Today, on the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron (Harrow 1801)’s death, we invite OHs to listen to episode 5 of the ‘A History of Harrow in Ten Objects’ HA podcast series, Byron’s fob seal. In this episode Harry Bucknall (West Acre 1979¹) talks to Peter Hunter about the fob seal and other Byron items in the School’s collection, Byron’s life and the ‘gilded age’ of the School during the 1800s. You can listen to HA Podcasts via the HA Soundcloud page, the link for which can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/harrowassociation/a-history-of-harrow-in-ten-object-5-byrons-fob-seal
We also look forward to seeing many of you at Peter Hunter’s Harrow Giant talk ‘Lord Byron-200 Years On’ tonight from 6:30pm in Speech Room.
For OHs who are unable to attend the event in person, the lecture will be recorded and shared on OH Connect.
#gianttalks #lordbyron #oldharrovians #harrowschool #hapodcasts
We'd like to invite you to listen to the latest HA Podcast, Harrow Voices with Howard Shaw, much-loved former Head of History, House Master of The Head Master's and Assistant Master of Harrow.
Harry Bucknall (West Acre 1979¹) interviews Howard about his motivation behind becoming a School Master, his time at Taunton School and King's College School, Cambridge, his first impressions as a history Beak at Harrow, being in charge of the Outcasts cricket team, and why he played classical music from his gramophone at the beginning of his history lessons.
Listen to the podcast on the HA's SoundCloud page here today soundcloud.com/harrowassociation/ha-podcasts-harrow-voices-howard-shaw
#HAPodcasts #ohconnect #harrowassociation #oldharrovians #harrowschool #gamekeeperpr
Harrow Association members, we invite you to take a moment to watch a new short film highlighting the various benefits of your HA membership and a reminder of some of the work of the HA.
You might even spot yourself or someone you know from a recent event...
#harrowassociation #ohconnect
Founder's Day takes place this Sunday 4 February 2024.
OHs are welcome back to the Hill to play Harrow football against boys from your old House. Other activities taking place on the day include rackets, fives, squash, water polo, fencing and golf.
In the afternoon, the Old Speech Room Gallery will be open for viewings of the new exhibition The Traveller, there's a House Intrumental competition in Music Schools, an Art exhibition in the Pasmore Gallery and the Rayleigh Observatory with be open in the evening if the sky is clear.
OHs, you should all have received an email with the timetable for the day and how to register your interest with the House Master of your old House or the various Masters-in-Charge. You can also find this information on OH Connect: ohconnect.org.uk/events/158.
#foundersday #oldharrovians #ohconnect #harrowassociation
In the final episode of A History of Harrow in Ten Objects, Harry Bucknall talks to the Head Master Alastair Land about the Royal Seal of Queen Elizabeth I held in the School Archive. He discusses what it represents for the School today; a refounding promise to leadership and service and commitment to the School’s community service programme through Shaftesbury Enterprise.
Listen here today: ow.ly/l3Ot50QkyNy
For object 9 in A History of Harrow in Ten Objects a beautiful poignant episode about the Alex Fitch Room with Harry Bucknall and Peter Hunter, telling the story of 19 year old Alex Fitch (Bradbys 1914³), the building of the War Memorial and a homage to Harrovians killed in action.
Listen here today: ow.ly/eRtH50QkyES
For object 8 in A History of Harrow in Ten Objects, the much-loved Harrow Song Book. David Gurney (The Head Master’s 1954³) recounts his memory of his solo performance of Five Hundred Faces and meeting Sir Winston Churchill (The Head Master’s 1888²) at Churchill Songs in Speech Room in 1954.
Harry Bucknall and Dale Vargas discuss the tradition of Songs at the School, EE Bowen and J Farmer, ‘the fathers of Harrow Songs’, some of the favourite Songs and how they remain the emotional heart of the School today.
Listen here today: ow.ly/rfIK50Qkyuh
In episode 7 in our A History of Harrow in Ten Object podcast series Harry Bucknall talks to Dale Vargas (Druries 1952³), author of Football: The Harrow Game about the development of Harrow football through the early rules of the game on the Hill and how it became the precursor to the most popular sport in the world today.
Listen here today: ow.ly/OwQe50QkxVT
The wonderful photos used to illustrate this podcast series are taken from the limited edition A Photographic Celebration of Harrow School by Will Cooper which is available to purchase from the Hill Shop:
harrowschoolenterprises.com/product/a-photographic-celebration-of-harrow-school/
For episode 6, our object is the iconic Harrow Hat, an enduring and indelible part of Harrow’s history.
