Upload
vuongnga
View
213
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
St Peter’s and St Paul’s Trust Newsletter Spring 2016
Chairman's report
Much has happened since I last wrote, some of which is reported elsewhere in this newsletter, such as our recent concerts and our Quiz evening.
Our annual winter clean took place between Christmas and New Year, following which the kitchen underwent a complete pipe and floor refurbishment resulting in a watertight space. We have also purchased new chairs (and are in the process of getting rid of the old ones) whose greater comfort has been well received by our concert audiences and others.
Early in the New Year we launched a redesigned website (www.stpetersmarlborough.com) which I hope you will find attractive and informative. Do please visit it and publicise this link to all your friends. In this connection if there is anyone out there who is more social media savvy than the bulk of the trustees, please get in touch as it is clear that the more we can engage with the world via Facebook and Twitter the greater will be not only be the interest in the church, but also it will improve our Google ratings.
In addition to help of this sort we are also always on the lookout for help in three other specific areas: Tower tour guides, who operate on Saturdays Easter to early October; Gardeners to join our rota of green fingers to tend the churchyard; Cleaners to help us to keep the church swept, dusted and polished. If you are reading this and would like to help please contact me on 01672 511725 - the commitment need not be any more than you can manage, but the benefit to us all will be gratefully received.
Members will have received a letter from me at the end of 2015 explaining that the Trust is in discussion with a branch of Vodafone about the possibility of installing telecoms signal boosters in the bell chamber. As I write agreements are being thrashed out and approvals being sought by both sides, so fingers crossed we will have something sorted before too long.
At the time of going to press we received the sad news of the death of Alan Crane, a long-standing former trustee. Terry Rogers wrote an excellent tribute to Alan in our last newsletter, and a short obituary notice appears below - our sympathies go to Joyce and the family. We all owe Alan a huge debt of gratitude for all that he did for St Peter's.
David Du Croz
R.I.P.
Alan Crane
November1926 – February 2016
1944-47: Served in the East Kent Regiment 1948-92: Distinguished career with Cluttons in London ending up as Senior Partner 1992: Retired to live in Marlborough 1992-2011: Trustee of St Peter’s
In this latter role he chaired the Management Committee, masterminding the Trust’s successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund and supervising the extensive building works which resulted in 2000-01.
St Peter’s World War I Memorial (Series 4)
Richard Charles Wood Richard served as a Gunner in the 12th Battalion of the Machine Gun Corp (motors) and was 19 when he was killed in action on 12th June 1917. He is buried in Railway Dugouts Burial Ground 2km south east of Ypres in Flanders. He was the elder son of George, a carpenter, and Eleanor Wood of 78, High Street, Marlborough (north of St. Peter’s Church). Henry John Milsom Private Henry John Milsom was 22 when he was killed in action on 15th June 1917 whilst serving with the 10th Field Ambulance Unit of the Royal Army Medical Corp. He is buried in the Level Crossing Cemetery, Fampoux, 8km east of Arras, France. Henry was the son of James and Alice Milsom of 3, Russel Square, Marlborough. He had enlisted in the Territorial Force on 17th March 1913 at which time he was an apprentice tailor employed by Russel and Son. In the 1901 Census his father, James, was a chemist’s assistant at Gauntlet’s Chemists in the High Street. His brother Arthur James Milsom also fell. (See Series 3) George H. Marsh George Herbert Marsh was a Lance Corporal in the 3rd/10th Battalion of the Duke of Cambridge’s Own (Middlesex) Regiment, Football Battalion, when he was killed in action in France on 20th June 1917 aged 29. He is buried in the Duisans British Cemetery, Etrun, 9km west of Arras, Pas‐de‐Calais, France. George had enlisted on 12th December 1915 in Marlborough. When he was killed George was the husband of Edith M. Marsh of 104, High Street, Marlborough (where Greggs is now). George and Edith M.Pratt were married in Marlborough in 1911. He was a fishmonger. Francis William Sprules Private Sprules was serving in the 1st/8th Royal Warwickshire Regiment when he was killed in action on 22nd June 1917 aged 31. Francis Sprules enlisted in March 1916 and was sent to France in August 1916.
