Bedford School Totally Explained

Everything about Bedford School totally explained

Bedford School isn't Bedford Modern School. Bedford School is a public school for boys in Bedford, fifty miles north of London, England.
The school is one of five run by the Harpur Trust.
Bedford School comprises the Preparatory School (ages 7 to 13) and the Upper School (ages 13 to 18) and has about 1,200 pupils, both day-boys and boarders. A wide range of subjects is taught at GCSE and at A-level; the school also teaches the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. The current headmaster is Dr Philip Evans OBE, John Moule has been appointed to succeed him from 1 September 2008.

History

A church school was founded before the Domesday Book on the site which Bedford School occupied until the late 19th century. A grant of letters patent by King Edward VI in 1552 to the school was much aided by the actions of Sir William Harpur
In 1979 the school suffered a devastating arson attack during the night, and the main building was gutted by fire. The fire was fought into the early morning of Sunday 4 March. Over 90% of the building was destroyed, with thirty classrooms lost. Almost all pupil records were saved, but books, furniture and the large collection of portraits were destroyed. The school re-opened the next week in temporary classrooms.
Two new buildings have been built in the last five years: a £1 million library and a £3 million music school.
In 2005 Bedford school was one of fifty of the country's leading private schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents. Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.

Year groups

The first year at Bedford (for 13 to 14 year olds) is called the Fourth Form and is equivalent to Year 9 in the state system. After that's the Remove and the Fifth Form. The next two years are the Lower Sixth and the Upper Sixth. Bedford School also caters for the lower years (from year 3 to year 8) in Bedford Prep School this is on the same campus as the Main School and many facilities are shared.

Year Group	tate school equivalent
4th Form	Year 9
Remove	Year 10
5th Form	Year 11
Lower 6th	Year 12
Upper Sixth	Year 13

School houses

♦Bromham House (twinned with Burnaby boarding house) House Mistress: Mrs R Down, Boarding House Master: Mr R Williams ♦St Peter's House (twinned with Talbots boarding house) House Mistress: Mrs F McEwan-Cox, Boarding House Master: Mr. M Cassell ♦St Cuthberts House (twinned with Phillpotts boarding house) House Master: Mr M Hopgood, Boarding House Master: Mr.Andrew Grimshaw ♦Cresent House (twinned with Pemberley boarding house) House Mistress: Miss Joanna Law, Boarding House Master: Dr.Paul Arnold ♦Paulo Pontine House (twinned with Redburn boarding house) House Master: Mr Edward Swanwick, Boarding House Master: Mr Jeremy Farrell ♦Ashburnham House (twinned with Sandersons boarding house) House Master: Mr Barry Burgess, Boarding House Master: Mr R Midgeley

Songs

A Bedford tradition is singing songs and inter-house singing competitions. In the vein of the Eton Boating Song, many were written by teachers in the latter half of the 19th century. The official school song, "Domus Pater", was written by Henry Le Mesurier in 1861.

Monitors and Heads of Houses

Monitors are chosen from the top year group of the school (Upper 6th); they're deemed to have the best qualities of leadership and achievement. In addition there are the separate roles of heads of boarding and school houses, although a monitor may occasionally be chosen to fulfill this role as well.
On a school-wide level the best monitor is made "Head Boy", and a deputy is appointed to assist him. Monitors can wear coloured waistcoats and brown shoes along with brass buttons on their blazers. Since 2004 monitors have been chosen by application and a selection committee.
The Heads of House are appointed directly by the Housemaster who also selects a Deputy and House Options except for Burnaby the 6th form Boarding House, where the students elect their Head and Deputy

Sports

Bedford school has a different major sport for each term. The Christmas term is rugby union-orientated, the Easter term hockey, and Summer is cricket season. Rowing takes place throughout the year.
   Sports include, athletics, football, swimming, badminton, basketball, canoeing, cross-country running, fencing, fives, golf, rifle shooting, sailing, squash, tennis, volleyball, weights, table-tennis and water polo.
   The school has produced many sportsmen, such as cricketer Alastair Cook, who went on to play Test cricket for England - whose coach was then sports master and ex-England all-rounder Derek Randall. Others include England rugby players, Martin Bayfield and Andy Gomarsall, and 1924 Olympic 100 yards gold medalist, Harold Abrahams.
   Bedford School won the Daily Mail Under 15 2006 Schools' Cup for the second time with a 16-3 victory over a fancied QEGS Wakefield side at Twickenham (the first time being in 1994 when they shared the cup after drawing 3-3).

