oa bulletin - spring 2008 edition

Old Albanian Club

JUNE2008

OA

BULL

ETI

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DIARY DATES

Annual Dinner – Friday 4th July 2008Founders’ Day – Saturday 5th July 2008

London Drinks Party – 13th November 2008AGM – 9th December 2008

Past and present OARFC Presidents Ali Mills and Adrian Tominey at this year’s June garden party

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OA BULLETIN JUNE 2008

Nick Chappin – EditorAndy Chappin – Design & ProductionRoger Cook – MembershipMike Highstead – Gazette

Printing - Herts & Beds Printing01923 234959

Address for correspondence:Nick Chappin18 The Pleasance, Harpenden,Herts AL5 3NATelephone: 01582 461674 (home)07980 565645 (mobile)e-mail: [email protected]

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OA CLUBwww.oldalbanianclub.comPresident Stephen Burgess

01727 [email protected]

Secretary David Buxton01727 840499

[email protected] Brian Sullman

01582 460317Membership Secretary Roger Cook


OA SPORTS www.oasport.comRUGBYPresident Adrian Tominey


Chairman Robin Farrar01727 832621

[email protected] Sandy Bell


Secretary Peter Lipscomb01727 760466

[email protected] & Junior Rugby Chairman Rory Davis

020 8267 [email protected]

OA Saints Chairwoman Tasha Saint-Smith07971 849290

[email protected] www.oasoccer.co.ukClub President & Manager Simon Bates

07720 383600/01442 240247

Treasurer & Club Secretary David Hughes07890 831315/01727 769237

[email protected] Secretary David Burrows

07841 431614CRICKET www.oacc.org.ukPresident Alan PhilpottChairman Andrew McCree


07890 831315/01727 769 237Treasurer Denis King

[email protected] Secretary Julian Baines

[email protected] Enquiries Sue Barnes


Coaching Enquiries Diana Wilkinson07767 237474

[email protected] & Pistol Andrew Wilkie

01727 856857Angling Geoff Cannon

01582 792512Golf Royce Bryant

01727 863130

OA LODGE www.oa-lodge.co.ukJohn Williams 01438 715679

[email protected]

SCHOOL WEB SITEwww.st-albans.herts.sch.uk

OA

CONTA

CT Editorial

Bones of contentionI must confess, in the past myknowledge of freemasonry waslimited to the usual urban myths:silly handshakes (courtesy of MontyPython), dodgy dealings in the upperechelons of the police force (courtesyof The Sweeney and similar), and atheory linking the Jack the Rippermurders to masonic ritual (courtesyof an old friend who wrote a book onthe subject). Of course, as anessentially secretive organisationthey don’t do themselves any favourson the PR front. As anyspin doctor will tell you,create an informationvacuum and people willrush to fill it – andwhether it’s the truth islargely irrelevant.I’m therefore grateful

to John Williams,Secretary of the OALodge, for his fascinatingcontributions to everyissue of the Bulletin. Aswell as giving us aregular peek under thecovers of the Lodge’s activities of theLodge – and in particular theirunceasing charitable work – healways manages to feed us sometasty factual morsels about thehistory of freemasonry. We all know,for example, that St Alban was thefirst English martyr, but hands upthose who knew that he was also thepatron saint of freemasonry? Andthere are bonus points on offer foranyone who was aware that his relics(bones to you and me) had not been

lost during the destruction of hisShrine after all, but instead had beentransported to Rome. They were thengiven by the Vatican to a GermanDuke as a wedding present (thesewere the days before toasters,remember) and subsequentlyenshrined in Cologne Cathedral. In2002 a shoulder bone, believed to bethat of St Alban, was presented tothe Abbey and is now back withinthe restored shrine. Having clockedup nearly as many air miles as AlanWhicker, it’s nice to think that partof him at least is back where he

belongs.Still on the subject of

bones, Justin Pollard (86)has had another bookpublished: The Story ofArchaeology: 50Discoveries that Shapedour View of the AncientWorld, while JonathanTrigell’s Boy A recentlywon an online publicvote as ‘The Book toTalk About’ and actorAndrew Garfield, whoplayed the main

character in the C4 TV adaptation,scooped the best actor BAFTA for hisportrayal. As usual, OAs have beenbusy in all walks of life – see MikeHighstead’s Gazette on page 18 tofind out more.Anyone at the School from the late

60s onwards will have memories ofPen Arthur. My compliments to thewriter of the School’s website, whodescribes it as “a well-equipped FieldStudies Centre”. He or she is surelydestined for a successful career as an

OA

COMMENT

The Pen Arthur I

recall was, to put it

bluntly, a freezing

hovel that you

wouldn’t keep a

goat in

estate agent. The Pen Arthur I recallwas, to put it bluntly, a freezinghovel that you wouldn’t keep a goatin. At least there were no mice;they’d packed their Bermuda shortsand departed for more hospitableclimes years ago. Our Sixth FormEnglish set visited late one Autumn,and it was so cold that seriousconsideration was given to a ritualburning of our Shakespeare texts. Myabiding memory of this culturalouting was incendiary rather thanliterary, as one of our numberentertained us royally withpyrotechnic displays of igniting hisfarts with a cigarette lighter. As forthe rest of us, we were just gratefulfor the small bursts of heat. DavidCamplin (70), a member of the first

group to visit the newly acquiredfarmhouse in the Brecon Beacons,offers some rather more refinedmemories of his trip on page 22, andDevelopment Officer Kate Le Sueurhas issued an appeal for further PenArthur memories the School’sFacebook group.Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find

the usual sports club reports, and agood crop of letters from OAs of allvintages. My thanks as always toeveryone who has provided materialfor this edition, and I will end withmy usual appeal for contributions tothe next issue, which is due to bepublished in November.

Nick Chappin (75)Editor

President’s Notes

Losses and gains� OA Club President Stephen Burgess bidsfarewell to three outstanding Old Albanians,and welcomes the improvements in the Club’sadministration and records as it worksclosely with the School’s new developmentoffice

LossesSince I wrote my notes for the NovemberBulletin, the Club has lost three outstandingOld Albanians who were very active in OAmatters over many years: Dick Thrale, PeterVan Horne and Peter Smith. Dick was thefirst to go last November, and was anoutstanding OA and citizen of St Albans.His family were connected with the townover literally hundreds of years, and theThrale’s baking and catering business andWaterend Barn base played a part in manylives of OAs and non-OAs alike. I waspersonally grateful for Dick’s help whenorganising Old Albanian and Rugby Clubfunctions at the Waterend Barn. It was hisfamily business but it was easy to becomeand remain a friend. I was pleased to have afriendly chat with Dick a few weeks beforehis sudden death in which, of course, heinquired how my term as President wasgoing and wished me luck in the future. Itwas a typical cheerful and considerateconversation. He will be much missed.Both Peter Smith and Peter Van Horne

had served as Presidents of the Club in 1979and 1974 respectively. They were workersboth for the OA Club, the Rugby andCricket Clubs, and several other localorganisations. Peter Van Horne was a greatRotarian for many years, and I particularlyremember him for his amusing companywhen playing for the cricket 2nd XI. Youcertainly enjoyed your cricket when Peter

was around. Both Peters had attendedRugby VP lunches during 2007 and bothwere in good form. Peter Smith served inthe OA committee until the end of 2006, andboth will be sadly missed.

GainsMoving on to matters that are morepositive, I referred in my last notes tochanges which were taking place in theClub’s administration and records. Muchhas happened since then with the recordspassing to the School and the establishmentof a new website. The School’s DevelopmentOfficer Kate Le Sueur has been steadilyincreasing our database of OAs, contactingmany lapsed members and working to fill inthe gaps with considerable success. She andour Membership Secretary Roger Cook havedone an outstanding job in uniting therecords. Of course, through its newlyestablished development office the Schoolhas the motivation of needing to raisemoney for some exciting developments(about which you will be hearing more), butthe benefit to the OA Club and the formerpupils generally is considerable.A very successful year group meeting

took place last year, and this was reportedin November’s Bulletin. Another year groupreunion for the 1965 leavers is planned forSeptember 2008, which is being organised by

OA

COMMEN

TOA PresidentStephen Burgess

OA BULLETIN JUNE 2008OA BULLETIN JUNE 2008

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Saints alive: players from the OA Saints, who have done so much to enhance the reputation ofthe OARFC both on and off the field, enjoy a drink at this year’s garden party

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Building on success� Headmaster Andrew Grant reports onanother hugely successful few months for theSchool – and news of some exciting buildingdevelopments to come

Attendance at December’sCarol Service broke allprevious records and filled theNave and Crossing to absolutecapacity. The superb quality

of the Choir, continuing seamlessly undernew management, is undoubtedly one of thereasons for the steadily increasing demandfor seats which may call forsome radical thinking if largenumbers of parents and guestsare not to be disappointed infuture.Our rugby players completed

the autumn term with a cleansweep at all levels against newopponents Aylesbury Grammar.Just how good a rugby season itwas can be gauged by followingthe fortunes of our teams on theSchoolsrugby websitewww.schoolsrugby.co.uk towhich all results are uploaded.There is a hotlink to this site and its hockeyequivalent on our own website. Thoughentirely unscientific, because no two schoolsplay an identical fixture list, there is fun tobe had in browsing the site’s various leaguetables, of which the ‘superleague’ sponsoredby the Evening Standard and coveringschools in their distribution area, isprobably the most relevant. Amonguniversally impressive rankings for ourteams, the undefeated 2nd XV were placedthird in their league by the end of theautumn term. Meanwhile, the U12’s who,

uniquely at this School, play two terms ofrugby, have also shown up very well at theend of the spring term and won theBroxbourne tournament without concedinga single point, beating Watford Grammar 19-0 in the final.The netball team had another good

season and there were some strongperformances in badminton.To return to the subject of amusing but

meaningless league tables, the DCSFreleased its Achievement and AttainmentTables in the first week of the spring termand however high-minded one tries to be, itwas difficult not to be pleased to see St

Albans School topping theGCSE table for Hertfordshireby a clear margin.The GCSE tables are badly

flawed, most seriously inexcluding the IGCSEexaminations followed by manyof the best independent schools(and indeed by this one inEnglish Literature), but at leastoccupying the top spot in aflawed league table gives onethe moral authority to criticiseit without being accused ofsour grapes or special pleading.

In any case, even were that flaw to becorrected, it would not alter our position toany great degree, and in the A level tables,which are not subject to the sameobjections, we were, according to TheIndependent, in 40th place among England’sindependent schools, and, according to theBBC, 73rd among all schools nationally at Alevel and also in the top hundred at GCSE.Combining GCSE and A level performance,as The Times does on its website, lifts StAlbans to 22nd place among all schools inthe country.

