They Built a Road Down to this Place 2

What a contrast life can be. This afternoon I was in Tottenham and took this picture of the other end of Ermine Street as it makes its way to Hertford Heath.

This morning was the 300th anniversary of S Paul's Cathedral. I am there for about half a second 23 seconds in. What a difference a few miles and a few hours can make.

Lift Up Your Hearts

The General Committee met on Wednesday and the Council (for three hours!) on Thursday, so I have had a Haileybury week.

Tomorrow is Trinity Sunday. The following quotes are from John Burnaby's (BFr 1905) The Belief of Christendom (London 1959).

To acknowledge with the creed that our Lord is of one substance with the Father, is to acknowledged that what God gave in the giving of His Son was himself - and that nothing less than God's giving of Himself could bring into this world of change, sin and death, the power of His own endless life.

The Spirit does not suppress or replace the individuality of the man in whom His presence is shown. His power is active in the measure in which the chosen individual responds to His promptings. Only in the Elect One who appears in the fullness of time, only in Jesus, is the Spirit present "without measure", because the response is full and absolute. In this one Man, God and man through the Spirit are completely one.


The doctrine of the Trinity is no superfluous piece of theologizing, but an expression of what is most fundamental in the revelation of God in Christ. If love means a personal relationship, and if love is the very being of God, we cannot think  of God as existing in unrelated loneliness, realizing Himself only in His acts of creation and redemption. The glory of the Love of God is a glory that belongs to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Broken Bough

At Haileybury last week I saw that the Lightning Oak had shed a bough. I thought at the time that I should get onto the Bursar to suggest that the timber was made into coasters and so on, but then I didn't and now it has all been cleared.

Can you spot the hole?

Annexed

First of all, apologies for the long gap in posting. All I can do is plead pressure of other commitments. There is a meeting of the General Committee tomorrow and of the Council on Friday, so I have a Haileybury week, but posting has been light.

On Saturday I went was at school watching number one son and his team being thrashed in a cricket match on Hailey Field. I went up to Highfield to collect number two and took these pictures of the Alban's Annex. Or rather, of where the annex was.

A new boarding block for the Lower School girls is being built on what was the (new) San carpark and the annex is being converted to provide for a House Tutor's flat and to link the building with Alban's.

I gather that the annex was the place to live in the VI in Alban's. Mythology said that it was the morgue of the old San.

Last year as a member of Council we went on a tour to inspect the annex. There was an incredibly narrow corridor along the top floor of the part now demolished in the middle. 

Motto?

I have had an email from Peter Fowkes (H 1957), Father of Chris (H 1987) and Pen (H & Alb 1988) and uncle of George (H 1982) asking whether Thomason has a House Motto.

He writes

I looked up the blog trying to find Thomason’s motto; Helen Tranter [Director of Development] provided me with Edmonstone’s (Nil nisi bonum) – odd as it usually applied to the dead (de mortuis) - but no one can provide Thomason – not even Bob Eastwood (Th 1957) who is coming to a reunion (which is why I want the motto). Can you help?

 

In similar vein, does Hailey have a new and more ladylike motto? Quid fortius leone (what is braver than a lion?) was fine when we were a bunch of thugs;  we won the boxing cup almost every year between about 1956 and 1962, partly by entering 9/10^th of the House, and Cock House rugger I think four times between 1954 and 1961, though we drew with Allenby after extra time in 1961.

 

I do have one other claim – the XXX in 1961 not only won all its matches, but did not have its line crossed. I wonder if any other side can match that! Again we were more a bunch of thugs than skilled players – our impressively large outsides came right up at every lineout – if we won the ball I, as scrum half, kicked it further up the line or gave it to the fly-half to do the same. The rules did not prevent this gaining ground in those days. If the other side won the ball our outsides tackled them very hard, so they knocked on and we had the scrum – which we almost certainly won as our pack weighed a ton!

 

I wasn’t the second best fly half – the younger Sibcy (E 1958) was – but Basil Edwards (bless him) (Staff 1955 - 1972) wanted a thug who could kick with both feet.  Sibcy was a very elegant boxer; I don’t know how good his chin was as he was almost impossible to hit – I never succeeded! As to kicking with both feet, “Killer” Cook insisted we practice with the “wrong” foot, which improved the “right” foot as well. As a former All Black we respected his opinion; his walking stick on the field was much respected too!

 

Imogen Thomas says in Haileybury 1806 - 1987 that the badges were adopted in 1868 to identify teams on the football field. She says that the origin of all the badges is not known, and Thomason is among those. It appears without a motto. Neither Lawrence nor Highfield have a motto.

Lift Up Your Hearts

A happy day today presiding at the Wedding of Ben Tett (Th 1994) and Kate in the Haileybury Chapel. I was standing in for the Chaplain, Rev Chris Briggs. There were loads of other OHs there including Suellen Bartlett (Alb & Ha 1995) who sang beautifully during the signing of the registers, and best man Luke Bretherton (L 1994).

In order to get into the safe and to have the key to Chapel I was lent a Haileybury pass key. That really is the key to all doors in the place. I recognized it at once as I once had one to be able to get in and out of Lock Up as a Prefect on duty.

Pass Key

When I was a curate I moaned once to the Vicar about the number of keys we had to cope with. He remarked that there are no keys in heaven; I always thought that S Peter had the keys, but I see what he meant. Once in, there is no stealing or need to lock up for all is shared and there is in John Donne's beautiful phrase, one equal possession. 

Depending on which calendar you use, tomorrow or last Thursday is the celebration of Ascension Day. An excuse then to re read John Donne's poem from Sermon XX on Heaven.

Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening
into the house and gate of heaven
to enter into that gate and dwell in that house,
where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession;
no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity;
in the habitations of thy glory and dominion,
world without end.

They Built A Road Down To This Place

I am not sure I had ever been to the Roman Road before. It is now called Elbow Lane. Strange to think that  Ermine Street has not changed in a couple of thousand years.