His burial place is Queant Road Cemetery, Buissy, 2km south of the Arras to Cambrai road in France. He was the son of Mary Sprules of 10, St Peter’s Terrace. Both on enlistment and in the 1911 Census his trade was given as baker at Marlborough College. Wilfred Wiggins Having enlisted in Devizes, 28 years old Wilfred Wiggins was serving as a Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, 161st Siege Battery when he was killed in action at Ypres on 24th July 1917. He is buried at the Hospital Farm, Belgium, 6.5km west of Ypres in Flanders. Wilfred was the son of Emily and Charles Wiggins of 2, Union Place, Marlborough and the husband of Margaret Wiggins of 94, High Street, Marlborough (where Carter Jonas is now). Wilfred and Margaret K Lanfear were married in Marlborough in 1915. In the 1911 Census Wilfred was listed as a general labourer and was living with his parents and younger brother. James William Birt Gunner Birt was 26 when he died in Flanders on 26th July 1917 serving with the Royal Garrison Artillery 244th Siege Battery. His memorial is on the Mennin Gate, Ypres, Belgium. James was baptized 1st November 1891 in Painswick, Gloucestershire. He was the son of Martin and Ada Birt of 1, Vicarage Street, Painswick, Stroud, Gloucestershire. James married Florence Mabel Mutton on 24th March 1913 in Trinity Church, Stroud. On enlistment his address was given as 22, St John’s Close, Marlborough and his trade as butcher. In the 1911 Census he was an assistant butcher in Cirencester. He and Florence Mabel had two children, both born in Marlborough, Margaret Florence Birt born at the end of 1913 and Martin Thomas Birt born early in 1915. Just after the war Florence is living at an address in Painswick. She presumably returned to Gloucestershire to be close to both her and James’s families. Hilary Rogers
Marlborough and the Great War
The flying of the recently acquired 1914-1918 War Remembrance Flag from St Peter’s Tower between 18th and 30th January 2016 proclaimed
another interesting and worthwhile event in the church. During those thirteen days St Peter’s hosted a clearly very well researched and professionally displayed photographic exhibition by Marlborough History Society.
Impressive arrays of fascinating, and at times moving photographs assembled by Wiltshire historian, Roger Day, followed the fortunes of both the Wiltshire Regiment and the local community through the Great War. The displays ran in chronological order, starting with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914, and ending with the victory celebration of 1918 and the unveiling of Marlborough’s War Memorial in September 1932.
Roger Day and Councillor Mervyn Hall (Pictured) Secretary of Marlborough History Society, had achieved an outstanding exhibition of striking images which were both informative and thought-provoking.
Jeremy York
Greta's Great Aunts
These pictures are certificates of baptism, confirmation and first communion from over 100 years ago for two sisters, the great aunts of Greta Moss, who is one of the church's closest neighbours, and who has been a lifelong friend of the Trust. Greta has kindly presented them to the Trust, and they have now been mounted and framed as a valuable piece of social history of this church at the end of the nineteenth century.
They recall a very important day in the lives of these two young girls when they took their first communion after being confirmed by the Bishop of Salisbury, Rebecca (known as Dolly) in 1891 and Margaret in 1900. Rebecca was the oldest of 7 children whose parents were Simeon (originally from Cherhill) and May (originally from Calne), and they lived at number 7 Figgins Lane.
Rebecca married a local policeman, William Slade, with whom she had two children, Myra and Kathleen, though tragically Rebecca died giving birth to Kathleen ‐ she is buried in the old cemetery. Margaret then became William's housekeeper and helped him to bring up the two children ‐ at some stage they moved to Devizes and the story of what happened to them then becomes harder to unravel. The certificates are beautifully illuminated, and by a strange coincidence one of Rebecca's certificates is signed by the then Rector, H.R.Whytehead, the great‐grandfather of the current Chairman of the Trust, David Du Croz.
