OPs at the TableTasty ways to earn a crust
School NewsSixth Formers victorious in the Bank of England competition
From the ArchivesGonville Place revisited
Bridging the YearsOP’s expert view on pupil’s research
An
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Older and wiser... a school that is 399 not out has seen a lot of history. With 400 years of teaching and learning experience, The Perse is well placed to look beyond educational fads and concentrate on what makes a great school. No school can be better than the sum of its teachers, and this edition of OP News includes the obituary of the remarkable Keith Symons who created the CCF Naval Section and used it to develop teamwork, communication, leadership, resilience, and independence. Brilliant teachers inspire young minds, and The Perse is fortunate to have so many enthusiastic, committed, and caring staff. Great schools know that talents come in many different shapes and forms. We are delighted that four Perseans have been selected to represent the UK in academic Olympiads, and that Perse teams reached the national finals in indoor hockey, outdoor hockey, netball, and golf competitions. Beneath the headline successes great schools value the achievements of all their pupils emphasising that endeavour matters most of all. Great schools need excellent facilities to maximise pupil learning. We are very excited about our performing arts centre project, and the high class performance, assembly, lecture, exhibition and social space it will create. Designed by Stirling Prize winners Haworth Tompkins, the performing arts centre will transform The Perse site. But schools are nothing without pupils. The Perse benefits from being a community of talented children who spark off one another to achieve great things. It is right that in our 400th year we are working hard to increase our means-tested bursary provision so that the benefits of a Perse education are open to all children irrespective of family wealth.
Ed ElliottHeadmaster
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From the ArchivesGonville Place revisited
OPs at the TableTasty ways to earn a crust
In Response Pupil’s research work reviewed by OP
400th AnniversaryCelebrations update
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Old Perseans / Spring 2015
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Our students have achieved considerable success in recent subject Olympiads.
These national competitions, often spanning several rounds, are notoriously
challenging, pushing students beyond the syllabus. The Perse punches well
above its weight in these contests with, for example, eight of the 50 top Physics
Olympiad One awards going to Perse students. In the Mathematics Olympiad, 12
students received Distinctions.
Special mention goes to Thomas Read (Y11) who reached the national round
of the British Informatics Olympiad, making him one of the top 15 young
programmers in the country; Jamie Bamber (U6) who has been asked to
represent the country at the International Physics Olympiad in Mumbai;
and William Drake (U6) who has been selected to compete for the UK in
the International Chemistry Olympiad in Azerbaijan. Alex Harris (L6) will be
part of the UK and Ireland team for the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad and
Rosie Cates (Y11) is representing the UK at the European Girls’ Mathematical
Olympiad in Belarus.
Sixth formers Monty Francis (U6)
and Tom Fane (L6) won the regional
final of the Independent Schools’
French Debating Competition,
securing them the honour of
representing the Eastern Region at
the national final.
Students from over 80 independent
schools took part in the competition,
with only 10 teams being selected
for the national final. Monty and Tom
came in a very respectable joint fifth
place, narrowly missing qualification
to the semi-final on the day by just
one point. Félicitations, boys.
New F.R Leavis Society Founded
A society named after F.R. Leavis,
the twentieth century influential
literary critic and Old Persean, has
been formed at The Perse. The aim
of the society is to enrich A level
students’ understanding of the critical
debates surrounding English studies;
its subject matter will also appeal
to students studying related Arts
subjects, including History, Politics
and Philosophy.
School News / Academic & Sport
Olympiads
Four sixth formers have won the
National Finals of the Bank of
England Target 2.0 competition.
The Finals were held at the Bank
and judged by the Deputy Governor
of the Bank, two members of the
Monetary Policy Committee and a
leading economics journalist. Hannah
Kirk (U6), Jack Kleeman (U6), Alex
Harris (L6) and Ciaran Flaherty (L6)
proposed what the Deputy Governor
called ‘a daring rate rise’, and secured
first place with the strength of their
argument and supporting evidence.
04
LES DÉBATTEurS EN FiNALE NATiONALE
Silver Linguistics – 2
Biology – 11
Chemistry – 20
Bronze Linguistics – 7
Biology – 8
Chemistry – 17
Gold Linguistics – 1
Physics – 11
Biology – 7
Chemistry – 11
TArGET 2.0 SuccESS
NATiONAL HOcKEY
SuccESS
A phenomenal hockey season saw
four teams make the national finals.
The U16 and U18 boys’ indoor hockey
teams played well with excellent
performances from individuals.
Although this wasn’t enough to take
them to the semi-finals, it is still
a huge achievement to reach this
stage. The U16 girls’ hockey team, in
their first appearance at the National
Schools Indoor Hockey Finals,
progressed all the way to the final,
finishing runners-up to defending
champions Repton School. Repton
also brought the U18 boys’ outdoor
hockey campaign to an end; the
team took 4th place in their national
finals. Added to this, two Perse
sports players have been selected
for the England Hockey squads. Tess
Howard (Y11) and Zaman Akhter
(Y11) have been selected to represent
their country in the girls’ and boys’
national U16 Hockey squads.
GOLF TEAm iN
NATiONAL FiNALS
The Perse Senior Golf Team of
Christie Woosey (U6), Michael
Pepper (L6) and Robin Anand
(L6) has won the regional final
of the Independent Schools Golf
Association Matchplay Tournament.
The National Finals took them to
Prince’s Golf Club and Royal St.
George’s, home to The Open on
many occasions. The team finished
18th and will be looking to reach the
National Finals again next year for
the chance to compete on the Old
Course at St. Andrew’s.
ruGBY BOYSmAKE THE LAmBSHugo Chambré (U6) and Peter Gordon (U6) have been selected for The
Independent Schools Lambs Rugby Club. The Lambs is an invitational side
that selects from the best independent school players who are not part of an
academy at a professional club. This club is an ideal route to high level rugby
for our pupils who are balancing high-academic achievement alongside their
sporting careers. Players are nominated by their school teachers and have
to progress through regional and north/south matches to win a place in the
national team. OP Josh Gray played for The Lambs in 2013.
There was rugby success for younger pupils too when the U13s sevens
added to Perse silverware with their victory in the Northampton Saints Elite
Insurance Cup. The boys will return to Franklin’s Gardens for a curtain closer
to Northampton’s premiership game against London Welsh.
TEAM EFFORT
WINS THE DAY
This year, The Perse U13 girls’
team won the County round of the
National Lady Taverners Indoor
Cricket tournament, which means
they progress to the Regional Finals.
In the final the team bowled out
the opposition in just six overs.
This was a true team effort and the
girls should be commended for the
quality of play throughout the day.
The U15 girls’ team won the first
Perse Invitational Tournament in
April. This event, and the local
schools’ league launched last year,
have been created by Perse staff
to offer girls more opportunities to
compete in this sport.
NETBALL 1ST Vii
mAKES HiSTOrY
The Perse 1st VII netball team have
made Perse and county history
by reaching the National Schools’
Netball Finals this year. The team
should be incredibly proud of all
that they have achieved; to qualify
for the event, train rigorously
and then to play in extremely
competitive matches against some
very talented netball schools is a
fantastic achievement.
