OV Newsletter 18 June 2021

Centenary of The King’s School Worcester First World War Memorials

In all, 80 former King’s pupils and four masters lost their lives during the First World War.

Following the Armistice on 11 November 1918 King’s, like many institutions across the country, erected memorials to former pupils who had given their lives during the conflict. These took the form of a permanent Roll of Honour in College Hall and a Memorial Window in the Cathedral Cloisters containing the names of the fallen. It was also proposed to provide scholarships for sons of Old Vigornians (OVs) killed in the war; a new Fives Court be constructed in the playground; and a new Cricket Pavilion be erected on the New Road ground.

While funds were collecting, an immediate and costless Roll of Honour was painted in letters of gold on the panelling of College Hall. A few years later this memorial was placed in a more central position and the eight lines of verse originally accompanying it were omitted in favour of the simple phrase:

THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE

This was the work of Mr. Hope Bagenal, F.R.I.B.A., who at the same time supervised the stripping of the dark stain off the oak panelling.

The Cricket Pavilion and Cloister Window were unveiled during the Old Vigornian Reunion weekend of 18 and 19 June 1921. Canon William Haighton Chappel (HM 1896-1918, now President of the OV Club and Sub-Dean of Coventry Cathedral) performed the opening ceremonies.

The Pavilion was the gift of Mr. Thomas Easton Rammell (KSW Staff 1891-1929). Mr. Rammell was master in charge of cricket and had been responsible for maintaining records of OVs involved in the war. He immediately promised £500 to the project, and when the costs exceeded this figure took on the whole extra burden but suppressed his name as donor. The plaque over its entrance reads:

This pavilion was erected in memory of those who, having learnt in this place to play the game for their school, played it also for their country during the years 1914-1918

It ends with a Latin inscription from Virgil’s Aeneid:

HAEC OLIM MEMINISSE JUVABIT Which translates as: These things one day it will be a pleasure to remember

The Pavilion was opened by Canon Chappel on Saturday, 18 June 1921. During the day cricket matches were played between three elevens of Old Vigornians and the first, second, and third elevens of the School. That evening the Headmaster Rev. Creighton (HM 1919- 1936) entertained 70 OVs and masters at dinner in the School House dining hall.

The next morning, Sunday, 19 June 1921, the School War Memorial in the North Cloisters was dedicated by Dean Moore Ede, Chairman of the School Governors. A large number of OVs, relatives and friends assembled in the North Cloister of the Cathedral where the Dean dedicated the beautiful window to the memory of Vigornians who fell in the war.

Two platoons of the OTC, with the drums and bugles of the Band, were on parade under Captain Whitaker (KSW Staff 1911- 1935). As the Cathedral Choir approached the window from the Chapter House they sang Psalm 121, "I will lift up mine eyes", with its moving last verse, "The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in: from this time forth for ever more".

Rev. Creighton read the prayers and a brief silence was observed for "remembrance of the brave and true". The buglers of the OTC then sounded the Last Post (with drums), and after the Dean had dedicated the window, the Reveille. The Dean gave a short address, during which he called attention to the text placed at the head of an official description: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them" (Hebrews 11:13). Then the burial hymn "God of the living, in whose eyes" was sung, and the procession, followed by OVs and the School, moved into the Cathedral for Matins, where Canon Chappel preached the sermon. He took for his text James 1:22,24. Rev. Creighton and Archdeacon James read the lessons. "Oh God, our help in ages past" and "For all the saints" were the hymns chosen for the occasion.

A video to commemorate the centenary of The King’s School Worcester’s WW1 Memorials, compiled and presented by Director of Music Simon Taranczuk (Hon OV), with current Choristers and Chaplain Rev Mark Dorsett (Hon OV) replicating some of the 1921 service, can be streamed on YouTube , with thanks to King’s Worcester Archives and all involved.

A more detailed article on the First World War Memorials can be found here

OV Allan Clayton MBE

It was with great delight that we learned that OV Allan Clayton (H 91-99) has been awarded an MBE in the latest Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to Opera.

This is hot on the heels of a 5-star review in The Times for his presentation of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Silenced, a 17- minute reflection on the life and death of the poisoned Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko. As The Times puts it, ‘Just hours before his MBE was announced, Allan Clayton was reminding us why he is regarded as the most exciting British tenor to emerge for decades.’

We are in no doubt how deserving Allan’s MBE is: a multi-award-winning singer, Allan is established as one of the most exciting and sought-after singers of his generation.

We were honoured when Allan agreed to join our Barnabas Group in 2018, which celebrates inspirational OVs who have excelled in their chosen profession. Allan kindly came to the School (pre-covid!) to talk with students about his School experiences, and generously gave not only a masterclass to some King’s singers but also a recital in College Hall.

On his MBE, Allan has commented: “It’s a bit weird. Essentially, I am just doing my job. I am very lucky in two ways: my job is fun, and I get to communicate with people. I just go out there and try to spread music, and it’s nice that some people think that it is worth doing.

“I may not announce myself as Allan Clayton MBE, but this award is about making live music and getting back to what I love. There are far more deserving people from the last year, such as people in the NHS.”

We would like to extend huge congratulations to Allan for this very well-deserved award.

