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Leading figures from the QE community today paid tribute to Sid Clark, an important figure at the School for half a century, who died this week.

Appointed as a Chemistry teacher in 1956, Mr Clark went on to play a significant role in maintaining standards at QE through some of the School’s most turbulent years and, before his retirement in 1987, helped newly arrived Headmaster Eamonn Harris in laying the groundwork for its subsequent success.

Having made a huge impact in his staff roles, among them Head of Chemistry and Head of Sixth Form, Mr Clark (pictured, centre, above)  continued to serve the School in retirement, as a Governor, and as a Trustee of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s, who, together with Mr Harris, set up its covenant scheme.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Sid made a truly significant contribution to our School during a long and distinguished period of service. The FQE covenant scheme, with which he was so involved, has formed the foundations for the ongoing transformation of the School site, allowing us to provide ever greater facilities and educational opportunities for the boys.”

Mr Enright’s predecessor, Dr John Marincowitz, Headmaster from 1999 to 2011, said: “I am saddened to hear of Sid Clark’s death. His enormous contribution as an educator over three decades in the Chemistry labs benefitted many boys. It was however, as Trustee and Governor for much of my Headship that I appreciated Sid most. He gave dedicated service as treasurer, securing FQE’s finances at a time of rapid growth and challenging capital projects. As Governor, he provided wise counsel and stalwart support.

“Sid held ambitious aspirations for the School and remained a pillar of continuity from the mid-1950s to the mid-2000s.  This was a time of considerable turbulence in education. It was also period of reinvention and regeneration at Queen Elizabeth’s.  We will remember Sid with gratitude for the part he played in the School’s emergence as a centre of national excellence.”

Former Second Master and President of the Old Elizabethans Association Eric Houston also paid tribute to Mr Clark: “Greatly respected by his colleagues for his formidable intellect, he will be remembered as an outstanding schoolmaster who dedicated so much of his working life to his pupils.”

Mr Houston, who remained in touch with Mr Clark and visited him in New Zealand (pictured left), where he moved in 2008, said: “Sid was so proud of the School’s outstanding achievements but it is true that he had a huge part to play in making this possible. He never sought any credit for his many contributions, but we should acknowledge with gratitude all he did over many years. He leaves a wonderful legacy.”

Having graduated with a first-class honours degree from the University of Wales, Mr Clark was appointed in 1956 by Headmaster E.H. Jenkins to teach Chemistry. He remained at QE for the rest of his teaching career.

Through his teaching, he helped launch a number highly successful and distinguished academic careers.

A one-time athlete of national standing himself, he gave coaching and encouragement to many boys on Third Field and Stapylton, while he also spent a great deal of his time driving the School’s most talented performers around the country for them to compete in national athletics competitions.

He was quickly promoted to Head of Chemistry, and, when the School was reorganised and became a comprehensive in 1971, he shortly after became Head of Sixth Form.

He maintained his insistence on high standards of behaviour and dress, and on the pursuit of academic excellence.

“Many Sixth Form students from that period owe the places they secured at top universities to the individual help and guidance they received from him,” said Mr Houston, who added that when Mr Harris arrived in 1984 and ushered in a period of great change, Mr Clark soon joined with him to form “a formidable partnership that was the foundation of QE’s subsequent success”.

His total commitment to the School did not diminish in the slightest following his retirement in 1987.  After QE opted out of local authority control in 1989, he became a Governor, serving for a period as Vice Chairman, and he unfailingly attended all School functions. He worked on a number of sub-committees and was an influential figure in the School regaining selective status in 1994.

Every major project that has taken place on the School site since 1990 has, to a greater or lesser extent, been made possible because of the covenant scheme he helped set in place and oversaw for many years. Pictured here is the signing for the contract for the Martin Swimming Pool – a demonstration of the impact of the work of FQE and the fruits of the covenant scheme.

In 2008, Mr Clark and his wife decided to relocate to New Zealand to be closer to their daughter and three grandchildren. He died peacefully in the North Island city of Hamilton earlier this week.