Occupying the top

spot in a flawed

league table gives

one the moral

authority to

criticise it

Headmaster’s Notes

Mike Hodge. Information can be obtainedfrom Kate Le Sueur at the School anddetails will be given on the website. Furtherevents are planned, and OAs will be invitedto take initiatives.I believe that these developments, with

better records and an improved website, willbe very beneficial for the OA Club and themembers in the future.One example of better and more timely

communication as a result of the melding ofrecords and work with the School was themuch-improved attendance at theNovember Drinks Party at the East IndiaClub. We have been holding this event formany years and attendance has generallybeen in the 40 to 50 region. It has been anenjoyable occasion but in November 2007 92people attended and it was a very cheerfuldo with attendees from 18 to 84 years in age.The School worked hard to get recentleavers along, but attendance across all agegroups improved and I believe that this is agood sign for future events.

Gaudy-ReunionThis year there will be a reunion onFounders’ Day for those OAs who leftduring the 1970s. Our investigations intothose who left during this decade havediscovered details of over 200 former pupilswhose whereabouts have been lost. Thisagain shows the benefit of linking up withthe School’s development office. You maywell have been contacted already but if youhave not and wish to come along on the 5thof July please get in touch with Kate LeSueur at the School.

The Club DinnerThe Dinner is being held on Friday 4th Julybefore Founders’ Day on the Saturday. Thevenue is the Woollams Clubhouse, and I am

looking forward to a much-improvedattendance. As with last year, we arehoping for a fine evening with drinks on theterrace from 7.15 to 8.00pm to be followed bya four-course dinner and, I am sure, somelively speeches. Please come along for anenjoyable evening. Details are on thewebsite and tickets can be obtained fromKate Le Sueur at the School (01727 855521)or from me on 01727 867868 [email protected].

WoollamsSport at Woollams continues to thrive. TheRugby Club had an up and down season butmaintained their position in the competitiveLondon 1 Division. Junior rugby continuesto thrive with several year groups winningcounty divisions and the Colts winning theCounty Cup. Our ladies had another verygood season. The tennis and netball clubsare also doing well. The cricketers are nowwell organised at senior and junior level.There is much to be enjoyed at ourexcellent facilities. Details of contacts aregiven at the front of our Bulletin.I look forward to seeing many of you at

the dinner and at Founders’ Day.Stephen Burgess

President, Old Albanian Club


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reports were very encouraging and werecertainly confirmed when the groupencountered problems actually reaching theresort, crossing the Col du Lautaret justbefore the pass was closed for the nightwith reports of other groups having toabandon their journeys until the followingmorning due to the heavy snow fall.Thereafter, with deep powder snow andglorious sunshine, they could not havehoped for better and the students werelucky to experience the best conditions seenfor many years.Our top competitive skiers, meanwhile,

who are of international standard, weretraining in Italy, among them, MaxGreenfield who, competing against mucholder boys in a recent British InterschoolsChallenge in Les Houches, was sixth in theSlalom and ninth in Giant Slalom.Following a fine Joint Schools concert,

this year hosted by the High School, to closethe spring term’s musical activities, nofewer than 76 School musicians and staffescaped the English Easter weather toperform in cities along the River Rhineincluding Bad Ems and Koblenz. At thelatter, reached by a boat trip along the riverfor an afternoon concert in theChristuskirche, there was standing roomonly in the Church and a very enthusiasticresponse to all the performances. Thehighlight for the choir came on the last day,when they sang in the Angelus service inCologne Cathedral after which, mostunusually in a church service, they werespontaneously applauded by congregationand clergy alike.Last year’s Easter tennis training camp

has clearly paid off, as the senior tennisteam Ross Hannah, Jamie Dillon, KatiePollitt and Amy Scott reached the NationalFinals of the LTA mixed senior students

competition, having beaten Cambridge HillsRoad Sixth Form College in the regionalfinal.The hockey season opened with a 6-day

tour for 51 boys and six members of staff toBarcelona. Unfortunately, the first gamescoincided with the onset of norovirus whichtook a toll of 29 players during the weekand which kept all the staff, some of whomthemselves succumbed, very busy.Nevertheless, though weakened, the

senior squad played three Spanish sides inthe round-robin tournament beatingCatalunia U16s 1-0 and losing to the hostclub FC Junior 1-0 and to CD Terrassa, theeventual winners, 1-0. They then played inthe 3rd /4th place playoff against EtonCollege, also on tour, and won 1-0, securingbronze medals. The U16 and U14 sides,equally ravaged by the bug, both won 1match and lost 2.Over the whole of the spring term, our

hockey teams won 53% of their matches,with the First XI splitting wins and lossesexactly 50-50. Captain of hockey, ThaddeusRivett, represented his club, Southgate, inthe U18 Indoor National Final, which theywon.The cross-country squad were undefeated

during the autumn term and opened their2008 campaign in fine style by dominatingthe Hertfordshire County ClubsChampionships in which we wererepresented in four age groups. Both theU17’s and the U20’s were team winners,while Dominic Easter took the individualU20 Championship and Billy Collins theU17. The county teams in the AAA Nationalfinals were dominated by St Albansrunners, no fewer than 12 being selected forrepresentative duty.Then, after a four-year fallow period in

which they have won every race they have

The DCSF A level figures, in fact, correctsome of the anomalies of the UCAS tariffthat so flatters schools offering theInternational Baccalaureate in the leaguetables published by newspapers in Augustand puts into a more realistic context theearlier triumphalist claims of one or two ofour neighbours.Notwithstanding all of this, it was

slightly bemusing to receive a letter fromJim Knight MP, Minister of State forSchools and Learners, congratulating meand St Albans School on our excellentperformance, which showed us to be“amongst the top performing schools thisyear based on sustained improvement in 5+A*-C GCSEs including English andmathematics GCSEs.” How does one showsustained improvement on a track record of100%?Resisting the temptation to attribute this

to another governmental misplacement ofdata, it is pleasant to receivecongratulations from a source that hastended to be grudging in itsacknowledgement of the achievements of

the independent sector.This year’s Oxbridge admissions round

brought seven offers, by our standards, a nomore than middling total, but it was hard tofind fault with the judgements. Still withacademic matters, in the BritishMathematical Olympiad first round, bothDavid Phillips and David McLeod wereawarded Distinctions (placing them in thetop 25% of scorers) with the latter in 100thplace of the 1,232 entrants and qualifying byright for the second round.The earliest Easter for many years

confronted three Duke of Edinburgh’sexpeditions with just about every kind ofweather these islands have to offer: In theBrecon Beacons, for example, 40 CCF cadetsfaced, successively, heavy rain, strongwinds, 30-metre visibility and hot sunshine,arriving at the finishing line in Trecastlesoaked, sunburnt, shattered but successful.However, these delights were also availablemuch closer to home and it was a similarstory for the silver group on their trainingin the lee of Ashridge.At least the skiers benefited. Snow

Some hardy souls enduring aDuke of Edinburgh exercisethis Easter

Olympiad, James Madgwick had achieved agold award, Patrick Courtney a bronze andMatthew Bevan, Paul Harris and LauraEvans commendations.There are some exciting building

developments in prospect. Furtherrefurbishment of the Physics laboratorieswill be carried out, thanks in part to a grantof £50,000 from the Wolfson Foundation.The work which is currently in progress

in the East Gate Room to create a properSchool Museum and Archive will come tofruition this term; work will start on thethird phase of refurbishment of the Hall; thefirst phase of redevelopment of the SixthForm Centre will begin and planningpermission has been granted for floodlightsfor the Astro Turf pitch at Woollams.

However, the biggest news, which I amsure will delight everyone, is that theconstruction of the Sports Hall andSwimming Pool will get under way in the

Orchard. This will be a huge project and avery expensive one. It could potentially bequite disruptive to the work of the Schooland to avoid this, a good deal of the workwill take place during two successivesummer holidays. At present, therefore, weare planning for a commissioning date ofJanuary 2010.That, however, will not be the end of

things. The new facility will, in turn, unlockpossibilities for the future redevelopment ofexisting areas of the site to allow usproperly to fulfil our vision for St AlbansSchool in the 21st century. Funding thosefuture developments will be a challenge towhich we must rise and, to that end, youwill be hearing in due course about thelaunch of the St Albans School Foundation.As you can see, therefore, we have plenty

to occupy us over the next year or so.Andrew GrantHeadmaster

An artist’s impression of the School’s new sports hall


contested except the two great nationaltrophies, the Knole Run and the King HenryVIII relay, they found the way back to theirglory days. Narrowly beaten into secondplace by Manchester Grammar in the KnoleRun, they returned, bent on revenge, toCoventry, where, last year, they werebeaten, heartbreakingly, right on the line bySt Anselm’s. This time, against ManchesterGrammar again as well as arch rivals Juddand nearly 50 other top teams from all overthe United Kingdom, St Albans regained thetitle with another time to rank among theten fastest-ever. A real Captain’s run from

Dominic Easter, who recorded the secondfastest lap of the day, a brave run from aninjured Billy Collins and an inspired sixthand final leg from flying Fifth Former EuanMcKenzie saw the historic trophy return towhere it belongs – the trophy cabinet inSchool House.They ran the season out making yet more

history in the South East Championships atHarrow School. The junior team won theirrace, with Vasudev Zaver first across theline and Euan Mackenzie leading theintermediates to victory with AntonioRazzano third. The senior team wasweakened by the loan of Mackenzie to hiscorrect age group, but finished second teamwith captain Dominic Easter completing anunprecedented treble of individual firstplaces by a single school.Performances in football improve from

season to season and towards the end of lastterm, the Under 14’s scored a famousvictory against the reigning District Cupholders, Nicholas Breakspear School, in atense penalty shoot-out, to go through tothe semi-finals, where, unfortunately, theirrun ended.The developing squash team had some

success, and Ben Richards played for theHertfordshire U19 squad, which finishedthird in the national inter-county finals.Our swimmers ended the season-long

Herts league with the junior andintermediate squads in second place and theseniors in third among the eight competingschools.Academically, our scientists have been

busy: in the Physics Olympiad nationalcompetition. Rory Carver achieved a silveraward, and Todd Davidson a bronze, level 1,whilst in the Biology counterpart, JoeWragg was commended. As term started,news arrived that in the Chemistry

