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TH E

A M ST E Y E RY

M G ZIN A A E

SU M 1993 M ER

Old Aymestrey Association Income and expendilure Account for Year ended 31st March 1992 1991 RECEIPTS 70.00Membership Subscriptions (including renewal of subscriptions and donations to Association Funds) 0.25Magazine Appeal Subscriptions 86.92Abbey National Building Society share account interest 1.95Lloyds Bank Deposit Account Interest Old Aymestrey Association Appeal Fund - Lloyds Bank closing balance 209.71Excess of expenditure over income 368.83 175.00 3.00 76.78 0.50 45.15 300.43 1991 150.00 200.00 EXPENDITURE Contribution to School Magazine for years 1989/90 and 1990/91

18.83

Lloyds Bank PLC Bank Charges

2.49

Excess of expenditure over income 368.83

297.94 300.43

N.B. The agreed contribution of 250 to the school Magazine for the year 1991192 has, been paid subsequent to 31st March 1992 1991 1,252.38Balance brought forward to 31st March 1991 (209.71)Excess of expenditure over income Excess of income over expenditure 1,042.67 Balance Sheet for year ended 31st March 1992 1991 1,042.67 Balances at Lloyds Bank: 4.89 Current Account 32.51 Deposit Account Balances with Abbey National Plc: 1,005.27 Treasurers Account No. K142005 Five Star Account No. X647782 1,042.67

297.94 1,340.61

258.95 1,081.66 1,340.61

MINUTES OF THE 49th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE OLD AYMESTREY ASSOCIATION HELD AT AYMESTREY SCHOOL ON SATURDAY 20th JUNE 1992 PRESENT: Bill Stallard, in the Chair; The President Air-Vice Marshal D.N.K. Blair-Oliphant; Messrs. John Eyton Coates, Richard Coates, Norman Green-Price, Simon Green-Price, Hugh Griffith, George Johnson, Anthony Powell, Alan Turner, John Tyler, and Richard Tyler. APOLOGIES were received from David Davis, David Powell, Norris Leakey, David Banks, Philip Dorrell, Alan Dorrell, Oliver Mayfield, Malcolm Hughes, Duncan MacLaren and his brothers, Ralph Spreckley, Andrew Lane, Robert Lane, Edward Lane, Stephen Beard, Jack Coates, Simon Coates, Jeremy Sawtell, Christopher Dowson, Jonathan Edwards, James McLeod, Nick Coley, John Coley, Graham Rush, John Phipps, Douglas Birks and Philip Coates. In the absence of the Chairman Oliver Mayfield, the Honorary Secretary took the Chair. The Minutes of the last AGM held on Saturday, 15th June, 1991 were confirmed and approved. The Accounts for the year ended 3l st March, 1992 were presented and explained by the Chairman and were approved. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:CHAIRMAN: Nick Coley VICE-CHAIRMAN: Simon Green-Price HONORARY SECRETARY/ Bill Stallard TREASURER: SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT: Dan Asterley NEW COMMITIEE MEMBERS: Alan Turner and Norman Green-Price It was proposed by Anthony Powell and seconded by Eyton Coates that the Association's contribution to the production of the school magazine be increased this year to 275 and this was carried. The Meeting discussed the extent to which the school grounds would be affected by the proposed relief road, cutting through the woodland to the south of the big lake. There had been no further developments in this connection and it was likely to be several years before any work on the road would proceed. Hugh Griffith outlined the impact upon the school of the recent Children Act. The school had been visited by two inspectors from the Social Services Department of the County Council a few days before the Meeting and the inspectors had been very impressed by the unique qualities of the school. Anthony Powell proposed a vote of thanks to Hugh and Gill Griffith for the warm welcome extended to the Old Boys and their hospitality, and this was heartily endorsed by all members present. 3

