At the end of term, a special milestone event took place at the College when we celebrated Alex Darkes’ 50 Golden Princethorpe Years.

Alex is our very own ‘Mr Princethorpe’ and this summer he celebrated his 50th Princethorpe anniversary, seven years as a pupil (Class of 1975) and 43 years as a member of staff, most recently as Foundation Assistant Head.

Family, trustees, former and current colleagues, former and fellow pupils and friends from his many and varied involvements with the College and wider Foundation gathered in the Quad for a drinks and canapes reception in Alex’s honour.

Headmaster, Ed Hester, thanked Alex for his extraordinary dedication and commitment to the College over the years and amused the gathered throng with excerpts from Alex’s long and distinguished personnel record. There really doesn’t seem to have been any aspect of College life that he has not been a key part of, from teaching and being a form tutor, to marketing, admissions, OPs and the buses. He has been at the very heart of activities such as photography club, equestrian events, the Arts Society and the popular annual Motoring Festival, played a key role in mergers and is the mastermind behind all the Foundation’s major building projects including the new Science Centre. He has even co-written a book about the history of the College.

A delighted Alex remembered fondly the day he first stepped over the threshold at Princethorpe, his school days and how Fr Bill Clarkson MSC came to offer him a job over afternoon tea all those years ago. He recalled his time at the chalkface and memorable moments over his teaching career including school trips with the languages department. He paid special mention to the work of the MSCs and their ethos that has been a cornerstone to Princethorpe life and remained such a constant over the years. He concluded by reminding a few guests that they still owed him Physics homework, thanked everyone for coming and said what a pleasure it had been to be part of the Princethorpe story for so long.

Ed then presented Alex with a specially commissioned commemorative picture depicting him and his experiences at the College.

We thank Alex for all he has done and continues to do for the College and Foundation and the instrumental part he has played in its success.