THE

Aymestrey House Magazine,MALVERN, JULY, 1921.

Editorial. With this number we bring to an end another school year, another chapter both in the history of the school and in the lives of the few "who here shall meet no more." It is no small loss that we suffer who are left behind. A preparatory school bids farewell to its members at a period in their lives which is, perhaps, the most interesting, at least to those whose task it is to tend and educate them. Let them be assured, however, that our interest does not cease when they have gone. We shall follow the course of their lives in a new sphere just as zealously as we have done while they have been beneath our wing. But while lowering the curtain on one act, this issue of our Magazine yet raises it on another: it is celebrating the anniversary of its birthday. Its first Editor is no longer with us, and a new and inexperienced hand is called upon to pen these prefatory platitudes. Years ago we were accustomed to scoff at the Editor who pleaded that "what with examinations, etc., etc., he, couldn't see how it was conceivably possible for him to get an Editorial written in time. We most humbly beg his pardon now, and heartily sympathise with all Editors at all times and in all places. Our judgment is come upon us. May readers read the moral in these lines! A n d n o w w h a t o f t h e t e r m ? We h a v e b e e n s i n g u l a r l y fortunate; none will gainsay that. While other schools sought the seclusion of their sickrooms in unwilling submission to implacable germs, we, together with a few other fortunate ones, effectually managed to ward off such unwelcome visitors, though we lay down our pen and touch wood with both hands in an effort to appeas e the avenging deities, wrathful at ou r con ceit. Bu t we may surely be allowed to congratulate those of the staff in whose hands lies the prevention of such microbic encroachments on their s ucces s in th is direct io n . A p r o lo n g ed period of dry w eath er brings with it much that is beneficial and much that is harmful. Day after day the endless; sunshine has kept us busy on the cricket field, and not one single day have we been driven indoors by inclement 1 weather. Only two really wet days have we as yet experienced, one of which was fixed on for our annual picnic. Forced to postpone the event till the next day, we could not have made a better choice, rain and heavy clouds giving way to glorious sunshine and a nice cool breeze. An account of the picnic, described by a visitor who accompanied us, appears in these pages. There is little to add. Another twelve weeks have gone, and we have advanced yet a stage further along the sands of time. We have doubtless learnt much, but what we have learnt, let us remember, is infinitesimal compared with what there is left for us to learn. Both in term and in

vacation there are always opportunities of increasing our knowledge; so let us make good use of our time while still young. We wish all our readers an enjoyable holiday and trust they will continue to assist us, who now wear the robes of office, with the support they have so generously given us in the past.

Old Boys' Notes.

R. J. Halcomb has returned to us as Assistant Master; we hope that his all-round keenness will be infectious. * * * * * * *

We were much pleased to see F. J. Ward at Whitsuntide, and hope that he will soon repeat his visit. * * * * * * *

A. B. Aitken and F. K. Aitken came over at half-term and helped us to enjoy our picnic. * * * * * * *

J. E. Coates has been bowling well at Clifton, and has received his Ist XI. colours. We wish him good luck for his first appearance at Lords, against Tunbridge, on July 25th and 26th. * * * * * * *

J. C. Kitchen is keeping wicket for Berkhamsted, and we notice that "Mr. Extras" does not often make a good score against the School. * * * * * * *

R. H. Babitington is at Keble, and is playing in the Tennis V1. * * * * * * *

At the Clifton College Sports held last term three of the Under 15 1/2 events were secured by Old A.H. Boys. J. E. Coates was successful in the high jump (4ft. 4ins.); and Waddington won the 100 yards and quarter-mile events in 12 secs. And 58 1/5 secs. Respectively. 2

School Notes.

G. Coaker left last term, and is now at Clifton (Lewis's).

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Thomason, Milner, Birks and Harley leave this term. Thomason goes to Clifton, Milner to St. Edward's, Oxford, Birks to Bromsgrove, and Harley to Sherborne. * * * * * * *

Under the able coaching of Miss Rose, some of the younger boys are shaping very well in the Baths. We hope that they may make it possible to revive, in the course of a year or two, the interesting and exciting matches with other schools.

