‘Does the past exist?’ This is just one of the head- scratching questions we have endeavoured to answer over tea and biscuits on ever-darkening Friday evenings at the weekly History Society meetings in the Masters’ Library. The Society also boasts a distinguished list of visiting speakers, ranging from leading academics, writers, and documentary makers to those who have a direct personal link with great events of the past. Recent speakers have included Dominic Sandbrook, William Shawcross, Huw Edwards, Ruth Dudley Edwards, and Jane Ridley, to name but a few.
School trips The department organises a range of exciting trips for students. Year 8 pupils, for instance, traditionally spend a day at a Tudor palace, such as Hampton Court. This provides a fascinating insight into the material and visual culture of the world they study in lessons. Year 9s enjoy a trip to the battlefields of the First World War, which complements a study of the OAs who fell in the Great War; in Year 11, as they write GCSE coursework on World War II, pupils are taken on a walking tour of ‘Blitz London’. In the Upper School, pupils have the opportunity to visit one of the great cities of Europe. Recently these have included: Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Moscow and St Petersburg. ‘Lower School History Society is not only about juice and biscuits on a Friday afternoon, it’s also a time for interesting discussion and debate, as well as quizzes and games such as historical hangman. Here, boys gain a passion for History, or nurture it, and they find a place where their own unique interests can be expressed.’ Alex, Year 12
The History Society’s publication, The Historian , collates articles from our brightest young historians, invariably drawn from the loyal attendees of the Society itself. It is published to be distributed on Founder’s Day, and has focused on a range of themes, such as ‘Heroes of War’, and ‘Creation and Destruction’. The History Society has two lower branches. Middle School History Society meets weekly on Wednesday lunchtimes. Usually, boys give their own presentations on a broad range of topics of interest to them, ranging from the narrow (a history of British Airways) to the broad (the Chinese dynasties). The presentations invariably delight and are followed by dynamic discussion. Members of the department also present, with Dr Black on the Dreadnaught a firm favourite. The Lower School History Society is run by Remove pupils, who gain as much from the experience as the younger attendees. They oversee a range of activities, including video documentaries, quizzes, and battle re- enactments. And there are splendid ties to be had for the committed.
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