Professor Northcote Parkinson addressed the Historical Society on 18. October.
On 9th, loth and nth November "Antigone" was produced in th. Drama Centre.
THE PETERITE
I
01. LXX
No. 396
OCTOBER, 1979
Edited by R. C. G. Drysdale,
M.A.
PREFACE
It was with some trepidation that I accepted the position of editor of The Peterite in the middle of the Summer Term. Not only has the magazine a long and distinguished history going back more than a hundred years, but I am following David Cummin who has been editor for the last ten years. David's concept of The Peterite has closely matched that of its original brief: namely, that it should essentially be a report on the School's activities and that it should act as a link between Old Peterites and the School. David has approached this difficult task with scholarly enthusiasm. His distinguished editorials with their historical perspective, their light touch and insight into school life will long be remembered. Many colleagues and Old Peterites alike have regarded David's editorials as the most valuable part of The Peterite. I know that I shall find it difficult to follow in his footsteps. In the coming year I shall be examining ways of extending the original brief of The Peterite. I would particularly like to see more original literary and artistic contributions. It must, however, be pointed out that production costs have soared and financial considerations must inevitably determine the magazine produced.
The Editor wishes to thank the many contributors to The Peterite and would welcome correspondence and articles of general interest from Peterites past and present.
1
CONTENTS PAGE
•• Preface School Notes 1978-79 •• Presentation of Prizes The Common Room and Staff A Tribute to Peter Gardiner Tribute to Peter Gardiner by the Dean of York Mr. D. E. P. Hughes, M.A. Oxford and Cambridge, 1978-79 Prize List .. Examination Results 1979 Valete Salvete The Chapel .. Commemoration Service Chapel Flowers Music •• Drama The Rise and Fall of the Atom Poems •• •• .. Combined Cadet Force Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme •• •• Senior Science Society The Chess Club 1978-79 .. The Northcote Parkinson Society •• Business Game Report Young Farmers' Club •• •• •• The Railway Society `St. Peter's School, York, A.D. 627' — A Brief History of a Locomotive •• •• •• •• •• •• School Bird Ringing Sahara Expedition -- Easter, 1979 The Faroe/Iceland Expedition, 1979 House Notes Athlectics Cross Country Swimming Rugby Hockey Boat Club Cricket Squash Rackets •• Tennis Water Polo Club, 1979 Table Tennis Cambridge Letter Sandhurst Letter Old Peterite News
1 2 5 7 9 11 13 13 13 15 16 21 22 23 26 27 28 38 40 42 47 47 49
•• ••
50 50 51 53 54 57 57 59 63 78 79 80 83 95 94 96 111 111 112 113 114 115 116
SCHOOL NOTES 1978-79
The Autumn Term started on 12th September and ended on 16th December.
The preacher on 17th September was Rev. R. Lewis, Archbishop's Chaplain and Director of Ordinands.
On 26th September Air Commodore Fountain from the Ministry of Defence gave a presentation on the role of the Royal Air Force.
Speech Day was held on 7th October. The guest speaker was Professor Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, F.R.S., the Master of St. Catharine's College, Cambridge.
Sports Day was held on 7th October.
Dick Reid, Esq., gave a Sixth Form lecture entitled, "A Carver's World' on 14th October.
Professor Northcote Parkinson addressed the Historical Society on 18 October.
On 9th, loth and nth November "Antigone" was produced in th Drama Centre.
The Remembrance Service was held on loth November.
The York Symphony Orchestra held a Concert in the Memorial Hall on 18th November.
Pete Morgan, a poet, addressed the Sixth Form on 18th November. 2
The Rev. J. A. Heslop, Vicar of St. Olave's Church, was the celebrant at Communion on 3oth November.
The Advent Carol Service was held on 3rd December.
"The Yeomen of the Guard" was performed in the Memorial Hall on 7th, 8th and 9th December.
The Cricket Club Dance was held on i6th December.
The Easter Term started on 15th January and ended on 24th March.
Mr. Michael Standen, a novelist, addressed the Sixth Form on 2oth January.
The School took part in the Epiphany Procession in York Minster on 21st January.
Mr. Peter Panteli addressed the Sixth Form on Community Service Volunteers on 27th January.
On 3oth January Major J. W. A. Fleming gave an illustrated talk on the Mount Kenya Expeditions.
i
The Bishop of Selby's Confirmation Day was held at St. Paul's Church on 17th February.
On March 22nd a Concert was held in the Memorial Hall.
The House Art Exhibition was held between 22nd and 24th March.
The Summer Term started on 23rd April and ended on ][4th July.
A Memorial Service for Jillian Harness was held in the Chapel on ist May. 3
The theme of the Community Service on 6th May was Christian Aid.
Dr. Bailes from the University of Bradford gave a lecture entitled, "The Power Game" to the Sixth Form on 12th May.
The Boat Club Dance was held on 12th May.
Mr. D. H. Hamilton's illustrated lecture entitled, "The Rise and Fall of the Atom" was given in the Drama Centre on 16th and 17th May.
A Poetry/Folk evening was held in the Drama Centre on 24th May.
Dr. Court from the University of Bradford gave a lecture to the Sixth Form entitled, "The Use and Abuse of Drugs" on 2nd June.
The Bishop of Selby was the celebrant at Holy Communion on 7th June.
The Waine Awards Concert was held in the Memorial Hall on 7th June.
The Confirmation Candidates spent a weekend at Marrick Priory from 8th - loth June.
The Confirmation Service was held on 15th June. was the celebrant.
The Bishop of Selby
The St. Peter's Procession took place in York Minster on 24th June.
The main body of '0' and 'A' level exams started on 25th June.
A Lecture-Recital by Anthony Hopkins, Hall on 25th June.
C.B.E.
was given in the Memorial
The Dean of York was the celebrant at Holy Communion on 29th June. 4
Commemoration Day was held on 14th July. The Preacher was the Headmaster. The Old Peterite Annual General Meeting and the Annual Dinner were held later in the day. We acknowledge with gratitude the gift of £I,000 for the School Appeal from Mr. J. S. Cooper, former Master in Charge of St. Olave's.
PRESENTATION OF PRIZES 7th October, 1978 The Chair was taken by Sir Donald Barron, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors and the prizes were distributed by Professor Peter SwinnertonDyer, F.R.S., Master of St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. The Headmaster started his report by reviewing the broad field of extracurricular activities and the sporting achievements before turning to academic matters: We tend to measure our academic activity by the results of external written exams at the ages of 16 + and 18 +. These exams provide a reasonably objective yardstick. I would not ascribe to the G.C.E. marksheets the authority of the tablets of the law. The exercise of mind in a written exam is a small part of our engagement with each subject. General standards fluctuate; some subjects shift their emphasis (Economics and Geography are more mathematical than five years ago); occasionally a subject is marked one year with inexplicable severity or generosity. But all that said, I approve of the centrality of these written exams based on memory, because they demand not merely recognistion of concepts but mastery of them. You can only be said to have grasped a subject when you can actively reproduce it in your own words. I can report at '0' level a fairly encouraging picture with an overall pass-rate of 76% of the papers attempted, and impressive results in English, Maths and the Sciences. Languages present a special difficulty, it seems, for us : apart from our top sets in Latin and French it appears that the grappling with the grammar and idiom of foreign languages induces a defeatism in many of you. By determination and concentration, we could overcome that defeatism, as evidently occurred in the study of the Classics last year, when the second Latin set showed a vast increase in the pass-rate. What about proving it can be done in French ? Incidentally, the loci% pass-rate in Greek Civilisation is remarkable, and reminds us of our pedagogic loss in Mr. Duncan; he has poured much enthusiasm and labour into this course and this result speaks volumes. The 'A' level results were the best I have known at St. Peter's. 83% of papers attempted were passed, 2o% at a top grade. The high standards that have obtained on the Maths and Sciences were upheld. No one failed any of the foreign languages attempted, and the English subjects, including some candidates without academic pretensions, showed the splendid results of responsive industry. And let me say unequivocally that while some of the scholars produced spectacular results (one character six grade As and another five), the results which were the greatest achievements were prob5
ably those of seven or eight boys and girls of average ability whose middle grades represented exceptional perseverance. Hard work can remove mountains. The General Studies 'A' level exam has now been taken, with considerable success, by three successive year-groups. It is good to see so many sixth-formers indicating a general strength in this way. I am led to ponder the words BREADTH and NARROWNESS, which are so often bandied to and fro in discussions of our Sixth Form curriculum. It is suggested that restriction to three examined subjects in the Sixth Form is bad for the mind. If it restricts your thinking to those three subjects then I agree that it is bad. The pressing problems that this generation of sixth-formers (in this country and in the world) will have to solve over the next 3o years demand a broad spread of skills, insights and sympathies. Engineers must not only be efficient engineers but also conscious of human needs and historical traditions; businessmen need not only degrees in Business Studies — they may have to sell their goods in French and will need human perspectives as well. We cannot turn out professionals in a single skill — of science, or communication, management, or whatever — who lack the confidence of a wide involvement with human experience or are deficient in mathematical reasoning. It's no good confining your attention to skills and studies, some of which may be out of date in five years' time. One answer being contemplated by the Schools Council is the extension of Sixth Form study to take in not three subjects at 'A' level but five subjects, three at N or Normal ( = A) and two at F level or Further ( = i A). In other words, the idea is to impose greater breadth and less depth. This is not the time or the place to argue in detail the pros and cons of this scheme: suffice it to say, I think that it would be mindless to jettison the 'A' level, because it is a recognised yardstick; that breadth in the sense I have in mind is not attained at the expense of depth; that subjects can be taught and learnt broadly or they can be taught and learnt narrowly; that we need a flexible Sixth Form choice consisting of 'A' levels and 'A' levels (all right let's call them Ns), and that a sixth-former could choose a pattern appropriate to him from the menu that the School could provide of, say three 'A' levels and one N; or one 'A' and three Ns; or two 'As' and two Ns; and so on in 1, any number of combinations. The standards attained by our sixth-formers by way of entry to Higher Education are high. Don't let's endanger these standards by placing our trust on an exam as yet untried. The breadth that we should aim for is that of a wide spread of competence at 16, measured at present by '0' levels; a spread of study in 'A' levels and subsidiary subjects in the sixth-form to give depth and breadth (not one at the expense of the other). That's the framework. But I'd add a personal commitment to our studies that all of us — pupils, staff, parents — ought to be aware of . . . ,
a. The mind working at full stretch. The most satisfying sports are those that stretch us to our limits. We must be prepared to be fully stretched; to develop our full powers of thinking. 2. The mind prepared to study by itself, not under the compulsion o unremitting direction. If you are to have confidence in your own judgm you must learn to work independently. You are not parrots.
6
3. A readiness to understand why people act and think as they do, and the in their idioms but on your terms. Human ability to communicate with them —
beings and human groups, in so much of their behaviour, are irrational. The understanding of others' irrationality (and of one's own) is a mark of breadth of mind. And fourthly, in case this all sounds too theoretical . . .
4. A readiness to take responsibility. In the old days of the Public Schools monitors imposed a stereotyped discipline on the day's routines because they were given powerful privileges. They got things done because they gave orders. This attitude on the part of leaders (it has been labelled Ruritanian) represented one way of handling people. Is it an appropriate preparation for management in modern conditions ? Well there is a time for orders, and orders may need enforcing. I'm not against them. But, as an educational aim, I prefer to see in our senior pupils responsibility exercised through representative groups discussing specific management matters in the School, so that our sixth-formers learn how consulation and representation work, not in theory, but in the nitty gritty of everyday School life. This is the philosophy behind our system of representation in groups in various departments of the School — Chapel Committee, Catering Committee, the group publicising "What's on ?". I hope my keynote has been obvious. In a fine year for the School, a significantly large number of girls and boys, by their achievements in and out of the classroom, have demonstrated purposeful breadth. Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer distributed the prizes. In his speech Sir Peter put forward the thesis that much of the School curriculum has no practical justification beyond its value as an acedmic discipline. Expanding on the theme, he gave support to this mind-training as invaluable and necessary to all branches of Higher Education.
THE COMMON ROOM AND STAFF This year has seen several changes in staff. Mr. Gardiner, the former Headmaster, has left to take up a new post in Hertfordshire. Mr. Hughes, the Second Master at Shrewsbury, has been appointed Headmaster and will be taking up his appointment in January, 1980. Mr. Cummin is the interim Headmaster. In addition several other members of staff have left: Mr. Harris to enjoy retirement, Mr. Roberts to take up a position as Head of Department at St. Nicholas R.C. School in Northwich, Mr. Butler to prepare for Ordination at Durham University, Mrs. Atkinson to follow her husband who has been appointed to the Chair of Philosophy at Exeter University, and Mr. Grisdale who hopes to enter the world of Advertising. The following new members of staff joined in September: Mr. G. MacDonald, B.A. (London), M.A. (York) to teach History, Mr. R. Harriman, B.A. (York) to teach Chemistry, Mr. A. G. Roberts, B.Sc. (Aberdeen) to teach Physics, Mr. P. Walls, B.A. (Bangor) A.I.B. to teach French, Mr. P. Taylor, M.A. (Liverpool) to teach Latin and Mrs. J. H. W. Drysdale, M.A. (St. Andrews) to teach French. 7
MR. P. D. R. GARDINER, M.A.
