Centenary celebrations for Grimwade House

Bishop’s Stortford College Junior School welcomed General Sir Peter Whiteley GCB, OBE, DL as guest of honour to the centenary celebrations of Grimwade House, which has served as a home from home for boarders since 1912.

Sir Peter, who now lives in Devon, is the oldest living former Grimwade boarder. Aged eight when he joined Bishop’s Stortford College in 1929, Sir Peter went on to pursue a distinguished career in the Royal Marines during which he became Commandant General of the Royal Marines and, in 1977, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Northern Europe.

The Service of Thanksgiving paid tribute to the dedicated service given by so many to the boarding community. Fifteen readings interwove memories and milestones spanning life in the boarding house, and in the world at large, over the past hundred years. Amazing Grace was sung by the Upper and Lower Third Choir and fourteen year old Bryan Chung played Bach’s Rondeau from Violin Concerto in E major. Professional soprano Christina Shand, who was a boarder at the College for seven years, sang Ave Maria, Op.52, No. 6 by Franz Schubert and College Musician in Residence James Gough played the Organ Voluntary, ‘March Pontificale’ from Symphony No 1 by Charles-Marie Widor.

Following the service, the two hundred guests, representing every decade of the Grimwade House century, together with current boarders and College staff, gathered on the green in glorious sunshine for a photograph. A commemorative painting by Simon Bailey, the College Junior School’s celebrated artist as well as geography teacher, was then unveiled by Sir Peter in Grimwade House common room.

“It was a very special occasion of celebration and thanksgiving,” said John Greathead, Head of Junior School. “We were delighted that so many were able to attend and it was wonderful to see the many re-connections between people being made. There was a lovely moment at the start of the day when two boarders from the 1940s, Bill Lambert and Richard Ling, met, as they got out of their cars, for the first time in sixty years.”

Heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed to the celebrations, including those who read during the Service of Thanksgiving:

GH The Early Years	Adrian Hathaway, Grimwade Housemaster (2008- )
The Opening	Katie Kerr (GH 2011- )
The Great War Years	David Kerr (GH 1974-1979)
The Jazz Years	Tom Goodman (GH 2004-2007)
The Monk-Jones Era	Louise Croft (GH 2003-2007)
Old Stortfordian Memories	General Sir Peter Whiteley (GH 1929-1933)
World War II	Andrew Bruce, Grimwade Housemaster (1988-1998)
The Atomic Age	Adarsha Gurung (GH 2011- )
Post-War Austerity	Yasmin Fearon (GH 2009- )
The Swinging Sixties	Paul Bashford (GH 1979-1981)
The Space Race	Richard Clough, Grimwade Housemaster (1998-2008)
The Seventies	Shona Reid (GH 2009- )
The Thatcher Years	Rory Torrance (GH 2009- )
The Information Age	Roseanna Cawthray-Stern (GH 2008-2010)
The Post-Millennium Years	Jeremy Gladwin, College Headmaster