This issue of the 'Durnovarian' is slimmer. It is not that less has been taking place, or that fewer are writing original contributions . It is merely that we cannot afford to run to our usual lengths, printing costs being what they are.
As the harsh economic facts emerged only af ter our contributors had sent in their m aterial, we were faced with some difficult editing decisions. Who should have the space? The Flat Earth Society met once in the year and produced 2,000 words, while the Woodworm Preservationists had twice weekly visits, and came up with 200. It was obvious here where the cut should come. But what of blow-by-blow accounts of the 2nd form Tid dleywinks League matches? Or minute critical analysis of the stylistic faults of the Under 25 Piano Smashing Team? In the past, we printed every word their coach offered us; now , sadly, we have had to balance the significance of each offering, realizing as we wielded the blue pencil that we were cutting out something very precious - even if to a few people only - every time.
The biggest cuts have been at the ends of reports, in the thanks to Staff. Hundreds of lines have been lopped in all and this came hard when one considers the many hours of their own time that our masters spend in out-of-school activities, and that their only reward is usually the public 'thank you' in this Magazine. But two groups of people must be singled out. Mrs Angel and the kitchen staff have done so much for most of our Clubs and Societies and Jack Swabey and the ground staff have achieved so much on the field, virtually with their bare hands as some sports reports insisted. Tributes to these appeared so often that it would be grossly unjust to omit them entirely; so many of us owe them so much.
A.T. Batty, N.J. Bolding, P.J. Mortimer, W.J.T. Naylor, A.J. MacTavish, Esq.
Advertising Manager: P.J. Martin
It has been a year of great sadness. In addition to the tragic and sudden death of Guy HOLLIDAY in September 1973 the School suffered two further losses in the passing of John ROBERTSON aged 13 and Michael WELTON aged 11. The ranks of the non-teaching staff, too, were depleted, by the sudden death of Mrs SMITH, our Canteen Supervisor, in November.
The beginning of this September term has been clouded by the shock announcement of the untimely death of Mr BURTON's son, Michael, aged 25, and in the same week, of Mr TIPPER who had enjoyed only one year of retirement after his 15 years service to the School. But he had lived that year to the full, and had enjoyed it in every sense of the word. To all the many so cruelly bereaved the School extends its deepest sympathy.
It has also been a year of change. Mr HAMILTON retired at the end of the summer term at the end of a reign of 19 years. We welcome his successor, Mr W. M. THOMAS, and trust that he and Mrs THOMAS and their young family will find this move to the green and pleasant land of Dorset completely to their liking.
Mr RING retired at the end of the summer term, after 16 years in the History and Economics departments; for most of this time he was the administrator of the G.C.E. Exams and the Head of General Studies. In all that he did Mr Ring was the embodiment of painstaking efficiency and conscientiousness. He takes our best wishes with him into a well earned retirement. He is succeeded by Mr Brian MILLER, M.A.(Cantab) from Reed's School, Cobham, Surrey. In addition to academic excellence, Mr Miller brings with him a 'blue' at Hockey and considerable expertise in Cricket. He will be an asset indeed in many walks of School life.
Mr LORD has left us on a year's secondment to pursue further studies at Weymouth College of Education. His post has been filled, only on a temporary basis, by Mr lain ADAMS, B.A.(Hons) in P.E. and Geography at the University of Birmingham. He spent a post-graduate year at Madeley College of Education, Cheshire, and gained the Certificate in Education of the University of Keele. Mr Adams is a qualified air pilot.
Mrs ALLEN who has served as part-time teacher in Biology has been succeeded by Mrs P. A. WILLIAMS, B.Sc in Biology under the C.N.A.A. Scheme at Southampton Polytechnic.
Mr FORDER after all too brief a stay with us decided to return to sea, as an officer in Tankers, and Mr WINPENNY returned to his native Yorkshire, to be Director of Music at Bedale. The two posts which thus became vacant are unfortunately still not filled. Music, however, is being taught on a part-time basis by a number of different teachers. We look forward to the appointment of a Physics/Maths teacher and a Musician in the near future.
We welcome as our foreign language assistants M. Guy VERDET and Herr Hans-Peter BEER.
Captain A.J. MacTAVISH is to be congratulated on his appointment by a Ministry of Defence Selection Board as second-in-command of a party of British cadets who spent the whole of August on arduous training at Banff in the Canadian Rockies, under the U.K./Canada Exchange scheme.
Two unusual School successes were recorded during the summer term. John CHARLTON of Weymouth won the Sanderson Wells Essay Competition - the first time that this travelling prize of £200 has been won by a member of the School. Charlton made full use of the award by making a whirlwind coast-to-coast tour of the United States during July and August.
