CM KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

Vol 4, No. 4 Competition, Gifford triumphed, with Jeune and Heath as runners-up. AWARDS AND PLACES AT Besides the traditional exams., meetings and OXBRIDGE services, the term ended with some unexpected lectures for the Sixth Form. The General Studies OXFORD Course has just turned the spotlight on drama, Awards: but in addition we were treated to " Animáis in A. J. Evans: Scholarship, Christ Church Art," " Engineers in Medicine " and " China." The (Classics) " whole men " of tomorrow will be more able than C. Jeens: Scholarship, Pembroke (History) most to give a Chínese yeti a heart-transplant! N. M. Kay: Scholarship, Exeter (Classics) The Choral Society and a small army of readers J. M. Spencer: Postmastership, Merton gave us two services ¡n preparation for Christmas, (History) and the term dragged to a cióse. A fourteen-week term really is too long. Places: In retrospect, there have been two innovations J. T. Goold: Magdalen (Maths.) which merit comment. Firstly, the new method J. A. Gregory: University (Chemistry) of recording absences. It is nice not to have first A. Lacey: Oriel (Modern Languages) lesson ¡nterrupted just as it has got started. The C. N. Morris: Balliol (Engineering and second innovation is the system of keeping behind Economics) one form for ten minutes (each day) to clear up C. J. Wilson: Brasenose (Physics) the litter around the school. We must be thank- ful that our environment is so pleasant and CAMBRIDGE spacious. The advantage of this system is that it Awards: makes us realise, crudely, that the less litter we R. M. Batters: Scholarship, Sidney Sussex drop, the less we have to pick up once every five (Classics) weeks when our turn comes round. I. D. Holt, Exhibition, Gonville and Gaius Perhaps the most extraordinary event was (Nat. ScL) when the School handbell ringers appeared on J. A. Tarsh: Ratcliffe Exhibition, Selwyn A.T.V. on New Year's Eve. K.E.S. for ever! (Nat. Sci.) CHRISTOPHER HODGES D. B. Wilson: Scholarship, Corpus Christi (Nat. Sci.) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Places: Sir, P. M. Biddle: Fitzwilliam (Classics) I hope I am not alone in wishing to reply to J. P. Gray: Jesús (Architecture) Stephen Bingham's article in the last issue of A. D. Lloyd: St. Catharine's (History) " Chronicle." There are two ways of replying to G. D. Rees: Fitzwilliam (Nat. Sci.) such an article : to " prove " with facts that people abroad are far worse off than we are (which they are), or to reply in equivalent emotive terms, in SCHOOL NOTES an attempt to persuade everyone that people who At lunch-time on Thursday, November 11, the don't happen to be British don't have to lick our House Music Competition (Part I—Instrumental) boots to be called " people." So, dealing with was adjudicated by Mr. Gordon Clinton, the Prin­ mainly the emotive side of the issue, I would like cipal of the Birmingham School of Music. The to reply, point by point, to the article. result was not expected : Levett lst, Gifford 2nd, Vardy 3rd. The average age of the competitors (1) I am deeply disturbed that the Guild Hall was very young, and this undoubtedly reflects the exhibition only had " a shock valué first time enormous interest in practical music that exists in round." Maybe I, and many of my friends, are the Middle and Lower School. But before we " soft," but I find such photographs almost become self-congratulatory, we must realise that nauseating. It only needs a little empathy, a little if the latent talent here is to be put to productive realisation that people are ¡nvolved, for the whole use, to the mutual benefit of individuáis and the thing to have a permanent effect. Try visualising School, the keen young instrumentalists must be your mother in a refugee camp. allowed to play together as a band. To spell the (2) Whilst I see that there are problems in this point out, there is a place and a need for a Júnior country and that they must not be ignored in a Orchestra. On the choral front, the Chapel Choir self-righteous apology for our past empire, I feel, opened ¡ts Christmas season of splendid, if repeti- in a totally selfish way, that unless we do some­ tive, carols, with a recital at St. Agnes, Moseley. thing about the Third World, their problems will The Oxbridge candidates returned for their soon become ours. Never has a slave failed to ordeal in Room 72 after some bitter weather on finally overthrow his oppressors. Monday, November 22. On Tuesday, 23, the Film (3) l'd just like to suggest a comparison be­ Society were treated to the magnificent Morgan, tween the death rate in Balsall Heath and that in A Suitable Case For Treatment. On Thursday, 25, the slums of Calcutta. Or maybe you don't feel the Blue Book appeared, Heath won the Júnior death unless you've got a British passport. Basketball Competition, and Mr. Trott waxed eloquent on one of his favourite subjects, " Opera." (4) Aid is never "given" anyway. We make As the Oxbridge candidates emerged pale-faced a 50% profit on our overseas aid—this profit rep- from their enforced hibernation, the School rugby resenting the exploitation of the poor countries' teams demonstrated their elusive ability to achieve economies. (If you want to go into this fact, read consistently good results. In the House Gymnastics the Pearson Commission report.) (5) Sure, " Charity begins at home." But ¡t them, its claims are always pretentious rather than means that a sense of charity will ingress, to give belittling. The pretentious kind of pop music is begins with you, not with everybody else. triviality seeking respectability, and will surely prove ephemeral also, as has been true of its (6) I hope I never fall into the trap of looking literary equivalent from 18th century Grub Street at life in a false perspective. All I know is that to the present day. The more worthwhile examples there are a lot of people outside the radius of have if anything more right to claim that they my nose, and I feel that these people have just as take note of most musical forms " created over much right to live as anyone who happens to be millenia " than the " refmed " or " respectable " British. music that I assume he is contrasting " pop music " Yours etc., in general with. But they are obviously not ROBERT WILKINS Willetts's cup of tea any more than the rest of the genre of which he is making such sweeping Sir, . criticism. I have dwelt on this point at the expense I was ¡nterested to read the letter from Stephen of others because, while I agree with him on Bingham ¡n the last "Chronicle," but I believe several points he makes, especially towards the his argument has several flaws. end of the piece, the remark about music is an We are told by Jesús, " First take the plank out example of Willetts's own " typical youthful arro­ of your own eye and then you will see clearly to gance " which makes his article so objectionable. take the speck out of your brother's " (Matt. 7: 3, The third paragraph seems a little out of touch. Luke 6: 41) and not vice versa. Even to a non- Ideas and valúes have changed more quickly than Christian this must make sense, and it has a direct ever before because everything else has too; it is a parallel in the example quoted. The problems of truism to say the pre-war era was "a different India, and many similar regions, are large enough world," and even ten years ago certain aspects of to make our two million homeless (how many present day life would have seemed inconceivable. actually have no shelter?) seem insignificant. There The " classic image of youth " disappeared a long can be few peasant farmers who would not con­ time ago (with a comeback in pre-war Germany). sider an income of £16/£17 a month more than Youth's having the cares of the world upon its enough for a family of four. shoulders at least implies a sense of responsibility The suggested aid programme of \% of our not readily associated with the carefree, naive and G.N.P., which Mr. Bingham mentioned, is not an beautiful young demigods which, one gathers, arbitrary figure thrown out by " some organisa- Willetts would like our image to be, if not our­ tions " because they could not think of anything selves. There is more to worry about now than better. It was calculated, following very careful ever before, on every level; Willetts himself has study, by a distinguished commission led by Rt. taken the trouble to analyse and complain about Hon. Lester Pearson, Prime Minister of Canadá, what is wrong with everyone, so he is presumably 1963-1968. Ñor is it an outright gift, as seemed concerned about it. to be thought. A large proportion would be in All the authorities whose opinions I have read the form of " tied aid " which helps our own agree that children mature earlier. The fact that country's economy. they consider themselves grown up is partly on Of course there is a need in Balsall Heath; I account of this and partly because of fuller educa- could hardly deny that. It is also easíer to give tion. It seems ironic that Willetts's contem- when the beneficiarles are known, and the results poraries should not be qualified to preach to their immediate and obvious, but Asians are no less elders, but he should be fully justified in preaching human and their problems are far worse. to them for doing so—and in a way which insults If we really believe that the proverb " Charity them in exactly the same way as the misdirected begins at home " was an exhortation and not a sermons of the older generation do. Hedging statement of fact, then we should not give to the between "One pities and "/ sympathise," the Cot Fund at all, but buy things for ourselves. 15-20 age group" and " My generation," he sus- Facetious, perhaps, but the logical conclusión from pends himself impossibly between two sides with­ Bingham's argument. out a consistent viewpoint. This may be fine for Willetts but it lends no kind of authority to his Yours etc., argument. ANDREW STOKER It is quite true, as articles in " Chronicle " have Sir, been saying for years, that people in the school are apathetic, prejudiced, shallow-minded, and the Willetts's article being so deliberately and self- situation needs drastic remedy—the same or simi­ consciously controversial, it is difficult to avoid lar is true almost everywhere. But though arguing about it. It is also difficult, however, to Willetts may be the new T. S. Eliot, give me the write any kind of reply to it because ¡t is written Waste Land any day. with such stunning self assurance. The piece indeed has more than several grains of truth in it, Yours etc., but these are ruined by prejudice and inaccuracy. PETER DANIELS Above all, it gives the rather unfortunate impres- sion—¡ntentional or not—that Willetts is the Lone Sir, Prophet, or a proverbial candle shining in a naughty generation—that is, when it is possible l'm writing about the article by David Willetts, to work out exactly what he means. " Youth and Age Can Never Agree " in the last By his generalised judgments, he is obviously not issue of " Chronicle." There is a danger that this ¡ntending to win over many of the younger genera­ may seem a personal attack on Willetts, which it tion, to which, it appears, he does not consider isn't; if I said I didn't know who he is it might hurt himself to belong: otherwise he would not make his feelings, but there you go. This is directed such prejudiced and inaccurate statements as " Pop against the attitude of pseudo-maturity which his music, with typical youthful arrogance, claims that article radiates. it can ignore most musical forms created over Willetts, D. L., the blue book tells us, is fifteen. millenia." I have never heard such a claim made; Well, l'm glad that this has given him enough applied to commercial bubble gum music it would maturity and experience to say " Many adolescents be true because that does ignore all those forms are basically immature ... I sympathise with our without commercial potential. Music like that parents' generation ... I respect their middle- might as well not exist; its ephemeral quality ¡s class charm and appeal." His article is full of such analogous to built-in obsolescence ¡n consumer judgments which Willetts, as if possessed of total goods, and ¡t is a major means for commercial human experience and infinite wisdom, tosses exploitation of the public. The music itself fulfils casually down for us to grope gratefully for. No plain instincts and satisfies trivial minds in the same doubt many of these judgments are true, but they way as romances in " Woman's Weekly," but, like are surely not a fifteen-year-old's (ñor a seventeen- year old's, ñor even a twenty-year-old's); they v. Denstone—Lost 12-19. seem to come from people who are much older v. Worksop—Won 19-11. than us who know what life is about. Why v. Loughborough Colls.—Lost 6-51. WMIetts assumes possession of these judgments v. Aston—Drew 6-6.

and expounds them in so posturing a style I don't v. Lawrence Sherrif—Won 27-6. know. Perhaps it's part of 41 ... the correct ¡dea v. Bromsgrove—Lost 6-19. that adolescents regard themselves as grown-ups v. Solihull—Lost 0-14. directly they enter their teens." v. Ratcliffe—Won 18-3. Some of Willetts' article is ludicrously trite. v. Wrekin—Lost 9-11. 14 How often do my generation really laugh? " he v. King's, Worcester—Won 14-0. writes. Well, we can all chuckle over the breath- v. Colton College—Won 18-3. taking perception that "... not realising the great The following have represented the lst XV.: significance of the youth movement, they (the M. W. Metcalfe, R. J. Berry, J. P. Burton, S. D. middle-aged) claim that patched jeans are no more Jones, R. M. Clarke, P. A. Glover, T. L. Wenman, serious than Oxford bags." P. J. Southern, J. G. Winspear, R. H. Pope, P. E. I humbly venture that a lot of the article is Jennings, J. M. Holder, R. C. Crocker, M. J. Cleary, true, but why bother to reproduce other people's S. G. Johnson, P. S. Russell, R. D. Handley, C. J. ¡deas with an air of spurious maturity? Never Springall, A. C. Lewis, P. Wright, P. Walsh. mind, David, come back in fifty years. Tries : Burton 7, Johnson 3, Holder 3, Winspear Yours etc., 2, Jones 1, Wenman 1, Cleary 2, Russell 1, Handley 1, Wright 2, Clarke 1. JIM GRANT Colours have been re-awarded to : S. G. John­ " CLEVER " son and T. L. Wenman, and awarded to J. P. Burton, P. A. Glover, P. J. Southern, R. H. Pope, A wisp of magic J. M. Holder and P. S. Russell. Leaves the stars breathlessly still, JOHN WINSPEAR Frozen as an ¡ce-trapped lake. Reaching for a glass revolver, The magician shows that even sun CHESS REPORT Can be caught by a handy brain This year the School entered two teams in the And channelled ¡nto robins. Sunday Times competition. For the first rounds, But suddenly the mirror of a star the 800-900 teams are placed in one of 32 regional Catches a wayward spell zones, five of which contain portions of Birming­ And sends it spinning back ham. Across a galaxy of numbers. Soundlessly it strikes the magician, The second team, which consisted of young players and Sam Chiswick, was unfortunate in Causing him to lift the revolver, Aim it, shoot himself, and fall rat-stiff to ground, being placed in one of the strongest zones in the country. After competent wins against Marsh Hill (The stars move on once more). G.T.S. and High Arcal G.S., they were drawn against Bishop Vesey G.S., probably one of the " CANAL-SIDE IN BIRMINGHAM " four best school teams in the Midlands. Despite The canal stretches, limp-limbed, achieving good positions on five of the six boards, Beside the mud frown of the towpath, the lack of experience was too great and the match Only the still wind tasting ¡ts ugly waters. was lost {—5£. Amongst the waters, houses, dust red, The only difficulty encountered by the first team Gardens, fields of peope, petrol, has been my own inimitable navigation to away Shift, and leave reflections. matches. Aided by Alan Lloyd, our resident geo- graphy expert, we eventually reached every des­ In this nowhere place between a graveyard and a tinaron and recorded wins of 6—0 against Dar- factory laston Comp. and Aldridge G.S., and 5^—\ The dead rise with the evening's warning, against Central G.S. II (the last result being And the living die at dawn. mainly due to Paul Klemperer's heroic efforts to ANDREW FORBES lose). Finally, a message to the gullible thousands who RUGBY REPORT thought that Tony Miles was the best player in the Considering that four of the first five matches world. A recent grading list states that he is only of the season ended in defeat, the current record about the twelfth best player in the whole of of five wins, one draw and seven losses represents England. a fair recovery. Indeed, once the first win, a very ANDREW STOKER creditable one away at Worksop, had been regis- tered, the team proved itself to be one of the THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY most skilful and attractive sides for some years. Unfortunately, the dazzling form of the Lawrence The Biological Society is undoubtedly the most Sherrif and Ratcliffe matches was ¡nterspersed thriving society in the School. Active groups are with poor, ineffectual displays against such keen studying the life of the woods and the lake in the rivals as Bromsgrove and Solihull, the failure to nature reserve behind the school, and some Long- regain the Siviter Smith Cup being particularly dis- worth traps have been purchased for studying the appointing. With several hard games ahead this populations of small mammals. The bird popula- term, the XV will need to keep up a high standard tions are catalogued in all seasons. A very rich of performance. and rewarding área in the Tame Valley, ¡ncluding the new nature reserve at the Hams Hall Electricity Several individual achievements ought to be Power Station, is v¡s¡ted regularly for bird- mentioned—John Burton's three tries against Rat­ watching. cliffe, Michael Cleary's outstanding performances for a fifth year boy, and Pat Russell, Steve Johnson, For the last two summers parties have gone to John Winspear, Paul Glover and Tim Wenman on the Cairngorm Mountains. During these trips some playing for Birmingham U.19's. But generally, suc­ very successful " fmds" of the mountain fauna cess has been built on teamwork rather than indi­ and flora were made. Perhaps the highlights were vidual flair, and the season has been more enjoy­ the location of several breeding pairs of snow able because of this. buntings, Scotland's most elusive breeding birds. And in Speyside we were responsible for the first Results : breeding record of goldeneye in this country. For v. D.C.E.'s XV—Lost 13-15. the flowers, a specimen of the tufted saxifrage v. Warwick—Lost 7-24. (saxifragia caespitosa) was found in the moun- tains. This plant is very rare high up on a few profit of 70p and a turnover of £70. This means hills. These and other activities of the society in that if two of the 140 members had not joined, the mountains have been responsible for the estab- the Society would have been in the red—as ¡t has lishment of the Mountain Club. been consistently in previous years. The average Even more recently an association has been cost of a film is £11, but spectaculars such as established with the Nature Conservancy and the "Blow Up" and " If . . ." may cost up to £16. The budgeting is clearly precarious, and all support Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at the is not only welcome but necessary. Dovey Estuary in mid-Wales. This has happened as a result of the Biology Department's Marine The Society is now exactly half-way through its Biology Courses at Borth. All these activities are " season." To come are : recorded in more detail in Bios IV, copies of which All Quiet on the Western Front"—February 8. are still available. Lord of the Flies—February 29. MARK LAWLEY |f . . ._May 23. The Film Society is one of the few societies RAILWAY AND MODEL ENGINEERING which it is possible to enjoy on several levéis at SOCIETY once. This is probably why it thrives. CHRISTOPHER HODGES (Secretary) With the demise of steam on British Rail in August, 1968, and the poor state of ¡nternal organi- sation, the Society was on the brink of collapse. " AULULARIA "—PLAUTUS However, owing to the timely formation of a hard- On Saturday, November 20, 1971, at Birmingham working and enthusiastic committee, the R. and University, six members of Mr. Tennick's IVth M.E.S. has been restored to its previous glory. The year Latin set took part in a play enacted for Society can again claim to be one of the most the Classical Association One Day Conference on active and popular in the School. Greek and Román Comedy. Regular meetings, consisting of films, talks, The play, directed by Mr. Tennick, was an quizzes and auctions are held, and the Society abridgement in Latin of " Aulularia," by Plautus. organises many trips. Visits have been made to The cast, in order of appearance, was R. R. Manchester, Blackpool, London (twice) and York. Martin, R. J. Blackwell, M. B. Robinson, S. R. A trip to Derby, where the 150 m.p.h. Advanced Palmer, J. Lawley and A. J. Millinchip. Passenger Train is being prepared, is planned for The audience seemed to be satisfied—and we, the Easter holidays. Local trips have been made on our part, enjoyed the experience. to Stourbridge Junction manual signal box, New ANDREW MILLINCHIP Street power signal box, and Bescot computerised marshalling yard. Unfortunately, owing to lack of premises, modelling activities are in abeyance. HOUSE CHARITIES' COMMITTEE Having just passed its 25th anniversary, the Food for about 270 pareéis was finally received. Society can now look forward to a continuing The sale of School Christmas cards raised £30 period of success under the guidance of its chair- for " Make Children Happy." If anyone would like man, Mr. Haines. to buy 750 cards, please see me. Easy terms avail­ PAUL HADLEY able. The Cot Fund collections in the Michaelmas term THE FILM SOCIETY raised £184. My thanks to all those who helped The Film Society occupies a unique position at in these collections. K.E.S. It is the most consistently well-attended The Cot Fund sub-committee has decided that society functioning at the present time. This may collections from the present term should be given well be due to the fact that it is joint with to the Balsall Heath Association. As we are one K.E.H.S., and both schools seem to fill the Ratcliff of the main donors to this society, which cares for Theatre on a Tuesday evening with amazing regu- about 500 oíd people, large collections are larity, at a time when most sensible people would required once more. have gone home. But there must be more to the Society's appeal than this—I mean, people pay Various schemes for new ways of raising money, money to come! Where do we now look for and ways in which present methods of collection faithful, stimulating, profound accounts of what may be improved, are being sought by members it is like to be alive in the twentieth century? of the committee. If you have any ideas in these The poet or dramatist or novelist or film producer directions, please tell your house representative(s). all give us images of ourselves that we would not ANDREW STOKER ordinarily be provoked ¡nto exploring or even recognising. FOR YOUR INFORMATION Despite the traditional disinclination ¡n the MR. J. T. HOLDEN average Edwardian to be seen to connect with any Mr. Holden is due to retire on March 13 and form of art that is prevalent, we are not dunces. on that day he will be present at our meeting in All the films chosen for the Society since Septem­ Big School where a presentation will be made to ber, 1969, were deemed good films, Le., well acted, him. Contributions towards this presentation can written, directed and shot. Moreover, they were best be made through the machinery of house thought to have something to say. This does not meetings, and it is thought that a good time to mean that we are trying to thrust "culture" or collect them would be at the house meetings that "social comment" down people's throats. Most take place on the Tuesday after the appearance of of the films are, incidentally perhaps, very good this edition of " Chronicle." entertainment in their own right. But they are not chosen because of their " porn rating." (I firmly believe the membership will fall after this CHARTER FLIGHTS admission). Boys who have it in mind—perhaps between Obviously, there have been some failures School and University—to travel far afield, clearly amongst the films. It may here be helpful to pub- benefit very greatly by the extremely economical lish a list of the committee who choose the films. air fares offered by Charter operators. They should If anyone has a serious—and constructive—criti­ however, be aware that by regulation they must cism, we would be only too glad to receive ¡t. have been members, for at least six months before The committee comprises three members of flying, of one of the many Charter Clubs or Asso- K.E.H.S., plus David Willetts, Roy Batters, the ciations. Particulars have been recently received Secretary, and Mr. Tennick. of the World Expeditionary Association which has The Society is entirely self-supporting. Despite a wide range of both group and individual facili- pnce increases of 25% over last year, a season ties. Membership costs £1.25 p.a. for students. ticket still costs only 50p. Last year, there was a The address is 22 Beauchamp Place, S.W.3. CM KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

