blundell's foundation

PictorialBlundel l ’ s Foundat ion

October 2002

INSIDE: Governors ● Wine Club ● Working in New Zealand ● Blundell’s Revisited ● Sex and The City

Work began at the beginning of theEaster holiday and proceeded,examinations and teaching permitting,through the summer term. The end ofterm signalled the beginning of the mostcomplex building programme undertakenby Blundell’s in recent times. It isremarkable that so much was done in solittle time, especially as the school was letfor a three-week period in the middle ofthe holiday. The changes in more detailare on the centre pages of this issue.

Projects Update

Since the last Pictorial, Governors met and approved Phase 1 ofthe Blundell’s Vision. This involves extension and refurbishment ofGorton House and School House, a new Modern Languagesbuilding and a start on the Pool Antony pitches.

New Modern Languages B lock

Blundell’s Pictorial October 2002

July 2002

This year we had a sparkling end tothe Summer Term with the BBCpresenter from the TodayProgramme, Sarah Montague, givingaway the Prizes and making a hugelypersonal speech, which had verydirect appeal to contemporaryBlundellians. She concentrated onthe pertinent idea that, whilst thiswas a day all about the excellentresults recorded throughout anotherstrong school year, it was alsoinstructive for people to realise thatthere were educational lessons to begained through the experience ofnot always succeeding.

We had had a Speech Day where itwas possible to predict that theSchool will be as full in its 398thyear as it has ever been and wherewe could extol the balancedstrengths of both boys’ and girls’sport as well as another stronggeneration of musicians anddramatists, not to mention artists.Outstandingly we were able topraise two young men who havereached international standardwithin their own age group, BenBoswell, the outgoing Captain ofRugby, and Sam Westlake who hasthrown the discus and put the shotfor his own age group, as well asrepresenting Britain and Ireland atthe senior level.

The Spring Term had included afascinating and productive trip forboth Emma and me when we flewout to Kenya to visit six differentschools. Based in Nairobi we wereable to travel up country where wevisited the Old Blundellian, AlanBateman, currently the Headmasterof Pembroke House School at Gilgil.Subsequently we met with a numberof Old Blundellians for an eveningat the Muthaiga Club, kindlyorganised by David Gray. The OBshad travelled large distances insome cases for this occasion and weenjoyed an evening of splendidconviviality at which it was possibleto talk quite a bit about recentdevelopments at Blundell’s. As ever

the bond, which pulls Blundellianstogether so effectively after theyhave left school, was highly evident.Throughout the Summer Term wehave seen great progress taking

place with the extension of facilitiesfor the younger age group in SchoolHouse and an addition to GortonHouse. As well as that, the newModern Languages Block has madehuge progress and our overallfacilities should be very considerablystrengthened by the start of the newterm.

Plans move on apace for thearrangements for 2004 and by thetime of the next Pictorial’sproduction we hope to be in aposition to give a clear outline as tohow all this is going to work. As thisheadship moves into its next phase,this is clearly a time for lookingahead with considerable anticipationwhilst realising the considerableweight of the values extolled byprevious generations.

Jonathan Leigh

Let ter from the Head Master

Head Master enjoys evening at the Muthaiga Club (shades of ‘Out of Africa’) with (back row) OldBlundellians John Carver (W 1937-40), Alan Bateman (W 1953-59) and David Gray (OH 1950-55) and(front row) Andrew Doig (P 1982-87) and Steve Collins (P 1964-68).

Jonathan Leigh with Alan Bateman, OB and Headof Pembroke House School, Gilgil in Kenya.


Main Board meetings take place termly atthe school, with extraordinary meetingsas necessary. David Fursdon continues asChairman with Sir Ian Heathcoat Amoryas Vice Chairman. Martyn Grose (FH1947-52) provides Old Blundellian inputin addition to wisdom and wit and hashad Brian Currie (P 1947-53) by his sideuntil recently. Brian’s resignation wasreluctantly accepted at the summer Boardmeeting, but the good news is that he willcontinue to help with the Foundation andfundraising. Further good news is thatChad Murrin (FH 1969-73) has agreed totake over as a Governor from Brian.

Chad is a very involvedOld Blundellian,particularly on thecricketing front, and iscurrently in a seniorposition with 3is in theCity.

