The

Aymestrey Magazine
AUTUMN, 1970
 T H E AY M E S T R E Y M A G A Z I N E A U T U M N , 1 9 7 0

OLD AYMESTREY ASSOCIATION

The twenty-eighth Annual General Meeting was held in the Memorial Library at the
School on Saturday, 20th June, 1970.
Present: C. G. B. Scovell who took the Chair, and A. G. Duncan, R. H. M.
Tildesley, G. R. Tuthill, R. E. Lane, F. T. Tuthill, P. D. Coates, R. H. Collins, M. J.
Hughes, E. J. Weaving, W. H. Collins, J. L. Aldersey, P. W. D. Davies, J. H. Phipps,
S. J. Coley, J. W. G. Perry, D. W. Henry, D. G. Martineau, J. B. Hughes, E. R. Lane,
C. J. A. Gallimore.
The Acting Chairman welcomed members to the meeting. The notice convening the
meeting was read, and apologies were received from A. B. Aitken, R. J. Thomason,
Richard Coates, B. W. Massey, C. W. Massey, J. C. Smith, J. Eyton Coates, G. Daniel,
Nigel Coates, C. J. Mayfield, David Stokes, Maj. A. V. Claydon and the Chairman Bill Stallard.
The Minutes of the 1969 Annual General Meeting were read, confirmed and signed.
There were no matters arising to be discussed at that stage of the meeting.
The Secretary/ Treasurer then stated that as the meeting was now held in June the
Accounts for the year ended 31st August, 1970, were not completed, but on a proposition
from J. B. Hughes, seconded by E. R. Lane, a motion was passed altering the financial year
to end on 31st March, 1971.
Election of Officers for 19170/71.
Chairman: J. W. G. Perry.
Vice- Chairman: R. H. M. Tildesley.
Committee Additions: F. Tuthill and H. Tuthill.
Honorary Auditor : R. H. Collins was re-elected, but as he would be abroad when
the next accounts were made up, the Treasurer was authorised to have the books
audited locally, for the financial year ending 31st March, 1970.
Honorary Secretary/ Treasurer: C. J. A. Gallimore was re-elected.
School Correspondent: D. A. N. Asterley was re-elected.
The question of subscriptions was discussed again at some length and the final motion
was proposed by E. R. Lane, seconded by J. B. Hughes and passed unanimously. This
motion was "That the subscription for life membership of the Old Aymestrey
Association be increased to £2 and that this should entitle the member to receive the
Aymestrey Magazine for a period of 12 years after the initial life subscription payment.
From this time members wishing to receive the Aymestrey Magazine shall be required to
pay a subscription at the rate of £4 for each ensuing ten year period." All life members
would however, receive notices of meetings.
Any other Business.
An extract of a letter from J. Eyton Coates was read which proposed that a Memory
to Tief, who would be 100 on 29th July, 1970, be made. It was agreed that donations
were to be given to the Headmaster after the meeting to be presented to Mr. and Mrs.
Asterley so that a tree might be planted in the grounds in the memory of Tief.
The Headmaster raised the question of the Swimming Pool and the meeting learnt
that although leakage had occurred early in the summer, the pool seemed to be watertight
now.
The meeting was also told that Mr. Asterley would like to produce a news letter for
old boys to be published at least once a year. Mr. Asterley
 3

would do the work if the Old Aymestrey Association would pay necessary costs
incurred. Members present agreed that this was an excellent idea and agreed to finance
such an operation, and it was hoped that old boys would write to him giving him news
to be incorporated in the first news letter.
There was no further business and the meeting proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. and
Mrs. Hugh Griffith and Staff for their kind hospitality during the afternoon.
The dinner was held at the Georgian Restaurant in the evening with John Perry in the
Chair. 28 members were present.

MISS ROSE DAVIES

Miss Davies died in Worcester just after Easter. She retired from her post at
Aymestrey in December 1956 after teaching Violin, Viola, Piano and Singing for nearly 40
years. She was very highly qualified, particularly proud of having been a pupil of W. H.
Reed, and she played in local orchestras under many famous conductors, including Elgar.
As a teacher she was forthright and exacting, and many a pupil who had neglected to
practice left his lesson bruised in spirit, and maybe in knuckles too; but there was no
denying her quality, and boys who worked and who had music in them had their abilities
brought out and trained to the highest degree of technical efficiency and style. For a long
period of its history she was very much part of the school, and there will be many readers
of these lines who will remember her with gratitude.

