Falcon Old Boys

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If you have not already discovered by browsing through the navigation above, there are quite a few events going on in 2010.

• If you are in or will be in South Africa on the relevant dates, there is a Cocktail Party on 5th March and a 1978 Reunion on the first two days of May.
• For UK FOBs there is a dinner at Buck’s Club (where Buck’s Fizz was invented) on 11th March, plus a clay pigeon shoot on 18th June.
• Zim FOBs can get together over a game of Golf on 12th March at the Royal Harare Golf Club. There is also a Reunion for the Class of 1990 at the College on the weekend of 23-25 July 2010.

To check out details for any of these events, follow the navigation above.  Equally, if you are in Canada, Australia, USA or anywhere else and want to publicise a FOBs event, get in touch!

John Laing (T’96) is offering a 5% discount to any Falcon old boys, girls or staff who book an overland safari with the company he runs, Chimhavira.  See our page about Chimhavira HERE for further details.  This page is part of our ‘FOB Entrepreneurs’ section. If you are a Falcon old boy, girl or staff running your own business, get in touch and we’ll do a page for you too.

The much respected former headmaster of Falcon, Dougal Turner, died on 31st October 2009 in South Africa.

Leading the condolences were these words from Andy Laing, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Falcon (slightly edited for the web)

I am sure that, without exception, the approximately 1500 boys who were privileged to experience the Headship of Mr Turner will be grieving right now.

DET, as he was known to all of us, was a legend in his time and will always remain so. We do not need the Turner Hall to remind us of him, and of the contribution that he and his wife Jill made to Falcon. Memories are already being recalled through dozens of emails that are coming in, and they speak of such things as ‘incredible command of the English language, unsurpassed public speaker, incredible role model, such an impact on our lives, headmaster of highest repute, quiet but firm, will always remember,’ and so on. I have always believed that the greatest test of a schoolmaster is not exam results etc. but how he is remembered by his charges. Mr Turner scored well over 100%.

Looking around Falcon today, the Turner influence is everywhere to be seen. In fact Mr & Mrs Turner gave us most of what we have today, built the foundations, steered the College through its formative years following painful birth pains, from the early sixties to the mid eighties, through Federal days to UDI, through the war years, and then through the early years of independence and the dissident era.

Nobody else could have achieved this, and that is why it left such an indelible mark on the lives of almost 1500 young men. To have achieved this and at the same time to have engendered such affection for themselves in the hearts of so many, speaks volumes about the kind of people the Turners are. They really are held in the very highest esteem.

The very sad announcement was made on Saturday morning at the annual inter-house gala. There were audible gasps from those assembled. Then we observed a minute of absolute silence around the new Bryce Hendrie swimming pool. Many of us were choked up.

And so on behalf of Old Boys and Staff, the Board of Governors, today’s staff and boys, I extend to the Turner family our very deepest and sincerest sympathy at this time. Thoughts and prayers so numerous and so sincere that they are almost tangible, flow from all corners of the globe, and we stand with the Turner family in a grief that is shared by so many.

Andy Laing
Chairman of the Board of Governors, Falcon College

Note: if old boys or staff would like to convey condolences to Mrs Turner and family, please write c/o Bryan Roff

• To date the Falcon area has had 680 mls of rain, which is well over the mean of 625 ml.
• As a result, the Park is looking magnificent, with both Longden’s Dam and Mbonisa Weir spilling.
• We appear to have had a good crop of Impala lambs born in December. There are also newly born Bushbuck, Duiker, Klipspringer and Warthog. At least three of the Zebra mares look fairly heavily pregnant and should give birth in the next month or so.
• The bird life is wonderful with waterfowl on the dam and weir. Africa jacana (Lily trotters) have been seen on the upper reaches of Mbonisa, while Oxpeckers have been seen clambering over the Giraffe, looking for ticks. The Guinea fowl and the Francolin have bred especially well with chicks all over the place.
• During the Christmas holidays, our large male Giraffe broke through the game fence into the Wilderness area. I suspect that he may have been ‘spooked’ by a Leopard. He disappeared for a short while, but was soon back patrolling the fence line on the wrong side. The call of his ‘harem of eight wives’ was too strong and just after Christmas, he crossed the cattle grid at the entrance gate and back into the park – clever boy!
• For the last three weekends the five chalets in the campsite have been full, which has brought in much-needed funds. It is already booked up for Founders’ weekend.
• After the mid-term exeat, I will be starting lessons leading to the Zimbabwe Hunters’ and Guides’ Learners’ Licence. The exam will take place in November this year and there are about ten boys interested in doing it. Obviously, Quiet Waters will be used for practical lessons on trees, grass, bird and mammal identity – also for tracking and spoor identification.
• It is hoped that in the last weekend of this term, a Mountain bike rally will take place, with an interesting and challenging course running through Quiet Waters, the Wilderness area and the Southern Paddocks. This is subject to the approval of the Head. A fun event such as this would not only do much to promote Falcon and Quiet Waters, but will also help generate much needed funds.
• On the downside, we have had a large female Giraffe die and a Bushbuck ram, in the last two weeks. The Giraffe was one which was introduced into Quiet Waters in 1991, so it could have been because of old age. The Bushbuck unfortunately got caught up in a fence.