Another recent addition is Linda Smithwho has served for a year and has usedher experience in the employment field togood effect on the School’s behalf. Forthose of you interested in statistics wenow have three female Governors andthe arrival of Chad and Linda brings theaverage age of Blundell’s Governors downto 54, the lowest in recent times.

The sub committees also meet termly.Robert Breare drives the Finance and experience and wisdom is put to good

effect in chairing the academic committee.

In addition, Brian Wills-Pope carriesmarketing responsibility and Mike Bulloversees Property and Estates matters.All Governors are now fully engaged withthe School and each is on at least one subcommittee. Rather like a good footballteam there are defenders, play makersand strikers, but unlike footballers, thereis no financial reward. We are all verygrateful to the Governors for theirservice and dedication.

General Purposes committee withpanache and energy, Judge Bill Taylorleads the St Aubyn’s Committeemagisterially and Ann Mayes’ education

Brian Wills-Pope, Ann Mayes, Susan Robinson andMike Bull are amused by Nick Swarbrick.

Brian Currie and Linda Smith are entertained bySir Ian Heathcoat Amory.

Having reduced the maximumnumber of Governors to sixteenat incorporation, Blundell’s hasa streamlined and youthfulGoverning Body.

Jonathan Leigh, Sarah Montague (Guest Speaker), David Fursdon (Chairman of Governors) and CouncillorNick Thom before Speech Day 2002.

Chad Murrin

B lunde l l ’s Governor s


If so, it would have probably beenthe popular “Sack” or sherry of histime but I wonder if he would haveencouraged the first Blundellians tofollow the Shakespeare character,Falstaff’s advice “If I had a thousandsons, the first humane principle Iwould teach them, would be toforswear thin potations and addictthemselves to sack”?

There have since been thousands ofsons and daughters who have passedthrough Blundell’s and while wehave no sack we do have a great listof wine that Falstaff wouldundoubtedly enjoy!

The Blundell’s Wine Club aims togive you the chance to enjoy aselection of wines from around theworld. Two wines will carry aspecially designed label to celebratethe 400th anniversary. You can pickany of the wines to make up a mixedcase and have the wines delivered toyour door. A substantial percentageof the proceeds will go to the Blundell’s Foundation.

There are no supermarket lines here, but you will find the prices competitive, the wines tasty and with speciallydesigned labels on the Blundell’s house wines, a unique bottle on your table. There is real quality and value in the“Les Maurins” 2000, a claret that will benefit from some ageing; the Viognier offers a refreshing alternative to theusual white varietals. We have also put together a cracking mixed case that we are calling the Christmas case, butChristmas could come early with these wines around the home!

Whenever you choose to drink them the important thing is to enjoy these wines, maybe experiment with somethingnew and make a toast to old Peter Blundell.

We would like to hear your views on the wines and how we can build the Blundell’s Wine Club.

Cheers for now,

Ed Whitefield (FH 1987-91)

Did Peter Blundell celebrate with a glass or two of wine when he founded Blundell’s School in 1604?

Ed Whitefield

Ed Whitefield has worked in the wine trade in South Africa and since then has worked in the wine departmentat Christie’s auction house in London and for Uvine, an online wine trading company. He is now living inCornwall and looking to start his own business.


Working overseas is regarded by mostconsultants as a positive thing to have onyour C.V. Most of the jobs that we do weare able to get accredited by our medicalcouncils as part of our training, and sothe year does not have to be regarded asacademically wasted. The type of workwe undertake in the UK and over here isobviously very similar – they are bothfirst world countries with first worlddiseases and first world health systems(I think the NHS still falls into that

category!). A year here also gives us thechance to have some time away from therat race for jobs and the constantawareness of impending exams.

