls J16 Coxed Four B 6th

J16 Eight B 5th

Girls J15 1st Eight B 4th

Girls J15 2nd Eight B 1st

J15 1st Eight B 2nd

J15 2nd Eight B 1st

On the second last weekend of the Summer term, the Senior

Girls squad traveled to Henley-on-Thames to compete in the

hotly contested Henley Women’s Regatta. Thirteen girls

were entered between two boat classes: a coxless quad into

The Bea Langdridge Trophy (Junior 4x-) and an eight into

the Peabody Cup (Junior VIII) event. Following strong

performances in the time trials, both crews navigated their

way to side-by-side racing.

First up saw the 1st 4x- drawn against Sir William Perkin’s

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SCHOOL NEWS 53

School. After a strong start leading out of Temple Island by a

¼ length, the crew was slowly edged out through the middle

of the race to lose out to Sir William Perkin’s, who would

become semi-finalists in the event. Later in the day, the

VIII raced against National Schools’ Champions, Hinksey

Sculling School. The crew fought well and executed their

race plan to perfection but unfortunately succumbed to the

speed of Hinksey.

against a selected US club crew from the Princeton National

Rowing Association. The boys put in a creditable performance

but could not overcome the strong US crew in their firstround

race.

On the same day a few miles downriver, the Senior and J16

Boys raced at the Marlow Regatta at Dorney Lake. The crews

raced in the Coxed Four, Quadruple Scull and VIII events.

The format for racing was a 1900-metre time trial followed by

ranked finals based on their time. The J16 Coxed Four raced

in the School/Junior category and put in a strong performance

in the time trial to place second and earn a place in the A

final. They did well in this final against their J18 opposition

to place a very impressive third in the event. The Quadruple

Scull qualified 26th out of 54 crews in the time trial. In their

final, they put together a good race to place fourth out of eight

crews in the D final. The 1st VIII struggled to show their speed

in the time trial, finding themselves in the H final. In their

final against University and Senior crews, they led from start to

finish and put in a competitive time.

The Senior Girls’ Quad had to qualify the hard way by taking

part in qualifying races. With only seven spots available from

45 boats, it was going to be a tough task. The girls produced

a fantastic performance to secure one of the seven spots

and earn themselves a place in the Regatta proper. In their

first-round race they were drawn against Rob Roy Boat Club

from Cambridge. The girls put on a very mature display as

they held their nerve in the closely fought race, which saw

the crews separated by a little over a length coming into the

enclosures. The final strokes saw Rob Roy come unstuck, and

the girls stretched away to record an ambiguous ‘easily’ verdict,

given the competitiveness of the race. On the third day of

the Regatta the girls were up against the selected crew from

Hartpury College. Despite a strong performance, they lacked

the firepower to compete with the strong Hartpury crew but

can be very proud of their performance.

A number of RSSBC rowers competed over the summer

holiday, but particular mention goes to Robbie Lapping

(S 5) who was selected to represent Scotland at the Home

Countries Regatta and to Tara Lloyd (M L6) who was selected

to represent Great Britain at the Coupe de la Jeunesse held in

Czechia. Tara’s crew won gold for Great Britain in the Women’s

Eights event, setting a new world best time in the process.

There were several Old Salopians in action over the summer

and two produced stand-out performances worthy of special

mention. Grace Richards (G 2019-21) was a member of the

Oxford Brookes University crew who won the Remenham

Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. She was also selected

to represent Great Britain in the Coxless Four at the Under-23

World Championships, where her crew took Gold.

Louis Nares (I 2015-20), also racing for Oxford Brookes,

did a historic double by winning both the Stewards

Challenge Cup (4-) and Grand Challenge Cup (8+) at

Henley. He was also selected to represent Great Britain at

the Under-23 World Championships, where he stroked the

GB VIII to victory.

Athol Hundermark

Director of Rowing

The Boat Club entered four crews to race at the Henley

Royal Regatta. The Senior Boys’ 1st VIII was entered into

the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup and the second boat

in quadruple sculls into the Fawley Challenge Cup. The

Senior Girls’ first boat was entered into the Diamond Jubilee

Challenge Cup and the second boat into the Prince Philip

Challenge Trophy. Both second boats performed admirably

in the qualifying races but missed out on qualification, racing

against other schools’ and clubs’ first boats. The Boys’ 1st

VIII qualified directly through to the Regatta and were drawn

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54 SCHOOL NEWS

154th Bumping Races

Results

The Bumps I winning crews were Oldham’s Hall and The Grove.

Bumps II winning crews were School House and The Grove.

Bumps III winning crews were Oldham’s and The Grove.

The Bumps Chart below illustrates the fortunes (and misfortunes) of each of the 36 boats that took part in the annual Bumping

Races, held during the final days of the Summer term.

The full Chart stretches back to 1887, when the first Bumping Races were held. Just seven crews took to the water that year:

Lower Sixth, Doctor’s I, Doctor’s II, Headroom, Day Boys, Rigg’s, and Nondescripts.

The colourful and intricate pattern that unfolds as the decades pass, numbers swell and Bumpers becomes an established highlight

of the year, presents a fascinating visual perspective on the history not only of this esoteric event, but also of the School:

https://bumps.rssbc.org.uk/

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SCHOOL NEWS

55

It has been another stellar season for the Fives Club, with

Shrewsbury reaching the latter stages of the majority of

tournaments entered this year. Whilst we walk away from the

2023-2024 season with four National titles, we were finalists

or runners-up in no fewer than nine other major tournaments.

There were best-ever results for the School in the Richard

Black Cup (Girls’ Team Competition) and the Hughes

Cup (U15s’ Teams Cup) and a first ever win in the Graham

Turnbull Trophy. Participation in the sport remains high, with

pupils keen to experience one of the staples of the Shrewsbury

sporting programme.

FIVES

Junior girls at U14 Nationals at Highgate School

U14 Girls

Starting the year with very few U14 girls, this year group

developed into an extremely keen and talented group by the

end of the year. Fleur Jarvis (QE 4) and Sienna Earles (G 4)

reached the U14 Girls’ final in March, and Sienna also went

on to reach the U15 Girls’ final in the Nationals Week. There

were also superb performances throughout the season from

Maddie Geary (QE 4), Charlotte Harker (G 4), India Grant

(EDH 4), Helena Cornwall-Legh (EDH 4) and Phoebe Bell

(QE 4), who all reached the quarter-finals of the Nationals.

U18 Girls

The Senior Girls’ squad had an extremely successful season.

After finishing runners-up in the Richard Black Cup,

they found themselves challenging at the top end in most

competitions they entered. Unfortunately, last year’s finalists

Amanda and Anisha Mupesa were both injured for the

National Championships, meaning reigning U18 Champion

Esther Hurford (EDH U6) had to find a new partner. Esther

and her new partner, Fifth Former Emily Clark, reached the

final but lost 3-0 to an extremely talented Cranleigh pair.

Esther went one further in the U18 Mixed Competition, as

she and her partner Ed Clark (O U6) were victorious against

another Shrewsbury pair in the final, Shrewsbury 8 (Sam Spiby

(SH 4) & Emily Clark, winning 2-0 (12-8, 12-10).

U15 Girls

The U15 girls continued to progress well throughout the

season. Captain Millie Parry (MSH 4) made great positional

and technical improvements, and Bella Clark (M 5), Willa

Bowett (MSH 5) and Emilia Griffiths (MSH 5) also found

themselves competing at the top end of the National scene by

the end of the season. Two Shrewsbury pairs made the U15

Girls’ semi-finals, and Millie and her partner, U14 Sienna

Earles, won through to the final. Here they were up against last

year’s reigning champions, who defeated Shrewsbury 2-12, 3-12.

Senior Girls at the Ladies Championships 2024

U14 Boys

U16 Girls

In the U16 Girls, there was a small but talented group of

girls who showed outstanding commitment throughout the

season. Emily Clark (EDH L6) was the standout performer in

this year group, reaching three national finals in the space of

four days: the U16, U18 and Mixed. Emily and Millie Parry

unfortunately lost 2-0 in the U16 final to the same pair that

Millie had lost to in the U15 competition the previous day.

U18 Mixed Winners (L-R): Ed Clark, Esther Hurford, Emily Clark,

Sam Spiby

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56 SCHOOL NEWS

A smaller squad than in

previous years, a dozen

U14 boys set about the

task of defending the U14

Beginners’ National trophy.

After comprehensive wins

against both Eton and

Highgate earlier in the

season, and a quarter-final

finish in the U14 Main

Competition (mostly for

pupils who have played for years), we had high hopes for our

U14s. Eight pairs of Shrewsbury boys and girl were involved.

Three Shrewsbury pairs reached the quarter-finals, with

Connor Perks (S) and Ollie Busby (R) bowing out 3-1 to

pre-tournament favourites QE Barnet 1. Shrewsbury 1 & 2

then produced one of the best days of Fives in recent memory.

Both pairs managed to defeat their opponents and set up an

all-Salopian final, the first time this has happened since 2011.

In a tightly fought match lasting over three hours, Arjan

Barard (SH) and Jack Edwards (R) (pictured) defeated Callum

Dovaston (I) and Taisei Miyakoshi (R) 3-1 (13-11, 13-12,

5-12, 12-4)

U15 Boys

The U15 Boys had a superb season. After finishing runnersup

in the Hughes Cup (Shrewsbury’s best ever performance

in the competition), we hoped that our top pairs would be

challenging at the top end of the National scene in March.

Several players made great progress throughout the season,

such as Rufus Darke, Oliver Colton and Oscar Wincott.

Unfortunately, injury prevented some of our players from

competing. After rejigging pairs, three Shrewsbury pairs

reached the quarter-final stage, with Jack Lupton, Tyger

Leverton-Griffiths, Daniil Metelskiy and Kieran Haswell

all performing superbly well. Sam Spiby (SH) and Monty

Sharman (Rt) bowed out at the semi-final stage, succumbing

to a strong QE Barnet Pair.

U16 Boys

After our U16 first pair,

Michael Draper (I) and

George Battersby (O),

helped Shrewsbury retain

the Richard Barber Cup

for the third time, we were

hopeful that they would help

Shrewsbury to challenge

at the top end of the U16 2024 Williams Team Cup Squad

scene, something we have

struggled to do in the past decade. Players such as Yee Lok

Mak (S), Freddie Ogilby (Ch), Max Milbank (O) and Dele

Samson (Ch) ensured that training was always competitive

and made great improvements throughout the season. In the

Nationals, Shrewsbury 1 and 2nd seeds Michael and George

took an unconventional approach to the tournament. In

each of their knockout matches (last 16, quarter-finals and

semi-finals) they lost the first set! In every match the pair grew

stronger and started to produce their best Fives. They overcame

Berkhamsted 4, Berkhamsted 3 and Highgate 1 to reach the

final and take on pre-tournament favourites Berkhamsted 1.

Michael and George struggled to reach the form they had

shown earlier on in the day and came away with a 3-0 loss.

A superb effort, as Shrewsbury reached the final of the U16

tournament for the first time in ten years.

U18 Boys

The 2023-24 season was a season of great promise for the

U18 Boys, which unfortunately never came to fruition. After

securing our first ever win in the Graham Turnbull trophy,

as Jack Home and Seb Cooley (pictured) defeated Eton 1

2-1, and retaining the Richard Barber Cup for the 3rd time

(pictured), there were encouraging signs that our Senior

Boys would be able to challenge for the U18 Open trophy.

Unfortunately, injury to captain Jack Home in a fixture

versus Harrow, Theo Wylie’s inclusion in the England U19

World Cup cricket squad and Oliver Parton’s and Ed Clark’s

football commitments as they played a key role in securing

Shrewsbury’s first ever ESFA win meant that the season never

really got going. That being said, Shrewsbury finished runnersup

in the Williams Team Cup and there were outstanding

squad performances in matches versus Highgate, Harrow

and Eton. In the Nationals, our Senior Boys struggled in

what proved to be the most open and competitive U18 Open

tournament in years! Two Shrewsbury pairs reached the last 16

stage, but bowed out to seeded competition.

Graham Turnbull Cup Winners (Jack Home & Seb Cooley)

Overall, a season with plenty of positives, with all players

making great progress as they continue to ensure that Salopian

Fives remains at the forefront of the game nationwide.

Fives captains for the 2024-2025 season are:

Clemmy Sowden (G U6)

Louis Hursthouse (S U6)

Adam Morris

Michael Draper, George Battersby, Seb Cooley (Staff), Sam Welti (I 2007-

12), Chris Hughes (SH 2005-10), Ed Clark

Senior Girls vs Cambridge University

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SCHOOL NEWS

57

The 2024 tennis season was a fantastic

term for the tennis squads, with a record

number of students participating for the

School and one of the most successful

seasons ever in terms of results.

Tennis

special mention must go to the 1st

team of Tom Daly, Hamish Griffiths,

Giles Holliday, James Hudson, Nick

Wing and Yee Lok Mak for a truly

incredible season.

It was also an exceptional season for the

girls’ 1st team, who only lost once all

season, in the National Cup. The team

improved considerably throughout the

year and was led by the outstanding

Pippa North. It was fantastic to see

their performances against Malvern

College, Cheltenham College and in

the King’s High School Tournament.

A special shoutout must go to Fourth

Former Willa Bowett and Third Former

Sienna Earles who, whilst still being

relatively junior at the School, have

performed exceptionally as the 1st pair

in the 1st team. Willa and Sienna also

competed for the School during the

summer holidays at the Independent

Schools Tennis Association (ISTA)

championships held at Eton College.

They performed admirably, beating

schools such as St Mary’s Ascot, Notting

Hill, Ealing Girls School and Prior

Park, before losing to Sevenoaks in the

round of 16. They should be extremely

pleased with their performance in such a

prestigious national competition.

The boys’ U15 team improved as the

season progressed and achieved good

victories over Malvern College, Wrekin

College and Oswestry, while the girls’

U15 team successfully beat Moreton

Hall, Shrewsbury High School and

Cheltenham College.

We greatly look forward to continuing

the progress of tennis at the School.

Henry Bennett

After an unfortunate loss in the Lent

term for the boys’ 1st team in the

National Cup to Ellesmere College,

the boys’ 1st and 2nd teams won all of

their Summer term fixtures. This was a

remarkable achievement; the last time

this happened was in 2001. There were

some fantastic victories, and it was

extremely pleasing for the team to beat

Ellesmere College for the first time in

many years in the summer fixture. A

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58 SCHOOL NEWS

Athletics

Shrewsbury School’s track and field

athletics season has been remarkable,

with over 150 pupils representing

the School at various meets and

competitions throughout the term. The

growth in participation has been truly

inspiring, showcasing the dedication and

talent of our young athletes.

We began the season with an invitation

to return to the prestigious Achilles

Schools’ Relays, an event rich in history

and tradition. This year marked the

competition’s 60th anniversary, with

22 schools participating and attracting

top schoolboy talent from across

the country. Our school stood out

by participating in all relay formats,

providing our pupils with invaluable

experience competing against some of

the best athletes in the county.

Highlights of the meet came in the

Lord Noel-Baker Trophy, where our

U17 boys, after winning their semifinal,

finished 2nd in the final, with

some fantastic performances from our

pupils in the early part of the season.

The Douglas Lowe Trophy finalist

senior boys made it through the heats

and finished 4th in the final. The

Christopher Chataway Trophy saw our

U17 boys finish 2nd in the 4x400m

after winning their semi-final.

In the Intermediate Track and Field

Cup, a national competition, our pupils

put on a fantastic performance, finishing

as runners-up and narrowly missing

out on qualification for the regional

finals. Our standout performers from

the boys’ team were Hugh Allwood,

who ran 12.3 seconds in the 100m and

scored 20 points for the team; Ifeoluwa

Omogbehin, who ran 12.2 seconds

and also scored 20 points; and Kieran

Haswell, who ran 43.0 seconds and

scored 14 points for the School.

In the girls’ competition, where pupils

have to do a track and field event for this

team format, our standout performers

were Maggie Williams running the 200m

in 28.2 and scoring 15 points, and Eleanor

Marsh running the 1500m in 6:10.12 and

scoring 14 points.

The Shropshire Clubs County

Championships in May again saw

outstanding individual performances,

with Zak Wasteney, Jack Kinrade, and

Harry Parker McLain shining brightly.

The event saw the achievement of

35 individual medals and the proud

representation of 60 pupils from

Shrewsbury School. Our Hunt athletes,

who stepped onto the track after a

successful season, showed what good

shape they were in, with Zak Wasteney

achieving personal bests, in the 800m,

running 2:12.60, and in the 3000m,

running 10:06.10. Jack Kinrade and

Harry Parker McLain both recorded

dead heats in the 400-metre final,

running times of 50.40.

Another highlight of the season was

our participation in the Millfield Grand

Prix, where 50 students showcased

their talent and dedication. Notable

individual performances from athletes

like Daniel Ogunleye and Harry Parker

McLain contributed to the School’s

impressive overall 3rd place finish in

the senior boys’ category. Our senior

boys, senior girls, intermediate boys and

intermediate girls all made the top five

performers in the competition out of

12 schools from across the west region

of the UK. Daniel Ogunleye achieved

a distance of 5m 80cm in the long

jump, while Harry Parker McLain

secured 1st place in the 1500m with a

time of 4min 09sec.

As exams loomed, our Third and Fourth

Form pupils displayed exceptional

commitment by competing in the

Birmingham University meet, organised

by King Edward’s Birmingham

and featuring schools from across

Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The

team spirit was strong as our athletes

pushed themselves out of their comfort

zones, achieving personal bests and

scoring valuable points for the team.

The boys’ team emerged victorious, with

the girls finishing a commendable 2nd.

A special mention goes to Daisy Pearce,

Hayyan Muri-Okumola, Ifeoluwa

Omogbehin and Oliver Russell for

their outstanding performances. Dora

Winkley, running the 300m in 48.71

PB time, was the highlight of the meet

for the girls’ team. Georgia Grant ran a

strong 1500m in 5:36, and Daisy Pearce

won the shot put with a distance of

8m 10cm. In the boys’ competitions,

highlights were Yuta Fujii winning the

javelin with a throw of 29m 56cm,

Oliver Russell and Al Weilds coming

in 1st and 2nd in the 1500m in 4:43.9

and 5:14.1 respectively, and Ifeoluwa

Omogbehin winning the long jump

with a jump of 5m 20cm.

The season concluded at Bromsgrove

School, where our athletes undoubtedly

left their mark. Arjun Chudasama won

his 300m in 42.40, and Joe Bonner

Ashby finished in 2nd place in the

800m with a very respectable 2:24, all

contributing to a 3rd place finish in the

junior competition.

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SCHOOL NEWS

59

Kieran Haswell finished in 11.9 in the

100m, Alex Mackinnon finished 2nd

in the 800m in 2:13.4, and Ifeoluwa

Omogbehin made a PB performance

in the long jump, recording a winning

distance of 5m 72cm.

In the senior competition, Daniel

Ogunleye and Howard Gu secured the

1st and 2nd places in the long jump,

while Zak Wasteney’s performance of

58.4 seconds in the 400m contributed

to the senior boys’ overall 3rd place in

the team competition.

Our intermediate girls finished 2nd

in the team competition, with Denise

Makondi’s standout performance in the

100m and long jump, as well as Chiara

Craig’s positive placings in the high

jump and hurdles. Our junior girls came

in 3rd overall, with Carys Tamilarasan

and Eleanor Marsh being fantastic team

members and often showing a great

attitude by stepping up to fill gaps for

the team and contributing consistently.

The girls made the top three performers

in every team competition they have

taken part in this year.

At the Bannister Mile event, part of

the British Miler, Finley Cullen made

a PB in the 1500m, running 4:23.58.

Jack Kinrade made effective use of his

time, achieving another personal best

at the Belfast British Milers Club event

over the weekend of June 15th/16th.

He ran 1:50.48, which is inside the

U18 qualification time of 1:51, for the

second time. Harry Parker McLain ran

1:52.84 in the 800m on 15th May,

which was a PB for him.

During the summer holiday, many of

our top athletes continued with their

fantastic achievements and progress.

The highlights came from Harry

Parker McLain, Jack Kinrade and

Finley Cullen competing at National

Schools in July 2024.

Harry Parker McLain, in round 1 heat

3, ran 1:54.20, and Jack Kinrade, in

round 1 heat 4, ran 1:54.76. Neither of

them qualified for the final, but both

were running a year young, so we are

excited to see if they can go one better

in their Upper Sixth year.

Finley Cullen ran the 3000m in 9:08.45

PB at English Schools. Again, we look

to see how he continues his progress as

he also ran a 5k PB in the summer in

16:07 at the Wirral Seaside 5K Series.

A heartfelt thank you to the dedicated

staff who supported our athletes

throughout the term, nurturing their

talent and passion for track and field

athletics. The success of the season

is a testament to the hard work and

commitment of everyone involved,

and we look forward to even greater

achievements in the future.

Liam Hennessy

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60 SCHOOL NEWS

Royal Shrewsbury School Rifle Club

The Rifle Club continues its proud tradition of producing

a Shooting Eight to compete in the National Schools’

Ashburton Competition at Bisley, and this year’s eight had to

overcome several problems to qualify and get to Bisley during

the third week of the summer holiday. The shooters improved

throughout the week, winning the Major Elers Cup for the

first time.

The Ashburton team missed out on a medal, but a fourth

place from the 32 schools that competed is a significant

achievement. Captained by Richard Wolskel (I), the team

included Alex MacKinnon (I), Solomon Foot-Tapping (S)

and Henry Hill (S). They shot consistently over the 300, 500

and 600-yard ranges. A special mention to Henry, who shot

exceptionally well in the Ashburton on his first visit to Bisley.

The cadet pair of Freddie Flavell (O) and Oscar Diwakar (I)

improved throughout the week as they got used to the 7.62

full bore rifle. Freddie’s 33.2v at 600 yards is an amazing score.

The School’s pair of Jack Lupton (O) and Bogdan Mazur (G)

gained invaluable experience in achieving 6th position in their

competition.

Solomon shot well in the McQueen Trophy for the highest

score in Sniper Fire over 300 yards. He only missed the bull

with one of his ten shots; but at this level, one missed bull

means you miss the medals.

NRA 155th Imperial Meeting

Cadet Wednesday Aggregate Total Entry: 349

Provisional

300x 500x 600x Total

1 Cdt RSM A Stewart Elizabeth College 34.4v 34.5v 34.5v 102.14v

2 Cpl R Wolskel Shrewsbury 33.3v 35.5v 34.1v 102.9v

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SCHOOL NEWS

61

Richard shot exceptionally well on Wednesday, winning a

silver medal for the aggregate score on v-bull countback. 35.5v

at 500 yds also tied for first place in the Iveagh competition.

Following a tie-break shoot-off, a bronze medal was a great

achiement. He also added another Cadet 100 marksman badge

to his collection. Henry and Alex also won silver spoons for

their positions in the Wellington and Iveagh competitions.

Further success came in the Regimental Challenge Trophies

competition, where we won the Major Elers Cup for the

highest ranking team of five shooters.

The team were grateful for the support of George Bramwell (R

2015-20), Jonty Roberts (Rb 2018-23) and Cpt Till, who gave

sterling service in coaching at the firing points and managing

ammunition during the week. A visit from Hattie Bramwell

(EDH 2016-18), the current GB U25 Captain, was also very

welcome, as she passed on some expert knowledge to the team.

We are also grateful to Tom Rylands (Ch 1973-77), who has

done so much for shooting at Shrewsbury, and wish him a

strong recovery.

Mark Roberts

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62

SCHOOL NEWS

POLO

The Polo squad trains on Thursday afternoons at Shrewsbury Polo Club in Baschurch and is coached by Glynn Henderson, a

former New Zealand international player. During the 2023/24 season we competed in two tournaments, organised by the Schools

and Universities Polo Association.

Our first outing to Oxford Polo Club in November 2023 saw our players enjoying friendly matches and scoring plenty of goals

as a warm-up for the National Arena Championships, which were held at Rugby Polo Club in March 2024. Our teams enjoyed

success at these Championships, winning eight of their nine matches and with every player getting on the scoresheet.

Results:

Beginners: First place

Novice A - Second in their division

Novice B - Won their division

Squad: Konrad Blake, Jason Gu, Robert Main, Towa Nishida, Annabella Subbiani, Genna Walker, Grace Young.

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SCHOOL NEWS 63

Shrewsbury House 1903-2024

Robin Brooke-Smith, Taylor Librarian and School Archivist, tells the story of the

‘Shewsy’ from its humble and experimental origins to its present incarnation

as one of the only surviving public school ‘missions’.

First of many, 1903 – Digby Kittermaster on the left

Most public school missions to

deprived inner-city areas were

established during the last two decades

of the nineteenth century, some even

earlier. This great movement arose

and flourished in the wake of that

century’s resurgence of evangelical

Christianity. It also coincided with the

peak of the industrial revolution and

a growing awareness of the dreadful

living conditions in parts of the

great cities. The Shrewsbury School

Mission to inner-city Liverpool was

only opened in November 1903 when

school and university missions were

well established. Now 120 years later,

when almost all other school missions

have long since closed their doors,

Shrewsbury’s is thriving as a centre of

excellence of inner-city youth work in a

Christian setting. What is it about the

‘Shewsy’, as it is affectionately known,

that has underpinned its longevity and

success? Did coming late to the field

Shrewsbury House, Portland Place, 1910

play a part in establishing a model

that was able to adapt and grow with

changing times? How salient was the

Christian foundation? How important

were some great individuals, its location,

management and governing structures?

Boxing at Bolton-le-Sands, 1904

A False Start

The story does not quite begin in 1903.

In 1896 Shrewsbury School made an

abortive attempt to start a mission in

Oxford House, Bethnal Green in the

East End of London. Being far removed

from Shrewsbury, the links with the

School were thin, and the School began

to look for a base closer to home.

Robert Beloe, an assistant master

at Shrewsbury (later to become

Headmaster of Bradfield) accosted the

Headmaster, Revd Henry Moss, on the

Site demanding forcefully that a mission

be founded in Liverpool. In 1902 Beloe

and Thomas Pickering, master and

librarian, took a deputation of masters

and boys to Winchester to see Father

Robert Dolling, former inspirational

head of the successful Winchester

College Mission in Portsmouth. Dolling

was on his deathbed and they stood

round his bed while he gave his decided

view that if Shrewsbury were to create

a new Mission, it must be close to the

School so that boys could visit regularly

in term time. Two weeks later Dolling

died and shortly thereafter the links

with Bethnal Green were ended. In his

history of the School, Basil Oldham

gave this judgement on the meeting:

What may have been his last advice has

had incalculable influence in the moral

and spiritual life of Shrewsbury School.

The search for a new base now began

in earnest. A new committee was

established under the presidency of

Moss and the chairmanship of F. E.

Bennett (master).

“The little committee at Shrewsbury

wasted no time … Francis Chavasse, the

Bishop of Liverpool … sent his chaplain to

escort Salopian masters to likely sites.’ They

visited St George’s in Everton (‘not poor

enough’), Emmanuel in Everton (‘mainly

workers in Ogdens’s Tobacco Works’),

finally they came to the parish of St

Bridget’s in Wavertree. This was described

as ‘a very poor parish, with no Boys’ Club.”

In 1903 a school mission was

established, and after a brief search,

Digby Kittermaster, an Old Salopian,

was appointed as the first Missioner

of the Shrewsbury School Mission.

However, he quickly threw a spanner

in the works when he decided that

Wavertree was not the right location as

it was deemed to be too respectable.

Kittermaster expressed his views clearly

on the nature of the new Mission.

Our work must be confined to a club for

poor boys, with a house attached to the

Club premises where present and past

Salopians could come and stay; to do

social-religious work, similar work to the

University Settlements in London.

He and John Lea, a Liverpool resident

with experience of boys’ clubs, tramped

the streets and slums of the city night

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64

SCHOOL NEWS

Camp group on the Common at Shrewsbury, 1920s

after night in search of a more suitable

site. Jim Kennedy, a former mission boy,

describes the moment of destiny in his

History of Shrewsbury House 1903-39:

Eventually they stopped at the corner of

Wakefield and Mansfield Streets, among

the middle of a great slum population,

where they saw the possibility of using the

disused but commodious public house.

The Journey Begins

So the first small steps were taken on a

remarkable journey. Kittermaster’s aims

and vision were clear from the outset.

It is not, be it said from the start, simply

to amuse. It is to develop and form the

characters of the members of our Club …

to teach boys to become straight-living and

straight-thinking honest Christian men.

The Club was built from the outset

on two foundations; the first was

Christianity – it must be a Christian

Mission. The second was that Salopians

must be involved as much as possible;

in the words of Adrian Struvé (master,

long-term member of the committee

and acting missioner in the 1960s), “by

learning to know and love those who

came on regular evenings to be with

them, the Club boys might themselves

be uplifted and civilised in character”.

Here we have the essential ingredients

that throughout the century remained

the moral compass of the enterprise.

Struvé sums up the situation:

The profound deprivation in the poorer

areas of Liverpool was only made worse, if

possible, by the depression. The Mission’s

presence in Everton and the labours of

its leaders were beyond price and nobody

could question the value of the School’s

support.

The early days and years were difficult.

There were turbulent nights in the club

and not infrequently members were

expelled onto the streets. During that

first year there was a camp in August

at Bolton-le-Sands on the shore of

Morecambe Bay for 35 boys.

The first camp was a true adventure.

We sallied forth into the unknown, and

pitched our tents unskilfully … we had no

experience, and sparse equipment, nor any

change of clothes …

In July 1904 the first party of about 30

boys made a visit to Shrewsbury and

were royally entertained by the School on

Kingsland. As the pattern of club life

became established, a football team

(what else!) was formed and played

against the School, usually winning.

A Settled Home and

a Way Ahead

Following a fundraising drive by the

Shrewsbury committee, it became

possible to purchase more suitable

premises in Portland Place. Old

Salopians, boys, the Headmaster and

the diocese raised over £2600. This

allowed the committee to buy four

terraced houses – numbers 31 to 37

Portland Place.

