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ending a conversation by finding something redeeming and positive. I’ll end this piece with one memory. Back in the 1990s, a group of staff would go on church crawls. Often they were the types of schoolmaster that don’t really exist any more and on one of these trips, we went to Finchingfield in Suffolk, passing through the guildhall arch to find a perpendicular church. A clock commemorated the coronation of Edward VII and behind stood a 15th-century rood screen. Very
Society in his later years at the College. Many staff and Sixth Form students have enjoyed these trips over these years, with many boys getting their first taste of opera through the society. The productions have been largely at the ENO, varying from Benjamin Britten’s The Turn Of The Screw to more traditional Mozart productions. After encouragement from others, Mark also arranged a trip to a production of La Boheme at the Royal Opera House specifically aimed at schools. Another one of Mark’s life-long passions has been chess, and it was no surprise that Mark chose to take this on after dropping Community Service. He has organised numerous matches over the years against other schools as friendlies, part of leagues and one-day tournaments. With our own OA grandmaster in the form of Raymond Keene, OBE, Mark started up the tradition of a simultaneous chess match on Founders’ Day, pitting Ray against up to 30 boys around a large rectangle of chess boards, with the hushed atmosphere in such matches English. What caught Simon’s eye, however, was not just the tombs of the Berners family, but the Red Lion next door. Beer and churches go together, as Betjeman observed – the Quick and the Dead cheek by jowl. And joyfully here the pub hoarding simply said ‘straight-forward food’ – no branding and wild claims, simply a pie and a pint. Simon was in his element. The English landscape is a beautiful thing, captured, often romantically, by painters and poets: Mark Emson ¨ÇªËIÐÐݪ¯¯
Palmer by night, Housman by day. Larkin, another NG favourite, said that we will forever be Surprising A Hunger… To be more serious and underneath all that frivolity and humour Simon has, over the last 27 years, done something very serious, and made the College the decent school we are proud to work in today.
M ark joined Dulwich College in September 1988 from Bournemouth Grammar School, coming with a recommendation that he was a ‘jolly good young man’. He had been involved with community service at Bournemouth, making this an obvious choice for his first co-curricular contribution at the College. Colleagues from that time remember the dedication that Mark gave to the role, with several local projects including decorating local homes and visits to the British Home and Hospital for Incurables on Crown Lane. Mark had also been keenly involved with the Drama Department at Bournemouth and it was natural that he would continue this interest at Dulwich. This led to parts in several staff-student Gilbert and Sullivan productions under the keen direction of Peter Jolly, with memorable supporting performances in The Mikado , The Pirates Of Penzance and Iolanthe . As a result of this love of operatic music, whether light or more serious, Mark took on running the Opera
often in stark contrast to the events going on outside. While fairly soon most boys found themselves struggling against such a strong player, many will have taken away very good memories of the matches, not least the praise and advice given freely by Ray at the end of a match. In more recent years, Mark has devoted his energies to fencing at the College, again giving up many hours to organise inter-school matches and taking boys on weekend tournaments. The number of boys who have benefited over the years from Mark’s dedication to community service, opera, chess and fencing must be huge, and are witness to his dedication to the co-curricular side of the College. Within the classroom, Mark has always been willing to teach across the age range, from Lower School to Further Mathematics. His knowledge of the content of the latter is particularly strong, having taught all strands of the syllabus and knowing a great number of the ‘tricks of the trade’ needed for examinations. During the years when coursework was in favour as a method
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