IN THISISSUE

Jazz LegendRonnie RossMusicians salute master saxophonist

Going toExtremes1500 miles on kite skis

RichardKing CBELatin no bar toAmerican dream

PandæmoniumHow an OP’s vision kept the world watching

DRIVEN TO SUCCEEDOPs steer motoring innew directions

SPRING 2013

There’s a story that the School only moved from Free School Lane when the name became too ironic, but we’ve long had a wide social mix, continued to this day by means of more than 120 bursary places.

In 2015 The Perse will celebrate its 400th birthday and will be launching “The 400 Campaign” to help ensure its future success. Our primary goal is to raise a significant sum for bursary places so that we can keep our doors open to talented children no matter what their financial circumstances. I’m hugely grateful to everyone who has already made a donation; I hope we will all respond positively when asked to make a gift to the campaign. We should be proud to be alumni of Cambridge’s oldest school: an institution that has produced two Nobel Prize winners, one of the most celebrated literary critics of the English language, a world-leading astronomer, one of the greatest documentary film makers, and countless others whose achievements are too numerous to list here. Having seen the successes of some of our youngest OPs, it’s clear that the roll call of outstanding achievement will continue. Whether it’s with a donation, a legacy, or by offering time and advice, let’s all do what we can to ensure that The Perse long remains one the UK’s most outstanding schools.

Best wishes,

Eddie Copeland (OP – 2002)Development Director

SCHOOL News

Page 2–4School News

Page 5–6Your news and views

Page 7Spotlight on Richard King CBE

Page 8Upcoming Events – drinks,lunches, dinner, sport

Page 9 – 12Kings of the Road –OPs at full throttle

Page 13Past Events

Page 14Staff changes and other news

Page 15King of Cool – OP Ronnie Ross

Page 16400 Campaign report

Page 17–18Obituaries

Page 1 Page 2

Lindy CleggAlumni Relations Officeralumni@perse.co.uk

Facebook Page:‘The Perse School’

Twitter@OldPerseans

LinkedIn Group:Old Perseans

Roxanne NapierDevelopment Officerdevelopmentofficer@perse.co.uk

Development OfficeThe Perse School, Hills RoadCambridgeCB2 8QFTel: 01223 403 808www.perse.co.uk/oldperseans

CONTENTS

Moving On

After four hugely enjoyable years, this will be my last OP News as Development Director. I warmly welcome my successor: Dr Maša Amatt, formerly Assistant Development Director at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. I know she will look forward to meeting you in due course. It’s been a real eye-opener to see the School as a member of staff. When I first returned in 2009, it was surreal to be greeted by my former teachers as their colleague. The discovery that they had first names was something of a revelation, and I was always anxious about being accosted for some past missing piece of homework. Yet in working with them, I’ve discovered that Perse staff are some of the most committed professionals you will find anywhere in education. Seeing how much thought goes into planning a lesson has been nothing short of inspirational.

Having met hundreds of Old Perseans I’ve learned something about the OP community, too. I realise now that not everyone enjoyed their school days, but I’ve been pleased to find that OPs are happy to see just how far the School has come. Today, Perse pupils have opportunities to succeed no matter where their talents lie. I’ve also learned that OPs value the fact that The Perse has never been a ‘posh school’.

YEAR 10 SCIENTISTSRecorded For Radio

UNIVERSITIES Clamour forPerse Leavers

There was an impressive haul of medals for Perse sixth formers taking part in the UK Chemistry Olympiad, with five of the School’s students placing in the top seven per cent of more than 4,000 entrants.

Nineteen students took medals, with five achieving gold, 11 silver – of whom six were Lower Sixthpupils – and three bronze. Our gold medalists were Shaan Autoin Chhabra,Theo Clark, Alexander Fanourakis, Elizabeth Gaunt and Rachel Tyte.

BBC Radio’s the Naked Scientists programme visited The Perse to further their quest “to answer questions from everyday chemistry to quantum physics”. Three Year 10 students took part in an experiment to reveal their own DNA using nothing more than salt water, washing up liquid, isopropyl alcohol and food colouring. Three others explored emulsification, making lava lamps from yellow oil, coloured water and salt.

The Perse Music Department has received the prestigious Pro Corda Special Award for Schools in recognition of its outstanding contribution to chamber music making. Two Perse musical ensembles - the U12 Violin Quartet and U19 Saxophone Quartet - also qualified for the finals of the Pro Corda Chamber Music Competition.

In March, 150 Perse musicians demonstrated their talents to a packed audience at the University Concert Hall. Performances were given by ensembles including the Senior Symphony Orchestra, Senior String Orchestra, Wind Band I, and the Senior Brass Ensemble.

To lift the quality of Perse music still further, the School is currently raising funds to purchase a Steinway B Grand Piano. Director of Music, Gavin Richards, stated that the piano would be “a real inspiration to our musicians. It would also

MUSICALAwards & Talents!

The Perse won the Eastern Region final of the Year 10 Team Maths competition beating Harrow School into second place. Competitors tackled a mixture of quick questions, co-operative problem solving and a studied round for which they had prepared. For the final, the topic was the Binomial Expansion, covering questions the Lower Sixth might find tricky.

The Perse also recorded some fantastic individual achievements in The Intermediate Olympiad. This followed on from the Inter-mediate Maths Challenge and participation was by invitation only. Six Perseans came in the top 50 of their year group and a further four in the top 100.

There have been 564 offers of university places to Perse students, including 16 from Cambridge, 14 from Oxford and 19 from medical schools.

Having long run a successful programming club, from next September The Perse will introduce a rigorous Computer Science

open up additional opportunities such as the promotion of higher-level concerts and master classes and recordings.” If you would like to support this project, please visit: www.perse.co.uk/annual-fund

CHEMISTSExcel atOlympiad

MATHS ACESBeat Harrow

COMPUTER SCIENCE Introduced

curriculum for Year 7 pupils. The course is intended to prepare them for the later introduction of GCSE and A levels in the subject, and will help them understand how computers work, not just how to use them. The School’s approach will be to teach the subject like a rigorous science, including a strong grounding in problem solving skills, understanding algorithms, and programming. The Perse is fortunate to be located on the doorstep of one of Europe’s most successful technology clusters, and will work in partnership with local companies and academia to secure opportunities for students wishing to apply their skills in a professional setting.

Page 3

EXCELLENT SEASONFor Hockey Teams

NASA PRIZE:Students shakenand stirred

STAFF FITFor Purpose

SCHOOL SPORTS ROUNDUP Extra Curricular ActivitiesInspired by the youthful energy all around them, 18 Perse staff turned out in bitter weather to complete the Cambridge Half Marathon. School fitness instructor Jared Bethall practised what he preached and stormed home in 1:19:55. Upper School Deputy Head Daniel Cross was not far behind at 1:26:43.The team raised more than £650 for the Christel House education charity. Congratulations to all Perse representatives, including Hugh Chatfield (U6) who ran the race in 1:24:13.

The 1st XI finished runners up in the U18 Cambridgeshire Championships and qualified for the East Rounds where they came third in their group, beating Woodbridge and Stamford.

U16A have had an excellent season, losing only two out of 16 matches. They are Cambridgeshire Champions and East Runners Up and will play off with Langley Park for a place in the National Finals. This is on top of their excellent indoor season where they represented the School at the National Finals.

Cambridge City U16s included eight Perse pupils in the squad that qualified for the National Clubs Finals. U14As finished runners up in the County Championships and performed well at the East Rounds but

Perse pupils Lizzie Ford, Tim Greenbank and James Young returned to their old school, King’s College School, to talk about READ International and thank King’s pupils for the fantastic work they have been doing for the charity.

