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Hampton
Court
3rd Years – January
This trip lent support
to the Third Years’ study
of the Tudors.
Of Henry VIII’s palaces, only St James’s
and Hampton Court survive to give an
insight to the social history of the Tudor
court. Henry VIII’s apartments and kitchens
were the highlight of our tour, especially
the professionally acted recreation of the
arrest of Kathryn Howard! Our taught
session (“Henry to Mary; the religious
rollercoaster”) was led by a ‘courtier of
Henry VIII’ who used the location of
historic events at the palace – such as
the birth of Edward VI – to illustrate the
turbulence in England in the 16h century.
The gardens and grounds are magnificent
and feature Henry VIII’s tennis court, the
world’s biggest grapevine and the famous
maze.We greatly enjoyed our visit and it
provided all the boys with a better sense of
what England was like under the rule of one
our most famous royal families.
DRW
Varsity
Rugby
Match
Removes & 5th
Years – December
On Thursday 10th December
40 Removes and Fifth years
travelled to Twickenham
to watch the 134th Varsity
Match between Oxford and
Cambridge.
In recent years, Oxford have had the
upper hand in the fixture although some
commentators thought the presence of
Jamie Roberts (Wales, British and Irish
Lions) in the Cambridge back-line might
inspire the light blues to victory. Both sides
struggled to impose themselves in difficult
playing conditions, with the defences
gaining an upper hand after an initial period
of Cambridge dominance. Jamie Roberts
went off at half-time due to a dead leg and
this was a key factor in momentum with
the game slowly turning in Oxford’s favour.
Although both sides had opportunities to
score in open play, ultimately the match
became a kicking contest with Oxford
edging out a 12-6 win. This was their
sixth victory in a row (a new record for
the fixture) and no doubt Cambridge will
already be planning their revenge for next
year. The Summer Fields spectators enjoyed
the day and were a credit to the school.
DRW
Ashmolean Museum
2nd Years – February
The whole of the Second Year,
as part of their ongoing string
classes, spent aWednesday
morning at this marvellous
museum, looking at the
stunning collection of string
instruments through the ages.
The boys were particularly interested to
see a Stradivarius violin which has been
named The Messiah, not least as it was
recently valued at an estimated $20million!
In addition to studying the instruments,
the boys also had a chance to see the
fascinating exhibition on Lawrence of Arabia
and had a whistle-stop tour of some of the
other galleries, which included a discussion
of what typifies Flemish art: the answer
from one was, “It seems to be fruit, flowers
and rotting fish, sir.” A super morning out
was had by all and, once again, this amazing
resource which is right on our doorsteps
didn’t fail to inspire everyone.
GIJP
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6
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