If you really want to see a country thenworking is probably not the best way todo it, a decent length ‘sabbatical’ givesyou more scope for travel. Whilstworking for a year gives you income to

see the highlights of a country throughoutall seasons, limited annual leave leaves yourestricted to weekend trips away for yourchance to do the majority of yoursightseeing. This means that you thereforehave a 4–5 hour driving radius aroundwhere you work for places you can see,and so deciding which city to go to willshape your year. We picked Dunedin,which at 110,000 is the 4th biggest ofNew Zealand’s cities and the mostsoutherly of them situated 4 hours drivesouth of Christchurch on the SouthIsland’s East Coast. Dunedin owes itspresence to a fantastic natural harbourmade by the Otago Peninsula thatstretches 30km out to join the Pacific.Here, amongst spectacular beaches andsand dunes, there are seal, yellow-eyedpenguin and Royal Albatross colonies.The city itself is about a 3-hour drive

through the old goldfields from thebustling commercial Queenstown and thesmaller more laid back Wanaka. Boththese resorts are on their ownspectacular lakes and very popular holidaydestinations as hot, dry summers for thevineyards and snow for the nearby skifields in winter make them ideal locations.Fiordland National Park in the SouthWest of the Island has the dramaticMilford and Doubtful Sounds, and many ofNew Zealand’s ‘Great Walks’ are alsowithin weekend reach.

Our year here will finish in Decemberand we will all find it very hard leavingNew Zealand. New Zealanders are rightlyvery proud of their country and areaware of the importance of protecting itand their environment. It is a shame thatit is so far from home, as the gruellingflight over here puts many people off. Forthose of you who have never been it’stime to start planning, and for those whohave no doubt plans for your return arealready in place.

Artist’s drawing of the UVI House facing towards Big Field.

Working in New Zealand

One of the great advantages of doing medicine as a career is that itlends itself to working overseas. As juniors our contracts are short sothat a year out of the NHS is easy to organize, and with manytempting countries short of doctors this means there is plenty ofchoice of places to go. New Zealand and Australia are the two mostpopular countries for UK doctors to go to, and both rely heavily onthe ‘Poms’ coming over to augment the numbers of their own juniors.In Queensland three years ago they admitted to us on our first daythat either they needed to open another medical school or rely on usdoing stints over there. One locum agency took 250 junior doctorsjust to Queensland the year after we were there, and on our first dayin New Zealand half the new registrars were English.

Harry Akerman

UVI House to be bui lton the Corps Ground

by HARRY AKERMAN (P 1986–91)


School HouseThe demand for places at 11 has increased dramaticallysince School House was altered to take 60 or so pupilsin 1996. Pressure for places comes partly from the localprimary schools, but also from an increased transferrate now that St Aubyn’s is on the Blundell’s site.

Flexi boarding is on the increase in the 11-13 age groupand the need was detailed as space for 140 boys andgirls in School House as boarders, flexi boarders andday pupils. The obvious solution was to take over theMathematics block next door, move Maths into existingModern Languages and create a new Modern LanguagesDepartment.

Phase 1 of the project was levelling and draining ‘Beale’sTip’ to the south of School House and seeding it. Thiswas achieved in the autumn of 2001 and the pitch isnow a dedicated School House games area adjacent tothe House.

2002 ProjectsGorton HouseIncreasing demand on places for girls led to a need to increase Gorton House capacity by 25 or so. An extension has been addedto the North of the House providing extra rooms, recreational space and showers. The existing showers and changing areas havebeen considerably improved and brought up to date. The tutor’s flat has been extended and refurbished and a second, spaciousstaff flat has been built so that adult, resident presence is appropriate for the increased number of girls in Gorton House.


ParkingVisitors to the school will already be familiar with the new accessfrom Blundell’s Road past School House. Increasing numbers of Flexiboarders, more pupils’ cars and more staff prompted a whole schoolparking survey by a firm of consultants.

The result is the extension by 30 spaces of the Big School car park, adropping off zone behind Big School and School House, the closureof the Porter’s Lodge and Chapel accesses and a general separationof soft-bodied pupils from hard-bodied vehicles.

Pool Antony PitchesAfter much deliberation by Mid Devon District Councilplanners, permission was given, with 18 conditions attached,for a change of use from agricultural to sport for 12 areas ofland at Pool Antony to the East of St Aubyn’s.

Work has begun on levelling and draining the site with thefirst of four pitches coming on stream in September2003.The remaining pitches will be ready for September 2004 andwill be accessed by a bridge from the St Aubyn’s site.