They saw first-hand the 1,300 unwanted books that King’s pupils have donated to the charity and spoke at two assemblies describing the charity’s efforts to give children in Tanzania access to textbooks and other materials. Last year Perse Year 10 pupils raised money for READ International by holding the School’s first ever Jamathon.

Deep snow softened the landings for those of the 90-strong Perse School party who took a tumble during the half-term ski trip to Alpe d’Huez in France. Snow conditions remained excellent throughout the week but visibility varied.

As well as all that skiing, the 80 pupils and 10 staff members enjoyed ice-skating, a quiz night and karaoke, and watched a fiercely contested ice-hockey match in the village.

The Perse Players put on an outstanding production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream which had the audience roaring with laughter. In keeping with The Perse Players’ tradition, the cast involved pupils of all ages. Head Ed Elliott said, “It is always wonderful to see the oldest and youngest members of the school community working together. Drama continues to flourish at The Perse, and there are exciting plans to form a Middle School Drama Company next year.”

William Drake (Y11), Pratap Singh (Y9), Thomas Myers (2012) and Thomas Read (Y9) won an all-expenses-paid trip to NASA in Florida for their victory in the 2012 UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge – enough to put anyone in a spin. But if the excitement alone wasn’t enough, the gyro trainer finished the job, as demonstrated. The special treatment began before they had even touched down on US soil when they were invited to a cockpit chat with the pilot of the 747-400.

At the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral they met astronaut Robert C. Springer and took part in a simulated mission, testing their ability to prepare a shuttle for take-off, transfer a payload to the international space station and land safely back at the Space Centre. The rocketeers also visited the Vehicle Assembly Building, the largest single story building in the world, where each rocket is finally assembled and slowly moved out to its launch pad.

While two team members have now left the School to start their undergraduate studies at Cambridge University, two Perse teams are already working on the 2013 UK Rocketry Challenge – to fly a rocket carrying a single egg on its side to an altitude of 750ft in 48-50 seconds.

*Still with space – NASA’s Dr Jennifer Wiseman come to The Perse to give a talk entitled Other Worlds: Exoplanets and discovering life beyond Earth. Her visit was part of the University of Cambridge Science Festival.

TIM COMPETESFor England

missed out on a place in the East Finals by a single goal on goal difference.

A highlight of the season was the local derby v The Leys, in which The Perse won nine out of the 11 matches played through all age groups. The annual Staff v U6th Leavers match (squad photo above) finished in a 2-0 win for the Staff, with goals from Gareth Roots and Pip Mitchell.

One of the teams our girls played against on a hockey tour to Holland in September was Ypenburg Hockey Club U17 and its players were keen for a rematch when they came to this country.

Perse 1st XI weren’t content to repeat the thrilling draw of last time but demonstrated superior fitness and skill to win 2-0.

There was international success for Tim Harrison (Y9), who was the fastest English orienteer in his group, males 14 and under, in the Interland Cup, held in Breda, the Netherlands. It may have been Tim’s first time in the tournament but the England team carried home the trophy for the 19th time in succession. He finished second in his group.

Meanwhile, a TriAdventure sprint event in London was a new departure for The Perse but the run-navigate-mountain bike format proved a winner with members of the School’s Adventure racing Club. On arrival competitors were issued with electronic dibbers – a modern take on the traditional orienteering clip – which recorded times as

Three Perseans represented the School at the British Schools Trampoline Competition and all reached the finals of their respective categories. James Able (Y6) took Bronze – and narrowly missed silver – in the U13 Elite group. Matthew Burson (Y7) was sixth in the same event and Michael Barlow (Y10) was ninth in the U15 Novice group.

TRAMPOLINISTSReach Finals

AMBASSADORSfor book charity

PERSE PLAYERS Enchant Audience

Page 3 Page 4

well as locations and maps marked with ten control points to reach on foot or bike. Then it was down to tactics to decide how best to navigate the complex and very muddy course.

ENDURANCE RACEConqueredPerse Physics teacher Chris Ingram completed the gruelling Marathon Des Sables, a 150–mile footrace across the Sahara, including 50 miles non-stop. Running for the British Heart Foundation, he was delighted to finish 247th of over 1,000 competitors from around the world. Read more at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/saharanprints. Sponsorship for any amount would be very gratefully received.

DEEP, CRISPand uneven

Page 5 Page 6

OP News, Views and Letters

ROYAL COMMENDATION for Royal Engineer

Is it time to create an electronicscrapbook?

POLITICS STUDENTquizzes Portillo

GIG ROWERS Fly for Sparks

EXPEDITION ACROSS GREENLANDFuelled by wind power

Page 6

Congratulations to Capt George Harper (2002), of the Royal Engineers, who was awarded a Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS) in the Operational Honours and Awards list in March 2013.

Said George: “This was for my work in Afghanistan in 2012 when I worked alongside the Afghan National Police on their long term infrastructure plans. I had a team that surveyed over 300 police bases across central Helmand to understand the problems undermining security. This led to the firstplan for where Afghan National Security Forces would be based in Helmand in 2014 and a UK plan to support them that included a £1.5 million programme to build new police stations.”

A team of eight Old Perseans have broken the world record for rowing the Channel in a traditional Cornish gig, achieving the feat in just three hours 44 minutes and smashing the previous record by 19 minutes.

Congratulations to (pictured L-R) Will Bakewell, Alex Jamieson, Khalid El-Wahab, James Nichols, Andrew Prentice, Duncan Simmonds, Oliver Hildrey and Simon Domone, all leavers of 2002 and novicesto rowing.

“Portillo cuts a suave, collected sort of figure. Little seems to faze this former Defence Secretary, even my bumbling slip-up when I proffer my first question: will Britain leave the world? He calmly pointed out that it was not possible for Britain to leave the world, but it was entirely possible that Britain might leave the European Union. Luckily he’s on the phone and can’t see me pretending to shoot myself. His phlegmatic Britishness is perhaps not surprising when you consider the depth and breadth of his career. In his time, Portillo has served in possibly the most important and radical governments since 1945 along with regular media performances and documentary making.”

So, disarmingly, begins a Varsity article by Josh Simons (2011), in which he quizzes Michael Portillo on life after government, current Conservative ideology and student days at Peterhouse.

Josh is studying Politics and International Relations at St John’s College, Cambridge, and is considering making a career as a writer of social commentary and political analysis.

He said, “Michael was a really good interviewee: engaging, interesting, thoughtful and occasionally funny. Most importantly though, if he didn’t want to answer the question, he was damn good at avoiding it.”

The Varsity article appears at http://archive.varsity.co.uk/764.pdf

Adventurer Simon Edmundson (1997)is to tackle over 1,500 miles on kite skisin the teeth of 80 mph winds and at temperatures of 40 below zero.

He is one of the first Brits to take on the Greenland challenge. His team includes his father Henry, who will coordinate the expedition from the family home in Cambridge. The six-week adventure could raise £30,000 for The Dallaglio Foundation and Mines Advisory Group.

Simon developed his taste for adventure via the 5th Cambridge Venture Scouts,

Are mini, local Perse School reunions the way forward? Cameron Cook (1972) wrote:

“Feeling the need/curiosity after just over 40 years of leaving school I set about trying to find a time/venue for some of us to meet. Four of us achieved this yesterday, which I hosted in Soulbury, and I attach the evidence to prove that none of us has changed at all.

“We Skyped Rick Charles (who was unable to be there) and spent a convivial lunch/evening together. We are in touch with three others and we are arranging another get together later in the year. We share wine, humour and interesting lives! We found we had more in common than you might have thought.”

AN ENGLISHMAN ABROAD ...Further to our past feature on OPs living in Europe, Professor Andrew Kidman (1972) writes:

Having read Modern Languages at Magdalene (Cambridge) and after completing the P.G.C.E., I taught for two years in Munich and then founded my own language school in Salzburg. One regular feature on our calendar is the summer course which I myself run at the Perse Upper School, providing me with an annual dose of nostalgia and giving me a chance to reflect on all the things we got up to.

