Old Princethorpians

Feeling ‘not great’ physically and mentally recently (the anniversary of my Dad’s death) I decided I need to do something different and helping others is a good way to help others and myself. So I booked a few challenges to help raise money for good causes; including climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling to Petra.

I have been able to find ‘good things’ by travelling, caring for the elderly, doing courses, acts of kindness, feeding the homeless, studying, visiting the children’s wards, being kind to strangers. It’s just been so hard lately though. Loneliness and depression are horrible things, and I would not wish that on anyone. I’m hoping raising money and doing things for others will help. 

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was an incredible experience, I had an amazing group of people helping. It was really hard, though. Really. Climbing up to 19,341 ft / 5895 metres is exhausting and rewarding at the same time. I’ve done 10k’s and half marathons in fancy dress, marathons guiding a blind person, marathons with clients that have taken 3 hours or 6 hours, marathons with a client in their 70’s. But this experience was an awesome story to tell people about. 

Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa, and the highest free-standing peak in the world, meaning it is not part of an actual mountain range. It was incredibly hard getting up to 5895 metres: 50% of people don’t make it.

Walking on lava from 200,000 years ago was quite cool and Mount Kilimaniaro is also unique for its climate, as from base to peak, it passes through five distinct ecosystems. We had jungle, desert, ice, snow etc.

Approximately 2 million people have climbed Kilimanjaro so I am now part of an elite club, 30,000 people a year try with half failing. 

Then cycling to Petra, cycling one day in 30 degrees, next day in the desert, next day 5 degrees in the rain and definitely not flat. 

I have nearly raised £900 with my recent challenges for various charities, if you donated: thank you it meant a lot. If you didn’t: there’s still time (I’m sure there’s a few more donations from people who forgot to get round to it.) 

These charities would really benefit from any donation you can make:

• Beat: eating disorders 
• Grasac: child sexual abuse
• National Star College 
• Sue Ryder Leckhampton Hospice
• British Red Cross: Turkey 🇹🇷 appeal 
• Cobalt: screening clinic 

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/dan-fivey

https://www.justgiving.com/team/danfiveykilimanjaropetra 

We were delighted to hear in March that OP, Libby Wilson, had won the Excellence in Education category at the Ladies First Professional Awards. Libby, who left Princethorpe in 2010, owns a Nursery School that uses Montessori methods in Frankton, a village between Rugby and Leamington Spa.

It was great to read of Libby's success and especially that during her interview with the judges Libby discussed the importance of treating each child as an individual, with the philosophy of instilling confidence to prepare children for life, not just school, whilst gaining first hand experiences.

Many congratulations Libby!

OP Kate Adkins (nee Whitfield) (Class of 2014) has a super new venture, The Puddleduck Café & Gallery  Her new café, opened its door just recently on Saturday 22 April.

Situated not far from Princethorpe, at Holt Farm, Holt Road, Napton-on-the-Hill, CV47 1AJ, the café is open 11.00am to 5.00pm Friday to Sunday, serving cream teas, coffee, cakes and sandwiches.

All OPs are especially welcome. It sounds amazing, we can't wait to visit!

Kate is pictured with fellow OPs, her sister, Lauren (Class of 2016) and friends Tabitha Marsh and Mathilda Gannon (both Class of 2014) and with her husband Matt (Class of 2012).

More details on their facebook page here.

We were delighted to hear that former Princethorpe Head of Fisher House and stalwart of the Games Department, Chris McCullough, has secured her first headship for September 2023. Chris has been Senior Deputy Head at The Kingsley School in Leamington since leaving Princethorpe four years ago, and during that time spent 18 months as Acting Head.

Chris takes up the story:

"I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed as Head of LGS Stoneygate. The school is set in beautiful grounds, very much like Princethorpe, and I can’t wait to get started and get to know the staff, parents and pupils. As a fellow ISA school I have no doubt that I will continue to cross paths with Princethorpe colleagues at the many events that the ISA offers.

LGS Stoneygate is a co-educational day school for pupils from the age of 4 to 16, that in May 2016 became a member of the Leicester Grammar School Trust’s family of schools.

I attended Princethorpe College from 1987-1989. As a young American, my parents weren’t sure how to get the most out of our time and my education while living in England. After a short stint in the state school system it became clear that the private school system was a much better path. Princethorpe College emerged as the best option for me. I was a day student amongst a good population of boarding students. At the time, it felt like school as usual, but looking back I marvel at the unique things I was able to experience.

The teaching methods and approaches differed from that of America. After settling in and finding my base to build from, Princethorpe helped me see a global world unmatched from an American viewpoint. We had French classes and then made day trips to France. We had ski trips to Switzerland. During the time I lived there we had projects researching the issues of the day like the Euro Tunnel and the concept of the Euro Currency.

