Newsletter – February 2010

AGM Notice 2010

Headmasters Letter – February 2010

‘Basement to Beechen Cliff’

Terry Light reports: “Since it’s launch at the Annual Dinner in mid October sales have exceeded all expectations. We hoped for a good uptake from old boys but we were surprised at the demand from some of the City’s bookshops such as Oldfield Park Book Shop, Waterstones and Mr B’s Book Emporium. This resulted in the nice embarrassing situation before Christmas where we could not meet the demand. Now the Christmas rush has finished we urgently await another print run to be delivered so that we can meet the requirements of overseas Old Sulians’ and the School. The Editorial Committee would like to thank all Old Sulians’ who have purchased the book, passed positive feedback by telephone, letter and e-mail and also brought to our attention old boys who were not included. If there should be a Second Edition then all comments will be taken into consideration.”
I have to say that it was with some trepidation that your Committee ordered 200 copies of ‘The Book’ back in the summer but, as Terry says, sales have been incredible. Reports have been very favourable – The Chronicle gave us a good spread, and we even appeared on Amazon! (They don’t have any at present!). Peter Tait at Beechen Cliff designed the cover and Alex and Zac at Systemagic did the preparation and warehousing. The ‘Book Boys’ were Terry Light, Roy Ludlow, Terry Hardick and the late Len Dyer. The Treasurer also attended and winced when large sums of money were discussed!
Copies will be available again soon at £10 collected, £12.50 delivered in the UK, and contact us for an overseas price. All enquiries to the Treasurer (below) who is feeling a lot happier, although he hasn’t got the accounts past the Auditors yet.

Annual Dinner

An excellent evening once again. 55 stalwarts attended encouraged by my small band of whips! Tony Comer missed giving his own speech through ‘illness’ but arranged from his hospital bed for Mike Wood to deliver it anyway. I am delighted to report that both Tony and Mike have now recovered. The date for this year is Saturday 16th October, please put it in your diary now, and someone let the Rugby Club know!
At the Dinner we circulated 2 chits to see whether 1) there was interest in having the AGM before the Annual Dinner, and 2) whether there was interest in any organised coach trips. The response was underwhelming for both ideas.

Presentation Evening.

Terry Light reports again: “This was held during the evening of the 25th November in the imposing surroundings of the Assembly Rooms. The Special Guest was Michael Eavis CBE, of Glastonbury Festival fame, supported by a couple of sponsors from the business world and myself. In addition to the usual prizes presented to pupils on behalf of the Association, I had the privilege to present a ’special prize’ to Sixth Former, Peter Tait, as a thank you for designing the front cover of ‘Basement to Beechen Cliff’. The Assembly Room Main Hall was overflowing with schoolboys and girls, well supported by their parents and grandparents resulting in a well worthwhile atmospheric evening.”

John New

Fortuitously, I have just received a letter from John’s nephew to say that he has moved to Englishcombe House, a care home in Englishcombe Lane. Although his short term memory is extremely short term, his grasp of the old days is still there and he would welcome visitors. At 94 he is, I believe, the Father of the House and fondly remembered as a great character and servant of both the Association and the Rugby Club.

Foreigners!

Don Duck in New Zealand and Geoff Yates in Australia have both recently moved. Anyone wishing to make contact can do so through the Editor. I gather the weather down there has been a bit milder than here of late! I am not jealous. Much.

Membership

Since the last news Keith Prosser(‘54), Pat Cogswell(‘63), Colin Rawlinson(‘55) and Roger Boakes(‘61) have all joined the Association. Sadly G W Hudson(‘47) has passed on.

Old Sulians RFC

Continue to find the going difficult in their current division although I am told that the rugby is better than the results would seem to show. And of course the snow has not helped recently.

Association Golf Day

Friday 18th June, contact Mike Wood for details 01225 335250
or mike@systemagic.co.uk

School 1.

