As I write, we are sailing lazily upthe Nile. We have already seenmonuments in Cairo and Luxor whichare over 3,000 years old. Incomparison, I left Prior Park Collegenearly 27 years ago, and it has onlybeen one year since the last GossipBowl magazine. Time is elusive andpasses by regardless of whether weare watching. I do hope this letterfinds you in good health and spirits.

Being new to my office, I am fortunateto be buoyed by a very able Committee,our immediate past President Peter Hiltonand our Secretary Debbie O'Bryan. TheAssociation is here to serve the Prior Parkfamily, and we always welcome yourcomments and suggestions.

My first duty, a very pleasurable one,was to attend the 2005 annual dinner as aguest. Although I have been back at Prior

fairly regularly, it was a very special andmemorable experience. The panelleddining room has not changed but insteadof transparent wafer thin ham and chips,we were given delicious cordon bleulamb. A time machine transported meback three decades. Joe Cainen, TonyRyan, Brian Bane, Dr David Carr, VicFerguson and Tony O'Sullivan were there;their presence made me feel the teenageschoolboy I was thirty years back!

The PPA is moving forward all the time- the Web Alumnus software led by Peterhas come to fruition. Mass e-mailing isalready a reality, making inexpensiverapid communication to the entiremembership possible and furtherdevelopments are being explored.

We are also looking at sharing bestpractice with fellow old pupils’associations of other independent

Catholic secondary schools.Another plan is to set upprofessional groups (such asmedicine, law, dentistry,journalism, engineering,accountancy, IT, estateagency and so on) to aidyounger past pupils in their

careers. Where possible, we will tap intothe expertise of past pupils. Pleasewatch this space.

Please do tell us what you would likeus to do for you. Also, do come forward ifyou wish to help - it is good fun! Finally,do not forget to send us news aboutyourself and your friends from your daysat Prior Park. The Gossip Bowl is verymuch dependent on such news.

As I write, we are well and truly into2006. We have also had a Chinese NewYear - the Year of the Dog. I take thisopportunity to wish allmembers a healthy,happy, prosperousand peaceful year.

We concludedour family holiday inEgypt with a trip tothe Horus Temple inEdfu and here weall are in costumefor the galabiafancy dress party.

Hope to see you soon at the school!

Christopher Liu

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E P R I O R P A R K A S S O C I A T I O N

D E O D U C E D E O L U C E

President’s Letter

ContentsPresident’s Letter 1

From the Headmaster 2

Take pride in Prior Park 3

Gossip Bowl 4 - 10

Association Day 2005 10

PPA Sports 11

Weddings 12

PPA Dinner 13

Reunion of Class of '95 14

Reunions & Graduation News 15

Prep School Report 15

Reports on Gap Years (part funded by PPA) 16 - 17

Obituaries 18 - 19

Where are you now? 20

CCF corps identified 20

Issue 7 � Spring 2006Issue 7 � Spring 2006

From the Headmaster,Dr Giles Mercer

The pupil body this year has been at arecord level of 540. The school roll has beenat full capacity, with healthy boardingnumbers, a strong Sixth Form and the biggestBaines House we’ve had. There has been agrowth in the number of brothers and sistersin the school, reaching record levels thisyear. This is a wonderful sign that parentsbelieve that we are truly a family school andthey are equally happy to entrust a daughterto us or a son or, indeed, children of quitedifferent temperaments or abilities.

Public examinationsresults were a verypleasing reflection ofthe efforts and abilitiesof our candidates. AtA level A gradesincreased by almost25% to our highestlevel of 42%. Nearlyone third of the 82candidates gainedstraight A gradesin three or foursubjects. 85% of gradesat A, B or C level was again our bestperformance. Our GCSE results were also ourbest from whatever angle you care to look atthem. The majority of our 2004 leavers gainedplaces at their first choice university.

The College staged a hugely impressiveproduction ofMozart's 'DonGiovanni' inSeptember 2005,played toa p p r e c i a t i v es e l l - o u taudiences. Thep r o f e s s i o n a ld i r e c t o r ,A n d r e wHarries drewthe very best ine m o t i o n a l

range from thecast – many of the main

parts were taken by our students and thequality of the singing, stage sets, costumesand lighting were astonishing. The schooldrama programme included highlyentertaining and impressive GCSE, AS and A2

productions, a Dance evening, a brilliant'Godspell' in March, our very own GothicJunior Musical, 'Dracula Rock Show',following thehugely popularScience Fair onthe theme of 'Lordof the Ringtones'.‘Othello’ directedby Miss RachelMusson wasanother resoundingsuccess; the play’srelentless pace, thepower and credibilityof performance fromall the lead and supporting actors, together withthe design and technical support, were all of anorder much greater than one might expect even

from a very good schoolproduction. It is in Dramathat we are now lookingto our next buildingproject, the extensionof the theatre. Theconstruction work isalready underway.

In achieving a work-lifebalance and physical andmental well-being, exercise

and sport, as we now allknow, are vital throughout life. We have aphilosophy of elite sport and sport for all, bothof which are very much the case in practice. Iwant to commend all school teams at each agelevel and pay the warmest tribute to thecoaching expertise and dedication of thespecialist PE and Sports staff, supportedinvaluably by the skills and enthusiasm of somany non-specialist teachers. At last, 2005 sawthe re-opening of our swimming pool, built in1890s, and given new life with new plant, 21stcentury technology, a new roof, and adeepened pool, together with a much needednew complex of changing rooms.

The Charities Week 2005, organised bythe Sixth Form Charities Committee, provedhugely successful with the support of manyparents and members of staff, teachersbraving various indignities, much to thedelight of the pupil body, from the leg waxingcouch, soaking the teacher and the ordealof performing in Prior Park Idol.

The education of the whole persondepends on an environment of emotionaland spiritual space, in which can takeplace simultaneously, challenge,discipline, creativity, care, order,

appropriate freedom and confidencebuilding. It is a paradox but we need secure

boundaries and discipline sothat we can take risks.Education is not just about aknowledge base; it’s aboutexploration. Let the Spiritmove us to get out frombehind our barriers andcomfort zones. Wesometimes need to leaveour place of safety andrepitch our tent. The

space for spiritual growth isan essential part of being a whole

person. We need to put hope and justice andthe life of the spirit at the centre of ourcommunity and we have to work harder atcreating all this than ever before, because Ibelieve we live in a culture which suffersever more from a deforestation of Christianmemory and the living values that go with it.However, while it is important to try to assesscritically the negatives in our society weneed always to try to see the positive signs ofthe times. I believe our young people are bestat showing us what these signs are: a globalsense of justice and solidarity; a yearning foruniversal peace, a spiritual hunger, ascandalous sense of the world’s inequalitiesof wealth; a sharp awareness of the urgentneed to slow down and reverse humanity’sdestruction of God’s creation; a belief inpeople power and democracy but animpatience with the present shortcomings ofpolitics. These are all great movements inour time and we need to embrace them, listenand shape our teaching and learning in theirlight, whilst being unafraid to stand againstthe negative and anti-life forces in ourcountry and in the world. To teach we haveto learn. We have to receive good news,listen to the spirit and respond in love andhope.

PARAGON AND PRIOR MERGERA new, exciting era in the life of The

Paragon School and Prior Park iscommencing. During the autumn of 2005 PriorPark and The Paragon announced that theyintended to strengthen the links which havelong existed between the two schools in aformal merger under the umbrella of PriorPark Educational Trust (which includes alsoPrior Park Preparatory School). The Paragonis a successful day preparatory school inLyncombe Vale, near the bottom of Ralph AllenDrive. Former pupils of a certain age mayremember a Convent primary school which atone time existed on the site.

The three schools follow the same ethos oftrying to develop the very best from each and

every child and have much else in common.This merging has major advantages for bothThe Paragon and the College. Pupils, familiesand staff of The Paragon will enjoy evengreater use of Prior Park facilities than occursalready. The College, meanwhile, will be gladto have a formal link with a junior school in thecity; in recent years Prior has been the onlysenior independent school in Bath without a'tied' junior establishment. The existing PriorPark Preparatory School at Cricklade remainsa flourishing institution and a great manypupils from there progress to the College asboarders at age 13. This arrangement will bewell complemented by day pupils enteringfrom The Paragon at age 11.

The Paragon will continue its establishedreligious tradition, stated in its trust deed, asthe provision of Christian education to familiesfrom Bath and nearby.

Please visit the new Prior Park websitewhich features all three schools:www.priorparkschools.co.uk

www.priorpark.co.uk/ppa Gossip Bowl 32 Gossip Bowl www.priorpark.co.uk/ppa

� Mass in Chapel

� A-Level Success

� Don Giovanni

� New Swimming Pool

Father Peter Cornwell's history of Prior Park College

An interesting call from Gareth Duggan(PPC 84 – 94), who is now working on his firstfeature film entitled LIFE, set an entire ex-Priorwheel in motion. We put Gareth in touch withhis former teacher, Roy Batters, who wasClassics Master here from 1988 to 1998. Roykindly agreed to translate into Latin lyricswhich Gareth had written for an opera with afamiliar title ‘Deo Duce Deo Luce’. The operawill be part of the film’s soundtrack which hasbeen put together by Kieron Pepper, thedrummer for The Prodigy.

As a pupil at Prior, Gareth staged a fashionshow in 1994 to raise funds for Tanzania. Hewent on to the London College of Fashion tolearn tailoring where he started working withthe prestigious, Oscar-winning costumedesigner, Sandy Powell, on a number of herfilms. Here he made useful contacts in the filmindustry which have helped him in his newcareer in writing, directing and film producing.Gareth has worked on his new project for

several years, persevering with showing hisscript to potential backers. LIFE is the first in atrilogy of films Gareth has written and all filmswill be giving donations to various charities;LIFE is supporting The Cystic Fibrosis Trust.LIFE will showcase a lot of new acting talentand will also feature Danny Dyer who hasappeared in films such as ‘Football Factory’and many television programmes.

The film has an interesting twist. EntitledLIFE, which is either ‘Love It For Everything’ or‘Live In Fear Everyday’, depending on one’sinterpretation. The first half is comic, thesecond tragic as the film explores the joy of lifeand fear of death with a cleverly crafted plot.The film should be finished by September 2006and will be released into cinemas in 2007.

Gareth has generously offered to try andhelp any Prior pupils, old or new, who have adesire to get into the film world –please get intouch via the PPA office.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! TAKE TWO!Talented 15 year old Prior Park student,

Nick Anderson looks set to be the nextgeneration’s Barry Norman (or JonathanRoss)! Nick was the winner of The Young FilmCritic Award in October of 2005 with his reviewof Tim Burton’s ‘Charlie And The ChocolateFactory’, starring Johnny Depp. This accoladeis backed by Total Film magazine, published byBath-based Future publishing and Nick won inthe 15 – 18 year age category, which is atestament to his skill with the pen. Nick’svictory had been a unanimous choice and thejudges commented that “he has a great waywith words”. Nick’s win ishis second taste of culturalsuccess after winning the2005 Bath LiteratureFestival’s Babel YoungWriters Competitionfor a short story.

“a fascinating, encyclopaedic tour through the ages of

this great house, now a school, from its beginnings as a

private home right up to the present day”

The Bath Chronicle

“a series of informative and well-illustrated

chapters… guide us through the often dramatic

history of the College”

The Catholic Herald

“This handsomely laid-out book”

Former pupil, His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor

Copies of The Phoenix can be bought at bookshops in Bath, by sending a cheque for £19.99 payable to Halsgrove(postage and packing is free) to: Halsgrove Direct, Halsgrove House, Lower Moor Way, Tiverton, Devon EX16 6SS,UK or by Switch or credit card over the phone to Halsgrove on 01884 243242

©Ba

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icle

/Sam

Far

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‘THE PHOENIX’ PUBLISHED TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM

4 Gossip Bowl www.priorpark.co.uk www.priorpark.co.uk Gossip Bowl 5

Roland Mazery (PPC 1955 - 1960) travelledwith his wife to Mauritius last autumn wherehe stayed with his recently retired brother,Alex (also an old boy of Prior). Alex now hastwo grandchildren; Roland is expecting one in2006 and plans a trip to Cape Town where hiseldest son and his wife are based. Rolandwas delighted to receive an e-mail fromMounir El-Khoury from Belgium and heoccasionally hears from Wilbert Henderson inAustralia. A chance phone call from LaurieIbbit who was en route to one of the Natalcoastal resorts led to tea and news swappingat Roland's house; apparently Patrick McGinnis currently in Swaziland. Roland can becontacted on mazery@mweb.co.za

At 74 years of age and following aquintuple heart bypass operation, Rae Carter(PPC 1939 – 1949) declined our invitiation toplay PPA hockey! Rae does however maintaina keen interest in rugby (he was hooker in thePP first XV and was awarded half colours in'47 and '48) and is often to be found on thetouchline at Stonyhurst College – 'you can'tbeat a good schoolboy match'!

After much detective work, we trackeddown Kevin Tucker's postal address inNairobi (Kevin left PPC in 1952) and AnthonyFinnigan was finally able to write to his oldfriend.

