vicinfo3

Return to my Societe Pages index

Return to the School Master Index: VCIndex1.htm

A Short History of Victoria College: 1980-1989

Compiled by A.M. Bellows

1980

On 23rd March 1980, Mr R.A. Postill, M.A., T.D. died at Verrington Hospital, Somerset, aged 73. He had been unwell for some time. Mr Postill had been headmaster for twenty-one years from 1946 to 1967.

Two memorial services were held in the Great Hall, one for the Old Victorians, and one for the present school. In an memorial address to the latter, College master L.A. Landick (who had served for sixteen years under Mr Postill) remarked that "Ronald Postill led the massive task of post-war reconstruction, appointing staff, instituting many activities and traditions upheld to this day.". Mr Landick went on to comment that two years earlier, Mr Postill had presented the Postill Trophy for cricket bowling to the College at an Old Victorian’s dinner, and this, and his name on the headmasters board, would remain to remind the school of him. Bible readings were also given by the current headmaster, Martyn Devenport, and the vice-president of the Old Victorian’s Association, Advocate F.C. Hamon. The service ended with a verse of the Carmen.

As well as the death of Ronald Postill, the year was also marked by the death of Senator Cyril Le Marquand (at College 1916-1919), who collapsed and died on 27th February 1980, aged 77, while attending a colleague’s funeral. "Father of the House" in the States’ Assembly, he had been a member of the States for 32 years, with the last 23 of these as Jersey’s "chancellor" - president of the Finance and Economics Committee.

Michael Wagstaff was awarded a King Charles I Scholarship at Pembroke College, Oxford, to read engineering science.

The School Science Fair again had overall prize winners from the College. This was, jointly, Simon Bisson and John Le Fondre for their Channel Tunnel project.

Bertram Bree was chosen by the Young Ornithologists Club of Great Britain to be their "young ornithologist of the year".

The Drama Society (linking Victoria College and Jersey College for Girls) produced "Charley’s Aunt". This was notable for the performance of a young Russell Labey as Stephen Speltigue "showing great promise as a character actor", according to the review. The three main leads were taken by Jeremy Taylor (winner of the Kenneth More prize for drama), Sean Patterson and Guido Omissi; the latter stole the show with his drag act as the spurious Donna d’Alvadorez.

The newly formed Victoria College Miniature Rifle club completed its first season, with approximately eighty boys shooting each week.

The Computer Studies activity saw three new 380Z microprocessor research machines made available at Highland’s College, which moved from tape storage to 5 inch and 8 inch diskettes, and could be used for BASIC programming.

The Electronics Activity saw the first four entrants to the A/O level in "Electronics and Electricity"; all passed, with pupil Andrew Gray gaining a well-deserved "A" grade.

Football had a bad season, losing to Elizabeth College 1-5 at home, and 0-1 away. Hockey also saw the College lose to Elizabeth 1-2, and the College also lost its cricket matches. However the Victorians redeemed themselves in the squash match against the Elizabethans, with a resounding 5-0 win; the College plays winning their games with ease. They became the first holders of a handsome trophy donated and presented by Mr Harry Hickling.

An Old Victorian making the news was Mark J. Boleat; during the year, he contributed articles about the Channel islands for the Daily Telegraph and the Investors Chronicle.

In July, Derek Cottrill left the College to take up theological training in preparation for ministry in the Church of England. "Beaky" as he was popularly known, was, as colleague Stephen Lucas remembered "a reserved and private person, yet one endowed with a well-developed sense of humour". D.J. Cottrill came to the College in September 1969 to teach history, moving to take on the position of Head of the Junior School in 1976. He researched the history of Victoria College, and wrote the history "Victoria College 1852-1972", which was published in 1977.

Also leaving was Lieut.-Colonel R.J. Finch. "Dick" Finch, as he was known had graduated in French and German in 1936, spent twelve years in the Regular Indian Army, having a distinguished military career which ended abruptly when he was wounded and invalided out of the army. He came to Victoria College as a master in 1936, and had over the years demonstrated his wide-ranging abilities by teaching English, French, Latin, German, Geography, Mathematics and History, and taking on the position of Housemaster at College House from 1967 to 1974. He was also noted for his "authoritative voice of command" by C.C.F. cadets on the parade ground.

The aforementioned D.J. Cottrill had also been Group Scout Leader for the 11th Jersey Scout Troop (comprising cubs, scouts and venture-scouts), and this post was now filled by P.T. Germain, with D. Penri-Evans taking over as Scout Leader for the College Scouts themselves.

P.T. Germain also received the Chief Scouts commendation for his work in organising the Scout’s Island Gang Show; the College entry included camels, Spaniards and Scotsmen!

The transfer from cubs to scouts and onwards to venture scouts was now becoming a regular occurrence, and the entire group now had around 100 members, with 34 in the College Scouts. A reorganisation of patrols led to new patrol names being given - Eagles, Lions and Kingfishers.

