No . 135
The Trusty Servant
Children of College Return
On Saturday , 12 th November , 2022 an unusual gathering took place , of people who spent part of the childhoods in College while their fathers worked there . Tim Giddings ( Co Ro , 09- ; College Tutor , 10-16 ), the father of two of them , takes up the tale :
After gathering in the Master in College ’ s dining room , the guests roamed the accommodation , prompting memories to flow to the pen of the author .
THE WRIGHTS ( 1924-52 ) The Sen children at the gathering were the daughters of Monty Wright , Patricia ( now Elkington ) and Jenny ( now Streat ). Their bedroom was at the top of the gable facing Moberly Court . The room lacked a fireplace , which caused them anxiety as Advent drew on . How would Father Christmas gain access ? Their mother assured them that he was quite capable of coming in through the windows . Perhaps this piqued their interest in the most plausible landing-spot for the Yuletide sleigh : a flat lead-roof immediately outside the dormer window . Jenny had a close escape from disaster when she clambered out onto it aged two to welcome her sister back from a visit to Meads and tottered towards the 50ft drop at the edge . Fortunately her mother realised what was going on and enticed her back into the room with a ‘ sweetie ’. Their stay also saw the modernisation of the lodgings , transforming the rather austere rooms into a much cosier home , with silk curtains throughout . Also in attendance was Jenny ’ s friend Jane McIntosh , daughter of Ian McIntosh ( Co Ro , 37-53 ). She wrote a letter , aged 12 , to Desmond Lee ( HM , 54-68 ), making the case for a place at Winchester . She listed all the books which she had read and her accomplishments in French and Latin . She thought she had better show it to her father before posting it and was shocked to hear that she was not able to come , even as a don ’ s daughter . She was pleased to hear that girls may now attend Winchester College , even if they are unrelated to current staff .
THE HOWARTHS ( 1952-62 ) Monty Wright was succeeded as Second Master by Tom Howarth , an athletic character who would dash straight from his div room to the Winchester Tennis Club . His brood of four was described by Colin Badcock as ‘ a destroyer and three escort vessels ’, launched into Meads after breakfast and in trouble if they returned to port before tea . The family was represented at the gathering by David ( I , 64-68 ) and Frances ( now Stadlen ) – whom David thinks was probably the destroyer . David shared a further link with his predecessors beyond taking over their bedrooms , as he was tutored by Patricia Elkington in order to go to Pilgrims ’. He is extremely grateful for her kindness and infinite patience , which helped him recover from being thrown out of a Dame School run by a Gradgrindian harridan ‘ with a beard , glasses as thick as a milk bottle and a 12-inch ruler which flashed like Excalibur ’. He also imitated Jenny ’ s rooftop adventures , reaching the top of Chapel Tower not via the internal spiral staircase , but by scaling the mullions and crocketed pinnacles on the outside .
THE SCOTTS ( 1962-79 ) The next Second Master was Martin Scott , whose family was represented by Tom ( A , 73-77 ), Catherine , Matthew ( E , 75-79 ) and Sophie ( now Harrison ). They brought with them a variety of interesting animals : guinea pigs hutched in the Nursery and grass snakes . Alas , they also shared the accommodation with some less welcome wildlife : cockroaches , which necessitated a holiday fumigation most summers . At the gathering they recalled the famous night when an intruder was reported to be lurking in College : ‘… my father saw suspicious movement in Chamber Court late on a dark winter night out of term time . He summoned Michael Fontes from the flat he then lived in underneath the Second Master ’ s House and together they went to search for the burglar in those gloomy catacombs - beer cellar , or some such place - underneath College Hall . My father went one way and Michael went another , searching for the intruder . Hearing noises behind a large oak door my father pushed it open and went to investigate . He could see almost nothing and had no idea how to turn the light on , however the intruder could just about be made out , lurking in a dark corner . He tried to rush out but my father just managed to stop him . Hearing the commotion Michael Fontes then appeared and a violent struggle ensued . It ended with my father and Michael wrestling and punching each other to the floor whilst the intruder slipped away , although I think he was eventually apprehended by a porter . At the subsequent court case it proved quite impossible to ascertain quite who had injured whom - fortunately nobody was seriously injured - and as a result the intruder was cleared of assault .’ The children remembered roaming around the lodgings on the search
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