(photo by Lawrence Bleasdale) 8
A TRIBUTE TO PETER GARDINER Like a man, no school is an island. It is influenced by, and is expected to influence, the political, social and economic circumstances of the society of which it is a part. In the political sphere the schools have seen a swing from right to left and now back to right again, and the independent schools have felt themselves under sufficient pressure to take some measures of self-defence, mainly ISIS. Social changes of all kinds have been considerable — increased tolerance of behaviour formerly frowned upon; the move towards more friendliness, or familiarity — call it what you will; increased escapism as reflected for example in increased consumption of alcohol; changes in acceptable costume and hair styles; the lowering of the age of majority from twenty one to eighteen; increased use of personal transport; the falling birth rate; the spread of belief in co-education; the decline in church-going. The list could be extended greatly, and these changes have all presented problems and opportunities to the schools, whether independent or not. The impact of economic events, too, has been enormous, while ideas in education itself have not been static, by any means. This, then, is the background against which Peter Gardiner's influence and work at St. Peter's has to be viewed. He took over a school with a well founded basis of scholarship, a sound reputation in the world of school sport, and an unusually good internal atmosphere. It is not easy to follow a long established and respected regime, and, human memory being what it is, the old days tend to be the good old days, but nevertheless the net advantages were great: it was not reform but development and adaption to changing circumstances that were to be the new headmaster's task. It may well be that, however long his tenure, no headmaster of St. Peter's has had so many external influences to consider, and of these probably the most worrying was the world-wide student unrest of the early 197os, which spread from the universities to the schools. St. Peter's was in fact not much affected, such incidents as there were being very minor and individual. The reasons for this near-immunity are not simple to analyse, but Peter's firmness where it was called for and adaptability where that was appropriate to an improved atmosphere must surely have been amongst them. One of the manifestations of this unrest was the appearance amongst a small minority of hostility to chapel services, just at a time when some dissatisfaction with the forms of organised religion was springing from other and more worthy sources. This problem, more particularly in its longer term aspect, has been met by making services less dependant on ritual and more on relationship to daily experience, bringing them more into line with modern needs. It would be idle to pretend that Peter's guidance in this has pleased everybody or has entirely surmounted the indifference arising from a largely secular society, but it has succeeded in keeping "Chapel" as a substantial influence in the school. And, frankly, that is probably as much as anyone could reasonably hope for. These are but two examples, albeit major ones, of the many decisions he has had to make in response to changing external circumstances. There are many others, ranging from abolition of the school cap to keeping a register of eighteenth birthdays, some easy, some difficult. However, one of Peter's characteristics is to have thorough consultation with 9
those concerned before making a decision and if sometimes this has seemed to some to have gone almost too far, it means that rarely has anyone not had the opportunity to put his point of view. But ultimately the decisions have to be the headmaster's. Where these have been painful, as they have been on occasion, for such is a headmaster's lot, his reluctance to hurt anyone's feelings has always been very obvious. Painful decisions, however, tend to be those forced by circumstances. Perhaps not less difficult to carry out, but far pleasanter, are those which could broadly be called developments, and in this field Peter has engineered introductions of major importance and has carried opinion with him. This is no place for a catalogue, but who can deny that the school has benefited greatly from parents' meetings; the encouragement of drama, including the establishment of the Drama Centre; the Sports Hall; the Swimming Baths in their new form; and the great diversity of activities now available ? These are not the only positive developments and perhaps above all Peter will be remembered for the introduction of girls into the VI Form, one of the most successful achievements of his regime. In all these ways he has made with great smoothness the transition from the benevolent autocracy appropriate to the nineteen fifties and early sixties to the more free and easy atmosphere called for in the nineteen seventies. Timing has been important, for influences are gradual in their growth as a rule, and development is rarely urgent. While a school has to move with the times, when changes are for the better or are compelling, it also must not move with every whim or fancy or passing fashion. It is fair to say that at St. Peter's in the last twelve years no policy decisions have been rushed and none delayed too long. It is hardly deniable that the most vital feature of a school is its "tone", which defies definition, but is an amalgam of discipline, friendliness, tolerance, enthusiasms, manners, and no doubt many trace elements. For at least half a century St. Peter's has had a very good "tone". It is perhaps as great a tribute as any to Peter's headship that he has not only maintained this but has enhanced it. All this has been done at a time when economic, and to a lesser extent political, developments have been hostile. When over a period economic pressures have been such as to raise school fees nearly five-fold, credit must be given to a headmaster who has seen his school rise in numbers from 645 to 750, his teacher/pupil ratio improve, many classrooms modernised, a Sports Hall buit, the Swimming Baths modernised, and that without any falling-off of standards elsewhere. On the political side there has been no direct threat, but the Headmasters' Conference felt it necessary to set up ISIS as a means inter alia of informing public opinion, and one of Peter's lesser known activities is that he was one of the founders of that body and has served on its committees both locally and nationally. And what of Peter himself ? He has been no remote headmaster, but has associated himself closely with every school activity, knows all the boys and girls personally, is always available. Thus his concern, his culture, his sense of humour, his enthusiasm and his capacity for hard work have been pervading and incalculable influences for good. It has sometimes been said that it is impossible to be both a gentleman and a good headmaster, but at St. Peter's the dilemma has not existed: we remember him as both. L. C. L. T.
10
TRIBUTE TO PETER GARDINER BY THE DEAN OF YORK, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS In the summer of 1975, when it became known that I was to leave Westminster for York, one of the first letters of welcome I received was from Peter Gardiner on behalf of St. Peter's School. It was a friendly and charming letter which not only gave me great pleasure: I was also impressed by the obvious love and enthusiasm the writer had for the school. Since then we have had nearly four years of pretty close contact, and I can only say that these four years have in no way changed my first favourable impressions. Here was a man whose dedication to the School and its well-being was complete. Here was a scholar — in love with his subject and with teaching. Here was a pastor — with a genuine concern for those under his care. Here was a man of culture — interested not only in the arts but also in all manner of things of good report. But above all here was a true Christian gentleman — and that is the highest compliment I can pay. The Governing Body of St. Peter's is an interesting mixture of people, nominated by different groups and covering diverse interests — the church, education, local government, law, business. It would be strange if there were not differences of opinion from time to time — indeed it would be very disquieting if there were never disagreements. Sometimes governors disagree with governors, sometimes governors disagree with the Headmaster. But I can truthfully say that during my four years as chairman, despite disagreements, our meetings have never been stormy and tempers have not frayed: and this has in large measure been due to Peter's own careful preparation of material, his own good temper and his courtesy. And at the end he was there ready to entertain us, encouraging us to relax, and to forget all our problems over a drink and a meal. So Peter leaves us for Stanborough — a job very different from St. Peter's, but one where I feel sure he will have an opportunity to use his obvious gifts and talents to the full. We wish him, his wife and his family every happiness, and we thank him for twelve years unstinted service here with us. He has done a great deal for the school as an institution: but there must be many individuals who feel all the better for having known him. That says a very great deal.
11
MR. D. E. P. HUGHES, M.A.
(photo by Lawrence Blew"
12
MR. D. E. P. HUGHES, M.A. Mr. Hughes, the new Headmaster, will take up his appointment in January, 1980. He was educated at St. Paul's School, London and then at St. John's College, Oxford where he was a scholar. He graduated in 1954 with an Honours degree in Chemistry. After university he was commissioned in the Royal Horse Artillery. In 1956 Mr. Hughes was appointed Assistant Master at Shrewsbury School. He was made Head of Chemistry in 1958 and Head of Science in 1965. In 1972 he was appointed Second Master. Between 1967 and 1968 Mr. Hughes was seconded to the Nuffield Physical Science Project and appointed Chief Examiner. He has written two textbooks and various articles, book reviews and letters. Mr. Hughes is married and has three children. His recreations include hill walking, badminton, music and bridge.
OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE 197 8- 79 Exhibition to read Classics at Merton College, Oxford. Exhibition to read Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. Scholarship to read Archaeology at Christ's College, Cambridge. Scholarship to read Medical Sciences at St. Catharine's College, Cambridge. Place to read Engineering at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Place to read Mathematics and Physics at St. John's College, Cambridge.
R. A. C. Bronk P. W. S. De Silva* J. Healey S. C. Wetherell R. Collingwood-Gittins R. E. Craig*
Place to read Law at Girton.
J. R. Markwick Smith
*Also E.S.U. Scholarships to America.
PRIZE LIST J. J.
NORMAN CROMBIE MEMORIAL PRIZE .. .. K. H. RHODES PRIZE . • .. B.M.A. PRIZE FOR SCIENCE .. THE DEAN OF YORK'S PRIZES FOR LATIN:
Senior
..
F. Ellison Healey M. P. Kerr
M. D. Bowstead
..
.. .. .. .. Junior WHYTEHEAD MEMORIAL PRIZES FOR DIVINITY 13
T. A. Kaner
f C. R. W. Bell IT. M. Hills
TOYNE EUROPEAN HISTORY PRIZE GEOGRAPHY PRIZES: Senior .. .. Junior SIR LUMLEY DODSWORTH ESSAY PRIZE JACK BRITTAIN MEMORIAL PRIZES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL ESSAY: .. IVth Forms .. .. IIIrd Forms THE OLD PETERITE CLUB READING PRIZES: .. Senior .. Junior PRIZE FOR DEBATING .. RICHARD ATKINSON MEMORIAL PRIZE FOR DRAMA ..
J. C.
..
Neal
.. S. R. Lister .. J. C. Torlesse .. Ruth M. Addinall
D. T. Kean B. A. R. Skrentny .. G. J. Norman .. R. D. Venable .. W. N. Carmichael I j. Healey .. C. J. E. Bird L.A. J. B. Miller
ARTHUR CRAVEN MEMORIAL PRIZES FOR SPOKEN FRENCH: .. Senior Junior FRENCH ESSAY .. .. .. .. GERMAN .. FRANK PICK PRIZE FOR DESIGN DRONFIELD PRIZE FOR MATHEMATICS
.. Ruth M. Addinall .. A. G. Whipp .. Ruth M. Addinall .. A. D. M. Barrell .. N. G. Townsend .. Amanda C. Rigby C. Bean .. .. R. M. Craig PRIZES FOR MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCES S. J. Shilleto J. M. V. Storey DAVIDSON PRIZE FOR CHEMISTRY .. Bridget K. Gray ART PRIZES: .. R. D. Nield Senior .. S. M. Midgley Junior .. f T. N. Prosser-Higdon HANDICRAFTS PRIZE A. R. Prescott .. T. R. Wallhead PADDY POWER PRIZE MUSIC PRIZES .. Ruth M. Addinall Senior P. G. Fender N. C. H. Pemberton .. D. N. C. Pemberton Junior A. G Whipp GENERAL KNOWLEDGE PRIZES: .. C. J. E. Bird VIth Forms .. M. D. Bowstead Vth Forms .. .. R. J. Kirby IVth Forms .. N. P. G. Davies IIIrd Forms
FORM PRIZES M. D. Bowstead .. T. A. Heap D. A. Williamson D. R. Wass .. T. A. Kaner .. P. A. Dodman .. f G. C. H. Lomas J. P. O'Farrell .. M. P. Sweetman .. P. J. Drury .. N. J. England .. J. M. Muirhead .. A. C. Bradley
Vth Forms
L
IVA IVB IVC IVD IIIA IIIBI II1B 2 IIIB 3 The WORK CUP
was
won by Queen's 14
EXAMINATION RESULTS 1979 The following successes were achieved at Advanced Level:— Barrel!, A. D. M. — Latin (A), French (A), German (A), History (A2), General Studies (A). Barron, R. M. — Latin (A), French, History (Al), General Studies (A). Andrews, S. J. — General Studies. Blackburn, M. S. D. — French, English Literature (A), General Studies, Economics. Burton, R. D. — French (A), English Literature (A), General Studies (A), Economics (A). Carmichael, W. N. — History, Political Studies, Economics. Craig, R. M. — English Literature, Physics, S.M.P. Maths., Chemistry. Dixon, G. — English Literature, Political Studies, General Studies, Economics. Dixon, S. M. — General Studies, Economics, History. Ellison, D. M. — M.E.I. Maths., General Studies. Ellison, J. F. — English Literature, S.M.P. Maths., General Studies, Economics. Fender, P. G. — English Literature, Music, S.M.P. Maths. Goodwin, S. J. — English Literature, S.M.P. Maths. (A). Hinchliffe, D. R. — French (A), German, English Literature (Al), General Studies (A). Kay, D. J. — English Literature, S.M.P. Maths. (A), Economics. Lister, S. R. — Geography, Political Studies, Economics. Nield, R. D. — French, English Literature, Art (A). Pease, H. R. B. — English Literature, Art (A), General Studies, Economics. Quirke, M. F. — English Literature, M.E.I. Maths., General Studies. Baylor, T. J. — English Literature (A), History, Political Studies. Rayson, I. C. M. — English Literature, S.M.P. Maths., General Studies. Swiers, P. J. — Geography, Economics. Tyson, M. J. — History, Political Studies, General Studies, Economics. Whatmoor, N. W. — History. Williamson, H. T. S. — English Literature (A), History, General Studies (A), Economics (A). Wilson, J. P. — English Literature, General Studies. Abbott, J. P. J. F. — Physics (A2), S.M.P. Maths. (A), Chemistry, General Studies (A). Bean, C. — Physics (Al), S.M.P. Maths. (Al), S.M.P. Further (A), Chemistry, General Studies (A). Brooke, D. A. — Physics, S.M.P. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Casting, T. J. — Physics, M.E.I. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Chadwick, C. J. — Physics, M.E.I. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Clarkson, K. P. — Physics (A2), S.M.P. Maths. (A), S.M.P. Further, Chemistry, General Studies. Greenwood, P. D. — M.E.I. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Hall, M. E. — Physics, S.M.P. Maths., General Studies. Hare, J. N. W. — Physics, S.M.B. Maths., Art. Jemmett, N. J. — Physics, M.E.I. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Kerr, M. P. — Biology, S.M.P. Maths , Chemistry (A), General Studies. Leckenby, A. D. — Physics, S.M.P. Maths. (A), General Studies (A), Art. Mortimer, W. N. B. — Physics, S. M.P. Maths. Power, M. J. — Physics, M.E.I. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Rymer, C. G. — S.M.P. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Shilleto, S. J. — Physics (A2), S.M.P. Maths. (A), S.M.P. Further, Chemistry (A), General Studies (A). Shuttleworth, N. D. — Physics, S.M.P. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Storey, J. M. V. — Physics (A2), S.M.P. Maths. (A), Chemistry (A), General Studies (A). Townsend, N. G. — Biology, General Studies, Economics. Buckle, S. M. — Physics (A), Biology, Chemistry. Cuckston, P. G. — Physics, Biology, Chemistry, General Studies. Raheem, M. A. — Physics, Biology, Chemistry, General Studies. Addinall, R. M. — French (Al), English Literature (Al), Music. 15
Anderton, L. R. — English Literature, History. Dalby, W. E. — English Literature, History. Dixon, C. J. — French, English Literature (A), General Studies, Art. Gillett, J. C. — French, English Literature (Al), History, General Studies (A). Gray, B. K. — English Literature (A), Physics (Al), S.M.P. Maths. (A), Chemistry (Al). Harrod, J. — Physics, Biology, Chemistry, General Studies. Rolston, A. J. — History, Political Studies (A). Sampson, A. G. — Biology, Chemistry, Art. Stringer, H. S. — Biology, M.E.I. Maths., Chemistry, General Studies. Tapp, J. V. — M.E.I. Maths., General Studies, Economics. Thorpe, P. A. — Physics, Biology, Chemistry, General Studies. At Ordinary Level (Grades A, B or C) or C.S.E. Grade 1:— Ashton, S. D. (11); Ashurst, W. A. (9); Aspinall, N. D. (11); Bentley, C. T. G. (7); Blackburn, T. J. (5); Blacker, A. W. (5); Booth, A. D. (8); Bowstead, M. D. (11); Brierley, J. N. D. (4); Broadbent, C. G. (5); Bunney, M. G. S. (10); Burton, P. G. (6); Carder-Geddes, A. D. G. (11); Chapman, R. P. A. (5); Close, P. S. (6); Coates, R. T. (8); Coverdale, R. E. (7); Cramb, I. D. M. (10); Dee, S. N. (4); Dixon, A. J. (11) ; Elston, R. S. (10); Etches, S. W. (5); Eyre, A. J. D. (11); Farrow, J. R. (4); Fawthrop, A. J. (6); Gee, M. C. S. (7); Giddings, S. H. (8); Gillett, A. M. (11); Green, A. W. (8); Hall, M. J. (6); Hall, R. B. (5); Hancock, C. G. L. (6); Harness, N. A. (7) ; Heap, T. A. (11); Hill, C. C. (7); Hitchenor, A. D. (7); Hjort, M. F. H. (7); Hobson, C. T. (3); Holden, J. R. (7); Hopkinson, C. H. (8); Ibbotson, P. R. J. (1); Iveson, R. H. (3); Jesper, M. G. (10); Johnson, A. R. M. (6); Johnson, P. E. (4); Jones, B. J. I. (3); Jones, T. R. W. (10); Kettlewell, T. S. (9); Linton, R. E. (4); Lister, R. W. (8); Litten, R. S. P. (5); Longthorp, S. P. (3); Ludley, J. D. (8) ; MacFarlane, D. J. B. (5); MacPherson, A. R. (3); McDonald, L. R. P. (6); Megginson, A. F. (5); Moayyedi, P. (9); Morris, S. R. A. (6); Nodder, A. P. (6); Oates, G. A. (8); Pal, D. K. (11); Pell, A. J. (2); Prendergast, J. A. (6); Prescott, A. R. (5); ProsserHigdon, T. N. (8); Reynolds, M. A. (5) ; Rooms, D. J. (1); Schofield, R. N. J. (8); Schoon, A. N. (6); Sellers, M. I. (8); Shipley, M. S. 0. (9); Taylor, J. P. M. (2); Taylor, J. R. C. (1); Topham, K. D. (9); Walker, C. R. (10); Wass, D. R. (9); Watson, J. D. F. (5); Webster, R. H. (5); Williamson, D. A. (11); Winchurch, J. C. (6); Wood, P. A. (1); Woollons, S. J. (7); Worner, C. M. (7); Wright, E. F. J. (9).