The Annual Picnic.

I had thought to spend a weary half-holiday describing our adventures at the British Camp on that memorable Tuesday this term. But a visitor who joined us in his car has stepped into the breach and come to my rescue with some stanzas of his own, so that there is little I need add to his vivid description of a notable event. Suffice it to say that we spent a most enjoyable afternoon at this delightful spot, so well-known to past members of Aymestrey House, and frequented with such pleasure by the present generation We were very pleased to have with us Miss Isaacson, Mrs. Osborne and Mr. and Mrs. Aitken and family. We must thank Mr. and Mrs. Asterley most heartily for the admirable way they administered to all our wants, and for their great kindness in preparing for us such a welcome holiday.

The Attack on the British Camp,JUNE 28TH, 1921

Half a leg, half a leg, half a leg onward, All in the "Yellow Peril" Arrived the half hundred. "Right !" was, the guardians' cry, " O ff ! " w a s t h e k e e n r e p l y, "Now it is eat or die," Chirped the half hundred. 3

Onward to fame they sped, Hungry they felt and fed, All the half hundred. "Please, Sir," as one they cried, At Veal Pie no, one shied, Salad they also eyed, Hungry half hundred.

Flashed all their sabres bare, At Ham and Pasties rare, The fat boy, too, was there, One of the half hundred. "Cherries," he said, "give me Quick, or else I'll not be One of the half hundred." Then all the feast, foresook Save some who, stopped to look Askance; and then wondered Sadly they said "Good-bye, Now it is walk or die." Up to the British Camp Plunged the half hundred. "Charge !" was the General's cry, "Follow me!" All said "Aye !" Up through the gorse they fly, Though many blundered. Stormed at with wasp and thorn, Trousers and coats all torn, Discomforts nobly borne By the half hundred. Breathless, as, ne'er before, Footsore and hot, what's more, 'Cross hills and valleys tore A weary half hundred. "Tea!" was their general cry, "Pink Cottage, art thou nigh? Do come or else we'll die," Gasped the half hundred. Teacups to, right of them, Cherries to left of them, Large cakes in front of them, Found the half hundred. Hungry and tired they met, Nobly they sat and ate, Wet some are inside yet. And then they walked back The contented half hundred. 4

A Fable.

There were once three travellers in a far country. Now the first was a true believer in Allah; the second believed in nothing; and the third was never quite sure what he believed in, but he always, took care to be on the safe side. One evening, after a long day's journey, they arrived at an inn, and asked for supper; and when it was set before them the second and third men called for wine. But the true believer in Allah, when he heard this, was very shocked. "I will allow no one to drink wine in my presence," said he, "for is, it not forbidden in the Holy Koran?" "Oh, but if we only drink, a little," said the third man, "Allah will be sure to forgive us if we ask him. Besides, it was so hot walking, I really feel quite faint." "It is forbidden," said the first, and there the conversation ended. But they all drank water with that meal. A little later the second and third travellers went into the bar. "I don't care what the Koran says," remarked the second; "I don't believe in Allah anyhow," and so he got comfortably drunk and went to sleep. "Now, I wonder," said the third, "will Allah mind if I just drink a little. Anyhow I can always repent afterwards." So he drank a glass or two. That night there was a great storm, and all the travellers were slain and came before Allah to be judged. "Yo u, " he said to the first, "are a good man and can enter my palace." The second he gave in charge of an angel for instruction. "Then ," said he, "I will give you another chance on earth." But the third he condemned to everlasting punishment. "For, he said, although you possessed the knowledge of what was right, you did not act upon it. C. H. W.

The Schoolmaster's Comic Relief. Absentmindedness is a failing to which most of us are prone at times. But few of us could even in our wildest moments equal the mental lapse of a certain youth at the Sports, who did not discover anything amiss with his attire until, on divesting himself of his sweater preparatory to running in a race, he found nothing but himself underneath! Miss Ethel recalls an incident which surpasses even this in absurdity. A boy had lost his games shirt. High and low he hunted, but it could not be found. Not until after games was it discovered reposing beneath that of another boy, who had inadvertently put on two such garments, without being conscious of any discomfort ! 5

WA N T ED , P os t a s C om pa ni on t o an yo ne h ar d of he ar in g. A pply, J.T., Aymestrey House, Malvern. WANTED, Hints on How to Spel. Very erjunt rekwest.Aplie, "Kamul," Maulvern. FOR SALE, Speedometer, in good condition; practically unused. Apply, "A.A.," Craven Arms.

