11.11.11

The ninety third Armistice Day. Last Sunday we went off to church in Frankfurt. The Alter S Nikolaus Kirche in the Lutheran town centre parish had a service at 1115 which seemed like a good time to those who were having a weekend off. We were in for a bit of a surprise as the service took the form of hymns and prayers surrounding a talk and a discussion. The parish calls this sort of service a Gesprachsgottesdienst - 'a conversation-liturgy' and was in many ways what we would think of as a Christian study group. It was a bit of a challenge for our German language skills!

Frankfurt Old Town before WW2

The talk was given by a visitor from a charity called Zeichen der Hoffnung which works in Germany to foster better relations and understanding between Poles and Germans, healing the wounds which remain after the Second World War. The work began in a practical way, sending money and help to survivors of outrages, but now it seeks to work to foster good relations and understanding.

The discussion in church was in many ways courageous, raising issues of reconciliation in the light of the siting of concentration camps in Poland and the other horrors of the war.

In the small group present the four of us from England were noticeable, and the Pastor was kind to translate for us some of what was going on. Frankfurt was the subject of a massive raid by the RAF on March 22nd 1944 which destroyed the medieval old town and in which over 1,000 people died.

Wartime destruction
 

Sitting in a church which had, along with many other medieval buildings been subsequently restored or rebuilt, one was acutely thankful for the work of reconciliation. We prayed together for that to continue also between our countries. Thanks to my teachers that I was able to respond to the Pastor's graciousness in praying in English with a word of prayer in German. 

How much those who gave their lives for freedom, and suffered so much in the European wars of the last century, would rejoice to think that Haileyburians, German and English, had met over the weekend and celebrated together their common roots in the school and the society, and that things are now so much changed. 

Haileyburians of today continue to play their part in the conflicts of the world. The tragic roll of those who have paid for their commitment with their lives has grown in our time.  Our prayer must be that the conflicts of today will similarly come in the end to the triumph of peace and reconciliation over the forces of hatred and violence.

The Cloister tablets have recently been cleaned and restored
partly with a grant from the Society 

In the first 100 years of Haileybury, ISC and USC, 9% of Old Boys
lost their lives on active service 

Alumni Treffen

The Frankfurt Dinner was a splendid way to spend the last weekend before handing on the baton. Thirty two gathered at the Hotel Intercontinental by the river Main just outside the old city center. It was a young gathering. Four OHs only left the school this August; the oldest German present left Haileybury in 1997.

My German has had thirty years of disuetude, but the company was delightfully generous in speaking in English, and conversations flowed between languages.

The pictures tell the story more than thousands of words.

The General Secretary first thing on Saturday with the OH umbrella which had been specially ordered and had to come in the 'bulky luggage'. He got it safely to the person who had ordered it!

Haileybury Reunion Alumni Treffen

How to say "Old Haileyburian Dinner" in German. The welcome board at the Hotel Intercontinental.

Dinner was a buffet - lots of different things to try and each one beautifully presented. Wine and conversation flowed.

The function room was high up on the top floor of the hotel and had a balcony from which were stunning views over the city. My camera was not up to a picture to do justice to what could be seen. Frankfurt is a delightful mixture of old and new, Medieval and Modern.

Homeward bound on Sunday. 

Interim Report

The last couple of days have been wall to wall and no time until now even for a brief post. Germany was wonderful and I shall report properly either late tonight or in the morning. Frankfurt was bathed in Autumn sunshine.

View of the Main from the hotel window

Just like Home?

I am away at the moment so blogging is light, but you migt enjoy this link to another group of Old Haieyburians.

http://oha.org.au/index.php?id=2

Haileybury and Hogwarts 3

Having given the background in the preceding posts, what follows is the text of a letter I wrote one mad afternoon and sent to JK Rowling care of her publishers. I posted it and waited…

I used a stamp, not an owl

In your Comic Relief book about the History of Quidditch, one of the teams (from Canada) is the Haileybury Hammers. (p43)

Haileybury Ontario was named after his old school (Haileybury, near Hertford) by its founder, Charles Cobbold Farr in 1889, and has as its coat of arms the bearings of Haileybury College. This features three winged hearts (from the school motto, which Farr also transferred to the town: Sursum Corda).

Of course winged hearts look like Golden Snitches. It struck me that if ever you have cause to describe the colours and robes of the Haileybury Hammers it might lend authenticity to know about the winged hearts, and also that the local hockey team plays in a red strip because the house colours of Farr's boarding House were red. [Trevelyan]

If you don't just bin this letter as the foolishness of a fan, you can follow up the details in Imogen Thomas, Haileybury 1806 - 1987 pp 42 - 43 ISBN 0 9512393 0 9

Haileybury and Hogwarts 2

I said there was more to the link between Haileybury and Hogwarts and there is.