Flag Flying on St Peter’s Church
Date Occasion Flag January 26th
Australia Day Australian National Flag
February 5th/6th Waitangi Treaty New Zealand National Flag February 6th Accession of HM The Queen (1952) Union Flag March (date variable) Commonwealth Day Union Flag March 1st St David’s Day Welsh National Flag March 10th Ordination of Thomas Wolsey (1498) Wolsey’s Arms March 17th St Patrick’s Day St Patrick’s Saltire April 21st Birthday of H M The Queen (1926) Union Flag April 23rd St George’s Day Flag of St George April 24th
Birthday of William Shakespeare (1564) Shakespeare Family Arms
May 7th Battle of Ethandine (878 ) Flag of Wessex May 19th Marlborough Charter Day Royal Arms of (Queen Elizabeth 1) (1576) Queen Elizabeth 1 May 25th Wessex Day Flag of Wessex May 30th HMS Marlborough adopted by Town Union Flag or White Ensign
June 2nd Coronation of HM The Queen Union Flag June (date variable) Official Birthday of HM The Queen Union Flag June 15th Sealing of Magna Carta (1215) Royal Standard of King John June 20th Marlborough Charter Day Royal Standard of King John (King John) (1204) June (date variable) Armed Forces Day Union Flag June 29th St Peter’s Day Flag of St Peter July 1st Dominion Day Canadian National Flag July 4th USA Independence Day Stars and Stripes
September 3rd Merchant Navy Day Red Ensign
September Battle of Britain Royal Air Force Association Standard 6th – 15th October 21st Trafalgar Day (1805) Union Flag or White Ensign October 25th St Crispin’s Day Flag of St George (Battle of Agincourt 1415) October 26th
Death of King Alfred The Great (899) Flag of Wessex
November (date variable) Remembrance Sunday Union Flag November 11th Armistice Day (1918) Union Flag November 29th Death of Cardinal Wolsey (1530) Wolsey’s Arms November 30th St Andrew’s Day St Andrew’s Saltire Various Dates 100th Anniversary of the death of 1914 ‐ 1918 2014 – 2018 individual Parishioners who died Remembrance In the Great War Flag Others Major Papal events (e.g. visit by Pope to UK) Vatican Flag In addition to the above, St Peter’s Flag will be flown as follows: On the day of a St Peter’s Trust Council meeting. On the day of St Peter’s Trust’s AGM. On the day of St Peter’s Annual Evensong (late June). At half‐mast on the death of a St Peter’s Trust Council Member and until the hour of funeral. Flags may not be flown in very high winds. Jeremy York (Constable of the Tower)
People connected with the Parish of St Peter’s Church No 7:
Dr Oliver Maurice and Rev. James Lawes
High on the walls of St Peter`s Church, just above where they were buried, is a monument in memory of Thelwall Maurice and his wife, Ann, who died in 1830 and 1849, respectively. Thelwall was the first member of the ancient Maurice family from North Wales to come to Marlborough, arriving here in 1792 as a young man aged 25 to found what was to be a dynasty of doctors who served the Town over a period of more than 200 years.
Oliver Maurice, one of the fourth generation of Marlborough Maurices was born on the 13th December, 1869 attending Marlborough College from 1883 to 1887. After training as a doctor at St Mary`s Hospital,
London he returned to Marlborough to join the family practice in 1893. In due course, he married Violet Giffard of Lockeridge House in 1901 and they made their home at Wykeham House on the South side of the High
Street and close to St Peter`s. They were speedily blessed with 2 sons – the youngest of which was to be killed in Normandy in 1944, a month after D‐Day. The photograph of Wykeham House was taken in 1907 with Oliver and their two sons on horses in front.
In addition to being a hardworking and very popular doctor, often at Savernake Hospital, he played a considerable part in the Town, founding a Marlborough Scout Troop within a year of Baden Powell starting that movement and going on to be District Commissioner of Scouting for N.E. Wiltshire. Tragically, however, his wife died of
tuberculosis in 1907 and pneumonia killed Oliver on 11th June 1912, leaving their sons as orphans at the tender ages of 9 and 7.
