MIlbourne Lodge pupils meet : Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Milbourne Lodge pupils

This afternoon a group of our older pupils travelled to Wellington College to hear Sir Tim Berners-Lee speak .  We arrived early (which gave us a chance to have a tour of the wonderful new library at Wellington ) and were seated right at the front of the huge marquee. 

Having talked about his own childhood and education, how lucky he was that his parents were both involved with - and therefore introduced him to - computers and how he Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were all born in the same year at just the right time for the explosion of modern computers and computing, he then went on to describe his work at CERN and the advent of the World Wide Web.

Sir Tim spoke of how much of his initial work on the World Wide Web was completed in his free time - and of how he used a NeXT computer to create the first web browser.

Having spoken for some thirty minutes he then invited questions from the floor : Khusrau Islam (L6a) asked why he hadn't 'patented' the World Wide Web .  Sir Tim explained that had he tried to persuade people to pay for using the World Wide Web he doubted if he would have been able to get them to adopt the system : and there probably would have been other people trying to come up with alternatives. Timmy Parker (L6b)  asked him what had inspired him -  to which Sir Tim replied that he had wanted to find a solution to the problem that although the computers he was working with at CERN were physically connected to each other, they didn't talk to each other.  This was his challenge to find a way that what each computer could do could be shared

He spoke too of the importance of young people learning to programme, and finally of the importance of remembering and promoting the principles of openness and universal access on which the Internet was built.


At the end of the lecture he even took the time to be photographed with, shake hands with and sign autographs for our group.   Our thanks to Wellington College for the invitation and to Sir Tim Berners-Lee for such an excellent and inspirational talk.

Leo Zunz, Nick Woollhead, Mr Stephen Ilett

Finally, it was great too to meet up with Leo Zunz and Nick Woollhead two Old Milbournians (both currently in the Lower Sixth at Wellington College) who came to chat with us following the lecture. 

Talking Heads....

During Centenary Day the pupils of 4B interviewed Old Milbournians about their memories of the school.

There were two key elements : I wanted pupils to listen carefully to the answers they were given and allow the interview to move forward in the direction these answers took them, and also to remember that they needed to remain in the background and allow the voices of their subjects to be heard.

Sounds easy, but it isn't.  However, as you will hear from these interviews, the pupils did a great job! 

Milbourne Lodge by Tim Hale

Charles Fowler was a pupil during the 1950s - he remembers French school exchanges that meant he was fluent by the age of 13. Did you know that the 1R classroom used to be Mr Hale's office ? Interviewed by George Medd he also explained how the newly leased sports field was cleared of stones and rubble by lines of willing small boys armed with buckets.

James Bell was also a pupil at the end of the 1950s.  He spoke to Aneirin Horvath and explained how Saturday School gave him the chance to learn carpentry and did you know that Amber House used to be Grey House?

Richard Kinnerling was here in 1959 and remembers deep snow, and Bonfire Night. One year in particular it was really memorable when one of the boxes of fireworks caught fire!   


Dominic Sleeman is both an Old Milbournian and currently the Form Master of 2S.  Interviewed by Edward Bricknell he discussed how the school has changed over the years : and which teacher he best remembers, and why.

Dylan Jones was Head Boy during the early 1980s and is now the Deputy Head at King's College Junior School in Wimbledon.  He fondly remembers his time at Milbourne Lodge. In particular he recalls 'Arthur' the barber in Claygate, and being sent for a haircut by Mr Hale.




James Sorentino spoke to JeMin Lim.  He doesn't think much has changed over the years.

Oliver O'Callaghan-Brown is both an Old Milbournian from the early 1980s and a current Milbourne parent.  He thoroughly enjoyed his years at Milbourne, and recalls being allowed to drive the tractor to cut the grass in the sports field.

Phil Bailey and Tim Hale both spoke of their time living at the school.  Phil remembers the excitement when one of their trees - the tallest tree in Surrey - was struck by lightning and Tim speaks of how he discovered a life-long love for drawing and painting during Art lessons.

Thomas Van der Stichele left Milbourne just two years ago.    He thoroughly enjoyed his time - and named Mr Crawford as his favourite teacher .

Finally, all credit must go to our interviewers, Aneirin Horvath, George Medd, Edward Bricknell, JeMin Lim and Hyunsu Jeong.