Chronicle Spring 2022

21 ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE

symbolic about The North Wall. Work began. The architect, Steve Tomkins, won four awards for it and good people in the arts world bought into it. I found the notes from an early NW meeting the other day. Present, as well as myself and Mike Stanfield – then Chair of Governors, without whom

It strikes me, writing this, that there are pupils at St Edwards who weren’t even born when The North Wall opened. How CAN that be? To me it seems like only yesterday. Well never mind. It’s still the only fully flexible performance space in Oxford. It’s also still the only combined school facility and arts centre in the country which has such a large footfall, shows such a range of work, receives Arts Council funding and is open to the public almost every day of the year. It may feel like old hat, but 15 years on The North Wall is still a groundbreaker and testament to what makes St Edward’s Oxford a unique school. Although my joining the School Board was essentially to help realise The North Wall, I take no credit for the idea. David Christie (he of the new learning centre) was a man of vision and he envisaged an arts centre which would give the School the same casual interaction with the public as the sports centre does – lower the barriers between school and community. This was a big ask. Arts centres sadly can’t charge the annual membership sports centres can and so the challenge was to make the building itself and its programme genuinely inclusive, open and appealing to the public. Having looked around I suggested that the dis-used pool on South Parade would be the ideal site, mainly because it could have doors onto the street as well as into the School. This caused some alarm in the boardroom: “You mean so the public can just wander in?” “Yes! Exactly that”. The anxiety seems almost quaint now given the modern complexities of child protection, but it was real then and significant since in what is

Photo: Michael Speed

the project would never have happened – were the School’s then Heads of Drama and Music, the TV producer Sue Birtwistle, Sara Everett, then a Foreign Office speech writer (she is also married to the Chair of Governors, Chris Jones), Jane Carter, Head of BBC Music, the UK head of the Discovery Channel and last, but not least, Dame Judi Dench – with apologies from Richard Attenborough. What a line up! We met at Julie’s, the London restaurant. (That aspect of North Wall meetings has gone decidedly downhill). But all those people, along with the many others that are recognised on the board inside the door, helped establish the serious intent to share the space. It is the wider world’s hard-won acceptance of that, that allows for the quality and variety of work it now hosts. The Arts Council and charitable foundations aren’t normally disposed to giving grants if there’s a whiff of independent education about it, but they support The North Wall. The North Wall is as valuable as the Donmar or the Everyman and it’s one of St Edward’s great achievements. Much has been

Dame Judi Dench and fellow guest at the Alan Bennett evening

good and innovative work. But it’s worth remembering why David Christie wanted to build it and his successors have been so equally committed to it. It was conceived principally to make the experience of being at St Edward’s more complete – rounded and real. It brings the diverse world of the arts and its practitioners, as well as the paying public right into the heart of the School and whether or not all the pupils have the time or the particular interest to attend doesn’t mean they can’t feel its pulse. To benefit from the education and facilities St Edward’s offers is undoubtably a privilege and privilege in the wrong hands can lead to complacency and entitlement. But St Edward’s is a place which values compassion, empathy, social awareness and diversity as well as achievement, academic, sporting or vocational . Its creation and continued support of The North Wall is part of that message. Changing the Story – the recent photographic exhibition curated by the award-winning poet Dr Rommi Smith – illustrates how valuable the work of The North Wall can be to the school community. The attendance by pupils and the impact on them was in the Warden’s words “an educational experience like no other”. I seem to remember CS Lewis said “we read to know we’re not alone”. True! And at its best, I believe that to be equally true of watching a play, laughing at a comedian, looking at a picture or listening to a concert. So as well as the opportunities to participate, that’s the point of The North Wall – and it’s right there on the doorstep.

made of The North Wall’s success. The Fringe First Awards at Edinburgh, the ArtsLab programme for emerging artists, the high quality of touring theatre, comedy, music and visual art that keeps the doors revolving. It has a national reputation for

George ( centre ) with Michael Attenborough CBE and Richard, Lord Attenborough at an evening with Alan Bennett at The North Wall