Austria proved to be an excellent choice of location with staggering mountain scenery, picture-postcard lakes and a top-class health service. The quality of life and standard of living are among the best in the world. Life as an ex-pat, however, is not always easy! Even after 33 years of acclimatisation I find myself thinking that “we English would have done that differently”! Pushing your way to the

He said the group found the ad hoc format excellent for reminiscing.

Cam continued: “One other interesting idea was whether there could be a part of the Old Perseans’ website where old pictures could be available. We pawed over the copies of the full school photographs we had and John had an old school cap! Perhaps OPs would populate the site with their old photos.”

A page on the Old Perseans website on which to post photos of school days and the years beyond? What do you think?Please let us know if the idea appeals toyou. Contact alumni officer Lindy Clegg (see Page 1)

Andrew is pictured at the helm of a boat belonging to his friend, OP Paul Collins (1972).

front of a queue is just not cricket, I suppose. Hence my Austrian friends always get to the top of the ski-lift before I do…

The language itself is not a problem (especially after the firm grounding given by Major Mitchell!) but the directness can

tend to be a slap in the face. When we say “Actually I’m not sure if that is quite the right thing to wear”, an Austrian would probably come out with “Hello – terrible shirt!”. If I had to pick one thing I miss most, it would be the zany British sense of humour.

The crew concentrated on perfecting technique and building stamina in the run up to the 35km pull and the dedication paid financial dividends too – raising £14,000 for the children’s medical charity Sparks.

* Still with rowing: OP Michael Foulkes (2007), whose passion for the sport began at The Perse, has written a book on the history of his college boat club, which is available at:http://bit.ly/ZfgIOo and is sold in aid of the club. Michael is studying for a PhD at Durham on 17th century French theatre and how playwrights attempted to promote themselves. On the water, he has also found time to complete the 50km Boston Marathon in Lincolnshire with his St Cuthbert’s crew.

forerunner of The Perse Exploration Society.

He and friends Mike Dann and Tim Tottenham will spend 12–14 hours a day pulling a sledge weighing up to 120kg.They will have to eat constantly to replenish the 7,000 calories they are expected to burn every day, with their diet including chocolate, nuts and salami.

The trip is not without its risks, as Simon comments: “A change in weather conditions – sudden snowfalls, strong winds or even abnormally warm weather – can quickly threaten progress and the

team is totally reliant on its combinedskill and experience to survive.”The highly experienced team won the 2006 Polar Challenge and completed a 30-day expedition on the Greenland Ice Cap in 2010. Kite skiing, which is similar to kite surfing, involves participants being pulled along by the wind at up to 30mph while skiing across snow or ice.

Page 7

SPOTLIGHT ON Richard King CBE (1947)How a non-classical education underpinned a happy and rewarding life.

I was born in 1929 and brought up at the Garden House Hotel. At age 3 I was sent off to St Mary’s Convent, on the back of a motorcycle. In 1935 I moved up the road in Bateman Street to the Perse Prep, where my mind was entrusted to Mr Lindeman and my body to CPO Ferdie Finch who exercised us in the Botanical Gardens. I think Finch did the better job.

My form mistress was Beryl Boothroyd, the first love of my life. I never really forgave Keith Barry for marrying her, despite the fact that he was probably the master atThe Perse who had the greatest effect upon my school career and outlook. I moved to the Upper School, then opposite the Catholic Church in Hills Road shortly after the 1939–45 war started. Wartime had already denuded the School of many of its male teaching staff and greatly reduced the number of subjects taught. When we arrived in the 4th form we were enlivened by the arrival of female teachers. As one was named Miss Dear and another Miss Darling, we thought some of our questions were splendidly cheeky.

The Headmaster was Mr Wootton. He was a scientist. At 6ft 3ins on his double barred bicycle, with gown flowing and a mortar board he was a picture book sight. He did retain one classical tendency. He maintained a great belief in the efficacy of beating boys. His armoury of weapons was considerable and his aim deadly.

During night-time air raids, being one the few able-bodied people capable of climbing over the roofs of the hotel, I was frequently on Air Raid Duty. I was up on the roof for

hours with my stirrup pump and upturned dustbin lid with wetsand in it, ready to pounce on a sizzling incendiary bomb. One night I saw a big blaze about a mile away to the South-East. It was the School and its majestic large hall enveloped in flames. Later, cycling up Lensfield Road I could feel the heat 300 yards away.

Cambridge, despite the huge number of RAF and USAAF air bases that surrounded it, suffered little from air-raids. But poor Mr Wootton lost his school, his house in Barrow Road and when he moved to Huntingdon Road, the house next door.We schoolboys were rather impressed by the navigational skills of The Luftwaffe!

School life remained healthily competitive during the war in sport and general house rivalry. I was in South and we – quite rightly – prided ourselves in our athletic prowess. East, with an injection of Jewish boys who came from Europe in the late ‘30s produced the greatest brainpower. The Officer Training Corps flourished and I became the Staff Sergeant and developed my liking for shouting at people.

“With three boys from

other schools I set off in

the Queen Mary to New

York for a four month

tour. I think four wartime

British schoolboys were

something of a novelty to

the Americans. ”

In 1947, the year I left school, I was due to do my National Service. But first I was told I had won an English Speaking Union Travelling Scholarship to America. With three boys from other schools I set off in the Queen Mary to New York for a four month tour. I think four wartime British schoolboys were something of a novelty to the Americans. I proudly travelled in my purple school colours blazer with its pelican and blood-flecked chest. I pushed a trolley carrying $20m of gold bars at Fort Knox; had tea with President Truman in the Oval

Office; went to the Kentucky Derby; watched an eight hour brain operation in Richmond; and made a broadcast from the CBS studios in the Empire State Building. The Americans were wonderfully generous to us in every way. It started my love affair with America. I have been there, on business and pleasure, including my timeat Harvard, almost 100 times.

I then did my National Service, refusing a commission and again able to shout as a Staff Sergeant in a Training Battalion. Then disaster struck. I had a place at Caius to read Economics and Geography but subject to passing a Latin exam. I failed the wretched little thing. This sent me off on a different trajectory. I became a Management Trainee at Pye Group in Cambridge ending up as Sales and Marketing Director. After some time in Australia I ran the Broadcasting Equipment business for Philips worldwide. Then I created Cambridge Electronic Industriesand ran that for as CEO for 10 years. I seem to have been made a CBE for my efforts in the electronics industry.

Retiring at 60 and wanting another career, I became much involved with early stage development companies, mostly in Cambridge. Many, as is their nature, fail or disappoint, but five of which I was Chairman were listed on the London Stock Exchange. I also became deeply involved with the NHS and Higher Education. I was Deputy Chairman of Addenbrooke’s Hospital for 10 years, a Governor of Anglia Ruskin and Norwich University of the Arts.I am a Fellow of Darwin College.

I have had a happy, healthy and rewarding life. And despite the School’s inability to teach me Latin, I attribute a great deal to The Perse.

UPCOMING EVENTSAs this issue of the OP News went to press we were looking forward to a busy periodof events – with exciting new venues from London to Exeter, via Bournemouth,and at the School itself.

Following the success of our sell-out House of Commons dinner in November 2012 we are delighted to report that OP Sir David Tang has kindly agreed to host a gathering at his restaurant in the Dorchester. Details about this event, which is again likely to be scheduled for November, will be posted on the webpage as soon as possible. This promises to be a very special occasion in sumptuous surroundings and is bound to be popular.

OPs Nick McLellan and George Dean have kindly taken on the organising of the 1st and 2nd XIs for the Old Perseans v School cricket matches on Wednesday, 26 June. The 1st XI match (40/40) will start at 2pm and the 2nd XI match (20/20) at 5pm.

