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.

HYT

The Haileybury Youth Trust is the successor to the Haileybury Club in Stepney.

Russell Matcham (HM of Kipling) is the link at Haileybury for the HYT, and writes:

Trev helps HYT

The work in KIZIGO, the second beneficiary of our 'One Village at a Time' project, was completed on time and in budget. I hope you agree the results are impressive. Increasing numbers of poor Ugandans have their lives improved by HYT, with Haileyburians and Ugandans working in partnership. There are now dozens of young HYT-trained Ugandans who have construction skills that will improve both opportunity and prospects. HYT's work is sustainable and life-enhancing for Ugandans; life-enriching for Haileyburians.

The third of our 'One Villages', Namaganda, lies deep in the Ugandan bush. Even by Ugandan standards it is very poor indeed. Although its school buildings were condemned as unsafe some years ago, children are still taught here. Namaganda really is off the beaten track but its people are determined to help themselves out of the poverty trap into which they were born.

With your wonderful support, HYT will transform this impoverished village, its schools and the lives of its people.

Children aged 7 at Kizigo primary school in the new school room

Russell has also forwarded news of Sam Edwards, a current gap year student whose work has been highly commended, describing him as 'a wonderful ambassador for his old school and the [Haileybury] Society'

You can donate to the HYT here:

www.justgiving.com/hyt

Or use one of the methods described here.

Haileybury, Magdalen, Staggers

The dinner at S Stephen's House (aka Staggers) was a happy event. Thanks to Mark Blandford Baker (K 1974) we forgathered at Magdalen for Evensong followed by drinks in the newly refurbished Oscar Wilde Room. This function room was once the set used by Wilde. Mark told us that Wilde was as tough as nails and mixed aestheticism with athleticism, once throwing to hearty chaps who came to beat him up down the rather steep flight of stairs we had just climbed. I had hoped to have with me a friend who - like Wilde - is an Old Potoran who has often invited me to dinners of the Old Potora Union, but alas, he is away at the moment.

Following drinks we made our way up the Cowley Road to S Stephen's House and to dinner. The Master spoke about the life of the school and told a rather good joke about railway tickets and Harrovians which went down well, and then Canon Robin Ward, the Principal of S Stephen's House spoke about the great man who links Haileybury, Magdalen and Staggers, Basil Jellicoe, of whom I have written on this blog before. An alumnus of all three institutions his dedication to the poor and his self sacrifice in seeking not himself but the benefit of others was, said Dr Ward, a challenge to us in our tendency to commodify education, and see education as something to pay for and then use to our own benefit. He spoke in the context of university fees starting to rise but his challenge to those educated at independent schools is clear: we must add to our privilege the determination to serve others.

Fr Robin then revealed that he had been shown by my sons some of the pictures I had gathered on my camera of some corners of Haileybury which I have for a series of blog posts on 'nooks and corners.' To general hilarity he revealed that I have some shots of modern white cities on the school site. You may get to see those if we ever get the internet working in our new home.

"Wear it Out"!

Sir Bartle Frere and Henry Melvill are buried in the crypt of S Paul's cathedral where we gathered last evening following the installation.  There were lots of living Haileyburians as well. The Master; the Chaplain, The Rev'd Chris Briggs; the General Secretary, Robin Bishop; the Chairman of Council, Michael Gatenby (K 1958) were there as well as the two of my sons who are so far Haileyburians, my sister Anne (H & Aby 1984).

James Thomson, the Master of the London Charterhouse & Past President (C 1953) is sadly not in the picture but he was there. He was the originator of the President's medal which he presented to the Society in its 50th year. I slipped it on under my robes, but the magenta ribbon was showing and the Dean asked after it. He siad "Wear it out!" meaning on top of the robes so that it could be seen in church which I duly did. The Bishop was similarly indulgent. 

The Master, by the way, must be getting fed up with me. I went to a parents' meeting on Tuesday and saw him there, he kindly came to the installation yesterday, and tonight he was at the General Committee of the Society which I chaired. More about that meeting tomorrow.

The happy event which I hope to be able to report looks as if it may indeed come to pass, but be patient on that one. 

Snow Golf

Rudyard Kipling (USC 1878) is credited with the invention of Snow Golf.