VALETE T. R. G. Richard Grisdale left us after a year's appointment with us. We are grateful to him for his scholarly teaching to the bright, his sympathetic approach to the less academic, and his vigorous participation in five-a-side soccer and cricket. We wish him well for the future. P.D.R.G.
M. J. A. Joan Atkinson, as part-time French teacher, has in her three years in the School made many friends and become a fully integrated member of the teaching staff. It became obvious from her teaching of French that she was interested not only in the subject but also in the boys she was teaching. It was her faculty for finding the right words of help or encouragement for the struggler that made her so suitable as a confidential advisor to the girls when they joined the Sixth Form. Thus we are immensely grateful to Joan, 16
not only for her conscientious teaching but also her help with the personal relations of the School, in which she did such selfless and valuable service. We wish her and her husband every happiness in their move to the University of Exeter. P.D .R.G.
D. J. B. Derek Butler joined the teaching staff in September, 1975 as a member of the Physics Department. After gaining his degree at Aston University and his P.G.C.E. at St. John's College in York, he set himself at St. Peter's in his first teaching appointment to make himself a really efficient Physics teacher. In his four years he decisively proved his skill, as his pupils and his exam results will testify. Among his special interests were tennis, and film and television. It was appropriate that in his last summer at St. Peter's he should assist in the coaching of a most successful tennis team. In his coaching there were no fireworks but an impressive mixture of perception and determination. As regards his interest in film, the monument to his good work is now available in the School, and has been seen by many Peterites, present and past: I refer to his film of the School, shot, with the assistance of a team of enthusiasts among the boys, in time for the 535oth Anniversary of the School. A number of sequences in that film are unforgettable — the rowing and rugby sequences for instance, in which the tricks of slowing down or speeding up the camera enlarged our perception of the nature of the games with a strange novelty. The time came however when Derek felt that his life would be more intensely fulfilled as a priest than as a teacher, and so now he leaves us to undertake his training for ordination. His very perceptive talks from the pulpit on Science and Religion during one week and his invaluable aid at the weekend with Confirmation candidates at Marrick Priory suggest that he will have a great deal to offer in his chosen future. We are sorry to lose so good a Physics teacher, but we recognize his profound commitment, and wish him and Heather every happiness. P .D .R. G.
A. W. R. Alan Roberts joined St. Peter's in September, 1973 to teach a variety of languages — his degree at Leeds University included French, Latin and Russian. Such teachers are invaluable and find their way into the less accessible interstices of the timetable. Although there have been only a trickle of Russian students in the School, Alan has provided this language for the occasional Sixth-former and for groups in the IIIrd forms: those who have gone onto their '0' levels have found it a strenuous and enjoyable process — membership of the most elitist club in the School! Alan's main work has been in French at all levels, and he has shown a consistent skill in adapting the language appropriately to the very wide range of language learning that we find in the School. Alan has been much in demand outside the classroom for his genially exercised skills and the agreeable informality of his conversation. He has been a most valuable member of the rugby staff; in particular his skill in 17
encouraging a spirit of enjoyment among the third XV of the School has been most marked. Whatever game he has coached, rugby, tennis or cricket, there is enthusiasm far removed from fanaticism about his approach, which brings out the best in boys. Last year, he undertook fresh responsibilities as a member of the Careers team in the strenuous process of interpreting the Birkbeck tests, and interviewing Fifth-formers. He is a good listener and a kind speaker. The temperate common sense of his reports has been most helpful and encouraging to a generation of boys. He has also answered a popular need in his interest in and knowledge of modern music, and it was a delightfully characteristic idea that he should share this interest with the boys in a lunch hour once a week. Alan established himself in our midst as a most delightful and unassuming conversationalist — both staff, and boys and girls felt that — and it was a particular pleasure to us all when his first-born son arrived upon the scene; we almost look upon young James as a Peterite! We congratulate Alan on his appointment as Head of Modern Languages at St. Nicholas R.C. High School, in Northwich, and we wish him and Irene every happiness for the future. P.D.R.G. P. L. H. Philip Harris, Scholar of Jesus College, Cambridge joined the staff of St. Peter's in January, 1946, having served seven years in the Technical and Training Command instructing in radio and radar. The School has been fortunate in keeping such a humane and skilful teacher for most of his professional life. Generations of boys (and a few girls too) have received the benefit of his instruction in the labs, and, if they misbehaved, the salutary catharsis of cleaning the lab. sinks. Milestones of Philip's career after his arrival in 1946 were his appointment as overall Head of Science, the extension of the labs. that took place under his direction in 1955, and the series of Science Conversazioni that he planned in the sixties and seventies. So much has been recorded in The Peterite and is part of the official history of the School. Perhaps I should add a more personal assessment of Philip from the twelve years during which I had the pleasure of being his colleague. As soon as I arrived, I could see it was a strong and lively Science Department with a consistent record of Oxbridge awards at one level and a concern for the less academic at another. In captaining his team of Science masters, he allowed them to develop individual initiatives and he co-ordinated the resulting pressure of space and equipment with a strong practical sense. He always took on himself a full programme of teaching, and took his full share of the range of abilities — the lowest sets as well as the top. Those who experienced his teaching found him in their early days a stringent and demanding teacher, clear, thorough and businesslike, but as they grew up they came to appreciate the less formal and more relaxed atmosphere of his sixth-form teaching. He enjoyed jokes and red herrings as much as the class did, but he was sternly insistent that there should be no fooling around. If he disapproved of something, he showed a tough bluntness that left the offender in no doubt. 18
His powers of administration were outstanding. The extraordinary upheaval of each Science Conversazione in which over half the boys in the School and over half the teaching space in the School were occupied, was managed by Philip with remarkable aplomb. Everyone was given his parameters within which he was free to display his thing — hence one experienced an exhilarating sense of freedom within bounds. I remember one stand in the Scott Block which epitomized those gatherings: a German exchange student was all set to give a display with explanatory spiel of something to do with crystals, and the guest of honour, one of the country's leading crystallographers, came up to hear this talk, led by Philip. Despite the boy's expostulations, he had to speak his piece — in English — to the distinguished expert; and he weathered the ordeal with near-fluency. I cannot readily think of a more educational exercise. About ten years ago, Philip suggested that the Senior Science Society should invite to membership the girls of Queen Margaret's School, Escrick. It was through his invitations that this extension of the Society took place. Again Philip's guidance was not dictatorial or prescriptive. The ideas for talks came from a joint committee of pupils from each School and Philip then found the lecturers, whether on drugs or explosives or cosmetics or silicon chips, from nearby University or industry. He provided the framework within which the boys' and girls' curiosity could be satisfied. It was after seeing how well these joint meetings went that I felt it feasible for girls actually to join the School as full members — in lab. and classroom, instead of only at the social periphery. Philip, up to his last term, took a full share of extracurricular activities, two of which merit special mention. During his teaching span here, he ran the R.A.F. Section and, voluntary as it became, it consistently attracted groups of enthusiastic recruits and satisfied them with opportunities of signalling, of visiting airfields, of flying, of passing exams. in aerial navigation and of gaining gliding certificates. And about four years ago, he capitalised on the new Sports Centre by taking as an option, groups of boys for table tennis. He entered his strongest players for local leagues and remarkable successes were recorded under his benign sponsorship. Thus he was innovating at the time when many teachers, as they approach the home straight, remain perfunctory. There was nothing perfunctory about Philip. Philip Harris achieved an enormous amount in his time by way of instruction, pastoral assistance (and I haven't even mentioned his spell as Assistant Housemaster), and encouragement of boys through extracurricular activities. In pursuit of his aims, he was single-minded and extraordinarily persistent. During my twelve years at St. Peter's, I came to recognize various approaches from members of staff when they wished to gain authority for an innovation. Some bore down like battleships; some prepared the way with written prologues of explanation; some came up with a jaunty air of "Oh, by the way, Headmaster". Philip's technique was to sidle round the knots of coffee drinkers at break and stand unobtrusively at my elbow . . . until I turned. And I was caught. May I say that never on these occasions was I invited to authorize anything impractical, extravagant or extreme. He had always prepared his case immaculately and, if I ever said no, the more fool me. Philip retired at Christmas 1978, and was thus released for globe-trotting in more convenient months than School holidays. It was typically generous 19
of this loyal teacher that he agreed to waive the right this last summer term in order to fill a temporary gap and that he taught with all his old skill, thoroughness and good humour. To him and Margaret we wish every possible happiness in retirement, with many years of trips to exotic parts of the world.
P.D.R.G.
Name Anderson, M. B. Bronk, R. A. C. Bramley, G. CollingwoodGittins, R. Craig, R. E. Crowley, P. W. M. De Silva, P. W. S.
SH
Date of Leaving 16.12.78 16.12.78 16.12.78
M Q D T
16.12.78 16.12.78 16.12.78 16.12.78
House G G
Name Healey, J. Markwick-Smith, J. R. Potter, M. R. Rowbottom, R. A. Theakston, M. I. Wetherell, S. D. Elliott, J. A. S. Hall, M. E.