LT.-COL. L. L. BRIGHTON
Col. Brighton died last October. He joined the Staff of Aymestrey in January 1959
and taught here for seven years. He was painstaking and thorough, and everything he
did was organized with meticulous efficiency. Not a man to put up with any nonsense or to
suffer fools gladly, he nevertheless bore no malice and had a vast fund of patience and
simple kindliness, so that few men have inspired more affection throughout the school.
From. Aymestrey he went to teach at Winterfold House, where he died, as he would have
wished, in harness. All those who knew him will recall him with warmth and gratitude, and
will wish to extend their sincerest sympathy to Mrs. Brighton.

OLD BOY NEWS

Members of the O.A.A. who have missed him at recent meetings will be glad to
know that the President, A. B. Aitken, has largely recovered from his recent operations,
though he has decided to give up his work in Local Government.
R. E. Seaton has retired after eleven years as Chairman of Inner London Sessions.
W. E. Speirs has been elected to the Dover R.D.C., and is a Church Warden.
D. T. M. Birks, a Housemaster at Radley, visited Aymestrey in the holidays with his
wife and children.
J. A. G. Coates has been visiting Australia and New Zealand on behalf of I.C.I.
Dr. B. W. K. Fayle attended the Radiology Congress in Tokyo last year.
D. C. F. Fayle, living in Canada like his brother, has taken his Ph.D. degree. After a
period in publishing he has returned to forestry research work.
J. R. E. Coates has a second child, a daughter born in April.
 P. W. Baldwin, in the neighbourhood in the course of his work, visited the School
Scouts in camp. He is with the Leominster branch of the family firm, specializing in
furniture and fine art.
I. G. Bing is a barrister, and contested Beckenham as Labour candidate in the General
Election.
P. D. and M. J. Stokes were both in the R.A.F. squash team which won the Services
Championship.

P. J. T. Robins has his father working for him in his business in Sydney.
T. Bates has a son, born in June.
D. J. Barnard was married in June to Miss Gillian Bond.
N. J. K. Blair-Oliphant is working in Birmingham as Area Manager for Formica, his
second son was born last year.
P. B. H. Birks is a Lecturer in Law at London University.
D. G. Powell, after a spell in Spain, has a post in Dunlop's tyre factory in Zambia.
C. J. Powell's second child, a daughter, was born last November.
G. M. K. Evans has been having varied experience as a professional singer,
including Opera at Covent Garden. He has also been making documentary films, and
some work of his on Belfast was shown on the B.B.C. News.
D. F. Butterworth is now working on his own as a forestry sub-contractor.
R. H. Collins has passed his final exams as a Chartered Accountant; he is going to the
Ivory Coast, as accountant for the Methodist Mission.
F. T. Tuthill is back in England after working in various branches of engineering in
Australia and South Africa for three years.
R. Tustin has left Lucton, where he was a prefect, and is doing a 'sandwich' course in
engineering.
C. G. Heatley is studying sociology at the Oxford College of Further Education.
T. M. Chandler after two years at sea in the Merchant Navy is now on a six months
Cadetship Course in Liverpool.
S. R. D. Coates has left Wellington and is to start as a pupil with a London firm of estate
agents this autumn.
J. B. Baddeley, having left Kingswood with three 'A' levels, is reading Geology at
Cardiff University.
H. Green, after getting his B.A. and Dip.Ed. at Canberra University, is now teaching,
and studying Theology.
G. H. Daniel left Bromsgrove last year, having been a House Monitor and A. S. M. in
the Scouts, and winning the Silver Medal in the Shooting VIII. He is now studying Drama.
G. A. R. Green has left Repton where he was a School Prefect and Head of his House ;
he was Captain of Football and was chosen to play for the North of England Public Schools.
J. W. G. Perry, studying Architecture at Bristol University, recently gave a talk to the
School on sculpture, illustrated by some of his own work.
I. G. Urquhart got three 'A' levels at Tonbridge this summer, an 'A' in Chemistry, 'B' in
Maths and 'C' in Physics.
S. J. Dorrell has won an Exhibition at Brasenose College, Oxford.
C. R. A. Leakey got three 'A' levels at Broxbourne Grammar School, an `A' in English,
'B' in History and 'D' in Economics.
C. F. C. Maughan was in the rugger XV at Cranleigh and was reserve for the Cheshire
Public Schools.
S. M. Andrews was again in the shooting VIII at Bromsgrove, and was top scorer at .22
shooting last autumn.
A. D. R. Paton is a Prefect at Gordonstoun and hopes to be Head of his House in the
autumn and to get into the rugger XV. He is in the Surf Life Saving Service, and was a
member of the crew of the school's entry for the Tall Ships Race in which they were winners
in their class.
W. H. Collins won the Housman Verse Prize and 'O' level English Prize at
Bromsgrove ; he was in the Colts teams for rugger and hockey, in the shooting VIII, and a
sub-editor of the Bromsgrovian.
5
Also at Bromsgrove, E. J. Weaving was in the shooting VIII and the Colts rugger;
P. E. M. Ticehurst was in the Colts hockey and cricket; and M. J. Hughes was 3rd in the
junior cross-country, in which J. L. Aldersey came 7th.
A. N. K. Brown passed eight 'O' levels at Malvern last year.
J. C. Smith and C. Yuvaboon were in the Under 15 teams at Rendcomb for rugger,
hockey and cricket.
E. W. D. Tildesley is very active in music at Uppingham, being in the orchestra, the
band, main choir, special choir, and hymn group.
J. S. Maughan was captain of junior colts cricket at Cranleigh.
P. M. Woodward came top of his form after his first two terms at Wrekin.
Others from whom. we have had letters or visits include : Lt. -Col. A. J. W. Smart, A. H.
Slade, J. Coates, C. G. B. Scowell, N. R. A. Leakey, J. B. Hughes, W. D. Lead, C. W.
Massey, D. C. Hughes, D. G. Martineau, Miss D. M. Robinson, M. J. G. Billingham, J.
J. Coates, P. D. Coates, J. Coley, J. H. Phipps, G. Coley, D. W. Henry, M. P. Green, A.
Duncan, T. M. Steadman, G. R. Tuthill, D. H. Snell, H. Tuthill, P. M. A. Ashwell, P. R.
Powell, P. A. Baddeley, R. H. M. Tildesley, Major C. R. Trotman, R. A. Lane, C. M.
Foster, R. G. Yeoward, R. C. H. Wells, A. G. Powell, P. W. D. Davies, H. Lewin, B. H. Gaskell,
D. C. Davies.