School cross-country captain Dominic Easterin full flow


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attended Hatfield Road School fromwhich he – and most of his class –gained scholarships to St AlbansSchool. His best friend was TerryNewell (father of Mike Newell ofFour Weddings and a Funeral fame).Ray became a choirboy in the Abbeyand learnt to play the organ,becoming ‘unofficial’ organist in theAbbey for a period after his teacher,the then Organist died suddenly.After finishing school Ray went intoinsurance in the City for 10 years,specialising in fire damage. On theoutbreak of war he dearly wanted tojoin the RAF, but with his experiencehe was drafted to join the FireService – in which he remainedfollowing the end of hostilities,eventually rising to become theDeputy Chief Fire Officer for theCounty of Hertfordshire. Aftermarriage he lived in Watling Street, aclose neighbour of the Atkinsonfamily of ‘Zombies’ fame. Over theyears Ray has played the organ not

only for the Old Albanian Lodge, butfor many other Lodges, and has alsobeen the organist for St John’sChurch in Harpenden and St Francisin Welwyn Garden City. At hispresent home in Knebworth, Ray hasa Domus 5 church organ on whichuntil recently he practiced but nowfinds difficult to play. He woulddearly love to find a good home for itand would be most happy to donateit to a budding organ scholar or to aChurch. If anyone is interested,please contact the Secretary asdetailed below.In March a number of Old

Albanians and their partners travelledwith a party of Freemasons, ‘theHertfordshire Wanderers’, invited tospend a weekend on the west coast ofIreland to attend the 275thanniversary meeting of Lodge No 14 –

Ray Hughesat homeplaying hisDomus 5churchorgan

OA

UPDATE

Coming home� Once believed lost, the relics of StAlban – Patron Saint of Freemasonryand the first English martyr – havenow been identified and a shoulderbone is back in the Shrine in theAbbey. Secretary John Williamsreports

The Lodge year commenced in May,when our new Master RogerShrimplin was installed in the Chairby the outgoing Master Dr MaxPitcher, followed by the appointmentof the Lodge Officers for the ensuingyear. It is invariably thebest attended meeting,and dinner jackets arethe norm – although thisis entirely optional. TheLodge has had anexcellent year with agood attendance,delightfully spiced withthat earthy humour thatcan only emanate from aMaster who is also aConsultantGastroenterologist! Ournew Master, who byprofession is an architect and townplanner, was previously Master of theWorshipful Company of Glaziers, oneof the long established LiveryCompanies which form the backboneof the organisation of the City ofLondon. Originating in the medievalcraft guilds from which Freemasonryis believed to have originated, theLivery Companies were formedspecifically to look after skilledcraftsmen’s interests by establishing

codes of conduct, setting highstandards and regulating the trainingof apprentices. The original GlaziersHall was burnt down in the great fireof London 1666. The current Hall,located on the south side of LondonBridge with magnificent views overthe River Thames, was acquired andrefurbished in 1977.Sadly in February, the Lodge lost

one of its stalwarts with the death ofPeter Smith, aged 81. Peter wasinitiated into the Lodge in 1975 bythe then Master, David Gray. Afterpassing through the various officeshe was elected Master of the Lodge in

1989, and thereafterelected to serve asTreasurer, an office heheld with distinctionuntil May 2001. As aresult of his services toMasonry, he wasappointed toHertfordshire Provincialoffice in 1996.Our oldest member

Ray Hughes was 94 inFebruary and now findsit difficult to attendmeetings due to the

stairs up to the Lodge room in theGateway. Nevertheless Ray, who formany years was the Honorary LodgeOrganist, is in good spirits and hasmade an excellent recovery from astroke he suffered a couple of yearsago. Ray was born in Hornsey in1914. After his father was demobbedfrom the Navy, the family moved toWoodstock Road, St Albans wherehis grandparents kept a shop at No 1Approach Road, off London Road. He

OA Lodge

The Lodge has had

an excellent year

with a good

attendance

delightfully spiced

with earthy humour

Visit OAconnectthe OA online database

follow the link on www.oldalbanianclub.com


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the relics of St Alban – the PatronSaint of Freemasonry and the firstEnglish martyr – had been lost whenthe Shrine in the Abbey wasdestroyed, was that apparently theyhad at some time previously beenremoved to Rome. Andthey were subsequentlygiven by the Vatican asa wedding present to aGerman Duke andenshrined in CologneCathedral. Recently therelics in Cologne havebeen examined and theyinclude a skull boundwith a golden band. KingOffa is recorded ashaving placed such aband around the skull ofSt Alban. In June 2002,the shoulder bone believed to be thatof St Alban was presented to theAbbey during a bi-lingual ChoralEvensong and is now back within therestored Shrine.

The Lodge meets only five times ayear on the second Saturdays inJanuary, March, May and Septemberand the first Saturday in November.All those connected with the School,including fathers of past or present

pupils are welcome toapply for membership,for which purpose thefirst approach should beto any Lodge member,the Secretary as below,or Nigel WoodSmith orAlan Smith at theSchool. Members ofother Lodges, be theyOAs, parents of past orpresent pupils, staff orGovernors areencouraged to visit theLodge whenever they

wish, and the Secretary will bedelighted to hear from them.The Lodge website address is:

http://www.oa-lodge.co.uk/

OA

UPDATE

the ‘Premier Lodge of Connaught’ – inGalway. The Lodge meeting waspreceded by a meeting of the GrandLodge of Ireland, the second oldestGrand Lodge in the world.One of the oldest Lodges in

Ireland, the warrant ofLodge no 14 was grantedin 1733 by “LordViscount Netirville,Grand Master, the Rt.Hon the Lord ViscountKingsland, DeputyGrand Master and theHon. Will'm Ponsonby &Dillon Pollard Hampson,Esqrs, Grand Wardens,to erect a Lodge of FreeMasons in the Town ofGalway in Ireland.” Thewarrant records that it isa duplicate, “the original beingdestroy'd by vermin or otherwiserendred useless.”During the remainder of the long

weekend, the party undertook a

guided tour of Galway City and a tripto explore the west coast scenery,much enjoyed by all. Although theweather was as might be expected forthe west of Ireland in early March, atleast the prevailing winds reduced

the flight time back toLuton by some 20minutes!In April members of

the Old AlbanianChapter were enthralledby a talk by GeorgeLaverick, Clerk of Worksto the Abbey, on thehistory of the Abbey andthe Freemasons whoplayed a part in itsrestoration in the late19th century – aconnection that

continues today with the recentrestoration of the tomb of Humphrey,Duke of Gloucester, brother of HenryV. What came as a complete surpriseto those of us who had believed that


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The party oftake a tourof Galwayduring theirweekend inIreland

The party

undertook a guided

tour of Galway City

and a trip to

explore the west

coast scenery

In June 2002, the

shoulder bone

believed to be

that of St Alban

was presented to

the Abbey

The 275thanniversarymeeting ofLodge No 14– the‘PremierLodge ofConnaught’ –in Galway

Waifs and strays�We have lost contact with thefollowing OAs – can anyone help?

Year Name Last knownlocation

1932 S C BISHOP Shefford1932 C M BRACEWELL Desford1933 J BROOKES Harpenden1934 KM BUCKINGHAM HA9 9JS1938 JM BULSING Welwyn Garden City1938 R G BUNTING Leighton Buzzard1939 A P CAUNT Newington1941 N A J CHAPMAN Middlesborough1942 J CLARKE Knebworth1942 J F CLEAR1943 Peter CLEGG Windlesham1944 P A COCKBAIN Redhill1944 A G D COOK Germany1947 B J COOMBE Redhill1948 E J COOPER Hants1949 R C COOPER Luton1952 M J CORNWELL Harpenden1954 R M CRAIGHEAD Potters Bar1955 D C CROSS Southsea1955 N C DILLEY High Wycombe1956 C DIXON Harpenden1957 M J DUXBURY Hitchin1958 G EARL Church Road1959 A W G EVANS Thonbury1960 E J EVANS Park Street1962 N G EVANS Hemel Hempstead1963 I A FORBES Bristol1964 K FORD Tring1965 J B FRENCH St Albans1966 S FUNNELL Barnet1967 A J GEORGE1967 R R GINGELL Farnham All Saints1968 J R H GOTT St Albans1968 Andrew GRANGER Kentish Town1970 K GREEN Ferndown1971 M HALL Croxley Green1971 Chris HALLIDAY London1971 P L HAYES St Albans1971 A HAYWARD St Albans1972 R J W HODGE RAF Wittering1972 S I HOPKINS St Albans1973 P H F HUDSON Cranbrook1974 P INGRAM Maryhill1974 A JACKSON Harpenden1974 P A JENKINS Boscombe1974 JENKINSON France1975 A P R JONES Silsden1975 Roy JUGGINS Kelvin1975 D R KINGHAM East Grinstead

1975 D KIRK Walthamstow1976 G KNIGHT Scotland1976 J V KNIGHT Blackboys1976 D J D LAWRENCE St Albans1976 Robert LAWTON Harpenden1977 A P LEE Abergynolwyn1977 John LESTER Crewkerne1977 A LION St Albans1977 N K LOVATT Canada1977 A MARSH Studio Estate1977 J T J MARSHALL St Stephens Hill1977 N J MARSHALL St Albans1977 A T J MASLEN Newcastle under Lyme1977 R J MATTINGLY Baldock1978 Guy P MEADOWS Parkgate1978 B MENZIE Wheathampstead1978 K J MILLS Waterfall Lane1978 P J O'SULLIVAN Harpenden1978 Andrew PALMER Crown Wood1978 P E PALMER Harpenden1979 S C PARKER Harpenden1979 V A PEACH Sussex1979 Simon PEGG Brislington1979 H M PINNOCK St Albans1979 J S C PIPER Hemel Hempstead1979 G H POWELL St Albans1979 Tim J PRYCE Notting Hill gate1979 J C RABUSZO St Albans1979 J RIDDLE Thornes1979 D M ROBERTSON1979 G T ROSS Radlett1980 Hugh ROSS Harpenden1980 M G SAMUEL St Albans1980 M E SEABROOK Chislehurst1980 M R SMITH1980 Peter SMITH Littlewindsor1980 M G SPURGEON St Albans1980 C J STANSBURY St Albans1980 G D STAPLEHURST Belgium1980 D K THOM Stevenage1981 R N THOMAS Edgware1981 M R TOWERSEY Hitchin1981 T WADDINGTON St Albans1981 N WASTELL Twyford1981 Kevin WAYGOOD-WEST Hatfield1981 C W WEIR Balham1981 David WELSH St Albans1982 Keith WELSH Eccles-Aylesford1982 E D WHITFIELD St Albans1983 A D WILKINSON Masefield Road1983 M C WILLIAMS Slip End1983 D P L WILLIAMS Harpenden1983 Dave WILSON Ballintore1984 A J WOOD Welwyn Garden City1984 J C G WOODROW Wheathampstead1984 R A WORTLEY London1984 J A WRIGHT St Albans

Under newmanagement�We should see improvements to theOAconnect web site now that it’smanaged by a new operator – but westill need everyone to ensure that theircontact details are up to date, says OAClub Membership Secretary RogerCook

OAconnectYou will all be aware that, followingcriticisms of the alumnus web site,we moved your data to a newOAconnect site in early April,operated by Donor Strategy.Those who had registered with the

previous site should find their dataon the new site. Your password andusername will be unchanged. Accessto the site is either via the icon‘OAconnect’ on the school or OA websites or, direct, towww.oaconnect.co.uk.I hope that you are finding this

new site an improvement on the oldsite. Comments would be welcome.

