St Edward's 150 Years - by Nicola Hunter

St Edward’s: 150 Years

Chapter 7 / Sport and Outdoors

Below: EdwardWomersley, Tortoise Relays 2007. Below left: Patrick Hinton in water splash, 2009.

Below centre: Fin Kettlewell at the Longworth 10K. Below right: Harriers training in snow 2013.

CROSS COUNTRY SNOW

Left:TheSchoolswimmingsquadin1960.Atthistimethere was a second pool housed in what is now the North Wall. The listed mosaics still lie beneath the theatre.

The number of Harriers has now swelled to nearly 50 runners since 2010 and we split into four groups for training. The race calendar has also expanded to approximately ten races against other schools during the Lent term, alongside Oxford Mail League races and local road races throughout the year. The number and quality of girl runners has also steadily increased and the girls were crowned County Champions in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The intensity of the sessions has not diminished for the top runners, and now a notable annual run is the 13-mile loop to watch the Rugby Club play at Radley College. Pupils are encouraged to think about their training; for example senior Harriers use GPS watches to monitor and record their runs. Our goal for the future is to continue to support and develop quality athletes, with pupils being selected for the County teams and beyond. However, I also hope that pupils will enjoy their running here at Teddies and form good habits for later life; it is always good to hear of former Harriers who are still running. Lewis Faulkner Master in Charge of Harriers The really bad winter of 1962/3 started in Oxfordshire on Boxing Day with heavy snow that seemed to continue for weeks. Throughout the Easter term there were mounds of snow and freezingtemperatures.Manysportswerecancelledoradaptedtothe conditions. Not so for the cross country team. Out in all weathers training and not a single match cancelled! The match at Radley requiredwadingthroughthigh-deepdriftsinjustasingletandshorts! – Steven Handscombe (G, 1957–63)

SWIMMING In headier days for swimming at St Edward’s, in 1984, Andrew Alan Moore (A, 1979–84) held every swimming record at the School in all age groups. Swimming lessons now take place in The Oxfordshire Health and Racquet Club indoor pool. In 2012 St Edward’s swimming has seen something of a revival under coaches Dr Anthony Bullard, Catherine Day and Rebecca Clark, with teams competing in galas against Downe House and Radley College and with the inaugural House Swimming Gala, which took place in the Autumn Term. Anthony Bullard Master in Charge of Swimming

per week. In the autumn of 2004 we entered the Oxford Mail Cross Country League (and we remain the only school to enter a team into the league). This provides a good backbone of tough cross-country races on the first Sunday of every month from November to March. It was an excellent achievement to win the U17 Boys’ trophy in 2006 against some very competitive athletics and cross country clubs in the region. The Harriers went on to finish third in the Oxford University Tortoise relays and seventh in the King Henry VIII relays, against schools from across the country. The U19 boys were County Champions in 2007 and 2008, and in 2008 half of the Senior Boys Oxfordshire County team was made up of St Edward’s runners.

JOHN WADHAM (G, 1954–58)

Above: The outdoor pool in 1955. It was demolished in 1999 but was extremely popular right up until the end. Below: Centenary display, 1963.

John started to fish in 1955 andbecame obsessed. He was often late forChapel and other events of the School day due tofishing.Thesetwo pike were caught on spinners made from teaspoons. His Housemaster allowed him to fish, but he had to

run to his chosen spot, sometimes as far as Thrupp! This meant that in the Lent Term of 1956 he ran the 220 and 440 particularly fast for the School Standards, thereby pleasing his Housemaster. He writes:‘Each line I write takes me back to happy days at St Edward’s. So much so, that I still get enormous nostalgic pleasure out of fishing the canal that runs alongside the School grounds.’

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