NEWS

Repton to the End: A compelling story spanning four hundred and fifty years

7 February 2008

Repton to the End is a lavishly illustrated portrait of Repton School, published on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of this famous Derbyshire- based public school.

Edited by John Plowright, Master of the Scholars at Repton, the book includes a host of informative and entertaining contributions from many distinguished current and Old Reptonians, and as well as a history of the school, Repton to the End provides a fascinating insight into the often complex but always compelling story of the relationship between the students, staff and society at large.

This history charts the changing fabric of the school and its personnel, but also examines topics such as the foundation of Foremarke, (Repton’s Prep School), the admission of girls, changes to the curriculum, some of the misdemeanours performed by Reptonians over the years and the various sanctions applied to miscreants (if caught). Last, but not least, Repton to the End documents the rich extra-curricular life of the school in areas including arts, music, drama and sport.

Every school has its own ethos born of its customs and traditions, giving it a personality whereby it differs from other schools superficially similar. Repton’s ethos has certainly managed to produce men and women who cannot be easily reduced to a mould, ranging as they do from the Archbishop Michael Ramsey to the pioneering socialist economist John Gray, who claimed that at Repton he “learned little else than to catch fish, to play marbles and to climb trees.” This chimes with W H Auden’s observation that, “one never remembers actually being taught anything, though one remembers clearly enough when one failed to learn.”

Over the years Repton has been the location for a number of films and in particular the 1930s and 1980s versions of Goodbye Mr Chips. During the filming of the 1938 film the then Headmaster, Michael Clarke, allowed ordinary school rules to be relaxed, stating: “ I, personally, think boys ill advised to smoke but they may do so if they are allowed to smoke at home…It must be a point of honour that no boy persuades another to smoke who is not accustomed to do so…They must not enter public houses, otherwise there are no bounds. That affords everyone reasonable freedom …”

Another famous Old Reptonian, author and Top Gear presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, recalls that, “…public school ……[is] not designed to make you cleverer or more likely to succeed. It’s all about ensuring your children have the happiest possible childhood. Mine was.” For the regular viewers of the popular TV programme, Top Gear, who wondered where Stig, the name of the show’s helmeted in-house racing driver originated, it is in fact a slang term used to describe first-year Reptonians.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Imprint: Third Millennium Publishing, London

Editor: John Plowright

Publication date: 15th December 2007 / RRP: £45 / ISBN: 978 1 903942 55 0

Specification: Hardback, 192 pages, 280 x 240 mm, over 150 colour and b/w illustrations

The Publisher: Third Millennium Publishing specialises in publishing and design for the art and heritage markets and is currently working on a number of book projects with leading schools, Oxbridge colleges, universities (including a celebratory volume on the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University), cathedrals, regiments, and museums and galleries in the UK and USA.

For further information contact Michael D Jackson, Marketing Manager, Third Millennium Information Ltd, 2-5 Benjamin St, EC1M 5QL. Tel: +44 (0)207 336 0144. Email: mj@tmiltd.com. Website: www.tmiltd.com