OA web siteI have been running this site(www.oldalbanianclub.com) since itstarted. We intend to close the siteshortly and transfer all theinformation to the OAconnect site.The success of any site is dependenton the useful data it contains. It isincumbent on all of us to provideinformation, including pictures, forinsertion, that may be of interest tothe OA community. Again, views onwhat you would like to see on the

site are always welcome.

Bulletin subscriptionsAs usual, those who receive a postalcopy, will find the year yoursubscription expires on the addresslabel.

Waifs & StraysThe waifs and strays who left before1985, and for whom we have neither apostal address nor an email address,are listed below. If you can help intracing any of the people below,please let me know.As I mentioned in the last Bulletin,

there are many in the OAconnectdatabase who provided an emailaddress but no postal address andwho have not updated their emailaddress since registration. Pleasenote that unless you update yourpersonal data the objective ofOAconnect, to enable former pupilsto contact each other, becomesunachievable.

Roger CookMembership Secretary

OA

UPDATE

Membership Secretary’s Notes

1 Pondwicks

Close

St Albans AL1

1DG

Telephone:

01727 836877


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� Justin Pollard (86) has had anotherbook published: The Story ofArchaeology: 50 Discoveries thatShaped our View of the AncientWorld, published by Quercus 978-1847241832. It takes you back in timeto meet the men and women whodiscovered them along the way andmuses on the nature of archaeology.

� Chris Moore (76) sailed the Atlanticin November/December last year inthe ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers)from Gran Canaria to St Lucia. “Wehad a lively trip,” he reports,“including a knockdown on the firstnight and 48 hours in a namedtropical storm later on...”

� Headmaster Andrew Grant is tobecome the Chairman of theHeadmasters' Conference fromSeptember 2009. Prior to that will bethe Chairman Elect, and will followon as Vice Chairman from 2010.

DeathsIt is with regret that the followingdeaths are announced:

� Richard Thrale died on 28thOctober 2007. An obituary written byhis son and fellow OA Christopher ispublished on page XX.

� Rear Admiral Bryan Straker (46)died on 25th December 2007.

� George Cooper Groundsman fromFebruary 1970 to March 1990 died in2007. He had been a very active andcommitted member of the BritishLegion for many years.

� Peter van Horne (39) died on the6th January 2008.

� Alan Hawes (43) died in January2008.

� Peter D Smith died on 21stFebruary 2008.

The School MuseumI am delighted to report that work onthe East Gate Room, which is tohouse the museum, began during theSchool’s Easter Holiday. We canexpect to be able to display the manyitems we have in a few weeks’ time.Much thought and work have gone

into the last 11 years and it is to mygreat delight that, eventually, thishas all come to fruition. So muchhelp has come from David Morgan,Robin Ollington, two Bursars andBetty Scammell, and I should like tothank them here for their efforts sofar and their continuing worktowards completion.Many suggestions regarding the

inclusion of various items have beenmade and there is one, at least, onwhich I should like your help. It hasbeen suggested that as a memorial tosome past staff it would be an idea todisplay the nicknames (positive) bywhich they were known. Many I canremember, but there are many that Ido not know. Can you help? Let meknow of your fond memories, please.

Mike Highstead

Obituary:� Richard William ThraleRichard William Thrale, who died onOctober 28th 2007 aged 76, was a

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member of the oldest family residentin St Albans, with a proven descentfrom 1480. He played a very greatpart in both the business and socialactivities of the city, over a period ofmore than 50 years.Educated locally at St Albans

School, Thrale subsequentlycommenced his National Service in1950, entering the Mons Officer CadetSchool at Aldershot, after which hewas commissioned into the ArmyCatering Corps in July of that year.Whilst in the Army he was SMO atthe school of Military Engineering,Gillingham, and Adjutant, No.1 CICat the Woolwich Garrison. He wasalso a Lieutenant in the ArmyEmergency Reserve until 1955.Upon leaving the Army, Thrale

declined a place at Selwyn College,Cambridge, where it is likely that hewould have read History, and insteadwent to Lausanne, Switzerland wherehe trained at the ‘Ecole Hoteliere’,and where he was also to meet hisfuture wife, Odile. FollowingSwitzerland he joined his father,William, and uncle Ralph, in the StAlbans family business of bakers,caterers and restaurateurs, wherethey were later joined by his brotherJohn. The hub of the business wascentred on the Waterend Barnrestaurant in the middle of StAlbans, which over the following 25years became a focus of socialactivity in the city, catering for boththe ‘little old ladies’ who merelywanted to chat over a cup of tea foran hour and a half in the morning, tothe full-blown dinner dances whichwould continue long into the night.

Everybody was welcomed!By 1978 the ‘Barn’ had passed into

other hands. However, anotherimportant part of the businesscontinued, which will be fondlyremembered by local people. Thiswas the ‘café’ in the Market Place,which was a regular meeting placefor many, and which is still inbusiness. Others will remember boththe shops at ‘The Quadrant’ inMarshalswick, and in London Road,and in later years also in MuttonLane, Potters Bar – all now sadlygone.From his earliest days Thrale

contributed enormously to thecommunity and environment inwhich he lived. In 1971 ‘STADACAN’was formed under his chairmanshipto provide a voice against theexpansion of Luton airport, and hecontinued in this role for some years.In 1976 he took on the chairmanshipof the Ver Valley Society, andcampaigned to try and reduce thehuge abstraction of water from theRiver Ver by the water companies.He later became president of thatsociety.At the same time Thrale continued

his association with his old schooland friends, by being part of the OldAlbanian Club, in earlier yearshaving been a member of the OldAlbanians 1st XV, in which he playedas a ‘lock’ forward, as that positionwas then called, now known as the‘second row’. Being obliged to rush



vice-president and chairman of thesociety, and had only recently beenrecognised by them for his work.In 1963, together with his wife

Odile, Thrale embarked upon anambitious project which for once wasfor himself and his family: theacquisition of a completely run-downfarmhouse in the depths of theDordogne in rural France. Thesummer holidays that followedinvolved conveying materials andartefacts, together with a family, 500miles through France, in the familycar, sometimes with a small trailer intow! Upon arrival he would thenimmediately start work on therestoration to which he devotedhours and hours, and in so doing alsodemonstrated what a very skilledcarpenter he was, and at the same

time endearing himself completely tothe locals who had never before seenhis kind!In spite of being required to

manage a family business, be achairman, president, governor,secretary or trustee of variousorganisations and raise a family ofthree, together with the renovation ofa derelict farmhouse in France,Thrale still found the time to writethree books! Firstly in 1953, HistoricSandridge, with Edward Giles, then20 years later a history of his ownfamily and the local family in whichthey lived, entitled A New Thraliana,and finally in 2005 an updatedversion of that book, A NewerThraliana.Thrale is survived by his wife

Odile (née Hoechstetter), two sons, a

off straight after a game to preparefor the Saturday night dinner danceat ‘The Barn’ eventually took its tollthough, and he retired from playingin 1957.Upon retiring from the game,

however, he maintained a close linkwith the OA Club. He initiallybecame Dinner Secretary, was JointSecretary from 1964 to 1973, andeventually was elected to bePresident of the Old Albanian Clubin 1981-82.His close association with the Old

Albanians continued throughout hislife, and particularly so in the lastfew years where he spent a great dealof time and energy assisting in thedevelopment of the new joint OldAlbanian and St Albans Schoolplaying fields in Harpenden Road, StAlbans, known as ‘Woollams’ afterone of the benefactors of the School.These magnificent facilities not onlybenefit current pupils at St AlbansSchool, but more widely thehundreds of young people from 7years and upwards, from all over thelocal area, who participate in therugby and cricket played there. Atthe same time he was also concernedwith the management of the adjacentCheapside Farm, no small matter asit was run on a commercial basis.Not only was Thrale closely

involved with the OA Club but alsowith St Albans School itself, as hewas appointed to the Board ofGovernors in 1983, at one stagebecoming Chairman, before standingdown after 11 years’ service in 1994.During his time as a Governor hewas charged with the responsibility

of appointing the currentheadmaster.In 1980 Thrale became chairman of

the Trustees of the ‘Glenalmond’ oldfolks home in King Harry Lane, StAlbans where he worked to improvethe facilities and the environment inwhich those elderly people lived. Hedevoted much time to the home inspite of the mounting bureaucracyand increasing regulations, whicheventually conspired to close theestablishment.The Rotary Club of St Albans was

another organisation which Thralefully supported during the whole ofhis working life, again involvinghimself not only with the club itselfbut also with all the associatedcharitable work carried out by them,particularly that which involvedhelping the elderly. The great ironywas, of course, that there came atime when he was not much youngerthan some of the people he washelping, which caused amusement insome quarters!Thrale was enormously interested

in history, whether of his family, StAlbans or the wider world, and couldspeak knowledgeably about mostsubjects. He was happy to give talksin public to small groups ororganisations, generally about localhistory, and did so for anybody thatasked.His particular interest was in the

life of Samuel Johnson, and since1977 had been a member of theJohnson Society of London, where heused to attend their meetings. Atvarious times during his membershiphe had occupied the roles of both

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Starter for 10� Fearghas MacGregor (05) was a member of the successful St Andrews teamthat won in its first two matches against Birmingham and York in the 2008series of BBC2’s University Challenge before succumbing to MagdalenCollege, Oxford in the quarter-finals.