At 4.30pm there will be a barbecue for both teams and following the close of play at around 8.15pm. all who care to will reconvene for a post-match social at the Earl of Derby pub, Hills Road, Cambridge.

We would warmly welcome OPs and their families as spectators on the day and to join in at the barbecue. Tea, coffee and soft drinks will also be available. Please do get in touch if you would like any other sports or games to be laid on during the afternoon, such as tennis or croquet.

Nick can be contacted at nick.mclellan90@gmail.com and George at gejdean@gmail.com

Please note: This is an extremely busy day in the School calendar and we cannot offer parking.

Please mark the date in your diaries, Saturday 5 October will see the 2013 OP Dinner back at the School after last year’s foray to Jesus College. This event is always much more fun when guests get together with old school friends so please let us know if we can help put you in touch with others of your year. Why not step up and take on a table for 12 – we’ll help you fill it.

The evening will start with a champagne reception and a chance to see some of the latest developments taking place on the site.

Keep your eyes on the Old Perseans webpage for more details.

In the next issue there will be reports on a Lunch for Legators hosted by Head Ed Elliott in the Barry Room of The Perse Upper School.

We will also give a round-up of events when OPs based in the central south coast region and the South West gathered for lunches in Bournemouth and Exeter. Those studying in Exeter and the surrounding area were also invited to join the Development Office team for drinks in one of the city’s pubs.

Join us on Thursday, 16 May, in the building architect Sir George Gilbert Scott called “almost too good for its purpose” and see how one of London’s great landmarks has been saved from a parlous state of near decay and restored to glory.

With £150m lavished upon it, the newly-named Marriott St Pancras Renaissance offers the dazzling elegance of another era – but do come and see for yourself at our reunion.

Tickets for this event, which will include canapés and unlimited drinks for the

PERSE IN LONDON – St Pancras Renaissance hotel drinks reception

evening, are just £20 for OPs aged 26 or older, and £10 for OPs aged 25 and below.As a small token of our thanks, we are pleased to be able to offer complimentary tickets to Old Perseans who have kindly made a donation to one of the School’s fundraising appeals since January 2012. If you are a donor and would like to claim your free ticket, please email Lindy Clegg at alumni@perse.co.uk

To check for places and to see who is already confirmed as attending, please visit:

http://perseinlondon2013.eventbrite.co.uk

DINNER ISCOMING HOME2013 OP Dinner to be held at The Perse

INVITATION TO THE DORCHESTER Sir David Tang KBEagrees to host

ALL READY For the sound ofleather on willow?

COMING UP

Page 8

“I proudly travelled in

my purple school colours

blazer with its pelican

and blood-flecked

chest...to...the Empire

State Building ”

KINGS OF THE ROAD – OPs Rewriting the Highway Code from Supercars to Biofuels ...

A visit to the Arash Motor Company in Newmarket is in some ways to enter another world – a world where people collect impossibly beautiful cars, garaging some at one property and others abroad; a world where a £50,000 car service is reasonable; a world where it’s possible to zip around a track at over 200 mph should you wish to do so.

Welcome to wonderland. The super and hypercars built by OP Arash Farboud (1993) are not bought in isolation. Those willing and able to meet a price tag which may run into hundreds of thousands of pounds want an experience. And that’s what they get.

“The whole experience is tailored. The customers come to see the car being assembled. They get to choose the colours, the leathers, the stitching, the type of steering wheel, the pedal position, where the seat is positioned, detailing in the engine, the wheels… There’s not an option list – they get everything – it’s real fine tuning.

“You get to see and touch your car at every stage. You’re buying a lifestyle product, an experience. You are meeting other people you can relate to.”

Car purchasing at this level involves groups of people being flown over to the factory together for what is a real event. The buyers will enjoy some hospitality and do some test driving, spar a little as to who has picked the best colour, bagged the best engine. It’s all about fun. Between an order being placed

There is something undeniably glamorous about the British motor racing scene of the 1950s and one of its leading figures was Old Persean Brian Lister. Photographs of the time show his sleekly curved cars, as beautiful now as they were then, heroic drivers dicing with death, jazz quartets and dinner at the Dorchester.

But behind the glamour and the successlay the solid and inspired engineering that was to propel Lister-Jaguar to the front of the pack.

Brian left The Perse at 15-and-a-half to join George Lister and Sons, the family engineering works in Abbey Road, Cambridge, as an apprentice. After the war his interest in motorsport developed.Racing a car with an MG engine and a Cooper chassis at an airstrip in Bottisham, he came across a driver in a standard MG putting out better times. He was amazed to discover the driver, Archie Scott Brown, had a malformed right hand, shortened legs and deformed feet.

Lister and Scott Brown were to prove a winning partnership. Meanwhile, another Old Persean came on the scene. John Tojeiro OP was an engineer and designer, a chassis specialist, who was to produce a long line of successful racing cars.

“He used to bring things into ourworks to make for his cars andI told him I had these ideas fora jet engine, an air-cooled engine. He made a chassis for me… and wefitted the engine, a body and everything and this was the car I gave ArchieScott Brown to drive. It was phenomenally quickfor its class and began

and a car being delivered there is usually a gap of several months as “we want the customer to wait and enjoy waiting forhis or her car. And we want to give thema bit of time to save for it as well. It’s a breathing space.”

“There are people who come along and say ‘I’ll have it now’ so there needs to be some stock of vehicles around the world and those guys don’t need finance but most buyers are financing cars no matter how expensive the car is; 90% of them. It’s amazing.”

The experience continues for life. Cars of this calibre are not usually replaced but added to! And the eye-wateringly expensive service mentioned above is closer to a showering of love than essential maintenance.

Arash is the son of Persian parents, a doctor and a midwife, who came to Britain and in 1988 founded Unisurge, a company manufacturing and supplying procedure and dressing packs.

After The Perse he went to Queen Mary, London, where he studied genetics and business with an eye to being useful to the family firm.

Arash agreed his cars were moving pieces of art and he likened them to the Corpus Christi Clock in Cambridge, unaware thestunning grasshopper design was the work of school friend Matthew Lane Sanderson OP. “Matt Sanderson did that? Wow, brilliant! Well done Matt!”

Arash built his first car for himself – because Porsche wouldn’t sell him the one he wanted and the passion was unleashed. His company designs up to five years in advance. Currently in production is the AF10. It has been out about two years and sells for £300k – £400k minimum. There’san AF10LM, Le Mans racing version too.The top of the range costs £1.2m.

“We’ve just taken orders for the Asian market for 20 of them. We start production in the next couple of weeks. It’s a real shame we start production just as we’re developing the AF8. Obviously it’s good for the company but we’re really going to have to juggle over the next few weeks.”

The AF8 is due to make its debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed in July and itis hoped it will be picked up and publicised by Top Gear and the motoring press.

“When it goes into production we’d be happy with 10 to 12 units per year. We predict probably 40 units per year based on demand. But my long-term prediction would be 200 coming out of the factory. It is going to be sub £150,000.”

See our website for the article in full http://www.perse.co.uk/publications/

Arash Farboud (1993) – pictured front cover

Page 9

to attract attention from various peoplein the sport.”

Brian continued: “Success came fairly quickly… the Tojeiro won everything in its class with Archie driving. I put it to my father we were promoting a car that went under the name of Tojeiro; really we should have a Lister. He said ‘Right, I’ll allow you 1,500 quid’ and I don’t know if it was six months or twelve months to prove the point. So I built a chassis, put an engine in it, and tested it at one or two aerodrome circuits.”

Brian wanted a bigger engine than the MG, a Bristol, and his father agreed that he should build a second car - that was the first Lister Bristol. They entered it for the British Empire Trophy of 1954 only for Archie to be banned by the stewards because of his disability. However he settled any lingering doubts about his abilities in the same race the following year by winning it.

