In this letter (click to go directly to that section):
 
UK ODU YEAR-END PARTY
Friday 30th November, 2018
 
Repeating last year's lively and collegiate end to a good year, we are once again at The Hollywood Arms in Chelsea to see out the old and plan for the new.

The Blanchard Room is where it all happens, and with a maximum capacity of 100, please put your name (and partner/wife) down now by RSVP'ing HERE. Acceptances only. 

There is no charge for the evening, but drinks are via a cash bar. The ODU will provide the food.
 
Dear ODs

We congratulate Raymond Ackerman (S, 1948) on his appointment as Patron of the Old Diocesans Union, filling the vacancy created by Michael Watermeyer's (O, 1954) retirement. Best known as Chairman and CEO of Pick 'n Pay, he is also the recipient of seven honorary doctorates for his contribution to commerce and philanthropy in South Africa and abroad. He is a huge supporter of Bishops and a great benefactor of the School. Raymond, for whom the term "non-executive" doesn't exist, has been extremely active and influential in the ODU since he became President in 2015. So those who have heard that he'll now be playing more of a ceremonial role as Patron should regard that as fake news. His appointment took place at the Mitre on 6th November, the nomination being proposed by retired Judge President of the Supreme Court, Craig Howie (G, 1956) in a beautifully and insightfully crafted speech.

To celebrate Raymond's appointment, Hamish Sinclair (S, 1992) and Stonehage Fleming are very kindly hosting "An Evening with Raymond Ackerman" drinks reception on Tuesday 29th January (6.30pm-8.30pm) at their offices in London. The function will afford ODs an opportunity to listen to Raymond speak about his life, Bishops and probably golf, and to meet and chat to him informally afterwards. Formal invitations for this function (for which there is no charge) will go out in December, but if you can, RSVP now  by clicking HERE.

There are two events remaining for the year; the year-end party on Friday 30th November, a casual come-and-go-as-you-please affair at The Hollywood Arms in Chelsea. To RSVP, click HERE. Wives and partners more than welcome.

The second is the Thames Hare & Hounds inter-alumni cross country championships to be held on Saturday 15th December on the Wimbledon Common. Bishops is the only international team taking part and we are rising steadily up the rankings (to see last year's teams, click HERE). Please do run and consider bringing your family along to run as well. They won't count as ODs but might just force other schools down the scorecard. To read more about it and enter, click HERE.

Very sadly, we learnt of the passing of Christian Rohrer (K, 2017) last year's Bishops Headboy and one of our most recent ODs. Christian was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer at the start of 2017 and battled courageously throughout the year, missing most of his classes. Nevertheless, he passed his matric with 5 distinctions. After a false dawn, the cancer returned a few months ago and he died on Monday 5th November 2018. RIP.

For those of you who have not read the latest (October) edition of the ODU Magazine, you can access it HERE or on the cover picture to the left. Tim Richman (B, 1995) is the editor and the quality of the product is a testimony to his work and skill. Having been net absorbers of guidance and experience from other societies, we are now being asked for copies of our magazine as an exemplar to other alumni associations. If you have any feedback on the magazine or would like correspondence included in the next edition, please do email him at tim@burnetmedia.co.za

And to help guide the Magazine Committee, could you indicate by clicking on the one of the responses below whether you would prefer an annual or biannual publication.
Once a year       Twice a year

This is the last letter of the year. It has been a busy eleven months and I would like to thank the UK ODs for their loyalty and support. I value all feedback so please let me know how the UK branch might improve in achieving its objectives of bringing ODs together and building relationships with Bishops and each other.

To all of you and your families, a very happy Christmas and may 2019 be healthy and successful.

Kindest regards

Nicky Bicket

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THE THAMES HARE & HOUNDS ANNUAL ALUMNI CROSS-COUNTRY RACE

2pm, Saturday 15th December
Wimbledon Common




It’s time to finally wash last year’s mud off your running shoes because the 2018 Thames Hare and Hounds Alumni Race is approaching fast! Not as fast as Chris Molteno (Gray, 2010) approached the finish line of last year’s race but quickly nonetheless…

For the third year, intrepid ODs take on the best of the UK alumni cross-country teams. Wimbledon Common is the course. Eton and Winchester are in our crosshairs (click HERE to see the full roll of last year's competitors).  Rowan Nicholls (O, 2010) is our enthusiastic and altogether younger captain. 

Last year we came 13th out of 45 teams, up from 14th the year before. Let’s aim for the top 10 this time around! We’re the first and still the only international team to take part so let’s fly the flag high!

How the ranking works: you are given a score equal to your position (1 point for 1st place, 2 for 2nd, etc). A team's first four finishers have their scores added together and that becomes the team's score; lowest score wins. This doesn't mean that the other runners don't count: if numbers 5 onwards can get in front of another team's scorer they get pushed down the ranks and it hurts their score, so every person is important! Note that you are allowed to bring family and friends to run with - or ahead of - you, but only the first 4 ODs to cross the line count towards the result.