House SH
Date of Leaving 16.12.78
G T R G G SH D
16.12.78 16.12.78 16.12.78 16.12.78 16.12.78 22. 3.79 7. 5.79
JULY 1979 DRONFIELD Brooke, D. A., Dalby, Wendy E., Dixon, G., Johnson, P. M., Kay, D. J., Lister, S. R., Miller, K., Rooms, D. J., Sunley, M. C. J. GROVE Blackburn, M. S. D., Burton, J. G., Casling, T. J., Chadwick, C. J., Cuckston, P. G., Harrod, Jane, Ibbotson, P. R. J., Kerr, M. P., Nield, R. D., Prosser-Higdon, T. N., Sampson, Anna G., Swiers, P. J., Tapp, Janine V., Thorpe, Prudence A., Worner, C. M. QUEEN'S Blacker, A. W., Brown, J. E. A., Craig, R. M., Dixon, Caroline J., Ellison, J. F., Fender, P. G., Hunter, C. T., Leckenby, A. D., Macfarlane, D. J. B., Macpherson, A. R., Mainds, R. C. S., McCarter, P. E., Miller, D. C., Power, M. J., Prendergast, J. A., Rolston, Alicia J., Squire, N., Winder, G. J. M. F. RISE Burdass, C. W., Mathews, C. B., Megginson, A. F., Rymer, C. G., Schoon, A. N., Shuttleworth, N. D., Spencer, C., Tyson, M. J., Wilson, J. P., Wright, G. A. MANOR Barnish, W. A., Boyd, J. M., Carmichael, W. N., Ellison, D. M., Mortimer, W. N. B., Quirke, M. F., Rayson, I. C. M., Stringer, Helen S., Townsend, N. G. TEMPLE Anderton, Louise, Dixon, S. M., Gray, Bridget K., Hare, J. N. W., Jemmett, N. J., Newitt, F. S., Pease, H. R. B., Raheem, M. A., Shilleto, S. J., Taylor, J. R. C., Watson, J. D. F., Whatmoor, N. W., Williamson, H. T. S. SCHOOL HOUSE Andrews, S. J., Barrett, R. J., Beaumont, I. D., Bird, D. J., Brown, R. J., Buckle, S. M., Etches, S. W., Goodwin, S. J., Greenwood, P. D., Linton, R. E., Reed, A. C., Storey, J. M. V. 20
SALVETE BOARDERS, SEPTEMBER, 1979 Abel, L. J. W., Rise; Abel, T. A., Rise; Angel, J. R., Dronfield; Banks, C. P., Dronfield; Bulman, A. J. D., Manor ; Cole, A. S. P., Manor; Deas, R. C., School House; Ellis, R. W., Manor; Gillespie, R. G., School House; Kinnear, A. M., Dronfield; McClarron, S. C., School House; Ogden, R. G., Dronfield; Spink, R. G. E., Dronfield; Strike, R. J. A., Manor; Walker, H. G., Manor; Weston, R., Dronfield; Wilson, E. R., School House. DAY BOYS, SEPTEMBER, 1979 Lyon, M. P., Temple; Shanks, J. W., Temple; Sharrock, D. J., Temple; Valiance, M. G. B., Temple. DAY BOYS FROM ST. OLAVE'S Abbey, M. J., Temple; Armishaw, J. P., Grove; Arrowsmith, N. D., Grove; Atkinson, J. P., Temple; Baren, A. D. K., Temple; Beaumont, J. P., Temple; Binnington, J. P., Queen's; Bowden, J. A., Grove; Butterworth, M. D., Grove; Carr, D. H., Grove; Cass, M. A., Rise (D.Bdr.); Chapman, P. N. B., Queen's; Chilman, R. K. R., Temple; Conacher, S. R. M., Queen's; Copley, D. J., Queen's; Cramb, M. W. J., Temple; Dickson, G. C., Temple; Dobie, M. J., Queen's; Duffield, R. P., Grove; Ellerker, R. J., Grove; Foley, M. J., Queen's; Galley, S. D., Queen's; Galley, W. F., Grove; Gardner, R. 0. B., Queen's; Gower, T. C., Queen's; Hall, A. R., Grove; Hameed, Z., Temple; Heslop, N. J., Queen's; Hopton, N. D., Temple; Houston, A. J. G., Grove; Howie, F. W. H., Queen's; Jacques, P. J. D., Grove; Kaner, B. C., Grove; Kelly, P. J., Grove; Knox, A. K., Queen's; Nichols, M. E., Grove; Procter, J. G., Grove; Robinson, G. G. B.;, Queen's; Stone, A. F. M., Grove; Thompson, G. A., Queen's; Wicks, R. J., Queen's; Wise, M. G., Queen's; Wombell, C. D., Temple; Wood, S. P., Temple. BOARDERS FROM ST. OLAVE'S, 1979 Allan, C. R. W., Dronfield; Barker, A. J. E., Manor; Bird, S. P., School House; Bradbury, S. F., Dronfield; Chamieh, M. A., Manor; Collingwood, S., Dronfield; Eddell, P. H. B., School House; Farnsworth, J. R., Rise; Fawthrop, R. S., Rise; Frank, J. A., Manor; Gray, A. P. M., Manor; Hughes, R. W., Rise; Jacques, D., School House; Kashita, S. A. L., Dronfield; Knapton, J. W., Manor; Leadley, A. D., School House; Millard, A. J., Manor; Nichols, A. T., Manor; Oldfield, C. J. M., Rise; Pawson, J. I., Rise; Rollo, K. G. T., Temple; Rooke, S. R., Rise; Spence, S. D., School House; Stewart, J. M., School House; Sweetman, D. C. M., Dronfield; White, J. G., Rise. BOYS ENTERING THE SIXTH FORM SEPTEMBER, 1979 Aggarwal, R. K., Queen's; Cochrane, A. R. N., Rise; Paranjothy, M., Queen's. GIRL BOARDERS ENTERING THE SIXTH FORM, SEPTEMBER, 1979 Bulmer, Bridget J., Manor; Smith, Miriam R., School House; Spratt, Mary H., Manor; Priestley, Fiona J., School House. GIRL DAY BOARDERS ENTERING THE SIXTH FORM, SEPTEMBER, 1979 Lockey, Claire F., School House; Shuttleworth, Sally A., School House. DAY GIRLS ENTERING THE SIXTH FORM, SEPTEMBER, 1979 Boorman, Amanda S., Temple; Neville, Sarah J., Temple; Smith, Johanna L., Temple. 21
THE CHAPEL A lady said to me in the Minster recently, "You don't have chapel services any more at St. Peter's, do you ?" I was able to assure her that we most certainly did, though I fear that she was not impressed with the idea of "only" four or so Community Services per term on a Sunday. It has been noticeable when we have had voluntary special services such as the Advent Carol Serivce and the Whit-Sunday evening Family Communion, that these are supported more by the days boys and parents than by the boarders. Both these occasions were very enjoyable, and those who came (boys and adults) said how much more preferable were such services than the compulsory ones. Our two largest services have, of course, been the Minster ones. Both are fraught with problems. To many people; especially "first-timers" and those taking part in the Service, the Epiphany Procession is a magical and enthralling litury. But to so very many of the boys (who can't see or hear what is happening for much of the Service) it is a gigantic bore. The Service is the Minster's own, and we are invited (and honoured) guests. I feel that the time has come to make this a voluntary occasion for us, as it is for the rest of the vast congregation. When Western Christianity decided that St. Peter ought to be commemorated on 29th June each year it did not have to cope with '0', 'A/0' and 'A' levels! As St. Peter's School we can hardly fail to honour St. Peterstide — indeed I feel that we should make far more of St. Peter's Day itself. But exams prevent us from doing anything other than the bare minimum of rehearsal for any service in the Minster. It would have been marvellous to have heard the band in the Cathedral, but practice time was impossible. Perhaps a boost for St. Peter's Day and a Minster celebration for our true founder, St. Paulinus (loth October) is the way forward ? A feature of the mid-week services this year has been the House weeks. These have been very worth while. I have only needed to give a minimum of help, most of the material and planning being organised by the House reps of the Chapel Committee plus willing helpers. Some weeks have been quite outstanding. The choice of taped music has not been to everyone's taste, but at least we have managed to get away from the archaic image of 17th century Anglican Prayer Book conformity. I hope that the House weeks will continue and that the more hesitant Houses will be a little more forthcoming. Some individual boys have bravely taken on Chapel for a day, and our thanks and admiration go to them. The Thursday Communion Services continue to be well attended (over 40 on two occasions) and we have been pleased to welcome the Bishop of Selby, the Vicar of St. Olave's (A.J. Heslop), and the Dean of York as visiting celebrants. The Bishop of Selby Confirmed and celebrated Communion at the St. Olave's/St. Peter's Confirmation Service on 15th June. Forty-three boys were confirmed, the following zo from St. Peter's:— Jonathan Simpson Mark Adeney Robert Gair Jonathan Atkinson Peter Atkinson Rupert Bond Jonathan Burr John Burton David Clark
Jonathan Hall Charles Hopkinson William Ledger Andrew Megginson James Muirhead Nigel Ramsden 22
Barney Skrentny Rupert Smith Peter Stancer William Stancer Jonathan Winchurch
The weekend before the Confirmation Service the St. Peter's candidates went away to Marrick Priory (Youth Centre) near Reeth, with Mr. and Mrs. Butler, my wife and myself. We spent the weekend discussing "Belonging" (to society, school, the Church, etc.) and were able to go fell walking and canoeing. (Here I felt a duty to keep an eye on things from the bank, rather than go canoeing myself!) We were able to display in the school ante-chapel the results of the various discussions, and certainly found the two days an invaluable preparation for Confirmation. Preachers during the year have been the Rev. Bob Lewis (Archbishop's Chaplain) at the Beginning of Year Service, myself at Harvest, and the Headmaster at Commemoration. Jillian Harness, aged 17 years, died in April after a valiant and cheerful battle against cancer. Great numbers of her friends in all the school years came to the Memorial Service in Chapel. The whole school responded magnificently to a special collection for Cancer Research, an organisation that Jillian herself did so much to help. At the very beginning of the School year the new vestments were dedicated at a communion service. These are the "Margaret Ping Memorial Gift", and we are most grateful to Hugh Ping for his generous help in the purchase of these cassock-albs in memory of his mother. The term and year ended with the Commemoration Service, devised this year by the Headmaster. The choir played a very important part, as always, and the whole service was uplifted by the magnificent playing of the band. I hope that they will be able to play for us far more frequently than in the past. The choir have given a good lead at the weekday services and have sung at all the special occasions in chapel. Their anthem at the Memorial Service and their singing at the Advent Carol Service were particularly outstanding. We are indebted to Mr. Pemberton and all the choir. My thanks to all members of the Chapel Committee for their very helpful ideas and for their efforts. Particular thanks go to Roderick Craig for his two years' service as a most reliable and unflappable crucifer; to Tony Miller as a very able and dedicated Sacristan; and to William Barnish as an exceptionally efficient and articulate Secretary. The chapel has been beautified throughout the year by Sheila Nix and all the women who have helped her with the flowers. We are most grateful to them. We have been able to welcome this year the new chaplain of St. Olave's, the Rev. Raymond Hargreaves, and we wish him well. J. M. R.
COMMEMORATION SERVICE - 14th July, 1979 The Headmaster delivered the following sermon: At Commemoration we are "compassed about by a great cloud of witnesses". We remember those whose lives helped build up this School and influenced us, its present members. Perhaps each of us will see among that great cloud a few individual faces whose memory remains most strongly with us. Especially I remember some who died having spent the most 23
useful and perhaps the happiest years of their lives in this community — Kenneth Rhodes, Freddie Waine, Paddy Power, Jill Harness. And when they died, the only place in the School where we could adequately sum up our grief and our gratitude was this Chapel. At such moments we can see where the centre of the school truly is. In the light of their lives, at Commemoration we can take stock. We can contrast the community we would like and we hope for with the reality that we actually have, that falls so far short of that ideal. Thus in our first hymn, the writer John Newton, a very wild ship's captain engaged at one stage in the slave trade, imagined his ideal community, Zion, as some Italian hill town, mysteriously provided with springs, from the walls of which the saved could, rather smugly, gaze out at their enemies. That was the ideal pictured by his eighteenth century Evangelical fervour — I hope he found what he was looking for! And in the second hymn, "Turn Back 0 Man" we see a twentieth-century poet's gloom at the ideological lunacies that have led to wars of unparalleled destruction, wars in which a technology of killing from a distance has been perfected. "Earth might be fair", if only . . . And yet even he dares to say "Earth shall be fair". How shall we take stock ? How can we judge if this is a good school ? How can we judge if it is, in any important sense, a Christian School ? Do the words "good" and "Christian" have anything to do with each other ? Well, we all like measuring things, and we can measure '0' and 'A' level results, and we can work out cricket averages, count up rugby points for and against, we can produce plays and concerts, and assess them in our official records; we can organize sponsored events for fund-raising, and so on. Without these things, the School has no apparent purpose. All of these must take place in a good school. Without them, no school. But they might all b e very good and the school might still be a very bad school. There are less measurable things that make up the texture of day-to-day life. After Darwin, after Freud, we of the twentieth century are aware that we are animals of impulse, fiercely competitive in order to survive, with deep feelings of anarchy and aggression that threaten to erupt. That's true on the battlefield; that's true in a school common room. We know that we must exercise a judicious control over these impulses. Repress them and you head for trouble; give them free rein and you have chaos. Good order is therefore something of a knife-edge. So, after our measurements of exams and score, our second criterion is the balance between tolerance and repression that is found in the School. A third test is in the words we use. We use words not only to inform but also to assert ourselves, to delight, to show off, to identify ourselves in the community, to show concern. At two levels I ask you to think of the state of words in this School. One, how much jeering is there ? In a bad school the jeer has become accepted as normal. In a good school, it won't have disappeared (that would be unrealistic) but at least it is kept in its place, and at least it is possible for one person to encourage, or express concern for, another. Two, words are so important because that is how we make promises. If promises are not kept, you can rely on nothing; the place is a jungle. Here are some words of Montaigne (not a Peterite, but he is among the "cloud of witnesses"). "Since mutual understanding is brought about solely by way 24
of words, he who breaks his word betrays human society. It is the only instrument by means of which our wills and thoughts communicate, it is the interpreter of our soul. If it fails us, we have no more hold on each other, no more knowledge of each other. If it deceives us, it breaks up all our relations, and dissolves all the bonds of our society". Do we keep our promises in this community ? A fourth test of a school is, how do we treat people ? Can friendship flourish ? In St. Peter's I believe it can and does and that some of the friendships you have made will last for the rest of your lives. But the question must still be asked and faced, do we treat others as ends in themselves (as important as ourselves) or as means to our ends ? Do we even begin to understand in our lives as a practical proposition the biblical injunction to "love they neighbour as thyself" ? There are four tests then of the goodness of a school — the quality of its achievements; its good or bad order; language; fellowship. But further to these, the school must draw out and develop the best powers of everyone in it for the needs of the day. Let me take examples from the past from our cloud of witnesses. If you read The Peterite magazines at the end of the nineteenth century you will judge how the School trained men to run an Empire, from the large number of letters to the Editor from Old Boys all over the world — on safari in Africa, sailing adventures in the Far East. I recommend these letters — they're great fun. I think of Sir Frank Swettenham, Old Peterite, who in 1896 masterminded the federation of the Malay States and laid the commercial and technological basis of the rubber plantations there. He answered one need of the time. And I think of another great man who lived in the early twentieth-century, who could see how the development of road and rail communications in this country was entirely in the hands of the business man and the engineer, who, between them, were producing grotesquely ugly sights. That man, the Managing Director of the London General Omnibus and the London Underground companies, had the vision to see that artists and architects must be brought into the world of transport. As a patron, he brought them in; through hi :n posters were revolutionized, and London Underground Stations were built that were good to look at. That man was Frank Pick, an Old Peterite. I repeat, the School tries to develop the best powers of everyone for the needs of to-day. And those needs, as I hardly need tell you, are frightening. You are growing up into a world of microprocessors, that will probably alter the nature of most people's work; a world in which energy from fossil fuels is fast running out; a world on the brink of revolution in various technologies from genetic engineering to colonizing space; a world in which two-thirds of living people are underfed, and one-third at or below starvation level. Man is at once potentially god-like and potentially destructive in his technological powers. If you are not to be cut off from the sources of power in that world, you will have to be well instructed in the words and the technology which mediate between man and his doings. It is an exciting and dangerous world for you to grow up in. But it is also a world in which human beings are born, grow up, fall in love, marry, have children, mature, age and die; in it the proportions of human happiness and misery will be much the same as ever. 25
It is clear that our education must not make us merely clever at words and technology, but that a spirit must get into our solution of these problems — a spirit, it seems to me, that is above and beyond what is human. And that is why this Chapel again turns out to be central, whether you are a conventional believer or an agnostic, or an atheist. In the centre of Chapel is the Cross. Its shape is both the I crossed out, selfishness crossed out, and the gesture of forgiveness. It is a symbol of the Spirit that must get into us if we are to survive. And here, at last, is my text, from Paul's letter to the Colossians, Chapter 3, Verse 14: "To crown all, there must be love, to bind all together and complete the whole".