Kittermaster could now say, We no longer

make shift as in the old Club in Mansfield

Street and so I could look clearly once

In camp, 1930

again at the need and vision … rather

than in the dirty and ill-ventilated rooms

of a disused public house. We are now lords

of our own grand premises.

The daily routines were embedded, with

the chapel as the centre around which all

the activities and facilities were focused.

Kittermaster reported in 1907 that

chapel services were consistently well

supported and that it had become the

norm for the Club to be well attended

on Sunday nights.

There was a separate dormitory for

temporary residents such as boys just

out of prison who stayed till work could

be found for them. Others came from

‘reformatories’, but mainly they were

boys from the Akbar Nautical Training

School where Kittermaster was also

chaplain. The Clerk to the Justices of the

City of Liverpool wrote:

Few people know better than I do of the

splendid work being done in Liverpool

by the Mission, and I freely acknowledge

the very great assistance given here at

the Courts and at the prison by Mr

Kittermaster in his readiness to take

boys who only need the right sort of

encouragement to set them up again.

Ten years after taking up the challenge

of establishing the Shrewsbury School

Mission, Kittermaster resigned to take

up the post of Archdeacon of Buenos

Aires in Argentina. The foundations

were laid on the immovable rock of

Faith and devotion to the Master.

Kittermaster’s successors kept faithful

to his aims and vision through the

tough times ahead and the Club thrived

through the First World War and the

Great Depression of the 1930s. More

than 300 members served in the Armed

Forces and the Merchant Marine in the

war. When on leave most boys reported

back to exchange news and renew old

friendships. In the 1920s the summer

camp was switched to Shrewsbury where

the lovely School Site was a perfect place

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SCHOOL NEWS 65

Shewsy Old Boys’ Camp, 1936

for a camp and the brotherhood with

the School grew stronger.

Henry Hardy became Headmaster in

1932 and he created a more businesslike

approach to the club. From time

to time important figures fulfilled

important roles. One of these was Barr

Adams (OS) who made a casual trip to

Portland Place one day to have a look

and stayed for 25 years, during which

he devoted all his spare time to the

Club and made a huge contribution.

His activities included equipping a

library, providing education sessions,

encouraging appreciation of classical

music, current affairs, and much else

besides. His impact was most effective in

his typewritten weekly news sheets.

With the outbreak of war in 1939, and

Club members called up and often sent

overseas, the Barr Adams News Sheets

came out two or three times a week. He

sent copies to all boys he could reach in

the armed forces and overseas. He often

included a postal order to those overseas,

exchangeable in the forces NAAFI for

cigarettes, chocolate and so on.

Struvé sums up his legacy:

(His) faithful, unselfish service to the

Club’s Old Boys was wonderful for their

morale and hugely appreciated by their

families back home. Friends they made in

the forces and in prisoner-of-war camps

were deeply envious of the support the

Club’s Old Boys were getting … The Club

that Shrewsbury supported was beginning

to be forged into a family.

The Club marched stoically on during

the difficult war years, and Portland

Place was mercifully spared in the Blitz.

A new exceptional person was much

needed to pick up the pieces at the end

of the war and that person turned out

to be another Old Salopian, the Revd

James Hill, who took over as Missioner

in 1944. Hill had a deep Christian faith

and in 1948 the Bishop of Liverpool,

Clifford Martin, asked him to take

on, in addition to the Club, the role

of Vicar of St Timothy’s in nearby

Rokeby Street. The church was in poor

shape after the war and the bishop had

intended to close it down in due course,

but Hill had other ideas and an ally on

the School staff, David Bevan, a key

supporter of the Club. Bevan took a

party of 40 boys and masters for a week

of the 1949 Easter holidays to work on

the renovation of St Tim’s – cleaning

and decorating. The art master, Arthur

Broadbent, did a lovely painting of the

four evangelists in the walled-up east

windows. In the words of Struvé:

The effect on the Everton community was

electric. Almost overnight Shrewsbury

School had become a reality to the area, no

longer just a distant patron to a boys’ club.

HRH Princess Anne opens the Langrove Street premises, 1974

But did anyone at the School realise it?

Probably not: or not yet … Confirmation

candidates joined in the School’s annual

Confirmation service.

In the 1950s and 60s times were

changing both in the country and at

School and Club. Hill left in 1953 and

in April 1960 another school party went

up to paint and clean the St Ambrose

Church Hall and Broadbent did

another mural painting, this time of the

Coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

During this time the Club’s affairs were

overseen by a management committee

comprising the Missioner, School

staff and Liverpool representatives,

with the Headmaster in the chair.

Regular attendees included David

Bevan, Bill Matthews, Freddy Mann,

Michael Tupper (secretary); and – from

Liverpool – Reggie Gibbons, Douglas

Telfer, Albert Taylor and Billy Holden

(representing the Club Old Boys’

Association).

The 1960s and 70s – The Club

has Grown Up

The public schools were undergoing

deep and disorienting social and cultural

upheaval, and the traditional idea of

mission was no longer in tune with

the times. In 1960 the new Missioner,

David Street, initiated an innovation

that, perhaps unwittingly, would have

long-term consequences; he organised

two three-day residential ‘Social Studies

Courses’ for the School’s Lower Sixth,

with the aim of opening a window

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66

SCHOOL NEWS

on the problems and difficulties faced

by boys and young men in Everton.

The first of these was led by David

Gee and the second by Struvé. It was

immediately clear that this had been

a rich educational experience. Street’s

departure in 1962 brought the trial to

an end, but a new mode of engagement

had begun, in which the School became

for the first time the beneficiary and the

Club the provider.

Struvé stepped in during a two-term

interregnum. His stated aims for his

period as acting missioner were twofold:

one was to help find a successor whose

calling to do youth work was an

“expression of his calling to preach and

teach the Gospel”; the second was to

find someone capable of supporting a

team ministry to overcome the isolation

of the Club and its missioner. In 1963

Roger Sainsbury was appointed by the

management committee.

All this coincided with two powerful

forces: on one hand the Welfare State

and the cultural changes of the ‘swinging

sixties’, and on the other the arrival of a

new and dynamic headmaster, Donald

Wright. Wright shook things up at both

ends and made a lasting impact on the

Club and its operation. The Club was

Christian whereas state provision was

secular, and it took time for people to

realise that this should have no effect on

the Club’s aims.

Wright’s view was that these old

school missions were a hangover of

an outdated Victorian patronage that

was no longer relevant. However, on

meeting a determined management

committee, a remarkable missioner and

a Liverpool community that could not

be patronised, he gradually began to

look more closely at what School and

Club had achieved, were achieving and

could still achieve.

It was clear that the old premises in

Portland Place were no longer fit for

the greatly expanded programme

of activities; a Girls’ Club had been

opened in 1963. The new Social Studies

courses had proved a sure success and

had greatly impressed Wright. Not one

to do things by half, he devoted his

enormous energy in master-minding an

ambitious fund-raising exercise to build

a brand-new purpose-built centre for the

Club. Of the £242,000 raised, £79,000

came from the diocese, £60,000 from

local and central government grants,

£16,000 from the Merseyside Youth

Association and £87,000 from the

School community, including £17,000

from two sponsored walks by boys

and masters. The centre incorporated

St Peter’s Church (taking the name of

a church destroyed in the Blitz). The

new facilities at 37 Langrove Street

comprised a sports hall, club recreation

space, a proper hostel for ten residents, a

vicarage and youth worker’s house. The

centre was opened by Princess Anne in

July 1974 and a new chapter in the story

of the Shewsy began.

Towards the Millennium

and Beyond

The year after the opening ceremony,

a young Old Harrovian arrived at

Langrove Street to spend his gap year as

a volunteer. That was Henry Corbett,

who for the next 45 years was deeply

devoted to the Shewsy and became one

more of the greats who have sustained

and built the Club into what it has

now become. From 1975-76 he was

a volunteer; from 1978-87 he was a

helper at the Club as well as Curate

and Team Vicar; and from 1987 until

his retirement in January 2023 he was

Warden of the Shewsy and Vicar of

St Peter’s. During this time the Club

grew to its full stature and national

significance. Widely known as ‘H’ or

‘Big H’, Corbett’s tenure spanned six

decades.

The ethos of the Club became subtly

more political under Corbett. He

referred to his brand of Christian

engagement as working both upstream

(challenging the political establishment)

and downstream (face-to-face youth

work in an open Club setting). In this

way the Club was now leading the

School; Struvé said, “[Kittermaster]

would laugh to see how Shrewsbury

House is educating Shrewsbury School,

for he always said that should happen”.

The word ‘mission’ was dropped, but the

reality of godliness and good learning

remained central to the Club.

Significant change on the organisational

front came in the early 2020s in

the form of a thorough reshaping

of the governing structures of the

Club; this was initiated by the new

Headmaster, Leo Winkley. The longstanding

Management Board was

merged with the Board of Trustees

in a new Charitable Incorporated

Organisation under the chairmanship

of the Headmaster. There was a new

appointment of Senior Executive Officer

for a former master, Steve Holroyd,

whose role involved ‘developing strategy

and organisational compliance’.

Reflecting on his 45 years’ involvement

with the Shewsy, Henry Corbett

commented at the time of his retirement

in January 2023:

The soul of the Shewsy is its Christian

ethos, an inclusive ethos that offers a

welcome to all, whatever their faith

or view of life, with a wonderfully

high view of every human being made

in God’s image with potential for

love, creativity, generosity, but also a

realistic view of the human capacity

for selfishness, greed and apathy… the

Shewsy is always about hope …

Adrian Struvé, whose association began

in the 1950s, has this observation:

This link between Shrewsbury School and

a thriving, grown-up, battling inner-city

community is surely unique. It has come

about naturally. It could not have been

foreseen. It could not have been planned…

It is a huge privilege for Shrewsbury School

to have that relationship and to have that

educational resource to call on at will …

But the final word must come from

Eddie Cartwright, who grew up in an

orphanage, joined the Club as a young

boy, and later became Club Youth

Leader in the 70s:

When I look back at the Shewsy, it was

the very many folk from outside the area,

lots of them from the School, who made

and continue to make a huge difference

to my life and those of many others too…

It is the depth and strength of those

relationships that I value so much. Those

people through their action and attitude

expressed their compassion for Everton

people, their circumstance and their love

of the Club they so supported. ‘Go and

do likewise’, that’s the Good Samaritan

story isn’t it? That sums it up. I never felt

like a pauper with those people, I was

respected and valued … [Two] places and

people have been united through the Club

for more than a hundred years, brought

together and teaching and learning from

each other. It’s a tale of mutual respect and

mutual advantage. That’s the point.

As Shrewsbury House marches on 120

years after its foundation, its spirit of

Christian witness in practical social

work will be needed all the more as

Christianity retreats further into the

margins of society under the spell

of radical secularism and unhinged

progressivism. The Shrewsbury

School Mission has yielded rich fruit.

Kittermaster’s vision may be more than

fulfilled: the Club may not only teach

the School but, along with the School,

speak to a wider world. We wait to see

as the next chapter unfolds and pray for

guidance to bring more rich harvests.

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SCHOOL NEWS 67

A Message from Henry Corbett

(Warden of the Shewsy 1987-2023)

I retired from the Shewsy last year on

my 70th birthday, as the Church of

England (very reasonably) requires,

and have been much enjoying helping

out as a freelance vicar in Toxteth and

the Dingle in South Liverpool while

my wife Jane continues as an overworked,

hard-pressed Labour Councillor

in Everton. I have continued my

chaplaincy at Everton FC which goes

back to the first Howard Kendall era

(“My players have problems

but they won’t come to me:

I’m picking the team”) and

it has been a particularly

stressful and uncertain recent

year for the Toffees, manager,

players, staff, and supporters.

Ex player and pundit Alan

Stubbs commented towards

the end of last season, “Every

Evertonian is going to need

therapy after this season”! I

seek to bring perspective,

the bigger picture, a

genuine listening ear, and

I never ask for tickets or

signed shirts or comment

about that back pass or

open goal: my interest is

about life off the pitch,

family, faith, the latest

Netflix doc or film,

their questions, hopes

and fears. Here’s quietly

hoping for a less stressful

life for Evertonians in

the year ahead!

Adrian Struvé

Henry Corbett reflects on the vital role

Adrian Struvé, whose obituary will

be found on page 117, played in the

development of the Shewsy.

How has the Shrewsbury School

- Shrewsbury House link worked

so well over so many years? Many

reasons of course, but one of those

reasons is Adrian Struvé, and

three examples stand out for me

of Adrian’s vital role in this special

partnership.

In the early 1960s Adrian stepped

into the breach when the Shewsy

was briefly without a leader: with

typical shrewdness and humility

he realised that he would struggle

to control, even understand, some

if not all of the young people at

the door of the Shewsy Club then

on Portland Place in Everton. So

he quickly enlisted Billy Jones, a

local wise person with credibility

and influence in the community to

be his right-hand man. The Club

continued and Adrian meanwhile

recruited, after some persuasion,

Roger Sainsbury to come as the

Shewsy’s missioner in 1963. It was a

brilliant piece of recruitment. Roger’s

wife Jenny started the Shewsy Girls’

Club which then led to the club

becoming a Youth Club not just a

Boys’ Club, and Roger formed a

great lifelong friendship with the

School’s Headmaster Donald Wright:

that led to the raising of the funds

for the new Shrewsbury House Youth

and Community Centre on Langrove

Street, just 100 yards up from its

previous site on Portland Place.

The second example is Adrian’s

approach to Shewsy Board of

Management meetings. He would

arrive in good time and ahead of

the meeting would quietly ask

the Warden and Youth Worker

how things were going, how the

Board could help. At the meeting

he would ask friendly questions,

about the challenges of front-line

youth and community work, the

encouragements, the stresses, and

what might help. On one occasion

he gathered that Julian Charley as

Warden and John Hutchison as

Youth Worker were having to spend

considerable amounts of time on

the building and maintenance and

admin when they really wanted to

be doing face-to-face vital work in

the Club and the community. So

Adrian proposed the post of a Centre

Manager: he then raised the funds

through 12 Old Salopians generously

agreeing to fund the post, and Jim

Huthwaite was duly appointed

and Julian, John, the Club and the

Everton community reaped a great

reward in terms especially of Julian

and John’s freed-up time in the Club

and parish.

The final example is Adrian’s

consistent concern to encourage. He

knew that life in Everton, as well

as being rich in stories, characters,

resilience, lessons to learn, could be

tough, demanding, and not without

unfair struggles against injustice. His

support and his letters to many at

the Shewsy were always encouraging:

he always asked after my wife Jane

and our three children, and he would

share a verse or thought from his

mature, authentic, gentle Christian

faith. Thank you so much, Adrian,

for all you did for the Shewsy: you

have been such a key factor in our

flourishing.

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68

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

From the Director

recently had to do battle with the security helpline at

I my bank. My online access had been frozen due to an

interaction with a mysterious entity called ‘The Salopian Club

Events Account’.

“But what is the Salopian Club? I don’t think I’ve heard of an

organisation like this before,” asked the conscientious call handler.

I took a deep breath and attempted to explain. It set me

wondering about how many readers of this magazine are fully

au fait with the workings of the Club and the people involved.

Essentially, we are the alumni association of Shrewsbury School

– anyone who attended the School is a member if their parents

pay their subscriptions during their time at Shrewsbury, and

membership is for life without further payment. That much

most readers will hopefully know. You will get a flavour of our

work from the following pages.

What you don’t regularly see are the huge numbers of people

who keep the Club running, all of whom are volunteers.

The Salopian Club is a separate entity (an unincorporated

association) overseen by a committee of 14 Old Salopians,

most of whom have a particular sphere of interest or

responsibility eg sport or the arts. The youngest person on the

committee is 29, the oldest is 85. Day-to-day four people make

up the Executive who oversee me in my management role.

They are Miles Preston (DB 1963-68), now on his second stint

as Chairman; the Vice Chair is former Housemaster of School

House, Hugh Ramsbotham, whose association with School

and Club goes back to 1978; Tony Barker (DB 1968-73) is

the Treasurer; and former pupil, teacher, parent, Churchill’s

Hall Housemaster and editor of this fine publication, Richard

Hudson (M 1967-72 and staff 2003-20), is also a member of

the Exec.

These four people give a great deal of their time and energy

to supporting me and the Club. There’s also an honorary

President every year, currently Ben Duncan (SH 1965-70).

This is just the tip of the iceberg; there are 11 sports clubs

all run by volunteers and overseen by the Sports Chairman,

Peter Birch (DB 1966-71). Most of these compete regularly

in competitions, hire training facilities, go on tour, host

annual dinners and deal with a fluctuating membership, all of

which has its rewards but generates many hours of admin and

organisation. We also have thriving clubs organising events and

activities for arts lovers and motor enthusiasts.

I wanted to use my column to pay tribute to all these brilliant

people without whom the Club would cease to exist and to

thank them personally for all their support, commitment and

friendship. I also want to issue an invitation. Many of the

senior officers of the Club have served for at least five years

and deserve a well-earned rest. If you would like to be involved

with the committee, please get in touch with me. There may

be a perception that the Old Salopians are a particular group of

people or vintage of former pupils, but this really isn’t the case.

Anyone of any age would be very welcome to bring their ideas

and their unique experience of Shrewsbury School as I seek

to engage and support the Old Salopian community around

the globe.

Holly Fitzgerald

L to R: Tony Barker, Holly Fitzgerald, Hugh Ramsbotham, Richard Hudson, Miles Preston

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 69

Old Salopian Day 2024

Around 300 Old Salopians aged

between 20 and 89 returned to

School on Saturday 14th September

for Old Salopian Day. The annual

reunion is always a time to remember

the many pupils, teachers and other staff

whose legacy is the unique atmosphere

and culture of Shrewsbury. This year

there were even more celebrations and

commemorations than usual.

The weather was kind, which made a

difference, especially to a flag-raising

ceremony in honour of Ken Spiby and

Robin Moulsdale. Ken Spiby was Head

Groundsman between 1957 and 1994.

Robin Moulsdale was an Old Salopian

(I 1942-46) and a Housemaster and

teacher (1951-81). An outstanding allround

sportsman, he was the number

one Eton fives player in the world for

many years. It’s appropriate that the

flags now flutter in full view of Top

Common, particularly the cricket

square which was Ken’s pride and joy,

and adjacent to the fives courts. His

wife Vera, who turned 90 at the end

of September, was on hand for the

ceremony, as were his sons Rod (PH

1979-84) and Martin and some of Ken’s

grandchildren.

Some of the other events which

took place on that day are more

comprehensively covered below,

including Robin Trimby’s 90th birthday,

the unveiling of the War Memorial in

Churchill’s, the return of the OSFC

fixture to Old Salopian Day and a

special ceremony at the Boat House in

honour of Peter Gladstone.

There was the usual classic car rally

organised by the Salopian Drivers’

Club, which always attracts interest

from pupils on their way to Saturday

morning lessons.

The Art Exhibition was provided

by Alice Hughes (MSH 2016-21),

a surface pattern designer who has

recently graduated from Leeds College

of Art and Design. The Old Salopians

particularly enjoyed meeting a recent

leaver who is trying to forge a career in

the creative industries.

Two interesting and contrasting talks

were very well attended, the first from

School Archivist Robin Brooke-Smith

(S 1961-66) about the centenary

of Irvine and Mallory’s attempt on

Everest. Then GB News Political

Editor Christopher Hope (O 1985-90)

spoke about his career as a journalist.

Christopher worked for the Daily

Telegraph for 20 years and entertained

the audience with tales from his life on

the frontline of British politics.

Churchillians of many generations

gathered to witness the unveiling of the

WWI War Memorial before celebrating

Churchill’s 150th anniversary with a

drinks party in the new open courtyard

created by the recent refurbishment of

the House.

Old Salopians travelled from far and

wide to be at School for the various

celebrations. Peter Gladstone’s (Staff

1952-71) widow Jeannie travelled from

the north of Scotland with her two

children to be present at the unveiling of

his portrait at the Sabrina Club AGM.

Several members of Peter’s 1960/61

crews also made considerable journeys

to attend, including Colin Mackenzie

(S 1955-60) and Dan Rowland (Rt

1958-60) who travelled from the United

States. There was a bonus for Dan who

is Emeritus Professor of History at the

University of Kentucky. He was reunited

with Dr David Gee who inspired him to

study history but whom he hadn’t seen

since 1961.

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70

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 71

Salopian Footballing Legend Robin Trimby

celebrates his 90th birthday

There aren’t many schools who

can boast an England football

international on the staff, but Robin

Trimby, who worked at Shrewsbury

School between 1958 and 1983, has

three England caps on the wall of his

retirement flat in the town. It seemed

entirely appropriate that Robin’s 90th

birthday should be commemorated

as part of a celebration of Salopian

Football on Old Salopian Day.

Robin arrived at Shrewsbury in 1958

straight from Hertford College, Oxford.

His reputation as an outstanding

footballer had reached all the way to

Shropshire, to Michael Charlesworth and

1st XI Coach Robin Moulsdale. They

travelled to Oxford to persuade him to

come to Shrewsbury and teach history,

although Robin remembers a great deal

of football and not much history was

discussed at his interview in the pub.

In the 1958/60 football season Robin

won three caps playing for England

as an amateur and, despite many

invitations to turn professional,

he decided to concentrate on

revolutionising football coaching at

Shrewsbury School, taking over as 1st XI

Coach in 1962. 1964 was a watershed

year when the 1st XI completed a ‘grand

slam’ over five other public schools.

Four of that side, including the School

Archivist Robin Brooke-Smith (S 1961-

66), were present at the dinner on Old

Salopian Day at which Robin was the

guest of honour.

Robin was also Housemaster of

Oldham’s between 1972 and 1983,

where he is particularly remembered for

taking as much interest in drama, arts

and other sports as football. He was ably

assisted by his beloved and much-missed

wife Catherine, who died in 2020.

Many other footballers and Oldhamites

had travelled to be with Robin for the

celebration.

One of Robin’s later footballing stars,

Peter Worth (M 1965-70 and former

Governor) raised a toast to Robin, and

the current President Ben Duncan (SH

1965-70) spoke warmly of his time as

1st XI ‘Manager’, a title Robin created

to help him run the team.

Robin left Shrewsbury in 1983 to

become Headmaster of Prestfelde. He

can still be seen on the touchline at

School on a Wednesday afternoon and

was at Stoke

for the 1st XI’s

historic victory

in the ESFA

cup in May and

when they were

the runners-up

in 2023.

A Very Special Legacy

Dear Mr Trimby,

Schoolmasters always leave legacies which remain with their pupils, but I suspect you may not recall this one. May I take you

back to the dreadful winter of 1962/3 when, but for the Kingsland Bridge, the town of Shrewsbury was cut off by floods? I

will never forget sitting in the Fifth Form in the Main School Building looking with horror on the devastation below us. You

had the courage and conviction to back us in our plea that there surely must be something we could do to help.

You duly got the Headmaster’s permission and we ended up going out in our ‘tub pairs’ with the Army to rescue and assist

residents, particularly in the Frankwell area. Subsequently, we were permitted to go and help (armed with cans of Jeyes fluid)

clean up the mud and sludge from houses as an alternative to regular CCF attendance. This was the start of ‘Social Service’

becoming a Sixth Form option. I have wonderful memories of visiting Condover Hall (the RNIB training centre) and of a

cricket match against staff and inmates of Shelton Psychiatric Hospital, whereby they had to win via overthrows, numbered

in teens, in the final over!

That is a legacy any schoolmaster should be immensely proud of. But it is more personal than even that. This triggered in me,

and doubtless others of my contemporaries, a social conscience that has led me to work with children and disadvantaged and

vulnerable adults throughout my career and subsequently in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Perth. Thank you for that

inspiration!

Yours gratefully,

Graham Kingsley-Rowe (Rt 1960-64)

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72

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Churchill’s Hall WWI Memorial unveiling

As part of the 2024 Old Salopian Day, pupils and staff of

Churchill’s Hall – current and former – gathered to unveil the

World War One memorial plaque that has been restored to its

former glory. The plaque lists the names of the 42 Churchill’s

Hall boys who fell fighting in the Great War. It has been

restored with the help of the SSPA, the Salopian Club and

parents and was a fitting way to celebrate the House’s 150th

anniversary. Churchill’s Hall has recently been refurbished,

with the plaque placed in the new accommodation block of

the House, a poignant way to treasure memories of those boys

who walked the same place before us.

Ingrained in the plaque are the words: “So they passed over

and all the trumpets sounded for them on the other side.”

These words are a solemn reminder of the struggles our

former Churchillians and indeed the world went through

in the Great War. The presence of people from across the

years was a memorable way of bringing the Churchill’s

community together to remember those who went before

us. Also present at the event were current Housemaster

John Wright, and four former Housemasters, Peter Owen

(1977-83), Peter Morris (1983-94), Philip Lapage (1994-

2005) and Richard Hudson (2007-20).

What’s really touching is that the people who fell in the war

can be likened to the pupils today. For example, the last name

featured on the plaque is Second Lieutenant William Thornley

Stoker Woods, who served in the Royal Field Artillery. Woods

(pictured above) was Head of House, Praepostor, Choregus,

Captain of Boats and cadet 2nd Lieut. Leaving Shrewsbury

in 1915, he went on to join a battery in France after a very

short training in England. After a shell hit his dug-out in the

Somme, he died of wounds on 27th October 1916. Aged only

19 at the time of his death, he was buried at Guards Cemetery,

Lesboeufs, France. This is just one story among many

Churchillians who bravely gave their lives for their country.

They will always be remembered.

William Himmer (Ch U6)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 73

A GRAND DAY OUT COACHING

Coach and four outside the Fox and Hounds

A select party of Salopian rowers gathered on 28th August in

Windsor Great Park to celebrate John Richards’ (M 1956-

61) 81st birthday. Awaiting them was a coach and four black

stallions. John has driven in the British team with the late

HRH Duke of Edinburgh and is a past President of the

exclusive Coaching Club.

The party included Nick Randall (O 1972-76 and Captain of

Sabrina Club) and his wife, Dianne, Miles Preston (DB 1963-

68 and Chairman of the Salopian Club) and his wife, Jane,

and Charles Martell (O 1958-64).

The morning drive in bright sunshine was through the private

area of the Park before stopping for an excellent lunch at the

Fox and Hounds. The afternoon drive was via the Copper

Horse and concluded at 3.15 pm when the party drove to

Leander Club for tea. The Club provided an excellent dinner

and rooms. The next day an elegant launch, the Enchantress,

arrived at the pontoons for a cruise up the Regatta course and

past Temple Island with the rowers reliving past triumphs.

A stylish and memorable two days to be remembered and

savoured in the best Salopian tradition.

The Salopian party aboard ‘The Enchantress’

CANADA BECKONS

Henry Kennedy (I 2009-14) has been selected as Resident

Conductor of the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra

based in Ottawa, Canada.

Henry, who is still only 28, is already a distinguished young

conductor with a background in both opera and orchestral

music, having recently completed his tenure as Conductor

of Wroclaw Opera, in Poland, where he led numerous

productions during the 2022-2023 season.

Last summer, he was the Assistant Conductor to Sir John Eliot

Gardiner for Berlioz’s monumental opera Les Troyens, touring

prestigious venues such as the Berlioz Festival, Salzburg

Festival, The Royal Opera of Versailles, Berliner Philharmonie

and BBC Proms. His forthcoming engagements include

performances of Tosca in Italy with Orchestra Cherubini,

marking the 100th anniversary of Puccini’s death.

As the founder of the UK-based Resonate Symphony

Orchestra and its music director since 2017, Henry has

curated and conducted diverse programmes across London’s

prominent concert halls. His training includes studying under

Riccardo Muti and assisting several esteemed conductors with

leading symphony and opera orchestras worldwide.

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74

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

News of Old Salopians

1950-59

Peter Curtis (SH 1950-55)

In June 2024, at the University of North

Carolina (UNC-USA), I attended and

spoke at the first funded annual Peter

Curtis Faculty Development Lectureship

at the Department of Family Medicine.

In 1976, I was one of the founding

members of the new Department of

Family Medicine at UNC (now one of

the top three programs in the USA) and

four years later we started a nationwide

faculty development program that every

year brought about ten young medical

teachers to UNC for part-time academic

training in primary care medical

education, administration and research.

That program continues to this day.

I recently finished writing an

international mystery novel The Saratov

Assignment. Action takes place in 1997

Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet

Union and the West’s attempts to build

economic links. I am looking for an

agent or publisher.

Graeme Faber (Ch 1949-53)

I noticed while digging around your

email address something which said

“Graeme R Faber GSM [General Service

Medal]”. This was the medal given to

all who participated in the Mau Mau

emergency in Kenya where I did 15

months of my National Service. I could

write a whole book about that and what

a dreadful waste of public money it

was. As regards the medal, it wasn’t that

much of an honour as even the Naafi

girls in the canteen got it! The current

whereabouts of the medal is a mystery.

It’s something I would like my family

to have as a memento of me, along with

the book I’m writing to be entitled A

Fool’s Odyssey, with the proviso that it’s

only published after my death.

Richard Frewer (M 1955-60)

Believe it or not, I was the tenor soloist

in the first year of ‘Messiah from Scratch’

in the Albert Hall (1974). This event has

taken place every year since.

They are now at the 50th anniversary

celebration. If you look up ‘Messiah from

Scratch 2024’ on the web, you can get the

background.

As well as being an architect, I have sung

at a professional level as a recitalist and

concert singer since the early 1970s.

Anthony Hickson (I 1949-53)

It is lovely to still be alive after a cardiac

arrest. I was running slowly at the back of

my local (Melksham) Park Run nearly two

years ago and collapsed. I fell in the right

place (surrounded by marshalls) and the

next I knew was looking up at the ceiling

in Bristol Royal Infirmary several days

later. Since then I have tried to show my

gratitude by marshalling at Melksham

every Saturday. I miss not being able

to take part in the OS v RSSH match

each year.