himself by winning the A.A.A. Marathón in his best time ever, which would have brought him the MR. J. T. HOLDEN gold medal in the 1948 Olympics. M Jack Holden must be regarded as the greatest Mr. Holden wisely chose this peak in his long distance runner of all time," according to the pro­ career as the moment to retire. Why did he con­ gramme which Mr. Holden showed us at his house, tinué running for so long? Principally, of course, a claim which was supported by a brief history of because he was always capable of excellent per­ his amazing achievements as winner of these 57 formances, as his tremendous final season proved. championships at all distances : But also because he enjoyed the opportunities he would never otherwise have been given for CHAMPIONSHIP WINS travelling all over the world and meeting such Cross Country people as our whole Royal Family, or three Belgian International Championship: 1933-34-35-39 Kings, and because, as he admits, he was a little (a record), also runner-up in 1932 and 1936. greedy. He would choose meeting according to the prizes they offered, and since he usually chose English Championship: 1938-39-46. things more useful than a pig, there carne a point Midland Championship: 1932-33-34-36-37-38-39-46 when he could Mterally say that he won everything (a record). in his house. He was still able to show us a vast Inter-Counties Championship: 1931-32-33-36 collection of china, glass, cutlery, docks, and so (a record). on, ¡ncluding two forgotten sets of cutlery won 40 Staffordshire Championship: 1930 (dead-heat), years ago. 1932. After retiring, Mr. Holden continued his work as a P.T. instructor and groundsman for a prívate firm, but when he took on the extra load of the Track and Road firm's social club, he found that he was throwing A.A.A. 6 miles: 1933-34-35. his life away for money. So he carne to K.E.S. in A.A.A. 10 miles: 1934. 1959 as head groundsman, and brought to the job A.A.A. Marathón: 1947-48-49-50. the same energy, determination and loyalty as had Midland 3 miles: 1932-33-34-35-36-37 (a record). made him such a fine athlete. He played an ¡m- Midland 4 miles: 1931. portant part in the construction of the athletics Midland 6 miles: 1932-33-34-35-36-37-38-46 track, the replacement of the temporary buildings (a record). on the South Field by grass, and the planting of the Midland 10 miles: 1930-31-32-33 (a record). trees in the grounds. No doubt his skill as a Midland Marathón: 1946-47-48-50. masseur will be missed. Staffordshire 1 mile: 1931-35. We have said much about Mr. Holden's career Staffordshire 3 miles: 1933-34-35-37-39. and little about his character, since neither of us knows him well enough. But it is clear to us, just Staffordshire 4 miles: 1930-31-32. from our conversation with him and from the facts World Record of his career, that he is a man of immense effort 30 miles (track): 3 hrs. 0 mins. 16-8 secs. and determination, who takes pride in each task that he turns to, and conscientiously applies him­ British and English Native Records self to it with the utmost thoroughness, never 25 miles (track): 2 hrs. 28 mins. 56-6 secs. contení with second best. and in the same race This March Mr. Holden is retiring to 5 Kestrel Drive, Weston-super-Mare, near to Mr. Bailey's Gold Medals predecessor, Mr. Allard. He is both sorry and Marathón: British Empire Games, New Zealand, happy to be going, since, although he will be leaving 1950. many friends here, he feels satisfied with the 52 years of service that he has given, and intends still Marathón: European Games, Brussels, 1950. to be of service, either by running fitness classes Marathón: European Games, Brussels, 1950. for the middle-aged, if he can raise the backing, or All this started by chance. Mr. Holden used to by helping in hospitals, or by helping the elderly be a boxer, and his trainer once entered a handicap with difficult tasks. He certainly has no intention race which he lost through bad tactics. When Mr. of rusting away. We wish him and his wife a very Holden criticised him he was told, to put it politely, happy and worthwhile retirement, and offer, a little " If you're so good, have a go yourself." He did, late, our congratulations on his magnificent career, and easily won the prize—a live pig—even from a and our thanks for all they have done at K.E.S. scratch start. So Mr. Holden joined Tipton Harriers, MARK LAWLEY and started on a career lasting 26 years. He was soon running in the national team, and has run for ROY BATTERS his country more often than anyone else in the world. This international career included 12 years SCHOOL NOTES ¡n which he carne in the first six in every match. A recent innovation has been the reintroduction It was only near the end of his running life that of the rule that the main door should be used at he took up the Marathón, which he entered in specific times of the day by Blocks A and B only. the 1948 Olympics, carrying most British hopes. The congestión at " peak periods " has certainly Unfortunately, he had to retire half-way because been reduced, and at lunchtime in particular one of badly blistered feet and stomach trouble, but no longer has to wade over a mountain of bags this made him so determined that in 1950, at the dropped indiscriminately in the doorway. At the age of 43, he won five Marathons, ¡ncluding the Foundation Service, on February 3, the Bishop of Empire and European Games, and finally vindicated Birmingham preached upon "A new Heaven and a new Earth," but it is feared his advice for our rule was revived. It causes unnecessary bother and generation concerning greater awareness of the delay to those who are not members of Blocks A dangers of pollution and over-population fell on or B, and its phys'ical enforcement by prefects ¡s stony ground. February Ist brought the amazing a breach against the " civilised " manner of be- sight of several prefects being snowballed by the haviour which is always being stressed by authority lower school. Fortunately for the prefects, the aim in the School. If it is an attempt to control that of " the little people " was bad, but a good time inane band of idiots that barges its way over to was had by all. Miss Chaffer's restaurant every lunchtime, it is an In the Gym Competition at the beginning of ill-advised one; the starving multitudes will merely term, M. A. S. Oates, D. B. Herrod and D. G. S. crash through the locker room, causing greater Worrall were the individual champions. Gifford chaos and damage than they did before. won the House Competition, beating Jeune and Yours etc., Heath in second and third places. Evans won the JOHN McCORMACK Basketball Competition over Cary Gilson, Vardy and Jeune, who were handicapped by the absence LITTER of C. J. Grover. Both S. G. Johnson and P. J. Jones scored over half of their Houses' points in the final. Sir, There have been a fair number of society meet­ Walking around the School any casual visitor ings in the first half of term. Although there seems would certainly be ¡mpressed by the cleanliness of to be fewer societies than there were four or more the School; gleaming floors, polished brasswork years ago, support seems to have ¡ncreased gener­ and spotless walls, and (in my opinión) the School ally for the remainder. It is unfortunately true, grounds are no exception to the general rule. however, that a society is only as good as its Why, then, is there a great fuss made about active committee members. Here is a summary of this so-called " Muer problem "? Walking along the most popular (most well-publicised?) socie­ the South Front I had to look very hard to find any ties. The Archaeological Society held a meeting on paper at all, and the largest piece I found was not " Prehistoric Goldwork " with an expert outside more than two inches long. lecturer. The Scientific Society has held two meet­ In spite of this, it is seen fit to waste a great ings, one on " Phosphorus " and the other a demon­ many people's time in searching for this "litter" straron by Mr. Mcllwaine of the Nuffield Science after school hours, causing great inconvenience to course equipment. The Musical Society has those who have trains and special buses to catch. " blared out " with trumpets and been surprised by the talent in the lower school. The Music Circle Our raison d'étre is work, as it has so often has had a Mystical Experience—details are obscure. been pointed out to us, and not litter collecting. If The Shakespeare Society has read " Titus Androni- the powers that be really see fit to occupy 20 cus" and " The Duchess of Malfii," and the people for over 10 minutes in order to pick up half Debating Society has discussed " Censorship 91 and a dozen scraps of paper, then they should be paid " With-it people are without it." at the current unión rates. Then, and possibly only then, would it be appreciated just how unnecessary THE MAIN DOOR this whole scheme is. Sir, Yours etc., I wish to protest most strongly about the re- JONATHAN SPECTOR imposition of the ban on the use of the main Sir, door of the School. This retrogressive step seems to be part of a general conspiracy to harass mem­ The replies to my article, " Youth and Age Can bers of the lower sections of the School. Never Agree," seemed more concerned with the tone of my language and the fact that I am 15 The excuse given when the rule was re-intro- than with what I actually said. Indeed, Daniels duced was that it would reduce, or even end, writes that " the piece has more than several grains congestión at peak times during the rush hours. In of truth in it." Grant ends his letter with " a lot of making the following comments, I would like to the article is true." warn you not to be fooled by such extravagant claims. In defence of the tone of my article I can only say that I am exasperated (as Daniels and Grant 1. The solé cause of the congestión was, and still appear to be) by much of what my fellow teen- is, the porters' refusal to open the left-hand agers do and say. I am sorry if this exasperation half of the door, which they presumably con­ and consequent criticism was ¡nterpreted as arro- sider to be an immovable architectural embel- gance. lishment, or a vital support for the floor of Big With respect to my age, Daniels and Grant seem School. to regard me as a fifth columnist, stabbing my col- leagues in the back. They have decided what the 2. Since the rule carne ¡nto forcé, congestión has standard attitudes of the young people should be worsened considerably, owing partially to the permanent presence of several large prefects and they object that I have not stuck to them. blocking the doorway, who submit everyone Presumably a 10-year-old who likes plain chocolate under the height of six feet to a procedure that would be guilty of reproducing older people's makes the South African Pass Laws friendly tastes " with an air of spurious maturity." Since and enlightened ¡n comparison, and partially to when have deviation from norms or age been the stream of Shells returning from the door. valid critical arguments? Yours etc., 3. If the authorities had really wished to prevent DAVID WILLETTS congestión, then surely it would have been logical to ban the upper half of the School THE URBAN SPACEMEN from using the door, since Shells are smaller, and thus more will fit through the door at a By putting men on the moon the Americans time. Alternatively, an underpass should be made a science fiction dream come true, while at buüt. the same time they have come perilously near ful- filling another more sombre of the science fiction's Yours etc., prophecies. American cities have become an ¡nter- JONATHAN SPECTOR national by-word for all of the worst forms of urban pollution. Today New York is rated as dirty Sir, and as dangerous as Calcutta; but it is a city built I wish to protest against the recent enforcement for the machine, rather than for men. of the rule by which only members of Blocks A Why have we given up so much in return for and B are allowed to use the main door at the the rapidly diminishing advantages of personalised entrance to the School. It seems to me that matters transport? The answer to this question lies with were proceeding reasonably peacefully before this the all-powerful monolithic industrial corporations who have found ¡t greatly ¡n their ¡nterests to pro­ When he cries ject the image of speed and open space as the they all say ultímate achievement of technology. Henee the " There, there," billions of dollars spent on putting a man on the and when he laughs moon, on building aircraft that can fly faster than no-one, sound, and on the car. It is no coincidence that the but no-one, means of producing spacecraft, supersonic aircraft asks the reason. and cars all lie in the hands of a few giant com­ STEPHEN BADSEY panies whose annual turnovers exceed the gross national producís of many staíes. We have been fooled long enough; a car whose SHARK GONE MAD theoretical íop speed may exceed 100 m.p.h. is Spinning, tumbling, bubbling reduced ío walking pace in íhe ceñiré of nearly Acrobat of deep's disorder, every large city in the world, and after the expen- Giving your last performance. diture of millions of pounds on cars, petrol, roads Water-crowders come to laugh and more roads, we are back where we started, At the last show. or even worse off. Restless, you may not rest, The only people to gain from our loss are the Will not sleep; water shareholders of General Motors and their like. over the gills would slow, Orwell predicted that by 1984 society would be Stop, and you would drown founded on the destruction caused by continual In plenty. war. He was very nearly right; in fact, it is now Last fashioned of the world's based on the destruction caused by continual (and Controllers, out of control ¡ncreasing) consumption. The capitalist makes his And ¡ncomplete, stripped of profit first by selling a consumable product, then Your goal you are shown to all makes more money by replacing it, and so on, For what you are. producing a one-way flow of raw materials. No- where is this more evident than in the motor car Death is the loyal servant industry, where an unending stream of cars flow Of the living, it must have off the production lines onto dumps, in an ¡n- No place for inefficieney. You creasingly short time. Yet we are about to be Will not be kept waiting long fooled again; almost unbelievably, car manufac­ For your reward. turen have lulled us ¡nto a false sense of security. STEPHEN BADSEY " Yes," they all agree, " the car does pollute; give us a few years and our emission control pro­ gramme will be complete." The ¡Ilusión that EGO something was being done was created by arranging for the U.S. government to " forcé " the car manu­ (Night) facturen to comply to new regulations. "Well, I where's the caten? " you might ask, with some With a deep breath, my soul justificaron, for it ¡s perfectly true that cars do sharpened her feelings exude nasty gases. The truth of the matter is that like penáis, the now vigorous brain pollutíon caused by exhaust is virtually negligible reminding her of heart disease and unknown ¡n comparison with the multitude of other ways ¡n authors, epilepsy, nature poets, thinking of which cars pollute our environment. Exhaust emis­ the light that shines through the green decorated sion control is a red herring and should be treated hedge. as such. The big corporations were playing for A thought which spoke within my heart high stakes and the cost that they will have to pay called to my mind a person I admire; to meet the new regulations is a small pnce to Perhaps /'// cali you on the phone: pay to stay in business. You ought to know, I thought, though what about The car pollutes by the way it consumes pre- I wasn't sure. How green was my valley? cious natural resources—petrol, ¡ron, chrome, I wondered, passing the light that breaks leather, rubber and so on. It also pollutes by ¡ts over the rainy privet leaves. direct ¡mpact on the environment: motorways II snake across formerly wild and desoíate hills, and I climbed a hillside of ordinary houses, cut through quiet suburban áreas alike. The fabric musing on plays, poetry, of cities ¡s destroyed to make way for car parks love, humans. Why, this is something and more roads in a never-ending eyele. bigger than both of us, thought the light, The car is just one illustration of how powerful scattered over the peopled horizon. companies make their money in creating pollution A sentiment like deadly nightshade deep beneath and it shows that any concern shown by manu- my eyes, warned me: " Do not dredge the depths facturers in the environmental problems caused by of everything; chatter grandly of the railway their activities is purely superficial. Often a full- wheeling across to the west, unhampered by land- scale public outcry is barely sufficient to stir them scape, or of time, who brought you where you ¡nto any action; for example, ¡t was known over are ..." a year ago that the Severnside smelter was causíng Yes, stars like pinpricks in the palm of my hand severe lead poisoning, as " Prívate Eye" pointed . . . green lights shining on the polished tracks, out, and yet nothing was done because the owners were unwilling to risk cutting their profits by a which . . . penny unless they were forced to. Faltering, I paused to cali my mind my own, seeing the light We have a right to a decent environment, but it that called through the half opened door. is our responsibility to ensure that we maintain it. (tAorning) JONATHAN SPECTOR III As I walk, the trees make me feel small, DIARY even without their leaves. I move past the gardeners and walkers of dogs. I think Today the vegetation suits my psyche better, or the I discovered the advantages senseless of madness. magpies who do what they like, A madman does or the luminous row of buildings not facing the light that waves through the windy need November day. to explain, he needs to be explained. PETER DANIELS " AS YOU LIKE IT " A large number of people were at this meeting, As promised by ¡ts director, this year's School many of them Shells. This indicates that School Play was different; gone were the ranting near- drama is flourishing, and will continué to flourish, tragedy of " The Winter's Tale " and the sick, bitter in years to come. melancholy of44 Twelfth Night." This year we were ANDREW HUDSON 44 presented with a play all sweetness and light." BUSINESS GAME 1971/2 The technical side of the production was, as is characteristic of K.E.S. drama, very well handled; The game, which is organised for Sixth Formers the set was the best for some years, admirably throughout the country by the Institute of Char- designed and lit to fulfil ¡ts functions as stone tered Accountants, began this year in mid-October tracery and forest boughs with equal efficacy. with 243 schools competing—a record number of The music was a credit to the musícians; melodic, entrants. In Heat 1 the schools were divided into haunting and completely free of the bitter, metallic 81 groups with three schools in each group—. tones of the 44 Twelfth Night " score. K.E.S.'s rivals were Crewkerne School in Somerset and Firth Park School, Sheffield. The heat lasted However, no matter how well the technicians exactly one month and consisted of seven 44 plays," and stage staff do their jobs, the heart of any play which provided greater opportunities for the is the actual performance of the players, and this development of policies than in any previous year production was no exception. All the actors gave of the competition, since until now five( ?) 44 plays " polished and confident performances, evidence of has been the máximum allocated to any one heat. the great amount of work put ¡nto the play by all concerned. Without doubt, however, the show as K.E.S. duly won Heat 1. We attained a record a whole was dominated by two figures: Christopher profit for the School of £2,891,640 and join the Gibbons' assured and satisfying portrayal of 80 other schools in the next round. Our policies in Orlando, and Andrew Forbes' magnificently erratic Heat 1 appeared to baffle our rivals completely. The ¡dea of the game is to sell a product ¡n four Touchstone. Both players, and the latter in par­ 44 44 markets—the home " markets of each of the ticular, really got inside " their parts and brought 44 them to life ¡n a way which no-one else quite three companies, and a much larger neutral" managed to equal. To be fair to the standard of market—so that one's own company has the greatest profit at the end of the seven 44 plays." performance achieved by the other actors, it would 44 be necessary to mention them all, but, as space At the outset we decided to attack our home " market, where our delivered unit costs were lowest, does not permit such a list, I will mention only 44 John McCormack's tirelessly raving Duke Frederick, and one of our rivals' home " markets through Dorothy Meachin's charming Rosalind, and Charles low pricing and high marketing expenditure, and in later 44 plays " to switch the attack to the third Spicer's performance as the love-sick swain Silvius, 44 as my own personal favourites. home " market. High pnces and relatively low marketing expenditure in an área not under attack Since this piece is a criticism, not an adulation, resulted in low sales but a high profit-per-unit, and of the play, I must mention one slightly ¡rritating the use of last year's successful policy of maximising and oddly widespread flaw ¡n the production; a research and development expenditure lowered our surprising number of the players, when having delivered unit costs sufficiently to enable us to nothing particular to do with their hands, showed 44 undercut" our opponents in later 44 plays." The a tendency to allow said objects to hang, ¡n a half- pedestrian and predictable policies of our two clenched condition, at their hips. Only Christopher rivals ensured an easy win. The team, Le., Dave Gibbons and Peter Biddle consistently avoided so Collis (44 managing director"!), Chris Farmer, Nick doing. This stance is artificial, awkward, and some- Fox, Mike Gray, Stephen Gray, Andy Green, Pete how, faintly fatuous. It should be avoided. Green, Nick Jones, Richard Pope, Mat Webb, Hans Before closing, I must repeat a complaint which Wilson, myself (secretary) and various others, has been voiced many times, by many people, would like to thank Mr. Ganderton for his helpful about the School Play; Big School ¡s not the right comments and Mrs. Gibbs for the use of her office place for it. The visibility of the stage from the when the post did not arrive on time. floor, owing to the absolute horizontality of the Heat 2 : K.E.S. drawn with Taunton School and latter, is poor, while the fore-and-aft acoustics of Leeds Grammar School (who have an Economic the hall are, as anyone who has tried to make him­ Sixth Form). We attempted the same policies as self heard from one end of the place to the other in Heat 2 in the first 44 play," but due to the pecu­ will know, abysmal. Surely some way of utilizing liar conditions of the market, we could not allocate the Concert Hall for the play could be found? to plant ¡nvestment. The result was ¡n later 44 However, all criticisms aside, Mr. Parslew, his plays " we invested heavily in plant—too heavMy. The market as a whole had expanded and we found cast, stage staff and technicians have produced, in 44 44 As You Like It," as splendid and enjoyable a piece ourselves in cash difficulties. In the final play " of drama as any I have seen at this school, and are all three schools were cióse, however, with K.E.S. heartily and deservedly to be congratulated. ¡n second place. It had been decided to ¡mplement a 44 do-or-die " policy with £lm. profit as our a¡m TOM HOSTY ¡n this, the fifth and final 44 play." If the policy had worked we would almost certainly have won JÚNIOR DRAMA .... but it did not, and K.E.S. fmished an igno-

44 minous third. The team would like to thank Mr. You aren't going to that trash, are you? " said Ganderton for his constant( ?) support. somebody to me when l made a remark about the School Play. His remark was borne out by the DEREK JONES attendances at 44 As You Like It "—on Wednesday the audience seemed to consist mostly of parents THE SPASTICS SOCIETY and girls. I hope this attitude ¡s not typical of all The Midlands Regional Officer of this very the Júnior School, because if so, the School Play appealing cause writes concerning a sponsored will not take place in a few years* time. Perhaps it walk to be held within the grounds of historie ¡s the word 44 school " in front, or maybe younger houses on Sunday, April 30th, starting at 10 a.m. people do not appreciate Shakespeare. The grounds of Belvior Castle, Ragley Hall and On Monday, 7th February, the Chief Master Weston Park have been made available for the announced a meeting to 44 revivify the júnior purpose. Circuits of about three miles are laid out dramatic society." At the meeting, Mr. Hames in each, so avoiding the use of the public roads. announced plans for three júnior plays, 44 Horror The walk, in itself not arduous, may be of as many Your Neighbour " (for Shell boys only), 44 Arthur," circuits as the walker likes to offer: there ¡s some­ and 44 The One Black Rose." He also said he would thing of a test of ingenuity in obtaining sponsors be holding meetings of a Júnior Drama Club on and then getting them to pay up! Wednesdays in the gym, for boys who enjoy Volunteers to help in raising the money to help putting on their own plays. All these activities are spastics may give their ñames to Mr. Gudgeon. for the Fourths and below. R.G.L. KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