A hallelujah moment for Roni Solomons(who although not himself a former pupil, wasat school in Bristol and formed greatfriendships with students from Prior) when wefinally managed to put him in touch with hisold friend Martin Ray (who left Prior in 1953).Martin has been enjoying retirement bytravelling to warmer climes.

Alan Seccombe will be 75 in August. He isdivorced, still playing tennis singles and waterskiing. Alan has two homes in France at ValThorens and Plan de la Tour and alsomanages to work 34 weeks a year for thefamily business. Alan would love to hear fromold school friends on: alan@seccombe.co.uk

1961 – 1970Following a career in the Diplomatic

Service, Stephen Hilton continues to run thebusiness he set up 15 years ago, sellingproperty in France and would be pleased toassist any PPA members needing advice inthis area. Stephen married in December 2005and will shortly be moving to Oxford with hisnew wife. He meets up with Stephen Tobinfrom time to time and recently sang a Messiahat the Albert Hall in the company of ChrisLennon. Stephen would be pleased to hearfrom other contemporaries atstephen@laresidence.co.uk

Andy Colombini (PPC 1964 to 1968), aftermuch 'toing and froing' has embarked on adegree course in Traditional ChineseMedicine at University College Hospital in

London. Another two years and he will bequalified and aims to go straight into practiceat what he describes as 'the grand old age of53'! Andy is also embarking on another newphase in his life – he is to become a father inAugust – many congratulations.

Gardening takes up much of Phil Harvey'stime since his retirement from 37 years inteaching. Phil's last post was fifteen years asa Deputy Head at St. Bernard's RC HighSchool for girls in Southend-on-Sea. Phil hasnow moved to Stoke St Michael in theMendips, stepped down after 26 years as aBorough Councillor in Chelmsford and hasgained two grandchildren. He would be veryhappy to hear from, or see, old friends:philharvey@cix.compulink.co.uk

Wilfrid de Freitas (PPC 1956 – 62) is nowPresident of the Antiquarian Booksellers'Association of Canada. In addition to hisannual visit to the UK in June and July, wherehe keeps up with his contemporaries PeterHilton, Christopher Lennon and Peter Waring,he travels widely in Canada and the US wherehe has met up, and keeps in touch, with IanShort (Vancouver), Michael Somerscales(Missouri), Anthony Hope-Ross (Florida) andGerald O'Reilly (Boston). Wilfrid would beglad to hear from other contemporaries,especially anyone visiting or passing throughMontreal and can be contacted through hiswebsite: www.defreitasbooks.com

Still living in New York City with his wifeYvonne is former pupil John Healy who was atPrior from 1959 to 1964. John moved to theStates in 2001 to take up the position of chiefexecutive of the Atlantic Philanthropies, aninternationally operating foundation with anendowment of 3.7 billion dollars.You can reachJohn on: jr.healy@atlanticphilanthropies.org

There is happy news from Phil Hamertonwho is enjoying life at 56 years, still married tohis lovely wife after 30 years and proud of histwo grown-up children in their early twenties.Phil manages 125 Accident & Emergency andPatient Transport Service staff in the Worthingarea of the Sussex Ambulance Service whichis a great challenge but he anticipates takingretirement in a couple of years time. Pleaseget in touch with Phil on:Phamerton@aol.com

We were delighted to welcome PaulArscott (PPC 1958 to 1961) who came on animpromptu visit to the College in April of lastyear.

Tony Brannon (PPC 1963 – 1969) e-mailedwith the very exciting news that his newrecording studio in Bermuda opened in May2005. We wish Tony every success with 'BlueClouds Studio'; he can be contacted ontony@bermuda.com

We received very sad news from TonyRoberts whose wife Helen died in April of2002. Tony retired at the end of 2003 havingmade the decision to move to Spain -which he

did in March of 2004. We are pleased to reportthat he has now settled in and is enjoying lifein Spain – and is hoping to make it over to Bathfor one of the PPA events.

Jon Fry, currently Housemaster of AllenHouse and teacher of Business Studies andEconomics, met an old boy Bernard Haddrellat a cricket match last summer. We were sopleased that Bernard then came to the oldboys' cricket match last year and brought withhim some amazing photos of RAF corpsinspection and of himself receiving an awardoutside the Mansion in 1966.

Wing Commander Peter Hereford who leftPrior in 1966 also sent his two daughters toPPC – Alexia and Eleanor (the younger sisterwho left in 2001). The family has now movedto Herefordshire and send their very bestwishes to all at Prior.

1971 – 1980Surfing the net returned yet another ex

Prior student to the PPA! We were delightedto enter into correspondence with BrianMorello who left the UK for Canada in1975aged 14. Brian's recall of the teachers issimply the nicknames of the ChristianBrothers – if anybody would like to get intouch please e-mail Brian onfunster55@shaw.ca

It is now almost ten years that DavidThomas (who left Prior in 1980) has been in theOcean Science Department at the Universityof Wales-Bangor where in 2005 he was madeProfessor of Marine Biogeochemistry.David's main research activities still involvestudying the biology and chemistry of pack icein the Antarctic and more latterly also in theBaltic Sea. He also enjoys writing for a wideraudience, and his two books Frozen Oceansand Seaweeds are doing well. David returnedto Prior in July of 2001 when he made awonderful Guest of Honour at Speech day.David can be contacted on:d.thomas@bangor.ac.uk

Having run both private and publictechnology companies as CEO, DavidMcQuiggan (PPC 1964 – 1974) is taking abreak from the corporate world to explore hisentrepreneurial side by investing in anexciting new venture in Southern California –a software company leading in thedevelopment of semantic software andknowledge engineering methodologies. Onthe social front, David has recently met upwith Mark Tobin who is now living in VeniceBeach and working as MD/ExecutiveProducer for a visual effects company in LAand through Mark, David also met up with TimLomas who was visiting LA from Warsaw,Poland. David is currently living in ManhattanBeach with his wife Kathy and their twochildren but often travels back to London onbusiness and to visit family – he can becontacted on: mcquiggan@aya.yale.edu

1960 and EarlierMemories of wielding pick and shovel to

level the ground that became Prior's tenniscourts under the command of Brother Burkecame flooding back to Richard Hudson (PPC1934 to 1944) when he returned forAssociation Day in June of last year. BothRichard and his sister Diana were veryimpressed with the quality of the choir and thelevel of comfort our current students enjoy!

Congratulations to Betty and SidneySheffield on their diamond weddinganniversary celebrated in 2001 at a Mass atBrockenhust Church conducted by the parishpriest at that time – former Prior studentCanon Brian Murphy O'Connor! Sidney, whowas a student at Prior from 1927 to 1931 is now91 years of age, a retired dental surgeon andliving in the New Forest.

The PPA owed Patrick Maher who left PPCin 1954 an apology for repeatedly addressinghim as Peter. Patrick was kind enough toupdate us with all his news; he has now beenretired for over three years and is living inPlymouth. His younger brother Brian has alsorecently retired and lives in Collaroy justoutside Sydney in Australia. Sadly the elderbrother Michael (known to most as 'Fred')died in 1990.

Back in October of 2005 Ken Gurd paid avisit to Prior on the occasion of his seventiethbirthday, taking in the buildings and sportsfields and reliving some vivid memories. Wewere delighted that he also came to the PPAdinner and enjoyed an evening with some ofhis old friends including Rev Patrick de Wolf,David Rafferty, Paul Taft and Patrick Mason.Ken had hoped to also get in touch with theTranter family and especially Nicholas – ifanybody has any contact details could theyplease let Debbie know?

Having held down the job of PPA Secretaryfor ten years at the time of transition from theChristian Brothers and pursued a long andsuccessful career, Jim Coelho (PPC 1954 to1959) has finally retired. He started his ownbusiness, Barnes International Ltd, a companywhich served a niche within the credit/debitcard industry and took exclusive deals withVisa International, American Express and JCBin Japan for testing smart card reliability. Jimspent much of his life travelling the world andat the age of 65 decided it was time to hang uphis boots. He has retired to Wiltshire, takenup golf and become the village unpaid taxidriver for many of the village ladies!

The Headmaster was delighted towelcome back to Prior Michael Rutland OBEwho was a student here in the fifties. Michaelwas appointed Bhutan's Honorary Consul tothe United Kingdom in March 2004; the first tohold this office. Michael first lived in Bhutan in1970 and taught at the Ugyen Wangchuck

Academy - amongst his students was JigmeSingye Wangchuck - now the fourth King. Aswell as his teaching profession, Michael hasalso worked in the Armed Forces of the Sultanof Oman, for the UN and for UNHCR. Heretired from his post as Head of Science atGeorge Abbot School in Guildford in 2000.Michael is the Honorary Representative forthe international educational charity TheEnglish Speaking Union. He travels frequentlyto Bhutan and his home is in Guildford.

In December 05Michael Rutlandaccompanied HerMajesty the Queen ofBhutan to thecommissioning of herson, HRH PrinceKhamsun SingyeWnagchuck at theSovereign's Parade,Sandhurst.

Paul Nethercott has many colourfulmemories from his days at Prior (1949 - 1955).He particularly enjoyed the CCF where he wascaptain of the rifle team and is still a good shotat 68 years! Paul left Prior and the UK to seekhis fortune in the States. After four years inChicago where he met and married his wifeBarbara, they moved to Seattle where Paulfound a niche market selling British sportscars, retiring at the age of 62. Paul has twodaughters and two grandsons and lives on hisbeautiful 20 acre horse farm on an island nearSeattle. Paul thinks that somewhere at thebottom of the lake at Prior lies the old brassschool bell that woke the boys up every day –how did it get there?!

Neville Upham was at Prior from 1936 to1941 together with his brother Malcolm whowas Captain of the School. Their father,Raymund James Upham was a student from1898 to 1904 during which time he was Captainof the Soccer team. Neville remembers theswimming pool and the odd job man William(known as 'Willum') who used to stoke theboiler with coke.

Celebrating the arrival of his state pension,although busier than ever with less time to doall that he promised himself in retirement isPeter Harrison (PPC 1949 – 1958). Peter editsthe Society of Saint Gregory's Internationalacademic journal Music and Liturgy, acts as a'trouble-shooter' Clerk to the Governors forvarious Bristol state schools and permanentlyto Prior's old sporting competitor Saint

Brendan's Sixth Form College (although theCBs have long since left). Peter's wife is welland his four children are thriving – one hasmarried and produced two grandchildren, oneis studying medicine at Nottingham, one isworking in L'Arche and the youngest isspending a year in Russia pursuing herRussian and Eastern European History degreewith UCL, London. Peter can be contacted onfisherpeteruk@yahoo.co.uk

We are hoping that Brian Long (PPC 1951– 1955) will soon make the journey across tothe UK from Vancouver (which isconsistently voted the best city in the worldto live) to attend a PPA event at the College,when he could also take in the Englishcountryside that he still misses. Brian isdelighted, thanks to the PPA office, to be intouch with some of his former school friendsand would welcome contact from any otherson: long@patmark.com

We managed to put Tony Saul in touchwith Brian Long but were not as lucky withlocating Mike Mulcahy (PPC 1952 – 1954); isanybody in contact with Mike? We werereally delighted that Association Day last Junesaw a reunion of Tony Saul with Ian Reid,Terry Tory and Tim Babington after all theseyears.

Peter Walsh (PPC 1955 – 1958) contactedus from Australia with his news: he is stillrunning 'Lean Enterprise Australia', wasblessed with a fourth grandchild during 2005and a fifth is on the way! Always keen to hearnews of his contemporaries, please get intouch with Peter on: pwalsh@bigpond.net.au

Prior was delighted to welcome backAnthony Apperley (Cricklade and PPC 1950 -1960) who paid a surprise visit to the Collegeduring the summer holidays as well asattending Association Day in June.

Retirement is suiting John Ainslie (PPC1952 to 1960). He has recently becomechairman of the Society of Saint Gregory,which promotes good liturgy and churchmusic – and is also secretary of UniversaLaus, an international group with similar aims.John acknowledges his debt to the late RonPalmer who started him at Prior on his lifelongpreoccupation with church music. Johnreports having met with Professor AnthonyWatts, former class rival (!) for the first time in45 years when they had much to catch up on.

Mike England (at Prior from 1952 to 1958)was celebrating the arrival of his firstgrandchild in November of 2005, when sadlyjust a few weeks earlier his mother JoanEngland had died. Joan was the widow ofPhilip Gregory England who had been astudent at Prior in the 1920s together with hisbrothers Patrick, Thomas, Bernard andJoseph Daly.

Gossip Bowl

Photo supplied byPatrick MasonBack row Left to right:Terry Tory, Brian Long, Gerald JigginsFront row left to right:Paul Nethercott,Richard Gibbons

www.priorpark.co.uk/ppa Gossip Bowl 7

Johanna Gardner, Mei Mei (Emma) Yip andFrancoise Perks (nee Bates). Johanna, or Jo,(Johanna@winwinscenarios.com) and herhusband Owen, both in real estate, and theirtwo teenage sons are soon to leave their homein Seattle for San Antonio, Texas. Both MeiMei (mmyip@netnavigator.com) andFrancoise (francoiseperks@yahoo.co.uk) aremarried and living in Hong Kong. Emma hastwo children, and Francoise, who waspregnant at the reunion, now has a baby girl,Petra. Jo’s sister, Rebecca Moles (neeGardner), who left PPC in ’90 is happilymarried with two young daughters and aboutto move to Phoenix, Arizona.