Harry Bucknall talks to Peter Hunter about the Hat’s origins and development as well as the history of the uniform itself. They discuss wonderful imagery of the Hat through the years, and generations of Harrovians' attempts at protecting their hats with varnish.
Listen here today: ow.ly/vwHK50QiKVX
The wonderful photos used to illustrate this podcast series are taken from the limited edition book A Photographic Celebration of Harrow School by Will Cooper which is available to purchase from the Hill Shop:
harrowschoolenterprises.com/product/a-photographic-celebration-of-harrow-school/
Object 5 in our A History of Harrow in Ten Object podcast series is George Gordon, Lord Byron (Harrow 1801²)’s fob seal.
Harry Bucknall and Peter Hunter discuss the life of this great Giant of Old, as we approach the 200th anniversary of his death in 2024, and the ‘gilded age’ of the School during the 1800s.
Byron enthusiasts, look out for an announcement in the New Year for a possible HA Giant Talk to celebrate Byron 200.
Listen to episode 5 here today: ow.ly/2BY950QiKqB
The fourth of our objects in the A History of Harrow in Ten Objects podcast series looks at The Contio Latina, an annual Harrow tradition dating back to 1674 whereby a Harrovian delivers a speech, entirely in Latin to the School Governor.
Harry Bucknall and Peter Hunter discuss the history of public speaking, the importance of oratory at the School and some of the common themes of the Contio each year.
The School Archive holds digitised copies of Contio dating back to 1770. OHs interested in exploring the archive OHs can access the website using your login for The Harrovian digital archive here: harrowcontio.daisy.websds.net/Login.aspx
Listen to Episode 4 of A History of Harrow in Ten Objects here today:
ow.ly/LFtt50QjLM0
In the third instalment of A History of Harrow in Ten Objects, Harry Bucknall (West Acre 1979¹) and Peter Hunter trace the history of the Silver Arrow and the origins of the arrow in Harrow’s history, first seen in archery which has existed since the foundation of the School.
They discuss the shooting competition in which the Silver Arrow was awarded, and the beautiful Harrow Song, favourite of many.
Listen here today: https://ow.ly/f8v550QiQtC
In the second of our A History of Harrow in Ten Objects podcast episodes, Harry Bucknall (West Acre 1979¹) and Peter Hunter discuss the Harrow Lion, the School’s symbol and subsequent coat of arms, its origins and the development of the global Harrow brand.
Listen here today: ow.ly/voPR50QiJTo
In the first of our A History of Harrow in Ten Objects podcast episodes, Harry Bucknall (West Acre 1979¹) talks to Peter Hunter about the Royal Charter, starting, naturally, at the beginning, with John Lyon’s foundation of the School in 1572, under a royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I.
They discuss his motivations for doing so, the early days of the School and the development of the John Lyon Charity.
Listen here today: ow.ly/knwT50QiJMe
As we approach Armistice Day tomorrow, and Remembrance Sunday, we’d like to make OHs aware of the WWI Memorial website, containing the digitised memorials of all Harrovians who fought and died in WWI.
In the Alex Fitch Room, Charles Bain (The Park 1985³) reflects on the story of his great-great uncle Andrew Lusk Bain (The Grove 1896³), who went to France as a Lieutenant in the Irish Guards and was sadly killed just seven days before the end of the war.
Andrew Bain's biography has been digitised and is available to read on the WWI Memorial website Roll of Honour along with the digitised six volumes of Harrow Memorials of the Great War, funded by the Harrow Association. Each page of these memorials is dedicated to a fallen Harrovian. The photographs and written descriptions from these memorials, along with other archive material relating to Harrow School and World War One are accessible, on this site, to those researching Old Harrovians or Harrow School during the war years.
harrowschool-ww1.org.uk
#LestWeForget #RemembranceDay #ArmisticeDay #WeWillRememberThem
Tomorrow, Wednesday 1 March, the Harrow Aviation Club are hosting a special screening of Silver Spitfire-The Longest Flight in Speech Room, followed by a Q & A with crew members and all are welcome to attend.
This award-winning documentary, directed by Ben Uttley (Moretons 1991³), follows the breath-taking story of a British expeditionary team attempting a dangerous, world-first circumnavigation of the Earth in an 80-year-old vintage World War II fighter.