The Annual Dinner was held for the third time in the school dining room at Aymestrey and was attended by 23 members and their guests. An excellent dinner was provided and, once again and despite the protests of his wife, Eyton Coates was prevailed upon to sing the traditional song, 'One Meatball'. LEAVERS July 1992 R.E. Auty - (King's, Worcester) Came Autumn 1986. Rugby XV, Cricket XI, Choir. Colours for Rugby. M. Camozzi - Came Autumn 1988. Choir, Chess. L. Camozzi - Came Spring 1990. C.Cartwright - (Bowhrook) Came Spring 1991. Cricket XI and Athletics. P. Charley - Came Autumn 1989. C. Dimond - Came Autumn 1987. J. Dimond - (King's, Worcester) Came Autumn 1989. B. Edwards - (Brecon High School) Came Autumn 1989. Rugby XV, Soccer XI, Cricket XI. Colours for Rugby. J. Gawler - (Christ College, Brecon) Came Autumn 1987. Rugby XV, Soccer XI, Cricket XI Capt.) Cross Country, Athletics. Colours for Rugby, Cricket, Cross Country and Athletics. County trial for Cross Country. Prefect. A. Gordon - (North Bromsgove) Came Autumn 1990. Rugby XV, Soccer XI. M. Hunter - (Colfe's) Came Autumn 1989. Rugby XV, Soccer XI, Cricket XI. Choir. H. Jones - (Brecon High School) Came Spring 1990. Choir. J. Le Galloudec - Came Autumn 1989. Rugby XV, Soccer XI, Cricket XI, Cross Country. T. Murphy - (King's, Worcester) Came Autumn 1987. Rugby XV (Capt.), Soccer XI, Cricket XI, Cross Country and Chess. Colours for Rugby, Soccer, Cross Country and Chess. Head Boy. Ogden Cup. R. Peel - (Abberley) Came Autumn 1988. Rugby XV, Soccer, Cross Country , Athletics, Cricket XI. Colours for Rugby, Cross Country, Athletics and Cricket. J. Smith - (Ellesmere) Came Summer 1990. Cricket X I and Choir. O. Symonds - (Brymore) Came Autumn 1989. Rugby XV, Cross Country and Choir. J. Williams - (Shrewsbury) Came Autumn 1988. Rugby XV, Cross Country. Colours for Cross Country. Choir. Prefect. Scholarship to Shrewsbury. March 1993 O. Henderson - (Hurstpierpoint) Came Summer 1990. D. Hunter - (Colfe's) Came Autumn 1989. Rugby XV, Soccer XI, Cricket XI, Choir. Scholarships Congratulations to the following:J. Williams - Major Scholarship to Shrewsbury O. Heynes - Exhibition to Monmouth School B. Richards - Games Scholarship to Grenville College

James Driver James arrived here straight from university and stayed for sixteen years. He was an amazingly versatile person, always willing to try his hand at anything new but at the same time when he undertook to do something one knew that it would be done and continued, not abandoned if he himself got tired of it. During his time here he wrote and produced several plays, made a video film with another member of staff, created a medieval maze, restored the rose garden, created a herb garden, got married, put Aymestrey on the map in the cross country world and did many other things that I have not mentioned. We are sorry to lose him but he is, we know, very happy at Hall Grove and Bryony and the boys have now been able to join him in Surrey. We wish him well in the future and many boys here miss him both in the classroom and out.

NEW BOYS Summer 1992 T. Slaughter Autumn 1992 S. Read, J. Aston, B. Hiranyasthiti (Micky) Spring 1993 A. Dhanoa, J. Marriott. NEWS of OLD BOYS J. Alexander, at the WRGS, is playing cricket for the school. M. Bartlett, at the WRGS had two 'A' levels, one at 'AS' level. He is now at Bournemouth Polytechnic reading Design Visualisation. D. Bartlett, at Bromsgrove, has 7 GCSEs, including A grade Art and is going to take Art and Design at A' level. R. Blair-Oliphant is taking a three year degree course at Goldsmith's College, in Piano and Composition. D. Blair-Oliphant composes and writes the lyrics for his own band.

