Author: dean

As part of our work at the Development Office we look to inspire the young as they think about their future careers. One such way is through a series of career interviews with exceptional people.

Earlier this year Jan van der Velde caught up with Andrew Stott (W 67-72). Andrew has had an outstanding professional career in banking and consulting, including 11 years as Head of Western Europe for Oliver Wyman, subsequently leading the entry of Oliver Wyman into China and India. Since leaving Oliver Wyman, he has combined roles as Independent Non-Executive Director for BBVA Group and Barclays Spain, chairing the Board Risk Committees in both cases, with activity as a successful business angel in the tech sector, where he built a portfolio of 12 companies. Prior to Oliver Wyman, Andrew led the Capital Markets and Financial Risk Management practices for Price Waterhouse (now PwC) London and spent 11 years in international banking in London, Spain and Hong Kong. More lately Andrew was a founder partner at Hermes Partners SI.

We are enormously grateful to Andrew for all his work on the Sedbergh StartUp, a forum for entrepreneurs and investors to share ideas and provide an environment  for those wishing to start their own business.

You can watch the video here:

Jan van der Velde

Lupton House 1977-1982

Director of Development

“Everyone is trying to leave the past behind them and find a place of safety,” William said, when telling me about his new book. “It’s what they do when they get there that counts.”

There is a real zeitgeist about this novel because although the Kosovan War in 1999 forms the heart of the story, the issues of migration have never been more relevant.

Based on real events linked by fiction, William has drawn on his time as a solicitor acting for Kosovan refugees seeking asylum, to contrast the hardworking entrepreneurs starting over with the professional criminals looking to exploit their hosts.

This book has all the ingredients for a blockbuster. Tobacco smuggling, money laundering, MI6, GCHQ, and an ex-SAS operative working for a covert special forces unit called 14 Intelligence Company. And despite what he says about leaving the past behind him, there are clear references to Sedbergh in the SAS training session. “Easy after the Wilson Run!” William says.

And then there is Inga with her ice blonde hair and alternative sense of fashion. But does anyone know who she really is?

“This is a real page-turner,” said Ben Collins, the School’s Alumni Director. “You will struggle to put it down.”

William was born and raised in Ripon, where he still lives today with his wife, son and two dogs. During his last year at Sedbergh School, he won a national writing competition, whereupon he was invited to attend the illustrious Savile Club, in London’s Mayfair. A top book publisher said at the time that, although he had “an obvious talent for writing,” William needed “more experience of life.” After a highly successful legal career this, his third novel, shows he certainly has that.

‘Refuge’ is published by Fisher King Publishing and is available from Amazon and other major retailers.

Watch William’s video here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/rCV6BpXF9QM

On the fourth day of the opening Test against Pakistan in Multan, Brook’s remarkable knock was part of an England record partnership of 454 with Joe Root (262) – his sixth double-ton and new career best – and came at quite the rate too, his 317 taking all of 322 balls as England amassed the fourth-highest Test score of all time, 823-7 declared.

An incredible achievement!

Read more HERE.

After appearing twice for Flatts in the Athene T20 Knockout Cup last weekend, Brianna Ray wants to serve as an inspiration for Bermudian female cricketers.

Read full article HERE

Huge congratulations to OS Jamie Potts and Dad, John, who have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance.

They have currently raised an amazing £23,000 If you’d like to support their cause and donate, you can do so HERE.

The 72nd edition of the alumni race took place on the 14th September 2024. Thirteen OS assembled at the Thames Hare & Hounds HQ amongst two hundred runners from various other schools. We were fortunate to again have teams covering the open event, veteran event and almost a team for the lady’s event.

Most of the team had run here before but we had some new entrants with Georgina Boyd-Moss, Maria Mendoza Guerrero, Charlie Thwaytes and Sam Gunning. The course was fairly dry underfoot after dry weather, so not much mud. Fortunately the temperature on the day did not reach that of the previous year and running was bearable!

The race was won by a previous winner, James Hoad of Winchester, who completed the 5 mile course in 27:23. The Norman Berry cup for first place duly went to him. In the open team event a win looked very promising for Sherbourne who had managed to pack three runners within the top ten. Alas their fourth counter was unable to seal the team victory with 65^th place. Luckily the Sedbergh squad were much better placed. Charles Sykes, showing good form, came home in 9^th place (29:40), followed by Frederick Strachan (30:26), Peter Lehmann (31:48) and Sam Gunning (31:58). Henry Johnson was only 2 places behind Sam in 32:06, backing up the counters. It was this good packing that sealed a team win for Sedbergh. The open team results were Sedbergh 64 points, with Shrewsbury second and Harrow third, both tied on 71 points.

