Prize Giving is one of the many traditions in the Dukie Calendar. This year I have received some background on a couple of the prizes which are awarded.

The first one that came to my attention is the Bert Payne (1964 - 1971) Award for the Outstanding Musician of the Year which was set up by Bert's widow and his friend, Dukie Huw Evans in his memory. Whilst at school, Bert became a huge fan of Blues music, a passion that stayed with him throughout his life. After school Bert studied at Durham  where he gained a PhD. He later moved to Boston University and became their Professor of Anatomy. He was a brilliant neuro-scentist, working on ways to mitigate the impact of the most severe forms of epilepsy. Bert passed away in 2004 leaving a wife and 2 young children.

The second prize which came to my attention was the Barnstaple Bugle and the Colonel Poyntz Bugle, as a previous recipient, Jay Nicholson (1960 - 67) contacted me, as he had been awarded both whilst at school in the sixties, Jay will be popping in to see the Bugles just before Grand Day. The Barnstaple bugle was donated by the Barnstaple Band of the Royal British Legion and is awarded for excellence in playing, Barnstaple is the nearest town to Saunton Sands. The Colonel Pyntz Bugle is awarded perpetually to the Bugle Major in commemoration of Colonel Poyntz, a former member of staff.

The third prize which has most recently come to my attention is that of the McCarthy Memorial Essay Prize. Roger McCarthy, Grandson of Albert McCarthy (1895 - 1901 - then teacher until?) contacted the school to ask if it was still awarded (it is) and to find out some more about his grand father who was a boy Dukie and later a Master. Roger remembers the prize first being awarded in 1960, when his Grandfather had passed. Andrew Nunn did some digging and we discovered there were about 3 generations of McCarthy's who attended the school. Andrew is writing a fuller article on the McCarthy family which I will publish in the near future.

Other named prizes which are awarded at the Ceremony are The Stephen Walke (1962 - 1970) Percussion Prize, presented to the Senior Drummer,  The Henry D'Eath Military Band Shield and Prize awarded to the most improved musician in the band,The Iain Smith Instrumental Award, in commemoration of Iain Smithe, former Director of Music. The Graham Chilton (1958 - 1966) Memorial Cup, The Simon Richards (1970 - 1974) Duke of Edinburghs's Award Prize and the Simon Richards Memorial Prize for Adventurous Training. 

Stephen Walke sadly passed away earlier this year and Simon Richards was tragically killed by a cliff fall at Fan Bay whilst at the school.

I had the pleasure of meeting Graham Chilton a few times as he worked with my Dad (RE) whilst he was stationed at REHQ Brompton, he and my dad were friends too and I remember, sadly, dad attending Graham's funeral.

Simon's parents still send in the money for the prize in memory of their son.

If anyone has any information to add, it would be great to hear so we can compile a history of the prizes and how they came about.

I will be featuring separate articles on two of the three that I mentioned at the top of the story, so watch this space.