Schools Match' Spadework A'bingdon rock'U,e(lk'en,ea W(1141/ By OUR SCHOOLS RUGBY C( RUGBY'S rcmark<:b1c record of school matches ,vas due in la for school's By Our Schools Ru:;{by scrllllll1Jagin" i1llrl cOllsislrntly hacl a f"it, 'I"it~ of I splendid work cf their forwards a Corres]londent shovcd tbrir opponents bac!,. ('"rh SCO!C.,Cd~'1(' 11 or G. Steele-Bodger, hooker, ,~-­ . ~ Wlth thelr for\\'ards gOJng' ö\\d)' (0\ c, In!- half t artscentre A/)ll~~do~ ... 2" pts hackwards, HoHellhul'g "nd tlw, !leid 01' Illo:r", san of Micky Steele·Bodger. Their '~annck ... 0 Parkin had a dilliutll time, but F:rst Ilalse:.'. Allll They conceded only three is r-tgail ,\ßINGDON made no mis- (ame tl..-ougl1 theil' tesl wilh sl':lncl,,,;.c full-bllck Ir tries and not a single compdc Abingdon School is to have a nev. ..L ," : '.e .'ollle <:recht' and Pllrkin's long on thc burst dnd I' penalty goal. , strong take 1I1 thelr last i kil!,in~ \\as pa:licularlv usefuJ. hidhqy, Aller ;\ I opponcn *350,000 arts centre which the school match of the term, I ', ' ," " ", 01 Wanvlck prc" I One of their closest contests three d< school hopes will be also used b~ ',' ]", I I ' In ,<,Idenre, ,,00,cl, m,al k" ,",ere wl1:cl1 Chapl11all uü Th(\ comp etee a n1?st ,eili'Il,,,1 b\' Warwlc!< s rentre<;. don', line hUI lost was against St Edward's, Hcigüt the local community. Oxford, who made steij,dy im­ dge: successful I un by scorm2; In thc earIv pIdY Andrcws was hc fell. 1Ll1wv add, cess tprovcment and endcd the term was thc 'Ibis week the first sod was tun1ed by threc goals, Olle try and a i p"üminent \\ith snJl\e po\\'erful bettcr Ir.v. rUllning tl was Jlll drop il"aillst a \Vanvick i but'sls and it was not lang bcfor" full" 10 ,'Md", with some spcctacvlar dis,plays, Iocal industrialists Mr Ron Amey, a lJ>V­ winning eight ga rncs, drilwing these side \\:'eakened by the I pressure by the Abingdon 101'- The lindl. ,con' shadowe emor of the schooI, and bis brother Geof­ , 'I wards led In a trI' bv Bu 'ls anolher :ndt\'lduld one and losin\{ only to Abing­ frey, at the start of an 18-month 10ll@ absence of foul' good I trom an openlng by Mad!(\\i," time ob.v HUt'Is, wilo < drew v.'ii don and Rugbv. hard-wo) buildirlg prowarnme. ]Jlaycrs. who were requlred IWiJliams com el ted dnd <ldded a defenr-e in a long" ]'I Radley, determined as ever, and sufi n.e new building inc1udes a 45O-seal tor a county match. : drop go,,1 trom dn mdJrecl convcrtecl the last I won five of their )0 matches, lasses. auditoriwn and teaching wings. 1be I pena]'ty. complete a declSlve I, ' They drew with St' Edward's, lost expansion fol1ows last year's successful t ~\as clear from the start A, I' d (' 't t h 1f- "I>;n"<loo.-G. 'ia'.""; N, 11. I hat Warwlck's defence would I " ea 0 nme pom s a a, 8,,,t •. .T, Mddowick. p, fl narrowly three tililes, hut more tbc back f4OO,000 appeaI to meet the needs of full , t,me barely reflected Abtngdon s 8, C,. Wll'oo. 'vi.,,,,,,; conclusively to Sherborne. I the :~ ,sevcrely tested. The strong advantarrf'. in ""ITp.np"th ;arlrl n:u',:o :"i. \Villilu1uiI. M HJIIT\ started independence following ending of Abingdon, who had astrang but impr .; attacking weapon in tbe speed direct lJ'lUll status. last si: Parents and charitable trusts lBve con­ and thrust of full-back G. Halsey, Canterbu defeated Radl~ for th'e fi,rs'~ time tributed to the new buildirlg and the Ame) in R. A. family of BesseIsIeish has made aseries 01 and won )0 times in all, wi,th one l1i1 l f o'nd draw amt a surprisingly rheavy Injurie benefadiom which form the bllsis of ttx defeat from a top·form Bryanston sible fOl' scheme for financing the hall of the ne\l\ side. the over buildins, to be ca11ed the Amey Hall. tories an Headmaster Mr M. St. J. Parker said ttx Emanuel's strength factory, ' new deveIopment marked, in a most strik· Emanuel had one of the best wich as t ing way, the schooI's confidence in i~ equipped teams in the South·East, Tonbrii independent fmure. They showed their calibre early be plcasc Mr Ron Amey (left) and his brother He hoped the hall would be used b) in the term with a 10-6_ 2\'in thC'v f~il Geoffrey. Iocal people for concerts and p1ays. ,g11111116ii I By ROH GRIMSHAW I ABINGDON Sehool Abingdon's chunky prop seored an historie first Giles Wilson kicked both vietory over St goals and this was just the Edward's Sehool, tonic they needed. Oxford in grand They drove through 10 the goal line where Teddies style and by' the were penalised in ascrum. thoroughly deserved Ben Messer quickly tapped margin of 27 points to 15 the ball into play and pas­ at Abingdon yesterday. sed for prop Nick Williams ~ot~'tiOUbleswtth to barge his way over ,j , " •• "'l'. ,', .' Abingdon scored foul' , tuddilll1, heetWaves 18 against no solid opposition. 