At the end of June, we hosted our second ‘Life Beyond Fifth Form’ Week for over 40 Fifth Form students. Following on from the success of our first Life Beyond Fifth form Week in Summer 2024, the programme was designed to help students explore the evolving world of work, understand global challenges and build essential […]
William Michael Hardy Spicer, Baron Spicer, PC (22 January 1943 – 29th May 2019) Michael joined Wellington in The Beresford in 1956. As a schoolboy, he was a keen actor and sportsman. In 1960 he was appointed Head of School and in later years became a College Governor. At his memorial service in 2019, his best […]
At 85 years young, John Green (T 58) will soon be setting off an extraordinary eight-week journey around the British Isles using nothing but public buses and donated accommodation, to support The Hospital of St Cross & Almshouse of Noble Poverty. Launching on May 1st 2025, John will travel around the British Isles using his […]
The OWFC has had a great 2024/25 season, and are currently looking ahead to the 2025/26 season. Max Burke (Bl 18, OWFC Rep) and Henry Gadd (R 18, OWFC Rep) are keen to recruit new, active players based in London, who are able to commit to playing a few games per season, as well as casual […]
Navigating the university application process can be a daunting task, from deciding which subject to take to exploring the possibility of a gap year. While prospectuses, open days and online research can provide valuable information, speaking with someone who has lived it can provide a comprehensive insight – which is why we created the OW […]
Interested in a career in entrepreneurship? Check out our full resource guide with free course suggestions, podcast recommendations and useful blogs via the link here: Entrepreneurship Resources
If you’ve been seeking advice about finding a job or making it in a certain industry, you’ve probably been told to ‘network.’ But what does that actually mean? And how on earth do you do it? This guide is here to help you figure out stress-free networking, so you can start building up your professional […]
Graham went to Eagle House before entering the Combermere in 1953. He was a keen cricketer and played two seasons in the 1st XI winning the Prince Christian Victor Bowling Prize in 1957. He also won a RAF Flying Scholarship and learned to fly in Tiger Moths and Chipmunks at White Waltham before joining BEA […]
Brigadier Hugh Pye, who has died aged 86, was a regimental soldier to the core; he had firm opinions and expressed them with great clarity. He also had enormous energy, a fierce determination to do things properly, a great sense of fun and a willingness to take on any challenge. Hugh William Kellow Pye was […]
Through the support of the Bevir Fund, for the duration of five weeks, I taught and assisted teaching in a local primary school in Arusha, Tanzania. This experience was organised by a company called International Volunteer Headquarters (IVHQ). My volunteering project took place within Heda Primary School, which provides education for children ages 3–13. The […]
David Brian Elwes Pike (often known as Pikey) was born on 16th March 1936, and served with the 13th/18th Royal Hussars in Neumunster and Aden. Like many 13th/18th Officers, he attended Wellington College in Berkshire. During his time at College, he became a Sergeant in the CCF and enjoyed Amateur Dramatics, with his most notable […]
The Atacama Desert, located in the North of Chile, is one of the driest places on earth and hosts a giant landfill of illegally discarded clothes that are imported via the port of Iquique. According to the most recent UN figures, Chile is the third largest importer of second-hand clothes in the world with over […]
Michael Nicolas joined the Talbot in 1970 as top scholar. In fact, the scholarship was worth more the following year so he elected to retake it the next year, and won it again. No surprise then that he gained six top grade A Levels and won a postmastership to Merton to read either Maths or […]
DAVID KIRKE, who has died aged 78, was the guiding spirit and enfant terrible of the Dangerous Sports Club, whose colourful exploits caused global scandal and delight in the 1980s. He was perhaps best known for having invented modern bungee jumping (he always spelt it ‘bungy’) when early on the morning of 1st April 1979 […]
Former Sotheby’s wine director, Madeira expert and Master of Wine, Patrick Grubb died on 23rd March, leaving behind his wife, Jennie, and two sons, Hugo (Bl 92) and Harry (P 98). The Institute of Masters of Wine has written the following words about Patrick’s impressive career in wine: Patrick Grubb passed the MW exam in 1958 aged […]
In 1989, not long before the Gulf War, Major General Nick Ansell, Director of the Royal Armoured Corps (DRAC), was preoccupied with one thing: the problems encountered in the planned upgrade of the Army’s new tank, the Challenger. Nick was not responsible for procurement policy but as professional head of the Royal Armoured Corps, whose […]
Hugh began life in India where his father was a colonel in the Army in the Signals Regiment, engaged in breaking Japanese codes. In due course Hugh was sent to Wellington College, where he was a scholar. A contemporary writes of him that he was always very popular, extremely clever and a brilliant sportsman. From […]
On 3rd June 2024, Warner Haldane (Hl 64) was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM, equivalent to an MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours (NZ) for services to arts administration, particularly music. Mr Haldane’s investiture was held on Tuesday 10th September and was awarded by the Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro […]
Life Beyond Wellington Week is an integral part of Wellington College’s commitment to preparing students for the complexities of life after school. The programme is designed to bridge the gap between academic life and the ‘real’ world, offering students essential skills and insights that will help them navigate their future with confidence. Through a mix […]
On Saturday 14th September, OWXC took part in the 72nd Annual Alumni Race on Wimbledon Common, an 8k undulating cross-country course. This is a long-standing challenge amongst the alumni/ae of all the top schools and is as much social as it is competitive. We were again joined by four current College students and the staff […]
On Friday 10th May, our Singapore OWs played a friendly golf match against the Singapore Old Etonians. Read the Match Report by our OW Singapore Rep, Will Jelf (Hg 96) below. The Singapore OW vs OE golf match had been long talked about and finally organised by the two skippers Jelf (Hg 91-96) and Eton’s […]
Despite being born in Devonport, it was in the British Army that Richard Aylmer made his way in life. With a degree from London University, he joined the Royal Artillery in 1952 before retiring with rank of Captain in 1959. He was selected for the 1956 Winter Olympics in his chosen sport of cross-country skiing, […]
John arrived at College as a Foundationer and left as Head of Dorm and member of the UX, joining the RMA in 1949 before regimental duties with the RA and the RHA between 1954 and 1957 and retiring in 1968. He married Jillian in 1957 and they had 3 daughters before her untimely death in […]
John Jehu Ross Barnard passed away on 2nd November 2022, at the age of 83. John was born in 1939, the son of Captain J K Ross Barnard. He was in the Anglesey from 1953, a Foundationer. On leaving College he joined the well-known London Department Store, Selfridges, but very quickly found his true calling on […]
Tim Morley FRCS enjoyed a distinguished career as an orthopaedic surgeon of international renown. As his son, Mark, reflects, “After achieving Victor ludorum and some measure of academic success at Wellington, he clearly must have enjoyed his time at Cambridge and medical school because he qualified from one with a Third and the other only […]