Page 84 - OO_2019

www months unfortunately, so I appear to be putting on weight. The operation does seem to have worked, though, in that the symptoms I had (leg pain) have disappeared, so that is a relief in more ways than one.
I got a very speedy response from Andrew Tobin (G 92), who reported that his family continue to enjoy living in Leicestershire. His son, James, is thriving in Bramston House and daughter Alice was looking forward to starting in New House in September 2019. He has taken a new role as partner at Mills & Reeve solicitors in London, where he continues to specialise in international insurance disputes for Lloyd’s and other insurers. He has played tennis 2-3 times for the OO Club and hopes to resume shooting for the Troubleshooters in 2019.
Simon Cotton (LS 81) admits that in the past he has not been great at providing news for the OO magazine, but rectifies that with a couple of updates from the Cotton household. After 35 years in the banking world he has become a hotelier, purchasing The Summer Isles Hotel in the Western Scottish Highlands. He continues to live in Northamptonshire, though, and makes regular journeys to the hotel in order to sample the wonderful fresh seafood and the local ales! Also, he and Dido recently became grandparents when daughter Sophie gave birth to a girl, Ottilie.
Sophie Robson (D 97) has been living in Dubai now for five years and is loving exploring that part of the world. She is the mother of two children – Isabella (7) and Hugo (5) – and married to Laing, who is working for Standard Chartered Bank out there. She has been working in a primary school as learning support in the SEN department and is now doing a gemmology course to keep her out of mischief! The Robsons come home every summer for a couple of months when the heat gets too much and in that time she keeps up with several OOs, including Sarah Storey (D 97), Sarah Swaney (D 97), Jo Raker (D 97) and Emily Collis (D 97).
Chris Grant (B 72) has spent the last 12 years renting out his house in
Cambridgeshire and living with his wife, Diana, on an historic Dutch barge, cruising the continental waterways of Belgium, France and the Netherlands with winters in Bruges. Their 26m riveted steel barge was built in the Dutch town of Makkum in 1927 and came out of commercial service in the late 1990s to be converted into a comfortable cruising home. In 10 years and more than 15,000km of travels, they have only ever seen one other OO, Rufus Moore (Lx 85), who was bringing his beautiful old sailing barge back to the Thames from the South of France. If there are any other OO bargees out there or living in or near Bruges, do get in touch via www.mvesme.co.uk, where you can also find more information about their travels.
Tom Allen (Sn 78) reports that for about 20 years he has been playing in a summer tennis four in his village with Mark Batt (Sn 77) (who lives across the field), Johnny Abraham (Sn 80) (who lives a few miles away) and an Old Radleian who has a court. However, both rain and injury have meant they have yet to play this year. As Tom doesn’t play golf, he has resumed full-time work in the construction industry, which is vastly more fun than watching the grass grow, he says!
Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon (B 61) continues to be busy. World Scientific published his biography of the mathematician, Benoît Mandelbrot, in early 2018 called Clouds Are Not Spheres and Ingrid Maclean has written his biography, entitled Behind Open Doors, releasing it at the end of last year. Furthermore, Bewley Books has published his fifth novel,
Karma Lawyer – Courage and Love, and will be publishing the sequel, When The Knitting Had To Stop, during the course of 2020. Nigel has now completed his seventh novel and begun to write his eighth, as well as working on his documentary on Quantum Mechanics, which he is producing, directing and presenting. It is called The Interactions Avenue and features the world-renowned physicist, Carlo Rovelli. During the last 18 months he has been invited to Oundle to show two of his popular Maths films to the Sixth Form. One of these is called The Colours of Infinity and has been broadcast in over 50 countries. It continues to inspire and inform viewers, and has won three awards over the years. Many of his films, including The Colours of Infinity, can be viewed on Vimeo via this link:
https://vimeo.com/user10384036. Nigel has travelled around the world widely during his film-making career, so he is more than content now to enjoy the countryside around the village where he lives, with occasional forays to London and the West Country to visit family and friends. He has six grandchildren, the oldest of whom is Oscar (17).
Diana Bevan (L 15) had two years out after she left Oundle to try to get into the GB youth eventing team and whilst ultimately unsuccessful, she says it was a brilliant challenge and experience, and she learnt a huge amount. Diana has just finished her second year at the University of Bath, studying Economics, and has been selected for the GB student riders’ squad (equestrian) and named as co-captain of the university’s ladies’ 1st XI hockey team. She remarks that Oundle has been instrumental in her sporting success and is hugely grateful for the opportunities afforded to her whilst she was a pupil there.
Ryck Turner (N 87) moved to Exton in Rutland in March 2018. Manufacturing pet food and real estate are still his principal commercial interests, while horse riding and eventing occupy a lot of his time. However, he has seen Martin Bailey (N 86) and his wife, Caroline, who are both still thriving in Norfolk, and notes that Martin’s love
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THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2018 –2019
NEWS FROM HOME
Chris Piper
(Sc 71)