ONA Now and Then As Headmaster of the RGS (and working in a large office just feet away from the redoubtable Jane Medcalf who compiles this magazine), I am allowed a sneak preview of the next publication before penning my contribution. Just as well: how else could I attempt to do justice to the sheer range of information contained in this one? Let’s start with the people. There’s no doubt that ONs travel, and travel well! Thus we read of chance meetings, reunions and reminiscences from ONs of all generations: we see medics at various stages of their careers apparently encompassing the globe. And, among the youngest ONs featured, we have Tom Rowley (01-08) setting off to further his journalistic career in the States, while athlete Eleni Papadopoulos (08-10) has her sights firmly fixed on the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. Sport has always played a part in school life at the RGS, though across a much broader spectrum than its intractably rugby-oriented reputation sometimes suggests to the uninformed! So, as we start using our magnificent new Swimming Pool (the barriers and danger signs now removed!), it’s good to look back to the opening of The Sutherland Swimming Bath, a far-sighted and forward-thinking addition to the school back in 1930 that established swimming as the major RGS sport it remains to this day (I can’t resist just boasting here of the RGS Junior School’s U11 girls becoming national champions in June).
This autumn will see a powerful rugby theme in the school. The John Elders Memorial Match on 2 October will honour the memory of a truly great man: what a privilege it was for those who knew him to be taught and inspired by someone who added so much both to the school’s rugby and to that of the nation. I guess, in the modern world of professional sport, that dual role is unimaginable now. Nonetheless, professional sport will come to the RGS in October, when the Scottish national team uses the school as its training base for the Rugby World Cup. Our own Jim Pollock (66-77), of course, should be on hand to give them some tips (if they have the sense to ask). And I can’t resist mentioning, somewhat mischievously, that Jim now features in a museum! His Scotland cap is part of an exhibition in Newcastle’s Discovery Museum. And there’s one further rugby connection in the fact that we’ll be delighted to welcome former England international Jonathan Webb (74-81) as speaker at the ONA Annual Dinner at school on Friday 16 October.
Finally, I must draw your attention to the piece by Christian Gardner (00-07) that warms the heart. He is frank about the way in which he benefited from bursary support at the school, and how he feels it is time to give back and share some of his success that he attributes to the opportunities afforded to him by the school. It’s a warm and generous statement and I commend it to you. The Bursary Campaign is as close to my heart as it is central to the school’s historical mission. I am delighted that the ONA is throwing its weight behind While still looking back, it’s entertaining the campaign and I hope that many of you to read an account of boxing at the RGS, will consider following that outstanding a sport that is problematic for schools nowadays and therefore rarely undertaken. example set by Christian. I wonder whether the circulation of this Plenty to read, then: and plenty of events edition of the magazine will fuel the in which to share. Enjoy the magazine! rumours, which still surface from time to time among the current student body, that Bernard Trafford somewhere in an imaginary cellar hidden Headmaster under the Main Hall there is still a perfect boxing ring.
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