Prior to that I finished my 700 page book

on the family genealogy The Hicksons of

Caddington, a small village within the

boundaries of two counties in the 17th

and 18th centuries - Bedfordshire and

Hertfordhire. I have also written a concise

book entitled HTML, the living standard

available from Google Books.

I have been retired for 34 years. Do write

to me at anthony@hicksons.org

Jonathan Melland (O 1953-58)

I was born at Walton-on-Thames in Surrey

in 1940. After the war my family moved

to Kenya, where they lived until 1961.

From 1953-61 I attended Shrewsbury

and Oxford, going home only for the

summer holidays. I taught in England

for three years, then, aged 24, moved to

Australia as a ‘10-pound Pom’. There I was

a school teacher until I was 35, teaching

mainly Latin and French, for a year in

Adelaide and then in Melbourne. I then

decided that teaching as I got older would

be too tiring, and between age 31 and 35

gradually changed over from teaching to

the nascent computer industry, starting as

a technical writer during three years in the

UK. Later I moved into IT audit until I

retired at 62.

At Shrewsbury I was School Captain of

Shooting, and at Oxford I won a half-blue

for rifle-shooting (and, as captain of the

Kenya team, met the Queen at Bisley). I

was in the Concert Choir at school, and

have been a bass in the Victoria Welsh

Men’s Choir in Melbourne since about

2000.

Aged 30 I married Pam, with whom I

had two daughters, and I now have three

grandchildren. Aged 53 I married Glynis,

and I am still here at 84.

John Mitchell (SH 1949-54)

A brief synopsis of life since Shrewsbury:

two years in the army in Aden and

Cyprus; at Oxford, mostly rowing; joined

the sugar company Tate and Lyle; a varied

career in production, commodity trading

and general management running their

North American division and ending as

Managing Director of the UK operation.

Then followed ownership of a small

winery in Sonoma, California, followed

by retirement to a house on the coast of

Mendocino. Finally, a move back to a

village close to where my wife, now of 46

years, had owned the winery. I spend time

now swimming in our pool, visiting our

children and grandchildren in Australia,

the UK, Kenya and Wyoming, and

growing vegetables.

Hugo Rée (SH 1952-57)

I have lived in Queensland for the past

37 years. I retired from my post with

Queensland Health in 2004. I am

currently putting the final touches to

my (probably) last book, provisionally

to be entitled Policing Public Health,

Queensland 1850-1925 (unless I can come

up with a catchier title), an account of the

involvement of the Queensland police

in managing a number of public health

issues, including leprosy, plague, influenza,

the venereal diseases, infant mortality, etc.

When not busy with the book, I work

in my 6,000 square metre garden, which

keeps me reasonably fit and active.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 75

Philip Campbell (Rt 1964-69)

Sir Philip Campbell was elected a Fellow

of the Royal Society in May 2024. This

was in recognition of his work as Editorin-Chief

from 1995 to 2018 of Nature

and, from 2018 to 2023, of Nature’s

publisher, Springer Nature.

said more than 11,000 men accessed

the charity’s online risk checker on the

day Nick spoke about his treatment,

increasing its usage by 400%. Nick has

also worked with charities such as the

Edward’s Trust and Baby Lifeline.

Jeremy Selby Whittingham (S 1955-59)

For the 250th anniversary in 2025 of

the birth of J. M. W. Turner, I am

planning a celebratory lunch on

Richmond Hill (Surrey) next summer.

Some may know that Turner visited

Shrewsbury and drew the Old Welsh

Bridge, and that the Moser collection

has a small view of Luxembourg by him.

If any Old Salopian would like to

attend - or help - let me know. This year

(2024) I revisited Turner’s villa

at Twickenham with, amongst others,

Tony Rushton (M 1952-57), who was

on good form.

1960-69

Donald Bradley (O 1963-66)

I have recently retired after a 50-year

career in property, with the last 42

having been spent as an expat based

in the Gulf. Life has been great and I

was lucky enough to do a great deal of

regional and international work - all

of it interesting. Firstly to witness at

first-hand the rapid expansion in the

Middle East, and more particularly to

advise the Foreign Office on most of

its international estate including Asia

Pacific, North and South America and

of course the Middle East. It was a time

when property inspections were called

for. I had the great good fortune to work

in over 90 countries. Times of course

change, so it was a lucky moment. I spend

the winter months in Bahrain, where

there is plenty of sport, and the summers

in Europe. If any Salopians are passing

through Bahrain, please let me know.

1929 Aston Martin S25 Photo: G Firth

Daniel Corbett (I 1955-60)

I have always been a car enthusiast, even

before the time I gave my Housemaster,

Michael Powell, a fright when we

came face-to-face with one another

in Ashton Road in 1960 when I was

completely illegally driving a Healey

3000 belonging to a friend of mine from

School House. I am happy to report

that, most fortunately, Mr Powell took a

remarkably lenient view of the incident.

In the same general Old Salopian and

vehicular context, I very recently came

across an S25 Aston Martin bought new

in 1928 by my father, Robert Corbett

(I 1920-25), and the Salopian Club

office has just put me in touch with the

current owner of another of my late

father’s cars, a Mk 11 1932 Aston. This

gentleman had contacted the School

to try to learn more about my father,

was put in touch with me and has now

alerted me to a third example of the

make which my father owned, a 1924

Cloverleaf, which is still running. An

embarrassment of riches, but as my

father owned over 80 cars during his

lifetime, maybe this quota from one

marque is not so surprising!

Nick Owen (R 1961-66)

Nick Owen has received the MBE for

his services to charity and broadcasting.

Nick, who has worked in broadcasting

for more than 50 years, was given

the award by the Princess Royal at

Windsor Castle in October. The BBC

TV presenter has been praised for

speaking publicly about his prostate

cancer diagnosis which inspired many

other men to get tested. Laura Kerby,

Chief Executive of Prostate Cancer UK,

John Rylance (SH 1957-62)

My 80th birthday last year and, later in

the year, our 50th wedding anniversary

prompts a submission to this section.

After school I had a spell in the French

Navy and then in Germany before

qualifying for and practising at the Bar

and later becoming a Circuit Judge,

sitting in London and Guildford. I also

spent some time working in Parliament

and also chaired a charitable trust for

many years. I have two daughters and

two wonderful grandsons. Now fully

retired, we enjoy our second home on

Mallorca, other travel (we have just

returned from the US and Canada),

croquet and bridge. We continue to live

in London.

1970-79

Clive Bonny (M 1966-71)

The House of Lords recently hosted the

publication of new proposals to boost

UK business innovation. The research

on business growth opportunities, called

Backing Breakthrough Businesses, by

The Entrepreneurs Network has been

sponsored by the Rigby Group, a private

UK company with a £4 billion pa

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

turnover. The policy recommendations

for economic development add to

the Private Business Commission’s

initial government report and are

informed through consultations with

top business leaders across the UK.

The Entrepreneurs Network APPG

supporter Clive Bonny commented,

“These recommendations will make it

easier for business to obtain investment

tax relief for equity funding, facilitate

R and D tax credits, and encourage

more employees into share ownership

schemes. This is the result of effective

consultations between government

policy makers, trade bodies and

high growth enterprises who have

benchmarked success.”

Peter Holden (M 1969-73)

I retired from my general practice

in March 2023. I am still working

clinically and now busier than ever

as Vice President of UEMO based in

Brussels (the medical profession has not

Brexited) which takes me to Europe

regularly. I was appointed Clinical

Trustee and Chair of the Medical

Committee of St John Ambulance in

January. I am no longer flying HEMS

missions on Air Ambulance helicopters

as I am too decrepit, but am still

doing the same clinical work in a rapid

response vehicle.

and we have three children. I am still

working, still active and remember my

time at The Schools with great joy.

David Smart (Ch 1967-71)

On return from my holidays a week ago

I was very proud to receive a certificate

from the ICE (Institution of Civil

Engineers) honouring my 50 years of

membership. I joined the ICE in June

1974 when I was 21 years old and had

just graduated from the University of

Sheffield with a 2:1 honours degree

in Civil & Structural Engineering. I

became chartered after having served

two-and-a-half years on site at Redcar

Steelworks and one year in the London

design office. During my time on

the Redcar project I met my wife

Joan and we have now been married

for 47 years. We have two daughters

and five granddaughters. Above is a

recent picture of us during our annual

trip to Koh Samui in Thailand. I was

transferred to the Browndown Marine

Outfall Project in Gosport in 1978 and

marine projects have been my passion

ever since. I have been lucky to have

spent significant time abroad on major

marine projects in Canada and twice

during spells in Singapore. I am now

70 and still carrying on with our marine

consultancy on a part-time basis. It has

been great to help Robert West Consulting

to grow their marine portfolio in the UK

over the last six years.

In 1981 I moved in with a successful

business lady, age 42, who turned me

from a Gauche Boy into a Man of the

World. After 14 mostly happy years, we

separated and I came out.

In the Costa Brava I dated ‘The Spice

Boys’ and found my ‘Baby Spice’, age

25, in the Dentist’s Chair. We were

married in 2011 and relocated to

Liverpool where we live in a penthouse

apartment with 100 m 2 of terrace,

overlooking the estuary.

In December 2023, I was diagnosed

with a tumour on the pancreas.

After three months’ chemotherapy, a

13-hour operation, and six months

of further chemotherapy, I am to be

given the all clear.

I look forward to the remainder of my

life with confidence.

1990-99

Jonathan Mitchell (S 1973-78)

I would so like to hear from any of my

contemporaries, for a game of golf if it

suits. I live in Staffordshire, am married

to Sara whom I met at Moreton Hall

Tim Phillips (Rt 1966-71)

Having missed out on Loughborough

University, I trained as a Chartered

Accountant, qualifying in 1976, and,

moving to North Wales, specialised

in Landed Estate clientele. I became a

Partner in 1978 but, in 1986, set up my

own practice.

Having served a ‘Life Sentence Without

Remission’, I went into business as

Non-Executive Director of a childcare

business, selling out to a Plc in 2003,

and retired to the Costa Brava.

Richard Bailey (SH 1987-92)

I’m happily settled in Gloucestershire

with my wife and two boys. Our elder

son joined School House in September

2024 as a Fourth Former. He’s already

thriving, particularly in rowing, and

even clinched the Junior VSM cup in

his first term. We’re hoping he continues

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 77

to outshine me academically — a

relatively low bar, to be fair. Career-wise,

I’ve always believed that not knowing

exactly what I wanted to do was the

best path for me. The first decade was

full of challenges and excitement, even

leading me at one point to consider a

move to Australia.

Today, I’m the part-owner and CFO of

Quantum Switch, a company focused

on designing, building and operating

data centres in the Middle East, with

plans to expand into Europe and the

Americas through 2025. It’s an exciting

time to be in the IT world, especially with

the surge in AI interest, which keeps me

busy between work and family life.

Anthony Merryweather (I 1986-91)

Anthony has launched a London-based

mixed-voice choir for students and

recent graduates. Graduati Singers is a

new venture based in Gloucester Road,

rehearsing on Wednesday evenings.

Talented singers are welcome to audition.

More details at www.graduati.co.uk

2000-09

of conservation, selflessly protecting

Africa’s iconic wildlife. Ed’s next

challenge, again for ForRangers, is

the Highland Ultra – a 150 km race

over three days across the remote

Knoydart Peninsula. Any donations

are greatly appreciated. Please contact

Ed direct - edjenkins@hotmail.com for

links to fundraising pages or further

information.

2010-19

James Boughton-Thomas (R 1988-93)

The Rigg’s class of 1993 took the

opportunity to get together at Old

Salopian Day last September. 13 of the

original 15 were tracked down, all

of whom are now in the WhatsApp

group. Seven of us made it to the

reunion. We’re all hitting 50 now and

it was great to get together.

After running Toyota and Lexus

dealerships in Lincoln for 20 years, I

left The Listers Group and re-trained as

a Financial Adviser. I won an industry

award for Rising Star of the Year in

2021 and bought a Financial Services

business in 2022. Several Old Salopians

spotted the career change on LinkedIn

and are now clients.

Oliver Foster (SH 1988-93)

I am a Chartered Surveyor, currently

managing a wedding venue, forestry,

fishing, shooting, farming and holiday

cottages on Egton Estate near Whitby. I

have been married to Laura since 2010

and we are raising three boys, Kit (13),

Sonny (12) and Ned (8). Our life is an

adventure and no one day is the same!

Jonathan Beeston (Rb 1995-2000)

Chrissie Walters and I were married on

27th July 2024 at Chelsea Old Town

Hall followed by a reception at the

Royal Thames Yacht Club. We flew to

Singapore and Bali for our honeymoon.

We currently live in Gloucesterhire with

our two children Bertie and Beatrice

aged 8 and 10. I currently am Treasurer

for the Forest of Dean Conservative

Association and Chrissie teaches art at

King’s Cathedral School, Gloucester.

Ed Jenkins (R 2001-06)

Ed has recently completed the

ForRangers Ultra Marathon, a fiveday

self-supported race covering 230

km across the challenging terrain of

five wildlife conservancies in Northern

Kenya. Ed placed 8th overall out of

100 competitors and was awarded the

Victor Ludorum Trophy as the highest

placed of the top fundraisers. He was

fundraising for ForRangers, a charity

providing essential equipment and

support for Africa’s wildlife rangers,

who risk their lives on the front line

L to R: Alex Styles, Rory Mucklow, Charlie

White, Mark Prescott, Harry Croft, Will

Halliwell, Jack Hudson Williams and Jamie

Bradshaw

Mark Prescott (Rb 2007-12)

Mark married Miranda Walker at

Coombe Lodge near Bristol on 26th

August 2024 with many Old Salopian

contemporaries in attendance, including

the best man and groomsmen.

James Snell (Ch 2013-18)

The photo shows most of the Churchill’s

Class of 2018 together with their

Housemaster (the Editor) – and a

startled-looking diner – at a reunion

dinner at the Farmers’ Club on 17th

October 2024.

Nearest the camera is James Snell.

Clockwise from him are Oliver Bureau,

Tom Hughes, Ed Acton, Richard

Hudson, Henry Mayhew, Aiken Unni

and George Garrett.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

From Daytonas to Defenders: the SDC is a broad church.

SALOPIAN DRIVERS’ CLUB

The Salopian Drivers’ Club: Making a splash

Where has this year gone? Indeed, where did our summer go?

Any perceived promise of prolonged sunshine this year might

have been broken but Salopians are made of sterner stuff...

Our first fixture of 2025 will be the winter dinner, scheduled

to take place on 21st February 2025. This will see a change of

venue to Leander Club, Henley-on-Thames, which devotees

of the sport will recognise as the world’s most successful

rowing club. Should you, your spouses, partners or friends be

interested in joining us, please contact our chairman at miles.

preston@milespreston.co.uk. Be quick though, because there is

not long to go and this event tends to sell out very quickly.

Out and about

Autumn 2024 saw the south of England represented in the

Surrey Hills Tour at the end of September. The Surrey Hills

Tour also represented the south of the UK, albeit later in the

year, at the end of September. Eight SDC members and their

five cars, comprising a Daimler DS420 limousine, two Lotus,

a Rolls-Royce 20/25 and a Mazda MX5, met at the Newlands

Corner Centre in Guildford and embarked in the glorious

sunshine that had eluded the Shropshire Tour on a challenging

but spectacular driving route, prepared by Stephen Heath. The

morning session lasted a little over two hours, culminating

in lunch at The Parrot at Forest Green. The slightly shorter

afternoon route took members through Dorking to Box Hill

and concluded at Denbies Wine Estate. Should you wish to

orchestrate a regional tour in your area, or if you wish to join

the SDC, email miles.preston@milespreston.co.uk

for more information.

Beauty Sleap

While last year’s VIP visit to Sleap Aerodrome, the Shropshire

Aero Club’s base on Harmer Hill, had been blighted by rain,

its popularity had encouraged the SDC and the BDC to

reunite again. While the weather was not entirely cooperative

this time either, Grant Charlesworth-Jones (O 1991-96)

hosted members of both clubs at the members-only air show,

‘SleapKosh 24’, which saw numerous planes arriving from

all over Europe. SDC members were treated to the full VIP

hospitality experience, which included a champagne reception,

a sit-down lunch and the chance to see vintage aircraft not just

statically but also in action. If you missed out this year, never fear,

for the SDC will be returning on Saturday, 12th July 2025.

Salopians Reunited

Despite OS Day falling a little earlier than usual this year,

SDC members managed to muster 21 cars and one motorcycle

on Central, some of which had never attended an SDC event

before. Members moved on to witness the new fives courts’

flagpoles being unveiled, before repairing to Quod for a largerthan-usual

lunchtime gathering.

Formalities began at 2.00pm, with the club’s AGM, where the

support, input and enthusiasm of the 20 attending members

were valued by the committee. We remain grateful to the

School for hosting Saturday evening’s OS Dinner and, once

again, for providing SDC members with a dedicated table.

The worsening weather failed to dampen the following day’s

scatter event, hosted by Grant Charlesworth-Jones, which

began at his new home on Kennedy Road. After treating

everybody to breakfast, intrepid members roared off in search

of the ten locations that Grant had invited them to find. As is

his way, Grant had dreamt up imaginative prizes for the various

winners, which were dished out at the Lion and Pheasant by

the English Bridge, after yet another very genial lunch.

As we wave farewell to another successful and busy year, plans

are afoot for 2025’s adventures. Do not forget to check our

website for the latest news and club developments: hopefully,

we can tempt you to join us:

https://www.salopiandriversclub.org/.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 79

Salopian Arts Club

One of many dank Wednesday evenings in September was

illuminated by a brilliant choral evensong at Southwark

Cathedral.

The Old Salopian choir is a thing of wonder. It’s not

a permanent choir; just a group of singers who meet

occasionally and with an hour’s rehearsal produce

something sublime.

The service was an opportunity for the choir to sing

together in one of the grandest spiritual spaces in London.

It was also a celebration of the recent appointment of the

Very Reverend Dr Mark Oakley (Rb 1982-87) as Dean of

Southwark Cathedral.

The choir sang pieces by Charles Villiers Stanford, whose

music was being celebrated in the 100th anniversary year of

his death.

There was a convivial gathering afterwards in the nearby

Horseshoe Inn. The arts group continues to grow and thrive,

with representatives from a wide range of year groups.

Massive thanks to Richard Eteson (G 1989-93) and Patrick

Craig (Ch 1982-87) for organising and to all the Old

Salopians who joined the congregation.

The next event will be the Epiphany Carol Service at St

Mary-le-Bow on Wednesday 22nd January at 6.30 pm.

We also have an exciting event on Thursday 20th February

at Pizza Express, The Pheasantry, Kings Road, SW3 4UT.

This will be an evolution of our annual Open Mic Night

with a wider range of performers putting on a cabaretstyle

show. It’s an opportunity to see some top-quality

entertainment whilst enjoying your favourite pizza in the

stylish surroundings of Pizza Express in Chelsea. A great

place to meet with friends and family, go to salopianconnect.

org.uk for details.

Holly Fitzgerald

Wolfenden Society

At the end of Pride Month in June the newly formed Old

Salopian LGBTQ+ society, the Old Salopian Wolfenden

Society, had its inaugural event at the Ku lounge in London’s

Soho. This new society is named after former Shrewsbury

School Headmaster John Wolfenden (1944-50) who went on

to chair the Wolfenden Committee, whose groundbreaking

1957 report recommended the decriminalisation of

homosexuality in the UK.

We had a fabulous evening of drinks and conversation with

LGBTQ+ Salopians of all ages, from recent leavers all the way

back to members from the 1950s.

Subsequently in July the group joined up with fellow publicschool

LGBTQ+ societies from Eton, Harrow, Winchester,

Radley, Bedales, Sherborne, Westminster and St Paul’s for

a joint big summer party on the rooftop of Aqua Nueva on

London’s Regent St with over 150 people attending.

If you’re an LGBTQ+ Old Salopian and interested in joining

this new society, please email shrewsburywolves@gmail.com to

be added to their mailing list.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Piranhas, Fred Hall, Basic Year, Maths, Mort

Mark Twells (Staff 1979-85 and 1993-2014)

reflects on his early years as a ‘brusher’ at Shrewsbury.

FMH in orator mode

It was the piranha’s grin that finally cast the die. In 1978 I

was starting a career in accountancy, based in Birmingham.

As a junior articled clerk, the pet shop stocktake was moreor-less

a rite of passage. After an hour or two of attempting

to count piranhas, I gave up, and decided that accountancy

was not what I wanted. An audit of a Black Country Working

Men’s Club a few days later cemented the decision.

As I contemplated my life, a letter arrived from an old

university friend, now teaching. Would I be interested in a job

at Shrewsbury? They’d advertised and attracted no-one. (He

didn’t mean no-one, of course. He meant no-one suitable. In

those hazy days you had to be male, Caucasian, and preferably

have been a Wrangler – someone who has a first class pass in

the mathematical tripos at Cambridge.)

Well, yes, I replied, even though I only fell for two of the three

conditions. And the letter asking me to attend for interview

duly arrived. I turned up early – I always do – to find what I

took to be a cleaner in the Pentagon. Would I like a cup of tea?

Yes please…and we chatted endlessly on the way to 17 Ashton

Road, when I eventually worked out that I had been talking

to Poppy, Eric’s wife (later Sir Eric, Headmaster and later

Provost of Eton). I remain convinced that Poppy more or less

appointed me that afternoon. The interview itself was fairly

cursory. The second master seemed only to be interested in

cricket – which I wasn’t. And the head of maths (the legendary

FMH, Michael Hall) was offsite somewhere. By the time I got

home, a telegram was waiting for me. The deal was done.

Pleased to offer job <stop>

Confirm soonest<stop>

Anderson<stop>

I confirmed, and committed myself to starting in September

1979. I would do a year, and if I liked the profession, I could

get trained. And Shrewsbury was an impressive pile.

The letter was unambiguous. I was to turn up the next

Gilbert Roscoe adjusting an analogue computer

weekend to meet FMH. Scrawled across the back was an

instruction which could not be ignored:

p.s. bring walking boots

So I turned up with walking boots. Michael and I tramped

Caer Caradoc and talked maths. There was a problem: Michael

was a Wrangler, and my degree was from Oxford. Michael

wasn’t quite up to letting Oxford men teach his best sets, but

time had made things difficult. I had to be content with ‘A’

(rather than AS) level, and a set preparing for maths for science

Oxbridge entry. Not the difficult stuff.

You were expected to involve yourself in the life of the

community. Just teaching maths was not enough. Your subject,

a tutorship in a house, and something pastoral would do.

Michael ran an outdoor pursuits programme called ‘Basic

Year’. It was difficult to avoid Basic Year if you were a junior

mathematician. I agreed to turn up to Summer Camp in July

1979, unpaid, to introduce myself to some of the brushers.

Most of the Common Room (teaching staff) were there,

having excused themselves from the end of term at school.

FMH had his regulars, and camp ran like clockwork. Gin and

tonic fuelled the evenings, which resembled a WW1 training

camp: bell tents stretched across the fields of Lower Cantref

farm. In the distance, a pulley block hung listlessly on a zip

wire with a member of staff at its base preparing to let a few

boys top up on adrenalin before sleep. PER 65, Michael’s

Land Rover, was parked by the staff mess tent, ready for the

morning. The smell of army composite rations, compo, drifted

across the meadow. If you are unfamiliar with the product, the

margarine is green.

Basic Year was, in fact, a Combined Cadet Force (CCF)

funded camp. The CCF is a youth organisation, uniquely,

in this case, funded in part by various military bodies. It

provided a feed of officer grade material into the regular army.

The Shrewsbury CCF, on a Thursday afternoon, looked like

Catterick Camp in 1915. Staff play the role of commissioned

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 81

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

officers, senior pupils are non-commissioned officers, and

the new 14-year-olds are exactly that. They go nowhere until

they have successfully completed the Monster Exercise. By

some unimaginable sleight of hand, Michael had persuaded

the powers that be to fund Basic Year, even though they did

no weapons training and did not wear uniform. Shrewsbury’s

CCF was, uniquely, unmilitary.

Nothing, but absolutely nothing, in my old school was

remotely like this. The establishment which prepared me for

Oxbridge was Eaton (‘Eaton and Oxford’), aka Long Eaton

Grammar School, ‘LEGS’. It was a day school with academic

values admitting both boys and girls. The staff were generally

graduates, but from ‘redbrick’ universities – damn good ones,

without the flounce of full sub fusc. One suspects they had

been involved with some naughty specialism in the war - Pip

Wright, head of French, had, we believed, been parachuted

into France many times. I had slowly got to know a few during

my last year (as Head Boy). Delightful, generally, but LEGS

was in transition. It was to become a comprehensive school,

and these splendid people were not well equipped for those

battles. But that is another story. Someone suggested I had a

go at Oxbridge Maths entrance. Mr Adkin, head of maths,

rose to the challenge of Oxford Entrance, 4th term. I didn’t

even know where Oxford was. I got a matriculation offer (two

grade Es) at interview, resulting in a rather laid back Upper

Sixth. Ferrar’s Integral Calculus, given to me by Mr Calton,

the deputy head, lay unread and unloved. I’d only selected

maths because it was the only subject for which Latin was not

required.

I eventually took to camp. I took to the staff running the

enterprise too. At half time, most of the staff unwound in

the Walnut Tree, in those days a fine Italian restaurant. Some

blew their entire earnings on an excellent lunch, arriving back

in time to grab 40 winks, woken by the most memorable of

camp phrases, “Bwiefing. Cum Now.” delivered in a strong

Manchester accent from the back of a Series 1 Land Rover

containing a short, scruffy fella with strong magnifying

glasses. Michael would not have survived state school, but at

Shrewsbury he was legendary. The unenthusiastic – bear in

mind this was the second week of their summer holiday, and

they had just had a week of freedom – shuffled, mumbled

and generally grumbled their way to the back of the audience.

Fifteen minutes later it would be completely different.

Those finishing in numerically a prime numbered place

(2,3,5,7,11,13,…) would be awarded a Freddo Bar, complete

with original jokes. After Monster Exercise, those with blisters

which could not be hidden with a 50p piece got the 50p.

Accounting methods moved in the direction of piranhas.

The summer holiday break drifted by. I had left

accountancy as soon as I could, and spent the summer with

my parents in Derbyshire. I moved to Shrewsbury a week or

two before term started.

The Domestic Bursar, a formidable woman whose hobbies

basically boiled down to flower arranging, walked me over to

Kingsland House – a pile on the quiet edge of the Site which

had been the Headmaster’s house. She shot up the back stairs.

When I eventually caught up she was standing outside what

is now the bursar’s office, on the top floor at the back. She

launched herself into a lengthy monologue documenting a

list of house rules. Eventually, the door was opened, and we

entered the untouched demesne of a recently retired brusher.

His library for dix (in which boys were read a light bedtime

story by the tutor of the evening), which he had been unable

to move in the time allowed, stood ready for re-use on the top

shelf. The remaining shelves housed what I later discovered

were books bought on his book allowance. Shrewsbury tried to

keep its teaching up to date. One way was to give each brusher

£50 a year for the purchase of relevant texts.

The room smelt faintly of pipe tobacco. The domestic bursar

continued with the monologue of do’s and don’ts, ignoring the

fact that the School didn’t own the copy of Jacob Bronowski’s

The Ascent of Man on the bookshelf. Eventually she left me

with a key, and I opened the windows. A gentle knocking, and

next door introduced himself. He later became headmaster

of a reputable southern boarding school, and we walked part

of the Pennine Way together, but you would never guess this

mild-mannered scientist headmaster was anything other than a

teacher of science.

Michael’s interference with set handling was minimal. A

foolscap sheet would appear in one’s locker just after half term,

resembling a spreadsheet. One was expected to summarise

most Salopians with a couple of adjectives which need not be

consistent. This method of managing progress always made for

a few evenings of mirth in the Bachelors’ Dining Room. Mort,

one Mark Mortimer, classicist and a formidably clever man,

would snort at the mention of some odious tyke by someone

in the room, and arrive at an enigmatic dipole for FMH which

plumbed the depths of coherent English, but described the

aspiring student perfectly. Mark timetabled the entire School

onto two large sheets of paper, with a pencil, and would carry

alterations in his head for days before committing them to

the paper record. Eventually, when the minimal set report

reached FMH, he would arrive for dinner chuckling loudly at

Mort (“Crikey”), sitting innocently and frozen at the middle

table. We junior staff could only watch from the sidelines as

the evening unfolded. Many years later I joined the Heads

of Faculty committee, and made the mistake of opining in,

I think, my second meeting, and was roundly squashed by

several Heads of Faculty after the meeting,

And Basic Year Camp? In the form described it died around

2000, moving from Brecon to a School-funded few days in

the Alps, which proved to be too expensive. The pulley block

could no longer be certified. The CCF in a non-military

configuration received no money from the army and the camp

sites dried up. Staff found it increasingly difficult to acquire

the outdoor safety paperwork and teach an academic subject.

And there are perfectly respectable cheaper replacements – the

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze, Silver and Gold awards. And the

Rovers, another Salopian enterprise encouraging adrenalin, is

still going. And there is still Talargerwyn.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 83

THE HAMBURG EXCHANGE

By the time I was appointed to

the staff of Shrewsbury School

in 1969 I had already participated in

three German exchanges as a schoolboy

and was totally convinced of the

huge linguistic and social benefits of

a school-to-school, family-to-family

exchange. Shrewsbury had never had a

group exchange with a German school

before, but I found in Donald Wright

a most enthusiastic supporter, who was

confident that we could overcome a

major problem: Shrewsbury pupils came

from all over the country, whereas the

German school I had contacted, the

Alexander-von-Humboldt-Schule in

Hamburg, was a day grammar school.