F O R S A L E, "Tal e s Tol d o n th e Til e s , " by " P us s y. " A ls o "Howlers I have Howled," by same Author.

An Editor's Lament(With apologies to Thomas Hood). With senses weary and worn, With eyelids heavy and red, An Editor sat in an Editor's chair Frantically scratching his, head. "Think ! think ! think ! When thinking is nought but a fag; For what with corrections, exams and reports, There's never much time for the Mag. "Think,! think ! think ! With intelligence, far from bright; And think ! think ! think ! From morning till late at night. Ink, blank pages, and pen; Pen, blank pages, and ink These, only these, when I start to compose, Till I'm well-night driven to drink ! "But why do I talk of drink? I suffer not that kind of thirst, But the thirst for "copy" in verse or prose, Failing which, my head 'll soon burst. Oh, men of inventive powers Oh, men of poetical bent ! Pity the Editor, now nearly bald Through loss of the hair he has rent! 6

With senses weary and worn, With eyelids heavy and red, An Editor sat in an Editor's chair Frantically scratching his, head. Think ! think ! think! With a brain that never must lag. The sheets of blank paper are bathed in his tears, Oh, readers, withhold your contemptuous jeers Should he dare to shove. this in the Mag !

The Sports. It was without any misgivings as to the weather that we began our annual Sports on the 24th May, at, 2-30 p.m. A low mist cleared off in the morning and exposed us to a burning sun in a cloudless sky, insomuch that when Mr. Asterley and his assistants neglected their morning task for manual labour on the field, they were compelled to divest themselves of at least one outer garment, before "getting down to it" with chalk and tape. Their efforts were rewarded in the afternoon by some splendidly-contested and most exciting races, in three of which dead-heats were recorded, involving several meetings between Mr. Asterley and Mr. Dodds to discuss the allotment of prizes. Those for first place fortunately were simple. Pineger rather unexpectedly secured first place in all three events of the 1st Division; his jump of 3ft. 10 ins. Was good, though he can do 4ft. In Division II. Davis, 2 once more skewed his ability as a natural runner and jumper , : he was never seriously troubled in any of the three contests. Wall, too, proved an easy winner in two of the events of Division III. Biggs, did very well to tie with him in the High Jump. "Jimmy Bound accomplished no mean feat in jumping 2ft. 9 ins., "about his own height, someone was heard to remark! Davis 3 upheld the reputation of his family by winning the 8o yards race in Division IV., with Allday a good second, but Braddell, owing to his slackening down before reaching the tape, allowed Baldwin to share with him the honour of third place. This tendency to slacken speed is by no means uncommon and was noticeable in other races; a runner should always make for a point beyond the tape, and so, make sure that he is running at top speed to the last. Newcombe made up his mind that Asterley had no right to second place in the Two-lap Race and managed to draw level with him in the last few yards. The two handicaps acted as consolation races, Milner being successful in the senior and Rutland, who made good use of his start, in the junior. The obstacle race was confined to non-winners of Division V and consisted of a short egg-and-spoon race, which some youths thought to their cost to be a simple accomplishment; but to balance a good-sized egg in a teaspoon requires 7 very steady running, and Tarbolton deserved the prize for preserving a steady arm to the end. Miss, Baldwin was victorious in the Visitors' race for children; Master Duff misunderstood instructions and chased Mr. Halcomb as hard as he could go, thus leaving a clear field for the other competitors. In the Ladies' Race Miss Morcom was successful both in keeping her balance on two flower pots and in outstripping the five other ladies who attempted to master the intricacies of a flower pot race. One competitor overbalanced when only a few feet short of the winning-post; while others forfeited what progress they had made through touching the ground with hand or foot. The prizes were distributed by Mrs. Coates. According to School rules no boy can take more than two first prizes; so Harley, who, was twice second and once third, took Pineger's third prize. Similarly Davis 2 gave up one prize to, Asterley, who had two seconds to his credit. The Rodgers Challenge Cup fell this year to the North by a majority of ten points. We wish to thank most heartily all who so kindly sent contributions to the Sports

Prize Fund; we can assure them that there were, both enthusiastic practice, and keen competition for the prizes. Swimming races will take place at the end of the present term, and shooting competitions during the winter.

