THE AYMESTREY MAGAZINE

SUMMER 1997

OLD AYMESTREY ASSOCIATION INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH. 1996

1995 RECEIPTS 205 Membership Subscriptions (including renewal of subscriptions 75.00

and donations to Association Funds) 28 4 118 355 EXPENDITURE 350 5 Contribution to School Magazine for year 1994/95 Inand Revenue - Corporation Tax 350.00 Abbey National plc - interest less tax on Investment Account Abbey National plc - gross interest on Treasurer's Account Excess of expenditure over income 46.56 2.92 225.52 350

355

350

1,856 Balance brought forward to 31st March, 1995 (118)

1,737.60

Balances with Abbey National plc:

Less excess of expenditure (225.52)559 Treasurers Account over income No. K1424005 1,179 Investment Account1,512.08 No. K3649845

1,738

1,512.08

1,738

1,512.08

MINUTES OF THE 52nd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF TH E O LD AYM ESTREY ASSO CIAT IO N HELD AT AYMESTREY SCHOOL ON SATURDAY 15TH JUNE 1996

PRESENT: The President Air Vice Marshall Nigel Blair-Oliphant in the chair; James Alexander, David
Henry, Edward Lane, John Perry, Anthony Thornley, David Taylor, John Taylor, Toby Wise, Hugh Griffith and the Hon.Sec. Bill Stallard. APOLOGIES: were received from:- James Aldersey, Douglas Birks, Anthony Claydon, John Eyton Coates, Richard Coates Jnr., James Edwards, Jonathan Edwards and Thomas Edwards, Alexander Emson, Jonathan Essex, Alexander Gleed, M. Hiranyasthiti, Geoffrey Howell, Duncan MacLaren, John Phipps, Anthony Powell, Richard Stallard, David Stratton and Ben Wise. In the absence of the Chairman the Chair was taken by the President, Air Vice Marshall Nigel BlairOliphant. The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 17th June, 1995 having been previously circulated were taken as read, confirmed and signed. The accounts for the year ended 31st March 1966 were presented by the secretary and adopted unanimously. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:CHAIRMAN: Toby Wise VICE CHAIRMAN: Daniel Taylor HONOURARY SECRETARY / TREASURER: Bill Stallard SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT: Gill Griffith COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Anthony Thornley and David Henry to serve with Daniel Taylor and Ben Wise. Hugh Griffith informed the meeting that promotional videos were now available to assist with the marketing of the school. He also gave a report on the new road, in course of construction through the woodland to the south-east of the playing fields, which will link the main Worcester to Hereford road with the main Worcester to Bromyard road. It was hoped that this would not prove too serious a scar on the landscape since part of the road will be in a cutting, but it was sad to see a swathe being cut through the belt of woodland with which all Old Boys would be very familiar It was agreed that the Association should contribute the sum of 350 to the cost of the production of the 1996 School Magazine. There was no other business and the meeting ended with grateful thanks to Anthony Thornley for the wine he had generously provided for the meeting and to Hugh and Gill Griffith for their warm welcome, hospitality and delicious tea. The Annual Dinner was held for the seventh time in the school dining room at Aymestrey and was attended by sixteen members and their guests.
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LEAVERS E.R. Brown - (Wycliffe) - Came Autumn 1991. E.S.B. Junior Grade Four Distinction. Choir. Colours for X Country. Judo 12th Mon. Bronze Challenge. Prefect. Ogden Cup. D.A. Busby - (WRGS) - Came Autumn 1993. Colours for X Country & Athletics. Judo 8th Mon. Bronze Challenge. Choir. Assisted Place at WRGS. A.R.H. Davidson - (Malvern College) Came Autumn 1990. Judo 11th Mon. Cricket XI (Capt.). Soccer XI. Colours for Cricket. Choir. Grade V Cello. Music Cup. Music Exhibition at Malvern. Prefect. A. Dhanoa - (Adams School) Came Autumn 1992. Cross Country. Athletics - 5 star 3 Events & Pentathlon. Cricket XI. Soccer XI. Colours for Cricket and Athletics. Choir. Judo 13th Mon. N. Eastaff - (Aylesbury) - Came Autumn 1993. Judo 7th Mon. Tong Ganchanhirun - (Holland Park) Came Autumn 1994. - Judo 11th Mon. L. Ludlow - ( King's) - Came Summer 1993. Judo 11th Mon. J.W. Marriott - (Wycliffe) - Came Spring 1993. Judo 10th Mon. NEW BOYS Summer Term 1996 A. M. Fayaz Autumn Term 1996 On Shing Cheung, A.T. Gowland. Summer Term 1997 T.A Duke, J.G.R. Murphy, E.J.T. Scoffin and S.D. Turner SCHOLARSHIP Congratulations to Thomas Cornwell on his Art Exhibition to Malvern College.