Vol. 4, No. 6 beautiful. Osios Loukas gave most of us our last look at the best side of Byzantine art. GREECE, 1972 The following day we flew back to Luton. The Have you ever had to move out of hotels six coach journey to Birmingham was enhanced by the times in ten days? The schedule of the trip de- looks on the faces of Stafford Rangers supporters manded this, and it could have been a strain, but as we passed their richly-adorned coaches cheering somehow we all seemed to manage it fairly effort- and pointing to our large-size poster for a Greek lessly and the overall plan of the trip proved to football team written in Greek script. be very rewarding. The scheme was, using Athens We arrived at the top of the School drive at as a base, to visit most of the main pre-Roman sites 8 o'clock. We had had a memorable and enjoyable ¡n Attica, Crete and the Peloponnese, with some holiday for which the Chief Master and Mr. Hurn beautiful Byzantine churches thrown in for good are mainly to be thanked. Mr. Lunt organised and measure. led the party successfully. Mr. Hurn freely gave us The Acrópolis was, of course, the main attrac­ much useful artistic information and brought his tion of Athens. Its impressive power and immense ¡nvaluable torch. DAVID WILLETTS beauty were communicated to us all, although the powerful sunlight, which brightens the marble and FRANCE, 1972 gives deep, dark shadows, was not often present. The time, 5 o'clock in the morning on Wednes- There were also many other tourists, whose Ameri­ day, 5th April. The place, the main gate. K.E.S. can accents and snapshots of Únele Harry with the Forty-three boys from the Upper Middles and Parthenon in the background, had to be ignored. Removes, together with Mr. and Mrs. Hodges, Mr. One American standing on the Acrópolis com- Underhill and Mr. Jayne were about to board a mented, " I can only see six of the seven hills of coach to Southampton. All went well, and after a Rome." Presumably she thought the missing one short stop at Oxford we reached Southampton at had been shipped to Florida or been sold in jars at the appointed time. The crossing to Cherbourg five drachmas a time to tourists. was very rough. There was one injury which needed The only exceptions to the ¡mportant Classical, to be stitched up, and only 17 people escaped sea- Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman remains in Athens sickness! We arrived at Carteret about 5.30 p.m., were a few small, oíd Byzantine churches whose a little late but more or less in one piece. rich decorations, beautiful icons, and oppressive The hotel was very good indeed. Rooms were atmosphere of incensé sent two members of the comfortable, the food seemed gooár and later on party into ecstasies and ¡mpressed us all. we all praised French cooking. The stage seemed Crete was the first place visited after Athens. set for a great holiday. The night boat was evenually boarded after a 1^- Our first excursión was a half-day visit to a hour delay. The boat was overcrowded and two nearby milk factory. Although rather smelly, this boys saw fit to sleep on the floor of the lounge was interesting, particularly in the packing depart- rather than suffer the hot, sweaty, and in some ment. The whole of the next day was taken up by cases, noisy cabins. The ¡ntricate and incredibly a trip to Mont St. Michel, which is a very unusual large Minoan palaces of Crete were very interest­ monument. On the way we stopped off at some ing, as was the Heraklion Museum, where the interesting churches. After a free day on Saturday, Minoan portable fmds were displayed. Three days we spent Sunday at the D-Day beaches, Arro- later we returned by what was, unbelievably, the manches, Bayeux and Caen. The Bayeux tapestry same ship. It was less crowded and consequently is a very detailed pictorial record of the Battle of much more comfortable. Indeed the crowds press- Hastings and is unique. Arromanches museum is ing at the bar were so diminished that some boys of equal interest, with ¡ts various methods of managed to get at the alcohol all too successfully. showing the Allied invasión tactíes. Another free The coach rides from Athens to the Peleponnese, day, and then we were off to Cherbourg to buy thence to Delphi, and back to Athens, were en- presents for our families. However, we had not livened by making Foster laugh, comparing notes quite fmished, for on Wednesday morning we were on Greek plumbing (one boy pulled a toilet chain invited to the town hall to meet the mayor of and all the water in the cistern overflowed on him, Carteret. Our return crossing was less stormy and and on another occasion all the showers in the we arrived back at 2.30 a.m. on Thursday, 13th hotel carne on at 7 o'clock, wetting people in the April. cramped bathrooms), and reading " Monty Python's Looking back on the holiday, I can think of Big Red Book." nothing better to ¡Ilústrate the jovial atmosphere On this three-day tour we fitted in an incredible than the friendly way in which boys and masters amount of sightseeing. We saw the beautiful conversed about all manner of things. All in all, mosaics of Daphni. Mycenae, seen in the stormy it was a most enjoyable holiday, and we would weather, gave an impression of power and strength, like to thank Mr. Hodges, Mrs. Hodges, Mr. Under­ while at the same time there were architectural hill and Mr. Jayne for making it so. subtleties to appreciate. The orchestra (i.e., stage) ANDREW HUDSON pf the semi-circular theatre of Epidaurus was covered with water so the intrepid members of SCHOOL NOTES Classical Sixth took off their shoes and socks, Immediately after half-term we were plunged paddled out to the middle, and did their " Greek into House competitions. Each House had to pro­ Chorus Sketch " ! Intoxicated by their success, they vide three rugby and three cross-country teams and then sang the School Song, which one American a choir. In all these activities, each House depends described as typically imperialist. The remains at upon its star performers for leadership and inspira­ Delphi, again visited in the rain, left an impression ron, but the Houses which succeed the most are of a vast complex of buildings, some of them very those in which ALL the members of the team can work and think together. This does not mean that and criticism of Christianity flood to mind. But the Victorian notion of " House Spirit" is still whichever way we are inclined, the Rev. M. D. alive, but that, when faced with the chore of Goulder made it explicit that the acceptance of turning out to practices and matches, we can still the Church's teaching remains for us to choose. rise to the occasion and put on a creditable per­ In the three Lent meetings he lay before us the formance, even if we appear slightly ridiculous in attitudes with which scholars of biblical criticism, the process. It is interesting, for ¡nstance, to see like himself, approach the incomplete, prejudiced, leading rugby players making complete fools of but yet the only accounts of Jesús in the Gospels themselves in the music competition, and musi- to build up a skeleton of probable fact which may cians doing precisely the same when playing rugby. be clothed with other remarks less acceptable to The first three sénior winners in each competi­ the sceptical mind. He explained the criteria tion were : necessary in order to produce as unbiased an Rugby : Gifford, Evans, Prince Lee and Jeune account as possible, and with these in mind, ex- (equal). plored various passages with us. Cross Country : Jeune, Cary Gilson, Gifford. The interest, and above all, the valué of these Music : Levett, Gifford, Cary Gilson. meetings was not restricted to its being no more February 23 passed with the Sixth Form paying than a novel ¡ntellectual game. It is essential that the usual disregard for the calendar entry " Prize we are able to build up a rational and balanced Essays due." Jeremy Gray played part of Shostako- assessment so that we may be able to judge all vitch's Second Piano Concertó at the Grammar theories about Jesús and the Church for ourselves, Schools' Festival on Friday 25. Tuesday 29 was en- unswayed by rhetorical speculation. livened by the sudden appearance of the Fire The attendance at the meetings reflected this Brigade to deal in most unspectacular manner with concern, and the Chaplain is to be greatly thanked a minor crisis in the kitchen. The only lasting for inviting such an eminent theologian to help us. result of the episode was that " fish " was tem- DAVID FOSTER porarily removed from the menú of that establish- ment. Also on that day, the Film Society saw " MAD WRIGGLES * " Lord of the Flies," and the first of three stimu- Tuesday, March 7—no fifth period: "But, sir, lating Lent meetings began, under the title " What what about our Drama? " Ah! there are other do we know about Jesús? " The following morning delights in store. Early lunch was over by 1.10; the Bishop of Birmingham was the celebrant at the attendance in the Concert Room was impres­ Holy Communion in Chapel. sive. The gathering was completed when Mr. In Week 9, the Sixth took the " Use of English " Gordon Clinton, Principal of the Birmingham exam. (affectionately known as " Tick-the-right- School of Music, had taken his seat in the company box"). The Debating Society considered whether of the Chief Master and Director of Music. this country needs a " Bloody Revolution," the Art Mr. Clinton's extensive experience in the world Society learnt about industrial design, and Blocks of choral music and in madrigal work made him an D and E were treated to a display of falconry in astute judge of the musical offerings presented to Big School. Week 10 saw us take our sad but us in this second part of the House Music Compe­ noisy leave of Mr. and Mrs. Holden, and the Scien- titions. The set-piece madrigal, Let Every Heart Be tific Society held a lecture on anaesthetics. The tAerry, received a variety of ¡nterpretations, some Chapel Choir appeared on ATV's "Women Today" less spritely than others, and sung by Jeune de at 3.40 on Friday, March 31. profundis. One or two Houses, however, appre- On March 13, his 65th birthday, the School took ciated that the set-piece was really a happy song; leave of Mr. J. T. Holden, who with Mrs. Holden Levett and Cary Gilson, in particular, gave it a had first attended School Prayers. After prayers, light and well-balanced rendering. It is refreshing, the Chief Master referred to Mr. Holden's grounds- when we are to hear a piece sung eight times, ¡f manship since 1959 and to his ¡mprovement of en- one House takes an initiative and tries the words in larged playing facilities. He recalled that Mr. another tongue, as did Vardy. The Vardy sound Holden had already given one of his challenge had a good solid tone, but the need for organ trophies to be competed for in the annual tri­ accompaniment betrayed a lack of confidence in angular athletics match. He now announced that intonation, as did the piano accompaniment for Mr. Holden had given a further trophy which he Evans' and Jeune's madrigal. had won for his sponsored run in support of the In commenting on the performances, Mr. Clinton Commonwealth Society for the Blind. This he pre­ gave valuable advice in singing technique, remind- sented to the schools as an incentive to similar ing the assembled choirs of the need for a disci­ events. The trophy is to be awarded annually to pline in breathing. He spoke too, of the ¡mport­ the student or students who raise most money for ance, especially in the madrigal style, of accurate a charity by their efforts in a sponsored event, a intonation both horizontally, within each singer's swim, run or walk. The School's plan to com- part, and vertically, with the voices in other parts. memorate Mr. Holden's care for the grounds had Also he pointed to the need to " re-create" been deferred because of excessive rain; it has, interest in the refrain by a variation of approach however, been decided to plant a group of trees on during the madrigal; particularly, Mr. Clinton Eastern Road between the nets and the Bourn admired the way Gifford accomplished this. It is Brook, to be known as the Holden copse. to a less serious comment in Mr. Clinton's adjudi­ cation that we owe the title of this article. In the ñame of the Common Room and the boys of the School, the School Captain, wishing Mr. In judging the free choice song of each choir, a Holden many happy returns of the day, expressed contrast with the madrigal style was appreciated. the appreciation of us all to both Mr. and Mrs. Jeune cheered up for their drinking song, The Wild Holden for all that they had done here, and pre­ Rover. By a spark of musical intuition the rovers sented Mrs. Holden with a large box of chocolates were able to keep in time with the ringing of the and Mr. Holden with a power drill and a fitted box gym telephone. Vardy carne right up-to-date with of carpentry tools, together with a cheque. James Wishart's Poem for Easter, conducted by the composer. Here more attention to the clarity Mr. Holden was clearly deeply moved by the of the words on the part of the choir would have occasion of farewell, and in an apt speech, in which helped the audience better to understand the he quoted both from Thomas Gray and from musical qualities. Heath went forward where the General Booth, he expressed his thanks and good knocks are hardest to sing The School Song— wishes for the future to his successor, Mr. Laffey, unfortunately, these to failure. Perhaps they were who comes in May, to the Masters, and to the mistaken to have taken the song so sombrely. boys of the School. Levett seemed to have a good ornen in being drawn twice out of the boater! They sang first and were LENT MEETING judged the winners. Their free choice, Dance No. 1 "What do we know about Jesús? "—the teach- from a Choral Dance Su/te, by Alee Rowley, was ings of our infancy, divinity periods, the questioning a fun-piece with a good foundation from thebasses. Levett scored 86, and ¡n the final placing Gifford changed next year : with a consistently full turn- was second with 84, and Cary Gilson third with 83. out and some hard training, there should be some It might have been fun had the Common Room fine runners in it. ventured an entry for the competition, but Masters Colours have been awarded to Steve Hutchinson, who stayed to the end entered with gusto ¡nto the John Davis, Roy Batters and David Wale, and half- final singing of the madrigal under Mr. Clinton's colours are awarded to Peter Trainor, Paul Hicks, direction. GILES EVANS Paul Beetham and Jonathan Lynn. Mr. Wright is the team manager and chauffeur. CHESS For his help I am profoundly grateful. For the tenth time since the competition's MARK LAWLEY ¡nauguration in 1957-58, the School has won a zone in the 14 Sunday Times" National Schools FIRST TEAM RESULTS, 1971-72 Chess Tournament. The first team beat Wolver- Birmingham Schools' League hampton G.S. in the semi-final, and Priory School, v. Moseley and Handsworth: KE 43; M 53; H 83. Shrewsbury, in the final, by the same score, 5^—^. v. St. Philip's and St. Thomas Aquinas: KE 53; In the 30 individual games played in the zonal TA 57; SP 78. maches, only three draws were conceded, the rest v. KE Five Ways: FW 35; KE 45. of the games being won, to créate a School record. The team has drawn a bye in the first round of the v. Lordswood and Moseley: L 47; KE 65; M 65. ¡nter-zonal stage. v. St. Philip's and Dudley: KE 44; D 53; SP 81. Despite the excellent performances of the team v. Lordswood and George Dixon's: L 48; GD 50; so far, no one is over-optim¡st¡c that we can w¡n a KE 75. trophy which has eluded School teams for the last v. KE Five Ways: FW 31; KE 50. 14 years. One difficulty ¡s that the team ¡s ¡n the v. George Dixon's and St. Thomas Aquinas: oldest age group, which means that we have to GD 37; KE 53; TA 96. win by a consistently large margin to overeóme the Final position: 4th vagaries of the age handicap. Another problem is v. Bablake and Solihull: KE 51; B 51; S 72. that no one has been able to win the toss (which v. Queen Mary's, Walsall, and Wolverhampton: can play a decisive part ¡n these matches). Appli­ QM 43; KE 59; W 69. cations for a most exasperating and unrewarding job from those with a 100% success rate ¡n tossing Wolverhampton Road Relay will be welcome. ALAN LLOYD Winners: Ullathorne v - K7 24th (27 teams) CROSS COUNTRY REPORT v. KE Lichfield: L 22; KE 60. This season has witnessed the establishment of a v. KE Stourbridge: KE 39; S 49. young first team, the retention of a respectable v. King Henry VIII Coventry, and Warwick: position in the Birmingham Schools* League, and a KH 44; KE 62; W 69. handful of victories over very distinguished oppo- v. George Dixon's and John Wilmott's: KE 36; nents. And in his first term at Oxford, Warwick GD 46. Ewers, last year's captain, won a Blue for running v. Oíd Edwardians: KE 16; OE 20. —a remarkable achievement. v. Bablake: B38; KE 40. For those unaequainted with inter-schools cross v. Solihull: KE 35; S 44. country, I should explain that in the winter term, the Birmingham League races are run. Our first v. Queen Mary's, Walsall, and Newcastle: N 47; team is in the first división, and the second team KE 59; QM 73. is in the third división. In the spring term, and on Foundation School's Race: KE 37; FW 41. Saturdays in the winter term, traditional fixtures Birmingham Schools' Cross Country Match are run, particularly against other public schools, lst, Lordswood (103);2nd, KE Five Ways (146); and several big events, sometimes ¡nvolving hun- dreds of competitors, are entered. 3rd, KE (148) (10 teams) Last term in the League, the first team finished v. Bromsgrove: KE 35; B 43. fourth; Lordswood won. At the start of the season, v. Oíd Edwardians: KE 33; OE 48. ¡n September, Messrs. Morris, Davis, Hutchinson King's Norton Road Relay and Lawley were all that was left of last year's lst, Lordswood; 2nd, George Dixon's; 3rd, KE first team. The outlook was as uncertain as the (10 teams) composition of the team. However, we began well by beating Moseley, Handsworth, St. Philip's and Warwickshire Championships St. Thomas Aquinas. Paul Hicks and David Wale KE Intermedíate Team (U16): 9th settled into competitive running, and later on, Roy Batters did well once he had convinced himself of Rugeley Bowl Inter-Schools Race his ability. In the third división, the second team Winners: King Henry VIII, Coventry; KE: 17th repeated last year's result in coming second. (23 teams) In the non-league fixtures, some most encourag- Sénior members considering what to do in the ing results were obtained. In September we tied summer vacation, or during a year's break with Bablake, and in the return match at Bablake between school and university, may find these in January we lost by just two points. Many of the two suggestions from the Chief Master help- results reflect the considerable improvement of the ful. More ¡deas in the next edition. team since Christmas, which, as was alleged, had nothing to do with the crippling loss of Nick CONCORDIA Morris around that time. Against Five Ways, for (Youth Service Volunteers) example, we lost twice last term, but this term International Camps in Britain and abroad we have twice turned the tables. Similarly, last 1. From June to October, Concordia sets up term we lost heavily to Queen Mary's, Walsall, but camps usually consisting of about 40 volunteers of we won at Walsall in January, and at the same time both sexes from several countries, for fruit picking carne a cióse second to Newcastle High School for and hop picking in their respective seasons. At the the first time in many years. And, as usual, we former a 40—44 hour week is worked, at the latter, knocked spots off Bromsgrove. rather longer hours. Volunteers are normally paid An amusing innovation this year was the staging by piece rates and earn enough to cover all their of two Oíd Ed's challenge matches. They were outgoings—at hop picking camps there is a chance fantastic. of making enough to put by some. Mínimum age After revealing such potential, therefore, it is a 16. Periods of stay, any length, but must start great pity that not all members of the team are from a Saturday. concerned enough to run, without being begged, 2. Similar camps are arranged in Holland, Por­ badgered or bribed. The team will be almost un- tugal, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Mínimum age 18, though in some camps in Austria and France unable to cope, but the soloist had more or less younger volunteers are accepted. settled down, and apart from a few fluffs, per­ All information from : The Recruitment Secre­ formed really well. tary, Concordia, lia Albemarle Street, London, The whole of the second half was devoted to W1X4BE. Mozart's Réquiem in D minor. The Orchestra gave V.S.O. quite a good performance, and the Choir sang well, but without fire or verve. V.S.O. was founded some 15 years ago by Alee Dickson at the time when compulsory National The high point of the concert was the solo Service was ended. He had the visión to see that quartet. Isobel Topliss (soprano), despite a there could be constructive work done by young slightly immature voice, which could develop really men who for one reason or another had a period well, sang a difficult part very well indeed. Terence to give between school and university. The scheme Lamont (counter-tenor), who has a rather light grew, it was extended to include girls, volunteers voice, overcame the appalling Big School acoustics appreciated their experience, and their service was quite effectively. John Harris (tenor) and John appreciated overseas. At the height of the scheme Hawker (bass) were both superb. The tenor filled there were some 250 school-leaver volunteers in the hall with round, a rare achievement, while the the field each year. bass, especially in the "Tuba Mirium," was just as effective. This, for me, completely overshadowed This was a first-aid scheme to meet an emer- the rest of the evening. geney. Developing countries have made rapid advance, and the emphasis has been shifting to a The School's contribution lacked the vitality and demand for more mature, more highly qualified enthusiasm of two years ago. It was quite a good volunteers. The requirement now is for voluntary concert, but somehow uninspired, apart from the service for a period after graduation. soloists, and unsatisfying. PETER WYLIE But there is still room for a reduced number of school-leaver volunteers: this year there is request from overseas for 60-70, mainly for teachers in the LETTERS TO THE EDITOR júnior forms of secondary schools. The subjeets Sir, asked for are English, elementary maths. and In reply to Mr. Spector's comments on the main science, and games. There are also 10 non-teaching door, I feel the following points must be made. assignments in community development. Mr. Bailey assures me that congestión has been In the nature of things, these assignments are reduced by the revival of the rule which permits likely to be in remote rural áreas, and volunteers only members of the Sixth Form to use the main need to be people with special stability and self- door. When over 600 people are using only one reliance, able to face frustration and loneliness. door there are bound to be delays, and the ¡dea is Universities recognise the great valué of V.S.O. to help everyone. and have always in our experience been very ready The main door ¡s kept half open during the to defer for a year an offered place. winter and other periods of bad weather to con­ serve heat and to prevent the Porter's Lodge from BLANK PAGE being flooded. Now that the weather has improved, The empty page like unstroked mountain snow Mr. Bailey is willing to demónstrate to Spector, or Pleads for a poet who is trapped in the ice anyone else, how the " left-hand half of the door " below. operates. Rime covers love, frostbitten fingers fail, During the first week of the revived policy, pre­ Thoughts that pleasured the mind are showered fects were on hand to see that the rule was upheld. in hail. Since then there have been no " large prefects I ride my dream that's saddled and spurred in blocking the doorway," and the Lower School has rage, accepted that, at specified times, use of the main But his heels leave no marks on the mountain door is prohibited. snow, Finally, 1 would venture that Spector1 should Or the empty page, channel his criticism ¡nto a constructive form. The Whichever you prefer. letter served to show that he has a fair turn of MALCOLM SPENCER w¡t but, in this ¡nstance, does not have a serious case. The " Chronicle" provides an outlet for EASTER CONCERT suggestions, but the whole purpose is defeated if contributors with ability use the space ineffec- The concert opened with the first movement of tually. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. This work is most unsuitable for a school concert as it is so familiar Yours etc., that any error is immediately noticeable, and it is PETER SOUTHERN so technically difficult as to be far beyond the Dear Sir, range or experience of a school orchestra. The Orchestra, ably trained and conducted by Cyril I would agree with Spector, who said in his Perfect, recovered from an unco-ordinated start to article, " Litter," printed in the February give a surprisingly good rendering, which improved " Chronicle," that the floors, brasswork and walls enormously as it progressed, and the final section are spotlessly clean, but I disagree with his view was pleasantly free from raggedness. on litter around the School grounds. The Chapel Choir then performed four songs, The fact that Spector found little litter on the all of which sounded wooden and heavy. The Choir south front shows that the remedy of clearing up of 33 was far too large and cumbersome to nego- litter after school is being successful, thus bringing tiate the pieces with sufficient lightness, and the School grounds up to the standard of the rest seemed unenthusiastic to the point of boredom. of the School. The next item was the Trumpet Concertó by I also fail to see how Spector can speak so Haydn. The Orchestra for this work was small and authoritatively on the great inconvenience caused, ¡ts playing tentative, which affected the soloist, and the time wasted, by the litter clearing, as he Christopher Hodges. The first movement was has no first-hand experience, being one of those played too slowly, which meant that normally diffi­ unique sixth formers. cult semi-quaver runs became all but unplayable. With first-hand experience, I can tell Spector The second movement was hampered by the that the longest I have stayed behind is seven apparent ¡ndifference of the conductor. Unless the minutes, and this caused no great inconvenience. ends of phrases are pushed along to give a sense Spector is obviously a victim of exaggeration, of movement, the piece seems lifeless and dull, as and I disagree with all he says on the subject of ¡t did, apart from some moments of excellent solo litter. work. The third movement was again too slow, Yours, etc., and the Orchestra still had moments of being I. R. METCALFE CM KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