Hong Kong is also home to Philip Sanchez(who left Prior in 1989) and would love to hearfrom his contemporaries and also any fellowPP students in HK; Philip can be contacted on:dfm@flyfishing.tv . His work is in developingproduct and setting up manufacturing supply.

Never underestimate the power of the PriorPark network! Those who left the College in1990 came up trumps when we were trying toput Joseph Nwagobgu in touch with his oldfriend Christian Herrero. Thanks to AdamDowdle and John Devlin we managed toreach Christian by e-mail. Joseph is living inNigeria and, having modified his 'earlier plansfor world domination', has been an art dealerin Lagos for the last fifteen years. He has alsonow set up The Africa Centre which is acultural investment and general businessinterface into Nigeria and Africa drawing onJoseph's local knowledge. Please get in touchwith him on: chike@nimbusartcentre.com

Suzannah Angelo-Sparling (PPC 1985 -1987) is a very loyal member of the PPACommittee and a former President, givinggenerously of her time in all our activities.Suzannah is currently half way through thesecond year of a Fine Art Photography degreein Cheltenham. It was a huge decision for herto give up work and go back to uni but it ispaying off in spades! She is hoping to arrangesome work as an assistant photographer inCheltenham in order to get an insight into whatshe might do when she has completed herdegree. Suzannah is still playing hockey, nowwith a Cheltenham club. Every now and thenshe works for the Tote, principally atCheltenham but occasionally Epsom andNewbury - great fun work which can flex withher uni timetable. Summer of '06 should seeSuzannah spending a week in Lourdes with theAmpleforth pilgrimage. She will be doing thehalf marathon 'Moon Walk' in Hyde Park onMay 20th 2006, raising money for breastcancer, any sponsorship would be greatlyappreciated - please e-mail Suzannah on:samas33@hotmail.com

Many congratulations to Malcolm Cannon(who left PPC in 1987) and his wife Rachel whoadded to their family in February of this yearwith Harry Huw, brother to Noah and Rufus.

A regular player for the PPA old boys'rugby team is David Zanetti (who left Prior in1982) and says he will continue 'until his bodysays no'! David has been back in Bristol forthe last five years working for the familymarble and granite business where he hasbeen employed for the last twenty odd years.He is married to Claudia and they have twoyoung children. David is in touch with formerpupils Francis and Paul Sewell and TonyJiggins all of whom are based in Bath and hesees Mark Gompels from time to time at StPeter and Paul cathedral in Bristol onSundays. You can contact David ondz@marbleflooring.co.uk

Douglas Ho had much news to update uswith – he finished at Prior in 1989 and went onto King's College, University of London (LouiseBrowning and Harriet Cannon were at thesame college). Having completed his BScdegree, he left the UK and went to Hong Kongwhere he has remained. Douglas decided todo another degree and qualified as anarchitect, now his profession. Congratulationsto him and his wife on their wedding inFebruary of 2005. In his spare time Douglasplays weekly amateur football league gamesand keeps up with Gabriel Wong and AndrewChoy, both of whom are also in Hong Kong. Hebelieves Daniel Tung is also practising as anarchitect in London and that Ian Renfrew isbased there too. Please get in touch withDouglas on: doug@slho.com.hk

Manchester is still the base for Peter Smithwho left Prior in 1988 where he works forMichael Page International as a Manager forthe North West for Procurement and SupplyChain: Peter kindly invites anybody looking forwork in those disciplines in his area to contacthim. Martin Pike (also of Prior) works for thesame company as a Director in the Midlands.Peter was married last year to Gillwith Darren Crawford as his best manand Edgardo Robinson as usher:petersmith@michaelpage.com

Christopher Coelho (who was at Crickladeand Prior from 1976 to 1986) is now living andworking in Norway, married to Silja with twochildren. After leaving Prior, Christopher spenttwo years travelling the globe; then studied atBuckingham University where he gained anupper second class degree in Politics,Economics and Law. He travelled again inFrance for almost two years and returning tothe UK took up accountancy but found this toodull and settled instead on a year's MBAqualification at Canterbury University. Then 29years of age, having mastered sevenlanguages and with a wealth of qualifications,he found a warm welcome for his many talentsin Norway.

Martin Fowler (Prior 1977 to 1983) hasembraced continuing education and explainsthat at the ripe old age of 41 he is in the finalyear of his Event Management degree atThames Valley University in Ealing – such amature student that his fellow studentsaddress him as 'dad'! Martin would bedelighted to hear from friends from alma mater– please contact him on:10401578@gw.tvu.ac.uk

Dean Ammon (at Prior from 1985 to 1989)wanted to communicate his new contactdetails in Trinidad so that anybody making thetrip for the rugby sevens or the cricket worldcup in 2007 could reach him:deanammon@hotmail.com ordeanammon@wow.net ; Dean explains thathis place is within walking distance of Queen'sPark Oval. Four years ago he had visits fromStephen Power and his wife Claire, JamesPower, Scott Hadley and Eddie Layette.

A complete career change is on the cardsfor John Devlin (at Prior from 1985 to 1990)who is thinking of moving to Thames ValleyPolice (any PPA members in the police forcewho could offer John any advice?). John livesin Binfield near Reading with his wife Tracyand two young children. John's older brotherAndrew (PPC 1982 – 1988) is working for Cable& Wireless based in Bracknell and is happilymarried with a three year old son. John hasrecently been in touch with Neil Brown who isdoing well, working for BAe in Saudi Arabia,married to Kirsti and expecting their first childthis spring. John also keeps up with AdamDowdle who is with Vadarmoss Recruitment inLondon. John is keen to hear from anyonewho remembers him from Prior days:johndevlin007@btinternet.com

Elizabeth Hug (now married to Doug VanAuten) was at Prior from 1985 to 1986. Theyare based in Kingswood, Texas and have twochildren aged 5 and 3 years. After leavingPrior Park Elizabeth went on to the Universityof Michigan and obtained her Masters degreein English language and literature. She hasworked as an independent EducationalConsultant and writer for the past four years.Having not been back to Prior since the familyleft in 1986, Elizabeth would be very pleased tohear from old friends and wondershow to contact Gabby Sanders?evanauken@houston.rr.com

Food is no longer just a passion but nowalso a living for Nigel Skelchy and his partnerwho run their own business, 'Just Heavenly',making cakes and planning weddings andevents. Nigel grew tired of the corporate worldand started up this new venture five years agoin Kuala Lumpur. He would be very pleased ifanybody could put him in touch with old friendNadim Saliba (PPC 1979 to 1983/4).

Since 2000 Luke Price (PPC 1983 – 1985)has been singing full-time at the Royal OperaHouse, is now living in Tonbridge, married toAntonia with their first child due this spring –

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Larry Lequay (at Prior from 1978 to 1980)had an excellent reason for being unable toattend the PPA dinner - he lives in Trinidad -but does hope to make the trip one day. Larryrecounted fond memories of Mr O'Sullivan – ateacher and mentor whom he said made asignificant positive impression on him. After20 years in banking, Larry changed career in2004 and is now enjoying the very differentchallenges of his interests in the quarryingand restaurant industries in Trinidad where helives. Larry can be contacted onlarry@fiberline.tt

After a visit to the College in the summerwe were delighted to renew Robin Fisher'scontact with the PPA. Robin was a studenthere from 1973 to 1975 and is now marriedwith two sons, living and working in Lille,France. Robin works for a European fundingprogramme which supports interregionalcooperation in N.W. Europe around town andcountry planning issues such as urbanregeneration and transport. He is still in touchwith Brother Gregory Miller and also withformer peers: William Fielding who is basedin the Bahamas and Paul McNamara who isnow a medical consultant for St Oswald'sHospital near Newcastle and father of four.Robin asked for help in tracing Frank Gallianoand Kenneth Bonnavia neither of whom arecurrently on our database but Mitch Davieswe can contact in the Cayman Islands. Robincan be reached on : robin.fisher@tele2.fr

Working at Macquarie Bank (theAustralian investment bank) in London isformer pupil, Michael Davis (PPC 1971 to1976). He is Head of Compliance for the UK,Europe, South Africa and the Middle Eastwhich means he travels a lot (includingSydney) and would be very pleased to hearfrom old friends in any of these parts of theworld: Michael.Davis@macquarie.com . Hehas recently discovered the joys of a freeSunday morning, having retired after 22 yearsas organist at St Joseph's Church, Guildford!

Nick Bailey (PPC 1968 – 1974) has been e-mailing old friends John (Nick) Blayney,Anthony McQuiggan and Mark Stevens andJeff Petro but they have yet to meet up eventhough Mark and Nick live only fifteen minutesapart! Mark has been in touch with PaulHoward-Kyan (who has been teaching inLibya for a number of years) and AndrewSchembri (who still works for the MOD inGibraltar and his wife manages the BristolHotel).

John Blayney reports that he is alive andwell and living near Stratford-upon-Avonwhere he is the principal veterinary surgeonof a five vet practice. John has threedaughters, all currently at university.

Anthony Coelho who was at Cricklade andPrior from 1971 to 1980 is a very busy man,running the only dental practice in Saltash,Cornwall. He lives in Plymouth with his wifeCathy, also a dentist, and two daughters.

From time to time Anthony joins up with ateam of doctors, builders and other specialiststo visit outlying areas of West Africa in orderto help build homes and where they have alsoestablished a health clinic.

Another mature student, Adrian Williamswho left Prior in 1975 tells us that he has at lastgot round to doing his degree - in maths –about 30 years later than his classmates!Adrian wonders whether anybody remembershis brother Fred Williams who, although not aformer student, was a groundsman at Prior in1974? The sad news is that Fred died in 2004;Fred had just finished his degree.Adrian can be contacted on:adrianwilliams.PPA@webalumnus.com

Gabriel Makhlouf has been living in Surreysince 1989, working in London for HMRevenue & Customs, and is married to Sandywith a seventeen year old son Richard.Gabriel has been in touch with old friendSteve McCullagh (PPC 1972 – 1976) who isorganising a car rally in India in October of2006. Gabs' brother Peter/Pierre (PPC 1976 –1982) lives in Walthamstow and is in regulartouch with Costas Tsoucatos who lives inAthens. Just before Christmas, Gabriel haddinner with Paul Wrightman and Willie VanHeesewijk (both of whom live nearby) andthey hatched a plan for a reunion of the classof 1978 – so if any others would like to join inthey would be most welcome and shouldcontact Gabs through the PPA website or bye-mailing gmakhlouf@hotmail.com . TheClass of '78, as Gabriel remembers it includes,apart from those already mentioned, Tony andEdward Chan, Tony and John Sewell, JimRiordan, Jim Hull, Carl Rupesinghe, GaryWinch, Mark Williams, John Bagnall,Richard Westoby, Mike Smith, AndrewPurvis, Kevin Mizzi, Martin Schimmer,Richard McLoughlin, Denis Lyons, Joe Codaliand Paul Kenrick; he apologises for anyonehe has insulted by not mentioning them!Hoping the reunion will go ahead, it willwelcome those of the 78 year who left in 1976:Steve McCullagh, Jude Conlon, Dez Judge,Neil Chilcott plus anyone from the classes of1977 and 1979 such as: Mark Ashworth, Markvan Heesewijk, Richard Buckley andMichael Danager.

1981 – 1990Father John Cooke (PPC 1982 – 1986) is

now Parish Priest at St Joseph's inBasingstoke running a large and busy parishand despite his hectic schedule is very goodat keeping in touch. Father John has CannonBrian Murphy O'Connor (who was at Prior inthe forties) now 76 years old, living with him inthe roomy Presbytery – very convenient forJohn as he has a ready made 'supply priest'who can also offer counsel, older priest toyounger! Canon Brian retired last summerafter 50 wonderful years as parish priest inBrockenhurst, New Forest. Fr John is hoping

to make it to Prior for a PPA function, bringingBrian with him but, in the meantime, anybodypassing through Basingstoke is assured of awarm welcome. John also updated us on hissister Josephine's news –she and herhusband Roger Pettett are living in GreatDunmow and expecting their second child thisspring. Josephine (nee Cooke) came to Priorin 1988.

Dr Richard Wells, Head of Science at Priorwas particularly pleased to receiveimpromptu correspondence (following anostalgic scan of the Prior Park Collegewebsite) from a former pupil of his - StephenWigmore - whom Dr Wells had encouraged topursue his keen interest in science, andbiology in particular. Stephen went on tostudy Medicine at King's College London,graduating with first class honours in 1986 andgoing on to get his MBBS in 1989. He movedto the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh andembarked on a career in surgery; he waselected a Fellow of the Royal College ofSurgeons in 1993 and completed his Doctoratein Medicine in 1996. Following his interest inresearch, he spent some months working in ascientific laboratory in San Francisco.Returning to Edinburgh, he was awarded aWellcome Trust Advanced Fellowship, takingup an appointment as Senior Lecturer inSurgery at the University of Edinburgh andbecoming Consultant Surgeon to the ScottishLiver Transplant Unit. Stephen's most recentmove has been to the University ofBirmingham to take up the Chair ofTransplantation Surgery and we wish him thevery best for this new appointment. On thedomestic front, Stephen is married to Lynne,they have three lovely children and he stillfinds time to pursue his other passion,painting. Stephen can be contacted on:s.wigmore@bham.ac.uk Stephen's father, IanWigmore, is also a former Prior pupil and is acontemporary of Andy Owen.

