loyally aided by his wife Astrid. Ian would have appreciated Bell’s period style and remnants of fine fittings (although whether this rubbed off on his 30 or so young sprigs as boarders is an open question) and grew into almost the perfect picture of a rural squire in his country seat. This was in due course exchanged for Sixth-Form management and the more functional charms of Blew House between 1992 and 1997 – a unique double housemastership. It was in this already demanding atmosphere that he and Astrid managed to raise a burgeoning family. No dry as dust academic, Ian took the maxim ‘All work and no play…’ seriously and has been a loyal regular for Dusters (the staff cricket team) as well as following the fortunes of Yorkshire with a northerner’s commitment: it does not fall to everyone to ensure that their timetable was especially crafted to incorporate coaching in summer and a return to the lab when less civilised pursuits engaged Alleynians in autumn. Cricket soothes the soul and the trials and challenges of Field Courses – never his main love – were tempered on one occasion when he heard the gentle thwack of willow against leather on a village green outside the local hostelry. Already valued as a steady Common Room man, he was a natural choice as President, a role to which he brought wise counsel, shrewd financial acumen honed in his famous R ichard arrived at the College in September 1983 having completed his Chemistry degree at Cambridge, followed by his PhD. He possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of Chemistry – particularly Organic – and could produce the most fiendishly complicated synthetic pathways to challenge (and impress) his pupils. His fascinating talk on the ‘Woodward Synthesis’ was the perfect showcase for this; illustrating the marked difference between school-level and real-life synthetic pathways. Hugely respected by the boys, Richard was a knowledgeable and inspirational teacher. Patient with the less able boys, he could also stretch and challenge the most able: every year, he spent a significant amount of time giving practice interviews to prospective Oxbridge candidates. I am sure the boys were grateful for the time and care Richard gave to this task; ensuring that the interview was challenging, constructive, yet supportive. He also enjoyed performing exciting ‘pops-and-bangs’ demonstrations; however, this did not always go to plan. On one occasion, I heard a massive bang coming from one of the courtyards in the Science Block, followed by gasps from the boys, and then a coughing and spluttering Richard, who had inhaled a significant amount of chlorine gas. Richard appointed me when I arrived in 2001, and I always found him to be an incredibly supportive
‘Escape Committee’ advice to impecunious colleagues on the stock market, and supreme tact and tenacity. He did not accept the shoddy in thought or deed: his measured putting of governors on the spot in staff meetings was a master-class in interrogation worthy of a Mr Nice from the Lubyanka Prison. Alongside a formidable intellect and social conscience lies the man himself – concerned for welfare and never one to take himself (or others) too seriously. His wickedly dry sense of humour has been evidenced not only in that characteristic roar of laughter in Science or Main common rooms but also on what was once the focal point of the Dulwich Staff, the Common Room notice board, where unobtrusively would appear from time to time another in a series of Private Eye -style spoof communiqués on such searching and topical issues as the Great Chicken Coop debate or our version of a Country Life staff pinup. Thus we thank Ian for all that he has been and given to Dulwich; as someone who has spread his talents widely but not thinly; who has borne his learning lightly and helped us to keep things in perspective in an, at times, frenetic existence. May the pleasure and inspiration to Alleynian generations and colleagues alike stand as tribute – as Wren, another multi achiever, has it, ‘Si monumentum requiris circumspice’. We wish him and Astrid a fruitful retirement and anticipate the next volume from his pen with relish. Head of Department. His advice and help was (and continued to be) invaluable: he was always on hand to provide a listening ear and words of encouragement. Over the years, he moderated vast amounts of both GCSE and A-level practical assessments – fuelled by copious quantities of Diet Coke. He undertook this soul-destroying task for many years, and it was always completed with characteristic precision and care. Having stepped down from running the Chemistry Department (which he did tirelessly for 13 years), he took over the role of coordinating PGCE Student Teachers. All were grateful for his patience, positive encouragement, and constructive criticism on how they could improve. Besides his work in the Chemistry Department, Richard was involved in a variety of outdoor pursuits. Passionate about cricket, he led the U11A side to victory on numerous occasions. He helped with the CCF for many years and has also supported Duke of Edinburgh’s award expeditions and Scout events on Field Days. We are all going to miss Richard’s good humour, sound advice and companionship tremendously. I hope that he and his wife Cathy enjoy their retirement, perhaps having more time to indulge their passion for sailing and narrow- boating, and will come back to visit us from time to time.