“And that made for a kind of a legend in a way. Because it wasn’t a one off thing; the rest of that season he was doing exceptionally well with that car.”

Although 1955 was a very good year, Brian was aware of the limitations of the Bristol

engine. At 29 inches it was very tall and wanting something lower he and his team chose a Maserati A6 for the following season. “It was disastrous really. The engineering by the Italians on this engine left a hell of a lot to be desired…

“We had a few wins during the ‘56 season but in the latter stages of that year Jaguar announced that they were packing in motor racing and it was put to me that we should probably consider using a Jaguar engine. I said it was so heavy I couldn’t see that we could do much more than they’d done themselves with the D type… But at the end of ‘56 I was discussing this with Don Moore, our engine tuning man, and he said it wasn’t such a bad idea, we should consider it. He thought we might get the Americans like Briggs Cunningham interested.

“I was convinced. British Petroleum were behind us on it and we modified a design and brought out the Lister Jaguar in ’57.”

That year Lister Jaguar won 11 races out of 14 entered, finishing second in the twelfth and broke or equalled the lap record for sports cars in all 14, either in race or in practice. And the orders started coming in…

“We felt we were on a magic carpet ride but disaster struck in ‘58. I built this new series of cars and Archie was racing at Spa in Belgium. He had managed to get a Continental entry although a lot of the Continental people wouldn’t have him because of his hand… It’s where Archie went off the road. The car caught fire and he was burnt.”

The accident took place at exactly the same corner where Richard “Dick” Seamen, the pre-war British champion, was killed. In fact Archie hit the memorial stone.

See our website for the article in fullhttp://www.perse.co.uk/publications/

Brian Lister (1941)

Page 10

“You get to

see and touch

your car at

every stage.

You’re buying a

lifestyle product,

an experience.

You are meeting

other people

you can

relate to. ”

Margaret Thatcher in the driving seat during a campaign visit to the Lister works in support of Rhodes James. Brian Lister looks on.

Page 12

“What, like Jeremy Clarkson?”“No, not really...”“But it’s basically that, right?”“Well, sort of, but only in the same way that we both have legs...”“So, it’s essentially Top Gear then.”“Oh... fine.”

Every time I meet someone new we always go through the same set of questions: What’s your name? Where abouts do you live? And... what do you do for a living? The first two are really easy to answer, the third is regularly met with the above confusion because motoring journalism isn’t very ... normal, is it?

What the job actually entails varies from place to place – news, reviews, features, etc are all staples of automotive journalism. Or... you can do something a little different.

I currently work for CBS Interactive preparing to launch a new site, XCAR. It’s all about car culture, celebrating all things automotive and having lots and lots of fun. In the last twelve months, for example, I’ve taken a Ferrari 458 to Wales, driven a land speed record car (a Skoda, of all things), been taught to powerslide a rally car, tackled the Nurburgring without expiring in a fireball and discovered that you can doughnut a new Range Rover (so long as it has 5.0-litre Supercharged V8 and you’re on sand).

Automotive journalism, no matter how it may seem, isn’t all about mucking about in cars. Currently the industry is undergoing a massive shift. As a game which is traditionally slow to catch up with modern trends (it’s been done a ‘certain way’ for decades), technology and the web are forcing change. Watching and helping the industry grow is an immense privilege and one Ivalue greatly.

As jobs go, it’s possibly one of the best. Yes, I spend a lot of time on the road getting to and from locations. Yes, people think that I’m trying to be Jeremy Clarkson (I’m not – he’s really tall and I’m a shortarse). No, it’s not all supercars. Yes, it’s incredibly fun. Most importantly, though, it’s something I love. And you can’t say fairer than that.

youtube.com/xcarfilms

I started racing at the age of 12, a late start compared to most of my rivals, in karting at a local level. I finished fifth in the Hoddesdon Kart Club Winter Championship in my first year of racing.

Following on from this initial success I competed in the British Championships in both 2009 and 2010 in the most prestigious under 17 karting category in Britain. These were learning years but vast improvements were made, with me winning one race in my second year and taking four podiums.

In 2011 I took the big step up to European competition in the world’s leading senior class. This was a great year with me taking a podium in only my second race in a European competition, taking a clean sweep of fastest laps and poles in the Italian Championships, a pole in the WSK Euro Series and to cap the year off I finished ranked as fourth in the European Championship – the same position a certain Sebastian Vettel took at the same stage of his career.

My success in 2011 led to me being offered a drive by the world’s leading kart manufacturer, Tonykart. This turned out to be a difficult year for the team due to technical problems, but there were still high points in the relationship as I took several fastest laps throughout the year.

2013 is my biggest step forward since I began, as I have started racing cars. I had my maiden outing in the Formula Renault

Back in 2003, the European Union released a directive stating that by the end of 2010, 5.75% of all transport fuel should be replaced by biofuels.

This has largely been met, and it’s a little known fact that when you fill up your car with diesel from the pump, that fuel will be a blend of mineral diesel, with about 5% biodiesel mixed in. This percentage is due to increase further in the coming years.

After studying Engineering at Cambridge, I worked for two years with an operational consultancy, improving the efficiency of all kinds of factories and processes. One of my goals was always to start my own business, and following some research, formed a company with two colleagues from work.

Organic Drive was created in 2010, with the sole purpose of producing the most renewable biodiesel you can get. Our plant can produce about 5 million litres per year. On top of road transport, we also supply renewable heating oil for greenhouses, and CHP plants.

Our fuel is made from used cooking oil – approximately 9000 restaurants feed our plant in Birmingham via third-partycollectors, and this is converted chemically into biodiesel.

Although technically more difficult to process, as all our raw material has already been used for food use, we do not contribute to rising food prices, and the oil itself would decompose to CO2 anyway if thrown away. Why not use the energy to replace petrochemical fuels? We directly supply a number of logistics firms, and also sell our fuel for blending and sale in fuel stations.

A key advantage of biodiesel is that it requires no modifications to the engine to be used. In fact, you can run almost all post 1996 diesel cars on any blend up to 100% biodiesel, although sometimes it is not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

With the price of oil only set to move in one direction in the medium and long term, and legislation driving up its use, it’s a fuel that you will see more and more in the future.

“This was a great year with metaking a podium in only my secondrace in a European competition”

UK championship at Donington Park in April which went really well – two pole positions and a podium finish, which I was really pleased with. I am looking forward to the rest of the year!

Sam MacLeod (2013)

Page 11 Page 12

Geoff Cunningham (2003)

Outside of racing I enjoy listening to my favourite hip hop music and maintaining my fitness levels, especially via cycling. My goal in life is to become a multiple Formula One World Champion.

Alex Goy (2004)

REVVING UP – Three more Perseans tell us why they’re the ones to watch

Sam is pictured here with the current Formula 1 champion, Sabastian Vettel.

Page 13 Page 14

Who could forget London 2012’s brilliant answer to the regimented masses of the Beijing Games’ opening ceremony? But how many knew it was an anthology put together by an Old Persean that inspired Danny Boyle’s stirring recreation of the Industrial Revolution?

Boyle has acknowledged that Pandæmonium, the work of Humphrey Jennings OP, informed his magnificent recreation of the transformation of Britain from pastoral realm to industrial powerhouse.

It seems Jennings’ name may soon become more widely known. He is best remembered as a founder of the Mass Observation movement and maker of extraordinarily powerful documentary films at the time of the Second World War. Among film makers he is held in the highest regard.

His biographer, Kevin Jackson, came to The Perse to give the Founder’s Day lecture on

OP Thomas Campbell (1980) might well be said to be “made up” with a pledged donation of 78 works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Fernand Léger, to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, of which he is Director and CEO.The stunning bequest of one of the world’s foremost collections of Cubism comes courtesy of Leonard A. Lauder, billionaire son of make-up tycoon Estée Lauder and chairman emeritus of a family of cosmetics brands.