Posted on behalf of Gordon Macdonald

Many of you will remember Mike Potts ( Founders 1968 ), who for years ran the FOBS 100 Club in the UK (though we had contributors from around the world).

Sadly, he passed away suddenly on 29th November. The funeral is on Friday in Tunbridge Wells (get in touch with me if you think you can attend).

Mike was a great character, who was probably the first person to speak to me at the first FOBs do I went to. Full of his own particular charm and interested in what you had to say.

He flew 737s for Danair and British Airways for many years but unfortunately had to give this up on account of ill health. He was also a keen golfer and I guess we now know why he was not able to join us at the FOB event in September this year. He leaves a wife, Dorothy, and a daughter, Genevieve.

He will be greatly missed. If any of you who knew him would like to post their recollections of him on Bushtick, I will collate them for his family.

Colin Bewes (Hervey 1979)

You may be interested in visiting the podcast section of Highveld Stereo, a radio station based in Joburg. They are basing a number of their morning “traffic jokes” at Falcon College. Of note is the recent one entitled “Taking a stand against being late” in which not only is there a joke, but also a comment from Reg Querl (and his wife!) See http://www.highveld.co.za/podcast/podcast_traffic.asp Visit the site soon as the particluar episode is about to be archived.

Thanks to Julian Stewart for this

Falcon Old Boys,

Very tragically we have lost another member of staff in what appears to have been a suicide, and this not long after the deaths of Ron Hartley and Mike Cumming.

Our housekeeper Alice Bryan, wife of John Bryan, our groundsman for many years, was found dead in her car parked close to the Ncema dam on Monday night.

She simply had too great a burden to bear. The situation in the country is impacting on everyone. On top of that she had been unable to move on following the loss of their only son Adam (Falcon school boy) in a tragic accident (electrocuted) in Harare four years ago, the loss of their farm in Esigodini, and a long battle with cancer as well as other problems.

There is an almost tangible depression hanging over Falcon right now and any messages of support to the Head or to John Bryan personally (via the Head) would be much appreciated. (Head@falconcollege.com).

Thank you.

Andy Laing

Zimbabwe is a wonderful country and we are not going to let it go. We have real hope. We just have to ride out the storm. Wheels turn, people come and go.

Zimbabweans are on the whole fine and resilient people, there is huge goodwill between the races, and we are all looking forward to a brighter future not too far away. The negative events life throws at us represent only a fraction of what happens every day in Zimbabwe, and no matter how damaging it may seem, such events cannot prevail for ever. Believe it or not we live a happy and good life, stressful yes, but nothing compared to the victims of tsunamis, wars in Lebanon, droughts in Ethiopia, murders in South Africa, even flooding in New Orleans and the weather in UK ! Don’t even mention Iraq, Sudan, the DRC or Afghanistan.

You should have come with us to Hwange (Wankie) last weekend. 5 star luxury private lodge in the park, prides of up to 16 lions, night drives witnessing lions on a hunt – it just couldn’t be better. And the camp was full of foreign tourists – French, American, German. Mid winter, but no jerseys needed.

We are blessed with an abundance of good things which far exceed the bad. That is why we are here, we have hope for the future, and we are looking forward to it.

Falcon in particular is a beacon of hope, an oasis of excellence, and continues to thrive. We have a full intake booked for next year, Cambridge exam results last year were vastly improved, and our boys went on several tours including to the World Sevens in Dubai (where they excelled, and will be returning this December). This year alone, cricket to the Cape, tennis to Natal, hockey to South Africa, junior adventure course to Drakensberg, cultural group to Grahamstown and rugby to Dubai. More tours than ever before. Beating Peterhouse (previously unbeaten this season) at rugby and hockey on Saturday capped a wonderful 2nd term, and the social interaction with dozens of Peterhouse/Falcon parents after the game was better than ever.

This is the other side of the story. Come and see us.

Andy Laing, Falcon Board of Governors