Thomas Cornwell

4
NEWS of OLD BOYS Christopher BARNES ('47-'52) lives in Australia with his wife and two children. He runs Blaxland's Restaurant in the Hunter Valley. Alistair DRUMMOND (Ellesmere) has ten GCSEs - three at A grade. He is taking History, English Lit. and Business Studies at A level and went on a V1 Form history trip to Egypt in the spring. (See article) Thomas EDWARDS ('74 -'80) married Louise Mahon in March this year. Tobyn EVERITT ('81 -'85) is a lieutenant in the army. He is in charge of six helicopters. When he came to see us he parked his helicopter on the South Lawn. Bradley GIBSON (Adams School) has a weekend paper round. He went on an exchange trip with the school to France in the Summer Term.

Christopher Barnes (right) and Peter Robins show one of Dan's Pictures. The photograph was taken in Christopher's Restaurant

Richard HARPER ('82 -'84) is moving back to farm in Worcestershire. John HARPER ('84 -'87) has had six months in Australia. Michael HARPER ('85 - '90) is having a year out before going to Harper Adams. Christopher HEATLEY ('57 -'63) runs a language school in London. He teaches English to German and Swedish business people. He has just built a wooden house in Hertfordshire. David HENRY ('54 -'60) After Warwick School he worked with Jaguar, DAF/Volvo and Renault UK. He is now running his own driving school. Abbas KAZEROONI has a place at Plymouth University in September. Before that he is going to Africa to teach English Edward LANE ('36 -'42) now has eight grandchildren. Andrew LANE('65 -70) has three boys and a girl. Louis LUDLOW, at King's, is enjoying life and plays in the U14 'A' teams for rugby and soccer. Sandy MACLAREN ('73 -77) was called to the Bar last March and is doing his pupillage in