Given the increased numbers, and the cost of hiring transport for excursions, it was decided to look towards the purchase of a 15 to 20 seat minibus; this would be named the "Jubilee Bus", in recognition of 60 years of continuous Scouting at the College.

The C.C.F. saw a reorganisation of leadership, with Group Captain J.W.E. Holmes standing down from command of the R.A.F. section, and A.E. Hill taking over. Also J.L. Le Breton handed over the R.N. section to A.J. Dykes, so that he could concentrate more fully on shooting.

More Old Victorians made the news with Michael De La Haye (College 1969-1976) awarded an honours degree in French at the University of Nottingham, with distinction in the spoken language. He left the Island to take up a teaching post under the Tunisian government.

Following in the steps of Derek Cottrill, Old Victorian Stephen Mourant (1965-1973 at College) left the Midland Bank Trust to go to St. John’s College, Nottingham to study theology as a prelude to entering the Church of England ministry.

Senator Ralph Vibert (College entrance in 1923) was voted into office by the States as Jersey’s new "Chancellor" - President of the Finance and Economics Committee.

Finally, the year saw the death of former master Lieut.-Colonel R.L. Eden. Born in 1904, he died on 30th September 1980, aged 76. Eden began his teaching at the College in 1931 as an assistant master teaching physics, and he reorganised the department on more scientific lines than had hitherto been the case. During his time at College, he was at one time Careers Master, Head of Science, Vice Principal, Master in charge of shooting and Officer Commanding C.C.F. In the latter capacity, he had commanded the Corps through its O.T.C. days to its reformation after the Occupation as the J.T.C., then as it is now, the C.C.F. He was admired also for his ability to defuse conflicts with his calm manner and quiet humour. When told that a room would be named "Eden" to commemorate his service to the College, he commented wryly that "It’s nice to have a thought of paradise on the way to purgatory".

1981

At the start of the year, College House saw a complete refurbishment. Floors were carpeted, curtains hung in windows, and the dormitories had new showers, baths and lavatories fitted. The kitchens were re-equipped to include a modern style canteen for day books. Able to take up to fifty boarders, this was an attempt to revitalise the boarding facilities, and stem the declining numbers, by modernising the building.

At the end of the Spring Term, Miss L.S.E. Biddles left to further her teaching career in Canada. Also leaving was P.W. Doughty, teacher of English and History.

On 21st April 1984, former teacher Captain N.C. "Paddy" Blomfield died, aged 70. Prior to retirement, he had been a member of staff at Victoria College for 35 years. He would be most remembered for his donation, in 1964, of the much coveted Blomfield Trophy, which is awarded each year for the best House in Sports.

Later in the year, on 16th August 1981, Mr Aubrey Basset Jolley, former master at VCP, died.

Channel Television televised a local School Science Quiz. The Victoria College Team - Jonathan Egre, Timothy Le Breton and Brian Murray - were victorious over Elizabeth College Guernsey.

It was also a good year for the College in the School Science Fair, with Daniel Laffoley being overall winner of the Shell Shield of Science for his project on bats; he also earned a place on the BBC Television Young Scientist of the Year programme.

Fame to came to John Searson, who was given the accolade by the Jersey Sport’s Council of being their Sport’s Personality of the Year.

The Dramatic society saw Ward Jenner and Dominic Omissi take the leads in a dramatisation of Shakespeare’s "As You Like It".

The Computing Activity saw the introduction of four Videogenie microprocessors in addition to the 380Z. A.C. Lavery’s "Othello" program also gained the first prize in the Computing section of the School Sciences Fair.

The school library was the beneficiary of an extensive range of books covering every aspect of Chinese life and culture; this was entitled the "Cole Wou Memorial Collection" and donated by the parents of Wou in memory of their son.

Teachers leaving in the summer included two mathematics teachers - Michael Allnut and Ian McWhinney, both of whom who had taught at College from 1976 to 1981. Group Captain J.W.E. Holmes, English Teacher (and World War II flying ace), also retired, while Ronald Youngs retired as Head of English, but continued to teach part-time.

The new Head of English was newcomer Mr. M. Talibard. Also joining the College staff were Mr. Baker (mathematics, with special responsibility for computing), Mr A. Hamel (modern languages master), Mr Du Feu (mathematics) and Mr Norwoood (technical studies).

Daniel Hopwood won a scholarship to study at Atlantic College in Wales; he was the first student from Victoria College to go there.

The Prefect System came under fire when Peter Gem, Housemaster of Braithewaite, thought it could be improved by making all year seven boys School Prefects as this would reduce the burden of duties on them; also, he thought that the system created, in the upper years, "a so-called elite, where none actually exists". However, Brian Vibert, Deputy Head, did not see any changes were needed in the future. It is noteworthy than Peter Gem’s changes, although not taken up, were in fact a reversion to the position of Headmaster G.S. Farnell who, in 1893, introduced the Prefect System, but gave the post to all sixth form pupils.

On 9th July 1981, Victoria College witnessed the first "Rock Concert" in its 129 year history. Aiming to raise money for the International Year of the Disabled, this featured local band "Back in Omar’s Moustache are Fab" supported by "Captain Quake and the Shaking Mysterons".