Gerald Davies let us know that EdwardMason called into Prior recently. He is livingin Northern Ireland, marrried with threedaughters. Edward has recently returnedfrom Iraq, is retiring from the army shortly andwill be looking for a new career. Edward'sbrother John Mason (who was in the IrishGuards like Edward) retired from the armyabout three years ago. John is currentlyworking as a civilian, in Iraq, as a securityadvisor. Gerald also let us know that MajorGiles Watson plans to retire from the armyand is considering a career in teaching - hischosen subject, history.

The long trip from Hong Kong did not deterPeter Woo and his wife from visiting Prior inMay of 2005 and looking around the Collegebuildings and Chapel. Peter was interested tosee the swimming pool which was beingrenovated at the time since this is his businessin Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was the venue for a reunion ofthree former Prior girls who left in 1990:

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many congratulations! On a recent visit toBath Luke enjoyed a nostalgic visit to Priorwandering through the beautiful grounds.Contemporaries can contact Luke onprice_luke@yahoo.co.uk

Both former pupils from the class of 1985,Mark Gallen and his wife Justine (neeChapman) report the very happy news of thearrival of their third daughter on Christmas Eve2005. Mark is now running his own salestraining company working with the major hotelchains. Justine has taken a break to look afterthe girls but will be returning to work for a cityheadhunting firm. The Gallens live in Bath andare in touch with old classmates: MarielleHunt who is living in London and working as aPlanning Director for an advertising agency,Katie Ireland (now Mrs Cutts) is married witha young son and working as Head ofDepartment for City of London Boys School,Wale Onabanjo and Paul McMahon.

Isabel and Dominic Cave, both from theclass of 1989 are still living in Alberta inWestern Canada. They now have threechildren, a boy and two girls. Dominic worksat one of the larger children's hospitals inCanada as a Paediatric Anaesthesiologist andalso specialises in liver transplantation.Isabel is working as a Business Manager andcan be reached on: icav2003@yahoo.ca

Corsham is where you will find former pupilSusan Miles (PPC 1986 – 1988) together withher partner and his two teenage sons – manycongratulations on the wedding planned forJuly 2006. Susan is currently working at theUniversity Medical Centre in Bath and is alsoTreasurer of the Bath Business Women'sAssociation; she can be reached on:sue@cresswells.go-plus.net

If any old boys from his era are passingthrough Hong Kong they are warmly invited toget in touch with James Brazier (PPC 1976 –1984) working for BNP Paribas onJames.brazier@asia.bnpparibas.com . Hisfamily, wife Olga and daughter Ines arehappily established in HK and the Braziershave recently adopted a local Hong Kong boy,Hugo, who is one year old and has been withthem since July of 2005.

On leaving Prior in 1989 Mitchell Menezesobtained his law degree from the University ofLeicester, sat his solicitor's finals and hisKenya bar and now heads the family law firmin Kenya. Mitch is also the Law Society ofKenya branch chairman in Kisumu. We tried toput Mitch in touch with old friends Chika Okoli(Ike's younger brother), Lionel Leong, DanielTung and Ian Renfrew. If anybody would liketo contact Mitch please e-mail him onwakilione@hotmail.com

Early signs of an entrepreneurial spiritwere demonstrated by former pupils andpartners in crime, Derek Chapman and MarkDustin (left PPC 1989) who had fond plans forthe Prior roofing lead and its inherent value!Apparently Mr Moran put them right!

Enfield is now home to Simon McCarthy (amember of the class of '83). Simon isconducting research for the Government andUN at Middlesex University on riskcommunication issues surrounding naturalhazards and has subsequently touched on theAsian tsunami and US Katrina. Simon can becontacted on: S.McCarthy@mdx.ac.uk

John Van Hoof who was a student at Priorfrom 1979 – 1981 (and whose e-mail isjohn@thevanhoofs.com) kindly contacted usto pass on Kyran Sze's contact details –kyran.sze@aedas.com

1991 – 2000A surprise but welcome phone call to the

PPA office came from Christopher Martin wholeft Prior at the end of the upper Vth in 1989(and was therefore at school with the year of'91) hoping to trace old friends. Chris is nowliving and working in Leicestershire. We weredelighted to be able to put him in touch withAlexander El-Khoury via his father Mounir El-Khoury, himself ex PPC. Chris was also hopingto reach Chris Bosley, Andrew Smith and TomO'Flaherty. If anybody can help with contactdetails, please let Debbie know.

When Lucy Tobin headed north to Scotlandwith her parents in 1989 she was very upset tobe leaving her Prior life and plans behind.However, fate had an unusual hand to play inLucy's future relationship with Prior. In May2003 Lucy went to her brother Matthew's 30thbirthday party and there, amongst numerousother old Prior Park boys, she met EdmundLayet who, like Matthew, had finished schoolin 1991. Romance blossomed instantly and the

pair weremarried in thechurch of OurLady of Pity andSt Simon Stockin Putney inNovember 2004.

Steve Wright who left Prior in 1993 is nowliving in Bristol and keeps in touch with ClaireMattock, Ian Price, Charles Allward andSimon Pope. Steve is now Assistant Editor forVenue, Bristol and Bath's what's on magazine– writing mostly about the arts. You can reachSteve on S.Wright@venue.co.uk.

August of 2006 will see Lauren Bakiccomplete her business studies in Munichwhere she has been following a work/studypattern – working for her father in hiscompany designing customised and standardpackaging. Lauren left Prior in 2000 and spenta year living in Paris learning to speak French– she completed a year and a half of aninternational business degree with Italian atthe European Business School and thenreturned to Germany. Her next move will shehopes be to Italy to work, returning ultimatelyto Munich and her father's company. Laurencan be contacted on: lauriebakic@yahoo.de

The class of '94 reunion idea provoked afew enquiries and we heard from DanielHancock as well as Faith Egre. Daniel wouldvery much like to organise a '94 reunion sometime this year and has asked anybodyinterested to e-mail him on:dannyhancock_uk_1@yahoo.co.uk . KateWheadon also of 94 vintage got in touch fromher new home in Wiltshire - she commutes toLondon every day. Kate is in touch withSophia Erdozain (now Roberts) and RichardParker; Kate can be contacted on:kate_wheadon@hotmail.com

Paul Martin left Prior in 1999 and struggledwith back problems through university. Hehad an operation after graduating in 2003 butunfortunately is still unable to play any sport orjoin the army as he had hoped. Paul isworking for a recruitment company but isthinking about going into teaching...perhapsan MA in politics or theology followed by aPGCE? As a former Roche House inmate, Paultold Gerald Davies that he is still in touch withAnthony Osunde who is keeping busy asusual, doing a PhD at Imperial in ChemicalEngineering (sponsored by GSK) and an MApart time in Theology plus he has a recordingcompany. Ben Watson has found success in arecruitment company set up by his brother'sfriend and Hon (who now prefers to be calledJack) is enjoying life working in an investmentbank in the city. Paul is also in regular contactwith Jamie Dawson, Will Moore, SimonMarks and Ed Acton. You can reach Paul onpmartin@astoncarter.co.uk

John Lord left Burton House and PPC in1994 and graduated with an MSc in AppliedLandscape Archaeology from OxfordUniversity in May 2005. He is now working asan archaeological consultant with a planning,archaeology and historic buildingsconsultancy in Cheltenham and travels the UKadvising developers on the archaeologicalimplications of proposed developments andmanaging fieldwork. He lives in Gloucesterand plans to buy his first place over the nextyear. He would welcome contact from oldfriends, especially the class of '94:john.lord@cgms.co.uk

On leaving Prior in 1993, Gabrielle Cavewent to live in Canada where she hasremained ever since – she can be reached ongabrielle_cave@hotmail.com.

Jessica Penny (now Mrs Smallwood)contacted the PPA and we were pleased thatshe was able to catch up with her old friend,also of 1992 Prior vintage, Joanna Newland.

Prior continues to exert an influence on theStier family although Heidi finished herstudies here in 1996 and now lives and worksin the States. Her brother Matthew iscurrently on the grounds staff and keeps herup to date with news from the College. Heidican be contacted on heidistier@hotmail.com

Warmest congratulations go to JennyHardie (older sister to Tim who recently

organised his year group's reunion at theCollege) on her marriage. Jenny is now MrsHumphrey and living in London.

His first year after university saw EdwardSage working for Duck Son & Pinker in Bathand now he and his fiancee are living in Kent.Edward's career has taken an unexpectednew turn - he is training as a CommercialInsurance Broker as he prepares to take overthe running of his father-in-law's company in afew years' time. In his spare time Edward isstill in touch with other former pupils – SimonMogg who is working in New York, FreddieSayers who is in Canada, Phil and John Harrisand Ben Wetherill, Paul Sloman and JamesHouse who are both based in London andBecky Auty who is studying and working inGermany. Edward called into College recentlywith very sad news – his father John, knownto most as 'Bill', died suddenly on Wednesday15th March 2006, leaving his devoted wifeElisabeth. Bill was known to many at Prior,especially through his links to the musicdepartment. Edward would be very pleased tohear from old friends on:edward@aroninsurance.co.uk

Staying local, Harry Speller (who joinedPrior in 1990) is currently working in Bath at anInternet Technology company as a TechnicalMarketing Advisor where he has beenemployed for three years. He has howevertravelled the world with his work includingSingapore, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka which hehas thoroughly enjoyed: hspeller@gmail.com

Anthony Swan is still in the CaymanIslands and has some exciting news for thePPA – he was married to Nancy McGinn fromHalifax, Nova Scotia in August of 2005 and thenewlyweds are now living on Grand Cayman:antswan007@hotmail.com

Happy news on the grapevine from theO'Donovan family – Helen, who was at Priorbetween 1991 and 1998 and is now on the staffat the College teaching theology and girls'sports, is to be married to Toby Goodman inthe summer of 2007. Congratulations toHelen and Toby!

John Messenger (Prior 1989 – 1993) hasrecently returned to London where he isworking as an architect on various healthcareprojects. John had been working in SakhalinIsland (Russia's penal colony and nuclearweapons base) in temperatures of minus 20,overseeing the construction of his last project.Now thawed out, he is looking forward to ayear of relative comfort. John is on:john993@yahoo.com

Congratulations go to Daniel Hill (left Priorin 2000) who gained an upper second classdegree in marketing from Aston University andis now a consultant contracted with theVolkswagen brand. In his spare time Danielenjoys travelling the world and trainingfor triathlons and he would be verypleased to hear from old friends:daniel.hill@volkswagen.co.uk

Will Gikandi (at Prior from 1996 to 1998)now lives in a small town in Buffalo, NY and isa few months off completing his mastersdegree in chemical engineering. Will isworking on simulating microbial behaviour oncomputers and the effect of deleting or adding

genes in bacteria. Willacknowledges hisdebt to Dr Trott, DrWells and Dr Ruxton'sfine teaching skillsand is glad he paidattention in class!Old friends cancontact him on:kawess@gmail.com

Thoroughly enjoying the climate andlifestyle in Sydney, Australia and working forMacquarie Bank is Jo O'Donnell (who left PPCin 1997). Updating us on old friends Jo let usknow that Fiona Thompson (97) is in her finalyear training to be a nurse, Kirsty Brown (98)is still in London and getting married to Paul inJuly 2006. Euan Brown (2000) is working inLondon in marketing and Elspeth Brown isstudying to be a teacher at Liverpool JohnMoores. Jo would love to hear from any ex-classmates, especially any on her side of theworld! joodonnell@yahoo.com

Having recently resigned from his job in thecity where he was working as the director of afinancial software company, Simon Heaneyhas started his own business, 'West CountryRacing'. Having celebrated their first winner,Simon's business allows people to own ashare in a racehorse. Simon lives inChippenham with his partner and their twoyoung children. Simon can be contacted on:simon_heaney@hotmail.com

The PPA office was delighted to hear fromChris Donnelly from the class of '92. Hecurrently working at the Cabinet Office as theFixed Asset and Systems Accountant whichinvolves accounting for all the fixed assetsheld within the Cabinet Office (includingnumber 10). Chris is still studying to be a fullyqualified accountant, lives in SE London andkeeps in touch with Simon Heaney and withMichael Leung who is living and working inCanada. You can get in touch with Chris on:chrisdonnelly.PPA@webalumnus.com .Congratulations to Chris' brother Peter (at PPCfrom '82 – '89) who was married to Sarah, adoctor, in London in February of 2006. Peter'sfriend Marco Polledri and Chris were bothushers.