Chambers in Lincolns Inn. Seumas MACLAREN ('69 -75) is programming computers in Stourport. Duncan MACLAREN ('78 - '84) works at Rugby Estate Property Investments & Co. in London. Robin MEAD ('66 - '71) went to Papua New Guinea for two months and stayed for fifteen years He was in bush airlines for five years. He now lives in Myrtle Bank, South 5
Australia. Stephen NELSON ('75 - '80) has left Papua New Guinea and has a new job in Sumatra,where he is deputy manager in research for Lonsum. He is working with palm oil, cocoa and rubber. Mark PACKMAN ('72 -77) is the chef at The Guildhall in Worcester. Juan PULFER ('75 -79) is married and has two children. He is a manager for Victoria Wines. Nicholas PULFER ('76 -'80) is in the army in Cyprus. Christopher RAWLINGS ('76 -'81) is Financial Director for the Sub Continent of India for the British Council. He is based at the headquarters in Manchester. Ben RICHARDS is at Ludlow V I Form College, studying Graphics, Designer Technology & Physics. David RICHMOND ('78 -'80) is Acting Major and Logistics Officer at Bulford. Peter J. ROBINS ('50 -'54) has lived in Australia for 31 years, in Sydney and nearby. He is involved in the building and accounting industries and has two grown up children. John SCHILIZZI ('76 -'81) is an accountant in a video firm in London. Peter SCHILIZZI ('65 - '70) is married with four children. He is an accountant for a housing association in Manchester. Daniel SCOTT is in his final year at the Guildhall School of Music. James TAYLOR ('82 -'86) is in publishing. Charles TAYLOR ('83 -'86) is farming but is hoping to do engineering in the R.A.F. Tim WELLSPRING is still working for the Computer Film Company. Late last year he visited Tanzania and returned with some good photographs. He also managed to contract malaria which he hopes has been succesfully treated. Rupert WILLIAMS at Shrewsbury is enjoying rowing in the U16 B Boat and playing the saxophone in the School Band. He is taking GCSEs this summer having passed Maths last year. Justin WILLIAMS has been a praepostor in his last year at Shrewsbury . He is taking 4 "A" levels and plans to take a gap year, hoping to teach English overseas, before going to read English at University. Ben WISE is taking an English Degree in Yacht Design at Southampton Institute. Toby WISE is running his stage lighting company which is expanding. News of ex Members of Staff Mr. Goodyear retired in July last year, a year after his wife, as he wanted to have time to travel and do voluntary work. We all miss him a great deal as he was a solid rock in times of crisis with a fund of common sense. However, we see him frequently and so do the boys as he still helps us over the wood supply and, joy upon joys, the swimming pool. We just have to look at the latter in the holidays and it turns green! He is enjoying his retirement, and I am sure that many of you will join with us in sending him all good wishes. Many of you who were here in 1985-6 will remember Mr. Ian Bell. He came for two terms to fill in a gap for us after Mr. Cash left, while he was waiting for a teaching post at Kings. He taught geography but also table tennis and in those two terms he raised the standard tremendously. We are delighted to say that he is now back here and is teaching geography, geometry, cricket, soccer and rugby as well as table tennis!

Mr. Driver and Mr. Cash, called in to see us the other day as they were attending a conference at Bromsgrove. Mr. Cash is in a school in Kent and Mr. Driver in a large prep. school south of London. The latter is arranging for William Lane, who teaches at Charterhouse, to give a history lecture at his school in the near future. He is having some more books on English comprehension published soon. Both he and Mr. Cash are Directors of Studies. GIFTS (1996) We are most grateful to the following for their generous gifts: Mr. & Mrs. Richardson - potatoes for November 5th. Mr. & Mrs. Bickham - strawberries for the school. Mr. & Mrs. Brown - book tokens. Mr. & Mrs. Griffin - books for the library and fruit. Mr. & Mrs. Gorman - apples. Mr. & Mrs. P. Williams - wall charts., posters and a computer. Mr. & Mrs. J. Coates - books for the library. The Friends of Aymestrey - A scanner and C.D. Rom THE EXPLORATORY The Friends of Aymestrey very generously funded an expedition to The Exploratory in Bristol. After stopping for a picnic lunch on the hills outside the city we were delivered to the door by our coach, and spent an hour and a half of pure delight in this fascinating building. There was something to interest everyone and the time passed all too quickly. Very many thanks to The Friends from all who went. James Tomson writes: `The Exploratory was excellent as it was filled with many interesting things. The ground floor was very dark but this was my favourite, probably because of the shop! The thing I liked best was a bike that by pedalling you could generate power for model trains, televisions and radios.'

