No.129
The Trusty Servant
Obiter dicta
Peter McCarthy Robin Chute (E, 61-65;
Estates Bursar 82-19) writes:
Peter McCarthy, formerly grounds-
man and River Keeper to the College,
1965-99, died peacefully at his home
on the Isle of Wight on 19 th February
aged 85.
Alumni Race Anthony Dolittle (Coll,
98-03) reports: On 14 th December 2019,
a strong OW Tolling Club squad
lined up for the annual Alumni Race,
with conditions even more gloriously
muddy than usual and the skies more
mercifully cloud-free than 2018’s
drenching. The OW runners were a
veritable roll call of the Colin Upton
years of dominance of 1990s and early
2000s - aptly sporting sky-blue vests
very generously provided to us a few
years ago by the great man himself.
John Loveday (12th), Mike Boucher
(13th), Phil Killingley (14th) and
Simon Baines (23rd), with Ed Perry
(34th) not far behind in support, took
the team to third place in the open
competition. Given the gracefully
receding hairlines and the odd
toddler-induced wrinkled forehead
on show, it was no surprise to see
the OWs comfortably win the V40s
competition with Baines, Boucher
and John Shaw - with the ever reliable
Phil Morgan close behind - posting
a miserly score of 18 points ahead
of Oundle in second place with
45 points. A little further up the
venerability gradings, John Shaw
(65th overall, first V60) led the OWs
to an equally comfortable victory in
the V60 category, with Rhodri Davies
and Richard Cocksedge helping put
Shrewsbury into a distant second
place. Hon Mentions also go to Hugh
Frere-Cooke who made light of the
effects of recent parenthood, the ever
reliable and ever solid Peter Bunn
who was 40 seconds off scoring for
the V60s, and Alex Cheyne, who
rolled back the years albeit in entirely
inappropriate footwear. As pleasing
as the silverware was the sight of
17 sky-blue vests on the start line,
with a hops-based warm down that
Colin would probably have quietly
approved of in the pub afterwards.
David Jenkins deserves special praise
as ever for the warm and enthusiastic
manner in which he continues to
command this expanding, yet ever
popular, event. The OWTC is always
looking for new runners. Do contact
[email protected]
Winchester College Cross Country,
7th March 2020. John Brooks reports:
the OW match went very well and,
judging by the thank you emails was
enjoyed by all. The OW team with
seven runners won by a narrow
margin and the home team came
second. A very creditable third place
to the OE team. First 10 runners:
1 Ryle-Hodges, William OE 29.18
2 Walker,
Barnaby Old Wellingtonians 29.43
3 Loveday, John OW
29.53
4 Thompson,
William Win Coll
33.07
5 Magura, Mark Win Coll
34.17
6 Cheyne, Alex OW 3
5.08
7 Dymoke,
Ed Old Wellingtonians
35.12
8 Barron, Jon OW
35.34
9 Wilson, Tim OW
35.44
10 Townend, Felix Win Coll 35.56
27
After National Service and a spell in
the Police in Winchester (where he
met his wife Cynthia) he spent five
years in the Royal Marines. He joined
the College grounds staff in 1965
specifically to help prepare Lords for
Eton Match.
He will be fondly remembered by
most OWs as the River Keeper, a post
he held from 1976, and as captain of
the staff cricket XI.
His greatest contributions, from
my fishing perspective, were to help
regenerate the OW Fishing Club to
its current 200 members and perhaps,
more importantly, to initiate the
reinstatement of the river banks from
St Cross to New Hall. We eventually
obtained consent from the National
Rivers Authority to narrow the river
and I well remember Peter (in his
chest waders with me on the bank)
marking with long stakes the new
river’s edge roughly in the middle.
Over ten years we put in 30,000
tonnes of chalk to attain the width
it had been in 1910, our earliest
Ordnance Survey map.
He enjoyed a happy retirement on
the Isle of Wight with Cynthia, who
predeceased him, and the ever-present
black Labrador.
OW Bell Ringers
Barry Johnson (Coll, 63-68) wrote an
article ‘Back to school after 50 years’
in the November 2019 edition of The
Ringing World. This recorded a visit
to the school on 30 th October 2019 of
OW bell ringers Barry Johnson, Tony
Mason (H, 64-69), Richard Youdale
(Coll, 60-65), Richard Underwood
(Coll, 62-67), Rod Lebon (D, 62-67)
and Alistair Donaldson (A, 66-70).