The Scouts finally succeeded in raising enough funds for the purchase of their "Jubilee" minibus, although £600 was still required, and had to be loaned. The minibus was officially presented to the Scouts during the "Superstars Fete" by the Chairman of the Group, Mr David Binnington.

1982

Academic success featured again this year, with Kevin Liffey winning an Open Scholarship to Queen’s College, Cambridge.

New teachers starting this year included Mr Gilson (Geography), Mr Pickup (Chemistry and Biology) and Mrs Wilton (English and History), and Mrs Smith.

Retiring was long serving teacher Mr Fred Lang. He had been a member of staff since 1959, and had been head of physics. However, he was also a student of classics, and as recently as 1977 had been the only member of staff capable of marking the Common Entrance Examination paper of a candidate who offered Greek.

Also leaving was Mr Penri-Evans, teacher since 1979, who had also been Scout Leader, and Choirmaster at St Mark’s Church.

A new canteen was open. This was situated on the site of the 6th form common room and the Scout’s tuckshop. A choice of food was offered, including hamburgers, chicken and mushroom pie, beefburgers, along with chips, spaghetti, potatoes, mixed vegetables and drinks. It was found that the majority of the school’s pupils used the canteen occasionally, with well over 200 using it daily.

The Drama Society saw the final production by Ronald Youngs. This was "Romeo and Juliet" with Ward Jenner as Romeo and Tracey Browne as Juliet. Russell Labey also garnered a good review for his jovial buffoonery as Capulet.

The Electronics activity group, under the supervision of Mr E. Le Quesne, saw pupils Peter Rayson and David Speight producing a testing device for Mr John Birtwhistle, the States of Jersey Educational Psychologist; this would test the capabilities of the mentally handicapped, and cost £100 in parts to do what a commercially available machine costing £2,000 could do. Rayson and Speight would go on to win the Shell Shield of Science in the School Science Fair for this work.

Chess was undergoing a revival at the College. Pupil Jon Hawes became the new Island Under Nineteen Champion, while M. Rombold won the Under Twelve Championship and went on to represent Jersey in the Under Sixteen Island Chess Team.

In the summer, another long serving teacher to leave was Colonel Hamon, who had decided to now retire from part-time teaching.

Also Mrs Smith left at the end of the summer term, being the first member of staff in the history of the College to leave to have a baby. Later, in October, she gave birth to a daughter, Jessica.

New members of staff in the Autumn term included I. Simpson (Physics) and P. Fekete (English)

Braithewaite won the Blomfield Trophy for the first time in twelve years.

In July 1982, the well-known actor, Old Victorian Kenneth More, died after a long illness. Born on 20th September 1914, he had come to the Island when his father was appointed manager of the Jersey Eastern Railway, and began his acting career while at the College. He was best known for classic films such as "Geneviere" and "Reach for the Sky", and on Television in "The Forsyte Saga". In 1957, he had presented the school with an oil painting of King Charles I, which hangs prominently in College Hall, but equally lasting a legacy was his institution in 1962 of the annual Kenneth More Prize for Drama.

Another Old Victorian to die this year was H.H. "Skin" Le Quesne, at College from 1922 to 1929. The founder of Le Quesne’s Chemist, he died suddenly on 1st September 1982.

1983

The Great Hall was refurbished, with a new oak floor being laid.

In April, pupil Alan Hilton was awarded a grant from the Barreau Art Scholarship, being accepted to study art at Christchurch College, Canterbury.

The Scouts also made the news with Trevor Prouse being chosen as on of the Island representatives for the 15th World Scout Jamboree; this was held in West Canada, in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.

The College Rock Group "Slip of the Tongue" were formed this year, and performed in the Howard Davis Theatre.

The Computing Activity Group saw the introduction of the new BBC microcomputer. This popular activity had now grown to 70 members.

Pupil Mark Rumbold continued to demonstrate his marked ability at chess, being the youngest ever winner of the Jersey Chess Club’s Norcroft Trophy.

On the 14th May 1983, former teacher Reg Nicholle died, aged 75. Best known for his sterling work with the R.N.L.I., Reg had been a much loved "character" at College, whose stirring stories of the sea would be long remembered, as well as his booming voice reverberating across the gymnasium. His funeral took place at the Town Church, which was filled to overflowing, when many congregated to pay their respects to this famous Jerseyman. A memorial service was also held at College Hall on 23rd May 1983. Modestly, he was commemorated at College by a simple plaque on the wall of the gymnasium, which reads "R.J. Nicholle, O.V., served here 1940-1971. Floreat Collegium"

At the end of the summer term, Mr Smyth left; he was a French and German teacher, who was also House Master in charge of College House; the latter position was now filled by Mr. J.P. Clapham.

It was a good year for football, with Victoria College beating Elizabeth College 2-1. Pupil Bino Campanini also completed trials with two mainland football clubs - Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton and Hove Albion.