Elizabethans from every decade from the 1940s through to the 2020s turned out to the 125^th Old Elizabethans Association Annual Dinner.

With 76 in attendance, the event in the Main School Hall was the first such formal occasion since the start of the pandemic.

As has become traditional, guests included the ‘ten-year leavers’ – those who were pupils from 2004-2011: their 30-strong group occupied a prime position in the middle of the tables. Other groups booked together, too – such as OEs from the 1978-1985 cohort, and some of those who left in 2004/5.

The current decade was represented at the dinner by the 2021 School Captain, Siddhant Kansal, and three members of his prefect team.

And the ranks of diners were further swelled by several members of the School’s new 450 Club.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Being an Elizabethan is not just about the seven years that boys typically spend here – it’s about joining a community and network offering lifelong friendship and support. With such good numbers and with old boys of all ages coming along, this year’s dinner was a striking demonstration that all who have attended our School really are Elizabethans for life.

“Such enjoyable social occasions are important in helping OEs keep in touch and re-connect with each other and with us at the School. Pandemic-permitting, I look forward to many similar events in the future and to our providing alumni with other opportunities for them to get involved in supporting the School and the current pupils in various ways.”

In his speech, Mr Enright explained why the 2021 dinner had additional significance for him: “This year is itself an anniversary for me personally, marking a decade as Headmaster. It is also a milestone for our group of ten-year leavers, who I’m pleased to see in typically good numbers and high spirits tonight. There is, in fact, strong representation from my last A-level Geography group among them.”

He gave initial feedback on the recent independent survey of alumni commissioned by the School: “It has reinforced that the overwhelming majority are proud to have been to QE and think that an education here has had a lasting positive impact. We want to ensure that this remains the case for you and for future generations of alumni.”

He gave a special welcome to the 450 Club members: named in anticipation of the 450th anniversary of the School in 2023, the club is open to any alumnus who commits to donating £450 to the School before September 2022.

The evening began with a drinks reception at 7.15pm, which took place in the Crush Hall. This was followed by dinner and then a series of toasts and speeches, before guests went back to mingling and networking.

OE Association President Eric Houston, who hosted the dinner on behalf of the Association, presented Siddhant with the Eric Shearly Memorial Award for his outstanding service and contribution to the School.

Mr Houston, who is also a Governor, taught at the School from 1976. He was Second Master from 1999 until his retirement in 2010, this period largely overlapping with the 1999-2011 headmastership of Dr John Marincowitz, who was also in attendance at the dinner.

The guest speaker Dhruv Chhatralia (OE 1996-2003) gave the after-dinner speech, proposing the toast to the School. A City lawyer, Dhruv is a regular speaker on Hinduism, on the benefits of yoga and on the importance of strong mental health, and is the author of many books on Hinduism. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2020 New Year’s Honours ‘for services to Hinduism and to developing young people’.

• Alumni can view a full gallery of photos of the dinner on their QE Connect online network.

2018 leaver Samuel Akpan has been named in Future Leaders magazine’s Top 150 list for 2021–2022.

Samuel, who graduated in Politics & International Studies from Warwick this year, has already made his mark in fields including social enterprise, sport and  anti-racism work at the university.

An annual publication, Future Leaders profiles 150 of the most outstanding black university students in Britain. His citation in the magazine highlights:

• His role as Warwick’s Anti-Racism Disability Officer as part of an executive team charged with coordinating responses to racist incidents on campus
• The talk he gave last year to parents of deaf children about his experiences growing up with unilateral deafness in which he shared insights into the challenges deaf people face and the practical support available to them
• His entrepreneurial creativity: this included designing a red jersey exclusively for the Sickle Cell x ILL London jersey raffle in December 2019 that helped sell tickets to help raise money for the Sickle Cell Society.
• Samuel’s success in becoming a qualified football referee in November 2019, since when he has been speaking with the Birmingham FA about ways of increasing the number of BAME match officials.

Interviewed for the alumni section of Warwick’s website, Samuel (OE 2011–2018) said: “To be named as a Future Leader is a massive honour. To be given such a ‘heavy’ title means you have been recognised for your competencies and your future potential.