A. Emson, at Malvern, last year won the Junior Interhouse race, captained the inters team and was awarded the post of Secretary of Cross Country. P. Gorman is taking A level Law and Economics at Worcester College of Technology. R. Gorman at Rendcomb, is taking A levels this year. M. Harris is a Vicar Choral at St. Paul's. He is touring the USA with the choir on a gruelling schedule. N. Harris, who has a son Adrian, born at Christmas, was on QED and can often be seen and heard on the box, talking on the Ozone Layer. J.J.A. Hughes is Head Warden for the National Trust in North Pembrokeshire. He is married and has a daughter. R. Johnson, who is farming in Norfolk, has two sons. K. Kazuyuki (Kazu), at the WRGS, passed eight GCSEs, including five grade `A's and has now returned to Japan. J. Kimpton is married, with two sons, and is living in Kent. A. Lane has two sons and has qualified as a solicitor. W. Lane is at Cambridge studying for his P.G.C.E.. He has landed a splendid job at Charterhouse teaching Medieval History. D. Knox is making a slow recovery from M.E. C. Leakey, a contemporary of Stephen Dorrell in the 1960s, after various career changes, including working on the roads, building a concrete oil rig, and starting a secondhand bookshop, has helped to build his own Canadian kit house, five miles out of Inverness overlooking the Beauly Firth. He is married and has a son Tomas, born in 1988. J. McLeod has left the 1st Battalion Scots Guards and is in the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall, where according to his friends in the army he is now 'busily employed in disbanding their regiments and battalions.' He is singing regularly with the London Symphony Chorus. H.C. Moore has been made an M.B.E. B. Penson - has been selected to be one of 126 scientists and students taking part in the 1993 International

Scientific Expedition to Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, to study global warming. N. Richardson, at Loughborough, is taking his P.G.C.E. in Sport and English. He is captain of Rugby and was also captain of the U.A.U. when they won at Twickenham against Bristol. He plays 7's for Leicester and was on the bench at Twickenham when Leicester beat the Harlequins in the final of the Pilkington Cup. He is going to Cambridge in the autumn to read Land Economy. M. Richardson, at King's, has his colours for cricket and rugby and is taking A' levels in Social Biology, Economics and Geography. He is hoping to go to Scare Hayne to read Rural Resources Management. J. Sawtell, at Rendcomb, is head of his house. He is taking A levels in Art, Biology and Geography. He has 6

Gold Duke of Edinburgh award and is a sailing instructor for the R.Y.A. at Hayling Island. D. Scott, at Stratford on Avon High School, has nine GCSEs and is now studying for A levels in Physics, Chemistry and Economics. R. Stallard, in February, completed a one year tour on a short service voluntary commission with the First Battalion King's Own Border Regiment, serving for seven months in Londonderry. He then toured Equador, Columbia and Venezuela for two months. He now intends to practise as a solicitor. O. Symonds wrote, after his first term at Brymore, that he was enjoying everything and was not struggling with work. He writes, 'It's a great school for boys who really want to get stuck in to all Brymore has to offer: agriculture, horticulture, sport, craft design and technology'. A. Trow married Michele Thatcher last autumn. S. Tudge, having visited Australia, is returning there to continue nursing. R. Tudge has just married. T. Wellspring is in his second year of a Photo Science and Electronic Imaging course at Westminster University. In his spare time he works at Peter Jones. Recently he has been part of a Channel 4 production team working on a new series coming out in December. J. Williams, at Shrewsbury, won the Bentley Elocution Prize, and in his first term sang in Westminster Abbey and the New Symphony Hall under Simon Rattle. He also sang the opening solo,'Once in Royal David's City', at the Shrewsbury Carol Service. T. Wise is in his final year at the London School of Economics. OBITUARIES Michael Paulet St. John Mildmay (1901 - 1933) Old Boys of the 1930's and 40's will be sad to hear that Michael Mildmay died on April 28th, eight days before his 92nd birthday. He was joint Headmaster with Dan Asterley. A tall man with a commanding presence, he looked every inch a headmaster, and was also a formidable teacher of maths and French, more than once being mistaken for a Frenchman in France. He had a brilliant and rational brain and a somewhat austere manner, but beneath it lay a kindly and caring personality.