Cricket also saw Elizabeth College out for a mere 160, losing to the College team.

A third win for the Victoria College against Elizabeth College came with squash, where Victoria won easily 3-0.

Another sport, new to the College, was golf. Here, Michael Preston won the Le Hocq Open with a handicap of 19.

In shooting, Xavier Gotel won equal third place on the English Skeet Home International at Melton Mowbray with his prowess in clay pigeon shooting; he scored 97x100, while the winner got 99x100.

Also with shooting, Paul Willing and Tom Child were picked to shoot for Canada.

The C.C.F. saw the retirement of Captain Frank Mustow (teacher 1959-1983) after a career in the marines spanning 23 years. He was presented with an inscribed cigarette lighter.

This year was notable for a number of Old Victorians making the local news.

R.W. "Bob" Le Sueur (at College 1932-1938) made the news with an amusing and informative letter published about his "Five Month Jaunt to Asia". Bob had actually taught English for 24 years at rival school Hautlieu until his retirement in 1981.

Another Old Victorian in the news was Geoff Hamon (at College 1934-1941) who retired from the position of Jersey’s Comptroller of Income Tax after 29 years.

Famous Old Victorian Colonel Blashford Snell began looking for volunteers for his new expedition, Operation Raleigh.

Reverend Stephen Mourant (at College 1965-1973) gained his Bachelor of Theology Degree at the University of Nottingham, and was ordained into the ministry of the Church of England on 3rd July.

Jolyon J.S. Baker (at College 1971-1975) gained his equity card in Gilbert and Sullivan’s "HMS Pinafore" at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Festival Theatre.

Lieut-Colonel "Mick" R. Lanyon (at College 1954-1962) returned to Jersey to take up the post of Commandant at Jersey Airport.

1984

The college magazine, "The Victorian", underwent a facelift, with a new format and larger, more readable print

In April, a team of 7th year "economists" received a prize for finishing first in the Channel Islands Section of Williams & Glyn’s "Stock Piler" competition. Paul Le Marrec, Gary Keeling, Seamus Morvan, Neil Harris, Peter Purvis and Jonathan Hubbard were presented with a trophy from the bank’s local manager, Ray Sidaway. Eighteen teams had taken part in the Islands.

The summer term saw the departure of a large number of teachers. Leaving to other schools were Mrs Wilton, Mr Evans, Mr A.J. Vardon and Mr L. Inness. Retiring from teaching were Mr J. Martland and Mr R. Gasston.

Mr Peter Gem, although retiring from full-time teaching, would continue part time. He donated a Drama Cup to be presented annually for a House Drama competition. The entry by Braithewaite won the cup this year, with their performance of "The Hole", directed by Robert Godel.

The new Head Prefect, Adrian Staite, also demonstrated a flair for drama, winning the Kenneth More Prize for Drama.

New teachers arriving in the autumn included Mrs Montgomery (Economics Department), Mrs Curgenven (Physics and Technology), Mrs Chipperfield (Chemistry), Miss Arnold (English and Drama), Mr Haydon (Modern Languages) and Mr Chevrau. The College was now seeing quite an influx of female teachers.

Music teacher Mr Davis acquired for the department the use of a BBC microcomputer; on a more conventional note, he also set up a Junior and Senior String Quartet. Music was undergoing a revival at College, with fine soloists Jeremy Averty on the Trombone and James Fisher on the Viola.

Sadly, the year saw the death of former College music teacher Ken Parry; aged only 54, he died in England, where he was living. Ken had been music teacher at three island schools including College (from 1962-1971), and was instrumental in 1967 for being one of the founders of the Jersey Youth Orchestra. He was also noted to be a good sportsman and games master.

The Chess Activity on Friday afternoons widened its remit to include all board games. As well as chess, other games such as "Risk", "Ulcers" and "Scrabble" were also played.

In the Autumn, the Marine Biology Activity group was re-formed after a lapse of ten years. Among other projects was observation of the effect of the invasion of the Japanese seaweed "Sargassum" in the gullies in Jersey, particularly at La Rocque.

Lastly, it was a troubled year for scouting, with numbers of the College troop dropping to a mere ten boys; fortunately, the cub packs at Prep were flourishing with numbers up to thirty.

1985

Early in the year, Mr. Haden (French) and Mr Sheldrake (Geography) left the College. Mr Sheldrake was starting a new career in education for the visually handicapped. His place as Geography teacher was taken by Mr Rotherham.

Art teacher Robert Tilling had a large canvas shown in the Royal Academy summer exhibition; in March he received the Bronze Medal of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours for the best work of a non-member; the next month, he was elected a member.

No less than four boys from Victoria College were selected to play for the Jersey Junior Muratti side against Guernsey at Springfield. Unfortunately illness meant that Mark Rebindaine could not take part, but Geof Mauger, Bino Camanini and Jon Kellett all acquitted themselves well.

Continuing his success with chess, Mark Rumbold won the Richardson Cup for being the best Jersey player under 18 in the Twelfth Jersey International Chess Congress.