05
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
School News / Extra Curricular
The Perse Players enjoyed performing to a packed ADC Theatre in
their three-night run of Madness musical Our House. Led by Director
in Residence Matt Hawksworth and Head of Extra-Curricular Music Ben
Wingfield, the production provided stretching roles not just for performers
but also for the School’s new Technical Theatre Club. During the rehearsals,
pupils received a ‘break a leg’ video message from Mike Jibson, star of the
original West End production, and a surprise visit from the cast of Rent,
also at the ADC.
FuLL HOuSE FOr Our HOuSE
Shooting teams from Year 10
and Sixth Form have recently
taken part in the Four to Shoot
Championship finals, with
considerable success. In Year
10, Matthew Dougherty shot a
magnificent 198 out of 200 in the
second round of the competition,
to secure himself a place in
the final of the British Schools
Smallbore Rifle Association Junior
Championships. George Sanders,
Andrew Hughes and Georgina Bush
performed excellently, but narrowly
missed out on the final. Their
scores meant they were still placed
in the top 30. In the Sixth Form,
Elizabeth Ramsay, Sophie Burrows
and George Auty secured places
in the final of the British Schools
Smallbore Rifle Championships,
while Vsevolod Gostev just
narrowly missed out on a place
in the final. The top 20 students in
the country will be taking part
in the final.
ANNuAL rOTArY cLuB
TEcHNOLOGY cHALLENGE
Seven Year 9 students took
part in the annual Rotary Club
Technology Challenge alongside
other Cambridge Schools
including: Impington Village
College, Linton Village College,
The Leys School, St Mary’s School
and St Bedes Inter-Church School.
Each year a new engineering
challenge is set, usually involving
woodwork, electronics and the
application of the laws of physics.
All of the students did extremely
well, but a special mention goes
to ‘Perse Team 2’ – Aidan Jones,
Harry Traherne and Owen Peckham
– who won the overall award
at the competition. They did a
fantastic job with their design and
its implementation. Perse Team
1 – Masaki Hattori, Toby Proudfoot,
Lavnik Balyan and Mark Paschalis
– also completed the challenge
successfully with a great design.
Joan Rodgers Masterclass
The Perse Music Department was
delighted to welcome acclaimed
soprano Joan Rodgers to school
recently. Joan delivered an excellent
masterclass to nine of our senior
singers in front of an audience of
over 70. She performed for us at
the beginning of the afternoon,
singing some Tchaikovsky followed
by a dramatic and funny Mozart
Aria. These performances proved
inspirational not just for those
singing in the masterclass but also
for the whole audience.
uNiTED NATiONS
Perse students from Years 11 to
Upper Sixth attended the Model
United Nations Conference, where
they acted as UN ambassadors,
serving on a number of different
United Nations committees,
including the Security Council and
the Human Rights Committee.
Pupils also enjoyed a fascinating
lecture by Professor Jack Spence
from King’s College, London, who
spoke on whether it is ever right
to negotiate with terrorists. Over
the course of the day, three Perse
students were awarded ‘highly
commended delegate awards’ –
Salvador Buse (L6), Greg Stewart
(U6) and Hamza Wahid (U6).
06
FROM ABOVE C. 1953
From 1890 to 1960 The Perse was at Gonville Place. Around 1953, eight photographs of the School and its surroundings were taken from the tower of the Catholic Church (Our Lady and the English Martyrs).
It is an obvious vantage point, yet one that seems not to have been utilised before or since. The photographer was Malcolm McFarlane, Head of Geography from 1948 to 1990, who gave the photos to the School in 2004 with the casual diffidence archivists have come to expect from donors: ‘If they are of any use for the archives feel free, otherwise chuck them out’. (Imagine getting the Crown Jewels through the post: ‘The Monarchy has been abolished; are these old crowns of any use to you?’) Four photos showing a panorama from left to right have been selected here.
1 — The street scene shows Regent Street looking north-west towards the city centre. At the bottom is a petrol station where Lloyds Bank now stands, with the University Arms Hotel and Parker’s Piece visible top right. The relative absence of street furniture and traffic is striking, yet the Holford Report of 1950 named this junction as the busiest in Cambridge.
2 — Next we see the light-coloured render of the 1934 extension, which added science labs, a dining hall and a masters’ common room. This wing survives, incorporated into the Examinations Syndicate buildings. The house behind, facing Drosier Road, has since been demolished.
3 — The third photograph shows the School Hall, with Harvey Road running diagonally across the top right-hand corner. It is particularly interesting in showing the miscellaneous outbuildings, including the Scout Hut (light roof furthest from the camera) and the corrugated iron hut (far right foreground) where the porter received inquirers. All these buildings were demolished in 1960.
4 — The final photograph looks further right and higher to include Pendeen House (bottom right) which housed the Mummery and Music Room on the first floor, and classrooms above. Above the line of Harvey Road can be seen part of Fenner’s, where the annual Athletics Sports were held. The view then fades towards the Mill Road area. One is reminded of the smoke from coal fires that hung over towns before the Clean Air Act (1956).
Time can lend a fascination to the humblest of objects: readers are encouraged to regard the archive as a filter between their Perse bric-a-brac and a skip. All contributions gratefully received.
07
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Gonville Place
2
3
1
4
FeatureFeature
08
AnEnduring
Gift
On Thursday 19 March 2015 more than 150
guests gathered at the School to help us
launch a major fundraising campaign: An
Enduring Gift. We were delighted to count
among our guests Sir David Tang (1973) and
Joanna Lumley. Joanna spent some time with
students who performed on the night and
delivered a passionate speech highlighting the
importance of performing arts in developing
confident presentation and communication
skills. Dr Perse founded the School 400 years
ago through a bequest with the express wish
that it should provide an excellent education
for talented children of all backgrounds. We
remain committed to his vision and through
this campaign seek to make the School even
stronger for the generations to come and to
enhance the role we play in the local community
as a charitable organisation.
The Bursary Fund
Between 1945 and 1997 the School received
government support and many of you owe your
Perse education to the Direct Grant and Assisted
Places schemes. Today, with no government
support available, to protect those free and
subsidised places we rely on the generosity of
those who share our belief in education as the
greatest, most lasting gift. Without this support
we would have to raise the fees significantly
which would reduce affordability and, as a
result, the breadth of our intake.
The Bursary Fund provides £1 million of
means-tested fees assistance each year to 120
students across the Prep and the Upper. It also
enables us to support families of current pupils
who face sudden and unexpected hardship.
In so doing The Perse helps children realise
their intellectual potential, maximises talents,
provides routes for social mobility and delivers
on its longstanding charitable mission.
Our vision is to double the number of
children supported by the Bursary Fund by
2025. We expect to create these places with
money from three sources: from investment
income, from the growth of the endowed
Bursary Fund and, of course, from generous
philanthropic donations.
Beyond the School Gates
Through the Bursary Fund we will only ever
be able to reach out to a limited number of
children, but we are keen to do more and so
complement the bursary provision with our
outreach programme. It enables us to support
a much wider group of children locally and
internationally.
