Issue No 91 Winter 2017/18 Founded 1913 - 14 Registration No. 100819 THE OLD WORDSWORTHIANS’ ASSOCIATION Over One hundred years’ young and still counting The President’s Letter | President’s Annual Report To The Owa Agm July 2017 In This The Other Bishops | Christmas In The Laurentians Arthur And Joyce Bowden Christmas 2017 | Snippetts Issue Founders Day Details Welcome To the Winter 2017/8 edition of your Old Wordsworthians Association newsletter.. As ever I would like readers to understand that this is very much their publication, and whilst we can keep you up to date with what the OWA Committee is doing on your behalf, we need you to keep us up to date with your world. and your OW old boys’ news! Feel free to contact me with anything you consider might be of interest, thought provoking, useful or amusing, at any time. Newsletters come around fairly regularly and content is key.” Pause for thought. We send copies of this newsletter, mostly by e mail. However there are still a significant number that are printed addressed and posted. It would be very helpful both in time and in saving funds that can be used in supporting school projects. If you are now in a position to receive this newsletter by e mail, please let us know. Just let me know and I will forward your e mail contact details to the membership officer. Thank you Sports Reports. It has been the custom to include a copy of the school sports reports.However, as the school now has a new website, all the relevant information is now covered there in great detail.A visit to http://www.bws-sport.org.uk/ will unlock a wide ranging view of the many sports and their successes (and sometimes failures.) I hope this will meet with your approval. Tudor Williams. Sadly I report on the loss of another OWA member. Tudor Williams, one of the Sandbanks trip partygoers, passed away last year. More details in the next edition Martin Holloway BWS 1955–1961 OWA Book Editor | [email protected] | 07710357564 The repeat spelling error is intentional. Be interested to see how many spot it! Copies of the books Bishop Wordsworh’s School 1890 - 1950 BWS The Second Sixty Years Are both readily available. Don’t forget that we also have centenary cufflinks, OWA ties and mugs E mailor ‘phone me as above The President’s Letter Dear Old Wordsworthian When Salisbury Cathedral asked the School to move Founder’s Day from a Saturday in July to one at the end of April because of the expected extras number of visitors to the Magna Carta exhibition, we wondered if this would set a precedent. It has in that this year, Founder’s Day will be on Saturday 28 April and not in July. Attached to this OWA Newsletter are the details for you to send to me your request for seating in the Cathedral, and for the lunch we have arranged with the School’s Catering Manager. I am pleased to say that we have managed to keep the cost of lunch the same as last year. Again, I look forward to meeting as many fellow OWA members as possible on the day. At the start of the 2017 AGM, I presented a summary of the most important areas your committee discussed and about which decisions were taken. I have attached this report as part of this Newsletter for your information in case you were not able to attend the AGM. Because this year’s Founder’s Day, and therefore our AGM, will cover nine months instead of 12, my report will be shorter than in previous years. Formal details have been provided by Honorary Secretary Mick Way within this Newsletter, for your participation in person, or to me via e-mail to <[email protected]> if you want anything raised. One of the longest serving members of the OWA committee, Rodney Walker sadly passed away in 2016, and his Obituary appeared in the OWA Summer 2016 Newsletter. During the 2017 Founder’s Day drinks on the lawn of Number 11, I spoke to the Head Master and asked if he would permit the OWA to plant a tree in the gardens in memory of Rodney, who was a person of considerable energy and ‘can do’ attitude. Rodney always endeavoured to join in when he could, and it was this attribute that we all admired. I am delighted that the Head Master agreed to this memorial to Rodney. The School’s Chaplain, the Reverend Judith Bersweden, kindly carried out the dedication for the OWA. Our tree should be in full bloom by this Founder’s Day and it is anticipated that the D & T department will erect a suitably worded plaque in time. After serving for the past 17 years, the School Chaplain, the Reverend Judith Bersweden left BWS at the end of December. The OWA has worked closely with the Reverend Judith to support the Chapel, by providing chairs, refit lighting, joined with the School and ParentsAssociation to enable the carpet to be replaced. It has been rewarding that whenever I approached Judith to carry out a dedication on behalf of the OWA, such as the refurbished War Memorial seating area between Junior/Middle School and the gardens by the Close wall, the additional names on the First World War Memorial Board in the Chapel ,and now the tree in the Number 11 lawn, that she has supported us without hesitation. We wish Judith and her family all the very best in their ‘new’ life in Twickenham. I mentioned in the 2017 Summer Newsletter that The School had set up the BWS Foundation Charity, with the purpose of providing financial backing to the families of future pupils, who may be in need of some assistance, to enable the pupil/s to come to BWS. You may recall that within the Objects of the OWA Constitution, we set out to “assist current and past pupils who have not attained the age of 25 years, and who are in need of financial assistance”.Also to “advance the education of the current pupils of BWS, by providing and assisting in the provision of facilities for all aspects of their education, not normally provided by Education ‘funding’.” The Head Master has now invited the Committee to discuss with him, a Memorandum of Understanding between the BWS Foundation and the OWA, so that the two charities work together for the overall benefit of the School’s current and future pupils. Warm wishes to one and all, as we enjoy a safe and pleasant new year. Yours sincerely Ian R White President OWA | BWS 1952–1959 PRESIDENT ANNUAL REPORT TO THE OWA AGM JULY 2017 1. This year, we have continued to work closely with the School. In particular, Mr Graham Lloyd, Deputy Head, who has attended each Committee meeting to update us on the development of the School, such as the construction of the wall and entrance to use the 3-D printer, bought by the OWA for the School’s use. We have also worked with Mrs Sally Armstrong and Mr Richard Burnside, Head of VI Form, to see which pupils may want help with the late Jack Ruben Hall Legacy and to recruit new ‘Leavers’. 2. Because the School has added a new House for the next School’s year, as explained in the OWA Newsletter Summer 2017, we have purchased more Chapel chairs. As before, donations for the chairs will be welcomed in exchange for a named plaque to cover costs. 3. OWA member Trevor Austreng of Fawcetts, has arranged for possible sponsorship of the Rugby team. 4. We are working on re-vamping the OWA website, and again thanks to Graham Lloyd, have a link restored from the BWS website. The old photos in the previous BWS website seem to have gone away, so again, we are working with Graham to assist and find them! Nikki Miles, Head Master’s PA, has kindly left old photos in the adjoining room to see if anyone can identify the pupils, locations, and dates. 5. The Editor of the School’s Wordsworth magazine, usually on sale on Founder’s Day, has been off school for a long time, so this year there will not be a copy, to which we were invited to provide an article. 6. The School has launched a ‘Foundation’ charity, for which we sent out invitations to the reception last month, and an explanation of its aims and modus operandi, with fellow OWA member Lord Colin Sharman as Chairman of the Trustees. We will continue to send out anything the School wants us to help with this venture. The main aim will be to raise funds to assist families of future potential BWS pupils who may have financial difficulties. So there is no overlap between the two charities as the OWA helps existing and future pupils. 7. Your committee are working with a Salisbury based IFA company introduced by Trevor Austreng, to ensure we will have as safe as possible, investments for our finances. Many will remember the late Rodney Walker, who kindly left a Legacy for the OWA Trustees to manage, under their guidance. Ian R White The Other Bishops In the last issue, we had a piece about Bishop Seth Ward who had been designated Bishop of the newly created 5th house. This historical item prompted Rodney Stratford the OWA Treasurer, to look more closely at the background to his house, named after Bishop Poore. So I have pleasure in including this article and perhaps it will spark some further interest in the remaining three houses and their Bishops, resulting in a full history series.