Frank Borg made a sudden departure fromPrior in 1991 a few months before his A levelfinals, due to the very sad and unexpecteddeath of his father in Malta. Frank returnedhome to carry on the family businesses inimportation/wholesale and in gas distribution.1998 saw Frank happily married to Sandra andthey had two children - but by 2003 Frankwanted to take on new challenges and soldthe importation business. The familyrelocated to the States– Frank is now looking

after much of Crown Production's SouthAmerican operations, travelling to Columbia,Mexico and Peru (as well as running the oldfamily gas business and returning to Maltafrom time to time). Frank has kept in touchwith Ben Yang and Miles Dyton and would bereally pleased to hear from anycontemporaries on: borgfrank@yahoo.com

Boarding school was good preparation forMiles Dyton (PPC 1985 – 1991) for the rigoursof working offshore for four years; Miles wentinto the oil industry after leaving university.He then had two years in London followed bya move to Norway where he spent four yearsperfecting the art of snowboarding and cross-country skiing. Miles found his way back tothe UK in May of 2005 and is now working inDocklands and is in touch with JoanKuzmickas (known as 'Mrs K' to those from StPeter's) and of course with Frank Borg.

Forthcoming finals and a dissertation tocomplete at Newcastle University are keepingVictoria Thompson (PPC 1996 – 1999) verybusy. She still finds time to play hockey for theUniversity and remains an enthusiast.

The PPA managed to put Tess Bentall incontact with Sam Hill. Sam is now living andworking in London – both he and Tess hailfrom the year of 1999. You can reach Sam onsamhill912@hotmail.com.

Leaving behind the world of law and insearch of sunshine and a better way of life,Anne-Marie Fletcher made a permanent moveto Perth, Australia in September of 2005.Congratulations to Anne-Marie on her secondbaby due this summer. Anne-Marie wouldbe particularly pleased to hear fromMelanie Rizzo (who finished at Prior in1991) and can be contacted on:annemariefletcher@hotmail.com

Dr Mercer has kindly passed on news ofMichael Mould who, following six years ofstudy at St George's Hospital Medical School,graduated with a merit in clinical skills andpractice. Michael is now on his first houseofficer job at Worthing Hospital and with whatlittle spare time he has from the A&Edepartment he is taking his private pilot'slicence. He is contemplating joining the RoyalArmy Medical Corps in the future and we wishhim all the very best.

Martyn Bane (PPC 1985-1992) has returnedto Prior in a salaried capacity as ICTTechnician (following in the footsteps of hisfather Brian who was employed as Head ofMaths at Prior). Meanwhile Martyn's lifelongobsession with steam powered railwayvehicles continues unabated and has led tomany overseas trips in search of operatingsteam locos. He has recently visited China,Australia and Argentina with further tripsplanned to include North America and SouthAfrica; information can be found atwww.martynbane.co.uk.

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In 2005 Martyn launched an appeal toraise money to rescue one of the world’s mostefficient steam locomotives which waslanguishing in a city in the west of Argentina.The appeal was a success but Latin politicsintervened and work is ongoing. He wasasked to write the foreword to a book(currently being translated from Spanish toEnglish) on what was the world's mostsoutherly railway.

His long held hopes of working with steammay soon be realised. Martyn is setting up asmall business to supply water treatmentchemicals to loco operators, an area in whichhe has become a leading expert in the lastfew years; see www.portatreatment.com.Martyn has also become a trainee locofireman (the first qualification rung on theladder to driver) on the West SomersetRailway and often works on the GWR KingClass locomotive 6024 King Edward I in hisspare time.

Other former pupils he is in touch withinclude Matthew Parkes (1985-1992) who isnow married to Lizzie and proud father ofJonathan. Matt works as a fund raisingmanager for ChildLine in London. DanielWilliams (1985-1992) recently married Karenover a lavish two day ceremony, the first dayat a Hindu Temple and the second in a sidechapel at Westminster Cathedral. Dan lives inSW London and continues to be a successfullawyer in the capital. Sebastian Goldfinch(1988-1992) has almost completed a gruellingcourse to become qualified as a person-centred counsellor. Living in Cardiff, Seb canbe found regularly engaged in his first love –music; as a freelance music producer andperformer his name has appeared in thecredits on several albums and televisionprogrammes. Seb is able to pass on news ofJohnny Smithers (1988-1992): followingseveral years studying the religious beliefs ofremote Andean communities, Johnny is nowback in the UK. He and his wife are expectingtheir fifth child in 2006.

2001 onwardsThis time last year, Katherine Hudson (who

left PPC in 2004) was having a fabulous andhugely rewarding experience as part of theAfrica and Asia Venture gap year project,teaching at St. Brigid's Girls' High School inKenya. Her living quarters soundedinteresting – complete with bee infestationsand resident rat families! Katherine hadclearly been overwhelmed by the amazinglybeautiful countryside in Kenya.

Many congratulations to Emma Kenyon(nee Tobin) and her husband Rob on thearrival of Amy who is now one year old andtheir move to Earlsfield in London. Emma'sbrother Matthew Tobin (who is now a partnerin the London law firm of Slaughter & May)lives ten minutes away in Southfields,together with his wife Sarah and their twoyoung children. Emma keeps up with AndreaGreen (now Asbury) on a regular basis – sheis still living in London and was married toRichard last summer, and with Abigail James(now Purcell) who is living in Barnes. AtChristmas Emma met up with Frances Wright(now MacIntyre) who is expecting her thirdbaby, and Gwendoline Padfield who is livingnear Bath and working as a vet. In April 2006Emma, Rob and Amy are travelling out to theCayman Islands to visit Maria McEnery (nowMays) who is working out there with herhusband Ben. You can reach Emma on:emmatobin@yahoo.com

Having left Prior in the summer of 2002,Edward Fingleton is still enjoying life atuniversity – you can contact him on:ejf2@aber.ac.uk .

The Bursar very kindly gave us news onJames Graham who left Roche House andPrior in 2001 and has now graduated fromNottingham Trent as a Quantity Surveyor.James is now working for Turner Townsendand living in Wigton.

Prior Park was very proud to hear from theArmed Forces Careers Office that Luke Irving,who left Prior in 2002, has been awarded anArmy Bursary whilst studying at BradfordUniversity – he is currently in the second yearof his Peace Studies degree. Luke plans tostart at Sandhurst in 2007 or early 2008. Lukespent an interesting gap year teaching inIndia on the Tibetan border and also workedwith the Territorial Army when in Bath.

Having graduated from WarwickUniversity with an upper second class degreein International Business (French), and havingspent a year living, studying and working inRouen, Thomas Hayward (PPC 1994 - 2001) isnow based in Japan. He left the UK havingsecured a place on the JET (Japan Exchangeand Teaching) Programme and is now anAssistant Language Teacher of English andFrench in two senior high schools in Naganoprefecture in a city called Shiojiri, on the mainisland of Honshu. Thomas is still playing theclarinet, in the schools' concert bands andthe rest of his time is spent exploring Japanwhere he thinks he will remain until 2007. Ifanybody would like to get in touch, please e-mail Thomas on: tshayward@hotmail.com

Vickie Hobbs (PPC 1995 – 2002) is in herfinal year at Guildford School of Acting andcurrently on placement in London working forGreaea Theatre Company as Video and AudioEditor. Vickie's next step is a self-fundedplace at the New York Film School for a year'sintensive training at the Universal Studioseither in Los Angeles or New York, where inthe course of the year, she will write, shoot,direct and edit at least six of her own shortfilms. You can get in touch with her on:vickiehobbs83@hotmail.com . Vickie's olderbrother Richard is married and living inLondon with his wife Kanako and can becontacted on: richard.hobbs@gmail.com

PPA Rugby Sunday December 4th 2005This season's match was a little lower key

than usual. Despite the many promises, onlysufficient players turned up (or at least wenton the field) for a seven a-side match.

However, unlike the standard cliché of thefootball world - it was a game of four halves.The younger team, almost entirely composedof players from the same year, ably lead bySkidders, dominated all four halves. It was hisfirst match since his injury a couple of years

ago, and he was so keen he turned up withNick Umpleby in tow, in rugby gear, at 1.00pmfor a 2.30 kick off. Dan Keepax, as ever, led theolder element, which included that faithful oldretainer, David Zanetti. Another Old Boy,returning to the scene of the crime for the firsttime since leaving, was Anthony Osunde, wholooked sharp and dazzled with his change ofpace and swerve . However, he finallysuccumbed to old age and a tweakedhamstring! It was good to see Ed Acton andJamie Dawson in action again supporting DanKeepax as in days of yore. They weresupported from the touchline by Will Moore,George Klepp and Simon Marks, apparentlysuffering form the effects of a riotous night inBath. From more recent years, we had theregular and faithful servant, Charlie Hare plusa debut performance from the only member oflast year's Upper Sixth, Dan Dando.

There were several promises to play nextyear (as usual!). Perhaps more of you mightbe tempted by a slightly new arrangement.We would like to try having the match oneither the first or last Saturday of half-term(that is 21st or 28th October 2006). The gamewould be followed by a meal in the schoolrefectory, leaving the evening for the annualrevels in Bath. Come and join in, you know itmakes sense!

Gerald Davies

PPA cricket match Sunday 26th June 2005 Once again, an excellent turnout for the

old boys with much thanks going to JohnMoore for rounding up so many. We werethen blessed with fantastic weather, and thescene was set…

Unfortunately, the lack of match practicefor many of the old boys showed through intheir batting. Some spirited hitting from SimonPhillips and Simon Brandon apart, the oldboys were only able to muster 85, admittedly

against some very tidy bowling. This scorethus proved difficult to defend, and the schoolteam cruised to 86 for 1 off only 17 overs.

Although disappointing as a match,nonetheless this was once again an extremelysuccessful afternoon, as the spirit andcamaraderie of the old boys shone through.

We at the school, look forward to seeingmany again next year, and hope that morerecent leavers will push for a place!

PPA Golf day report 2005There were 21 participants including Tom

Owens, Jon Fry and Vince Shannon of theteaching staff who were warmly welcomed.

The day, again organised by Ian Cordwell,took place at Cumberwell Park with anexcellent Dinner in the evening at the CliffeHotel at Limpley Stoke. Prizes were dividedamongst the participants, but the star of theday was undoubtedly Martin Woodhouse

with a Gross Score of 72, one over par; hewas followed by Peter O'Donoghue with anet score of 66. Frank Ghadian had the bestStableford score with 43 points.

Pictured at the evening meal are from leftto right: Paul McMahon, Frank Ghiadan,Chris McMahon, Peter O'Donoghue, MartinWoodhouse, Tony Jiggins, Darren Crawfordand Ian Cordwell in the foreground.

PPA Mixed Hockey Match Sunday March 6th 2005

This certainly was the most successful fixture of this type for a few years.

There were a healthy number of former pupils to play a school mixed XI (thanksparticularly to Claire Williams for her cajoling and press-ganging of older players!)and combined with superb spring weather, this contributed to a great afternoon.Several former students had said they were available and neither called nor turnedup - that was a shame, because they missed out!

A 4 - 3 victory for the former pupils was achieved, although much credit should goto Lee Hepworth (current 1st XI goalkeeper) for keeping the youngsters at bay.

Tom Owens

Association Day June 2005A very well-attended Memorial Mass to celebrate the life of Sidney Ash

was held in the College Chapel on Association Day. The school choir, underthe superb direction of Roland Robertson, sang excerpts from Mozart’sCoronation Mass and the eulogy was read by Andrew Owen, a Governor ofPrior Park and former President of the PPA. Following Mass, a plaque inmemory of Sidney was unveiled in the Errington Corridor by Gerald Walker, aformer pupil of Prior and executor of Sidney’s will.

EnjoyingAssociation lunchin the refectory

SIDNEY PERCIVAL ASH

24th January 1919 – 20th November 2004

Much loved and inspirational Classics MasterAnd Deputy Head of Prior Park Collage 1946 – 1983

This plaque has been erected by Prior Park Association to recognisehis outstanding contribution to the college and its former pupils

WeddingsIt was love at first sight for Tom Mann

when he met Anne-Marie in Newquay,Cornwall. The proposal took place in timehonoured tradition on bended knee – theromantic setting was LA, California.

They were married in Cornwall on 28thJanuary 2006 – a fabulous, memorable day -and they are now living happily together inLondon. They hope to honeymoon in theMaldives when their first anniversary comesaround.

Tom wanted to thank old Prior friends

Marcus Pietruszka for being his best man andAndrew Waite for his black humour.Unfortunately Louise Pearce (nee Power,who is now living in Liverpool with herhusband) could not make it to the ceremonybecause of family commitments in Ireland.

Tom and Anne-Marie are due to move toWashington DC where his next appointmentin the Army will be working in the BritishEmbassy. Both are looking forward to whatthe future may hold for them with a house andchildren in mind.

Clare Rippin who left Prior in 1994 returned to the College for herwedding to Stephen Davidsen on September 3rd 2005.

It was a glorious Saturday, the service conducted by Father PeterCornwell was beautiful, the choristers were outstanding and thesetting breathtaking. Family friends and many former pupils werethere to celebrate Clare's big day.