Please send all

items for

inclusion in the

Gazette to:

Mike Highstead,

33, Cornwall

Road,

Harpenden,

Herts

AL5 4TQ

remember with great clarity that thiswas the coldest weekend since theretreat of the ice sheets! The unsweptchimney mocked our attempts atwarmth without suffocation, and lightwas provided by candles, hurricanelamps and car batteries provided byFrank Kilvington, then Headmaster.We slept, fitfully, on the floor in themain room.The next morning saw me

sweeping the chimney in the kitchenso that we could have a hot mealwithout smoke, and a generalexploration of the School’s newacquisition. The roof leaked, thehillside had slipped against the backwall, the Dutch barn was full ofrotting hay, the cattle sheds werefilthy, the stairs were rotten (amemory says that access to upstairswas by ladder, but this may befancy; certainly a parent later built anew staircase), but the view andisolation ensured that all these

problems paled into insignificance.Over the next two years a

transformation took place, and PenArthur gradually took on the formthat allowed for regular use. As anundergraduate I assisted in takinggroups of First Formers for theirweek’s stay and have fond memoriesof walking boys up the access roadfollowing their coach journey. Iremember a group stopping andlooking intently at the cliff face, “Sir,look ... a stream!” A first sight, ofmany first sights, for the week. Iremember the tears of homesickness,and the tears of frustration whenconfronted by washing up in a sink,without the benefit of dishwasher. I

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TEdaughter, and six grandchildren,together with an old, battered andheavily used Olivetti typewriter!

ErratumRegretfully, the last paragraph ofTony Wadley’s article ‘With andwithout engines’ in the Autumnedition of the Bulletin wasinadvertently truncated. Our sincereapologies to Tony, and we aredelighted to reproduce the full textbelow.“I finally left the Service at the end

of April 1950, seven years almost tothe day after joining up. I had beenon 35 different stations in that time.The most memorable part was my590 hours on Lancasters – what amarvellous aeroplane!”

The book to talk aboutJonathan Trigell’s second novel, BoyA, was voted ‘The Book to TalkAbout’ in a recent online poll among

the general public to mark ‘WorldBook Day’.Achieving 21% of the public vote,

Boy A tackles the sensitive subjectsof whether the rehabilitation ofchildren who commit crime is theright thing for society, how we failsuch children, and whether it is everreally possible to change the path ofa disturbed child. It was described as“a searing and heartfelt novel” onthe World Book Day website, whichwent on to comment: “Though it didwin the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize,Boy A is still a very low profile book,which we firmly believe deserveswider attention.” Since then itsprofile will have been raised by thenews that Andrew Garfield, whoplayed Boy A in the C4 TVadaptation, won the best actorcategory at the recent BAFTAAwards for the role.Boy A is published by Serpent’s

Tail and retails at £7.99.


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The derelict Pen Arthur when itwas first acquired



Memories ofPen Arthur� This year marks the 40thanniversary of the first trips to PenArthur, the School’s Field StudiesCentre that was once a derelict hillfarm in the Brecon Beacons. Wereproduce below the recentcorrespondence between one of thepioneers David Camplin (70) andHead of Lower School Pat Taylor,who is currently responsiblefor organising trips to thismuch-loved Centre

Email from David Camplinto the HeadmasterWhilst the purchase of Pen Arthurdid, indeed take place in 1967, it wasnot until the half-term of February1968 that its inauguration could trulybe said to have taken place. It is withthis in mind that I am writing. Onthat occasion Tony Cooper, MikeHighstead and Vince Lockwood led agroup of seven Sixth Formers to adesolate hillside in South Wales. Iwas a member of that first group.After a cramped journey, and stops

for provisions, we arrived at a bitterlycold, damp, derelict farmhouse – I

a blanket; still grumble at washingup, even though there now is adishwasher; still walk up the trackfrom the coach on their first arrival:so there is much from yourpioneering days that has becometradition!The changes? We now ask (or

force!) the boys to leave theirNintendos, i-Pods and mobile phonesat home, to maintain the sense ofisolation; the ‘short’ track issomewhat overgrown, though weblaze a trail each summer throughlong grass, nettles and foxgloves; thePost Office opposite the ‘ThreeHorseshoes’ has gone the way of somany of its rural companions – ashas the Three Horseshoes itself,much mourned by those staff whofancied a swift half whilst the boysslogged on foot up the short track!

Pen Arthur has joined the digital age,too - a popular innovation of the lastcouple of years has been the PenArthur ‘blog’, posted daily by FirstFormers during their visit – even if itdoes go down a traditional dial-upphone line that loops between thetrees to civilisation. But as acounterbalance, parents areencouraged to write real letters totheir sons, and the boys write back:how the postman must love the busyweeks of June…And, as this e-mail proves, one of

the greatest gifts of a trip to PenArthur is the common bond it offers

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TEremember the transformation thatmeant that, by the end of the week,everyone wanted to know when theycould return. I remember makingpinhole cameras that actually workedand wide games at Iron Age fortswhere the Romans always lost (Isuspect more because of their cursedlanguage rather than the brilliance ofthe defence!) and visits to the farmore majestic Carreg Cennon. Iremember the caves at Dan yr Ogofand hunting for gold at theDolaucothi mines. Most of all, Iremember the majesty of the Beaconsand the wonder that the peaksinspired in 11 year-old minds.I have a special memory of one

boy, whose name has long since beenforgotten. In the early 70s the accessroad was ablaze with the light ofglow worms on Spring and Summerevenings. This boy caught one, andcarried it back to Pen Arthur in amatchbox, where, of course, it ceasedto glow. When we returned it to itshabitat he started to talk about hisweek. “You know Sir, it’s brillianthere. There’s things to do, there’sthings to learn and everyone’sdifferent because we’ve come here,but you know what I’ve learned? I’velearned that there are wild thingsthat belong here and make it what itis. They don’t work if you try to takethem away, so you just have to takethe memory.” Pen Arthur taught himlifelong lessons that I am sure he hasnever forgotten. That is why PenArthur is so special.

Reply from Pat TaylorThe Headmaster forwarded your e-

mail to me and, as the member ofstaff who now organises the FirstForm trips to Pen Arthur (yes, theystill occur, each form taking a weekout of school in the Summer Term,going with their form tutor and otherstaff), I was struck not so much bywhat was different, but by what still,40 years on, remains the same.

My first visit was in 1986 or 87; Ican count myself amongst the‘fortunate’ few remaining staff whoremember toilets with ferns growingadjacent, divided by chipboard; the‘pigsty’ dorm, no heating other thanthe fireplace you mention (sometimeswith coals banked up to the ‘knee’)and of course the one constant: thetotal isolation. I have seen trees growto block views –none, alas, from thefront door just now, although I livein hope – and parts of the hillsiderevealed for the first time since yourdays by the lumberjack’s chainsaw.I was fortunate to be inducted into

the ritual of Pen Arthur by some ofthe stalwarts: Robin Scase (whosename may be familiar to you?) andMike Highstead’s influence: becausealthough I worked alongside him ashis deputy in later years, I neverwent to Pen Arthur with him; but Itravelled with many who did, andpicked up much through osmosis, itseems. The boys still go to CarregCennen, and Dolaucothi goldmine;still play wide games on Carn Goch(but not Celts vs Romans – dumbingdown, some might say), still walk theBannau Sir Gaer ridge and play widegames in the woods. They stillmarvel at a night sky full of stars,and a silence so total that it feels like


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The first group to visit Pen Arthur

Centenarycelebrations� On 20th March a special exhibitionopened to mark the centenary of theOld Hall Block, which now housesEnglish and Geography classroomswith the Library above. Noel Cassidy,the School’s Head of Publications,reports

The old school bell, which oncesummoned tardy pupils from thetown from its tower on the roof, wasrung again on the 100th anniversaryof the building’s official opening on13th March 1908. The end of term sawthe opening of the exhibition, whichwill remain on display in the librarynext term. There is a pictorial and

photographic record of the design byP C Blow OA, the laying of thefoundation stone, and school lifethrough the 20th century. Thepictures are interspersed withanecdotes and memories of two OAsat school during the Second WorldWar, Robin Ollington and DerekGiddings, which blend tales ofwartime austerity with the admissionof cheeky pranks – and theirpunishments! A commemorative setof postcards has been produced,which is available for sale from theSchool library.There is also a podcast with

interviews with Sue Jex, MikeHighstead and Robin Ollington,available from the school site orApple's iTunes store.

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Old meets new: Robin Ollington records hismemories with two sixth formers for apodcast on the School website

and the conversations it spawns. If Iam covering a lesson for an absentcolleague and no work is set, and theclass starts looking ugly, I merelyhave to ask: “Tell me about yourtime at Pen Arthur”, and the classturn to smiles, and jokes, andreminiscence, all uniquely different,yet somehow much the same. Insome ways the stones, wood andslates of the building are immaterial:what matters are the people, and theway they are changed by their timein a small, remote, corner of Wales.

To finish, I note the anniversary,and am pleased to acknowledge it: asyou can perhaps tell, I am keen onPen Arthur traditions. I suspect thatthere will be few (fool)hardy enoughto spend time at Pen Arthur thisFebruary; but the First Form boys all

receive a Pen Arthur sweatshirtwhen they go away: and this summerI will make sure that the fortiethanniversary is shown on thesweatshirt. If there is any interest, Icould make up a few more in adultsizes at cost price.I did also wonder whether you are

in contact with any of your group ofpioneers; and if you would like areturn visit to Pen Arthur at a morehospitable time of the year? Pleaselet me know.