“Also, for me it’s an extra achievement, as I’m…deaf in my left ear. When I’m older, whatever field I’m in or wherever I am, I can look back and be proud of the man I’ve become.

“The award has made me think about what it means to be a leader and I definitely feel that it’s about making sure you excel by giving back where you can.”

Samuel is especially pleased that the accolade recognises his social enterprise work, which began while he was still at QE. “In 2017, there was a craze where everyone wanted to make fashion brands, so I made printed T-shirts with my brand ILL London,” he explained.

“When I got to Warwick, I also made sweaters in different colours and added my logos. I ran a raffle for a one-off football jersey with my logo on, and 50% of the money raised went to the Sickle Cell Society. It helped raise awareness of the importance of giving blood if you can, as it’s essential to helping people with Sickle-Cell Anaemia.”

He told QE Connect that he remains in regular contact with a large number of the friends he made at QE (many of whom went to Warwick).

“I am thankful for all the time and energy the teachers gave me to help me even make it to university,” he says, adding that he particularly appreciated his positive experience of studying Philosophy and Politics for the first time in the Sixth Form “as it gave me a lot of direction going forward”.

Outside of the classroom, his “stand-out memories” include the infamous ‘elephant dip’ during cross-country runs and the time he slipped during his 100m race on Sports Day: “It cost me at least a top-three finish, I’d say ­– and caused a lot of general laughter!”

His enjoyment of sport continued at Warwick, where, although he was not on the Philosophy, Politics and Economics course, he played for the league-winning PPE FC side.

He is now focusing on his sports writing: during his recent time at BCOMS (Black Collective of Media in Sport), an initiative partnered by Arsenal Football Club, he covered three matches and also had the opportunity to meet some of the biggest names in football journalism.

Samuel, who did not take a gap year, is currently enjoying a break from full-time education while he considers his future career direction. Asked where he sees himself in ten years’ time, he replied that he hopes to be working in the football sector “in a position that allows me to help the younger black generation”.

Today, on the 100th anniversary of the dedication of QE’s World War I memorial, the 2021 School Captain laid a poppy wreath on behalf of current pupils to remember the sacrifice of their forebears more than a century ago.

Commissioned at a time when the horrors of the ‘war to end all wars’ were still fresh in the memory, the tablet records the names of 48 Elizabethans who died in the conflict. The memorial may be seen in the ‘crush hall’ of the Main Building, close to the main entrance and Reception.

Attached to the wreath laid by School Captain Siddhant Kansal was a note on Royal British Legion-headed paper on which he wrote: “On the centenary of this memorial, we remember those who gave their lives so that we may enjoy the opportunities we have today.”

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “It is right for us to remember the sacrifices that Elizabethans in previous generations have made to enable us to experience the freedoms and opportunities we do.

“That tradition of serving the greater good remains an essential element of the School’s mission today and it is, therefore, appropriate that a memorial to service takes pride of place at the heart of the Main Building, alongside our founding charter.”

The bronze tablet was originally installed at the School’s historic buildings in Wood Street and formally unveiled at 4pm on Saturday 8th October 1921. It was transported to the current site when the School moved to Queen Street in 1932, with a rededication service held on 21st September of that year. (The rededication service was also a commemoration of the life of Rev John Bond Lee, Headmaster 1875–1906.)

World War I hostilities ceased with the Armistice on 11th November 1918, but, in common with many war memorials, QE’s memorial bears the dates 1914–1919, reflecting the fact that the Treaty of Versailles which formally brought to an end the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers was not signed until June 1919.

The list of names is surmounted by the traditional legend, ‘In Memoriam’, while underneath is written simply ‘Faithful unto Death’ – a Biblical quotation from the Revelation to St John.

According to the order of service published for the service of dedication, a copy of which may be viewed online in QE Collections, the ceremony was conducted by the Rev Dr H W P Stephens, Vicar of Tadlow in Cambridgeshire, an Old Elizabethan known to have been at the School in 1876. He returned again in 1932 to lead the rededication service.

