8 July 2010
Dear Parents,
Wednesday 3.42 pm:
Well here we go at last. Twenty four hours after my planned departure here I am cruising
down the A5 in the drizzling rain, dictating into my new Iphone. Yes, technology has well
and truly caught up with me and I love it! I hasten to add that both hands are on the wheel
of the faithful Aubergine Love Machine. I’ve had my final orders from Mrs B and she will be
astonished when this letter is emailed to her from Devon tomorrow. Heaven help me if it’s
not.
Wednesday 4.04 pm:
Why can’t they keep the electronic motorway signs up to date? On the M54 it said that
there was congestion on the M6. There isn’t.
Wednesday 4.14 pm:
I take it all back. Keep calm, Mozza. It’s only a traffic jam and there is nothing you can do.
Wednesday 4.29 pm:
In the car on my right is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She is sitting next to
something akin to a monster out of Lord of the Rings. How has he managed that? I wonder
whether she has been kidnapped. Should I intervene? Rescue her? Maybe this is it? Maybe
this is the super-model multi-millionairess I’ve always known is waiting for me somewhere.
But where would I put her? Strudel and Zulu are sprawled out on the back seat (beneath a
cloud of methane), the front seat is piled high with luggage and the boot is full of bottles of
wine (for which much thanks!).
Wednesday about 5pm:
Flying along (it is after all down hill all the way to Devon) and all of a sudden every car in
sight slams on its brakes. Horrendous pile up narrowly avoided. What has caused it?
Everyone slowing to 70 mph to overtake the police car in the slow lane.
Wednesday 5.06 pm:
Message on A.L.M. dashboard: ‘ESP faulty’. Eh? Extra Sensory Perception?
Wednesday 6.10 pm:
Just passed the ‘Welcome to Devon’ sign. I can practically smell the slurry.
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Wednesday 6.40 pm:
Jeremy Hardy on Radio 4: ‘The gap between the North and the South is truly horrifying. It’s
called the Midlands.’ A little harsh, I thought. But quite funny.
Wednesday 6.50 pm:
Home Sweet Home. Cold taps all running to dispel the brown water. Garden like tropical
rain forest. Let the killing begin. Note still on kitchen table: from myself, to myself ‘NB Get
mower repaired in Summer Half Term.’ Make mental note to take mower to repair man
tomorrow.
The dead shrub that I removed at Easter like a chain-saw wielding lunatic has been replaced
by a big green weed growing in the shape of a large V sign.
Thursday 7.50 am:
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz . Aaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhh! Wide awake. Where am I?
Thursday 11.19
Marvellous pot of coffee on the go, and I turn my thoughts to the term which has just
finished. I can remember parts of the end of it, but am struggling to remember the first bit
or the bit in the middle. Better consult my notes. On my Iphone. Ha! Jealous?
Ah yes. I remember: it has been another stunning term! Thank goodness for that.
A hive of academic busy-ness, that is what the house has been this term. Every boy in the
house has had exams this term, and everyone from the Fourth Form upwards has been
involved in GCSEs, AS, A2 or Pre-U. The atmosphere has been good, with plenty of boys
making use of my dining room and the house library as revision dens, and a general air of
purposefulness about the house. All seem to have coped well, and whilst some exams will
doubtless have gone better than others, I’m hopeful that those who took public exams can
look forward to their results with confidence. A2, AS and Pre-U results come out on
Thursday 19th August, and GCSE results (including fourth form modules) on Tuesday 24th
August. On both days the results should be available by about 9.15 am. Boys should ring
me on the Rigg’s number (01743 280620). I shall try also to answer my mobile, but at one
stage last year I had one on the landline, one on the mobile and one who had managed to
ring the fax machine, all at the same time, so please bear with me!
At the Rigg’s Leavers’ Dinner, and then again at the Leavers’ Ball, we bade farewell to the
thirteen Upper Sixth Formers who are leaving us, and for one final time I would like to
thank them for all that they have done for Rigg’s over their time here, and to wish them
every happiness and success in the future.
In their place we are welcoming a terrific group of new Riggites in September: two into the
Lower Sixth; one into the Fourth Form and eleven in to the Third Form. I hope that all of
these boys will be reading this, and also that you will have received a wadge of bumph from
me about the start of next term. We are hugely looking forward to welcoming you all.
As the year draws to a close we are also saying good bye to two of the Rigg’s tutors.
Martin Humphreys, (who is heading off to the Isle of Man to be Principal of King William’s
College), has only been tutoring in Rigg’s for a year, having retired from the
housemastership of Ridgemount last Summer, but, over and above all that he has done for
Rigg’s, I want to thank him personally for the support he has given me. As a tutor in
Ridgemount many years ago it was under Martin’s tutelage that I began to learn about
housemastering, and he has been a great friend and mentor ever since.
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So too has Jeremy Goulding. Goodness knows he has had his fair share of farewells over
the last few weeks, and the poor man must be an emotional wreck by now, but it
nevertheless needs to be recorded for posterity that, in the eyes of all of us in Rigg’s, being
Headmaster has always been Jeremy’s secondary role, his most important job being that of
Rigg’s tutor. And I doubt there is another headmaster in the land who, if they even tutor at
all, is so willing to spend so much time on it and to look after his tutees as well as Jeremy
has done. We, and especially Jeremy’s tutees, will miss Jeremy and Isobel enormously next
year, and we wish them every happiness in their retirement.