Prompted by this exchange of letters,the School’s Development Officer KateLe Sueur has issued an appeal via theSchool’s Facebook group for memoriesor stories of Pen Arthur. I hopereaders of the Bulletin will besimilarly inspired. Editor


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Robin's only edition of the seditious GalleryPost, and below, his drawing ofschool uniforms

Old Hall memories� In the last Bulletin we asked foryour memories of the Old Hall Block.Cliff Pope (68) has sent us hisreminiscences

I entered the school in 1961, when ofcourse it was just The Hall. I haveseveral abiding memories:Mr Marsh presiding at school

assemblies. He was a bit like Nelsonto ‘Daddy’ Read’s Hardy, in thatalthough there was no doubt he wasin overall command, he left Mr Readto undertake the mundane duties ofrunning the ship. Marsh alwaysmanaged to stand throughoutassemblies as if he was not reallythere, or rather was a criticalobserver who just happened to besharing the same platform. I can seehim standing leaning slightlysideways and backwards, twirling hisglasses in one hand, staring hard butnot aggressively, almost quizzically,at the poor boy having to read the

School Prayer. It was as if he werethinking to himself, “I wonder if he isgoing to fluff it”. He certainly wasnot praying himself, because on oneoccasion he interrupted the recital,corrected the way the boy wasreading, and made him start again.Frank Kilvington, ‘FIK’, was like

an action man. He strode into thehall a bit like an actor responding toan encore he had known was coming,and bounded up the steps two at atime. In a later age it could havecome out of a management trainingsession – demonstrate by your bodylanguage that you are youthful, fit,eager, ready to take onresponsibilities. He was the youngchairman of an old establishedcompany, keen to stir things up anddemonstrate his new and differentstyle of helmsmanship. I don’tremember his being terribly popular,but then ordinary pupils hardly metany headmaster.I was in his Latin set, and his

favourite saying was “Some men

haven’t learned their vocab, havethey, Pope?” He warned once inassembly towards the end of myschool career that there were boys(‘men’) in the 3rd year sixth whowere hanging around being adisruptive influence. Others were likeme, I already knew I was going toCambridge, and Kilvington said wemight as well leave if we had nothingbetter to do. So I went along to hisstudy and told him I wanted to leave.He was flabbergasted. He had notmeant it literally, and had I supposemeant to shame us into showingmore respect for rules and bucklingdown into something useful, I don’tknow what. He told me I couldn’tjust walk in after seven years andcalmly announce I was leaving, andseemed puzzled that I thought thatwas what he had said I should do. Allthe same, I left soon afterwards. Thatwas in the Autumn of 1968.The entrance lobby to the Hall was

the scene of regular confusion andterror at the start of each term,because the announcements ofsetting and timetables were postedthere. So every boy in the school wastrying to push his way to the front totry and read from a small piece ofpaper what his timetable was, andwhere he was supposed to be going.It seemed an incredibly inefficientway of communicating such basicinformation. Throughout themorning stragglers would appear inlessons, having gone to the wrongplace first, or misunderstood thetimetable. Anyone caught runningabout desperately trying to get to theright place would be jumped on by

the Gestapo-like prefects which, ofcourse, caused further delay and thenprobably further punishment. In fact,the analogy between a somewhatbenevolent regular police (ie staff)and the feared Gestapo (prefects) wasquite an apt one. Monitors were Ithink a more recent creation, liketraffic wardens a bit unsure whichside they were on, but with somedoing their best to clock up enoughbookings to ensure promotion.Milk cartons were dispensed from

temporary benches in the Hall atbreak, having recently displaced 1/3pint glass bottles. They spilt easily,especially if dropped, asdemonstrated once spectacularly byMaylot, I think, who threw one fromthe gallery into the assembled crowd.If not actually expelled, he wascertainly beaten by Daddy Read forthat exploit.The new hall was under

construction in my later days, butnot I think actually opened for use. Iremember watching the openingceremony. Some bigwig laid thefoundation stone, and pretended tocarefully trim the mortar away andneaten it up. Then the instant he hadgone two workmen picked up thestone and whisked it away into thesite hut. When it subsequentlyreappeared it was in a different place.I think the new hall probably did

just open in my time, because Iremember that there was a designfault with the projecting cantelevered

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The Old HallBuilding

The evening was valued by pupils,who were fortunate to have anopportunity to talk to professionalsin the ‘persuasion’ industry. AsDavid Grossman observed, “Wedidn’t have these sorts of evenings,but then we didn’t need them – todaythe business is more competitivethan ever.” Each speaker had theirown story to tell, from starting out atthe local radio station to writing acolumn in The Telegraph following asuccessful football career, and onething was clear; there are plenty ofroutes into journalism and marketing– just don’t do Media Studies.

Brain teasers� For our more numerate readers,Frank Deamer (43) has sent in thesetwo mathematical puzzles – answerson page 38

1. We know that a centigradethermometer shows 0° when ice

melts and 100° when water boilswhile a Fahrenheit thermometershows 32° and 212°, respectively. Atwhat temperature do they show thesame value?2. The number of diagonals of apolygon for various number of sidesis shown below

Sides Diagonals3 04 25 56 97 14

How many diagonals for an 8-sidedfigure? What is the general formula?

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concrete steps up to the stage.Certainly they could not withstandFIK’s robust bounding, and mostsnapped off within a few weeks.

The Persuaders� On Monday 25th February, fiveOAs returned to the School to givetheir insight into their lives inmarketing and journalism. AngusKinnear, Tom Land, Jenny Tod, EdGrenby and David Grossman werejoined by parents of the School ColinMills and Alan Smith, to share theirexperiences with aspiring writers andadmen

The evening began with a series ofpresentations by speakersrepresenting the marketing industry.The most recent of the OAs, TomLand, spoke to us prior to his talk,and is now the InternationalMarketing Director of the UniversalMusic Group. Despite theconsiderable threat posed to hisindustry by the recent ‘digitalrevolution’ in the music world, Tomoffered his encouragement to anyonewho was thinking of pursuing asimilar career. Indeed, his advice toall of the students in attendancefollowed that, should any of themaspire to one day enter the world ofmusic, they should start early,building connections and persistingwhile working from the bottom up.This message of determination andinitiative was not advice offeredexclusively by Tom, but was insteada sentiment shared by all of thespeakers from the marketing

industry. Other ideas that werefeatured in each of these four talksincluded the common claims thatmarketing was an excellentopportunity to meet interesting newpeople, work for diverse range ofbrands, and (as long as you couldwithstand a few years spent sleepingon the kitchen floors of your friends),the chance to excel in a field thatboth satisfies and stimulates you.Thus, quite appropriately, themarketing trade was well sold to theaudience by its representatives thatevening.The second half of the evening

focused on journalism, and we spoketo David Grossman, now a PoliticalCorrespondent for Newsnight, aboutthe secret to his success. “It’s onethird hard work, one third the rightattitude and one third luck,” heexplained. His first job was on localBBC radio, and emphasised that,while there are many routes to a jobin journalism, work experience isvital. But it isn’t just the turning up– you need to turn heads (for theright reasons). “Some people arrivefor work experience and we ask them‘What did you think of last night’sshow?’ and they haven’t seen it. To apotential employer, that isn’t veryimpressive. You have to beenthusiastic, but not pushy.”Determination was emphasised byother speakers, although Alan Smithadmitted that, while the routes in tojournalism are many and varied,becoming a professional footballerand turning to the pen or mic inretirement was not exactly practicalfor the majority.

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WHO TO CONTACTPlease address your correspondence to the following people – you’ll find their contact details on page 2.OA Bulletin Nick Chappin, EditorComments, letters, photosSubscription/membership enquiries Roger Cook, Membership SecretaryChange of address, notification of deathsOA Gazette Mike Highstead, ArchivistMember news, obituaries, School archive and museum

Forceps deliveryRobin Ollington (47) celebrates thecontribution to medicine of OA SirThomas Spencer Wells, whose namelives on in the forceps that he designed

Spencer Wells will undoubtedly meannothing to OAs unless they happen tobe in the medical profession and, inparticular, involved in surgery.Despite the fact that he died in 1897his name lives on in the name of theforceps that he designed, andsomewhere in the world his name isinvolved in operating theatres as arequest for this particular instrument.Sir Thomas Spencer Wells was

born in 1818, and after his educationat St Albans School he studiedmedicine at Leeds, Trinity Dublinand Paris and worked at St Thomas’Hospital with a spell in Malta as anaval surgeon.It was during this period that he

was sent for to join the medical staffin the amazing prefabricated hospitalbuilt by Brunel at Rekioi in Turkeyto cope with the wounded of theCrimean War. It was whilst dealingwith wounds from the battlefield thathe developed the artery forcepswhich bear his name and which werelater to help revolutionise thepreviously dangerous procedure ofovariotomy which had claimed manywomen’s lives. Between 1858 and 1886he performed over 1,000 successfuloperations and the procedure is stillrecognised today. Elected a FRCSand Hon MD he became surgeon toQueen Victoria’s Household, laterbeing awarded a Baronetcy.

Not only was his surgical prowessbefore its time, but he was also aheadof Lister in his campaign for cleanerconditions for hospitals and the useof anaesthetics. It is interesting tonote that not only did his wifeaccompany him to Turkey but duringthat time she gave birth to a son.Thus as a famous OA he should

rank along with Hawking andRenfrew, for his role still continuestoday for the benefit of others.

Juggling work and lifeFarming, direct marketing, charityfund-raising and even a stint as aprofessional juggler – Peter Knight(76) looks back on an astonishinglyvaried working life, interspersed withsailing trips across the world

It seems a lifetime ago that I walkedout of the school gates for the lasttime to catch the 343 bus from StAlbans back to Brookmans Park.Sadly, I don’t remember the day, butI would probably have sat down thatevening and thought about what Iwas going to do next.Never in my wildest dreams would

I have thought that 32 years later I’dbe sitting on a yacht in Darwin,Australia, feeling the cracks ofthunder as another tropical stormcomes through, a can of Bundy andCoke to hand, and finally respondingto yet another e-mail from Rogersaying “Come on, peeps – let us knowwhat you’re doing”.And, maybe for the first time,

realising how much I owe to theSchool and the many staff who

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probably despaired about me –realising what helped me to be heretoday.Well, it was certainly clear that

last day that University was not forme – my A Level results were prettypoor. So I ended up working on theresearch side with ICI Plastics – andearning a good wage while most ofyour friends are struggling studentshas its benefits.Yet they also had something I was

missing. Not just the camaraderie ofstudents (and cheap beer from theUni bars), but a real excitementabout their futures.So, after a couple of years, and

with an HNC under my belt, Idecided to head off to Sheffield to doa degree. Not one of my better ideas.My poor parents – they’d paid all

this money for me to go to the School,and I decide to work rather than studyfurther. Then, just as a reasonablecareer seems to be opening up, I walkaway and head to college. And then,after two years, I decide University’snot for me after all and head down toCirencester in Gloucestershire to workon a friend’s farm.That was good fun for a year or so.