We have forged links with 17 local
primary schools. Our pupils and staff visit
these schools on a fortnightly basis to produce
learning materials, to support children with
special educational needs and to teach classes
in Mathematics, Latin, French and Computer
Science. In partnership with the Fitzwilliam
Museum, King’s and Gonville and Caius Colleges
we have also developed a 1-to-1 mentoring
programme with Perse sixth formers using
History and Art to spark intellectual curiosity,
instil confidence and raise aspirations among
primary school pupils.
We are proud of our special partnership
with Christel House, an international charity
that operates in some of the world’s most
impoverished communities to transform lives
through education. We support Christel House
by means of teacher secondments, exchange
of expertise, fundraising and collaborative
student projects.
This feature is continuedover the next two pages
— The Perse launches a major fundraising campaign
09
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Feature
A Centre for Outstanding Performance
Drama, debating, public speaking, music
recitals and performances all help children
develop the self-confidence, communication
skills and dedication needed for later success.
For The Perse, an outstanding performing
arts centre is perhaps particularly important,
building as it does on our heritage of placing
Drama at the heart of teaching here.
But this facility will do much more than
simply promote the arts. It will enable us to
encompass and enrich a host of activities across
all academic departments, for example by
hosting educational seminars and conferences
on all subjects including Science, Technology,
Engineering and Enterprise.
We have outgrown our existing spaces
and there is a pressing need for this new
development, which will feature a 364-seat
galleried auditorium, fully equipped front and
back of house areas, a two storey glass encased
foyer for exhibitions and receptions, and a
café. The flexible and architecturally inspiring
building will be enhanced by a beautifully
landscaped courtyard, where pupils can take
a break from a busy school day to socialise,
reflect and relax.
We are fully committed to this project
as part of the most radical development of
the School site since the move to Hills Road in
1960, and the majority of the finances are in
place. But we now need your help to raise £2
million to complete the final step in realising
this important project.
Would you like to find out more?
If you would like to find out more about the
campaign and how to support it, please visit:
www.perse.co.uk/
oldperseans/anenduringgift
or contact: Maša Amatt
Director of Development
T 01223 403835
Continued
This feature is continued from the previous page.
Our vision is to double the number of children supported by the Bursary Fund by 2025
10
Haworth Tompkins
2014 Sterling Prize Winners
The Perse has selected Haworth Tompkins to
develop a remarkable new performance space for
the school. Haworth Tompkins was established
in 1991 and has since created a range of award-
winning designs for performing arts projects
across the UK.
Currently, the firm is engaged on the
master-planning, extension and improvement of
the National Theatre on the South Bank and the
redevelopment of the Bristol Old Vic. Other works
include the redevelopment of the Chichester
Festival Theatre; the redesigning of the Young
Vic; the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool; the Britten
Studio and Jerwood Kiln Studio at Aldeburgh; and
the Royal Court Theatre in London.
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Old Perseans / Spring 2015
A Look at School FinancesGrowth in pupil numbers
(which ends in 2015/16) and
prudent financial management
has put the School in a strong
financial position. Once we have
met our day-to-day operating
costs, we are left with a balance
to put towards future bursaries
and major improvements
(captial expenditure).
FeesInvestment incomeOther educational income
Education & welfareBursaries, scholarships, etc.Premises (excluding capex)
AdministrationInterest
– Capital expenditure – Surplus – Surplus plus donations – Surplus plus donations and loan income, less loan repayments
– School funded capex* – Surplus** – Surplus plus loan income less loan repayments
‘06 / ‘07 ‘08 / ‘09 ‘10 / ‘11 ‘12 / ‘13 ‘14 / ‘15
£12m
£6m
0
£9m
£3m
Year-on-year surplus v capital expenditure
10 year cumulative surplus v capital expenditure
‘06 / ‘07 Pupil Nos 975
‘15 / ‘16 Pupil Nos 1,560
£45m
0
£15m
£25m
£35m
£5m
Although capital expenditure
varies year-on-year, over the past
nine years we have spent more
than our surplus. The anticipated
cumulative cost of major
improvements at all three schools
in the decade to 2015/16 is £40m,
which exceeds the anticipated
cumulative operating surplus
by £6.8m. Loans and generous
donations make up the shortfall.
Our strategy is to make major
improvements as early as possible,
to maximise the number of today’s
students who benefit from the
changes that their fees are helping
to finance. To do this, we must
secure loans in addition to the
donations we receive. The surplus
helps us to service and secure
loans at competitive interest rates.
income v expenditure (excluding capital expenditure)
* school funded capex = capex net of donations received specifically for capital projects. ** surplus = net incoming resources on unrestricted activities excluding depreciation on pre 2006/07 assets.
£6.8 million
shortfall
OP News
OP News
Harmonies in the music are strongly
influenced by modern jazz
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James Wellandcommissioned by theMaster and Fellowsof St John’s College
An Old Persean has been engaged by the Master and Fellows of St John’s College Cambridge to compose a special piece of music for St John’s Chapel Choir and Marimba. The commission, which was part of the college music festival, was a re-interpretation of the Marian text, Salve Regina, originally set to music by Herbert Howells; the harmonies in the music are strongly influenced by modern jazz, but the way the choir’s voices interact are more in line with Renaissance choral writing. James Welland (2006), who also gained his Masters in Music Composition from St John’s College, is now a freelance composer and pianist living in London. Salve Regina received its first performance in the Chapel in February this year.
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Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Harry Whittle (2009) has received the John L. Ziegler Award for Outstanding Capstone Project for his Masters dissertation from the University of California. Harry’s project, Food insecurity, chronic sickness, and violence among low-income HIV patients in the Bay Area, was cited for being compelling in its design, execution, and scope. ‘Harry’s novel analysis of the structural drivers of food insecurity demonstrated his commitment to science coupled with deep compassion for our most vulnerable populations,’ said Jaime Sepulveda, Executive Director of UCSF Global Health Sciences, when announcing the award.
OP and former Governor The Rev Dr John Polkinghorne’s (1948) book The Faith of a Physicist (1994) has been included in the prestigious new Princeton University Press Legacy Library. This library’s commitment is ‘to disseminating the highest quality scholarship both within academia and to society at large.’
Tea & Buns as Usual: My years at the Perse School 1940–1952. With The Perse rapidly approaching its 400th birthday, Rodney Dale (1952) is recording some of his memories from his time at the School. Rodney says: ‘My years at The Prep coincided with World War II, so I have woven in some wartime memories. The title comes from the conclusion of Stanley Stubbs’s announcements of forthcoming activities of School Clubs and Societies at the end of morning assemblies. If you recognize the phrase, you may well want to read the book.’
If you are interested in a copy please contact Rodney at: tea&[email protected]
or contact the Alumni & Development Office at The Perse School.
“my years at The Prep
coincided with those of the
Second World War”Rodney Dale
Old Persean George Davies (2013) has recently been awarded an Institution of Engineering and Technology Diamond Jubilee Scholarship. Given to just 69 engineering students at the beginning of this academic year, these scholarships are awarded to students who achieved at least three A grades at A level, and went on to study on an IET accredited engineering or technology degree course. This prestigious scholarship entitles the recipient to financial support during their study, with winners also benefitting from mentoring and work experience through IET networks.