Knock on effectsThe movement in the Modern Languages and Mathematics departments triggered a variety of other moves. Geography has moved intothe History department, Economics and Religious Studies are in the main classroom block, Classics has its own dedicated space and afurther ICT suite has been created in the CDT department. For those of you who visit wishing to relive old memories, a map is availableto help you find your way around and to detail current room usage.

Modern LanguagesThe School House improvements rendered ModernLanguages homeless, so a purpose built classroom block wasneeded. The obvious site was between the Gymnasium andthe Tuckshop overlooking Big Field. This involved thedemolition of a remarkably ugly single storey brick buildingused for storage and changing.

The new building is architecturally innovative in some waysbut, most importantly, provides state of the art teachingrooms for the Modern Languages Department of appropriatesizes for GCSE and A level groups. Also in the building arechanging and showers for School House day pupils andteaching staff. The muniment room has moved from theHistory department to a specially designed room on thesecond floor.

The roof coverings are in Sedum, a vegetable materialdesigned to link in with Big Field on one side and SchoolHouse quadrangle on the other.

The top floor of School House has beenconverted into matron’s and tutors’accommodation plus some pupil space.New rooms, showers and changing areasfor boarders and flexi boarders occupy thesecond floor. A second common room forYear 8 pupils has been created on theground floor and improved heating andfire alarm system have been put inthroughout the House. The extra spacehas also allowed some dedicated teachingrooms for School House to be retained.


■ Blundell’s secured an excellentreport from the IndependentSchools Inspectorate in November2001 and I flew out to Singaporesoon afterwards. Mark and AnneTozer were excellent hosts and Markorganised a gathering for local OldBlundellians. He has agreed to co-ordinate Old Blundellian activities inthe Far East and will be in touchsoon with those of you in thatregion.

■ The first two 2004 CampaignBoard meetings have been held inthe Colin Beale Centre under theChairmanship of Sir Ian HeathcoatAmory. Plans are well ahead for thefundraising and social eventsassociated with Blundell’squatercentenary. Details of eventsplanned for 2004 will be availablebefore Christmas. We areparticularly pleased to have ChadMurrin (FH 1969-73) and John Beale(M 1956-61) as our Co-Presidentsfor the fundraising campaign. Datesof OB campaign receptions are:

Official invitations to the aboveevents will be sent later in the year.

■ The Balliol dinner was wellattended and well organised byMark Beard who was accompaniedby his bride- to-be – congratulationsMark! John Mattingly (P 1950-54)hosted an excellent Boat Race partyon the Tideway for the most excitingrace in recent times.

■ A brief visit to South Africa inJune included dinner in Cape Townwith Colin Davies and Rupert Day,followed by an excellent OBgathering at the Bryanston Club inJohannesburg. The event wasorganised by Graham Treagus. I waswell looked after – particular thanks

D r ector s Let ter

It has been a pleasure to see orcommunicate with a greatmany Old Blundellians since thepublication of the last Pictorial.

Wednesday 8th Januaryin Bristol

early evening

Wednesday 15th January in London

early evening

Thursday 23rd January in London

early evening

Wednesday 29th January in Southampton

early evening

Saturday 1st Februaryat Blundell’s

lunchtime reception

Direc tor ’s Le t te r

Mark Tozer in Singapore.

South Africa OBs – (from left) back row: Julian Russell, Nick Skipworth-Michell, Rick Ackroyd, GrahamTreagus. Front row: Rob Harvey, Paddy Armstrong, John Stobbs.


■ Good progress is being madetowards merging the OldBlundellian and Foundationdatabases to produce a bespokepackage providing appropriate fieldsfor OB social events and Foundationbusiness. Thanks go to RichardWhite (M 1954-59) and Andrew Goff(TH 1983-88) for their enthusiasmand experience in this project.

Paddy Armstrong with OBs and their wives – Annette Treagus, Eleanor Russell and Caryll Ackroyd in South Africa.

Rupert Day, Colin Davies and Paddy enjoy a drink in Cape Town, June 2002.

■ Ted Crowe organised amemorial service in Chapel for NedLloyds (FH 1930-35) in July,followed by lunch in the Colin BealeCentre. It was good to see Ned’ssons, Jeremy (FH 1968-73) andChristopher (FH 1961-66)supporting their mother, Jackie,together with a good number ofother Old Blundellians.

to Graham and Annette Treagus andJulian Russell. Julian was electedSouth African OB co-ordinator andwill be in touch about future events.