This was not the only team trophy of the day though. In the V40 team event for the Brentwood trophy Sedbergh took the title on 12 points, with Wellington College 2^nd on 30 points and Rochester Math 3^rd with 35 points. Our team counters here were Charles Sykes (1^st), Henry Johnson (5^th) and Henry Bolton (6^th) on age related positions. Charles also won the V40 race and was 2^nd in the age graded event. Georgina and Maria actually finished 4^th team with penalty points, so hopefully a full ladies team next year will do well.

Full results of the race are available on the open track site: https://data.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2024/GBR/thhar/

Pos		Bib	Name	Cat	CatPos	Team (Team 2)	Time
9	151		Charles Sykes	M45	1	SEDBE(WESTT)	29:40.00
12	150		Frederick Strachan	SM	9	SEDBE(THH)	30:26.00
19	147		Peter Lehmann	SM	14	SEDBE(CHRLR)	31:48.00
24	145		Sam Gunning	U20M	1	SEDBE	31:58.00
26	222		Henry Johnson	M40	2	SEDBE	32:06.00
27	142		Henry Bolton	M45	4	SEDBE	32:08.00
37	152		Charlie Thwaytes	SM	24	SEDBE	33:02.00
57	149		Thomas Ogden	SM	28	SEDBE	34:35.00
71	146		Adam Hanline	M40	7	SEDBE	35:37.00
92	143		Georgina Boyd-Moss	SW	5	SEDBE	37:24.00
124	144		Benjamin Collins	M40	16	SEDBE(SEDBE)	39:38.00
135	153		Geoff Watson	M45	17	SEDBE(DURHC)	40:41.00
144	148		Maria Mendoza Guerrero	SW	9	SEDBE	41:34.00

Geoff Watson (E 89-94)

During the early summer of this year a call went out to the wider Sedberghian Community asking for a volunteer. The grandson of George Windram (Sedgwick House 1895 – 98) had contacted the School asking for information about George, a casualty from the First World War. George died while serving with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and until that moment we had not known that George had died in the conflict. During the Old Sedberghian Club Pilgrimage a pledge was made to visit the resting place of every known Sedberghian WW1 casualty.  As the Club did not know of George’s death, he was not included in the Pilgrimage. It was time to put that right.

Our School Chaplain, Rev Paul Sweeting, who is also an RAF Reservist Chaplain felt strongly moved to visit George’s grave. Below is an account from Paul, first of the visit he undertook privately with his wife, Maxine, and when he returned a few weeks later on the School battlefields trip with the whole of Year 11.

When I saw the request to visit the grave of George Windram I was immediately interested.  Maxine and I were planning a short holiday in Ypres and decided to extend it – and to include a day to head down to the Somme in order to visit the grave and pay respects on behalf of the School.  Having not known about him, the OS Club had not visited in 1918 and I felt that it was important to now include George Windram.  Maxine was equally keen.

On Speech Day morning I was on Winder Fell first thing and invited James and Caroline Morgan, two senior members of staff, to gather some soil with me.  They had invited colleagues to join them on Winder for their final Speech Day before retirement.  This soil I took with us to scatter on the grave, following the practice begun during the OS Pilgrimage to scatter soil from Winder on the graves of OS casualties. I had assisted in 2014 with gathering and blessing the soil for the Pilgrimage.  A ‘Sedbergh remembers’ cross came with us to Ypres, along with the soil and the service card that was used on the Pilgrimage.

It was an emotional moment to find George’s grave, set in a beautiful Commonwealth War Graves cemetery with typical Somme slopes below us.  He lies with seven other soldiers of New Zealand, six of whom died on the same day – that was striking.  For us both it was an unforgettable moment, and deeply meaningful, to be there.

I returned about two weeks later with the Year 11 Battlefields Trip.  This was the last visit of our day on the Somme and the pupils were unaware of the significance: quite deliberate on our part.  By this point they had really begun to appreciate the enormity of the First World War – we had just come from an Act of Remembrance at the Thiepval Memorial.  There, George Windram’s name was read out for the first time as an OS casualty on the Somme.  Now, by his graveside, I told them the story of how we had come to hear of him, of what we knew had happened back then, and brought today’s Sedgwickians forward.  One was invited to place another cross on his grave and after a period of reflection a pupil piped as the others took their leave of George Windram, one of our own.

Sedbergh remembers.

There are only a few months to go until we celebrate 500 years of Sedbergh history. We are starting to hang out the bunting, write our speeches, and polish the silverware, in advance of what promises to be a year to remember.

