THE JOHN LYON SCHOOL

GOVERNORS: THE GOVERNORS OF HARROW SCHOOL

Committee of Management: Dr. M.:'Y1. EDWARDS, (Chairman)

N.R. BOMFORD, The Head Master of Harrow School N.G. HINES, (O.L.)

W.D. ASHCROIT, (O.L.), G.E. PARKINS ON, J.P.

G.G. MARS HALL, (O.L.) Dr. RJ.A.I. CATIO

The Rev. Preb. R.F. SWAN T. KIRKLEY

O.A. HUGHES N.A.S.OWEN

R. ELLIS

AJ.F. STEBBINGS (Clerk to the Governors)

Headmaster: The Rev. TJ. WRIGHT, B.D. A.K.C. (London) Second j'yJaster: J. BARNARD, M.A.(Cambridge) F.R.C.O. (CHM),{O.L.)

Senior Master: W. PODMORE, M.A. (Oxford) Assistant Masters:

I.E. WHYBROW, B.A. (London) English, Head of Sixth Form MJ. SADLER, B.A. (Bristol) Head of Classics, Registrar P. SANDERS, B.Sc. (London) Head of Chemistry, Head of Science D.L. PHILPOTI, Cert.Ed.{Borough Road) Physics, Head of Careers B.K. SIMMONS, B.Sc. (London) Head of Mathematics J.P. BADDALEY, B.A. (London) Modern Languages, Senior Sixth Form Tutor B. HOLGATE, B.Sc. (Lanchester) Head of Physics * F.H. GOODWIN, M.A. (Oxford) F.R.C.O. Director of Music R.V. FRENCH, B.Sc. (Hatfield) C.Biol. M.I. BioI. Biology, Head of Outdoor Pursuits * P.N.B. PERDUE, Cert.Ed. (Shoreditch) Head of Design and Technology Mrs C.A. ARIES, B.A. (Kingston) A.T.C. (Brighton) Art J.L. IRVINE, M.A. (Glasgow) Head of Modern Languages R.A. SHA W, B.Sc. (London) M.A. (London) Head of Geography * S.S. McMINN, M.A. (Glasgow) B.A. (Strathclyde) Head of English Mrs J.M. PERDUE, Cert.Ed. (London) Science D.A. RIMMER, B.Sc. (London) M.Se. (London) Mathematics and Head of Middle School R.L. COBB, B.Ed. (C.N.A.A.) B.A. (O.U.) Economics and History * D.F. WEED ON, M.A. (Oxford) Chemistry CJ. JONES, Cert.Ed. (West London Institute) Head of Physical Education Mrs E. McPARLAND, B.Ed. (Cambridge) Modern Languages E.F. GLYNN, C.Chem. F.R.S.C. Physics and Chemistry I.R. READ, Dip. A.D. (Manchester) A.T.C. (Sussex) Head of Art Miss P. WALDRON, B.A. (Reading) Modern Languages and Head of Junior School E.R. ELLIMAN, C.Eng. M.I.Mech.E. Design and Technology N.H. PARSONS B.A. (Nottingham) English K.W. NOAKES, M.A. (Cambridge) M.A. (Manchester) Head of Religious Studies D.H. ARKELL, B.A. (Durham) L.G.S.M. L.T.C.L. Music Mrs K.B. G RATIO N, B.Sc. A.K.C. (London) Mathematics I.R. PARKER, B.Sc. (Loughborough) PE and Geography J. WHEATON, B.A. (Manchester) Ph.D. (Manchester) Head of History L.D. BUDD, B.A. (Cardill) M.A. (Swansea) English G.c.K. KING, (Dublin) History, Latin P.M. ClARKE, RA. (Newcastle) M.Sc. (London) Head of Computer Studies S.N. HILLIER, B.A. (London) French R.I. McNAE, B.Sc. (Birmingham) Physics GJ. RYDER. B.Se. (London) M.A. (London) Head of Biology P.M. THOMAS, B.Se. (London) Head of Economics A.P. BAILEY, B.Sc. (Wanvick) Mathematics A.D. MAVIN. B.Sc. (North London Polytechnic) Geography V.A. WHEATON, RSc. A.K.C. (London) M.Se. (Lancaster) Mathematics

Bursar. M.T.N. LIDDIARD, O.B.E. J.P.

Assistant Bursar: G.c. ROSS

Headmaster's Secretary: Mrs A.G. BAKER

* denotes House Master

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Clubs & Societies 39 Drama 23 Headmaster' s~Address 2 Higher Education 6 John Lyon Collection 7 Monitors and Prefects 5 Music 15 Obituary 10

Contents

Old Lyonian Association 68 Parents' Association 10 Salvete 13 Sport 55 Spring Fair 54 Trips, Holidays & Excursions 45 Valete 11 Words and Pictures 29

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Editor: Nicholas Parsons Editorial Team Graphics & layout Ian Read Text Patricia Waldron Sixth Form Team: Nicholas Danks, Richard Rivlin, PaulSimons Cartoons Mark Lazarus Advertising: Connie Baron, Judith Perdue, Peter Perdue Secretarial Sue Huggins Cover photograph Rev<!. T.J. Wright

The Editor would like to express his thanks to Dennis Sheannan for the keen personal inten!St he has taken in the production of The Lyonian.

The Lyonian 1991

The Headmaster's Address Chairman, Mr. Deputy Mayor, Mr. Beer, Ladies

and Gentlemen, Winston Churchill described Headmasters as having more power than even the Prime Minister of England but of course he said that before a certain lady had occupied that position.

Whatever power he has or does not have Mr. Beer is very welcome as our guest speaker today and I should like to add to Dr. Edwards' words and express my personal appreciation of Mr. Beer's support for John Lyon in the time that he has been here on the Hill. I think it was Mr. Gordon Surtees who referred to him as Big Daddy - not personally because of his girth or his wrestling abilities but because of his many years' experience and being in charge of our Harrow School. We shall miss him very much as he leaves us but thank him warmly for what he has given us.

I mentioned Mr. Gordon Surtees just now and it was a sad shock to many that he died suddenly last autumn. In his fifteen years as Headmaster he had been an important influence in the school's history, building the Gym and Library in 1971 and Oldfield in 1981. It was inevitably therefore a poignant occasion here in this Speech Room last term when our choir and musicians gave a concert in his memory. We were joined by friends and relatives from all over the country. The music was inspiring and a fine tribute to him. You will have noticed that as a result of a gift from Mrs. Surtees, two prizes carry the Surtees name and will do so in the future. Headmasters' role and educational change

Headmasters. What is the role of a Headmaster? Dictator or committee man; centre forward or goal-keeper; visionary or administrator. The possibilities are numerous.

Well the image that seems most appropriate to me at the moment is the image of a captain of a ship. It seems the right one as a result of talking with a large number of parents who are wanting to send their sons to us. The educational world seems to them to be like a confused and dangerous sea and their response is to look for a strong, safe craft to bear their sons during the vulnerable years of 11-18. Despite the recession the number of boys sitting our entrance examination rose by 15% this year and we have had a large number of applications for sixth-form places next term. Almost all of their parents expressed worries about education and were looking for a school in which they could place their confidence.

Certainly education in this country has become much more complex than it used to be, more demanding and draining for teachers and there are

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The Reud. T.J. Wright

forces for change obviously at work pushing ",nd pulling us like a short, lumpy sea. With the •. st proposals for qualifications at 16+ the confu: likely to continue. If we are not careful, educc. . going to be understood only by education Common-sense tells me that whatever edu( system we eventually end up with it shOL' understandable to any intelligent man or woma )t just the profeSSionals.

My role is, if you like, to keep a watch ane: 0

navigate with great care. I would certainly hope.o do rather better than P.G. Wodehouse's captain, who, whenever he sailed from England to New York was heard to murmur often to himself, "Turn right at Cherbourg and straight on." In fact the officers, the Heads of Subject, have to be at pains to discover what is the latest thinking in their academic area which will enable them and their departments to do their jobs better.

We are for example developing our syllabuses so that by 1992, next year, our first year will be in line with the National Curriculum. We shall also be looking closely at testing in the third year - where we already provide two examinations in the year -so that we might use tests as envisaged for key stage three tackling tasks that they would previously have thought were beyond them. It is a venture very much to be continued.

Couple this with the record number of eleven Gold awards gained in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme it is clear that many of our boys are welcoming the chance to test and develop their initiative, independence and leadership skills. It is now our task to find ways to build on this in the sixth

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The Lyonian 1991

N. Danks (above) and C. Johnson (below) receive their Mr. Beer

form. One way which we use already is to give senior boys the task of organising our charity effort in the Winter term. The fact that they raised £7,500 this year for Juvenile Diabetes tells you something of their leadership skills.

Academic Results It is, however, the academic study and the

relationship between teacher and pupil which lie at the heart of any good school. To tour the school on a weekday is to become aware of an impressive amount of work being done. There is an atmosphere of quiet, purposeful study punctuated, of course, by spontaneous laughter as one of our masters or indeed one of the boys sharpens his sense of humour.

We feel proud of our academic results: 95% of passes at A1evel, 10 boys this year awarded places at Oxford and Cambridge. For this we have to be grateful to a fine crew, if I may call them that, who serve the school with dedication - both teaching and non-teaching staff. They coax, cajole, drive and push and encourage the boys to achieve their best. I salute and thank them all - as I am sure you do. Three masters leaving

Three members of our teaching staff will be leaving us this year. Two of them are mathematicians who are taking up posts as Head of Mathematics in other schools. Mr. John Sinclair joined us in January 1987 and as well as teaching Mathematics at all levels has involved himself in lots of activities. Violinist, singer, philosopher, athlete and one of the leaders of our Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme he will be greatly missed. He becomes Head of Mathematics at Ipswich School.

Mr. Chris. Tucker who has been with us slightly longer and for exactly six years and who again has been a very active and involved member of staff. He has been our Examinations Officer up till the present

T. Lowther presents Mrs. Beer with a bouquet of flowers. (Photographs this page by M.J. Sad/er)

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The Lyonian 1991

and during the testing transition from O-Ievel to GCSE. He has organised a flourishing Bridge Club and been master in charge of tennis. He becomes Head of Mathematics at John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe. We thank him and Mr. Sin clair for all they have given the school and wish them well in their new responsibilities.

We also say farewell to someone whom we regard as the Father of the House, Mr. Clem. Reed. He was himself educated at John Lyon and eventually after National Service, university and industry and one other school joined our school to teach Geography. He has in fact been a member of our Geography Department for 26 years and soon after his arrival became Head of Department.

During his time Geography moved from being a Cinderella subject to an important one within the curriculum and he established regular Field Trips at residential centres for our 4th and L6 formers. He

A loving God and the problem of suffering A School is a tough place for believers in God. It's

tough because of the challenges we are often faced with by those who question the existence of a Divine Power. In the time of a disaster in the natural world whether it be a monsoon, an earthquake, or a major drought, causing famine, with the consequent loss of thousands or even millions of lives, the questions come thick and fast. Do you believe in an all-powerful and ail-lOving God? Why doesn't this God stop suffering? Why would such a God create a world with an enormous potential for suffering?

I do not think it is a bad thing for those with faith to be challenged with such questions. On the contrary, they help believers to face reality and they prevent religion becoming a 'holy huddle' for those who happen to have joined the 'club'. Faith must face questions such as this and explore answers if it is not to be superficial.

In my reply to these questions I have to state that I cannot give a water-tight case. Faith does not deal in proofs in this way. Nor, however, do I think it sufficient simply to refer to the 'Infinite Mystery of God' which is the believer's 'cop-out' when he cannot present any tangible arguments. It is the believer's responsibility to give pointers to where he thinks the answer lies, and at least make faith seem a viable option rather than just something for a fringe-group in society.

Here then are my thoughts in reply to the above questions (and they are my own - I cannot speak for other believers who have come to different

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has looked after cricket and soccer teams, been master in charge of the CCF, Housemaster of Vaughan and latterly Head of Sixth Form. In the last few days of term a boy asked Mr. Reed, "Sir, is it true that you taught Mr. Bamard?". Mr. Reed explained that that was so for a short time. The boy replied, "But I always thought Mr. Bamard was older than you!".

The school will not be the same without him and he leaves us with our gratitude and best wishes for an enjoyable retirement.

For the past week I have been reading several thousand subject reports. In trying to sum up this report on the school it would seem that thi~ past year has been one of strong consolidation 1'Ji th many individual achievements. We are lucky T having a very supportive and wise Board of GOV," , )fS who oversee the policy and financial affairs 0' . ·.,chool and we are grateful for that.

So our ship sails on and it's full stean: '.'ad.

conclusions). I must answer that because I do believe in an all-powerful and all-Iovi ·1, it follows that this God I believe in, intend, " :·ei:'.~e a world in which natural disasters and ill0 ,It human suffering in His creation were ·.st a potential. This is different from sayin' God creates disasters. It is just that the fre· ! the world is somehow necessary for our '1 as human beings. The two 'freedoms' afrlbly linked.

My own understanding of human exL God has created us with a will that is free:. to Him and to His calling for all hum;:.! show compassion and love. This ti through all the major faiths of the world. beings have this freedom so the natural v\ it because without it our own freedo;'"J '

'at

:lUlTI2.i,

shares lid be

limited and, with it, our potential and ~:-( t.zss as human beings would be interfered with.

The rejoinder might be that this explani1tio l I is glib. Try telling the suffering and starvin9 . 'iliions that their plight is 'necessary'. All I can '., is that ~thout the freedom we enjoy as humr' '. ~tI1gs, Without the freedom of a natural wc;rld that occaSionally causes disasters, we would hal'e a limit to our growth, our development and our fulfilment. I do not believe suffering is something a lOVing God could desire, and it is evident that the good suffer as much as the bad. It may be that the Divine Will allows suffering because our freedom demands it and it is our vocation from God to answer disasters and emergencies by reaching out to others who need our assistance, with compassion and practical help.

K. W. Noakes.

Monitors. Back row: C. Naughten, A. loannou, S. Hewitt, M. Home, J. Ralph, G. Segal, D. Allright, J. Obstfeld, S. Kyriacou, C. Johnson. Seated: S. Parry, Revel. T.J. Wright, A. Charters, P-L. Own. (Photograph: M.J. Sad/er)

Appointments 1990-91 Head80y Andrew Charters Monitors David Allright Simon Hewitt Deputy Head Boy Stuart Parry Matthew Home Andrew Ioannou Clive Johnson OIdfield Monitor Ping-Ung Own Stephen Kyriacou Cormac Naughten Joel Obstfeld

James Ralph Giles Segal Prefects J.M. Adelman S. Ahluwalia S.S. Benson D.D. Broderick R.S. Chandok A.J. Chapper AP. Charters N.M. Claydon G.S. Coffer AP. Comley S. Das AP. Daver M.A De Leon J.C. Demello J.M. Edwards R.D. Ellis P.J. Franks P.Z. Gilchrist J.R. Gold D.J. Goldie M.R. Green M.D. Hammarberg AJ. Holden C.R. Jenkins AJ. Joseph A.M. Joyce R.M. Kayani R.A Kramer B.M. Lee K.AD. Leslie J. Manickavasagar M.A Maynard N. Moeed M.L. Montlake AS. McGregor P.D. McIntyre H.E. McNaughten G.R. Nyirenda F.K. Posner E.C.R. Preston JA Rahman B.J. Raynor J.B. Reardon G.M. Reid AB. Robertson J.w. Rose J.M.G. Sadler D.P. Sefton N. Sethi S.M. Sharples S. Siddiqui G.M. Thwaites M.R. Vadgama P.A Wheatley T.E.B. Worrall

Oldfield Prefects. Left to right: D. Broderick, N. Sethi, M. Hammarberg, J. Sadler, P-L. Own, S. Ahluwalia, Miss P. Waldron, A. Holden, D. Goldle, J. Adelman, A. Chapper, A. Joyce, A. McGregor, J. Gold. (Photograph: M.J. Sad/er)

The Lyonian 1991

Entrance to Higher Education

J. Adelman S. Ahluwalia DA Allright S.M. Benson D.D. Broderick AJ. Chapper A P. Charters N.M. Claydon G.S. Coffer APComley S. Das M.D. De Leon P.Z. Gilchrist H.S. Chandok J.C Demello J. M. Edwards RD. Ellis P.J. Franks J.R Gold D.J. Goldie M.R Green M.D. Hammarberg M.J. Home AG.Ioannou CR Jenkins AJ. Joseph AM. Joyce K.AD. Leslie H.E. McNaughton RM. Kayani R.M. Kramer S. Kyriacou B.M. Lee J. Manickavasagar MA Maynard N.S. Moeed M.L. MontIake AS. McGregor CRA Naughten G.R Nyirenda JA Obstfeld P-LOwn S.Parry F.K. Posner J.A Rahman JA Ralph B.J. Rayner J.B. Reardon G.M. Reid AS. Robertson J.W. Rose J.M.G. Sadler D.P. Sefton G.R.G. Segal N. Sethi G.M. Thwaites M.R Vadgama T.E.B. Worrall

1990 Leavers G.E. Cone P-O Retcher N. Ghaleigh J. Kelly

Law Management Sciences Financial Services Land Management Mathematics Jewish Studies Law Geography Graphic Design Naval Architecture Chemical Engineering Accounting and Finance Combined Studies Medicine Physics European Business with French Accountancy Construction Management History French and Italian Ship Science Geography Construction Management Natural Sciences Mechanical Engineering Transport Management Geography Land Management Geography Medicine Accountancy & Rnance Mechanical Engineering Law English Accountancy Physics with Astrophysics Law & Physics Ancient & Modern History Modern History Technology Management Computer Science Management Sciences Aeronautical Engineering Applied Biology Medicine HND Building Studies Cognitive Science Computation Physics Chemistry & Computer Science Land Management Music Physics & Electronics Economics & Social Studies Economics Law Money, Banking & Finance Music

Geography Law Law Psychology and Music

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Southampton University UMIST Portsmouth Polytechnic Reading University St. Peter's, Oxford Jews' College, London Christ Church, Oxford Birmingham University Watford College Newcastle University Imperial College London Leeds Polytechnic Derby College of Higher Education Guys & St. Thomas' Hospital Worcester College Oxford Portsmouth Polytechnic Leicester Polytechnic Bristol Polytechnic Liverpool University Manchester University Southampton University Durham University Bristol Polytechnic Pembroke, Cambridge Salford University Aston University Portsmouth Polytechnic Birmingham PolytechniC Leeds University Guys & St. Thomas' Hospital Manchester Polytechnic Loughborough University St. Anne' s Oxford Manchester University Birmingham University Kent University Cardiff, University of Wales Christ Church, Oxford Jesus College, Oxford Oxford Polytechnic Hatfield Polytechnic Warwick University Sal ford University Leeds University King's College, London Bristol Polytechnic Leeds University UMIST Birmingham University Keele University Bristol Polytechnic Surrey University Birmingham University Manchester University Manchester University Manchester Polytechnic Middlesex Polytechnic Exeter University

Portsmouth Polytechnic St. Edmund's Hall Oxford King's College London Royal Holloway College, London University

The Lyonian 1991

Obituary W. F. Cummings Bill Cummings, known affectionately to

generations of Lyonians as "Joey", passed away on 24th April this year, a few days before his 83rd birthday. The last surviving member of the pre-war John Lyon staff, he came to the school in 1934, when he taught Frank Bamard, the father of the present Second Master, and retired as Second Master at Christmas 1968, having seen Gordon Surtees through his first term as Head Master.

An Oxford man by birth as well as education, he went up to St. Edmund's Hall, where he represented the university at athletics, winning his half-blue in the 440 yards. Appointed by Mr. Le Beau to teach mathematics - also history in the early days - he brought to his teaching a scholarly mind, combined with a deep understanding of young people, and these qualities, allied to his dry unobtrusive humour, made him a firm favourite with his pupils.

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His long stay at John Lyon, embracing the greater part of his professional career, meant that he saw many changes at the school as well as its surroundings - he reminisced how in the early days he used to lead the boys on paper chases from the school across the fields to Rayners Lane Halt, an activity that would nowadays fall foul of the Litter Act! - and having helped to guide the school through the difficult war years, he derived great satisfaction from the developments which took place in the ensuing years.