Combined Cadet Force

One of the most popular extracurricular activities at Bedford School is the Combined Cadet Force. This differs from other Corps in that it draws members from three schools and that it's voluntary. Despite its voluntary status it's the largest CCF contingent of any school.
Bedford School is the third largest contributor to the armed forces of any school (behind Eton and Harrow). Unusually, over 20% of service personnel from Bedford served in the medical wing of one of the three uniformed services.

The Charles Piazzi Smyth Observatory and the Wolfson Planetarium

The Piazzi Smyth Observatory and Wolfson Planetarium were opened in May 2002 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. Situated on the Bedford School estate, the facility is operated by the school's Astronomer in conjunction with members of the Bedford Astronomical Society. The Observatory was named after an Old Bedfordian who went on to become the Astronomer Royal for Scotland. It features a specially made GRP dome and a computer controlled twelve-inch telescope. The telescope also has a hydrogen alpha filter, enabling one to see the magnetic plasma flow around the Sun. The adjacent Planetarium was named after the Wolfson Foundation.

Music

Bedford School has one of the largest school music departments in the UK.
Annually, there's a full and active programme of music concerts, culminating in a series of summer concerts at the end of the academic year. There are a number of senior music groups, including the School First (Symphony) Orchestra, School Band, Choral Society, Chapel Choir, and a large number of chamber groups. In addition, there's a Second Orchestra, a Chamber Orchestra, Dance Band, and jazz and rock groups. There is a Composer-in-Residence at the School, called the Eileen Norris Fellow.

Prominent Old Bedfordian musicians

Peter Freyhan (1950–1957); principal cellist BBC Symphony Orchestra (retd).
Ian Fox (1956–1964); Director of Music of The King's School, Gloucester (retd).
Richard Kerr (1958–1962); songwriter, for Elkie Brooks, Dionne Warwick, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Williams.
Michael Freyhan (1951–1958); pianist and harpsichordist.
Alisdair MacRae Birch (1967–1976); jazz guitarist, bassist, and arranger.
Alec Dankworth (1968–1977); jazz bassist.
Andrew Manze (1975–1982); violinist and Musical Director of The English Concert.
Philip Stopford (1990–1995); Director of Music at Belfast Cathedral.
Dave Vitty; Lead Nose-Flautist of popular BBC Radio One band Folk Face

Notable Old Bedfordians

James Dennis (1815–1861), palaeontologist and natural historian

Henry Hawkins, Baron Brampton (1817–1907), barrister and Judge of the High Court of Justice, 1876–1898

Henry Corbet (1820–1878), agricultural writer and editor

Sir Wyndham Dunstan (1861–1949), chemist and Director, Imperial Institute, 1903–1924

John Platts (1830–1904), Indian and Persian language expert

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), occultist

Hubert Burge (1862–1925), Headmaster of Winchester College, 1901–1910, Bishop of Southwark, 1910–1919, and Bishop of Oxford, 1919–1925

Sir Walter Langdon-Brown (1870–1946), Regius Professor of Physic, University of Cambridge, 1932–1935

H. H. Munro (Saki) (1870–1916), short story writer

Paget Wilkes (1871–1934), missionary in Japan

Sir Lynden Macassey (1876–1963), engineer and barrister

Gilbert Campion, Baron Campion (1882–1958), Clerk of the House of Commons, 1937–1948

Sir Bernard Reilly (1882–1966), Resident/Chief Commissioner/Governor of Aden, 1931–1940

Charles Meek (1885–1965), anthropologist

Marshal of the RAF Cyril Newall, 1st Baron Newall (1886–1963), Air Member for Supply and Organisation, 1935–1937, Chief of the Air Staff, 1937–1940, and Governor-General of New Zealand, 1940–1946

Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker (1887–1964), soldier, adventurer, and weapons designer

Admiral Sir Robert Burnett (1887–1959), Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic, 1944–1946, and Flag Officer Plymouth, 1946–1950

William Rowan (1891–1957), ornithologist

Air Vice-Marshal Sir Paul Maltby (1892–1971), Air Officer Commanding Java, 1942, and Black Rod, 1946–1962

John Dudley North (1893–1968), aircraft designer

Sir Percivale Liesching (1895–1973), Permanent Under-Secretary, Ministry of Food, 1946–1948, Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, 1949–1955, and High Commissioner in South Africa, 1955–1958

Sir Karl Parker (1895–1992), art historian and Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, 1945–1962

Harold Abrahams (1899–1978), sprinter, long jumper, barrister and civil servant

Jack Beresford (1899–1977), oarsman and coach

John Desmond Bernal (1901–1971), physicist

Rex Alston (1901–1994) was a master at the school, 1924–1941, before becoming a cricket, rugby and athletics commentator for BBC Radio.