I took the first group of Shrewsbury

boys to Hamburg during the Easter

holidays in 1970. Flying in those

days would have been prohibitively

expensive, so we travelled by train, ferry

and train all the way to Hamburg via

Victoria, Dover, Ostend, Brussels and

Cologne, a long and difficult journey.

That first Hamburg visit was an

undoubted success. To give one

example, for Graham Timmins (back

row, 3rd from right) it was a lifechanging

experience, linguistically

and culturally, and lasting friendships

developed between his Hamburg hosts

and his own family.

When the German boys came back to

England during the summer holidays,

they were collected by their hosts and

taken to their homes in various parts

of the country. Towards the end of the

visit, the whole group reassembled at

Shrewsbury, where we introduced

the Germans to cricket and Donald

Wright hosted a celebratory dinner in

Kingsland Hall.

Looking back, I find it hard to imagine

how we coped with all the logistical

problems, but, thanks to the support

of the Shrewsbury and Hamburg

parents, we did. The Shrewsbury

School Hamburg Exchange was up and

running and would continue to operate

successfully for thirty years.

Frank Pattison (Staff 1969-73)

The editor is a contemporary of all the boys pictured, but can hardly recognise any of them.

Please email rth@shrewsbury.org.uk and identify yourself and as many others as you can.

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84

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Cyril Argentine Alington (Headmaster 1908-16)

‘Alington’ is a name which quickly becomes familiar to

new members of the Salopian community. They see the

Alington Hall every day as they move about the Site and

it is not very long before they enter the building, though

perhaps not as early or as frequently in their Salopian career

as their predecessors used to do. It has long had its place in

School slang and is still referred to as ‘The Alibarn’ or ‘The

Alibin’. However most current Salopians probably know

very little about the man who gave it its name. That is truly

regrettable, because Alington has had – and continues to have

– a profound and enduring influence on the character and

development of the School, so much so that although he was

Headmaster for only eight years and a term, the half-century

which followed his appointment can properly be described as

‘The Alingtonian period’.

Born in Ipswich in 1872, Alington was educated at Marlborough

and at Trinity College, Oxford, where he gained a Double

First in Classics and in 1896 he became a Fellow of All Souls,

an appointment which indicated the highest intellectual

distinction. He returned to Marlborough for three years as

a Sixth Form Master and then became Master in College

at Eton. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1901, so

when he came to Shrewsbury in 1908, he was also the School

Chaplain, like all his predecessors. It was a role in which his

influence was to be most powerfully exercised. He married

Hester Margaret Lyttelton in 1904, they had four daughters

and two sons together and the older children were brought up

in School House. Alington returned to Eton as Headmaster

in 1916, where he served for 17 years. He left Eton in 1933

to become Dean of Durham, retiring from that position

in 1951. He received numerous honours during his career,

being appointed a Chaplain to King George V, becoming

a Doctor of Divinity and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity

College, Oxford, an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law at Durham

University and a Freeman of the City of Durham. He wrote

over 50 books and composed a number of hymns which were

widely popular and are still used in the School Chapel. He

died in Herefordshire in 1955, aged 82 years.

Alington’s initial impact upon Shrewsbury was electric. His

predecessor Moss was 67 years old when he retired. Moss had

been a dedicated servant of the School for 42 years, he had

presided over its move to Kingsland and was the last of the

distinguished trio of Headmasters who had earned Shrewsbury

its national reputation. Most of the staff had been his pupils,

his control of the Common Room has been likened to that of

Louis XIV’s domination of his court, he did not delegate (nine

colleagues were needed to take over his work) and the regime

was ‘tired’. By contrast Alington, at 35, was only just over half

Moss’s age and was resolved to be vigorously engaged in every

aspect of school life. It is often asserted that Shrewsbury, with

its 16th century exemplar in Philip Sidney, has a particular

capacity to attract, to nurture and to produce pupils endowed

with the Renaissance quality of versatility, who are able to

make their mark not only as academics and athletes, but as

actors, writers, artists and musicians. Alington, though not a

Salopian himself, was a further exemplar and promoter of such

versatility: one of the most significant elements in his legacy to

the School was his appointment of a number of exceptionally

talented young men who were equally talented and versatile

and who believed, like him, that education was not something

which was to be delivered by masters to pupils, but to be

shared with them - in which they were to participate together.

Shrewsbury has never subsequently lost that perception.

Opening of the Alington Hall in May 1911

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 85

The construction of an assembly hall was

one of Alington’s earliest initiatives. The

proposal was not received with enthusiasm

by the governors, the project was entirely

his and he raised the necessary funds for its

construction. It was an all-purpose building

in those days, used also as a gymnasium,

with side rooms for music practice and for

art and it was wholly appropriate that it

should be given his name.

Another of Alington’s initiatives, which

was to prove very greatly to the School’s

long-term advantage and reputation, was

to send a crew to Henley for the first time,

in 1912. This was the first step in a process

which was to raise Salopian aspiration

and achievement in rowing from local to

international level.

Alington also made a substantial

contribution to Salopian literature,

bequeathing several texts which have

had a powerful influence on the purpose

and character of the School. Surprised to

discover that Shrewsbury had no School

Song of its own, he wrote one himself,

in Latin, during the course of a single

morning! In the first verse of the song, he

records the School’s royal foundation by

Edward VI and Elizabeth I; in the second,

he celebrates the renown of Philip Sidney

and Charles Darwin; in the third, he

extols the classical scholarship of the great

triumvirate of 19th century headmasters;

the fourth verse records the School’s

migration to Kingsland; and in the fifth

Alington expresses his aspiration for the

School and for its reputation in the future.

For several decades after its adoption, no

Salopian would have expected a translation

of the song or have dared to request one.

However, Mark Mortimer (Master 1958-

94), himself a renowned exponent of both

Latin and English composition, more

recently provided one, using the same metre

and rhyming scheme as the original.

CARMEN SALOPIENSE

Alington:

Rex Edwarde, te canamus

Pium Fundatorem,

Nec sodales sileamus

Regiam sororem

Mente prosequamur grata

Regem et reginam

Fautricemque amoena prata

Resonent Sabrinam.

Floreat Salopia!

Non tacemdumst hic priorum

Nobilem cohortem

Plenam vitam huic honorem

Pleniorem mortem:

Illius nec nomen turpis

Obruat robigo

Qui humanae docet stirpis

Unde sit origo

Floreat Salopia!

Ceteri dum magistrorum

Lugent breve fatum

Fas iactare Informatorum

Hic triumviratum

Nostra tum iubente nympha

(Rudis forte si sis)

Exardebat Cami lympha

Exardebat Isis

Floreat Salopia!

Nimiis stipata turbis

Annis plus trecenis

Sedem schola liquit urbis

Imparem Camenis

Nescit studium mutari

Quique alumnos pridem

Nominis amor praeclari

Nos exercat idem

Floreat Salopia!

Editique caro colle

Matri quam amamus

Arte, libro, remo, folle

Gloriam petamus:

Sic futuros hic per annos

Laus accumuletur

Sic per ultimos Britannos

Nomen celebretur

Floreat Salopia!

Mortimer:

To King Edward, from the loyal

sons of his foundation

hymns are due, and to his royal

Sister salutation.

Let us, friends, acknowledge proudly

king and queen as founders

and with ‘Hail Sabrina’ loudly

fill the fields around us.

Next be praise to those accorded

who were here before us.

one who crowned a life much lauded

with a death more glorious.

and another (ever splendid

his renown) who teaches

humankind from whence descended

theirs and every species.

Others mourn headmasters plundered

almost e’er they’ve seen them:

we boast three who spanned a hundred

years and more between them,

in their day Salopian learning

(all must know the story)

set both Cam and Isis burning

with Sabrina’s glory

Scholars long by cramps vexatious

cabin’d and frustrated

from their town to fields more spacious

finally migrated

Sites may change, but not ambition:

Ours has never faltered

and our forebears’ high tradition

we maintain unaltered.

On our hill, to serve our Mother

fame through art we’ll give her,

fame in learning, as we love her

fame on field and river.

Praise on praise be hers, and never

may we fail to seek it,

praise that shall be heard wherever

British tongues can speak it.

Mark Mortimer added his own comment, again both in Latin and

English, on his own admiration for The Carmen and his regret at its

subsequent comparative neglect.

Informator (ut illuxit, Inspiration found the Master

Opus est susceptum)

at his breakfast seated

Ante prandium produxit Luncheon – few could labour faster –

Carmen haud ineptum Saw the work completed

Esse quod fortasse censes Shrewsbury’s Song, which we inherit

Neminem qui nescit

marvel of invention

Male scis Salopienses

one which might be thought to merit

Illud obsolescit.

More of our attention

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

The Carmen was set to splendidly appropriate music by

W.H. Moore (Master 1905-33 and Housemaster of Moore’s

(which later became Severn Hill) 1918-29). The tradition

was quickly established that, when singing the Carmen,

Salopians should stamp their feet after the ‘Floreats’ at the

end of each verse.

Alington’s Shrewsbury Fables, a collection of nine sermons

which he delivered to the School at Evensong in Chapel

between November 1912 and November 1916, constitute

another important element in the formation and transmission

of the values that he aimed to instil in his Salopian audience.

(The power of the pulpit at that time must not be underestimated.

For many years subsequently the Salopian Newsletter

contained lists of Old Salopians who had recently been

ordained; and four Salopian bishops took part in the Fourth

Centenary celebrations in 1952.) The Fables are all presented

in the form of Alington’s dreams. His illustrations are varied,

but his theme is consistent, namely that the essential purpose

of education is to enable a pupil to discover true values and

to live a good life. Fire, the symbol of inspiration and of the

activity of the Spirit in a community, is a frequent image in

the Fables and the most powerful of them is set in Chapel, the

place where Salopians celebrate that community.

Two of these fables are the closest in theme and the best

known of all nine. Alington delivered Coach Money on 27th

July 1913 and The Chapel Bazaar on 25th November 1916,

the former near the beginning and the latter at the end of the

sequence of his fables: in both, the message and the imagery

are consistent. Alington himself remarks that “you know when

one thinks about things they have a way of falling into threes;

good, bad, indifferent; right, middle and left; past, present

and future, and so on” and elsewhere he adds body, mind

and spirit. Alington’s favourite threesome is copper, silver and

gold, the common theme of both these fables. In Coach Money

Alington dreams of Angels sitting in a kind of examination

hall, (no doubt his audience is to think of the Alington Hall

itself), drawing up records for the term, of what the boys have

thought, said and done, (yet another threesome!). On the basis

of this record they receive journey money to take them home –

copper for what they have done for themselves, silver for what

they have done for others, gold for what they have done for a

higher purpose or principle (in Alington’s thinking, of course,

for God). Silver can be changed into gold, but copper cannot

be changed. “We are bimetallists,” an Angel explains. Luggage,

(the acquisitions of this world), as one sets out on the journey,

is seen as an encumbrance. All that Salopians need to take with

them, another Angel who appears in the dream, explains, is

their Coat of Arms and their Motto, “for the lions will teach

them to be brave and the lilies will teach them to be clean”.

Two translations are given for the motto: ‘Intus si recte,ne

labora’, he explains. The first is ‘Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God’ and the second is: ‘For them that love

God all things work together for good’.

These themes are taken up in The Chapel Bazaar. Alington

dreamed that he was sitting in Chapel, where “There was a

notice up, running all round the Chapel, beginning from the

East End; ‘Gold for the Things of Gold, Silver for the Things

of Silver and Copper for the Things of Copper’. Entering the

Copper Bazaar in his dream, Alington found bats and oars and

pads and footballs; in the ‘Grown-up Section’ there were cars

of all descriptions, and in the Abstractions Section packets of

Health or Popularity (though the salesman commented about

the latter that “it’s cheap, but it doesn’t last long”). While the

salesman was talking, Alington “heard him tell two or three

boys, who came up with their pennies to spend on packets

of Notoriety, to go and apply at the Children’s Corner”! In

the Silver Bazaar Alington found many beautiful objects –

books, furniture, musical instruments, orders and decorations,

pictures of the most famous men and women in history and,

again, more abstract things such as Military Glory, (displayed

under a painting of Nelson), Artistic Distinction and

Literary Success. As Alington surveyed them all, the salesman

commented thoughtfully, “A good deal of this Glory tarnishes

rather easily”. Alington approached the Gold Bazaar and found

it barred. He knocked timidly on the door and was asked

what he wanted. “I just wanted to look round,” (Alington)

explained; “I’m afraid I ought not to have come without being

sure of what I wanted.” The young man in charge of the bazaar

reassured him, “Oh, don’t bother about that,” he answered.

“We are always having people in that frame of mind: you have

no idea how vague some of my customers are. Sometimes they

say they want Goodness, and sometimes they want Strength

and sometimes they just come and say they want a Quality

which someone else has got and they are not quite sure what

it is. You see these big jars, for instance, labelled ‘Peace’ and

‘Happiness’? Well, people are always coming here and asking

for some of them, and asking what the price is; and they get

annoyed when I tell them that you cannot sell them retail, and

that the price is everything they have got.”

“Fire, for instance,” he went on “that is the thing we sell most

of, and of course there is no such thing as really selling a bit of

Fire. You sell it small and it turns out big.”

“And then, I suppose, they blame you?” I said, “It must be very

awkward for them to find that they have got so much more

than they bargained for.”

“No,” he said. “They never complain. You see, the fact is

that they usually get consumed themselves. Perhaps you will

understand it better if I show you the pictures.”

The scene which Alington then depicts constitutes the most

moving passage in all of his writings. In his dream, as he sits

there in Chapel, he notices that there is a fire burning before

the altar. A young man comes in and warms his hands at the

fire. “Of course, the fire is really inside him,” explains his

guide. Then the young man begins to make up the fire for

himself. He has a good deal of luggage with him and he throws

on to it, first of all, a cricket bat or two and then some books

(it is clear that Alington intends his audience to imagine a

senior Salopian about to leave the School and that the objects

represent his achievements) and then by degrees he throws

in everything that he has. And still the fire burns higher and

higher. At last he has nothing else to throw on.

“What will he do now?” I whispered to my guide. “Look and

see,” he answered. And while the guide was still speaking, the

young man gathered himself together and sprang into the fire

himself. “I jumped up with a cry. But my guide put his hand

on my shoulder, “It will be all right,” he said. “Just wait a

minute or two.” And as I watched, I saw that though the fire

seemed to have no power over him, the blaze burnt up higher

and higher. At that moment there was another knock on the

barred door and the cry of someone pleading to be let in. “Oh,

please let him in,” Alington cried. “It is all right,” said the

shopman. “We never refuse anybody here. That is the other

secret ... you must give everything you have got for the things

that really matter, and then you will find in the end that they

are given away, after all.”

These words were delivered at the height of the First World

War, towards the end of Alington’s last term as Headmaster at

Shrewsbury. Within weeks he would depart for Eton, some of

the members of the congregation who had heard his earlier

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 87

Tree planting by Lady Halifax on the occasion of the opening of the

Alington Hall, May 1911

sermons would already have been under fire at the Front and

many others would follow them at the end of the academic

year. The impact of his words must have been colossal.

Another example of Alington’s inspirational writing, he

explains, is to “redeem a tune which is very popular with the

boys from the words with which it is ordinarily associated. All

that is best in it was composed by the Revd. R.A. Knox. [one

of the brilliant young colleagues whom he had appointed]

and I can only claim to have suggested the idea and to have

written the rest of the hymn”. In subsequent decades, to the

very end of the 20th century and beyond, this hymn became

for Salopians the spiritual equivalent of the secular Carmen. It

was de rigueur to sing it at services for Old Salopians, and on

those occasions, particularly in the last verse, they raised the

rafters in Chapel! Its first and last verses will suffice to convey

its quality:

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion,

God’s purpose tarries but His will stands fast;

Of Judah’s tribe is born the mighty Lion,

And man shall bruise the serpent’s head at last.

Promise and covenant God surely keeps;

He watching over us slumbers not nor sleeps.

Arise and shine thy battlements are shining

Upon thee breaks the glory of the Lord;

And from the East, thy royalty divining,

The Gentiles come to see thy peace restore

Promise and covenant God surely keeps;

He watching over us slumbers not nor sleeps.

As a final example, Alington also wrote the following beautiful

lines, in memory of Salopians who had been killed in the war:

We don’t forget – while in this dark December

We sit in schoolrooms which you know so well,

And hear the sounds that you so well remember-

The clock, the hurrying feet, the chapel bell.

Others are sitting in the seats you sat in

There’s nothing else seems altered here – and yet

Through all of it, the same old Greek and Latin,

You know we don’t forget.

The great majority of Salopian Headmasters had been

Cambridge graduates, very many of them had been Fellows

of St John’s College, with which Shrewsbury had always

had a very close connection, but Alington was the first of a

sequence of five Headmasters who had graduated at Oxford,

being succeeded first by Canon ‘Bob’ Sawyer (1917-32), then

by Henry Hardy (1932-44), John Wolfenden (1944-50) and

finally John Peterson (1950-63). ‘Jack’ Peterson had come to

Shrewsbury as a boy when Alington was Headmaster; in a

stellar Salopian career, he had been a brilliant fives player (like

Alington) and had been a member of the first Fives IV (and

finally captain) for four of his five years at School he became

a member of both the 1st football and 1st cricket XIs, and

was Head of School for his final two years. Subsequently he

had won an Open Scholarship in Classics to Oriel College,

Oxford, where he gained a Double First in Classics (again,

like Alington); he also became University Captain of Football:

he was yet another Salopian ‘Renaissance Man’. He followed

Alington to Eton, as an Assistant Master and later as a very

successful and much-loved Housemaster. Alington officiated at

his marriage. It is entirely understandable that senior members

of the Shrewsbury Common Room should have urged him

strongly to return as Headmaster when opportunity occurred

and should have viewed Peterson’s arrival in 1950 as a kind of

Alingtonian Restoration; and he had been Headmaster for five

years when Alington died. It seems appropriate, therefore, that

this tribute should be concluded, first with an edited version of

what Peterson said then, in 1955, and finally with two remarks

made about Shrewsbury by Alington himself.

“I was privileged to know Dr Alington continuously, and I

think I may say intimately, over a period of 40 years, from

when I first came to School House as a nervous candidate for

the Scholarship examination. I soon discovered that he always

knew all about you and he always cared. As a Form Master he

was astonishing, immensely stimulating - and very exhausting;

he would shoot hundreds of questions round the room like

a man with a sub-machine gun. We adored him; he was so

good at everything. Only five years ago, here at Shrewsbury,

without a single note, he recited 500 verses in the space of

three-quarters of an hour. He hated to be alone; if he had no

one to talk to, he wrote books and he wrote at prodigious

speed. Yet, like all great men, he always had time to see you.

The noble hall that he built was so often filled with his flashing

wit and wonderful voice: his influence was felt everywhere

in the School but it was here in this Chapel that we listened

spellbound to his sermons and fables. To dine with him was to

listen to an unending flow of improbable anecdotes told with

enormous gusto. I was fortunate enough to stay with him and

his wonderful family many times, an experience which served

not only to refresh one’s spirits, but to increase one’s faith.

Many times, too, in doubt and distress, I sought his help and

he never failed me.”

Writing about Shrewsbury, later in his life, Alington stated:

“I know the power of more than one such school to win

affection, but I can say with truth that I know of none which

lays so compelling a spell upon the stranger’s heart” and “I do

not think that I ever expected to be quite as happy at Eton as

I had been at Shrewsbury and, to be honest, I do not think I

ever was.”

David Gee

J. M. Peterson (Headmaster 1950-1963)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

SARACENS

Devon Tour 2024

With some notable absences, there was opportunity aplenty

for tourists both old and new to step up and perform on and

off the pitch. A 22-strong party travelled to North Devon and

enjoyed the traditional Sunday roast at The Wayfarer Inn,

where we were superbly hosted all week, as they prepared for

the week ahead.

A short walk out of the village on the Monday morning saw

the tourists arrive at home-away-from-home, North Devon

Cricket Club. The ground, as picturesque as ever, continues

to charm first-time visitors with its coastal views, historic

scoreboard and thatched pavilion. Those who had played at the

ground before, however, particularly the bowlers, were wary.

Upon inspection, the pitch, which is known for being

batsman-friendly regardless, looked to be in particularly

pristine condition. All credit must go to Andy Cameron,

the groundsman, but the bowlers were rightly nervous. A

run-fest ensued…

Day 1: Vs North Devon CC

Shrewsbury Saracens 357/8 (Z Beattie 87 | Ed Prideaux 75) lost

to North Devon CC 363/3 (A. Garrett 3-73) by 7 wickets.

With a brand-new opening partnership and four debutants

taking the field in what was a youthful Saracens line up, there

was an air of uncertainty about how the top order might

approach the first two hours of the day. The Monday morning

session always sets the tone, but it’s never quite had the touring

party reaching so quickly for their seatbelts as they watched

Dan Humes (I 2014-19) and Ed Prideaux (I 2019-24) make

50 runs off the first 18 balls. The brutal display continued

until the partnership was broken with 123 runs on the board.

Whilst Humes, who did most of the early damage, got in and

then got out for 68, the middle order supported Ed well to see

the first innings come to a close with a declaration on 357/8

off 45 overs.

Despite facing 60+ balls for his own half-century, Ben

Chapman (Rt 1995-2000) took centre stage as on-field

captain, waving his tailenders in for a change of innings that

proved to be premature. North Devon had made no effort to

hide the fact their batting line-up was stacked with quality, in

the shape of experienced county-level batsmen and overseas

professionals. Still, in one of his greatest management blunders

since handing over the management of the tour, Ben could

do little as he took to the field and watched on from his futile

first-slip position. North Devon chased down the mammoth

target comfortably within the time-restricted overs, including

an imperious 144 not out from Devon’s Jack Moore.

Whilst North Devon had to be applauded for their batting

display, questions continued to be raised through the evening

as to whether Ben had lost his touch. It only took a couple of

drinks post-dinner to confirm this, putting both the case, and

Ben, to bed.

Day 2: Vs North Devon CC

Shrewsbury Saracens 222/9 (Z. Beattie 101*) beat North Devon

CC 220/4 (A. Garrett (Ch 2015-20) 2-17) by 1 wicket.

Whilst it was a North Devon player who starred on Day 1,

the Saracens, full of Lucozade and bacon baps, were not going

to let that happen again. Determined to serve up immediate

retribution, the bowlers went to work. Arthur Garrett carried

an 8-strong attack, taking two further wickets to restrict

NDCC, adding to his three in the Monday fixture.

North Devon still managed to creep past 200, so reversing

the tourists’ cricketing fortunes and rescuing the momentum

of the tour was not going to be straight forward. On a

deteriorating pitch and in dimming light, it was to require

application, skill and endurance. It surprised everyone when it

was Zane Beattie (M) who decided to produce all three for

the first time in his life and all in perfect measure, to steer

home the Saracens to rapturous applause and boundary

edge celebration.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 89

Zane continued his form to play a crucial role in his team’s

‘Olympics’ victory that evening under the famous thatched

roof pavilion; a day he’ll never forget, as he wrote himself into

Saracens folklore. It’s a shame that can’t be said for many of the

tourists who were not selected for the day’s play and instead

chose to familiarise themselves with the many hostelries that

the Instow area has to offer.

Day 3: Vs Bideford and Westward Ho! CC

Shrewsbury Saracens 201 All Out (O. Cooke (O 2019-24) 37, P.

Jacob (PH 2012-17) 25, J. Newbould (Ch 2010-14) 20*) beat

Bideford & Westward Ho! CC 48 All Out (A. Garrett 6-2) by

153 runs.

An honourable attempt from Arthur Garrett to topple Zane

Beattie as the obvious player of the week, dazzling Bideford’s

middle order with his left-arm spin. Despite the one-sided

result due to the freak bowling spell, the Bideford fixture has

cemented itself into the touring fixture list, and the squad

enjoyed another hot and sunny afternoon exploring the

bustling seaside town both prior to and after the game. The

Saracens wish Arthur, who has recently completed his social

media degree at Oxford Brookes, the best of luck with his

winter in Australia, where he is hoping to find some time for

cricket between travels with his partner Lucy.

On behalf of all the Saracens, those who toured this year

and those who have done so in the past, we thank North

Devon Cricket Club for their continued warm welcome and

hospitality. Friendships for life have been made on these tours

– and that goes for those made with the volunteers, members

and players of the home club.

The Saracens will be returning to North Devon in 2025 for

what will be the Club’s 99th year of doing so.

Steve Barnard (Rb 2009-11)

SARACENS CENTENARY

Saracens Club Secretary Tom Cox writes:

The Saracens are celebrating their centenary in 2025.

According to documents held in the School Archives, the

Club was initially formed in 1925 as ‘The Old Salopian

Cricket Club’ by 12 Old Salopians at the conclusion of

a match against the Schools. The Club then rebranded

as the ‘Shrewsbury Saracens’ CC’ in December 1926,

to reflect the fact that membership was limited to “Old

Salopians, having certain cricket qualifications” and that

members needed to be elected by the Club’s committee.

The Club will be holding a number of events to mark this

superb century, the first of which is a dinner taking place

at The Kia Oval in London on Saturday 29th March

2025. If you would like to attend what promises to be

a great evening both celebrating the past and looking

forward to the future, please contact the Club Secretary

Tom Cox (tom.cox@gowlingwlg.com) or Holly Fitzgerald

(hfitzgerald@shrewsbury.org.uk), who can provide

more details and pricing information. Unlike 100 years

ago, your presence will not need to be approved by the

committee, but you will need to be signed (or signing) up

to pay your subs!

Saracens in 1987. The Editor would be delighted if you felt able to identify yourselves (rth@shrewsbury.org.uk)

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OLD SALOPIAN FOOTBALL CLUB

The much-anticipated annual OSFC tour took place

in Porto, as 24 Salopians visited one of Europe’s most

sought-after destinations for a three-night stay.

With the commission-grabbing middle-men agents removed,

the OSFC Committee took matters into their own hands for

organising flights, opposition and accommodation, which

went far to quell any Grot Shop rumours that Salopian

footballers are incapable of organising anything. Many have

noted the steady growth of the OSFC in recent years, and this

was reflected in the accommodation of choice which featured

a 5* hotel and a rooftop pool, marking a shift away from the

traditional norms of ‘slumming it’ in hostels.

The regular squad was joined by four immediate school leavers

- Oscar Cooke (O), Will Jenkins (Rt), Josh McDonald (O)

and Oliver Parton (O), who had just recently lifted the ESFA

Cup. All four performed admirably on and off the pitch, as the

team enjoyed a cultural evening on the first night in Porto.

On the Saturday, the team had much more time than in

recent tours to prepare for their first match, with a 17:30 KO

arranged by the opposition. We travelled to GD Livracao

to take on (what we only discovered at kick off) a semiprofessional

side. Armed with supporters who were charged

entry into the stadium (clearly, they had heard the Old

Salopians were in town), as well as a plethora of sponsorship

which contributed to a wage bill of over €50,000, we were,

quite frankly, up against it. Given this, and the team’s soft spot

the evening before to the reasonably priced non-inflationlinked

local nectar Super Bock, it was going to take something

special to overcome GD Livracao.

The starting Xl of Ben Gould (G 2008-13), Rob Stott (O

2008-13), Josh McDonald (O 2024), Josh Malyon (Rt

2012-17), Guy Williams (Rb 2008-13), George Pearce (c)

(S 2012-17), Ewan Wenger (PH 2019-21), Jamie Whelan

(PH 2016-18), Charlie Byrne (O 2015-17), Oscar Cooke (O

2019-24) and Tom Brunskill (S 2013-18) was not without

quality and performed heroically in the first half to keep the

game to 0-0. In fact, Ben Gould (arguably the best goalkeeper

the School has ever produced) was so impressive that the GD

Livracao chairman offered him a contract and a relocation

package to the north of Portugal to turn out regularly for the

opposition. Fortunately, Gouldy much prefers Brixton to the

Iberian Peninsula.

Feeling proud of ourselves at half time, captain Pearce

maintained morale by informing the players that the “Super

Bocks would taste even better” 45 minutes from now, whilst

club captain Rob Stott reminded the side that “we are only

one half-chance away from winning this game”. Unfortunately,

one minute into the second half, an ex-Braga striker walloped

the ball in the top corner out of nowhere from 35 yards. It was

backs to the walls for the Salops thereafter, but nonetheless,

an inspired performance against paid competitors. Special

mentions to Ben Gould, Ewan Wenger and Oscar Cooke

for their standout performances. Josh Malyon also received a

standing ovation from the crowd after being withdrawn 70

minutes in, to which he responded “Gracias” - perhaps

unaware that the local dialect in Portugal is not Spanish.

The next day involved more football, but this time we weren’t

playing. A day trip to Braga resulted in the Salops securing

tickets for a Portuguese league match. Many had seen Braga’s

unorthodox stadium on television before, and we had the

pleasure of being inside the “quarry” for Braga’s win over

league rivals Moreirense. On a serious point, this is quite

possibly the most unique stadium in Europe and certainly

counted as one more off the bucket list.

Players of the tour: Ewan Wenger & Ben Gould

Newcomers of the tour: Oscar Cooke, Will Jenkins, Josh

McDonald, Oliver Parton

TC: Matt Clay (PH 1988-94) for some incredibly

questionable timekeeping.

All in all, yet another successful tour for the OSFC. The

continued growth of the club in recent years is a testament

to all the work put in by the OSFC committee, as well as the

commitment of the boys playing weekly for both our 1st and

2nd OSFC XIs in London.

We are always recruiting more players to get involved, with

over 100 regular members in the Club, taking on alumni

school opposition in the Arthurian League on a weekly basis

in London. If you would like to get involved, please message

the Club on Instagram (@oldsalopianfc) or email us on

oldsalopianfc@gmail.com

As for next year, where are we off to next?

Madrid.

We’ll see you there.

Rob Stott (O 2008-13)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 91

OSFC v SCHOOL FIXTURE AND ALEX WILSON MEMORIAL MATCH

This academic year has also marked the return of the OSFC v

School fixture to Old Salopian Day. Four teams returned to

play on 14th September 2024, supported by generations of Old

Salopians on the touchline. The OSFC emerged unbeaten.