Vol. 4, No. 7 As a preacher he was eloquent without a trace of showmanship. His down-to-earth, utterly sin­ THE REV. F. J. WILLIAMS cere and quiet manner, completely devoid of cant, With the departure of Mr. Williams at half-term, could be most impressive. And in the Common to become vicar of Barnt Green, K.E.S. loses a Room, we rarely had a meeting without some master of uncommon ability, whose contact with pungent and telling remarks by F.J.W. many facets of school life will long be remembered. He once caused much amusement acting in a Mr. Williams and I were at K.E.S. together as Common Room play—Gogol's " The Government boys in the fifth and sixth forms (when Gilson was Inspector "—in which he took the part of the post- headmaster), fellow prefects, contemporaries at master, speaking throughout with a Welsh accent. Cambridge, and colleagues here for 35 years; so, He combined with his school duties much cleri­ although I do not teach on the classical side, I am cal work, being honorary assistant at Moseley perhaps not unqualified to write this small tribute. Parish Church. He has also taken a full part in From school, where he was secretary of the literary the religious life of the city, having been a member society, he went up to Sidney Sussex College as of the Advisory Council for Religious Education in an exhibitioner, afterwards becoming a scholar. Birmingham since 1954, and a member of the He was secretary of his college musical society; Diocesan Liturgical Commission since 1963. throughout life, music has been for him a major At K.E.S., few masters can ever have ¡nfluenced interest. the School in so many different spheres over so He taught at Bolton School before coming to long a time. I can hardly imagine King Edward's K.E.S. as a master in 1937. An A.R.C.M. and an without his tall, straight, figure. Masters and boys accomplished pianist, he has often played in school send greetings to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, and wish concerts. He was a great admirer of Debussy's them every happiness at Barnt Green. piano music. But he was a trenchant critic of the sloppy, mawkish or sugary, not only in life but in N.J.F.C. literature and music. He once asserted that to listen to Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concertó MR. L. K. J. COOKE made him feel embarrassed. Mr. Cooke left at the end of the Easter term In the early war years, he was an ardent worker after a long and influential career at K.E.S. at the Newnham Bridge farm camp, where as an He was educated at Emmanuel School and Pem­ exacting foreman he excelled at hoeing carrots. broke College, Oxford, where he took a second Strange though it may seem to us today, from class honours degree in modern history in 1934. 1945-47 he commanded the Corps (then called the After varied teaching experience he joined the J.T.C.), and Sergeant Major Moore once told me Common Room at K.E.S. in October, 1944. what an efficient commander Major Williams was. Throughout his teaching career it is probably Then, in 1948, on the formation of the eight true to say that the C.C.F. was the main centre of Houses, he became the first housemaster of Prince his ¡nterests. He had become a C.C.F. (or O.T.C. Lee, a position which he held til! 1963, when he as it then was) officer in 1936, and he served in the was appointed head of classics in succession to corps throughout his 28 years at K.E.S., command- R. C. Dunt — previously he had been head of ing the contingent with the rank of lieutenant- divinity. colonel from 1958 to 1972. Major changes in For some time he was seriously ¡II, but made a organisation and approach took place during his complete recovery, fortunately for K.E.S. After the veriod in command, arising from developments building of the Chapel (the former Upper Corridor both external and ¡nternal to the School. He was from New Street), Mr. Williams, having taken personally responsible for moving the annual Holy Orders, became our first School Chaplain. inspections from mornings to evenings, thus making All who knew him could see the dedicated and them public instead of prívate ceremonies; and loving care he exercised in every service; he took field days from school days to weekends as a result just the same trouble over conducting chapel for of the ¡ntroduction of the five-day working week. the Removes as he did on more prominent His long and devoted services to the C.C.F. earned occasions. him the T.D. and the O.B.E. I shall never forget his beautiful address at the He taught history and English throughout the memorial service for our colleague, R. M. Osborne middle and lower schools, and was for more years and equally his address at the memorial service for than most people can remember, form master of T. C. Burgess (whose widow he married in 1964), Shell C. He was also for many years School Corres- who had been his colleague at K.E.S. for 15 years pondent of the A.M.A., and active in ¡ts Midlands before being appointed headmaster of Five Ways. organisation, being for a time chaírman of the In the Common Room he was witty and always Midlands branch. quick to reach the crux of a problem. His some­ He was very much a military figure, always what detached manner belied his warmth of heart immaculately dressed and groomed in the style of and the range and penetration of his gift of human an army officer wearing " civvies." Nothing that understanding. To the boys he may have seemed happened, or was said, ever appeared to shake his austere. His voice was not powerful, but it was imperturbable calm. But the other side of this coin extremely clear—an admirable vehicle for the pre­ was that he was a most impenetrable man—one cise and meticulous words he always used. could be on good Common Room terms with him He had a keen sense of humour, avoided the for 20 years and more without ever finding what conventional and the ordinary, and adapted himself lay beneath the suave and relaxed surface or what with great skill to any boys he was instructing. He went on when he was not at school. was an adept at using up-to-date expressions and One thing his colleagues did glean about Leslie símiles, yet never lost his dignity. over the years was that he was an astute and per- tinacious business man. Every few years he sold available, the birth-rate will usually be well above his house and moved into a larger one. At the zero-growth level, particularly if economic condi- earliest age at which a pensión can be drawn began tions are favourable. Couples can " plan " big to rise above the horizon, plans were drawn up to families as well as small ones. Couples may lower put energy and qualifications to work to bring that their fertility if conditions become bad enough, pensión up to an acceptable level and to protect as happened during the depression, but the aim it against inflation. Mr. Cooke and his wife, also a of a population policy is to prevent the uncon- qualified teacher, therefore, bought a preparatory trolled growth that will make conditions so bad school in Brentwood, which will undoubtedly that having a family seems pointless. occupy them constructively, enjoyably and profit- Positive incentives for population control could ably in their " retirement." That it may do so for include paying people to become sterilized, offer- the many years that health and energy remain to ing career fellowships to men and women who them is the wish of their friends at K.E.S. remain single, and giving special housing, recrea- C.H.C.B. tional and other advantages to childless people. Mention of such policies seems immoral to many THE POPULATION CRISIS people. This is because traditional morality en- courages reproduction. Any policy that will effec- "Crisis in Population " is an enormous subject tively discourage reproduction is therefore revolu­ to have to lecture on for just forty minutes. Pro­ tionary. As things stand, however, it seems likely fessor Fremlin attempted to do this, and although that any efforts made in the foreseeable future will he succeeded in keeping the sixth form ¡nterested be insufficient to avoid huge rises in death rate and amused, the subject was only superficially owing to over-population. dealt with. Professor Fremlin started by pointing JOHN HOLDER out how man had used his unique intelligence to remove all the natural limitations on the size of population. As a result of this, we now have a THE HIGH KING XTT DISH ON world pouluation that is increasing exponentially; To relieve the boredom of the vacation, ten at the present rate of ¡ncrease, it will have doubled Scouts left school to spend four nights in the York- in thirty-eight years time. The only limits that now shire Dales. We travelled first class to the Bristol exist, such as disease and starvation in under- Road, but there, anybody who had failed to provide developed countries, could easily be removed if suitable padding found comfort approaching rock the countries that could help were sufficienly moti- bottom. After light relief on the motorway, we vated to do so. The Professor was confident that reassembled the van before resuming the journey, " science " is capable of solving any problem, if but at least the Scouts all arrived in one piece. necessary. The population would never starve, We loosened up on the first day with a quick however large it became, so long as we could be fifteen miles, which had a painful effect on tight bothered to make sufficient synthetic food. muscles, and an embarrassing effect on tight Working on this assumption, Professor Fremlin trousers. In the evening we were entertained by a then moved to the situation as it might logically touch of Scottish magic. be in eight hundred years' time. There would then However, the main purpose of visiting Yorkshire be one hundred people to each square yard of the was to attempt the " Three Peaks Walk," a circular earth's surface. The solution would be to have a tour vía the summits of Whernside (2,419 ft.), building two thousand storeys high, the first thou­ Ingleborough (2,373 ft.) and Pen-y-ghent (2,273 sand for food production and other necessities, the ft.). Unfortunately, this involved the morgues in top one thousand for habitation, giving each person getting up at 7 a.m. to cook breakfast to ensure an ten square yards. The raw material for food pro­ early start, which seemed to be very bad planning. duction would be excreta, and all waste, ¡ncluding After leaving the van at Ribblehead, the whole dead bodies, would be processed and re-c¡rculated. party set off together, but it soon became apparent However, there does now seem to be a new limita- that some people had no ¡ntention of climbing tion; this population density would produce heat three hills in one day, and so, having descended from bodies alone of ten kilowatts per square yard. Whernside and eaten our lunch on some very con- This heat could be removed by radiating it into venient seats, we split into two groups, six maso- space from a roof at white heat. Unfortunately, chists opting to continué over all three peaks, the if the population were to double just once more, others settling for two. Had those six realised just the roof would melt. how much walking their were in for, I am sure Having shown how the crisis has evolved, and most of them would have chosen the easier way having described what might be its eventual climax, back. Having reached the third triangularon point Professor Fremlin offered no ¡deas on how the —which was quite a relief—by 5 p.m., we cele- crisis might be averted. If one accepts his ques- brated our success with the traditional lusty ren- tionable assertion that science can solve all prob­ dering of the School Song. (I am sure that no lems, existence would be quite tolerable until the amount of prize money will produce another song situation in his " city of tomorrow " was reached. which can be sung with as much vigour on a windy The danger in this case is that ¡gnorance, com- mountain top, and surely that is a good enough placency and apathy could lead to that situation reason for keeping the present song.) instead of to a society with a stable population With three hours until sunset, we began the that would be able to fulfil the potential for living descent to Ribblehead, but immediately found that science could provide. walking across moorland very slow and very tiring. If one is more realistic and rejects Professor (What was Robín Hood doing alone out there?) Fremlin's conjectural assumption, the population Fortunately, we reached the road in daylíght and crisis becomes more immediately serious. If science had a downhill walk of one mile to complete the cannot provide large amounts of synthetic food, hike, and an uphill walk of two hundred yards to how will everyone be fed in thirty-eight years celébrate. It is interesting to note that the record time, when there will be twice as many people? for the annual " Three Peaks Race " is about 2^ Previously arable land has been transformed ¡nto hours, less than we took to complete the last six semi-desert because of over-intensive cultivaron, miles, as the crow flies, from Peny-y-ghent to and we are polluting our own environment because Ribblehead. The whole walk, about twenty-five of excessive use of fertilizers, therefore, we can­ horizontal miles, plus nine thousand feet of vertical not hope to provide extra food from more efficient displacement, had taken us just over ten hours. agriculture. The most desirable solution, of course, Because nearly everybody was pretty exhausted, would be to stabilise the population. To this end, we decided against any further walking, and so, most countries have family planning programmes, after spending the following morning in Settle, we yet these have generally failed to ¡nfluence popula­ visited one of the favourite sites of the geologists tion growth at all. What, in fact, ¡s needed, ¡s who had visited the área during the Autumn term, population planning, not merely family planning. at Stainforth. The afternoon was spent at Gore- If nothing is done beyond making contraceptives dale Scar, whilst the van was being repaired in Settle, but ¡t was too much to hope that the seats The School Chronicles of the seventies were TuII had been fixed. of appeals for more public spirit. " Almost every The final morning was spent admiring Malham institution founded in the School," complained the Core from the top of the 365 feet cliff which over- Editor in April, 1872, " speedily comes to an end." hangs by 32 feet. After visiting an área which the (The new Chess Club lasted a month, then expired, geologists had not previously studied, we returned leaving the Governors to pay its debts.) This, how­ to Birmingham, and with a final view of the beard ever, was a period of difficulty for the Volunteers which did not appear at school, even for the first also, and we have to wait for the Boer War and day of term, we returned to normal life. the threat of the new Germany to restore military ardour. After all, the whole basis of the Volunteer Finally, I must thank the quartermaster for pro- Movement was the willingness to come forward to viding something with which to eat half-a-gallon defend the country in times of danger, and when of pickle. there was no apparent danger, ¡nterest flagged. ROY TERR It was Col. Barnsley's speech at the Oíd Edwardians' dinner on 6th January, 1906, which got HISTORY OF THE CADET CORPS AT things moving again. " There is one great need which I should like to see supplied. There has never KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL been a Cadet Corps in connection with any of the BIRMINGHAM Schools (Le., of the Foundation) ..." He was The Volunteer Movement sprang from the wrong here, but because he thought he was break- widely-held fear in the country that our defences ¡ng new ground, he gave reasons for the Volunteer were far from adequate in view of the imperialistic Movement which were to be heard again in the posturings of Napoleón III just across the Channel, land in our time : "... the whole trend of and many Volunteer regiments were raised during thought in higher military áreles is undoubtedly in the early 60s of last century. One of these was the the direction of conscription . . . the evil of which First Warwickshire (Birmingham) Rifle Volunteers, in an industrial community like ours cannot be and in April, 1864, its Commanding Officer wrote exaggerated (the authentic voice of Birmingham, to the Governors of the King Edward Foundation this!) ... I hold it to be the duty of every young concerning the formation of a School Cadet Corps. Englishman to devote some portion of his spare The idea was favourably received, a School Corps time to voluntary training ... * Breathes there a was authorised, and command given to Captain man with soul so dead, etc.' " Tom Collins, who had been one of the first Volun­ The appeal did not fail on deaf ears. The Bailiff teers in his recent undergraduate days at Cam­ announced on Speech Day, July, 1906, that the bridge. (Incidentally, like most of Birmingham in Governors had agreed to form a Cadet Corps. One those days, Collins was a Liberal, which would not of the staff, R. H. Hume, had been privately cam- normally have recommended him to the Governors, paigning for this for years, and when given com­ but he was also a Cricket Blue—which did!). mand, lost no time in getting the boys on parade. The Official History of the School gives 1865 as The first official parade was on 30th January, 1907, the year of the inception of the Corps—the Head- and the following April saw the famous incident master, the Rev. Charles Evans, wrote a letter to when " Bobby " Hume doffed his hat to Field the Governors dated 8th March, 1865, informing Marshal Earl Roberts when that great supporter of them of its formation; but in Col. Hart's History of the Cadet Movement carne to review the School the First Volunteer Battalion, the Royal Warwick­ Corps. shire Regiment, published in 1906, I found the " Bobby " Hume had a truly military moustache, following passage : but otherwise continued to be unconventional, as, ". . . in June, 1864, when the Volunteers for ¡nstance, on the occasion when he was leading assembled at Bingley Hall to march thence to his cadets down New Street and gave the order Calthorpe Park for battalion drill, they were to wheel, but in the wrong direction. To avoid the joined by a Cadet Corps from the School, num- leading files trying conclusions with a shop win- bering about 80, under the command of Capt. dow, he rapped out, " Dammit, up Corporation Collins, one of the masters." Street! " Col. Masón, with a nice sense of occasion, Thanks to Captain Hume, the Haldane Reforms ¡nstead of taking the Battalion down Suffolk Street of the years immediately preceding the war of as usual, took them down New Street and past the 1914-18 did not find K.E.S. wanting, and the Corps School, from the windows of which the boys became a contingent of the newly-created Officers' cheered the first appearance in public of their Training Corps in 1908. Since then, there have Cadet Corps. always been cadets at the School—R.A.F. cadets also since 1938, and R.N. cadets since 1948, the I also found that Tom Collins' commission as year in which all three Services carne under one Honorary Captain of Cadet Corps was dated 22nd organisation, the Combined Cadet Forcé. April, 1864, so we may legitimately advance the School's Cadet history by one year. Tom Collins It is best left to another occasion to deal with in due course sought advancement, at the end of the current aims and activities of the C.C.F.— 1870 becoming headmaster of Newport Grammar suffice to say in conclusión that in 1972, over a School, Shropshire, and as he passes out of our century later, K.E.S. cadets are still volunteers, ken, so for a generation does the Cadet Corps. and still volunteering. i v i r The first School Chronicle ever to be published is dated March, 1872, and there is no mention of the Cadets—nothing, in fact, until April, 1875, THE NATIONAL UNION OF when the Editor wrote on the subject of the School SCHOOL STUDENTS and the Volunteers at considerable length. He be- moaned first the fact that, being a day School, the The N.U.S.S. was formed as a result of a resolu- School and the boys were separated as soon as tion put forward by the Colleges of Education at a lessons were over—" the curse of all our School National Union of Students conference last year. institutions "; and secondly, the fact that the boys Since then, meetings have been held across the were leaving school early the sooner to go in for country to set up the organisation of the Union, money grubbing—" at 15, at 14, perhaps even and this activity finally culminated in the National earlier." So, he concluded, " we must for the pre­ Launching Conference on May 20th. sent be content to let the oíd rifles remain at ease Long before this date, things were moving in in their resting place in the Headmaster's house." Birmingham; a series of public meetings was held, (Two of these issue weapons, bearing the year and a committee was formed to hold a conference. 1840, survived all vicisitudes, and were found in This meeting was attended by school students 1960 quietly rusting in the Governors' Records from all over the Midlands, ¡neluding a group from Room. Burnished and restored, they now adorn K.E.S., who decided to form a branch of the unión the walls of the Contingent Armoury.) at this school. There ¡s a real need for an organisation such as referee knew the score, but as a limit of 20 goals N.U.S.S., as until now there was no organisation had been set out of kindness to fatigued purses, it that could represent the nine million boys and was inevitable that this would be reached some- girls at primary and secondary schools in Britain, how. New depth was brought to the game with although on the Continent similar unions have the discovery that the rules say nothing about the been in existence for some time, and have had some number of goalkeepers allowed, and even specta- success in influencing educational policy in certain tors could help in their own small way. (" Honest, countries. One of the most ¡mportant objectives it hit the post"). About 15 minutes ¡nto the of the N.U.S.S. is to achieve some measure of second half carne possibly the worst rainstorm any­ democracy in schools, and achieve it by peaceful one has ever been stupid enough to play football and friendly co-operation with others who run through, but it is to the credit of both teams that schools now. We believe that this is a perfectly they struggled on, although play was virtually reasonable aim, as education is ¡ntended to teach impossible, and practically invisible for those who us how to live in a democratic society, a task which continued to watch. (There are times when a col- it must fail to do satisfactorily if schools them­ lapsible umbrella can be very useful, as yet another selves are not democratically run. goalkeeper found out.) The N.U.S.S. also wishes to concern itself with The rain cleared withín another 15 minutes other educational issues, and to take a part ¡n the (hours?) and play resumed at a reasonable level, debates on such questions as comprehensive although the piten was very nearly flooded. The schools, corporal punishment, teacher training, sight of the second half was undoubtedly Martin examinations, sex education and a huge range of Brown aquaplaning for five feet before collapsing other problems that affect the school student as into a puddle of mud. As control and what ball much, if not more, than anyone else. skiIIs there were diminished, there were one or The N.U.S.S. says that school students are not a two bad mistakes by both sídes, and the type of sub-human category of animáis, but individuáis who slidíng tackle repeatedly employed by one member have just as much a right to a point of view, and of the company led to críes from the touchline a means to express it, as anyone else. It is the that he be removed. I mention no ñames. N.U.S.S. that has been launched to provide a forum Earlier on ¡n the match Mr. Parslew had success­ for debate, so that our opinions can be voiced col- fully missed a penalty, and now Judi Shaw fol- lectively, in a mature and responsible way, in the lowed his example. Whether injury time was hope that even in these violent times there is still played or not is open to dispute, but the scoring room for reason and moderation. finally concluded at 13 to 7. My commiserations JONATHAN SPECTOR to the losers, with a team composed largely of the girls of the company, and varíous masters. They put up a highly creditable performance against some very unorthodox play at times. (Tim New­ SOCCER MATCH (?) AT K.E.S. man seemed still to be playing hockey). I have no SATURDAY, 6th MAY idea of how much the game raised, but I assure all who participated that from a spectator's point of Place: the south field, or the most muddy section view, it was well worth the effort. thereof. Time: 10.00 a.m. on a cold, frosty May morning. Object: the loot (tours to Edinburgh STEPHEN BADSEY don't pay for themselves). The King Edward's Theatre Company met for the purpose of playing a football match (filthy, barbarían game) for which they had previously extracted sponsorships with remarkable persistence and efficíency. Paying once was politeness, twice was generosity, three times DRAMATIC PLANS was blackmail. Next year, the Dramatic Society will be per- Teams were roughly worked out as " us " and forming the following plays. The main production "them," and tactics were darkly discussed: "No, will be "The Tempest," which will be put on at John, what I mean by a one-two is . . . " Amid the end of January. In addition, there will be a vague confusión and general chatter about the production of "The Fair Maid of the West," by weather, the first half began. Thomas Heywood, adapted as a musical specially for the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, by Jack Emery. And was there ever such a game? My heart thrills even now to those wonderful sights : Mr. The latter show was first put on by the com­ Jayne moving with balletic skill as he slipped the pany of the Northcott Theatre in the summer of ball neatly out of play, M. Mille demonstrating just 1971. It is now ¡ntended to reléase it to the how a proper defence should be handled, while at public for general production, but, before that the same time consoling Dorothy Meachin on her oceurs, it has been given to the School Dramatic sad misfortune of having to play in goal (what did Society for its exclusive use. The dates have yet happen to those goalposts, by the way?). For me, to be arranged with the agents for the theatre. undoubtedly, the supreme moment of the match During the year, the Drama Group will continué carne when Kathryn Foxley successfully removed to opérate on Friday afternoons; it is open to any the ball from under the feet of Chris Gibbons as boy who is not involved in other activities from he threatened to swamp her in yet another goal- the Fourths and above. There will also be a júnior ward sortie (England selectors will kindly take play which will take place in mid-May; this com- note). plements the Júnior Drama Group which will meet Half-time carne when both teams were good and after school on Wednesdays. ready and not an instant sooner. Presumably the CHRIS GIBBONS CM KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

