The Strathallian
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The Strathallian 1977 Vol. 12 No. 2 Contents Page Editorial 2 Strathallan Abroad 2 Notes 8 House Reports 12 Winter and Spring Term Sports 20 C.C.F. 28 The RAF in Germany 32 Social Services 35 Subsidy and the Theatre 38 Music and Drama 40 The Art Exhibition at Foyle’s 44 Speech Day 47 Activities 48 Summer Sports 49 Valete 63 1 Remember 66 Strathallan Past 68 Strathallian Club 70 Stop Press 76 EDITORIAL All in all it has been a busy year for School and one in which the School has furthered its good name. Some people complain that there is nothing to do, but there are many clubs and societies operating throughout the week. So it is hoped in this magazine that all these activities are suitably covered showing what a wide variety there really is. The Magazine is essentially the same as last year’s. Many say the trouble with it is that it is always the same as the year before’s. Yet o f all the moaners not one has come forward with any sane ideas, so the magazine stays the same— or nearly so. Obviously these people are fooled by the conservative cover, the small print and the lack of photographs (though there are more this year). If they just bothered to do a little reading they would see that the magazine is full of interesting and entertaining articles. O f course there are the same articles which have been in the magazine for the last fifty years but in this age of change perhaps a little conservatism is a good thing. LEYSIN ’76 Before Christmas a party of 20 boys and Mr Clayton and his family set out for Leysin at the eastern end of Lake Geneva, in the Vaud. For perhaps the first time in Strath’s many ski trips abroad we actually managed to travel from Perth to our destination without incident. A car did run into our bus, but that's just by the way. STRATHALLAN ABROAD The conditions in Leysin were exceptional. Every day was sunny except for one and even that was better than most As usual there was the annual ski-ing trip abroad. This days at Glenshee. There was plenty of snow and good runs year the party went to Switzerland just before Christmas. for intermediate skiers. For the better skiers the runs were This holiday is now becoming very popular with all age- perhaps a little restricted, but the majority of piste-bashers groups w ithin the School. This summer, however, the 1st seemed well satisfied. XV attempted something new in the form of a rugger tour The hotel itself was average but the village had plenty to to Narbonne in the heart of French rugby country. The last offer. There were good clubs and discos if you were pre two tours, which were to have taken place in Britain had pared to climb 800 steps and there was also a very fine had to be cancelled due to illness and bad weather. Luckily, sports complex with an ice rink and a swimming pool. however, this time there was no chance of bad weather. M.J.Y. The standard of play of the French was high and a good deal Acknowledgments harder than our own. We thank our contemporaries for copies of their rival publications. Closer to home, tw o members of the School, M r N. T. We thank too R. J. Benzies, Esq., Managing Director of Wm. Culross H. Du Boulay and Mike Yellowlees paid separate visits to the & Son, our printers, for permission to use his photograph of the Editorial Board, and those other photographers whose work is not Gordon Highlanders in Belfast on what proved to be very acknowledged elsewhere, especially D. S. Muir, D. S. Gall, G. T. Boyd interesting and entertaining trips. and K. R. H osking, Esq. 2 flanbonne The sight of forty French ballerinas upon our arrival at Narbonne Hostel provided an excellent limbering-up session for our stiff and exhausted bodies. Muscle and minds seemed to burst into a flurry of activity and indeed dinner was a five-minute affair before we proceeded to establish diplomatic relations with our Common Market neighbours. However, there was one problem, and many of us regretted having given up French 'O ’ Level— but not Ian Gerrard. As usual he came to the rescue by developing a new, easy-to- learn French dialect, which even if it was a crude mixture of Frecossais and some common sign language seemed to get the message across. (Throughout the tour the response to the message would be ‘Non’ or some appropriate sign). But, surprisingly, this was a rugby tour and our first match against Narbonne Juniors ‘B’ provided a close contest which we lost 15-7— I had better mention for my future safety that W illie Potts scored a ‘brilliant, oppor tunist’ try for the visitors. The rest of Sunday and indeed a great deal of the week was spent sitting at cafes scouting for local ‘talent.’ It was then that we discovered that Alec Brewster’s taste in women was closely associated with his taste in ‘good breeding stock’ at one of the local cattle auctions. But even Alec was left speechless when we found out that at French discos one was expected to dance with members of one’s own sex— well to young healthy Scotsmen this proved to be a bitter blow and the evening might have been soured if it had not been for lain Ogilvie’s brilliant interpretation of the Foxtrot (a la Beach Boys). In fact the beach provided the most popular entertain ment although those who expected the Mediterranean to be warm soon had all their hopes frozen. Andy Baird and Mr Du B. seemed to prefer wallowing in sand pits to 3 swimming in the sea and Mr Du B’s attention seemed to be continuously focused on a certain rock where a young escapee from St. Tropez had taken refuge— later search parties discovered that she was merely part of a large 'breakout.’ However I think I should add that the French found equal fascination in lain O gilvie’s kilt and more especially in the answer to an age-old question. O ur defeat by 46-0 in the second match of the tou r may seem less of a disgrace when one takes into account that the m Narbonne team are the Junior Champions of France. But our enthusiasm was not dampened and Thursday provided the long-awaited and greatly publicised journey to Carcassonne, which now seems to be pronounced w ith a distinct Durham accent. Although the Chateau at Car hoLL^ym oO D cassonne is of great historical interest, at six francs it was a history lesson few of us could afford. Meanwhile ‘the two lains’ (as they had become known) had discovered an ancient Before anyone has the idea that a Strathallan salary cafe c. 1968 and returned brandishing some ancient French enables one to nip across the Atlantic and cavort on the fireworks. However, no-one had told Ian Gerrard that one sands w ith Susan George, B ritt Ekland and Bianca Jagger, was supposed to let them go after lighting— one learns by they must realise that Hollywood is a suburb of Belfast as one’s mistakes. The visit to the vinyard and especially the well as Los Angeles. Unfortunately none of the afore free samples seemed to create more interest and Colin mentioned saw fit to cross the Atlantic to the Emerald Isle. Cunningham soon established that wine should be sampled Some of you may wonder why anyone should want to go to in pint measures and not in those silly little glasses. Belfast at any time, let alone Christmas, and they could be The ballerina's last night signalled the last assault by Potts right. However all schoolmasters are at least eccentric and and Co., but their rising expectations were soon deflated that should be sufficient explanation. by a faulty door-handle. Mike Yellowlees retired mournfully I had tw o motives for going, my brother being posted to bed after discovering that there were indeed 13-year-old there, and a genuine curiosity to see what all the fuss was ballerinas in France. The tw o lains spent the night fishing about from first hand. from the bedroom window and caught the only towelfish The Irish have many reputations which have passed into I have ever seen. Dawn on Friday broke rather painfully for folklore. Apart from a love of talking, religion, fighting and many of us and breakfast proved even more painful for Dave alcohol they have acquired a new God— television. One of Sim who faced with a bill for 85 francs— thanks for breakfast the few times the security forces were able to relax at all was Dave! during the course of ‘Starsky and Hutch,’ a favourite with The last match of the tour resulted in an excellent victory ‘Provos’ and ‘U D A ’ alike. I realised that although still and the side seemed spurred on by the loss of our ‘Pinball within the British Isles things were slightly different across expert’ Robert Brewster after some vicious use of the boot the water when, on arriving at Larne in the ferry, it was by the home side. The 13-7 scoreline was a just reward and discovered that the hydraulic gear had stuck. This meant Al Ferguson, Mike Yellowlees and lain Ogilvie demonstrated that all the cars and lorries had to reverse off the ship.