After Malvern College, he went up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge where, as a descendant of the founder, Sir Walter Mildmay (Elizabeth I's Chancellor of the Exchequer) he occupied the Mildmay rooms. As a young man he became a great traveller and a notable skier. He was on the staff of West Downs, Winchester, with Dan Asterley, and from there went into partnership with Dan's father at Aymestrey in 1933. He married Joan Stockley and both their sons, Walter and Hugh, were born while they were at Aymestrey. M.N. Asterley died in 1935 and Dan Came back to Aymestrey as junior partner. As a result of his wife's ill health and other family problems, he left the school to return to his native Gloucestershire, living first at Brimscombe, close to what had been Joan's family estate. He joined the staff of the Marling School in Stroud and taught French and Science. At first he found the change traumatic, and many years later said that his work at this time was something of a disaster, but gradually he came greatly to enjoy what he was doing and grew into a well-loved "character" in the school. He finally retired in 1967. Michael's family home, Drakestone, at Stinchcombe, is a large country house on a wonderful site overlooking the Vale of Berkeley. It had been left for something like forty years when Hugh 7

Mildmay and his wife and family returned, refurbished and refurnished it and began the daunting task of restoring the fine gardens. When Joan Mildmay died in 1977, Michael also returned to Drakestone and settled in one of the lodges, the other being occupied by his sister. There he lived into a serene old age, taking a deep interest in his grandchildren and playing an important part in village and parish affairs. He retained all his faculties and his mind was clear and vigorous to the end. He died peacefully at his home in his sleep. The funeral service and committal took place at Stinchcombe on a gloriously sunny day in early May. Michael was buried in the family grave, where his mother had been interred in 1950. Many Old Boys will remember her as a gracious old lady. The O.A.A. was represented at the funeral by Adrian Sherwood (1935 - 40) and Robert Devereux (1936 41) Mr. E.N.G. Parry died last year. He was on the staff at Aymestrey for four years before the war, and afterwards, with his wife Kitty, who also taught at Aymestrey and who predeceased him, he ran Hazelwood School in Surrey, for many years. R.J.S. Hughes died tragically of malaria shortly after his marriage. GIFTS We are very grateful to the following for their generous gifts to the school:Mr. & Mrs. Auty - Judo mat. Mr. & Mrs. P. Edwards - Apples. Mrs. Gregg - Judo mat. Mr. & Mrs. Griffin - Apples and pears. Mr. & Mrs. Henderson - Golden Acacia tree. Mrs. K. Hughes - 2 Judo mats. Mr. & Mrs. Murphy - Tennis net. Mr. & Mrs. Richardson - Potatoes for November 5th.

Mr. & Mrs. Symonds - Video recorder. Mr. & Mrs. P. Williams - Tennis posts for the hard play area. We should like to thank The Friends of Aymestrey -- the parents' organisation formed last year under the chairmanship of Soozie Williams - for all the help and support they have given the school over the year. In particular we are most grateful to Mr. Davidson, and all those who helped him, in repairing the drive and painting the gates. CHESS The Chess Team had a very good season. Played 6 - Won 4 - Lost 2. Both the matches that we lost were against large schools with teams of average age 16 or more. Heynes and Williams R. played many times for the county. Heynes, who qualified for England A at U 11 last

year is easily the best player we have ever had and he will be much missed next year. Williams R. is an excellent player and playing on the second board for the county had the chance to try for England selection at U11 but he was not able to attend the meeting. Williams S. and Crooks have played consistently on the lower boards and Richards showed that with more dedication and practice he could be a good player. Perhaps our best win was the last match when we beat King's Worcester at full strength 3.5 to 1.5, with no age allowance. In the Times National Schools Championship we again reached Round 3 but were then whitewashed by Henry VIII, Coventry. MUSIC The choir took part, as usual, in the music festivals at Dean Close and at Malvern College.During the year the following Associated Board Exams were passed:Grade 4 A. Davidson - Cello with distinction Grade 5 O. Heynes - Piano with merit. The Worcestershire Orchestral Society Competitive Music Festival A. Davidson, aged 10, is to be congratulated on winning The Hafren Cup for violincello or double bass, solo 11 and under, at the Festival and also on gaining a place in the National Children's Orchestra. At the Festival the choir came 2nd with 91% and O. Heynes and J. Read came 2nd in their class for Duets with 85%. An Honours Certificate was awarded to Aymestrey choir after a superb performance by the boys and their choirmaster at the Worcester Festival. Only one mark separated the first and second choirs - Aymestrey being awarded 91 marks. It is interesting to note that honours are not easily awarded at this festival.. The set piece, 'Train Talk', and the choir's own choice, 'A Hymn to God the Father', were sung with very effective percussion, keyboard and cello accompaniment, which enhanced the performance. The adjudicator praised the controlled and beautifully blended voices and recognised the hard work put in by the boys and their choirmaster.'