School 1st XI 2-2 OSFC 1st XI

School 2nd XI 0-1 OSFC 2nd XI

School 3rd XI 2-5 OSFC 3rd XI

School 4th XI 0-4 OSFC 4tjh XI

The following day, 24 Old Salopians took part in the 12th Alex

Wilson Memorial Match on Craig 1.

The match, which was set up in memory of Alex Wilson (Rb

2003-08), who tragically passed away in November 2009 at the

age of 19, pitted the Old Salopians against the Wilson XI (a

side made up of friends of Alex and multiple Wilson Scholars).

The Alex Wilson Scholarship, which was set up by the Wilson

family, originally aimed to send a talented and enthusiastic

sportsman to the School on a full scholarship. The Wilson

scholarship to date has raised over £150,000 and has supported

multiple students in attending the School.

Alex’s brother, Henry (pictured right in red), writes: “Once

again the Alex Wilson Memorial game served as a great

reminder of what we set out to achieve back in 2011. With

over half the team now made up of scholars, it was a very

proud day for us as a family.

Alex Wilson Memorial Match

“We set out in 2011 to achieve a legacy for my brother

after he passed away in such tragic circumstances, and the

creation of this scholarship has served to ensure that his

memory lives on. It has created such a positive experience

for those who have been fortunate enough to benefit from

the award, and we continue to love meeting and getting

to know each of the individual scholars on their journey

through School and beyond.”

The match itself was played in wet and windy conditions,

with the weather keeping many supporters away. Despite the

conditions, the game was played in a superb spirit, fantastically

officiated by Mr Clark. The final score was 4-1 to the

Wilson XI, and with over 16 former 1st XI players involved,

the quality was extremely high. Post match there were

refreshments in Quod, which gave members of both sides

the chance to catch up.

The next Alex Wilson Memorial Match will take place next year

on the Sunday after the Old Salopian fixture. If you would like

to get involved, please email apm@shrewsbury.org.uk

Adam Morris

(Rb 2007-12 and Staff)

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OLD SALOPIAN GOLFING SOCIETY

The 2024 OSGS golfing year continued with the 27th

Grand Scottish Tour (GST) in East Lothian, Scotland

from Tuesday 21st May until Thursday 23rd May.

On the Tuesday we played Kilspindie Golf Couse in Aberlady,

which was designed by Will Park Jr and Ben Sayers, from

North Berwick. It was designed on its current site in 1899

and is known as a hidden gem. It is a relatively short course by

modern standards, but it is still a good test of golf. This was

the first time the OSGS has played Kilspindie, and despite

a bit of squally wind and soft Scottish rain everyone really

enjoyed themselves.

We met for soup and sandwiches and then played a four-ball

team competition. First prize was awarded to Raff McKenzie

(O 2004-09), Julian Mitchell (S 1979-84), Duncan Cowburn

(Father) and local friend, Kate Home, with 94 points.

After settling into our usual and various local hotels, B&Bs or

staying with friends, we had supper and prize giving in The

Old Clubhouse, Gullane.

On the Wednesday, for the first time since the GST began, we

all played at Dunbar Golf Course a bit further down the coast.

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers at Muirfield

were unable to host us this year as they were about to host

the Scottish Amateur Championship and were preparing the

course for that prestigious event.

Dunbar was designed over the years by three famous golf

course architects: Old Tom Morris, James Braid and Ben

Sayers – from North Berwick. It is a good test of links golf

with amazing views bordering the beach and sea for 16

holes. Plans and earth-moving are underway to build a new

clubhouse and redesign the first few holes.

We were greeted by a rather bleak Scottish day with blustery

winds and driving rain, which even forced our four lady

golfers playing to understandably give up and warm up in the

clubhouse and watch the bedraggled men walk in in various

states of happiness, or more accurately described as “rather

miserable wet souls”. Still as Hon Sec, I do like to say, “A wet

day on the golf course is better than a dry day in the office!”

We played a pairs Stableford competition off full handicaps,

off the white medal tees, with both scores counting

towards the Lewis Bell Quaich which is usually played as a

foursomes’ competition at HCEG and is the major prize to

win on the GST.

The winners with 64 points were Andrew Saunders (M 1990-

95) and his brother Ed (M 1987-92).

2nd with 63 points were Will Briggs (O 2004-09) and Raff

McKenzie (O 2004-09)

3rd with 58 points were Reuben Johnson (Rt 1962-63) and

Charles Hill (SH 1980-84)

After going home and partaking of hot baths and showers

we reassembled at Kaimend, in North Berwick, courtesy of

Andrew Lister (SH 1958-62), for our usual high spirited

cocktail party with some local friends for speeches and prizes –

thank you Andrew! It was good to welcome back Reuben and

Mary Watkins who flew in from Palm Beach, Florida after a

gap of a few years too. Post the party, we went onto Zitto’s in

North Berwick for a celebration dinner.

On Thursday a number of people played Mixed Foursomes at

Gullane 2, and the winners of the Hill Quaich were Jane Hill

and Rob Bennett (SH 1982-87) with 39 points, 2nd place

L to R: Ed Saunders, Hon Sec, Andrew Saunders

were Kate Home & Charles Hill with 36 points and 3rd place

were last year’s winners Maura Backhouse and Frank Higham

(O 1968-72) with 32 points.

A Singles competition was held for the Mitchell Gullane Gill

Trophy too and the winner was Trevor Williams (Father) with

36 Points and a back 9 of 19 points, beating Andrew Saunders

with a back 9 of 14 points into 2nd place and 3rd place was

Will Briggs with 34 points.

On Thursday 6 June the OSGS got back into the main

draw of the Public Schools Putting Competition at Royal

Wimbledon Golf club. The team captain this year was David

Umpleby (SH 1990-95) who scored 5 points, Julian Sterck

(Rt 1967-72) scored 6 points, Ted Williams (R 2014-19)

scored 8 points and Will Hawksley (SH 1990-95) managed

11 points. We came third overall with 30 points, sadly just

missing the final the following week. Nonetheless, everyone

had a good evening.

On Wednesday 19 June the OSGS entered a team to play in

the Public Schools Midlands Meeting at Little Aston Golf

Club along with 12 other schools. The four pairs were Richard

Bevan (DB 1974-78) & Neil Crawford (M 1972-76), Simon

Shepherd (O 1977-82) & Charles Hill, Richard (O 1989-94)

& Jonathan Hope (O 1986-91) and Raff McKenzie and Will

Briggs. We played separate team foursomes’ competitions over

18 holes in the morning and over 14 holes in the afternoon.

Shrewsbury came fourth in the morning, just missing out on

the top three places.

However, Simon Shepherd and Charles Hill had the best

stableford points of any pair scoring 36 points in the whole of

the morning competition and won the Pudding Bowls trophy

and a tankard each.

On Thursday 19th June 2024 - the day after four of the team

played at Little Aston in the Midlands, the OSGS recorded

another fantastic win in the annual Triangular Match against

the Old Cholmeleians and the Old Haileyburians at Hadley

Wood in Hertfordshire. A warm, clear, blue-sky day on the

summer solstice saw excellent ground conditions and very fast

greens to sort the three teams out.

Lying flat last after the first three fourball better-ball matches,

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 93

On Wednesday in the morning Shrewsbury beat Cranleigh

and in the afternoon Shrewsbury beat Sherborne. The semifinal

was played on Thursday and Shrewsbury beat Haileybury.

The final was played on the Friday where Shrewsbury

beat Oundle to win the Peter Burles Salver for the second

consecutive year and for the third time in four years!

Simon Shepherd & Charles Hill

the OS team captain, Simon Shepherd calculated that the

OSGS needed a 9-point swing and a minimum of 41 points

from our last pair of Will Briggs and Raff Mckenzie. Beaming

as they left the course, and commenting on a wonderful

morning’s golf, 44 points did it easily!

With 116 points (the best 3 form 4 scores by each pair), we

beat Haileybury on 114 and Highgate on 111. My thanks to

Halford Hewitt Captain Richard Roberts (R 1989-94), veteran

Stephen Shaw (M 1956-61) - ably partnered by Nick Renton

(2004-09) - and Jonathan Hope and Andrew Saunders,

plus the aforementioned Briggs and Mckenzie, for their

contribution to a hugely enjoyable and successful day which

was rounded off by a late lunch, prizegiving and an early

departure. On to 2025!

L to R Andrew Saunders, Raff McKenzie, Simon Shepherd,

Will Briggs, Jonathan Hope & Nick Renton.

The annual Mellin Tournament was played at West Hill GC

in Surrey between the 26th and 28th June. Our team captain

for the last ten years or so has been Peter Worth (M 1965-70)

who has always had an ambition to try and win all three of

these foursomes competitions in the same year.

The Bunny Millard Salver is open to players over 75 years

of age and this year Shrewsbury was represented by Past

OSGS President, Anthony Smith (I 1954-59) and Malcom

McMullan (I 1958-62). On the Wednesday the teams all play

18 holes of Stableford foursomes. The four top teams then go

into a knock-out over the next two days.

On the Thursday, our Shrewsbury pair beat Oundle five up

with four holes to play in a convincing win. Our opponents in

the final on the Friday were Haileybury, who sadly beat us 5

and 4. Still, this was a good performance by Shrewsbury.

The Peter Burles Salver is open to players over 65 years of age.

This year Shrewsbury was represented by Julian Sterck, Frank

Higham, James Shaw (R 1964-68), our OSGS President,

Will Painter (R 1967-71) and Andy Pollock (I 1971-74).

This competition is two pairs of foursomes who play against

another school in a knockout format.

L to R Richard Buxton - Mellin Secretary, James Shaw, Will Painter, Andy

Pollock, Frank Higham, Captain of West Hill GC

The G. L. Mellin Salver is open to players over 55 years

of age. This year Shrewsbury was represented by Will

Campion (M 1980-84), Jonty Campion (M 1981-86),

Simon Shepherd, James Skelton (O 1980-85) and brothers

Andy and Angus Pollock (I 1975-80). This competition is

three pairs of foursomes who play against another school in

a knockout format.

On Wednesday in the morning Shrewsbury beat Cranleigh

and in the afternoon Shrewsbury beat Sherborne. The

semi-final was played on Thursday and Shrewsbury lost to

Haileybury who went on to win the final that afternoon

against Oundle.

As you can see from the above, we were knocked out by the

eventual winners in both of our semi-finals. All this said, a

great festival of golf was enjoyed by all, and we celebrated with

a big dinner for all participants in a local pub on the Thursday

evening. Grateful thanks to Peter Worth for all his efforts in

organising the teams too!

On Monday 1st July the Joint Meeting between the OSGS

and the RSSBC, before the Henley Royal Regatta starts on

the Tuesday, was held once again at Henley Golf Club. My

grateful thanks to Michael Cox (M 1961-66) for galvanising

some of his football OS mates to join this meeting. 13 players

played a stableford competition and we were joined by a few

extra Salopians for supper from the RSSBC supporters club.

Holly Fitzgerald, Director of the Salopian Club, also joined

us and once again her mother very kindly made some table

decorations. The winner was Michael Cox with 36 points, 2nd

was Peter Worth with 35 points, 3rd was Peter Thwaites (R

1960-64). Patrick Carr (R 1966-71) and David Umpleby also

won prizes.

On Wednesday 24th July, 12 of us returned to Cavendish

Golf Club, Derbyshire, where thankfully the weather was

much kinder to us this year and we managed to play around

the course in the dry, unlike last year. Six of us stayed in

Wilmslow overnight and enjoyed a very hospitable evening in

an Italian restaurant.

On Thursday 25th July 13 people played at Wilmslow

Cheshire making this our double header event for 2024.

Jonathan Perkins (SH 1990-95) won the Tony Duerr Salver

for the best combined stableford score over the two days. It

was very fitting to play for this trophy here, as this is where

Tony Duerr was a member for several years.

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94

SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Hon Sec & Dan Schofield

L to R Simon Jenkins (M 1974-78), Cennyyd Bowles (PH 1992-97) Peter

Thwaites, Neil Smith (DB 1953-57), Hon Sec, Paul Nichols (S 1966-71),

John Burrows (DB 1967-69), David Galbraith (Father), Tim Dakin

(Father), Anthony Smith, Trevor Williams & Duncan Cowburn (Father)

On Friday 16th August, the second 27-hole match between

the OSGS & the Old Oundelians was played at Trentham

Golf Club, captained by Jonathan Mitchell (S 1973-78) who

brought in the Staffordshire Mafia (Julian Mitchell, Simon

Mellard (Ch 1973-78) & Rob Bennett along with Will Painter

and Jonathan Perkins – in top form – to beat Oundle 4 -2

having been 2-1 down at lunch. Everybody scored a point and

the President, Will, sank a birdie putt at the 18th to clinch the

victory. Jonathan now has the fabulous ceramic trophy in the

mafia’s cupboard (photo next year).

On Sunday 6th October, 15 members played at Trentham

Golf Club, Staffordshire, very kindly organised by Rob

Bennett. The Hon Sec and Past President, Anthony Smith,

came along later to present the prizes and walk around the

course supporting the players. It was a slightly damp day with

some drizzle, but we seemed to escape most of the rain.

A delicious supper was served in the clubhouse after the

golf and prize giving took place. Will Painter won the Best

Gross to take home The Eustace Storey Putter and Dan

Schofield (PH 2016-21) – playing in his first ever OSGS

event – won the Tommy Hall Cup for the Best Net. Other

prizes were won by Paul Pattenden (Master) John Burrows

and Chris Bullock (M 1982-87).

Hon Sec & Paul Pattenden

up well despite the recent atrocious rain we have had. Malvern

failed to bring a side to compete for the trophy.

Our team was Xander Haspel (Rb 2010-15) - one of our

Halford Hewitt players – playing with Ed Towers (Ch 2004-

09) in a better ball pairs format. They managed to get a half

against the Repton first pair.

Our Second pair was Dan Schofield, fresh from his win at

Trentham, and Fred Pook (Rb 2011-16), making his first

appearance for the OSGS. This pair successfully beat the

Repton pair by being four holes up with three to play.

A successful lunch was served in the clubhouse, and the photo

below shows Fred holding the Maltonbury Cup.

OSGS President & Hon Sec

On Sunday 13th October, the Maltonbury Cup was

competed for between our younger teams of OSGS & Repton

at Little Aston, Staffordshire. The purpose of this match is to

encourage the under-30s to get involved and it is very heavily

subsidised by the OSGS to encourage people to play!

I am told that the course was in very good condition and held

L to R: Dan Schofield, Xander Haspel, Fred Pook – the Repton pairs.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 95

The Campion Trophy Knockout is now in its 14th year and

this is a fantastic event to meet fellow OSGS members and

play a mixture of golf courses with fellow Salopians up and

down the British Isles.

The Draw is initially split into a northern and southern zone

to reduce travelling in the early rounds. The final is usually

played at Royal Birkdale, an Open Championship venue,

where we get courtesy of the course – thanks to Ian Campion,

our former President and Captain of Royal Birkdale, who

kindly donated the trophy some years ago.

You get extra two shots, beyond those from your handicap,

if you play away from home, and this is really a competition

where I would like to see our entries increase again – we have

had over 50 competitors in some years. The finalists get all

their expenses paid including travel and accommodation – so

what’s not to like about entering next year?

This year 26 members put themselves forward to play in the

knockout. The first semi-final was won by Seb Marsh (O

1999-2004), last year’s Campion Trophy winner, who beat

Allan Kerr (M 1964-69). The second semi-final was won by

Jonathan Mitchell against Simon Shepherd at the 21st hole at

Trentham on Sunday 6th October.

Royal Birkdale is currently undergoing some course

maintenance led by the R&A in readiness for their hosting

the Open Championship in 2026. As a result, this year the

Campion Trophy Final was very kindly hosted by OSGS father

and son, Duncan & Daniel Cowburn (O 2022-24), at Royal

Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire on Sunday 20th

October between Jonathan Mitchell and Seb Marsh. Ernie

Els was the most recent Open Championship Winner here

in 2012.

Storm Ashley was with us this weekend, which somewhat

added to the challenge for both players with the winds gusting

up to 50mph! Royal Lytham, very unusually, could not even

fly their flag, fearing it might get blown over to Blackpool, the

wind was so strong.

The first hole is a 190 yards par 3 with a train track running

down the right side and deep bunkers a plenty. That’s tough

enough, but with a 50mph howler from right to left, the very

tough challenge ahead was most clear. Both finalists missed

that green by at least 50 yards!

Seb had to give Jonathan 17 shots based on their handicaps

of scratch and 12.2. Jonathan played very steady

golf without three putting on any green, which was

remarkable in the conditions. He had several up and

downs which helped his cause.

The match was always very close, and Jonathan said, “Thank

goodness Seb gave me plenty of shots, because he hits the ball

a mile; it often took me two shots to get to his drive. On one

hole he drove 360 yards.”

Seb won the 16th to go one up, and Jonathan won the 17th to

go all square standing on the 18th tee.

Jonathan takes up the story:

“The 18th is 393 yards, one of the shorter holes. Dead straight,

playing to a green in front of the impressive clubhouse, and

from the tee clearly visible and relevant are seven treacherous

bunkers between 180 and 250 yards. Storm Ashley’s still with

us too, and he’s blowing a gale from left to right. My scruffy

200-yard drive somehow stayed above ground, Seb sent

another rocket from the tee, he cleared all 7 bunkers with ease

but caught a bunker way down at 300 yards.”

Both players scored a 5 on the 18th hole. However, Jonathan

prevailed on the last green thanks to his shot and is the winner

of the Campion Trophy for 2024 – many congratulations

Jonathan!

Photo shows Jonathan with his trophy and with the Royal

Lytham Open Champions!

Charles Hill Hon Sec (SH 1980-84)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

OLD SALOPIAN RUGBY

After three excellent years of stewardship from Tom Plaut

(S 2014-19), the OS Maps are in a new phase of growth

and development. Our goals this year were to encourage as

wide a variety of Old Salopians as possible to join and to set

a new standard for quality rugby, alongside upholding and

strengthening our social and inclusive backbone.

Our first tournament, Bournemouth (where we are well known

throughout the land as previous winners and the team to beat)

really set the tone for the summer of rugby ahead. Kitted out

in our new gear, and with a new squad ready for action, we

were ready for anything. A twist in fate ensued - there had

been an administrative error from the Bournemouth side

meaning we had to play in a 10s tournament. No fear for the

Maps though; we gathered ourselves and, in true Salopian

spirit, encouraged other teams to spare a player or two in order

to boost numbers. With some well-placed negotiation and

superb play from some of our newer Maps (namely the Powell

brothers – Oliver (I 2017-22) and Sebastian (I 2018-23)), we

managed to get ourselves to the semi-finals of our competition,

edged out finally by the eventual winners. A strong effort all

round and commendable given the odds.

A few weeks later, we migrated from the south coast of

England to rural Herefordshire, arriving at Sundogs Festival

at Luctonians RFC. A far cry from the sandy dunes of

Bournemouth, we spent a long weekend camping and

immersing ourselves in this environment. The tournament

itself was truly a wake-up call to the quality of opposition that

the country produces, with most of the teams in our group

being semi-professional at the very least. We applied ourselves

commendably and with a level of spirit that reflected highly on

all of us - heads never dipped, despite the chips being down on

a number of occasions. A humbling but enjoyable experience

overall, and certainly a tournament we will look to join again.

Our final tournament was at Chiswick RFC, which was the

perfect way to finish our summer of rugby. The location

helped greatly in encouraging new players who are based in

the London area to play - and we secured a fantastic selection

of Maps and extended Maps family alike. As it was only a

one-day event, we had to keep our energy reserves going by

ensuring a constant rotation of impact players from the bench.

This final tournament was where we really found our stride,

with some superb dictating of play from both Harry Remnant

(Ch 2014-19) and Jacob Jefferis (SH 2014-19). We seemed to

have found our groove and were playing akin to a prime All

Blacks from 2015. Where size wasn’t on our side, skill and grit

were our greatest assets and, despite numerous injuries to the

Maps, we managed to reach the final of our competition, sadly

losing to the Wild Dogs - an invitational South African side

who deserved the win.

All in all, despite the lack of silverware this season, the Maps

can be very proud of their efforts. A foundation has been laid

this season to truly accelerate us to the next level. We’re greatly

looking forward to season 2024/25 and will be increasing

our efforts in the number of tournaments we enter, as well

as ensuring we have socials for any keen Salopians to join.

We are and always endeavour to be a club that is open to all,

and I personally encourage anyone to reach out to me at

angusrmlindsay@gmail.com if you’d like to see what we’re

all about.

Angus Lindsay (I 2007-11)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 97

A Century of Salopian Fives

Past Chairmen of the EFA

L to R: Richard Black, Matt Chinery (current Chairman), Chris Davies, Dale Vargas, Richard Barber, Peter Worth

EFA Centenary

On 24th October the Eton Fives Association marked one

hundred years since its foundation with a magnificent dinner,

attended by 241 people, in the Long Room at Lord’s. The

Association was founded at a meeting on that very day in 1924

to oversee and standardise the rules of the game and expand

the game’s appeal and reach. Today the EFA consists of some

40 schools, 24 clubs and about 430 members, and is played in

Switzerland, France, Nigeria, India, Malaysia, Australia, Brazil

and Mexico. All who play know full well that Eton Fives is the

best court game in the world.

The Centenary reminded the numerous Salopians who

attended that Shrewsbury’s name runs through the history of

Eton Fives like words through a stick of rock, and the School

can be proud of the prominent part it has played in the

development of the game throughout the country over these

hundred years.

The origins

It is likely that Eton Fives came to Shrewsbury at the end of

the 19th century through the influence of Uppingham, whose

great 19th century Headmaster, Edward Thring, coming from

Eton, had introduced the game there in the 1860s. His brother

Charles was a pupil at Shrewsbury, and it is likely that the

Thrings encouraged the Governors’ decision to build the

present fives courts after the School moved from the Town

to the Kingsland site in 1882. It is probably no coincidence

that in 1897 the first school match Shrewsbury played was

against Uppingham.

It was with the arrival from Eton in 1908 of one of

Shrewsbury’s great Headmasters, Revd Cyril Alington, that

Fives became a major School sport. Alington was a keen Fives

player himself, and he put Fives at the heart of Shrewsbury’s

sporting curriculum to match the location of the courts at

the heart of the School Site. This centrality has undoubtedly

sustained Shrewsbury’s position for the last century as one of

the top Eton Fives-playing schools in the country.

In the pantheon of great Eton Fives players was JM Peterson,

subsequently Headmaster, who as a boy was in the School

Fives team for four years and later won the national

championship, the Kinnaird Cup, three times; the last time

was at the age of 48 in 1950, the year he became Headmaster

of Shrewsbury, when he and his partner defeated the legendary

Salopian pair of Moulsdale and Kittermaster in the final.

Salopians in the EFA

JMP was also Chairman of the Eton Fives Association for

many years, being succeeded in that role by another titan of

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Salopian sport, Alan Barber, Headmaster of Ludgrove. Alan

was Chairman and then President of the EFA for 35 years, and

his name will always be honoured for his unrivalled service to

the game, to Shrewsbury and as the donor of the trophy that

bears his name, the Alan Barber Cup, awarded to the winners

of the annual inter-school teams of alumni (Eton Fives’

equivalent of the Cricketer Cup).

Subsequent Salopian Chairmen of the EFA have been Richard

Barber, following his uncle Alan (2003-10 and President from

2010-17), and Peter Worth (2010-13). Peter’s father, Rex,

partnered Jack Peterson in the School 1st pair in 1920, and

how delighted he would have been when both his son Peter

and grandson Rex (S 2002-07) became National Schools

champions in 1970 and 2007. As the School’s greatest Fivesplaying

family over three generations, it is fitting that the great

refurbishment of Shrewsbury’s Fives courts, which took place

between 2003 and 2010, should now bear the name of Worth.

The opening of the courts was accompanied by the solemn

commitment by the Governors that “for the foreseeable future

Fives will continue to be among the five major school sports at

Shrewsbury” alongside Cricket, Football, Rowing and the Hunt.

Throughout the 20th century, the story of Eton Fives has been

peppered with the names of Salopian champions, none more

celebrated than Robin Moulsdale and Dick Kittermaster who

alumni partnering current pupils, won by Shrewsbury for the

last three years; and the Hughes Cup, donated by the OSEFC’s

current President, Mike Hughes (SH 1975-80), for interschool

teams of Under 15s.

The OSEFC also competes in the EFA inter-club Leagues,

which the Club has dominated in the last few years. And since

2000 Shrewsbury has regularly triumphed in the Aberconway

Cup for Fathers & Sons, won no fewer than 16 times this

century by Salopians, the honours being shared between the

Bennetts, Hughes, Walters, Worths and Williams. In most of

those years the winners defeated fellow Salopians in the Final.

Fives at the School

At school level, the most coveted championship is the Schools

Nationals, in which Shrewsbury’s first victors were Peter Worth

and Nick Pocock in 1970. The trophy has subsequently been

won by Shrewsbury in 2004, 2007, 2011 and 2019.

Girls’ Fives, too, has brought enormous honour to the

School since girls began playing there in 2009. Inspired by

the enthusiastic leadership of Andy Barnard, Shrewsbury has

flourished in recent years into one of the strongest girls’ fivesplaying

schools in the country, winning the Schools Nationals

in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023, with three of those four finals

contested between Salopian pairs.

Fives at the School today continues to flourish at all ages,

with School pairs reaching the semis or better in 13 of the 15

Schools National competitions entered in 2024, with victories

in the U18 Mixed, U14 Beginners, the Richard Barber Cup

and our first ever Graham Turnbull Trophy win (between

individual pupil/adult pairings).

The local Fives scene is further enriched by ‘The Monday

Club’, started in 1975 as a weekly evening event for people

who, in the words of its founder Malcolm Mitchell, “had

stumbled later in life on the discovery that Eton Fives is such

an entertaining and sociable game”. Today up to 20 players,

including non-Salopians, come in every week from the locality

to play, simply to enjoy the fun and sociability of the game.

The School team of 1920

won the Kinnaird Cup three times in succession between

1954-56 and propelled their names into the then Guinness

Book of Records for the feat (though subsequently well

surpassed by others).

National Trophies

Salopians have also donated highly coveted trophies to the

national game. In addition to the Alan Barber Cup referred

to above, there is the Richard Barber Cup for three pairs of

The Salopian Spirit

A core feature of Old Salopian Fives is the strong sense of

camaraderie that defines the Club. OS Fives feels like a multigenerational

family with a shared determination to succeed

on court and enjoy the game and match evenings always

concluding with the hospitality of a nearby pub. The OSEFC

hosts several club nights throughout the year, holds end of

season celebrations and awards events, and members assemble

at Shrewsbury annually to play against the School and hold

a North v. South Salopian match, after which visits to the

Boathouse and Monty’s play an essential part.

That sense of friendship nurtures the famed Salopian spirit

of the game that every Salopian learns from one’s first steps

on court, a spirit never better summed up than by a former

Chairman of the EFA, himself an Etonian, who said, “As I

look back over 50 years of playing this marvellous game, the

Salopians have been consistently at the top of it and have

always been a pleasure to play against. In my view, the conduct

of Salopian players on the Fives court sets a standard to which

all other clubs should aspire.”

That spirit will always obtain wherever Salopian Fives is played.

Richard Barber

(SH 1955-60)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 99

Old Salopian Yacht Club

Following Shrewsbury’s unfortunate altercation with the

Winchester boat last year, we found ourselves removed to

the second division (the Fairview fleet). Unlike the race rigged

Sunsail fleet, our boat was perhaps more suited to lazy lunches

than fast tacking. Unusually, Timothy Becker (R 1977-82)

arrived on time for the band of six to sail in the autumn late

afternoon light to Cowes, where the crew enjoyed an excellent

dinner at one of the sophisticated eateries that now populate

Cowes High St. A far-flung cry from the rather questionable

curry houses of yester year. A crew house was expertly selected

for the weekend.

The following morning, the glistening sun covered sleepy

Cowes in a blanket of gold as the intrepid sailors awoke from

their slumber, ready for the day ahead… Fuelled by a hearty

breakfast of bacon butties and much coffee, we cast off and

headed for the start line. The 2024 Arrow trophy was upon

us, and we were out with a vengeance to stake our claim for

the trophy once more. The excitement and anticipation were

tangible as we hoisted the sails, killed the engine, and made way

to the start.

The time was upon us and, led by our cool, calm and collected

skipper George Edwards [S 2004-09], we came thundering into

the start line, securing an early lead in the Fairview fleet. The

upwind legs became our forte, as the well-oiled machine of the

crew swung into action, with myself, Toby Moore [I 2020-24]

and Kurt De Freitas [Ch 1998-2003] manning the jib on one

tack, and Timothy Becker [R 1977-82] and George Hall [SH

2005-10] manning it on the other tack, whilst Freddie Becker

[Hon member OSYC] manned the pit. This is perhaps a good

time to mention the fact that this is my first time yachting. This

minor detail will become somewhat evident later.

We rounded the upwind mark and made ready to hoist the

kite. Thanks to Freddie’s expert kite packing, the kite went up

like a dream and we thundered on down the downwind leg,

eager to reel in the Sunsail fleet that had started a whole five

minutes before us. Another upwind leg showcased our speed

and efficiency (partly helped by the dumping of 1 tonne of

freshwater from the boat before the start). The time came once

again to hoist the kite, this time packed perhaps not so expertly

by me. The hoist was what you might call an anticlimax: it

went up, it twisted into a horrible mess, it came down again, all

the while punctuated by fits of discontent from the crew. The

saga had begun.

Despite the kite, however, we still finished a comfortable first,

ahead of most of the Sunsail fleet too. The second race was much

the same. The cool calm hand of the skipper led us to first place

once again, hindered only slightly by another episode with the kite.

