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There are 48 pupil-led societies here at
the College, ranging from the Debating
Society to the Hispanic Society, via the
Astronomy and the Natural History
Societies. Boys can investigate anything
that piques their interest and new
societies often spring up to satisfy a
group of inquisitive Wykehamists. This
year alone has given rise to the Car
Society, American Politics society and,
notoriously, the Metal-Detecting Society.
Sport is a major part of life at
Winchester. You have, no doubt,
heard about the plans for the new PE
Centre. If not, you soon will. The PE
Centre epitomises the huge variety of
sport on offer, but a quick tour of the
grounds shows what a wonderful place
Winchester is for taking part in the
traditional team sports. Soccer, cricket,
rowing and tennis all have a wonderful
setting in which to train or compete
and yet we also excel at rackets, fives,
running and fencing, to name but a few.
I could not talk about sport at
Winchester without mentioning
Winchester College football. It is
only played during Common Time
(the Spring Term) and all matches
are played between boarding houses
or groups of boarding houses. But,
however anachronistic it may seem to an
outsider, this highly competitive, highly
technical sport encapsulates many of
the best qualities of Winchester. The
game only survives because of a vibrant
sense of tradition, and depends on an
individual streak, and an intense and
inclusive camaraderie. Whatever else I
remember from my time here, I will take
away countless memories of playing this
unique game in the cold and mud.
Music plays a central part in every
Wykehamist’s life. I was not surprised
to hear recently that 80% of the boys
in my boarding house play a musical
instrument. There are innumerable
ensembles ranging from jazz quintets
to full-scale symphony orchestras,
many founded by boys. Chapel Choir
T he T rusty S ervant
tours regularly, and school concerts are
highlights of the calendar. Thespians can
take part in many plays, often directed by
boys. There are frequent house plays too.
In short, there are many more activities
on offer than one person could try to
take part in and yet there is no activity
in which you will not be encouraged to
excel.
If we leave behind Winchester’s beautiful
cloisters and playing fields, there are
opportunities to travel the world under
the School’s banner. I have spent a
night in an igloo on a trip to Finland
where I witnessed the Northern Lights
(admittedly in the slightly embarrassing
(and very cold) position of watching
them fresh from a sauna for fear that I
would only catch a fleeting glimpse). I
have taken part in a 260km triathlon
relay across the Lake District as part of
the Mallory Challenge and last summer
I spent two weeks in Northern India
as part of a charitable expedition. Not
only had we raised over £25,000 for
the charity beforehand, but we then
joined the labour force for a week to
assist in a building project for a remote
school. Those are my experiences over
the last two years, but friends of mine
have recently travelled to Bordeaux, St
Petersburg, Bavaria and Spain as part of
foreign exchanges. History of Art trips
regularly give Wykehamists the chance
to travel to Florence while Classics trips
see them in Athens and Rome. So make
no mistake: I am not unique in having
these experiences. The opportunities are
here at Winchester for your sons to take.
Finally, let me touch on Winchester’s
social environment. Fellowship between
the boys is developed most in the
boarding houses. Living in such a close-
knit community throughout my teenage
years has been one of the most formative
aspects of my time at Winchester. Under
the watchful eye of my housemaster and
matron, we have lived, eaten, played and
studied in the same building; seen the
house evolve as one year-group leaves,
and another comes along; and built
9
friendships with boys from all over the
world.
I realise that I have presented an
individual experience of Winchester
and that is perhaps the key point. A
lot of people outside the school, I am
already starting to realise, try to pigeon
hole Wykehamists as academic or clever
in some way, but I think the important
thing is that we are individuals and each
of us is unique. Were this talk given by
someone else in their final term, you
might have heard a completely different
set of experiences, but I am sure they
would have been held together by the
same basic ingredients: variety, academic
rigour, sport and tradition.
Winchester is an elite school, but the
men it produces are not elitist; they are
understated and measured. When my
parents chose to send me to Winchester
College, they gave me the best gift of
all. Not only am I extremely grateful to
them, but I am and will always remain,
immensely proud and privileged to be a
Wykehamist.