Although the later period of his retirement was clouded with ill-health, he kept up a lively interest in the school which he had served so long and so faithfully. We are indeed poorer for the loss of a well-loved teacher, colleague and friend, and we extend our deep sympathy to his wife, Ruth, in her bereavement.

Philip Davies

Parents' Association The Parents' Association has had a relatively quiet

year. The usual Cheese and Wine evening for new parents was held during the autumn term, and this was particularly well attended. A month later, in November, the QUiz Supper attracted easily the largest number of participants we have ever known. Over 280 people filled the Boyd Campbell hall to overflOwing, and as a result we were able to hand over £1,100 to the school charity.

In the spring term we deliberately decided not to hold an event, as the School Fair was being held in March, and many committee members were involved in running various stalls. We had hoped to hold an International Evening in the summer term, which would have been a new departure for us; but parental response was poor, and it was decided not to proceed with the idea. Apart from money raised for the school charity, the Parents' Association has also been able to provide funds for stage lighting which will be used for the first time at the 1991 school play.

Mrs. Linda Weber is now the committee chairman, with Mr. Trevor Ball serving as Treasurer and Mrs. June Leach as Secretary. Other members are Mrs. Saroj Aggarwal, Mrs. Valerie Beever, Mr. Roy Elson and Mrs. Irene Simons. The school owes much to them for their enthusiastic work. Two staff representatives also sit on the committee, offering advice and practical help in the preparation of Parents' Association events. Mr. Michael Sadler has just retired from this position, and has been replaced by Mr. Paul Thomas, who joins me as the other staff representative.

John Barnard

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The Lyonian 1991

Valete The following farewell speech, was delivered

by Mr. Clem Reed at the final full assembly of the year on the 5th July 1991, on the occasion of his retirement.

I thank Richard Rivlin and all of you most sincerely for the presentation you have so generously made

to me this morning. This is a day that is hard to face - my last day at

John Lyon, after an association with the school, totalling nearly 35 years. A former colleague once said to me, "You'll never leave this school, unless they carry you out in a box." Happily that has not quite been the case. Retirement, however, has inevitably arrived and I was reminded a year or so ago of its approach, when a first former knocked at the staff room door to ask to speak to Mr. Reed. As usual the teacher replied, "Which Mr. Reed?" "Oh," replied the boy. "The very old Mr. Reed".

In terms of physical geography, weathering and erosion, affecting many joints and points of structural weakness, have taken their toll over a long period of time. Unfortunately rejuvenation seems unlikely.

Inevitably I look back over the great changes that have taken place since I first came to John Lyon, way back in 1943. It is almost impossible to take in the changes since that time, in the nature of the school, living standards and society in general, over nearly 50 years.

My early days at John Lyon coincided with the period of Hitler's flying-bomb and rocket attacks on London. An air-raid shelter was built close to the indoor cricket nets and what is now the C.D.T. Department was fortified with bricks and sandbags. It was in this claustrophobic setting that boys sat the equivalent of today's GCSE and 'A' levels.

So frequent were the air-raid alerts that we eventually used the shelters only when a flying bomb was heard approaching the vicinity of the school. A member of the CCF was posted on the playground and at the sound of the approaching doodle-bug, as they were known, would blow a blast on his bugle. The closer the danger, the more shaky was the sound produced. A well-known master of that time, would rush from his class room when the bugle sounded, heroically extolling his class to follow him to the shelter, by which time he was out of sight and 50 yards down the corridor. He set a fine example of leadership from the front.

On other occasions, we would resort to taking cover under the desks - I remember doing so when a flying bomb fell in Shaftesbury Avenue. This

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ended a particularly unpleasant Latin lesson and school for the day.

Contrary to rumour, I was not a member of "Dad's Army", but many Sixth formers were, if they were seventeen or over.

It is inevitable to recall that some 400 boys were somehow accommodated in a school about one third of the size it is today. This is a measure of how facilities have improved and class sizes have been reduced. The Sixth form has expanded to about four or five times its former size and 'A' levels are no longer the exception but the rule.

Apart from the war, life was so different in other ways. Television, Coca Cola and McDonald's were unknown, the sweet ration was two ounces per week and Dan Maskell was actually playing tennis.

Today then, I leave a school in a different age but one which is far better in most respects. The greatly improved facilities, the range of activities, the friendlier and freer atmosphere between staff and pupils and the welcome addition of women to the staff, have all been of tremendous benefit to the life of the school.

Through all the years of change, the essential strength of John Lyon has not changed - a happy and friendly atmosphere, both in class room and staff room. This is the memory I will carry away with me today and I thank the five headmasters, hundreds of staff and thousands of boys over the years who have contributed to it.

I wish you every happiness and the School all success in the future.

C. A. Reed

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The Lyonian 1991

Clem Reed John Lyon School will not be the same now that

Clem has retired. In many ways he was our last link with by-gone days. His stories of boys and masters during the troubled war years and his knowledge of grandfathers, fathers and sons who have passed through the school, has provided us with a valuable sense of continuity.

Since first meeting him in 1979 I have always been impressed with his phlegmatic style. He is cool under pressure, unflappable and secure .... in many ways part of the foundation of John Lyon. The Geography Department has flourished under his leadership, achieving excellent results and rising to the challenge of radical change in education.

And if generations of boys have viewed him as an institution and an excellent school master, we the staff, have seen him as this and much more - funny, mischievous, a wit and wonderful company - one of the kindest and most sincere men and a true gentleman.

It was suggested on one occasion, that the staff should perform a comic sketch, along the lines of 'Dad's Army', the ever-green television series. Who would play the various characters? This proved a source of great contention with one exception. Everybody agreed who should play the John Le Mesurier role of Sergeant Wilson!

Returning to the staff room this September I realised with genuine sadness how much I miss his friendly presence. Yet I know he is still there for me to ask advice and provide a steadying hand. We have already planned a walking holiday at Easter and I am eagerly looking forward to that.

Thank you Clem, on behalf of the School and myself, for your years of devoted service and friendship. We wish you well in your retirement.

Bob (R. A. Shawl

Chris Tucker In July, Chris Tucker left John Lyon after six very

successful years. He taught Mathematics across the whole ability range, from first year to Oxbridge, and will be much missed by the Maths Department.

Adaptable and innovative, Chris played a key role in the development of investigational work for the new GCSE Maths course. His unflappable nature enabled him to tackle the onerous task of School Examinations Officer, at a time of great change and reorganisation - but then Chris always did enjoy a challenge.

Despite his heavy teaching duties, Chris found time to be involved in many extra-curricular activities. He was master in charge of tennis and bridge and refereed at School soccer matches. We thank him for his many contributions to the life of

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the school and for his tremendous energy, enthusiasm and skill as a Maths teacher.

We wish him every success in his position as Head of Mathematics and Information Technology at the John Hampden Grammar School.

B.K. Simmons

John Sinclair In July we bade farewell to John Sinc1air after five

years teaching Mathematics throughout the school. John qUickly established himself and was as much at ease with upper sixth mathematicians as with the new first years. His intelligent, friendly yet firm approach to teaching was his hallmark and proved to be very effective.

John gave freely of his time, supporting school activities, particularly the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and cross country. There are not too many six feet five inch philosophising mathematicians running round the hill, at least not with headbands! John will be missed by us all. Who else will complete The Times crossword before most of us have read the headlines?

John was always well informed, at ease with the new technological resources and a keen contributor to the development of his subject. We wish him well in his new position as Head of Mathematics at Ipswich school.

B.K. Simmons

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The Lyonian 1991

Salvete

Andrew Bailey Place of Birth Epping, Essex. Education Ongar Comprehensive School. Warwick University. Favourite Food and Drink Apple Pudding, Port and tea (not together!) Bedside Reading Man and Wife', by Wilkie Collins. First impressions of the School The staff are very friendly. It is a happy school. Sports Used to play cricket, supports Essex. Played volleyball for his university team. Music He used to play the tuba and went on tours with the Essex Youth Orchestra. He likes most orchestral music and piano concertos. Other Hobbies He plays bridge and as a keen photographer, is a member of several camera clubs and is a Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society. Most Frightening Moment Whilst driving along the A12 recently at a considerable speed, a stone smashed his windscreen and showered him with glass. Favourite Film/Play Play: Macbeth or Hamlet. Film: Mona Lisa. Ambitions To become an FRPS (Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society). Interview by Paul Simons and Nicholas Danks

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TonyMavin Education Ashington Grammar School, Northumberland. North London Polytechnic. P.G.C.E. Cambridge. Favourite Food and Drink Big Mac, Pint of Guinness. Bedside Reading 'Ah, But Your Land Is Beautiful' by Alan Paton. Music He is not musical 'Can't sing to save his life', but likes the Eurythmics, River City People and The Furies. Sport Tennis, football (supports Liverpool) and badminton, in that order. Most Frightening Moment His first day's teaching, at King's School, Ely. Favourite Place The Greek island of Santorini. Favourite Film Gone with the Wind. First impressions of John Lyon Very friendly and tidy. Ambitions To be very rich and very famous whilst very young. Interview by Paul Si mons and Nicholas Danks

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Vaughan Wheaton Education St. Gregory's High School, Kenton. King's College, London. Lancaster University. Favourite Food Sunday Roast and Steak and Chips. First impressions of John Lyon The teachers are very professional and most of the boys are level-headed. Sports or Hobbies Enjoys watching snooker and golf and supports Arsenal F. C. He also plays chess. Favourite Place Herzegovina and Bosnia in Yugoslavia. Favourite T.V. Programme and Film Only Fools and Horses. The Naked Gun. Vices Leaving my preparation until Sunday. Music He used to play the guitar, likes "Indie" music, The Smiths and Johnny Marr. Ambitions He would like to visit Portugal and maybe return to Yugoslavia, although not at the moment!

Interview by Paul Simons and Nicho/as Danks

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Music

Boys' Concerts 1990-91 The first concert of the academic year, given by the

boys, took place in November and was warmly re<::eived for its variety and high standard of playing. Merlyn Sturt, Wayne Urquhart and Nicholas Danks began the evening with a lugubrious performance of a piece by Mendelssohn. Their instruments, viola, cello and piano, blended well, providing contrast with Alex Norman's spirited playing on the trumpet, revealing considerable confidence for one so young.

Next from Oldfield House came Jonathan Yeung, playing a piece by Handel. Alex McGregor followed ably, leading his group of singers, Jeremy Llewellyn, Jeremy Sadler, Timothy Worrall and Andrew Holden, in a couple of Renaissance pieces. Next came a convincing performance of part of a Mozart piano sonata played by Alex Monsey. Adam Penny then shared the delights of his voice with a song by Gluk, and Clive Johnson followed this with more Mozart - this time on the clarinet.

For the last item of the first half, Jeremy Llewellyn (oboe), John Cunningham (flute) and Mr. Simon Hillier (piano), tackled a demanding piece by William Mathias. The audience was certainly impressed by their commitment and technical competence, and it was good to hear Mr. Hillier, our new French teacher, displaying his musical prowess.

After the interval, Darren Abrahams led his jazz group in an entertaining piece by John Myhill, and some members of the audience were delighted, if a little surprised, to see who the guest pianist was -none other than Mr. J. Bamard!

In complete contrast, Henry Fagg played some Vivaldi on his violin, followed by a couple of songs from Jeremy Sadler.

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Philip Wheatiey came next, tackling a very demanding piece by Bartok on the piano. Despite a few difficulties, Philip kept going through this exciting piece.

One of the highlights of the evening came next as Mr. David Weedon and Mr. Simon Hillier played Schumann's Fantasy Pieces for clarinet and piano. This was a treat of fine music, performed with a wide range of style and mood. Merlyn Sturt played some more lyrical music on his viola which was followed by a full-blooded performance from Nicholas Danks, of a piano piece by Poulenc.

The concert ended on a light note with a piece under the name of "Italian Salad". Mr. Andrew Carwood, our singing teacher, was part of a group, featuring Jeremy Sadler, Timothy Worrall, Andrew Holden, John Cunningham, Jeremy Llewellyn and Mr. Goodwin, and they certainly finished the concert on a high note with entertaining words set to familiar music.

The second boys' concert took place in February and began with an accomplished performance of a Mozart string quartet movement, played by Andrew Grey (violin), Henry Fagg (violin), Merlyn Sturt (viola), and Wayne Urquhart (cello). This was followed by two of our resident GCSE composers, Anthony Kent and Paul Goldsmith, who played a waltz for piano duet by Anthony Kent. It is always encouraging to hear new music especially when it comes from within!

Paul Clark's group of singers, Daniel Beever, Andrew Goldie, Stuart Walton, Peter Aplin and Gavin Mandrill, entertained us next with an arrangement of a Gilbert and Sullivan song. The adapted words were ably accompanied by Henry Fagg.

Clive Johnson played next, tackling an avant-garde piece for flute which he played with much skill and accuracy.

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Timothy Worrall followed him, singing a song by Vaughan Williams. Jeremy L1ewellyn displayed his sensitivity in a melancholy piano piece by John Ireland, and to end the first half, Adam Penny treated us to two lovely songs by Herosse and Gershwin.

To begin the second half, we heard another group featuring Chun-Teng Ng and Alex Cheung (violin), Edward Wells (cello) and Nicholas Danks (keyboard) who played some pieces by Corelli. Technology helped out, as Nicholas used a Yamaha keyboard to create the sound of a harpsichord!

Simon Hewitt played next, soothing the audience with a lullaby for euphonium by Wood, and this was followed by another GCSE composition, this time by Nicholas Danks who, along with Timothy Worrall, played his own waltz for piano duet.

The next item was directed by Jeremy Sadler, whose singing group performed an attractive piece by R. Washborn. Alex Monsey's pianistic skill came to the fore as he tackled a prelude by Rachmaninov, bringing out its lyricism with great ability.

To end the concert we heard Jeremy Sadler's robust voice in a boisterous drinking song by Finzi, which brought the evening to a climactic close.

Many thanks to all who participated in these concerts - to Mrs. McDonald and Paul Clarke for training groups to Philip Wheatley for the recording, to Timothy Worrall and Jeremy Sadler for efficient stage-management to Mrs. Anne Sharples for refreshments - and finally and most importantly to - Mr. Goodwin for organising, participating and accompanying.

D.H. Arkell

Music Competition This year's competition took place early in the

Summer Term and got off to an unusual start when we discovered at 8.30 a.m. on the day that the adjudicator, Mr. Brian Cri pps from St. Benedict's School Ealing, could not be with us as his wife was about to have a baby! Fortunately he had made provision for this, and Mr. Martyn Clements from the City of London School was able to replace him.

Because of this, the junior woodwind and brass category had to be postponed to the follOWing week when our own versatile linguist-musician, Mr. Simon Hillier, kindly adjudicated. This was one of the largest categories featuring trumpets, horn, oboes, flutes, clarinets, trombone and saxophone. It is always encouraging to see lots of boys from Oldfield participating. Mr. Hillier provided helpful comments for everyone who played before awarding second place to Parag Vidyarthi (trumpet) and first place to Alex Norman who played a trumpet piece with confidence.

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In the junior strings category there was a variety of instruments, especially from the younger boys. The runner-up was Henry Fagg who played a delightful piece on the violin. Andrew Grey took first place with a terrific performance of a violin piece by Kreister.

These two boys also came out top in the junior piano category. Andrew Grey was first, Henry Fagg was second. I should like to congratulate everyone who participated, providing interesting and varied music.

In the afternoon we had the senior categories, 4th year upwards, beginning with the woodwind and brass. As usual there were fewer entrants but their pieces tended to be longer than those in the junior categories. There was much fine playing, especially from John Cunningham on flute, who tackled a modem piece with much assurance, and from Jeremy L1ewellyn, on oboe, who won this category with an excellent account of some solo pieces by Britten.

In the senior string category some of the pieces had to be shortened, this did not detract from the fine playing. Merlyn Sturt, on the viola, took second place with some lyrical music by Schubert, whilst Wayne Urquhart played some of the Elgar Cello Concerto to take first prize.

Finally we came to the senior piano category with thirteen entrants and again much variety in length and content. Jeremy Uewellyn's versatility revealed itself with his clean and disciplined performance of some Beethoven and he took second place. A1ex Monsey's secure grasp of full-blooded Rachmaninov earned him first place.

The day of the competition is always a long and tiring one, but one that is very worthwhile and a good opportunity for boys to play in a friendly informal atmosphere. Many thanks to Mr. Goodwin for all his accompanying and, of course, special thanks to Mr. Martyn Clements for stepping in at such short notice to act as adjudicator and for providing so many helpful gUidelines to those who played.

Choral and Orchestral Concert 24th March 1990

D.H. Arkell

In a departure from his usual practice of performing one major Choral work, Mr. Goodwin treated his

large enthusiastic audience to a varied programme of shorter masterpieces in the Harrow School Speech Room. It was chronologically arranged as a series of stepping-off points in a guided tour of the Choral tradition from the Baroque to Romantic eras.

We began with Vivaldi's Gloria, no more spiritual but no less jaunty and colourful than any other of this

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works. This is the hedonistic side of Baroque, soaring melodies snappy rhythms, an air of secular optimism and ceremonial grandeur, Rubens rather than Rembrandt. The performance was a joy.

I had never heard of the next piece, Haydn's Insanae et vanae curae, and was astonished as it plunged and lurched through dark harmonies and unpredictable phrasing in true "sturm und drang" fashion. We are normally drawn to Haydn for a combination of easy intellectual grasp, unexpected wit and serene psychological health, but he could be troubled by anxieties as this amazing fifteen minute one-off seemed to crystalise such demonic passions. A revelation.

After a lovely performance of Mendelssohn' s "Hebrides" overture, the woodwind especially responded well to the conductor's natural rubato we heard Brahms' Alto Rhapsody, the first work by Brahms I learned to like (thanks especially to Kathleen Ferrier) and still, if I'm honest, my favourite. This is Brahms at his most introspective, a dark, gloomy contemplation of despair and nihilism. The subject of the poem finds peace of mind at the end in a gloriously expansive prayer to the Father everloving for a divine melody which will give life to his Barren Heart.

To hear the genuinely contralto voice (a rare phenomenon these days) of Miss Jean T emperley, the soloist, ring out over the great arches of the final magnificent melody was, for me, the highlight of the evening.

If Brahms' Romanticism carries complete conviction Parry's talent is altogether more provincial and commonplace. So "Blast Pair of Sirens", (surely Milton's words call for an altogether different musical idiom to do them justice) was rather shown up, follOwing on from the Brahms. But as Mr. Goodwin rightly said in his programme notes, it is a "remarkably good sing" and was in fact remarkably well sung.

Thank you, Choir, orchestra and conductor for a deeply satisfying, unusual experience.

Sydney McMinn

Motet Choir and Instrumental Players in Tewkesbury Abbey Wednesday 10 July 1991

One day in August 1990 I was on my way home from a holiday when I found myself in Gloucestershire, and I decided to take a look at the great Benedictine Abbey in Tewkesbury. The Abbey suggested itself as a gloriOUS place for music-making, and I made enquiries about the possibility of bringing some boys from John Lyon to give a concert there.

My enquiries resulted in a lunch-time concert on Wednesday 10 July 1991, given by the singers and

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players who were to visit Strasbourg the following week. I was asked to prepare a programme lasting 40 minutes, and if this seemed on the short side to justify a 3-hour journey, I felt that it would be a good practice-run for our concerts on the continent and a pleasant day out.

Despite my efforts to plan a concert of the agreed length, it went on for 55 minutes, but fortunately the audience was enthralled enough - or polite enough - to remain in its seats. The musicians performed well. As the concert was one of a series of lunch-time concerts given in Tewkesbury on Wednesdays through the summer, and as it was also a warm sunny day, a large number of people came to hear it, and they applauded enthusiastically.

For the 12 first-formers involved this was their first Motet Choir concert, and they certainly lived up to the occasion, making me feel sure that we were in for a successful tour the following week.

On the way back, we stopped in Oxford for the aftemoon, where some boys tried their hands at punting on the Cherwell, whilst other more lazy people drank tea at a cafe in the High Street.