Marco Young (2012) has had great success at the Marlowe Society, the most distinguished dramatic society at Cambridge University. Marco has just played Exeter (the king’s advisor) in Shakespeare’s Henry V, which was part of their annual event production this year for which the society brings in a professional director (this year’s was Lisa Blair) to work with a student cast. Notable alumni of the Society include: Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Peter Hall (1949), John Barton, Sir Trevor Nunn, Rachel Weisz, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
Mark Summers (2005) has been nominated and Highly Commended at the annual EDF Energy East of England Media Awards 2014 for Newcomer of the Year. Mark currently works for Freeview channel Mustard TV, based in Norwich. Mark studied Journalism at Newcastle University and has experience in print and broadcast news.
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OP News
Old Persean awarded an
iET Diamond Jubilee
Scholarship
15
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
In February 2015 we launched the Year Group Representatives scheme. The inaugural meeting held at The Perse brought together 20 OPs who had recently agreed to take on this new role. They had an opportunity to hear about the plans for the upcoming 400th anniversary, including events and memorabilia, as well as about the activities of the Alumni & Development Office more broadly. Feedback gathered at the meeting enabled us to shape some of the plans better to reflect OPs tastes and interests. The YGR scheme is designed to foster closer links between The Perse School and its alumni. YGRs will liaise with the School, and in so doing, help to build a feeling of participation and mutual interest. The important, two-way communication will enable us to tailor various engagement opportunities so that they are of interest to OPs. YGRs provide an indispensable service to The Perse by helping and encouraging contact among alumni, as well as between the alumni and the School, and providing feedback on the School’s programme of alumni events and communications. On the right is a list of the current Year Group Representatives. If you would like to make contact with your YGR please email [email protected] with the name of your rep and we will forward your message on. We are still in the process of recruiting OPs who are willing to act as YGRs for their alumni year group; if you would be interested in taking on this role where there is a vacancy we would be delighted to hear from you.
Name Class
Oscar Giles 2014
Harriet McLean 2014
James Gardiner 2013
Eloise Wilson 2013
Christopher Kingstone 2011
Michael Franklin 2010
Rajen Mahendra 2010
Ophelia Brook 2008
Nicholas McLellan 2008
George Dean 2006
Thea Doble 2006
Victoria Brookes 2004
Adam Harris 2004
Benjamin Freedman 2002
Duncan Parish 1998
Andrew Herriot 1994
John Odell 1990
Morris Berrie 1984
Simon Flett 1981
Yuen-Wei Chew 1982
Timothy Dingle 1977
Julian Tunnicliffe 1976
Lindsay Marr 1974
Arthur Brookes 1970
William Harrison 1968
Stephen Stanley 1964
John Sacks 1964
David Ward 1962
Brian Bertram 1961
Victor Walne 1960
Michael Johnson 1956
Ian Gordon, Rodney Dale 1950s
Peter Biggs, Anthony Gray 1940s
The Perse Year Group representatives
Scheme Launched
OPs atthe table
Feature
16
Grant Powter (1976)
Managing Director
Powters SausagesA Family Business
During the early seventies at school I had no intention of entering the family business, which at that time was just a butcher’s shop.
In 1976 my father bought a small farm and everything changed. I must have spent much of my A level year (I was a boarder) poring over the map of the newly-acquired land, imagining myself on the tractor ploughing and rearing livestock (beef cattle). Eventually, after working on other farms and completing an HND in agriculture at Seale Hayne in Devon, I established a 100-sow pig breeding enterprise to supply our shop and more recently I have bred pedigree Welsh Black cattle which we reared organically on the farm – a lesson in sustainability! The pig unit occupied my time for about 20 years. During this time the shop was thriving, partly due to the pork but mainly as a result of the popularity of the Newmarket Sausage, which my family had produced since 1881 (it was my great grandfather’s recipe). It became increasingly evident that I needed to market the sausages more widely to satisfy demand and I set up a factory to enable us to supply supermarkets which were key to this. I was soon supplying not just Cambridge and District Co-op, but also Tesco, and we were delivering to superstores all around Cambridge, eventually becoming a regional supplier throughout East Anglia and including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. We now also supply to caterers and food service distributors supplying
restaurants and pubs nationally as well as to Cambridge colleges. The demands of a modern food manufacturing business are now very stringent and food safety and traceability are paramount. As well as having a great iconic food product to start with, marketing and PR have been important to our success. Also vital in keeping the brand fresh and relevant in a hugely competitive market have been product design, recipe innovation and packaging.
recently, the Newmarket Sausage became the uK’s 50th food product to gain PGi protected status
Recently, the Newmarket Sausage became the UK’s 50th food product to gain PGI protected status in the EU, alongside Parma ham, Stilton cheese and Champagne! With the Cumberland, it is one of only two sausages to share this accolade in this country. At the time I left The Perse most of my peers went to university and went on to pursue illustrious academic or professional careers. Business or vocational courses were not widely encouraged and I am pleased that this is no longer the case. As an only child there was a degree of pressure to continue and develop the family business but I don’t regret my choice and find the challenges of running a small business stimulating and rewarding, if at times frustrating! As managing director and an employer of 20 people, I am aware that ‘the buck stops here’ but it is good to be one’s own boss and I am beginning to enjoy more time, the rewards and to plan the succession of the fifth generation.
Continued This feature continues
on the following pages.
17
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Lydia Powter (2007)
Private Chef
Lydia Powter catering
After taking my A levels at The Perse, I took a gap year as a chalet host over a ski season and then went travelling.
I went to the University of Leeds where I graduated with a 2:1 in Management. Following this I had a couple of jobs in the City but realised my true passion was cooking. I then decided to re-train as a professional cook, so I went to Leiths School of Food and Wine in London, where I gained a distinction in the Diploma in Food and Wine. Since leaving Leiths, I have cooked abroad and all over this country, at a range of different functions. I am still in the early days of setting up my own business. I valued my time at The Perse as I felt it gave me an all-round education, and I chose the school over other schools as it wasn’t all about academia. I think this is extremely important in children’s schooling. We were able to choose between a great variety of enrichment activities. I did CCF in L6th and then Art in U6th, which gave me a chance to do something creative, that was not part of my A level subjects. I think this equips students better for both university and later life. One thing we weren’t offered (although this may well have changed now) was anything culinary. Anyone who glances at the media nowadays will immediately see something food-related; it is a big industry and being at Leiths gave me an appreciation and
insight into the wealth of careers involved with food. I come from a family who have established a business in food (Powters Sausages) and indeed it is certainly the reason why my father, brother and I were able to be put through private education.
Anyone who glances at the media nowadays will immediately see something food-related; it is a big industry and being at Leiths gave me an appreciation and insight into the wealth of careers involved with food.
My brother (also an OP) has gone down the more conventional route and is now a fully qualified lawyer. However, he tells me all the time he wishes he had his own business and that would feel like a greater success to him than being in a conventional job. Since moving away from London, I am now local to Cambridge and I am looking to establish some local clients in the area.
Continued This feature continues
on the following pages.
Feature
18
19
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Feature
Noel Young (1987)
Owner of Noel Young Wines
and Co-owner of Magpie Estate
Noel Young Wines
I left The Perse back in 1987 and started my business – Noel Young Wines – in 1991, moving to our current premises just up the road from The Perse at 56 High Street Trumpington in 1992.