An opinion poll was taken of pupils at the College for "The Victorian", which endorsed the school uniform in every year. Opinion was firmly against the locking of school buildings during the lunch hour, especially during cold winters. The most favourite classroom was Room 3, with its "lively atmosphere" while C7 also was "bright, big and modern". Least favourite was nearly "Tatam", but it was beaten by Room 1, which was "dark, depressing, cold, cramped, gloomy - looking derelict".

Later in the year, a further opinion poll was taken on the proposed flooding of Queen’s Valley. 75 of those polled were in favour, with 280 against. When asked whether the States would disregard public opinion, and flood the valley anyway, 224 though this would be the case, 110 thought not, and 21 were undecided.

A new 6th Form Council was set up and pupils elected to represent the interests of the seniors, and foster better communication between seniors and staff. Among the aims of the newly formed Council was a proposal for a new 6th Form Centre, and for better facilities for Directed Study Periods.

Dunlop won the House Play competition this year, with its production of "The Wall", directed by Trevor Cristin.

Bruce House organised a charity committee whose aim was to entertain rather than raise funds. Ninety senior citizens from St Helier enjoyed their review, with lively sketches performed by Jon Egre, Matthew Costard, Andrew Jones, Richard Farnham, Lee Popejoy, Melvin Hefford and Sara Williams.

Membership of the computer club was now twenty three, and the Genie computers were sold and all replaced with the new BBC microcomputers.

This year the School Science Fair took place at De La Salle School’s new science laboratories. Alex Ohlson and John Brimicombe were awarded the Shell Shield for Science in the Open Class. They displayed three BBC microcomputers, together with software they had written and add-on boxes they had created; the equipment was designed for use by handicapped pupils at Mont A L’Abbe School.

A Guitar Club saw a brief entry into the School activities this year, and staged several lively acts.

Squash saw the sixth year in a row in which Victoria College beat Elizabeth College, winning 5-0. The winning team included Shane Hollywood, Michael and David Steigenberger, Philip Le Cornu, and Ian Furness.

It was also a good year for football, where the first XI won all its matches on tour.

Showing that the C.C.F. was not all ground based, Graham Brooks and Douglas Mason were awarded R.A.F. flying scholarships.

The swimming pool, as a result of funds raised by the P.T.A., was now covered by a "greenhouse". The pool cover project meant that swimming could now take place throughout the year, and was no longer dependent upon the vagaries of the weather. The States of Jersey had funded 75 percent of the cost (of £44,000), leaving the P.T.A. to successfully raise the remaining £11,000. The organisation of the fund-raising was under the leadership of the Chairman of the P.T.A., Mr Richard Pirouet.

A Summer Concert was held in the Great Hall on July 10th to raise money for Jersey Hospital’s League of Friends. The music was arranged and conducted by the Director of Music Peter Davis.

In the Autumn, the College was visited by former Prime Minister, the Right Honourable James Callaghan, M.P., and the new Lieutenant Governor, Sir William Pillar.

This term also saw the arrival of Modern Languages Teacher, Mrs Claire Garton, to teach French and German.

Lunchtimes saw the re-introduction of Christian Fellowship meetings under the able and experienced leadership of Geoff Powell, while on Friday afternoons, Peter Gem explored the intricacies of the New Testament Synoptic Gospels, preparing those attending for O-Level.

Geoff Powell was also busy on Friday afternoons, when he began a new activity - classes in Latin. This explored the classical version of the language and looked at everyday life in Rome two thousand years ago.

The Photographic Group staged a successful exhibition in the Art School, with pictures by Mike Binnington, John Laurens, Nick Touzel and Andy Jones; it was officially attended by the Lieutenant-Governor, Admiral Sir William Pillar.

Scouting underwent a revival, with Mr Chris Totty taking on the leadership of the Aubrey pack on the departure of Mr David Thelland; meanwhile, the main College group expanded from six to upwards of twenty by the end of the Autumn term. With the enthusiasm of leader Mr Rotheram, they won the Island Commissioners Hiking Challenge.

The Old Victorians held their 75th Annual Dinner in the Great Hall on 20th December. It was the first attendance for the Lieutenant Governor Sir William Pillar, and the final one for retiring Bailiff Sir Frank Eraut; the latter was presented with the curious retirement gift of a silver lump of sugar, suitably mounted.

1986

The year began well, with the inspection of Victoria College by Her Majesties Inspectorate of Schools (HMI); their report was most favourable, and praised the many excellencies of the College.

The House Play "Day of Atonement" , directed by Matthew Costard, was won by Bruce House.

It was a good year for sport, with Michael Guegan was selected to run for Jersey at the Commonwealth games, and Jon Kellet having football trails with Southampton.

Pupil Robert Macrae appeared on Channel Four’s "Countdown" and won £200 for the College Scout Troop.

In the Summer, Geoff Powell left again, this time to take up a position as Lay Pastor of St Aldate's Church, Oxford. Mr Baker took over as Head of the Junior School.

