Old Blues Email News 5 January 2002

1. CH Band in Pasadena, USA

As you may know, the Christ's Hospital Band were invited to participate in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California, USA on 1st January 2002. Peter Bloomfield (Almoner, Governor, Old Blue, etc) was at the parade and has sent me a selection of photos which can be found [in the Events Gallery].

2. Benevolent Society of Blues

The Annual General Meeting of the BSB is being held at 6pm on Monday, 11th February 2002 at the National Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE. The AGM will be followed by a supper.

The latest BSB Newsletter has also been published [on the BSB website]. This shows the Charitable Outgoings increasing by 16% in the last year.

If you would like more information about either of the above (or to apply for assistance or membership), please contact Mrs Jane Hitchcock by email or telephone 01403 248868.

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3. Information Technology at Christ's Hospital

A plan to utilise the expertise and enthusiasm of Old Blues to help accelerate the broader integration of ICT into CH has been drafted following the workshop held on Saturday, 1st December 2001. It is hoped that this can be firmed up by the second half of January 2002.

If you would like to contribute to this, please email me in the first instance at steverwebb@47woodvale.fsnet.co.uk.

4. Doing business with Old Blues

In order to facilitate Old Blues doing business with other Old Blues, a new page has been added to www.oldblues.com [now located in the Old Blues section of the CHA website] to provide some sort of business directory. This has been started with an entry for Woodside B&B which is run by Tony Packwood (La A 49-56). It would be good to see if we can get a wide range of businesses up here from Holiday Accommodation to Telecommunications Consultants, from Financial Advisors to Chiropodists, from Wine Merchants to Stationery! - also, let us not limit it to the UK!! If you would like to add any businesses to the directory, please send the entry to me as you would like it to be seen.

5. East Midlands Old Blues

The East Midlands Old Blues has the following dates in the diary:

  • Saturday 26 January 12.30hrs
    Lunch at the Exeter Arms, Easton on the Hill near Stamford.
  • Saturday 11 May 10.30hrs
    Bluebell walk in Sywell Country Park followed by lunch at the World's End Pub, Ecton near Northampton.
  • Saturday 17 August 12.30hrs
    Garden Party at the home of Tim and Cathy Cockrill in Weston Favell near Northampton.

Full details may be obtained from Wyn Parry on 0116 2301054 or at wandkparry@dsl.pipex.com.

6. Dates for 2002

I would again like to make the Old Blues Diary on www.oldblues.com [now the Events Calendar] as comprehensive as possible. Could meeting organisers please let me have their dates for 2002 if they are not already posted there.

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7. Old Blues Real Tennis

From Richard McGregor (Ma B 1948-57)

During the year 2001 the Old Blues Real Tennis Club played three matches.

On 3rd May, Peter Bloomfield (Pe B 1944-51), Robin Lawson (Ma B 1950-57), Chris Harding-Edgar (Pe B 1962-69) and I turned out for our usual enjoyable fixture against Oxford. We lost the match by 3 games to 1 with Peter chalking up our victory against fellow Old Blue Tony Verdin (Pe B 1944-51), who plays for the Oxford Club.

On 1st July we enjoyed probably our most successful fixture ever in winning 4-1 against the Holyport Club, near Maidenhead. We were pretty pleased for a start to have five players - Peter Bloomfield, Chris Harding-Edgar, Andrew Reid-Thomas (Pe A/B 1985-92), Paul Simms (Pe A 1978-85) and I - and even more so that all the matches were closely fought encounters. By the way it is not true that you have to have been in Peele or Maine to play this game - all Old Blues are welcome! In fact we were glad to have Keith Lugton (Mid A 1953-60) as a guest to witness our strange rituals!

Our third match this year was on 25th November at Prested Hall near Colchester, where there club is owned and run by Michael Carter (Th B 1956-65). Peter Bloomfield, Robin Lawson and I were supplemented by two stalwarts from the Holyport Club. The two courts enabled a variety of singles and doubles matches to be played and we enjoyed ourselves despite losing by 8 games to 1.

We are sorry not to have seen John Butler-Rees (Th B 1957-66) this year. John has been unwell for the past year and we send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

For 2002 we have arranged fixtures at Oxford on Sunday 21st April and at Holyport on Sunday 30th June, with a third one to be arranged for October. Will any new players, or persons who would like to try out this addictive game, please contact the undersigned.

Richard McGregor (Telephone 01628 626258 or E-mail richard.mcgregor@btinternet.com)

8. Where are they now?

Gregory Woodgate (or Layton or Leyton) who left CH in 1986 is being traced by his family to attend his Grandmother's 90th Birthday - see the Where are they now? section in www.oldblues.com [now contained within the Blue Yellow Pages' Where are they now? search].

9. Deaths

Fred Grant has reported the death of Gordon Down, aged 87 years, who had been a Vice President of the Old Blues RFC since at least 1949.

