No. 139 The Trusty Servant
Physics tutorials. There, arranged on a shelf around his office, were many working model steam engines. I had assumed they were made from kits but have only recently discovered that they were designed and built from scratch by Martin. The highlight of the Oxbridge term was when Dr Gregory could be persuaded to connect one of his engines to the compressed air cylinder he kept( to avoid having to raise steam) in a downstairs cupboard using some Bunsen burner tubing. The engine would whirr round at an unrealistically high speed and Martin would explain with a sigh that the governor( a device for regulating speed by cutting off steam), usually of spinning brass balls, did not scale effectively in a model. Some of Martin’ s engines can still be seen in Mill and in Science School.
JMG’ s model pumping station( Engine No 46), now on display in Mill. Note the flywheel, cast from scratch. A model of a twin cylinder‘ house built’ beam engine with gear drive
Model Engine Nos 17, 9 and 73 on display in Science School. And yes, 73 was the 73rd engine. JMG made over 100 models!
The Albert Gordon Sports Fund
David Clementi( E, 62-67; Warden, 08-14), a member of the Albert Gordon Sports Fund Committee, outlines the support that the Fund continues to offer Winchester College:
Sport has always been an important part of life at Winchester College, but the School has recently reached a new level, both in results against other schools and in respect of participation. There are a number of reasons for this, but three contributory factors should be recognised. The first came in September 2018 when, under the headmastership of Tim Hands, the School decided to award a number of Sports Scholarships. This proved to be a game changer for those responsible for admissions, able to argue convincingly to prospective parents and boys that Winchester was keen to recruit good sportsmen. This period coincided with the time when boys, still at prep school, could explore through the internet the offerings of different schools and discover for themselves Winchester’ s interest in outstanding sportsmen. The second key step was the appointment in 2020 of Mark Burley, the first professional director of sport the School has had. Winchester has had some excellent Masters in charge of sport, but they had all been required to balance their sporting interests alongside their teaching responsibilities. The third key step, long in the planning and building, was the opening in Autumn 2024 of the new Sports Centre, with the swimming pool due to open later this year and the all-weather facility( including 8 full-size tennis courts) shortly thereafter. The Sports Centre is world class, admired by all who have seen it and clear evidence of the School’ s commitment to Sport.
Throughout this period the School has benefited from financial support from the Albert Gordon Sports Fund. The Fund was set up in 2004 with money seeded by Albert Gordon and supplemented by contributions from other members of the Gordon family and from a small number of notable OW sportsmen. Albert Gordon himself was a remarkable man. A hugely successful New York banker he decided to send his two sons to Winchester for a year before they went on to Harvard, John Gordon( E 1966-67) and Dan Gordon( E 1968-69). Albert Gordon believed firmly that Winchester was the best secondary school in the world.
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