Vol. 4, No. 8 one's best for the side, and even that can be for- given. May the continuance of that approach to MR. D. F. COCKLE cricket be a memorial to this gentleman. Dudley Cockle was born a stone's throw from D.H.B. the Wiltshire County Cricket ground at Salisbury. At Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury, he quickly got ¡nto the school cricket eleven and played for Wiltshire U.17s. He joined the R.A.F. THREE JÚNIOR PLAYS via the R.A.F. Technical College, Cranwell, and The success of last year's Staff Play seems to served in Singapore and India, where he was prove that there is room for two prominent pro­ awarded the comparatively rare Indian General Service Medal. While in Singapore he played ductions every year in the School's dramatic cur­ cricket for Singapore in the Malay States Tourna­ riculum. Perhaps, therefore, this year's Júnior Play ment, and whenever in the U.K. between 1930-49, should have received more attention and more he played for the R.A.F. in the ínter Services Tour­ publicity. It was much more than a side-show to nament. On his return from the Far East in 1937, the School Play, and, although its main purpose he was capped for Wiltshire as a batsman (69 v. was to provide dramatic experience for members Surrey II and 103 v. Dorset in his first two innings, of the lower forms, it was entertaining enough to batting No. 4), although then, as now, he was a have deserved larger audiences. first-class left-arm slow bowler. On his first appear­ Mr. Hames, producing, cut the programme into ance at Lord's, for the R.A.F. v. the R.N., he took manageable lengths, with three short plays by 7 for 51 in nine overs, figures which suggest excite- modern writers, thereby presenting a lively, fast- ment, a fast striking rate by the bowler, a fair moving programme, while providing as many parts run-rate from the batsmen, the sort of cricket as possible (over 60). Despite this, no sacrifice of people want to watch, and of which he has always unity was made. The programme was well balanced, been an advócate. It may be of passing interest both dramatically and thematically. that in 1949 he struck a certain M. C. Cowdrey— The first play, " The One Black Rose," seemed then playing for Kent 2nd XI—for six. to me to be unfortunately the worst. It was tedious and unimaginative, and, despite fhe periodic witti- On the outbreak of war in 1939, he went to ness of the dialogue, and the talent of the cast, it France with the B.E.F., servicing fighter planes, and was lifeless. The audience laughed ¡ndulgently. left three weeks after Dunkirk from St. Malo, to But all credit is due to the actors, the stage gang, be posted to Biggin Hill at the height of the Battle technicians, props and wardrobe departments for of Britain. Later, in Canadá, he had opportunities making it as effective as possible. The contrast for more cricket, and in Egypt, in 1946, in the between Comedy and Tragedy was particularly course of 108 matches, he took nearly 350 wickets striking. Essentially, the subject of the play, the and made 2,600 runs. He also found time to play Arms Race, was too light, but its treatment, with soccer for the R.A.F. at home and hockey and all the complexities of a play within a play, was rugger overseas. too ponderous. When Mr. Cockle left the R.A.F. in 1949, he By contrast, " Is Horror Your Neighbour? " was carne, in October, to K.E.S. Those of us who have short, lively and dramatic. One of the biggest sur- been ¡nfluenced by him, either directly through prises of the evening (surpassed only by the Song games or shooting, or indirectly by just meeting him of the Women Pólice in "Arthur") was the in and around the school, will carry a picture of quality of this small cast, all of whom were Shells. the " left-handed bowling machine " in the nets, An adventurer (to sum up the plot) takes on a and perhaps, more particularly, the " small figure standing challenge to spend the night in a wax- in the white coat " on a Saturday afternoon. We works Chamber of Horrors. On discovering that shall also retain the memory of fruitily pungent the exhibits come to life at night, he falls into a but amusingly good-humoured commentary on a panic which only the miraculous powers of wide range of players from the present county " Ñervo! " can relieve. The entire cast joins in its captain, to the most deservedly anonymous of praises. The simplicity of this plot requires very U.13s. bold, confident acting; and the cast, who gain regu­ As a cricket coach, his technique was admirable lar dramatic experience according to the School's and his enthusiasm boundless. His courtesy and new policy, gave excellent performances. They helpfulness, his good humour—I only twice saw were also largely free of the awkwardness and arti- him really cross; once while driving his car, and ficiality of some of the older but untrained actors. again with a certain young master—and his com­ " Arthur," lively, smooth, witty and thoughtful, mon touch, the ability to be on terms with both dominated the programme. It satirised the " success masters and boys, ensured that learning what is a story," the authorities, the heroic struggle against difficult game became a pleasure for tyro and authority, jobs, and nearly everything else which experienced alike. I may say here that Dudley Arthur carne into contact with. In the end, he Cockle acknowledges a debt to Mr. Parry, who was was left in a position of uncertainty. The mayor's in charge of rugby when he arrived in 1949, and chain of office was round his neck, but he could not to Mr. Guy ("the finest batsman I ever saw out- marry the girl he loved because she thought she side the first-class game "), both of whom ¡nflu­ was not good enough for him. enced him in his early days in the school. But from Dudley himself, four generations here have in- The audience went home well pleased with what herited a deep love of cricket, of a world where they had seen. If the majority of the School insists the batsmen hit hard, the bowlers are fast and on waiting till the present juniors are seniors to cunning, the fielders sharp, and the result is vital see them acting, they may at least expect to see until the game is over, when it doesn't matter at some very good School Plays. all, and where the only crime is to do less than RICHARD BRADLEY TIPPETT'S THIRD SYMPHONY The final ¡nconclusíve chord ¡s, ¡n fact, full of ex- 44 On June 22, the World Premiere of Sir Michael pectation. It says : Where do we go from here? " Tippett's Third Symphony took place. This was And in the uneasy silence which follows, the 44 possibly the most ¡mportant cultural event of the answer comes : I don't know, but let's go there year—it was certainly the most ¡mportant musical —together." CHRISTOPHER HODGES event (the Walton 70th birthday celebrations were merely an excuse to rehear some of his music— The Editors have recently been in touch with however good it is!). several recent O.E.s now studying a wide range of It has been said as a criticism of modern music subjects at universities throughout the country. that it 44 represents the times we live in." Do we There follows the first in a series of replies, which expect of modern music a cacophony of unrelated deal in retrospect with K.E.S., and also with student sounds, with no clearly recognisable themes and life at university. Bearing in mind that most of us will not go to Oxbridge, one question which their development into an ordered whole? After 44 all, a work only deserves the title " symphony " if the Editors particularly asked was : Does the it contains themes and distinct development of choice of a university matter? " this material, but we must not be misled ¡nto expecting a clear statement of the musical material LIVERPOOL B.A. History (Prelim.) in a manner which a classical symphonist might expect. Themes are, after all, not tunes. It is ¡mportant to decide whether you want to go to university at all. At K.E.S., going to univer­ Tippett's musical language is certainly unique 44 44 sity is usually presented as a natural progression and modern." He has come a long way since A from school, but it ¡s ¡mportant to remember that Child of Our Time" (1941-2), and his first opera 44 a degree now confers few privüeges, as the rate of A Midsummer Marriage" (1950-55), but the gradúate unemployment shows. motivation behind his remarkably complex brain is still the same. Despite veering towards the mystic, The first major problem involved in writing his music is highly organised, and there is much about university life ¡s that one's experience is thought behind it. It is to this background motiva­ unique, and henee one's judgments are mainly sub- tion that every one of us must turn our attention. jective. This Symphony is, in ¡ts motivation, highly rele- I can only write about Liverpool University and vant to the present day. Even if we do not like ¡ts History Department, in which I am a student. Tippett's musical language, we must attempt to The University is not especially popular at K.E.S., understand what he is trying to communicate to which is a pity. It ¡s a good university, as most of the us. departments are both excellent academically and The Symphony can be split up into sections as very friendly to their students, a most ¡mportant follows : factor. In choosing a university it ¡s most ¡mportant to find a place where you will be happy. If your Part I is in two sections, which are both orches­ three years at university are a miserable slog, then tral. The first is vigorous and ebullient, with an you obviously did not choose the right place to over-riding brassy and percussive orchestral timbre. go to. The second is quiet, introspective and ecstatic. [Detailed analysis is deliberately not given here.] I personally have found my first year most enjoy- Part II begins with an orchestral introduction, able, and have no hesitation in recommending the including an ¡mportant quotation for full orchestra History Department to anyone contemplating from the last movement of Beethoven's 9th studying this at university. There are not many (Choral) Symphony. There then follows a setting academically superior departments in other places, of four poems of 41 innocence and experience," and few that can be happier. Staff-student rela- written by the composer himself, for soprano solo. tions are cordial, and social ufe is active. The rhythm of 44 blues " music plays a promínent, The admission procedure is largely built on the and brilliantly characterised, part in the first three interview procedure. About 120 people are inter- poems—especialy fine use is made of the solo viewed each year, out of more than 500 applícants, flügelhorn. The first two settings reflect the for 40 places, so it is essential to put Liverpool thoughts of a young girl growing up; initially as high on your I¡st. In the other departments, the a baby, receiving milk from her mother, and kisses procedure is much the same. from her father, and then as an adolescent, revell- ing in her new-found sensuaMty, w¡th self-confident, One of the main differences between school and quirky music. university is the enormous increase in free time, to be used or abused. A major attraction of Liver­ The mood of the last two songs changes pool is the high level of social activity ¡n both the abruptly. The third poem is a cry of anguish for city and the university, which can lead to neglect the deformed and handicapped people in the world. of work. The attractions Liverpool boasts range 44 So many take me for a dog," and again, 44 I feel, from football, through music, poetry and theatre, but cannot see, the sun." The last and longest song to the best Guinness outside Ireland. takes the form of a dramatic scena, and it remem- Many people going to university do so as a bers the human beings killed in the ovens of con­ temporary measure between school and deciding on centraron camps only 30 years ago, and also those a career. This ¡s most unwise, as choosing a univer­ suffering now in Siberian labour camps. sity course with no real reason can lead to bore- Tippet is asking many questions in this music. dom and disillusionment. If there is a supernatural being, why does he allow In summary, I would advise anyone going to this suffering? Referring back to the first song, university to consider Liverpool, for it is a happy where are the love and kisses now? And referring university, which is a crucial factor in any decisión, 44 back to Beethoven's setting of Schiller's Ode to but do make sure that you want to come to univer­ Joy " in the 9th Symphony, what has happened to sity in the first place. PETER WYLIE the romantic ideal of universal brotherhood? Tippett fmds that this ideal has to be reaffirmed but altered. SPONSORED WALK FOR SPASTICS Perhaps his message might be summed up like In this recent event, 18 boys from K.E.S. and Mr. this : Joy through friendship and love cannot be Nelson took part. Thanks are due to these gentle- fully attained because of the presence of evil. But men and to Mr. R. Parry, who helped with 44 if there is evil, an equal and opposite " forcé for transport. The total amount raised was £145-63. good must exist. So we must keep on striving posi- tively towards goals of goodness and friendship— we can restore the milk and kisses if we try hard MODERN LANGUAGE SOCIETY enough. The Modern Language Society, thanks to the The Third Symphony is a very ¡mportant affirma- continuing efforts of Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Biggs and tion of Tippett's personal creed (he is an atheist). Mr. Hodges in providing speakers, has enjoyed much variety in the seven meetings held so far this final, only to be defeated by Queensbridge 1—0, year. Of these, three have been in English, ranging who, incidentally, were our conquerors in the Row- from the very lively ¡llustrated lecture about his heath Festival. journey to New Zealand by the inimitable Mr. During the season we have played some memor­ Biggs, to a more sober, but very lucid and informa­ able hockey, and this showed when we annihilated tive talk on Czechoslovakia. Proof of the interest Lordswood 12—0. Brooklyn College provided stimulated by these talks can be seen in the fact 41 stiff" opposition, but on both meetings we that only the threat of the second bell closed the deservedly beat them by 2—1. We scored a total meetings. The máximum attendance recorded was of 58 goals in 24 games, thanks mainly to 12 goals over 60. from Dave Harris, ably supported by John Kerr The talks in French, Germán and Spanish have and Martin Taylor, who both scored 11. A great attracted much less support from members of deal of the team's success must be accredited to K.E.S. Such meetings cannot appeal to all sections Dave Kilvert, our goalkeeper, who performed mag- of the School, but it is nevertheless regrettable that nificently, saving five penalties out of five ¡n the even sénior linguists sometimes fail to take advan­ Pickwíck Festival. Our defence built up a good tage of them. Admittedly, it was unfortunate that understanding, thanks to the experience of Tim both French speakers based their talks on journeys Newman and Tom Burgess, who were capably sup­ through áreas of their own country, but although ported by Steven Johnson and Henry Higgins, two such talks do not usually possess a closely unifying of our younger members. theme, tending to consist of ¡solated, albeit fas- In midfield, we had our experienced dúo, captain cinating descriptions, it is for this very reason that Graham Holt and his vice-captain Philip Jones, without complex themes to follow, they are usually who were aided by Graeme Wooldridge. Philip easier to understand, and therefore of substantial Jones, as usual, turned on his electrifying skills benefit to a wider range of people. throughout the season, and Graeme Wooldridge, Purely for propaganda valué, attention is drawn although playing with great skill and determina­ to the fact that the society is again cultivating that tion, did his best to 44 upset" numerous umpires. hardy perennial, the joint meeting with K.E.H.S., Forwards Dave Harris and John Kerr scored some and especially for those members of the Lower memorable goals, but without the sterling support School who wish to broaden their social life, the of wingers Martin Taylor and Jeremy Deeley, this under-named respectfully wishes to point out that would not have been possible. We had adequate at the last meeting the female/male ratio was 3:1. reserves too in Dave Lewis, Sid Simmonds, Dave Despite, however, this natural desire to ¡ncrease Mutteen and Dave Martin, who all performed com- attendance, it would seem that the much-vaunted petently in ¡mportant games, notably Dave Mutteen apathy, to which most school societies have re­ who had a goal disallowed ¡n the last minute of poned being prey, has been exaggerated, at least our tied semifinal. in the case of the Modern Language Society. This Finally, our thanks must go to Mr. Buttle and society, indeed, if not positively flourishing, cannot Mr. Lambie for their tremendous help, and especi­ by any means be written off as moribund. ally to Mr. Buttle for his patience and advice both STEPHEN GRAY during the season and during our enjoyable, if not entirely successful, tour to Portsmouth. SIXTH FORM CLUB GRAHAM HOLT As the Sixth Form Club reaches the end of its first full year of existence, it can claim to have EUROPE ON A SHOE-STRING succeeded in establishing itself as a dynamic body Jugoslavian nights are cold—especially if it ¡s within the School. Its purposeful image was created September, and you have chosen to lay your weary more than anything else by the Christmas Party, head only a few yards from the side of an autoput an ambitious and highly successful enterprise for (a Jugoslavian motorway with one-an-a-half lañes so new a club. Yet the primary achievement of the each way, and only half of it cobbled). Despite a past three terms has probably been the compilation thick muffling of shirts, pyjamas and sleeping bags, of the Constitution—the club's concrete foundation you still get little sleep, but 1 suppose it is reason- —to give a framework for ¡ts existence. able at the price. Inside the club, advance ¡s also visible. Even if Last summer, Mike Jones and I spent seven weeks there remains a pre-Marconi wireless and only the on the Continent for an inclusive price of £39. carcass of a record player, the general quality of Admittedly, we spent two weeks as the guests of new equipment is high and, together with the Michael^ aunt and únele in the mountains of newly-installed curtains, greatly enhances the ¡n- southern Austria, but our budget still allowed for ternal appearance of the club This has been whisky, sherry and cigars on the boat, and provided achieved at a small cost to members, thanks mainly an itinerary which took in Venice, Dubrovnik, to the generosity of the Chief Master. Thessalonika, Athens, Crete (a week basking on When the recently elected committee members sun-drenched Mediterranean shores), Delphi (six assume their offices next year, the scope for activity guided tours by courtesy of the coach tour com­ will be wider than ever. Progress may be made panies), Belgrade and Munich. towards closer ¡ntegration between the club and Our method of travel was mainly hitch-hiking, K.E.H.S.; further attempts may be made to solve with a few ferries to fill in the gaps in the roads. the problem of the almost total lack of recreational This is, in fact, a most enjoyable way of moving facilities in the club. And with the recent growth across Europe because of the enormous number of ¡n student interest in democracy in schools, the people one can meet, and the immense variety club may become more and more of a centre for which it brings to car travel, which otherwise outward-looking activities. would have been extremely tedious. It does, how­ RICHARD POPE ever, require a stronger than average nerve: for example, the first lift we had was from a young HOCKEY Belgian who took us from Ostende to Brussels, a distance of seventy miles, in 40 minutes, mainly The hockey team enjoyed a highly successful by flashing his headlights at the car in front, and by season, winning 14 of our 24 matches. The high- overtaking on the inside. Later, he apologised for light of the Easter term was our success in the going so slowly, since the car was only two weeks Pickwíck Tournament, in which we were runners- oíd and he was still running it in! We spent £11 up for the second time in the past three years. on boat fares—£6 for crossing the Channel, £1-50 Our passage to the final ¡nvolved meeting Sheldon for 300 miles along the Jugoslavian coast, and £3-50 Heath, whom we defeated 2—0 after extra time, for the return to Crete. and our semi-final was a gruelling match against Stanmore, which was level after extra time. How The next item is accommodation. We set out ever, after a series of penalty flicks, we reached the with the intention of stopping in Youth Hostels wherever possible, but since these tend to fill up COFFIN CONVERSATION very quickly during the summer months, and are usually quite far apart, we had to adopt the " Level with yourself sometime " general rule of using them only if we ¡ntended to Well, my friend, spend at least a day ¡n the town. Whilst we were This is the end. actually travelling we slept when and as the oppor­ I won't pretend it hasn't been fun. tunity occurred, whether on roadsides during the We had a job to do. small hours of the morning, or in the back of a We did it too. car on a long journey. Where no hostel or cheap Am I or You then the luckier one? accommodation was available, we naturally had to sleep out, and on one occasion 11 of us had to So I learned to fail, sleep in the ante-room of a small hotel high up in That's not it all, the south-west mountains of Crete prior to des- When you'd cali still l'd always come. cending to the longest gorge in Europe. Our policy Td fail again. on food was to eat what the locáis ate, as it is It caused some pain, invariably much cheaper, and extremely enlighten- But then again I learned how to run. ing. During two weeks in Greece we consumed vast quantities of melón, Cretan goats' milk cheese, Optimist. and assorted other delicacies. I was the realist. Yet it was I who kissed fortune's hand. We both had full British passports, and with She slapped my face. these we had no trouble with any of the border In any case authorities. Even walking across the border ¡nto You had the grace at least to understand. Germany at 4 a.m. we had but to flash our travel- lers' cheques and we were welcome; ¡n fact, a good You really were too good, supply of these ensures that the pólice ¡n all You understood, coutries we visited will be most helpful. You said you'd guide me to the end. The main problem in the planning stage is That can't be bad. parent power, which is best minimised by the prin­ The end is sad, cipie of divide and conquer, and by the regular But still l'm glad you've been my friend. despatch of postcards from exotic places. One final STEPHEN BADSEY word of warning — rucksacks can become very heavy, and nights very cold, even in sunny dimes. ROBÍN NICHOLAS LUPINS MARCH DAWN Think how astonished I was, the train (Eckington, 1972) leaving the arcaded cuttings, at garden lupins all over the fracturing platforms—I The cold huddle of tents woke slowly. had only imagined docks, yes, and those long I was first; gingerly hooking the sodden flap, mauve I pushed out and stood to watch the sky. things with the feathery seeds in autumn. Mist like milk cowled the river, The summer evening's setting of shining Hiding the cold, black surface from me, buildings—a college, the house of a friend Flowing like a tide above the water. of mine—the train southwards, these lupins I see are mostly blue . . . In steaming fields around, ¡ron cattle thawed, Train movements and nodding extents Dripped, but did not move. Birds ¡n the of lupins feed my mind, swelling, Dew-sleek trees sat songless, cowed wishing for me, out of all who suffer By sílence. The wet plains glistened white the ecstasy of the train, swinging out on the door's In cloudy light, shadowing the trees and frozen pivot, to fail from the train upon a field of lupins Hedges black. I was too late where gallons of pounding flesh beat through my own To see the dawn, but saw the sun new-up, in a milkmaid's embrace. You, my infanta, with Red-eyed and bleary (tired from southern revelling leaves and Throughout our glacial night) scarved in a misty flowers up to your knees, grow dizzy in swooping wrap flight Snatched from horizon's milky veil. as you faint, like a bird down on a jungle insect, Still no sound. No movement. I turned, swishing upon me, singing sweet-sour blues. wet Give him, as he walks in the park Grass, and set off hillward. Dark footprints marked past the magpies' rasp through vaults my trail. of chestnut cathedral, more magpies THOMAS HOSTY and a helping of wild lupins —the poet, stuck on a moving train between Adlestrop and Wenlock Edge. PETER DANIELS MEMORIES SPEEDBIRD , . . three weeks of voyage, Speedbird, must I always ride you? There appeared, suddenly, When will the day come that I On the starboard bow an can smile at you, and softly let you go? Enormous Christmas tree, God knows, I know, Which sailed, erect, the journeys we've been through, Unwavering, on the waves, the nights that I flew you Gaudy with tinsel, on towards dawn and the edge of the sky, Yet blazing like the sun. and the days that I knew you. Ángel, where are we going to? The Captain, a hard-working man, All that I ever want is to let Swore his disbelief; the crew you fly free for yourself. Do you want me? Leapt ¡nto—no, onto, the water, Can I ever dismount and free you, see And danced around ¡ts bright red-painted base, you? I swear the answer need not be no. Singing, and playing on their pipes. The Tree Hold tight, my Speedbird, I have far to ride you Drifted away with them yet, Over the horizon; not one We still have so far to go. Was ever seen again. STEPHEN BADSEY RICHARD BRADLEY CM KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