Nine out of Ten Cats Prefer Aymestrey One of the more entertaining elements of the Festival must have been the duets for under 14s.

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There were thirteen pairs in the competition. Polishing their tonsils for Aymestrey were Jonathan Read and Oliver Heynes. Their offering was a song for two cats by Rossini. Now, what can the chances be of, not two, but three pairs coming up with the same song? Yes, by the time our feline impersonators had taken the floor to be accompanied by Stephen Gowland, the place had become a veritable cattery. The first four cats, it has to be said, were somewhat domestic. Not so, the Aymestrey cats: prowling, feral cats they were, ending their performance with such a howl that you would expect to see flashing claws and flying fur. It was a performance of fun and vitality but, as the adjudicator observed, the notes were all very accurately sung. They brought the competition to life, received a great applause and came second by one mark to a fine performance by two girls from St. Mary's Convent. Here is Aymestrey, again, taking on very much larger schools, performing excellently and coming away with a clutch of certificates. What a credit all of this is to Stephen Gowland. K. Heynes. CRICKET Due mostly to the weather we only managed to play six matches, of which we won two and lost four. Easily the best game was that against Elms 11nds, when Heynes and Edwards B. put on 66 for no wicket in exactly an hour. Peel and Crooks swung their bats to good effect and we were able to declare at tea at 122 for 3. It was again Edwards B., 5 wickets for 9 runs and Heynes 4 for 25, who were the best bowlers and they shot the enemy out for 54. Peel batted and bowled well throughout the season: his best performance was 5 wickets, all bowled, for 28 runs v Abberley IInds. Gawler captained the side well and made an excellent 36 against good bowling by the O.A.A. Heynes was a very steady opener with a top score of 36 and Edwards B. contributed well with both bat and ball. Of the rest Cartwright, whose attitude was somewhat mercurial, surprised us all at times and could catch anything; Drummond was keen and batted stubbornly; Richards could hit hard and Murphy, Auty and Le Galloudec gave good support. The Fathers proved too strong for us this year, particularly the bowlers. Mr. Dimond accounted for 3 of our best batsmen for 4 runs in 2 overs! ATHLETICS We maintained last year's record of every boy winning at least two badges in the AAA award scheme, though this year only five boys achieved three five stars in all three categories: Three Events, Pentathlon and Decathlon. They were Peel, Griffin J., Cartwright, Gawler and Williams R. All five were selected for Denstone. Two five-star badges were won by Heynes and one was won by Le Galloudec, Hunter D., and Camozzi M. A further twenty four-stars were awarded, thirty-two three-stars, eighteen two-stars and four one-stars. The runners who went to Denstone performed well. Cartwright finished third in the triple jump and Gawler 11