When CC Farr founded Haileybury on the shores of lake Temiskaming he named the newspaper The Haileyburian and took the motto 'Sursum Corda.' For some reason the town seems to translate this 'be of good courage.'

Originally the Town's logo was the familiar Hearts and Wings, and Imogen Thomas tells us that the hockey team played in Black and Red for Trevelyan.

The strip for Rowling's imaginary Haileybury Hammers Quidditch Team is not described. The similarity between a winged heart and Golden Snitch is noteworthy.

Now I am aware that by now those who have not read Harry Potter may be utterly lost, so here is an explanation of Quidditch. (You may need to skip the advert.)  Keep the similarity between the snitch and the winged heart in mind, and I will post some more on this another day to draw all these strands together.

Haileybury and Hogwarts

JK Rowling is to launch a new Harry Potter Website, Pottermore. In it she will make available the full text of her books and also unpublished material. There is a Haileybury link.

Aficionados of the oeuvre may remember that alongside the main novels Rowling published two small books in aid of comic relief in 2001. One of these was called 'Quidditch Through the Ages' and is supposed to be a book from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry library all about Quidditch, the game Rowling's characters play.

For those who are unfamiliar with the books, Quidditch is a cross between lacrosse, rugby and hockey and is played while flying on a broomstick.

The Haileybury link comes in the list of international teams. On page 43, there is a mention of the Haileybury Hammers, a Quidditch team from Canada, clearly from the town founded by Charles Cobbold Farr (Tr 1864) in Ontario.

There is more to this - for another post.

Haileyburians Round the World

It is increasingly the case that current Haileyburians live in and around Hertfordshire. Even as modern transport becomes more sophisticated and longer journeys are possible in shorter times the catchment area contracts. One of the reasons for the severance of formal links with Lambrook Haileybury (the last incarnation of the Junior School) is that Windsor parents think Haileybury is just too far away. This is as true of boarders (still about two thirds of the senior school population) as day pupils.

The exceptions are the numbers of German pupils who come to study IB in the VI form and Khzakhs throughout the school thanks to our strong links in Kazakhstan. Of course there are also individuals from many nations. By and large, however, your modern Haileyburian lives in Hertfordshire.

All the more pleasing then to see that Haileyburians, and people with an interest in Haileybury continue to spread round the world. The map shows the places in which this bog was read in the last month.

Tartan

The girls' uniform comprises (for girls below the VIth) a tartan kilt. It is worn in both England and Kazakhstan. But there is also a Haileybury Tartan in Altera Terra. The Scottish Register of Tartans website explains:

The Haileybury tartan was designed to recognise the existence of Haileybury Pipes and Drums within Haileybury College, Melbourne, Australia, for some 53 years. It also acknowledges Haileybury Pipes and Drums as Victorian Champions for 25 consecutive years in 2008. It marks the unification of Haileybury College and Haileybury Girls College bands, which warranted a new, unique design that reflected the school colours.

Tartan in Altera Terra

There is a picture of a piper in Haileybury tartan here.

Haileybury tartan UK style

Largest House?

They are trying to sell the largest house in Canada. It is in Haileybury Ontario. The full story is here. Yours for $25million!

Congratulations!

The Old Haileyburians have won the First Division of the Arthurian Football League and are promoted to the Premier Division.

Meanwhile the Old Haileyburians in Altera Terra also have a Football Club - in a diferent code of course - in the Premier Division of its league. Their video is as much a moral statement on the attitude one should bring to competitive sport as an advert for the club. 

Arbori In Altera Terra

There are two exchange students from Haileybury Melbourne at College at the moment. Their distinctive piped blazers and badges make them stand out. Ailsa Wallace and Ryuun Fujihara are blogging aboiut their experiences and you can read the first post here.

Ailsa notes the differences of the physical enviornment.

I was struck by this picture of a tree at the Austrailian Haileybury when I had a hunt about on their website.

Similar - but different!

Streets Called Haileybury

This is not exactly a street called Haileybury, so much as a road through Haileybury - Ontario. Highway 11 is a major route through Ontario, and runs through the town founded in 1889 by Charles Cobbold Farr, (Tr 1864) which is now part or a municipality called Temiskaming.

Highway 11 in Downtown Haileybury

Here is a video of the journey along the road made by a biker.


Highway 11B through Latchford, Cobalt, Haileybury and New Liskeard from MCC CMC on Vimeo.

Not What it Seems!

Same motto. Same dome. Different college.