The roll of honour was read by the Headmaster of the day, William Lattimer (1906–1929). The service featured a hymn still sung today on Founder’s Day – For all the saints, who from their labours rest – and included other hymns, as well as prayers and readings.

The memorial itself was unveiled by Lieutenant-Colonel C H Pank CMG DSO TD, of the Middlesex Regiment, who also gave the address. Buglers from the same regiment sounded the Last Post and Reveille.

The dedication written for the occasion was: “In the Faith of Jesus Christ we dedicate this Memorial to the Glory of God and in proud and loving memory of those Elizabethans who gave their lives in the Great War in the cause of Right and Liberty. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”

• The photo, above left, which is from QE Collections, is believed to have been taken on the day of the dedication in 1921.

Thirty-five years after leaving QE, a group of rugby-loving Elizabethans returned to the School on a specially arranged visit that included an opportunity to see the current First XV in action.

The group from the class of 1986 enjoyed a sometimes-emotional day hosted by Headmaster Neil Enright: some were meeting for the first time in more than three decades, while even those who had remained in closer contact had been kept apart for the past year-and-a-half because of Covid.

Several of the 16-strong group sported new alumni rugby shirts designed by current Head of Rugby James Clarke (OE 1999–2004), which they had purchased through the School Shop. As well as the 15 old boys, all of them 1986 leavers, the visitors included the sister of Graham Dunkley OE, Gail, who was at Queen Elizabeth’s Girls’ School at a time when some lessons in the Sixth Form were mixed between the schools.

Mr Enright said: “I really enjoyed the occasion, which all sprang out of a request from one of the group, Simon Butnick, in a conversation I had with him on LinkedIn earlier this year. It was great to welcome Simon and his peers back and to see them rekindling old friendships – in some cases, for the first time since they left the School.

“With a group of this size, we were able to offer something quite bespoke – knowing they would enjoy the chance to see the First XV game and talk to the players afterwards. We look forward to having the group as active members of our alumni network and keen supporters of the School.”

Among current and former staff present were Mr Clarke, Deputy Head David Ryan, Headmaster’s PA Nicola Weston (who knew many of the visitors from her own schooldays) and Dave Maughan, who was Head of Games from 1974–2003.

The group then set off on a tour of the School, led by the Headmaster, who was assisted by QE’s new Development Officer, Sharla Worrall. There were many comments about how the campus had changed – the visitors left the School just two years after the arrival of reforming Headmaster Eamonn Harris (1984–1999) and well before the major building projects that began in the late 1990s.

Afterwards, several of the group reflected on the day on LinkedIn, with OE Jason Rush writing: “It was a great day. The First and Second XV played their hearts out and reminded us what it used to feel like to play rugby at this wonderful school. Thank you for accommodating us. We will all remain in contact.”

It was, in fact, a day of mixed fortunes for the School’s rugby teams: while the First XV lost their match, the Second XV won theirs. Other victories went to the U16A, U15A, U14B and U13B teams, while the U15B, U14A and U13A sides lost.

• The School is currently asking all alumni to spend ten minutes filling in a survey it has commissioned from independent education consultancy RSAcademics. The results will help shape the School’s offer to its former pupils in the coming years. The closing date for the survey to be completed is Monday 11^th October 2021.

Pupils headed off into the countryside on a 10km walk and raised more than £4,500 for QE’s long-running Indian charity appeal and for the Piano Fund.

Torrential downpours forced a last-minute change of route, but the walkers were not to be denied their day in the Dollis Valley and relished the chance to stretch their legs in support of the Sathya Sai (English Medium) School in Kerala, southern India.

Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Katrin Hood, who is in charge of the School’s charity work, said: “It was a joy to see the boys chatting and laughing with their friends as we walked through the beautiful countryside around our School. Our heartfelt thanks to go all of those who have so generously donated.

“Before heading out, the boys attended an assembly to learn more the fantastic Sai School and our long-standing link with it. It was fascinating to hear from past and current students, as well as teachers from the Sai School themselves via video,” said Ms Hood.