This is an afternoon full of needle and fun and a great way to burn off the calories you will be putting back at The Telegraph Pub post-race.

Bring it home, chaps - commit and register by contacting Rowan HERE.

The photo is of the 2017 team (in OD running vests - and there's one waiting for you).



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GARMON ASHBY BRINGS HIS CHOIR TO LONDON

Garmon Ashby, much-loved Director of Music at Bishops between 1987 and 2000, has made quite a name for himself as a church musician and music teacher in the States.

His Episcopal High School choir from Houston will be singing Choral Evensong in Southwark Cathedral on Wednesday, January 9th, at 5:30pm, with Jonathan Lee at the organ, and includes music by SA composers Stephen Carletti (G, 1983) and Peter Klatzow (your secretary's cousin and one-time music teacher!).

No booking or payment required.


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SCOTLAND

Long before David Cameron (remember him?) thought it a good idea to offer Scotland the chance to secede (and then persuaded them not to: "you'll never get back into the EU if you go" - oops!), the OD Union, in a flash of geopolital prescience, had already cleaved it from the UK to form the Scottish Branch. So in truth, when I refer to myself as the branch secretary of the UK ODU, that is only three-quarters correct as Scotland stands proudly independent under the leadership of Robert Murray (S, 1968). 

Robert hosted an OD lunch in October and writes:

"On a day which could only be described by the Scots word dreich (grey, cold, wet, and windy - i.e. normal for autumn) brave Scottish ODs gathered in a cosy inn just beneath the southern end of the Forth Bridge to meet, sample the finest local brews, do justice to a fine Sunday roast, and remember Bishops. The view, mist and rain aside, has recently become more spectacular with the appearance of yet another bridge across the Firth of Forth.

"Present were front, left to right: Peter McMorland (F, 1964), Anja Rideout, Dalene Swanson (Staff 1987-1996), and Frans Kooy (O, 1968). Back, left to right Robert Murray,Tim Rideout (W, 1978), Sally Bowie, and David Bowie (O, 1985).

"The following were in contact but unable to attend: Calum Wehmeyer  (B, 2017, and the newest member of the Scotland Branch), Robert Hollingdale (G, 1955), Craig Eriksen (F, 1971), and Peredur Williams (F, 1962)."


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Katie Hofman (G, 1981) spotted this plaque in All Saints Church, Helmsley, North Yorkshire. The Vicar at the time of the installation in 1872 was Charles Gray, who via this plaque commemorates his father Robert Gray the founder of Bishops. Robert Gray died on 1st September that year. The Feast of St Matthew is celebrated on the 21st September.

Knowing all this, have a go at the translation and if you're a little rusty, click HERE. (Thanks to Katie and Matthew Golesworthy (K, 2011) for their scholarly input).

The church also contains artefacts sent back to Charles (who wrote a biography of his father, Life of Robert Gray) by Robert and a letter from David Livingstone to Robert Gray's wife Sophy thanking her for a gift of mosquito nets. The church altar rail is by Robert "Mouseman" Thompson.

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CREATIVE ODs
 
ODs on the whole have a lot to say and they say it in many different ways:

Books:

Peter Elliott (W, 1967) is yet another OD who has just published a book. Constance: One Road to Take; The Life and Photography of Constance Stuart Larrabee (1914-2000) has just come out and covers the life of Constance Larrabee, a leading female photographer in South Africa and the United States. This is the first book on Larrabbee which details her life in South Africa, war-torn Europe and, later, Maryland, and contains many of her photographs

Through her lens, she covered the lives of black women and children living in the countryside and then cities and mining towns as their husbands toiled deep underground or in factories that spilled out onto the ridges of the Witwatersrand. 

To see a more comprehensive description of the publication click HERE or to order it through Amazon, click
HERE.



Film:

Driving around Cape town nowadays, one can be forgiven for thinking that the Peninsula is one huge film set, so active are foreign and local filmmakers in the area. Jonty Acton (F, 1991) is an up-and-coming director now seeking funding for his next film Break In. He describes it as "...a tough film that deals with issues of masculine identity and gender violence, so not for the feint-hearted! But these are issues I feel strongly that we as South Africans need to grapple with and begin discussions around to help build and rejuvenate the fabric of our society."

A short clip of the film can be viewed HERE. If anyone is interested in more details and or supporting the production, please do email Jonty at jonty@idodigital.co.za


Poetry:
 
Archie Swanson (G) one of my contemporaries and unofficial poet laureate of the Class of '73 read with interest (and unexpressed envy) in last month's newsletter of the UK OD 45th reunion. He wrote to tell me he will be attending the Cape Town equivalent and there he will be toasting our year with a poem of his, written especially for this milestone. I reprint it here with a great sense of pride and ... well, I suppose nostalgia is the best word to describe the feeling:

boy grown tall
we set our course
and sailed from the harbour of youth
down stone-pine lane
and out the mitred gate
a brazen cross our southern star
master of our fate
together we have lived 5000 years and more
older than the stones of troy
and pyramids of nubia we are
we’ve fought to loss and victory
through tragedy and joy
and so we’ve come to celebrate
the rising and the fall
that we departed on this odyssey
from one great common port of call
the harbour of our forming years
the making of us all
well-travelled men we raise a toast
and recollect the boy grown tall
the boy grown tall



Are there any other ODs out there prepared to scribble down a poetic masterpiece for their class?