FH. Goodwin

Motet Choir Concert in the Music School Saturday 13 July 1991 For the members of the Motet Choir and the

accompanying instrumental players, the first week of the summer holidays was a busy one, with rehearsals every morning, a full day out on the Wednesday and an evening concert on the Saturday, and all this before the actual Motet Choir tour began.

The Saturday evening concert was arranged to give parents the chance of hearing the choir and the instrumental ensembles before we took them to Strasbourg, and this year I decided upon an informal event in the Music School. This worked well, enabling us to perform some of the non-religious music that we were preparing for our trip abroad. We were also able to hold a cake sale in the L6 common room, which raised about £70 for Motet Choir funds, and we are grateful to all those parents who contributed cakes to be sold.

I experienced some difficulty in fitting all the singers and players on to the Music School stage, but placing them side by side worked very well. The programme included singing both unaccompanied and with instruments, brass ensemble music, string ensemble music, a trio for flute, oboe and 'cello, and solo songs from Andrew Carwood to add a final touch of professionalism. Everything went off successfully, promising well for the following week.

FH. Goodwin

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A TWO-COUNTRIES TOUR:

Motet Choir and Instrumentalists in Strasbourg 15-22 July 1991 M embers of the Motet Choir may have wondered

over the years why we tend to visit France or Germany rather than other countries. One reason, though not the only one, is that the Director of Music can 'get by' in French and in German, having learnt these languages at school, and Dr. Brian Plummer's suggestion that we might stay on the French-German border seemed an attractive one. Dr. Plummer (an Old Lyonian who lectures in Geography at the City of London Polytechnic) arranged the tour in conjunction with his acquaintance Professor Karl-Heinz Dietz of the Offenburg Hochschule, and we are most grateful to them both for their work on our behalf.

Having rejected a beautifully situated youth hostel on the German side (it had too few single rooms for the adults in our party), we booked accommodation in the 'University City Paul Appell' in Strasbourg. This turned out to consist of single rooms high up in a tower block, with a huge self-service student restaurant on campus nearby, and the accommodation was fairly basic, though adequate for our survival. There was a convenient rehearsal room on the ground floor.

On Monday 15th July the usual early start in Mick's coach and a twelvehour journey brought us to the hostel in Strasbourg, just in time to eat an evening meal at the student restaurant and settle into our rooms for the night.

As usual no concert was arranged for the first complete day, and it was deSignated Mick's day off. Some morning rehearsal was followed by lunch and a visit to the European Parliament building in the afternoon after which there was free time to look , round Strasbourg.

On the Wednesday we gave our first concert, in the Evangelische Kirche at Zell-am-Harmersbach, a village in the Black Forest. The weather was gloriously sunny and we set out in good time to allow for a visit to the outdoor swimming pool at Gengenbach, where a great time was had and it was so difficult to tear people away that our rehearsal in the church at Zell began abo\lt an hour later than planned. But we knew the music quite well, and one can do too much at a final rehearsal. We enjoyed an outdoor meal at the Pinnochio Pizzeria, after which we hurried back to the church in an attempt to start our concert at 8 o'clock, since the Minister there seemed to have a characteristically German regard for punctuality.

The concert was a great success, with singers and players all in excellent form. The brass and string ensembles and the choir's unaccompanied singing all went down well, but the music most warmly

The Motet Choir outside Strasbourg Cathedral

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applauded by the audience was that for choir and instruments: three movements from Faure's Requiem, Bach's 'Wohl mir, dass ich Jesum habe' (better known to us as 'Jesu, Joy of man's desiring') and Pachelbel's 'Nun danket alle Gott'. These last two pieces, based on traditional German hymns, seemed to strike a particular chord in the hearts of this Lutheran community. I for my part felt pleased by the success of our recent policy of inviting instrumental players to join the Motet Choir on tour; certainly this year we were able to field a quite strong accompanying orchestra.

The Thursday was earmarked for a whole day out, and we decided to visit Freiburg. The day's activities included sight-seeing and a ride by cable-car to the top of Schauinsland, Freiburg's local mountain, after which we returned to Strasbourg to find a meal and made our first acquaintance with the Strasbourg Runch. We had patronised a Aunch in Tours last year, and had found it to represent excellent value, so we sought out the one in Strasbourg. There seems to be nothing like them in Britain: a chain of self-service restaurants offering a good variety of attractively presented food and civilized eating accommodation; they are to be found in all major French towns.

On the Friday we gave a concert in the Pavilion Josephine in the Orangerie gardens, Strasbourg, consisting mainly of secular music. It was here that we produced the greatest variety from our repertory. The brass ensemble played Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary and two AlIemandes by Schein, the strings played Vaughan Williams's Prelude on

Rhosymedre, there was a Haydn Trio for flute, oboe and 'cello, and finally a string and woodwind sextet played Folk Tune by Percy Whitlock. The full Motet Choir sang partsongs by Elgar and Vaughan Williams, and the tenors and basses contributed Robert Washburn's 0 mistress mine and two FrenchCanadian folksongs. As in so many previous years, Andrew Carwood joined us for the tour, and he contributed songs by Schubert and Faun~. The surroundings were those of formal gardens with a concert hall offering light music for a summer evening. About 600 people attended the concert, many of them staying for the whole evening.

By the Saturday our timetable was becoming crowded. In the evening we were to sing at the 6 o'clock Mass at the Romanesque Abbey Church in Marmoutier, followed by a restaurant meal (which turned out to be another pizza), followed closely by a concert in Saverne. The string and brass groups both played music before the Mass, and the organists in our party were invited to play the organ built early in the 18th century by the celebrated Andreas Silbermann. And so it was that for the service the choir was placed in the abbey's east-end apse, whilst I was a huge distance away in the west-end gallery as one of the organists. Fortunately Andrew Carwood was at hand to conduct the choir, and from my vantage-point it sounded excellent apart from some missed leads in Mozart's Ave verum corpus, the trebles being bemused by the absence on this occasion of the string accompaniment.

The pizzas at the Flamenco Restaurant in Saverne were delicious, but it took so long to serve

Rehearsal in the Pavilion Josephine, Strasbourg

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45 people that, despite all our efforts, the concert in Saverne's Eglise Notre Dame started 25 minutes late. Fortunately the audience didn't seem to mind, and this concert too was warmly applauded. Afterwards the Mayor of Saverne gave a reception for us in the magnificent Palais des Rohans in the main square.

Our final complete day, the Sunday, was also very eventful. As the university caterers were unable to provide Sunday meals, we had persuaded the Strasbourg FIunch to open specially for breakfast, and we also ate lunch there. In the morning the Motet Choir sang at the 11 o'clock Mass at Strasbourg Cathedral, and for many singers this was the high point of the tour - Singing Palestrina' s mass-setting Aeterna Christi munera for a vast congregation which filled the cathedral's nave.

In the afternoon we travelled to Offenburg. After some difficulty in finding the Convent Church we had a short rehearsal and gave our final concert of the tour at 7.00 p.m., which enjoyed as much success as the others. It was after this concert that we ran into trouble. A meal at an Offenburg restaurant had been arranged for 9.00 p.m. by Professor Dietz, the idea being that we could be back in Strasbourg by 11 o'clock, but it took us a little while to arrive at the restaurant and quite a lot more time to be served. At 10 o'clock some boys were still not eating and Mick the driver was becoming quite anxious that we might not catch the ferry home on the following day (by law he must have 10 hours' rest). And then when the time came for us to pay, the restaurant would not accept either our travellers' cheques or our credit cards. Fortunately, by the kind help of Mrs. Dietz, who wrote a cheque, it was all sorted out, and we arrived back at the hostel at 11.10 p.m.

The tour was a great success, and everyone involved contributed a great deal to the success that we enjoyed. The weather was hot and sunny; there was only one serious drop of rain, during the night, and boys were able to take full advantage of the facilities for playing outdoor tabletennis and American football. There were visits to swimming pools and a lot of sitting outside cafes drinking beverages of different kinds. I was delighted by the general behaviour and cooperativeness of all concerned. I am most grateful to the adults in the party for their help, in particular Or. Plummer, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair, Mrs. Sadler and Mr. Carwood; and Mick the driver was a tower of strength as usual.

MUSically the tour was one of the best I have known. The trebles of the choir did particularly well, even learning one completely new motet during the tour itself. The presence of so many good instrumental players, both members of the choir and non-singers, added a new dimension to our

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music-making. I was grateful for the contribution made by two visiting singers, Messrs P. Sturt and A. Saunders, and for solo singing or playing from a lot of individuals, too many to name. Finally, a word of thanks to the U6th members of the choir. They have been a very strong and loyal group of singers on their way up through the school and we shall miss them. We hope that their experience in the Motet Choir will prove to be of value to them wherever they go.

Summer Concert Wednesday 8 May 1991

EH. Goodwin

This year we decided to break with tradition and put on the Summer Concert on just one night instead

of two. There is ample room for quite a big audience in the Boyd Campbell Hall as well as good facilities for providing coffee during the interval.

The usual groups took part. 'The Ochestra began the programme with Walton's coronation march Crown Imperial and ended it with the symphonic poem Finlandia by Sibelius. Both these works have important passages for the brass section which were played with accuracy as well as an appropriate exuberance. In fact, Finlandia has successive parts scored for strings, woodwind and brass in turn, and I was pleased with the way in which the different sections of the orchestra responded to them.

The Wind Band gave spirited performances of the Rakoczy March by Berlioz and Bill Haley's Rock around the Clock, and the Junior Strings played Don Quixote rides again by R. Ramskill and Paul McCartney's The Long and Winding Road with their characteristic discipline and precision. The last-mentioned piece was in an effective arrangement by Mr. Arkell.

S. Mahon and N. Ka/sl

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G. Payne, S. Walton, S. Hewitt and J. Sadler

The Second Form Band was in evidence after the interval as usual. This year they came up with Y viva Espana and 0 when the saints go marching in. This year's very flamboyant conductor was Yaron Winterstein, and the audience were allowed a little participation, shOwing themselves rather quicker at picking up the off-beat rhythms than some of the second form.

There was one other ensemble: a Concerto for four violins and continuo by Vivaldi, played by Andrew Grey, Henry Fagg, Chun-Teng Ng and Alexander Cheung (violins), Edward Wells ('cello) and Nicholas Danks (piano). The sensitive and vigorous performance, prepared with great care by Mrs. Macdonald, was introduced very amusingly by Signor Vivaldi himself (actually I think it was Mr. Bamard dressed up), and was received with great enthusiasm.

The concert was completed by soloists, most of them winners from the Music Competition held earlier in the term: Alexander Monsey (piano) Wayne Urquhart ('cello), Jeremy L1ewellyn (oboe): Merlyn Sturt (viola), Andrew Grey (violin), Henry Fagg (piano) and Alexander Norman (trumpet).

All in all it was pleasing to see a great deal of talent being shown off and a lot of fun being had. Thanks are due to Mr. Arkell, who rehearsed and conducted the Wind Band and Junior Strings as well as accompanying most of the soloists, to Mrs. Macdonald, who coached the Vivaldi string ensemble, and to Mr. Glynn and the lighting and recording staff.

EH. Goodwin

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Carol Service at St. Alban' s, North Harrow Thursday 13 December 1990

This year we were unable to use St. Mary's Church, our regular venue, owing to a misunderstanding between John Lyon and the Vicar, who had promised the church for the Purcell School's Christmas Concert, and so it was that we found ourselves at St. A1ban's. We are grateful to the Revd. Peter Hemingway for welcoming us to his church, and to the Revd. Ron Swan of St. Mary's for coming along to be with us after starting off the Purcell School event in his own church.

St. Alban's Church is well known to most members of the Motet Choir, who have given concerts there in the past. It is perhaps visually less inspiring than St. Mary's, but acoustically more supportive.

The service was divided into seven sections each dealing with a different part of the Chri~tmas message and containing readings, carols and a hymn. In the carols a wide range of musical styles was represented, from the 15th century The Lord at first did Adam make (baritone soloist: Jeremy Sadler) to John Rutter's Angels Carol, which is in a quite popular idiom. Most carols were sung by the School Choir, with one contribution from the Motet Choir: Here is the little door by Herbert Howells. The sixteenth century motet for two choirs of men's voices, 0 magnum mysterium by Jacob Handl, almost came to grief in the middle, largely because the Director of Music's copy was practically blown away by the hot-air heating system!

One innovation this year was to have a brass ensemble accompanying the hymns alongside the organist (Mr. John Bamard), and this worked well. Before the service a string orchestra played Corelli's beautiful and appropriate 'Christmas Concerto', the three excellent soloists being Andrew Grey, Henry Fagg and Wayne Urquhart, and there ,{~ were also Christmas ~~f: organ voluntaries /rli'~,L' before and after, Il~\\I'" ~~~~~::::~ played by our two capable boy organists, Jeremy L1ewellyn and Nicholas Danks.

EH. Goodwin

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'Drama Oliver! The stage was set and the long-awaited evening had

at last arrived: the first night of Oliver! The house lights dimmed, the droning beat of the

workhouse boys' marching tune started up, and the urchins paraded gloomily into the hall. Their heads lowered, faces and feet well blackened with malnutritious hue, they sang of being fed only on gruel. The curtains rolled back as they mounted the stage, to reveal a huge, graphic, multi-levelled set, and there before us stood Adam Penny's wonderfully preposterous Bumble and Rupert Davis' s crazy and cranky Widow Corny. The performance continued as it had begun - racy, pacey, full of movement and song, with never a dull moment.

Jeremy Morgale' s anguished expression as the down-trodden Oliver, Paul Goldsmith's London-lad Cockney confidence, as Dodger, Michael Zealy's wizened and wily Fagin, Darren Abraham's bold and brazen Bill - all these and so many more stood out as the evening progressed. The boys and girls were obviously enjoying themselves. They'd worked so hard for so long to get their parts right, that months of contained energy and angst were bursting out on the stage in bouts of dramatic exuberance. Yes, this was good: this was very good.

As if the First Act wasn't evidence enough of excellence, the Second began even better with the wonderful Tavern scene and the swaying and dramatically sozzled members of staff "Oompah-pah-ing" before us. Mr. McMinn's face was a focus of utterly plastered, drink-sodden senility, and yet wreathed in deepest contentment. When Nancy landed on his knees, Heaven had arrived.

A noticeably loud cheer also erupted when Bill Sykes hit hard another drunken character who was sitting to the centre rear of the stage and looked

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suspiciously like a certain Reverend gentleman oft seen stalking the grounds of John Lyon. Mrs. Perdue's practised use of steely gaze and 'pregnant' pause during the school day took on 'new dimensions' during the performance.

The fog effects for the final street scenes were quite stunning; and after regaining both my breath and my vision - sitting as I was about five rows from the front - the anguished cries of the murdered Nancy movingly played by Caroline Ranicar, came ringing through the gloom as her shadow slumped in death on the upper terracing. The dog, the lovely Muffin, stole some of these latter scenes simply by behaving so well as all this noise, light and mayhem was unleashed around her.

The whole cast re-run of 'Consider Yourself', to conclude, was a memorable event, and the final scene where Jeremy Morgale was legitimately thrown from one end of the stage to the other, seemed to hold special relish for the cast.

All in all, Oliver! proved a delightful experience. Well done Mr. Whybrow, Mr. Arkell and all concerned with this mammoth production.

L.D. Budd

The actor's view Work on Oliver! began at the end of the summer

and the first rehearsals took place in the September of the Winter term. Initially we rehearsed solo or small group songs in the Boyd Campbell Hall, the Music School and in my case at Heathfield Girls' School!

As time went by, the number of people at any one rehearsal grew so that dialogue and songs could be put together to create whole scenes. Movement and choreography came next and by November we had moved on to rehearSing on the stage to match up words, music and movement. We had managed

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nearly a complete act and begun to make use of scenery and props.

At the beginning of December, rehearsals for the cast and technical team were taking place nearly every day, afternoon and evening apart from Saturday. As well as the actual rehearsals, scenery painting, prop manufacture, stage covering, curtain rigging, lighting rehearsals and sound practices, were all going on - sometimes at the same time!

Many hours of very hard work by dozens of people went into Oliver!, but I would especially like to thank Mrs. Dorothy Bentote, the girls from Heathfield school, Caroline and Emily Ranicar, and Amanda Theobald who came in from outside to help our production, and of course, give a big thank you to Mr. I. Whybrowand Mr. D. Arkell for making it such an enjoyable experience.

S. Wo/ton

The back-stage view Of course I'm biased but I thought that this was

possibly the best production that this school has ever put together. I would like to thank the entire cast, especially the work-house boys and Fagin's pickpocketers. They gave an excellent performance even though it was for many of them their first experience of acting.

My biggest thanks must however go to all those people behind the scenes. The people whom most of you never saw unless you were at the last performance or very observant between scene changes. For most of the crew, work started two or three months before the opening night and involved the sacrifice of study periods, time after school, Saturdays and sometimes Sundays.

As you sat in the audience I hope some of you looked up because if you had, you would have seen thirty or so different lights hung under the instruction of Mr. Glynn, by Duncan Farrow-Smith, Christopher Antoniou and Andrew Wilcock. You would also have seen a remarkable set constructed and painted under the patient direction of Mr. Read.

Mrs. Perdue's costumes, Mr. Glynn's lighting and the music of Mr. Arkell, Simon Hewitt and Philip Broome, combined to create a wonderful spectacle that allowed for great flexibility of mood and atmosphere.

I should also like to thank Christian E1son, Sandeep Ghosh, Paul Sandler, Guy Slaney and Nivethan Tharmendiran who all stepped in at the last moment to help with the movement of props.

Finally I should like to thank Nicholas 'just a little smoke' Costa for his special effects, in the pub and bridge scenes, and everyone front and back stage who helped make my job as Stage Manager so much easier than I had anticipated.

J. Alien

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The cast of Oliver! Oliver Twist (an orphan) Fagin (an elderly receiver) The Artful Dodger (his brightest pupil) Bill Sykes (a villain in his prime) Nancy (Bill's doxy) Caroline Ranicar

Jeremy Morgale Michael Zealey Paul Goldsmith Darren Abrahams

Bet (a lass in Fagin's establishment) Emily Ranicar Mr Bumble (the Beadle) Adam Penny Widow Corney (the Workhouse Mistress Rupert Davis Mr Sowerberry (an undertaker) Daniel Beever Mrs Sowerberry (his wife) Amanda Theobald Charlotte (his daughter) Paul Doctors Noah Claypole (his apprentice) Mark Obstfeld Mr (Brownlow) (an old Gentleman) Mark Gifford Dr Grimwig Andrew Goldie Mrs Bedwill (Brown lows , housekeeper) Mrs Dorothy Bentote Old Sally (a pauper) Asif Sadullah Matron Himansu Joshi Chairman Mr Graham King Percy Snodgrass (in Mr Sydney McMinn Roue 'The Three Mr Paul Clarke Roue's Moll Cripples') Mrs Carol Aries Pregnant Country Girl Mrs Judith Perdue Senile Gentleman Mr Timothy Wright Two Toffs Mr Ernest Elliman

Rose Seller Strawberry Seller Milkmaid Knife grinder Book-Seller's boy Charley Bates BulIseye, Bill Sykes' dog

Other parts and chorus

Mr David Weedon Joanna Morris Lucinda Coleman Emma O'Connell Stuart Walton Daniel Ford OliverSmith

Muffin

Peter Aplin, Kiran Dattani, Amir Darabi, Paul Doctors, Oliver Feldman, Daniel Ford, Mohammed Keshavji, A1ex Norman, Richard Pickford, Jeffrey Reese, Asif Sadullah, Justin Shere, Jonathan Simmons (Oliver-understudy), James Richards, Greg Wise. Music: Mr David Arkell (piano), Simon Hewitt (percussion), Philip Broome (bass-gUitar) Choreography: Ms Lynne Ford Art Direction: Mr lan Read, Paul Rtzgerald, Duncan Farrow-Smith, Christopher Antoniou, John Alien, Daniel Goldstein, Simon Ward Technical Direction: Mr Edward Glynn Duncan Farrow-Smith (lighting), Barry Wise (assistant lighting), Richard Purkis (sound), Robert Leach (assistant sound), Simon Ward (chief rigger), Daniel Weber (technical prompt). Stage Crew: Christopher Antoniou, Sandeep Ghosh, Paul Rtzgerald, Paul Sandler, Andrew Wilcock, Guy Slaney, Nicolas Costa, Christian Elson, Nivethan Tharmendiran Stage Manager: John Alien Props: Christopher Antoniou Wardrobe Mistress: Mrs Judith Perdue Costumes: Costume Call, Warwick St., Coventry Make Up: Mrs Kate Warren, Miss Patricia Waldron, Mrs Susan Huggins, Mrs Dawn Rimmer Tickets, Publicity and Front of House: Mr Keith Noakes, Mr Sydney McMinn Thanks to Mrs Dorothy Hodgson and Heathfield Girls'School, Mr Peter Perdue, Mr Lindsay Irvine, Mr Clifford Jones, Mr Jim Atkins. Musical Director: Mr David Arkell Director: Mr lan Whybrow

(Oliver! photographs: Mr. J. Barnard)

The Lyonian 1991

Junior Drama Competition The morning of 1st July 1991 saw the Junior

Drama Competition take place. Four groups of plucky individuals were prepared to cast caution to the winds, dress up, even as women, and 'act' before their peers - a challenging task indeed!

