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How did you come to attend Westminster School (WS). Went to Francis Holland School (FHS) Sloane Square – an artsy school so not sufficient to study Physics and Chemistry A-Level. At Sixth Form girls often went to FHS Regents Park or St Paul’s Girls School. Relationship with WS for drama. Came on her own in 1967. [1,29] Brother was in Wrens 2 years below. Still studied maths at FHS. [1,44] First impressions. Much larger. Boys seemed very young, with 13 and 14 year olds in the class as they were scholarship. [3,00] Reaction of boys to have you in lessons. Good relationships with ones in class. College Hall - others who didn’t know her would show off, naïve. [3,46] separate table for Jewish boys. Sat with them to have intelligent conversation at lunch. [4,15] Treatment from masters. Good chemistry master. Some peculiar characters. [5,03] top set Physics, flamboyant teacher D. Hepburne-Scott. Keen on trains. Liked him at the time. [5,27] Old reports. Reveal he was quite damning of female capability, made disparaging misogynistic comments about her intellect and female domesticity. [6,56] Housemaster Mr Ross was embarrassed by this. [7,48] some positive comments, eventually acknowledged her potential, but still made allowances due to her sex. [8,58] academic standard. Teaching style was completely different. [9,46] whole a-level syllabus in 1 year. Exploring things that were interesting outside of the syllabus. Nuffield Chemistry. [10,43] teaching was eye opening. Responded to it well. [11,00] preparation of WS for university. Went into medicine. Accepted institutional sexism – 70 places for boys and 7 for girls. Gained confidence at WS, and got a scholarship at medical school. [12,13] joined the army after qualification. 350 medical officers, 9 women. Learnt to be gender-blind. [13,05] other characteristics gained from WS. Enjoying learning for the sake of education. Appreciated the leeway. [14,45] didn’t spend much time in school outside of lessons, as was only half at the school. Used 4 Barton Street sitting room and bathroom. Would spend half a day at each school. [15,35] time in St James’s Park in summer. Went home to Holland Park. Didn’t socialise much with the boys. [16,44] no facilities for girls. She was attached to Wren’s. Used staff toilet. School was experimenting with having female pupils, after she left, a couple of FHS girls arrived. Didn’t work financially to be under this setup. [18,00] fees at FHS were £90 per term. £150 per term at WS. Parents had to pay both schools. [18,53] would recommend it to girls at the time. Teaching is invaluable. Put into practice. Comfort being in an unusual situation, pushed the boundaries. [19,48] friendships with the boys. Didn’t last. Never invited to be an Old Westminster – institutional sexism. Didn’t feel fully part of the school. [21,01] met some who did medicine. Nearly all 3 years younger – started later as even though they’d got their qualifications they were too young. [22,38] difference between hers and her brother’s experience. Brother expelled for trying to set the school on fire and went to Marlborough. Similar friends. Didn’t compare experiences much. [23,41] no uniform at FHS Sixth Form, and none at WS. [24,26] WS customs. The Greaze. Unique slang to other schools. [25,19] difference to FHS atmospherically. Change in Sixth Form environment in itself at both schools. Only girl doing A-Level Maths at FHS. Good teaching, different as learning with people who were doing subjects they had chosen and had a passion for, as opposed to that they were forced to do. [26,42] assumption at WS that you were quick learners and would understand. Take things to a greater depth than required. Assuming interest. [27,46] Boys more politically engaged. Intellectual conversations at meals, but this was at FHS. [28,50] Didn’t show off their wealth, but also a lot of wealth at FHS. A level of class was assumed. Image proposed by the school changed in recent years. [30,49] pleased that WS accepted girls. Good for both sexes. For girls, especially in the 60s, beneficial to compete healthily in academics. [32,06] school reports. [33,36] impromptu trip in Physics to see the Flying Scotsman make its last ever scheduled run from King’s Cross. Went by tube, packed platform. More liberal teaching.