Tong, Ludlow and Davidson make some big music 7

THE WORCESTER COMPETITIVE MUSIC FESTIVAL with SPEECH & DRAMA Our choir entered as usual this year but did not do as well. However in the Speech and Drama section, H. A. Harris, C. Cooper, E. Jones and D. Lewis received credits in their respective classes. THE ENGLISH SPEAKING BOARD We had a different examiner in the summer, in fact there were two as one was a "learner". We had wondered if the board had wanted to be sure that we were not being favouritised in any way, as the exam. marks were always so good. However, the results were, if anything, better than last year and Mr. Durham worked his miracles as usual. As the boys take these exams. once a year, according to the form they are in, some names appear twice and some not at all. The latter are taking theirs this term. Senior Grade I L. Ludlow - Very Good Pass E. Brown, A. Davidson & A. Dhanoa - Credit Junior Grade IV W. Bickham - Good Pass A. Fayaz, S. Llewellyn, C. Newton & K. Thomas - Very Good Pass J. Tomson, P. Williams & J. Chaplin - Credit Junior Grade 111 W. Bickham & N. Eastaff - Good Pass S. Llewellyn, K. Thomas - Very Good Pass C. Newton, J, Tomson & P. Williams - Credit J. Chaplin - Distinction Junior Grade 11 R. Aldworth, N. Giles, A. Gowland & L. Newton - Very Good Pass H. A-Harris & J. Batten - Credit Junior Grade 1 Tong - Credit FETE (1996) The Friends of Aymestrey hired a small marquee as the weather was so uncertain. The parents ran the stalls that made the money and many thanks are due to them for their hard work, and the boys had their own. The final event, just before the raffle was drawn, was the amazing dwarf who could catch a ball with his feet whilst jumping in the air. The competition to guess what was the secret ingredient in Athelney was won by three parents - Mr. Bickham, Mr. Read and Mrs. Newton.. Patrick Williams made a Thomas the Tank engine out of scrap materials and he and David Busby gave small children rides in it in the cellar. As a result of the generosity of the parents, and all who gave their time and money to the event, we were able to present St. Richard's Hospice with a cheque for 600. 8 The Ghost House Setting up the Ghost House took many hours. It involved torches, tape recorders, curtains and much scenery. Were wolf howls, screams, etc. were made and recorded in the senior play room and then Chaplin and I played them behind the first curtain. Next was the headless man. Tomson was dressed in his boiler suit which covered him completely , including his head. Round the next comer was a spider's web and Newton C. in a horrible mask. Stephen Llewellyn

In the Fete, last year, the I I I rd Form made the Ghost House in the cellars and I was a guide. There were lots of curtains everywhere, which made it extremely dark and I found it very hard to find my way through. As the people went in you could see they were getting slightly scared. The two most frightening things were Chaplin and Llewellyn screaming at people as they went round the first comer, and Newton C. as he jumped out from a very dark corner wearing a gruesome mask. And how could we forget Thomas and Tomson as the headless man! Abid Fayaz I was the head of the headless man. I had to put my head through a hole in a sheet. Tomson covered up his head and then held my head so it looked as if he was holding his head under his arm. Kyle Thomas When I first walked in I wondered if a person was going to jump out on me. Fayaz turned on a torch after we had passed the first curtain and I could see a skeleton. I screamed and shouted, my knees were jelly. Later on the curtain moved and I thought,"Oh no, poltergeist!" Then I walked on through to a dead end and I saw a hand shaking someone else's hand. It was a headless man! "Help!" I shouted. After that Fayaz led us out of the scary, the spooky, the frightening ghost house! Charles Cooper

David Busby and Patrick Williams with Thomas The Tank Engine

CRICKET (1996) In some ways the first match v St. Richard's(A) was the best. They batted first but, due almost entirely to Dhanoa, were all out for 62: he bowled really well and took 7 for 21. Our batting was a bit shaky and at 54 for 7 it was anybody's game but Allen kept his head and with wickets tumbling at the other end carried his bat for 15 for a win by 2 wickets. 9