CHAPEL FLOWERS The hard winter which limited decorating so severely earlier on made final bountiful amends in time for Commemoration. The roses which should have bloomed in June suddenly filled the gardens in mid July and for the last weekend of the summer term the Chapel was full of them. We had pink and red and flame, with copper foliage and white syringa and, in the centre window, a lacing of bright blue cornflowers which intensified the blue of John Brown's hanging crucifix. Back in October, Harvest brought a riot of glowing colour and fascinating shapes, and every ledge and resting place overflowed as the Olavites carried in a bumper collection of fruit and vegetables and sheaves, with jam and eggs and tea and tins and two magnificent harvest loaves. Red and silver and evergreens, with the fairy lights on the two Christmas trees always bring the Chapel warmly alive for the December carols each year. In the Spring the girls in St. Peter's arranged a profusion of daffodils and tulips for the service for Jillian Harness. And there were more massed vases for the Confirmation, held this year in June instead of March. Our School Chapel does need a mass of colour to look effective. Small arrangements get "lost". So it has been difficult indeed this year to provide for all those "ordinary" weeks in between the highlights! Our faithful band of helpers is VERY small these days and everyone of them has a host of other commitments besides. We have said goodbye to one or two who have left and gladly welcomed two or three newcomers. But we would love to see many more to swell the numbers of arrangers, or even just to bring along some flowers or greenery from time to time for others to arrange. PLEASE consider whether you could help, even just once a year perhaps, and give your name to one of us or to the Office. None of us are experts but I think we all feel it is worth some effort to make the Chapel more colourful and attractive, both for services and as a place to spend a few quiet moments in the day or even just to practice in. Our thanks as always go to all those of you who already do contribute in various ways. And this includes parents, boys and girls, wives of governors, staff and friends. Thank you for your gifts in cash and in kind, for your help and your encouragement. The results do not go unappreciated. And a special word of thanks to the Chapel cleaners and porters. They put up most patiently with all our mess and the sometimes mountainous piles 26
of rubbish after special occasions. As to the musicians, we know we cause you problems! We hope you will continue to bear patiently with the spreading arrangements, straying insects, heady smells and pollen, not to mention leaky vases. We do try not to upset too many music stands as we clamber about the chancel! We hope you enjoy the flowers. We certainly enjoy your music, the daily practice as well as the real thing. And where would we be without the piano by the centre windows ? S.M.N.
MUSIC It is four years since Mr. Finch took over the string teaching and continued the good work which Mr. Sandercock had begun before: his ability to get players on to higher grades had to be experienced to be believed, but this was tempered with a kindly patience toward the less gifted. Mr. Finch has returned to Sussex for health reasons and we wish him a happy retirement. One of his replacements, Mrs. Smith has quickly earned promotion I to a full time job at Malton and we are sorry her stay was so short. Mr. Hinckley has also left for a post in Leicester. We thank them all for their ' work here and wish them well for the future. In Chapel the idea of an Advent Carol Service continued, and it was pleasing to sing in procession from the gallery, through an uncrowded Chapel to the chancel, though the candles were a real fire risk! The first evening of the three day Music Festival was held in Chapel enabling not only organists, but also brass and others to use the pleasant acoustics. Commemoration was celebrated with a brass group playing in the hymns and Te Deum. In Hall, Yeomen of the Guard in December, a Band and Orchestra concert in March, The Music Festival in May, and a new idea, the Waine Concert in June. This was organised and presented entirely by the fifteen Waine pupils and was a great success. A lecture by broadcaster Anthony Hopkins drew a large audience who were delighted by his wit and untiring anecdotes. Occasional parties have attended concerts and operas and the proposal for form a Music Supporters' Group seems to be fruitful and may help more to enjoy music. The following have taken part in concerts during the year:— MEMBERS OF BAND: A. J. Dixon, S. N. Williams, M. Pearson, A. R. Aagaard, W. P. Ledger. R. N. Sabey, G. A. Flintoff, C. R. W. Bell. A. J. Collinson, B. C. Kaner. J. M. P. Jones, M. J. Heywood, R. S. P. Litten, N. D. Aspinall, R. C. Young, M. L. Chippendale, A. J. Slater. S. D. Ashton, W. A. Barnish, I. G. Anderson, C. C. Marshall. Trombone: Euphonium: C. A. Shaw. N. C. H. Pemberton, J. C. Neal. Tuba: Percussion: T. A. Heap. Clarinet: Saxophone: Horn: Trumpet:
27
MEMBERS OF ORCHESTRA:
1st Violin: 2nd Violin:
Viola: Cello: Piano:
P. G. Fender, D. N. C. Pemberton, A. G. Whipp, R. D. E. Bro C. R. Bronk, T. A. Kaner. R. M. Craig, D. R. Kaner, S. J. Mawby, J. R. C. Taylor, G. J. M. Winder, A. J. Nichols. R. M. Addinall, A. P. Copley, J. R. Oglesby, A. F. H. Hjort. P. V. Aagaard, A. D. Leckenby, F. A. Craig, L. G. Bleasdale. N. C. H. Pemberton.
ASSOCIATED BOARD OF THE ROYAL SCHOOLS OF MUSIC The following have been successful in examinations during the past year: Name A. R. Aagaard P. V. Aagaard O. J. Bird F. A. Craig P. G. Fender M. P. G. Haslam T. A. Heap A. F. H. Hjort T. R. W. Jones D. R. Kaner W. P. Ledger S. J. Lewis J. C. Neal J. R. Oglesby M. Pearson D. N. C. Pemberton N. C. H. Pemberton R. N. Sabey B. A. R. Skrentny A. G. Whipp R. C. Young
Grade 4 4 5 5 6 3 6 3 7 6 4 1 6 4 5 8 8 8 5 3 2 7 4
Initrument Clarinet Piano Piano Cello Piano Violin Piano Viola Piano Violin Clarinet Piano Piano Viola Clarinet Piano Violin Cello Clarinet Piano Piano Violin Trumpet
Merit Merit
Distinction
Distinction Distinction
M. J. Heywood, S. J. Mawby and M. Pearson passed the Grade 5 Theory Examination. N. C. H. Pemberton passed the Associate examination of the Royal College of Organists and was awarded the Diploma A.R.C.O.
DRAMA ANTIGONE It worked so well, this odd fusion of the work of two great playwrights. Here were two interpretations of the same dilemma, contradictory but somehow complementary. The first interpretation, by Sophocles, saw Fate 28
and the Innate Wilfulness of human nature pre-determining the result of an irreconcilable clash between Duty and Duty. The second interpretation, by Anouilh, saw Idealism as a mere cloak for pragmatism, where compromise and a 'cover-up. are what sensible people settle for. This production of Ian Lowe's sought to combine these two interpretations: the eternal Greek, and the cynical French. Impossible ? Well, yes in a way; but it worked. Its inconsistencies were in a sense its strength. John Healey played Creon as a complete pragmatist, a politician of our own times, a wheeler and dealer: Anouilh's Creon. On the other hand, Janine Tapp's Antigone was almost all Sophocles, I with moral questions seen only as Absolutes; an Antigone of bloody-minded 1 wilfulness. So John and Janine should have been acting each in his/her own vacuum. We should have been witnessing two plays simultaneously, hardly related to each other. What we did see were indeed two plays simultaneously, but not at all unrelated. John and Janine were good enough to do it. Add a sexy vitality to the calculated coldness of a martyr, and you have Janine's Antigone. Take a careworn, responsible, avuncular figure, respected as a keeper of the peace, warm-hearted up to the limits set by worldly values—that was John's Creon; and we can all sympathise with him. What hope had such a fallible, such a human and reluctant leader in a clash with that inflexible female will ? Antigone suffered her cruel fate, of course, but that in itself was her victory, and Creon's defeat, for he wanted it to happen less than she did. tion of Haemon, his own Creon's terrible punishment was the self-destruction Antigone's lover. Christopher Bronk as Haemon spoke his lines confidently, but more intensity would have made his self-sacrifice plausible. For making the whole bizarre plot plausible, even credible, we must thank Tim Raylor as the Chorus. With a perfect rendering of long and difficult passages, almost expressionless, pitiless as eternity, he exposed the pathos we i all have to face in life. Poor Antigone . . . Poor us .. . As Ismene, Wendy Dalby was surprisingly good: most ordinary of ordinary mortals; ineffectual schemer; winsome, emotional, and dedicated to self-preservation. So unlike her sister, Antigone: so like most of us. As Eurydice Ruth Addinall had to be passive, until she was cornered and became desperate, or perhaps just resigned. The hunted look was just enough to leave us uncertain. The others had to be stereotypes to emphasise the central characters: Jeremy Markwick-Smith as the Messenger, trying hard not to become involved, then barely concealing his panic; Bill Barnish as the Guard, a timeless caricature of the 'fly' soldier, convincing and not overdone. We, the audience, could identify with these last two characters, for, while the Nobs were destroying themselves, these two were looking after Number One. Of course. J.P.R. 29
THE CAST Creon
John Healey
Antigone
Janine Tapp
Chorus
Tim Raylor
Ismene
Wendy Dalby
Haemon
Chris Bronk
Eurydice
Ruth Addinall
Guard
Bill Barnish
Messenger
Jeremy Markwick-Smith
with Anna Sampson and Richard Collingwood-Gittins BACKSTAGE Terry Wallhead
Simon Shilleto
Brian Macdonald
and members of the stage option PRODUCER Ian Lowe
30
Avril Lowe
THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7th, 8th and 9th December, 1978, in the Memorial Hall. Before the production of 'The Yeomen' one couldn't help but wonder whether the whole project was too ambitious. Notoriously one of the most difficult Gilbert and Sullivan operas, it seemed hardly likely that a school could do it justice given the time available for rehearsal. Yet with the School's first opportunity to use its girls in a major Gilbert and Sullivan opera, the extra versatility should give more chance of success. Having seen other schools bite off more than they could chew and providing nothing better than embarrassment, it was with not a little apprehension that I sat through the overture, wondering what was in store. In fact I need not have worried at all; once again Edmund Field, the producer, provided us with a highly polished evening's entertainment. Initial thoughts concerning the new potential in the sixth form girls were well founded. Jill Gillett played the part of Elsie Maynard both charmingly and competently. Miggy Biller represented the female staff as Dame Carruthers and managed to create exactly the right blend of critical, overpowering authority, with that hint of fragility. That left only one Olavite to be found to play a major female role. Matthew Wise's facial expressions as Phoebe Meryll were certainly some of the highlights of the evening for me, and so the age-old problem of the female cast was well solved. As usual, the set and costumes were of a very high standard; congratuladons to all involved, especially to those who worked on the scenery, as it was prepared by the stage 'option' with almost no staff supervision, Stephen Lister and Tony Miller taking the lead. As for the rest of the major parts, Don Hamilton was well cast as the authoritative Sir Richard Cholmondeley. Nick Wilson seemed to be really living and enjoying the part of Assistant Tormentor (what on earth do they get up to in St. Olave's ?). Paul Aagaard was suitably heroic, and Timothy Heap both responsible and scheming. By far the most difficult character in the production to my mind must be Jack Point. The need to be comic and yet tragic in the same scene is not easy, yet Kit Bird handled the role very convincingly indeed. Unfortunately, there was no natural comedian in the cast to steal the show as has been seen so often in the past. Instead the atmosphere was much more one of elegant humour with the occasional more hilarious moments. The cast found it difficult to be convincing in the more romantic scenes, but otherwise the acting was of a very high standard. I was impressed with the degree of commitment of the cast to get such a long production so well polished throughout. Altogether it was a thoroughly enjoyable and highly entertaining evening— well done all. It did, however, leave me with one unanswered question : surely someone can tell me why a cook's brain pan is like an over-wound clock ? Answers on a postcard .. . D.J.R.
31
A Scene from 'The Yeomen of the Guard'.
