Jeremy Morse’s inspired call
in 1989 led to a new lease of
life for the man, the school
and the city.
outings and offers invitations to College events such
as plays, concerts and church services, guided tours
of the College and more besides.
In the following decades, Patrick helped
arrange and personally attended dozens of events,
mingling, always spreading the word about
Winchester’s achievements and goals. Foremost
among his innovations was Wykeham Day. None
of this happened overnight, of course, but much
of its success was due to Patrick’s charm, forensic
eye for detail and expertise. Typically keen not
to take all the credit, he sends an email after our
interview to clarify that none of it was his work
alone. Nevertheless, he helped lead the charge, and
his efforts paved the way for the school’s fearsomely
efficient Development Office in place today: with a
staff of nine, it organises seventy events a year all over
the world, in addition to its main task of fundraising.
Patrick retired in 2014, but still lives in
Winchester, a place he tells me he is ‘utterly devoted
to’. He remembers on the first Wykeham Day seeing
an OW outside College, late in the evening, unable
to tear himself away from the natural beauty of the
spot he was looking at. Nostalgic? Sentimental?
Perhaps a tiny bit. But where we live and what we
do there is what defines us. A colleague describes
him today as the fount of Wykehamical knowledge,
but it’s of course much deeper than simply having
the facts at his fingertips: Winchester runs through
his veins. Although he had already spent much of his
life in education and giving back to the community,
Sir Jeremy Morse’s inspired call to Patrick Maclure
in 1989 led to a new lease of life for the man,
the school and the city.
.
The Wykeham Journal 2018 43