A Catch-up with OV and Former Robert Harley Award Recipient

As a follow-up to our news last week about The Robert Harley Award, it was a real pleasure to welcome OV Sam Walker (Ch 10-17) back to King’s Worcester this week. Sam received The Robert Harley Award in his final year at King's and used the grant towards a trip to work on a bird rescue and rehabilitation centre near Montreal, Canada. Without the financial assistance of The Robert Harley Award, this trip would not have been a possibility and Sam enjoyed his time in Canada and his work at the centre so much that he is determined to return to Canada at some point in the future.

Sam is just coming to the end of his third year at The University of Southampton, where he is studying for an integrated Masters in Marine Biology. Whilst this year has been tremendously tough for the students, given the difficulties of, and restrictions on, attending lab tutorials in person, Sam is hugely positive and is thoroughly enjoying the course.

During his visit back to King’s, Sam and Development Director, Liz Elliott visited the Biology department, where Sam had spent many hours during his own time at the School. He was thrilled to meet his sixth form teacher of Biology, Mrs Nicki Essenhigh (Co 84-86) as well as Head of Biology, Hon OV Dr Matt Parkin. They were both very interested to hear about the research work that Sam has been doing in Southampton, looking into the impact of ecological light pollution on coral reefs.

Sam has also enjoyed a number of trips on the research boat at The University of Southampton, which allows the students to carry out marine research activities, such as sediment sampling, CTD deployment (Conductivity (salinity), Temperature and Depth (pressure) of water) and net tows along the Solent and the south coast.

Dr Parkin also talked about the work that he is doing in addition to his teaching at King’s, writing a syllabus for an International Marine Science AS and A level course, so he was particularly interested to hear about Sam’s own experiences. Dr Parkin has a number of published books that aid students in their study of A levels, one of which supports this Marine Science course.

We are always delighted to see OVs who have recently left King’s, back in School, and their teachers really enjoy the opportunity to find out what their former students are up to.

We wish Sam all the very best as he heads into his final Masters year at Southampton and we look forward to hearing what he gets up to next!

OVs Golfing for a Good Cause

With the gentle lifting of lockdown restrictions, it has been a pleasure to hear of OVs getting active and getting together again.

On 21 June 2021, OVs Oliver Kitching (Os 02-09), James Wood (Cl 03-10), and Jack Longley (Ch 02-09) will be donning their spikes, grabbing their clubs, and hitting the green to raise money for St. Richard’s Hospice.

The trio, friends since their King's Worcester days, are aiming to complete 72 holes of golf in one day. They will tee off at 4:50am at The Worcestershire Golf Club in Malvern, starting their journey of over 20 miles (or 60,000 steps) for the four rounds needed to meet their challenge.

In order to help keep the trio motivated, they will be joined by guests throughout the day, including former King’s Worcester teacher and Head of Fourth Forms Andrew Longley (Hon OV).

Jack added: “We are delighted to support such a fantastic cause and thank you to everyone who has made a donation!”

We’d like to wish Oliver, James, and Jack all the best for what will be a long day but for a great cause.

If you would like to know more about the challenge, please do get in touch with us at [email protected]

Photo, from left: Oliver, James and Jack

OV of the Week: Franny Moyle

As OV Franny Moyle’s (Co 80-82) latest book, The King's Painter: The Life and Times of Hans Holbein, hits our shelves, it seems a timely opportunity to look at her illustrious career.

Franny’s time at School set the scene for her future career, excelling in her studies in English.

St John’s College, Cambridge, was Franny’s next port of call, where a degree in Art History cemented her onwards path to the BBC’s Arts department as a producer and director.

It wasn’t long before Franny’s BBC career trajectory took off as she was appointed Creative Director, Arts, where she was responsible for all arts programmes from the BBC’s Specialist Factual department. Having made such a great impact in this role, it was just two short years later that Franny became the Head of Arts Commissioning for the BBC encompassing all of its UK productions across both analogue and digital channels.

Although an incredible position, Franny’s heart was leading her in a different direction and so she stepped down from her BBC role and launched into the world of freelance and non-fiction writing. Franny once again showed how hard work leads to great things with huge success with her writing.

Franny’s first book, Desperate Romantics: The Private Lives of the Pre-Raphaelites in 2009 was adapted into the BBC drama serial Desperate Romantics. Franny published her second book in 2011, to critical acclaim: Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs Oscar Wilde. Franny’s focus then turned to the man who is arguably Britain’s most famous but equally least understood artist, with her book Turner: the Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of J.M.W Turner.

Now turning her attention to a different artist and era, Franny’s latest book that has just been released centres on Hans Holbein, the religious artist and painter of the court of Henry VIII – Hans was responsible for the infamous portrait of Henry VIII that we all know so well. Although it has only been on our shelves for a matter of weeks, this latest book has been similarly incredibly well received. In testament to its success, the book was serialised and read by Sir Simon Russell Beale as BBC radio 4’s ‘Book of the Week’ in May 2021.

Ensuring that she keeps her hand in with current artists, Franny is also still heavily involved with her local theatre, the Hackney Empire, in London.

If you have any OV news, please do get in touch, either via email or 01905 721737

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18/06/2021