Butler were first, enacting a powerful family crisis from Spring and Port Wine. This was a powerful piece to attempt, all performed well. The audience responded positively, and not a giggle emerged from their ranks, despite the hopelessly rebellious blonde wig perched on Tim Charters' head, and the ill-fitting garb around Faizal AIL

Vaughan were second with a scene from the hilarious Ernie's Incredible IIIucinations. The use of each corner of the stage in what is a fast-paced play, was effective, and 'most' of the dialogue was audible despite acoustic difficulties. Greg Wise was a confident Mother and he and Daniel Wayne as Dad maintained North Country accents throughout. Also, particularly noticeable in the performance, was Yaron Winterstein's authentic Czech army uniform.

Moore House ambitiously attempted a scene from Shaw's Pygmalion. The appropriate use of cut glass and cockney accents in the right place at the right time was quite a task, but Jayme Saffer worked very hard at this, and with considerable success. The Victorian costumes were particularly effective in this production.

The final play, in its entirety, was Norwood's performance of Excursion by Alan Plater. It was a very imaginative effort, requiring many 'voices' and lasted a full half hour. Both Gavin Mandrill and Oliver Smith worked particularly hard throughout the performance. All in all it was a very entertaining morning. Competition Results 1. Vaughan, 2. Butler, 3. Moore, 4. Norwood

L. D. Budd

Senior Drama Competition On the morning of 2nd July 1991, the Senior

Drama Competition took place. All four houses managed to put together something for the morning - an achievement in itself, given the little time available at this point in the school year - and their efforts overall were creditable.

Moore were first, with their excerpt from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of being Ernest. Only three boys were involved, and two of them, playing Algernon and Jack, had extensive lines to learn. Jeremy Llewellyn was, in this respect, as solid as a rock and saved the day on a couple of occasions. Daniel Goldstein wasn't and didn't! In other respects though, he was the star of the show causing huge merriment among the audience with his

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Wooster-like aristocratic twit impersonations, and his sometimes hilarious way of cribbing lines he hadn't leamt - like blowing his nose in them on one occasion!

The second performance was given by Vaughan, with an excerpt from The Fire Raisers, by Max Frisch. Not being content with the abstract nature of the play as it is, they rewrote the rules somewhat by presenting it as a rehearsal for a radio play - as the script was apparently first presented on radio. Hence each character stood at a microphone, reading his script and occasionally sucking a polo mint or quaffing from a cup - which added authenticity. Unfortunately, all it tended to do was to distract, and provide the only drama on show. So, a brave attempt at legitimately avoiding the learning of lines and presenting something, didn't quite work.

The third performance was given by Butler, and was a combination of short scenes from the Case of Craig and Bentley - a po~erful piece about an eighteen year old hanged in 1950's Britain. This was a more carefully crafted production, involving three short scenes - which in itself made the piece more watch able and any weakness of characterisation in any segment was saved because no single scene lasted very long. No particular character stood out for special mention, but a series of creditable performances overall was witnessed. The production showed thought, care and effort.

The final and best effort of the morning was presented by Norwood. They put together three separate scenes from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with Samir Mehta playing the part of McMurphy. After a shaky start, confidence built up dramatically, and Samir's performance - with nicely sustained American accent - grew in power and realism. We could ~eel for this character and his dreadful situation.

Supporting actors around the table, supported well - I commend particularly, Kevin Lazarus's rockino character and the whole performance becam~ quite convincing in the final scene. Hence, the final result was, Norwood first, Butler and Moore joint second, and Vaughan fourth.

L.D.Budd

Junior Debating Competition This year's competition once again reflected the

high standard of debating enjoyed at John Lyon School. Skilfully chaired by Mr. Weedon, the debate was opened by Alexander Pollak (Norwood) who proposed the motion that It is better to have strict parents and teachers than soft ones. He spoke logically and with great confidence and clarity, fielding well the ensuing questions from the floor. He was ably seconded by Hasit Shah.

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The Lyonian 1991

Opposing the motion, Butler's Timothy Charters was unable to sustain a strong argument and despite valiant support from Vileen Dutia, the motion was easily carried.

In the second debate of the competition, Robert Walker (Vaughan), proposed that As Comic Relief has recently reminded us, the best things in life cost money. Robert scored highly on relevant points and humour, although his delivery was a little hurried at times. Dipak Mistry proved worthy in support.

In opposition, Moore House's Jayme Saffer spoke from the heart about family and friends. Johann Hari gave a good supporting speech but relied a little too heavily on his notes. Despite this spirited opposition, for the second time that afternoon, the motion was carried.

The final placings were: 1st. Norwood, 2nd. Vaughan with Butler and Moore tying for third place.

J. M. Perdue

Middle School Debating Competition In the first debate, Butler, represented by Sunil Ahuja and Nveed Choudhary, squared up to Moore,

represented by Andrew Grey and Himansu Joshi, over the motion - It is better to co-operate than to compete. Sunil Ahuja, proposing, in his inimitable style, aggressive and confident, gave a virtuoso performance, as he swept across a broad spectrum of issues, ranging from the Gulf War to environmental issues and pupil-power. We were treated to an appetising entree before the main feast.

Andrew Grey, in opposing the motion, concentrated much more on economic issues, taking a hard-line Thatcherite approach - the consumer is king, all monopolies are inefficient and unemployment is an unfortunate side-effect of any free-market mechanism - and so on.

Nveed Chaudhary and Himansu Joshi, acting as second strings in the debate, were somewhat less convincing, although Nveed launched a vitriolic attack on the opposition's disordered logic. Himansu kept rather too rigidly to his notes to elicit much audience-reaction, although his arguments were sound.

In the second debate, the motion - People should have the right to abuse their health in any way they wish - proved a mine-field. Vaughan who proposed the motion, were represented by Adnan Saithna and Tim Sadler, while Norwood rolled out their big guns with Alex Rweyemamu and Vishal Mitta!. However, the complexities of the topic failed to bring out the best in the speakers.

Adnan Saithna, although humorous at times, had a rather languorous air and Tim Sadler, although he

27

started like an express train, strayed a long way off course later on. Alex Rweyamamu and Vishal Mittal rather gave the impression that they had prepared their arguments too hastily before the event. However, the highlight of this debate, interestingly, came during questions from the floor, when a number of boys spoke with feeling and passion. Competition Results 1. Butler, 2. Moore, 3. Vaughan, 4. Norwood.

P.M. Thomas

Senior Debating Competition The first motion for debate, This country takes

work far too seriously was proposed by Matthew De Leon for Butler, who suggested that less work would be good for our health. Jeevan Manickavasagar, opposing for Norwood, in his usual entertaining style, cited Japan as an example of a successful society where work is taken seriously. Andrew Charters for Butler, claimed that he felt sorry for yuppies who were obsessed by luxuries. Jamil Rahman speaking for Norwood, replied that taking work seriously does not mean spending an enormous amount of time on it. The audience voted in favour of the motion. The judges were deep in thought.

The second motion, There is no place in a free SOCiety for censorship, was proposed by Maani Vadgama for Vaughan who argued that film ratings and television watershed times were not truly censorship. There followed the most fluent and enjoyable speech of the debate by Jeremy L1ewellyn for Moore, who argued that since we are obviously affected by what we see, read or hear, creators have a moral responsibility towards their audience. Without this sense of responsibility audiences may become desensitised and suffer some loss of freedom as a consequence.

Jeremy Sadler valiantly attempted to retrieve the situation for Vaughan by cleverly arguing that the motion was tautologous - if society were free, which it is not, there would clearly be no need for censorship.

Andrew Holden concluded for Moore by effectively supporting the points made earlier. The

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The Lyonian 1991

audience voted down the motion. The judges were deep in thought but after a few minutes the decision was announced: Moore were the clear winners, with Butler second, Norwood third and Vaughan fourth.

C.L.M. Tucker

The Recitation Prize March 5th. 1991. Lecture Theatre Once again, the open competition for the

Recitation Prize was adjudicated by Mrs Mary Beresford for whose sympathetic, sensitive judgement and advice we are all extremely grateful. She was kind enough to recollect in tranquillity her feelings about one or two of the more memorable performances and what follows is taken from her notes.

The winner was Michael Zealey. His was a most professional performance (a diabolic speech from The Witches of Eastwick, delivered with Jack Nicholson-Iike zest). His diction and interpretation were excellent. A delight to listen to.

One was impressed by the splendid variety of poems and pieces, mostly well remembered, and rendered with a sense of drama (Marcus Femandes deserves special mention for his rendering of the whole of McCavity). Oddly, some of the best performers seemed to be infected with memory-lapse. One would have liked to have heard more of Death of a Whale as performed by Darren Abrahams and of Jigsaw, as represented by Samir Mehta.

Naveed Moeed's To be or not to be soliloquy was recited with a great deal of sensitivity and thought. Andrew Goldie recited The Donkey by G. K. Chesterton with plenty of feeling, if not quite enough attack. Michael Hardy is to be congratulated for writing and reciting his own moving piece, Six Souls. Daniel Beever got right into the spirit of Windy Nights. Philip Miller's performance of A Child Half Awake and Adnan Saithna's of Kill the Children were much enjoyed.

I. E. Whybrow

The Senior Reading Prize March 5th, 1991. Lecture Theatre The judge was Mrs Mary Beresford. The following

comments have been taken from her notes, for which I am most grateful:

As usual, it was very difficult to choose from so many interesting pieces. Possibly because of the time-limit, there was a general tendency to rush; in spite of that, though, diction and understanding were particularly good.

Darren Abrahams had to be first. His rendering of a section from Wesker's Chips with Everything

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was compulsive listening. There were plenty of dramatic changes in pace and pitch. The whole was clear and very confident and every word was distinct, even in the highest and lowest registers.

Adam Penny's piece was taken from Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. It had great attack and entertainment-value. The voice was wonderful. Just occasionally, he was too fast for his powers of articulation.

Adam Rubins' speech from Julius Caesar was well-delivered in a natural and very good voice. There was plenty of feeling in the voice but not enough attack to bring it across entirely effectively.

Others deserving mention are Andrew Goldie, Jeremy Sadler, Sagar Das and Samir Mehta. Well done, too, Mark Gifford; it was a bit tough to have your next-door neighbour as adjudicator - and you did splendidly. I must also say how delightful it was to hear Wordsworth's Daffodils from Jonathan Benjamin.

I. E. Whybrow

Junior Reading Prize Contestants: Form One: Peter Daly, Amir Darabi, Johann Hari, Stephen Corston Form Two: Sumon Das, Hasit Shah, Asif Sadullah Form Three: Nveed Chaudhary, Matthew Rosenberg, Nikesh Mehta, Hirnansu Joshi.

This year's competition was marked by a widely varying choice of extracts that engaged

everyone's attention; and the best pieces were riveting.

Everyone particularly enjoyed Matthew Rosenberg's choice of the letter of the appalling Hamish from Adrian Mole. He read it with a charming sense of the vulgarity and brashness of the writer. Asif Sadullah chose the Gollom extract from The Hobbit. While his narrator was not quite as avuncularly ironic as he ought to be, and Gollom was not quite slippery enough, the riddling extract ran smoothly - and was brilliantly introduced, with confidence and candour.

Johann Hari read a poem: Alan Ahlberg's Colin. Johann's variety of tone, his comic narrative voice and his rhythmiC, intelligent pacing of the comedy made me laugh out loud.

Best of all, though, was Himansu Joshi's reading from Cider with Rosie. From the start, he was poised. He found exactly the right tone and pitched the gentle comedy of the school scene at us without overdoing it. He articulated well, with no sense of being showy, and prOvided his listeners with a rounded, varied extract in a relaxed, confident mode.

I. E. Whybrow

aq

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The Lyonian 1991

Words and Pictures

Death

In the

Sudan

And

Sadness

Torments

Ethiopia.

Reasons which I can't explain.

So much melancholy.

Joel Goodman

My Poem Oil Azlife? Owiht. Weryabin? Bout. Azzmissis? Sheezowiht. Jaseethebox? Wywasson? Nuinmuch. lear ya go ya wiwls. Yea rite. Zitfast? Yea bitt. Wacolor? Bi athis bi atha. Seeyalayer. Kay. Bi. Pareet Shah

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Falling Snow Raindrops with parachutes, Painted white, Glaring in brilliance, In all their might.

The world in two colours, Like a 1930's movie -The thin air swarming, With albino bees.

Snow icing the roof tops, Like a cake. Continually falling snow, Covers the frozen lake. Michael Shaw

Landscape; M.Smith

Six Souls As they lie there, Clinging to life, Pulling their last breath, Living their last breath,

They would, they said, Make quite a catch. (The catch praised -The cup presented.)

Dying, lying. Does the fishennan care? Yes, just for his prize. Does anyone care?

No, nobody cares. Six souls gone! No, nobody cares. Just nobody. Michael Hardy

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',~ '.. -The Lyonian 1991 .. "

.;jt .. . ,. ..... t .... : .....

Losing Grip His face was desperation. His feet seemed heavier and heavier. The tendons pulled in his straining hands, His muscles burned in pain. Every minute of his slipping fingers, Took years off his life.

His mouth was dry and sore, From the attempted cries of help. The question was of life or death To endure the pain or die. It was easy just to give up: It was exhausting to carry on.

Something spurred him on. His eyes flashed with might. His grasping hands reached for inches To give him the time to think. His last efforts were in vain. He knew that he could not survive.

The endurance lasted no more. He could not take the burning pain.

,

The pressure was released from his blistered hands As they slid through the grass. ' That grass he would never see again. As his life flashed before him. Sam Bellringer

The Wind The wind's fingers gripped the gutters, Its knuckles pounding the windows. The feet of the wind squashed the trees. Its toes rustled the leaves. The wind calls the fallen leaves. A hurricane came out of its gaping mouth. The reeds are sleeping, But a gust of wind comes out of the beast's nostrils. The reeds are no more! He is evil. He should not be there. He should be in hell! He climbs up windows, Into trees. He could control the world! His great long legs tramp on the trees and grass. He holds the birds near his throat Breakfast, lunch, dinner or tea. The wind came and was gone. The wind was gone. James Ellis

Stuff I Like Children like to play in it. Adults like to bronze on it. Sand. I love that stuff.

Tyres are made from it. Fires blaze with it. Rubber. I love that stuff.

Frames surround it. Footballs with luck rebound from it. Glass.

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I love that stuff.

Adults like pots of it. The queen has got lots of it. Money. I love that stuff.

Credit cards are made from it. Michael Jackson's face is laden with it. Plastic. I love that stuff.

Carruthers invented it. Women now depend on it. Nylon. I love that stuff. Oliver Smith

The Lyonian 1991

Feral Cat Sleek, lithe and dark - not just in body, As you crouch before the spring, As you carefully time the moment, With machine-like precision,

Bunching up your immense shoulders, Taut like a bowstring, Hoping to end your hunger,

And you pounce.

Your claws sink in, Your claws lengthened and sharpened by your life. Your prey squeals and struggles. You revel in its pain, Savouring each wriggle and squirm.

You toy with your prey a little, Relishing this moment of power, In a life of subversiveness. You play callous, sadistic games,

Your cruelty born not of your own malevolence, But of surroundings and life.

Then you kill, not out of mercy, But out of hunger and necessity, Laying open fatal wounds, Lapping up warm, sticky blood,

To fuel your body -Sleek, lithe and dark - not just in body. Robert McIntyre

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Defence See my eyes, I can hardly see. See my chains, I'm no longer free. See me stand, I can hardly walk. See my tongue, I can hardly talk. See my skin, I'm a man of blood. See my tears, I am aflood. Maani Vadgama

Punks Punks loiter, Like clouds on a hot day. A small-time Houdini, Draped in chains, A multi-coloured porcupine, Issues forth a stream Of vulgar abuse, And takes a puff of his Cancer-stick. He carefully, silently, purposefully, Eyes an old lady who passes. His burning stare makes her feel -Uneasy .......... She hurries on. Nicholas Claydon

The Lyonian 1991

'Mona Usa in the style of Seurat' by S. Shah

Before Spain Stormy weather ..... Dreamscape weather. Cloudy faces ..... Always cloudy.

Frighteningly unfair, never there, You smile. I scream. You're fake! You're mean! I don't need you any more.

Showers in the dark. Blood-red moonlight And stones on a beach, With razors in the sand. Ben Raynor

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Marine Drive (Synaesthesia) You can see the sun, setting Over an Arabian sea, The necklace of lights flickering Over the busy streets. The afterbum of aeroplanes, Glowing hot-orange. The smell of fumes and gasoline -A heady mixture on the breeze. Shiraz Randeria

Our Love If our love, Aching like a useless nerve, Leaves us with an empty feeling, Then at least the hUrting, Is the closest thing to healing. When I hurt you, At least I'm touching you. Jeeuan Manickauasagar

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The Lyonian 1991

Me Tall, Dark, Handsome, Intelligent, Interesting, Great dancer, Witty, Modest? Gareth Payne

Dogs'Tails Dogs can't speak, so their tails explain. When they're proud, they're held elegantly in the air

Like when they've learnt a new trick And mastered it well. '

When they play, tails wag from side to side -Not sure which way to whip next. They can't go two ways at once, so their tails go both, Until decided - left or right.

When they are hurt or upset, They hold down their tails secretly between their legs', Expressive, like the eyebrows of mankind.

Tails wave warnings and welcomes But dogs don't know they're there.' Once aware, they chase them like an enemy. Without tails, dogs are hard to explain. Guy Lynton

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Learning In his head, There is a world, Where the Queen's left earlobe is blue, Stalactites hang from the floor, And a stream trickles uphill.

In his head, There is a world, Where Gazza is a good footballer, And Bart Simpson has green skin.

In his head, There is a chicken flying backwards, A teapot, full of hamster food, And custard in the English Channel.

Tn his head, There are fish in the air, And birds in the sea.

In his head, Is an awful lot of sawdust.

Suddenly, there is a bang -A flash.

The Queen's left earlobe turns, To a normal colour. The stream starts flowing down the hill. The stalactites turn the right way up, Gazza becomes a useless footballer. Bart Simpson' s skin turns yellow, The chicken flies the other way, The teapot fills with tea, The custard vaporises, And the English Channel fills up with water.

The birds start flying. The fish start swimming. The mass of sawdust, Slowly decreases until not a trace is found. Slowly the wheels start turning. The cobwebs are cleared away.

Then a useful thought materialises. A huge hole opens up in the sky. A large cement block, in the shape of a 1, Falls through. It lands on the ground with a thud. T~e empty storerooms fill up, one by one. It s amazing what you can fit, Inside such a small space. Alex Cornhill

The Face of Misery The room was quiet. The curtains were drawn. In the dark corner, A huddled figure sat. I looked into the darkness. There was no motion. I rested myself in a chair. I felt uncomfortable. Out of the blackness, I saw, An old gnarled hand. Then a crooked nose appeared. And finally, the face loomed out. The eyes were in deep pockets, The ears, small and stubby, The skin, tough and crinkled. This was the face. James Doe

Commentating Hello and welcome to Sedrick Bodie's house. Today, Sedrick, known as Slick to his mates, Will attempt to beat the world record for going to, The bathroom and back. Jim, It's over to you. Thank you, David. This is a lovely piece of cake, which Mrs Sneer, from Northampton, has sent in. Well, we're waiting for the start signal. There it is and Sedrick is off. Those glOriOUS strides have taken him to the stairs, In a remarkable time -2.34 seconds. Now he's sprinting up the stairs. Look at that finesse. He's at the top of the...stairs now. He's ducking under the clothes-rack, And he's in the bathroom.