GIFTS
We are very grateful for the following presents to the School :-

To Mr. and Mrs. Maughan for an excellent pair of binoculars.

To Dr. and Mrs. Davies for a large relief map of the World.
To Mrs. Woodward for a volume for the Library called Great National Parks.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lane for new cricket nets.
To Mr. and Mrs. Yeoward for a complete set of Shakespeare's plays.
To Mrs. Atherton for a beautiful cup for music, in memory of her late husband.
The cheque for the science room, kindly given us last year by Mr. and Mrs.Blake,was
spent on a Locust Breeding Cage and was successfully in use during the summer term.
To Mr. and Mrs. Rosoman, Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas and Dr. and
Mrs. Knox for their most generous cheques to the school Gift Fund. The way in which
these gifts are used will be recorded in next year's magazine.

VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM
 All three VI formers, having won awards to their public schools, Mr. Harris kindly
invited them to see a computer in action and also to pay a visit to the floor of the
Birmingham Stock Exchange during business hours. Both were well worthwhile and
very interesting and we are most grateful to Mr. Harris for all the trouble he took to
arrange everything and also for the lunch he gave us afterwards at the Union Club.

VISIT TO LUDLOW
Two parties went to Ludlow to see Henry IV, part I, performed on the open-air stage
in the castle ruins. It was a most beautiful production and very much enjoyed, particularly
as all those who went had done some preparatory work on the play. The second party
was unlucky with the weather but Mr. and Mrs. Yeoward kindly offered their house for
our picnic and then supplied us with strawberries and ice cream which more than
compensated for the rain. We are most grateful to them and also to Mrs. Lane for her
help with the transport.
6

PAUL BRINTON MEMORIAL

The Brinton Memorial Prize for 1969 was won by Philip Woodward and for 1970 by
Jonathan Nicholas.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Congratulations to : -
A. H. Lane who was awarded a Major Scholarship at Malvern College.
M. C. L. Harris who was awarded a Major Exhibition at Shrewsbury.
P. M. Schilizzi who was awarded a Minor Scholarship at Felsted.
LECTURE
We were very pleased to welcome John Perry (Aymestrey 1958-1964) who is reading
Architecture at Bristol University and who came over to talk to us about his work and
show us some of his sculptures. He brought over four of his pieces and talked about them
in a most entertaining and instructive way. This gave us a very interesting insight into the
work of a modern sculptor and was roundly applauded by the boys.

MUSIC
During the year 21 boys have been learning brass instruments, 8 boys the piano and 2
the flute.
At the Worcestershire Schools Festival in March 5 boys played brass solos and 1
flute. All were given good marks and so was the Brass Quintet which came second in its
class. Harris M. and Hardy D. again played a Tuba duet, written specially for them by Mr.
Reid, and they did well in the under 16 class.
The Atherton Cup for the best musician in the school was won by Harris M.
Harris was auditioned in London for the National Youth Orchestra and accepted on
their Spring Course. He spent an enjoyable week with them in Ramsgate during the school
holidays.
We are again grateful to Mr. Reid for all his hard work and enthusiasm in teaching all
the instrumentalists over and above his orchestral work with the B.B.C.
The most noteworthy feature of the activities of the Choir was its ability in part-
singing, the boys being able to sing several songs in three parts, and in the summer term
we even had two boys singing tenor.

