Castle Life

Articles

May 2015

The Exhibition room

The official opening of the Exhibition Room formed part of the Old Berkhamstedians AGM in 2015. In the years since, it has been rearranged …

cellar box

Cellar finds

The school cellars have yielded more treasures in the form of two lovely travel trunks. Cleaned of all the…

April 2016

The Cloutman sword

A First World War, George V, 1897 pattern Infantry Officers sword, originally owned by Brett Mackay Cloutman OB Bees 1906. On 6th November 1918 at Pont-sur-Sambre, France, w…

February 2017

Commemorative plaques

Two commemorative plaques have been put in place around the school. The first sits on the staircase in the Music school and tells the story of how the Old Upper Mill was demolis…

books 2

Notable OBs

Marjory Stephenson was the first Berkhamsted School girl to go to Cambridge. In 1945 she was elected as one of the first two women fellows of the Royal Society. With the advent of ‘Stephenson’ the …

July 2017

Kings Chapel

One of two sample pieces by Mark Angus, who created the Chapel window at Kings. With a bespoke frame made by our Estates Department and fixings bought, to match the shapes in the wooden shutters, it …

September 2017

Pavilion clock

The lovely old Clock face (pictured) was one of a pair that sat on the turret of the old cricket pavilion on Chesham Road fields. It was originally dedicated to the memory of Schoolmaster J.S."Taff…

books

OB Publications

The Little Big Things - written by Henry Fraser OB Loxwood, 2008 Air Force Blue – features Denys Edgar Mileham OB Adders, 1936, killed in action 1942. For Most Conspicuous Bravery – an autobiography …

roy the dog

Fry's dog 'Roy'

I see this picture of T C Fry standing outside what is now the archive office, every day and have always wanted to know what his lovely dog was called. Cataloguing a large box of photograph albums ga…

April 2018

OB book collection

Two further additions to the collection of books written by or about Old Berkhamstedians – ‘Mr.Prune on Cotswold’ by Richard Blake Brown, Lowers 1920; a contemporary of Graham Greene and for fa…

October 2018

Berkhamsted boys 1914-18

Our Berkhamsted Boys is an ongoing project, aimed at putting faces to the names of the Berkhamsted boys lost to the Great War. The images that we are able to gather will be made into framed posters. …

December 2018

Additions to the OB book collection

An autobiography entitled Running Free is the latest book from Old Berkhamstedian Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. A slim volume, entitled ‘Man from the Ice’ started life as a Year 6 English homework for the…

Kneeler to celebrate John’s years of service as Church Warden

Remembering JAD

In February 2020, I received a request from a parishioner in Pulborough. The lady, a friend of John ‘JAD’ Davison, Master at Berkhamsted 1960-1997, had been tasked with making and embroidering a knee…

Old Berkhamstedian rugby scarf, City tie

Old Berkhamstedian sporting memorabilia

An Old Berkhamstedian ‘City tie’ with its distinctive stripes of gold, red and white on dark navy. Donated by Mike Horton OB Swifts, 1964. The tie was worn by Mike’s Grandfather, Alick C.Pratt OB, 18…

war books

Books about the Great War

'I Escape!' tells the story of Jocelyn L. (H) Hardy OB Bees, 1911. As a prisoner of war in the First World War, he planned twelve escapes from the many prison camps that tried to contain him. Five o…

Uppers Rugby cap, shirt badge and colours award card

An Uppers boy

After seventy five years, a return visit to the school by D.Wardill Uppers 1943, resulted in a generous donation of a very well preserved Uppers Rugby cap, shirt badge (with the original price ticket…

magazine

Sixth form publications

Two very different publications, produced by the VI Form, one hundred years apart. The 1919 ILLITERARY DIGEST featured stories, i…

Snowman from the 1930s and the "Chronicle" from December 1915

Christmas

A very cold 1930s winter saw the boys build this magnificent snowman on the edge of the Terrace garden, complete with boater and scarf. The girls were kept busy, should they choose to be, with ‘Comp…

Centenary of the Armistice

Centenary of the Armistice

Passages from the 1918 December editions of the Girls’ Chronicle and Berkhamstedian magazines. …

John Norman Fletcher

An OB and a Gamma Airship

J.N. Fletcher was a pupil at Berkhamsted for five years. Captain of both the Football and Cricket 1st XI teams, Senior Prefect and 2nd Lt. in the Corps. …

War medals and School sports medals

Medal collection

This collection with original addressed boxes, comprises – The Campaign Star 1939-45, The Defence Medal, The Africa Star 1939-45, The War Service medal and the General Service Medal with Palestine 1…

Berkhamsted School claret

A bottle of Bordeaux

Donated by Mr W. C. Thorburn, who served as the Schools’ Accountant from 1976 – 1995, this bottle of Bordeaux was produced to commemorate the 450th Anniversary of the School in 1991.

School Scout shield

Berkhamsted Scouts

Log book and photographs of the Scouts at camp, c.1954

Scout camp c.1954

On December 16th 2016, the newspapers were reporting on the Cub Scouts celebrating their 100th anniversary. On the same morning, a parcel was gifted to the archive from Mr. James Hasler, a Master at …

warrant

Serving Officer's warrant c. 1909

A Warrant issued to serving Officers with King Edward VII’s signature and seal. The later …

boys cap

St John's colours

St John’s Cricket Colours cap, usually awarded with a square in the same colours. The original o…

Fives mitts and selection of Fives balls

Fives

This selection of Fives items were donated, along with a school blazer and cravat by Derek Whitehead OB Adders, 1949. Derek tells us that “the…

school badges

School badges

A Berkhamsted Boys rugby badge and Berkhamsted School for Girls badges for Lacrosse and Athletics; donations from past pupils and sta…

stereoscopic

Stereoscopic slides

An official series of stereoscopic slides, produced by Realistic Travels, London. The black boxes are in the form of a bound volume and each box co…

OBA Car badge

An official OBA badge bar, from the early 1960s, with its depiction of the School crest. Gene…

Journal by PCL 'Cyril' Thorne Bees 1909 and GCE Exam papers 1958

OBs Journal c.1908

A peep into school life from a journal written over a period of two years by PCL ‘Cyril’ Thorne, Bees 1909. Entries from March and April 1908. “Still cold. Got up at 7.30 – early for a Sunday! At Ch…

Alpine Alphabet 1903

An Alpine Alphabet

This charming little book is one of a number of artefacts and documents donated to the Archive by Beatrix Hopkins, (widow of Antony Hopkins OB, Lowers 1938). It is entitled An Alpine Alphabet and de…

Commemorative items from 450th Anniversary of Berkhamsted School and Tea Towel from 100th Anniversary of the Girls School

Commemorative items

A commemorative brew in celebration of the 450th Anniversary. Donated by Mr B C Hines (OB Bees 1950) Not the ideal drinking vessel for the aforementioned beer, this mug was ano…

rugby cap

Four seasons Rugby cap

Reginald George Hodge OB (St Johns 1926) is the only member of the pictured squad to have played in four seasons, from 1922 – 1926 and his school Valete shows great achievement in…

Canvasses of religious scenes, donated in 1898

Discovered canvasses

Whilst clearing an attic in Deans' Hall, our Caretakers discovered two large, (thirteen feet in length) canvasses of religious scenes. The black and white photograph shows them in situ in the Sch…

pearkes

Lieut.-Col. Pearkes V.C.

As editor of The Berkhamstedian, ARC Bolton had received a letter and photograph from George Pearkes, who was in France at the time. This scrap of graph paper is dated and titled In the Field, March …

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