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to illuminate the cross on the high altar,
and that the main fuse had blown!
Henry could be heard asking everyone
to remain where they were: lights would
soon appear to guide them out. And so
they did. Within a couple of minutes
vergers appeared carrying candle lanterns
that lit up the great nave in a magical
soft light, and everyone departed in good
order.
Winchester College estates: six centuries
of land ownership
John de Lande Long (I, 64-69) has
written to respond to the statements
in this article regarding the time of his
father, Peter de Lande Long, Estates
Bursar 1949-60 and Bursar 1952-60.
He points out that ‘there was a serious
shortage of funds in the economic
depression referenced and therefore
forced sales… of land were clearly
needed to provide liquidity for the school
to pay its bills for ESSENTIAL repairs.’
Peter was indeed a qualified Chartered
T he T rusty S ervant
Surveyor, like Fellow Lord Saye and Sele.
On Peter’s retirement, Warden Patrick
Duff attested to his work: ‘He has been
the best Bursar Winchester has had, at
least in this century. He greatly increased
the College’s income from its estates,
selling a good deal of land and bringing
the rest into excellent order.’ A previous
Warden, Viscount Simonds, wrote, ‘His
management of the large and scattered
estates of the College, which during the
war had suffered grave disorganization,
has been beyond praise.’ John describes
his father as ‘the most skilled, competent
and admired of men’.
Life in Kingsgate Street in the 1950s
Keith Arnold (H, 40-45):
Michael Willmot refers to the previous
use of 68 Kingsgate St as a ‘batchelor
pad’. In the 1940s there were three dons
living there; one was Eric Lucas. It was
an unattractive house, but it had some
assorted sheds at the back which could
be made into pigsties. Being interested,
I fell in with the idea of keeping three or
four pigs (which counted as Ekker, I was
assured). So to all the assorted sounds
referred to in the article was added a
porcine chorus. Food was collected in
a bin on wheels from College Kitchens
and boiled up in a makeshift cauldron.
‘Dig for Victory’ was a wartime slogan
and the School already had an allotment
on a spare patch of ground. The pigs’
contribution was gladly received by the
gardeners, and the arrangement lasted
to the war’s end. The fact that I took
an MA in Agriculture at Cambridge
thereafter may have had some
connection with this patriotic enterprise!
But in any case it added something
different to the usual curriculum.
The College Tutorship
Chris Minter (Coll, 46-51):
At the reunion of my Election Roll in
1996, by far the most popular choice
of guest was JB Poynton, even amongst
Exhibitioners, although Poynton sadly
died before the invitation could be sent.
John Saumarez Smith (Coll, 57-61):
When I first went into College in Jan
1957, the Tutor was David Lutyens of
whom I remember little except the Ponto
song which went, ‘College Tutor plays
the piano, / molto mosso con rubato, /
and his voice you always can know, / for
it is a fine soprano/castrato.’ He had an
unusual career when he left Win Coll
because he became a newsreader on
the relatively new ITV channel and the
OW Record gives his later address as
American.
More than a Gate: the Legacy of George Ridding
CAH Moberly (C, 58-63):
I thought you might be interested in the attached photo, taken at the Moberlys’ house.
George Moberly is at the back in the middle. His wife, Mary Anne (née Crokat)
is middle right and my great grandfather, John Cornelius Moberly (he of the large
graffito on the panelling in School!) is recumbent at the front on the right.
Moberly’s daughter and Ridding’s wife, Mary, was already dead when this photo was
taken in 1861, which is perhaps the reason why Ridding – leaning against the pillar on
the right – looks so sad.
16
Richard Stevens (Coll, 57-61):
My first thought is that at the time neither
I nor I think anyone else was clear as to
the exact function of the College Tutor,
nor on reflection does this become any
clearer. Were they meant to be supporting
the Second Master in general, or College
men with work, play, moral welfare or
what? Unless one can work out what they
were meant to be doing it is difficult to
decide whether or not they were any good
in the post. However, of the three who
reigned in my time: