It was a wonderful October afternoon with the sun shining brightly and the Pinewood pitch in top condition when the youthful St Hugh’s XV met the wonderfully mixed Old Pinewoodian XV. The average age of the Pinewood players was more than the oldest St Hugh’s player and there were four Old Pinewoodian players who could have fathered all the St Hugh’s team! Pinewood’s oldest into his forties whilst the youngest was George Cooper.

After an hour of gentle warm up under the instruction of captain Roddy Chisholm-Batten and pack-leader Jack Cooper; the XV were hopeful that they could win the Oxford Wine Company trophy which St Hugh’s have held since the match started in 2005, although in 2009 the trophy was shared.

Bill Gould (Dorset and Wilts Referees Society) controlled the match superbly and for the first 10 minutes the Pinewoodians looked on top and in with a chance. St Hugh’s managed to steal the ball and after some devastating running by their backs they gained a penalty in front of our post which they slotted. They pressurised the Pinewood line and the St Hugh’s backs looked very dangerous; they play together fairly regularly and this could be seen in their slick handling and ability to read each other’s moves. Solid defence stopped wave after wave of attacks but eventually they broke through.

The teams turned around with the Pinewoodians having not scored and St Hugh’s with 10 points. In the second half the game went from end to end and attack after attack was repelled by St Hugh’s and after every attack they seemed to break through and challenge the Pinewood line. Again the St Hugh’s backs broke through and notched up a further 7 points. Soon after this Pinewood won the ball and scored close to the posts for us to gain 7 points. Late in the match St Hugh’s forwards rumbled up the pitch and touched down in the corner. The Pinewood team had a fantastic last few minutes and it looked like they had broken through but, totally correctly, the referee called them back for a forward pass.

During the match all 23 Old Pinewoodians managed a spell on the pitch. The starting line up was: John King, Tom Bischoff, Mark Lloyd-Davies, Sam Tracy, Tom Lees, Julian Bray, John Ellis and Jack Cooper in the pack, Roddy Chisholm-Batten, George Cooper, Tommy Lait, Rupert Henagulph (over from Bermuda), Jonathan Skull, Luke Lloyd-Davies and Matty Manners. Eliot Folland, Adam Lees, Omer Moghraby, Peter Andrews, Harry Blanshard, Byron Gay, Tom Russell and Nick Jephson all added their strength to the team as weary limbs and old-age started to take its toll.

The match was well supported by past parents, old pupils from both schools (Old Pinewoodians spotted included Mark Skull, Luke Nelson and Claire Heanley) and many other friends of the school; in all there were over 100 spectators. It was a great afternoon and one that is a firm favourite of Old Boys from both schools; we tried to start a hockey match for the Old Girls but sadly due to lack of support it had to be cancelled. Please look at the Pinewood website, Facebook and Friends Reunited for details of the 2012 fixture (likely to be on the 14th October at St Hugh’s).

Photos from the match can now be viewed in the Old Pinewoodian Photo Gallery.

Sophie Kidwell (OP 2008) has been awarded an Academic 6th Form Scholarship at Marlborough based on her GCSE results and her ability at History.

Congratulations to Rebecca Hussey (OP 2010), who has been awarded a Music Scholarship at Millfield.

Congratulations to Imogen Beresford-Bone (OP 2008) who has been awarded a 6th Form Academic Scholarship and a boarding award at Dauntsey's.

Imogen was also recently part of the Tall Ships Fleet on board the Jolie Brise, crossing the North Sea from Lerwick to Stavanger in the Tall Ships Race.

Thank you to everyone who supported The George Bailey Trust on this day, through the Bike ride and Rubber Legs Challenge and through individual donations and buying t-shirts.  We raised over £1,700, which is a fantastic sum of money.

Thank you to all those who donated home made cakes, to the committee members for their continued help over the last three years and especially to Henrietta and Philip.  A special thank you from me to all of the 2009 leavers from George's year group who returned to join us, it was lovely to see them again and I hope they will return next year.

The money will go directly to two local children's charities who care for children with cancer, donated in memory of George Bailey, a very brave boy, who was loved by many.

Cathy Bailey

We are looking for a temporary, full-time assistant for the Development Office to work on alumni relations.

For full details, please go to the Staff Vacancies page.

Congratulations to Franziska Goess-Saurau (OP 2010), who has been selected to represent Great Britain at the European Pony Championships in Jaszkowo, Poland in July.

Congratulations to Jenna Morshead (OP 2009) who has been awarded a 13+ Jolie Brise All Rounder Award at Dauntsey's.

We are in the process of setting up an Alumni office and would love to hear from former pupils with any news or updates to their details.  Sadly we have lost touch with many Old Pinewoodians, or frequently only have parents’ addresses registered so please do get in touch to provide up to date details. 

We would like to organise more Old Pinewoodian events, so it is important that we have an accurate database of former pupils. 

If you would like more information or want to update your details, please contact the Development Officer, Mrs Emily Morley-Fletcher at the school.  Please do also let us know which other Old Pinewoodians you are still in touch with.

emilymorley-fletcher@pinewoodschool.co.uk

01793 782205

The latest edition of the school magazine has now been published. If you have not received a copy, but would still like to catch up on all the news and activities at Pinewood in the past academic year, you can now do so online.

Please click here and you will be able to view a 3D, interactive version of the magazine.  You can also access this page from the Pinewood home page via "The Blue & Grey Magazine" listed in the main menu.

Congratulations to Lara Yorke, who left Pinewood at 11+ in 2009, on being awarded a 13+ Academic Scholarship at Tudor Hall.

Old Pinewoodian, Charlie Langton (1996), has become one of the top 10 artists in the country and had recently been commissioned to create an equine sculpture for Ascot Racecourse, to be unveiled by the Queen.