Now he's out .... and ..... It's an amazing time! 4 minutes 24 seconds on the clock. He's racing down the stairs now, And he's done it! 6 minutes, 18 seconds is a great time, And that has smashed the record. With that, we leave you on a high note. Asif Sadullah

Jobs for Moles Subterranean thermonuclear detonations, Have resulted in A severe recession In the mole economy. Questing moles, Emerging from the earth, Demand: JOBS FOR MOLES. Jeevan Manickavasagar

34

G

....

Photograph by S. Randeria

Moscow Arrival Grey is the light From the Metro station. Chandeliers bright Shine on the impatient.

Out of the station, Then turn twice right. Mists ..... St. Basil's explosion .... Greys ..... a Red Square at night. Shiraz Randeria

A reply to Andrew Marvell's poem - To His Coy Mistress I have your letter just received, so pretty and so nice to read. Your poem tells of your intentions, But hidden well, so barely mentioned: You explain to me how it is wrong, To wait for consummation, long. You say how short our time will be, Unless you join as one with me. My own restraint you wish to hinder, Without a ring upon my finger. Well" frankly, sir, I say to you, If this all you wish to do, With this relationship we have, Then you are limited and sad, And here our correspondence ends. Kevin O'Sullivan

35

Self Portrait by Wayne Urqhart

A journey through my head This is a journey into the deep, dark corners of my head.

In my head are little people running about, Inside a forest, Writing down things on tiny bits of paper, And putting them into holes in the trees.

The forest is growing and there are more bits of paper As I learn. Messengers run backwards and forwards, Collecting bits of paper for the Chief Messenger, To read out, loud and clear.

When I go to sleep, All the messengers lie down and shut their eyes. Then the Dream-Room starts working. Tiny scientists, with white coats, Work around a table, boiling things in test tubes, And setting up flasks and piping.

Each night, the Chief Messenger chooses a faulty concoction, And pours it down a giant dream-pipe. This is when I have nightmares.

In the morning, all the people wake up, And the Chief Messenger turns on the life-support system, Ready for the new day. Steven Hart

I:I! , ,

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Untitled Grey fields drag on like dark crimes. History is tight around this place, Like skin around a scar. Crows caw in chorus. A yellow dog, lean and hungry, Looks me squarely in the eye. A sky so grey -No blue can pierce through. This is no heartland. Your face is a foreign land. This is no heartland. Jeevan Manickavasagar

'Mask of Spain' by P. Goldsmith

The Stream The stream trickles down the way. It cannot go up. It can only go down. Following its path towards the sea. Splitting between the rocks, And joining up again, Passing the fields so green. Then rain would come, Overflowing the little stream, so small, Then suddenly, swallowed up by the sea. This happens all the time. Does the stream ever get tired? James Ellis

The Lyonian 1991

The Chat Show A buzz, heightening. The drone reaches a

crescendo. Flickers. "The light is now on!" moaned three

strategically-placed Nicam stereos, "courtesy of Helic Industries." The recording crackled and carried on.

"Smooth, cheap, easy to run. Stick with someone you know!" The jingle played. Number one for five weeks. Fixed as usual.

Chaz looked in the mirror, carefully, licked his moustache back, flexed his cheek muscles and ran into the studio. His smooth, quick pace - courtesy of Star Steroids - was halted by his drug-dozed brain. He ran back through the automatic doors of his dressing room and covered his 'meat bars' in rubbish so that no one could see them. He looked at the bar, full of teeth-marks, from his artificial teeth, and shivered. He hated Grinbaum's Meat Bars.

"Turn on the teUy - Green Star ...... Chat with Chaz."

Neata said, "Come on! You're three already. Turn it 0 ... Thank you."

Goya seemed pleased and sat down by her mother. The television rumbled, crackled and resumed. Neata smiled

The tune finished and a spotlight picked out Chaz. "Hi all you middle-class watchers. Welcome to 'Chat with Chaz', courtesy of Grinbaum's Meat Bars - 'Nutritious and Delicious'. Have you bought your quota?" His voice lowered to his usual phoney American accent. "So to our first caller." He picked up his phone - cunningly fashioned to look like a meat bar. "Hi. What's your name?"

"Jock Waters." His voice seemed disturbed.

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Chaz could see this call was going off the point and he tried to get this conversation back on line.

'What's your problem?" "E M'f 't l' t " er ... y W1 e won Isten 0 me .... Chaz nodded off-screen. "I'm sorry Jock, we seem to be losing you. You

see, we have some technical problems with phones higher th f iI '8 an our m es ....... ye

Chaz put the phone down, cracked a smile and started again.

"Hi! Line number two. You're talking to Chaz. What's your problem?"

"My taste buds are yearning for a 'DeliciOUS and Nutritious' Grinbaum's Meat Bar but I've run out. My quota's gone! Please help! I'm on the edge!"

The sentences seemed perfect, too perfect, too inviting.

"Well, don't fret and don't frown. Just write this telephone number down!

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The Lyonian 1991

It is ...... 08982718002 M.E.A.T. This number will tell you how to receive extra boxes of Grinbaum' s Meat Bars. I repeat. The number is 0898 271 8002 M.E.A.T."

"Thanks so much!" "Remember, Grinbaum's have a heart! Now, a

word from our sponsor."

The screen in Neata's room went black but soon returned, displaying a single woman in a dark room. She was spotlighted.

"Since the eradication of natural weather, we have no need for weather forecasting but we at Grinbaum's Meat Bars wish to commemorate this period of our history with an old-fashioned advert in weather forecast style ....... .

A light came which illuminated the whole room. A picture of the human intestine appeared. "Cold weather means hot dinners and hot dinners mean increased heartburn and stomach aches. However, all this has changed with new, hot Grinbaum's Meat Bars. Try'em ..... You never know!" The picture cut back to Chaz. "Yes, that's right! Grinbaum have made their delicious and nutritious' bars - warm. That is correct. I said warm. What is more when you buy two six packs of hot bars, we'll give you one pack absolutely free. Remember, you heard it on 'Chat with Chaz!"

Chaz quickly unwrapped a hot bar. He took a bite. Steam rose from it. He chewed. As usual, it tasted awful but Chas thought of his large fee and chewed on.

"Lovely!" The theme tune grew in volume to signify the end

of the programme.

Neata rose to turn off the screen. She looked around. Goya was sleeping soundly. She walked to the Relaxtable but was drawn to the telephone and dialled a number.

"Er. Hello ..... yes ..... I need a box of your lovely, new meat bars. I saw them advertised on 'Chat with Chaz.'

Neata was not hungry. Justin Matlock

'Linoprint of a Cheesep/ant' by

G. Ty/er

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A Disused Canal Images of the past

The old Paddington branch of the canal lies in a gentle valley, obscured from everyday passers-by, by the huge, close-cropped slopes, rising on either side.

The air is musty, dank and old. Old air, reminding ramblers, walkers or fishermen of the atmosphere of the old canal - bustling and flourishing. A transport network, with barges ploughing silently through the heady mist to their destination. As the wheels of industry ground on, a relentless stream of barges flowed silently through the shroud, to emerge in the industrial heartland of London.

The murky-brown water is stagnant now. Heirlooms of industry lie, decaying on the bed. The decaying remains of a once, booming trade. Now the wheel has ground to a halt. The cogs will not turn anymore and cannot be reversed.

For this canal, there is no future: oil and old cars, rusting and collapsing, lie dumped in the water, which laps casually at their sides. They are remnants of the industrial era, long-dead.

There is still the heady mist. It lies low, drawing a veil over the surrounding wasteland. Tow-paths, weathered by the low-lying scrub, and mosses, crawling silently over them. They crumble, flake and sink to the depths, just as the life of the canal once did.

Old bicycles, bottles, prams, cups and saucers, footballs, doors, oil-cans and a dazzling array of deteriorating rubbish, litter the surrounding slopes. Scree accumulates, no longer held together by the trees and flowers. The land is arid, dry and polluted now. Scrubby, bristly grass covers the slopes, like a dog brush.

And from this, a wall of nettles, hawthorn and great expanses of dead teasel - dry, bristling, brown husks, the husks of industry. The new, green shoot of life in this canal no longer exists. It is now only the dead, seed-husk that remains.

Not many frequent that place. Fishermen may gather, to dangle their rods hopefully into the canal, or walkers may pass but these apart, the eerie stillness of the place is like a ghost - a ghost of the past, partly re-lived in this modem day.

Complicated stone structures adorn the slopes. Their craggy appearance and long jaws of bent steel jut out and protrude through the mist. Fragments continually flake off, exposing the twisted, random jungle of steel rods, swaying gently as the wind changes.

These derelict, dilapidated structures only heighten the gloomy atmosphere of the canal. Great, iron bridges span the gap, straddling the canal. The snake-skin appearance, the humped network of huge iron girders, held in position by

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Clubs & Societies

Aquarium Club Welcome to this, the first annual fish report.

The Biology Department was looking for a new attraction - to be precise, a fish tank or two. Here is a diary of how the Department gained some aquatic life.

First of all, a tropical fish tank was set up by a 4th year student, Sunil Ahuja. Then we walked into the laboratory one lunchtime and Mr. Ryder, Head of Biology, lumbered us with an old gerbil tank and said, "Transform this into a fish tank!" So we undertook our task, armed only with a bucket of gravel and an air pump. Within two weeks we had transformed this petty excuse for double glaZing into a fish tank.

In November we installed some plants and fish and introduced orfe, goldfish and a shubunkin into the tank. The fish were easy to get hold of - we just bought them - and, growing bored, we tried something different. Andrew added two goldfish from his pond, while I suffered the rigours of the weather to catch a minnow and a gudgeon from the River Colne.

December: And on the third month they rested. In January the first casualty occurred - the death

of a shubunkin, closely followed by the passing of a small goldfish. Unfortunately these were the two I had bought.

In February, we gained another tropical tank but we gave control of this to another fourth former, Stuart Farrow-Smith. At the same time, we embarked on cleaning our own cold-water fish tank.

We removed the fish and put them in a bucket for the night. The next morning we discovered the minnow had gone a.w.o.1. via the floor and into that a big dustbin in the sky. It's tough at the tank!

Meanwhile, undeterred by our sad losses, we continue to meet at B.a.m. every morning to attend to our tanks.

Robert Walker, Andrew Thomas 2J6

Art Club This year proved to be another interesting one.

Paul Goldsmith was highly commended for his design in an Oxo competition and we also made a number of interesting visits to major exhibitions including Russian Art at the Hayward Gallery, the Impressionists, Fauve Landscape and the recent Pop Art Exhibition at the Royal Academy.

Anthony Slinn graced us with his lectures on Van Gogh and Salvador Dali which once again proved hugely popular. In the Spring there will be an art visit to Italy - another first for John Lyon.

I.R. Read

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The Bridge Club has continued to thrive with 'Duplicate' played twice a week during the lunch

hour. The strongest pairs over the year, have been F. Posner and N. Sethi (U6th), and the two L6th pairs who comprise the school 'A' Team, P. Osorio, M. Welch, S. Beever and J. Poley.

A record four teams were entered in the London Schools Bridge League. The 'B', 'C' and '0,' teams won and lost in roughly equal measure, but the 'A' team won four out of its five contests, to qualify for the knock-out section. Unfortunately in their first match they threw away a healthy half-time lead, to lose narrowly.

Three evening tournaments were organised. The guests included parents, relations and masters and pupils from Harrow School. Our hospitality extended to allOwing different guests to win all three, but, John Lyon students were not far behind and collected valuable 'local points', which contributed to acquiring various titles, such as 'Local Master', 'County Master' and so on.

With the 'A' team still at the school next year and many promising players below the sixth form, the future success of the club looks assured. House Competition Results 1. Norwood, 2. Butler, 3. Vaughan, 4. Moore

C.L.M. Tucker

Charity 1990-91 Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDF)

The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation was voted in by the boys of John Lyon as the beneficiary of this year's Charity drive. Michael Bairn kindly came to a Monday assembly to talk to the school about the Foundation's current research projects, which include simplifying medication for diabetics, and the implantation of insulin-producing cells.

Despite the recession, the school was delighted to be able to present a cheque for over £7,500 to Mr. Bairn and Gary Mabbutt, the Spurs and England footballer, who is himself a diabetic. Pictures of the cheque presentation were published, together with a report in the local press. In recognition of the amount raised, the largest single donation ever

The Lyonian 1991

Gory Mabbutt, Spurs captain, receiving a cheque for £7,508.41 on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes

Foundation.

received by the Foundation, those who had raised the most money were treated to a flight in a private jet, owned by Iceland Frozen Foods, whose chairman sits on the board of the JDF.

By far the largest single money-raising event was the Butler House Race Night, held at the Old Lyonians' Clubhouse in Pinner View. Organised by Matthew De Leon and Stephen Benson, this event, enjoyed by parents, teachers and sixth form alike, raised nearly £2,000. Many thanks to Ladbroke's plc who organised the races and the money side of the evening free of charge.

Other events included the sale of raffle tickets for the JDF annual raffle, which raised over £1,500, the Norwood House Disco and of course, 'Wear what you want day". There were numerous other events, but much credit for the large total must be given to the boys of Oldfield House, who between them raised over a third of the total. As a reward four boys from Oldfield House were taken on a forty minute plane trip, from Leavesden Aerodrome to Birmingham and back.

Rnally, many thanks to Mr. Shaw for all his help and encouragement as well as all the members of staff who gave up their spare time to organise and oversee events.

We would like to thank everybody who helped to raise this superb total.

Joel Obstfeld and Jonathan Ade/man

Voluntary work at, 'The Firs' During the summer holidays of 1991, seven John

Lyon sixth formers helped out at a play scheme organised by 'The Rrs' - an organisation in Harrow caring for mentally handicapped children.

J. Cunningham, S. Daruwala, R. Goel, M. Hodgson, N. Hussain, P. Patel and M. Welch were the helpful volunteers at Marlborough Hill School, Harrow, where the play scheme operates.

The work involved occupying and entertaining the children in various activities such as painting and drama as well as acting as escorts on several outings.

It was a rewarding experience and our time there was warmly appreciated. Both the children and the volunteers thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

P. Patel Oldfield House Charity prizewinners at Leavesden Airport

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The Lyonian 1991

Last September saw me walking out of school ready to go home. However, fate stepped in in the form

of Mr Thomas, to ask me if I would like to manage this year's 'Young Enterprise' company. I said yes enthusiastically and within a week, we had a

company, a name, 'Enigma' and our first problem. So many people wanted to join the enterprise that there were insufficient jobs to go round and a rebel consortium tried to set Up a rival company. Fortunately for us, they were unsuccessful, and 'Enigma' became John Lyon's sole representative. The difficult work of nurturing the infant company began.

Our next step was to choose our products. Four minds combined to come up with the idea of a pre-printed phone-message pad, with built-in clock. However, this proved too costly to produce, so we decided to sell shares in the company and come up with another product that would be profitable and inexpensive to make. Robert Lands was the successful originator and it was unanimously agreed to adopt his idea of the personalised key-ring.

The plan was a winner and we ended up selling over two thousand rings, although it is important to emphasize at this point that success came as a direct consequence of the tireless efforts of the Y.E. team as a whole. For example the Sales Team was headed by Andrew Morris, who proved a conscientious and determined salesman and was given substantial impetus by Jeremy Baxter who seemed to be able to sell anything. If anyone has the gift of the gab, it is Jeremy.

The Young Enterprise Team. Standing: P. Osorfo, N. Costa, D. Levene, R. Lands, S. Beever, K. O'Sul/ivan. Seated: G. Hughes, R. Riv/in, M. Thomas, A. Morris.

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Orders flowed in and 'Enigma' was doing very well and so well that we decided on our third product - The White and Black Rack' which is designed to hold videos, audio cassettes, CD's and computer games. Vigorous marketing helped get things going and we were particularly proud of our advertising slogan - 'Ever felt like putting Kylie on the rack?'. Indeed, with our three products, quality marketing and balance sheets in the black, we went to the 'Interim Business Evening' qUietly confident.

The evening went well. our stand was well-prepared and we felt we acquitted ourselves well in response to testing questions. It came as no surprise to us to come second, assuring ourselves a trip to Brussels for the 'Young Enterprise Trade Fair'. The arrangements for this would make a story in themselves but let it suffice to say that our enthusiasm was at its height and we were looking forward to the trip. The Harrow Observer was quick to recognise our achievements and the first of three articles appeared.

The trip itself taught us a lot about the down-side of business. The company, represented by Robert Lands and myself, fared less well than we had hoped and our profit margin, reduced to twenty pounds, reflected our lack of success. Nevertheless the whole experience proved enjoyable and worthwhile.

When we returned, we found that interest in the progress of the company had waned and if it had not

been for such stalwarts as Paulo Osorio and his dedication to logo design we should have fared even worse. We learnt some useful lessons about perseverance and stamina and by late March the company moved towards its natural end.

We have all gained a great deal of knowledge and experience about the positive and negative aspects of business practice and our only regret is that we missed the 'Final Interviews' conducted by the Area Board, through no fault of our own. Our chance of winning the Regional Finals was gone for good and we all felt we would have been in with a good chance.

I should like to express my thanks to Mr Thomas for his help and support and to the team as a whole, with a special mention to Jeremy Baxter, Simeon Beever, Nicholas Costa, Robert Lands, Andrew Morris, Paolo Osorio, and Kevin O'Sullivan. All good wishes to next year's team.

Science Club B.A.Y.S

Richard Rivlin

The school branch of the British Association of Young Scientists has enjoyed its most successful

year of its five year existence so far, particularly in the National Masterminds Competition. FollOwing the selection and registration of the team, consisting

The B.A. Y.S. Team, winners of the London Final. Left to right: G. Payne, A. Monsey, S. Das

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of Sagar Das, Alex Monsey and Gareth Payne, in November, the London regional finals took place at the end of January, at a lavish presentation held at the Staines H. Q. of British Gas, the official sponsors.

In the first, closely-fought match, we forced Mill Hill Comprehensive to a tie-breaker, which we won 34-31. The second match saw us beat off Godolphin and Latymer School and Radley College, thus earning us the title of "London Regional Winners", and securing our place in the National finals on B.A.Y.S. Day, March 16th, at the Science Museum.

The intervening period witnessed the arrival of a curious, orange, singing tube. Our task was to write a report explaining its operation and so win us valuable points in the next round. In this round, we played and beat teams from as far away as Northern Ireland and Scotland, to win our place in the Grand Final.

The final was an exciting test of practical skill, mathematics and general science knowledge, ultimately won by Kings School Worcester, who for the second year in a row received the £1 000 prize. John Lyon was just beaten into third place, one point behind Haberdashers' Aske's.

I should to thank Mr. Glynn for his effort and dedication in ensuring that everyone and everything was in the right place at the right time. All good wishes to those who follow us.

Sagar Das

photography

The Photographic Society The Photographic Society was reinstated in the

summer term of 1991 and already has a large and growing membership. Mr. Ryder and Mr. Noakes deal with dark-room processing techniques, while Mr. Sadler advises on photographic composition.

Members may take advantage of the Society's cheaper, bulk film, and develop their black and white prints in the dark-room. With luck we will be able to acquire equipment for colour-processing and start playing a greater role in producing photographs for the school magazine.

Future projects include a possible annual, photographic exhibition, displaying the best of the Society's work. Beginners are always welcome to start learning the basic techniques.

Shiraz Randeria

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DUke y Edinburgh DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD SCHEME

This year has been a very productive year for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme at John Lyon.

Four Upper Sixth formers were presented with their Gold Awards by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, at a large garden party held in grounds of Buckingham Palace. Thirty boys from the lower sixth and fifth forms travelled to mid-Wales for their Gold and Silver qualifying expeditions. These were completed successfully even though all groups experienced terrible weather, some of the worst conditions ever seen by the teachers helping to run the scheme.