Of course, the quincentenary is a mile post, not a finishing line. It is an important marker on an arc of history that stretches from 1525 to distant centuries yet to come.

In modern times ‘Floreat Sedberghia’ has been our battle cry and a reminder of the inner confidence with which the School has marched.

We adopt it now as the title for our new newspaper which has been launched to celebrate our anniversary. It will be published twice yearly and is intended as a two way communication between the Development Office (OS Club and Foundation) and the Sedbergh Community.

You can read an electronic copy of the newspaper HERE. If you would like a hard copy please let us know and we will post one out to you.

Please therefore write to us and let us know your news. If you have something important to say, or even a pithy anecdote, please send your letters to the Editor. Either email to osclub@sedberghschool.org or write to The Editor, The Development Office, Sedbergh School, Sedbergh, Cumbria, LA10 5HG.

We hope you enjoy reading it and we look forward to seeing you at one or more of the celebratory events in 2025.

Jan van der Velde

Woody (Edward) Barlow, is founder of Bear Inns, and has worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years, opening and establishing a number of award-winning venues. Woody is a member of the voting academy for Top 50 Gastro Pubs and is passionate about creating amazing pubs that have a joyful, lively atmosphere created by people, not only guests but those delivering genuinely great hospitality.

Read Woody’s article “Keeping Rural Pubs Vibrant: A Heartbeat Of Community Life” HERE.

Century Range Bisley – 18^th July

On 18th July the OS Rifle Club met for our annual shooting match at Bisley in Surrey against other school alumni rifle clubs.  The match is held immediately after the Schools’ Ashburton Shield Competition which gives all those attending a chance to see today’s Sedberghians in action on the range.

In recent years we have entered 3 teams and this year did not disappoint with a total of 16 firers turning up along with several OS spectators.  Team selection does not always reflect the scores, not least because those attending are particularly modest about their shooting.  There is also an added challenge in that some of the younger shooters have often not shot for much of the summer, preferring to focus on exams and this may be their first shoot for some time which can lead to variable results. Others arrive having not shot for many years and still manage to make respectable scores with borrowed equipment. This means that the best scores are spread throughout the 3 teams and not in the “A” team which would have been placed 2^nd had all the best scores not been spread across 3 teams.

The “A” team comprising: John Warburton, Peter Bromley, Will Squires, Harriet Bramwell and Sarah Rorison scored 240.24v and in spite of having two scores of 50 the team was placed 18^th only 8 points behind the leaders Old Epsomians.

The “B” team was selected from  the “young guns” of Harry Welch, Freddie Cade, Lewis Smith, Ollie Christy and George Wood scored 238.26v close on the heals of the “A” team and were 8^th in the 2^nd team competition only 7 points behind the winners, Old Bradfieldians. The “C” team was made up of a combination of age and youth, including: Mark Wrigley, Toby Lehmann, Charlie Anyon, George Cordle and Keira Butler scored 230.18v and were placed 6^th, 10 places behind the Old Greshams “B” team.

In addition, Robbie Morton, who the Captain somehow managed to leave out of the teams shot as an individual.

The 3 teams contributed to the score for the Veterans Aggregate and were placed 5^th.

In conjunction with the main competition is the hotly contested McMullen Trophy presented to the highest Old Sedberghian score on the day. John Warburton and Peter Bromley both had scores of 50.6 but were beaten by Ollie Christy with an excellent 50.7. Ollie was also placed a creditable 4^th in the Schools Veterans Individual Tankard.

Once the shooting is over, we have always headed to a social event and this year we all met up with the School Team at the RAF Club for a BBQ, which was kindly put together and cooked by Ian and Hayley Christy aided by Will Peters (OS), supporting his daughter Tatty. We were joined by Guy Trembath, James Ogilvie Robertson (supporting daughter India), Charlie Cowan, Katherine Fleck, Will Ross, Rowan Piper and Carmen Alverez De Toledo. This event is a great opportunity for Old and current Sedberghians to meet in a social setting after a busy day on the range, with tales of life at Sedbergh and universities to be swapped and the occasional discussion about the days shooting. Shooting is a sport that does not differentiate between age or sex, and the many of those attending the evening went on to compete against each other throughout the NRA Imperial Meeting, with OS advice and guidance available for the School shooters competing in the meeting.

This shoot happens every year and we are always keen to hear from any OS Shooter who would like to attend. Given the numbers and level of interest in shooting from younger OS, we are always looking for ways to support those making the transition between shooting at School and then being able to carry on shooting while juggling studies or new jobs, not always in easy reach of ranges.

Toby Lehmann (SH 72-77)