The President, along with Alan Blake and Terry Lee met with the School Governors in October to outline the Association’s aims, and also attended a presentation by The Bath Education Trust, which consists of Beechen Cliff, Hayesfield, Bath College, Bath University and Rotork. The Trust, formed in 2009, is designed to pool the resources and expertise available so that students can have wider academic and vocational opportunities. Our Hon. Secretary, Peter Powell, attended both the Annual Piano Concert and the Carol Service and reports that they were both splendid occasions. I visited School to hear Nicolas Ridley talk about ‘Godfrey’s Ghost’, a book about his father, Sulian Arnold Ridley of Dad’s Army fame. I enjoyed the book which gives a fascinating insight into the man as opposed to the actor, and as a social history of Bath in the early 20th century.

School 2.

You may recall that last year Alan Blake organised a reunion for the ‘49’ers which included a visit to School. We had a number of requests from other vintages to join in which were politely declined. However I have tentatively broached the idea of a visit towards the end of term in July with the Headmaster, which would be open to any members. Before we firm up would you register your interest with me please. Drop a note to the me at the address for the Hon Correspondent overleaf or e-mail me at: committee@oldsulians.org.uk. If there is sufficient interest I will give full details in the May newsletter.

Annual General Meeting

We would really appreciate your attendance at the AGM. A few more volunteers for the Committee would be a bonus, and might reduce the average age by decades! Remember that things only get done with people power. Please give it a thought or two. Aussies are excused.

Hon. Secretary: Peter Powell 11 Kennet Park, Bathampton, Bath BA2 6SS 01225 466608
Hon. Treasurer: Richard Wood 63 Caledonian Road, East Twerton, Bath, BA2 3RD 01225 422210
Hon. Correspondent: Roger Wood. 101 Hansford Square, Combe Down Bath, BA2 5LL 01225 832207

Our publishing partners in ‘Basement to Beechen Cliff’ – www.systemagic.co.uk 01225 426800

The Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held on Wednesday, 24th February 2010 at 7.30 pm. prompt at the Old Sulians’ Rugby Club, Lansdown, by kind permission of the Rugby Club. Your attention is drawn to Rule 15, under which any member wishing to move a resolution or nominate an Officer at the Annual General Meeting must give notice of their intention in writing to the Honorary Secretary, not less than seven days before the meeting. P D Powell Honorary Secretary

AGENDA

1. Apologies
2. Minutes of 2009 AGM
3. Matters arising
4. Hon. Secretary’s Report (See over)
5. Hon. Treasurer’s Report (See over)
6. Election of Officers:
   1. Vice Presidents
   2. Hon. Secretary
   3. Hon. Treasurer
   4. Hon. Social Secretary
   5. Hon. Correspondent
   6. Hon. Auditors
   7. Trustees
   8. Executive Committee
7. Any other business.

ANNUAL REPORTS

Hon. Secretary’s Report 2009

It is good to report the continuing support for the Association from Andrew Davies, the Headmaster of Beechen Cliff, noting that the standards that we grew up with are being maintained.
The next AGM is almost upon us and we urge you to support us by attending and possibly bringing new ideas.
It is sad that we were unable to get enough support for a Ladies Night this year but maybe another gathering could be arranged in future together with new ideas such as coach trips to selected places but these can only take place with your support.
Again we are indebted to Roger Wood (him with the new eyes) for all the work he puts in throughout the year.
My dip into the past this year is 1990. Mike Wood was President for his 2nd year, Avon Education’s attempts to reorganise education in Bath by, amongst other things, turning Beechen Cliff into a 6th Form College were abandoned, Beechen Cliff opted out of Local Authority control and Roy Ludlow was appointed Head in the midst of the turmoil! 10 teams took part in the Treasure Hunt organised by Bert Marquiss which was won by Tony Burt, with Mike Wood and Tony Comer runners-up. Ladies Night, organised by Tony Bowrey, was attended by 66 people with entertainment provided by Roge and Mike Wood. The Annual Dinner attracted only 29, quite a few less than the present day.
This year we are sorry to have lost Tony Sweet, Len Richards, Len Dyer, B D V Coombes and G W Hudson. Our condolences go to their families and friends.
Finally, once again our thanks to the Old Sulians Rugby Club for the continued use of the Clubhouse at Lansdown for our Committee meetings.
Peter Powell.
Honorary Secretary.