The whole Town was shocked and The Marlborough Times report of Oliver`s funeral – he was buried at Preshute ‐ contained the following passage: “Grief was plainly written on the faces of all, strong men were shaken with broken sobs, while the women wept freely. Quite early in the morning the flags of all public buildings were flying at half mast, while shop fronts bore the ominous black boarding and blinds were down in every house.”
It is said that even up to the 1950s many Marlborough people still remembered Dr Oliver with warm affection.
In 1792, exactly the same year in which Dr Thelwall Maurice had come to Marlborough, a 13 year old boy called James Townsend Lawes joined Winchester College and afterwards went on to graduate from Oxford in 1800. Following his ordination a year later he was appointed to teach at Warminster School. Amazingly, it was at this school that he taught the young Thomas Arnold who was to be the great reformer of Rugby School, immortalised in “Tom Brown`s Schooldays”, and whose ideas were to be the salvation of Marlborough College some 40 years later!
In 1809, at the age of 30, James Lawes arrived at Marlborough to take up the post of Headmaster of the Royal Free Grammar School, then, of course, on the site of what is now St Peter’s Junior School. At that time
this School was already over 250 years old and comprised no more than 80 pupils, half of whom were boarders, the latter being accommodated in the Headmaster’s house on the school site.
School Heads and clergymen were usually prominent figures in small towns and it is not surprising that the Rev. Lawes had connections with the Marquis of Ailesbury for the latter had appointed him to lead the Grammar School. Almost certainly the Rev. Lawes and his wife started by living in the School and directly supervising the boarders, but this seems likely to have been arduous work for a none too spectacular salary and one can well imagine Mrs Lawes being keen to have more privacy and a better life style!
There is plenty of evidence to the fact that, although he had been kind and popular with the boys at Warminster, Lawes soon achieved a fearsome reputation at Marlborough for severely beating boys – often to the extent that Thelwall Maurice was called upon to minister to the victims! – and the boys suspected that Mrs Lawes frequently urged her husband to show no mercy. Whether this apparent change in personality was caused by the pressures of a married life in conditions of little privacy or whether, perhaps, Lawes had become ill, we cannot know but, whatever the cause it cannot have been a pleasant life either for the Headmaster or for his wife. How could such a stressful situation be alleviated?
In those days, it was by no means uncommon for some priests to be “pluralists” (i.e. to draw stipends from more than one parish) and by 1818 the Marquis of Ailesbury had granted Lawes the curacy of Easton Royal (worth £100 p.a.) while a grateful ex Warminster pupil had also made him Rector of Abingdon in Surrey which was valued at £250 annually. His total income from headmaster`s salary and the livings of these two parishes would have made Lawes comfortably well off and in 1814 he seems to have paid someone to supervise the boarders in the Grammar School and help him with teaching, thereby enabling him and his wife to move out of the School and live in the High Street. This
left him enough time to attend to his regular duties at Easton Royal while he would also have paid for a curate to look after his parish in Surrey.
That Lawes was presented to the living of Easton Royal in 1814 must be related to the fact that that year coincided with a sensational case in which Lawes was taken to Court and charged with hitting a 16 year old boy, Courtenay Brice, so hard on the head that the boy was knocked unconscious and thereafter suffered from epilepsy. Although the only eyewitness to the attack was a boy whose mother refused to allow him to give evidence, Lawes was found guilty, but because there was a feeling that Brice to some extent merited a good hiding, the sentence was a fine of 6s 8d (about 33p to‐day!) together with Lawes making a public apology to the boy!
The Rev. James Lawes died at the age of 49 in the year 1828, remaining Headmaster of the Marlborough Grammar School until his death and leaving a bequest to the School. It is said that when the Grammar School was rebuilt in 1905 the building (now St Peter`s Junior School) was equipped with a bell bought with the Lawes Bequest. One wonders whether that Bell, inscribed with the name of Lawes, is still in place?