Vol. 5, No. 1 society meetings which can draw upwards of one hundred members, the school dramatic produc­ tions, the voluntary work done in the Art Depart­ KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL ment, and the concerts produced in the Music At the end of last term Councillor Miss Sheila School, all show a degree of involvement that Wright and her associates on a sub-committee of should be not only a source of pride to the school, the education centre dealt the death-blow in their but also a powerful argument for ¡ts preservation heroic struggle against the King Edward's Founda­ ¡n Birmingham's education system. tion. That will be the effect of their decisión to JOHN FAULKNER suspend the provisión of free places at the school for children from poorer homes, since this pro­ visión was the one point that justified the existence SPEECH DAY of such a privileged establishment; it made the The School was distinguished on Speech Day this school a place where children of all classes and year by a visit from Lord Widgery, the Lord Chief backgrounds could enjoy a richer educational ex­ Justice of England. In his address, Lord Widgery perience. rather than a cocoon for the children of praised the quality of the prize declamations that the rich. he had just heard. He expressed an obviously The theoretical arguments, both for and against, genuine pleasure in them, which was very nice to high-quality schools are too well-known to need hear. He went on to speak, in simple.and direct repeating here; also well-known are the practical terms, of the besetting sin of the times which, as examples of Russia and America, countries which he sees it, is selfishness. His discourse was lucid have recently been forced to reintroduce selective and pleasantly low-keyed, and he ¡llustrated it with schools after recognising the shortcomings of a examples from general and professional experience. total system of comprehensive education; clear Homiletic it certainly was, but rendered agreeable enough to the eyes of all but educational theorists by the unpretentious humanity of ¡ts tone. This are the dictates of common-sense, practicality and testified to an attractively sincere and humane human nature. Yet all these points have been personality. We were not only honoured that ignored by Councillor Miss Sheila Wright and her Lord Widgery should come, but charmed and associates in their haste to exalt educational instructed by him when he carne. ¡deology over the practical needs of the people A.J.T. they serve. However, if we stress the weight of practical After the ceremony of Speech Day was over, our evidence, our opponents are likewise justified in guests were treated to another prodigious exhibi­ demanding whether the school shows by ¡ts prac­ tion of talent in the Department of Art and Design. tical performance that it deserves the privileged Once more the upper and lower corridors of the position it holds. On the academic side we could school were requistioned for an impressive display defend ourselves by pointing to the school's high of paintings produced in the department over the success rate at Oxford and Cambridge, although past year, while Studio 2 was transformed over- if we bear in mind the high quality of intake at night from a bustling workshop ¡nto an ¡mmaculate the school and the qualifications of the teaching setting for l¡no-pr¡nts, woodwork and sculpture ¡n staff, something would be seriously wrong if this stone, brick-clay and wood. Pride of place again were not the case. However, when we try to went to Jeremy Gray's one-man show of sculpture defend the social and moral side of life at the and architectural studies of Deerhurst church, school, we find that to some extent the ground though he faced strong competition from the Arts has been cut from beneath our feet by the Chief División and from Michael Evans. Special mention Master's over-publicised criticisms at Speech Day; must be made, however, of the excellent work of there he related how contemporary character at Neil Harvey who, though only in the Shells, has the school reflected " the malaise and lack of developed a style of painting more original and common purpose . . . which we see in the climate more powerful than most of his seniors. But overall of opinión outside." the standard of work and presentation was high, and showed that art, though it lacks the publicity In making this criticism, the Chief Master is per­ afforded to music and drama, still absorbs attention haps setting his aspirations for the school a little throughout the school. too high, for in a day school like ours, where the pupils spend more time at home or engaged in JOHN FAULKNER social activities than they do under the direct ¡nfluence of school discipline, it is only to be ex­ pected that the media and the attitude of society SYNDICATES as a whole will counterbalance the ¡nfluence With a very large number of the Sixth Form exerted by the school. For example, ¡s ¡t reason- preparing for the Oxbridge examinations, the num­ able to hope that when society has no more ber of Syndicates undertaken in 1972 was smaller "common purpose" than perhaps the pursuit of than previously. The Drama Syndicate gave a triple leisure or the acquisition of money, that a day bilí of which a notice appears elsewhere. The Art school can instil any more exalted aim in a widely and Design Syndicate are particularly thanked for differing cross-section of pupils? the construction of an additional Chapel bench, for And so, instead of criticising the school for which there is room in Chapel, and which is needed failing to reach Olympian heights of excellence. we when Chapel is used for Block Prayers. The Syndi­ ought rather to add to ¡ts credit whatever ¡t cate produced some very interesting work in the achieves above the average. Viewed ¡n these more end of term Exhibition. realistic terms, the school can display an impressive The Scientific apparatus Syndicate gave a demon- record; the Personal Service Group, the enthu­ stratíon of the construction of capacitors, and of siasm shown for the Corps and for school teams, other pieces of apparatus that they have prepared for use ¡n the teaching of the new science syllabi. of both words and music make it a very entertain- The Photographic Syndicate took 500 photographs ing piece to listen to and perform, and it is on the theme " The Changing Face of Birmingham," pleasingly long. Some of the funny movements and although the weather had somewhat limited were brought out by special effects, but there were the range, an interesting exhibition of photographs missed opportunities and the singing was often too processed by the members themselves was put on ecclesiastical when the 44 Deep South " pronuncia­ show for Speech Day. ron was obviously called for. Nevertheless, this The largest Syndicate was the one pursuing item contributed a great deal to the success of the Marine Biology. They had been for a period to concert. Borth and had studied and explored the varied The Poulenc Trio, played by Michael Cockerham, facilities there, fishing for mackerel at Aberystwyth, James Wishart and Jeremy Gray, was this year's pursuing the nature trail and studying the sundew, equivalent of the usual solo ítems, and a much continuing the investigations on the rocky shore, better alternative. It is a delíghtful work, and still visiting the salt marsh and the cockle beds. On gave the performers a chance to display their vir- their return they built a number of gadgets for the tuosity. An excellent piece of planning. Biology Department and erected a Dexion rack. The final work, Handel's Chandos Anthem, 44 O They put on exhibition wire models of skeletons, Praise the Lord with One Consent," reflected the a calibrator, a thermistore, and some photo mon- sensible thinking behind the choice of the whole tage. Finally, they collated five years of the obser- concert. It is a worthwhile and substantial work, vational records obtained at Borth. containing solo sections as well as chorus work, C.M. and brought a very good concert to a fitting cióse. I have not criticised the performances in detail DRAMA because the standard of playing and singing was " An Evening of Varied and Melodramatic generally high, unusually high. This, and the merit Entertainment" of the ítems themselves, no doubt stems from the Instead of the usual group of serious plays sensible organisation which made the concert so directed by a member of staff, the Drama Syndicate enjoyable for the full house which heard ¡t. chose this year to present what was billed as " A ROY BATTERS, O.E. Free Evening of Varied and Melodramatic Enter­ tainment for All "—a miscellany of light-hearted THE FIFTH FORMS CONFERENCE sketches, poems and drama. As such it was a worthwhile event, in which clearly both actors and The Conference this year was wide ranging audience enjoyed themselves, though anyone who ¡ndeed. There was material in it to awake the went expecting a revue of " Footlights " slickness interests of everyone, though clearly in such a list would have been disappointed. of speakers there were some who had only a minority appeal. There was a number of appre- The first half was more the miscellaneous part ciative comments from individuáis on the breadth and ¡ncluded Shakespearean parodies and a non- of ¡nterest that was on offer. At the same time speaking guest appearance by the Bard, played by the official reports were critical. Peter Biddle, in a Late Night Line-Up type of Clearly the high point of the period was the interview. The item ¡nto which the team had Industrial Society's two-day conference. The large evidently put the most effort was a short film by team of visitors brought by the Industrial Society Maltby/Brown Productions. In it, a sequence of was stimulating ¡ndeed, especially the Trade Union the Syndicate members dressed as farmyard animáis official, Jack Wood. The well organised discussion crossing the Park Vale drive was memorable. A groups were exciting. reading of children's verse that followed was some­ Apart from these two days there was inadequate what precious. time this year for group discussion. The Conference The Syndicate showed themselves to best advan- was seen to be too disjointed, and a desire was tage in the Victorían melodrama of " María Mar- expressed for treatment in depth of a unifying ten." Here the typecastíng was excellent. David theme. The planning was criticised as being too Jackson (the dastardly villain) was greeted, after patchy. The speaker on the new Social Services initial reluctance amongst one audience, by shouts Department took rather too much for granted and 44 44 of cad " and rotter," in which he fairly revelled. spoke somewhat over the heads of the audience. Ann Griffin was a suitably tear-jerking heroine, and It is clear that there was a desire for more partici­ after much tripping-over of scenery, an entertain- paron, more activity, a definite job to do. The ing evening ended with what appeared to be the items which were slanted towards careers were en masse exodus of the cast to the local. appreciated. The visit of 14 young Oíd Edwardians MALCOLM SPENSER, O.E. was thought to be valuable, but inevitably the list could not include all the career plans in which SUMMER CONCERT members were ¡nterested. More outside vísits were asked for. This concert was a success before it started, This year there were ¡ncluded for the first time simply because of the choice of ítems. The planners 44 44 talks about the nature and demands of A" level had broken away from the variety show " tradi- subjects and ¡ntroductions to the general studies tíon and presented a programme of some substance, course on Western European Civilisation. which well deserved our attention.

44 The talk by a psychiatríst on growing up was The first item, Vívaldi's La Pastorella " con­ very widely praísed. certó, was a sensible choice, because it is not only C.M. an attractive piece, but is also suitable for the instrumental resources available at K.E.S. The Here follows the second article in our series by application of common-sense here resulted in a recent O.E.s. Julián Burling is just beginning his polished and enjoyable performance. second year [reading Law] at St. John's College, 44 Creamini Omni, Trinitati Aeternae, Laus et Cambridge. Alleluia " is the title of Jeremy Gray's latest ven- ture, which also used available talent sensibly. Con- In general, the undergraduate will find work at sequently, the performance was convincing, with university very little more, and often less, demand- some fine individual playing, and a very good ing than the normal school preparation for account of the difficult solo baritone part from Oxbridge scholarship papers. Obviously, more Chris Hodges. I enjoyed the piece, and agreed with ground is covered and this in greater detail, but, the programme note's prophetic prediction of with few exceptons, such as medicine, the pressure which composers would most ¡nfluence the creation is no greater. In first degree courses one is still of the work. left with a rather superficial knowledge of the sub- 44 Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo," by ject, which can be frustrating, thus the sixth former Michael Flanders and Joseph Horowitz, was an ideal must not expect to find some ¡ntellectual Nirvana choice for this concert. The clever wit and humour when he arrives at university, especially as, unlíkely as it sounds, the standard at K.E.S. ¡s abnormally SCHOOL SWIMMING REPORT 1971/2 high. During the last school year the K.E.S. swimming My academic and professional experience at team has had, somewhat surprisingly, ¡ts best year university so far is largely concerned with the law. to date, surprising because ¡t lost the services of It seems to me a subject worth reading both for several good swimmers at the end of last season, ¡ts own sake and for the openings ¡t provides. At and especially Andrew Freeman, a G.B. júnior inter­ a time of serious deterioration of employment national. In consequence, the sénior team con- opportunities in other fields, a career in the law tained many new faces and had an average age of has good prospects both at the Bar and as a soli- only a fraction over 15^. In the Birmingham Gram­ citor and also in business and civil service. Students mar Schools Championship, K.E.S. gained an over­ often combine law with another subject in the all position of first, the first time that this has tripos system or joint honours degrees at other been achieved, and breaking the apparent strangle- universities. For someone wanting a good back­ hold of K.E.G.S., Camp Hill, who had won the ground for business or industry, such a combina­ event for the past seven years. This fine result was ron seems very worthwhile. mainly the reward for a great team effort, but some There are no particular "A" level subjects essen- individual performances are worthy of mention, tial to reading law at university, but I have found especially David Watton's valiant effort to beat that a fairly wide-ranging combination, such as júnior international Stephen Nash (St. Philip's) history, English and geography, gives an ¡nvaluable in the intermedíate two lengths free style, which knowledge of the social context of the law, and resulted in his being placed second with an equal history especially gives an objective mental train­ time to Nash's. David also won the interme­ ing. Classics, mathematics and to a lesser extent díate two lengths breast stroke, with John Haslam modern languages and natural sciences also provide second to give K.E.S. máximum points in that a good grounding in mental technique. It seems event. The intermedíate relay teams won both to be a common experience among natural scien­ free style and medley races, setting a new record tists that their divorce from the realities of life and in the latter. In the júnior team, David Johnson the vagaries of the human mind cause some trouble and Michael Watton carne second and third res- ¡n dealing with empirical fields such as the law of pectívely in the breast stroke and helped the júnior contract which are very much ¡nfluenced by his­ relay to come second. Paul Glover carne second in torical factors and pseudo-philosophy dating from ¡n the sénior free style, and Behean won the open the last century. Such difficulties are not, how­ dive. ever, insuperable. In the King's Norton School Sports, K.E.S. again Choice of university is ¡mportant. The larger achieved an overall position of first, winning the and older law faculties are preferable for the sénior and tying the intermedíate championship straight law course as their librarles are better and with Greenmore College. As a result of this, many they attract more distinguished teaching staff. K.E.S. swimmers were chosen to represent King's Dreadful though it may sound, an Oxbridge back­ Norton in the Birmingham Área Sports, when the ground is said to be a great asset in the legal pro- combination of ourselves and Camp Hill proved fession, particularly at the Bar, as colleges keep sufficient for King's Norton to win all three age alive connections and make arrangements for group championships for boys and also to become pupillage and so on. Choice of college within the overall winners. Oxbridge is ¡mportant for roughly the same And so to the events of the summer. After an reasons. In general, the bigger the better; the only extra week's training owing to the postponement way to find out is to ask people already there. of the first match, the school sénior team then Once at university, most people find that the proceeded to virtually annihilate all opposition it subject is not very difficult, but a lot of learning met during the season. The júnior team once again has to be done. Seduced by music, conversation proved its ability to fight when in a tight situation and the river, I only did 15 hours work per week, and it ended the season with a very creditable ¡ncluding lectures and supervisions, but I certainly record. The sénior team lost only one event in the paid for it ¡n the last 20 days before the exams., entire season, and that during the last match having to learn about 800 cases. It was an excru- against Rugby at Rugby, where the conditions were ciating period, and I decided that the ¡ndolence had more suited to ice skating than swimming. All the not been worth it. In the third year, hard work is teams swam hard and even trained hard, though necessary because pupil-masters at the Bar and the secretary found it a great strain trying to heads of solicitors' firms can afford to pick and reconcile Cartland Room activities with serious choose. It is really advisable to get a First if pos­ swimming. In the sénior team, Peter Dean swam sible and, after all, that is what the government is backstroke and ate pork pies for much of the paying for. season; David Watton swam like a fish and seemed I propose to become a barrister after coming to be speaking like one at times; John Haslam once down from Cambridge. This ¡nvolves giving special- again proved that all breast-strokers have got funny ist advice to solicitors and also court work. The legs; and Paul Glover performed his duties as sec­ relationship between the consultant and the G.P. in retary and somehow did not arrange two matches the medical profession is analagous. At the moment on the same day (maybe Double Diamond does the Bar is undergoing a rapid expansión because work wonders). A mention too for David Johnson of an ¡ncrease in legal aid work, statutory legisla­ and Michael Watton, who constantly vied for a ron, and the crime rate. Whereas the young place in the sénior team and reduced their times barristeis problem used to be fmding enough work, considerably as a result. In the júnior team Readett ¡t is now fmding some chambers in which to do it. wore flared jeans instead of a tracksuit and looked A period of pupillage in a practising barrister's really cool; Crowder and Rudduck constantly tried chambers is an obligatory requirement far practice to lose as much time as possible in executing a at the Bar, and the latter needs his own cham­ backstroke turn, and Herrod proved that all Austra- bers anyway. lians are not good swimmers, though he did win most of his butterfly races. Of Marshall and Raynor Success brings a reasonable ¡ncome, £4,000 p.a. little can be said. Suffice it to say that they were at 30, but not a vast fortune. Prospects of judge- there on time and, when asked to, swam. ships with their prestige and secure ¡ncome for a few make the career more attractive. The un- In the House Competitions, Prince Lee won the successful, however, amounting to some 60% or júnior championship, Gifford the sénior, with 70%, can often do just as well in business. The Heath, who won overall, second in both. The reorganisation of the courts system is providing far swimming sports again proved to be a complete more work in the provinces, so the attraction of farce, with only two entrants in some events, the living in London, with ¡ts concomitant expense, ¡s reason being that there is no motivation for people rapidly declining. Thus prospects at the Bar are outside the school teams to enter. The thanks of all probably improving when compared with other the teams are given to the ground and maintenance Jobs, but enthusiasm and hard work are certainly staff both at K.E.S. and K.E.H.S. for keeping the prerequisites. JULIÁN BURLING, O.E. two pools in such fine condition, and also to all the masters who have helped with swimming at COMMON ROOM K.E.S. during this last year, especially Mr. Cotter, who spends so much time with us, especially at The departure of Mr. Cooke at Easter and of away fixtures. A thank you also to all the parents Mr. Williams at the end of May was followed, who have provided support and transport this year. at the end of term, by that of Mr. Gudgeon, two KEVIN GRICE veterans and one—well, not quite so veteran. But in the three years that he was with us, Mr. Gudgeon made quite some ¡mpression on those who carne CRICKET: THE XI ¡nto contact with him. Intellectual and actor, theo- logian and wit, Oíd Testament scholar and culti- For the XI, this season was slightly confused. vated promoter of the General Studies course, Few players remained from last season, so the team tireless and efficient organiser of Personal Service ¡ncluded many promising yet ¡nexperienced players. activities and (less evident but no less a fact), Moreover, the early season deluge offered them deeply committed pastor, Mr. Gudgeon's complex little opportunity to accustom themselves to any­ personality impinged on school life in a variety of thing other than new card games. Team shuffles ways. But despite the difference of image, Fr. ensued to try and find out who were the least out- Gudgeon of All Saints', Kings Heath, and Mr. of-pract¡ce players, and this all combined to prevent Gudgeon of K.E.S., were very much the same per- a dedicated group from establishing itself as it son— to the enrichment of both institutions, otherwise might have done. whether they realised it or not. We shall miss him In the end, the team drew the vast majority of a lot as, with characteristic shamelessness, he was ¡ts games and won just two, including the last the first to point out. match against the XL Club. Its only heavy defeat was at the hands of Conrad Hunte and the M.C.C. In his place we welcome Rev. R. Grimley, and Some good scores were amassed during the season, also Mr. R. D. Smith, who joins the Classics particularly during Cricket Week, thanks to several Department, Mr. J. R. R. E. Emery, who takes Mr. excellent pitches prepared by Mr. Scott. But Cooke's place, and Mr. M. D. Stead, who comes to victory frequently escaped us owing to the unfor- teach P.E. and history. tunate ¡ntervent'ion of rain or our inability to root out the last few opposition batsmen before the A.J.T cióse. Perhaps the true abiüty of the team ¡s reflected by ¡ts record ¡n the Warwickshire Grammar Schools' Knockout. The overs limitation was an obvious advantage to our tidy but unpenetrative REPLY TO J. D. SPECTOR bowling, and the blend of experience and flair in batting was well suited to the competition. Even if Dear Sir, during the early rounds the sight of training shoes After reading J. D. Spector's letter in the recent and white Levis prompted certain batsmen ¡nto edition of Chronicle, I wish to express the position arrogant acts of kamakasi, the team always of what I believe to be a great majority of the managed to end up convincing winners. In the School who might otherwise remain unheard. final, the 109 runs we scraped together were barely The opinión of my form, and I write with their good enough to beat Nuneaton, but thanks to full knowledge and assent, is that while some of some really keen bowling, we managed ¡t. the aims of the N.U.S.S. seem laudable, other means for obtaining these reforms already exist, Throughout the entire season, the team per- and by associating these aims with the N.U.S.S., formed with unflagging effort and enthusiasm. No- they are debased by its image. one tried harder than Chris Taylor, who, despite the difficulty he experienced in controlüng length The reasons for the image of the N.U.S.S. being and direction, bent the ball ¡n a curious fashion, so disliked are threefold. Firstly, membership of and contrived to take wickets with some fantastic N.U.S.S. has become a first concern for those who deliveries. In a similar vein, the cricketing exper- wish to be conspicuously avant garde. Secondly, tise of Rich Handley enabled him to persuade even whilst claiming to " promote greater democracy the best of batsmen that despite appearances, he inside schools," the N.U.S.S. itself seems to be was not, in fact, a bad bowler. eminently undemocratic; it was not called for by a majority of members of the School, and as far as Others who fared well include Peter Rounce, I know, there was no election for a representative, who bowled consistently well, but to no-one's certainly no-one from my form was consulted. surprise and his own embarrassment, proved his Finally, the arrogance of the N.U.S.S. demands is fallibility as a No. 5 batsman. On the other hand, astonishing. Members of King Edward's, whose it carne as a great (ginger) shock that the team's educatonal experience does not extend beyond the geriatric hippy, John Winspear, managed, by virtue Foundation offices, calmly assert that they are right, of his position as captain, and his inexhaustible and the Education Committee, with far wider ex­ resources of low cunning, to con his way to several perience of varied types of education, is wrong. wickets in a short time. Meanwhile, he scored over 500 runs, although on only one occasion batting Some of the aims of the N.U.S.S., of which J. D. in his real, brilliant, inimitable style. Graham Holt Spector is our " representative," warrant more extended his repertoire to an imitation of the detailed comment. Section 4 of the N.U.S.S. six-hitting capabilities of G. S. Sobers, whilst on " policy statement" demands the abolition of all a lower scale, John Claughton grew in confidence forms of military training in schools. One is moved from match to match, although plagued by an to ask how " democratic " this is when the num­ injury (to Geoff Boycott). David Mutteen estab- bers who take part in the C.C.F., entirely volun- lished himself as a genuine all-rounder, as did tarily, are considered. Many of the aims, though Graham Wooldridge, who in one innings of 76 in themselves laudable, seem to be totally divorced against Bishop Vesey's G.S., revealed many hidden from reality. How can an " immediate reduction in qualities, just as Phil Jones had done the day before class size, to a máximum of 30 " be obtained while against the Gentlemen of Worcester. teachers are effectively reduced in number by Next year, nearly the whole of the present team attending " regular refresher courses? " will remain, although J. G. Winspear is at last May we ask Spector that the next time he makes entering retirement after five seasons in the XI. any use of the mass media to make it clear that No doubt he will be missed almost as much as his organisation represents only a section of King Dudley Cockle, who claims to have been associated Edward's, and has no mándate to speak for all its with the team even longer. Thanks go to him and members. Mr. Benson for their big contribution towards a most enjoyable season's cricket. Yours sincerely, RICHARD POPE N. O. COOKE CM KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