During the assembly, the boys watched a video from Old Elizabethan Major Charles Russell (1997–2004), who spoke about his experience of visiting the Sai School in 2004. He still sponsors a child there. He is one of number of former pupils and staff to have visited, including former Headmaster Dr John Marincowitz (1999–2011).

The Sai School has both boys and girls and caters for primary and secondary-age children. Over the two decades the appeal has been running, QE has funded improvements including the construction of a new building, various repairs and, recently, the provision of a computer room that enables pupils there to sit digitally-based examinations.

During the assembly, the boys learned first of the problems caused by flooding in 2018 attributed to global warming and then of the current desperate plight of the Sai School because of the deleterious effects of Covid-19 on the Indian economy. Parents in the struggling rural communities have been unable to pay the school fees and teachers are not being paid, they were told.

The walks were part of QE’s Enrichment Week and were held on separate days for the two year groups. The Piano Fund, which was also a beneficiary along with with the Sai School Appeal, was established to help equip the new QE Music School opening this autumn to the highest standards.

The event followed a two-day football tournament earlier this month for Years 7, 8, 9 and 12, which also raised funds for the Sai School Appeal.

QE’s Young Enterprise team won an Innovation Award after impressing judges at a trade fair with their eco-friendly phone cases.

Adjudicators at the Young Enterprise Trade Fair at Old Spitalfields Market praised the InDex Young Enterprise company for their creative approach and for the salesmanship they showed there.

The Year 10 team also won plaudits from an Old Elizabethan attending the fair. Ninety-two year-old Elliot Page spoke highly of the phone cases, commenting specifically on the quality of the fit.

QE’s YE Co-ordinator, Academic Enrichment Tutor Alex Czirok-Carman, said: “The boys have worked very hard on this project and, despite the interruptions inevitably caused by the pandemic over the year, they have produced an excellent product and, most impressively, have grown as a team. The judges’ comments show how successful they have been.”

The judges were from Mastercard UK, the London Stock Exchange Group and bandwidth infrastructure provider euNetworks.

At the fair, the team sold their phone cases to the general public as well as answering questions from the judges about their product. The cases are biodegradable and have sustainable packaging.

In addition to these initial products, the boys have also been researching and designing cases with attachments to make them more user-friendly for people with difficulties in gripping. These are not yet on sale, although work on the production process for them is under way. The team’s InDex name is derived from ‘Inclusive Dexterity’.

“Our team impressed the judges massively,” said Mr Czirok-Carman. “They were extremely active – and very successful – in finding sales, and the judges therefore commented both on the creativity of the product and on their excellent sales techniques.

“The fair gave the team the chance to see a different side of business, and they learnt a great deal about how to interact with customers,” said Mr Czirok-Carman. “It was a great chance to learn about how to effectively run a business. The boys spent time interacting with teams from other schools who were there and swapped some of their products.

“This was a great way to round off an interrupted, but productive year for the YE team, who plan to continue to sell their products.”

The boys who attended the fair were: Kyan Bakhda; Abhinay Kannan; Ugan Pretheshan; Anban Senthilprabu; Sai Sivakumar and Varun Srirambhatla.

Eighty-nine people joined a special Zoom event held to present QE Collections – Queen Elizabeth’s School’s new fully digitised online set of archives relating to the School and the Barnet area.

Guests at the public evening ‘town hall’ event, including Old Elizabethans and others with an interest in local history, were given a virtual guided tour and shown how to get the best out of the extensive high-quality online assets spanning more than four centuries.

Headmaster Neil Enright and QE’s Curator of Collections Surya Bowyer (OE 2007–2014) explained that the School held a variety of historic material and was keen to make it accessible to everyone. QE Collections is therefore offered online free-of-charge for all to enjoy.

In his address to the guests, Mr Enright pointed out that QE has been part of the Barnet community ever since its foundation by royal charter in 1573. “QE Collections therefore includes three different sorts of histories, nevertheless intertwined. These are the history of the School itself; the history of the local area, as viewed through the lens of the School; and the shared social histories that connect us.