fourth in the 800 metres. The greatest success was enjoyed joyed by Peel who won the Under 12 400 metres and came second in the Under 12 long jump. He went on to the National Prep. School Finals in both events. Unfortunately the organisation at Birmingham was not up to the expected standard, and Peel missed the opportunity to complete his jumps because he was due to run at that time, and then, not surprisingly, did not do well in the 400 metres. SWIMMING Thanks to Mr. Goodyear the swimming pool water was marvellous and we had a very good season. With Mrs. Bennett's expert instruction the style and strokes improved. Every boy could swim at least 100 metres by the end of term. Smith J.,Heynes, Camozzi M., Alesbury, Henderson, Gawler, Jones and Williams R. gained their 1000m badges, Read J.,Simpkins and Wilson their 1500m, Gregg and Edwards M. and White their 2000m. and Williams J. and Auty their 4000m. The 4000m is a real marathon for boys of this age, in unheated water, and is the first time that any boys in this school have swum so far, although many think they could! Inspection by the Social Services Strangely enough we all, boys included, enjoyed this ordeal! Mrs. M. arrived on a Tuesday evening, as we had explained that if she wanted to get 'inside' the school she needed to stay overnight and experience, at first hand, the old fashioned and spartan existence! Her colleague, Mr. W. came in time for breakfast the next morning. We told them that they could go anywhere and talk to anyone, and equally the staff - domestic, matron and teaching - were told they could be quite open and answer any questions. It was not in their brief to go into lessons and they occupied themselves until break in this way. Then they had a short session with us and we got an inkling of the red tape that was going to engulf the school. At lunch they sat at the end of tables and talked to the boys - asking very searching questions, so we gather. In the afternoon, during games, they asked to have three boys to talk to and for an hour or so they again asked them questions and the boys chatted quite freely to them. Mrs. M. then left and Mr. W. told us their thoughts. In essence, they could find nothing wrong, and found a great deal that they felt was excellent, but they wanted everything written down. Everything we did, how we communicated with staff, rules (if you write down a list of rules every boy will endeavour to find a loophole in the law), policies on this that and the other - in fact a charter such as doctors, hospitals, etc. have to write for the public to read and which, when the chips are down, means nothing! The most important thing seemed to be that all children should be taught how to complain! Those here in Dan's time can imagine what his reaction would be to that! Since then we have had various communications with our two inspectors, who quite appreciate our point of view but are bound to try and persuade us to carry out their wishes. We have not moved from our position and we hope that we can continue to remain firm.

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FTE We once again had a Fete, but this time it was in aid of St. Thomas' Church, which used to be in the school grounds, and Tadworth Court Children's Hospital. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of all concerned we were able to send 350 to each. Mr. & Mrs. Davidson set up a marquee and ran a most successful barbecue. which added a great deal to the general colour and atmosphere, Mr. & Mrs. Williams coined it in on the bottle stall, the Church Stall did a thriving trade, the IIIrd Form Ghost house was extremely popular, though too frightening for some, and the dancing Elf, followed by the choir ended a happy afternoon. We are most grateful to all the parents and friends of the school who gave their time and many generous gifts, for the stalls and the raffles. CAMP We'd already walked about five miles and everybody was feeling hungry. Our feet were soaked because we had been walking through wet grass and so we decided to stop for lunch. Mr. Goodyear led us down to a lovely enclosed area through which the river Lugg ran noisily. We dropped our packs and were just ready to sit down on the bank when Mr. Goodyear shouted, "The first person fully submerged gets a Mars Bar!" We all tried to get ready quickly but Gawler was the quickest; jumping in with his shorts on he lay in the shallowest part of the river trying to get his body under. We thought he was going to win but, moving faster than a speeding bullet, we all saw a white streak and then a tremendous splash as Auty dived into the water and won the prize. While this was happening O. Symonds was still trying to get his trousers off! M. Hunter We are, once again, very grateful to Anne and Norman Green-Price for arranging things for us, particularly as this time they were away and Simon and his sister were left to cope. RUGBY With fewer players in the senior game the rugby XV's success was always going to depend on everyone trying particularly hard. For certain members of the team this proved very difficult but by the end of the season even the most reluctant players had found they were enjoying themselves as part of a good team. They played the Abbey School twice, drawing on both occasions, lost away to St. Richard's and to Abberley II nds at home, after drawing 10-10 at half-time in a thrilling match. Unfortunately the last game against St. Richard's at home was lost to the weather. At its best the team was White and Gregg as props, Micky hooking, Edwards and Williams R. in the second row, Drummond number eight, Alesbury and Griffin J. flanker, Peel scrum half,