Some of the boys 'going for gold', to coin a phrase, have been helping to run the Bronze section of the scheme. Their first task was to recruit third formers for a "taster walk" last July. Forty two joined the scheme and all took part in a walk in the Chilterns near Aylesbury. We hope that the majority of them

Duke of Edinburgh expedition through the forests of Mid Wales. (photograph: M.Smith)

The Lyonian 1991

Andrew Wilcock, Paul Fitzgerald, Simon Ward and John Alien

will continue in the scheme until they achieve their Gold Award.

One of the masters who helped supervise the boys on their walk in the Chilterns was Mr. Sinclair, who left at the end of the last academic year. He had for many years helped run the Bronze and Silver sections of the scheme and he will be greatly missed.

The Duke of Edinburgh Scheme is increasingly becoming a large part of many boys' lives at school. They are finding that the more they put into it, the more they get out. Parents may want to know that boys who join in their third year usually complete

Gold Award winners: Standing: Sagar Das, John Demello, Danny Broderick and Naveed Moheed. Seated: Giles Segal, Stuart Parry, Ping-Ling Own and

James Ralph. (Photograph: M.J. Sad/er)

44

their Bronze award in the fourth. Silver and Gold are usually carried out in the fifth and sixth years. However provision is made for boys who would like to join the scheme later in their school life.

John Alien

M. Sturt and D. Butler head for the hills.

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Trips, Holidays, Excursions

Ski Trip. Les Deux Alpes Christmas 1990 We left Heathrow on a mild Saturday afternoon, to

arrive in snow-covered Lyon two hours later. A slight delay in the flight, owing to snow conditions in France, suggested that the first week of the ski-season was going to be exceptionally good.

The accommodation was quite basic, a chalet with six bedrooms, living room and kitchen, with a chalet-maid to prepare the meals. Little time was spent in the accommodation during the day and for the fit and healthy, skiing instruction took place both morning and afternoon, from an instructor whom I can only describe as excellent. His use of the English language, his patience - much needed on occasions - and demonstrations were of the highest quality.

The resort offered not only top-class skiing, but a heated swimming pool, ten pin bowling, ice skating, pool rooms and amusements which the boys visited occaSionally during the evenings .

As it was the first week of the ski-season, the pistes were fairly quiet, but the conditions excellent.

It was the best start to a season in twenty five years, according to the locals, and all the boys progressed very rapidly in their lessons.

Nick Paterson, Ben Warren, Rajan Gudka and David Rose showed touches of Franz Klammer, while Kevin Bernitz and Robert Walker took to the slopes amazingly for a first trip. Our boys including Gary Thwaites, Andrew Bray, Shahe KIendjian, Sunil Ahuja, Adam Kane, Richard Pickford and Brian Luckie, were a credit to the school.

On the final morning a slalom was organised and won by Ben Warren. All I can say after my attempt last year, is that I managed to complete it this year without any broken bones! The afternoon was spent trying to mono-ski and surf-ski - mastered by Nick Paterson but leaving the rest of us wondering if we would ever stand up on the things long enough to get on the drag-lift.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable week with excellent skiing, in an excellent resort. Hence our intention to return for Easter 1992.

I. R. Parker

Andrew Bray, Robert Walker, Ben Warren, Rajan Gudka and David Rose take a breather in Les Deux Alpes. (Photograph: N. Paterson)

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The Lower Sixth Biology Field Trip Orielton, Pembrokeshire 13th - 20th March 1991 After a brief classification of the available gears on

the minibus, we left the school bound for Orielton Field Studies Centre. The eventful journey down to darkest Wales was frequently punctuated by pit-stops and lost causes, T enby town centre being an obvious example. The ordnance survey maps turned out to be not only wrong, but positively xenophobic.

The four of us, and Mr. Ryder, were heavily outnumbered by the other schools with whom we sat at dinner. Our first day consisted of a morning lecture by our genial guide to all things green and marine, Dr. Robin Crump, and then a trip to the field. Armed with the ubiquitous plastic trays and nets, we caught anything in the rock pools and identified everything back at the laboratories.

Thursday to Sunday saw us collecting, prodding and deracinating organisms along the Pembrokeshire coastline. In the evenings, over dinner, we would exchange notes at our dinner table with a geography group. It turned out that while we counted limpets and periwinkles, they counted stones and shoppers, and remained fairly dry. We felt that we had drawn the short straw.

Monday and Tuesday were given over to our individual projects, the weather taking a distinct turn for the worse. It was considered by Dr. Crump, that Monday saw the worst weather he had encountered on the field in 20 odd years at Orielton. We were privileged. Tuesday evening was spent giving a brief talk on our project findings to the rest of the group.

It was an enjoyable, but hard-working week, and our thanks go to Mr. "Gordon" Ryder, as he was

r ,

46

mistakenly known throughout the week, and to Dr. Crump. Our uneventful journey home entailed driving in heavy rain, with a broken speedometer, breaking down twice, phoning the RAC seven times from the pleasure-oasis that is Membury Services, and waiting four and a half hours for a pick-up to take us to Middle Road in time for Brookside and another pot noodle.

Shiraz Randeria

Lower Sixth Geography Field Trip March 1991 On a Friday morning, ten keen but rather anxious

geographers, met at King's Cross Station, fully equipped like the veterans we were, with the essentials - warm and wind-proof clothing and container-loads of junk-food. We were joined by Mr. Shaw and Mr. Mavin, our new Geography master and off we went.

We arrived at the Held Centre, overlooking the Tarn, in the late afternoon and after a typical Field Centre meal - thankfully we were not there for the meals - we began work the very same evening with our tutor, Jill Holmes. However, our strenuous efforts were compensated by the proximity of girls from another school, similarly occupied.

In the first three days, we concentrated on Physical Geography, as well as the girls and, thankfully, because of the dry spell, managed to keep dry at the various river-channel sites.

Next we trekked through 'awe-inspiring, glacial and limestone features of the dales', such as the massive Malham Cove, once a waterfall, twice the height of Niagara Falls! Legs were tired but we were inspired by the enthusiasm of two Geography masters, in their own private paradise.

After work in the labs, an impromptu pool tournament took place, whereat Mr. Shaw showed he is not just an expert on limestone pavement.

The next part of the course was conducted, sadly, without the girls but we pressed on to brave the rigours of Lancaster City. McDonald' s came as an oasis and civilisation was warmly welcomed by us townfolk, with, by now, well broken-in walking boots.

We spent our last day in a livestock market and ~n. a local farm, studying land use and prices. We fmlshed our last evening's work, now experts on sheep and sub-glacial streams.

The scenery of the dales was magnificent and the course an enormous help to our A Level studies. Special thanks must go to Jill Holmes, our tutor, and Mr. Shaw and Mr. Mavin, who showed us that U-shaped valleys can be fun.

Andrew Morris

<

d

Russia Trip April 1991

The Lyonian 1991

We had just left the school, when Mr. Read joked, "Has anyone forgotten their passport?". In

time-honoured tradition James Starr had. The aeroplane left Heathrow an hour late

minimising our chances of dinner in Moscow. Alexander, our guide, cleverly secured us a meal and introduced us to the Metro, St. Basil's and the mists of Red Square not to mention the Kremlin.

The next day brought a Moscow city tour taking in the University, the Pushkin Museum and a more extended visit to the Kremlin. There was more to come: in the evening we went to the Moscow State Circus. It had been a tremendous day.

On the third day we were back in Red Square. Unfortunately the Lenin Mausoleum was closed and so our next stop was the Arbat Market, the Covent Garden of Moscow, to wander and pick up some souvenirs.

Dinner was the highlight of the day, at a traditional Russian restaurant. For five dollars, we had a four course meal with champagne. Entertainment was provided by four musicians in gaudy garb, together with some innovative dancing.

We used the way home as an excuse for a trip on the Metro, where we talked with some friendly On the cruiser Aurora

The John Lyon group outside the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (Leningrad)

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The Lyonian 1991

Enjoying Russian hospitality

Moscovites. We could only wonder what they would think of the Northern Line: somehow chandeliers and marble mosaics would seem out of place at Euston.

We spent the last day in Zagorsk and in the evening took the over-night train to Leningrad. Those who had not slept paid dearly as our fifth day was the busiest, including a city tour, a visit to the battleship Aurora and the Revolution Museum and in the evening a trip to the ballet.

We spent day six at a Leningrad school which proved a real eye-opener for us. We joined lessons, met the students and in some cases exchanged addresses. They told us in immaculate English about their school life, and how they have to repair and paint their classrooms during the holidays!

As we made our way back to the staff-room we were challenged to a game of football in the gym. Despite Dr. Wheaton's attempts at sabotage John Lyon managed a satisfying 3-1 victory.

The next morning, before leaving, we made a last assault on Leningrad before our departure. We visited St. Isaac' s Cathedral and the Hermitage Museum to see a few of its 15,000 paintings. It was an action-packed day, rounded off with a disco in the evening.

The beautiful weather we had had all week continued on the last day and allowed us to conduct an al fresco presentation to Jean Whitehouse, Mr. Read and Natasha, our gUide. Finally, we boarded a coach to Leningrad airport, for the trip home.

We would all like to thank Mr. Read and Jean Whitehouse for a wonderful trip.

Shiraz Randeria and Daniel Weber

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Third Form French Exchange to Le Raincy April 1991 On the 10th April, twenty John Lyon Third

Formers together with a selection of girls from Heathfield School left Heathrow on the short flight across the Channel to Paris. After a short coach journey to Le Raincy, we arrived at the 'College J.B. Corot' where we were introduced to our French partners. There were nerve-racking moments as we each shook hands in turn and met their families trying desperately to remember the French fo; 'Pleased to meet you'! However, we were all quickly reassured and discovered that there was no need to be nervous. We were encouraged to try out our French without embarrassment, and we soon adapted to the French way of life.

The next morning, we got up early, in time to go to school with our French partners. Amidst many tales of the French cooking we had savoured the previous evening, we set off at once for Paris, leaving the French boys to go to school as normal. On our first day, we visited the Champs Elysees Arc de Triomphe, Arche de la Defense, the Pyr~mide du Louvre, and inside the museum the Mona Usa Venus de Milo and countless oilier painting and sculptures.

Thereafter, we had several more trips to Paris, but we also went further afield to the magnificent Palace at Versailles with its immense gardens, as well

as to the cathedral at Chartres. By the end of the exchange, we could honestly say that we had 'seen it all', having been to just about every tourist attraction imaginable. To mention but a few -Notre-Dame, Sacre-Coeur, and the Place des Artistes, The Bastille, Pompidou Centre, les Halles, the musee d'Orsay, Jardins des TuUeries and the Cite des Sciences.

To end the stay, there was a party at the French school which just about finished many of us off! We certainly left France fitter than when we had arrived and all in all, the exchange was an excellent opportunity to improve our French as well as our understanding of the country and its people. To thank Mr. Irvine and Miss Waldron, we gave them a small gift to show our appreciation.

H.M. Fagg

GCSE Biology Field Trip May 1991 Keen biologists and Mr. Ryder and Mrs. Perdue

boarded a luxury coach outside John Lyon and headed into the horizon, destination Orielton Field Centre, Pembroke, South Wales.

Many hours later we arrived and were ushered into our respective rooms. Most settled down quickly and several of us were straight into the thick ~f Orielton life. 'Dinner Duty' was one of the daily ntuals groups were required to perform and well, .... someone had to be first.

The Third Form group at the Sacre Coeur

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The Lyonian 1991

Sifting for animals! (Photograph: G. Ryder)

Our first full day was introduction day, not only to our teacher, Mark, and the subject of ecology but also to the hard work we were to endure and we all thought we'd come for a relaxing holiday.

Throughout the week we studied various flora and fauna in varying environments and compiled quite an impressive folder of our work. Our ecological knowledge flOurished and by the end of the week we had Fucus Serratus, diving beetle larvae and sand dune succession coming out of our ears.

The weather was very kind .... too kind for some people - such as Oliver 'I don't burn' Kaufman, who received the 'red neck of the week' award.

Despite our exhaustion, both physical and mental, we all enjoyed ourselves and thanks must go to Mr. Ryder, Mrs. Perdue and Mr. French for their help during the week.

Outward Bound Loch EiI

Jeremy Welch

I t was not until 1 looked back at the John Lyon trip to the Outward Bound Centre at Loch Eil that I

realised just how valuable it had been. The week of June 22nd-29th was the hardest seven days any of us can remember but in retrospect we all acknowledge how much we have gained from it.

The journey to Scotland took over seven hours and we arrived from Euston tired and hungry. The backdrop to the centre was beautiful and breathtaking, with the small road winding effortlessly towards the sparkling blue loch.

50

We were shown to our rooms and divided into our team groups and after a short assault course and a few miles, rambling we settled down to a good night's sleep. However, this was not to be and we were turfed out of bed at 6.00 a.m. to be sent on another run to the loch that had surprisingly, lost its charm at that time of the morning.

We were told to strip to our boxer shorts and swim and we were all agreeably warmed by this charming example of humour. The smiles left our faces as soon as we realised he was serious! So having been rather fortuitously kitted out with a pick-axe, we set abo\.!t cracking the ice.

But you know, it wasn't all fun! The follOwing evening we had to leave the base and go bivouacking, a form of masochism involving lying in a sheeptick-infested field while trying to keep warm, covered in a man-sized plastic bag.

The follOwing two days were very enjoyable and valuable. We abseiled off cliff faces and climbed up rock sides. This gave us a sense of trust and respect for our team-mates because sometimes all that prevented us from falling was our feverish clinging to a rope.

The groups were also given problem-challenges to solve - the best being to design and build a raft using only wood and barrels. All this was very enjoyable and taught us to work together as a team, sharing each other's strengths and weaknesses.

We spent the last three days on an expedition into deepest Scotland with only a tent and a can of beans for comfort. This was of course a foretaste of hell. My group, having eaten all the supplies on the first

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The Lyonian 1991

On Loch Eil

day, starved. The expedition concluded with a boat trip home along Lock Shiel. This again, was most enjoyable, giving many of us hands-on experience of sailing. Other groups canoed back.

And so, the week had come to an end. Kitted out in our 'I survived Loch EiI' T-shirts and sporting a myriad of insect bites, we returned triumphantly to Glasgow. Unfortunately our train was leaving from Edinburgh! Eventually we all arrived at Euston after another seven hour journey.

First Form Holiday to Rouen An early start meant that we were all shattered

when we arrived at Victoria, but you would not have thought it from the amount of noise we were making as we left our mothers happily chatting to each other.

After a four hour Channel crossing we arrived in Dieppe, and just over an hour later we reached our Rouen hotel, tantalisingly called The Hotel Arcade'. Our rooms were small but cosy and each had its own bathroom.

On behalf of the fifth year 1 should like to thank, Mr. French, Mr. Whybrowand Mr. Perdue for giving us the most interesting experience of our lives. Next to the hotel was a shopping centre which

we explored at the first opportunity. We had great fun up and down the escalators and stocking up for

students relaxing on a bateau mouche

M. Zealey

Rouen:

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The Lyonian 1991

our midnight feasts. Then we went to a great new restaurant called Jumbo where we had 'Bifteck et Pommes Frites'.

The following day we went on a tour of Rouen. Anybody selling postcards made a fortune thanks to our group, and after a tasty lunch we went swimming at the local pool.

The highlight of the third day was our trip to Paris. First we visited the Arc de Triomphe from which we looked down on the humorous events of one of the world's largest roundabouts with its twelve converging roads.

At the Sacre Coeur we were pestered by illegal traders who soon disappeared when the police arrived. We also Visited the nearby Place du Tertre where several of us had our pictures drawn. We then went to Notre Dame cathedral where we admired the stained glass windows. Not many of us could stay there long, because you had to be quiet!

The day ended with a boat trip along the Seine, from which we had a magnificent view of the Eiffel Tower. We arrived back at our Rouen hotel very tired.

When we woke up in the morning we went to the shopping centre once more and bought provisions for the long journey back to good old Britain. We got back to Victoria, tired but happy after our trip. Thanks must go to Mr. Barnard and Mr. Noakes for organising the trip and to the sixth formers who accompanied us.

J. Berger, J. Hari, V. Levy, T. Lowther, K. Dattani (lJ3)

Holiday to Munich and Bregenz July 1991 The 9th July saw Mr. Barnard and lain Smith (a

'young Old Lyonian') with our group of 25 merry ~en, meet at Heathrow Terminal 1 , at the unearthly trrne of 6.15 a.m. Soon after, the late-corner Jamil Jivanjee, turned up. We were on the plane and on our one hour flight to Dusseldorf. From there we took the train to Munich" passing through a very hot and sunny Germany. Rnally all hot and tired we arrived at our 3-star hotel, where settling in pr~ved very easy.

On Wednesday we took a trip to the centre of Munich. There we saw the little statues of the Town Hall clock tower move and dance to music which was completely out of tune. Mr. Barnard found this enthralling! The thing that probably enthralled us the most was the fact that there was a McDonalds nearby, where all of us indulged in delights such as Big Macs!

In the afternoon we went for relaxation to the 'Olympiaze.ntrum', Munich's Olympic stadium, where we either swam or spent two hours looking for a flat piece of land on which we could play football!

On Thursday it was down to Salzburg - our first taste of Austrian life. Here we saw the birthplace of Mozart and visited another McDonalds! After lunch we took a funicular railway up to the Castle and a magnificent view of Salzburg and its cathedral.

The group in Munich

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.,

The Lyonian 1991

At the Rhine falls in Schaffhausen, Switzerland

On Friday we visited the Starnbergersee, just south-west of Munich, where the options for entertainment were swimming, pedal-boating or sun-bathing. Here we found out that hair was a necessity for sun-bathing as Mr. Barnard's head was glowing red!

On Saturday the first leg of our holiday was over, and after a two and a half hour train journey to Bregenz we arrived at our Youth hostel. At first sight we were a little disappointed but once we got inside we found it to be a very homely and comfortable place. The weather was excellent, and most of us spent the afternoon at the bathing beach on Lake Constance.

Sunday was rained off due to torrential rain and thunder storms.

Monday saw us take a trip to Schaffhausen to see the largest waterfall in Europe on the river Rhine. The sight was amazing and made for ideal photos. Monday also saw the amazing talent of John Reynolds. He had a seven minute wrestling match with the youth hostel's humungus dog called Armani, a dog so large that when he stood up on his hind

53

legs he was twice the size of Justin Matlock or Michael Curtis.

On Tuesday we enjoyed the highlight of the holiday; the summer toboggan run and we took advantage of the three free rides promised by Mr. Barnard. A lot of people went far too fast, ignoring multi-lingual signs to brake, and fell off their toboggans. Probably the person who suffered most was Duncan Miller who was celebrating his 15th birthday in style. That evening Mr. Barnard had organised a small birthday party for Duncan and a cake was supplied with the compliments of the restaurant.

On Wednesday a trip into the mountains had to be cancelled due to the atrocious weather and instead we went to a shopping centre near St. Gallen where there were many facilities such as pool, table-tennis, and ten pin bowling.

Thursday arrived, the day we all had to face the devastation of our school reports. If only we could have stayed another week! Nevertheless we all thank Mr. Barnard and lain Smith for organising such a splendid and enjoyable holiday.

Nveed Chaudhary

....

The School Fair was held on March 16th with the theme 'Spring into

Europe' and very clever programme and poster design by Michael Shaw created much interest in the event. The new Boyd-Campbell Hall was decked with flags of Europe and a fine selection of quality stalls. Food ranged from Asian and Continental specialities to traditional cream teas in Cloisters. Lunches were provided in 01 for those arriving early.

There were horse rides around the lower lawn and a huge bouncy castle in the playground. 'Beat the Goalkeeper' and other games set up by the boys provided a feast of sideshow entertainment.

The grand raffle proved popular and was a financial success. Thanks must go to parents and the many local businesses who provided prizes for the raffle and side shows.

Such ventures can only succeed with the hard work and generosity of paren ts and staff, and thanks must go to them for all for their hard work.

