A lovely email from John Homan (ISC E 1941 & K) and Past President (1995 - 1996) who has found the blog. John writes:

I was particularly surprised and pleased when you posted so much about the Imperial Service College. It was well timed to put this on record while still a few of us OISCs are about and able to get nostalgic about 'The Coll'.

    I was at Windsor for just two terms before the two schools amalgamated at Haileybury, so I have little that I can add to your Blog accounts. I will try shortly to put together and post a few personal recollections but for the moment I just want to write that I found the description of the demolition of the school buildings and re-development of the site very sad but enlightening. [That of course is not my work, but from a Windsor Historical Society website -  L] Almost total obliteration, just one building remaining, Camperdown House, and that of no architectural distinction! Visiting the site about ten years ago after a long gap I found it quite unrecognisable and could not even work out where the old buildings had stood. Was it not a shame that, presumably to balance the books in 1942, the whole site had to be sold at its wartime value. That was a small fraction of what could have been achieved if delay had been possible. The sale of the much smaller Clewer Manor site when the Junior School moved to join up with Lambrook showed this and, I believe produced a more substantial, if belated, dowry for the 1942 amalgamation.

   

Indeed the 'dowry' from the amalgamation helped to pay for the building of the new Houses required when the school went co-educational. Lawrence, which recievd the boys from the ISC House of the same name, and Kipling, John's Haileybury House, once Le Bas, but renamed for Rudyard Kipling (USC 1878) remained in their original Haileybury buildings. Melvill and Edmonstone moved to new sites.

Former members of Kipling may like to visit the House Website here. I pinched from it the 1942 - 2011 house photo montage at the top of this post.

ISC

A fascinating comment has come from 'Kris' to add to the post on the statue 'Spirit of Youth"

You will find it in the comments on the original post, but here it is to save you having to trawl through. Thank you Kris for this.

(Meanwhile I am so sorry that there has been hardly any posting over the last week. I plan a post on what I have been up to and then to finish the story of Haileybury and Hogwarts, which has a fascinating ending!)

The Spirit of Youth (post war version) in Dover

Pre war version in Dunfermline

The Spirit of Youth was created by Richard Reginald Goulden in 1908 for the Carnegie fountain in Dunfermline. A local schoolboy, Wiliam Galbraith, was one of the two models. In 1999 it was renovated and presented to Carnegie College. A (recent?) copy is in the foyer of the renovated Alhambra Theatre, Dunfermline. The ISC 1936 copy is apparently still owned by Haileybury - but it is not on public display. [Does anyone know where it is? L]

In 1924 Goulden reworked the figure slightly for the Dover War Memorial - and a modified copy also graces the Newhaven Cemetery where he is buried.

The significant difference is that the pre-war optimism of the figure stretching for "winged victory laurels" - was replaced by it poignantly reaching for a small blazing crucifix. It is not currently known if the schoolboy models from 1908 survived the war.

All these variations can be found on the web. The foyer of the Alhambra is a 360 degree shot that can zoom into the sculpture's detail. 

ISC

Browsing for Haileybury things I found a site giving some history of the ISC including pictures of the buildings and the redevelopment of the site. The link is on the bar to the right of the blog.

There are pictures of the unveiling of a statue of "ambition," 'believed to be in the possession of Haileybury School.' I wonder if anyone knows where that is?