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Richards fly half, Heynes and Wilson centres, Hunter D. and Slaughter or Read on the wings and Crooks as full back. CROSS COUNTRY As usual the autumn saw the Malvern run and the Worcester Schools' Evening League. At Malvern the seniors, missing their number two runner Griffin J. came a very creditable fourth. Peel finished second after a fascinating tussle for the lead. The remainder of the team was Heynes, Hunter D., Read J. and Drummond, who volunteered to make up the numbers in the team. The juniors came in fifth. None of them had run on the course before so to finish half way up the list was good. Williams R. finished 10th and had very pleasing support from Hewson, Swan, Griffin B., Slaughter and Davidson. The league runs gave Richards an opportunity to race and he, Peel, Griffin J., Heynes and Read , Peel finishing 7th and Griffin J. 12th - totalled a score that not only won their age group but would have given them first place against the Grammar School and King's Under 15 teams as well. The second race at the Grammar School, was equally successful. Once again the school team, consisting this time of Peel, Griffin J., Heynes, Williams R., Richards and Hewson, the latter running for the first time as a senior, beat all the other teams in their age group. In the Spring Term, without Mr. Driver to organise and coach, we wondered if the teams' success would diminish but this was not so and at the District Trials, which we hosted in very wet conditions, James Griffin, who came second, was selected for the District Team. Rupert Williams did well to come 7th. The team - J. Griffin, R. Williams, O. Heynes, J. Read, A. Hewson and J. Aston - tied first with the RGS. Unfortunately, due to an ankle injury, Griffin was unable to compete in the County Trial in February.

Griffin was again unable to run at Bromsgrove, but Williams R. running for the Juniors, came 6th overall. At the Abberley Relay, Read J. was out because of an injury, and we did not do well. However, at St. Richard's we had our full senior team and once again they were highly successful. Richards came 7th, Griffin J. 9th, Heynes 13th and Williams R. 14th. The team came third. We are grateful to Mrs. Bennett for taking on the training of the cross country team and we are delighted that she has had such good results.

SOCCER This year's team, which included some very young members, began uncertainly, but greatly improved during the term. To begin with, players tended to hold the ball too long, and we were rather weak and slow

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defensively, but the team gradually learnt movement off the ball, and the importance of well-timed, accurate passing. However, we were unlucky to face some good sides from larger schools. Moffats were particularly strong, and in the home fixture, played some quite outstanding soccer, which would have defeated most teams. The most keenly contested games were against The Abbey School, Tewkesbury. Playing away, we were a little fortunate to gain a 1-1 draw, but when they visited us for our last match, it was a splendid game, full of fluctuating fortunes. Late into the second half, the Abbey School were 2-1 ahead, and seemed to be heading for victory. However, our team staged a terrific comeback, and won 3-2; our winning goal coming in the last few minutes. Richards, the captain, proved a strong, skilful player, and Heynes was constant threat in attack, aided by Slaughter, who showed good potential. Crooks was a strength in midfield, and Alesbury, Drummond and Swan improved greatly in defence. Colours were awarded to Richards, Heynes and Crooks. THE PLAY Every boy had a part in this year's school play - 'The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew', by Robert Bolt. Gareth Gregg, as the innocent Sir Oblong, gave a thoughtful performance and kept the pace moving strongly throughout. Richard Alesbury played the crafty baron, ably protected by his minder, Squire Timothy Wilson, who towered above some of the younger poor and needy, in his armour, and waved his sword to daunting effect - especially in rehearsals! He later managed some neat dancing under the enchantment of Jonathan Read's wicked Doctor Moloch. The play had some startling pyrotechnic effects in Act 2. It was a pity that so few of the audience could see into the Dragon's Den, although his smoke wafted ubiquitously enough! A visiting friend of the producer, Prebendary Shrewsbury, sported a splendid Chinese dressing gown and narrated a la Noel Coward. The boys learnt much about stagecraft and co-operation and the play was enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience of parents and friends. There is evident talent in the school and the boys bowed to the tune, "Here's to the next time, - no doubt a good omen. Mr. Clarke is to be congratulated on producing this splendid play in such a short time. Our grateful thanks go to all parents who made cakes for the tea afterwards,to Mrs. Gregg for helping with the dressing and make up, to Mr. Drummond for transporting some scenery, and to Mr. Davidson for videoing the play, but also for transporting the props., costumes etc. with minimal fuss and absolutely to time. JUDO Eddy Awford started judo here at the end of the Autumn Term and the boys have now had 15 lessons. It has been a tremendous success due to Eddy's obvious love of the sport and his rapport with the boys. The parents who watched the display on Open Day will have appreciated that they were watching an expert teaching a sport that is about individual achievement, but one that must be played with others so that the children are learning social skills and a code of honour, fairness and obedience, by training and working together. Above all for the boys it is fun and watching them on Open Day they made this obvious. 15

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