This week, we were honoured to welcome one of our oldest OTs, Geoffrey Care (Wright, 1942 to 1947), back to Trent for a special two-day visit that brought the school’s history vividly to life for our pupils.

“The school is a wonderfully happy environment with pupils who are full of ambition.”

Jo Slater, Alumni Office: “Following several years of correspondence, his attendance at an earlier reunion event, and my visit to his home in Filey last October, it was a privilege to host Geofrey at Trent College over the two days and to see him revisit a place that clearly played such an important role in his early life.”

On Monday, Geoffrey enjoyed a tour of the school, revisiting familiar spaces while discovering how the school has developed over time. The Devonshire Library was of particular interest, having once served as the Dining Room during his school days. He also visited the Careers Hub and Prince Obolensky Dining Hall, commenting on the dedicated careers provision, and how impressed he is by the school’s commitment to supporting pupils in planning their futures, which is something he feels passionately about.

A particularly special moment came when Geoffrey met Rosemary Dobbin, one of the school’s volunteer archivists and the daughter of his former Headmaster, Ford Ikin, the school’s longest serving Headmaster of 32 years. Both were delighted to share memories, with Geoffrey recalling the great respect pupils had for Mr Ikin, remembering how boys would ‘dock their caps’ as he approached. He spoke warmly of him as a friendly, firm but fair Headmaster, and Rosemary greatly valued the opportunity to hear such personal reflections on her father and his lasting impact on the school community.

“Boys would ‘dock their caps’ as Headmaster Ford Ikin approached –
a mark of the great respect pupils had for him.”

Geoffrey enjoyed a spontaneous moment when along our tour we bumped into pupils returning from their Food & Nutrition lesson, carrying boxes filled with their freshly prepared sausage rolls, scones and cake slices. With great enthusiasm, he offered to ‘taste test’ their work, much to the surprise and amusement of the pupils, who were delighted that their efforts were so warmly received.

During lunchtime, Geoffrey met with Lower School pupils and explored items from the school archive dating back to the 1940s and earlier. He shared memories of school life during WWII, including how the boys contributed to the national “Dig for Victory” campaign by ‘turning over’ Top Field and growing vegetables to support the war effort, and the school’s food resource. Pupils were fascinated to learn that the school was once all boys and entirely boarding, with gasps of surprise as he answered questions explaining around 20 boys during his time, would share a dormitory. Geoffrey also spoke enthusiastically about his love of Drama, having performed in many productions under the leadership of Bill Melton, recalling especially fond memories of his performance in Macbeth.

“Turning over Top Field for the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign was our way of contributing to the war effort.”

On Tuesday, Geoffrey returned at the invitation of the school’s Director of Drama Mrs Donnaleigh Ward to attend the full dress rehearsal of the Drama Scholars’ production of Oh What a Lovely War. Geoffrey was very much looking forward to this as a ‘special treat’ and was prepared, having read the script in advance! He praised the ambition of the production and the talent of the pupils involved. Watching the performance brought back many happy memories of his own experiences performing on the school stage.

“Drama was always my favourite, performing in Macbeth remains a particularly fond memory.”

Reflecting on his visit, Geoffrey described the school as “a wonderfully happy environment with pupils who are full of ambition.”

“It was a special treat to watch such talented pupils perform an ambitious production of Oh What a Lovely War.”

Maintaining strong relationships with our Old Trident community is an important part of school life. Opportunities for pupils to hear first-hand experiences from former students help bring history into the present day, while encouraging reflection on the values and traditions that continue to shape the school.

We are extremely grateful to Geoffrey for sharing his time, memories and enthusiasm with pupils and staff, and we look forward to continuing to celebrate the stories of our alumni community, as we plan our next special visit to celebrate one Old Trident’s 100th Birthday next week!

𝑊𝘪𝑡𝘩 𝘵ℎ𝘢𝑛𝘬𝑠 𝑡𝘰 𝘋𝑎𝘷𝑖𝘥 𝘗𝑖𝘯𝑛𝘦𝑦 𝑎𝘯𝑑 𝑅𝘰𝑠𝘦𝑚𝘢𝑟𝘺 𝘋𝑜𝘣𝑏𝘪𝑛, 𝘝𝑜𝘭𝑢𝘯𝑡𝘦𝑒𝘳 𝘈𝑟𝘤ℎ𝘪𝑣𝘪𝑠𝘵𝑠, 𝘢𝑛𝘥 𝘵𝑜 𝐷𝘰𝑛𝘯𝑎𝘭𝑒𝘪𝑔𝘩 𝘞𝑎𝘳𝑑, 𝘋𝑖𝘳𝑒𝘤𝑡𝘰𝑟 𝑜𝘧 𝘋𝑟𝘢𝑚𝘢 𝘢𝑛𝘥 𝘢𝑙𝘭 𝘱𝑢𝘱𝑖𝘭𝑠 𝑖𝘯𝑣𝘰𝑙𝘷𝑒𝘥 𝘪𝑛 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑣𝘪𝑠𝘪𝑡.