Other teachers leaving included Sue Chipperfield (chemistry) who was moving to Hautlieu, Marc Chevrau (English) who would be taking up educational research at Lancaster University, and Elizabeth Street who was leaving science teaching to return to her former profession of pharmacy.

Arriving were Mr Le Petit from d’Hautree (English) and Mr Hopkin (Mathematics and Computing). Mr Hopkin hoped to improve the quality of Victoria College’s computing facilities to bring it up to standard for the next decade and beyond.

The Computing Activity had now dropped in numbers to just four pupils under Mr Shaw; there was, however, an improvement in the standard of work produced from last year, when many taking part spent time on creating and playing games. Of particular note were a 3D graphics program by Dominic Chan and a Weather Analysis program by Richard Powell.

Later in the year, Mr Hopkin set up a computer laboratory in the then 6th form common room (renamed "Tricker"); the room was filled with networked BBC master terminals to a server. Computing began as a compulsory subject in the lower school, and optional for the higher years.

The short-lived Guitar Club ended after the departure of over 70 percent of the group this year.

Electronics Activity had changed to a much more academic pursuit over the years, and now all pupils were steadily working towards the new Cambridge O-Level syllabus.

Rugby returned, a new revival of an old College sport. The College Team, for the first time in living memory, won the J.S.S.A. tournament, defeating Hautlieu and De La Salle.

Also in the sporting arena, College boy Mike Guegan represented Jersey in the Commonwealth games in July. He took part in the 400 metre and 800 metre track events, winning 4th place in the 400 metre heats, and making a new Island record of 48.4 seconds. In the semi-finals, he finished 6th. In the 800 metres, he did not do quite so well, coming 6th; and so not going on to the semi-finals. However his time of 1 minute 53.97 seconds was only 0.8 seconds slower than Sebastian Coe, the winner of the heat.

The autumn term saw the introduction of the new GCSE syllabus at Victoria College, together with a weekly "tutorial" period for pupils.

Braithewaite won the Blomfield trophy for the fifth year in succession.

The Art Department were looking at the possibility of a new block, including a ceramic and craft room. The subject was doing well, with pupil Stephen Bougeard being awarded the Picot Art Scholarship.

Mr Brian Vibert began a new Activity - Jersey Norman French. With 6 pupils, he looked at the course book, "Le Jerrais Pour Tous" by Paul Birt; the group also met with Dr Frank Le Maistre, O.B.E., F.R.A., whose "Dictionnaire Jerrais-Francais" was a labour of love over forty years in the making.

A rival to the "Victorian" was created by the Media Studies Activity group, under Mrs Chipperfield and Miss Garton, producing "The Media Mag"; this offbeat look at the College sold at 20 pence.

1987

Braithewaite won the Blomfield Trophy again.

A College revue held in the Howard Davis Theatre, and lasting a mammoth three hours, raised £190 for Amnesty International.

The Marine Biology Group noted the vast spread of Sargassum (Japanese Seaweed) around the coast of Jersey, principally in gullies.

The Sailing Club lost "Just Mary" in the hurricane force storm of October 1987; fortunately, the boat was insured, but it would be still difficult to find a suitable replacement..

The Old Victorians’ Annual Dinner in December had as guest speaker Old Victorian "Dixie" Landick. Guest included the Lieut.-Governor, Sir William Pillar and the new Bailiff, Sir Peter Crill.

In his speech to the Old Victorians, the current headmaster, Mr Martyn Devenport, commented upon the recent attempts to remove the 6th form from the Colleges and turn Hautlieu into an Island 6th Form College. "The College continues to flourish," he said, "despite dry rot, a crumbling facade, rotten plaster - and some politicians and bureaucrats."

On 14th December 1987, Old Victorians John Le Marquand and Ralph Vibert left the States of Jersey, retiring from political life together. Between them they had amassed 76 years in their time in the States which dated from 1948.

1988

Braithewaite won the Blomfield Trophy again, and also won first place with the House Play competition; their entry was "Our Man" by Daniel Clucas, which was directed by Philip Ozouf.

Sport against Elizabeth College was not so good, with Victoria College losing the Dorey Cup in Tennis by 9-0 for the first time ever.

Two Chess teams from College competed in the Times National Telephone Competition. In the local schools cup, College took all the trophies, with Daniel Bunting, under 12 champion, Andre Short, under 14 champion, John Le Quesne, under 16 champion and Mark Rumbold, under 19 champion.

The new School Council discussed House Colours, a new type of tie for Prefects, and the Directed Study System.

At the School Prize Giving, Martyn Devenport, headmaster, expressed concern that the new facilities and buildings which had been planned for 1987 had been delayed three times. "Four principal areas require attention," he said, "Art and Design, Technology, Computers and Sport". He put the delay down to excessive demands on the States for other Capital Projects.

July saw the departure of Mr L.A. Landick. "Dixie", as he was popularly known, had been a teacher at the College for 37 years, and had re-introduced the German language to the curriculum after the Second World War.

