No . 138 The Trusty Servant
which consisted of the teaching hours in the latter half of the week ( Thursday to Saturday ), and throughout that period I had the good fortune to stay each week at Meadow House hosted by AJPA . I had never experienced evenings that were so busy ! There was beautiful singing in the rehearsals of an in-house harmony singing group , there were developments and preparations for a period piece for the theatre , there were things called “ tasktimes ” preparing pupils for Sixth Term Examination Papers in Physics . Many years later , I realised that the close harmony group , Cantores Episcopi , founded by AJPA , had already been well-established for more than twenty years before my arrival ; the period piece was The Roses of Eyam in the QE2 theatre , and whilst STEP Physics is no more , tasktimes still continue even today . I had the pleasure of directing The Roses of Eyam myself as Housemaster of Trant ’ s in 2015 , and AJPA came to watch it , and I was overwhelmed when he told me that he had once directed it himself , and I suddenly realised what the theatrical preparations were all about back in ’ 95 . [ See Henry Thompson ’ s memories above ...]
So much of what is quintessentially Winchester College for me has been influenced by AJPA . Those who are reading this will have many of their own stories of how he touched their lives and careers . When he retired , I had the unenviable task of thinking of a gift that might exemplify his influence across so many different spheres and so many different people . We presented him with a Lichtenberg Figure ( below ). Named after the German Physicist Georg Lichtenberg , who first discovered them , they are essentially frozen electrical discharges – modern versions are set in clear acrylic . The pattern is a diffusion of influence from a single point of contact , the lines fanning out , space-filling with self-similarity and uniqueness all at the same time .
Tom Lawson ( CoRo , 93-13 ; HoDo , A , 06-13 ). Not many housedons get a tutor who had been associated with the house for close to forty years , but when I took over Furley ’ s I had that with Tony . His experience and calm was , as you would expect , a wonderful resource . He had already pioneered the Duke of
Lichtenberg Figure – frozen electrical discharges
Edinburgh and at the time it was the only house running the scheme . He would come to lunch every Sunday , helping matron , Jess and me to make that a proper occasion , including sherry before and coffee afterwards with Sixth Book . After he retired from teaching , he still joined us every Sunday , having sung in the Chapel Choir , which was lovely . Also post supposed retirement , I had him do two more of his superb house plays . His sets were famously complicated – for example a 14ft opening iris sun to reveal Atahualpa in The Royal Hunt of the Sun . He was a tutor of the highest calibre : modest and dedicated to the service of the men in Furley ’ s .
PS : Don ’ t forget the story he told about shooting a boy in the bottom in Physics . They were doing the experiment measuring the speed of sound with an air rifle . Unfortunately the wooden block to receive the pellet had been used so many times that his shot bounced off a pellet . He proceeded to get the whole set to search everywhere for the pellet , while one boy put his hand up to get Tony ’ s attention . Eventually an exasperated Tony asked the boy what he wanted , which turned out to be reporting that the pellet was safely lodged in his buttock . Only in A & E did Tony discover what this boy ’ s dad did for a living - he was the Chief Executive of the HSE ! The boy was fine and his father found the whole thing very funny , fortunately . He told us this after house lunch one day , following a conversation where he said , with a deadpan straight face , ‘ I shot a boy once .’
A thanksgiving service for Tony ’ s life will be held in Chapel on Saturday 10th May 2025 , followed by a reception in Cloisters . You need to register beforehand . Please do so using the Win Coll Soc website : wincollsoc . org .
Former members of Cantores Episcopi will perform after the service . If you qualify and would like to take part ( there will be separate instructions about rehearsal and repertoire ) please indicate on the registration form .
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