The crew were in high spirits as we broke out the sandwiches for

lunch. “What was in store for us in the following races?” was the

question on everyone’s mind. Little did we know…

The third race started well as we steadily progressed up to the

windward mark and tacked to round it. It was at this point

that I got very well acquainted with the concept of riding turns

in the winches, so much so that I managed to get three in one

winch. This meant the jib was jammed in tight and our options

were limited. However, thanks to the quick thinking of Freddie,

a spinnaker sheet was run from the jib to another winch. You

may think at this point “aha, job done, sorted!” but fate decided

it was not done with us yet, as we managed to get a riding

turn in the other winch too. This was now officially a sticky

situation, made worse by a broken-down RIB on our bow.

We avoided the RIB by a hair’s length and managed to free

the jib sheet but had to resort to cutting the spinnaker sheet

with a bread knife. We were now in last place. It was at this

point, however, that the true tenacity and drive of Salopians

shone through, as we knuckled down to claw back some places,

eventually finishing sixth out of ten.

The fourth race was a windy one, with a reef in the sail and all

the crew with legs over the side, we charged up the windward

leg. By now we had made two solid rivals: Faux Pas (Bryanston)

and Femme Fatale (Malvern). We jostled for position with these

two throughout the race, but it was eventually Pangbourne that

came out of nowhere and took first place, leaving us in second.

It was now time for the big event: the race dinner at the newly

improved Royal Ocean Racing Club. And what a splendid do

it was; the perfect finale to the day. With much wine and cheer

consumed, we went to bed.

The following morning, with the words of the skipper “we

will cast off at 09:15 with or without you” still ringing in our

ears, we duly made ready to cast off without him at 09:15. Just

as we began to slip the lines, the slightly dazed figure of our

gallant skipper emerged, and we set sail once more for the start.

Now that we had experienced just about everything that could

possibly go wrong, we felt we could conquer anything and

began the first race with renewed determination. The first race

was a breeze, with the well-oiled Shrewsbury machine charging

around the course and finishing a clear first. As the wind began

to die down, we started the last race, and it was clear from the

onset it was going to be a close one. We battled with Faux Pas

and Femme Fatale all the way and it came down to the perfect

photo finish, with Faux Pas taking a 2ft lead over the finish line.

What a way to end the Arrow 24! With cheers all round, we

set sail for home, elated in our victory of first overall in the

Fairview fleet. What will next year’s regatta have in store?

Toby Moore (I 2020-24)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Sabrina

Bevan crews also found success in the early season National

Schools’ Regatta, competing in the Queen Elizabeth the

Queen Mothers’ Cup for Championship eights, winning

medals on nine occasions.

The Shrewsbury School kitchens served us an excellent lunch,

and then most of the party went down to the Boathouse to

enjoy the second day of Shrewsbury Regatta. That involves a

shorter course and mostly small boats. There were plenty of

School competitors to cheer on - including James Russell (PH

1990-95), who raced in a double scull with his son Oli, who

is currently at the School, to win their Fathers and Sons event

(pictured below left).

Sabrina Lunch

We invited members who left the School in the years 1974-

88 and their partners to lunch in Kingsland House on 12th

May. We were very pleased to include David Gee and Peter

Owen, who had plenty of their old crews to meet. Forty-five

sat down to lunch, which was the maximum that the room

can accommodate. Our Captain, Nick Randall (O 1972-76),

welcomed the guests and spoke about the successful history of

the RSSBC and about the current outlook. The period 1974 to

1988 was particularly poignant in that, apart from 1979, these

were the years when Nick Bevan was the 1st VIII coach and

River Master.

In common with many UK

schools, Shrewsbury was

unable to enter the Princess

Elizabeth Challenge Cup

(PE) at Henley Royal Regatta

between 1969 and 1973,

because of the A level exam

timetable. The Special Race

for Schools was introduced

in 1974 and ceased in

1989. Of the major rowing schools, only Eton and Hampton

continued to compete in the PE. Under the coaching of Nick

Bevan, Shrewsbury won the Special Race for Schools on

seven occasions and reached the final four times. This meant

that a total of 63 Henley Royal Regatta winners’ medals were

received by members of the RSSBC during Nick Bevan’s era.

Although the main event of the season was Henley, the Nick

Sabrina v OSGS Golf Meeting

The Sabrina Golf match against the OS Golfers was well

attended, with a good contingent from the Football fraternity.

Charles Hill (SH 1980-84, Hon Sec OSGS) organised this at

the Henley Golf Club, who made us very welcome and served

a very good supper.

Henley Royal Regatta

During Regatta week, Sabrina organised the usual two Henley

Lunches. Tuesday was particularly to welcome competitors and

their parents and was well received, with a good contingent

of Sabrina members attending; we hope that this is a very

affirmative occasion for both current and past Salopians.

Saturday was particularly well attended by Sabrina members,

who later had the pleasure of seeing the RSSBC crew who won

the Special Race for Schools in 1984 complete a row over the

course in the tea interval. Their row past set a high standard:

any crew should be proud to come back to the water and row

so well.

The Sunday finals day provided some high points for Sabrina

members, when Grace Richards (G 2019-21) stroked the

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 101

Oxford Brookes Crew to win the Remenham Cup, the premier

Women’s VIIIs’ event, and Louis Nares (I 2015-20) stroked

Oxford Brookes to win both The Grand (premier men’s VIIIs’

event) and the Stewards’ Challenge Cup (premier men’s IVs’

event). These are the only two events in which competitors

may make a double entry; it is tremendous to win either; to

win both is a truly remarkable achievement. Both Grace and

Louis won their respective events with Oxford Brookes last

year, these being the Island Challenge Cup and the Temple

Challenge Cup, both for University eights.

Both Grace Richards (2) and Louis Nares (stroke) won Gold

representing Great Britain in the World U23 Championships

this year at St Catherines, Canada, this being respectively in the

women’s coxless four (new world record time) and the men’s

eight. Tara Lloyd (M U6) won Gold in the women’s eight at

the Coupe de la Jeunesse (European Junior Championships).

Grace Richards also stroked the Oxford Brookes eight to

win the Championship eights’ event at this year’s Henley

Women’s Regatta, as well as numerous victories in European

International Regattas, Ghent and Holland Becker. She also

stroked the Oxford Brookes’ women’s crews to win the

Championship eights and coxless fours at the BUCS

(British Universities and Colleges Sport Regatta).

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Donations to the RSSBC

Sabrina members continue to support the RSSBC by giving

regular donations to the RSSBC Rowing Fund within the

Shrewsbury School Foundation. The Sabrina Committee

meets twice a year with the RSSBC Director of Rowing

who provides a list of requirements. Subsequent to the

meeting, the Foundation Trustees meet to approve the

funding for the items required.

Earlier this year, the Shrewsbury School Foundation received

a substantial legacy from René McKibbin, widow of the

late Brian McKibbin (1st VIII 1948). This was instructed

to be designated to the RSSBC Rowing Fund and RSSBC

Scholarship Fund within the Foundation.

Part of the legacy designated for the RSSBC Rowing Fund

enabled the purchase of a new Empacher V111 for the top

girl’s crew. In March our Captain, Nick Randall, named the

boat René McKibben in memory of René and her husband

Brian who had been so generous with this legacy.

Charles Wright

(S 1963-68)

Tribute to Peter Gladstone

We were very pleased to welcome several of Peter Gladstone’s

winning crews to the AGM. They had clubbed together to

present a portrait of Peter to the Boathouse Clubroom: a very

fine tribute to one who did so much for the RSSBC. Though

Peter is chiefly remembered for coaching the three crews who

brought home the Princess Elizabeth Cup in 1955, 1960 and

1961, the ethos which he gave to the Club influenced it many

years thereafter.

Patrick Balfour (SH 1955-60) gave an excellent

introduction to the work and achievement of PG and then

introduced Jeannie Gladstone, Peter’s widow, who had

joined us with their two children. Jeannie then unveiled the

portrait to unanimous acclamation.

Among those present was Robert Stanbury (SH 1956-61)

who generously presented the 1st VIII blazer that he had worn

to cox the 1st VIII to win the PE at Henley in 1960 and 61,

which was the same blazer which Jonathan Pearson (SH 1952-

56) had worn to cox the 1st VIII to win the PE in 1955.

The blazer has been framed with Robert’s 1st VIII cap and

tie. Robert also presented the Maltese Cross Flags which were

positioned on the respective winning eights during the 1960

and 1961 PE races. (Both are now framed in the Clubroom.)

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 103

OLD SALOPIAN HUNT

The OSH has a close relationship with the RSSH and this

helps recent Hunt Leavers make an easy transition into

their lifetime membership of our Club. At this year’s Hunt

Presentations Lunch, held in June, we welcomed 17 new

OSH members and were also able to congratulate the new

13th Huntswoman, Sophia Coulson (MSH) and the 191st

Huntsman, Jack Kinrade (PH & SH), along with Whips Dom

Weilds (Rb & SH) and Finlay Cullen (O), who all take on

their important positions as the new Officers of the Hunt for

the 2024-2025 season from this Michaelmas term.

The photo shows the RSSH caps, with the navy-blue Gent’s

cap that had a white crossed whips emblem embroidered on

the front. The red Whip’s cap had the gold crossed whips

emblem, and the same gold emblem was on the black velvet

Huntsman’s cap. As many of us previous Hunt Officers know,

RSSH traditions are what make the School running club so

unique and different from any other. However, as time goes

by, innovation continues to take place and adjustments

are made to keep the Hunt a major and successful sport at

Shrewsbury School.

My own memory of the ‘colours’ system tradition started

in February 1968, when the Huntsman, Hugh Gibson (R

1963-68), awarded me my House Running Colours and,

subsequently, I went to the School Shop to pick up the cotton

patch that was embroidered with crossed hunting horns in the

purple colour of Dayboys Hall, which I then had to sew onto

the front of my running shirt. I was proud of this achievement

and was spurred on to improve my running. The Colours

system was a useful tool that installed incentive in young

runners, so that they might strive forward towards the next

‘Colour’, which, in the Hunt, was becoming a ‘Gentlemanof-The-Runs’

(or ‘Gent’), being a School First colour. And

that, in turn, was another incentive to get chosen as the next

Huntsman or Whip. To be made a Huntsman, Huntswoman

or Whip is still one of the most prestigious positions that can

be held at the School. If any of you have memories of the

traditions of the Hunt that you experienced, then do send

them to me either at info@crbirch.com or via the Salopian

Club Office.

Speaking of Huntsmen, Kristian Tung (I 2021-23) has become

a Malaysian Triple Champion, by winning Gold Medals in

the 10k, 5k and 1500m finals at the 2024 21st SUKMA

Malaysian Games, held in the Sarawak Stadium, Borneo in

August, which gives him qualification for the South-East Asian

Games in Thailand in December 2025.

Recent Huntswoman, Ellie Leigh-Livingstone (MSH 2019-

24) ran the 180k Tour De Mont Blanc for the charity ‘Tiggy’s

Trust’ in September. Cal Winwood (I 2006-11), a Huntsman

of 2010-11, went to Tromsø in Norway on 22nd June to run

the Midnight Sun Marathon and came 10th in 2hrs 46mins.

Clashing with this year’s Alumni Race on Saturday 14th

September was the National Cross-Country Championships,

held at Weston Park, where George Mallett (S 2007-12 & H’)

was 55th, followed by his brother Ed (S 2008-13 & H’) at

71st. And in the Women’s race, Felicity Hayward (EDH 2017-

19 & H’) finished at 35th place. Freddie Fielding (R 2012-17

& H’) got in touch and said that he had run the Newquay 10k

in February, coming 10th in a time of 34:50 and then, in May,

he came 11th in the Bristol Half-Marathon in 1:15:33 and

says he is training to get back to good form with Cornwall AC.

Other members of the OSH have been out too, including Zac

Wasteney (Rb & SH 2021-24), who is one of our youngest

members and came 21st in the 11th Shrewsbury Half-

Marathon in 1:21:22. And Michael Johnson (S 1955-60) is

still getting on podiums, winning a bronze medal at the World

Masters Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, in

August, for the M80 Veterans Cross-Country Race, but was

annoyed that he missed out on the silver by just one second!

On Saturday 5th October, James Adney (Rb 1991-96), Oscar

Dickins (R 2011-16 & H’), Sam Griffiths (Staff) and also

Shaun Western (father of Sam (S 2015-20 & H’)) entered the

Long Mynd Hike, which is a 50-mile course taking in all the

major Shropshire hills. There is what could be called a ‘Great

Adventure’ for Will Sawyer (PH 2013-18) in April next year,

as he has entered the 2025 Marathon De Sables, which is a

gruelling 250km desert challenge in the Moroccan Sahara.

We wish him the best of luck.

The previously mentioned annual Alumni Race had an OSH

team of 13 who put in a valiant performance, which resulted

in another podium finish. After last year’s win and this year’s

clash with the Nationals, we wondered how we would fare.

But there was new blood along with seasoned returning

runners, who successfully grabbed 2nd place at the end. On

a hot afternoon in Roehampton, Oscar Dickins (R 2011-16

& H’) ran a superb race, covering the 5-mile Wimbledon

Common Course in the same time as last year, finishing as

our first counter in 6th position. Then Charlie Ockleston (O

2014-19 & H’) arrived faster and higher than before, at 17th,

followed 25 seconds after by Sam Bayliss (Rt 2013-18), on

his first visit, coming in at 20th. Another first-timer was Tom

Some of the OSH team before the Alumni Race

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Passy Goddard & Michael Johnson at the start. (Michael’s suggested caption for this: ‘Ancient & Modern’!)

Atkin (O 2012-17) who also ran a fast race, taking 29th place.

The first photo shows some of the OSH team before the race

and the second has Passy Goddard (G 2011-16) and Michael

Johnson at the start. There is a full report on our OSH website

page and an album of photos on our Facebook page.

Our website page can be found within the School website: go

to www.shrewsbury.org.uk/salopian-club/os-sport and scroll

down to find the OS Hunt ‘card’, which will open on our

page. From there you can see information and merchandise

and then, lower down, you can use the links that take you

straight to our social media pages, without having to subscribe.

Scrolling further you will come to many reports, with pics,

that go back a dozen years or so.

It is always good to hear from readers of The Salopian, whether

OSH member or friend (… or not!), so you are welcome to email

me on info@crbirch.com or our Hon. Sec. Liv Papaioannou

(EDH 2014-16 & H’) on livpapaioannou@gmail.com.

Peter Birch, OSH Chairman

(DB 1966-71 & Huntsman)

OLD SALOPIAN SQUASH CLUB

The OS Squash season got off to a great start with a Club social at Lord’s Cricket Ground, with OS alumni spanning 1983

through to 2020 participating in some ‘friendly’ squash.

If you are interested in attending future OS Squash events, please email

oldsalopian@shrewsbury.org.uk for further information.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 105

Sir Philip and I

Graham Davidson (SH 1960-65) reflects on the poetic

influence of an iconic Salopian exemplar.

As my generation is now passing on, and I hope upward, I

have decided to gather a selection of my published papers

and unpublished poems all in one place – a website www.

grahamdavidson.net creating an open access record of my

literary life. This saves me the indignity of trying, and probably

failing, to find a publisher – and saves any potential reader

money and shelf space.

The poems are prefaced by ‘An Apology’, a reference to Sir

Philip’s An Apology for Poetry. He wasn’t happy with the

poetry of his time – though whether he meant ‘poems’, or

‘plays’, or both, is not quite clear. He declared that poetry had

“become the laughing-stock of children”, and he scorned the

mixing of comedy and tragedy, embryonic in his time, but a

central feature of Elizabethan drama, the best of which he did

not live to see. He took as his model Seneca, a philosopher,

whose plays, as those of his English imitators, are full of long

sententious speeches, and little action. He believed that poetry

combined philosophy purified of its “wordish description”, with

history relieved of its captivity “to the truth of a foolish world”.

Thus the poet becomes “the right popular philosopher”, a storyteller

guided by moral or metaphysical insights.

I have a sense that currently English poetry, if not quite the

laughing stock of children, has, in Robert Graves’s words, “lost

caste” – and is now a niche activity, much written by many,

little read beyond the coterie. The distinguished exceptions

pretty much prove the rule. But is it possible to identify some

attitude or practice common to most, and then to say, Herein

lies the source of our dissatisfaction? And if we can, and we are

in Sidney’s words, willing to “acknowledge ourselves somewhat

awry”, then how is it that “we may bend to the right use both

of matter and manner”?

These are the questions for which An Apology, guided by Sir

Philip, seeks some answers. Interpreting his principles broadly

has allowed me to see that they are applicable to almost all

kinds of English poetry – up to and including that of T S

Eliot. So if one can find little or no trace of these elements in

contemporary poetry, might that lack be the grounds of our

discontent?

The Sir Philip I knew at school, only in passing, is not the Sir

Philip I have subsequently come to know. Forget the sad and

pointless skirmish at Zutphen; forget his fame as a courtier

and altruistic soldier. Remember his Apology for Poetry and his

wonderful sonnet sequence, Astrophel and Stella. The principles

of the Apology … were, are and will remain the axle around

which English poetry revolves – or ought to revolve: remove

his armour, and place a quill in his hand. Not only am I proud

to have gone to the same school, but much more so that he

and I have shaken hands across the centuries.

Recently Unearthed

Tired but Happy: A visit to Basic Year camp

Non adeo sufferre nocet: nocet esse coactos

Each year I get camp service in,

some twenty hours, not longer,

the bulk of it spent drinking gin

in potions ever stronger,

while through an alcoholic haze

I view the troops, and wonder

how they endure for six whole days

the regimen they’re under:

the food (designed to keep you slim),

the ceaseless exhortation

to join the early-morning swim,

the Lats (or constipation?),

the crowding, three in every tent,

those laden treks they go on,

the giddy heights up which they’re sent,

the Freddo jokes...., and so on.

The answer is, they’ve got no choice:

we’d bear it if we had to.

(It’s fortunate that we’re not boys,

or else we might be made to!)

But what about the others there

who supervise the training?

Each one of them’s a volunteer:

that surely needs explaining.

You’d think that nobody would go

if able to avoid it;

but those Instructors look as though

they really quite enjoyed it.

It’s strange how easily we’ll bear

what ought to cause revulsion,

provided it’s our own idea:

what irks us is compulsion.

That’s why, when all is said and done,

while those who help afflict him

find Basic Year’s a lot of fun,

it isn’t for the victim.

Visiting Basic Year Camp - Postscript

That poem’s somewhat out of date:

I’ve changed my habits as of late.

It’s after One when I arrive,

to stay not twenty hours but five

(with scarcely time for other than

a brisk assault on Pen-y-fan),

departing thence in headlong flight

where formerly I’d spend the night.

I consequently ladle in

the barest minimum of gin,

and nowadays the thoughts I think

are harsher, unalloyed by drink.

Mark Mortimer

December 1988

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Publications

Gareth Williams (Rt 1986-91)

Our Precious Time: A Beginner’s Guide to the Austrian School of Economics

Tellwell Talent

ISBN-13: 978 0228808992

The Austrian School of Economics provides a framework for thinking about the

world that makes basic, common sense. A perspective that recognises the uniqueness

of the individual – their thoughts, perspectives, values and deeds – and how that

bonds our communities. Economics, in truth, is about far more than production and

consumption. It is the story of human interaction.

In seeking to encapsulate the core Austrian principles, this book covers everything

from anthropology, history, biology, physics, astronomy, mythology, philosophy,

sociology, politics, finance, war, peace and more.

The Austrian School of Economics does away with the over-mathematised ‘physics

envy’ of traditional economics. The book sets out this alternative view of economics,

one that is intuitively true and has been suspiciously underrepresented in the

mainstream.

Patrick Robertson (Ch 1953-58)

Robertson’s Timeline of World & American Firsts/A Chronicle of Change

ISBN Vol I: 978-1-83919-681-2 Vol II: 978-1-83919-645-4

Patrick Robertson chronicles 14,500 ‘firsts’ that have shaped our modern world,

from the first printed book, produced in Korea in 704 AD, to the first convicted

felon elected President of the United States in 2024. The first in the world is paired

with the first in America where these are different. World firsts include three that are

claimed for Shrewsbury School: the first written examinations conducted by a school

(1817); the first cross-country running club (1819); and the first school athletics

meeting (1840). The author gratefully acknowledges the resources of the School’s

archives in tracking these down. He began researching firsts in the School Library

in 1954, hiding out in the only place he felt safe from a particularly repressive study

monitor (who had never been known to pick up a book). So it may be said that this

two-volume, 1128-page magnum opus has been 70 years in the making!

Robertson’s Timeline is aimed principally at the American library market, but it is

available at Amazon.com and on order from Waterstones.

Douglas Field (O 1987-82)

Walking in the dark: James Baldwin, My Father, and Me

Manchester University Press

ISBN 978-1526175175

A moving exploration of the life and work of the celebrated American writer,

blending biography and memoir with literary criticism. Since James Baldwin’s death

in 1987, his writing – including The Fire Next Time, one of the manifestos of the

Civil Rights Movement, and Giovanni’s Room, a pioneering work of gay fiction –

has only grown in relevance. Douglas Field was introduced to Baldwin’s essays and

novels by his father, who witnessed the writer’s debate with William F. Buckley at

Cambridge University in 1965. In Walking in the dark, he embarks on a journey

to unravel his life-long fascination and to understand why Baldwin continues to

enthral us decades after his death. Tracing Baldwin’s footsteps in France, the US

and Switzerland, and digging into archives, Field paints an intimate portrait of the

writer’s life and influence. At the same time, he offers a poignant account of coming

to terms with his father’s Alzheimer’s disease. Interweaving Baldwin’s writings on

family, illness, memory and place, Walking in the dark is an eloquent testament to the

enduring power of great literature to illuminate our paths.

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 107

Book Review

J. L. Austin: Philosopher & D-Day Intelligence Officer

by M W Rowe (Oxford University Press, 2023, 660pp)

John Austin (1911-60) was a philosopher of international

eminence and a senior wartime Intelligence officer (he became

a Lieutenant-Colonel) who played an influential role both

in D-Day and other major operations. He was also an Old

Salopian (Chance’s and Mitford’s, 1924-29), becoming a

praepostor: he joins General Miles Dempsey as the two most

notable Salopians (there are others) of the war years.

After Prep school at St Salvator’s (at St Andrews), in 1924,

Austin followed his father to Shrewsbury, joining Chance’s,

which became Mitford’s in 1925. This was not a happy time;

Mitford – as this reviewer can confirm – was an unpleasant

man who is ruthlessly pilloried by Kyffin Williams in his

autobiography; moreover, the Headmaster, Canon Sawyer,

was ineffectual, leaving the housemasters in control. Bullying,

says Rowe, was rife; nor is Williams the only author to expose

the School’s grave failings at this time. Austin describes himself,

doubtless accurately, as unsociable, but luckily, his classical

teachers realised that here was a pupil of exceptional ability, and

in due course, he won an open scholarship to Balliol in 1929.

Rowe is very frank about the School’s shortcomings, quoting from

Brian Inglis and Richard Cobb as well as Williams, and it is hardly

surprising that Shrewsbury played little or no part in his life after

he had left: both his sons went elsewhere.

Rowe’s account of Austin’s highly successful career at Oxford

is admirably detailed. He obtained Firsts in Classical Honour

Moderations (Mods) and Literae Humaniores (Greats), and

this was followed by an even higher distinction, when he was

elected to a Prize Fellowship at All Souls, where he became

friendly with Isaiah Berlin, and was able to turn his mind

seriously to philosophy. Rowe rightly devotes a chapter to

Philosophy at Oxford, where young philosophers such as

Ryle, A J Ayer (later a rival) and Price were coming to the

fore. From All Souls Austin moved in 1935 to a tutorial

Fellowship at Magdalen (where A J P Taylor and C S Lewis

were among his colleagues), and quickly gained a reputation

as a tutor. Although it is impracticable in a short review to

go into detail, mention must be made of the All Souls Group

which began to meet in 1937, and included, besides Austin,

Berlin, Hampshire and Ayer. Rowe’s account is of the first

importance as demonstrating Austin’s approach to philosophy

and, indeed, his method of arguing. (Ayer said “You are like

a greyhound who does not want to run himself, and bites the

other greyhounds so that they cannot run either.”) Here it

must suffice to say that by 1939 all the ingredients of Austin’s

distinctive post-war philosophy were assembled.

Austin’s character and intelligence made him a natural to work

in Intelligence when war came, and in that capacity he came

to play an increasingly important and successful role: perhaps

only in the Dieppe fiasco of 1942 could his department be

faulted. It is noteworthy here that later in the war he was

involved in a ‘turf war’ with General Bernard Paget, another

(much older) Old Salopian, though one may doubt that either

realised the connection. Austin naturally played a leading role

in providing vital intelligence for D-Day as well as other major

operations.

After the war, he returned to Oxford, where he became

increasingly well-known for his lecturing on, especially,

‘performative’ speech – indeed on the language of philosophers

more broadly. (This reviewer went to hear him on Sense and

Sensibilia.) His approach and acerbic style were not universally

admired. (Ryle, for example, who had supported Austin’s

application to the chair, later was in the opposing camp, and

Elizabeth Anscombe, a disciple of Wittgenstein, was especially

hostile.) But there can be no doubt that he was the ‘go to’

lecturer at Oxford at that time. He did not win all his mano a

mano contests (eg against Strawson) – as Rowe’s often detailed

account demonstrates – but it was no surprise when he was

elected to the White Chair in Moral Philosophy in 1952.

Much of the second half of Rowe’s biography takes a detailed

and professional look at Austin’s approach to philosophy – it

was sometimes called ‘The Oxford Lexicographical School’–

which is particularly useful given that Austin’s published works

were few: had he been given longer to live (he was not yet 49

when he died of lung cancer in 1960) that would doubtless

have changed. Austin’s work was particularly influential in

the USA (where he had been offered a post at Berkeley), even

though, as Rowe demonstrates, his influence at Oxford has

inevitably waned over the decades. There is less in the book

about Wittgenstein than one might have expected, but we

read of a bruising encounter with Anscombe, whose hatred for

Austin was clearly visceral.

Austin’s marriage was long and happy, though his wife Jean was

opposed to Austin’s keenness to go to Berkeley, and at home his

ultra-assertive professional style was clearly in abeyance. Isaiah

Berlin, a friend since they had met at All Souls decades earlier,

wrote movingly about him in one of the many obituaries.

This book does not make for easy reading – how could

it? But it is a notable achievement, and one worthy of its

remarkable subject.

Colin Leach (SSS & WEM 1945-51)

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OBITUARIES

An obituary for those marked with an asterisk* is being prepared and will be published in the next edition of The Salopian.

J M Atwell M 1969-74

J Balcombe* Staff 1986-2018

J C Bolton DB 1949-54

D Broad S 1958-62

N S Butler Ch 1959-64

M J Cockle* DB 1941-45

T J Crow* Rt 1951 -56

P N Dennehy* S 1965-66

J R England Rt 1946-49

A J Everall DB 1980-82

R E W B Field Staff 1983-2006

T J V Freeman R 2022-24

R M Graham SH 1963-67

J Harrop R 1943-46

J C Hodges M 1947-52

R Kelsey Staff 1964-69

P V Kendrew Ch 1961-65

G P Kernan S 1946-50

J B Lawson Staff 1965-95

J A Lewis-Booth M 1982-87

A P Lorrimer SH 1959-64

R C G Mallinson I 1951-56

I L Mackenzie S 1950-55

R J Martell* O 1955-59

A J Merifield SH 1947-52

G J Peel* SH 1949-53

J H Platts* O 1943-47

P E Reeves S 1985-90

J S D Robertson Ch 1950-55

G M Saltmarsh R 1954-59

P C Shaw R 1957-62

T R Summers S 1945-49

G Symons DB 1940-43

J F Vallings DB 1949-53

J H Walcot SH 1961-65

A B S Weir SH1946-51

J R L Whiteley SH 1950-55

J M Williams Staff 1984-2008

Stephen Allday (Rt 1954-59)

Stephen Allday was born on 12th April 1941. His father, Lt

Colonel Frank (‘Bill’) Allday, served in the Royal Artillery

and Stephen was brought up at Halford, Warwickshire. He

attended Summerfields Prep School, from which he came to

Shrewsbury.

In 1960, he was commissioned into The Queen’s Own

Hussars, who were then stationed in Munster, West Germany,

where he joined ‘B’ Squadron as a Troop Leader.

In 1962, the regiment moved to Detmold. Stephen transferred

in 1963 to ‘A’ Squadron, which went to Berlin in early 1965,

when the rest of the Regiment assumed the role of RAC

Training Regiment at Catterick. He followed them from Berlin

to Catterick in 1966, to command the ‘B’ Vehicle Wing and in

1967 there was a further move to Maresfield Camp, Uckfield,

where the Regiment converted to Armoured Cars and from

where Stephen left the Army.

It was during his short time at Maresfield that Stephen married

Sara (‘Sally’) McConnell, sister of Ian, who was a brother

officer in the Regiment and whom he had met when she was

working as a nanny in Germany.

Stephen was an excellent all-round sportsman. He was in the

Regimental Basketball Team in 1960, in the Regimental Rugby

Team from 1962 to 1964 and in the Regimental Alpine Ski

Team every year until 1965. He was also a skilled bridge and

tennis player.

After leaving the army, Stephen joined his father in Allday

Ltd, the family printing business in Birmingham. However,

he remained in the Army Emergency Reserve for some years,

during which he spent time with ‘C’ Squadron in Hong

Kong and paid a short visit to ‘A’ Squadron in Singapore. He

regularly attended Regimental Dinners and Rocking Horse

Lunches, which allowed him to keep in touch with those old

comrades living far afield.

Stephen’s father died unexpectedly young in 1970, leaving

him to run the business at a time when the print unions were

extremely militant. In 1979 Stephen sold the business and,

with Colin McInnes, an ex-3rd Hussar officer, bought Dukes

Ltd, a Birmingham-based furniture manufacturing business,

which they ran for ten years.