The journey takes the adventurers to over 30 countries, covering over 27,000 miles and many of the world's most famous landmarks from the Grand Canyon to Mount Fuji.
The score for the film is by fellow OH, Harry Gregory (Moretons 2009³) and Benjamin Hollway (The Knoll 1988³), orchestrated the official song.
Those attending can join Ben, Harry, Benjamin and members of the crew, including pilot Ian Smith MBE, in the Old Harrovian Room beforehand, from 6pm, for a drinks reception, followed by the film screening from 7pm lasting 1hr 30mins and a Q & A in Speech Room.
The event is open to current Harrovians and the wider School community, invited OHs and students from our Shaftesbury Enterprise partner schools.
Whilst there is no charge for this event, there will be a retiring collection towards Shaftesbury Enterprises charities, supporting the Young Harrow Foundation and Harrow Club.
Email [email protected] should you wish to attend and we’ll add you to the guest list.
#oldharrovians #harrowassociation
For Day 12 of the Christmas Countdown, following our run down of the 450th year, here’s a reminder of some of the podcasts the Harrow Association have shared and a invitation to listen to them during any free time you have over the holidays.
The excellent Harry Bucknall (West Acre 1979¹) of Gamekeeper PR, has interviewed a number of key figures from the Hill for our Harrow Voices series including the Head Master, Simon Berry and Fr James Power this year. Previous podcasts have included interviews with James Blunt (Elmfield 1987³), Lord Butler of Brockwell (Druries 1951³), Dale Vargas (Druries 1952³) and Roger Uttley OBE to name a few.
We also celebrated the appointment of Harrow Association President, Timothy Bentinck MBE (Moretons 1966³) in a special Eminent Harrovians podcast earlier this autumn.
To catch up with all Harrow Association Podcasts visit the HA’s SoundCloud page at soundcloud.com/harrowassociation , visit the link in our bio or via OH Connect.
Look out in the New Year for a new series The History of Harrow in 10 Objects celebrating the School’s 450 years.
#hachristmascountdown22 #ohconnect #oldharrovians #harrowassociation
For Day 4 of the Christmas Countdown we look back at the fantastic Harrow and the Hill 450 Community Day.
On 30 April, the School held an event open to members of the local community. The High Street was decorated with flags flying from the buildings and Houses, inspired by archive photos.
All those taking part were encouraged to dress from different eras spanning Harrow's 450 years.
As part of the celebrations, there were performances by local community groups, including a Peruvian dance by ArtperUK, a Bollywood dance by children from Quainton Hall School, performances from the Merrydowners Morris and Cara Gael Irish Dance Group, Harrow Steel Band, Indie Choir, the Harrow Community Gospel Choir and Romanian Choir and many more.
The day also included two performances of Benjamin Britten’s one-act opera Noye’s Fludde in Speech Room starring local primary school groups, a Punch and Judy show as well as a festival of cricket where 150 local primary school children enjoyed an afternoon of cricket coaching.
OHs can view photos of the day in the album on OH Connect here: ohconnect.org.uk/photos-albums/albums/80055
#hachristmascountdown22 #ohconnect #harrow450
For Day 2 of the Christmas Countdown we look back to the Service of Refoundation at St Paul’s Cathedral.
On 11 February 2022, the School, parents, OHs and staff gathered under St Paul’s beautiful dome to mark the 450th anniversary of the granting of the Royal Charter to John Lyon.
During the service, a replica of Harrow School’s Royal Seal was presented to each of the Houses and members of the Harrow family including John Lyon School and the Harrow International Schools.
OHs can view a recording of this special event on OH Connect today.
#hachristmascountdown #ohconnect #harrow450
For this year's Harrow Association Christmas Countdown, we invite you to reminisce over some of the highlights of Harrow's 450th anniversary year.
Throughout the year, the School and the Harrow Association have held a number of special events for boys, parents, Old Harrovians and the wider Harrow community to celebrate 450 years since the Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to John Lyon, in 1572, to build a School on Harrow Hill.
Our Christmas Countdown looks back on these occasions as we look forward to the new year.
First up, here’s a reminder of the rich history we are commemorating in our Celebrating our Past video launched in the lead up to the 450th year.
#harrow450 #hachristmascountdown2022 #oldharrovians #ohconnect