Maybe our year was unique but our group of athletes were off the charts in exceptional ways. I don’t remember our rugby team ever losing. Our basketball team made it to the national semifinals. And I got to be the first leg of the 4x100 relay where we won nationals.

Looking back, it is hard to say anything other than my experience was truly exceptional.

Now, back in the U.S., I am involved in many businesses and in many industries including agriculture, automotive retail, insurance, real estate, travel, accessories, entertainment, philanthropy, and capital investmenting. While I attended Princethorpe College for only 2 years, those two years were a key differentiator in my development.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to come back to my English home and had a great time catching up with one of my best mates, Angus Shillinglaw. He brought me back to Princethorpe and we enjoyed reminiscing about our great professors and coaches. While I had many, it’s hard not to mention Mr. Price. He coached many sports but helped me find myself quickly as I was clearly such an outsider. He helped me discover my place in my new home. As Angus and I walked the grounds and the hallways we discovered a few photos of ourselves. In each photo, he and I, were standing side by side. Most likely because we had nearly the same build and therefore placed next to each other in order of height. But it also reminded me of how much I valued him and my other mates. We competed in multiple athletic arenas together and felt so proud to know he had progressed to professional levels of rugby.

And to all my other mates out there, it fills my soul to see you achieve. I cheer you on from across the pond!

A trip to my home causes my cup to runneth over; Princethorpe College, a foundational cornerstone chapter of my life.

We're delighted to hear that Class of 2022 leaver, Mac Wood, is enjoying studying Popular Performance and Songwriting at BIMM in Birmingham. Alongside his studies Mac is busy gigging in the local area with his band, The Elect.

The Elect is a 5 piece, indie rock band that formed in October last year, they play lots of 90s covers and some original songs. Mac plays guitars, sings and writes lyrics and wrote their original song, Thinking the Worst. They recently launched a single, Nyctous, at a launch event in Birmingham.

Their next gig is this Friday 26 May at the 02 Institute in Digbeth in a line up presented by the Catapult Club, for info on the band and their next gigs follow them on Instagram on @theelectuk.

We look forward to watching their progress!

OP Harry White (Class of 2016) has just run eight marathons in eight weeks completing his final run, in the Paris Marathon, in just 3:45:23!

Harry told us:

'Finishing the 8th and final marathon in Paris was surreal. I was overwhelmed by the support and generosity I have received over the past eight 8 weeks and especially by those who donated over £2500 (+counting) to Mind and Cancer research.

This has been by far the hardest and most mentally challenging experience of my life and I had no idea if it was even physically possible for me to complete.

On every run I would hit a wall that seemed to get higher and more painful each time and took every bit of energy and motivation I could find to get through.

Before the marathon today the guy next to me said to me, ‘run the first 30km with your head and the last 12.2km with your heart’. These words never felt so true at kilometre 30.

This challenge has made me realise the first step of achieving what you think is impossible is believing in yourself it is possible. Then you’ll be surprised at what you can do.

Thank you to everyone for the encouragement in getting me across the finish line 342km later and to those who ran part of the marathons with me.'

We congratulate Harry on his awe-inspiring achivement. 

You can find out more about why Harry took on his marathon challenge and support his fundraising here: Harry White Justgiving Page

I left Princethorpe College in 2010 and with the help of my fantastic Sixth Form tutor, Mr Kerrigan, was accepted to the undergraduate veterinary medicine course at Glasgow University. I had always had an interest in horses which was further fostered during my time at Glasgow but I was keen to escape the cold and rainy climate! I applied for several equine internships in Australia and was fortunate to be accepted to the prestigious Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital in Shepparton, rural Victoria. This was supposed to be for one year but I am still in Australia over seven years later!

I finished a surgical residency program in 2021 where I developed a keen interest in racetrack practice and orthopaedics in racehorses. After a two year stint in Sydney, I have recently accepted a job as an equine surgeon back in rural Victoria working with my original mentor Dr Jim Vasey. The culture at the hospital is very reminiscent of my time at Princethorpe which is refreshing and can be challenging to find in this industry.

I am looking to sit (more!) exams next year to become a Fellow in Equine Surgery of the Australian and New Zealand College of Veterinary Scientists. The racing industry in Australia is booming with a packed racing schedule and a huge following of the general public.

Australians are generally extremely welcoming, friendly and personable and I have made a great group of friends and mentors here who have truly adopted me into their lives. Sport is a big part of life here and I still play recreational netball, horse riding and have taken up running on some of the amazing trails and national parks here. I love the lifestyle, climate and culture in Australia and although I miss my family, I think that (at least for the foreseeable future) I will be calling Australia home!

It has been a while since I was in touch with Old Princethorpians, and I enjoy reading the newsletters and catching up on everyone's news, so I thought it was time to get in touch with an update of what I have been up to in my career.