“I am very excited that we are now able to share QE Collections with a wider audience.”

He paid tribute to the key role played by the late Richard Newton (OE 1956–1964), who promoted digitising the School’s archives and making them freely available to all, and also provided generous funding.

“It is certain that without his support, we would not have been able to launch this project – one that will be part of his legacy to the Elizabethan community,” Mr Enright said.

Mr Bowyer, who has played a central role in developing the platform and curating the material uploaded so far, pointed the guests towards a number of current highlights of QE Collections:

• A copy of Frederick Charles Cass’s book on the history of the School’s first century, which was published in around 1881
• The collection of S E ‘Olly’ and Mary Alford, both school staff members, featuring scrapbooks from 1958 to 1975
• A mid-20th century illustrated notebook by an anonymous author featuring two narratives, ‘Spend your holiday at a farm camp’ and ‘A Day At A Harvest Camp’
• School magazines and periodicals from 1876–1984
• The Guard Book, a large scrapbook of ephemeral items related to activities at the School from 1913 to 1970, compiled by E H Jenkins (Headmaster 1930–1961).

“We are constantly putting new material online, so the highlights would be different if I did this event in a few months’ time, or even next month,” Mr Bowyer added.

The event included tips and tricks for getting the best out of QE Collections, together with an explanation of how the various collections are organised, with ‘access points’ provided for the digitised objects – for example: People & Organisations; Subjects; Places.

All printed text in digitised objects is almost invariably fully searchable. Anyone wishing to search for a full name or phrase should put it in double speech marks in the search box, Mr Bowyer said.

Work continues on making archival material online. “Among several exciting projects that are currently mid-digitisation are the QE Governors’ minute books going all the way back to the earliest we have in 1587. The first is available now, with more coming soon.

“There is also our 20th Century History Project, which recreates life at the School during the last century through photographs, written records and ephemera. Lots of material from the 1940s to 1980s is already available and, again, more is coming soon.”

QE Collections was given a ‘soft launch’ three months ago. Since then, there have been more than 1,300 users from over 35 countries, with the Group Photographs and Everyday Life (Photographs) collections proving the most popular so far.

QE Collections uses professional digitisers to ensure its digitised files are of very high quality and has employed an industry-standard digital preservation system to ensure long-term availability for these digitised files, Mr Bowyer said, adding that while digital files are excellent for improving access, they are harder to preserve than physical objects, as digital storage media can become obsolete and data can become corrupted.

“All this work takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. If you like the work we are doing and are in a position where you can consider supporting this work, please consider contributing to our Digital Fund, which supports QE Collections.”

As an academic scientist and a world-renowned first responder to oil spills, Ed Owens has had a more varied life than most – and certainly one with more than its fair share of excitement.

He has worked on some of the world’s biggest and most infamous spills, such as Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989 and the Deepwater Horizon BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

At a rough count, Ed (OE 1956–1964) has travelled to more than 70 countries over his long career, including frequent visits to some of the planet’s most remote locations. He has survived involvement in “a couple of aircraft crashes”,  being chased by the Argentine army, and being kidnapped in the Amazon; he has run training for coastguards all over the world, and he has trained sniffer dogs to detect oil leaks underground.

In the years immediately following the fall of the Soviet Union, Ed made five or six visits annually to work on the development of oil fields on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. “I have many stories about those trips!”

There was also the time he found himself stuck on an Arctic island without a radio: just one episode in his many visits north of the Arctic Circle, where he had been every year for more than three decades until 2020, when Covid put an end to this remarkable run.

Yet, in speaking to Alumni News, Ed said he prefers to reflect not so much on his own remarkable exploits, but on his origins, on his memories of QE in the 1950s and early 1960s – including what made it a good School even back in those culturally very different days – and on passing on some hard-won advice to the young Elizabethans of today.

“I’m 76 years old, still working full-time, still publishing multiple technical papers each year in scientific peer-reviewed journals, and still loving every day of my family and professional life. A full and productive life.