Also leaving were John Du Feu, Mathematics teacher since 1981 at College, and Norman Bailey, member of Art Department since 1971; Mr Bailey took up the post of Head of Art at Hautlieu.

The regular Summer Concert was cancelled this year, because of too few people wishing to attend. However the College held a successful, well-attended, Summer Fete in July. This was used to raise funds to launch the new Victoria College Trust Fund. The fete included raffle tickets, a "dunk tank" for members of staff, various stalls of produce and goods, "beat the goalie", bean bag throwing and other numerous attractions. £3,000 was raised for the Trust Fund

Scouts, under new leader Mr Peter Le Sueur, recaptured the Island Commissioners Hiking Challenge Trophy. Scouting activities this year included canoeing, abseiling, camping, bivouacking, shooting and orienteering; in May there was a visit to Sark, and in June there was a week spent in the Lake District.

The Scout Hut was refurbished, with new carpets, new walls and a telephone installed.

In the Island Cub Gang Show, held at the Opera House, the cubs performed "The Sound of Music" under the leadership of Chris Totty.

Scouts from the local troop also participated in the Jersey Kenya Project 1988 to provide two schools in Kenya with clean drinking water by building two water "harvesters" - large reinforced concrete tanks for rainwater storage.

Victoria College organised a golf tournament at the St Clement’s course, and this was won by pupil James Birch.

The Sailing Club were still seeking a replacement vessel for "Just Mary". In the meantime, the Youth Service allowed them the use of the Bosun Dingy fleet based at St Aubin’s Fort. As well as this, in July, ten pupils under the supervision of Mr Blythin spent a five day cruise along the Brittany coast in the "Nantucket Trader", a forty-five foot schooner; they covered a total distance of 150 nautical miles.

New teachers in the Autumn term were Mrs Sibelle George (modern Languages), Adrian Pearce (Mathematics) and Giles Bois (Old Victorian 1969-1972, now part time art teacher).

The new Science Club began meeting every Monday after school. The pupils worked on a variety of projects, with James Young winning the Gold Award for his project on "Behaviour Pattern of a Female Gorilla".

The Victorian saw a change of editor from Mike Talibard to Colonel Perry.

The Theatre Group, eight boys and five girls, was now working towards a GCSE in "Drama and the Theatre"; this was a two year course.

The arts also saw the introduction of the Landick Cup, names and presented by retired teacher "Dixie" Landick for the highest score by a House in Arts Competitions, these comprising Drama, Art and Music. This year Braithewaite won by a single point, for despite Dunlop winning the House Play Competition, Braithewaite made up points in Art and Music.

The House Plays this year were "Next Time I’ll Sing to You" by James Saunders, produced by Dunlop (first), "Luther" by John Osborne produced by Bruce (second), "The Birthday Party" by Harold Pinter produced by Braithewaite (third) and "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Becket, produced by Sartorius (fourth).

A new activity - "car maintenance" was began by 6th formers, who began by working on an old 1872 Vauxhall Viva; this vehicle was renamed the "Vauxhall Victoria".

Computing saw yet another innovation under Mr Hopkin, with the introduction of a modem connection and a Victoria College Bulletin Board system.

1989

The Victoria College dramatic society’s production this year was J.B. Priestley’s "When we are married". In a change from the norm, it was performed at the Art Centre and not at the Howard Davis Theatre. The director of this comedy was Julie McLoughlin. Of the cast of sixteen, special mention was made in reviews of Alison Ryan and Jane Delmer who together provoked much laughter from the audience; also Conrad Yates was notable for bringing a comic highlight in his small roll as the major.

While the arts showed a resurgence, there was a decline in the C.C.F. numbers, with a number of long-term pupils moving to become senior NCOs, but many less younger cadets, leading to an imbalance between "chiefs" and "indians".

However, this did not prevent a contingent going to Dartmoor Adventure training at Easter, supervised by Messrs. Tostevin, Dykes and Pearce, and based at Okehampton Army Training Camp. The programme included three days expeditions across the moor, and three days caving, rock-climbing and abseiling.

Time in England was also spent to Geography pupils. The A-Level Geography field course went to Slapton Ley Field Centre in Devon. This was the first time that girls from Jersey College for Girls had attended to course alongside boys from Victoria College.

May saw a Royal Visit by the Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. She was escorted around the College grounds by headmaster Martyn Devenport, and was introduced to Miss Victoria Aubrey and Frank Lewis, BEM. Michael Hedditch, head boy, read and presented the Loyal address to the Queen on behalf of the College. Her Majesty then awarded the Gold Medals and History Prizes. Keith Dixon received the Gold Medal for Science, Dominic Chan the Gold Medal for Mathematics, Philip Le Cornu the Queen’s Senior History Prize, and Marc Read the Junior History Prize. An extra days holiday was awarded by the Queen to commemorate her visit, and another commemoration was made by Connetable Iris Le Feuvre, Chairman of the Governors, planting a tree for her Majesty in the school grounds.

