Photographs from The Falcon 1976
In November 1975 the Dugmore Memorial Library was opened by Mrs Molly Dugmore and it was to become the hub of academic life in the College under the care of its first Librarian, Mrs Sheila Roff ("Somebody's sniffing!").
In 1975 John Dakin decided to put on a staff play, "See How They Run". He originally cast me as Rev. Arthur Humphrey ... or was it Rev. Lionel Toop? In the event, my National Service call-up papers put paid to that idea and the parts were played by Philip Lane and Alan Taylor respectively. Philip is seen in the photograph below, along with Monty Woolley as Sgt Towers and Peter Philips as The Bishop of Lax.
That same year another play produced by John Dakin was "A View from the Bridge", where our Sixth Formers were joined by girls from Townsend. They put on an unforgettable performance and Bruce Burrell as Eddie Carbone was outstanding. He can be seen in the last two photographs below. We suffered many hardships and losses during the war years: Bruce was killed in action the next year, in December 1976.
Clubs and Societies were as important as ever, and below we see a meeting of The Cosmos Society, run by Ian Stewart, seen below. Oddly, there were no reports in "The Falcon" of 1976 from either of the two Sixth Form societies, Mylne and Cosmos, although Novices did feature.
Natural History Society: snakes were Graham Armstrong's speciality and there were always boys with particular herpetological interests.
The Young Scientists' Exhibition was an important event every year, and we were proud to have won the Sixth Form Biological Studies Prize for an exhibit entitled "An Investigation of Adaptive Behaviour in Cockroaches" which was submitted by John Gasson and Peter Methven. Here Gasson is seen at an Open Day at the College, with John Stansbury in the background.
Below we see cricket coaching by visiting first-class cricketer Rodney Cass, who had played for both Essex and Worcestershire as well as Tasmania. How lucky our lads were! Ross Smith gets help with his batting skills while Duncan McAulay looks on.
Rugby was always centre-focus in the College during the winter months (and beyond). Here Monty Woolley in his all-season safari suit ensures the necessary skills are learnt by Form I boys.
Below, during an Open Day parents study the path their sons will take through the College. (Most readers will be familiar with Alan Taylor's immaculate script seen in the display!)
Woodsmoke Club: below we see a kitchen in the bush; bread making; and a hot drink on a cold evening.
I think we have above, from the left, Chris Stanton and behind him Colin Mostert; Dave Giles in the middle, and Alex Firks and Hamish Hamilton on the right .
The expedition in December 1975 was to the Okavango Delta where, as always, there was some serious scientific work done as well as time to relax.
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