[00:28] Family’s relationship to Westminster school. Five members at Westminster, starting in 1870s. Rev. Edwin Curtis Bedford. Francis Donkin Bedford. David Edwin Wyatt Bedford. Felix Hugh Wyatt Bedford – father; very involved with the school, member of Masonic Lodge, at school with Kim Philby. 1950s. [03:15] Attend Ashburnham himself. Large number of new boys. Fagging. [04:28] Monitors. Substance and shadow. [04:50] Had to pass test after two weeks – names of houses, house ties, slang, etc. [05:35] Not much to do with monitors. Hierarchy, work way up. Progressed through school years. [06:24] Fagging. Practical tasks, but some to demonstrate authority. Changed over time. [07:18] Ashburnham moving from Little Dean’s Yard next to Busby’s to Dean’s Yard. Not disruptive for pupils. [08:20] Isolating being away from heart of the school. Always something going on in Little Dean’s Yard. Didn’t spend a lot of time in the house. [10:02] Denison Brock housemaster. Approachable. Ran a good house. See once a month to go through marks. [11:20] Post war construction. O Level exams at army drill hall because of damage to School and work being done to the shell. [13:02] Queen’s visit 1960. CCF inspection by the Duke of Gloucester. Ron French in charge of CFF; extensive preparations for inspection in Vincent Square. Marching on grass. [14:18] CCF or Scouts compulsory. First year go on trips when Corps took place (Tate, British Museum, etc,). [15:14] Saturday Mornings go to Robert Mayer concerts at the Royal Festival Hall. [16:22] South Bank. New. Made an impression. Good introduction to music. [17:00] Not a musician, not involved in music within the school. Hilary John Davan Wetton at Ashburnham, became conductor. John Phillip Arnold playing cello. Arnold Foster in charge of music. [18:15] Art. Leslie Spaull, art master. Great enthusiast. One lesson a week. [19:00] Art department in Ashburnham house. [20:14] Form Master Andrew John Moyes. Young teacher. [20:50] Memories of Mr Moylan, Latin teacher. Strict. Charge for lateness or disobedience. Good teacher of Latin. Weekly test – moved table based on marks. Alan Charles Nelson Borg in top three. [23:58] Edward Craven, sixth form Latin teacher. Could be distracted to talk about convoy work in the war. Post-war teachers out of the army. Mr Rogers and Mr Woodhouse, young masters, went on to be Head Masters. [26:15] Most people didn’t talk about their army service. Knew nothing of Denny Brock’s service. Outward bound trips. Corps camp – tent commander Corin Redgrave. [28:06] Mr Moylan as careers master. Weak career advice, no sense of what post-school life was like. Hard to go from school to bank. Unprepared. [29:20] Why choose to work in bank. Wanted to be in city. Uncle working at the bank – enthusiastic. Didn’t go to university. Most from Westminster sixth form didn’t go. Seventh form usually went. [30:48] Scientist at Westminster. Decided late on to go to bank. Structure of school useful. [32:28] Women working in the bank, not used to. [33:38] Science teaching good. Mr Crumpler, Mr Foxcroft, Mr Stokoe. Not so charismatic. [34:28] Science in Great College Street. New laboratories. Lecture theatre. [35:35] Hierarchy of scientists and classicists changing. Would have preferred to be a historian. [37:08] Colin Bird, also in Ashburnham. Went into Bank of England on the same day. Still friends. Went into Modern Languages. [38:35] House events. Sport; did quite a lot. Not many social events. Eating lunch together in Ashburnham, others eating in College Hall. Seating by hierarchy. [41:30] Cricket. Had played at prep school. House cricket and colts team. David Roy, new boy, in first eleven by second year. Better at football. [44:21] Clever members of Ashburnham. Dan Peter McKenzie (AA). Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. World expert on Earthquakes and volcanoes. Anthony Leslie Vogle, actor. Michael Brough, microsurgery. [45:45] Only played football until 16. Played at Grove Park. Squash played by those who couldn’t play anything else. Theo Zinn. [47:30] School good at fencing. Alan Borg. [48:16] Food. Roast beef and potatoes. Puddings. Better than at prep school. [49:30] Ashburnhamite family. House bond important. [50:00] Conscious of school before joining. Taken to matches. Entrance exam and interviewed by the Head Master. Walter Hamilton. [50:50] No contact with Walter Hamilton. Distant figure. John Carleton, taught English in classroom up School. Markham room. [51:55] Promotion of Under Master. Talk higher up the school and other Masters. Would have been better to have someone in from outside with new ideas. [52:55] No real changes within the school with change of Head Master. [53:18] No real contact with Head Master in the sixth form. Never went into any of the other houses. Over other side of Dean’s Yard. Went into Wren’s classrooms. [54:55] School ties. Ashburnham ties were blue. Rigaud’s orange. Pinks. Didn’t wear a full pink tie, but ‘out of season’ pink ties. First eight wearing full pinks to Henley. Awarded house tie for contributing to house, mostly for sport. One house tie, no junior and senior. [58:42] Long distance race in athletics. Between Barnes and Putney. Bringsty Relay on Wimbledon Common. [51:47] Standards competition. Points for athletics performance, house totals added up. Junior and senior cup. Grant’s often winning. [01:00:43] Roger Givan. Rigaud’s runner. Under 16 champion. Denny Brock keen on house events. Singing competitions. [01:02:05] House singing. Sung as group. Mix of songs. Every house has a choir. Held up School. Individual instrument pieces. [01:03:20] No house concert. Music now on a higher profile. [01:04:00] Teaching done in Wren’s and beside Ashburnham house. [01:05:05] Gym. Now moved from cloisters. [01:10:43] First boy ever to go to Westminster from that Prep School.