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10. Old Blue Web Links

The following people have been added to Old Blue Web Links [now Blue Yellow Pages]:

  • Earl BALDWIN of BEWDLEY (Viscount Corvedale, Horsham Staff 1970-74), elected hereditary peer
  • Tony BARNARD (Ba B 1948-55), Chancellor, Lichfield Cathedral
  • Duncan BARRACLOUGH (Ma A, Ma B 1985-92), manager, Equity School Travel (a link to the Equity website)
  • Len BATES (Horsham Cricket Coach 1940s-60s), cricketer
  • John CLAUSEN (Pe A 1990-97), student, Cardiff University
  • Andrew COSEDGE (Pe B 1960-66), barrister
  • Jeremy DAWSON (La B, La A 1987-94), statistician
  • Sampson FACEY (CH early 1740s), settler in Jamaica
  • Laurence GERRISH (Horsham Staff circa 1939-49), musician
  • Adrian GRAY (Mid B 68-75), teacher & author
  • Michael GRIBBLE (Col A 1934-42), pathologist
  • Philippa HARPIN (Barr, 3's 1950-56, Governor), national occupational therapy adviser, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
  • Tanya HEASMAN (2's 1976-83), director, Consumers' Association
  • Mike HEWITT (La A 1972-78), sports photographer
  • Peter HEWITT (La A 1973-?80), film director
  • Richard HILLIER (Col A 1950-58), consultant in palliative medicine
  • Humphrey KENT (CH 1607-17), settler in Virginia
  • Ivor KEYS (Ba A, TB 1931-38), musicologist
  • Sandy MacDONALD (Staff, dates?), music teacher
  • Annabelle MARK (Parfitt, 3's, 5's 1963-69), healthcare specialist
  • Frank McKENNA (Staff 1986- )
  • Howard MEDWELL (Pe B 1959-66), teacher and socialist campaigner
  • Graham MELLSTROM (Mid A 1941-48, Governor), accountant, farmer, Parliamentary candidate
  • Patricia MENON (Mitchell, 2's 1954-61), teacher in Canada
  • Chris MOLLER (Pe A 1963-70), telecoms consultant & project manager
  • Peter PADFIELD (Th A 1941-49), naval historian & biographer
  • Roger PARKER (La B 1946-54), surgeon & clinical anatomist
  • Derrick PORTER (Ma A 1945-50), chemist
  • Henry Edward PRACY (CH 1906-13), chemist
  • William PRENTIS (CH 1708-14), merchant in Virginia
  • Jean RICHARDS (Pacy, 3's 1957-64), chairman, Fairwind Shipping Ltd
  • G L 'Bobby' ROBERTS (Ba A 1914-18), brigadier
  • Mervyn ROBERTS (Music Staff 1963-67), composer
  • Michael SEAKINS (Pe A 1945-54), chemist
  • Baz SHEEHAN (Ba A 1978-86), quantity surveyor turned headhunter
  • Stan SHEPHERD (Pe A 1956-63, Governor), chairman, Betterhealth Global Ltd UK
  • Derek SWEMMER (Horsham Staff 1974-5), Registrar, University of Witwatersrand
  • John WALLIS (1899-1905), clergyman
  • Andrew WATSON (Th B 1966-73), solicitor
  • Reggie WATTERS (Horsham Staff 1967-87), Coleridge scholar
  • Richard WICKISON (Pe B 1964-71), mental health charity manager
  • Ollie WILLIAMS (LHA, Th A 1979-86), artist - 'Olly and Suzi'
  • Andrew YEOMANS (La B 1965-72), computer consultant

Extra (or better) links have been provided for:

  • Nicolas CHISHOLM (h TB 1961-68), headmaster, the Yehudi Menuhin School
  • Sir Henry COLE (CH 1817-23), public servant, art patron, educator, author
  • Vere DUCKER (Hertford Chaplain 1938-42)
  • Simon Gillespie (Col A 1970-77), Director of Operations, Charity Commission
  • Philip HALL (Ba B 1915-22), mathematician
  • Richard LEEMING (La B, Ma A 1978-85), commercial lawyer
  • Katherine POGSON (8's 1976-81), leather designer
  • Mark THOMAS (Col B 1974-81), comedian & social commentator

Another pseudonymous diarist has been added.

The CH Related Topics section now includes photographs of this year's St Matthew's Day parade and the Coleridge Trophy designed by Thomas Woolner, plus a small aerial view of CH. John Rennie, father of two current pupils, defends CH as "the finest school in the UK". The relationship between CH and Richmond upon Thames is explored, the pupils and staff of CH Hertford in 1881 are listed and the destruction of the CH signal box by arson is regretted.

A number of broken links have been repaired.

Regards

Steve Webb (Col A 60-69)

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