N o .124
T he T rusty S ervant
Mayor (I ,75-79). This can be described
as a light skirmish between OTH and
Commoners and the result was a pre-
determined draw!
In 2016, Hugh Priestley and James
Younger were members of a hot recorded
in TS121 at 64.83 deg S; 63.50 deg W,
ensuring their position as OWs who have
hotted both furthest south and furthest
north!
On 10 th March 2017, the Old
Wykehamist Cornflowers - the ‘LGBT
Soc’ for OWs - held their inaugural
reception in the City of London. It was
a lively turnout, representing College,
Commoners and OTH, and ranging
from those who were at the school in the
1960s to those who left in the 2000s. A
similarly enthusiastic group turned out
in early August for the Queer British Art
exhibition at Tate Britain, bookended
by drinks and dinner. Future events are
planned, including dinners, film viewings
and joint drinks with our Etonian and
Harrovian counterparts. To register your
interest for future gatherings, sign up at
www.owcornflowers.com/register.
SPI Maclure (K, 88-91) and Gary
Readman have recreated an epic 1952
charity open-water swim from Hartland
to Lundy, repeating the achievement of
Egyptian army Captain Hassan Abdel
Rahim & Cyril Webber from Barnstaple.
Arctic Hot.
They set off from Hartland early on
Friday morning, accompanied by the
Marie J, an Appledore-built boat similar
to the one used in the first swim. The
duo completed their swim in eight hours
and 20 minutes, in ‘very choppy and
difficult sea conditions’. In doing so, they
have also raised more than £6,000 for
Bude Rugby Club Minis/Juniors and two
seriously ill children in Bude.
Steve Maclure on left
23
Colonel CH Van der Noot (K, 53-
57) observes: Lieutenant Colonel
GMH Strickland (B, 92-95), an
Army Reservist, took command of
The London Regiment on 17 th April
2017. He is in good company, as the
Second-in-Command is Major IAB
Buchanan (F, 77-82) and one of the
platoon commanders is Lieutenant A
Burns (H, 05-10). The Commanding
Officer’s Lance-Corporal signaller is
an Old Eton ian! Any of them would
welcome contact from Wykehamists in
the London area who are interested in
joining the Army Reserve. The London
Regiment is the capital’s only reserve
infantry regiment and acts as the reserve
battalion to the Foot Guards on exercise
and operations. It is unusual for any
Regiment to have three OWs serving
in the same battalion. The last time the
Gordon Highlanders had three OWs
serving in the Regiment was when I was
joined by M Borthwick (F, 52-56) and
DMH du Boulay (C, 52-57)!
Warren Hibbert (B, 60-65) has produced
an anthology, Poems Short, under the
nom-de-plume Peter Collins:
GUNNER’S HOLE
or a dip in the past
A fenced-off stretch of chalky stream
Where naked boys would let off steam
Or read a book
Until the Rook
Gave raucous call
To summon all
Back to house
For evening meal
In Grubbing–Hall.