Busy life at Westminster. Cliques and the effect of the arrival of girls in sixth form. [4.09] Stayed in touch with surprisingly few Westminster schoolmates. [6.21] PHAB. How it has changed over the years. His work gave it more stability, health and safety clearance and financial stability. [10.54] PHAB’s expansion over the years, and possible reasons for its growth. [13.54] Difference between his school days and time as a teacher. School now seems better able to help pupils who are less academically gifted than the others. School takes part in more outreach and charity work. School facilities much better. The Manoukian Music Centre, Millicent Fawcett Hall [theatre], Weston’s [classrooms] and Lawrence Hall [sports centre] were all acquired after his schooldays. [16.20] Difficult to tell if there’s been a change in ethos. Still promotes individuality. [18.07] Effects of internet. [19.25] Effects of increased numbers of pupils. [21.28] How his experience of the school has changed now he’s a teacher. [23.06] Will miss colleagues and pupils, but not the physical place. [26.12] His future plans. His move to the London Academy of Excellence. Potential to make a difference to social mobility. How he will interpret the role. [31.11] Proud moments as a pupil. [33.22] Proud moments as a teacher. The changed atmosphere in Ashburnham. The house publication The Ash Tree and house concerts and plays. The house has become a community. Has enjoyed his time as a teacher.

No strong impulse to go to Westminster. Serendipity rather than conscious plan. Just wanted to leave his school in Wimbledon. [2:07] Sees teaching as a job rather than a career. Accommodation at school meant he had a better lifestyle than he would otherwise have been able to afford, so unable to leave Westminster. [3:50] Enjoyed all his roles in the school. Attempts to prevent him from being Head of English. Without an SMT, it was easier for elderly teachers to put pressure on Head Masters than it is now. [7:05] Ashburnham House Master. Great job. Its location meant it was difficult to get people over there. Supervision of the house had not previously been very thorough. [8:31] Grant’s was fun but very tiring, since it was a boarding house and therefore very long hours. This improved after another boarding house master had a nervous breakdown. [10:18] Far greater parental involvement than before. Can make it more difficult for the children. [12:17] Westminster looks after children better than it used to. More involvement and pastoral support from the House Master now. [13:26] Change in the texts studied. Othello and Lolita now no longer on the syllabus. [18:33] Teachers’ tendency to perform. Used to being the centre of attention. [19:13] Big figures in the Common Room. Ernest Sanger, an Austrian Jew who left Europe before the outbreak of war. Should have been an academic. Theo Zinn, an enormous influence. [21:47] Inspirational teachers can often be the bully as well. [22:29] Common Room 30 years ago. All men apart from one teacher. Smoking and conspiring. An example of plotting against the Head Master, John Rae. [24:21] Improvements to Common Room photocopying during his time as Common Room President. Also finding a helpful Common Room secretary. [27:47] Computers have made some tasks easier but have created more work. Enjoyed teaching in different classrooms when there was more pressure for space. [31:14] Introduction of girls to the school. Frances Holland School didn’t have laboratories, so girls came for the science lessons. It began as an informal arrangement. [32:57] The introduction of girls meant there was more socialising in Yard. House differences became less important. [35:24] Much harder to get into Oxbridge than it used to be. [38:21] The importance of straightforward criticism. [41:24] Theory of the developing intellect. [42:01] Negative effects of child protection policies. More cumbersome now and instructs children to distrust all adults. Morally offensive. [45:20] Miss the 7th term for Oxbridge, when the most difficult topics were tackled, but otherwise the intellectual element of teaching is just as challenging. [46:49] Teachers that he particularly remembers. Russell Dudley-Smith, a polymath. Richard Jacobs, an inspiration as an English teacher. [48:58] The predominance of Maths, the only subject with no moral content. On whether this will continue. [51:43] Advice to teachers joining Westminster. Advice to pupils at Westminster. [54:51] The virtues of conformity or independent thinking. [55:41] Will miss having an audience when he leaves. [56:50] An anecdote about a pupil’s late prep. [58:22] Unsure what he will do after Westminster. Perhaps writing. [1:00:19] Preventing the stripper-gram from accosting John Rae.