Old Victorian and well-known poet Jeremy Reed was commissioned by Mike Rumfitt, editor of the Jersey Evening Post, to wrote a "Poem for the Queen", published in the Jersey Evening Post, to honour her majesty’s visit to Jersey.

It was a good year for hockey, with Adam Garwood and Alistair Burt both having trials for the Hampshire County Team.

Even better results were shown in shooting, where pupils Ian Jones and Conrad Yates shot in the July U.K. Cadet Rifle Team in the inter-services match at Bisley; the team came second, beating the service teams of the Regular Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marine and Royal Air Force.

Head of Art, Robert Tilling, was M.C. at the First National Blues Festival in Burnley over the Easter holidays and delivered a lecture on the blues, ragtime and gospel singer, the Rev. Gary Davis.

As the Summer term began, so did a three year programme to restore the College stonework, which had sadly deteriorated over the years, with the softer rock and cement .badly eroded.

Staff leaving at the end of the Summer term were John Perry (biology), Stephen Lucas (history), Colin Benson (english) and Giles Bois (art).

Leaving teacher John Perry, M.A., M.I. Biol., came to the College in 1963 as a biology teacher. In an appreciation given by Brian Vibert, he was described as "exacting but fair, versatile in his approach, ready to change his techniques and attitude to teaching when he felt it necessary, even if he did not personally wish to. He loved the subject he taught and expected others to enthuse too."

Stephen Lucas, also leaving, had been head of history since September 1967, succeeding Frank Willy in the post. In the Second World War he had served in Bomber Command from 1942 to 1947 as a 2nd Pilot Flight Engineer and Warrant Officer. After, he graduated in history at Jesus College, Cambridge. John Clapham, commenting on his departure, said that he was "instrumental in introducing local studies" and also "a producer of successful school plays, an accomplished performer in many Island dramatic and musical productions, and a talented and witty performer in a double act with Dixie Landick."

Colin Benson, teacher of English since 1976, had made an important contribution to Victoria College in the implementation of the "A" level in General studies.

The 11th Jersey Scout Troop now had 38 cubs (aged 8-11), 30 scouts (aged 11-15), with 12 adult leaders, and was at it strongest for many years as it approached its 70th year, having been founded on 7th February 1921. Activities this year included abseiling, archery, arrow work, athletics, bivouacking, building assault courses, camps, canoeing, carol singing, first aid, hiking, photography, Duke of Edinburgh award scheme work, swimming, shooting, outdoors cooking and water polo.

The Computer Studies Group ceased as an activity as it now formed part of the main school syllabus, and computers were no longer available for the group. Computing at Victoria College, however, now included the option of a GCSE as part of the curriculum..

It was a mixed year for sports, with Victoria College losing to Elizabeth College at squash for the first time in eleven years, losing 8-2. In football, however, matters went the other way, with the Victoria First IX winning over Elizabeth by 2 to 1.

The cricket team, in the meantime, went on a tour of Barbados in July, under the supervision and coaching of Mr Ray Pearce and Mr Douglas Ferguson. Under their Captain, David Pearce, they won five games, but lost four, with one being abandoned due to rain. The best tour performances were by Philip Le Cornu, with a batting average of 58, and Bradley Vowden, with a bowling average of 16.4.

Stephen Lucas returned in November to judge the House Play Competition. Sartorius came first with their production of "Loot", Bruce second with "Rosencrantz and Guilderstein are Dead", Braithewaite third with "Heil Caesar", and Dunlop last with "The Winslow Boy".

Two former masters died this year - Jack "Pop" Horn and John "Jack" Fearon.

The Autumn term saw scaffolding on the New Buildings and the Theatre and Music Block to enable the cleaning of the stonework. Work also began in October to renovate the walls and windows of the Main Building. It was hoped that by next year work the planned extension to the New de Carteret building would begin, proving much needed new classrooms, computing facilities and a new changing room.

The year also saw a major project under consideration - the relocation of Jersey College for Girls from Mont Cantel to College House. On October 17th, the Parent Teacher Association met with the new Director of Education, Brian Grady, to update parents and staff on the possible resiting of the school, and there was an open and frank discussion, in which one major concern was the increase in the volume of traffic at Mont Millais, although there was also some concern that the close geographical proximity of the two Colleges might erode their distinct identities, with the sharing of facilities.

Old Victorians were making the news again this year.

Gary Misson, after successful work at Charing Cross Hospital became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons at the young age of 28. Having specialised as an ophthalmic surgeon, he was now going to take up a post at the Birmingham Eye Hospital.

Daniel Laffoley was making a study of British estuaries for nature conversation.

Christ Minty became Vice-President of the Old Victorian Association and President of the Jersey Cricket Association.

Mick Hubbard received the Ernest Whittle Memorial Prize awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry for his work at the States Analyst Department.

And finally, Sir Peter Crill, Old Victorian, unveiled a plaque naming the States Pathology Laboratory after the late Edward Geal, Old Victorian, who had been instrumental in upgrading the pathology and blood transfusion services in the post-war period from 1949.