It was during this time that Stephen’s interest in racing began,

with his acquisition of his first horse. In 1985 he became

Chairman of Warwick Racecourse and he began stewarding

at a number of courses, including Cheltenham. In 2005

Stephen became a member of the Jockey Club Disciplinary

Panel and in 2008 he became Chairman of the BHA

Licensing Committee.

In 2011, aged 70, he retired from all his racing appointments.

This gave him time to concentrate on his other passions,

including fishing and golf.

Captain Stephen Allday died on 15th April 2024. He leaves a

son, Jamie, and grandchildren, Chloe and Charlie.

[With grateful acknowledgement to the Museum of the

Queen’s Royal Hussars]

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 109

David Broad (S 1958-62)

David was born just before D-Day 1944 and died just

before the celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the

Normandy landings; and it is near Utah Beach, in Normandy,

where he and his wife Jan made a wonderfully welcoming

holiday retreat, and where his three children Eleanor, Edmund

and Jemma, and four grandchildren visited this summer to

remember him.

At a bus stop in Birmingham a lady said to our mother, “He

don’t want to be a child”; and for most of his life there was a

restlessness about him: much of his life was spent in what we

might consider conventional settings (Shrewsbury, Cambridge

and the Foreign Office) but he was not always at ease with the

conventional and all his life he enjoyed putting the cat among

the pigeons.

Academically David thrived at Shrewsbury. He entered the

Classical Fifth and was inspired by David Brown in Geography

to understand landscape, and by Michael Charlesworth,

Laurence Le Quesne, Michael Hart and David Gee in History

to form and defend an argument. He became a Praepostor

and won a State Scholarship in History to St John’s College,

Cambridge. Outside the classroom he enjoyed the cut and

thrust of debating, playing 2nd XI football and being a Rover;

compulsory CCF, cold baths and the hierarchical system

were less to his liking; indeed he became so ‘bolshy’ that his

parents thought it wise for him to leave as soon as possible.

Happily, he was invited by Michael Charlesworth, at that

time Head of Lawrence College in Pakistan, to go as one of

the first VSOs, to teach in the prep school. He grasped this

opportunity and then travelled by motorbike to South India to

his grandparents’ coconut plantation in Kerala; and so began a

lifelong fascination with India.

At Cambridge David made lifelong friends, debated in the

Union, and worked on Varsity. On graduation he was offered

the opportunity to stay on and help write the official history

of India, but Lord Gladwyn, who had been the British

Representative at the United Nations, had, on a visit to

Shrewsbury, inspired David to join the Foreign Office.

And so, after a year spent on Ile de Porquerolles improving

his French, while teaching English to the French Navy, David

passed the formidable Foreign Office exams and became

a diplomat. It was not always an easy fit for a man with a

contrarian bent, but it was one that saw him serve his country

loyally and resourcefully in a variety of roles (not all of them

publicly known) all over the world. His first posting was to

Malawi (where he met his future wife, who was teaching as a

VSO) and next to the United Nations in New York, working

on the Economic and Social Committee under our UN

Ambassador, Sir Ivor Richard, where he was undoubtedly

in his element. There followed postings to Morocco and

Nigeria, and, in between times, helping take down the flag

with Sir Christopher Soames in Rhodesia. David took early

retirement from the FCO, on the cusp of becoming an

ambassador, and subsequently ran the charitable arm of the

Hinduja Foundation.

For our family, David was a pioneer. He led the way for

his younger brothers, Graham and Peter, establishing a

pattern which they both followed: going first to Mill Mead

Preparatory School (boarding from the age of seven), then to

Severn Hill at Shrewsbury and then Cambridge, before gaining

a PGCE. David had a great zest for life, he enjoyed outdoor

activities and sport, especially tennis and golf. He loved

walking in cities and in the countryside. From his teenage

years he was a Fulham supporter; a fan who could remember

having seen Johnny Haynes play, while sitting in the stand

that bears his name. Above all he loved to read, and so his

knowledge was eclectic and considerable. This was put to

good use both in argument – he loved nothing more than

to challenge prevailing views, hence his vigorous support

for Brexit (a position that led to some lively discussions) –

and in devising fiendish Christmas quizzes.

In Normandy David loved reading, playing golf and shucking

oysters with the many family members and friends who visited

him there. He found friendship at Royal Mid Surrey Golf

Club and fellowship at St Peter’s, Hammersmith, where he

became a valued member of the congregation. Diagnosed with

mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer, he survived for six years

with great grit. At his funeral at St. Peter’s, his brothers and his

daughter gave moving tributes, three friends spoke with warmth

and gratitude and two granddaughters gave a beautiful rendition

of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. He leaves his widow Jan, who

was his rock and sparring partner for over 50 years, Eleanor who

works in the charity sector, Edmund who manages aquaculture

production in Neom, Saudi Arabia, Jemma who is a management

consultant, and four grandchildren who adored him. His family

and friends feel his loss deeply.

[Graham Broad (S 1960-64) and Peter Broad (S 1967-71)]

John Ronald England (Rt 1946-49)

Ronald England was born on 2nd August 1932, the eldest

of three children born to John Edgar Lewis and Sadie Bell

England. He was raised at Woodlands in Weston Park and

attended Birchfield School in Albrighton, followed by seven

years at The Old Hall School in Wellington. He achieved

100% in mathematics in his Common Entrance and entered

Ridgemount. His son and two grandsons followed in his footsteps

and have happy memories of their time at Shrewsbury.

Ronald joined the family potato business in 1952, in the fifth

successive generation. It had been founded by John Humphrey

England in London 130 years earlier; under the watchful eye

of his father and accompanied by his younger brother Howard,

they continued to build on the successes of their ancestors. By

the 1970s they were the largest potato merchants in the UK,

with branch offices and warehouses spread across the country

from Penzance in Cornwall to Forfar in Scotland. In 1983,

Ronald set up on his own as a specialist seed potato merchant,

and his son Edward joined him later that year, trading as

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Ronald England and Son Ltd. Ronald was in the potato trade

for 60 years, and a more tenacious, effective and enthusiastic

seed potato trader the world has never seen.

Ronald loved Shropshire and lived in the village of Cound

for 55 years, serving as Churchwarden for 24 years and as a

PCC member for 50 years. He was a lifelong supporter of the

local community and particularly of the beautiful church of St

Peter’s, which was a very special place of solace and spirituality

for him.

He was a kind and loving father, grandfather and greatgrandfather,

generous to his large family, whom he cherished

and valued and of whom he was always so proud. A devoted

and caring husband to Alida for 64 years and a man of honour

and loyalty as he embraced life’s journey. He died peacefully,

aged 92, on 18th August 2024, at home with his beloved

family around him.

[Ronald’s daughter, Veryan Gould]

Richard Field

(Staff 1973-2005)

Small in stature, but larger than

life and recently described as

a “giant of a man”, Richard

Field (otherwise known by his

wonderfully idiosyncratic initials

R.E.W.B.F) was an inspirational,

influential and charismatic

teacher, Housemaster and then

Registrar, who spent 33 exuberant years at Shrewsbury. Loving

husband to Patricia, father to Leona, Douglas, Miranda and

Annabel, and grandfather to 13, he died peacefully on 6th

October, surrounded by his family and devoted wife. He was,

as so many have described him, a “legend of a man”; “they

don’t make them like that anymore!”.

Always advocating adventure and shunning the commonplace

“Take Care” in favour of his much more fitting “Take Risks”,

Field’s early life was adventurous itself. Born in Cheshire in

1944, he spent his younger years travelling to where his Wing

Commander father was stationed. This included Naples and

Egypt (where his father mercifully saved his life by removing a

scorpion from his cot!).

At school (Heath Mount and then Lancing College) Richard

pursued his priority to have fun, playing games such as:

how many Mars Bars he and his friend could consume

before chapel and throwing fruit pastilles to each other over

a double decker bus, trying to catch them in their mouths,

whilst onlookers put money in a hat! Aside from these playful

tricks, at school Richard awakened his love of literature

and developed his many skills and talents, putting – as his

Housemaster’s report from 1959 described – “tremendous

effort and unbounded energy into all his many activities”.

One of these included his aptitude for football: he played for

England Schoolboys.

After a gap year at Heath Mount, Richard read English at

Cambridge, where he boxed for Fitzwilliam College. He

taught at Summerfields and moved to Shrewsbury in 1973,

having married Patricia in 1968, and welcoming Leona,

their first child that year. Initially an Assistant Housemaster

at School House, he moved on to being a much-loved

Housemaster of Ridgemount.

A former pupil paid tribute to his “interpersonal skills, deep

sense of understanding and empathy, and sense of justice;

an example of a rebel who could live in the system and

comfortably too”. Richard was fiercely passionate about

integrity, kindness and what he felt was right for the good of

the boys, staff and people in general. Whilst he enjoyed what

he described as his “privileged” life at the School, he was not

a man for airs and graces; he saw people for what they were,

and had a deep sense of gratitude, telling School leavers in

his speech that “we must never ignore the people who have

made our privileged lives possible”. His warmth, generosity,

infectious laugh and charisma rippled across the Site and far

beyond, where his sense of empathy and appreciation for

others knew no bounds.

Richard gave up hours for Samaritan night shifts, volunteered

as a prison visitor, spent Christmas Day with the homeless.

His sense of fun was coupled with a deep sense of spirituality;

he loved chugging through the Shropshire canals fulfilling

his quest for adventure and appreciating nature. As an avid

visitor of churches, he even spent a week in silence on Holy

Island. He was a man of enormous talent, but also deeply

humble and magnanimous, believing that we should not “take

ourselves too seriously”. Bravely coping with Alzheimer’s, he

said, “I’ve forgotten what I am supposed to have done. As long

as it’s been fun, that’s all.” Richard’s sense of fun, kindness,

humour, humility and exceptional teaching will be treasured…

HUZZAH for REWBF!

[Richard’s family]

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 111

Michael Hope MBE (O 1951-55)

Michael Hope was born in Liverpool on 18th October 1937

and was soon sheltering in the cellar of his home in Waterloo

on the banks of the Mersey as German bombers strafed the

city during the War.

He went to Holmwood Prep School in nearby Formby and

followed his elder brother Peter to Shrewsbury in 1951, where

he played football and cricket, and took up the French horn.

Michael was taught by the great Shrewsbury schoolmaster

Frank McEachran, whose book of ‘spells’ he would read into

his old age. He was an exact contemporary of Willie Rushton,

Paul Foot, Richard Ingrams and Christopher Booker, who

edited The Salopian before setting up Private Eye, the satirical

magazine.

After School, Michael did his National Service in Germany

with Rushton, becoming a Scout car driver and commander

in the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment. His commanding officer

said Michael was someone with “intelligence, common

sense”, who “uses his initiative well and applies himself to

any duty with enthusiasm”.

After leaving the Army, Michael was asked to be Private

Eye’s north of England representative, but he had headed to

Glasgow to work for an engineering company, returning to

Liverpool after a couple of years to work for Edward Bates, a

merchant bank.

Settled in the northwest of England, Michael combined his

financial career with football at the Liverpool Ramblers, golf at

Formby Golf Club and cricket at The Northern Club.

Michael married Caroline in 1969 and their three sons -

Christopher, Jonathan and Richard - soon followed. All three

boys were educated at Shrewsbury, in Oldham’s.

Michael set up his own private client investment company

called Silkbarn Management in the 1970s, which he grew

and expanded before eventually joining the bigger Rathbone

Brothers on Liverpool’s Pier Head in 1993.

Michael retired in 1997, aged 60, but showed no sign of

slowing down, finessing his prize-winning marmalade-making.

He was the secretary of the Hadfield Trust and Hemby Trust,

charities which gave donations to communities in Cumbria

and Merseyside, and he chaired Abbeyfield in Formby. He

was awarded the MBE for his role in supporting farmers in

Cumbria hit by the 2001 foot and mouth crisis.

Michael loved his time at Shrewsbury and kept in touch all

his life with Old Salopians like his Oldham’s contemporary

Dr Richard Legge. Michael suffered with arthritis in his hips

since the late 1970s. He was on his walking sticks or crutches

for a lot of the time, but he never complained about his lack of

mobility, enjoying walking in the mountains in Scotland and

the Lake District. In true Salopian tradition, he always made

the best of a tricky situation - as when he went up Helvellyn

one way and came down on the wrong side of the mountain.

When they were not seeing their nine grandchildren, Michael

and Caroline travelled widely in retirement to South Africa, Sri

Lanka and Norway. It was a big shock when Michael’s health

deteriorated after two strokes in 2019 and 2020. He died

peacefully at home on 30th April 2024.

[Michael’s son, Christopher Hope (O 1985-90)]

Clive C. C. Johnstone (SH 1977-81)

Clive Charles Carruthers Johnstone was born on 6th

September 1963 in Kampala, Uganda, where his father was

a chartered water engineer and his mother, Patricia, was a

nurse. Clive had distinguished forebears, being a seventh

generation great-grandson of Charles II and his mistress Louise

de Kerouaille. Through his paternal grandmother he was also

a fourth generation great-grandson of Captain Henry Napier,

three of whose brothers were generals and one of whom,

General Sir Charles Napier, achieved fame for his role in the

Peninsular War and also for reporting his capture of the Indian

province of Sind in one word, ‘peccavi’. Clive had a naturally

authoritative personality; when he was only two or three years

old, his mother used to refer to him as ‘The Admiral’; he liked

to wear uniforms, particularly the campaign cap which his

grandfather had worn at Gallipoli.

When the family returned to the U.K. in 1969, Clive

attended the Dragon School in Oxford, before coming on to

Shrewsbury in 1977, where he studied Mathematics, Business

Studies and Geography in the Sixth Form. He received a naval

bursary to read anthropology at Durham, where he rowed

for the university and for the GB Juniors and competed as an

international before his rowing career was ended by injuries

sustained in a road accident.

After graduating from Britannia Royal Naval College,

Dartmouth, his first ship was the fishery protection vessel

Shetland; subsequently he was navigating officer on the

minesweeper Nurton, before joining the directing staff at

Dartmouth. By 1966 he was first lieutenant of the Royal

Yacht Britannia during its final commission, which included

the Prince of Wales’s historic visit to Northern Ireland, the

handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997 and Queen

Elizabeth II’s summer cruise to the Western Isles.

In 1999 he commanded the frigate Iron Duke in the Adriatic,

during the war in Kosovo. He then served as the fleet

programmer, allocating ships and resources to a variety of

operational tasks. On promotion to Captain he commanded

Bulwark. It was then that he took part in the largest British

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evacuation since Dunkirk. Sailing into Beirut harbour in

July 2006 and operating under the guns of both sides in

the endemic hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israelis,

Johnstone and his crew ferried 1,300 people to safety in

Cyprus and remained to stabilise the situation. In recognition

of his achievement, Johnston was appointed CBE, before

becoming principal staff officer to the chief of the defence

staff. Promoted to Rear-Admiral he successively became Flag

Officer Sea Training in 2011, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff

(Policy) in 2013 and Commander Allied Maritime Command

(Marcom) in 2015. Until 2019 and working for the Supreme

Allied Commander Europe, he was the most senior maritime

adviser in NATO. This role was tailor-made for Johnstone,

whose intelligence and strategic insight enabled him to

harmonise the disparate personalities, cultural sensitivities and

national interests inherent and endemic in the political and

military complexities of the Alliance.

Clive was knighted in 2019 and retired from the Royal Navy

in the following year. He was then recruited as director of

strategy by BMT and became a senior fellow of the Royal

United Services Institute. Last year he was appointed

president of the Royal British Legion and he led the Legion on

Remembrance Sunday.

Clive’s party piece was an impersonation of Noel Coward

in In Which We Serve. He was well known for his modest,

self-effacing conversational style and his ability to engage with

people from a wide variety of background and experience.

He had a strong aversion to television and he and his family

used to relax at a cottage on the shores of Loch Fyne, where

he enjoyed hill-walking, therapeutic wood-chopping and

fishing. He was a self-acknowledged workaholic, who always

committed himself with energy, determination and enthusiasm

to every project or cause that he undertook.

In 1990 he married the noted opera singer Alison Duguid,

whom he met in their second week at university. She survives

him with their two daughters, Phoebe, who is a doctor, and

Emily, a travel executive.

Vice-Admiral Sir Clive Johnstone KBE, CB died suddenly on

12th May 2024, aged 60.

[With grateful acknowledgment to The Times.]

William (Bill) M. Kelly (Rt 1947-52)

Bill Kelly was born in 1935 and entered Ridgemount in

September 1947. His early upbringing was in wartime

Cornwall, nearly surrounded by the sea, and he developed

an ambition to join the Royal Navy at the age of 13. But

his father determined otherwise, and although Bill was sent

unwillingly to Shrewsbury he spoke ever after of the wisdom

of this decision. Throughout his time at Ridgemount, and for

the remainder of his life, he cherished a deep affection and

particular regard for his Housemaster, David Bevan (DJVB),

and for David’s wife, Hillary. And Bill often recalled fleeting

glimpses of the young Nick Bevan (NVB) whose childhood

was unfolding on the private side. In due course, Bill secured

his School Certificate and left for Dartmouth a committed and

thankful Old Salopian.

The Navy my father joined is depicted in the 1953 film

The Cruel Sea. He said that the movie captured the spirit of

the service he entered. As a specialist navigator, Bill’s raison

d’être was to be at sea. Following his marriage in 1958, he

and his beloved wife, Joan, determined that they would

gather as a family wherever, and whenever, his ship came

alongside for more than a few weeks. My mother would rent

accommodation ashore, and for brief periods they would

enjoy married life together. Malta, Aden, Hong Kong,

Singapore, the United States were all temporary addresses

in their first few years of marriage. It was a highly successful

partnership, Joan’s homemaking in remote places proving

her initiative and resilience.

Three moments in Bill’s naval career bear modest historical

significance. The first was his involvement in an experiment

to populate a NATO warship with a multi-national crew from

seven NATO nations. This highly-scrutinised evolution was

known as the ‘Mixed-Manning Demonstration’ and it lasted

between 1964 and 1965. He served as navigator on board the

USS Claude V Ricketts throughout her deployment. The aim

was to demonstrate the effectiveness of mixed-manning as part

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 113

of NATO plans for a Multilateral Nuclear Force. Although

the Force did not come into being, the demonstration proved

to be a notable success, and the difficulties encountered in

operating with an international crew were overcome. The

Demonstration last received detailed scholarly attention in

2005, when an assessment of its importance was published in

the Journal of Military History.

The second involved a challenge laid down by Bill – then

captain of HMS Rapid – to the Captain of HMS Cavalier to

race these two wartime destroyers along the Firth of Forth. The

idea probably germinated from his experience as an oarsman

in the Shrewsbury First Eight (1950-52). The race was of twohours’

duration and took place on 6th July 1971. A moment’s

inattention to a crucial steam valve (which consequently lifted)

instantly dissolved the length-and-a-half advantage Rapid

carried at that time and she lost to Cavalier by a little over two

lengths. A thrilling film of the race is preserved in the Imperial

War Museum, with a copy on YouTube.

Lastly, after commanding a Minesweeping Squadron in Hong

Kong, Bill was posted to Kuwait in 1973. He was charged with

the design and construction of a navy for Britain’s key ally in

the Gulf. He started with a blank sheet of paper. Today, 50

years later, the Kuwaiti Navy incorporates 2,200 officers and

men operating ten warships and over 50 inshore patrol vessels

from a permanent naval base.

After leaving the Royal Navy in 1982, Bill continued to work

in the defence industry until 2000. In retirement he devoted

himself to his family. He and Joan designed a narrow boat in

which they spent happy days and weeks on the waterways.

Together they rescued a succession of Boxer dogs. After Joan’s

sudden death in 2004, he moved to Pembrokeshire only a few

miles from where they had first started married life. He died

peacefully in Caldey Grange Care Home on 3rd November

2023, after a long and resistant struggle against dementia.

[Bill’s son, Jim Kelly (Rt 1973-78)]

James Lawson with Sir David Attenborough in the Taylor Library 2001 on

the occasion of the unveiling of the Darwin statue on Central

by Attenborough.

James B. Lawson (Staff 1965-95)

James Lawson joined the staff in 1965, and he remained

the School Archivist and Librarian for 30 years. He taught

History and also English on an occasional basis and was a

devoted supporter of the Bastille Society.

As the son of a clergyman (his father became vicar of

Bicton and then of St Michael’s in Shrewsbury) and one

of six children, James grew up in a ‘bookish and scholarly’

household with strong Christian foundations. Not being a

strong Classicist, he was sent to Repton on a scholarship,

where in due course some of his contemporaries christened

him ‘the Ancient Brit’. After reading History at Lincoln

College, Oxford, he was as a research assistant at the History

of Parliament Trust, quite a prestigious position for a young

man, before returning to his home in Shrewsbury, where he

took up work as deputy editor of the Victoria County History

of Shropshire. The new Headmaster of Shrewsbury School,

Donald Wright, sought advice from Dr Walter Oakeshott at

Lincoln College, Oxford (who happened to be James’s tutor)

about someone to take over the Ancient Library from Stacy

Colman (Staff 1928-66). He responded crisply, “The man you

are looking for is already in Shropshire.”

James arrived at Shrewsbury in the early turbulent years of the

ardent reforming Wright and took over the Moser and Taylor

Libraries, as well as the Archives, and was a member of the

History Faculty. Early in his tenure, he was deeply shaken by

Wright’s destruction of the statue of the great 19th century

Headmaster Samuel Butler, which stood in the rear entrance

to the Library. This had been commissioned from N.H. Baily

(creator of Nelson’s statue on Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar

Square), funded by public subscription soon after his death,

and originally sited in St Mary’s Church. In the twentieth

century it was moved to the School. This inexplicable act

of iconoclasm appalled many, especially as it did not even

belong to the School. Michael Lawson, James’s nephew,

recalls that, “On the day it occurred, James returned home

white-faced, his hands shaking”. Jean Alford, wife of John

Alford, later Head of Art (1958-89) was walking along the

footpath behind the Moser Buildings and witnessed workmen

attacking the statue. Shocked, she went over and asked why

they were doing it. “Orders from above,” was their reply.

Many pupils will recall that James occupied the Archives

Room, which was a sort of lair from which he conducted

operations. During his long tenure, he researched the

collections thoroughly and made brief notes on a large

selection of rare books and manuscripts, as well as longer

articles and monographs, thus leaving an invaluable legacy of

collection research. His teaching methods were eccentric, and

his lessons were punctuated by his inimitable high-pitched

laugh. Very soon he earned the nickname of “batman” by

his habit of flying round the Site on a racing bicycle with his

gown billowing out behind him. He was a scholar down to

his fingertips and his teaching was marked by a command of

detail and reference that few of his colleagues could match.

He was also a dedicated local historian and ‘dirt archaeologist’.

He was on the council of the Shropshire Archaeology Society

for over 50 years and its chairman for almost 40. Early in his

time at Shrewsbury, he was lucky to escape with his life when

a wall collapsed while he and a colleague were excavating a

deep trench at the Roman city of Viroconium. A local paper

recorded the gravity of the incident. “Mrs Lawson ran to

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the Shrewsbury – Ironbridge road and hailed a car… Its

occupants managed to free Mr Lawson’s head before firemen

and Civil Defence workers arrived… Mr Lawson, who was

fully conscious, helped to direct the rescue operation and was

freed an hour later.”

He was a member of the Shrewsbury Drapers’ Company, for

which he became archivist, and in 1968 he became Master of

the Company; he was also Master on four subsequent occasions.

Perhaps in addition to these scholarly and professional roles,

James will be equally remembered as a countryman. For the

last 40 years, he and Jill lived at the eight-and-a-half-acre

Westcott Farm in the hills above Habberley, where James

expanded his herd of goats and produced generations of cats

that found homes with many friends and members of the

School community. James’s widow Jill points out that, “He

was a long-standing member of the Soil Association. There

was a matter of principle involved here; it wasn’t just fun. It

tells you as much about the man as his addiction to cats.”

[Robin Brooke-Smith (S 1961-66 and Staff 1986-94 and

2014-24) and James’ nephew, Michael Lawson]

Tim J Lewis (R 1950-55)

“TJ Lewis led the side admirably” - not our words but taken

from the 1956 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanac, referring to our

beloved father’s season as captain of the Shrewsbury 1st XI

cricket team. However, it’s an apt phrase to describe Dad’s

whole life: he showed admirable leadership at home, at the

office, but especially at and with Shrewsbury School, the

enduring chorus of his life.

In 1950, Dad was the first of nine Lewis boys to attend

Shrewsbury, two and four years respectively ahead of his

younger brothers, Anthony and Stephen. All were in Rigg’s

under the care of Hugh Brooke. Highlights from Dad’s

Shrewsbury career included not only the 1st XI captaincy but

also editing The Salopian alongside Messrs Ingrams, Rushton

et al and being made Head of School, with the Headmaster

writing to Dad’s father, “I can honestly say that I have never

had so good a Head of the School, and I don’t think it likely

that I shall see his like again”. However, what Dad really

relished about Shrewsbury was the many friendships he

made, among his own contemporaries, with members of

staff and subsequently with numerous Old Salopians from

subsequent vintages.

Following National Service in the K.S.L.I, Dad left Worcester

College Oxford to join K Shoes in 1960, rising to become

Managing Director of K Shoe Shops. In 1989, he was headhunted

to run Blackwell’s bookshops in Oxford, a post from

which he retired in 1993. Dad played multiple roles during his

retirement, but it was his reinvigoration of the Old Salopian

Golfing Society (OSGS), as Honorary Secretary, of which he

was most proud. This combined Dad’s two loves of golf and

Shrewsbury. Under his watch, membership thrived, coffers

bulged and the Fasti was transformed. Young members were

encouraged to attend, with generous subsidies, and a

whole new generation of Old Salopians grew to love their

Honorary Secretary.

His crowning achievement was the annual Scottish Tour, when

the OSGS were given access to the hallowed links of Muirfield.

Quite how Dad pulled it off, we never knew. But that was

Dad! Likewise, as President of the Old Salopian Club in 2007,

Dad was eager to ensure his annual dinner was no staid affair.

He had twigged that the Lord Mayor of London was an OS,

and so, after pulling in some favours, his dinner was hosted in

the splendour of the Mansion House, with Lord Heseltine (M

1947-51) giving a typically forthright address.

Dad was married to our mother, Ann, for 59 years, and we

three sons went through Rigg’s between 1980 and 1992.

Dad was treasured by his three daughters-in-law and was

of course an excellent grandfather. Sadly, a stroke in 2021

limited his mobility, but he greatly enjoyed hearing Salopian

news until the very end of his life. In fact, it was typical that

even posthumously, Dad was contributing to The Salopian

magazine, for he had submitted some reminiscences about

his dear friend Sandy Bell who had made it to the first tee

“upstairs” a few months before Dad’s own time came to

join him. In all, Dad’s was a life well-lived and indebted

throughout to all that Shrewsbury School gave him.

[Tim’s sons Christopher (R 1980-85), Simon (R 1985-90)

and Edward Lewis (R 1987-92)]

Julian Lewis-Booth (M 1981-85)

Julian was born in South Manchester on 29th December

1968, the son of Anthony and Mary Lewis-Booth. His father

tragically died of leukaemia in 1971, and Mary was remarried

in 1975 to Michael Stephenson.

After attending Ramillies Hall School, Julian arrived at

Shrewsbury in 1981. He was a proficient oarsman and was

proud to take a position as one of the powerhouses in the

third eight in the Sixth Form – a level that didn’t come with

early morning training sessions! He was also a keen biologist

at School and had an incredible thirst for knowledge and the

ability to retain facts. Many may remember Julian as having

a healthy disregard for authority at School: he was only made

a House Monitor in his final term when his Housemaster,

Peter Cox, suddenly realised he hadn’t made him one earlier

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 115

in the year. When I followed Julian into Moser’s Hall three

years after he had left, I remember the Sixth Formers of

the time talking very affectionately about my older brother

‘Lou-baps’. Sporting prowess and praepostorships were not

the benchmarks by which Julian’s success at School were

measured; fond memories and his many enduring friendships

are far more appropriate criteria.

After Shrewsbury, Julian moved to London and had a

successful career working in IT and sales for companies

including Ernst & Young and Computacenter. He felt the

call of Stockport by the late 90s and moved back up north

to join the family business, Stephensons, where he became

Commercial Director and helped the business to flourish.

He re-kindled his passion for rugby and joined Stockport

Rugby Club as a player and coach, contributing immensely

to the sporting, financial and social aspects of the club, which

has recently named the new 1st XV pitch stand in his name.

Julian was every bit the family man, marrying his childhood

sweetheart, Nikki, in 1995. They were joined by Alex in

1999 and James in 2003, both of whom had a very close

relationship with their dad. One of his proudest moments was

playing in a game for Stockport alongside both his sons in the

forward pack.

Julian died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition on

14th June 2024 at the age of 55. Of his many achievements,

his willingness and ability to help others perhaps stands out as

his greatest. Nothing was ever too much trouble, and he will

be hugely missed by all those whose life he touched.

[Julian’s brother, Henry Stephenson (M 1989-94)]

Fawley, Henley Town, August 1963. Tony Lorrimer, Robert Bell,

Eddie Edmondson plus pot, Jamie Mill, Graham Davidson

Tony Lorrimer (SH 1959-64)

If there was one thing that marked Tony out to all who knew

him, it was his gift as a storyteller; and as he had a jocular

irreverence for the conventional—practically expressed—he

was also a story maker.

Born on 15th January 1946, he spent his early years in

Barrow-Upon-Soar, before going away to prep school to

generate stories about hurling aniseed balls through dormitory

windows, skimming slices of toast across the breakfast dining

room, and fleeing from errant fireworks. At Shrewsbury he

chose rowing above cross-country running or cricket, with

tales of attacks by swans, the sinking of Dayboys in Bumpers,

and about the cadet force. Looking back, we both realised that

rowing at Shrewsbury determined his course through life –

work taking something of a back seat.