�Tom and Anne-Marie Mann

�Clare & Stephen Davidson

Wedding bells ring out down under! RuthWestwood reports on her special day:

I was married to Gerard Fielding on October 29th2005 in Bowral – a small town near Sydney. Thewedding was fantastic and was attended by anumber of people from England who were able tomake the trip. We were lucky enough to receive video

messages (so thoughtful and so touching to hear onthe other side of the world) from some Prior Parkpeople including Pamela Rose and Jacqui Rodskjaer,Sally Ashby and Helen O'Donovan (who startedteaching at Prior in September 05). We are now livingin Sydney and I am preparing to start my PhD inEducation at the University of Sydney in March 2006.

�Ruth & Gerard Fielding

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Our annual dinner took place on Saturdaythe 3rd of December 2005 at the College.

An old tradition was broken and a new oneestablished as our Guest of Honour wasChristopher Liu, the incoming President of thePPA. As the President’s tenure is now for fouryears the Committee decided that the annualdinner was the perfectoccasion for themembers to get toknow their newPresident and for theofficial handing overof the presidentialchain of office.

Drinks were servedin the Mansion, wheremembers and theirguests were entertainedby Christian Davis, a very talented harpist whois a pupil at Prior. The traditional music recitalthen took place in the John Wood chapelstarting with an impromptu Mozart piece on thepiano played by Christopher Liu’s daughter,Sophia. Members of the school choir, directedby Roland Robertson, then sang several choralpieces, followed by Lucy Sewell, who inaddition to having a splendid singing voice, isan outstanding trombone player. The President

Peter Hiltonpresented Lucywith the PPA’sannual musicprize (thep r e s i d e n t i a lduty whichPeter felt he

would miss themost).

The dining hall looked fabulous withatmospheric lighting organised for the PPA byDave Langley (whom we are delighted to say isnow back to full health following a year ofserious illness).

Once again there were a few faces at thedinner who had not been back to Prior for avery long period, notably Peter Wells (1962)who lives in Arizona and who had deliberatelydelayed his departure home to attend thedinner. Also present were John Dooner (1963)and Phil Harvey (1962) accompanied by his wifeSue. We were delighted to welcome back

Robin Aitken (1970) and Dominic Eedle (1970).Former members of staff who attended: TonyRyan, Vic Ferguson , Brian Bane, Joe Cainenand the former school Doctor, David Carr werespecially invited by Christopher Liu.

The oldest and one of the most faithful ofattendees was Leonard de Freitas (1938) andwe were pleased that Father Fred de l’Orme,the school and PPA chaplain, could attend.

After an excellent meal Peter Hiltonproposed the toast for the guests andwelcomed the Headmaster Dr Mercer and hiswife Caroline, the Head Girl Isobel Neville andthe Head Boy Shin Woo Kang. Peter statedthat he had greatly enjoyed hisfour-year stint asPresident of thePPA. He was

p a r t i c u l a r l ypleased that he hadhelped with theintroduction ofWeb Alumnus andreminded everyonethat it was DeeMiller, when shewas Secretary ofthe PPA, who hadinvited Abattia to demonstrate their product atPrior Park; Peter thanked Dee for her continuedsupport of the PPA.

Peter Hilton then welcomed ChristopherLiu, his successor as President, who wasaccompanied by his wife Vivienne and two oftheir three children, Sophia and George.Christopher came to Prior Park from Hong Kong

and left the school in 1975. He is one of theleading Ophthalmic surgeons in this countryand is based in Brighton. Christopher has justbeen named NHS Doctor of the Year for theSouth of England in recognition of hisdistinguished career in Ophthamology,particularly his work in introducing to theUnited Kingdom a revolutionary process whichconsists of creating a support for an artificialcornea from a tooth and its surrounding bone.

Christopher Liu spoke of his early years atPrior Park and jokingly made mention of hisinitial difficulty in recognising differentEuropeans as at that stage they all looked alike

to him! He thanked his former teachers for theirsupport when he was a pupil at Prior and madeparticular mention of Dr David Carr and his wifewho had helped him in the early stages of hismedical career. On a more serious note he

highlighted the problems currentlyfacing the NHS and in particular theanomalies created by theGovernment’s insistence on settingtargets, which appeared to be basedmore on balancing budgets than thequality of care for patients. In hisopinion the system of allocating starratings for hospitals is misleading as

the criteria used are often not basedsolely on medical expertise. He went on to sayhow pleased and honoured he had been when

the PPA Committee had asked him to take onthe Presidency for the next four years.

The Headmaster reported on theoutstanding exam results achieved by theschool and informed diners that Prior Park wasfull to capacity with a very healthy waiting list.The major event of 2005 had been the fact thatthe Paragon school in Bath has now becomeone of the two preparatory schools for PriorPark. Dr Mercer saw this as a significant stepforward for the school. He thanked Peter Hiltonfor all his work for the PPA and the school forthe last four years. He praised his persistencein introducing the Web Alumnus system, whichhas proved to be of great value to theAssociation and to the College. Dr Mercercongratulated Christopher Liu on hisappointment and looked forward to workingwith him in the future.

The official handing over to Christopher Liuthen took place when Peter Hilton presentedhim with the chain of office of the President ofthe PPA.

PPA Dinner December 2005 PPA Dinner December 2005

� Head Girl Isobel Neville� Head Boy Shin Woo Kang

� Top table

� Lucy Sewell

� The John Wood Chapel recital � Christopher Liu & Peter Hilton

The Chapel of Our Lady ofthe Snows at Prior was theglorious backdrop to a veryspecial occasion on 30thJuly 2005 – the marriage ofDaniel Barrett to HannahBane.

In traditional fashion thebride kept the congregation waiting afew moments due to avoidance tactics -avoiding a leak which the vintage Rollssprang en route to the chapel! The priest

was Rev Canon Michael Fitzpatrick, former priest to the Barrettfamily, who had to negotiate major traffic delays from Gloucester toofficiate. A wonderful day unfurled; the service was marvellous andthe fabulous wedding breakfast was held in the Academy Hall. Theguests included Eileen McPeake (retired Nursing Sister to theCollege) and Brian Bane (former maths teacher and cousin to thebride's father).

The happy couple met whilst students, working part time at theShowcase Cinema in Bristol. After university Daniel stayed withShowcase Cinemas and is now General Manager of the Cardiffcinema and Hannah is teaching at a primary school in Cardiff; theylive in Caerphilly.

A romantic winter wedding took place on 17thDecember 2005 at Prior Park when Matthew Burke(who left the College in 1994) was married to DawnReeve.

Prior connections were very strong and Matthew'sbrothers Paul and Vincent and sister Hannah (allformer pupils) were there to celebrate the happy

couple's day together with Andrew White (recentlyengaged), Annabel Holmes, Charlie and Jamie O'Brienas well as teaching staff Denis Clarke, and wifeJennie, and Rachel Owens. The service wasconducted in the Chapel and the reception in theMansion with an evening reception at the Guildhall inBath.

�Hannah & Daniel Barrett

�Dawn & Matthew Burke

� Christian Davis

� Robin Atiken’s table

ALLEN HOUSE:

James Cordey, Michael Daldry, Lee Dokic, Ross Foley, Oliver Harcourt, PatrickLau, Michael MacDonagh, Robert Mann, Oliver Middleton, Charles de Montravel,Patrick Quinlan, John Rowland, Israel San Roman, James Whittleton, Jason Yuen

BURTON HOUSE:

Robin Bailes, Richard Clayton, James Clements, Andrew Haworth, Alan Jordan,Andrew O’Neill, Tom Williams

CLIFFORD HOUSE:

Ben Conway, Jonathan Harris, Simon Hemmings, Magnus Hinde, Chris Mason,Hugo Warner, Daniel Weeks

ENGLISH HOUSE:

Katie Acton, Rachael Botley, Lucie Keogh, Alice Maddicott, Heidi Stier

FIELDING HOUSE:

Amy Hjaltun, Zena Kamash, Rachel Lax, Kate Rushton, Hana Stott

ROCHE HOUSE:

John-Mark August, Anthony Bennett, Jonathan Boon, Benjamin Chan, SinanCiddi, Matthew Fogarty, Joseph Iles, Adrian Lai, Tony Lee, John Moylan, WilliamPaskell, Kristian Price, Matthew Smith, David Stuart, Nicholas York

ST MARY’S:

Sinead Anderson, Kyla Brawley-Seale, Rachel Hunter, Vikki Knight, AndreaPalacios, Talei Rounds, Anneka Soper

Please contact Debbie in the PPA office if you are interested in gettinga reunion organised: ppa@priorpark.co.uk

We are very pleased to report on anotheryear of outstanding success for Prior ParkPrep School with a full complement of dayand boarding pupils. Many students havetransferred to the College with a pleasingnumber of scholarships in all fields.

The school said a fond farewell to MrJames after ten years of loyal service to boys'boarding, the Chapel, history teaching andsports coaching. Boarding is once more ingood hands with the new Head of Boarding,Mr Sanders. Mrs White was the other fulltime member of staff to move on - we were sograteful for all her work and the enthusiasmfor poetry she sparked in the children.

Public performance has been a hallmarkof success this year – the school play Charlieand the Chocolate Factory was hugelyenjoyable with some confident and polished

performances. Musically there was a first –the foreign tour to Austria where the ChapelChoir's performance at Salzburg Cathedralwas the most impressive. CheltenhamFestival saw us bring home sixteen top fourplaces in various classes including the ChoirCup.

In sport the aim is always to achievemaximum participation in school fixtures foras many as possible. Numerous successeshave flowed from this - amongst thehighlights were the senior girls' swimmingteam who reached the National IAPS Finalswhere they were ranked 4th in the country inthree events and the U13 girls' performanceat the Jersey Netball Tournament which gavethem runners up in a competition involving 19schools.

The spiritual life of the school remains

vibrant; we are fortunate to be able to holdtwo school masses a week courtesy of MgrTwomey and his chaplains at Holy RoodChurch in Swindon. We also welcomed to theschool Mgr Rigden, the Vicar General toconfer the sacrament of Confirmation onsixteen pupils.

The diverse programme throughout thisbusy and purposeful year – from the Year 3Roman Feast to the whole school WackyRaces Science Challenge, from the Year 8 tripto the Houses of Parliament to winning theDauntsey's School U12 MathematicalDodecahedron Challenge in a field of 500entrants; it all makes for an enrichedprogramme of school life from which so manyof our pupils gain in confidence andenjoyment.

G Hobern

The Prep School Report 2004 - 2005

Over a decade had passed since the PriorPark alumni of 1995 last graced the hallowedMansion Hall together. As it was we made ourway cautiously and carefully into thereception for our 10 year reunion. However,any early nerves soon faded away as older,but no less familiar, faces were found andwithin no time the years had rolled back andthe conversations were as free-flowing as thechampagne.

Standingon the mansion

steps on abeautifully clear

Autumn eveningreminiscing about

the old school daysseemed the perfect

tonic to the hecticnormality of working

life and for a momentat least everyone re-lived those halcyonschool days. It was almost as if we couldtaste it...... which is exactly what we did whenwe made our way down to themagnificent bacchanalian banquet inthe dining hall. Having formed asurprisingly orderly queue (anunexpected sign of maturity) to get ourtrays and cutlery the class of 1995 thensupped on a cordon bleu feast of sausages,chips and beans.

It was the ideal way tocelebrate a 10 year re-union andremember school life as it was,only this time we were allowedto drink and in some casespay scant regard to theinfamous "six-inch" rule, thatdistance of separation to beobserved betweenmembers of the oppositesex, that so plagued ouradolescent years.

Although hair had been lost, pounds hadbeen gained, wives and husbands acquiredand in some cases babies born, it was like wehad never been away. It was a fantasticevening and thanksand praise indeedmust go to TimHardie, both analumni of the 1995vintage and nowa currentmember of theteaching staffat the school,who workedtirelessly torally the troops andorganise the logistics of the eventitself. It would not have been possible withouthis efforts - Tim we salute you.

It was really pleasing to see the effortspeople put in with individuals coming fromall over the world to attend. One only had tosee the look on everyone's faces to realisehow much it meant to people; oncepleasantries had been exchanged and 10years of news and gossip divulged, it couldhave been the sixth form common room in thebreak between double economics.

A heavy night followed with a largegroup frequenting one of their old night-clubhaunts to carry on the party.

It was just like the good old days, althoughseveral of the group asked if the music"really had to be thatloud!"

Tired,hungover and

overwhelmedthe class of 1995

drifted off withpromises to do it

all again in another10 years.

By Dominic Ash

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The 1995 School Magazine carried an editorial which quoted the fictitious 19th century Frencheducationalist Lucas Dupres, who was alleged to have said, "School is not just for learning, schoolis for life". His words probably never ring so true as when old school friends are re-united.

There are of course many excellent reasons, or excuses, to get together(other than a ten year landmark). Some former pupils are organisingreunions based around victorious rugby teams, house-based reunionscovering different year groups, or simply the desire to see several oldfriends at once. The College is always happy to allow PPA members touse the facilities here for events and parties. Make the PPA office your

first point of reference and we will help however we can.