In their place I am delighted that we will be welcoming two new tutors: one new face and
one well-known the boys. Karl Hirt is next year’s Harvard Fellow, and he will be tutoring in
Rigg’s as well as teaching English and RS. His reputation precedes him, and I know he will be
a tremendous member of the team. I am over the moon that Duncan Kirkby has also
agreed to join us as a Lower School Tutor. Duncan has just retired from fifteen years of
housemastering in Radbrook, and, whilst I dread the thought of Duncan with renewed
energy, it will be terrific to have such a good friend and experienced man on the team.
As always, this has been a term not only of hard work, but also of get-togethers, and the
blazing sunshine we have enjoyed for so much of the last ten weeks has been the icing on
the cake. The Family Lunch Party was simply stunning and hugely enjoyed by all of us here,
not least because of the wonderful spread of food laid on by all of you, the parents! Thank
you all so much, and let us hope that next year, too, we can enjoy another day of basking in
the sunshine beside the BBQ with the clicking of croquet in the background. This was
followed by another truly memorable and heart-warming Leavers’ Dinner; then the New
Riggites BBQ, again blessed with sunshine and followed for many by a splendid afternoon
watching Bumpers; then Speech Day, the open air concert, the play, Pimms, picnics and CallOver, ending up with the best Leavers’ Ball I can remember. These get-togethers really
cement the close bond which exists at Shrewsbury between pupils, parents and staff – and
just as importantly, they are jolly good fun.
The great weather has certainly been a blessing when it comes to sport. Although not
winning any of the various inter-house competitions outright, Rigg’s has performed brilliantly
on the cricket pitch and on the tennis court, in both sports finishing high up in the rankings
and with the promise of much to look forward to in future years. But, once again, on the
river it has been a different story. It is a lovely irony – and probably no coincidence – that
as soon as I stopped coaching, rowing began to take off in Rigg’s, and there have been many
proud moments this term. Huge congratulations must go to Freddie Day and Sam Lapage,
both of whom have been selected to row for Great Britain in the annual Under 16 ‘Coupe
de la Jeunesse’ match against France next week, the first rung of the GB international ladder.
Far more importantly – from the House point of view at any rate! – were our victories in
Senior Fours earlier in the term, and then a repeat of last year’s heroics at Bumpers. For
the second year running, Rigg’s managed to end up Head of the River in Divisions One and
Two; second in Division Three; outright winners of Bumpers 2010 and outright winners of
the coveted Leadbitter Trophy (for accumulated rowing victories over the year). And all of
this happened with three of our top rowers away at Henley, and one sadly unable to row
through injury. It really is remarkable, and what I love about Bumpers and the Leadbitter is
that the efforts of our younger rowers, and, above all, those boys who row only for the
house and not for the school, count just as much as the efforts of our top-flight oarsmen.
But there is so much more to the extracurricular life of this place than just sport. Looking
back on everything your sons have been up to – in this last term alone – the mind boggles. I
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know I will forget many activities and achievements which deserved to be mentioned, (not
least because I am down in Devon and my record of the term is on my desk in Shrewsbury!)
but here is just a flavour:
More Riggites than ever before are playing musical instruments, most having lessons, several
in more than one instrument, and a pleasing number also playing just for fun. Two boys
have landed parts in next term’s school musical (which will be a handy warm-up for the next
Rigg’s and MSH musical we are planning for the Lent term, more on that anon.....!). Several
boys are producing some stunning artwork. Calum Harvey-Scholes laid on two evenings of
wine tasting for the French Society, conducting the whole evening in French. The entire
Lower Sixth took part in the two day Challenge of Management Conference, with several of
them picking up prizes. The entire Third Form took part in ‘Outdoor Week’, including a
conservation project, leadership and team-building exercises and three nights under canvas
completing an expedition in the Shropshire Hills, with most of them picking up their Bronze
Duke of Edinburgh Award along the way. Three boys played and sang in the open air Pop
Concert in the final week of term. Ed Trevor-Jones ran the London Marathon, raising about
£8,000 for Children’s Liver Disease. And whilst I think about it, former Riggites Charlie
Marlow and Matt Mackaness – whom many of you met last year at Speech Day – completed
their row across the Atlantic, coming third in the race and raising the best part of £100,000
for Shrewsbury House and Brain Tumour Research. Some remarkable achievements from
some remarkable boys.
It is frightening to think that by the time I write my next end of term letter, we will have had
the House Singing Competition (the night before half term); the School Musical (another
home grown-musical with music by John Moore and book by Peter Fanning, and called What
You Will – an adaptation of Twelfth Night); and three Carol Services followed by the usual
offering of my filthiest mulled wine recipe and some indigestible mince pies. You will be
sent details of how to apply for tickets for all of these, and, to avoid disappointment, please,
please, please reply straight away! This is especially the case for the House Singing
Competition, where we usually have seven hundred and thirty sets of parents all wanting
tickets, and we cannot come close to matching the demand. If in any doubt, please contact
the Music Department for information (email kwilding@shrewsbury.org.uk). But if you are
unlucky in this, please do not despair as there is always a live video link up in the Ashton
Theatre.
Well, I think that just about wraps it up. My heartfelt thanks as always to Assistant
Housemaster Chris Cook, to Matron, Mrs B, the tutors, Avril, the Ladies who clean, all of
the myriad people who help me in the day to day running of the house, to you the parents
for your trust in us, your constant encouragement, friendship and support, and, above all, to
your sons for another year of fun, and for making Rigg’s such a happy and successful house.
My best wishes to you all for a fabulous summer holiday.
As ever,