I got into music, helping run a folkclub, and became a fair juggler,spending three months travellingEurope with a juggling troupe. Butlife was very hand to mouth. Ineeded a ‘real’ job and, fortunately,there was a DM advertising agencyin Cirencester. I got a job with them,albeit in one of the lowest of the lowpositions.This was in the good old days, way

before databases, when customer

lists were held on 2,400ft computertapes and sorting a few thousandrecords would be an overnight job. Iwas fortunate enough to be part of ateam that recognised the value ofcustomer data, and how that could beapplied in the market place.That led to a move back to London

after a few years with a job offer withWWAV in Bayswater. One eveningafter work I met Annie, a Kiwiteacher doing her two years OE andpulling pints in the local pub, TheMoscow.A couple of years later we married

but on our return from sailingaround Turkey for our honeymoon,we discovered the burglars had hadthree weeks to empty the house. Like“We used to have furniture”.Neither of us particularly enjoyed

living in London so we cashed in andwent walkabout through Africa andSE Asia. Six months later, we were ata dinner party in Sydney and a chapasked if I might be interested in a jobin Melbourne. They flew me downand I fell in love with the mostmagical city in the world.I worked for a few years for a

couple of agencies but sadly duringthat time Annie and I fell out of loveand divorced. In the mid-90s, I wentinto partnership with Jean, one ofthe great Zimbabwean diaspora, andwe established our own agency,specialising in helping charities raisemoney.Mind you, we had a bit of a false

start when we were offered thechance to sail an American Swan 57from NZ to Bali and took a year out.With the Darwin-Ambon (Indonesia)


2009. And from there? Well, thattakes me back to the UK, andremembering that last day of School.I certainly never shone

academically, and I’m pretty sure mycaptaincy of the 1stXV gave theSchool one of the worst ever stats fora season. But the School gave mesomething for which I will always begrateful. Somehow, it gave me aconfidence in myself that I wouldalways be able to achieve what Iwanted to in life, even if it took awhile to know what that was.It also strikes me that while we

had the business in Oz, I wasfortunate enough to be able to popback to the UK once or twice a yearfor business (well, pleasure). Yetwhile it was great to catch up withfriends in the UK, I realise tonightthey were all post-School friends.Somehow, I’ve managed to lose

touch with all my old schoolmates.So if you’d like to say “Hi”, my e-

mail is [email protected] –the web site for the trip iswww.oceanodyssey.net. And if youhave a yacht that needs deliveringanywhere, we have all the tickets.Best wishes.

In loving memoryOA Chris Dunkerley and his sisterAnna have organised a SponsoredWalk to raise funds for the charitythat supported their father through hisrare neurological illness

OAs who live in St Albans or perhapsHarpenden may recognise the nameof my father Peter Dunkerley, as he

was a founder member of St AlbansMencap and worked tirelessly ontheir behalf. He was very wellrespected in the area.Sadly, he died on the 24th

February 2007 from an unusual andprogressive neurological disease,Multiple System Atrophy. He was 70years old. The illness robbed him ofevery faculty save cognition over thecourse of about six years. My sister,Anna (who attended St Albans HighSchool) and I always said we wantedto do something big to support thesmall but really important charitywho were an absolute godsend to usall in coping with Dad's condition. Sowe have organised a long distancewalk to raise funds for the SarahMatheson Trust in Dad’s memory tobe used in the design and productionof information for children.

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race under our belt, I asked Jean tomarry me in Halim’s Restaurant inAmbon, cheered on by the owner andcrew of Walk on the Wildside, aPerth-based yacht.From Bali, we headed back to the

UK and spent six cold winterymonths in a cottage overlooking theIrish Sea in Pembrokeshire. At last, Ihad time to start writing and nowcontribute to a few sailing magazinesaround the world.Back to Melbourne and we were

blown away that our old charityclients came back to us when werestarted the agency. We spent 10glorious years working with some ofthe most special and caring people –and felt we were actuallycontributing something.But as you may have noticed,

there’s been a bit of a theme aboutsailing popping in and out with thisnarrative. While at School, I was aSea Scout – indeed, ending up aScout leader teaching sailing andcanoeing. I didn’t just want to be inthe Naval Section of the CCF so wecould play cards on a Fridayafternoon and watch the pongossquare basing, but because for a briefwhile I considered the Navy as acareer (but it would have meantcutting my hair).I’ve been sailing since I was 10,

mainly dinghies and land yachts inthe UK, then keel boats when I got toOz. Many of the early Oz days werespent racing around the sticks inSydney or on Port Philip, but Idrifted towards cruising and sailingto places. One of the joys of your ownbusiness is the chance to take a

month or two off and do yachtdeliveries or ferry jobs in variousplaces around the world.Back in Oz, Jean’s folks now live

in Perth and eight years ago, wechose to marry there. Fortunately,Walk on the Wild Side lives at theSouth of Perth Yacht Club, so wemarried on her, anchored in MatildaBay on the Swan River.That night, we decided that we

wanted to sail the world. Ourbusiness had clients all aroundAustralia which was not only greatfor Frequent Flyer points, but alsomeant we could look in lots of placesfor the right boat. We must havelooked at over 50 boats before wefound Hinewai, a 45ft Kiwi ketch, inBrisbane.We sailed her back to Melbourne

and spent five years refitting her. In2007, we got rid of the business,rented out the house and in Mayheaded off. Everything was hunky-dory until we got close to Darwinwhen I managed to break five ribs inan accident on board. I did a good jobon myself, ending up laid up for 10weeks, not able to fly or do anything.Thankfully, all has now healed,

albeit the last X-ray still has my ribslooking like a game of Pick-up Sticks.It has made me realize at the age of50, I am not as invulnerable as Ithought I was. Now, we’re justwaiting for the cyclone season topass and come May, we’ll be headingoff for Singapore and the west coastof Malaysia and Thailand, heading upfor the Kings Cup in December.From there, across the Indian

Ocean to the Med sometime in mid-


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rather unexpectedly early. Thatmeant I was left as the senior prefectremaining, and the senior NCO in thecorps, the tenure of office that thenfell to me being unique, in that it wasfor the millinery year with all thatinvolved.If what W T Marsh wrote in my

final school report is to be believed, Imust have carried it off, having atouch of the actor in me I suspect,which would have helped cover oversome deficiencies! I had time for it allsince I had not sat my HigherCertificate in the July, and all I wasto do academically in the next yearschool year was work for a subsid inLatin to add to my Certificate. I hada loud enough voice to be able to callthe school to order when theHeadmaster was about to appear on

the stage in the school hall formorning assembly, and for leadingthe first XV pack (at a later date thatvoice was heard barking commandson the parade ground at the RoyalMarine Barracks, Chatham, thenlater again singing in a cathedralchoir, so you’ll see what made mesmile when you wrote once of theboy who was “lead tenor in theschool choir” and was also “a drillsergeant in the Corps”. It was allhappening sixty years ago. I waspleased to hear that the traditiongoes on).I can remember succeeding in

raising a couple of laughs in myspeech at the OA Annual Dinner andholding my own in conversation witha Lieutenant General who was myneighbour at the Millinery lunch.

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It may also be of interest toreaders that Dad pledged thedonation of his brain to the NationalBrain Bank to enable research intoMultiple System Atrophy to continueafter his death.The Sponsored Walk took place at

the end of May. Our donation sitecan be found atwww.justgiving.com/chrisandannadunkerley

Lane honouredAnthony J Lane writes to theHeadmaster in response to the newsthat he had been included on theSchool’s Honours Board some 60 yearsafter leaving

To think that after 60 years my nameshould appear on an Honours Board.My embarrassed daughter couldprobably be heard from Salisbury toSt Albans. I regret to say that I shallnot be able to be present on theoccasion of the official unveiling,having family problems that take allmy time, and such energy as I canmuster. The date, however, is downin my diary, so I shall be mindful ofwhat is happening at the school on5th July.I should have specially liked to be

there were there the opportunity tomeet R L Beckett, who was my idealHead of the School, he being in thatcapacity when I first entered theschool aged 11. I picture him as ascrum-capped, blonde giant, captainof rugger. He read the Christmasgospel at the conclusion of the 1941carol service so impressively that the

Headmaster commented on it in ‘TheAlbanian’. Then there was D RAitchison. His name appeared as the1940 Head of the School on the firstcopy of ‘The Albanian’ which I wasgiven, recording events before ever Iwas a pupil there. I never discoveredanything whatsoever about him –there was no Valete in that‘Albanian’ for some reason.Nevertheless, to think that there hadbeen someone senior even to Beckett.What a scarcely-human paragon hemust have been!For many of course, as for me, it

was sheer chance that we shouldhave finished up as Head of School. RG (Ronald) Griffiths would have beena more obvious candidate inSeptember 1947, had he not had toleave aged only 15, I would guessafter his father had died, leaving hismother unable to pay the nineguineas a term fees. Presumable hewas a better-equipped sportsmanthan I was, and a very reliable andsolid character. W T Marsh and DeanThicknesse somehow contrived to seehim through medical schooleventually and I believe he workedhis way up to becoming MedicalOfficer of Health for Tower Hamlets,serving as GP in the East End as wellas lecturing in general practice at theRoyal London, for all of which hewas awarded an MBE. Then, when itcame to it, in 1947 G M (George) Steerwas Head of School House, captain ofrugger and senior to me as a prefectand in the Corps. He, however,passed the exams he needed forbecoming probationary secondlieutenant in the Royal Marines


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Coached by the Headmaster in aLatin speech he himself had written,as head of the School (Stuart version)welcoming King Charles I to theschool, I had to perform in theMillinery Pageant, on one nightbefore Queen Elizabeth, the QueenConsort as she was then.The OA medal I was finally

awarded is now amongst the materialfor the School Museum, since that isunique – at least until some futureHead of the School is awarded thenext millinery year medal!However, from time to time I

reflect on the maxim, attributed toRichard Branson, I think when hesaid: “if I came across a man whoseCV recorded that he had been headof his school I might put him up forsecretary of the local golf club but Iwouldn’t give him a job”. Sad torelate my immediate predecessor inoffice, B (Barry) Phillips, and mysuccessor, R C (Bob) Ashworth, bothdied comparatively early fromalcohol-related medical problems.Both were good lads in their way.Phillips switched from Chemistry toHistory at Oxford and Stoker Billthought well enough of him to givehim the first teaching job, where hewas deputy to John Willé as assistantHousemaster in School House. Hetaught subsequently at CampbellCollege, Sedbergh and DurhamSchool. I don’t know how BobAshworth earned his living, Iremember hearing that he played forthe Oxford Greyhounds whilst atLincoln College. To be realistic Iguess were the truth to be known,none of us would be found to be

flawless. “Mortal men, mortal men”.Does the name of Francis

Handslap still appear on a boardrecording your predecessors asHeadmaster? Though well knowingbetter, I used to enjoy thinking ofhim as Francis Handflap.I wonder whether you would have

seen the enclosed newspaper cutting?I ran the mile at school, so JonnyHampson was a legitimate enoughhero, even though he taught at StAlbans well before my time. I don’tknow when the Belmont playing fieldfirst came into use, but whenflogging around the track there Iliked to think it was in the footstepsof Jonny Hampson, who presumablytrained there when he was on hisway back to London after attending amillinery event. I, a train-boy fromMill Hill, had the privilege of sharinga compartment with him.