There remain two final facts to relate: firstly that both James Lawes and his wife are buried at Easton Royal and, secondly, that from 1814 to 1828 the pair of them lived at Wykeham House in the High Street! Furthermore, it seems very likely that Lawes gave the house its name as a reminder of his boyhood at Winchester College.
Dr Oliver Maurice and Rev. James Lawes: two very different men from two different generations, linked only by living in exactly the same place! And having been fortunate myself to have lived in Wykeham House for 8 years, I always think of them when I pass by that front door on The High Street!
Terry Rogers
The Janet Henderson Bequest
In the latter part of last year the Trust became the beneficiary of a very generous bequest from the estate of Janet Henderson. The money has given us the opportunity to consider a number of different projects, including for starters the completion of the chancel arch decoration. We are currently in discussion about this with Peter Martindale, the conservator who did such excellent work for us at the end of 2014. We will be sure to keep you posted of other ideas of ways in which that money could best be spent to enhance our charitable objects.
Janet was a most remarkable lady as the following extract adapted from the tribute by the Reverend Henry Pearson in Tower & Town in June 2014 shows:‐
As a young lady Janet excelled in her academic studies, getting a degree in Classics at Cambridge, had a great love of singing and music from an early age, and enjoyed playing cricket (later in life she was scorer for the Diocesan team) and rowing.
At the heart of Janet's life and faith was the cause of Christian Unity which stemmed from her time at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. She worked tirelessly for Christian Aid, and made outstanding contributions to the work of the Community and Race Relations Unit of the British Council of Churches, especially in Northern Ireland and with regard to Ugandan Asian migration. In addition to all of this she was amongst many other responsibilities a member of the Church Assembly and General Synod, a Church Commissioner, a Sarum Reader, and a great supporter of the ordination of women in the Church of England.
A wonderful trencherwoman who loved parties, a very caring and helpful neighbour, and above all for all of her life a consistently loyal Christian disciple, Janet will be fondly remembered by all who knew her.
We at St Peter's Trust have good cause to be eternally grateful for the generosity of this great woman, and we will do our best to do justice to her memory in the way that we spend the money entrusted to us.
David Du Croz
Did You Know?
Did you know: Before 1900 the boundaries of the Borough of Marlborough were as follows: Back Lane to the north, The River Kennet to the south, the College Court to the west and the River Og to the east.
Did you know: Until 1631 there was a small house in St Peter`s Churchyard for the priest. It was joined on to the Church and was situated between the north aisle and the chancel.
Did you know: St Peter`s School was housed in what is now the Town Library until 1962 when Marlborough Grammar School moved up on the hill to where St John`s School is now, allowing St Peter`s School to move into the old Grammar School building where it still remains. (With a new building shortly to be erected on Van Dieman`s Land, north of George Lane, to house all the children from both St Mary`s and St Peter`s Schools, one wonders what will happen to the current building of St Peter`s at the bottom of The Parade)
Did you know: Marlborough High Street did not get a tarmac surface until about 1920. (Before that the Street was often very muddy and there were several slightly raised cobbled paths in order to allow ladies to cross the road at various points without getting the bottoms of their long dresses dirty. One of these paths ran diagonally from what is now the Town Library to the eastern entrance to St Peter`s Churchyard.)
Terry Rogers
Everyday Life of St Peter’s
Kevin Hannam of Devizes based Wiltshire Window Cleaning Services and assistant Graham carrying out a “pure water” clean of all the internal surfaces of the windows in St Peter’s. The water was pumped from a supply housed in their van parked at the entrance to the churchyard and they only used a ladder on one occasion to reach the small clear glass window near the West apex of the roof of St Peter’s.
Anna Forbes, more familiar to St Peter’s visitors as Coffee Shop assistant, is the Head of Action River Kennet (ARK), and in October set up an excellent ARK photographic display in the church where she presented Jessie Ford with 1st Prize.