After two defeats by an excellent Moffatts side the Old Boys match revived our spirits. Oliver Heynes and Joe Gawler gave them a good start and Rowan Crooks and Seamus MacLaren wielded the long handle to good effect, but even so we bowled them out for 91. Davidson's 5 for 35 being his best spell of bowling so far. Oliver Heynes and James Alexander, their two best batsmen, were both bowled by beauties from Dhanoa and Ludlow took a very sweet catch. Read trapped his elder brother - the reaction to which was not unnaturally mixed! Dhanoa batted well for 30 but when he was out the shutters went up and stumps were drawn at 62 for 8. A good draw and an excellent match. In the Fathers' Match no less than six of our own men took wickets - Fayaz with the only ball he bowled, thanks to a brilliant close catch by Boorn. As a result they were all out for 90, exactly half of these being scored by Mr. Edwards who in the end was umpired out! We made the runs for 8 wickets, Davidson, Allen and Edwards all getting into double figures, but extras were a great help being top scorer. In the junior game, Newton L.,Harris and Giles should be good in time. Colours were awarded to A. Davidson and A. Dhanoa.

The 1996 Cricket XI

ATHLETICS Many boys did extremely well in the Star Awards this year and Davidson, Tong, Busby, Cornwell, Jones, Edwards, L. Newton and Giles gained four stars in both 3 Events and Pentathlon and Ludlow 4 star 3 Events and 5 star Pentathlon. Five boys achieved five star awards in both 3 Events and Pentathlon:U 13 - A. Dhanoa U 12 - M. Telfer, J. Chaplin and T. Underwood. U 10 - C. Cooper

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SWIMMING Once again the really hot and inviting weather came in the summer holidays but by the end of term, with one exception, every boy could swim at least a width. The boys in the senior game do not have as much time for the distance swims, unless they are boarders, so the longest this year was 1500 m by P. Williams, following in the steps of his two brothers -Justin and Rupert - who both swam 4000m before they left. The record is still held by Morton Edwards who swam 5000m in 1994. CROSS COUNTRY Some of our regular cross country meetings were postponed or cancelled this year for various reasons, so most of the competitions were completed before Christmas. M.Telfer, T. Underwood, J. Chaplin and P. Williams all took part in the Worcester City League, competing in two of the three events at the R.G.S. and Chantry High School. All ran well, particularly M. Telfer who appears to be one of the leading runners, in his age group, within the Worcester District. We competed at the Malvern Prep. Schools Championship at Malvern College and did well in both senior and junior events, although we were not the overall winners. It was encouraging to see younger boys such as H. Harris and R. Aldworth competing for the first time and holding their own against much older boys. Some of the older boys took part in the Worcester District Championship at Nunnery Wood and achieved good results. M. Telfer came 2nd, J. Chaplin 9th, T. Underwood 11th and P. Williams 15th. We held our own U 13 competition at Aymestrey against the R.G.S. and came out the winners. M. Telfer once again bettered the school's 1500 m. cross country record with a new time of 5 mins.59 secs. Colours were awarded to J. Chaplin, T. Underwood and P. Williams. M. Telfer had his in 1996.

The Cross Country Team 11

SOCCER A win, a draw and a loss was the record of the football team this season, with early promise never quite being fulfiled. Our first match was away against the Abberley Hall 4th team, and a fine game it turned out to be. Our attack was based upon the players on the wings, Chaplin on the left and the ever-threatening Edwards on the right. An own-goal was added to Read's two to put us 3-0 up at half time, but in the second half we lost the finishing touch, whereas Abberley found theirs. It was left to Cornwell in defence and the ubiquitous On Shing to ensure the final 3-2 success. We played well, but thanks are certainly due to Abberley Hall for matching our strength. We travelled to the Abbey School, Tewkesbury, and eventually managed to find a football pitch that was not under flood water! Although I am convinced that we were the stronger side, too many people forgot the 'battle' plan and ended up playing as individuals. A 0-0 draw was the final score, and although Newton L.