Vice-Admiral John Hughes-Hallett (1901–1972), naval officer, amphibious warfare expert and politician

Sir Bob Dixon (1904–1965), Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary, 1943–1948, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1954–1960, and Ambassador to France, 1960–1965

Torin Thatcher (1905–1981), actor

Archer John Porter Martin (1910-2002) Nobel prize winner, 1952

Charles Dent (1911–1976), physician and biochemist

Joseph Godber, Baron Godber of Willington (1914–1980), Minister of Labour, 1963–1964, and Secretary of State for Agriculture, 1972–1974

Joe Chamberlin (1919–1978), architect and town planner

Leo Oakley (1925–1981), England rugby player

Sir Peter Parker (1924–2002), chairman of British Rail, 1976–1983

John Fowles (1926–2005), author

Frank Adams (1930–1989), Fielden Professor of Mathematics, University of Manchester, 1964–1970, and Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry, University of Cambridge, 1970–1989

Budge Rogers (born 1933), England rugby player

Michael De-la-Noy (1934–2002), author, journalist and gay-rights activist

Michael Morris, Baron Naseby (born 1936), politician

Quentin Skinner (born 1940), Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridge, 1996–

Paddy Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon (born 1941), leader of the Liberal Democrats, 1988–1999

Sir Gerry Neale (born 1941), politician

John Carlisle (born 1942), politician

Bob Clay (born 1946), politician

Lucien Jenkins (born 1957), writer and editor

Jeff Hilson (born 1966), poet

Martin Bayfield (born 1966), England rugby player

Al Murray (born 1968), comedian

Joel Beckett (born 1973), actor

Andy Gomarsall (born 1974), England rugby player

David Lloyd Vitty (born 1974), Radio 1 presenter

Dan Wheldon (born 1978), racing driver, Indianapolis 500 winner in 2005

David Callam (born 1983), Scotland rugby player

Alastair Cook (born 1984), cricketer

Military

General Sir Walter Braithwaite (1865–1945), Adjutant-General to the Forces, 1927–1931

Field Marshal Sir Cyril Deverell (1874–1947), Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1936–1937

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Michael Le Fanu (1913–1970), Director-General, Naval Weapons, 1958–1960, Controller of the Navy, 1961–1965, Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, 1965–1968, and First Sea Lord, 1968–1970

Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker (1877–1930), Director-General of Civil Aviation, 1922–1930, and victim of R101 disaster

Major-General Sir Hubert Huddleston (1880–1950), Commandant, Sudan Defence Force and General Officer Commanding Sudan, 1925–1930, and Governor-General of the Sudan, 1940–1947

Air Chief Marshal Sir Charles Burnett (1882–1945), Air Officer Commanding British Forces in Iraq, 1932–1935, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Royal Air Force Training Command, 1936–1939, and Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Australian Air Force, 1939–1942

General Sir Sidney Kirkman (1895–1982), General Officer Commanding, 50th (Northumbrian) Division, 1942–1944, and XIII Corps, 1944–1945, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, 1945–1947, and Quartermaster-General to the Forces, 1947–1950

Marshal of the RAF Sir Thomas Pike (1906–1983), Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, 1953–1956, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Fighter Command, 1956–1959, Chief of the Air Staff, 1960–1964, and Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, 1964–1967

Victoria Cross and George Cross Holders

Four Old Bedfordians have won the Victoria Cross and one the George Cross:

Victoria Cross

First World War
- Arthur Walderne St. Clair Tisdall VC
- Major George Campbell Wheeler VC. He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. - Commander Jolly was posthumously awarded the Empire Gallantry Medal which was later converted into a George Cross.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Bedford School'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://bedford_school.totallyexplained.com">Bedford School Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.