Hon. Treasurer’s Report 2010.

As this goes to press I have just delivered the books to our Auditor John Foster. Subject to his approval the Accounts and Balance Sheet will be available at the AGM. They will show that on our normal activities we about broke even, However the outstanding success of Basement to Beechen Cliff has resulted in a profit in excess of £1000. When we originally ordered 200 copies we modestly hoped to sell perhaps 150. We have currently sold 300 and have another 100 on the way. Your Committee will decide on the use of this sum in due course.
Although there was no Ladies Night our costs have been roughly covered by our income. The use of the internet has helped considerably in the distribution of the newsletter and has attracted a number of sales of the book. If you do not receive your newsletter by e-mail at present and you have an e-mail address please consider the imminent rise in postage costs and get in touch with committee@oldsulians.org.uk.
Our net membership shows another slight rise to 267 despite the Grim Reaper’s best efforts.
Rich Wood
Honorary Treasurer.

Those of you who remember the winter of 1963 will probably be wondering why so much fuss is being made about a few days of snow on the city! The Headmaster’s diary entries for the winter of 1963 suggest that boys were sent out to clear paths and to bring in milk bottles to stop them freezing on the steps of the school. I can imagine how that would go down today …. Back to the term which has just passed. The achievements of boys and girls were recognised at the Presentation Evening at the Assembly Rooms in November, a splendid occasion which saw us host the Glastonbury Festival organiser, Michael Eavis. He was able to hear about the wonderful examination successes achieved by our pupils and students, again putting Beechen Cliff at “the top of the class” in terms of boys’ achievement in the county and further afield.

The Carol Service took place in the last week of term and yet again we saw (and heard) the talented youngsters and staff who make the school such an exciting place to be. Many friends of the school were in attendance and I am sure that, if you are able to attend, it will remain in the memory for some time.

Success on the rugby and football pitches have been achieved by the U15 and 1st XI respectively. You might have followed the success of our teams in the Wednesday Letters (on the website) and the disappointment for our rugby boys, being knocked out on the ‘home side’ rule following a 3-3 draw with Exeter School, was particularly difficult for the boys and staff. This ‘exit’ came at the Quarter Final stage of the Daily Mail Vase, the national competition for schools. In football terms the 1st XI are still in the national cup, having made it to the last 32. This is an exceptional achievement and is testament to the strength of Beechen Cliff teams – contrasting often with the highly skilled individuals we regularly see them competing against. We wish our boys every success in the next round. Our Sixth Form girls are also proving to be a very successful ‘outfit’ as a Netball squad. They are playing very well and we can expect a potential county champion squad to be in place by next year.

The sporting potential of the school should be enhanced by the fact that the Glasshouse playing fields are now being managed by the Glasshouse Trust, an organisation which includes Beechen Cliff, Culverhay, Combe Down Rugby, Combe Down Cricket and Bath Hospitals Cricket Club. It should mean that our teams are able to use more pitches for ‘home’ matches than our current fields can provide, together with some new changing facilities. A new cricket square will be laid down in the spring, ready for first use in summer 2011. The new cricket square at Beechen Cliff will come into service in May of this year – although only for the Under 12 and Under 13 teams. I would fear for the windows in my study if the Under 14 boys were to use it!

February 5th sees the launch of the Music Centre fund, hopefully allowing us to make up the £400,000 shortfall in our funding for the £1.6 million project. Alex Wood will hopefully represent the Old Sulians at this occasion, continuing an interest in music and the heritage of the school.

The second capital project of the moment is the ‘astroturf’ pitch which will be placed on the current redgra. This will be in place by September (planning permission willing!) and we hope to be able to make a massive difference for our boys and the wider community.

We have a very busy term ahead, school plays and concerts being a significant feature of the Spring. I hope you will be able to join us for some of these and support the efforts of the pupils and staff.

Thank you for your interest and support of your school. We hope to keep working to give our pupils the best experiences possible and maintain the reputation of this wonderful place.