Timestamp Index:

Background and family in Greece. [2:55] Relations with boys in his house. Conditions for boarders. More Spartan than might be normal today. [4:50] The ‘60s. Changing times and changing teaching styles at Westminster. [7:06] Portraits of specific teachers. Several intellectuals who had left Europe before WWII. [9:40] He didn’t engage very much in extra-curricular activities. Cross-country running in Grove Park. [11:55] Commute to school with chauffeur. [12:48] No discussion of homosexuality at Westminster in the ‘60s. No homophobic bullying. Atmosphere of unspoken tolerance. [16:15] Lack of awareness about changing legislation around homosexuality. Coming out to his parents and father’s concern for his future. [19:55] Less involved in societies because of being a day boy. [20:32] Tolerance of religious minorities at the school. Perhaps partly due to European teachers. [22:30] John Carleton, Head Master, a remote figure for most boys. [23.53] More open-minded teaching than in some other public schools. [25:14] Factory visits during a harsh winter when sport was not possible. [25:47] Fewer social relationships outside Rigaud’s. Social life tended to be contained within your house. [26:49] Discipline and changing relationship to senior boys during the ‘60s. [28:28] Reaction to a serious misdemeanour surprisingly lenient and understanding. [29:57] Involvement of parents in school life. Parents’ evenings. [31.29] Alexander, friend and future partner, and Richard McKenna, a group of three close friends. [33:15] Tinned food at school. Unpleasant but edible. [33:56] Friendship with Alex. [34:44] Alex’s friendship with Theo Zinn, Classics Master. [33:58] Life after Westminster. [37:00] A favourite memory of Westminster: visiting Fortnum and Mason’s with Alex.

Had a prep school friend who went to Westminster School and visited him there. He remembers the King’s Scholars and their splendid costumes. [1:20] He was asked to rebind the Abbey library in 1983. Charles Low became aware of him and asked him to start bookbinding at Westminster. He had just retired from classes, then started bookbinding classes a day or two later. [4:45] The amount of pressure on pupils, who are working with their minds all the time. Important for them to have a break and work with their hands. [9:55] Bookbinding saved several people from nervous breakdowns. [11:02] More competition to get into Oxbridge than there used to be. [13:24] The bookbinding exhibition gets better each year. [15:59] Hasn’t had time to make a binding of his own in years. Description of inlay onlay bookbinding technique. [17:33] Doesn’t have a favourite binding by a pupil. They’re all different and good in their own way. Not keen on the idea of prizes. [19:29] Benefits for teachers doing bookbinding. A break from academic work. [23:11] Description of a flood from a tap left on in a top floor flat. His tools covered in rust when he returned from the summer holidays. [24:09] The new bookbinding room. Severely claustrophobic from his time in the Navy. Hasn’t been on the Tube since the war. Was once trapped in a lift and hasn’t been in one since. [26:36] An unhappy childhood. [26:47] Started teaching at 17. Went to Oxford later. There were more people than usual at Oxford, back from the war. He studied history, the only proper subject, which embraces everything else. [29:08] Start of the Cold War in 1947. Crisis in Berlin. Felt that he could have been called back into the armed services at any moment. [31:56] Diploma in Education. [33:23] Went to Abbotsholme School, a pioneer for progressive schools. Forestry, farming, music and crafts were all part of the timetable. [34:21] Seeing a bookbinding class for the first time. Had never thought about bookbinding before. [35:21] Started running bookbinding classes at Abbotsholme. [37:50] Worked at the Public Records Office Conservation Department. Very good experience. Lecturing at Camberwell for the professional course on archives and records. Local Authority had funding cuts and sold Camberwell. [39:55] Recommended to the Abbey Library and came to Westminster. [41:38] Maundy money, a reward for good work, given by the Queen in the Abbey. [44:22] Writing poetry. Wants to continue with bookbinding. [44:45] Wants happiness for his pupils. [47:47] Has been vegetarian for 70 years and is still very fit. Became vegetarian during the war, surrounded by slaughter. He decided he could stop some slaughter. [49:06] Not a vegan, although this is the logical thing to be. Veganism can be a bit of a nuisance to other people. [50:01] Used to have many colds every year. After two year of being vegetarian, he hasn’t had a cold since. [51:10] Much easier to be a vegetarian now. Before, there was no provision made in restaurants. [51:40] At Oxford there was only one other vegetarian in his college. They were given things on toast. [51:10] Nelson, his favourite historical figure. He doesn’t understand digital things. [53:41] Misses his analogue camera. Doesn’t have a computer. [54:30] Least favourite historical figure is Elizabeth I. Dismissed the Navy without pay as soon as it defeated the Armada, leaving sailors starving in Plymouth. Dismissed the militia without pay too. Description of the discovery of Philip II’s private diary. [1:00:01] Criticisms of the statue of Elizabeth I. [1:00:52] Enjoys some Dickens. Liked reading The Cruel Sea, which reflects his experience of convoys during the war. From Londonderry to Gibraltar in 1943. Port Said and the Suez Canal. [1:05:50] Enjoyable experience of South Africa. Likes the accent even now. [1:06:53] Mentions different pupils. [1:08:12] The idea of perfect happiness is having the right people around you, marrying the right person and having nice children. His marriage was a mistake for both of them. Their son died before he was born and they then drifted apart. He’s been on his own for 45 years. Being at the school is his idea of perfect happiness. [1:09:57] He believe in the next world and will communicate with people he’s left if he can.