I graduated from Princethorpe College Sixth Form in 2008, and went on to study BA Journalism & English Literature at the University of Salford. I then completed a Masters degree, also at Salford, in MA Wildlife Documentary Production. This enabled me to secure a job at the BBC in Bristol as a Production Coordinator, working across a variety of shows, mostly Natural History (e.g. Countryfile, Springwatch, DIY SOS). I then worked as a Production Coordinator for several independent production companies in Bristol, before deciding to move into Post-Production.

Since 2018, I have forged a successful career in Post-Production for film and tv, as a Post-Production Producer, both in Vancouver, Canada, and now back in the UK in Manchester.

As a Post-Production Producer my job is to facilitate and organise all aspects of Post-Production for my clients, from processing their filmed media, through the editing stages, all the way through final picture and sound Post-Production, and delivering the finished product to broadcasters and streaming services. My job is organisational, but also both technical and creative; each day is different and always full of surprises and challenges, but at the same time the job can be quite structured and team-based, and I am lucky to have wonderful colleagues and connections to work with.

In 2018 I moved to Vancouver, Canada, to work for leading Post-Production company 'Company 3' and while there I had the pleasure of working across many high-end film and tv projects for various broadcasters and streamers. Projects I worked on as Post-Production Producer in Vancouver included: Altered Carbon (Netflix), Another Life (Netflix), When Calls The Heart (Hallmark) and Arrow (The CW). I was also delighted to Post-Produce the feature film Capone starring Tom Hardy.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced me to re-evaluate my options, so I decided to move back to the UK in late 2020 to be closer to family and friends once more. I wanted to move back to Manchester, a city I had grown to love during my time studying at the University of Salford, and was fortunate to get a Post-Production Producer job at one of the UK's leading Post-Production companies, 'The Farm', which has since merged with global Post-Production powerhouse 'Picture Shop'.

I love my job, and the challenges and successes it rewards me with are always worth the effort. Seeing the shows broadcast, and receiving great responses from audiences, still gives me a thrill. Working in the TV industry and getting to meet and work with fantastic creative people is a dream come true for me. The industry in the UK is booming, going from strength to strength, showcasing the best production and creative talent the UK has to offer, and I am delighted and proud to play a part in it.

Recent projects I have worked on out of Picture Shop Manchester include: Nolly (ITV), Happy Valley S3 (BBC), Sherwood (BBC), Everything I Know About Love (BBC), Gentleman Jack S2 (BBC), Wolfe (Sky), and Catching A Predator (BBC), and I am currently working on a feature-length documentary for Netflix which I unfortunately can't give details out about yet.

I was especially delighted to have recently worked on the full Post-Production for Sherwood for the BBC, which was a huge success with viewers and critics, and won us an Royal Television Society North West Award for Best Audio Post-Production. We're hoping for some BAFTA nominations too!

Attached is a photo of my wonderful team and I, celebrating our Sherwood RTS award win.

Huge congratulations to OP, and former Head Boy, Lloyd Ellis (Class of 2017) who has secured a pupillage at No5 Chambers. 

Lloyd told us: 'Last month, I was fortunate enough to be offered the Family Law Pupillage at No5 Chambers in Birmingham. After doing a Master's degree in International Relations, I completed my transition to law over the past two years. Having moved abroad immediately after school, I have enjoyed coming back to the Midlands and am excited to begin practising here. Juggling the Bar course and pupillage applications at the same time has been intense but the reward of pupillage at the end makes it worth it.  

During the application process I benefitted hugely from the support of Old Princethorpians Lucy Coulson and Holly Hilbourne-Gollop who are currently practising on the Midlands Circuit. From the outside, the Bar can sometimes feel like a world unto itself and so I am extremely grateful to both for helping me navigate its idiosyncrasies.  

Looking forward, I am fortunate that my pupillage doesn’t start until October 2024, so I will take some time off to relax, and slowly ease myself into the world of work!  

We also understand that OP Millie Hainge (Class of 2020) has just got a pupillage at St Philips Chambers in Birmingham. These opportunities are incredibly hard to get and we are delighted for both OPs!

We were excited to hear that Home Free, a new composition by OP Josh Tidd (Class of 2021) featured in The Leamington Sinfonia Concert – The Planets on Saturday 25 March at All Saints Church in Leamington Spa.

Josh is currently in his second year at York University studying Music and Sound Recording, he won the Junior Section of the Leamington Composition Competition 2022 and part of his prize was to have his piece premiered at the concert.

Josh is experienced in a diverse range of music styles, he has achieved particular success composing jazz music, including coming Highly Commended in the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers Competition 2019 for his piece Spicy Jalapeno. His ambition is to compose music for film/TV, combining his skills as a composer with his technical abilities in film creation, recording and sound editing.

