Page 47 - Old Ratcliffian Magazine 2019
P. 47

Caitlin  Sheehy  (12)  graduated  from  the   Ratcliffe after the Sixth Form, we went   and experiences of one of the world’s most
        University of Manchester in July 2019,   on a road trip around Germany in an old   renowned and well-respected experts
        after completing her degree in Medicine   Volvo, and we always had our hopes set on   in  bilingualism.  François  Grosjean  takes
        with European Studies. After six years   something bigger. We’d been discussing   us through his life, from his monolingual
        of study, including spending her final   the Mongol Rally for years as something we   childhood  in  a  small  village  outside  Paris
        semester working in a hospital in Lyon and   all wanted to take part in, so we decided   to the long periods of time he spent in
        gaining a Master’s degree in Public Health,   that we should get on with it while we   Switzerland,  England,  France,  and  the   OR NEWS
        she is now working at Southmead Hospital   still had the chance! With the help of local   United States, becoming bilingual and
        in Bristol. In the summer of 2019, having   sponsors, we’ve raised over £3,800 so far   bicultural in the process. During his life,
        helped  to  organise  a  health  outreach   for charity.”               his dominant language has changed many
        project in Northern Uganda in 2016 and                                  times between English and French, and
        as a former member of the student Global                                he has also acquired, and subsequently
        Health Society committee, Caitlin led a                                 lost, other languages, including American
        team of doctors and medical students                                    Sign Language. Throughout the book,
        from the University of Manchester to                                    he  combines  his  personal  accounts
        study, educate and treat children living                                and anecdotes with insights from, and
        with schistosomiasis (a parasitic disease)                              reflections on, his extensive scholarly
        in Madagascar.                                                          research in bilingualism and biculturalism,
                                                                                which has, in turn, been heavily influenced
        Fr  Charles  Sormany  (48)  recently                                    by his own experiences. Written in an
        celebrated his 90th birthday. He was a                                  engaging and accessible style, the book
        teacher of Chemistry at Ratcliffe in the                                will appeal to general readers  interested
        1950s, after studying there from 1945 to                                in bilingualism and language contact,
        1948. Members of the Parish of St Mary’s                                educators and parents of bilingual children,
        Church in Loughborough created and                                      researchers working on bilingualism, and
        presented him with a special card at his   Geoff Orrill (58): “I am still happy working   to bilinguals themselves.’”
        birthday Mass, and a party was held for   part-time, which keeps me and my brain
        him at the Gentili House in Rugby.   quite active! I also still enjoy singing and
                                            performing at our highly rated amateur
                                            theatre in Hinckley (they won’t let me
                                            retire), where, last year, our group were
                                            voted ‘Best Amateur Show’ in the whole
                                            of the Midlands and the North for our
                                            production of  Made in Dagenham. This
                                            followed on from our success in 2017,
                                            winning a trophy for Sister Act, in which I
                                            played the Pope – a cracking cameo role!”









                                                                                Each year, friends from the  Class of
                                                                                1998 get together for a sailing weekend.
                                                                                Adrian Fidler is pictured at the helm with
                                                                                Ben Court, husband of Alison Court (née
        Jack Harvey (08): “Recently,  Peter Batty                               Mason). Sam Bird, Dom Brucciani, Andrew
        (08), James Perry (08) and I took on                                    Espinasse, Hemal Patel, Rob Hull and Carl
        the Mongol Rally and completed it in                                    Pastars, husband of Maria Pastars (née De
        53 days. The rally has been described                                   Rienzo) were all part of the on-board crew.
        as ‘the greatest motoring adventure
        on the planet’, travelling ‘a third of the   Ratcliffian Association Secretary Katherine
        way around the world in a vehicle only   Lang completed the London Landmarks
        fit  for  the  scrapheap!’.  We  started  our   Half Marathon in March, in memory of her
        epic journey in Prague and finished it in   dad, Paul Murphy (67), raising £1,400 for
        Ulan-Ude in Russia, taking the southern   Prostate Cancer UK.
        route and travelling through Iran, ‘The
        Stans’, Mongolia, and ending in Siberia.   François Grosjean (64): “My autobiography
        We travelled over 12,000 miles in a 1997   has just come out, and there is a whole
        1-litre Volkswagen Polo. We camped   chapter on my time at Ratcliffe. Here is
        when it was remote, but stayed in hotels   how Oxford University Press, my publisher,
        and hostels when we could. When we left   describes it: ‘This book explores the life

                                                                                        The Old Ratcliffian 2019  47
   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52