“How did I get here? My paternal grandfather was a shepherd in Rutland who spent most of his life living outdoors tending the animals year-round. Just coming home on Saturday night to have a beer in the pub, bath on Sunday morning, then church and Sunday lunch with the family and then back to the fields. My maternal grandfather was a ‘horseman’, which in those days meant that he looked after all the horses on the farm. He had Christmas Day off, when the farmer would start the morning routine.

“Out of all the many cousins – I think 15, to be exact – I was the only one that went to grammar school, then I was the only one to go to university until another cousin some 10 years later who, like me, went on to do a PhD.

“Luck? Good fortune? No, not really. As many people have said I wasn’t lucky, but I worked hard – and I also would have to add that many people worked very hard on my behalf: my parents and the teachers at QE, especially my House Master, John (‘Poker’) Pearce, and subsequently a couple of mentors who shaped my professional career.

“Needless to say, the School was very different in my day. While the buildings and grounds still appear familiar, there was a great focus on sport, with Wednesday and Saturday afternoons devoted to the range of seasonal choices, and with classes on Saturday mornings to make up for the ‘lost’ Wednesday afternoons! That did not leave much time for other things, though several of us made up a soccer team that played on Sunday at the Underhill Playing Fields.

“Those days, almost everybody lived in the Barnets or the Borehamwood-Elstree-Brookmans Park area: basically within a ½ hour bus ride of the school. It was a predominantly white Christian population, probably less than 5% non-Christian or otherwise ethnically diverse. And, like today, no girls of course!

“Did that prepare us well for the big wide world? On reflection, in my own very personal situation, for some reason I have been quite oblivious to the ethnicity or the sexual preference of people with whom I interact. Quite often when a third-party says something about that topic, my reaction is ‘oh, I didn’t notice that’. I certainly did not get that from my parents. who were very Victorian and “straight”, so it must have come from the School and the tolerant and intelligent teachers that we were fortunate to have.

“Most of the group at that time were Arsenal supporters because that was the nearest football ground from Barnet by British Rail. I don’t understand why, but a couple of our contemporaries actually supported Chelsea or, even worse, Tottenham! Sadly, Charlie Eggington, the Underne House Captain who followed me, is a Spurs supporter – clearly I failed in that part of mentoring him.

“The point is we still support those teams today when we have our Zoom conference calls. It’s not about football, it’s not about the team; it’s about just following and believing in those things that have some value. The great thing about sports is that the results are totally unpredictable. That gives enjoyment to following whatever sport, whatever team, whatever person one might be interested in following.”

Ed stayed on into the Seventh Form and was a Prefect and the House Captain for Underne. On leaving QE, he took his first degree, in Geology/Earth Science at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth – “three amazing years of playing rugby, rock climbing and mountaineering”.

After that, he wanted to take a postgraduate degree – “go to grad school” in American parlance – but there were limited opportunities at that time in the UK, a country which, as Ed points out, was still recovering economically from the Second World War and had yet to develop North Sea Oil. So, in 1967, he went to Canada on a graduate student fellowship to take his Master’s in Physical Geography at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His new life got off to an exciting start: “On Day 7 in North America, I was on a four-engine Super Constellation flying to a remote field camp in the High Arctic, north of the 60^th parallel!”

That first Arctic trip set a travel of pattern which was to become the norm in the decades to come. “Some years, I was in more than ten countries – a whirlwind life.”

His first experience as an oil spill first responder came in March 1970 at an oil tanker spill in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was five years after this that he completed his PhD at the University of South Carolina in 1975.

In 1993, he established his own company, Owens Coastal Consultants, which for the past 28 years has been providing worldwide scientific and technical support for spill response operations and spill response planning and training. Today, he is based on Bainbridge Island in the State of Washington, with a rural office from where he can look east towards nearby Seattle.

“My roles in all of this are as a response operations planner, a first responder to develop strategies to accelerate environmental recovery, and a scientist to monitor that recovery. While major spills can certainly have a disastrous on nature in the very short term, long-term studies have shown how remarkably well and quickly the environment recovers from even large oil spills.”