A short interview with Josh about the piece can be found here: https://youtu.be/zwGD0EAfwMA.

We will be watching out for Josh!

My first memory of Princethorpe was in Spring 1972 when I arrived at the College to sit the entrance examination. My Mother took me to Princethorpe by car from where we lived near Solihull, a trip of about 25 miles. We were both impressed as the College came into view and even more impressed as we drove past the Gatehouse and up the drive to arrive at the front entrance! We spent a couple of moments looking up at the tower before going through the imposing front door to report to reception. My mother left me and went to wait in the car and I was shown into a reception room on the right.

A former student from my previous school in Solihull whom I knew was already waiting so I had someone to talk to. I am not sure what the room was usually used for as apart from a number of chairs it contained two fine upright pianos. It did not take long for two potential 13-year-old students to discover that the piano lids weren't locked and one could lift the lids and play on the keys. The piano duet Heart and Soul was popular at the time with budding pianists and the other student began to play his version. I also knew this piece and began to give my rendition. Before long we were going through the variations of Heart and Soul until it became an all-out jam session!

After a couple of minutes a member of staff arrived who I later found out was Brother O'Rourke.   He had a surprised and slightly stern look on his face and said something along the lines of 'now then boys'. He checked who we were and said he would take us to the study hall where the entrance exam was to be held. We followed Brother O'Rourke out of the room and turned right in the corridor and if I remember correctly went through the back of the Physics Lab past the telephones and had a good view of the quadrangle. We then turned right and then left up the stairs which took us to the study hall. We entered the room and met another member of staff who showed us to our desks between the other students and let us know what we had to do for the exam. I don’t remember much about the exam but earlier I did learn some new variations of Heart and Soul which I didn't know!  I must have passed the exam as I started at Princethorpe College in September 1972.

I also remember a visit I organised with another student to visit the bell tower and clock above the study hall. I noticed from a previous newsletter that this has been restored recently. This was very interesting, actually being next to the clock movement after climbing what looked like the original ladders. We were also able to look out of the tower louvres across the College grounds. I have a few photos of this visit however they were taken on 110 format which is not the best format as it quite small. It is also a pain to scan (as Alex Darkes will probably agree) but I have some half reasonable results which would probably improve with a photo editing app. I also have some photos taken in class and outside at break, also on 110 film, but in black and white which seems easier to edit. (We need to get some copies of those Jon for the archives!)

I fondly remember the school trips each year.

In 1973 I believe we went to Prinknash Abbey. I found the pottery very interesting and also how the monks started the pottery when they found suitable clay when building the extension to the monastery. I think I still have some pottery bought in the gift shop at the time. I notice from a recent web search that Prinknash has downsized some years ago and no longer make the pottery and the old main building is closed.

In 1974 there was talk of us going to London but at the last minute we went to Whipsnade Zoo which I thoroughly enjoyed, not only an excellent zoo but also a steam railway to ride on. 

In 1975, my last year we did actually get to London which was interesting as we were pretty well left to our own devices. I remember getting to the Tower of London, walking across Tower Bridge and finding my way around the tube system.

A few of us at the time were quite interested in the engineering side of the College buildings, for example the hydraulic engine which worked the bellows for the organ in the church before the electric air pump was installed. This was powered by the weight of water from a storage tank in the tower and returned to an underground tank outside. A small petrol engine attached to a water pump would pump this back up to the tank in the tower for the next use.  

That’s all the memories I can think of for now,

Jonathan Cocks

OP David Terron (1973-1976) shared his latest news. He has retired after 23 years in the Army followed by four years at Stirling University then 17 years teaching English. That said, due to staff shortages he has been ‘unretired’ and is currently teaching full time at another school in Moray. ‘Just until June’ is his current excuse…”. T’Dog is a legend” say his new students. #getsasalaryandthreepensions!

Once he does retire, he intends to carry on supporting Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC with his grandson, travelling throughout the Highlands and Islands and catching up on his 'Tsundoku' (the HUGE pile of books purchased but unread) on his bookshelves or tablet. A visit to Princethorpe is also on the cards but without his grandson who stayed glued to his phone last time whilst Granddad was wondering why there was a 1960s police car by the old Sixth Form Common Room! (Ahh that must have been when the filming for Sister Boniface was taking place!)

In our last edition we reported that OP and former Crackley Hall pupil, Toby Lee, had reached the final five nominees for the 'UK Young Blues Artist Of The Year'.

This year's UK 2023 Blues Awards ceremony took place in April and we are delighted to now share the news that Toby won his category. You can watch Toby receiving his award here.

Huge congratulations to Toby. You can find out more about Toby's career here: www.toby-lee.com