No.127
The Trusty Servant
and at a later date my father, after
recovering the card on return
home, had pencilled in ‘Altham’
after ‘Harry’. The card is from the
RioRita, which styled itself as ‘Die
schönste Bar. Die besten Orchester.
Berliner Nachtleben – nur dort!’
The picture side of the card
shows the interior of the RioRita
resplendent in echt 1930s furnishings
on which lounge elegant ladies in
gloves, furs and cloche hats, paying
close attention to cigar-smoking,
dinner-jacketed men (and vice versa).
Only Marlene Dietrich is missing.
I looked up the overfull ‘Femina
night club, Berlin’ online and will
spare the blushes of The Trusty
Servant, other than to report that
messages and small presents could be
delivered from one table to another
by means of a network of pneumatic
tubes such as used to connect tills in
department stores to the accounts
department.
RioRita Club
How did my father, by then at New
College, find himself in a Berlin
nightclub with Harry Altham in
August 1936? The answer, which
again reflects well on Altham’s
commitment to educate his charges in
the round, was that he had invited a
Wiccamica
Change of Custos
Sir Richard Stagg (G, 69-73) has been
appointed to succeed Charles Sinclair
(B, 61-66) as Warden from September,
upon the latter’s retirement.
Sir Richard retired from the
Diplomatic Service in 2015, after
37 years. His final three roles were
Chief Operating Officer of the FCO,
High Commissioner to India and
Ambassador to Afghanistan. He has
been the Chairman of Rothschild
and Co, India since 2015. He is
also a Director of the JP Morgan
Asian Investment Trust and of Max
Financial Services, an Indian Listed
Company. He is the Chairman of
Afghan Connection (a charity which
supports education and cricket in
Afghanistan) and a Trustee of the
Turquoise Mountain Foundation.
He is also a Trustee of the School of
Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
and of the Chevening Estate. He is a
Director of Cheltenham Racecourse.
He has lived overseas for much of
his life - starting with Spain under
Franco and ending with three years
in Afghanistan during the Taliban
insurgency. He is married with five
children, including Charlie (G, 97-02).
We will bid a proper farewell to
Charles Sinclair in our next edition.
18
group of young OWs to accompany
him to the Berlin Olympics, where
it appears they were not only
encouraged to see the Games – I have
my father’s Box Brownie photos – but
also to sample what else Berlin had to
offer.