I look back at my time at the School fondly. Whilst not academically hugely successful, I had a full and enjoyable time. I keep in touch with many Old Perseans, and many others have become customers. Even my old headmaster, the legendary Mr Melville, is still to this day a fairly regular customer. Sport and acting were what I excelled in, captaining Athletics and Cross Country, and I also directed the Sixth Form play. I think The Perse allowed me to express myself in many ways, gave me confidence in taking responsibility and public speaking. I always knew I was destined to run my own business; my father had his own supermarket when he was 21, so I guess it was in the blood. I grew up in a pub and restaurant and alcohol in its many guises always fascinated me. Why did this real ale taste different to another, why did that whisky smell of peat when another did not, and of course wine and its many, many, tastes and different types of production. A few months after I left school, the assistant manager role became available at Victoria Wine opposite Heffers. I applied, and in three months I was branch manager (still 18), and started taking wine courses. I found I had a natural flair for the subject and soon realised that I wanted to sell wines
that I believed in, wines that had a story, that were made with individuality. So I took the plunge to start my own business. We are staunchly independent and love to give friendly knowledgeable advice and sell top quality characterful wines without any pretentiousness.
The Perse allowed me to express myself in many ways, gave me confidence in taking responsibility and public speaking.
I wanted to get even closer to the subject and a meeting in Australia in 1993 proved very fruitful. I had fallen in love with Australian wines very early on, and later that year decided to start a business there: a venture called Magpie Estates, with my now partner Rolf Binder. I go over twice a year and get involved in all aspects of the business, including the blending of the wines. My favourite part is creating wines and styles, then seeing people rate them highly and enjoy them. Today NYW has a retail and wholesale business. We work as an agent for wineries around the world selling on to other independent merchants around the UK and the stores like Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. My brother Daniel, also an OP, joined the business in 1993 and is in many ways my right hand man. In 1997 we were joined by Jamie Harrison and to present day remain a small, loyal and superbly knowledgeable team. We are excited to be involved in the 400th anniversary celebrations for which I have created a couple of exclusive blends from our estates in Australia. These will be available from September 2015.
20
Philip Schluter (1991)
Managing Director
and Owner
Schluter LtdThe Joy of African coffee
I grew up in Kenya and have many happy memories of my childhood. My time there gave me a passion for East Africa, and a desire to see economic development in the region.
At The Perse, I chose to study History, Geography and Economics, and really enjoyed all three – gaining a broad understanding of the world of trade and business, and the challenges faced in different regions of the world. I have great memories of studying all three for A levels, and of enjoying the sixth form years. I applied for History and Economics at Jesus College in Oxford, with the aim of studying African development. After the first year, I realised that the only mention of Africa in the course materials for the next two years was in a course entitled ‘British Colonial Policy Abroad’. I switched to Geography and was lucky to make the move without repeating a year. I studied international trade and took papers on the history of Southern Africa. On graduating, I was offered a job by my uncle in our family coffee business, based at the time near Geneva in Switzerland (my father was involved in Christian charities in the UK). I joined the family business at the bottom, and worked for two years in the sample room preparing coffee samples to send them all over the world. I then joined the trading team, and ended up buying the majority of the business in 2003 and taking over as MD. The Schluter coffee business was founded in 1858, with offices in London and Liverpool, and I am now the 6th generation of the family to run the business. Since the
i am now the 6th generation of the family to run the business.
mid-twentieth century, we have been focused on African coffees, and since I took over, we have specialised in gourmet coffees from Africa. Over 90% of African coffee is produced by smallholder farmers, who are subsistence farmers relying on coffee as their only cash crop. Their coffee price dictates their cash income for the year, and thus is a big contributor to their standard of living. My dissertation at Oxford showed that increasing smallholders’ incomes is one of the most effective ways to develop a local economy, as almost all of the expenditure is on locally produced goods, as well as health and education. As well as a passion for African development, I have developed a passion for coffee as a product. There are many and varied natural flavours in coffee, stemming from different tree varietals (such as Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Batian), different soils and growing conditions (with altitude a key determinant of flavour), and processing methods – coffee is fermented rather like wine, or can be sun-dried, leading to a less acid, sweeter and thicker coffee – more like grape juice. I love to show consumers the difference between different coffees, and see them discover flavours which they did not know existed. We today serve over 70 roasting clients worldwide including South Africa, Morocco, Palestine, Israel, Japan, South Korea, most European countries, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. We are buying primarily in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, D.R. Congo and Cameroon, and have our own offices or sourcing operations in many of these countries. It is great to get to travel the world doing something you love, and I am grateful for the foundations I received through a great education, and the teachers who inspired me and nurtured my interests what now seems a long time ago.
21
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Feature
22
Cole Sansom (U6) writes:
I’m fascinated by the idea of artistic or literary movements, how
just a few artists can suddenly change the artistic landscape into
something completely different from what it was a generation
before. For my Extended Project Qualification, I decided I wanted
to focus on recent changes in literature and stumbled upon the
works of the author David Foster Wallace. I read more of his books
until I was sure that I wanted to research more for the EPQ and I
discovered many critics who argued that he caused a significant
change in American Literature. For my project, I not only read
many of Wallace’s works (both fiction and non-fiction), but many
critical works about Wallace as well as several more recent novels.
I intended to find out any connection between his work and other
recent works of fiction.
Wallace is most celebrated for his 1996 behemoth of a novel
Infinite Jest, in which he creates a near-future USA in order to
demonstrate the problems of postmodern literature, and an attempt
to escape them. In his essay ‘E Unibus Pluram’, Wallace argues that
irony, once a useful tool in postmodern fiction, has become absorbed
and commercialised into mainstream culture. In the ‘60s, it was a
literary device used to tear down hypocrisies, but by the ‘80s and
‘90s it had not only lost its purpose, but it had become the aura
that surrounded society. This, along with post-structural theories of
language, had led to an antihumanistic literary landscape in which
both authors and readers had lost faith in language’s ability to
communicate meaning. Wallace attempted to write literature that
used postmodernist irony for humanist ends; to restore language
and literature’s faith in humanity, and literature’s own power to be
meaningful. Infinite Jest features a man who struggles to be earnest
and sincere in a society that favours ironic detachment, who never
quite manages to communicate his emotions to other people. The
book features nearly 400 endnotes, which are placed so the reader
is deliberately taken out of the fiction, and is not only confronted
with the constructedness of the story, but has an active role in
piecing it together. Wallace’s fiction often uses layers of distortion
separating the reader from the story, in order to reflect questions
of meaning back towards the reader.
— How have the writings of David Foster Wallace influenced a change in Postmodern Literature?
in response
23
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Literary influences
COLE SANSOMU6
Feature
24
Continued
This article is continued
from the previous page.
I would look at the partial decrypts and try to find word fragments which I would complete and add to the cribs. In this way I was able to reconstruct the original key.
For the project, I read recent novels such as Mark
Danielewski’s House of Leaves and Dave Eggers’s A Heartbreaking
Work of Staggering Genius, in order to look for Wallace’s influence.