Vol. 5, No. 2 THE CHARACTER OF MY PET SOLZH EN ITS Y N— Maybe it's the way he looks so inquisitively at THE NARROW FOCUS you when you disturb him. Maybe it's the way> he burrows under his straw when you try to catch 44 Alexander Solzhenitsyn ¡s generally acclaimed as him. Maybe it's the way he bleeps " when he one of the greatest living writers. Winner of the is hungry. It may be any one of these things, but 1970 Nobel Prize for Literature, his novéis have I like him especially because of himself—my golden been called masterpieces, combining profound guinea pig. comment on human nature, and ¡mportant political My father found him wandering stray on a rail­ statement, while remaining gloriously readable. way bank. This quite likely accounts for his state What is the source of the undoubted power of of nervousness. As I mentioned before, he burrows Solzhenitsyn's writing? A reading of " Cáncer under his straw when confronted. This shows how Ward " and 44 One Day in the life of Ivan Deniso- nervous he is. vich " provides an ¡mportant key. We have tried many ways of taming him. These Solzhenitsyn deals with people under pressure; have worked—to a certain extent. We think it will people who find themselves in abnormal, extra- now be impossible to tame him completely while ordinary circumstances, living in an ¡solated society he is at this stage. He seems to be nervous of with a markedly different set of valúes to that of everyone, with one exception. This is my little the outside world. brother. These two get on like peas in a pod. " One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich " iIlus­ If there is one thing guaranteed to make him trares this most clearly. It is the story of a single 44 bleep" with excitement, it is food, especially day in a remote Siberian labour camp, and by a dandelions. I like the delicate way he pouches subtle, slow, cumulative effect, brilliantly evokes them in his cheeks as we feed them to him. the atmosphere of the strange half-life the prisoners lead. Ivan Denisovich has no hope and little feel­ Other favourite tastes are carrot tops, baked ing, his mood, moral valúes and judgments debased bread, lettuce and groundsel. to such an extent that he could almost as well be There are two parts in his cage—front and back. a pack-horse as a man. 44 One Day in the life of If you put food in the front, he will look around Ivan Denisovich" is obviously a political state­ to see that there is no one watching him. Then he ment, but at no point in the novel ¡s this state­ will grab it and rush into the back, munching ment overtly made. The political nature of the contentedly. book is an intrinsk part of ¡ts overall concept. In spite of his timidity, he is a very appealing In 44 Cáncer Ward," the ¡dea of social isolation little creature, and I should hate to lose him. is equally strong. The patients ¡n the cáncer ward ANDREW SPRAGG, Shell 1 of the hospital are cut off from normal life by their illness. Their daily life is just as restricted, and their valúes just as warped as those of the prisoners SOCIETIES in the labour camp. As Parel N. Kolayevich dis- covers, all the factors which distinguish men from There has not been a full-scale report on School each other in the outside world—education, back­ Societies since May, 1968. Since then, several ground, money—all are irrelevant ¡n the hospital : societies have experienced changes of fortune. 44 his tumour, deaf and indifferent, had moved ¡n Attendance at some societies has rocketed, whereas to shut off the whole world." Again, politics is others have experienced a complete demise. We completely integrated; not until the last chapter wondered how the 1972 generation of secretaries of the novel is ¡ts political significance made clear : were coping with the perennial problems of attract- 44 A man dies from a tumour, so how can a country ing support for their endeavours, and whether, in survive with growths like labour camps and the increasing atmosphere of 44 liberation," sup- exiles? " posedly rampant in society, attitudes had changed at K.E.S. towards the need and use of societies. For Solzhenitsyn, a man who has experienced Secondary to these considerations, come the ques­ personal pressures, writing under great restrictions tions, 44 What makes a good secretary? " and henee, imposed by the Soviet authorities, and having suf­ 44 What makes a successful society? " fered both imprisonment and cáncer, his books are a personal statement. Because his works are We have divided the 24 existing societies which concerned with a nation ruled by a repressive we have ¡nvestigated ¡nto six categories. After government, they are a political statement. But the ñame of each society there will be an estímate the true scope of his work lies in the fact that of last year's attendance figures by each secretary; everyone is in some way under pressure—no-one first the two Mmits, then the average valué. is immune. The list of trivialities which go to make 44 1. The first category contains societies which up Ivan Denisovich's almost happy day " appears seem to be thriving. They all depend very much at first sight a pathetic indication of the meagre- 44 on the support of the hard core " of enthusiasts ness of his day-to-day life. But what goes to make who are specialists in these largely extra-curricular up a good day for the average factory worker or 44 activities. The first general heading is Drama." businessman all over the world? In essence, little The Dramatic Society experiences considerable sup­ more than goes to make up Ivan Denisovich's day. port from both boys and parents. The annual pro­ Our valúes are as shrunken and impoverished, in duction in late January has nearly always Iled Big their own way, as his. Solzhenitsyn, by narrowing School on four nights, and given opportunities to his focus, by concentrating on men in extraordinary see Shakespearean plays well performed, in accord- situations, can deal with fundamental human ance with modern conceptions of theatrical drama. problems. The introduction of girls from K.E.H.S. ¡nto the ANDREW FORBES cast a few years ago (for 44 added realism "), was a step long overdue and has produced some excel­ 3. The Sciences. These societies might be ¡n lent results. All members of the cast work very danger of becoming of specialist appeal only, hard indeed to achieve a high standard of perform­ although science ¡s taught throughout the school, ance, and are aided by a highly competent stage but ¡n the eight meetings of the Scientific Society and technical staff, and the best facilities possessed (15-120; 65) last year, talks were commendably by any amateur dramatic society in the West wide-ranging and not difficult to understand for the Midlands. non-specialist. It is interesting that Prof. Fremlin's Both drama and the next activity, music, are talk on " Relativity," which filled the Ratcliffe dominated by the Masters in Charge. The fact that Theatre was (forseeably) understood by almost two highly dedicated, and in one case, professional, no one except himself. It was, none the less, highly adults are so firmly in command, contributes to a entertaining. The Society encouraged outside lec- more serious atmosphere and henee more dynamic turers, which was undoubtedly a good scheme, and performances. The leading protagonists of both we are convinced that the appearance of a flashy, drama and music also tend to congrégate together multi-coloured pólice car before a talk on " Policing Midland Motorways," worked wonders for the throughout the year. This leads to a good team 44 atmosphere and to a healthy approach to events Society by arousing people's curiosity. The bob outside the school, such as the Stratford produc- and bram " publicity campaign also deserves to tions or the C.B.S.O. concerts. Charges of be mentioned as a contributory factor to success. M cliquism " are really unfair, and it is very easy to The Biological Society (5-40; 22), however, did join a group of some kind if one has any real not experience the success of the Scientific Society. talent—and enthusiasm—but the " hierarchies " of It was possibly thought too specialised by the musicians and actors are difficult to penétrate. masses, and has now partly amalgamated with the And so we come to the Musical Society (6-70; Scientific Society. The meetings which attracted 18) and Music Circle (8-25: 18). There are plenty most support were those held in the field, and of opportunities for performing music, but these the Field Studies Society has now been formed, depend largely upon the tastes and enthusiasm of which should provide a useful platform for the four seniors. This is not to say that the concerts study of Natural History in the Nature Reserve, and talks sponsored by these two bodies are not of under the five headings of woodland, lakes, a very high standard. On the contrary, there is marshes, ornithology and mammology, and also considerable talent in the school, especially in the geology and mountain ecology, which have just middle and júnior school. It is necessary, however, been added. for the enthusiasm here to be kept up by more 4. This section covers the societies which regular and better publicised concerts, also with a further popular hobbies, and all seem to be faring view to attracting the many individuáis who are remarkably well by recent standards. The key fac­ ¡nterested in music but have no gifts whatever as tor is the enthusiasm of members. The Railway performers. Lastly, the Choral Society, which has and Model Engineering Society (23-52; 35) held a membership of 80-100, gives the opportunity to ten meetings last year, including films and illus- tackle some very great works. The enthusiasm of trated talks such as that of Mr. Hames on " Railway the singers is their main asset and this must not Construction and Safety." The chairman of the be forced or undermined. It is encouraging that West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority also our actors and musicians deliberately do not ¡gnore spoke jointly to this Society and the Transport the very high professional standards of perform­ Society (10-30; 15) on 44 Integration of Transport ance—or criticism—which are prevalent nowadays. in the West Midlands." The Philatelic Society (20-45; 28) held six meetings, which ¡ncluded a The Debating Society (40-50) needs fairly large talk by Mr. Clark on postal history. A recent numbers to shine and succeeds in attracting them. arrival is the Computer Society (8-30; 12) which A measure of their success is that no one has been allowed to make more than one major speech in consists of divisions and above who are mostly the whole of last year. The presence of members sáentists. Members first learn computer language of K.E.H.S. certainly makes things more civilised, with Mr. Skinner and then have the use of a com­ or " contributes to a relaxed atmosphere," as the puter at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital with secretary said. The existence of the Malcolm specialist supervisión. The enthusiasm of many Locker Debating Trophy also helps. members for playing with this toy ¡s obvious— especially when it goes wrong. The next two societies are play-reading groups The societies in this section are all of minority or and do not need large numbers to succeed, but specialist appeal, but membership has ¡ncreased only enough to read the parts. The Anagnostics over the past couple of years and secretaries are (14-23; 18) read seven classical plays last year and confident that this trend will continué. also heard talks on them, unlike the Shakespeare Society (10-18; 14), which read eight plays. Both 5. The societies in this section involve topics the above provide a relaxed and cultural evening's which are also in the school curriculum. They all entertainment. involve specialist knowledge to some degree, but most meetings can be followed by anyone who is All these societies deserve to be counted as ones generally ¡nterested in the subject. Attendance which thrive because of the inordinate enthusiasm figures at meetings of these societies have not been expressed by their principal members, which is in outstanding, but they are constant, and the socie­ turn passed on to other members. This does not ties are far from moribund. mean that ¡mprovements could not be made, but the degree of participaron of all involved is The Historical Society (9-40; 14) and Art Society remarkable. It must also be noted that most of the (10-30; 20) each met five times last year. The activities carried out within these societies can Modern Language Society (10-80; 25) is hampered also be pursued, perhaps in different ways, outside from expanding by holding many talks in foreign school. This is notably true of drama and music, languages, but the advantages of these talks to and contributes in large part to their success inside specialists are obvious. A highlight of the season school. was a colourful talk by Mr. Biggs on his jaunt to the Antipodes, which was jointly given with the 2. The Film Society (90-130; 100) deserves a Geographical Society (40-100; 60). This last Society category of ¡ts own. It continúes to attract large has proved especially popular with juniors, who audiences from both K.E.S. and K.E.H.S. and offers study Geography. The Archaeological Society (20) a very cheap way to see six, or this year seven, like most in this group, tries to achieve a balance films. The policy of showing serious, adult films between specialist and non-speciaüst meetings. has been absolutely vindicated on finanáal grounds The Closed Circle (6-14; 8) also seems to fit in alone, as the bank balance, which is put towards here. It consists of a self-elective group of seniors the following year's films, has increased for three of all disciplines and hears talks on diverse and cul­ successive years, due to a steady rise ¡n member­ tural topics. For all societies in this section, ship. The present state of the Society compared audience figures do not matter. But the fact that to that of four years ago is considerably trans- most seniors actively support their own specialist formed. society speaks for itself. 6. This section concerns júnior societies, which But is it just an impression, or are more people nearly all take the form of júnior versions of turning up to societies? We believe attendance specialist societies. These have not been outstand- figures are up, but this may be due to the existence ¡ngly successful, but the Júnior Drama Club, under of little more than a handful of generally ¡nterested Mr. Hames, defmitely thrives, as viewers of last individuáis. These people are those who, either term's júnior plays will agree. There is also a Clas­ because they have the time to waste, or because sical Society and a Júnior Scientific Society, which they have been told to come, but in either case held only one meeting last year, but attracted an because they have basic genuine interest in a variety audience of 100. The Júnior Debating Society has of subjects, may turn up to the meetings of many ceased to exist. There is generally little scope for societies in which they have neither a vested specifically júnior groups, although the energy and interest ñor specialist knowledge. Their existence enthusiasm of many juniors are great if they can cannot be doubted, and it must inevitably be the be tapped. aim of the school to produce as many of these 7. We now consider societies which have " whole men " as possible. recently ceased to exist. In some cases, the reasons Again and again, the enthusiasm of the group for demise are easy to pinpoint. The Art Circle, and its leaders has been seen to be of paramount for example, covered precisely the same ground ¡mportance. An enthusiastic secretary can work as the Art Society, and there was simply not enough wonders, but his job must take up a central position demand for both. (The Musical Society and Music in his thoughts, which proves too demanding for Circle must realise that their functions are many. Enthusiasm is also encouraged in members sepárate). The Christian Guild and the Forum also if everyone can actively particípate as much as pos­ suffered from insufficient interest, coupled with sible. Participaron accounts for a great deal of the the clashing of meetings with those of other more success of societies in groups one and four above, popular societies. The Poetry Society was started and it can be expected on these grounds that the just over a year ago by a group of enthusiasts, but Field Studies Society will do well. their enthusiasm did not spread, due again to lack What is the overall picture like? It seems con- of interest and to bad management. By far the sad- siderably more healthy than in 1968. There are at dest death was that of the joint Civic Society, present some highly efficient and enthusiastic sec- which started magnificently, but was very badly retaries, who are positive in their attitude to their followed up. Too many of us receive an academic societies. Their thoughts and enthusiasm are being training but little in the way of the workings of, disseminated to other members, and the natural for ¡nstance, local government. The School's pri- lively spirit of boys new to the school is being mary objective for its pupils must lie in the caught, in music and drama, for example. The fact academic line, and therefore, greater awareness of that several societies have ceased to function does the outside world must be left to the societies, of not matter; new ones in different fields have been which the Civic Society was the ideal platform. started and, even if these do not work, as in the There was no lack of interest in this society, as is case of the Poetry and Civic Societies, at least it shown now by the interest in some of the talks of shows people care and are experimenting with new the Fifth Form Conference. ¡deas to suit changing needs. The prospect for the Factors Affecting Societies future looks good, and it will be interesting to see It is commonly held that there should be as how future secretarles cope with the situation. Any much contact between K.E.H.S. and ourselves as school year thrives on ¡ts personalities; let us hope possible. Joint societies, notably the Film Society, that the right personalities are made the secretaries obviously stand a better change of attracting of tomorrow. greater membership. Other factors which affect JOHN FAULKNER attendance are advertising and the use of outside lecturers and films. Advertising is generally of a CHRISTOPHER HODGES poor standard, with the exception of the Scientific

Society last year. A policy of nothing less than 99 saturation must be followed, ¡ncluding the use of ONE " and " HOW ARE YOU . • . ? posters, duplicated sheets, notices in Big School, The K.E. Theatre Company returned from Edin- and any original gimmicks that can be devised. Out­ burgh after a tour of mixed success; their shows side lecturers also draw crowds. Examples of this had run well and were praised highly by the news- can be seen in some meetings of the Modern Lan­ paper critics, but performing on the Fringe, they guage and Scientific Societies. had been faced with the customary problem of Since the five-day week was ¡ntroduced, two small audiences. Knowing as they did, that they long lunch hours a week have been available for had a good show on their hands, it must have been Societies. The Choral Society is the only body to interesting to bring the show back to School and use each Thursday lunchtime, but many others try it out before a larger audience. From the actors' also use lunchtimes less regularly, and clashes are point of view it was quite an experience. The liable to occur. Lunchtimes could probably be School audiences were generally appreciative; their better used with a more efficient planning system. laughter and applause sometimes threw the actors It is not true to say that societies which function off their timing, and extra concentration was after school attract smaller audiences, but it is needed to hold the show together; but it was also reasonably certain that those who do stay are fairly encouraging and marked the performances as a enthusiastic about the society. success. Conclusión "One" was an interesting "experiment" (if I So far we have not specified criteria for judging may cali it that) and, for me anyway, was brilliantly a " good " society. Is success to be measured by successful. And yet it was received by the majority attendance figures or by the incalculable enthu­ of the audience with rather less enthusiasm; many siasm of members? There is no answer. A School to whom I spoke afterwards were unmoved, but Society exists basically for ¡ts members to " do their had no positive criticisms to make. Instead, these own thing." TOGETHER. This leads to greater negative and meaningless comments were repeated enjoyment of the activity ¡nvolved and, ¡n some by several people : " Oh, it was alright, I suppose," cases, to a higher standard of personal perform­ and " It was too sad for me." Apparently, many ance, for instance, ¡n drama, music and languages. missed the point of the final lines, in which the Certainly, in a group, there is more scope for mood of the whole play changed suddenly and activity, and greater awareness not only of the dramatically from a kind of miserable depression activity and its finer points, but also of one's friends and hopelessness to a feeling of tragic triumph, and what makes them tick. with T. S. Eliot's words : For a group activity to be successful, all ¡nvolved " And all shall be well and must particípate with greatest energy, awareness, All manner of thing shall be well consideraron and enjoyment. It is ¡mportant that When the tongues of fíame are ¡n-folded everyone who wants to particípate can find a place Into the crowned knot of fire, ¡n the group activity. And the fire and the rose are one." There are, of course, adverse criticisms that can audience. The acting and general presentation were be made about " One" which account for the professional and convincing, to such an extent that general lack of response. The play was based upon no one actor outshone another. the expansión and development of rehearsal-type Together, the two shows provided an entertain­ improvisation. Having, as I do, a practical experi­ ing and thought-provoking evening. Their wide ence of this type of rehearsal, I found the play in­ and general success was verified by the prolonged teresting and not too difficult to follow, but for applause that the company received at the end of the uninitiated it would be more difficult to appre- the evening. ciate; it was, therefore, slightly self-indulgent. It was not extreme self-indulgence, however, and JOHN McCORMACK required just a little extra effort from an unfamiliar spectator. FOUNDER'S DAY If there was any other major fault, it was the The annual celebration of the Founder's Birthday length of the show. But for most, ¡nterest should on 12th October has been the one event of univer­ have been sustained by the variety of quotations sal significance this term. This year's celebration, (I was constantly occupied trying to remember the however, was a departure from tradition in that ¡t author and work of each quotation). Also, spec- took place during school time rather than on a tators should have been kept awake and aware by Saturday morning, and was in consequence an the variety ¡mposed by the readers, the most origi­ entirely domestic occasion. Although this was put nal of whom was Pete Biddle, who fairly reveis ¡n forward as an advantage for the new system, many this type of drama. In particular, his readings of people felt that the absence of our parents deprived "The Rape of Lizzy " from Laurie Lee's " Cider the service of much of ¡ts ¡nterest and ¡mportance, with Rosie " was both humorous and highly enter- 11 and deprived our parents of one of the few occa- taining. All in all, One " had all the necessary sions they have to enter actively the School com­ ingredients for a successful show. munity. However, one very enjoyable addition to " And How Are You This Bright and Early the proceedings was a superbly over-acted scene Morning? " is a play which, by ¡ts nature, defies from " Love's Labour Lost" in a presentation en- much criticism. Audience and stage become lost titled "The Tudor Grammar School." After this in a maze of complicated semi-revealed ideas and the Bailiff presented prizes and delivered an appo- confused action. A number of ¡deas in isolation s¡te speech. emerge, but it could be argued that the play as a JOHN FAULKNER whole is so obscure that it becomes meaningless and therefore pointless; I believe, however, that this is the wrong way to view this work. A spec­ DITCHLINE BEACON tator is left not only with a number of ¡solated After the map of South London, the greater wind ¡deas but also with a feeling that these ¡deas should pressing us south, and the strong breeze link together ¡n some way. Consequently, each nodding plants on the way : a picnic person who has seen the play probes the action in of grapes and tomatoes after dark. his mind in an attempt to bring the full truth out of obscurity; and this is exactly the response that Where buses meet the sea : a stone's trajectory. the author, Alan Drury, ¡ntended to créate. How­ Watch : walking on the water : your shadow. ever hard an audience searches the play, no simple There feeble rock approaches breakers at the edge or direct " message" will be found; the play of night. achieves ¡ts success largely because ¡t keeps an The oats and grasses beside us audience thinking during and after performance. like sea too, the narrow road The play was entertaining and extremely amus- rising in further darkness reaches ing in parts. Particularly memorable comic scenes the mezzanine for an Ascensión or Decline were those ¡nvolving the three policemen (Jon into night. Echo therapy? Nothing back Gibbs, Charles Spicer and Stuart Rogers), who were from out to sea; Romantic statue on a plmth received with particular enthusiasm by the turns; a human in a nylon gown. PETER DANIELS

KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL CLUB Statement of Accounts for Year lst April, 1971, to 31st March, 1972

INCOME EXPENDITURE

i. P £ P To Governors' Grant 450-00 By Football 682-19

tt Heath Testimonial Fund 13-12 tt Cricket .... 595-78

f t Levett Trust 12-70 tt Athletics 127-77

t - Mayo Trust 16-62 tt Swimming 61-30

Oíd Boys' Permanent Contributory Fund 9 29 tt Fives 73-97 Tennis 105-15 f i Solomon Memorial Trust • • • 2 41 tt Rowing tt Cozens Trust 19-25 11 119-10

Honorary Members' Subscriptions 70-58 tt Cross Country 88-21

t t - > > »t Boys' Subscriptions 1015 00 11 Fencing 7-77

Grant from School Stock 400 00 tt Squash Rackets 9-57

tt Basketball 22-08

tt Badminton • • • 0-44

(Signed) P. B. CHAPMAN, tt Hockey .... • • • • 25-76

Hon. Treasurer. 11 Life Saving 3-04

Examined and found correct. tt Chess • • • 87-27

P. R. HADLEY 11 " Chronicle " 179-24 • • • • M. J. STOCK «i Geographical Society .... 6-90

Hon. Auditors. tt Railway and M.E. Society 2-00

11 Printing and Stationery 136-00

»t Bank Charges 0-70

£2008•97 £2334-24

Déficit at 31/3/71 .... £425-40 Déficit above £325•27 Déficit carried forward £750•67 CM KING EDWARD'S SCHOOL