Christopher TOOP was awarded a £500 travelling prize by Barclays Bank Ltd in a national essay competition. This success enabled TOOP to take part in an escorted tour of many of the capitals of Europe.
The School Roll now stands at 614.
RETIREMENT OF MR A.N. HAMILTON
Commemoration Service was held at St Mary's Church, and was attended by the whole School on Friday 24th May. The service was conducted by the Reverend Phillip Roberts, Rector of Dorchester, and the address was given by the Bishop of Sherborne, the Right Reverend Victor Pike.
For Prize-Giving on July 4th there was a considerable amount of deviation from normal practice.
A large marquee was erected on the School field, with seating for 1200 , thus enabling the whole School and parents and friends to join together for this occasion.
The Guest of Honour on this, his last day as Head master was Mr A.N. Hamilton, and the traditional review of the year was given by Mr J.O. Roberts, Deputy Headmaster. On the completion of the formal proceedings, tributes were paid to Mr Hamilton by the various organisations associated with the School, with presentations to mark his retirement. Mr Keeping spoke for the Governors, Mrs Barbara Carr for the Parents' Association, Mr R. B. Meyers for the Old Hardyeans and Nigel Jones for the School. The Staff had already honoured Mr and Mrs Hamilton with a Dinner and a presentation.
All the afternoon's speakers listed Mr Hamilton's essential qualities as his compassion and sympathy for the under dog, his humility, his ability to see the other person's point of view, his abundant sense of humour. The 19 years of his Headmastership had been a period of considerable educational change and challenge and the greatest social revolution that this country has ever known. Throughout this period Mr Hamilton had rendered inestimable service to the School and nearly three generations of schoolboys through his humanity and his determination to do at all times what he believed to be in the best interests of the School and its pupils. Mr Hamilton responded to the tributes and the presentations in what was probably the wittiest speech that he has ever made.
Among the presentations was one by the Governors, a portrait of Mr Hamilton painted by Mr Bowman, which Mr Hamilton then handed over to the School for hanging in the Library as a permanent reminder of his long regime at Hardye's.
Prize Giving was preceded by a buffet lunch in the Gym, at which all were pleased to welcome a considerable number of former members of Staff and friends of the School. A highly successful day ended with a Wine Festival organised by the Old Hardyeans Club. This event attracted a very substantial gathering of Old Boys some of whom were paying their first visit to the School for very many years.
'Haec olim meminisse iuvabit'.
MR W.M. THOMAS
A new era for the School began this September when the new Headmaster took up office on the retirement of Mr Hamilton. We take this opportunity to give an official welcome to him and Mrs Thomas and their young family to Dorchester.
Mr Thomas was educated at Pontywaun Grammar School, Risca, Gwent, and at King's College, London, where he graduated with 1st Class Honours in Classics. His teaching experience was gained at King Edward VI School, Southampton, and the Ward Freman Upper School, Buntingford,Her tfordshire.
In the eleven years which he spent at Southampton he was gradually promoted to the headship of a large and very successful Classics Department, which gained during this period fourteen Open Awards at Oxford and Cambridge. His contribution to the life of the School was by no means confined to the classroom -indeed, there was hardly an aspect of the School to which he did not make a substantial contribution.
In 1971 Mr Thomas was appointed deputy headmaster of the Ward Freman Upper School, a post which particularly attracted him because it involved the early stages of the conversion of this school to a Comprehensive Upper School in the three-tier system. This experience should prove invaluable when schools' reorganisation comes to Dorchester.
The new Headmaster is a man of wide and deep interests, the main ones being the Church, music and sport. He was an elder and assistant organist of the United Reformed Church at Buntingford.
He has always been extremely active in establishing a wide range of extra-curricular activities among his pupils, with a particular passion for choral and orchestral music. While he was at Buntingford he was a member of the North Hertfordshire Guild of Singers and assisted with the County Youth Choir and at Southampton he was a member of the Philharmonic and University Choral Society.
At University Mr Thomas represented his College at rugby football, and at Southampton he played for the Trojans R.F.C. For five years he was the master in charge of senior rugby and the School 1st XV. He is a County Society Rugby referee, and a member of the London Welsh R.F.C.
Clearly we have a Headmaster who is dedicated to ensuring that all boys shall get the very best out of their schooldays in as wide a range of interests as possible; but, however essential these other interests may be, it is academic excellence that he regards as of paramount importance. In the very short time that he has been with us he has made a very considerable impact with his positive and enthusiastic leadership.
fausta, felix fortunataque eveniat'.