■ The versatility of the Colin BealeCentre was very much in evidenceon OB Day. Not only did we enjoyan excellent lunch in the mainroom, but lunch was followed by teain the same place only two hourslater.

Taking over from the legendary JerrySalter who has nurtured andinspired thousands of youngGeographers during his 32 yearreign was a daunting enoughprospect. Add to this the fact thatmy A Level Geography teacher, aman I seldom listened to then, isnow the Chairman of Governors (aman I listen to with bated breathtoday) and my squash coach/physicsteacher now the Director of Finance,you see my predicament. I did nothave to wait long before the obviousconcerns that my ratherundistinguished past would catchup with me were realised. Two daysafter my arrival a colleague in theCommon Room asked Charles Noonif he had taught me as a boy. “No,”he replied, “we all failed!”.

My apprehension was not helped bya genuinely held belief among manyin the teaching profession thatreturning to one’s alma materdoesn’t really smack of progress.Walking into chapel on the first dayof term and being ushered to thesame ‘wickers’ that I had sat in as athirteen year old in 1977 did indeedfeel like a retrograde step. However,my doubts over whether thisconstituted progress might havebeen well founded had Blundell’snot changed so drastically over theintervening years. The traditions andarchitecture remain, thankfully, andthere were a few old faces on thestaff that I remembered, but theethos and spirit of the school haschanged enormously. Some of thesechanges have undoubtedly beenthrust upon the school by shiftingparadigms within IndependentSchooling, some by EducationalTheorists and some by successive

governments, all trying to maketheir own mark. Other changes havebeen brought about by marketforces; but whatever the rootcauses these changes haveundoubtedly been for the better.Blundell’s today is not the schoolI went to and quite rightly.Being fully co-educationalmeans that Blundell’s nowoffers a far wider range ofextra-mural activities than Iremember. The more bullishpursuits that took placebehind the scenes inboarding schools in the 70’sand 80’s and which made lifea misery for the morevulnerable are also gone.Blundell’s today strikes me asa far more empathetic institutionoffering its pupils a uniqueeducation and insight into the worldaround them. And what is uniqueabout Blundell’s is not somethingreadily quantifiable – you need toexperience the place to understandit. Victor Kiam was ‘so impressed

that (he) bought the company’. Idon’t quite fit into that league but Iam sufficiently impressed to besending three of my own throughthe system and I am happy andproud to be a part of Blundell’sagain!


Blunde l l ’s Rev i s i tedby CHARLIE HAMILTON (W 1977–82)Head of Geography

It would be true to say I wasmore than a little apprehensiveabout returning to Blundell’s inSeptember 2001 to continue myteaching career some 20 yearsafter I left as a pupil.

Lunch at the Col in Beale Centre for a groupof 1993ish leavers – 24th August 2002

From left to right (back row): Caroline MacPherson (GH 1990-92), BenHutchen (FH 1988-93), Nick Collins (FH1988-93), Melissa Dobson (GH 1991-93);(middle row): Rachel Newman (GH 1991-93),James Sessions-Hodge (FH 1988-93), BenCollins (FH 1988-93), Hannah Babbington(GH 1991-93), Jeremy Wren (FH 1988-93);(floor): Jon Coad (P 1988-93), Steve Clapp (P 1988-93).

Fazi Goman (Nick Collins’fiancée), Nick Collins (FH1988-93), Annabel Dixon(Steve Clapp’s girlfriend),Jeremy Rostron (FH 1988-93)and Niccie London (BenCollins’ girlfriend).

Of course, other stuff happened along theway, as I left Blundell’s a decade ago. Towhizz through it quickly – plans to raisegoats on a farm in France with TomVanstone (Milestones) didn’t materialise,in part because we broke up, and in partbecause my mother made me move toLos Angeles, her new home. Obligingly, Iwent and lived there for four years. Istarted work as a Production Runner oncommercials produced by my father,Nicolas Hippisley-Coxe, (P 1958-63) andfrom that went into Wardrobe. Work onEvita prompted a move back to Englandas well as the transition out ofcommercials into films. After three yearsin London I moved back to Los Angeles,supposedly to finish up on MissionImpossible II, which I had prepped inLondon before it went to Sydney, andthen LA, but last minute Union problemsmeant I was out of a job in Californiawith 30 boxes still winging their way fromEngland.