ST. PETER'S SCHOOL AND ST. OLAVE'S SCHOOL
present
THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD or
THE MERRYMAN AND HIS MAID by W. S. GILBERT AND ARTHUR SULLIVAN
Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 7th, 8th and 9th December, 1978,
in the Memorial Hall DRAMATIS P ER S ONIE Sir Richard Cholmondeley (Lieutenant of the Tower) .... Don Hamilton Paul Aagaard Colonel Fairfax (under sentence of death) Timothy Heap Sergeant Meryll (of the Yeomen of the Guard) James Hewitt Leonard Meryll (his son) Kit Bird Jack Point (a Strolling Jester) Wilfred Shadbolt (Head Jailor and Assistant Tormentor).. Nicholas Wilson The Headsman Marcus Tyson Stephen Lister First Yeoman John McGrath Second Yeoman Timothy Kaner First Citizen William Stancer Second Citizen Jill Gillett Elsie Maynard (a Strolling Singer) Matthew Wise Phoebe Meryll (Sergeant Meryll's daughter) Miggy Biller Dame Carruthers (Housekeeper to the Tower) Andrew Hjort Kate (her niece) Chorus of Yeomen of the Guard, Gentlemen and Citizens: Roderick Barron Oliver Bird Fergus Craig Roger Depledge Christopher Drury Paul McCarter Tony Miller James Neal
Jeremy Taylor Andrew Whipp Richard Chilman Graham Dickson Jane Harrod Tom Hewitt Nicholas Hopton Philip Kelly
David Marsh Matthew Nixon Duncan Rayson Martin Robards Matthew Scott Mark Stanley Adam Stone David Sweetman
Costumes: Once again we should like to express our gratitude to Mrs. N. C. Forbes Adam for her continued generosity in lending us costumes. We should also like to thank the following for help with dressing and the making of costumes. Mrs. Bird, Mrs. Blissett, Mrs. Craven, Mrs. Dench, Mrs. Field, Mrs. Gardiner, Mrs. Harding, Mrs. Kirby, Mrs. Nield, Mrs. Nix, Mrs. Nixon, Mrs. Rayson, Mrs. Robinson. All the Yeoman Warders' Costumes were hired from William Mutrie & Son Ltd., of Edinburgh. Wardrobe Mistress and Assistant Producer: Noreen Gypson Make-up: Mrs. Bird, Kit Bird, Peter Gardiner and Tony Miller
Stage Management: John Gaastra, Stephen Lister and Tony Miller With thanks to the 'Stage Option' whose names are displayed in the Dining Room. Lighting: Stephen Lister, Tony Miller and Terry Wallhead Dances: Arranged by Mrs. P. J. Bird Orchestra: Friends and Members of the School Repetiteur: Nigel Pemberton Director of Music: Keith Pemberton Producer: Edmund Field 33
CORNEILLE'S `HORACE' Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: `To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods ?' Macaulay's stirring words made Horatius into a Victorian hero of the empire building type. Two centuries earlier Pierre Corneille saw Horace as an example of the triumph of gloire over amour within the austere setting of French classical tragedy. Denis Hirst's production of extracts from the play with members of the Sixth Form brought the strength of the original over to an audience many times removed in language and expectations from seventeenth century French aristocrats. Denis Burton had the thankless task of playing a hero who is not only prepared to fight his sister's fiancé to the death, but is glad to do so: Avec une allegresse aussi pleine et sincere Que repousai la soeur, je combattrai le frere. David Hinchliffe's role as Curiace, his unfortunate victim and friend, could more easily excite our sympathy, while Jill Gillett's Camille forcibly expressed the distraction of the sister and fiancée between them. Ruth Addinall gave Valere's report of off-stage action the clarity this convention requires, and Roderick Barron and Warren Carr played Father and King with a gravity well beyond their years. Between the tension of the scenes Katharine Denison's cool, crisp narration provided continuity. Indeed the acoustics of the Drama Centre gave us the chance to appreciate the effort and accuracy of the actors' language. After the traditional trois coups and the equally traditional trac, or nerves, all the participants gave us performances of great clarity and feeling. This meant that an audience often struggling with '0' Level French, or even School Certificate, could identify the simplicity of passages such as Curiace's cry: J'ai le coeur aussi bon, mais enfin je suis homme. The action and the memorising of so much text seemed equally to enthrall the many younger members of the School present. Without sacrificing classical austerity Terry Wallhead's ice-cold and blood-hot lighting and Robert Nield's design concentrated attention on the real issue, that old Roman tag that stared at us across the centuries and cultures, that slogan which is always topical and tragic : DVLCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI. R. G.D . CAST Narrator Horace Curiace Camille Valere Le Vieille Horace Tulle Design: Robert Nield Lighting: Terry Wallheal
Katharine Denison Denis Burton David Hinchliffe Jill Gillett Ruth Addinall Roderick Barron Warren Carr Prompter: Andrew Barrell Producer: Denis Hirst 34
ROMEO AND JULIET After all the production difficulties, Romeo and Juliet achieved a high standard of performance. I saw it on Friday evening: I am told that on Saturday it was even better. There were flaws: some of the movements were wooden (though not the fight scenes: magnificent proof of Kit Bird's quality as a fencing coach); some cues were taken late (though at least one such was splendidly covered by Andrew Hjort); the second-half prompter knew the words but not the pauses (is this why they decided not to need any second-half prompts on Saturday ?); and the scene changers looked occasionally like stray devils from a production of Faustus. But to draw attention to these things is to carp and quibble—or to emphasise precisely how high are the standards by which one must judge the whole. If it had not been announced, no one would have known how recently Tony Miller had taken over the role of Montague. As for Mandy Rigby and Kit Bird, for all the strain they had been and were under, they held together and dominated the evening. Ob them depended success. For highest praise generally, I would single out the quality of the versespeaking. I have rarely heard third and fourth formers (to say nothing of others) speak Shakespearian blank verse with more natural rhythm and greater awareness of meaning. One couplet stands in my memory even now: Death lies on her like an untimely frost Upon the sweetest flower of all the field. Hearing that, one foresaw that Capulet's love for his daughter transcended the feud. Gregory Lomas added dimensions to my understanding of the pathos of the play: Paris's love for Juliet is as powerful, as ill-starred as Romeo's. He could not win. Barney Skrentny as the young Mercutio, still not knowing when to stop talking, died more brightly, more nobly, more disinterestedly than I had known before, explaining to me why Romeo killed and was banished for him. This gave dignity to Romeo's love for Juliet: though it was intense, it was not to the exclusion of all the world. None of this comprehends the best feature of this production: the way it illuminated the play's explorations of maturity and the contrasts between natural wisdom and acquired or inherited experience. The young Romeo and Juliet show their older families the way to wisdom. In this production, their greater spiritual maturity was pointed by their being surrounded by younger actors. The contrasts worked symbolically. The success of this depended upon the skill of the youngsters cast as elders. One had to believe, for instance, that Romeo, Juliet, Paris and Capulet would all seek advice and assistance from Friar Lawrence. Tim Kaner carried this off well: a trustable friend and mentor. One had to accept, too, that a whole city could be divided by loyalty to one or other of Montague and Capulet. Tony Miller and Craig Lawrence kept the necessary balance between their roles as 'Godfathers' and the potential for humility at the deaths of their children. Kit Bird and Mandy Rigby helped this process: they deferred to those around them in a way that helped us to believe in the age and seniority of the characters. Kit, for instance, deferred to Mark Adeney and to Tim 35
Mandy Rigby and Kit Bird in 'Romeo and Juliet'.
(photo by Chris Bronk) 36
Kaner; so Romeo was devoted in different ways to Benvolio and to Friar Lawrence. Mandy accorded just the right places to Andrew Hjort and Craig Lawrence; Juliet used the nurse she had once held in awe, and learned to live around the shadow of her father. Kit and Mandy did far more than say the right lines from the right places. And so the production succeeded. If the only motive was to use the Drama centre balcony properly, then it was a good motive. Romeo and Juliet did that and very much more. D.J.H.
ROMEO AND JULIET (Drama Centre, 6th and 7th July, 1979) Kit Bird Mandy Rigby Fergus Craig Barney Skrentny Craig Lawrence Charlotte Semple Tcny Miller Mark Adeney James O'Farrell Tim Kaner Gregory Lomas Andrew Hjort Angus Aagaard Stuart Smith Peter Simpson David Clark Andrew McMeeking Robert Boocock Rupert Smith Paul Minnighan Ian Davie Stage-Crew: David Davenport, Andrew Figge, John Turner Lighting: Terry Wallhead, Iian McLeish, James Muirhead Set: by Studio Make-up: Tony Miller Costumes: Mrs. Bird, Mrs. Rigby, Miss. Gypson
Romeo Juliet Prince Mercutio Capulet Lady Capulet Montague Benvolio Tybalt Friar Laurence Paris Nurse Balthasar Sampson Gregory Peter Abraham Cousin Capulet 1 Page Friar John Apothecary Officer
Special thanks to Ian Lowe, without whom the production would not have materialised, and to John Gaastra, Michael Dawson and Alan Tooms. Produced by Peter Gardiner.
THE CHESTER SHEPHERDS' PLAY (Drama Centre, Thursday, 14th December, 1978) (Adapted from the Chester Painters' and Glaziers' Play) The play was performed before and after the Carol Concert in Hall, with the audience providing carol interludes. All the male parts were taken by third-formers. It was obvious from the boisterous characterisations that there is a talented group of actors in the year that joined the School in 1979. P .D . R. G. 37
CAST Hankin Sym Tud Trowle Angel Mary Joseph
Mark Adeney Richard Venable David Clark Barney Skrentny sung by Kit Bird spoken by Peter Davies Jane Schofield Andrew Paterson Lighting: Terry Wallhead, Peter Stancer Produced by Peter Gardiner
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE ATOM (An illustrated lecture by D. H. Hamilton and the Physics Department) It has been an eternal question whether the scientist should consider the moral consequences of his invention or discovery. Gatling and Mills were boffins who did what was asked of them, and their contribution to destruction is only exceeded by that of the 'Manhattan Project' in degree, not in principle. So the solemnity of the last part of this presentation, with the 'Threnody for the victims of Hiroshima' and 'A song about Major Eatherley', left an unanswered question: can the fearful ruin caused by the atom bomb be balanced against the lives that were not sacrificed in a projected 'conventional' attack on Japan, and against the lives of thousands of starving and despairing war prisoners saved by the bomb's timely delivery ? Of course it was right that we should have been left to reflect on this ultimate power that man has given himself; and the fascination of the evening was in watching man's resistless progress towards it. Giving the ancients the chance to speak for themselves made a lighthearted but useful approach. We at once felt the sense of awe in the presence of men in whom wisdom was more prominent than expertise; but we could also enjoy the eternal human weakness of scientists who must disagree with each other until they can be convinced by experiment; and how pleasing to see that the first experiment needed brute force rather than scientific skill. Soon we were in the realms of skilled scientific experiment carried out with consummate ease; and when we were told 'this one you can do for yourselves', we knew that if we tried we would certainly get it wrong and be left wondering why. Mr. Hamilton has the happy ability to expand without pomposity the distillation of the learning of 2,50o years; and furthermore he manages to use his audience, even those of us who are ignorant, and to leave us thinking that we are potentially quite clever. As time went on we began to think we really could appreciate that a ten-inch gold ingot contains 6o million million atoms, and we felt we could consult a periodic table as confidently as a calendar, since the audience had been turned into the periodic table. `Charged particles' suggests something very modern until we found that the ubiquitous Aristotle had used them to cure gout, and that some of his contemporaries had used a piece of amber to produce the effect that Thomson was to refine and explain in the Cavendish at Cambridge. Is there 'nothing new under the sun' ? 38
In fact, the presentation of some of the great scientific discoveries was, as always, dramatic in that such marvels could come from simple domestic activities. The idea of a coalman delivering pitchblende at the home of the Curies as the preliminary to one of the profound discoveries is the sort of human touch that somehow gives hope to us all: the feeling that the endless gift of discovery vouchsafed to the dedicated will take us nearer to ultimate truth. So how right it was, that as we came to the awesome explanation of the atom by Rutherford, he should be introduced on the screen paddling at the seaside, trousers rolled above his knees; it made us think that perhaps Newton really did find interest in a falling apple. And so to imploded atoms, collapsed stars, the horror of 'black holes' and the discovery of the neutron and the possibilities that might arise from using it to bombard the nucleus of an atom. Science, like music, knows no frontiers; and ironically it was the attempt to create scientific frontiers that produced 'the fall of the atom', and which can, if we are not careful, produce the second and final fall of man. 'The Bomb' won a war, and thereafter became a symbol of national prestige. It may be more comfortable to try to keep science free from moral judgements and from politics; but the story of the atom leaves us much to think about. Scientists used to be called philosophers, and we can see why: the search for scientific truth is the search for eternal truth. Mr. Hamilton and his team made the presentation seem very easy, almost casual: 'we'll just see if this one works'; and of course it did every time. It was learning with a smile, and we are very grateful to all who made it possible. D . G. C. `PANEL OF EXPERTS' Roger Bacon (English c. 1210-1280) Democritus (Greek c. 420 B.c.) Lucretius (Greek c. 95-55 B.c.) Aristotle (Greek 384-322 B.c.) Rene Descartes (French 1561-1650) Robert Boyle (Irish 1627-1691) John Dalton (English 1766-1814)
J. A. McGrath C. R. Bionk C. J. E. Bird T. A. Heap T. A. Kaner R. D. E. Brown D. R. Kaner
Experiments: C. R. W. Bell, C. J. E. Bird, C. R. Bronk, R. D. E. Brown, A. M. Gillett, T. A. Heap
Visual Aids: J. E. Hirst, D. R. Kaner, T. A. Kaner, J. C. Lawrence, A. P. McGrath, J. A. McGrath
Lights and Music: P. A. Minnighan, A. J. Nichols, W. I. Sellers, R. Wadhawan, T. R. Wallhead, A. G. Whipp, J. P. C. Wye THE RACE TO PERFECT THE ATOM BOMB
Reader: I. M. K. Lowe Music: Penderecki, 'Threnody for Victims of Hiroshima' Poem: John Wain, 'A Song about Major Eatherley' 39
POEMS The Labour of Mrs. Hercules Not having seen seven o'clock in bed For years and a natural light sleeper, She cannot find the time or strength to dread The coming of her fifth child, or weep her Anguish for the other four's grubby hands. The police have been round twice since Christmas Because John, the oldest lad, always lands Himself in trouble. 'Shouldn't see that lass So often,' according to DeidreAnd she has had three of her own grown up Long since. Someone said he ought to see A psychiatrist but the choice was up To John and it was her problem rather Than theirs. She must expect one of the five To be reckless and just like their father Who—although unwelcome now—will arrive In a drunken state eventually. Telling herself that they're not the only Couple who have to sleep separately Reminds her that it can become lonely At nights and the waterpipe needs mending. By the close of another day, those tasks That must still be done seem never ending: She knows why she does them but no one asks.
