A stunning memorial

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Although the official opening of the renovated Jubilee pavilion is not until OC Day on June 14, it is already in use, and on May 22 a small dinner was given by the school to those who were involved in the rebuilding.

Suffice to say that the interior is stunning, and for the first time we have a genuine cricket pavilion, right down to honours boards listing all school and OC cricket achievements back to 1866. The most stunning feature is the glass-fronted balcony.

Guy Waller gave a short speech on behalf of the school, to which David Bugge, as OCCC president, replied. John McDermott then gave a more lengthy but , as ever, entertaining speech which covered subjects ranging from the driving skills of the headmaster's wife to smoking in the pavilion during the 1950s.

OC legend Viv Cox dies aged 93

We are very sorry to have to report that Viv Cox died peacefully in his sleep on Monday, April 27, 2009. He was 93.

There are few individuals so inexorably linked to Cranleigh and Old Cranleighans. Viv was one of a rare breed who both went to the school and returned to teach there, and in retirement built his home in Edgefield Close so he was able to keep on top of daily life at Cranleigh. Quietly and without fuss, he helped many past and present Cranleighans, his pleasure coming from seeing them thrive in an environment which had given him so much pleasure.

As a sportsman, Viv was a one of those multitalented games players which seemed to be so common in the inter-war years. At Cranleigh he was a colour in all three major sports, and also boxed and played fives. He went on to represent English Public Schools at rugby, and but for a serious knee injury playing for the Old Cranleighans against the School, would in all likelihood have won a Blue at Cambridge. As it was, he became the first OC to be capped by England at hockey.

His war was remarkable, and those of us fortunate enough to sit down and chat with Viv about his exploits were entertained for hours with stories of Churchill, Roosevelt and many A-list celebrities. Undoubtedly many of these stories will come out in the coming weeks.

A thespian at heart, he went on to become a leading British film producer and then assisted Bernard Miles at the Mermaid Theatre, before returning to Cranleigh to teach. His lasting memorial at Cranleigh is the Viv Cox theatre.

He played a little cricket for the OCs but kept abreast of the comings and goings, and in 2001, aged 85, accompanied the OCCC on their Kenya tour, a trek which left many half his age wilting. Viv remained cheerful and energetic throughout. He was also a regular player for the OCHC in the two decades after the war.

"Vivian was my valued and special friend for 42 years, since we were new boys in the Common Room together in 1967,” Mike Payne said. “No friend has shared with me such a fund of reminiscence, so much of it connected to Cranleigh. His wit was legendary, all with a sense of timing honed in the theatre and film world he treasured. I have printed before a 2005 example, when I was driving him to Thames Ditton. Knowing that he was tired, I said: 'Vivian, if you want to have a sleep I'll shut up talking.' 'No,' said Vivian, 'I think the best way is for you to carry on.' "

Viv’s funeral will be private, but there will be an opportunity for us to celebrate his remarkable life and major contribution to the School and the OC community at a Memorial Service, to be held in the School Chapel early next year when it re-opens after its refurbishment.

Westcott astro opens at Prep School

Olympians turned up by the truck-load as Cranleigh Prep School opened their new artificial Westcott Pitch on April 17. There were 10 in all - including Dave Faulkner, Richard Mantell and Richard Leman - plus six national players to form an invitational side to take on the school's finest (past and present) in a special match.

Mike Wilson, head of Cranleigh Prep, said: "It's an important day for the school and it only seems, bearing in mind the long-standing association we have with the sport – having produced several national and Olympic players over the years - that the new pitch should be opened by such an illustrious line-up of figures in the world of international hockey."

The facility has been named after David Westcott, a former pupil at the prep and senior schools and who is currently a governor. He captained Great Britain at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, guiding them to a bronze medal. Five years earlier he had led Oxford University in a record Varsity win against Cambridge, scoring a hat-trick at Lord's in the days when the match was played on grass at cricket's headquarters.

The match also gave an opportunity for Steve Batchelor - gold medallist in Seoul in 1988 as well as the bronze four years earlier - to take on son Tom, a pupil at the senior school and who has just been selected for the England U16 squad.

Excellent facilities are synonymous with the school and the Westcott Pitch represents an inaugural project for the Cranleigh Foundation in enhancing them.

An OC side featuring, among others, David Knapp, Rob Merry, Helen Merry

OCRFC in Spain

Needless to say we had fun in Valencia. Captained splendidly by Steero we played a 3-way tournament with two Spanish sides; spanked the first one, Tamati RC, but rather shot our bolt a tad early and faded against the better second one, the hosts and the oldest club in Spain, Tavernes RC. Still we won on aggregate over the two games! Other than that well, ‘what goes on tour ...’. We saw rather more of the Spanish health service than we would have liked, but fortunately to no lasting effect. ‘Morrisey’ (Ollie Smith) was King of Tour for translation services and all-round good touring.

I don’t think that the Hotel Melia Plaza are going to host another rugby tour though, not for any outrageous behaviour of course on our behalf, more for cultural differences; as an example they were rather fazed by Bradders and ‘Tragedy’ (Ben Gillen) appearing dressed as Smurfs for the day on Saturday; the manager said that it was “not normal” (Rolesy begged to differ). Ben would like to retain his tour name please for general usage.

Thanks as ever to Simon Laws for his efforts, which included a return to the pitch only a year after his quadruple heart bypass; a typical prop he dropped a scoring pass over the line!

First round Halford Hewitt loss to Eton

Nearly 30 OCs, together with the headmaster and Mike Payne, gathered at Deal
last week to support our Halford Hewitt team in our 70th appearance at this
notable competition organised by the Public Schools Golf Association. Drawn
against a young Old Etonian side, the team battled against a cold and strong
northerly wind to lose 1½ to 3½ in the first round. Sadly Marcus Ferguson-
Jones was unable to play, so Tony Whitty led the team consisting of John
Davies, Martin Riddiford, Oliver Rosenberg, Mike Crane, Richard Williams, Luke
Parry, Adam Kendrick, Mark Connelly, and Abeed Janmohamed, with Matthew
Hansford acting as team coach. In the final, Tonbridge beat Merchant Taylors
3-2, having overcome a strong Bradfield side in the semis. In the Prince’s Plate
we disappointingly lost to St. Bee’s. It was good to see Adam Kendrick come
down from university during his finals to play his first HH. We hope this will
encourage more young OCs to boost our aging team. David Willis

Halford Hewitt Trivia

In the Halford Hewitt Anderson Scale, Cranleigh is rated 26th compared to
Eton at 5th. The average points per year for the OCs is 1.042 compared
with Eton at 2.269.

In “The Small Scale” Cranleigh is 34th (out of 64 schools) compared to
Eton at 11. The points difference was 92.7.

Our record of results in the 70 years we have been playing is:
Round 1 24; round 2 25; round 3 12; quarter finals 7; semi final 1, final 1.
We have never won the competition but came closest in 1968, losing to Eton 2-3. John Davies played in that match and is still playing 30 years later!

Cranleigh draw Eton in Halford Hewitt

Cranleigh have drawn Eton in this year's Halford Hewitt which will take place
at Deal on Thursday April 2. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 3.35, the last
match of the day and may have to carry-on to the Friday.

Cranleigh lost on the 20th hole to Eton in the 1968 final. We are determined to have our revenge this year and encourage as many supporters as possible, so please come and join us for a great day’s golf and companionship.

Click here for the full draw