Maggie Jarman
Jo Akrill
O ne of the Common Room’s most distinctive, creative and colourful members, Maggie Jarman joined the Geography department in 1984, having previously taught at Clifton High School for Girls and for the Field Studies Council. The College was then more solidly masculine than at present. Maggie joined as one of relatively few female teaching staff, and, unsurprisingly, her vivid self- presentation did not go unnoticed at her interview. She was delighted to be offered the job by the Master, David Emms, but she soon discovered that he had doubts about certain aspects of her original and colourful look. On arriving at the College, she was approached by two female teachers, both well known for their air-hostess approach to style, who had been assigned the task of dispensing wardrobe advice. They strongly recommended the immediate purchase of a skirt-suit and several pairs of Marks and Spencer court shoes. Needless to say, their advice fell on deaf ears, and Maggie continued to plough her own orange, purple and green sartorial furrow. Colourful costumes have been a keynote of Maggie’s career in more ways than one. When she arrived at the College, eager to become involved with theatrical productions, the theatre wardrobe was rudimentary. Maggie’s dedication, seamstress’s eye for detail, and astonishing ability to convert even the most humble charity-shop bargain into a robe fit for a king, has turned it into one of the best-equipped school costume stores around. If you visit the theatre wardrobe, you will find it crammed to the gills with ruffs and hats, boots, breeches and bodices. Over the years, these have been ingeniously re-vamped, re-invented and re-imagined by Maggie to suit the needs of generations of directors. Another of Maggie’s major and lasting contributions to Drama at the College was her setting-up, in her first half term, of the Lower School Drama Club. Many memorable whole- school productions have included contributions from these younger boys. Highlights include Lower School boys’ inventive puppeteering in the opera Paul Bunyan , through which they depicted Paul’s metamorphosis from boy to giant, and Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure , costumed by Maggie, in which Chiwetel Ejiofor’s brooding Angelo was overlooked by a group of grimy, insalubrious prison inmates drawn from the ranks of Lower School Drama club. Indeed, her involvement in the theatre at the College has spread to almost every level during her career, including directing productions and even writing scripts. Her direction of The Fantasticks introduced Nigel Harman to the world of music theatre and set him on the road to winning the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical; her production of The Long and the Short
and the Tall was a beautifully judged piece, vividly evoking the wartime experiences it depicted. The past few years alone have seen her work on an astonishing range of productions, including an experimental 25-minute Metamorphosis , a superbly costumed version of A Winter’s Tale , a shadow-puppet retelling of The Signalman with voice and live sound, a riotous Fifty-Minute Faustus , an energetic Volpone , a psychedelic Midsummer Night’s Dream , a moving Hiawatha and, for this year’s Founder’s Day, a pared-down Henry V , bringing what one colleague calls her ‘undeniable magic’ to the stage. Maggie’s eye for beauty and detail is central to her academic interests as a Geographer. She is drawn to the colours and patterns of the natural world, as evidenced by her Lower School classroom, LS11, a treasure-trove of rocks and mineral samples. From continental drift to the specific details of a single soil profile, she has shared her love of Physical Geography with generations of pupils, whose fond memories of her lessons bear witness to her inspirational teaching. While she has enjoyed teaching throughout the school, Maggie has always particularly loved working in the Lower School, thanks to the curiosity and enthusiasm of those young minds. Her Lower School Assemblies, with their stunning visuals, have covered a range of topics, from coral reefs and global warming to the many uses of the humble nettle, and will be much missed. No overview of Maggie’s career could exclude her enduring connection with the Field Centre at Glyntawe in the Brecon Beacons, to which she has accompanied over 40 groups of pupils. On her arrival at the College, the Field Centre had just been purchased with the help of the Friends of Dulwich College, (for which Maggie went on to be Common Room rep for 11 years), and part of her brief was to help use it to its best academic advantage. Three members of the Geography Department – Steve Hoyle, David Rose and Maggie – made their inaugural visit in February 1985, and Maggie was henceforth instrumental in ensuring that visits to the Field Centre were academically and creatively inspiring. Countless Lower School boys benefitted from her input: from ‘find the best fossil’ to flower-spotting, from ghost story evenings to recreating the Henrhyd Falls in collage, trips to the Field Centre were never dull when Maggie was involved. Equally notable have been the five (soon to be six) trips to Iceland run by Maggie. A Geography department colleague who accompanied her on the most recent trip praises ‘her love of the outdoors and her very genuine wish (and ability) to pass this on to her students. On the trip, the boys spent perhaps an hour on the Westman Islands just sitting and looking at the view, in Maggie’s company. I can’t think of many teachers who would
Richard Jones
Lucy Rand
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