Ian Rayson
New York, New York Dusk is grey in New York. Light comes slowly, painfully, revealingly. The joggers circle Central Park. The in-crowd have just got home, And Time Square is full of pigeons. The air has no smog, has no noise, has no humidity, yet. Quickly the streets fill: organised, habitual, chaos: Workers going to work, Drinkers going to drink, And the whores on Fifth Avenue are going to bed. Coffee is served: hot, black, sweet; It ends with the traditional: `Have a nice day, y'all.' On the streets below `Don't walk: don't walk' Is spelt out In blood-red neon. The sun hovers above the river— Melting in exhaust fumes. The moon watches the concrete blocks below. Julian Wilson 40
Cool Poem `So this is love' I thought, Fumbling with the seat recliner, face a painfully concentrated display of ease and confidence. Courage gathered I advance along an exposed ridge of thigh, sink into glib military metaphors. And then the stalemate, sprawled across the gearstick, waiting for inspiration/anything to distract her from me here until a growing awareness of self of tightening muscle and explosive God cramp my thigh. Outside, all around, the night closes in with winks and nudges hidden laughter and I try to see the funny side. `You do love me, don't you ?' At my mumbled reply even the strewn clothes cringe. So you're driving home later having laughed it off and put it down to experience: you don't feel ashamed only sorry and maybe you'll see her again someday .. . Tim Raylor
Little light is shining Little light is shining as we walk Endlessly in front of our own harsh tread. Little light is shining when, all talk Forgotten, we take comfort in your bed. It is, perhaps, a realisation Of a kind. We have what we take And take no heed of a situation That surrounds us in the morning when we wake. I amuse you, I can tell by your Smile. I too laugh when you mother Me and accept this for Those moments when we amuse each other. Thinking back on your alibis For why our cloud has no silver lining Only saddens me. Coldly I realise That inside, little light is shining. Ian Rayson
41
COMBINED CADET FORCE This year has been remarkable for the number of individuals who have taken opportunities to show initiative in helping to keep the contingent going. It is always difficult to pick out names without seeming to neglect the contribution of others who are not named; nevertheless, there are some who should be clearly acknowledged. Contingent Warrant Officer Abbott took over the Senior N.C.O. responsibility, and was quick to adapt himself to the task of organising parades, and wise enough to ask for instruction when he was not sure what was required. Sergeant Hewitt has been a very valuable contributor not only in the skill of shooting but has given up much of his time, with others, in the armoury and as an instructor. The Royal Air Force Section has thrived greatly in the year, not least because of the enthusiasm and efficiency of Flight Sergeant Swiers, who added authority to his instruction by taking advantage of what the C.C.F. ii has to offer to the R.A.F. Section, by obtaining a gliding qualification. The Royal Navy Section fell rather low in numbers, but the dedicated efforts of a few not only kept it going but produced an infectious enthusiasm. Coxswain Lodge gave a splendid example of personal determination in a wide range of activities. However, much of the credit for the success of the Section during the year must go to Coxswain R. D. Nield, who took over responsibility as Section Coxswain quite unexpectedly in January, and stayed there throughout the school year, doing much to maintain morale. It is for this reason that he was awarded the Fernie Cup for 1979• Section activities will be reported separately, but among events of general interest and importance we should mention the excellent presentation given by the Royal Air Force in October, and we would like to express our thanks to the presentation team. The night exercises on Strensall Common, planned and organised by senior N.C.O.s, were useful if only as showing how difficult it is for a group to keep the all important silence when moving in the dark, Lastly, there has been a considerable movement for restoring an Army Section to the contingent. It can be done: but it will only be done if would-be members are prepared to commit themselves to a rigorous training and for a guaranteed period of service. Before such a section can come into being, parents of those interested will be asked to give it their full support. D . G. C. ROYAL NAVY SECTION The section has had a very successful year with its contingent of twentyfive cadets, all of whom have taken part in some of the many varied courses and camps offered by the Royal Navy. One of the most exciting was perhaps the week long Sea Training Course aboard the Guided Missile Destroyer, H.M.S. Bristol. Ten cadets spent an entertaining and often rigorous time working on, and learning how one of the most advanced warships in the modern navy is operated. The Tuesday afternoon sessions, although of short duration, have continued to provide valuable opportunities for cadets in a variety of fields, even though last winter's weather prevented many of the usual outdoor activities. 42
Some excellent and informative talks and film lectures given by the N.C.O.s ensured that the time was not wasted. During the Easter and Summer Terms the group took pat in .22 Rifle Range practice; constructing a jackstay across the River Ouse (we could do with a pontoon bridge to prevent some cadets getting their feet wet !); making a hoist with yard arms and rope; snorkelling in the school baths; tackling the assault course at Strensall and making the R.N. store shipshape. We organised a night exercise on Strensall Common in conjunction with the R.A.F. section, which proved, if not entirely up to expectations, an enjoyable experience. The 'pyrotechnics' kept everyone alert on a rather cold evening and the hot soup, served back at school afterwards, was most welcome. To the dismay of everyone in the section there was no General Inspection this year! Even so the general smartness and mirror-like toecaps were kept up to standard for the normal parades. Two annual weekend camps were held, one at H.M.S. Caledonia in Rosyth, the other at the Dall Adventure Training Centre in Scotland. Many members of the section, in particular a very keen third form contingent, participated in swimming, shooting with S.L.R.s and S.M.G.s, sailing in diesel engined cutters, canoeing and the dreaded trip down the 'death slide'. A nuclear submarine was visited and, for the first time, the section was asked at short notice to provide a four-man sailing team to take part in the Scarborough College Regatta. We hope to do better next year ! We are grateful for the help and guidance afforded unstintingly to the section of Lt. Bulcock. Bob Nield, our Coxswain, is to be thanked for his hard work and enthusiasm as leader of the section over the past year. He was largely responsible for the moulding of the section into a small but efficient unit. M.A.L.
ROYAL AIR FORCE SECTION The section has enjoyed a successful year with numbers rising to fifty-one cadets in the summer term. Nineteen third formers joined at the end of the Easter term. The 1978 Summer Camp was held at R.A.F. Cranwell and was most successful. Everyone had a flight in a Chipmunk and a glider (although Sgt. Wilson was only airborne for forty seconds) while many also flew in an Andover and a BAC 1-i 1. A series of initiative exercises provided much head-scratching and hilarity and it quickly became obvious that those cadets who had been in the Scouts and knew how to tie knots were at a distinct advantage. The section came second in the inter-school competition, having been narrowly beaten on aircraft recognition. At the end of a full week cadets and officers alike returned home exhausted. During the year the section has been involved in a wide range of activities. These have included: orienteering, shooting (the section took part in the Assegai Competition which had been started by Sqn. Ldr. Morris, our assistant bursar, when he was with H.Q. Air Cadets) initiative exercises, slogging round the Army Assault Course at Strensall, night exercises on Strensall Common, aircraft recognition tests and the inevitable proficiency work. 43
The following cadets passed Part III Proficiency in Weather, Air Navigation and Engines: Cpl. Heap (Distinction), Cpl. Gair and Cpl. Coverdale. The following Cadets passed Part II Proficiency in Principles of Flight and Aircraft Operation: Paveley, D., Critchley, P. A. D., Hills, T. M., Midgley, S. M., Pemberton, D., Nield, J., Topham, K., Beaumont, D., Gair, R., Hall, N. and Kell, P. A. To promote enthusiasm within the section an inter-flight competition was organised throughout the year. Sgt. Swiers's flight won in a close contest. The prize was a visit to the R.A.F. Museum at Hendon. The air experience flying visits to R.A.F. Leeming have continued although we have been dogged by adverse weather conditions and unserviceable aircraft. Our thanks go to Flt. Lt. Bell for doing his utmost to get as many cadets airborne as possible. Although we were not awarded any Flying Scholarships this year we were allocated five gliding courses at Arbroath. Sgt. Hewitt, Cpl. Walihead, Cpl. Heap and Cpl. Giddings attended. The weather at Easter did not allow Cpl. Walihead to complete the course and so he returned in August. The summer camp for 1979 was held at R.A.F. Lyneham, the home of the R.A.F. Hercules squadrons. There was a full programme which ranged from an orienteering exercise to flying in the Hercules (Cpl. Giddings managed to get over four hours of flying, one of his main qualifications being a strong stomach). Although the section did not do well in the inter-school competition, the camp was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The success of the section this year owes much to the N.C.O.s. Special thanks must go to Contingent Warrant Officer Markwick-Smith whose enthusiasm and dedication did much to sustain the section in previous terms. We wish him every success at Girton College, Cambridge. We are also grateful to Contingent Warrant Officer Abbott and Sgts. Swiers and Ellison for their hard work in the section. Flt. Lt. P. L. Harris left the section at the end of the summer term in 1978. He had given twenty years of devoted service to the section and he is greatly missed. His determination and dedication enabled the section to survive the difficult years. When he left last year the numbers in the section were on the increase and he must take much of the credit for the strong position of the section at present. Our best wishes go to him in his retirement. R. C. G.D.
C.C.F. SHOOTING In September, following our visit to Bisley, D. M. Ellison was made captain of shooting for the year. Full colours were awarded to the following members of the 1st VIII: L. G. Bleasdale, P. G. Cuckston, J. R. M. Hewitt, N. J. Jemmett, M. A. Lodge, and were reawarded to J. P. J. F. Abbott, D. M. Ellison, J. R. M. Hewitt and M. A. Lodge. Minor colours were awarded to D. A. Beaumont and R. J. R. Mansfield. The greater part of the first two terms was spent making extensive use of our miniature range and this included in February the shooting of the R.A.F. Assegai competition, a national .22 competition for C.C.F. cadets. Although we did not win D. M. Ellison had a very good shoot. The other members of the team were J. P. J. F. Abbott, N. J. Hall and J. R. M. Hewitt. 44
We have made various improvements to our range this year. Initially, by a concerted effort spread over several options periods, we laid share chippings on the floor of the range forward of the firing point. This vast improvement was followed by the blacking out of the skylights, necessitated by the combined damage caused by strong winds and vandals, which means that now only the target frames need be illuminated, an improvement which can make snap shooting more interesting. In the summer we were joined by eight new shots from the third form. Unfortunately we were unable to give them as much open range practice as one would normally expect in the summer term because the Strensall ranges are all undergoing extensive improvements. We had to make do with virtually no open ranges throughout the summer term and this severely hampered our performance in competitions. Three teams were entered into the Strensall skill-at-arms meeting in May. We came third in all three events and reached the semi-final in the falling plate competition. J. P. J. F. Abbott was our only contender for the individual while C. Broadbent did very well to win the pool bull competition and a cash prize by beating over one hundred other cadets. The three teams comprised of: P. G. Cuckston L. G. Bleasdale D. M. Ellison R. J. R. Mansfield M. A. Lodge J. P. J. F. Abbott C. Broadbent
D. R. Wass
D. J. Paveley J. P. Simpson
P. A. Wood J. R. M. Hewitt Unusually the County of Lancaster R.A. meeting at Altcar was on a Wednesday this year and its clash with '0' and 'A' level exams severely depleted our team. Despite this some of the younger shooters gained the invaluable experience of competing in a real competition and this enjoyable trip can only benefit our performance next year. It was decided not to take a team to Bisley until we have had a chance to improve our performance and strengthen our numbers. For the rest of the term we therefore concentrated on the .22 range with the introduction of a cross-country or similar activity before actually shooting. This innovation has several advantages; not least is its beneficial effect on our shooting and consciences! As has been normal in more recent years our internal competition took place on the electric range at Strensall in June. Following an afternoon and evening shooting the prizes were awarded as follows :D. A. Beaumont
Recruit Cup (best shot under 16) Green Howards Cup (for best individual shot)
J. R. M. Hewitt The Grove
Inter-House Cup
J. P. J. F. Abbott, Grove
House Falling Plate
Our thanks to all those members of staff who have helped to run shooting this last year and our best wishes to J. P. J. F. Abbott and D. M. Ellison, who have done so much for shooting throughout their time at the School. J.R.M.H.
45
H.M.S. BRISTOL—GUIDED MISSILE DESTROYER In the middle of May ten R.N. cadets under the supervision of Coxswain Lodge spent a week at sea on H.M.S. Bristol, one of the Navy's most advanced warships. We were to go from the Firth of Forth to Portsmouth by way of the Skagerrak, over one thousand miles. On the Sunday afternoon all ten cadets travelled up to Rosyth by train and arrived in the early evening. We spent that night comfortably billeted at H.M.S. Cochrane on the Firth of Forth. We joined H.M.S. Bristol at o.00 hours the next morning and were given bunks in the stokers' mess. The destroyer had also taken on cadets, mostly in smaller contingents, from four other schools and they were billeted elsewhere on board. We sailed early on Monday afternoon while the occupants of 4F stokers' mess gave a hand on the forecastle. Once away from the quayside ten proud cadets lined the side in front of the 4.5-inch gun as Bristol passed out of harbour and in bright sunshine passed under the spans of the Forth Road Bridge. The rest of that day was spent being shown around the ship and being lectured to by officers from the various departments. We were to spend a day in each of the four departments and so get a glancing insight into the different aspects of shipboard life. Tuesday morning was spent with the seamen. Most of the cadets helped 1 in various ways on deck while a couple took it in turns to take half hour watches on the bridge. They had to keep a good look-out for other vessels coming out of the mist, which had brought visibility down to just under one mile. Towards the end of this watch several cadets took the helm for half an hour and with grim-faced determination took control of the Navy's 6,000-ton monster. By Tuesday afternoon we were well out into the North Sea and nearing the Skagerrak, where Bristol was to take part in a N.A.T.O. communications link-up. We spent the afternoon and Wednesday morning with the W.E. Department (electrical engineers) where we saw banks of radio equipment, teleprinters and coding machines. The afternoon was broken up by the first of several man-overboard exercises watched by the cadets during the week and then by the meeting of old and new when Bristol caught up with a Danish cutter used as a training ship. The next two watches were spent with the N.E. Department (Mechanical Engineers). Watches were taken in the ship's control centre, where cadets kept a close eye on and operated the steam and gas turbines while others worked in the engine rooms and did general checks. On Thursday morning part of the mortar pit was covered over to reveal a small flight deck on to which a Wasp from H.M.S. Hermione landed. Our final two watches were spent with 'supply' and a great many onions were peeled by all! For many the highlight of the trip occurred on the Thursday afternoon when the mortars fired twelve canisters into the Channel to mark the end of their use. It had been decided that they would be removed on arrival at Portsmouth as their role is now amply fulfilled by the Ikara radio-controlled missile. We came alongside at Portsmouth on Friday morning and were released in the afternoon. Most cadets went straight back to York and a much needed half-term break. Although exhausted by the end everyone had thoroughly enjoyed the experience of living in a guided missile destroyer. Our best wishes must go with H.M.S. Bristol when she takes up her new role as flagship for N.A.T.O.'s Atlantic Fleet later this year. J.R.M.H.
46
DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD SCHEME Because of the atrocious weather at Easter, all the Silver Award Expeditions are incomplete; so it was decided to postpone the Annual Presentation until a later date. Boys at other levels of the Award have taken advantage of this to spend more time on various activities, so the list of those who have gained Awards in 1979 will have to wait. It looks like including about 3o Bronze Awards, is Silver, and about to Gold Awards—many of these, pleasingly, gained by people who have left the School but kept in touch long enough to complete the requirements. 1978-79 began with wet Gold Award Expeditions in the Lake District. The autumn term was taken up, as usual, with work for the Physical Activity Section, and with Silver Award Service courses. The October half-term holiday saw successful Silver and unsuccessful Gold Expeditions on the moors and in the dales, again in the sort of conditions that had participants looking for arks rather than barns to shelter in. The major part of the spring term was the usual Bronze Award first-aid course, for which as so often we owe many thanks to Mrs. MacFarlane, Mrs. Popplewell, Mr. Coward, and others of the St. John Ambulance Association. The Silver Practice Expeditions were called off at twenty-four hours' notice upon reports of twenty-foot snowdrifts. I don't know if these were exaggerated: the boys were indignant at the decision. Their parents were relieved. For myself, the Met. Office made up for it all with two superb weekends for the fourth form Bronze Award Expeditions. We set all kinds of records for slick operations here: for the first time in my experience all the groups were in their camps by 8.0o p.m. on the Saturday evenings. No one got obviously lost. The sixth form helpers were marvellous. The one potential emergency was sensibly and correctly dealt with. My thanks to all those involved, especially Ron Deighton and Mike Dawson for their work assessing and transporting the whole show. For the future, may I invite you to the presentation. That is the best place to see what is involved in the Award Scheme at St. Peter's. The biggest change is that we no longer have the traditional Tuesday afternoon slot. This means that people will have to work harder to find time for Award Scheme work: no bad thing when one considers the difficulties of attaining an Award outside a community like ours. It also means that more people will be able to do both C.C.F. and D. of E., a move which I welcome since I have never felt they ought to be in competition. About twenty-five third formers have enrolled to attempt the Bronze Award in 1979-8o: I look forward to working with them. D.J.H.