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ODs ON THE MOVE

This month we congratulate (from left to right):
      


Guy de Freitas (M, 2005) who has been appointed as a Principal at Appian Capital Advisory, Appian’s principal objective is to be the partner of choice within the metals and mining sector through matching quality assets with long-term capital and operating expertise. Prior to this position, Guy was with Macquarie Capital in London.

Alexi Enotiades (F, 2012) is now a trainee at Anheuser-Busch Inbev Zambia where, as he says, he "is making beer for the nation". Nice job if you can get it!

John Hodges (K, 2005) Bishops Rhodes Scholar in 2011, has joined Bregal Milestone as an investment professional. Bregal  Milestone manages a fund of €400 million dedicated to investments in Europe and provides non-control capital and strategic assistance to leading growth companies.

Well done and good luck, all of you.

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BISHOPS 2018 RHODES SCHOLAR








 

When Cecil Rhodes created his eponymous scholarships in 1902, women, who were allowed to attend Oxford, were not allowed to graduate and so were excluded from qualifying for these scholarships. Both Oxford and the scholarship criteria have changed and many young women have passed through the university as Rhodes Scholars with great distinction. Bishops is one of only four schools in the world - all in South Africa - to have its own Rhodes Scholarship (SACS, St Andrews and Paul Roos the other three) but that has changed too, insofar as these schools have extend the eligibility of their named scholarships to other schools. In the case of Bishops, we share ours with Herschel, St Cyprians, St Georges and LEAP.  (For a complete list of Bishops Rhodes Scholars and partner schools, click HERE).

So it is with great pleasure that Bishops have announced that the Diocesan College Rhodes Scholar for 2018 is
Julia Hampton

Julia matriculated from Herschel in 2014 with nine distinctions and was the Western Cape’s top candidate for English Home Language and on the Premier of the Western Cape's Matric Merit List for overall academic achievement.  At school she participated in swimming, netball and was the First Team Water Polo Captain, earning her Provincial Colours for three years in a row.  Having engaged in multiple dimensions of University of Cape Town (UCT) life and beyond, in April 2018 Julia was awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in English Language & Literature, Economics and Economic History, with distinction in all three of these areas. She is currently reading for the BCom Honours in Economics at UCT.
 
Julia will read for an MPhil in Development Studies at Oxford.  From this she hopes to become better equipped to unleash the energy and passion of South African communities: integrating people from all socioeconomic backgrounds at the centre of South Africa's economy and at the centre of development discourse more broadly. She currently leads the Non-Profit/Public Benefit Organisation, Phaphama Small Enterprise Development Initiative, which links student consultants from UCT to business owners in Khayelitsha and Philippi. For recreation Julia socialises with family and friends, loves reading, painting and writing and derives great meaning from a creative engagement with the people and nature around her.

Two other young women have been recipients of the Diocesan College Rhodes Scholarships. They are, right, Emily van Heerden (Herschel, 2016 Balliol) and Ashley Pople (St Cyprians, 2014 St Anthony's). Emily is reading for her MPhil (Law) and Ashley reading for a DPhil in economics.

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CLASSICAL MUSIC

John Joubert (O, 1944) is described as "... one of (Britain's) best-loved and most distinguished senior composers, ... at the forefront of British musical life for seven decades, producing a steady stream of masterpieces in a plethora of genres." Prima Facie records has just recorded John's Complete Piano Works (played by Duncan Honeybourne) and via pre-orders, would like to take it into production. If like me you are keen to keep classical music alive and support our OD composers, then, like me, do order one. For more information and order details, click HERE.


22 Mansfield Street, the beautiful and stately home of Bob and Elisabeth Boas is a hive of salon and chamber music. The house itself is worth a visit just for the art collection. The music programme is varied and of a very high standard and very inexpensive, the price including a drink before the concert and the concert itself. There is usually either a drinks and canapé reception or supper afterwards (at an additional cost). To see the programme and the booking details, please click HERE

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NEW ODU CUFFLINKS

With just over a month to Christmas, not only will these super-elegant OD cufflinks enhance your look in the City (or anywhere) but will make a great present for an OD relative. Stock is low so if you want a pair before the new year, now's the time to order. These are chain-link (not bar) cufflinks are £35 per pair plus £3 postage and packaging (unfortunately deliveries to UK addresses only - and must be signed for as they are insured). If you'd like to order a pair, please click HERE.
 
Mentoring featured strongly in the latest ODU Magazine and so it should. To date, almost 200 ODs have benefited from the wisdom and experience of 330 OD mentors who cover 95 disciplines and professions. They give freely and wisely of their skills and experience. If ODs would like to engage as either a mentor or mentee, please click HERE.

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