'Boys.c;lean Up good tries to one and Indeed, it looked as if Ted­ ttie rn8esthai'81mmer­ defended stubborn1y dies hadmisread the situa­ lrig ',' iUn WQr8hlpPers against a spirited finish by tion. I~V.~ln(L .. vlce Group, armed with would be out and about "Teddies" in which they Abingdon quickly put the . "prodders"and ,sacks, helplng the community, pulled back nine points. issue beyond doubt in the And dn Monday, a Invaded the rlver bank and when they Nearly half an hour second half. Their first ~!ap.~ed befo~e t." otAbl~ on the lookout for aooroached U8 we Abing.don try was a copybook effort volume seventeen, number three June 1979 Editorial Committee: Michael Oacre Gideon Franklin Peter Wakefield R. C. B. Coleman J. R. Gabitass W. H. Zawadzki LETTER FROM THE HEADMASTER danger facing Abingdon at the present time ­ complacency about our success rates, about our Having successfully evaded the clutches of the standards, abou, our very objectives. Editor for a disgracefully long time, I have had the At the very lowest, it can be said that fullest advantage of writing this letter after the General success is reserved for those who are capable of Election, in the knowledge that the Labour being self-critical as weil as self-confident. On a Government have given way to one headed by a more exalted plane, I wonder whether we should Prime Minister who adds to her other distinctions not be asking ourselves why we struggle so the very special quality of being a friend of earnestly in library and laboratory, on playing field Abingdon School- it was Mrs. Thatcher who, as and concert platform. Is it for our own benefit as Secretaryof State for Education, ina ug urated work individuals, or for some larger good? on the School Dining Hall in 1973. It is my earnest hope that we should be able to Had itnot been for the barbarous murder of Mr. use the period of relative security that seems to lie Airey Neave, indeed, the School would by now immediately ahead of us, to achieve a sharper have be.en able to rely on the goodwill of someone awareness of our aims and to establish for in high office who was much more than a friend. ourselves a role that will give us a c1ear purpose in Mr. Neave's experience and shrewdness were a a doubtful future. To do this, we may have to source of strength to the School all through his 25 examine ourselves in first principles: what do we years as a Governor, and he is sadly missed. In his do by way of service to the local community? What place on the Governing Body we welcome the new value do we allow to the pursuit of those subjects M.P. for Abingdon, Mr. Tom Benyon. which cannot be measured in terms of examina­ The year has seen other changes in the tion results? What do we care about the less Governing Body; Dick Eason, so long a pillar of the fortunate in our society? 00 we treat our physical School, has gone - his obituary appears environment in the spirit of stewards or of asset­ elsewhere. We have been greatly strengthened, strippers? What responsibility do we acknowledge on the other hand, by the acquisition of Air Vice­ to help shape tomorrow's Britain? Marshai Clementi, last year's Warden of the To insist on the urgency of these questions is by Mercers' Company, and Mr. David Maland, High no means to belittle the achievements recorded in Master of Manchester Grammar School. the pages of the Abingdonian - but it is, perhaps, It is a good thing to have friends in high places; to say that the best of our endeavours is less than but, in politics at least, it is a wise rule not to make we ought to be attempting. lf we accept that, then too many assumptions about what they can do for we will find Charles Kingsley's words as apt as uso lronically, indeed, the knowledge that the new when they were first written, over a hundred years Government is well-disposed to the interests of ago: 'To be discontented with the divine schoolssuch asAbingdon could do usa dis-service discontent, and to be ashamed with the noble if it ca used us to lose that awareness of the need to shame, is the very germ and first upgrowth of all justify our independent existence, which was, virtue..