SENIOR SCIENCE SOCIETY Though the membership of the society this year has been smaller there has been no reduction in activity or interest. The programme of meetings began with an illustrated talk by Dr. Cooke of Bradford University on the Chemistry of Colour, which proved a popular 47
and enlightening curtain raiser. The highly successful accompanying experiments were particularly appreciated as being difficult to perform on unknown territory. Next Dr. Stonehouse, who by now is no stranger to the society, came from Bradford University to talk on Polar Research. Once more his excellent slides and his own personal experience provided a unique insight into the problems of Antarctic research and the competition between nations in this field. We welcomed Professor Jones from Hull University to the next two meetings. The first one was on Blood Groups and Associated Diseases and the next on the Qualities and Inequalities of Sex. Perhaps the title belies the content, which centred arouund the probability of boy/girl birth, sexassociated diseases and then the practical involvement by some members of the group in tests for masculinity and femininity and red/green colourblindness. At this meeting members from Queen Margaret's expressed their appreciation to Mr. Harris for his invaluable and untiring help, by presenting him with a gift to mark his impending retirement. For the final meeting of the Christmas term we were delighted to welcome some boys from Pocklington School to the talk on Physics in Archaeology, particularly in relation to the Yorkshire Dales. Mr. Aspinall of Bradford University motivated many to an interest in the subject. We also managed to arrange a film on Nature and Wild Life during this term thus covering a wide range of scientific topics. The term's programme culminated in a very popular and highly successful trip to London to visit the Science Museum. We are indebted to Mr. Harris and Mr. Shaw for their forbearance and loyal support, which enabled us to mix entertainment with education and hopefully generate even greater enthusiasm for the rest of the year. The first lecture of the spring term, though postponed until February due to adverse weather conditions, proved to be important not only for the information imparted by Dr. Sheila Dronfield, O.B.E., on the subject of Birth Control but also because of the less tangible contribution she made in determining attitudes both at a personal and community level. Unfortunately we were able to include only one more meeting as the extreme weather conditions continued to interfere with plans, but the St. Peter's committee were particularly fortunate in being entertained to an excellent meal cooked by the girls of Queen Margaret's. The social event at the end of the year proved to be both enjoyable and enlightening even though to some it was no doubt familiar stamping ground. Rowntree Mackintosh may be a household name in York but it also has a scientific connotation now. I would like to put on record my thanks to all our speakers who gave their time and efforts so generously on our behalf; to Mr. Harris whose know-how and expertise has been invaluable in the survival and development of the Society; to Mr. Myland for holding the fort at Queen Margaret's; to the committee for their varied contributions, especially Paul Greenwood, treasurer, and Ruth Lodge, secretary for Queen Margaret's; and to the members, literally for their life blood! It seems that for the moment the activities of the Science Society will be in abeyance but it is our hope that it will emerge with ever greater industry in the not too distant future. Helen Stringer. 48
THE CHESS CLUB 1978/79 The Chess team had another successful season having been promoted to Division II of the York Chess League after their unbeaten record in Division III. Competition was a lot stronger in this division but the team, which was the same as last year's, played some commendable chess and won many of their matches while only marginally losing most of the others. By the end of the Christmas Term St. Peter's had played most of their matches and were lying second in the division. Unfortunately the captain, R. E. Craig and P. W. S. de Silva left at the end of this term and the remaining four matches had to be played with a considerably weakened team. Under the captaincy of P. Moayyedi, the new Chess team did not live up to the standards of the old, losing three out of the four remaining matches. However, this was mainly due to inexperience and the same team will still be playing in two years time. The results were as follows:— Away Home Won York II Lost 23-34 Lost 0-6* Armstrongs II Lost 21-33 Lost 1-5* Lost l3--41* Lost 21-31 Won 4-2 Lost 2-4 Won 31-21 Won 41-11*
National Glass Lost 23-33 Pocklington II Lost 2-4 Won 4I-11 Clifton Hospital Won 4-2 Bootham Norton & Malton Lost 2-4 Rowntrees II Won 33-21 Shepherds II Won 5-1 *Matches played by the new chess team.
St. Peter's eventually finished sixth in the division. The regular team members were P. Moayyedi, R. E. Craig, P. W. S. de Silva, P. A. D. Critchley, D. N. C. Pemberton, C. Bean and J. M. V. Storey. Others who played for the team were P. A. Craig, P. Drury and C. Broadbent. The Inter-House Chess Competition was held during the Spring Term, the results being as follows:— Grove Rise
3+ 0+
Grove
1+
Dronfield School
I+ 3+
School
3+
Manor Queen's
0+ 3+
Queen's
3+
Temple
Bye
Temple
0+
School
3+ School
Queen's
0+
School House Chess team consisted of P. Moayyedi, J. M. V. Storey, H. Hilton, B. Saber and A. J. Figge. The Chess Club continued to meet every Thursday lunchtime. There was a membership of about 18. P.M. 49
THE NORTHCOTE PARKINSON SOCIETY This year saw a growth in the society, not only in membership but also in the number of events which took place. The programme concentrated mainly on the first two terms, since exams invariably prevent full participation 1 during the summer term. One of the first events was an amusing and informative talk on the role of the Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, by that eminent historian, Professor Northcote-Parkinson, an Old Peterite, after whom the society is now named. There were also interesting talks by Peter Wenham on Roman York, and Dr. Powis on the French Wars of Religion (a lecture which was invaluable to 'A' level candidates), and at the beginning of the summer term Mr. Drysdale gave us a fascinating insight into the Inca way of life with his illustrated talk on the Inca Empire. There were also opportunities for members to take a more active part in society events. In the spring term a balloon debate was held, in which figures such as Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Thomas More and even Jack the Ripper were represented. The eventual winner, by a huge majority, was Neil Carmichael, who represented Disraeli. The visit to London again proved to be a popular feature, and members were able to visit the Imperial War Museum. A collectors' evening, with Mr. Peter Arnot, of the York Stamp Centre in attendance, encouraged members of the society to display collections of items such as coins, stamps, war souvenirs, miniature bottles and clay pipes. The committee would like to thank Mr. Drysdale, on behalf of the society, I, for all the time and effort he has put into the society, in particular with regard to the organisation of the majority of the events of this year. Jill Gillett
BUSINESS GAME REPORT The academic year 1978/79 was the seventh in which St. Peter's has entered the Institute of Chartered Accountants/I.C.L. sponsored Business Game, and since a mini-version of the game quite often appears in the last few Maths. lessons of term, this year's Board of Directors were no strangers to the concepts involved. The task before Directors Kit Bird, Laurie Bleasdale, Chris Bronk, Rupert Brown, Dominic Johnson, David Kaner, Steve Mawby, Mandy Rigby and Ian Wilson was to sell our "consumer durable units" in order to make a larger profit than the three other school boards in our heat. To do this we had to manipulate among other things, prices, investments, loans, capacities and transport costs in five different sales areas (one for each school plus one common area) over a period of five rounds. In the first round of the first heat we began with what seemed steady, sensible ploys; prices were edged up for bigger profits, advertising expenditure put up to help sell our more expensive units and a moderate amount of investment made in extra production capacity (or "plant"). When the computer calculated results of the four Board's decisions came through we discovered that our prices were a bit higher than the rest of the field's, and our plant much smaller. Nevertheless, we were in second place. Trying to correct these discrepancies proved harder than we thought it would be — 50
we reduced our prices, but so did our competitors, and due to a large increase in the sales market we were left with a large number of units in stock. This in turn led to us not investing enough in our comparatively small plant, a mistake which cost us dear in the third round, when a 9% increase in the market meant we couldn't meet demand, and so lost some of that vital commodity that only the Business Game represents with hard cash — goodwill. However, an absurd price reduction in the fourth round helped us to get back our advantage and we emerged from a somewhat confused fifth round the winners of the heat. After Christmas we started on the second round, playing with three of the Ica schools (out of the original 393) who had got through to the next stage of the competition. In this game we took a step closer to the harsh realities of the Easter Term when we learnt that for the first two rounds there would be a transport strike, meaning that we would be limited in our sales in other areas. At the suggestion of two of the most vociferous members of the Board, we tried to undermine the efforts of one of our opponents by concentrating our small amount of transportable units in their area. The extent to which this benefited us is uncertain, but the unlucky opponents (who had made the biggest profit of all in their first heat) were pushed into third place by the end of the game. We had learnt from the first heat the importance of increasing our plant to keep pace with the expanding market that is a feature of every game, and we were cautiously optimistic that the extra production capacity in which we had invested (using the money saved on transport) would enable us to win through in the last two rounds. Unfortunately, an error in the third round in allocating enough funds to our now fully operational transport system meant we missed out on a chance to sell all our produced and lost a lot of goodwill. A double blow. All sorts of radical measures were suggested to help us win back our lead — cutting our advertising expenditure by £200,000 , lowering our prices to rock bottom values and so forth, but none seemed to promise results, and in spite of what our I.C.L. expert commentator called "an excellent final round" we could only content ourselves with the fact that we had come a very close second. Nevertheless, we learnt a lot which can be passed on to future Directors — the importance of investing and so on, and, of course, we had a lot of fun in our occasionally riotous Board meetings; our thanks go to Mr. Armstrong for presiding over them, and indeed for his persevering organisation of our foray into the world of big business. C.J.E.B.
YOUNG FARMERS' CLUB The opening meeting of the year selected a new committee as follows: P. Swiers remained Chairman, C. Burdass was appointed Vice Chairman and Minutes Secretary, S. Buckle was appointed Treasurer, T. Coleman became Club Secretary, and S. Prest and R. Rowbottom were elected to the committee. 51
1 031/14hii William Whitelaw passing under the A 1 r•,aci
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Apart from showing two films, entitled 'Precious Soil' and 'Spraying for Profits', which were both most interesting, the programme never really got under way this year. However, interest and support remain and we hope we may be able, once again, to report on considerably more activity next year. S.W.P.
THE RAILWAY SOCIETY One of my books on steam locomotives describes an 'eccentric' as a 'small crank'. An admirable description, some may say, of railway fanatics. I think though that this would be an unfair label to stick on our Railway Society. It is, rather, a small group of enthusiasts. We have met, on average, once per week—usually on a Wednesday lunchtime. Our programme of activities during the year has been a modest one. The exception has been, perhaps, the 'Grand Exhibition', which is reviewed elsewhere in The Peterite. Everyone worked tremendously hard for that event. Members have seen railway films and a slide show cum mini-exhibition of the Stockton & Darlington Railway I5oth Anniversary (Rupert Brown plus J.M.R.); visited the relics shop at York station, the annexe to the National Railway Museum and the York model railway layout in Skeldergate. A few members attended a lecture on 'The Whitby-Scarborough line' at the York branch of the North York Moors Railway Society. We wound up the year by going on the two-hour round 'Steam Trip. from York—Leeds—Harrogate—York. This train was pulled by the streamlined A4 'Sir Nigel Gresley'. Most of us managed to get an eye full of soot, which was far preferable to smelly diesel fumes! The original nameplate, 'St. Peter's School, York, A.D. 627', and its replica have both been restored to their authentic colours during the year. Research for this and for the three-panel exhibition on the 'St. Peter's School' loco has been done by Rupert Brown. The Railway Society is to be responsible for the weekly polishing of the nameplate on the outside of the Memorial Hall. My thanks to all members who have supported the society during the year, and particular thanks to the committee : Paul McCarter, Rupert Brown, Andrew Leckenby, and our very talented publicity artist, Robert Nield. J.P.R.
RAILWAY SOCIETY GRAND EXHIBITION (Drama Centre, 1.15-8 p.m., Wednesday, 23rd May, 1979) On entering a main railway station, all our senses are engaged in the appreciation of our surroundings. Bustling people, the growl and metallic sounds of locomotives and stock, announcements, the smell of diesel and decay, and our ever failing attempts to avoid the animate and inanimate. In many ways this atmosphere was created by Mr. Roden and his team, Stephen and Robert Nield, Rupert Brown and Paul McCarter, for the railway exhibition (with the exception of the smells!). One would walk around looking at the exhibits, with the constant showing of the film 'Locomotive' (excellent) in one direction catching your eye, slides 53
in another, and with the ears satisfied by recordings of station announcements, steam hissing from giant locomotives. In this atmosphere the exhibits gained a further dimension. There were several working model layouts; a large 1930's vintage '0' gauge collection from Paul McCarter, Timothy Prosser-Higdon's 'oo' gauge marshalling yard (mostly built from scratch), and two other coo' gauge layouts from Richard Greenwell and Oliver Bird. The skills of the patient modeller were also prevalent; Mr. Graham Metcalfe's superb hand built '0' gauge carriages, Mr. Peter Twyman's hand built '00' gauge locos and Mr. Geoff Bird's working model signals. Side by side with all this were many exhibits of railway paraphernalia, vintage and modern, and notably a photographic exhibition of the 4818 `St. Peter's School, York A.D. 627' locomotive direct from the National Railway Museum, compiled by Rupert Brown. The exhibition enjoyed a constant stream of visitors from both schools, and from outside, interestingly they included Mr. A. E. Malton, the original fireman in the loco, 'St. Peter's School'. I would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to Mr. Roden and his team from the Railway Society for a very enjoyable event, and I I hesitate to make one suggestion to complete the atmosphere of the next one— a steam generator. D.J.B.
`ST. PETER'S SCHOOL, YORK, A.D. 627' A BRIEF HISTORY OF A LOCOMOTIVE `St. Peter's School, York, A.D. 627' was one of twenty-seven locomotives which formed the fourth batch of the V2 Class. It was built at Darlington in March, 1939, and was finished in the old N.E.R. tradition, i.e. no works number, green cylinder casings and the class painted on the buffer-beam. In all other respects its livery conformed to the standard L.N.E.R. passenger livery of lined apple green. A. H. Peppercorn (later C.M.E. of the L.N.E.R. and B.R. Eastern Region) supervised the construction and handed the locomotive over at the naming ceremony on 3rd April, 1939, claiming the locomotive would run two million miles. This ceremony was attended by some eight hundred people and took place on the middle road between platforms 6 and 7 (Scarborough line) at York. The tea was described in the School magazine by a junior boy as being 'gorgeous'. At present only one photograph of St. Peter's School in L.N.E.R. days is known to exist, though it is not available for reproduction. Virtually nothing is known of the locomotive's record in traffic and I would be grateful if anybody who knows anything about its working life would contact me at the School. Originally numbered 4818, St. Peter's School, York A.D. 627 was renumbered 847 in 1946 and 60847 after nationalisation in 1948. Whether St. Peter's School was ever painted in L.N.E.R. black is doubtful since no wartime photographs of it are known to exist and also the nameplate photograph shows the L.N.E.R. lining clearly under the grime. In B.R. days 60847 was painted lined black and eventually B.R. Standard Green. 54
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