Still moving forward after 1,100 years

Attending community events are part of an editor’s week on a local newspaper.
Fortunately, in a previous life my wife was a reporter on a weekly and understands why I am often out at evening and weekend functions.
There are occasions when we can go together, such as the Wells Cathedral School Foundation dinner on Saturday.
This was a most enjoyable occasion, thanks to the warm welcome, interesting conversation and excellent food prepared by the school’s catering staff.
More important, it gave further insight into the school’s ethos and the number of former pupils who have made a real difference in the wider world.
We knew the founder of the Glastonbury Festival went to the school, but not an Olympic gold medallist and a man who is internationally famous in the pharmaceutical industry.
The guests were allowed to handle the gold medal, learning they are made of a less valuable alloy and the three members of the winning modern pentathlon team had to share one medal in 1976.
Since then the school has made rapid progress, strengthening its reputation for musical excellence, increasing pupil numbers and embarking on an ambitious development plan. This includes a concert hall, sports pavilion, new classrooms and more bursaries for poorer children, at a cost of £10 million.
There is no standing still at this institution, which is now 1,100 years old.
Philip Welch