LEAVERS AND NEW BOYS

The following have left:
D. C. Davies. (Dec.). Came September 1964. Rugger XV. Soccer XI. Cricket XI.
(Merchant Taylors).
J. S. Maughan. Came May 1965. Head Prefect. Leader of Blues. Rugger XV.
Soccer XI. Cricket XI. Pentathlon White Badge. Athletic Colours. Patrol Leader. Choir.
(Cranleigh).
P. M. Woodward. Came September 1964. Rugger XV (Capt.). Soccer XI. Cricket
XI. Pentathlon White Badge. Colours for Gym, Boxing, A thlet ics , Sw i mmin g ,
S w imm in g C up. A ll- round A thle tic Shi eld. Brinton Prize. Patrol Leader. Choir. (Wrekin).
C. C. Andrews. (July). Came May 1965. Prefect. Rugger XV. Cricket XI. Shooting
Colours. Patrol Leader. Choir. (Malvern).
M. C. L. Harris. Came September 1965. Prefect. Atherton Music Cup. Choir. Cricket
XI. (Shrewsbury).
P. D. Hickman. Came April 1969. Rugger XV. Soccer XI. Cricket XI (Capt.). Athletic
Colours. (Leighton Park).
7

J. C. B. Jones. Came May 1966. Rugger XV. Soccer XI. Cricket XI. Shooting Colours.
(Lucton).
D. M. Knox. Came January 1966. Rugger XV. Soccer XI. Cricket XI. (Rendcomb).
A. H. Lane. Came May 1965. Prefect. Leader of Greens. Rugger XV. Soccer XI.
Cricket XI. Choir. (Malvern).
J. C. Nicholas. Came January 1966. Prefect. Rugger XV. Soccer XI. Cricket XI.
Colours for Shooting, Athletics. Patrol Leader. Brinton Prize. (Monmouth).
M. S. Rosoman. Came September 1965. Prefect. Leader of Blues. Soccer XI. Cricket
XI. Shooting Colours. Patrol Leader. (Wrekin).
P. M. Schilizzi. Came Summer 1965. Prefect. Leader of Greys. Rugger XV. Soccer XI
(Capt.). Cricket XI. Boxing Colours. Patrol Leader. (Felsted).
A. Yeoward. Came Spring 1966. Rugger XV. Soccer XI. (Shrewsbury).
New Boys : Autumn, B. Burgoyne, M. Clarke, J. N. F. Edwards, C. R. C. Jones, S. J.
D. MacLaren, J. Samwells, C. J. Yarnold.
Summer, M. A. Jeavons, R. J. McLeod, J. A. Ridley.

RUGGER
A good season feels all the better after two poor ones, especially for those taking part in
both; and the XV, winning 5 matches out of 6, enjoyed itself. We have had more brilliant
sides, but not many more competent, and never one that was keener or nicer to coach.
The matches, in brief, went as follows : Elms, home, won 22-3. Satisfying, though not up
to later standard. Winterfold, away, won 9-6. Greasy ball : the pack took charge in the
second half and saw us through after being 3-6 down. Seaford, home, lost, 13-23.
Overcome by weight; but our forwards had their worst day, though our backs were good.
Abberley, home, won 21-0. Polished all round performance. Elms, away, won 24-0.
Harder than the score suggests : tough defence and skilful attack. Winterfold, home,
won 16-5. Fine game. (Refereed by George Coley, Aymestrey's 1953 captain: our
opponents thought him the best ref. of their season, a view with which we would not
disagree).
The pack was our main strength; slowish, of moderate weight, but tireless and skilful;
solid scrummaging, useful line-out work, with two exceptional loose forwards. Above all
they had the knack of producing their biggest drive at the vital moments : time after time
they won the ball on their own line for Woodward at No. 8 to take the heel and find touch
near half way ; or at the other end would come the great surge over the ball which sent
a back row man, Davies, Schilizzi or Woodward, in for a try.
Tries were scored by both halves, all threequarters, and four forwards. But two things
must be remembered about scoring : often the real maker of a try is the unseen forward
— perhaps Lane, Lead, Jones or Andrews — shoving like a bulldozer though at his last
gasp, or up to get his foot over in the ruck; and on the other hand even the man who has
only to run two yards with the ball has to be in the right place at the right moment and
make no mistake in his handling.
Maughan, given a quick and accurate service by Tildesley, was our most prolific scorer,
speed, dummy and swerve often taking him right through. He was also chief goal-kicker,
with some soaring conversions from the touchline; and Nicholas was ready to put them over
when Maughan had an off day.
Other tries linger in the memory : Kingston flitting through the Elms defence like a
black-haired mosquito, for Woodward to score; Knox taking Hickman's inside pass and
bursting head down through a wall of Winterfold men between the posts — good backing
up for a hooker (and a good hooker too); a classic movement by the backs against Seaford,
Tildesley, Kingston,