I found that these texts and many others also utilised devices he
popularised. House of Leaves features a ‘spiral of remediation’, in
which many different layers of editing and editors prevent the reader
from directly accessing the story, but also has the opposite effect
of making it more distant. Instead, the story and the relationships
between the characters on the different levels of editing feel more
realistic and meaningful. Danielewski claimed that he was inspired
by Infinite Jest’s use of endnotes, and in House of Leaves, the reader
plays an even more active role, piecing together the text’s many
narratives and characters, and navigating through the maze of
writing that is sometimes spiralling across the page, and other times
backwards or even upside down. These devices allow the reader to
find some sort of meaning through the novel, which features irony
and sincerity in equal measures; both used towards humanist ends,
as Wallace envisaged. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius,
shows many signs of Wallace’s influence as well. Eggers, who was a
close acquaintance of Wallace, doesn’t hold back on emotion; the
novel reads as if he is throwing his feelings at the reader. Instead of
postmodernist detachment,
Eggers aims for sincerity and honesty, and by not withholding
any emotion, he manages to communicate his feelings to the reader.
The novel features a lengthy preface and addendum, advising the
reader on how to approach it, interpret it, and possibly miss out
selected chapters, further increasing the reader’s control over the
narrative, as well as making the presence of the writer felt. This
allows Eggers to directly communicate with the reader, and what
could be seen as a postmodern device is used for humanist ends.
Ultimately, Wallace’s writing has influenced the novels I have
mentioned, along with several others, in creating fiction in which
poststructural and postmodern techniques are used for humanist
ends. He has ushered in a new trend in fiction, influencing writers
such as Jonathan Franzen and Zadie Smith to create literature that
emphasises sincerity.
25
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Every decade or so, American
literary studies seem to become
fixated on the significance of
a particular novel. During the
1950s and ’60s, it was Herman
Melville’s Moby-Dick (published
in 1851, but only receiving serious
critical attention after World
War Two); in the 1970s, it was
Thomas Pynchon’s postmodern
epic, Gravity’s Rainbow (1973),
while Toni Morrison’s Beloved
(1987) was at the heart of literary
debate through the 1990s. In
recent years, it appears that
David Foster Wallace’s Infinite
Jest (1996) has assumed the role
previously occupied by these
books, attracting the interest of
a new generation of academics
and students.
In his report, Cole Sansom
identifies several of the reasons
why Infinite Jest has become so
significant: he notes that – unlike
earlier purveyors of postmodernist
fiction – Wallace is determined to
reinstate not only the importance
of humanist values within literature,
but also to reclaim a central place
for literature in debates over
the future of humankind. Where
earlier postmodern writers, such
as Thomas Pynchon, sought to
conceal their own identity and
insist that the text speak for
itself, Wallace and those that
have followed him have sought
not only to move beyond the
metafictional devices employed
by Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut,
John Barth and others, but also
to play openly active roles in
transforming individual lives. Thus,
for example, Dave Eggers founded
ScholarMatch, an organisation
devoted to finding donors for
students requiring assistance with
college tuition fees, published
a collection of interviews with
exonerated former death-row
prisoners, and released What Is
the What: The Autobiography of
Valentino Achak Deng (2006), a
‘non-fiction novel’ recounting the
story of Deng, a Sudanese refugee
whose travails continued after he
had migrated to the United States.
As Sansom notes, one of the key
features of Wallace’s fiction has
been its suspicion of irony, once
a central component of ‘high’
literature, but now ‘absorbed and
commercialised into mainstream
culture.’ For Sansom, Infinite Jest
features ‘irony and sincerity in
equal measure’ in its quest for
humanist significance. I wonder,
however, about the extent to
which the two can be separated:
irony, as Susan Sontag noted in
the 1960s, is very much in the
eye of the beholder, a point that
Wallace seems fully aware of in
his insistence on the role of the
reader in shaping the meaning
of a text.
Sansom begins by
recording his fascination with the
extent to which ‘a few artists can
change the artistic landscape into
something completely different
from what it was a generation
before.’ While I would endorse
this claim wholeheartedly,
I would also add a note of
caution: Moby-Dick was at the
centre of the American canon
in the 1950s because (among
other things) of its investigation
of the American psyche at a
time when the Cold War made
this investigation of paramount
interest; Beloved seemed to
act as a particularly sensitive
register of new multiculturalist
histories that challenged the
optimistic and often triumphalist
accounts of national identity that
had dominated the post-War
years. Did these books assume
such importance because they
enabled readers to reshape
their understanding of the
United States, or was it that
they articulated ideas already
understood and agreed upon
more widely in particularly
effective ways?
Sansom has written a
report that identifies these issues
in a manner that stresses their
impact on literary studies and,
even more importantly, makes the
case for the ongoing significance
of serious literary fiction in the
twenty-first century. The report is
very well structured and clear and
indicates that he has understood
the multiple ways in which David
Foster Wallace has helped to
reshape the literary terrain.
Sansom’s grasp of the nuances
of this debate suggests that he is
ideally placed to conduct further
research in the area.
Dr Chris Gair (1979)
Senior Lecturer in English
Literature, University
of Glasgow
In ResponseTO COLE SANSOM
Outreach
26
Almost 250 students from 20
schools from across the East
of England, including King
Edward VI School Bury St
Edmunds, Meridian Academy,
King’s School Peterborough,
Uppingham School, Saffron
Walden County High and The
Perse met successful business
people last February to learn
about what it takes to start up
their own business.
Student delegates aged 15-18
reviewed business case studies
to select the most promising,
and designed a plan to grow the
business, pitching their ideas to
a panel of ‘Dragons’ to secure
£100,000 of ‘investment’. Their
second networking workshop
tested students’ ability to form
effective working relationships
by quizzing 15 potential business
people to find out who was a
genuine business guru and who
was an impostor.
This annual event, now in its
tenth year, is organised by The
Perse School, and is designed
to help students develop their
interpersonal and leadership
skills, whilst learning about what
it takes to start up a business
and attract that all-important
investment to drive it forward.
Business leaders who shared
their insights included William
Reeve (1990), founder of
LOVEFiLM and co-founder of
Secret Escapes and Zoopla;
Edward Taylor (2010),
co-author and designer of the
award-winning Cook.Taste.
Smile - multi-touch cookbooks
for iPad; Johnny Luk, CEO of the
National Association of College
and University Entrepreneurs;
and Max Grell (2009), co-founder
of GivTree – an online platform
that uses a chain reaction of
donations to raise money for
charity.
Students pitched their
business ideas to a panel of
judges consisting of OPs and
current parents, including:
Rick Mitchell (1962), former
Group Technical Director of
Domino Printing Sciences and
Visiting Professor of Innovation
at University of Cambridge;
Glenn Collinson, co-founder of
Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR);
Dan Sandhu, Chairman & CEO of
Digital Assess and Swift Shift; and
Ewan Kirk, CEO and co-founder
of Cantab Capital Partners LLP.
Ed Elliott, The Perse Head
commented: ‘The proliferation
in start-ups over recent years
means any careers advice
worth its salt must include the
opportunities entrepreneurship
can offer. We need to realise the
talents of the next generation
and ensure that good business
ideas and flair are supported
and developed. This conference
connects the would-be
entrepreneurs of tomorrow
with the successful business
leaders of today.’