Since there was nothing keeping me inLos Angeles, I moved to New York. Ididn’t know anyone, but thought it wouldbe a good compromise between Londonand LA. A job at The New York CityOpera got me into the Union - which isbasically the only way you can work inthe film industry – and from that Ieventually got hired on Sex & The City. Myjob varies depending on the type ofproduction- in this case it is purely to beon set with the actors. While normally Imay be required to shop, source, swatch,research etc, on Sex & The City there is awhole separate design team led byPatricia Field. Pat has been a prominentpart of the New York fashion scene sincethe 1960’s – Manhattan’s closest thing to

Vivienne Westwood, even though she isnot a fashion designer.

Along with the Assistant CostumeDesigner and 3 shoppers, Pat finds thedistinctive outfits for the four leadwomen – Sarah Jessica Parker, KimCattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon– that initially put this show on the map.A tailor is on hand to alter and/orcustomise, leaving open many moreoptions on what can be used. I gather inthe old days, before AOL merged withHBO’s parent company, Time Warner,that most of the clothes were bought, butnowadays with a smaller budget, a lot ofthe clothes are loaned out fromshowrooms. They get the free high profilepublicity and we get to come in underbudget. With one other costumer I dressthe four girls and anyone with a speakingpart. An additional costumer does all thebackground. There are often last minutechanges either from Pat, or a Director,sometimes an actor. It’s never tantrums,just logistics of the colours on set, orwhat the other characters are wearing inthe same scene etc.

Once a costume has been established Ihave to maintain the continuity of thelook set, as 5 minutes of screen time isshot over a few hours. Ironically, I workthe hardest when the actors are naked.Sex scenes require a certain amount ofsensitivity, since the actors are oftenwearing very little – a strategically placedthong perhaps, in front of a film crew ofover 30 men and women. When thecamera moves position, or goes in tighter,it’s possible to cover them up more, likeadd boxer shorts to an actor, or astrapless top for an actress.

If you’ve read this article in hopes ofsome dirt on the girls, I am afraid I willhave to disappoint you when I say thatthey are the best part of my job. SJ(Carrie) has an incredible amount ofenergy that keeps spirits up, even at 4am.Kim (Samantha) is very smart and not likeher character at all. Cynthia (Miranda) is abit of a hippie in real life, very mellow, inher own world and the ‘easiest’ of them.Kristin (Charlotte) likes to be veryinvolved in the development of hercharacter, and even insists on choosing allher own jewellery!


Sex and The C i ty

From Blundell’s, Tiverton, to Sex& The City, Manhattan. That’swhere an expensive boardingschool education in a previouslyall boys’ establishment landed me– as a Set Costumer on a TVshow for HBO about the (sex)lives of four single women livingin New York.

by MEI LAI HIPPISLEY-COXE (GH 1990–92)

Old B lunde l l i anAr t i c l e s

We are extremely grateful to Harry Akerman, Ed Whitefield, Charlie

Hamilton and Mei Lai Hippisley-Coxe for their contributions to this

issue. If you would like to write on a subject of special interest, do

please let us know.

B lundel l ’ s Foundat ion

Some Forthcoming School Events and Dates for 2002

Address: The Foundation Office Director: Paddy Armstrong

Blundell’s School Administrator: Patricia Thompson

Tiverton

Devon Tel/Fax: 01884-243262

EX16 4DT E-mail: [email protected]

www.blundfoundation.org.uk

Company limited by guarantee registered in England number 4016403. Registered address: Blundell’s School, Tiverton, Devon EX16 4DT. Registered charity number 1081249.

October 15–17

School Musical:Grease

November 12

European Theatre CoyL’Ecole des Femmes

October 3–4

Classics Dept Play:Medea

November 8

Music Scholars’Concert

November 15

Lecture: Sharksby Richard Pierce

October 12

AllegriString Quartet

November 10

Remembrance DayService

December 10

Carol Concert

December 6

School Concert

blundell's foundation

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