“Leonard’s gift is truly transformational for the Metropolitan Museum. Although

“You never know what you can do until you refuse to take no for an answer” - so wrote Ida Cook, who with her sister, Louise, saved 29 Jews from almost certain death in 1930s Nazi Germany.

The sisters, who were later honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad

There has been a welcome – if a little slow – take up of our offer to OPs to join us for lunch on one of our regular Fish and Chip Fridays. These very informal events allow us to sit down to the good old fashioned school favourite with as many OPs and their partners as wish to join us. Afterwards there is the opportunity to take a brief tour of the School and grounds. To help the catering team we would ask those wishing to come along to let us know a few days in advance. Summer term’s Fish and Chip Fridays will be on 24 May and 21 June. Please note, other menu choices will be available.HOLOCAUST DAY HONOURS

The Memory of Righteous Gentiles

GOOD DAY Mr Chips

Jennings. He screened the short film Words for Battle (1941) and told his audience that many considered Jennings a filmic equivalent of a Poet Laureate.

Thirty-three Old Perseans and other guests gathered for the Founder’s Day lunch and lecture. The School was particularly delighted to welcome Jennings’ daughter, Marie-Louise, who, with Charles Madge, has edited Pandæmonium and written a preface for a new edition. It is hoped the Folio Society will print it in due course.

Humphrey Jennings was only 43 years old when he died in an accident. His record at the School and in his working life is

as diverse as their passion for opera – it was to give them their reason for frequent travel to and from German cities – to Ida’s success and prolificity as a romantic novelist. Her earnings helped fund the rescues.

“We knew we were the last, often the only hope, of people in danger,” wroteIda. The sisters bore a heavy emotional burden, but worked on tirelessly. Unable to fund refugees alone they set cogs in motion to gather small donated sums together until enough was found to satisfy the authorities. Louise learned German to better communicate with those hoping to come, and together the sisters bravely smuggled out jewels and furs for their refugees under the very noses of customs officials.

Tim, who is pictured with Senior Tutor Bruce Kinsey and Head of History Adrian Roberts, illustrated his moving talk with evocative photographs he had taken on a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel and by the British government, were the great aunts of OP Tim Cook (2004), who returned to the School to recount their story for Holocaust Memorial Day.

The Cook sisters’ triumph rested on matters

testament to a highly-gifted polymath – intellectual, painter, poet, as well as film-maker – whose name is once again being widely spoken. Present day students had a chance to familiarise themselves with his films in the week running up to Founder’s Day when they were screened each lunchtime in the School hall.

Following the lecture we heard from Tom Rosenthal: “Like many other great books, Pandæmonium was rejected by several publishers before it reached the publishing house André Deutsch Ltd, whose head was Tom Rosenthal who, like its author, was an OP and a Pembroke man. He read it overnight, was bowled over and agreed to publish it the next day.”

The Head of the Prep School is to retire in August 2014. Gareth Jones has decided to step down from the Headship of The Perse Prep School with effect from the end of the academic year 2013–14, Perse Head Ed Elliott has announced.

Gareth joined The Perse Prepin 2006 with the task of leading the School through its move to full co-education and expansion. This he has done with great success and he will leave a larger, fully co-ed school with much improved facilities. Gareth’s leadership has transformed The Perse Prep and he leaves with our very best wishes for the future.

Whilst Gareth will remain Head until August 2014, the search for his successor will begin in April to allow time to find a similarly high calibre and passionate educator who will build on Gareth’s achievements and ensure that the School continues to thrive.

THE HEAD OF THE PREPis to retire in August 2014

PIP at the finishing post

Perse teacher of PE and Girls Games Pip Mitchell joined forces with her brother Guy to run 150 miles in five days. This magnificent marathon has so far netted around £13,000 for Cardiac Risk in the Young, Prostate Cancer Charity and Cotswold Care Hospice. One of Pip’s knees complained it was all too much but her overall verdict was “Best and worst week of our lives!”

www.justgiving.com/teams/150miles

TYCOON’S BEQUEST LAYS FOUNDATIONFor Modern Art Research Centre

MAŠA TAKES OVERAs Development DirectorShe writes:I am delighted to join The Perse School as the new Development Director. It is an honour to have been given an opportunity to servesuch an excellent institution.

I came to Cambridge 15 yearsago to pursue postgraduate degrees in archaeology. The new and exciting world of opportunities was opened tome, to a great extent due tothe generosity of others. This first-hand experience eventually drove me into this immensely rewarding profession.

Over the coming months and years I very much look forward to meeting many of you and working with you and the School leadership in strengthening, what the Head calls “talent maximisation”. You have all benefited from excellent teaching and exceptional facilities at The Perse, much of it made possible through the generosity of Old Perseans and friends.

GIFTED PERSEAN OF THE 1920sReaches into the 21st Century

the Met is unique in its ability to exhibit over 5,000 years of art history, we have long lacked this critical dimension in the story of modernism. Now, Cubism will be represented with some of its greatest masterpieces, demonstrating both its role as the groundbreaking movement of the 20th century and the foundation for an artistic dialogue that continues today. This is an extraordinary gift to our Museum and our City,” said Dr Campbell.

Page 13 Page 14

PAST EVENTS CONTINUITY THE WATCHWORD as staffing changes herald new era

MUSEUM BEQUEST & DONATIONS to medical charities warmly welcomed

OP Thomas Campbell (1980)

It is generally agreed that Old Persean Albert “Ronnie” Ross gave American Gerald “Gerry” Mulligan a run for his money as the world’s leading exponent of the baritone sax.

Both men were sons of engineers. Both had their schooling disrupted as their families moved with the fathers’ careers. Both finished school early because they were already establishing themselves on the jazz scene. Then, having risen to the top of the game, the two crossed mid-Atlantic taking their individual sound to the other’s home audience as tight Musicians Union rules demanded one player out for every one player in; Ronnie and Gerry were in the vanguard of the arrangement in the late 1950s.

Ronnie was born in India in 1933 and attended St Paul’s School in Darjeeling as a boarder before coming to The Perse in 1947. Early plans to become an architect were shelved as music and playing in bands took over.

Fellow OP Colin Stuart (1947), who is still working as a professional jazz trumpeter, played with Ronnie in the Chic Aplin band, winners of the Melody Maker Dance Band Championship, Cambridge, in 1950.

He told us: “When I returned from military service in Singapore and Malaya in 1954, Ronnie was already making a name for himself in jazz circles, at that time playing baritone sax with the Don Rendell Sextet. Ronnie eventually joined the Johnny Dankworth Orchestra as well as being first call on many commercial sessions, which led in due course to him playing in Frank Sinatra’s European orchestra for several years.

“On many occasions he played and recorded in the United States as a featured soloist alongside American musicians, which included the Modern Jazz Quartet. His reputation as an international star player was well established.”

Ronnie had done his own National Service as a Bandsman in the Grenadier

Guards. Having started out on the clarinet, he moved to the sax, first the tenor and then the baritone. At 21 he married student nurse Anne Piercy. The couple went on to have three children; sons Peter and Andrew both became professional musicians, as drummer/composer and guitarist/composer respectively, while daughter Karen followed her mother into nursing.

Ronnie’s brilliance as a player meant he was constantly in demand as a session musician, each day taking him to a different studio or set. He played on landmark television productions including The Beiderbeck Tapes and Pennies from Heaven and his discography is a musical Who’s Who of the decades running up to Ronnie’s early death in 1991.

