OV Richard’s Return: Reminiscing, Rediscovering, and Reflecting at King’s

A great afternoon was spent walking around the school site with OV Richard Wardner (Ch 75-82) and his wife, Jane, this month, especially as Richard had not returned to King’s, or even Worcester, since leaving!

Richard’s greatest impression of “now” versus “then” was that while the furniture and layout of the rooms he used to know may have changed, the overall layout and atmosphere was very familiar, bringing back some great memories. This was especially the case in Choir House (also now known as the English Block). Here, Richard easily found his former study, and recalled his time spent in the basement, hidden away from the prying eyes of teachers! The key attraction there was the table tennis table, where many an hour was whiled away, playing ‘round the table’ with green hymnbooks as bats; Richard then admitted that the hymnbooks had also been deployed for Fives in lieu of specialist padded gloves.

Richard had enjoyed Physics while at King’s, so was eager to see the Science Block. He recognised the labs in which he had spent so much time, impressively remembering many of the Physics instruments while speaking with current Head of Physics, Adam Knights (Hon OV).

Returning to the School Gardens was high on Richard’s list, as he had enjoyed heading there on hot days and after exams to decompress. He was pleased to see the gardens hadn’t changed much, although of course the Michael Baker Boathouse was an impressively welcome addition. From the Michael Baker Boathouse, Richard showed Jane where he used to cycle, getting to/from the playing fields, and the effects the flood waters had.

Edgar Tower was especially emotive for Richard, which in his time had been the school library. The main space is now a Classics classroom, looked after by Elizabeth Shepherd (Hon OV) who spent some time with Richard and Jane, talking about teachers from his time at King’s (and spotting Mr Thompson (Hon OV) in the street below).

Walking around the site, key highlights for Richard were finding that the shooting range both still existed and was in the same place (albeit now under the John Moore Theatre and not in a pre-fab building), seeing the “New Block” was still standing and now called The Annett Building, and a vivid recollection of his last day at King’s, standing in front of the School boards by the Biology block, finding out his A level results!

The final stop for Richard and Jane was in Richard’s former junior common room – the Chappel Memorial Room (or Reading Room). Very little had changed since Richard used it, although he felt it was a little less lived-in without the boarders enjoying the space in the evening, as they had in his day.

Richard and Jane left King’s to visit the Cathedral, where Richard showed her where he used to sit for House assembly, before onwards to the Cardinals Hat, always considered the Masters’ pub, and The Swan, formerly The Swan with Two Nicks, to where Richard and his cohort would disappear during many a lunch break in Sixth Form!