Vol 5, No. 3 FRIDAY AFTERNOON SCIENCE GROUP " CHRONICLE " AND THE LOWER During the first six weeks of what really is a FORMS new kind of Friday afternoon activity, we have brewed our own beer, attempted to analyse the In my view, apathy is not a natural condition of nearby rivers, been on two visits, and watched human kind, and where it is found, it is probably innumerable films. The first week was mainly ¡n- caused by ignorance of the issues ¡nvolved. But troductions by Mr. Peters and Mr. Wright, and a 44 apathy " towards their school magazine is the number of films were shown about whisky manu­ charge levelled against the rest of the school, and facture. The next week we started brewing (two particularly the lower part, by the small, dedicated pints for 4p), and the smell was still noticeable on band of sixth-formers who are chiefly responsible Monday. On the Saturday of Expeditions Weekend for ¡ts actual writing: these popular literary figures we went to the Mitchells & Butlers brewery at are not unnaturally keen that the lower school Cape Hill, where, after a most interesting tour, we should share more equally in the task. So succes- sampled the brew and attempted to drink each s¡ve editors have been frustrated, and perhaps other under the table. The next week we watched süghtly embittered, by the lack of spontaneous more films on the problem of water pollution. One contribution, after their pleas for more articles, of these ran for about half-an-hour and was solely 44 especially from the lower forms." concerned with hundreds of places throughout the country where a new water cleaning tower called As I had anticipated, a brief inquiry in those a 44 Flowcore Biofiller " has been installed. quarters did not reveal apathy. On the contrary, In Week 5 we went to Frankley waterworks many held strong opinions. Most of my subjects where, after walking three-quarters of the way were agreed that it was boring (and, of course, round a huge reservoir, a very oíd man started the they never read it); the familiar oíd criticism (no 44 44 tour with the never-to-be-forgotten words, So, longer viable) that it was full of sports scores," you want to know about water, do you? " After was common, but it was felt, perhaps with more some very repetitive and laborious explanations, justice, that the magazine did not represent the we walked back round the reservoir, had a cup of whole School as a body, since most of ¡ts articles tea, and were shown, at the second attempt, a filter dealt with minority ¡nterests and activities in being cleaned. which many readers may not take part. On the sixth Friday we made a somewhat un- The principal cause of dissatisfaction, however, successful attempt to analyse the water of the was clear from the start: it was the mere fact that Bournbrook and the Rea. However, we found a 44 Chronicle " was written by those contemptible negative amount of dissolved solids in the water fellows, the sixth form, a 44 mutual admiration and enough cyanide to kll the whole of Birming­ society " which spends its time writing unreadable ham—until we realised that we had done the test 44 pseudo-intellectual " articles and incomprehen­ incorrectly. Nevertheless, the first six weeks have sible poems. The solution was equally simple: been very enjoyable and informative, and Mr. 44 Chronicle " should contain far more articles by Peters and Mr. Wright must be thanked for organis- boys in the Lower School. ing the group so well. PHILIP WOOD Unfortunately, their agreement with the sixth form editorship goes no further than that. This is LETTER partly because the sort of magazine most of the Lower School would like to see would bubble with Sir, humour and fire with controversy; that is to say, I feel most strongly about the recent re-arrange- ¡t would contain humorous articles of dubious ment of the Friday afternoon activity periods. taste, and strongly-worded letters of complaint Whilst, no doubt, improving the education of the about the School's regulations and amenities; but younger members of the School, those of us who also, the comparatively high standards of a long- are not affected by the period from 2.10 to 2.50 established sixth form paper may discourage writers have problems. The K.E. Scout Group has a large of more serious articles, who are afraid that their membership and is being greatly hampered by these contributions may be thoughtlessly criticised. new arrangements. As a member of the Scout Group, I feel that the Group has two major Some of the boys I spoke to complained about problems : 44 the censorship" exercised by the sixth form. (i) If an activity needs a long afternoon, we are Censorship is perhaps too strong a word, but the (a) deprived of 50% of our membership; (b) editors certainly do apply a rigid ¡ntellectual cri- Torced to limit the scope of our activities so that terion which naturally favours work by the more it is not too difficult for the younger members to experienced writers of the sixth form. So long as join in at a later stage. This limits our activities this standard is in use, many contributions from the to the school grounds for much of the time, and 44 Lower School are bound to be rejected as not though much can be done here, I feel it is unfortu- sufficiently cultured." nate that the Group's excellent facilities at Andrew's Coppice will not be fully exploited. So there is nothing new in this situation; it is probably inevitable. But perhaps it would cease (¡i) For shorter activities again we have a prob­ to be the grounds of such animosity as I encoun­ lem. If we start at 3 o'clock the eider members of tered during my research, if people on either side the Group have just under two hours of free time would relax the dogmatism of their opinions. before the afternoon gets under way. There are no Society meetings on Friday lunch-times, so we RICHARD BRADLEY find the time is best employed in doing homework. The Library shuts at around 2 o'clock, and during sure to bore Aunt Edith and Únele Herbert ¡nto this same period, the form-rooms are occupied by the ground, but will stimulate the minds of young other services, so there is nothing to do and no- schoolboys who might, just might, have the good where to go. sense to try a similar jape. Throw away the stereo- I imagine that the activities of other groups typed idea of going straight to a reputable univer­ meeting on Friday afternoons have also been sity and actually do something vaguely individual affected adversely by these re-arrangements. in a world that is losing ¡ts ¡nd¡vidual¡ty; your prize? • WILLIAM POWELL 1. A romantic sun set ¡nto a golden sea, any day C. J. Springall wishes a Merry Christmas and a and everyday, and believe me, you cannot get tired Happy New Year to all his associates, but regrets of them. that he will not be sending Christmas cards this 2. A group of extraordinarily beautiful girls in year. grass skirts, all of whom you also have the privilege to teach. Their beauty is a bit of a disadvantage when you get back to Britain, as you have got so ADVERTISEMENT : used to the perfect tan and the genuine love of these young ladies that white comes as a bit of a MEMOIRS OF A DESERT ISLAND shock. I know which colour I think is more beauti­ Are you tired, depressed, saddened by the state ful, though there are oíd boys who might disagree of the society that surrounds you, certain in your with me. belief that the world is going steadily downhill? 3. A girl called Luise who comes round and does If so, then Rotuma is for you, and after a good dose the washing up for you and provides you with local of at least a year spent lazing on the guidebook gossip that beats TV any day. beaches, under the shade of genuine atmosphere- 4. A dog called Beqa who is absolutely faithful creating coconut trees, eating endless mythical deli- and on one occasion carne out fishing with us and cacies such as octopus and seaweed, indulging in stayed in the water for six hours. That was the primitive ritual with gay and daringly un-British day we caught a sting-ray and a bad case of sun- abandon and flitting about in nothing but a grass burn. skirt (just like in the movies, Ma), will soon revive any faltering hope you might have for mankind. 5. A hospital bed to remind you of the time Of course, there are one or two other conditions, that you spent two weeks on your back after the which include a fair amount of teaching, naturally trip of an operation without the knockout type using all your previous KES experience under of anaesthetic, which meant that you could watch countless gentlemen in gowns, a compulsory appen- the whole thing, and possibly feel just a little of it. dicitis operation in front of your very eyes, various The bonus comes afterwards when, alone in your confrontations with rats, cockroaches, lice, centi- bed, you are constantly visited by everyone, and pedes, sharks, and the seemingly unavoidable pre- the whole island seems to be apologising for some­ sence of little men in local government making a thing criminal. To go with the hospital you need fast buck out of an ¡gnorant population. Have you a doctor who goes out of his way to make sure checked your suburb for roving councillors yet? that volunteers on the island always have someone to help them when they are down. Remember, Rotuma, a dot on the inflatable globe in your 12,000 miles is a long way from home when you've brother's room, is in reality a dot in a large área of been arrested for riding without lights on an un- salt water aptly named the Pacific Ocean. Twelve licensed bieyele. thousand miles of faithfully BOAC air lie between Edgbaston Park Road and this isolated outpost of 6. A school where you finally realise that maybe the crumbling British Raj, where every houseboat you aren't so clever after all and perhaps you boasts a photo of H.M. the Queen, and there is a should have paid more attention when you were national holiday to celébrate the birth of H.R.H. at school. if not to learn more, then at least to be the Prince of Wales. Rotuma is the kind of island able to copy your oíd masters in times of stress. that might inspire the latent writer in one to Seriously, the school side of things is much more produce a book originally entitled " Treasure serious than this article suggests, as it ¡nvolves the Island" or " Coral Island," or any one of the futures of more than one hundred Rotuman chil­ dozens of other titles mentioning beauty, peace, dren, who, like this rambling report. might be very happiness, friendship . . . the list is endless, running superficial and simple on the surface, but hide a into the sea and over the reef like the steep vol- deep desire to make use of an education that was canic cliffs of the island. But truly, Rotuma deserves denied their parents. this praise, and I am prepared to make a bet that When it comes to the crunch it is difficult to no-one can produce a more beautiful place to describe Rotuma, and that is perhaps reflected i-n spend a working holiday in. this article. There is no plan to Rotuma. no single feature of its character, but instead a delightful Yes, Rotuma comes cióse to paradise, but for- mixture of good and bad, with a chorus of real tunately it just misses the mark: could any human love. being stand the prospect of a year where nothing ever went wrong? Where would be the luxury of As a postscript, Rotuma has changed since I left malicious gossip, the stupor of community " grog " it in September, for it has been devastated by a sessíons and the headache the next day, the late- hurricane which has left many of the ¡nhabitants night meetings under the moon that everyone homeless, and has destroyed the school in which I knows about before you wake up the next day, the taught. I do not doubt that the Rotuman people rows of sullen children kept in after three o'clock will recover from this blow in the very real spirit to do their homework with temperatures in the of sharing that exists there—a hurricane cannot classroom reaching 100, the rows of dazzling teeth wipe away this spirit, and I am forever grateful to that smile their welcome as you stagger in to work the Rotuman people who made my year on their in the morning only to find a lizard in your coffee island the happiest and most rewarding of my life. cup, and where would be the real sympathy when Well, what are you waiting for, sixth formers? something goes wrong? Thank goodness that the Why settle for Wigan when there is a world wait­ earthy side of living has ¡ts place in Rotuma, for ¡t ing? My God, it sounds like an advertisement for is from this genuine life style of love and friend­ the modern army, but a great deal more construc­ ship that the island gains the beauty that has tive than holding a gun in Berlín or Belfast. caught me, and has turned my ambition towards the Pacific in a way I had thought impossible when, ANDY SUMMERS at the age of 15, I threw down a copy of " Hawaii " half fmished. The next three articles are pieces of original work written by boys in the Shells, the Fifth and Sixth Perhaps the best way to give you any ¡dea of Forms. It is probably true to say that the quali- the time spent on that island is to talk about the ties most admired in English prose writing are photos on my wall, the holiday snapshots that are those of imagination and the use of words. We hope that you will find these three articles enter- nent parts—gate, hinges and post. The other voice taining and/or i ns truc ti ve. Admire them, cr i tic i se grew louder and louder and its mist grew larger, them, and learn from them. Then write to us. enveloping the other gate and the street lamp, so taking on a luminosity of ¡ts own—cold steel-grey TRAPPED! light. Existence and eternity filled with the con- stant, all-pervading rhythm, " Fire, Fire, Fire!" It was hot. Not just the mild heat of an English which destroyed all silence and darkness with white summer, but real humid heat. All around the face hot noise. were vague black masses, chipping rhythmically at the surface of the rock. The lamp suspended from I put my hands over my ears and ran; the empti- the roof gave a barely perceptible light which ness engulfed me, but when I stopped the voice flickered as the lamp swung. The conveyor rumbled and the rhythm were as cióse as ever and the wall along the gallery collecting great lumps of coal of grey mist was just behind. Terrified, as I felt my hewn from the face. Everyone was waiting for that mind becoming part of the voice, and so part of moment when a bell would rend the air and they the past, linked eternity with an inescapable con- could file out ¡nto the sunshine above. science, I ran headlong ¡nto the mist and saw a double line of soldiers armed with rifles stretching Suddenly a bell did ring. But this was the alarm away ¡nto grey infinity; the front line kneeling so bell! Its yelling was quickly stifled as the power that both ranks could fire simultaneously. They failed. The main lamp went out and many small obeyed the orders of the voice like autómata. I lights carne on in the darkness like Román candles. looked round towards the voice, the commander The lights formed a line and wriggled their way of the soldiers, and found him standing next to down the gallery. Soon there was a great booming me. I screamed—he was me, and I was him; for a sound and the timbers creaked. Then the timbers moment I thought he smiled malevolently and gave and the last light in the procession was showed my yellow despotic teeth. Every detail was stifled. The others crawled on, not noticing their an ¡dentical copy of my own appearance. I felt him missing member. I was waiting at the top of the to make sure; my fingers ran over his eyes, nose, shaft. At first everyone seemed to have escaped, lips, cheeks, ears—there was no ¡Ilusión, he was but there was a vague whispering of " Where's real. He ignored me and contínued giving his Bert? " Soon this became a certainty; Bert was orders in strict rhythm. missing. I unhitched the alsatian at my side. Its wolf-like canine body slipped down ¡nto the dark­ I ran in front of the soldiers as they fired, but ness. Soon he carne to a solid wall of debris. He the bullets had no effect on me. I stood still, but pawed at it, howling. His long, silky coat was im- volley after volley left me unharmed. I collapsed, pregnated with dust. Soon he had scraped through frenzied, to the ground, burying my face in my the wall and he dragged Bert to the top. Yet all hands, tearing at my eyes, but feeling no physical the time he was whimpering softly. As he laid the pain, only incisive mental anguish—white sound body before us, we could tell it was dead. and blinding light. Death only comes once in eternity, releasing all physical pain, but the mind PETER JEAVONS is left to last for ever, with no hope of suicide or murder. And for ever is a long time. FANATICISM STEFAN WAGSTYL It was a simple wrought ¡ron gate, hinged, in two halves, left and right, to two black metal posts. Its decoratíons were not elabórate, four sets of con- MIXED SCHOOLS centric áreles on each half of the gate. A simple Mixed schooling at King Edward's! Boys forced metal latch kept the gates shut. Beside it stood into daily contact with girls: eyes meandering con­ an oíd gas street-lamp, filling the air with a warm stantly from the ¡mmortal pages of Chaucer or yellow glow. Outside this sphere of light space Newton to swaying hips or virile muscled arms; receded into infinite blackness. I walked up to the brains previously employed in the pursuit of know­ gate and all around it; there was neither a wall ñor ledge clouded by a fever of precocious passions; a fence ñor even a path, road or signpost anywhere, classrooms disrupted by constant ogling and titilla- only an endless, timeless void. I put my hand on tion; academic backsides lured by warm laps from the latch; the cold iron latch creaked as my fmgers their cold seats in examination rooms; blossoming pressed it slowly down. The hinges screeched and ¡ntellects distracted by the siren cali of lascivious the two halves of the gate swung open. I walked pleasure; and straying herds of Salomes and Casa- through and turned round, anxious not to lose the novas lowing lustfully across the desks and book- only tangible perceptible companions of my present shelves of a school turned ¡nto a breeding-ground existence. The gates began to fly round the posts of puerile depravity. Did not George Granville tell like propellers, faster and faster, until only two the awful truth— columns of mist could be discerned, possessing " Of all the plagues with which the world is spin but no mass or weight. A high-pitched buzz- cursed, ing noise filled the air. I became frightened. Of every ¡II, a woman is the worst." From the two mists I heard two voices. One Lurid ¡maginative assumptions such as these still carne as if from very far away, from the depths of underlie people's reactions to the idea of mixed a steep valley, and it was distorted as sound is in schooling. The alarm in Birmingham at the mere the euphoric stupor of a hot, hot day—heat from possibility of having no single-sex schools ¡ndicates the cliffs, from the air, from the searing sun— that such a myth is still influencing the thinking of oppressive heat. This was a child's voice, singing parents—the myth that this would lower educa­ plaintively, heat-distorted words : tional standards and open the sluice-gates for the " How many more need to die as do I? tide of permissiveness to erode further the cliffs of How many times has he murdered me now? our respectability. It seems that middle-class visión Can he know of his crimes and his ten million does not extend as far as the United States, where graves? predominantly mixed schooling has not produced He would be forgiv'n by the rest of mankind any notable tendeney towards poor education or If only he'd stopped and let us live in peace, sexual permissiveness. This myopia even clouds the If only he'd not killed us all; fact that boys and girls exist side-by-side quite If only he'd not killed us all." happily in many Birmingham schools. But from the other mist carne a man's voice; he What in fact would be the result (daré it be swore brutally and shouted " Fire! " " Fire! " mentioned in print?) of much closer contact " Fire! " incessantly and monotonously, each time between this School and that alien breed of trouser- causing a harsh volley of rifle fire to re-echo round less humanity which share our kitchens and our the child's world. But at every volley the singing dustbins? Mixed classes, contrary to proving a re-started just as sadly and more quietly than distraction, would be a stimulus to academic before. Slowly it faded away completely, and the achievement. Nothing would be more galling to child's world of mist disintegrated into ¡ts compo- Romeo jnr., than a girl friend who managed con- sistently to get better marks than he, and ¡t would Christian message in this idiom. Writing Christian probably prompt him to prove that his brains were songs in a true pop style—not the pseudo-Gersh- not lodged in his boot-studs. Girls, surprisingly win, 1920's style that most Christians regard as enough, think along remarkably different Unes from " modern " at the moment—would certainly have boys; they have an attitude to work—to historical a large audience ¡ndeed, but it is necessary to figures, to set books, to test tubes—which is remember the non-rational response pop music can coloured by the fact of their sex. K.E.H.S. girls and does produce, irrespective of ¡ts words, ¡n are more industrious, need less discipline from their which case the effect ¡s, from a Christian point of teachers, are more willing to discuss ideas in class view, undesirable. For this reason I think that a than K.E.S. boys. And surely no one would suggest Christian ought to be wary of attempts to express that female teachers are not as capable of teaching Jesús* message in a modern idiom, such as " Jesús boys as male teachers, just as men are perfectly Christ Superstar" and " Godspell," and ought to able to teach girls—as is even now being demon­ consider them critically from a theological view- strated at the girls* school. point, and not accept them enthusiastically simply because they are about Jesús. In this light, " God­ Socially, mixed schools open a new dimensión in spell " comes off a lot better than " Jesús Christ relations between the sexes. Girls and boys usually Superstar." meet each other solely in a social context, to enjoy themselves, to have fun. The only side of a girl I think, therefore, that a Christian ought neither Romeo jnr., is likely to see, perhaps throughout to reject pop music out of hand, ñor accept it un- his life, is her off-duty side, or her dogsbody office critically. His attitude should be one of discern- role. If he were to meet girls regularly in a work- ment and understanding on the basis of Christian ing environment, such as school, it would perhaps teaching. reveal to him that they are not simply what one GREGORY MOSS has fun with, dictates to, or marries—they can actually, directly contribute to society in other ways than cooking, cleaning, typing and producing THE EXTERMINATING ÁNGEL babies. They are not simply objects to be " picked In 1960 Luis Buñuel wrote :

up " and " chucked " like so many cricket balls; II Mystery is a basic element of all works of art. they are thinking, productive people. It is generally lacking on the screen. Writers, But, for now, Romeo jnr., must stare dolefully directors and producers take good care in avoiding across the dustbins, and allow his limited experi­ anything that may upset us. They keep the mar- ence of the fairer sex to genérate strange, distorted vellous window on the liberating world of poetry ¡deas of what girls are and what they do. He will shut. They prefer stones which seem to continué grow up convinced that his slippers ought to be our everyday lives, which repeat for the umpteenth ready for him and his dinner cooked every night, time the same drama, which help us to forget the and in this modern world he will have increasing hard hours of our daily work. And all this, of difficulty in fmding a properly submissive woman course, carefully watched over by traditional to marry and take for granted. Sail on, Edwardian, moráis, government and ¡nternational censorship, watching with uncomprehending eyes the currents religión, good taste, white humour and other fíat that tumble past, and waiting, largely unprepared, dicteria of reality." to leap ¡nto the floating stream of life! " The Exterminating Ángel," recently shown to ANDREW FORBES the Film Society, would certainly not fit such a description. It tells the story of a group of people TOWARDS A CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE who are psychologically incapable of returning home after a party. They remain imprisoned in the TO POP MUSIC host's dining room and hold out for a long period A major cause of friction between older and amidst hunger, thirst, sickness, ¡nsanity and death younger members of the Church today is pop until they escape from the house by re-enacting music. The question of what a Christian attitude the events and motions which had been taking to this ¡mportant aspect of life ¡n contemporary place just as the " ángel " had begun to exert ¡ts society ought to be is thus of some significance, influence. Thus they break ¡ts spell. and this article attempts to give a personal view It would be pleasant to discover that the whole of the problem. film was allegorical and that beneath the surface Pop music, by which I mean music written for lay a biting criticism of the " dicteria " that Buñuel the commercial disc market with the hope that it speaks of. Yet although there are various apparent will one day get ¡nto the charts, either as a single and tempting clues, they refuse to cohere. It ¡s or as a track on an L.P., has been rejected by intel- probably fa¡r to say that there are ¡ndeed satirícal lectuals on the grounds that the musical valué is episodes within the film even ¡f they are not the low, and that the words also are often meaningless. film's theme. Towards the end there seem to be These may be perfectly good reasons for not col- obvious indications that Buñuel is scorning the lecting or listen i ng to pop records, but a Christian Catholic Church and is satirising blind faith in should take several other points ¡nto consideraron. organised beliefs. The ending itself is a magnifica- Fundamental to these is the fact that pop music tion of the plot for, after the funeral of those who relies to a great extent on the atmosphere of per­ had died in the house, the large congregation— formance for its ¡mpact, and that in certain cases, clergy ¡ncluded—find themselves unable to leave such as the Rolling Stones, the ethos of this atmos­ through the open doors of the church. phere is drugs or sexual promiscuity. This ought to But such an explanation would ¡n no way account be rejected by Christians. They ought also to for such seemingly ¡rrelevant episodes as the re- recognise that the atmosphere usually produces a peated shots of the guests entering the hall, the purely non-rational response in the listeners; I bear running riot in the house, or the hen's legs know of Christian students who have experienced protruding from one lady's handbag. sensations akin to drugs simply by listening to and concentrating on music aimed at drug takers. But, However, despite the fact that at various times while rejecting such music, and remembering that one suspected yet another Monty Python hoax, it forms only a part of the whole scene, I think a during most of the film Buñuel skilfully led us on a Christian ought to recognise that the basis of much tightrope between absurdity and reality which pop music is an expression of the uncertainty and made the ¡mpact, by turns, comic, nightmarish and dissatisfaction felt among very large numbers of ¡nspiring. young people today. This accounts to a large The Film Society members did look rather extent for ¡ts mass popularity. A Christian ought stunned as they made their way out of the Ratcliff to take this seriously, since it is one of the basic Theatre, but it seemed that the film had gained claims of Christianity that the Christian faith also immediate popularity and, if not often comprehen- seeks to meet this uncertainty, and he ought also sible, it was always engrossing and enjoyable. to consider very deeply the benefits expressing the PAUL SMITH