Inspired by the evening enjoyed by their elders who left Prior in 1995,would the Class of ‘96 like to celebrate their 10 year anniversary?Where are you all now? This is everyone from the Upper 6th leaving thedoors of Prior in July of 1996:

Who was there?Dominic Ash

Georgia Bird

Polly Brain

Ben Brodie

Penny Brook

Barny Butterfield

Neil Clarke

James Cockle

Hannah Conway

James Cordey

Aaron Cosgrove

Oliver Crowden

Tim Dunn

Joe Fields

Ellie Gower-Johnson

Simon Hall

Tim Harcourt

Tim Hardie

Charles Heal

Jane Hewitt

Rebecca Jackson

Stephanie Johnson

Ruth Kenyon

Anna Lynch

Simon Manners

Sammy Manspour

Ike Okoli

Hugh Padfield

Sally Price

Neal Spurrel

Robin Sturges

Annie Taylor

Dan Vick

Bruce Walcroft

Abby Walsh

Tim Wilson

Ronky Wright

Sam Yang

Tim Harcourt, Polly Brain, Becca

Jackson, Dan Vick & Tim Hardie

Barny Butterfield, Tim Hardie & Polly Brain

Joe Fields & Ellie Gower-Johnson

Jane Hewitt & Aaron Cosgrove

Anna Lynch, Robin Sturgess &

Ellie Gower-Johnson

Hugh Padfield, Tim Wilson &

Simon Manners

Jane Hewitt, Sam Yang, Abby

Walsh & James Cockle

Jane Hewitt & Aaron Cosgrove

The Reunion of the year of 1995The Reunion of the year of 1995

GRADUATION NEWSWe are delighted to have received the following news of recent graduations:

University College LondonCharles Gage graduated with second class honours in MechanicalEngineering (B.Eng)Adam Lynch achieved second class honours in Project Managementfor Construction (BSc)

University of St AndrewsRobert Besseling graduated in Ancient HistoryDominique Bonnet graduated in Biology with French

Warwick UniversityCongratulations to Miranda Griffin who achieved first class honours inEnglish Literature

Queen Mary, University of LondonEuan Brown graduated with second class honours in PhysicalGeography (BSc)

University of AberdeenCongratulations to Thomas Hall who has completed his MA inEconomics (Economic Science) with second class honours

Imperial College, LondonA splendid achievement from Alex Johnston who gained first classhonours in Computing (B Eng)

Cardiff UniversitySecond class honours, BEng, for Christopher Sampson inManufacturing Engineering

Nottingham UniversityJohn Stanley has graduated with upper second class honours inHistory & Politics

SCHOOL FRIENDS REUNITED

The Santa Teresa orphanage andmalnutrition centre lies at thebottom of a hill which couldjustifiably be mistaken for ascrapyard. Amongst the dust andrubble several hundred immenselypoor families try to provide theirchildren with a better life of regularfood, shelter and education. It isthese simple human rights that thecentre hopes to offer. The poorestHonduran mothers, and sometimes fathers,leave their toddlers at the door hoping for abetter life. They are entered into amalnutrition programme with regularnutrient-rich foods and treated water, andon average about 3 months later they reacha reasonably healthy standard of health,and are well enough to return home.Although this does vary...Jonathon belowobviously needed a little longer.

‘Works of love are works of peace.’M.Teresa.

The nuns that run the centre aremissionaries of charity of the order ofMother Teresa. They have set up severalsimilar centres in Latin America andCalcutta. Mother Teresa’s image isobviously a great source of comfort andstrength to the nuns and thechildren. One little girl,Josephine, told me shewanted to be like her whenshe grew up. Her image looksdown from most doorways andher prayers don the walls. Theysay they are not social workers,but contemplatives in the heart ofthe world. I had the experience ofworking in this centre during mygap year with two boys, including ex Priorstudent, Philip Reed.

It took half an hour for the door to beanswered on our first day. When wewalked into the orphanage we were metwith chaos. Half the children were in aplaypen, half were running around inlimited clothing and several babies couldbe heard screaming. But the most striking

element was the smell of faeces and urine.During my first day I retched on averageevery half an hour, despite trying to tellmyself to get a grip. In future we tookbracelets dipped in perfume or aftershavein order to smell them quickly when wewere about to throw up. The flies were alsoan issue. The babies did not know how toget rid of them and when the childrenunexpectedly soiled themselves in theplaypen they came in swarms. Often it wassometime before one of us could sort it out.There are three permanent staff (includingthe cook) and these women are literally runoff their feet. I have always been in awe ofthe families I know at home with seven orso kids, but these women have to contendwith more than ten toddlers each alongwith 3 babies, all of whom are very poorly.They are nothing short of modern angels.

We tried to help them as much as wecould but our intentions were probablyhindered by our ignorance as we soonrealised that looking after such a mass ofchildren wasn’t the same as the teachingor child minding we had done back home.With a baby in one arm it was very hard toamuse the remaining mass of toddlers.Their constant wishes for hugs and liftsmeant our arm muscles definitely gotstronger. Their play-area is the size of Priorreception; and yet they are happy. They arefed like never before and have a cot each,as well as a room of clothes and shoesfrom which to choose.

After their treatments however it isoften dubious whether theirmothers come back for them. Insome ways it resemblesboarding life in St. Mary’s; -certainly in terms of constantcare. The only differencebeing that it is then a lotteryas to whether your parentscollect you for the holidaysone term or the next or even

in years to come.

One memorable day a distraughtmother gave up a lovely but verysick little boy and we heard herscreams for several hours. Flor, one ofthe carers saw how upset it was makingme and told me it was actually a goodsituation. I assumed my limited Spanishhad on this occasion not come through forme and just smiled. It was not until later wewere chatting about Freddie, my favourite

littleboy, when shetold me his mother had left himto ring the doorbell himself, waited and leftas soon as he entered. Despite Freddieregaining his health nothing has been seenof her. I guess when parents have reachedthe point of poverty, when their emotionalattachment with their children hasvanished, that then becomes a badsituation.

By the end of my stay I was reallyattached to the kids. Their relianceon us and amazed smiles as wecaught flies and moths in our handsoutside and showed them sillydance routines is what I will rememberand take from the place despite hours ofmopping, dishing out food, and puttingaway clothes. I would like to thank the PPAfor their support with funding the project. Itwas one of the best things I have everdone. The children were truly delightfuland I really hope that if I go back a group ofdifferent curious eyes will greet me.

The orphanage runs off charitabledonations and volunteers are always verywelcome. They would also greatlyappreciate any children’s clothes,medicines, shoes or toys; old or new.Monetary donations go to the generalupkeep of the centre, paying for somemothers to visit their sick children withtransport supplements on Sundays,paperwork for health records for thechildren, as well as the medicinesthemselves. Any help, big or small, wouldbe gratefully received by Missionaras dela Caridad, Hogar San Jose, BarrioDolores, Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras,C.A. (Tel ; 00-504-662-04-91).

‘If adventures do not befall ayoung lady in her own village, shemust seek them abroad.' With JaneAusten's words scrawled in the frontof my very new, but appropriately,‘Gap year-cool' diary and armed withmonths worth of waitressing wagesand a kind donation from the PPA,Emily (Wheating) and I embarked onour journey to Central America. Withtentative enthusiasm and rucksacks that,despite recommendations, equalled us inboth size and mass we waved goodbye toteary-eyed parents, not to be seen againfor 8 months. The organisation we travelledwith was called ‘Gap Challenge’ and wewere amongst the volunteers heading forMexico.

After fourteen hours on the plane,6 hours on a bus, a week’s orientation andnear-to-useless Spanish lessons with anadorable old Mexican lady called Liticia,we moved into numero ciento-y-uno,Xalapenos Illustres, Xalapa, Mexico; ourhouse for the three months. Straight in atthe deep-end with Emily as reluctanttranslator, we headed to work at a localprimary school with Laura, the third personin our house.

The placementwas set up by theorganisation andupon arrival wewere told thatwe would be,assisting withsports lessons.

Having nevermet Emily andme they clearlydid not see the irony here;two girls more unsuited to the job, youcould not find. After failed attempts on mypart to organise dance classes, and Emily'sefforts to help with English lessons, both ofwhich the school seemed reluctant toembrace, we spoke to our ‘in-country rep'and decided to concentrate our efforts onour afternoon placement at the Casa Hogar

Conecalli, an orphanageon the outskirts of thetown.

In the leafy,humid woods thatsurround Xalapalive around fiftyorphans aged 0 -18. To call them‘orphans' is inmost cases notto be exact. Themajority have parentswho for some reason cannot orshould not look after them. Theorphanage itself is, I am told, amongst thebest in the country. Heavily supplementedby the government, the children live simplybut comfortably with the help of acouncillor, nutritionist (many have Hep A,for example, a result of malnutrition) adoctor and wonderful helpers. But for all itsmaterial attributes (play and developmentcentre, climbing frames, toys) you can'thelp but be saddened by a situation thatmight provide temporary shelter andsuperficial happiness, but no long termsolution for the children, all of whom haveto leave at 18.

My first day at Conecalli wasnothing less than scary. Martha, thewoman in charge of the 17 littlegirls, who I was allocated to help,was understandably too busy toreally take much notice of me, andeven when I was asked to dosomething I couldn't begin tounderstand. The girls thought I was deaf- they couldn't conceive that I did notspeak their language, they didn't evenknow what England was. It took about a

month of feeling incrediblyawkward andfrustrated before I

began to relax andform friendships with

the girls. Once we couldconverse a little they

began to trust me and talkto me and ask me to do

little things like choosetheir dress or tie their hair,

which sounds trivial butmeant quite a lot. Once I

became accustomed to their routine:lunch, shower, dress, laundry, tidy up,home work, I was able to be of some use toMartha, as opposed to at first when I feltlike more of a hindrance that a help. Acouple of months in and I was very much at

home and comfortable at the orphanage.To feel I was at least being ofsome practical help, whether it

be sorting socks or changingnappies, altered my attitude

immeasurably and I really lovedspending time there.

I think I left for my time abroadwith the common misconception and

somewhat naively romantic notion ofgoing to ‘really make a difference,' but

I soon learned by the example of thehelpers not to try to miraculously

change their lives or have a massiveimpact, but simply to show a little patienceand kindness. The end of my time at theCasa Hogar was memorable. Marthawasn't there on my second to last day atwork and I was left to get all 17 girls fed,showered and dressed on time, a task atwhich I would have undoubtedly failedinitially. The girls listened to me, didwhat I asked, and I felt an enormoussense of achievement. I felt that Ihad gained their respect and trust,which are not things, I imagine, youdistribute liberally as an orphan. Theexperience was invaluable and it goeswithout saying that leaving was very sad.

The next five months we spent makingour way down through central America,through ancient Mayan ruins, majesticcolonial towns and scorching Caribbeanbeaches: volcano climbing in Guatemala,diving in Honduras, zip-wiring through theCosta Rican jungle canopies, whilstworking inexorably at getting a tan worthyof eight months away. We arrived back atHeathrow to meet our families, with anadditional couple of piercings, numeroushammocks, Latino-Spanish vocabularies,superfluous amounts of jewellery and ourdiaries; dishevelled but brimming withstories...and with plans for the next greatescape.

Gap Year Report by Isi Tatham

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Gap Year Report by Elizabeth Munton

The PPA believes strongly in the value of gap year experiences. Each year we endeavour to findsome funding for PPC sixth formers whose gap year plans merit our support. Here are the veryimpressive reports from two of the students we awarded in 2004.

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ObituariesAlan Hamilton

1943 – 2004

It is with great sadness that we report thedeath on 14th October 2004 of Alan Hamiltonwho at 61 years had been makingpreparations for his retirement from a longand distinguished career as a GP. Alan wasthe founder and senior partner at Shepherds

Spring Medical Centre; a partner at thepractice described Alan as 'a leading figure inthe general practice community, a modestand charming man, a mentor to many of hiscolleagues who will be sadly missed'. DrHamilton leaves his wife Rosemary and threechildren Louise, James and Andrea.

Alan was a student at Cricklade, movingup to Prior in 1955 and finishing in the summer

of 1962. He was agreat sportsmanand played inmany of the firstteams – he ispictured here inthe 1960 Lentterm hockey firstXI.

John Canning OBE

1913 – 2005

John Gerard Canning was born in Newportin April 1913, a son of noted Catholic historianand Papal Knight of St Gregory and was thesecond youngest of eight children. Johnattended Prior Park College from 1926 to 1931and his four brothers Herbert, Richard, Basiland Michael were also educated at Prior. Likeany good Welshman, he excelled at rugby andwent on to play for Newport and laterBlackheath and his love for Wales and for itshills and mountains remained with himthroughout his long life.

In his late twenties John moved to Londonto take up a position with a publishingcompany in Fleet Street, a career for whichhe would freely admit he had little aptitude. In1938 he joined the Artists Rifles (later tobecome the 22nd SAS) and wascommissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1940.He saw action in France and with the FirstArmy in the deserts of North Africa, where hewas mentioned in dispatches. In 1943 he wastaken prisoner by the paratroopers ofHermann Goering's Barentine Regiment and

from there was passedover to the Italians andsent to prisoner of warcamp in Italy. InSeptember 1943 the Italiangovernment signed anarmistice with the Alliesand John was released,travelling with Italianpartisans through German

lines and into neutral Switzerland. He wasthen sent on a brief but very happyattachment to the Glattard School ofMountaineering until 1944 when he returnedto Britain. From there he was later sent toIndia, and was on the way to Burma when thewar ended.