Enterprise conference
— Almost 250 students from 20 schools from across the East of England met successful business people last February to learn about what it takes to start up their own business.
27
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
David Ward (1962) writes:Keith Noel (Ken) Symons died on 12 December 2014 aged 90. At a Service of Thanksgiving attended by over 400 family and friends representing the myriad range of his life interests, readings by members of Keith’s family were followed by a eulogy presented by his nephew Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence. Keith attended Dartford Grammar School and was an enthusiastic member of the OTC. In 1942 he was awarded an Open Exhibition to St Catherine’s College Oxford to read History. In 1943 Keith was called up; on D-Day, at the age of 20, he commanded three Landing Craft Tanks and landed the 6th Battalion Green Howards on Gold Beach. He made a total of 14 Channel crossings. Later Keith served in a variety of HM vessels on the Middle East and Far East stations. After V-J Day he commanded a minesweeper. In 1946 Keith resumed his studies at Oxford, graduating in 1948, and immediately accepting an appointment as House Tutor and assistant History Master at The Perse. In the 1960s he was Housemaster of the Junior Boarding House, supported by his wife Jean whom he married in 1954. Keith and Jean formed a close friendship with Keith and Beryl Barry and between them provided the perfect foil for Stanley Stubbs’ methods of maintaining discipline. In 1949 Keith formed the Naval Section of the CCF which flourished under his enthusiastic leadership. Former RN Cadets recall ‘Arduous Training’ in the form of East Coast and Norfolk Broads sailing, punting Canadian canoes on the upper Cam and an eclectic range of courses on Royal Navy ships and shore establishments made available through Keith’s contacts in the Navy.
In 1966 Keith was appointed Headmaster of Ryde School on the Isle of Wight, at that time a modest boys-only school. He soon established a CCF Contingent which produced three Admirals and numerous senior officers across the three services. In 1982 he was awarded the OBE for services to the CCF. By the time Keith retired in 1984 Ryde School was fully co-educational and is now a member of the Headmasters’ Conference with over 800 pupils. The school named a magnificent new cricket pavilion after him and for many years he was president of the Old Rydeans Association. The Bentleys of Perse days gave way to a collection of three Rolls Royce limousines. Keith and Jean retired to Wilton near Salisbury. They remained very active in the local and wider community. Keith was Chairman of the Wiltshire and District branch of the RNLI, an active member of his local church and was for a time Secretary and Chairman of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. Sadly Jean died in 2008; Keith is survived by his daughters Emma and Jo. Keith Symons will be remembered with affection as an inspirational man of strong family commitment with a firm belief in development of the individual; for his wisdom, courtesy, kindness and enthusiasm for all that is good in life – not to mention his sartorial elegance and mischievous sense of humour.
KEiTH SYmONS 1948 – 1966
“Remembered with affection as an inspirational man.”
More online
This list was up-to-date when we
went to print. Obituaries may be
read in full on the website
www.perse.co.uk/oldperseans
Benjamin, Stanley Barry (1947),died 2012, aged 84 years
Challis, Dr Michael Farinton (1965),died 27 October 2014, aged 67 years
Cope, Colin Edward (1950),died 5 April 2015, aged 84 years
Doggett, John Sidney (1946), died 25 February 2015, aged 87 years
Garraway MBE, Allan George Weldon (left 1938), died 30 December 2014, aged 88 years
Goodman, Adrian Stuart (1946),died 2 December 2014, aged 84 years
Halnan, Judge Patrick John (1942), died 14 December 2014, aged 89 years
Khazzam, Jack (1935),died 19 October 2014, aged 97 years
Moore, Keith (1957),died 25 April 2015, aged 76 years
Morris, William David Lee (1947),died 19 December 2014, aged 82 years
Mossop, David John (1959),died 6 September 2014, aged 72 years
Sheppard, David Samuel (1953),died 3 December 2013, aged 76 years
Walne, The Rev Alfred Damien Sydney (1957),died 7 March 2015, aged 74 years
Whittaker, Robert (1958 – 1988),Head of Mathematics; died 29 March 2015
Wilmore, Joseph Clarence (1941),died 11 October 2014, aged 92 years
cOLiN KiDmAN OBE 1938
Mr Charles Kidman writes: I feel honoured and privileged to have been asked to write some words about Colin’s life. Colin was a very proud OP, a fact illustrated by the support he gave to the School over many years. He greatly appreciated the fact that the School kept in touch and acknowledged his generosity. On leaving school in 1938 he went to The London School of Building. However, during his second year, the College was bombed and totally destroyed. Colin returned to Cambridge. He failed his medical call-up for Military Service due to his severe asthma and so began his employment with Kidman & Sons, the family building company founded by his grandfather in 1876. Colin’s distinguished career with the company lasted 72 years, including 40 as Chairman.
“Colin was a very proud
Old Persean.”
Colin represented the company at the local branch of the National Federation of Building Trade Employers. His knowledge, expertise and ability to express himself, was quickly recognised and he was asked to Chair the National Small Firms’ Committee. It was for this work, which he did so well, that he was awarded his OBE. Colin also became a Tax Commissioner, sat on Industrial Tribunals and became more involved with Masonry, where he held very high office. Colin’s sporting passions included horse racing and cricket. He played for The Travellers Cricket Club and was, for many years, their President. He was also, for a number of years, Chairman of the Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club. Sadly in 2011, Colin suffered a minor stroke and, after careful thought, decided to move to a home where he would be looked after; a typically selfless decision by a much loved and respected man. Colin died on 26 April 2014, aged 92.
Obituaries
28
JOHN miLLiGAN 1944 John Milligan grew up at The Perse where his father, a retired Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer, was the caretaker. John progressed to Gonville and Caius College with a county scholarship. He sang in the college choir and took part in tennis and hockey which he continued to play for many years. Following his degree in Natural Sciences, he studied medicine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where he met and married Doreen.
“John grew up at The Perse where his
father was a caretaker.”
He thought of studying anaesthetics, but an RAF career in Physical Medicine soon beckoned, as he was stationed at the rehabilitation units of Chessington and Collaton Cross, where there were many recovering war wounded. Working with Kit Wynn Parry and others he helped to devise back supports and similar aids to daily living. Along with Doreen and their four children, a posting in Singapore saw a return to general medicine. He gained his membership of the Royal College of Physicians, before retiring from the RAF in 1968 following a final posting at Headley Court, where he was a much loved boss. Physical Medicine changed to Rheumatology, and he, and his family, were delighted when he became the first Consultant in Rheumatology for East Dorset. For the next 20 years he enjoyed a very busy and successful lifestyle, participating in competitive dinghy sailing, as well as choral singing and exploring Dorset and Hampshire. A long retirement led to him being able to travel widely and enjoy being with friends and family, and a number of visits back to The Perse. Despite being registered as partially sighted and with Alzheimers, he remained very fit until dying suddenly at the age of 87.