Maughan and Hickman all making ground, and Nicholas going over in the corner; and
the last of the season, with Schilizzi breaking strongly from half way, Maughan carrying on,
and Kingston there for the scoring pass.
And the tackling — good stuff from Knox and Jones especially in the pack,
shattering knee-high destruction by Woodward and Schilizzi, solid stopping by
Hickman, David-and-Goliath work from Martineau and Kingston, and Yeoward slow but
courageous at full back. In fact we have never had better tackling.
Lane led the pack with enthusiasm and intelligence ; and Woodward's captaincy was a
big influence. There was nothing asked of the side that he could not do himself, often
better than anybody. His grasp and control of the tactical situation was outstanding, as
was his style, length and accuracy of his kicking; and he had that anticipation which
seems to draw the ball to a player as with a magnet. He had a classic No. 8's day on the
Elms ground, scoring two tries at short range from strong forward drives, two more in
support of breaks by the backs, and making a fifth for Tildesley on the blind side. At the
beginning of the season there was doubt as to who should be captain : looking back, this
seems hard to believe.
The standard of the senior game as a whole has never been better. Samwells, Lead
W., and MacGregor all played with distinction as substitutes in one or more matches ;
and Veal deserves special mention. The junior games were keen, with their tackling showing
particularly well.
Colour-matches were won by Blues, with Greys second ; Blues also beat the other two
combined, giving a first-rate exhibition of the Sevens game. They also won the Kicking
Cup, the highest individual scorers being Woodward, Maughan and Nicholas.

SOCCER
Once again the soccer season was made difficult by the weather and by the fact that
several schools were not able to play due to illness. Only three matches were played.
Winterfold beat us twice by 1-4, and we went down 2-3 to The Elms on their ground. This
was a good match and, though we were not a strong side we played together as a team
and until 5 minutes from the end were leading 2-1. Then The Elms scored a good goal
from a corner whereupon Hickman replied for us only to have his goal disallowed. This
was a great blow but we kept going and at 2-2 for the last few minutes — which seemed
like hours — the game was very exciting. In the end The Elms proved just too good for us
scoring a neat goal on the stroke of time.
Schilizzi led the side and, though not a natural player, he worked hard throughout.
Jones made some excellent saves in goal and Knox improved steadily once he found his
best position which is full-back. Hickman was the most effective forward ; Kingston the
best controller of the ball and the only one to make really constructive passes ; he never
quite fulfilled his promise but should do well next year.
Others who showed up in games both senior and junior were : Veal, Samwells,
Peters, Tildesley, Hardy S., Hamer, Twinberrow S., Jones C., Davies J. and Davies R.
The 1st XI was : Goalkeeper Jones, backs Knox and Rosoman, halves Schilizzi,
Nicholas and Lane and forwards Hickman, Kingston, Yeoward, Lead W. and Martineau.

CRICKET
Played 8, Won 3, Drawn 2, Lost 3. These are the best figures we have had for some
time and include wins against The Elms, The Fathers and the O.A.A., and an exciting
draw against Winterfold. Of these the first, though a low scoring match, was the best.
The Elms batted first and 40 minutes later had been bowled out for 30. Both Hickman
and Rosoman bowled straight and to a good length from the start, hitting the stumps no less
than 7 times. Hickman took 5 for 12 and
9

Rosoman 4 for 13. Lane held a very hot catch in the gully and Hardy S. kept wicket
neatly. Though The Elms had a good batting side our bowling was accurate, the fielding
lively and as a result they were never allowed to settle down and play themselves in.
The enemy had a good bowler in Lee who captured our first 5 wickets for 15 runs
and it took us over an hour to get the runs. 8 wickets were down for 27, so when Jones
came in at No. 10 to join Lane, 4 runs were needed to win with 2 wickets standing and
anything could happen. They both kept their heads and, playing sensibly, hit off the runs for a
good victory.
Nicholas was our top scorer with 13 which included two splendid boundaries
straight back past the bowler, off the back foot, which went like rockets but all along the
ground.
In other matches Kingston bowled his slow leg-breaks very intelligently; he took 6 for
21 against Seaford who were undoubtedly the strongest batting side we played.
Incidentally this included a very hard caught and bowled of their No. 4 who made
centuries against two other schools. Four times Hardy stumped a man off Kingston's
bowling and it could be that this will become a most formidable weapon next year.
The fielding was patchy though at its best quite good; Kingston was the best being
very quick and sure. Nicholas did some good stops and Lane, Knox, Jones, Hickman,
Rosoman and Schilizzi all caught good catches. Though his field-placing is not yet
very observant Hickman managed his bowling changes with good judgment.
 Of the batsmen Nicholas and Hickman were potentially the best : neither quite came
off this year but they should both make a lot of runs before long. Harris and Jones can
both hit hard and Schilizzi and Lane batted with determination.
Others who showed some promise were : Lead P., Harris N. R., MacGregor,
Lead W., Peters, Davies J., Twinberrow J., Masters, MacLaren and Ridley.