Bill Wrathall, who is still plying his craft in the workshop of Whites Music Shop in Ealing, was the man Ronnie trusted to service his saxophones and mouthpieces. The two men became friends. Said Bill, “To me, he always reminded me of the perfect gentleman; always smart and pleasant. If he saw an unusual bottle of whisky while

new saxophone, and I need some lessons’. And he said [in a rough working-class accent], ‘I don’t give lessons. I’m a jazz player’. I said, ‘But I really want to learn’. He said, ‘Well, what are you doing Saturday morning?’ ‘Nothing’. ‘If you can get yourself over here, I’ll look at you’. And he taught me for about three or four months on Saturday mornings. I’d get the bus to his house.

“Many, many years later, I did the Lou Reed album Transformer, and we decided that it would be very cool to have a baritone sax on it. So I phoned Ronnie up, booked him for the session, and he came along and played this fantastic solo at the end of Walk on the Wild Side. Then at the end I went out, and at the time I was Ziggy Stardust—red hair, no eyebrows, boots sky high, the whole thing—and I said, ‘Hello, how have you been?’ He said, ‘Uh, all right, you’re that Ziggy Stardust, aren’t ya?’ I said, ‘You

know me better as David Jones’. He said, ‘I don’t know you, son’. I said, ‘See if you remember this: ‘Hello, I’m David Jones and my dad’s helped me buy a saxophone …’ ‘ And Ronnie goes, ‘My God!!’ (laughs).”

“That was so great that I was able to give him a gig. He had absolutely no idea that I had been that little kid who had been over to his house. He’s no longer with us, unfortunately, but he did talk about it in a couple of interviews in Britain. He said to me, ‘You should’ve kept at it, you would’ve been all right’.”

Ronnie’s son Peter pointed out that Bowie got the location wrong; it was not Abingdon, but Orpington in Kent, not far from Beckenham where Bowie lived. He went on “It makes me laugh when Bowie refers to my dad’s accent as rough working class. He was anything but – a goodstory though!”

Ronnie RossYou wait many years for a prodigious jazz saxophonist to comeon the scene and what do you know - two come along at once!

he was away he’d bring it back for me and say ‘Have a few glasses and let me know what it tastes like – I don’t drink anymore.’”

Tony Fisher, who has taken over Humphrey Lyttleton’s spec for a monthly gig at Ronnie Scott’s, said, “I worked with Ronnie Ross on very many occasions and many situations in the heyday of the music business…You’d go into work in recording studios or television stations and everyday would be a different thing. Ronnie was the best; the best baritone sax around. He was absolutely the very best.”

Although Ronnie’s name appears on countless albums in his own right or as a session musician the piece for which he is best known is one that was not really his music of choice. It is the solo at the end of Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side, produced by David Bowie.

In conversation with music journalist Bill DeMain, Bowie explained how he first came to approach Ronnie:“I got a saxophone and thought, ‘Somebody should teach me’. So I went through very early copies of the Melody Maker and found that one of the best saxophone players around at the time was Ronnie Ross. So I looked him up in the phone book and found he lived in Abingdon. He was the best baritone player in the jazz scene in Britain.

“I was like nine or 10 years old, and I phoned him up and said, ‘Hello, my name is David Jones, and my dad’s helped me buy a

And he said [in a rough working-class accent],‘I don’t give lessons. I’m a jazz player’. I said, ‘But I really want to learn’. He said, ‘Well, what are you doing Saturday morning?’ ‘Nothing’. ‘If you can get yourself over here, I’ll look at you’. – David Bowie

Having moved from Free School Lane to Gonville Place in 1890, and then onwards to its current Hills Road location in 1960, a visitor could be forgiven for missing the fact that The Perse is Cambridge’s oldest school. Yet in the academic year 2015-16, The Perse will celebrate the 400th anniversary of its foundation, having been established by the legacy of Dr Perse in 1615.

Like any successful institution approaching a major birthday, The Perse is now turning its attention to how it will mark this milestone. Details of the 400th anniversary celebrations will appear in a future edition of this magazine, and there will be plenty of opportunity for Old Perseans to be involved.

As well as offering a chance to celebrate how far the School has come over the past four centuries, the anniversary will also be an opportunity to look ahead. To that end, The Perse will shortly be launching its most ambitious fundraising initiative to date – the 400 Campaign – inviting Old Perseans, parents and friends to support the next stage of the School’s development. The Campaign aims to raise £4 million to fund means-tested Entrance and Hardship Bursary places, and £2 million towards the construction of a dedicated performing arts centre.

Entrance and Hardship BursariesThe Perse believes that real social mobility starts at school. Tomorrow’s engineers, doctors, teachers and business leaders

must develop core skills and habits from a young age, and few places equip them better than The Perse. By offering means-tested bursaries, we aim to maintain the School’s wide social mix by helping children from all financial backgrounds learn in an environment where it is cool to succeed and achieve their full potential.

Donors to the 400 Campaign will be able to choose whether their gifts are directed towards current bursary needs, where they can have an immediate effect (which is itself long-lasting), or towards a long-term growth fund. To be effective and sustainable, our bursary scheme needs both types of funding. With Old Perseans’ help, we aim to ensure that a Perse education remains open to bright young minds no matter what their family circumstances.

Performing Arts CentreThe Perse has long pioneered the use of drama to bring the teaching of English to life and to raise pupils’ confidence in public performance. The ‘Mummery’ system has been a formative part of the education of generations of OPs, many of whom attribute their later successes to this method of learning. Today, the School has an ever-expanding programme of performing arts, staging numerous teacher- and pupil-led productions every year as well as offering a packed calendar of concerts for the School’s many musicians. The School has 60 different chamber and band ensembles. 1,000 music lessons are held for Perse pupils

every fortnight. Perse drama productions are performed in front of audiences from Cambridge to the Edinburgh Fringe.

A great deal has been achieved with our current facilities, but we now feel the time is right to create a larger, dedicated performing arts space. This would not only benefit pupils by providing them with an ideal performance space, but also enable us to inspire them by hosting visiting theatre productions, lectures and masters classes.

Further details about the 400 Campaign will be available in the coming months. If you would like to find out more, or wish to help by making a pledge to the campaign, please visit www.perse.co.uk/400-campaign or contact us at,development@perse.co.uk

THE PERSE – 400th Anniversary

Page 15 Page 16

Kyle Alisdair Bramwell Hodder-Hastorf (2009)

This obituary was first published in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 10, 2011

Kyle Alisdair Bramwell Hodder-Hastorf was born in Cambridge, England, the twin of Nicholas and the child of a British father (Ian Hodder) and American mother (Christine Hastorf) on 18 November, 1991. He has two additional brothers Christophe and Gregoire.

He attended schools in Cambridge (St Colette’s, King’s College and The Perse) but mainly lived and went to schools in Berkeley, California where he attended the Academy, Black Pine Circle and Berkeley High schools. He performed exceedingly well in all these schools and managed to adapt as he moved between them, despite being amongst the youngest in his class in the USA system.

In addition to his academic achievements, Kyle always played a range of sports, especially soccer which he played continuously at regional level in California from 3rd to 12th grade. He was in teams that won regional trophies. He was an avid and loyal supporter of Liverpool FC in England. In music he played the violin up through 9th grade and more recently he played the guitar. For several years he took ice-skating and tap dancing classes out of school in classes with adults. He enjoyed skiing very much.

As both British and American and as the son of two archaeologists who worked in England, Turkey, Peru, Bolivia, and Italy he had enormous opportunities to travel and experience other cultures in some depth. He travelled widely throughout Europe and recently visited England, Hungary, Italy and

Page 17 Page 18

Professor William Taylor Windle Potts (1946)

Professor Malcolm Potts (1952) submitted the following obituary for his brother.

Bill Potts was born in Sunderland on 10 July, 1928. His parents moved to Cambridge in 1939, where Bill attended The Perse School.