J.M. Perdue (Photographs: M.J. Sad/er)

The Lyonian 1991

Sport

FOOTBALL

1st XI Played: 27 Won: 1 Drawn: 5 Lost: 21 For: 43 Against: 100

The playing record tells most of the story in this disappointing season. The boys with experience of first team football were never able to exert the necessary influence on the newcomers that was needed to ease them into this higher level of football.

Following two early season draws against Dray ton Manor and Chigwell, confidence soon evaporated when faced with the more formidable Middlesex League sides .

From then on the boys managed to produce part performances shOwing potential but not really the necessary consistency required to win matches.

There were some promising signs however, particularly Simon Poole who came into the side mid-way through the season and, although just a fifth former, managed to produce some outstanding performances in the latter part of the season. Christian Elson matured into a very competent and commanding defender surprising even himself with

Montlake about to score

the pace and commitment that he produced. Geraint Hughes, Darren Levene and Paolo Osorio, an showed signs of possessing the necessary qualities required to make a more significant contribution to the side next season.

I hope the boys at least learned the fact that raw ability is not always going to guarantee success. Team spirit, co-operation and enthusiasm, qualities that were often lacking when they were most needed, all make up the parts of a successful team.

The 1st XI. Standing: B. Lee, P. Osorio, D. Levene, M. Montlake, D. Allright, G. Nyirenda, N. Claydon, C. Naughte?, Mr. C. Jones. Seated: S. Poole, G. Hughes, S. Hewitt, P. Levin. (Photograph: M.J. Sad/er)

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The Lyonian 1991

G. Nyirenda takes it off his toes

There were however positive signs towards the end of the season and there is every reason for the boys to look forward to next year with optimistic enthusiasm for a more successful time!

C. J. Jones Captain : Simon Hewitt Squad (Appearances in brackets) S.Hewitt (27), C.Elson (26), GHughes (24+3), G Nyirenda (23+1), P.Osorio (22+1), D.AlJright (22), B.Lee (21+5), G.Thwaites (19+1), C. Naughten (15+1), S.Poole (14+3), S.Bray (13+1), D.Levene (11+3), S.Benson (9), D.Smith (7+3), M.Hartzel (5+1), R.Purkis (5), N.Claydon (1+1), W.Moore (1).

2nd XI Played: 27 Won: 3 Drawn: 3 Lost: 21 For: 48 Against: 1

Our season on the whole was very poor in terms of results. However, this did not reflect how well we played in many of our games throughout the year. It was inconsistency that hindered our progress, as we tried to put a number of good results together. Indeed, at times, we played like title-chasers, although more often we simply lacked determination and failed to settle into a positive pattern of play. A large number of own-goals proved demoraliSing.

Good performances against Ealing Green, St Clement Danes, Brentwood and Mill Hill in the South East Tye cup, provided us with our more memorable moments. Paul Gilchrist was top scorer with 12 goals and was well supported by Michael Lewis with 6 goals and Edwin Preston who contributed 5 goals from mid-field.

At times, many players showed potential despite results. The performances of Nicky Crossick, Richard Rivlin and Richard Deamer showed promise for next season, along with those of Edwin Preston,

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Paul Gilchrist and Nick Claydon, who excelled in their senior capacity.

Altogether it was an enjoyable season, despite the results and a large thank-you must go to Mr. D.B. Rimmer, who stayed with us through thick and thin. Squad: J. Adelman, A. Aggarwal, S. Benson, R. Brashier, S. Bray, N. Claydon, N. Crossick, R. Deamer, J. Dexter, P. Gilchrist, J. Goodman, A. Joseph, I. Kashi, J. Kenrick, D. Levene, P. Levin, M. Lewis, G. Lock, C. Naughten, E. Preston (Capt.), R. Rivlin, D. Smith, K. Stacey.

Edwin Preston

VI5 Played: 14 Won: 4 Lost: 7 Drawn: 1

We played fourteen league games and won six, drew one and lost seven. Although this is only an average performance in terms of results, it is actually a vast improvement on previous seasons, indeed, we reached the semi-final of the Middlesex Cup where our improving form deserted us and we failed to reach the final.

An indication of our success was a narrow defeat 3-2 against Enfield (Middlesex Champions), in a game in which we dominated after coming back from a 0-2 deficit. Our best result of the season was a 7-1 win against Hampton with W. Moore scoring a hat-trick.

D. Murray in goal, improved throughout the season and there were good performances from J. Maris, who left the school at Christmas. A. Harris, who took on the role of captain from Maris, R. Holgate and W. Moore. Many other members of the team performed well but less consistently with A. Freedman perhaps being the most improved player of the season.

Overall we had a good season and our thanks should go to Mr. Read for his hard work and encouragement. Squad: D. Murray, R. Holgate, P. Marlow, J. Maris, G. Thwaites, M. Ball, M. Jackson, A. Harris (captain), M. Richter, J. Welch, W. Moore, A. Freedman, S. Fisher, K. Bemitz. Colours: Murray, Holgate, Harris, Moore, Ball.

Adam Harris

The Lyonian 1991

The Under 14 team. Standing: Mr. R. Cobb, J. Leach, R. Knight, R. Varty, D. Taylor, N. Mehta, E. Adams, A. Rweyemamu, C. Stein, Mr. G. King. Kneeling: J. Wilmot, C. Conaghan, P. Solomon, M. Shaw, D. Vaughan.

U14 Played: 19 Won: 13 Drawn: 0 Lost: 6

The U14 team enjoyed one of the best seasons by a John Lyon junior side in many years.

The most notable characteristic of the team was its determination to win and on occasions they were able to win after trailing in the early stage. This was demonstrated most dramatically against Hatch End

Robert Varty throws in

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where a 3-1 defeat was converted into a 4-3 victory with three goals in the last twenty minutes. The best performance of the season was a 5-2 victory against the Buckinghamshire champions Clement Danes.

Whilst Michael Shaw was the team's outstanding individual, the determined performances of Robert Varty, Chris Stein and Daniel Taylor were also vital in shaping the team' s character.

Photographs: J. Bamard

Jason Wilmot sets up another attack

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At the end of the season, John Lyon won the U 14 Harrow Schools' Cup, defeating Hatch End 4-1 in the final. It was a fitting and tangible reward for the season's effort. Squad: P. Solomon, J. Leach, A. Rweyemamu, R. Varty, D. Vaughan, C. Conaghan,(Capt.), M. Shaw, C. Stein, E. Adams, D. Taylor, R. Knight, P. Cowen, J. Wilmot, N. Mehta, C. Naughten.

R.L. Cobb

U 13 Played: 14 Won: 2 Drawn: 0 Lost: 12

The U13 struggled to find winning form right from the start of the season. Too often good positions were lost in a match due to lack of resilience and determination. There is considerable talent in the team centred on the strength of Jonathan Kent, the skills of Rono Wellington and the goal-keeping ability of James Ellis. The two wins against Hatch End and Vyners showed the standards they are capable of reaching, with greater commitment in future years. Squad: S. Chakera, N. Conway, J. Ellis, A. Kane, J. Kent, J. Lea, W. Unden, K. Merali, R. Pickford, J. Sandler, H. Shah, N. Shaikh, N. Tarlton, T. Troughton, R. Wellington, M. Wijeratna, G. Wise

B. Ho/gate

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U12 Played: 22 Drew: 6 Lost: 14 For: 37 Against: 77

After a disappointing start to the season, the squad settled down to play some gocx:l football. The team was built around Nicholas Goh in the centre of mid-field, and a goal-scorer in Michael Beckett who scored 15 of our 37 goals.

The biggest disappointment was in defence, with the players being unable to clear the ball any distance from their own penalty area when put under any pressure. Mid-way through the season, Thomas Baker replaced Peter Daly in goal and moved to the right wing. This brought about a slight improvement in results, with fewer goals conceded, although problems persisted at the back.

The mid-field of Lowther, Goh, Hardy and Levy always looked better going forward and on occasions played some very nice football but proved unable to score when they reached the opposition box. Goal-Scorers: Beckett 15, Levy 5, Goh 5, Lowther 3, Hardy 3, Babber 1, Baker 1, Angel 1, Woolf 1, Hyams 1, OG1, Squad: J. Angel, A. Babber, T. Baker, M. Beckett, M. Briggs, P. Daly, M. Dunkley, N. Goh, P. Hardy, L. Hyams, D. Lazarus, V. Levy, C. Lowther, A. Mankin, R. Mehta, D. Morris, J. Woolf.

I.R. Parker

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Staff v School February 19th 1991

The Staff, having lost several of their regular players of the last few seasons went unto this match unsure as to whether their silky, individual skills would get in the new team format.

Some of their fears appeared justified when the School took the lead early on in the game through Hewitt, direct from a corner.

The staff rallied however and debut boy P. Thomas, making an impressive start to his school football career, slid the equaliser in off the far post.

This goal brought the game to life, with the school showing signs of steel in some of their tackling, creating one or two half-chances and soon Gilchrist managed to slip the ball past the advanCing Purkiss into the staff goal.

The staff football machine was however beginning to roll forward;

B. Holgate was rolling back the years with a display of controlled aggression and nifty footwork, while I. Read and P. Thomas were making impressive inroads into the school's defence.

D. Rimmer up-front was managing to survive the onslaught from the school's defence, with G. Thwaites managing to find several new and interesting ways of stopping anyone who dared to try and pass him! At half-time the school led 2-1 with the tally of dubious tackles standing at about 3-29!

In the second half, the staff managed to assert more sustained pressure and finally the pressure told when on the fourth or fifth attempt, Lee was forced to handle the ball inside his own area, giving D. Rimmer, despite the less than total support from those of his team-mates who remembered his rather unsuccessful attempts of last year, the chance to slide the resulting penalty in for the equaliser.

The staff then began to frustrate the school's efforts by keeping possession for long periods of time and when they conceded a free-kick just outside the penalty area, the staff took the lead. The kick from C. Jones struck the underside of the bar then B. Holgate reacted first to head the rebound into the net, 3-2 to the staff. To their credit however the school were not yet beaten and captain Hewitt got his second and this time spectacular goal, driving in a loose ball, following a mix-Up in the staff's defence.

With the tension building as the game approached its close, the decisive strike came just minutes from time. It was the staff who clinched the win with a well-struck corner from I. Read that was firmly headed in by P. Thomas to round off a fine debut display and achieve a staff win of four goals to three.

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A fine game, with all players wishing to thank Mr. Welch and his linesman Matthew Welch for their time and excellent handling of the game. Staff Squad: Messrs. I.R. Parker, R.L. Cobb, C.L.M. Tucker, C.J. Jones, B. Holgate, L.D. Budd, P.M. Thomas, C. Dent (Old Boy), D.B. Rimmer, R. Purkis (6th Former), I.R. Read.

c.J. Jones

Five-a-side Tournament The staff team won the annual, five-a-side

tournament for the first time in several years and in the early rounds both it and Greg Thwaites' Upper Sixth, proved too strong for their opponents, though the Upper Sixth needed a penalty shoot-out to win their semi-final against a talented Lower Sixth team.

Minutes before the final the staff were rocked by D. Rimmer's shock withdrawal from the side, due to a contractual dispute. However this loss was turned to advantage by the staff who abandoned their free-flowing football of earlier rounds for a sound defensive formation.

Though they had to withstand considerable early pressure the staff eventually turned the tide and swept to a 3-0 victory. Staff Squad: R. Cobb, I. Parker, C. Tucker, P. Thomas, D. Rimmer, C. Jones

R.L. Cobb

The Lyonian 1991

Cricket 1st Xl Played: 15 Won: 2 Drew: 10 Lost: 3

The first game of the season, at the end of April, against Chigwell, was cancelled because of rain, and unfortunately set the tone for the weather over the next two months. The successes of last season reinforced the need to plug the gaps, opened when the majority of the side left, and we anticipated a season of rebuilding; we particularly needed early

i' order batsmen. At the Lords nets, we found a few new faces who might get into the school side: Gooch, Atherton, Hick and Gower. Nonetheless, the experience of Worrall and Sethi won them the opener's spot.

Tharmendiran, Lee and Stacey also opened at various stages throughout the season, when called on. The most consistent run scorer was Nishal Patel, a fourth year pupil, batting at number 4 and ably supported by Elson, Hughes and Aggarwal. The bowling attack of Patel, Aggarwal and Ioannou was strong enough to take on most sides. Thus, the captains, Elson and Hughes, almost always decided to put the opposition in first and chase the runs - a tactic successfully adopted against St. Ignatius and Kingsbury, which produced the two wins of the season.

As expected, it was a tough season, with many boys getting their first taste of 1st XI cricket. However, a number of promising players came through from the UlS's and together with the continued partnership of Hughes and Elson, opening the bowling, firmly supported by Aggarwal,

The staff enjoying the prospect of victory in the Staff vs. 1st XI match

Action from the Staff vs. 1st XI match. Top: G. Hughes in full flow. Middle: Elson delivering

another fast one; Mr. Cobb backing up. Bottom: Dr. Wheaton anticipating an off-drive.

i s'

',.. we can feel optimistic as we look towards next , season. We can also look forward positively to the

60

rewards that will inevitably emerge from the developing skills and confidence of Crossick, Gane, Osorio and Stacey. Team from: C. Elson, G. Hughes, A. Aggarwal, N. Crossick, C. Gane, A. Ioannou, B. Lee, C. Naughten, N. Patel, N. Sethi, K. Stacey. N. Tharmendiran, T. Worrall. Colours awarded: C. Elson, G. Hughes.

I.R. Parker

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The Lyonian 1991

The Norfolk tour. Back: N. Sethi, G. Hughes, P. Osorio, C. Gane, J. Sadler, T. Worrall, A. Charters, N. Moeed. Front: B. Lee, M. Ince, N. Crossick, C. Elson, J. Reardon, J. Adelman

Norfolk Cricket Tour Aaming June saw the First Eleven embark on its

traditional tour to Norfolk, to play three matches. Our good spirits were somewhat dampened by the continual wet weather which attended our first two matches against Downham Market and King Edward VII School, Kings Lynn.

At Downham Market, the home side were reduced to 142 all out, thanks mainly to some excellent bowling, with Hughes, Ince and Elson taking three wickets each. In reply, John Lyon had made 26 for 2, when rain stopped play.

On the second day, King Edward, batting first, made rapid progress toward 143 for 3. Several rain interruptions followed, and when the artificial pitch became water-logged, it was felt that the public house was preferable to playing in the puddles!

Our final fixture against Culford School, Bury St. Edmunds, saw the only completed match of the tour. John Lyon made steady progress, bolstered mainly by a determined innings of 35 from Elson and a dogged 22 from Sethi. Sadly, a swift collapse brought the innings to a close at 97.

In the subsequent run-chase, Culford failed to reach its target, despite having the previous year's centurion, Smith, at the crease for the majority of the innings. Economical bowling and fielding proved the key with excellent figures returned by Hughes (21-1) and Elson (46-2). The match was drawn. Tour Party: C. Elson, G. Hughes, P. Osorio, B. Lee, C. Gane, J. Adelman, J. Sadler, J. Reardon, M. Inee, N. Moeed.

f.R. Parker

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St. A1ban's Six-a-Side Competition Tuesday 2nd July means the start of summer

proper, and the arrival of the six a-side cricket tournament at st. Albans. The previous day's competition at Hampton had been abandoned without a ball being bowled. It did not augurwell.

The qualifying games against Enfield and St. Alban's School, took place in glorious sunshine. John Lyon came out top of the group. St. Albans, needing to beat Enfield, to go through on a better run-rate, somehow managed to throw the game away. John Lyon qualified for the final against Haberdashers, who had dominated their own group.

The weather changed as the final started at six pm. Haberdashers batted first and were restricted to 137 from 15 overs - their previous lowest score had been 196! John Lyon went into bat, needing 138 runs to win and in qualifying rounds, had scored

Back: B. Lee, C. EIson, C. Gane, N. Patel. Front: N. Crossick, G. P. Osorio

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The Lyonian 1991

in excess of the required 137. A sound start by Patel and Gane, and then Elson, after Gane was caught on the boundary, appeared to put us in a good position! Was an upset on the cards?

However, tight bowling by Yeabsley, who has represented E.S.C.A. U19's and Middlesex 2nds., restricted us to 110 all out. Nevertheless, the boys competed very well and, on the day, gave a creditable performance. Team from: C. Elson, G. Hughes, N. Crossick, C. Gane, B. Lee, P. Osorio, S. Patel, N.Sethi.

I.R. Parker

2nd XI Played: 8 Won: 1 Drawn: 0 Lost 7

As expected, 1991 turned out to be a rather unsuccessful year for the 2nd Xl with only one win from eight games. The lack of a settled team and the poor form of many key players meant that the 2nds were, in general, unable to play to their true potential.

Batting was clearly our weakest area as, with the exception of Paolo Osorio and Julian Dexter, no one was able to produce any convincing performances conSistently, and several times the team collapsed to very modest scores when a draw, at least, should have been possible.

The bowling attack was generally led by Jeremy Sadler and Martin Ince, who both bowled conSistently, without ever looking like tearing out entire teams. Chris Gane's accurate medium pace was always useful, and his departure to the Firsts left a large hole in the bowling attack which was only partially filled by the improving John Reardon. The spinners, Richard Rivlin and Sheetal Patel, bowled well throughout the season although were somewhat expensive at times.

The fielding showed room for improvement, but both Paolo Osorio and Jamil Rahman did well behind the stumps. Finally we must thank Dr. Wheaton both for managing the team and umpiring with a smile, even as his team collapsed around him. Colours awarded to: A. Charters, P. Osorio. Team from: A. Charters, J. Reardon, J. Adelman, P. Osorio, R. Rivlin, S. Patel, M. Ince, J. Sadler, J. Dexter, D. Butler, N. Tharmendiran, K. Stacey.

A. Charters

UI5 Played: 13 Won: 7: Drew: 3 Lost: 3

It has been another excellent season for the U15' s and brought to a very satisfying conclusion by their reaching the semi-finals of the Middlesex Cup. The team acquitted itself well, but unfortunately, was beaten by a strong team from Enfield School.

Consistent opening innings from Holgate, 122 n.o., 97 n.o., 43, 43 and 42 n.o., and Marlow. 73,

62

and 48, laid the foundations for some good scores. Ball 45, and Patel, 58, with strong supporting roles from Kom and Welch, produced some large totals. These were well defended by controlled fast bowling from Welch, 26 wickets and Narasimham 21 wickets and by some thoughtful spin bowling from Patel, 17 wickets and Gandhi, 9 wickets.

All in all, it has been a season full of positive cricket, with some sound team and individual performances. The ground has been prepared for next season and we can look forward to 1992 with great optimism. We would partioularly like to thank Mr I. Read for all his coaching, help and support throughout the summer. Team from: R. Holgate, (Capt.), P. Marlow, M. Ball, D. Korn, N. Pate\. J. Welch, P. Miller, K. Gandhi, S. Narasimham, K. Merali, P. Uew, S. Chakera, D. Farrow-Smith, S. Fisher, D. Beever, G. Jenkins. G. Guganeswaran, S. Durham. Colours awarded to: Holgate, Marlow, Ball, Welch, Narasimham.

R. Ho/gate

U14 Played: 12 Won: 3 Drawn: 2 Lost: 7

This has not been an especially successful season for the U14's, although it has not been without its brighter patches either. The team has been dogged by problems of commitment and concentration which resulted in some woeful batting and fielding performances but some excellent bowling helped to compensate for these.

Some very competent mid season performances brought the team to the semi-finals of the Middlesex Cup before being knocked out by a very strong Isleworth team. John Lyon acquitted itself well but at the last was unable to secure a victory.

The team's chief 'run-scorer was S. Choudhary and there were also some excellent figures from D. Taylor, 50 against Heathlands and from A. Bhalla, 40 n.o., against Enfield. The leading wicket-taker was V. Mittal with 19 wickets. A. Bhalla, S, Choudhary and A. Grey also bowled well.

Special thanks must go to Mr B. Simmons, for all his time and encouragement throughout the season. Team from: S. Choudhary, A. Grey, J. Leach, D. Taylor, A. Bhalla, H. Joshi, V. Mittal, N. Mehta, N, Levy, S. Sodha, H. Mistry, C. Stein, C. Conaghan, F. AIi, D. Vaughan, N. Chaudhary.