VISIT TO WORCESTER COUNTY CRICKET GROUND

On Sunday, June 7th, Mr. and Mrs. Schilizzi entertained the 1st XI by inviting them
to see Worcestershire play Nottinghamshire in the John Player League at the Worcester
County Ground.
It was one of those golden days with beautiful weather, first rate cricket and a truly
sumptuous tea.
Sobers was at his very best as a bowler and fielder and also gave a marvellous
exhibition of how a captain should lead, especially in adversity. Worcestershire just won,
with one over to spare, in a nail-biting-cliff-hanger of a match — the perfect end to a
perfect day and we are most grateful for the kindness and generosity of the Schilizzi's in
taking so many of us to see it.

PENTATHLON
Maughan and Woodward held their White Badges when they left at Christmas, and
Tildesley won his in the summer at the age of eleven, which is a good effort since the tests
are devised for boys two years older; and another eleven-year-old, Kingston, is only one test
short. Hardy S., McCulloch, Martineau and Lead W. are also well advanced for their
age. Greys were the highest scorers.
GYM
Woodward was our best performer for many years, but when he left at Christmas
things looked very poor. However a new generation of promising younger boys began to
show up ; Tildesley and Hamer, both barely eleven, headed the list in the Spring Term,
and Hardy S. and Lead W. were two more juniors who did well.

10

SHOOTING
For a long time the standard was very low, but towards the end things went better. The
inter-colour cup was won by Greys with Blues second

Greys : Jones 129 Blues Kingston 124 (possible 150)

Nicholas 125 Rosoman 112
Andrews 112 Hardy 112
In the individual competition the first four, who were awarded colours, were .
Jones ... 46 42 42 43 45 : 218 (possible 250)
Nicholas ... 40 46 39 43 40 : 208
Andrews ... 41 37 43 39 45 : 205
Rosoman ...35 42 42 42 41 : 202

BOXING
Colours were awarded to Schilizzi and Kingston. There were four specially
promising juniors in Burgoyne, Davies J., Davies R. and Samwells J.
 CROSS COUNTRY
Nicholas was outstanding; Andrews, Kingston, Schilizzi and Hickman did well; and
Hamer, Peters, Martineau and Jones C. showed great promise.

SWIMMING
The overall standard was respectable, if not quite up to last year's; rather too many
senior boys became bogged down in the Scout Swimmer Badge tests, but the middle of
the school did well, and six beginners learnt to swim. Greys did best in tests and won
the swimming sports by a wide margin. Lead P., not really fast and comparatively weak
on diving, but stylish and powerful, won the individual cup, and colours were also
awarded to Lead W. and Peters; since the two latter are only 10, their prospects are bright.
Tildesley was the best of the remainder, and others who made specially good progress were
MacGregor, Martineau and Ridley.
The results in the Swimming Sports were :

SENIOR
Free Style 1. Lead P. 2. Knox 3. Peters
Breast Stroke 1. Schilizzi 2. Harris 3. Lead P.
Back Stroke 1. Jones 2. Lead P. 3. Peters
Life Saving 1. Lead W. 2. Peters 3. Lead P.
Underwater 1. Lead P. 2. Lead W., Peters
Diving 1. Lead W. 2. Peters 3. Lead P.
Plunge 1. Lead P. 2. Lead W. 3. Knox
JUNIOR
Free Style 1. Lead W. 2. Peters 3. Hardy S.
Breast Stroke 1. Lead W. 2. Tildesley 3. Martineau
Back Stroke 1. Peters 2. Lead W. 3. Martineau
Plunge 1. Lead W. 2. Martineau 3. Peters
RELAY : 1. Greys 2. Blues

ATHLETICS
Standards results were about the same as last year, with a welcome improvement
in Hurdles; and an innovation was that Cross-country performances from the Spring
term were included. Greys were top, and Greens second. Those who got all their
Standards were Kingston, Martineau, Peters, Hamer, and Hardy S. - one from Div. II
and four from Div. III - and Nicholas and Kingston won their Scouts' Athletic Badge.
11