His excellent education not only in science and mathematics, but also in grammar and the lucid use of English, became the foundation of scientific achievements and of his voluminous writings later in life. As a child, Bill had an infection of his knee and while he was extremely energetic and explored Cambridgeshire on a specially modified bicycle, he never played games and he was not called up for National Service.

In 1945 he won an Exhibition to St Catharine’s College where he received a

Dan Michael Hayward (1941)

Eulogy given by Bruce Kinsey, Senior Tutor at The Perse School.

I first met Michael in 1969, the year man walked on the moon, which is appropriate because as I was growing up, I always felt that if Michael put his mind to it, he could have walked on the moon, too.

Indeed for many years my brother Clive and I thought Michael was James Bond! He looked like 007 and seemed to be able to do anything, from magic tricks, to solving puzzles, to mending the house electrics.

Life throws up many characters but I’ve always felt in books and films and in history that there are only so many. For me, Michael was always the quiet, strong man. True as the day is long, steadfast, modest, courteous and kind. He was the unassuming character who steps forward only when really needed and when others begin to buckle.

Michael married my auntie Sheila Pinnington on August 16, 1969. Sheila and Michael both looked wonderful on that day and had a long and happy marriage together. I shall remember Michael as the broad-shouldered, good-looking man who carved the turkey at Christmas and who always seemed happiest on the edges of the gathering rather than in the rowdy middle but who always had a kind and thoughtful word or comment to make.

Michael was most happy in his workshop “making and doing things” as Sheila would say, where he had every conceivable tool, where he squirrelled away everything and anything until it was needed; the UK’s original recycler!

Recently deceased:

George Ivor Clarke (1950)on 23rd January 2013, aged 78 years

Raymond George Levitt (1949)on 22nd October 2012, aged 82 years

Johnathan Paul Everitt (1963)on 14th January 2013, aged 60 years

Louis John Drake (1962)on 3rd September 2012, aged 69 years

Peter Harald Agrell (1958)on January 27th 2013, aged 72 years

Gerald Arthur Francis Hodge (1953) on April 11th 2013, aged 78 years

Richard Jason Graham Hobson (1943)on August 29th 2012, aged 87 years

Obituaries

The Rev John GeoffreyElliot Stone (1938)

Mr Robert Stone, of Worcester, writes: I’d like to report the death of an Old Persean - my father, the Rev J.G.E. (Geoffrey) Stone, who left in 1938 to study at Christ’s College Cambridge, and later at Ridley Hall.

He died, aged 92, on 13 January 2013. He was member of the athletics club and also played cricket (opening batting and slow-left-arm) for the 1st XI.

First in Natural Sciences and completed a PhD in the Zoology Department. From Cambridge he went as a lecturer to Aberdeen, where he met and married his wife Margaret (Meg) Johnson in 1955. He moved to Birmingham University and then in 1967 he was appointed Professor in the Division of Biological Sciences, Institute of Environmental and Biological Sciences at the new university of Lancaster. He was instrumental in building an excellent department and he also took great pleasure in his home - a 400 year old farmhouse in the village of Caton, Lancs. Professor Potts’ scientific studies focused on how all living things, from single cell creatures to people, control their internal environments. His 1994 book, “The Osmotic and Ionic Regulation in Animals” with Gwyneth Parry was recognised 40 years later as the ‘classic review’ of a basic set of living processes. In 1997 Professor Potts was honoured by his fellow scientists with a special volume, “Ionic Regulation in Animals: A Tribute to Professor W. T. W. Potts”.

Bill was a Renaissance man, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of seemingly everything. He never really took to the internet, but his friends joked he didn’t need to as he was a walking Wikipedia.

Bill delighted in the geology, Saxon churches, the spoken word of placenames, and the natural world of bees and peacocks, and baby goslings. With his brother D. M. Potts he wrote a widely read history, “Queen Victoria’s Gene: Haemophilia and the Royal Family” (1995). He also followed highly specialized subjects in the history of science (Thomas Penny the first English Entomologist), on Romanesque architecture (The Architectural Background of the Ely Octagon), climate changes in Antarctica and asking previously unasked questions – why is it possible to see the old moon in the new moon’s arms? He was a pioneer correlating blood groups with the spread of languages and until a few weeks before his death he was working two hours every day (after he completed his daily Sudoku puzzle) on a book on the origins of the English language.

Bill was a member of the Lancaster Conservative Club and he opposed British membership of the European Union. Hehad more than his fair share of illness starting with his infected knee, a twice broken femur, and recovery from tuberculosis and leukaemia. He died on March 13, 2012 of pneumonia following surgery for a hiatus hernia at age 83.

He is survived by three sons and four grandchildren.

Holland with his twin brother and a friend. He also visited an elder brother working for aid agencies in Botswana. Partly as a result of these travels, he was proactively involved in a series of initiatives to assist disadvantaged people across the globe.

Inspired by the work of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), in 2008 he raised substantial funds for this organization. His fund-raising included house to house solicitation and an organized group bike ride, leading to a profile being written about Kyle in MSF advertising and public relations as well as in local newspapers. He also worked for OXFAM in Cambridge, England.

Through 2010 Kyle had been cared for in the Alta Bates Herrick Hospital, Berkeley and in Momentum for Mental Health, Palo Alto. He died on the train tracks in Palo Alto on 6 January 2011. Kyle will be remembered by all that knew him as a gentle, kind and deeply thoughtful person with a sweet, shining smile directed by a sense of humour and fun. He cared very much for those around him and gave much to them. He led by example in his tireless questioning of what so many take for granted and by his commitment to help others. He was a gentle and loving soul, increasingly tortured through his life by the illness that afflicted him. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and all those who he touched.

Kyle’s memorial service was held on 12 January 2011 at All Souls Episcopal Church at Spruce and Cedar in Berkeley, California.

Michael was a Cambridge man through and through. Born at Newnham on April 7 1923, he went to the Perse Prep and Senior schools where portents for the future were laid bare as he was often only just in time for classes but excelled at athletics and boxing and loved woodwork.

He was commissioned into the RAF in March 1942 and sent to Canada to become a pilot, crossing the U-boat infested Atlantic in the Queen Elizabeth. He remained there as a pilot instructor, flying Hurricanes, Spitfires and Mosquitos.

After the war, Michael went up to Corpus Christi to read Estate Management but decided to give up the degree course after a year. He returned to flying, working for Marshall’s in Cambridge as a pilot, followed by a period as an air traffic controller in Libya and a spell in the antiques business where he developed his lasting love of antique furniture.

Michael was a very good rugby player, playing for Eastern Counties on the wing, and a useful tennis player and cricketer, though he was always dismissive of his cricketing ability, as it did not live up to that of his great uncle, Tom Hayward who played cricket for England with Jack Hobbs.

He was also an excellent ballroom dancer and had the certificates to prove it. He loved sailing and would always accept an invitation to go out on a boat. Voyages up the east coast of England or across the North Sea and several amazing holidays with Sheila cruising off the west coast of Canada were all very happy memories for Michael. He loved gardening, especially tending to roses and would grow his own by budding new stock.

Michael will be remembered as the kind-hearted Cambridge gentleman we all knew and loved and were proud to have called our friend, and for his long and happy life with Sheila.

A Legacy of LearningThe Perse has always relied upon the generosity of OPs to help the school flourish. Leaving a legacy is one of the most powerful ways you can support the School and ensure that those from less fortunate backgrounds can benefit from a Perse education.

Furthermore, changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) came into effect in April 2012, such that by leaving 10% or more of your estate to charity, the IHT payable on your net estate (above the tax threshold of £325,000) reduces from 40% to 36%. This enables you to support the causes you care about whilst also reducing your tax liabilities.

If you would like more information, please visit www.perse.co.uk/legacies or contact the Development Director in confidence on 01223 403 835.