did well to prove he was not out of his depth with boys four years his senior, the 'man-of-the-match' award would certainly have to go to the opposition goal-keeper. Moffats substantially weakened their side, but still proved to be in a different league to us. Underwood had moments of inspiration, but as one of our team commented, 'They seemed to have more players than we did!' When under pressure, our boys again forgot the basics, and in truth, deserved to lose by the 4-0 margin. The opposition were certainly impressive, not least the girl playing at half-back! It was difficult to select a competitive side, but I am afraid the task was made more tricky by the attitude of some; ability on its own is not enough without a measure of sport's discipline to go with it. Well done to Cornwell and On Shing, though, who both deserved their colours. LUNCHES at AYMESTREY At school we have very nice lunches like shepherd's pie and cabbage, semolina, treacle volcano and custard, BUT most of all SOUP. There are trolley men. Their names are Allen, Williams and Tomson and there are two trolleys; I metal trolley is for taking the big rectangular tins out and the wooden trolley is for bringing the pudding in. So you can see that lunches are pretty good at our school. But most of all YUM! J. Batten (aged 9) BALLOON RACE - November 1996 The day of the race dawned grey and overcast. Rain was in the air with a slight breeze. The friends had a task and a half in front of them, having sold over one thousand balloons for the race all of which had to be filled with helium. Not only that but the one thousand tickets had to be attached to the balloons, by hand! About six of 'The Friends of Aymestrey' had, for the two previous Saturdays, stood in cold winds outside Oakstone Classics in Worcester selling the tickets to the public and handing out leaflets about Aymestrey. For the whole of the week leading up to the 17th, I spent every evening handprinting numbers on to the tickets, which gets slightly mind boggling after a while. 12

Mrs May releasing the balloons

Anyway, to get back to the race. Because of the weather, the balloons had to be blown up inside the school, with the holding net shoved through a window in the senior playroom and anchored with safety pins - not the best of arrangements because it meant that the room became very cold leaving the balloon blower uppers freezing to death! It was a noisy affair and the sight of what looked like a huge white pimple on the side of the building was certainly different. Despite balloons exploding every five minutes (and the helium setting off the fire alarm! Ed.) the task was completed and the full net was tied to the top of a car to stop it blowing away. As the money raised from the event was to go to St. Richard's Hospice it was decided that it would be appropriate to ask someone connected with the Hospice to let them go. A few weeks before the race, 17 year old Michelle May from Worcester had died from leukemia and had been nursed in St. Richard's. Despite the fact that her funeral only took place a week before the race, her mother, Diane May very kindly agreed to do the honours for us, for which we thank her. The balloons were released and a photographer from The Evening News was there to take a picture, which appeared in the paper later in the week. The balloons were slow to rise, because of the damp weather and lack of wind, but eventually disappeared into the distance. So the waiting began. The first of the returns arrived a couple of weeks later, with others 13

following in dribs and drabs. The number returned was not great, but in mid January a clear winner appeared. The balloon belonging to David Read, father of Stuart, managed to limp its way to Dorking in Surrey - not a great distance but considering most of the others only reached areas in Gloucestershire, it was good. Second and third prizes went to Mrs. Morris in Malvern, whose balloon reached Pennard, in Somerset and Jane Franks from Bromsgrove which touched down in the Forest of Dean. Sadly none flew over the channel. A representative of St. Richard's was handed a cheque for 650, with a further 111.90 raised when the choir sang carols outside the Guildhall. The event was a success involving a great deal of hard work, for which many thanks go to all concerned. Mandi Harris (One of the balloons was picked up by the grand-daughter of an Old Boy, Morgan Sloane Stanley, a well known local journalist, who had worked for The Evening News amongst other papers. Ed.) VISIT by HELICOPTER Lieutenant Tobyn Everitt (`81-'85) literally dropped down from the sky, as he was passing, in an army helicopter. He landed on the South Lawn and the boys were allowed to climb in, and all over the aircraft. He and his navigator came to lunch and when they departed, with the school and staff assembled on the lawn, he gave a dramatic display, flying low at full speed and circling the trees.