On Sports Day the competition was much closer than it has been lately, Greys finally
coming first with the other two exactly equal. There were no really outstanding
performances, but Kingston's Cricket Ball was 7 yards ahead of Div. I, and the Div. III
hurdling was particularly good, with a very exciting finish. Colours were awarded to Nicholas
and Hickman.
DIVISION I.
440 yards 1. Nicholas 2. Schilizzi 3. Andrews 72.2 sec.
100 yards 1. Knox 2. Hickman 3. Nicholas 12.6 sec.
Hurdles 1. Kingston 2. Schilizzi 3. Hickman
High Jump 1. Hickman 2. Jones 3. Nicholas 4ft. 5in.
Long Jump 1. Harris, Nicholas 3. Hickman 13ft. 2in.
Cricket Ball 1. Nicholas 2. Knox 3. Hickman 49 yds

DIVISION II.
220 yards 1. Kingston 2. Twinberrow 3. Martineau 30.4 sec.
100 yards 1. Twinberrow 2. Kingston 3. Veal 13.2 sec.
High Jump 1. Kingston 2. Hardy, MacGregor, Twinberrow 3ft 9 ½ in
Long Jump 1. Kingston 2. Lead, Twinberrow l1ft. 11in.
Cricket Ball 1. Kingston 2. Samwells 3. Lead, 56 ½ yds
Twinberrow

DIVISION III.
100 yards 1. Martineau 2. Peters 3. Hamer, 13.4 sec.
Hardy S
Hurdles 1. Hamer, Peters 3. Martineau
High Jump 1. Martineau 2. Hamer3. Peters 3ft. 9in.
Long Jump 1. Martineau 2. Peters 3. Hamer 11 ft. 9in.
Cricket Ball 1. Hardy S. 2. Peters 3. Martineau 44 yds.

DIVISION IV.
80 yards 1. Masters 2. Ridley 3. Davies J., 11.6 sec.
Edwards
Hurdles 1. Ridley 2. Masters 3. McLeod
High Jump 1. Masters 2. Ridley 3. Edwards, McLeod
Long Jump 1. Masters 2. Ridley 3. Davies R., l1ft.
MacLaren
Cricket Ball 1. Masters 2. Ridley 3. Davies R. 42 yds.
Medley Relay 1. Blues 2. Greys
Sprint Relay 1. Greens 2. Greys
CAMP
It is 6.40 a.m.; it is cold; it is raining. The Scout Leader (leading for about the only
time in the day, except in the matter of second helpings) drags himself awake, struggles
into his clothes, and sets off for the patrol tents. Jones is awake and trying to look
alert and intelligent. Others stir into consciousness with expressions varying from a
blinking grin from Hamer to a puzzled, where-on-earth-am-I look from Lane. Rosoman
M's. expression is indiscernible, since his bed resembles a badly filled sausage roll,
empty at both ends with a bit of meat in the middle. In a surprisingly short space of time
the tents are empty except for neatly rolled piles of bedding, covered with groundsheets,
along one side; and the scouts are squelching about their jobs, digging a new refuse-pit,
washing the supper things, cutting wood for later in the day (several hours' supply is
already stacked in assorted sizes), and attacking the central task of the moment -
breakfast. All, except probably Samwells, are properly armoured against the rain. In the
kitchen, despite the rain, there are hot embers still under last night's dead ash; and the kindling,
12
kept under cover since yesterday, soon bursts into an encouraging blaze. By 7.30 porridge
and tea billies are on, the S/L's shaving-water is warm (Keep Britain Beautiful), the first
sizzles are coming from the frying pans, and promptly at 8.0 the horn blows ; and since
it is still raining a bit the shelter soon fills, the last to arrive, with courteous apologies,
being a stocky figure in enormous boots, looking (and very likely about to act) like one of
the more recalcitrant members of a Central European resistance movement. Breakfast is
on: porridge, bacon and eggs, tea, and unlimited quantities of 'bread-and.' We challenge a
patrol of five assorted Mums to produce, in the rain, from scratch, an equal meal in 60
minutes flat.
Conversation is not, perhaps, quite the same as in the most civilised dining-rooms. "
My egg's fried all brown round the edge . . . looks like the sun through clouds . . .
Mine's all bust . .. Call it an omelet .. . Must be a grass omelet ... They haven't taken the
rind off the bacon ... I like the rind; anyway you get more with it on . . . Anyone not got
tea? . . . Me . . . No, in my mug, please, not down my neck . . . Any milk about? . . .
Where's the cow? Cow, please . . . This is the cow that smells of detergent . . . Well,
you'll be Washed Whiter inside ... Unlike outside ... Any more for bread-and? . . . Yes,
please; yes, please; yes; yes, please . . . " (Yeses 15, Pleases 12 Conservative elected : no
change). " How many loaves left? . . . Eight, but they've got to last tea too . . . Oh well, we'll
just go on cutting
Meanwhile the rain has stopped, and now the sun breaks through; and one by one
raincoats are rearranged and stuffed scouts sprawl backwards with contented sighs. There
are few greater luxuries than basking on — or rather under — a full stomach, especially
when the meal has been earned by hard work. As Rupert Brooke didn't quite put it :
Scouts, egg-replete, in depth of June,
Would rather not wash up till noon.
Only it's July; and we do have to wash up. The steamer has been warming up since
cooking stopped; one patrol washes ; the next carries to and from the river ; the third
swills — slightly slowed down by highly scientific biological study of the effect of cold
porridge on the digestion of minnows ; and the fourth dries. All is finished by 9.15 ; the
next tasks begin; a party starts up the hill to the farm for water; the new cooks begin
preparation for lunch. And so life goes on.
There were several outstandingly good points this year. The first was that so much of
the routine stuff went with absolutely reliable smoothness, without any prodding. There
was always plenty of wood, right quality, right thicknesses, neatly stacked according to
size, and masses of good kindling stored in the dry ; the latrines were admirably kept;
there were always enough refuse pits; cooking was always sound and often excellent; the
heavy job of carrying water and milk was always done promptly and without grumbling;
the tents were tidier than one ever remembers seeing them before; tools were never left out
... well, yes, I know; but Rosoman did remember where it was. Which leads to the second
point — that when someone slipped up, one so often saw him realise it and put it right
sensibly without being told; and the ability to do this is in some ways almost better than
not making a mistake at all — not that you need set fire to a tent next year and expect to
be praised for pouring water on it. The third point was that, without any of the others
being bad, our patrol was a long way the best, and we have rarely had such a strong P/L
— Second combination. They know who they are : the rest of you must guess. One
thing further should be mentioned, though this was good last year too : packing
beforehand, striking camp, and tidying up afterwards were outstandingly well done.
And the bad points? Well, everyone who was there knows one, and we hope everyone
has learned from it, so no more need be said. But there was a bad factor not so far
mentioned, and that was the tendency in some quarters towards a poor use of free time.
To be camped in one of the most beautiful valleys in Wales, with fields, woods, open
hills, and a river, and then spend your free time playing cards in a tent, augers some lack
of imagination, to say the least.