RESULTS. 80 Yards. (Div. 11.) : 1, Davis 2; 2, Asterley ; 3, Morcom. 80 Yards. (Div. I.) : 1, Pineger; 2, Milner; 3, Birkmyre 1. High Jump (Div. II.) : 1, Davis 2 (3ft. 10 ins.); 2, Serjeantson; 3, Morcom. 80 Yards (Div. III.) : 1, Wall; 2, Birkmyre 2 ; 3, Biggs. High Jump (Div. I.) 1, Pineger ( 3ft.10 ins. ) ; 2, Avery 3, Harley. 80 Yards (Div. IV.) : 1, Davis 3; 2, Allday ; 3, Braddell and Baldwin. 6o Yards; (Div. V.) : 1, Kellie; 2, Jevons; 3, Tarbolton. H i g h J u m p ( D i v. I I I . ) : 1 , Wa l l a n d B i g g s ; ( 3 f t . 1 i n s . ) ; 3 , Edleston. T h r e e L ap s . ( D i v. I. ) : 1, P in eg er ; 2, H ar le y ; 3 , T ho m as on . High jump (Div. IV.) : 1, Braddell (2ft. 9ins.); 2, Baldwin and Blair-Oliphant. Two Laps, (Div. 11.) :1, Davis 2; 2, Asterley and Newcombe. High Jump (Div. V.) : 1, Bound (2ft. 9 ins.); 2, Kellie; 3, Jevons. 1 1/5 Laps (Div. III.) : 1, Wall; 2, Edleston; 3, Birkmyre 2. Handicap (Divs. I. and II.) : 1, Milner; 2, Harley ; 3, Davis 1. Handicap (Divs. III., IV. and V.) : 1, Rutland; 2, Tarbolton; 3, Allday. Obstacle Race (Div. V.) Tarbolton. Visitors' Race (Children) Miss Baldwin. Visitors' Race : Miss Morcom. 8

Our First Football Match.

Aymestrey House played its first match on February 23rd, 1910. As there were but nine boys in the School, and two of these were in the nursery stage, our opponents, Southlea, very kindly agreed to a seven-a-side game. It was played on their ground, and much amusement was caused, as the teams lined up, by the appearance among them of a determined little figure in red: one of the nursery partyJ. Coateshad felt that he couldn't stand by and leave his friends to bear the brunt. He had a severe attack of "Crumbs" when it was explained that he was "de trop." The game was a very keen one, MacGregor being our star performer. Our one and only half-back, Harington, was playing his first game, and it was therefore not surprising that he resented the first tackle to the extent of squaring up to his adversary! A very keen struggle ended in a draw of three goals each, and to quote from the poetess, of the diary To . end the fun A huge fat bun

Was given to each by Jagger. The Aymestreyites Had appetites That day, to match their swagger.