TErENcE miLLEr 1937 Adapted from The Daily Telegraph Terence Miller was a geologist and palaeontologist who, as a university administrator, came under fire from extremes of Right and Left. Early in his career he contributed to volumes of Pevsner’s Buildings of England series; as a palaeontologist he isolated and identified a group of aquatic invertebrate animals, the Upper Palaeozoic Bryozoa. After education at The Perse School, Terence won a scholarship to Jesus College to read Natural Sciences. His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. After seeing action on D-Day and at Arnhem, Terence returned to Cambridge to complete his studies and remained at Jesus as a research fellow.
“In later life Terence moved to Norfolk where he devoted
his time to sculpting.”
Terence continued his career at Keele University where he was a founding member of the Geology department from where he moved to Reading University. In 1967, Terence was appointed principal of the University College of Rhodesia. Deeply committed to liberal multi-racial vision, he came into bitter conflict with the Smith regime. When Rhodesia declared itself a republic, with a racist constitution, Terence resigned and returned home. Two years later he was appointed director of the newly formed Polytechnic of North London (now London Metropolitan University). At the time the Polytechnic’s branch of the National Union of Students was in the grip of the International Socialists. Even before he took up his appointment, the group had issued a statement promising “the most serious disturbances this country has yet seen in a polytechnic”. Militant students staged an occupation demanding that Terence stepped down. Despite the enormous stress, he soldiered on as director until 1980, when he took early retirement. In later life Terence moved to Norfolk where he devoted his time to sculpting. He died on 17 January 2015, just short of his 97th birthday.
29
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Obituaries
30
Adapted from The Daily TelegraphBrian Horace Lister, who has died aged 88, was one of Britain’s foremost post-war designers and builders of competition cars. Lister was born on 12 July 1926, one of two sons of Horace and Nell. On leaving The Perse School, Brian was apprenticed to the family firm George Lister and Sons in 1942, completing his training in 1946, when he joined the RAF for two years’ National Service. He chose the RAF for two reasons: the prospect of using his engineering skills, and his enthusiasm for jazz (as he put it: “The RAF had the best bands.”). He became a well-known performer on the drums, having formed a band, The Downbeats, during the war. In post-war Britain, motorsport was enjoying a resurgence, and Lister turned to competition. He helped to co-found the Cambridge 50 Car Club, another member of which was a diminutive Scot, Archie Scott Brown. The two men became firm friends and shared a mechanical guru, Donald Moore, who maintained their hard-worked engines. After he had been almost beaten in one race by Scott Brown, on Moore’s advice Lister handed his car over to him for the rest of its career; his own interest was veering towards being a constructor. Accordingly he asked his father to fund the development of a car bearing the family name. By the summer of 1953 the project was under way. Brian would build the car, Moore would provide an MG engine and Scott Brown would drive. The car made its debut on 3 April 1954 at Snetterton, and won. Then, in 1957, the Lister Jaguar appeared. That season, out of 14 races entered, it won 12, setting either a fastest lap or an outright record on each occasion. Unsurprisingly, customers appeared,
and the car was put into production for 1958. Lister was suddenly in the first rank of sports car builders; if he was bemused by this, aware as he was that the car had been designed around the physical peculiarities of Scott Brown, he did not show it. It was at a race at Spa, in May 1958, that the great adventure faltered: Scott Brown died after crashing, and Lister had to be persuaded to keep going. Finally, in the summer of 1959, after the deaths of Ivor Bueb and Jean Behra (neither in Lister cars) he withdrew from racing, supporting existing customers until the effort wound down in the 1960s. He remained actively involved in Lister Engineering, taking it successfully into the field of packaging machine manufacture. He also continued to pursue his interest in jazz, performing publicly as late as 1990. An unfailingly polite, drily humorous but essentially diffident man (despite his affection for colourful bow ties), Brian Lister viewed his professional association with Archie Scott Brown as both the highest point of his career and, in the way it ended, the lowest. He married, in 1951, Josephine Prest, who survives him with their daughter.
BriAN LiSTEr 1941
“An unfailingly polite, drily humorous but essentially diffident man.”
31
Old Perseans / Spring 2015
Anniversary celebrations update With the start to our 400th anniversary year getting closer, the countdown has well and truly begun. We are busy planning our events and projects to help us celebrate our heritage, appreciate our present and look to our future. We hope you enjoy reading about how our plans are shaping up. ANNIvERSARY LAuNCH EvENT
30 September 2015 marks the 400th anniversary of the foundation of The Perse, which is dated to the death of The Perse’s founder, Dr Stephen Perse. We lift the curtain on our anniversary celebrations with an evening of drama, art and history that will tell the stories of the defining, and sometimes surprising, moments in The Perse School’s history. Our selection of anniversary memorabilia will also go on sale for the first time. As a member of the School’s community, we very much hope that you will join us at one or more of our special events. 400TH ANNIvERSARY OP GALA DINNER
30 January 2016. Save the date! All Old Perseans are warmly invited to a special 400th anniversary Gala Dinner at the School. For OPs who attended Gonville Place, earlier in the day we will gather at the former School site, courtesy of Cambridge Assessment. More details about this event will be published in due course. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact the Alumni & Development Office at [email protected].
RESERvE YOuR PERSE ROSE
As announced in the last edition of the OP News, a beautiful deep pink, delicately fragranced rose has been created by Peter Beales Roses to mark the School’s 400th anniversary. It will be officially launched at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this month. The School has a limited number of these bare root roses for sale at £16.95 each. The roses will come with planting and care instructions and will be available from November 2015. Roses can either be collected free of charge from the School, or be delivered to a UK address at an additional cost. If you would like to reserve a rose, please complete our simple online form at www.perse.co.uk/400.
AN ANNIvERSARY PREMIERE
We are delighted to be working with the award winning composer and animateur, Rachel Leach, on a special music commission. Rachel, who is one of the UK’s leading education practitioners and a central part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s education team, and professional musicians will work with pupils at the Pelican, Prep and Upper to create an original piece of music based on the pupils’ creative ideas. The pupils and the Upper’s Senior Orchestra will perform the piece at a special 3-18 music concert during Lent Term 2016.
For more information on any of the 400th projects, events or memorabilia please see our website: www.perse.co.uk
the Perse school
@OldPerseans
Old Perseans
OP reunion Dinners2015/16 1964 — 19682015/16 1984 — 19882016/17 1969 — 19732016/17 1989 — 19932017/18 1949 — 19532017/18 1994 — 19982018/19 1999 — 2003
Benefactors’ LunchSaturday 6 June 201512.30pm, The PerseBy invitation.
OP cricket Friday 19 June 2015Play begins at 2pm, The Perse.
OP Bristol LunchSaturday 20 June 201512.30pm, Riverstation.
OP rugby Saturday 12 September 2015 Kick Off 2pm,The Perse.
OP London EventThursday 17 September 2015 The Savile Club, courtesy of John Sacks (1963). Further details to follow.
1993 reunionSaturday 26 September 2015 From 1pm, Fort St George, Midsummer Common, Cambridge. Organised by Oliver Metherell, David Jones, Julian Gough and Richard Reed.
OP uS East coast EventOctober 2015Details TBC
OP History Dinner Saturday 7 November 20156.45pm for 7.30pm.The Perse.
OP Hong Kong EventNovember 2015Details TBC
For more informationplease visit perse.co.uk/oldperseans/events or contact theAlumni & Development Office by telephone on01223 403808 or [email protected]
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