an enduring gift - the perse school · 2016-06-15 · from above c. 1953 from 1890 to 1960 the...

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

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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Gonville Place

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FeatureFeature

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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

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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

[email protected]

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

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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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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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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

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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

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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.

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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


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.

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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


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


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


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


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


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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