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Tower and Town, April 2021

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Marlburian Mondays

During the strange and uncertain times of early 2020 the Marlburian Club (Marlborough College Development & Alumni Association) looked at ways it could continue to communicate and bring the Marlburian Community together. Monday 6th April 2020 marked the launch of Marlburian Mondays, a new series of Zoom talks by Old Marlburians, held at 8pm every other Monday evening. In the autumn, Lockdown over, the talks continued on a monthly basis but as we went into a second and then third lockdown more talks were scheduled along with virtual events that the whole Marlburian Community could join. As we slowly come out of Lockdown, the Club will continue to run these talks as they have proved to be very popular.

The inaugural Marlburian Monday talk was given by Jake Meyer (C3 1997–2002) mountaineer, adventurer and inspirational speaker. Jake shared stories and photos from his early climbing days and the lessons learnt whilst at Marlborough and from his many adventures conquering the highest peaks in the world. In particular he spoke about his ascent of K2 in 2018 on his third and successful attempt to reach the summit. Known as the Savage Mountain, it has claimed the lives of one in four of the climbers who have attempted this challenge. What came across clearly was the tenacity and determination of climbers; the eldest to have conquered K2 being aged 82! One of the images Jake showed was of a Sherpa aged 52 who had climbed K2 19 times.

This was followed by a talk from Richard Villar (PR 1966-71), an emergency response surgeon. Richard served as SAS Medical Officer, operating in the field on soldiers and civilians alike. He is now a leading orthopaedic surgeon and a member of the Disaster Emergency Response Team.

Since then, further Marlburian Monday talks have been given by: 

  • Harriet Baldwin (LI 1975-77) Monday 4th May 2020: “Life of an MP and the impact of COVID-19 on Parliament”
  • Frank Gardner (LI 1974-79) Monday 18th May 2020: “Rediscovering Nature: From Savernake Forest to Papua New Guinea”
  • Dr Amanda Foreman, Current Parent, Monday 1st June 2020: “And Then the Murders Began: A Theory of Consequences in History”
  • Louis Devereux (B1 2004-09), Monday 15th June 2020: “The Making of Documentary Film ‘The Rift’”
  • Edward Gorman (C3 1974-79) Monday 29th June 2020: “Untold Stories from The Battle of Britain”
  • Charlie Cannon (C2 1990-95) Monday 15th September 2020: “Building Resilience in Uncertain Times”
  • Hugh Pym (C1 1973-77) & Chris Hopson (B1 1976-81) Monday 9th November: “Covid-19; Lessons Learned So Far”
  • Anthony Inglis (C3 1966-69) Monday 7th December: “My Life, so far, in Music”
  • Jonny Oates (PR 1982-87) and Tom Newton Dunn (C2 1986-91) In conversation about Oates book I Never Promised You A Rose Garden,
  • Simon Mordant AO (B1 1973-77) Monday 8th February 2021: “Building a Bank & a Museum for Contemporary Art; My Journey to Philanthropy”
  • Julia de Boinville (TU 2006-08) Monday 8th March 2021: “The Fight Against Modern Slavery”

All talks are available to be viewed on the Marlburian Club website:

https://www.marlburianclub.org/marlburian-mondays/

Kate Goodwin (Alumni & Engagement Manager, Marlborough College)

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