RICHARD J. TIPPER
From time to time in this life one is privileged to come under the influence of exceptional people, men of absolute integrity in the fullest sense of the word; men of humility and abounding good-will; men who have that serenity which is born of a deep unshakable faith; men whose humour is always kind; men who have an instinctive respect for all whom they meet, because they recognise even in the worst of us something of the higher of mankind; men of enthusiasm tempered with sound common-sense and shrewd judgement; to find all these qualities combined in any one person is rare indeed, but such a person was Mr Richard Tipper, whose sudden death came as a great shock to all who knew him.
Mr Tipper joined the staff in 1958 and retired in 1973 after a year's illness which he bore with characteristic fortitude. Old Hardyeans and many boys still at School will remember him with respect and affection as a dynamic and kindly teacher of maths and physics. Some were lucky enough to know him intimately as House Master, some knew him as the originator of the sailing club, some were never taught by him; but all knew him as one of those quietly amusing school masters, always approachable, always unruffled, always ready with a cheerful jest, never dull. His influence at Hardye's was of incalculable value, and many generations of boys will join with his colleagues in sending to his wife and family their sincere sympathy and real gratitude for all that he has meant to them over the years. We are indeed all of us deeply grateful for the privilege of having known him, and gleaned something from his inexhaustible store of human kindness.
A. N. H.
Oxford A. Finnigan (Exhibition to Jesus College, Classics), T. Mercer (Exeter College, English),
Cambridge A.G. Mussell (Exhibition to St Catherines, German).
S.G. Atkinson (Bristol, Law), M. Ball (London School of Economics, Economics), C.G. Barrett (Royal Holloway, German), T.P. Beech (Bradford, European Studies), R. Carr (Hull, English), N.W. Charles (Kent (R.A.F. Cadetship), Electronic Engineering), J. Clarke-Williams (Bath, Applied Biology), S. Cottrell (Bristol, Medicine), A.J. Cramer-Webb (King's College, London, Law), K.D. Darnen (Warwick, Economics/International Studies), S.N. Delany (Southampton, Geography), C.M. Dickson (Bristol, Architecture), R.F. Dickson (Bath, Mathematics), D. Dodds (Salford, French/German), T.A. Exell (Loughborough, Electrical Engineering), M.G. Green (Bristol, Medicine), P. Green (Kent, English), M.J. Hancock (Reading, Animal Physiology and Nutrition), T.I. Harding (Royal Holloway, Mathematics/Physics), S. Hardman (Warwick, Political Studies), A.C. Hereward(Aberdeen, Zoology), N.L. Jones (Reading, Estate Management), A.J. Lock (Aston, Psychology/Philosophy), R.H. Martin (Durham, German), J.F. Morrison (Warwick, Engineering), W.D. Page (Leeds, Animal Physiology/Nutrition), C.C. Parry (Southampton, Civil Engineering), N. Paul (Warwick (1975), Psychology), D.A. Perkins (Birmingham (1975), Social Studies), R.G. Perry (Warwick, History), R.J. Sims (Aston, Chemistry), E.E. Warren (Queen Mary's, London, Electronics), A.J. Watts (Westfield, London, Zoology), S.R. Welton (U MIST, Chemical Engineering).
Polytechnics A.M. McKenna (South Bank, Estate Management), C. Rose (Kingston, Art/Design), T.P. Lee (Glamorgan, Mechanical Engineering), A.J. Stokes (North London), R.C. Frost (Sealhayne Agricultural College).
Colleges of Education D.R. Lunn (Loughborough), N.C. Mills (Cardiff), L. Woollard (St Luke's, Exeter), P. Armstead (Bournemouth College of Art).
Sponsorships R.T. Teychenne (Westlands), D.J. Astington.
T.A. BROWN B.Sc.(Hons.) (London University). Microbiology
S.J. CROOK B.Sc.(Hons.) (Dundee University). Zoology
N.J. DREW B.A.(Hons.) (Hull University). Sociology
L. FOX B.Sc. (R.M.C.S. Shrivenham). Electrical Engineering
D.P. FRISBY, (B.Tech., M.I.Biol.) Ph.D. (London University). Molecular Biology
J.R. GREEN B.A.(Hons.) (London Polytechnic). English
P.C. HALSE M.B., Ch.B. (Bristol University)
S.R.E. HARRIES B.A.(Hons.) (St John's College, Cambridge). Tripos Part II, English
N.R. HAYES M.B. Ch.B. (St Bartholomew's Hospital)
R. LAWRENCE B.Sc.(Hons.) (Liverpool University). Chemistry with Material Science
C.J. LITSTER B.Sc.(Hons.) (Reading University). Engineering
A.J. McKECHNIE B.Sc.(Hons.) (Birmingham University). Physics
P. RANDLE B.Sc.(Hons.) (London University). Chemistry
P.G. SHARROCK B.Sc.(Hons.) (London University). Architecture