This proved not to be the case with the space barely big enough to fit fifty people comfortably, something of a problem for a combined Upper School of some 240. The dungeons lacked adequate facilities and quickly got a reputation as a sad alternative to Yard, one filled with people who preferred a closed and sheltered environment in contrast to Yard's wide open space. After all, what exactly did the dungeons offer that Yard didn't? The dungeons could hardly be said to offer comfort, boasting only an ugly piano and a few chairs. Not the ideal place in which to socialise. The dungeons also lacked the ability to challenge Yard's supremacy in drawing people; its novelty wore off within hours of the Head Master's speech at the start of the Play Term, and the dungeons were seen as a half-hearted attempt by the School to create an Upper School common room.
However, over the Christmas Holidays the dungeons were reformed. With a £1 subscription from pupils, the School managed to buy a good TV and video player, very comfortable chairs, drinks and food machines. At this time of year the cold weather allowed the dungeons its first taste of people, indeed many people! Only a few hard 'nutters' decided to stay outside on the benches in Yard. The Sixth Form in particular wanted a place where they could go and socialise, especially around the drinks machine that constantly doled out strong coffees or choc-chocs, and the dungeons' warm environment proved to be ideal. Above the constant chattering of students, Vartan's musical blues could be heard from the piano or the angry thumping of the food machine after a fruit pastille packet had failed to dislodge properly. We thought the dungeons may just have it. If there was one thing many Sixth Formers had on their mind at morning break it was coffee - and lots of it.
The queue at the drinks machine was enormous, and someone at the end of the queue got their drink only at the end of break. However, the food machine meant no more long queues at the School tuck shop, and soon, the School rules were amended to allow the use of the dungeons during PSs. This proved popular with many students meeting friends during these periods.
Alas the honeymoon period was soon over. Near the end of the Lent term the food machine was vandalised resulting in the theft of the bottom two rows of chocolate bars. This led to an emptying of the entire food machine. The weather also got warmer, making Yard a more attractive place and meaning that fewer people bothered to come into the dungeons.
The dungeons' life as a common room was short lived, providing a 'safe' place to go only during the really cold winter months when the only other options were the Houses. Its purpose as a Sixth Form common room is severely undermined by Yard being a natural focal point. Even the pull of the drinks machine seemed of no consequence. The caffeine consumption is seasonal, the number of people requiring coffees in the Summer is obviously drastically less than those required during the cold dark days of winter.
Now in summer, the dungeons have reverted from a thriving social Mecca back into the mundane role of housing the socially introverted and orchestra rehearsals It has become an expensive seasonal room and it is not surprising that when the £1 fee was introduced, many people did not pay and gatecrashed instead.
Are the dungeons really needed? In the words of a Sixth Former, 'Nah, man, it's too dry.'
For many students, his words have summed up the generally felt view. The best factor of the dungeons is the drinks machine, especially when a desperately needed cup of coffee is required during those important PSs, and the fact that we have a place to go during rainy or cold days.
Jannen Vamadeva (Dryden's)
The PCs, equipped with a full range of useful programs, and the increasingly important Internet connection, are to be found in use throughout breaks, after school, at lunch time and during pupils' PSs.
The Internet gives pupils the ability to access far more information than was ever previously available. This means that essays and projects can be done in far more depth than was previously possible. It also allows boarders to communicate with their homes by email - a great asset for those with families abroad - and enables pupils to make their own home pages on the World Wide Web.
But the benefits do not stop there. Teachers often use the network for lessons. It is a great tool for note-taking and for setting tests. A scanner and colour printer have proved to be a great help to artists, and a top-of-the-range spreadsheet has been essential for both mathematicians and scientists. The software also includes a word processing package, some drawing programs, and much more besides.
If pupils are in need of a break from academic life then the Internet provides a great way to while away the time. People have often gone in looking for one particular thing, and have spent hours searching through the latest gossip about their favourite football team, pages of jokes, chat forums, and all other things 'cyberspace' related.
The computers are strictly controlled so that nothing unsuitable takes place. They are to be found in Ashburnham House, and are available to pupils (and teachers) throughout the day.
The overall investment has only just begun to pay off, but already the benefits of a computer network within the School are becoming more than apparent, with the 24 computers often all in use at once.
Edward Hill (Liddell's) and Murray Rogers (Hakluyt's)
Nick Stevenson writes:
In addition to the suite of 24 computers mentioned above, the Geography Department in Sutcliff's and the Economics Department in Ashburnham House, whose computers were generously donated to the School last summer by Peter Ogden, have been incorporated into the network. The Music Department and the Common Room also form part of the network, as do the 12 Apple Macs in Ashburnham House.
A good deal of new computer equipment has appeared in the Technology, Electronics, Physics and Chemistry Departments, and plans are afoot to incorporate the Robert Hooke Science Centre into the main network, to upgrade the facilities in room 28, to set up our own internet and email server, and to install a new network at the Under School.
This has been an exciting year for the School in terms of Information Technology and there is more excitement to come on the 'road ahead'.
This was the thinking behind the revision of the Service which took place in the Abbey on 22 November 1996, the 436th Anniversary of the Succession of our Foundress.
However, the greatest change for some, evident before the Service began, was the decision to abandon the dinner jacket for dress that was, it was felt, more appropriate for an act of worship in the Abbey. This also avoided the anomalous mixture of academic and formal dress sported hitherto by the Common Room.
A programme of organ and instrumental music greeted the families from the School, Old Westminsters and representatives of recent Benefactors. During this, a number of the Honorary Fellows of Westminster School moved in procession to their places in the Quire. The Service began traditionally enough with the entry of the Abbey clergy and the Common Room to Angularis Fundamentum. The Dean of Westminster, The Very Reverend Michael Mayne, in his last appearance with the School before his retirement, welcomed the congregation, and then the Choir, conducted by the new Director of Music, Guy Hopkins, sang the setting of Psalm 146 by Monteverdi. The traditional form of Service continued with the singing by all of Psalm 150, Laudate Dominum, and the reading of Let us now praise famous men by the Captain of the School, Lefkos Kyriakou. In his address, the Head Master spoke of the responsibilities of giving and receiving, benefaction and commemoration, and the recognition of the heritage of the past translated into meaningful response in the present and the future.
The Queen's Scholars then processed to the West door to receive the Roses. The Roses Procession was punctuated by three intercessions, remembering and giving thanks for recent Benefactors, represented by the name of A A Milne, the major Benefactors of the past, and the Foundation of the School. Responses to each of these were sung in Latin by the Scholars, conducted by their Master, Dr Jonathan Katz. After prayers said by the Chaplain, the Roses were borne in silence to the Tomb of Queen Elizabeth. As they were laid on the effigy, the choir broke into the magnificent setting of the Te Deum by Kodaly.
After the Recession to Gloriosi Salvatoris, guests were entertained by the School; many Old Westminsters were pleased to find that they were invited up House - perhaps for the first time in many years.
There are considerable problems in devising a service which retains the tradition of using Latin, but which involves a congregation less and less familiar with that language. Critics may feel that the balance has tipped too much in favour of English, although they may be appeased to know that much of the apparently new material in the Service is taken from the original Latin Service which included an exhaustive list of Benefactions. It is hoped in any case that those who attended the Service will have felt more involved in the enactment of our Thanksgiving for Benefactors, and will have understood more clearly the purpose of our celebration.
John Arthur