THE WYKEHAM JOURNAL 2022
HEADMASTER ’ S MESSAGE
DR TIM HANDS
On 6 September , the school welcomed
19 members of the City Council to an open afternoon to see parts of the College and learn of its future plans . Several of them had not been in the College before . I spoke from notes , but the best guide I can give to where the College currently stands is to prose out those notes , and thereby give you an update on how the school sees its place in society both now and for the future .
‘ Mr Mayor , Leader , Distinguished Councillors , in Treasury earlier I explained to you our historic mission which I described , figuratively , as opening doors . In School , amongst the portraits of previous Headmasters , let me explain some of the delights — and also the difficulties .
My predecessor Spencer Leeson — he is the rather reserved figure looking at us over there from the south-east corner — was once asked how he enjoyed being Headmaster of Winchester ; ‘ Madam ’, he replied , ‘ how will you enjoy the Day of Judgement ?’. My even more distinguished predecessor , George Ridding , known as our Second Founder and distinguished by the remarkable mutton chop whiskers dominating his portrait to the right of the fireplace , ran a school whose character it is easy to summarise . At Winchester , a contemporary remarked , ‘ everything is antique , but nothing is antiquated ’.
Before I came to Winchester from Oxford , a distinguished medical professor , who is a former pupil here , invited me to lunch and asked me whether I could possibly move the College into the twentieth century . The twenty-first century , he advised , would be a target beyond reach . My father , who was something of a visionary Headmaster , died just before I arrived here , but his belief was assured : schools exist to serve their communities . These two beliefs are linked .
Now , Winchester ’ s main problem in recent times was that its infrastructures had become both antique and antiquated , and this had an effect on our ability
AT WINCHESTER ‘ EVERYTHING IS ANTIQUE , BUT NOTHING IS ANTIQUATED ’ 8