Demobilisation in 1946 brought a stroke ofgood fortune. A friend, having declined theoffer of joining the King's Messengershimself, recommended John. He seized theopportunity and began a career that lasted 33happy years. The Messengers, with aromantic history full of tales of derring-dodating back to 1485, were originally entrustedwith sensitive royal correspondence, but theybecame an important part of the Foreign and

Commonwealth Office, travelling the worldwith confidential documents and ensuring thesafe delivery of diplomatic freight. Johntravelled several million miles during hiscareer and rose to lead the unit during theheight of the Cold War. Sir John Morgan, aformer ambassador paid tribute to Canning'simperturbable good humour and popularitywhich were much appreciated by diplomatsduring those austere days. John's finaltwelve years as Queen's Messenger were asSuperintendent, which reduced the travel butgave him the opportunity to help the Corps –which had operated for generations on acuriously ad hoc footing. He succeeded inwinning major improvements in the QM'sterms, including, for the first time, a pension,and it was for his contribution during thisperiod that he was awarded the OBE.

John was a man whose faith was alwaysimportant to him and he was fond of sayingthat a guardian angel must surely have beenwatching over him during his long andextraordinary life. He is survived by his wifePaula and their daughter, Jane Riddle, andson Mark, who is Deputy High Commissionerto Malaysia.

John Mason

1931 – 2005

John Mason, a great family man, devotedhusband to Maeve, father of seven and acommitted grandfather, died on September10th 2005. Born into a medical family (hisfather Jack was a GP), John left Prior ParkCollege in 1950 with a place at UniversityCollege Cork to study medicine.

Described by his patients as 'a kind andgentle listener, an excellent diagnostician andone of nature's gentlemen' Dr John Masonhad an illustrious career in general practice.

As first President of the Irish College ofGeneral Practitioners in 1984, he was a keyfigure in moving general practice to a firmerspecialist footing. Before this he wasawarded a fellowship at the Royal College ofGeneral Practitioners for his work indeveloping a formal framework for thetraining of future GPs. John was a specialisttrainer and took a third-year trainee into hispractice every year as well as being a tutorfor undergraduate students of Trinity CollegeDublin. In addition to serving on the MedicalCouncil for two terms, he was a member ofthe Postgraduate Medical and Dental Board.

In 2002 he was appointed as a medicalmember of the Residential InstitutionsRedress Board under the chairmanship ofJudge Sean O'Laoire.

Always a great rugby fan, he maintainedhis interest, especially in university rugbywhen Trinity College and UCC played (he hadcaptained the UCC team in 1955 and 1956).John and Maeve shared an enthusiasm forsailing and raced regularly in Dublin Bay. Hewill be greatly missed by his large family andmany colleagues who held him in such highregard.

Michael de Freitas

1923 - 2005

Wilfrid de Freitas (PPC 1956 – 62) reportsfrom Montreal that his uncle Michael deFreitas (PPC 1934 – 39) died peacefully inToronto on November 15th 2005 at the age of82. Michael volunteered for war service in

March 1942, serving as sub-Lieutenant in theTrindad Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve; hewas promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in1944 and saw service in the Caribbean.Afterwards, he worked for the Royal Bank ofCanada for 43 years, in the Caribbean,Montreal and latterly, as the Bank's Regional

Representative in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Uponretirement, he moved to Toronto where hewas the General Manager of the Canada-Brazil Chamber of Commerce for six years.He is survived by his wife and two childrenand his brother Leonard (PPC 1934 –38) wholives near Oxford.

David Merchant

1946 – 2003

We are very sad to report that DavidMerchant died after a courageous battle withcancer in 2003 aged 57. He was a student atthe College from 1957 to 1964. The Merchantfamily funded the restoration of the clockabove St Paul's to commemorate the tragicdeath at 23 years of David's younger brother,

Michael Merchant, in 1966.

Pictured are David with his devoteddaughter, Angela, now 25 years old, who isthe second of his three children. The otherchildren are Emma now 26 and Thomas 22.David leaves also two grandchildren, Lewisand Jade. Angela was delighted and movedby her recent visit to Prior Park to look aroundthe College and to agree additional wording

for the Merchantplaque to includeDavid's details.We are verypleased to keepin touch with thefamily.

Martin Judge

1928 – 2005

Michael Corriganattended MartinJudge's funeral inWe s t b u r y - o n - Tr y m ,Bristol. We aresaddened to reportMartin's death on 9thJune 2005 following a

long period of illness. Martin was born inLiverpool and during the second World Warhis family relocated to Bristol where heattended St Brendan's College then PriorPark, going on to read Politics, Philosophyand Economics at Oxford University.

In 1960 Martin was married to KathleenGeogheghan and they had three children,spending some years in Stockholm whereMartin worked for the Financial Times. From

there he joined the Foreign Office and went tothe Embassy in Saigon. The Judge familymoved on to Geneva where Martin wasemployed by the European Free TradeAssociation. Martin's wife Kathleen died in1980.

Martin took early retirement and returnedto Bristol. In 1987 he married Deirdre Jolley.He leaves a widow and three children towhom we extend our deepest sympathy.

James Norris

1936 - 2005

James B. T. Norris was a student at PriorPark from 1945 to 1953, a House Prefect forBurton and School Librarian. We receivedthe sad news that he had died on 9thDecember 2005 in Clacton-Upon-Sea. Mr

Norris maintained a strong relationship withPrior Park throughout his life and returned tothe College on many occasions. As a studenthe was very involved in drama and tookseveral roles under Mr Hedley Goodall'sdirection – as John of Gaunt in 'Richard ofBordeaux' by G Daviot and the Colonel in

'Journey's End' by R C Sherriff in 1953. Hewas praised as ‘obviously a good producer’ inthe school magazine following his ambitiousproduction of 'Waiting for Death', adaptedfrom a scene in Middlemarch. James leavesa sister, Mrs Katherine Lamb, and we extendour deepest sympathy to the family.

Damian Timms

1952 - 2005

Two of his closest friends have writtentributes to Damian who died on 2nd October2005 following a brave struggle with cancer.

Tony Bury (PPC 1964 – 1970) writes:

Damian’s childhood was spent in StokeBishop, attending St Brendan’s primary andplaying tennis at Clifton Tennis Club, where hemet Brian O’Brien. Damian started at PriorPark in 1963. He was fiercely proud of Prior,even when others had a different view. Theschool spirit epitomised Damian as he alwaysstrove to do the right thing, even when it flewin the face of popular opinion; he carried thisthrough the rest of his life. We three formedthe school tennis team for many years andalways enjoyed enthusiastic, competitivetennis. Only a couple of years ago we metagain to play together in Dorset – it was justlike the old times, played with a competitiveedge – some things never change!

Following Prior, Damian attended MedicalSchool at Bristol University and in his secondyear joined the Navy and began training withthem during the vacations. Damian and BrianO’Brien spent part of a summer vacationtogether in Greece, where Brian was on anexchange medical student programme.

Damian joined him in Thessalonica and spentthe first few days impersonating anotherstudent who had gone on leave; getting freefood and lodging for the weekend. He wasnever one to turn down a good deal!

He travelled the world during his five-yearcommitment to the Navy, which saw himparachuting and escaping from submarines inemergencies. In 1982, his (mostly sunbathing)assignment in the Arabian Gulf came to anabrupt end when he was sent to the FalklandsWar. This experience had a significant effecton Damian and his friends who went throughit with him. Returning from the war, hesearched out a GP practice, and settled inEmsworth, where he met his wife, Chrissie.

Damian was a thoroughly decent man,who did the right thing and had a verygenerous nature. He will be sadly missed bythose who had the privilege of sharing hiscompany.

Robin Atiken (PPC 1963 – 1970) writes:

Damian’s funeral was held on a bright dayin early October at the South Downs NaturalBurial Site in Hampshire. The quiet beauty ofthis quintessentially English spot suitedDamian’s naturally modest temperament. Theoccasion will live long in the memory of thosewho attended.

Any funeral brings the deceased backcentre stage in the mourners’ memories and Ifound myself thinking about my friend of fortyyears standing. In truth, our friendship hadlong gaps. But we had re-acquaintedourselves in recent years and I discovered aman with the same qualities he hadpossessed as a boy, refined by a lifetime’sexperience. His defining characteristicswere his patent decency, cheerfulness,kindliness and loyalty. I also think of him as aparticular kind of English patriot – not in anyshowy or raucous sense but someone whovalued deeply his country and indeed whoembodied many of its best qualities.

The funeral service demonstrated in fullmeasure how Damian’s unassuming virtueshad impressed themselves upon the world.Here was a man who was truly well-loved; thesense of loss suffered by his family andfriends was palpable. If one measure of aman is the nature of the collective memory heleaves behind, then Damian’s legacy is a richone. To his wife Chrissie, his mother Eileenand his family, from all his friends from hisPrior days, please accept our deepestcondolences and may you take some comfortin the knowledge that Damian’s was a lifewell-lived.

HOLD THE BACK PAGE!

Where are you now?Over the course of the year we have received mailings back from the people listed below.If anyone has a current up to date address whether postal or e-mail, please let Debbie know.

STOP PRESS!

How to contact the PPA

We are always delighted to hear fromAssociation members. Please do get intouch with Debbie O'Bryan onppa@priorpark.co.uk or write c/o Prior ParkCollege, Bath BA2 5AH or call 01225 835353ext 244.

Dr Mercer’s PapalKnighthood

Melissa Netley

Richard Morris

Peter Packwood

Simon Marton

Gavin Mayall

Giles Mayall

Sarah Moran

Sarah Jenkins

Andrew Healey

Dr William Barwell

Sarah Chapman

Daniel Gilmour

Matthew Haworth

James Tonizzo

Simon Ardron

Claudio Gorini

John Rendall

Mr N Scerri

Mr F Geary

Richard Watson

Nick Dobbie

Mr J Etheridge

Mr P Morello

Rachel Lax

Philip Von Malsen

Michael Reader

Father Paul Couch

Peter Donnelly

David Whittle

Hannah Wilshire

Mr Kwok Cheung

Alfred Chang

Ann-Marie Layet

Mr C Boyd

M Charles de Montravel

Mike Birch

Adebayo Coker

Alexander Johnston

Mr E Robinson

Mr T Dunn

Jonathan Foreman

Mr R Brown

Mariya Mizuno

Neil Andrews

Michael Mitchell

Key

1. ........... Doyle2. Adrian Fitzgerald

3. O’Brien ?4. Harcourt ?5. Chris Dowse6. David Grant (twin to Euan)

7. Ian Forsyth8. ........... Howe9. Richard Sharpe10. Peter Broadbent11. ?

12. Brian Comacho13. Brother “Jack” Keegan

in officer’s hat

14. Jamie Forsyth15. Euan Grant16. Stephen Hilton17. Michael Hilton18. Noel Horrobin19. Lt “Timber” Woods

(lab technician lived in far SW corner of grounds)

Many former pupils were kind enough to contact Debbie with identities for Phil Hamerton’sphoto of the CCF infantry camp in Norfolk 1963 published in last year’s Gossip Bowl:

Back row: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Front row sitting/crouching: 15 16 17 18

At centre front 19

CCF infantry camp 1963 - identified

A date for your diary

The next PPA Dinner will be held onSaturday December 2nd 2006. We aredelighted to announce that our Guest ofHonour this year will be Mr Gerald Davies.Tickets will be pricedat £30 per head (£20for those ineducation oranybody in the Classof 1996) and orderforms will be sent outto all members inSeptember.

At a most memorable Speech Day inJuly 2005, the Bishop of Clifton, TheRight Reverend Declan Lang, presentedthe Headmaster, Giles Mercer, with theaward of a Papal Knighthood of SaintGregory.

If not, please take five minutes to do so now andreap the benefits in terms of PPA and Collegenews, photos and events plus the ability tosearch for and contact old school friends. Weanticipate that this will in future become the mainchannel of communication with our members –so please don’t miss out.Three easy steps take you there:

1. Arrive at the Web Alumnus welcome page viaeither: a) www.priorpark.co.uk/ppa or b) the school website: www.priorparkschools.co.uk, to Prior ParkCollege and then via the former pupils tab to thePPA page, and then the text or shield link to ‘thePPA online database’

2. Click on ‘New, never registered before?’

3. Complete the security questionnaire to ensurethat only former Prior Park pupils have access tothe secure site, include your e-mail address,click on submit and if you are happy with the formclick on confirm

You will receive an automatic acknowledgemente-mail, followed by a second e-mail giving youthe username and password you will need toenter the site from the Web Alumnus welcomepage. At this stage you can alter the usernameand password to whatever suits you.

Any queries, please e-mail Debbie onppa@priorpark.co.uk

Have you registered yet on our PPA internet linked database, Web Alumnus?

20 Gossip Bowl www.priorpark.co.uk/ppa