Cricket. The first of our series of matches was played at home against Southlea on June 4th. The weather, being rather cold and dull, was hardly ideal for cricket. Our opponents won the toss and went in. From the very first several chances of stumping were missed, and catches dropped. However, when the score stood at 36, we had dismissed six of their men, and our prospects looked quite good; but, unfortunately for us, their remaining batsmen made a good stand, while the score was increased to 110 before they were all out. We then went in, but were all out for 22, owing chiefly to Taylor, a faster bowler than our men were used to. Our ground fielding was quite creditable and Thomason was successful in securing 8 wickets for 20 runs. The following Wednesday we met Hillstone on their ground. They batted first and made a total score of 46. When we went in we succeeded in just overtaking their score for seven wickets, but owing to lack of time were unable to finish the second innings, although we got them all out again for 65, with the result that we 9 s e c u r e d a v i c t o r y o v e r t h e m o n t h e f i r s t i n n i n g s b y t h e rather small margin of 11 runs. Wall took five wickets for 17 runs during their first innings. A. Birkmyre made 23 for us in the second innings. On June 25th and July 7th we met St. Cuthbert's on their field, owing to the fact that the latter day was, like the former, extremely hot, and so their field afforded more shade. A most enjoyable plunge in their baths, so kindly offered us on both occassions by Mr. Healey, was our most acceptable compensation for an ignominious defeat in both matches. The first one we lost by 6 wickets and 88 runs. In the second our fielding showed much improvement and we managed to remove them for 113 runs; but, unfortunately, only succeeded in raising 20 ourselves: following on, we kept up our reputation of playing quite good second innings, after being beaten badly on the first. Fortunately we cannot in any way attribute our small degree o f s u c c e s s i n matches to any lack of keenness on the part of the team, which is r e g u l a r l y l e d o u t t o t h e C om mo n by a mo s t e ne rg et i c C ap ta i n fo r f ie l d i n g p r a c ti c e d u r ing the "break." They have made good progres s during the term, and there is much promising material in the present team and amongst those we have seen playing in our "Under 10" XI. matches against Hillstone; so we may quite confidently hope for better results in the future. The s tyle of the batting has shown much improvem ent, but scoring strokes must be developed and these strokes must be exploited by constant " b a c k i n g u p " a n d judgment in r u n n i n g . S e v e r a l o f u s m u s t t o g e t o u r f e e t and hands behind the ball when fielding, while bowlers and the wicket-keeper must remember that it is fatal to wait for the ball, when thrown in, in any position other than behind the wicket. Tw o matches were played by our under 13 XI. against Hillstone, and although

we lost both of them, the fact that we shall have a good XI. in a year or so, provided the enthusiasm continues, was unmistakably revealed to us, though their bowling is at present extremely weak. In the second match Bound played well and made 19 runs, while Davis 3 took 4 Wickets in 13 overs for 11 runs. On the day of writing the 1st X1., with a few other cricket enthusiasts, spen t a p ro fitab le and most enjoyable afternoon watching a county match between Worcestershire and Kent, at Worcester. Unfortunately it is impossible to include any more matches in this number, owing to lack of time, but the rest will appear at the end of next term. R..J. THOMASON (Capt.) Has proved himself quite a sound all- round cricketer, but is rather a weak batsman on the leg side. He has captained the side well and shown great keenness. 10 L. N. HELSBY : Shows considerable promise as a batsman. As a wicket-keeper he must learn to take returns behind the wicket. D. WALL : Shapes well with the ball and bat, and being young should prove useful to the XI. in future years. A. BIRKMYRE : Not a stylish batsman, but scores rapidly and punishes loose balls well. He has been quite successful as a change bowler. D. BIRKMYRE : Has a weak defence, but can hit hard. Must learn to take a catch properly. H. AVERY : Has proved a successful batsman, but lacks style. As a bowler has improved considerably during the term. N. PINEGER : As a batsman he must learn to make more use of his shoulders and wrists. In the field he is quite sound. B. DAVIS : An unreliable bat owing chiefly to lack of footwork, a n d d i s a p p o i n t i n g in the field. A. MORCOM : Strong hitter for his years, but must keep a straight bat; an awkward fielder, although he gets well behind the ball. W. S. CRASTER : His batting and fielding have improved considerably during the term. R. S. M. EDLESTON : As yet he is rather small for the XI., but in time should make a good change bowler. There also played W. R. BIRKS : A very fair all-round cricketer, showing great keenness, but unfortunately played little owing to injury.

The Shooting Team.

As, a result of the Shooting Competition held last term, the following were chosen to, represent the Shooting Team :

Maximum Coaker ... Newcombe ... Asterley ... Aitken ... Thomason ... Edleston I ...

300 ... ... ... ... ...

264 260 252 244 230 229

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