Lieutenant Everitt and some potential pilots

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B.B.C. RADIO HEREFORD and WORCESTER Mandi Harris arranged for Trevor Owens to broadcast "Out to Lunch" at Aymestrey in the Autumn Term. This was a live programme and he arrived at noon and chatted with the 11nd Form in their Art lesson. He

came in to lunch, visited the cook in the kitchen and then ran a competition in which we competed with The Elms and lost - mainly because we did not understand the rules! TREASURE ISLAND I wonder how many old boys reading this will remember acting in Billy Bones' Treasure at Malvern College Theatre, in 1986. Then Sven Taylor was a thoroughly disgusting Billy Bones - is he still in the marines? Simon Ricketts was a frightening Pew, James Taylor Long John and Simon Maher Black Dog. The late David Davis, Uncle David of Children's Hour ,was judging and he said at the end that he had seen many productions of Treasure Island but none to beat ours for the tension it created. This time, in about five weeks, but with the help of Mandi Harris who wrote the main song and taught the boys how to act, we produced it here, which was easier for rehearsing but very much more difficult for the staging and lighting. However, our stage manager come general dogs body, Patrick Williams, had everything organised and running smoothly by the time of performance, despite having had a running battle with the curtains for several days! We were not able to create the tension of the previous production as the stage was too small and the general area restricted but Christopher Newton gave a convincing performance as Billy Bones, Kyle Thomas was a menacing Black Dog, Harry Harris played the difficult part of Jim with verve, and the doctor, James Boorn was a dignified and amusing character. Stuart Read tapping away as Pew, created some tension in the dark and James Tomson was a suitably worried mother. There were promising performances by some boys in the minor parts; James Allen, Stephen Llewellyn, Robert Aldworth, James Edwards and Jeremy Batten as neighbours deserve mention. Above all the splendid costumes really stole the show. Mr. & Mrs. Neil Harris have an absolute genius for creating these and being so amazingly well organised when it comes to the actual performance. The pirates were colourful and the costumes made all the difference to the wearer's acting. Every little detail is planned and nothing is left to chance. We are very grateful to the Harris family generally as we certainly could not have produced the play without them. THE NEW ROAD It was decided to build a new ring road around Worcester. They started at the beginning of February 1996 by taking out trees in the lower wood. The land was uneven so they had to make it flat by using sand bags. They put culverts under the road in case the dam broke. The sand bags were covered by a layer of gravel. Tar was put over the gravel to make the road. We are expecting the road to be opened at the beginning of June. I hope the smell and the noise does not spoil Aymestrey. P.Williams 15

FENCING at WYCLIFFE I have been fencing for over a year now, at Wycliffe, with nine other people. This involves fencing four or five times a week for a couple of hours at a time. On non fencing days we usually do some form of fencing related exercise which varies from running to circuit training. We go to competitions in Plymouth, Bath, Bristol and Taunton as they are reasonably close, on most weekends in the winter term, which is the fencing

season, although there are still competitions at other times. In order to compete you have to be a member of the Amateur Fencing Association. Mark Simpkins VISIT to EGYPT and LUXOR This year I spent a week in Egypt staying in Luxor City, with a party from Ellesmere College on a VI Form history trip. We landed at Luxor Airport, after a 5 hour flight from Gatwick, just in time to see the spectacular sunset. During our 7 day stay we visited the main sites in the area including the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Luxor Temple and the temple at Karnak. The hieroglyphics were exquisite and some were still in full colour, despite being over thirty centuries old. We crossed the Nile at least four times in various forms of transport and spent one day cruising on the river. I tried my hand at riding a camel, which I found very uncomfortable but it had to be done! Everywhere we went we were surrounded by hordes of children and beggars. The food was an acquired taste and only one of our group did not succumb to 'gyppy tummy'. We visited the tomb of Tutankamon, which I did not think the best, except for the golden sarcophagus, which has recently been returned. The highlight of the trip was the tomb of Queen Nefertari, opened to the public last year. All the paintings are still in their original colourful state and quite magnificent. Alistair Drammond Despite being incredibly busy Mr. Wellspring, once again, has spent his valuable time helping us with this magazine. We are most grateful and would find it extremely difficult to produce it without him. (Ed) 16