His most recent spill was in late November 2020 at a pipeline break in the suburban San Francisco Bay area, where he had to contend with Covid constraints and where he used dogs – ‘Oil Detection Canines’, in the industry jargon – to find the leak.

Over the years, he has been called out to destinations as far flung as Arctic Russia, the Amazon and the Middle East (he cherishes memories of seeing Dubai Creek in its pre-development days).

“But,” he adds, “I always seemed to managed to arrange my schedule to be on a business trip so that I could be in London during the first week in December for the Annual Brewer’s Dozen Dinner, joining a motley group of 15 friends – mainly 1962-65 First XV rugby players – which included two School Captains, multiple House Captains and even one person who did not go to QE!  Such was the bond formed at the School – quite remarkable. The chain was not broken even in 2020, but then it had to be by Zoom.”

Sadly, since that last meeting, the group has been depleted by the death within a few days of each other of two of Ed’s very close friends – Richard Newton (School Captain 1963-64 and First XV and First X1 Captain; Head Boy of Harrisons’: School Governor in the 1980s) and Roderick ‘Rod’ Jones (Prefect and First XV Captain 1964-65; Head Boy of Staplyton).

As he looks back on a career that now spans more than half a century, Ed counsels patience for current pupils and recent alumni of the School: “It’s important to remember that your first job is not your last job. I went through a progression of working in government, university and then private sector consulting. My real career path really did not emerge until I was 35 years old! Which, if you put in perspective, it means that I had been working after graduation for 14 years. I’m now over 75, 40 years later.

“So, there’s no need to be in a hurry – to think that when you leave QE or leave university or college that this is going to be the single path that you’ll follow for the rest of your life. There are many twists and turns; the important thing is to understand when choices present themselves to go with your heart. If you’re never happy in your work, you’ll never be happy in your life! That’s why I’m still working at 75-plus – and all the other aspects of a balanced life – family, social activities, and so on – are reinforced by that solid foundation.”

• Pictured, top to bottom: a winter beach survey on Unalaska Island, Alaska, in April 2005; presenting a paper at the 2017 International Oil Spill Conference in Long Beach, California; in front of QE’s Main Building in July 1962; at Resolute, North West Territories, Canada, August 1967: Ed (wearing the red cap, centre), briefing Admiral Yost, the United States Coast Guard Commandant, to his right, during a shoreline inspection following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Prince William Sound, Alaska, May 1989: Colville Delta, North Slope, Alaska August 2002.

QE’s University Convention may have gone online this year because of Covid-19, but the alumni still turned out in numbers to support current Year 12 boys.

Well over 50 Old Elizabethans – mostly those who left the School last summer – took part in the video convention for Year 12 pupils considering their university options.

With 19 sessions on 14 subjects delivered over seven days, the virtual event was a major organisational and technological feat.

Michael Feven, Assistant Head (Pupil Development) said: “We were determined to ensure that the current Year 12 did not miss out on opportunities and I am tremendously grateful to our former pupils who supported us. Their participation means that the University Convention was this year once again one of the biggest examples of alumni participation at the School.

“The event allowed boys to find out more about quite a wide range of university options and, of course, to discover how our alumni’s university student experiences have been affected by Covid. All Year 12 boys were free to drop in as they chose, and the sessions proved popular, provoking plenty of discussion afterwards.”

In normal years, OEs visit the School together for the convention, which therefore also becomes a reunion for them after their first two terms at university.

This year, however, their contributions were given on Zoom in a series of lunchtime sessions over the seven days.

The alumni spoke on 14 subjects in the first four days, from Architecture to Computer Science, Law to Medicine & Dentistry, and from Geography to Languages.

The final three days involved sessions structured around topics such as the year spent in industry during Engineering degrees and the different types of universities available, with sessions including Campus vs City, Oxbridge, International and London.

To ensure full coverage of the planned topics, the first-year alumni were joined by a number of OEs from earlier years , such as Nik Ward (2003–2010) and Danny Martin (2010–2017) speaking on studying Architecture, and Rhys Bowden (1996–2003) and Simon Purdy (2009–2016) on Music.