Page 66 - The Old Ratcliffian 2015 Magazine

66 RATCLIFFE’S PAST
was ghastly, but we were always hungry, so we ate it reluctantly.
Circa 1947, on one momentous occasion, it came up for the
third time in the week! This was too much for the Arundel House
Captain and senior Sixth Formers, and so they decided that the
whole house would send it back untouched. They walked down
each side of the table and instructed us all to refuse it - back
it all went, via ‘Speedy’, to the kitchen. The prefects’ table was
across the Refectory, above the house tables, and Fr George
(Horse) Richardson (28), who was Upper School Master, sat in
the centre looking down on the assembled company. It suddenly
A CLASS APART
The death of Richard Cunningham (48) last year nearly draws a
line under an especially brilliant generation of Old Ratcliffians. I
knew them well, because they were a year or so ahead of me, and
they were the role models that I and my contemporaries aspired
to follow.
The ones who hit the headlines were, of course, Norman St John
Stevas (46), Ian Bannen (46) and Gordon Reece (47). Stevas was
always that little bit different. Slightly outrageous, extremely
witty, loving the limelight, it was no surprise that he rose to the
political heights, being the first Catholic since Thomas More to
lead the House of Commons.
Ian Bannen was the born actor and a natural humourist. He could
never quite make up his mind whether he wanted to become a
Cistercian monk or the next Gielgud. He probably would have
succumbed to the monkish profession if they had allowed him
his evening cigar and liqueur in the monastery. No one who saw
it will ever forget his final portrayal of the dotty Irish schemer in (15). Fr Claude had the happy knack of encouraging talent and
Waking Ned Devine, released just before his untimely death.
Gordon Reece (47) & Norman St John Gordon Reece was the
Stevas (46) in The Gondoliers. world’s supreme party
organiser. He followed
me to university after
National Service, and
became the catalyst for all
our social celebrations. It
was a natural progression
for him to move into the
business of discovering
TV stars like Dave Allen
and recreating Margaret
Thatcher‘s television
image. Gordon was,
in later years, a loyal
servant of the Ratcliffian
Association.
The cleverest of this very bright bunch was Patrick Nuttgens
(48). He loved to provoke Stevas in school politics and he was
never bettered in an argument. In his School Certificate, he
passed with Distinction in all subjects - the only Ratcliffe boy of
that generation to achieve the ‘grand slam’. His academic career
was long and glittering, in spite of the physical handicap of polio
and, later, multiple sclerosis.
Register online at www.ratcliffianassociation.co.uk
dawned on him that a most heinous crime had been committed
by Arundel, so he rose from his chair and, with a furiously purple
face, he stood at the head of Arundel table and dished out a
fairly coherent rollicking to the ‘sheep of Arundel’ (never, ever
forgotten by me) for following the lead of the senior house
members! The House Captain and senior Sixth Formers were
marched off to the Headmaster, Fr Claude Leetham (15) and, as
far as I remember, they got ‘six of the best’. However, we never
got egg-splosh three times again!”
Richard Cunningham was also a member of this eclectic and
brilliant galaxy of talent. He was the supreme academic, the
totally dedicated thinker and planner. At school, he once sat
behind me in a public exam, and I can still hear the constant
scratching of his pen as he covered acres of exam paper. Even
though, in childhood, he had quite a fierce temper, by the time
he reached the top of the school, he had become imperturbable
in the face of the Stevas scorn in debates. I think it was his serene
‘stickability’ that later carried him to the top of his profession.
Richard’s career in charge of Catholic education may not have
had the public éclat of his contemporaries, named above, but
during his time at the helm, there was tremendous development
in Catholic education. If genius truly is ‘an infinite capacity for
taking pains’, then Richard Cunningham was a genius. His life
was utterly focused on the service he gave, over thirty years, to
the Catholic community.
What was it that produced this amazing crop of talented
people? One name at once springs to mind: Fr Claude Leetham
challenging boys to perform to the best of their abilities. He ran
the Debating Society, which gave his students the confidence to
express themselves on their feet and enjoy the cut and thrust
of debate. He also loved producing plays and operettas. These
gave full range to the talent and eccentricity of all of the above,
with the exception of Richard, who was musically tone deaf and
also had difficulty remembering his lines. However, I recall that
he once totally stole the show as the performer with two left feet
in a mock gym display.
Fr Claude had a unique gift of drawing forth talent, especially
eccentricity, because he was, himself, eccentric. He also loved
young people and, like a good educator, gave his life to help form
their characters. Ratcliffe and all those highly successful men
owed much to that very great Rosminian.
Fr Michael Hill IC (49)
Eugene McCarthy (61) with Fr Michael Hill (49) on Skyline Drive in the
Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, last October