After leaving School, Tony rowed at Leicester, producing

colourful tales of the old Club ambulance, with sports car

baiting, and falling out of unlocked car doors. We met at

Leicester, where I received consummate coaching on how to

scull faster – and on how to get thrown out of a pub with style.

Marriage came next, Tony and I first moving from Leicester

to Gloucester and then to Nottingham to be near the national

rowing course at Holme Pierrepont. Tales now of coaching

with the new women’s national squad and also national junior

crews. Tony and I joined Nottingham Boat Club – and he

eventually became President – which proved one of the most

significant events of his life. It brought him companionship

and a focus for his energies in organising, coaching and rowing

in numerous crews for the rest of his time. He was always

willing to fill in for a crew that was short and to compete at

any event… so we travelled all over the country.

Masters rowing brought new challenges and wins, finally at

Henley and at the World Championships, the high spots of his

rowing career of which he was inordinately proud and which

featured in more stories.

Tony was more than my husband; he was my coach, confidant

and supporter in everything that I did. He was always there

for me and for our family and had an unquenchable zest for

life. There is an unfillable gap in our lives, but the stories

will go on.

Graham Davidson (SH 1960-65) adds a story that Tony

particularly enjoyed telling – and embellishing. In August

1963, the School chose three crews to go to Henley Town.

Tony was not selected – which he took as a red rag. He formed

his own crew, and after no more than two practice outings, not

only beat the other School crews, but also won their category

– Novice Fours – their first victory in the outside world.

Nothing pleased Tony more than cocking a gentle snook at

the establishment. Later that day, Tony and Robert met a

drunken Old Salopian (Old Slopper) in the beer tent, where

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he generously plied them with Pimm’s, the only downside

being that he forced them to sing, loudly, Floreat Salopia – to

their acute embarrassment. At HRR it might just have been

acceptable, but at Henley Town?

And finally, a School House reunion in 2005 led to an annual

HRR Thursday get-together of some dozen of us, under the

large oak tree in Butler’s Field. Tony provided fish, gazebos,

cutlery and comedy. In his independent, politely unruly,

impish spirit, he was a Salopian through and through. He died

on 9th June 2024. He is and will be much missed.

[Tony’s wife, Liz Lorrimer, and friend, Graham Davidson

(SH 1960-65)]

School House Reunion, June 2005. Tony, Graham and Jamie.

Peter Macdonald (Staff 1970-76)

Born in Leeds, Peter was the fourth of five children born

to Joan and Alexander Macdonald. The family moved to St

Andrews when Peter was barely six months old.

Primary school, the West Infants in St Andrews, which Peter

always called the “West Impants” was followed by Prep School

and a scholarship to Glenalmond College. It was here that his

talent for singing was noticed and encouraged. At home, he

began his church responsibilities by assisting his father, the priest,

as Boat Boy, in the rituals of the Episcopalian Church. Between

the church and Glenalmond, his lifelong love of music was born

and nurtured. A “Boat Boy” is usually the youngest server. Peter

was five, and his solemn duty was to carry the incense boat and

accompany the thurifer. Later he moved into the choir at All

Saints’ which he ultimately ran for his father.

Admitted to St Andrews to read Classics, Latin and Greek were

sidelined in favour of English Language and Literature. Oxford

followed, where much of his time was spent singing, for a

while in Schola Cantorum.

Shrewsbury was Peter’s first teaching post where he become

House Tutor in Moser’s Hall. Wildlife, in particular birds,

became a passion, an interest shared with his Housemaster

Robin Moulsdale. Music and the theatre continued to play a

major part in his life as he produced plays, sang, played violin

with the orchestra, and even founded his own Madrigal Choir,

including girls from the local High School, a progressive step

in the early 1970s. ‘Kek’ (Frank McEachran) and the Head of

English Willie Jones were to be lifelong influences.

In 1976 Peter returned to Glenalmond, where he was Head of

English for 17 years. Here he developed a passion for sailing in

the glorious coastal waters of the west of Scotland, building on

skills learnt as a boy in St Andrews.

1992 brought a move to London to be with Catriona. The pair

had first met in Shrewsbury in the 1970s but had steadfastly

resisted being defined as a couple. In 1994 they married, and

Peter took up a post at King’s College School in Wimbledon.

In 2002 Catriona’s career took her to Jersey, where Peter found

employment teaching at Black’s Academy.

In retirement, Peter and Catriona settled at their beloved

Greenwith Wood Farm which was to be their home for almost

20 years.

Mark Allsup writes: “Peter’s teaching style was refreshingly

different and highly engaging. This stemmed partly from

his youthful age and appearance, with his floppy fringe and

infectious grin, but also from his almost gleeful enthusiasm for

the set texts, particularly Shakespearian, which he delighted in

reading aloud, taking parts along with the class.

“For those lacking self-confidence or finding teenage life

difficult, Peter was a sensitive and supportive figure. His

personal interest in one’s progress was always evident. I

can still hear the elation in his voice as he collared me in

the House, ‘Two Grade Ones!’ (at English Literature and

English Language O-Level) and recall his encouraging

comment, ‘A+, unlike like anything I have read before’ (at

the foot of a very experimental essay barely related to the

task we had been given).

“As I realised later in life, we were very lucky to have been in a

House with an exceptional Housemaster and a hugely talented

House Tutor. Robin Moulsdale was charismatic and fiercely

competitive, which extended not only to House sporting

results, but also to the marks on one’s fortnightly pink cards.

Peter Macdonald was a more informal but equally determined

presence, with a profound love of literature and music, which

stood out in a fairly cynical Salopian era. Together, they made

an outstanding team.”

[Iain McAvoy (DB 1967-72) with Mark Allsup

(M 1968-73)]

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 117

Iain Mackenzie (S 1950-55)

Our elder brother Iain died on 10th August 2024, aged 87.

He was at Severn Hill from 1950-55, where we both followed

him. We were all born in Sheffield. Iain was surprised to be

told by his Housemaster Patrick Childs, while walking back

from Top Schools one evening in 1955, that he had a place at

St John’s College, Cambridge. He rowed for Lady Margaret 1st

VIII and read Medicine.

After graduating MB BChir in 1961, Iain married Brigid

(née O’Flynn) in 1962. They became part of the stream of

immigrants to the USA in 1965, first living in Madison, WI

and Boston, MA, where Iain worked in private practice as

a gastroenterologist and where he completed an M.D. from

Cambridge. His thesis won the Raymond Horton-Smith Prize

and the Sir Lionel Whitby Gold Medal. Iain is survived by

two daughters, Alison and Jillian, and four grandchildren. At

York Hospital, Iain was an attending physician, president of

the medical staff, and a member of the board of trustees; he

also founded a medical practice named The Digestive Disease

Center. After Brigid’s death in 2002, Iain spent a few years

living in Florida, then near the Metropolitan Opera House

in New York City and his daughter Jill, before settling in Las

Vegas. He didn’t gamble but enjoyed the Las Vegas weather,

restaurants and shows, seeing every musical act that came to

town, from Lady Gaga to Fleetwood Mac.

A true bon vivant, he is remembered for his love of steam

trains (he had about 20 working steam engines), horse

racing (his horse Prakas at one time held the World Record

for Harness Racers), sports cars (he owned the first Lotus

Turbo Esprit imported to USA and a Mercedes V 12 SL 65),

and excellent restaurants (Joël Robuchon 3-star Michelin in

Las Vegas was his favourite); he was a skilled raconteur (he

proposed a superb toast to The President in response to the

Toast to the Queen given by one of the Winklevoss twins at

the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race Dinner of 2012 in New

York). Cambridge won, despite the race being interrupted

by a swimming protestor. Iain’s wit and infectious laugh,

unwavering support for all his family members and generosity

to visiting Salopians, will be remembered by all. May he now

rest in peace.

[Iain’s brothers, Colin Mackenzie (S 1955-60) and Quentin

Mackenzie (S 1958-61)]

Iain Rowing 2 in the LMBC VIII Bumps in 1956

David Wynn Millward (Rt 1957-62)

Born in Shrewsbury on 19th June 1944, David Millward

spent his childhood partly in Mid-Wales and partily in Sudan,

where his father was a consulting engineer for the Sudanese

Government. In Ridgemount he made lifelong friends and

nurtured his great passion for art and sports. He especially

loved cricket and would reminisce fondly to the family about

the semi-final of House Cricket, when he took 7 for 45 for

Ridgemount against Ingram’s on Chances. Fellow Salopian

and friend Peter Stewart recalls that David was a very good legspinner

and could also bowl the googly.

David’s greatest passion was art. While at Shrewsbury he was

awarded the Imaginative Painting Prize four times, the Life

Drawing Prize and the James Hill Art Prize. By the time he left

School he knew he wanted to be an artist, but his father had

other ideas, so he went to St Andrews University to study law.

Just one year after he was awarded his degree, his father died,

leaving David the watermill he’d converted into a home in

the 1940s and 50s. Instead of pursuing a career in law, David

began painting to master the Montgomeryshire landscape and

working as a freelance artist.

In 1971, he gained a place at the Royal Academy in London

to study drawing, painting and printing. He also published his

first children’s picture book, The Feast of the Balloon Fish King,

and met his future wife, author Jenny Nimmo. They married

in 1974 and soon made a home in Wales with their three

children, Myfanwy, Ianto and Gwen. With the help of Jenny,

David set up the Summer School of Painting and Drawing at

Henllan Mill in 1982. The School continued for four decades,

with students attending from all over the world. David

was a talented and inspiring teacher and built long-lasting

relationships with many of his students.

Meanwhile, he continued to paint and print, and had work

in many public and private collections, from Europe to New

Zealand and South Africa. He also illustrated a number of

children’s books, including The Dragons of Snowdon and

Granny Grimm’s Gruesome Glasses. For The Dictionary of

Artists in Wales, David described his influences and themes as

“landscape, love, and humanity”. Those who have met him

and seen his work will know how much he loved the people in

his community and beyond, and the beautiful Welsh landscape

where he spent most of his life.

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David also cared deeply about the environment, and with

Jenny created a haven for nature. He worked in harmony

with wildlife, and when jackdaws tried to make nests in the

chimneys, he built them great birdhouses, high in the trees.

David remained active, building, painting and creating until

his final days. He passed away peacefully on 22nd April,

listening to music in the home he had loved since childhood.

David leaves behind his wife Jenny, three children, four

grandchildren and older sisters Jennifer and Geraldine. He is

greatly missed by all his friends and family.

[David’s daughter, Myfanwy Millward]

David Osborne (O 1956-61)

David Osborne was called to the Bar (Temple) in 1974 and

became a Criminal Barrister. Latterly he lived in Combe

Florey, Somerset with his wife Sally and their four children.

In the Courtroom there was a hint of the theatrical with

David. He was equally comfortable on stage: he wrote and

performed two one-man shows of legal humour. He also

wrote similar styled novels and was an accomplished afterdinner

speaker.

David was kind and witty: he was charming and had style.

He was one of a kind. RIP

[David’s brother, John Osborne (O 1955-60)]

Robert (Bob) E Pryce (S 1961-66)

Bob Pryce, the eldest of the three sons of David Pryce, an

RAF Wing Commander and of Joyce, née Godfree, was

born in London in 1949. Pryce senior had two postings to

Singapore, so young Robert was sent to board at an early

age. At Shrewsbury, he made his contribution both to the

academic and to the sporting activities of the School. In a

move that he later regretted, he chose Double Maths and

Physics at A level, instead of the Arts subjects which would

have been more suited to his abilities and nature. He enjoyed

anything that was sports-related. He played football in the

3rd XI and was a promising rugby player, but his progress in

the sport was abruptly terminated when he broke his leg at

the age of 16. He was not comfortable in, or well attuned to,

many of the features of the traditional Public School which

were characteristic of Shrewsbury during his time, but which

were to be abolished only a few years later. However, there

were signs, even then and there, of a talent which was to lead

to a highly successful and widely acclaimed career. The sport

section of Severn Hill’s notice board was filled with pages

of his immaculately neat handwriting, listing teams, league

tables, fixtures, goal scorers and cricket averages. Also, while

at the School, Bob developed a lasting affection for the local

team, Shrewsbury Town. In his later years, he and his youngest

brother, Tony, followed the team around the country.

Bob’s father bought an hotel in mid-Wales on retirement and

the whole family participated in the move. Bob had one year

at Keele University before making his way in journalism,

including stints on Fruit Trades Journal, Table Tennis magazine,

Time Out and The Times. He then spent the next 23 years

on The Guardian, interrupted only by an exchange deal with

The Age in Melbourne. Predominantly he was one of The

Guardian’s team of football writers but he spent his last three

years there at the Business desk.

A colleague reports that ‘His prose was flowing and witty,

with occasional wild flights of fancy. When Reading were

climbing the ladder, he likened them to Shaolin monks:

“unprepossessing and unthreatening, yet able to walk through

walls”. He enjoyed the old Saturday for Monday match reports

that allowed him time for rumination, and he also edited

entertaining soccer diaries. His main job, however, was in the

office as a subeditor. “He had a lot of quirky information,”

said the then sports editor, “and the writers felt in safe hands

when he had their copy. He was very well-liked and very much

at home”. When Shrewsbury Town escaped relegation from

the League, at the last gasp, The Guardian let him throw away

neutrality, “We got on the scrumpy and did not return home

until noon yesterday, bleary, unshaven and relieved”, Bob

remembered.

Sadly, Bob’s last years were blighted by fibrosis. His brothers,

Jonathan and Tony, with his three nephews and a niece, miss a

laid-back, knowledgeable and unjudgmental companion.

[With grateful acknowledgment to The Guardian and to

Anthony Pryce (S 1966-71)]

James Struan Douglas Robertson (Ch 1950-55)

Struan Robertson was born in Rangoon, Burma on 6th May

1936. Before coming to Shrewsbury, he spent four years at

Boxgrove School (under the headship of Jack Evershed, himself

an Old Salopian of great character), where he made lifelong

friends. While at Churchill’s, in the time of Alec Binney, he

would travel up to The Schools from Paddington with his

ebullient Churchill’s contemporaries Richard Ingrams and Bill

Rushton, joined later by his younger brother Peter John (1953-

58). The journey was never boring or long.

In his first summer, Struan coxed the School VIII at Henley.

He went on to excel in cross-country running, read History

and became a respected House Monitor. In the holidays he

became, according to season, a proficient golfer, sailor and

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 119

skier. After School and National Service, he tried the law

before opting for a military career with his former regiment,

the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

Struan served with distinction in Suez, Cyprus, Borneo

and Aden and completed four tours in Northern Ireland,

gaining a Mention in Dispatches, during one tour, for

leadership and bravery.

Retiring from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1987 to

be the Vice Chair of the Earl Haig Fund in Scotland, Struan

had more frequent opportunities to enjoy his favourite pursuit,

golf. He was a proud member of both the Royal & Ancient

Golf Club in St Andrews and The Honourable Company of

Edinburgh Golfers in Gullane, prepared to play in any weather

and relishing the social side of the game as much as the sport

itself. On moving from Scotland to Bury St Edmunds at

the very end of his life, he joined the Royal Worlington and

Newmarket Golf Club with great enthusiasm, making a host

of new friends in the process. Struan married Gabrielle (née

Maynard) in 1962, with whom he had three children, James,

Alice and Angus. She supported him loyally during all their

numerous postings and pre-deceased him in 2013.

Struan had an extraordinary ability to make friends wherever

he might find himself and to enjoy laughing at the absurd,

whether that be in the street, the supermarket or in a doctor’s

waiting room. He possessed a remarkable memory, particularly

for names, was fascinated by people and always wanted to

know more about an individual’s life and character. It was

always obvious to his family when he had ‘not really cared for

somebody’ because he would deliberately forget part of their

name or even mispronounce it. He loved the company

of young people and in the final months of his life when

activities were curtailed by illness, he was greatly interested

in his seven grandchildren and their various paths. He was

an intensely proud Salopian and loved to reminisce about

his days at the Schools.

[Struan’s daughter, Alice Sheepshanks]

Colin St Johnston (Ch 1948-53)

Colin was educated at Repton Prep School, then at St Bede’s

Eastbourne, before coming to Shrewsbury. We became best

friends for life when we met as new boys at Churchill’s in

1948. We were fortunate to be part of an intake where we

were all good friends and to be guided by Alec Binney, the

best of Housemasters.

Colin was a good scholar on the History Side and particularly

valued being taught in the Sixth Form by Laurence Le Quesne.

He was also a great all-round sportsman, a first eleven cricketer

and footballer and captain of fives. In 1952, Shrewsbury’s

Fourth Centenary year, we were honoured by a royal visit.

HM Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip spent most of a day

witnessing the life of the School and opening the new Fourth

Centenary terrace overlooking the town and the river. At a

select lunch in School House Colin, by then Head of School,

sat between the Queen and the Duke.

After leaving Shrewsbury, he was a National Service officer in

the North Staffs (his father’s regiment in World War II), where

he served mainly in Hong Kong.

Having won the Heath Harrison Exhibition to Lincoln

College, he duly arrived at Oxford in 1955, where he

proceeded to have a good time. He enhanced his sporting

achievements by gaining a Fives Blue and becoming an Oxford

Authentics cricketer and a member of Vincent’s. He was also

a good squash and tennis player. Despite all these diversions

Colin found time to get a decent degree and to court Valerie

Paget, an historian at LMH who had many suitors. They both

lived near Burton on Trent and met playing tennis when Colin

was 16. They had been close ever since and were married

soon after coming down from Oxford. They then started their

distinguished careers and their lovely family of four children,

all of them now similarly distinguished in their own fields.

Colin worked initially for Booker Brothers, where he was

assistant to chairman Sir Jock Campbell. He then went to

British Guiana, then back to the UK as chief executive of

United Rum Merchants. He was headhunted to Ocean

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Steamship, where he became Chairman of the Wm. Cory

Division. While at Ocean he again met the Duke of

Edinburgh, being active in organising the Commonwealth

Leaders’ Conferences, which gathered people from all over the

world to study the human aspect of the relationship between

industry and the community around it. For his final job before

retirement, he was the Director of PRONED, the organisation

for finding, selecting and placing non-executive directors.

Valerie meanwhile had moved from a career in advertising

to a career in teaching and latterly was the celebrated head

of history and the first woman to head a department at

Westminster School.

Colin’s ‘retirement’ was a busy and fulfilling part of his life.

He was a governor of Camden Girls’ School and of Arnold

House Prep School. He was treasurer of a fundraising group

of residents working successfully to prevent the closure of the

Primrose Hill Library. Valerie still works there as a volunteer.

Continuing as a sportsman, Colin played lawn tennis and real

tennis at Lord’s and served on the MCC Committee. Only in

the sporting arena was he ruthless. Like all good games players,

he liked to win, even when playing squash left-handed to give

me a chance. One of my greatest pleasures in later life was to

sit with my oldest and dearest friend watching a test match at

Lord’s, often discussing our days at Shrewsbury.

Colin was the kindest, friendliest, most generous and most

modest of men, loved by all who knew him.

[Clive Aldred (Ch 1948-53)]

Adrian Struvé (Staff 1950-86)

Adrian was born in 1925 in the Upper Nile Province of the

Sudan, where his father was Governor, but the family moved

in the following year to Switzerland, where Adrian learned

French before English and climbed, skied and holidayed

with his parents across Europe and Scandinavia, returning to

England only one day before war was declared in 1939. Adrian

became a Christian at Clifton College and this allegiance

ripened into total commitment to a life of Christian witness

and service. After National Service on a Royal Navy destroyer,

where he was known at ‘Joe Struve’, (his companions being

unable to cope with his unusual surname, with its accented

‘e’) Adrian went on to take up his scholarship to read Modern

Languages at Caius College Cambridge and these were the

subjects that he taught at Shrewsbury, throughout his 36 years

on the staff.

Adrian was a Housemaster twice, in Churchill’s for four years

and in Headroom for two. He was a bachelor when invited

to take charge of Churchill’s in 1963, but he married in

the holidays before he took up residence and, to everyone’s

surprise, he arrived with his beloved Brenda and her four-yearold

daughter Kate. Brenda and Adrian subsequently had two

sons together, James and Ben. Adrian was also Housemaster

of Headroom for two years (1974-76), during which the

brief experiment to divide School House into two separate

Houses (the other House being Doctor’s) within the same

building took place. This initiative proved totally inoperable

and was quickly reversed by Eric Anderson. It was a time

in which Adrian called on and exhibited what seemed to be

inexhaustible resources of tolerance, patience and perseverance.

For many years Adrian was the Master-in-Charge and the

inspiration of The Hunt and he was one of the founders of

the Old Salopian Hunt for former members of the School. He

was also a formidable competitor in the ‘Masters’ Mile’ on the

Athletics track.

For more than half a century he was a devoted friend and

supporter of ‘The Shewsy’ in Liverpool and volunteered to take

full charge of the Club during an interregnum in the sequence

of Wardens. John Hutchison remembers Adrian as an “angel”,

in the literal sense, as a messenger and bringer of good news

in all aspects of his life, even to “a crowd of good natured

but rascally scouse lads who were no strangers to taking the

Michael out of well-spoken genteel types whose love of words

is stronger than their love of footy”. Adrian strengthened the

relationship of the Club with the local churches, encouraged

Roger Sainsbury to follow him as Warden and persuaded

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 121

Donald Wright that the Club should be ‘reborn’ in a process

which, over the course of a decade, produced an integrated

church and club building, which opened in 1974 and which

is still in use in the heart of Everton. John Patterson, who

was a boy in Churchill’s during Adrian’s tenure, noticed that

“In almost everything he did and said…in the nicest possible

way… Adrian just wouldn’t let go.” In the Michaelmas term

of 1979, Adrian and Brenda travelled to Canada to trace

the families of Everton Boys. No one has done more than to

strengthen ties between the Club and the School and in 1982

Adrian launched a whole-School Appeal Fund for the Shewsy,

to mark the centenary of the School’s move to Kingsland.

Adrian’s son Ben paid tribute to a loving and faithful father,

who was uncompromising and hard-working, humorous

and gentlemanly, who would take Kate for a walk round the

Site on an autumn afternoon, or pedal his bike with James

in a little seat at the back, a lover of language with a great

gift for letter-writing, an advocate for wide reading and a

talent for reading out loud. Adrian enjoyed opera and was an

accomplished pianist. Brenda and he created a beautiful garden

at home, but Adrian always enjoyed travelling to new places.

Adrian had a long and full life, but in his final days no one

would have been more confident than he in the truth and the

promise of a saying current in his family; “the candle has been

blown out, as the sunrise is here”.

[Compiled by David Gee from the addresses given at Adrian’s

memorial service by his son, Ben Struvé (M 1981-86), and

John Hutchison from Shrewsbury House.]

Gerald Symons (DB 1941-43)

Gerald Symons was born at The Mount House, Shrewsbury

on 8th December 1926 and died on 20th July 1924 at

Bishopsteignton House Care Home.

After Kingsland Grange Prep School, Gerald came to the

School along with his brothers, Michael and Humphrey. In

the school holidays during the war, Gerald and his middle

brother worked on numerous farms with the ‘Dig for Victory’

campaign. In August 1941 they cycled from Shrewsbury to

beyond Cirencester, camping overnight in a pub’s orchard.

But in 1943 Gerald came down with meningitis, and his

father, a doctor in the Medical Office of Health, undertook a

lumbar puncture on his son, who then had numerous months

off school. Once recovered, Gerald started working six days a

week for the Stokes on their farm at Halfway House, on the

Welsh border with Shropshire.

He then moved to a dairy farm near Watchet in Somerset,

which is where he met Day Nott who was also working there.

He then moved to a farm at Harbetonford in South Devon.

Subsequently he rejoined Day and both of them worked at

Laployd Barton, Bridford on the edge of Dartmoor. They

married in April 1949.

Day’s parents lived through the war years and into the 1950s

at Shillingford St George, and that is how they came to learn

of Place Farm being subdivided. They bought the land of one

valley with one Dutch Barn - and named it New Barn Farm.

Their April 1949 Honeymoon was to Ayrshire, Scotland ...

to buy cows! Over the years they then built everything else,

including the house and many more farm barns.

Theirs was principally a dairy farm, with pigs, baby beef and

arable until 1978, when the herd of cows was sold and some

of the land near the buildings became a Pick-Your-Own

enterprise, and in 1980 other land was planted to vines,

which was known as Manstree Vineyard. The first bottle of

fermented sparkling wine made in a Devon vineyard was

produced in 1989 under the Manstree label, along with

other still white wines, which in the years ahead were to

win International Awards.

They retired in 1994 and started a new chapter in Shaldon at

Greystone and then at Vine Cottage next door.

Gerald was a member of many committees in the National

Farmers’ Union and in the Ministry of Agriculture. He was

also a Director of Devon Grain and Wessex Quality Meat

Producers and Chairman of The South West Vineyards

Association. He served on the St. Thomas District Council,

was active in all the social activities of Shillington St George and

was Chairman of the Friends of Shaldon Botanical Gardens.

[Gerald’s children, Nicola Geary (née Symons) and

Adrian Symons]

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS

Reunion for Shrewsbury

School leavers 1985-90

13TH SEPTEMBER 2025

Were you at School when Princess Margaret visited

in 1984? Do you remember when The Grove opened

in 1988? Did you listen to the Chart Show when

Dexy’s Midnight Runners released ‘Come on Eileen’

in 1982 or watch the fall of the Berlin Wall on TV

in November 1989? If so, then this year’s Reunion

Dinner on Old Salopian Day is for you!

The dinner will be for anyone who left Shrewsbury

School in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, or 1990.

After ten years of inviting those who left ‘in a year

ending in X’ we’re moving to a new system to

improve the chances of reuniting you with your

contemporaries.

Please start spreading the

news amongst your contacts

and look out for emails with

more information!

Holly Fitzgerald

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SALOPIAN CLUB NEWS 123

Salopian Club Contacts

Sport

Cricket (Saracens) – Tom Cox tom.cox@gowlingwlg.com

Rowing (Sabrina) – Rod Spiby rod.spiby@bulleys.co.uk

Football – Guy Williams guy.d.williams@hotmail.com

Golf – Charles Hill charlesgchill@hotmail.com

Hunt – Peter Birch info@crbirch.com

Rugby – Angus Lindsay angusmrlindsay@gmail.com

Fives – Sam Welti swelti@advantainvest.co.uk

Squash – Ben Stirk benstirk@hotmail.com

Racquets Club – Tom Gerrard tdgerrard@yahoo.co.uk and Will Briggs briggsy999@gmail.com

Yacht Club – William Matthews wjmatthews89@gmail.com

Basketball – Bryan Yick bryanyick@gmail.com

Women’s Sport – Elle Gurden e.gurden@hotmail.co.uk

Social, business and recreational

Young Old Salopians – Becky Home becky-home@hotmail.com

Salopian Arts – John Moore jufum123@gmail.com or Henry Southern henry.southern@gmail.com

Salopian Magazine – Richard Hudson rth@shrewsbury.org.uk

The Salopian Drivers’ Club – Miles Preston miles.preston@milespreston.co.uk

Head of Futures (Careers) – Chris Wain cwain@shrewsbury.org.uk

Property Group – Toby Clowes tobyclowes@me.com

Old Salopian Masons – Chris Williams chrisjhwilliams@yahoo.co.uk

Tucks c 1980. A knowledge of train schedules useful.

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SALOPIAN CLUB FORTHCOMING EVENTS

More details and booking instructions can be found on Salopian Connect www.salopianconnect.

org.uk or by scanning the QR code:

Email is still our principal method of communication so please do make sure we have your

contact details, which can be updated via the Salopian Club section of the School website or by

emailing oldsalopian@shrewsbury.org.uk

Thursday 6th February Oxford student gathering The King’s Arms, Oxford OX1 3SP

Tuesday 11th February

Thursday 20th February

Friday 21st February

Thursday 27th February

Salopian Law Society Informal Networking Event

Open Mic Pizza Express Cabaret Night

SDC Annual Dinner

Sports Committee

The Last Judgment, Chancery Lane,

WC2A 1DT

The Pheasantry, 152 King’s Road,

Chelsea, London

Leander Club, Henley-on-Thames

RG9 2LP

Stephenson Harwood, 1 Finsbury

Circus, London EC2M 7SH.

Thursday 27th February Exeter student gathering Exeter TBC

Friday 28th February

Tuesday 4th March

Bristol student gathering tbc

Old Salopian Masons Lodge meeting followed by

dinner (dinner open to all)

The Channing’s Hotel, Pembroke

Road, Clifton BS8

Mark Masons’ Hall, 86 St James’s

Street, London SW1A 1PL

Wednesday 12th March Manchester Drinks The Wharf, M15 4ST

Thursday 13th March Newcastle student gathering Shrewsbury School

Saturday 22nd March Dubai gathering Dubai TBC

Tuesday 25th March

Saturday 29th March

Schools Head of the River

Saracens Centenary Dinner

Wednesday 14th May Full Committee Meeting Shrewsbury

Saturday 31st May

Thursday 19th June

Public School Lodges Festival hosted by

Shrewsbury School

www.shrewsbury.org.uk/pslc2025

Summer Party

The Blue Anchor, Hammersmith,

London W6 9DJ

The Oval, Kennington, London

SE11 5SS

Shrewsbury

Saturday 28th June Speech Day Shrewsbury

Monday 30th June

Sabrina and OSGS joint meeting and dinner

Tuesday 1st - Sunday 6th July Henley Regatta Henley

Saturday 13th September Old Salopian Day Shrewsbury

Shepherd’s Bush Cricket Club, 38

Bromyard Avenue, London W3 7BP

Henley Golf Club, Harpsden,

RG9 4HG

Friday 17th October Tim Lamb’s Presidential Dinner at Lord’s Lord’s Cricket Ground

www.shrewsbury.org.uk