Once again the Charity Card Shop was set up in St Peter’s from October to December with Joy Buckley and Rosemary Hawes being kept extremely busy and looking forward to 2016.
Wendy, Debbie and Sheenah are really in a festive mood and ready for Christmas 2015 at St Peter’s Coffee Shop.
David Sherratt hard at work skilfully repairing one of the many flags he has made for St Peter’s, which had become frayed and shredded by strong and erratic winds.
Many hands make light work as Trustees and members of St Peter’s Trust gathered between Christmas and New Year for the annual clean.
On 15th March 49 Members and Trustees of St Peter’s Trust gathered for the 38th Annual General Meeting where business was dealt with expeditiously by Chairman David Du Croz, and followed by refreshments.
BRILLIANT YOUNG INTERNATIONAL PIANISTS AND CHAMBER MUSICIANS IN SAINT PETER’S CHURCH
The new season of recitals at Saint Peter’s church began with a repeat visit from Mai Charissa Tran‐Ringrose. She first came to play for the Brandt Group concert series three years ago aged 16. She is currently an undergraduate reading languages at Trinity College Cambridge.
The first half of her programme was devoted entirely to Beethoven; just two works, both in very sombre minor keys. First came the 32 Variations in C Minor. In these “toy” variations, lasting but a few seconds, Mai Charissa demonstrated huge technical and interpretative skills. The Beethoven Sonata 17 in D minor followed, another work in a dark key. The first movement is one of huge variations in mood: the fast sections are almost manic in intensity. The second movement has a steady and persistent rhythm, creating the atmosphere of a funeral march. Welcome relief finally arrives in the rippling and gentle allegretto movement. Mai Charissa wrung from the work the dramatic mood changes and all‐embracing sense of anguish which the work demands.
Most of the second half was devoted to Chopin. Mai Charissa began with two of Chopin’s Nocturnes, E Minor and B flat minor. Although the musical form was probably invented by the Irish pianist John Field in the early 19th century, it was Chopin who popularised the form, writing some 21 Nocturnes during his short life. They are lyrical and wistful and were very elegantly played. These were followed by Chopin’s Ballade in F Minor. Here was another musical form which Chopin popularized; the telling of a story. There are pronounced shifts
in mood, reflective passages which then lead into lighter dance‐like moments expressed with such skill that we could imagine our own “ballad”.
The Chopin experience was briefly broken with the miniature “Smyrna” which Edward Elgar had written in 1905 which visiting the eastern Mediterranean. Smyrna (now Izmir) was his first experience of Asia. This lovely work is very atmospheric, and the “colour and movement” in which Elgar incorporates traces of eastern harmonies and rhythms.
Finally came the “Grande” finale, Chopin’s Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante; two wildly contrasting works which are frequently paired for their dramatic contrast. The Andante is gentle and in complete contrast to the fireworks of the Grande Polonaise. Yet another musical form popularized by Chopin, The “polonaise” is loosely based on the rhythms of an energetic traditional Polish dance. This Polonaise, full of wild rhythms and arpeggios which test the pianist to the limit, arms stretching the length of the keyboard and hands lost in an avalanche of notes. It was a performance rapturously greeted by an appreciative audience. What a fitting end to the concert!
On 22nd November two young musicians Harry Nowakauski‐Fox (Piano) and Judith Choi‐Castro (Violin) provided us with a feast of lovely music. Harry won a scholarship to Chetham’s School Manchester in 2001 and the aged only 13, he gave his concert debut, performing the Grieg piano concerto with the Manchester Youth Orchestra.
Since then he has played in most of the familiar London venues. Judith is Spanish‐South Korean by ancestry. She studied the violin in Spain
and has since been awarded degrees from both the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music.
