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In
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In The News - May and June 2009 |
We start with tributes to a headmaster of another school, Melville College. Their last headmaster, Roger Sheriff (28-39), died on 3rd May. Obituaries in The Scotsman and in Life & Times tell of a man who was held in warm regard both as a teacher and a headmaster. He had a keen love of languages and, having been a member of the intelligent services in Italy during the war, when he became fluent in Italian and German, he went up to Queen's College, Cambridge, where he gained a double first in French and Spanish. He taught in Birkenhead and Leeds before taking up the appointment at Melville College in 1962. He oversaw the merger with Daniel Stewarts College in 1972 and retired as senior deputy headmaster from the united Stewart's Melville College in 1982.
Another obituary appeared in The Scotsman in May, that of David Ross Stewart (37-39). At the outbreak of the war, David left the Academy for St Mary's Melrose, later gaining a scholarship to Rugby and an exhibition to Clare College, Cambridge. He became involved in business and in 1968, became managing director of the map-makers, John Bartholomew & Son in Edinburgh. Taking after his grandfather, inventor of the salmon fly the Garry Dog, he was a keen fisherman all his life and was president of the Edinburgh Angling Club for a number of years.
There is a medical slant to this month's In the News. Alan Robertson (87-97) was on Radio 4's Today programme at the end of May and Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland at the start of June, discussing the European Working Time Directive and its implementation in hospitals. Alan is a member of the BMA's Junior Doctors Committee.
At the sharp end, Matt Cheesman (83-96) appeared on BBC1's Frontline Doctors on 19th June. As a newcomer to the air ambulance service, Matt was thrown into the deep end, first having to deal with a head-on crash, which left a car driver unconscious and seriously hurt. He had to anaesthetise the driver in order to fly him to A&E, though he'd never done this out of hospital before. Later in the day, he had to do it all over again with a farmer who had been trampled by a herd of bulls — and the drama increased when one of the bulls escaped.
The surgeon and lecturer Joseph Bell (1847-54) featured in The Scotsman of 18th May in an article about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edinburgh. Joseph had been one of Sir Arthur's mentors while he was at the medical school and was the inspiration behind the author's most universally known creation, Sherlock Holmes.
Scotland on Sunday of 31st May carried a feature on Tommy Macpherson (26-30), Britain's most decorated former soldier. Tommy, brother of the rugby legend, G.P.S. Macpherson (09-16), led a commando force that harassed the Germans by 'setting Europe ablaze', blowing up roads, railway lines, bridges and, his favourite, electricity pylons. After the war, he played rugby for London Scottish and was invited to join the athletics squad for the 1948 Olympics, which he turned down because he 'could not spare the time'. Amongst the photographs of Tommy is one of a very innocent-looking Junior School pupil.
On the Radio 4 Today programme on 8th June, the Australian town of Maryborough featured as having hosted the biggest pub-crawl in the world. 4657 people had taken part in the event on the previous day. "Maryborough is famous for not very much," said the commentator, "except that P.L. Travers, author of 'Mary Poppins' was born there". Her great grandfather, Robert Morehead (1824-26) had emigrated there and his daughter, Helen, was the model for Mary Poppins.
Nicky Campbell (66-78) chairs the BBC1 show, The Big Questions. He found himself on Sunday 7th June at Tonbridge School discussing, amongst other items, whether private schools should be abolished. In the following programme, The Politics Show, Charlie Falconer (57-65) was being asked about Labour Party politics. "We are moving moderately quickly," he said, "towards the need for change and that change may be a change in leadership."
On the sporting front, we are pleased to advise any of you who didn't already know it, that Mike Blair (86-99) was selected for the Lions team visiting South Africa. He has played in two district matches, against the Royals on 29th May and the Southern Kings on 16th June, as well as being on the bench in a couple of other matches. In a feature on the history of the British Lions in South Africa on the IRB web site, William Maclagan (1869-76) was described as having attended 'Scotland's leading rugby nursery', the Edinburgh Academy. He was also a notable member of the Scotland team in the first Calcutta Cup match in 1879.
Lastly, letters to The Scotsman during May and June have included contributions by Fenton Robb (38-39) on the inefficiency of carbon capture and storage, David Hamill (staff 84-89) on the comparison between MPs' salaries and those of teachers and social workers, Ranald Coyne (44-46) pointing out the difference between greed and dishonesty in MPs' claims for expenses, Sandy Macpherson (47-54) on memorials to the nursing pioneer, Elsie Inglis, and Michael Romer (58-65) on the size of new Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy's butt — in relation to her claim for a 'butt of sack', the sherry traditionally given to the Poet Laureate.
Appearances in the Fringe and other summer events
Saturday 25th July 2009: Nick Keir (1958-70) will be performing at a Folk Night at the Heritage Centre in Corstorphine as part of the Edinburgh Homecoming Week. The concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are £8 to members of the Corstorphine Trust and £10 to non-members — phone 0131 316 4246 for details.
Saturday 1st August 2009: Catherine Backhouse (1998-2000) will be singing in St. Mary's Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh. The recital with Sam Hutchings (piano) starts at 1:00pm and entrance is free.
Wednesday 5th August, Peter Backhouse (staff 1990-) will be performing a celebrity organ recital in St Giles Cathedral (Jackson 'Capriccio', Krebs 'Trio in F', Carter 'Passacaglia', Atkinson 'A Little Liturgical Suite', Mendelssohn 'Sonata I'). The recital starts at 8pm. Tickets are £7 (accompanied children free) from St Giles Cathedral Shop (0131 226 0673) or at the door.
Sunday 16th August: Nick Keir (1958-70) will be performing as a member of the McCalmans at Queens Hall, Edinburgh, as part of the Festival Fringe. The concert starts at 7.00pm. Tickets are £12 (concessions available). The McCalmans have a new live album, 'Coming Home', released in March of this year.
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