13

Visitors from the School included Mr. Griffith, Mr. Cleary, and Miss Conche, all on
different days, and there were about forty parents, brothers and sisters on Sunday. In the
matter of official visitation we were promoted, since no less a personage than the County
Commissioner set out to find the camp on Long Hike day. Having failed to locate it for
some hours, he eventually contented himself with looking down from the top of the hill
and left it at that; probably the eagle eye of the Royal Navy detected all our granny knots
and sloppy lashings even at that range. Anyway he turned away in disgust, tracked us
down at the Severn Arms, and inspected out appetites instead.
The Long Hike was much easier than last year, though a shade longer, since it was
ideally cool for walking. In spite of having to take more steps than anyone else, the
three shortest pairs of legs — two pairs belonging to Smuggler and one to Hamer —
carried their owners well. The thickest and thinnest pairs also did better than they used to
do. There were more bilberries than usual, fewer wild strawberries, and fewer blisters. The
rain, which could be seen from the top of Radnor Forest pouring down twenty miles to
the north, did not start on us till the moment we reached Penybont, when we were only
interested in water with tea in it.
We had altogether two wet evenings and nights, and one wet morning. There was
quite a lot of sunshine, but after a sweltering first day the weather was mostly very cold,
with some strong winds ; and one astonishing gust ripped a 12 foot tear in the shelter,
fortunately on the last day, for which we were very thankful.
We were thankful, too, for many things done for us by many people for all the food
preparation by Mrs. Griffith, and the milk and bread arrangements by Mrs. Asterley ; for
the fact that Charles Leakey again gave up to us a week of his holidays; and for the
amazing kindness and generosity of all the people at the Neuedd.
As usual, there are dozens of other things that should be described, but lack of space
forbids more than a brief mention of a few of them. With the temperature down in the
fifties, bathing consisted mainly of standing ankle-deep on the rocks, unselfishly waiting
for someone else to go in first. Two scouts caught their first fish on a fly, even if it was
only a salmon-parr. By the irony of fate, it fell to Nicholas's lot to cook the kippers. And,
talking of injustice, Hardy D. had to look after Mead, Samwells, MacGregor, and his
own brother for six hours, did not commit murder, but has not been knighted. On Sunday,
Twinberrow and Veal both had clean faces at the same time for several minutes. Jones
and Tildesley tried to saw their hands off, but were put together again. Indeed, during
the week an estimated 3 miles — sorry, 4.87632 kilometres — of sticking-plaster was
used, but practically no other medical stores. No one got influenza, cholera, typhoid,
bubonic plague, or even chilblains. All in all, in the words of the Fon of Bafut, " We done
have happy time."
14