A. Grey

U13 Played: 10 Won: 4 Drew: 3 Lost: 3

It has been a season of mixed fortunes, but in the final analysis the team can look back with satisfaction at its achievements. Jonathan Kent gave the team a huge boost with his magnificent bowling figures, 7 -19, in our first match and our sound beginning

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encouraged us throughout the season. Our batting showed both skill and determination and, again, Jonathan Kent set a fine example, with the best batting average of 44 runs.

Our bowling showed that we have made considerable progress since last season and good line and length brought their proper rewards. Predictably, the best bowling figures were Jonathan Kent's and he is to be congratulated for his effort and achievement.

Finally, on behalf of the team, I would particularly like to thank the two members of staff who helped to make it such an enjoyable season - Mr. Holgate, for his net-coaching and Mr. McMinn, for his umpiring and encouragement. Team from: K. Merali, J. Kent, J. Bailey, M. Wijeratna, J. Lea, A Sadullah, R. Bannerjee, S. De-Soysa, P. Patel, R. Warrin, J. EIIis, D. Procter, M. Conway.

K. Merali

U12 Played: 8 Won: 2 Drawn: 2 Lost: 4

The first game of the year against Hampton School is always a tough one. This year however, the team put up a fine opening performance, with Levy taking a wicket with the first ball of the season, smartly caught by Goh at first slip. Although Hampton managed to score 120 the day's highlight was two excellent catches by Mukherjee at extra cover.

We made a valiant effort to reach the total, thanks mainly to a very strongly hit 66 from Goh but in the end finished 9 runs short, all out for 111.

It was the bowling that impressed most throughout the year, led by Levy, who in the Queen Elizabeth School, Bamet game returned figures of 5-4 runs in the total of 40. He was ably backed up by Mehta, Navratnarajah, Goh and Choudhary, who needs just to add a little consistency, to become a really effective bowler.

R. Mehta looked capable of filling the all-rounder spot, with D. Morris showing some promise as a wicket-keeper. However, it is the batting that needs to improve. More application is needed from all, although it must be said that many of the boys appear to have the potential to improve if they show the necessary determination.

It has been quite a satisfying season and I would like to congratulate the boys on their spirit throughout, which, I am sure, will stand them in good stead in the future. Team from: V. Levy, N. Goh, S. Mukherjee, D. Mehta, R. Mehta, M. Navratnarajah, D. Morris, J. Angel, J. Richards, A. Choudhary, P. Daly, M. Briggs, K. Dattani, T. Baker, J. Davis.

c.J. Jones

63

sJlOMINTON U19

As our number one pamng of Rahman and Hodgson had proved invincible in the Schools League last year, the Senior Team began the 90-91 season with some optimism. Results in the first term confirmed the team's ability to challenge successfully the best of the local college teams, and by Christmas, they were in a strong position to qualify for the league finals.

After the mock exams in January, the team was unable to recapture its best form. Rahman and Hodgson remained as successful as before, but we were often unable to field our strongest second and third pairs, and when they did play, they showed a disappointing lack of real commitment, even when wins were well within their reach.

Next season our Senior Team will largely be a new one. A willingness to practice hard and to improve will be necessary if they are to offer a challenge to the strength of the sixth form college teams. Squad: J.A Rahman, M.E.A Hodgson, AB. Daver, G.M. Reid, M.A. Maynard, P-L. Own, D.P. Sefton, R. Gael, H. Ryatt, S.P. Mehta.

J.L. Irvine

U16 After a successful season last year, when the boys

qualified for the Middlesex finals, this season was a great disappointment. The boys did not perform to their best in any of the league matches. As Alperton withdrew from the league, we were left only four fixtures - V.C.S. and King Alfred, to be played home and away.

The boys played very well against V.C.S. in their last match of the season at home, but eventually lost 5-4 after their performances worsened. We lost 7-2 on both occasions to King Alfred and in the return match against V.C.S. we lost 8-l. Squad: A Aggarwal, K. Pushparatnam, K. Bass, D. Smith, A Wong, C. Ng

U14 This has been a very good season in which a

number of friendly matches were played against Orley Farm. Our squad has been based on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year boys who have all performed well and shown much promise for the future! Squad: J. Leach, A Overy, N. Mehta, P. Cowen, E. Adams, J-C. Dufloux, J. Mistry, J. Bailey, B. Gascoyne, K. Merali

1.R. Parker

The Lyonian 1991

Cross-Country

After the hmajor improvement in last' year's results, I expected that we would just be able to match them but throughout the two terms we have seen a slight improvement on the standards set in previous years.

The first event of the year was the Inter-House Cross-Country. The Junior event was again won by James Bailey, followed home by Shiraz Chakera . However, Vaughan took the team event, closely followed by Norwood. The Colts race was won by Das, with Welch second and Moore third. The tearn event was won by Simon Hewitt, with Gordon Tyler second and Giles Segal third. Vaughan won the Tearn event with Moore second.

I should like to thank Mr. Jones for arranging the event and Messrs. King, Wheaton, Sanders, Holgate, McNae and Mrs. Perdue who helped to officiate.

In the Old Gaytonians Road Race, our U12 team finished 5th out of 10, with Richards finishing 10th, Daly 20th and Levy 21st out of the 53 entrants. In the U14 race we came 6th out of 8 with James Bailey finishing 17th, Louis Philo 23rd and Shiraz Chakera 30th. In the U16's race we entered a weakened side, with Gordon Tyler, the Captain of Cross-Country, finishing 8th.

In the Harrow Schools Cross-Country, held in very wet conditions around the fields of the Bannister Stadium, the team of S. Chakera (18th), J. Bailey (24th), L. Philo (25th) and C. Conaghan (26th) finished 5th out of 7, with 55 runners taking part.

The first competition after Christmas was the Orley Farm Cross-Country. We had to field a weakened side as most boys in the squad were also involved in playing soccer. However, we managed to finish 6th out of eleven schools. James Bailey finished in 20th position, Brian Luckie 21st, Shiraz Chakera 28th, out of the 66 competitors.

The York House Cross-Country was run over a very difficult three mile course, through woodland and in muddy conditions. The team managed to

64

finish 8th overall, out of 12, just as last year. There were 98 competitors, and our first men back Rono Wellington in 35th, Shiraz Chakera in 38th and James Bailey in 44th.

The best result of the season was in the last event at St. Martins, Northwood. The team, running over a 11/4 mile course in a relay event, finished in 2nd place out of 12. A similar run to the boys' training run, suited the team, with L. Philo (7th) , C. Conaghan (8th) and R. Wellington (9th) out of the 72 runners. All three of these boys were quicker than our fastest runner over the same course last year in this event. Congratulations to all boys who have competed over the season.

1. R. Parker

Many of our athletes found the Harrow Championships arriving too early in the year for them, although we were eventually able to send nine athletes to the Middlesex Championships as part of the Harrow T earn, thanks to a first or second placing in the borough sports.

With their performances in the Harrow Championships, these were: S. Hewitt 3rd 400m Hurdles,

M. Montlake P. Gilchrist J. Bolden M.O'Gilvie A. Procter A. Goldie W. Urquhart

1st Triple Jump, 1st 400m 3rd 200m, 2nd lOOm Hurdles 3rd Equal High Jump 4th 200m 2nd Javelin, 2nd Long Jump 2nd400m 2nd Equal Long Jump 3rd lOOm

In the Team Events John Lyon finished in the follOwing positions: Juniors 9th, Intermediates 4th, Seniors 3rd.

So, very creditable performances, and I hope that next year more of the boys who make the Harrow T earn have the courage to go onto the County Championships to experience the competition at this higher level.

Elsewhere, in our match with Harrow School and Mill Hill the hard work that many of our athletes had

The Lyonian 1991

put in during the term with Mr. King began to bear fruit, especially amongst the Intermediates. In a very tight match where all three teams were separated by just seven points, John Lyon finished just two points behind Harrow School in 2nd place.

There were fine performances from A. Haile, 1st 800M 2m 28 secs., R. Knight, 2nd 200m 26.23 secs., J. Bailey, 2nd 1500m 5mins 25 secs., J. Kent, 1st Shot 10m 82cms., M. Shaw 1st Javelin, 287m 88cms., 2nd Triple Jump 9m 51cms., 4x100m Relay, M. Shaw, R. Knight, J. Wilmot, Taylor 1st 51.63 secs.

In the Seniors, who also finished second to Harrow, D. Smith won both the lOOm, 11.6 secs., and the 200m, 24.93 secs., and even managed to shock everyone, including himself, with a storming 2nd place in the 400m in 59.11 secs., finishing behind A. Procter who won in 58.88 secs. The relay team suffered through lack of practice in their change-overs, for, despite having the quickest squad managed just 2nd place in 49.8 secs., a lesson I hope they take in very quickly!

Much of the progress made through the year, materialised in the Harrow Schools Meetings towards the end of the term with some fine performances all round. However, all our athletes should try to start their serious training earlier this year so that they are ready to go, right at the beginning of the summer term" to make maximum impact at the major championships.

I am sure all our athletes would like to thank Mr. Sinclair for his help during the term but most of all Mr. King whose pleading, bullying and cajoling brought performances out of boys that they did not believe possible and we look forward to more of the same next year.

c.J. Jones

65

The school was again represented in all the major inter-school tournaments and was particularly successful at U 15 level.

For the seniors, the season began with a 3-3 draw against Weald College, in the Senior Students' Cup for over IS's. Unfortunately, we lost on games. However revenge was sweet in the Glanvill Cup, as we were again drawn against Weald. This time, however, we triumphed 4-2 - a remarkable result as we were behind in all four of our winning sets.

In the second round we had to play both St. Paul's and Dr. Challoner's. The team lost their No. 1. player to 'A' levels and although we lost 1-5 to both schools, Andrew Bray, playing No. 2, won both his singles. This was a fine performance by a fourth year at this level. A friendly against Harrow was lost and the season finished with the team well beaten by the staff.

At U15 level, we lost a friendly against King Alfred, who fielded two over-age players, but in the Hillingdon section of the 'Midland Bank Tournament',the team, chosen from A. Bray, P. Cowan, A. Merali, A. Harris and M. Richter, won all its four matches 6-0, thereby qualifying for the knock-out section next term in which they have an excellent chance.

A friendly against Harrow was lost and in the last week of term, we sent two pairs to Eton College to play in the Clark Cup, the National Public Schools U15 tournament. Our first pair, Andrew Bray and Abbasali Merali, won three rounds, eventually losing to Sevenoaks, the holders, in the quarter-final.

At U13 level, we have many keen players. A friendly against King Alfred was won and the team won two out of three fixtures in the 'Midland Bank Tournament' . House Competition Results 1. Butler, 2. Norwood, 3. Vaughan, 4. Moore

C.L.M. Tucker

Swimming Some fine performances throughout the year

culminated in a double haul of trophies in the Harrow Championships.

Our annual fixture against Harrow and Highgate came first. In the seniors, D. Farrow-Smith was again unbeaten in both individual events, with brave swims from the rest of the team, conSisting of G. Lock, S. Beever and J. Alien.

The Colts were the strongest of the squads. K. Bass, S. Ray, M. Smith, M. Codling and S.

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The Lyonian 1991

Farrow-Smith, swam well and won their match, with Highgate well beaten and Harrow only managing to tie as a result of a disqualification in the last race which rescued them.

The Juniors, many of them swimming a year below their age-group, showed well, with Y. Winterstein, J. Kent and J. Ellis in particular, showing promise.

A competitive Inter-House Gala ended with Butler winning both Colts and Senior sections and with Moore winning the Juniors. New school records were set by J. Bailey, in the Junior backstroke, 19.71 seconds, P. Doctors, breaststroke, 21.87 seconds, and in the Colts, S. Farrow-Smith, backstroke, 37.40 seconds, S. Ray, butterfly, 33.2 seconds and in the Seniors G. Lock, breaststroke, 30.52 seconds.

Finally, in the Harrow Championships, the first years managed an equal third position with a team of M. Dunkley, B. Hammersley, G. Mandrill and J. Shere. The second form won their section despite an unfortunate disqualification in the freestyle race, with J. Blis winning the breaststroke, J. Bailey third in the backstroke and J. Kent winning the butterfly. The squad won both the relays in fine style, to confirm its first pOSition, with Y. Winterstein making up for his lapse in the individual event, with two storming, freestyle legs in both relays.

The 3rd Years were unable to field a complete team with most of the year out on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition but R. Knight won both his individual events with J. Mistry third in the backstroke and M. Rosenberg second in the breaststroke.

The 4th years completed three wins in three years in this competition with M. Codling winning the freestyle event, S. Ray second in the butterfly event, S. Farrow-Smith winning the backstroke and K. Bernitz second in the breaststroke. Fine performances in both relays secured the win.

c.J. Jones

Senior Basketball The first Five, whilst failing to force a win against

any of the sixth form colleges, produced encouraging signs this season. Siddiqui and Nyirenda were the mainstays of the squad with Vadgama often producing the drive in the back-court.

Fifth formers Arazi, Mann and Paterson showed that they have the necessary enthusiasm to devote enough practice-time to the sport, to warrant optimism for the future.

The highlight of the season was the turning of a thirty point defeat in the first game, to a very close nine point defeat in the return fixture against Weald College, the winners of the Harrow League. The

66

boys should take heart from this improvement and we look forward to continued progress.

Butler won a competitive Inter-House competition with Vaughan a close second. Squad: S. Siddiqui, G. Nyirenda, M. Vadgama, P. Franks, J. Arazi, K. Leslie, P. Mann, A. Daver, N. Paterson, C. Ng, R. Brashier.

c.J. Jones.

Archery This year's archery competitions started with a

win for Vaughan in the house matches which finally broke up Norwood' s domination of the house competition over the last few years. The winning team consisted of Gideon Posner, Daniel Weber and Tim Worrall scoring 851 with Butler second and Norwood and Moore third and fourth respectively. There was also an individual award for Jeremy Uewellyn, with the day's highest score of 300 points.

Our next competition this year was the British Schools Indoor Championships, which we entered for the first time. The team consisted of Jeremy Uewellyn, Jon Poley, Gideon Posner and Daniel Weber and despite a slightly lax performance, we still came a very good second. The archers also entered the Winter Frost-Bite League (1990-91), coming first.

Towards the beginning of the Summer Term ~ur archers engaged in their annual struggle With

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The Lyonian 1991

Harrow School in the Silver Arrow Competition. However for the second year running we were beaten by a better team despite fine efforts from Jon Poley who gained the highest score award, with a score of 522, and Adam Davis with an award for the highest total of hits, with a clear round of 72.

However, probably our greatest success of this year was at the London Youth Games. Of the six-man team, five were from John Lyon, with Martin Whitehead from the Bowmen of Harrow, the sixth. The final team consisted of Jon Poley, Gideon Posner Daniel Weber and Martin Whitehead, with , Joel Obstfeld and David Sayer our two reserves.

Despite tough opposition from BexIey (second) who beat us last year, and Hillingdon (third), Harrow managed to come out on top with gold and a winning margin of 1236 points, the first Harrow team ever to win gold in their sport. Scores were: Daniel Weber 802, Martin Whitehead 776, Jon Poley 767, Gideon Posner 647.

Finally, I should like to thank Nikki Abbott, the John Lyon and Harrow team coach for all the hard work she puts in during the year, in preparing us for all our competitions.

Daniel Weber

Table Tennis House Competitions

The House T able Tennis competitions took place during three evenings in the Spring Term. Once again, a good sporting atmosphere prevailed throughout each tournament, and some fine table tennis was played by many of the boys.

In the Junior T oumament, Jonathan Kent blasted his way through to the final again, but faced stiff competition from Adrian Yung in the final itself, winning, just about, by two sets to one. Having the best set of players, Moore dominated the junior competition overall. The final score was: Moore 17, Vaughan 7. Norwood 4, and Butler 2.

The Colts competition was dominated by Moore House, who provided all four semi-finalists. Jonathan Gefen and Neelan Das fought for first place, displaying some fine table tennis, with Das eventually winning 21-11, 21-16. The final result for this competition was: Moore 26, Norwood 2, Vaughan 1, Butler 1.

The Senior Competition was a different story with both finalists Matthew Sutherland and Giles Segal coming from Vaughan. It was a hard fought battle, but Segal' s experience eventually won the day - yet again! Vaughan House comfortably won the Senior Competition.

Three pleasant evenings were enjoyed by all. L.D. Budd

67

Karate The John Lyon Karate Club has now been

running for more than three years at its usual time on Thursday evenings, after school. Its original purpose was to raise funds for the Lyon Building. So far the club has contributed about £1,000.

Each year, sadly, we lose some of our students to colleges and universities. But happily, we always have the new intake of boys to look to for replacements and with luck more beginners than leavers. The Club is also still used for the Physical Achievement Section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme by the fourth form and above.

Twice a year the club welcomes H. Kanazawa, the Grand Master of Shotokan Karate from Japan, to grade our boys, and we look forward to 1992 for the club's first black belt. It is not easy for boys to attain this grade especially with the heavy demands of school work.

In Japan, nearly every student takes part in some form of martial art as it is believed that the high level of concentration and discipline required for these sports is beneficial to all aspects of a student's school life.

The annual London area Shotokan Karate Championships take place in October 1991 and we hope to maintain our customary success. We may also venture into the National Competition in 1992.

Brenda Wise

Standing: G. Reddy-Kolanu, B. Luckie, T. Sadler, A. Tolani, P. Solomon, J. Jivanjee. Seated: S. Solomon, Mrs. B. Wise,

S. Bel/ringer, A. Stuart

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! !

Cl&lb 1Lponian 74. PINNER VIEW

TELEPHONE: 01-427 0936

Purpose The purpose of the Old Lyonian Association is to

provide those who leave with an opportunity to keep in touch with the school and one another in later life. It also provides facilities for sport, recreation and social occasions. All leavers are eligible for life membership of the Association, the cost of which will have been included in their school fees.

History

~550tiation HARROW. HA1 4RZ

occasion should represent a sort of coming of age, in pleasant and congenial circumstances and that with lock, it will foster a lifetime's attachment. This year's Leavers' Evening is set to take place on 20th December 1991.

Keeping in touch is not, of course, confined to each year group. The Association holds its Annual Dinner in March and Association Day in July, when Old Boys gather to pit their fading cricketing skills against all the school teams. Contact is further promoted by the presence of three Old Lyonians on the School's Committee of Management, and a member of staff on the Association's Committee.

Facilities

The Old Lyonian Association was founded in 1876 when it was realised, after the first intake of boys had passed through the school, that many boys wished to maintain their links with it. An annual dinner was the consequence of this and so successful has this tradition been that the Dinner constitutes the The Clubhouse with its 10000ge bar and games principal event in our calendar. facilities is available on a casual and informal basis

In 1919, premises on the Hill were purchased to at all times. For those who are inclined to organised provide more opportunities for social contact than sports, the Association offers an entree into a very an annual dinner and very shortty after this OlD" high standard of football and cricket competition. fica .. -si~cl ptlecltece5sOt!s 1Do1ugind: a siDe. Gl'ClIe lIieltd iIn Feu- Soccer T earns pay in the Sa.them Amaltar Pinner View. By the sweat of their collective brQ\.V Leagl:1e and an !the top CI!1" C01'l1lr>el!M!iOlllS. Two they converted it into a sports field which we still own Cricket Teams play in the Middlesex Cricketers' and use extensively. The picture inset shows the League and also maintain a friendly fixture list. Both

. cl':lb~ouse built irltlw~1y.~Q§9'~~. . ".Clubsmake full allowance in their selection policies ..\. ", .!;..· •. y~;,I'!.:it;.f.~';lii~ •• I~<~~ <.'i" t"::~',J(Qt the availability of student players during the

j~."blmt~tI_ .... .. . . '. /~~:;:~j,;.r~;:~>'Vriiversity and College vacations.

Taking out membership is a very simple procedure. At the end of their second year in the sixth form, all boys are invited to Pinner View for the School Leavers' Evening. It is intended that this

For information, including arrangements for Parent Membership, please contact the Membership Secretary, Chris Baron. Tel: 0923 896623.

B.AR. Smith (President)

The Lyonian 1991

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