The first half was devoted entirely to piano works played by Harry. He began with JS Bach’s Partita No2 in C Minor, very well known to this audience. Technically demanding, Harry sailed through the very diverse movements at a cracking tempo, the notes just pouring from his finger‐tips. The Chopin Barcarolle in F Sharp Major which followed is a very different piece. A barcarolle is based on the rhythm and mood of the “barcarola”, a song sung by Venetian gondoliers. Harry articulated the rippling arpeggios which were reminiscent of sunlight on the waters of the Grand Canal. The great Piano Sonata no 21 in C major, the “Waldstein” was a complete contrast. Here is one of Beethoven’s finest piano works. Harry played the two thunderous outer movements with huge confidence, mastering the bravado that this work demands, but, at the same time, highlighting the moments of quiet contemplation found therein.
The second half saw Harry back at the piano to accompany Judith in two well‐established works for piano and violin duo. The first of these was Beethoven’s wonderful Violin Sonata in F Major known as the “Spring” sonata. Its “uncomplicated” light‐heartedness making a good contrast with the powerful Waldstein which had preceded it. Judith gave us a very personal rendering, highlighting the sometimes very intimate “conversation” between the violin and the piano. This was joy both to watch and to hear. The concert finished with a violin sonata in F Major written in 1838 by a young Mendelssohn. It is full of serene moments where the elegant melodies are reminiscent of the Songs Without Words. Played with youthful panache the breathless final movement, “a dash to the finishing line” was an exciting end to the concert, one which was recognised by many as among the best we have experienced in this long‐running series.
Christopher Rogers
Photo Quiz
On what occasion was this photo taken outside St Peter`s?
In what year did the Trustees attempt to disguise St Peter`s Tower as a minaret?
Terry Rogers
The Annual Quiz ‐ a report on brain‐teasing complexity!
Ten teams and a total of 85 gluttons for intellectual punishment gathered in the church on the night of Saturday 23rd January to pit their wits against that demon quizmaster, none other than yours truly! Weeks of training, attempts to nobble the quizmaster's wife for inside information, and underhand team‐building tactics preceded the event. Based on the form of previous years there were those who fancied their chances more than others, and some will doubtless claim that the injection of (supposed!) talent from Marlborough College might in the final analysis have tipped the balance, but truth to tell it was the closest contest on record and with less than 20 marks separating the top from the bottom going into the final guillotine round anyone could have won, including the Town Council Team (Pictured).
The quizmaster was the most discomfited after two rounds because it seemed that he had underestimated the calibre of the company with most teams scoring 80% or more and little differentiation emerging, but two rounds later after questions ranging from The Lord of the Flies and gastropods to tadpoles and avocados some front runners were beginning to make their presence felt. However, it was not until all jokers had been played for double points, four teams waiting to do so until the penultimate round, that it appeared that history might be about to repeat itself as the Osborne team surged into the lead.
With all teams scoring within a four point range on the picture round it was quite literally all still to play for. Players agonised on the tactics to be employed on the final deciding round of questions ‐ a simple true or false round on which it was possible to double your points with a full house, but at the same time face the dreaded zero with one careless slip‐up. Throwing caution to the wind, the Tower Constable's team
(Pictured) gambled everything ‐ and won by one and a half points, bringing to an end an evening of great jollification which in addition to causing much mutual merriment also raised in excess of £400 for the Trust.
P.S. do you know what an EGOT is? David Du Croz
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 10th April at 7.30pm Brilliant Young Pianist recital ‐ Kausikan Rajeshkumar
Thursday 14th April at 7.30pm Merchant's House Spring Lecture ‐ David Sherratt
Saturday 7th May at 7.30pm Piano and Clarinet concert
Sunday 15th May at 7.30pm Brilliant Young Pianist concert ‐ Ashley Fripp
Sunday 19th June at 7.30pm Brilliant Young Pianist concert ‐ Warren Mailly Smith plays Chopin
Sunday 26th June at 6.00pm Annual St Peter's Service ‐ preacher: The Revd. Edward Probert, Canon Chancellor of Salisbury Cathedral
Saturday 9th July at 7.30pm The Bridge String Quartet plays a programme including the Butterworth Suite
Friday 9th September at 6.00pm Annual Members' Drinks Party
For all Trust information and event details go to www.stpetersmarlborough.com