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Brain Teasers answers:Question I 40Question 2 an 8-sided polygon has20 diagonals and the generalformula is ½ n(n-3)

OA Rugby

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So far, so good� Newly elected OARFC PresidentAdrian Tominey reports on a goodstart to the season as the First XVlooks to consolidate its position in theupper reaches of the highlycompetitive London League One

Well, we survived again in LondonLeague One and had we not had twopoints docked for a registration error,we would have finished the seasonon 18 points, two more than lastseason. After a perfect four winsfrom four games the season startedto unravel somewhat as injuriescruelly affected our ability to field afirst choice team. We are not alone inthis, but it does point to theincreasing need to build a strongsquad with depth. This clearly meansdeveloping a strong Second XV, and

to this end we are strengthening thecoach staff in order to create morestructure both in playing and intraining. We reached the semi-finalsof the Herts President's Cup, losing toStevenage, and the quarter-finals ofthe National Intermediate Cup, losingto Bracknell. We had to play cupgames on Saturday and Sunday ofthe same weekend, and the playersshowed grate commitment to theclub in turning out for both games. Icongratulate our coach Bruce Millarand his staff on the effort he has putin, and the players for all theirefforts. We look forward to a seventhseason in London One. I know Bruceis actively recruiting for next seasonalready!We turned out five sides whenever

opposition was available, which isbecoming increasingly difficult toorganise, and great credit must go to


fixture secretary Darren Ead for allhis work. A special mention must goto James Osborn and Liam Eadamongst many others for theirvaliant efforts throughout the seasonon the field of play.The Colts fielded two sides this

season, a feat unmatched by anyother club, and after a slow startimproved dramatically as the seasonprogressed to reach the final of theColts County Cup again, managed byRob Kennedy, where they lostnarrowly to a much bigger BishopsStortford side, having beaten them inthe final last season. The strengthand quality of our Colts augurs wellfor the club’s future and they rightlywon the team of the year award.Player of the year was Alec Bennett,most committed players were MarkEvans and Bradley Bruce, and mostimproved player was JeremyEdwards. Well done to all!The Saints 1st and 2nd XVs made

massive strides this season, and bothare looking for promotion nextseason .Two players receivedinternational recognition, one ofwhom, Karina Page, was voted playerof the year. Gemma Knighton wasvoted most improved player. Theladies are a real asset to the club,both socially and on the playing side,and set the standard for volunteerswho are so important to thesuccessful running of the club. Wealways need more!The mini and junior section

continue to go from strength tostrength under Chairman RoryDavis, who takes over as Chairmanof the senior club. Membership

stands at over 630 boys and girls.Virtually every age group won cupsand/or promotion, and I congratulatethem on this most satisfactoryprogress.I wish to thank the members of the

committee, the players, the sponsorsand the supporters along with all thebackroom staff for all the effort,enthusiasm and commitment theyhave shown this year. A particularvote of thanks must go to outgoingChairman Robin Farrar for thesterling work he has put in over thelast two seasons, for which he wasjustifiably award the prestigious EllisCup award.We look forward to next season

with great anticipation.Adrian Tominey

President, OARFC

All Saints� OA Saints Press Officer AlexaRansome looks back on anothersuccessful season and applauds ahatful of representative honours

2007-2008 has been a very excitingseason for the OA Saints. Arestructuring of the leagues and thebreaking of limbs leading to manychallenges over the season, not leastof which another internationalfixture against Sweden, whilst on theUK leg of their European tour, and achallenging friendly with the BritishArmy.The Saints 1st XV achieved 10

Wins, 6 losses and 2 draws thisseason, a fabulous achievement in aleague of hard hitters including


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OA Rugbyfirst teamquad at thestart of the2007/8season

Congratulations to David Goodier andJames Rourke who both managed toplay their 100th games for the club,and we are hopeful the likes ofAndrew Douglas and Simon Rabbittwill be not too far behind them.Congratulations to David Hagen

who has reached 75 goals for the clubsince his signing late in the ‘05/06season, and David Goodier andJames Crane for reaching 50 goals forthe club.Club captain Carl Swann was

happy with the way the season haspanned out for the first team but alsodelighted at the growth of the club:“To finish fourth in the division andget to the semi final of the biggestcup was a fantastic achievement,especially when the club hadintroduced a second team to theleague with as much success as ithad”.

Old Albanian reserves completedtheir full schedule of matches inDivision 5 and established a greatplatform for the future. ManagerSimon Rabbitt has done anextraordinary job of maintaining themotivation and drive and is lookingforward to a bright future for thereserves with new players promisedfor both teams next season.Any new players are more than

welcome to join the growing andsuccessful Old Albanian FootballClub, just contact Simon Bates on0772 0383 600 [email protected] you wish to follow the club and

their results then please visit:http://www.football.mitoo.co.uk andwithin the Herts County look for theReview Sunday Football League.

Simon BatesChairman, OAFC

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Richmond, Bath and Saracens II toname but a few. The 2nd XV alsoheld their own in a new leaguestructure, achieving 13 Wins, 6 losesand 1 draw.The regional trials took place on

the 16th December in Peterborough,where the turn out from the OASaints was staggering – a quarter ofthe trial entrance! Congratulationswent out to Caz Rees, SarahMcKenna, Jemma Knighton, RachelEvans and Sophie Deronde who allmade the squad. What anachievement!Congratulations also go to Sarah

McKenna for making the U20England squad, Karina Page for theEngland A team and Caz Reesmaking it through to the SuperLeague squad, achievements we areall very proud of amongst the Saints.

Ex-Saints Sian Davies, SueMac/Lewis, Lisa Mason and LizLangston/West took part in this yearLondon Marathon in aid of severalvery deserving charities. Please offerthem your support by sponsoringthem, via the Justgiving website, orby giving cheques or cash in personto Jemma Knighton (our ClubCaptain) who will ensure that themoney is forwarded to the runners.Sian Davieswww.justgiving.com/siani-does-the-marathonLisa Masonwww.justgiving.com/masegoesrunningSue Mac/Lewiswww.justgiving.com/susanlewis1Liz Langston/Westwww.justgiving.com/lizisrunning

Alexa RansomePress Officer, OA Saints

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Crane raises his game� Another successful season for theOA Football Club as Crane, Hagenand Goodier all reach goalscoringmilestones, reports Chairman SimonBates

Old Albanian Football Club enjoyed asuccessful season both on and off thefield. The Club made the decision toexpand and enter two teams into theObserver Review Football League.The first team finished fourth in

Division 3 and just missed out onback-to-back promotions, following

their promotion from Division 4 lastyear. They enjoyed a magnificent cuprun, defeating many higher divisionteams on their way to the semi finalsand finally lost out to Premiershipside London Road.We worked hard to introduce

many new players this year and thelikes of Steven Brewer, GeoffRowland, Darren Kempster, BenBarnard, and Chris Kouwenbourg allplayed a big part in the clubsimprovement.The season also saw some

milestones reached which could notgo without a mention.

OA Angling

Fishing acrossthe pond� From Costa Rica to Tierra delFuego – Secretary Geoff Cannonreports on another busy winter ofglobe-trotting for OA Angling Societymembers

The winter coarse fishing season hasnow finished and we are lookingforward to the game fishing seasonfor salmon and trout in the summer.Members have fished during the

winter for pike, perch and othercoarse fish on The Broads, RiverNene and Ouse.We again entertained our ladies at

The Fishwives Supper at The WickedLady at Nomansland, which was amost enjoyable evening.Our globe-trotting members have

been at it again. This time DavidMorgan and Brian Ward went on athree-week fishing trip to Chile. It tookthem three days to even get there!They flew from Heathrow to Madrid,Madrid to Santiago then to PuntaArenas and lastly to the fishing lodge

in Tierra del Fuego – just beyond theFalklands. The last leg over the nowcovered mountains between Chile andArgentina was awesome andstunningly beautiful. The river andlake fishing was quite spectacularwhich comprised sea trout, browntrout and rainbows up to 8lbs (all onthe fly). Hey-ho: where next?Adrian Blackwell was also on the

move and visited Costa Rica fishingfor tarpon. Members of the Clubagain went to France after the NewYear, not to fish, but to enjoyfellowship and the local wines.Again, any Old Albanians who are

interested in our activities are verywelcome to join us.

Geoff CannonHonorary Secretary, OA Angling Club

WoodSmith and the School team fortheir hospitality and we look forwardto seeing any of the boys who wouldlike to pursue a career in shootingwith the OAs at the range onMonday evenings.

Find out moreAnyone wishing to find out moreabout the Club should contact one ofthe following:

Hon Secretary – O L Simmons

2, Honeymead, Welwyn, AL6 0EG

Tel 01438 840674

Hon Treasurer – A Q S Moore

69, Long Fallow, St Albans, AL2 3ED

Tel 01727 830344

Captain – A W B Wilkie

5, Batchwood Drive, St Albans, AL3 5RZ

Tel 01727 856857

Owen SimmonsSecretary, OA Rifle & Pistol Club

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Brrrrisley� Secretary Owen Simmons looksback at a successful winter for the OARifle & Pistol Club – and a winterystart to the summer season!

Herts Winter League 2007/08Our team of four (Owen Simmons,Andrew Wilkie, Andrew Moore,Moray McMillin) competed inDivision 3 of the Herts postal leaguesthis winter. We won four, tied twoand lost four to finish in fourth place.The individual averages were:

� Owen Simmons 96.7highest score 98� Andrew Wilkie 95.7highest score 98� Andrew Moore 94.5highest score 98� Moray McMillin 92.7highest score 98

Herts County Teams Winter 2007/08Three from the Club were selectedfor the County Reserves team,competing in Division 9 of the

National postal leagues. OwenSimmons (C team), Andrew Wilkie (Ateam), Andrew Moore (B team).

Bisley Summer 2008Our Summer season (with the oddhailstorm and plenty of wind) atBisley started on Saturday 12th April2008, coming a close second to theOld Lawrentians. Our team of four(Owen Simmons, Andrew Wilkie,Andrew Moore, Moray McMillin),shooting at 500 yards and 600 yardson the Century ranges, achieved ateam score of 361, versus the OldLawrentians team total of 363.

Country Life match versus theSchoolThe photos (right) were taken at theCountry Life match against theSchool for the Coles Trophy, held on18 February 2008. Thanks to asterling effort by Martin Warr wewon, but not before Andy Moore'srifle disintegrated in his hands!Surely those old No8 rifles can’t goon much longer! Our thanks to Nigel

oa bulletin - spring 2008 edition

Documents

secretary julian

david buxton01727

thepatron saint of freemasonry

thehistory of freemasonry

garden party2oa bulletin

adrian tominey01727

treasurer denis

nick chappin18