60 Princethorpe People

We are grateful to this next set of OPs who feature in the third 60 Princethorpe People post:

Class of 1978: Guy Marot OBE

I was at Princethorpe for only 2 years, leaving in 1978 to take my A-levels in the military’s technical Welbeck College. I served for 26 years in the British Army, within the Corps of Royal Engineers, in a wide variety of roles from Amphibious Engineering through Construction Management and commanding a Combat Engineer Squadron, but with the majority in Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Improvised Explosive Device Search. I had operational tours in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq with many other emergency deployments such as commanding the Joint Service Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment in the Falklands in 1988. Since leaving the Army, I have undertaken numerous and varied projects in the humanitarian, commercial demining and Unexploded Ordnance clearance industries. I was the Project Manager for the clearance of part of the last minefields left in Europe from WW2.

In 2011, I was the local Head of the Weapon Contamination Unit (WeC) for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) during their deployed operations in Libya throughout the Revolution period. I headed up the ICRC WeC response to a major ammunition accident in the Republic of Congo in 2012. In early 2014, I was again the ICRC WeC Coordinator for operations in response to the outbreak of hostilities in South Sudan. However, my biggest civilian achievement was heading up the 2009 to 2020 programme to clear all the mined and suspect areas in the Falkland Islands remaining after the 1982 conflict. My signature appears on all the certificates confirming that the minefields can be used safely for any purpose. I was delighted (and more than a little humbled) to be appointed as an Officer of the British Empire by the then Prince Charles in 2022 for my work in the Falklands. I moved to Shropshire in 2024, remarried in 2025 and formally retired in 2026, and am now far too busy renovating our house to work!

Class of 1979: Stephen Matthew, Princethorpe Shield Winner, Head Boy

Following my A-levels in 1979,I graduated from Liverpool University in 1984 and qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon. After a varied career in mixed practice both the United Kingdom and, briefly, in rural Australia, I became a Partner in a Veterinary Practice in Leicestershire. I married in my wife 2001 and am now retired, but I do work part-time, book-keeping for Welford Lodge farm where my mother still resides. I was a weekly boarder at Princethorpe and, with permission, occasionally brought home a few full boarders for an occasional weekend on the family farm. They were duly fed and watered in exchange for some non-compulsory labour on the farm. I am still in contact with some of these gentlemen even now. During my time, the school greeted the arrival of ladies into the sixth form, and two of my sisters became students in subsequent years. Members of staff included Father 'The Boss' Clarkson and many other characters, too numerous to mention.

Class of 1983: Louise Gusterson, Prefect

From my understanding, Princethorpe had started introducing girls to the sixth form before I joined, but that hadn't progressed. When I was due to start, there were supposed to be about eight girls joining in Lower Sixth. In all honesty, I was very lucky that my parents were giving me the opportunity to go to Princethorpe, having stuffed up my A-levels in a previous school. I arranged to visit the College and drove out on my own to meet with Mr Philpott, who was then Head of Sixth Form, to plead my case. Having now worked in education for the past 26 years, I can't imagine what the background conversations were before I got the phone call to say I could start. Something worked, and I restarted my Lower Sixth in September. There were just two of us (Jan and me) until Claire started, so three girls finished that first year. We had to use the nun's toilets as there were no girls facilities, and we had study spaces in the boys' boarding wing. PE lessons were largely a spectator sport or a stroll around the mile walk - again, no facilities for girls. I'm sure things have changed a lot since then!

They were an interesting couple of years at Princethorpe, and I found myself in the middle of much drama, both on the stage and off. I am not good at acting, but found myself drawn into many comedy roles - as the token female in a line up of police in Pirates of Penzance, and as the transformed Cinderella! I loved being involved behind the scenes of the plays and carried this on in my college years. Then there was being involved in Agape...well, least said, you had to be there! Anyway, it was tough but it was character forming, and I wouldn't have got through without the support of great boys, now men, many of whom I am still in touch with and some, sadly, no longer with us. Special mention too to my brother Simon and his friends; also, the supportive staff, particularly the then Head, Fr Kennedy, Sr Helen, the Skiffingtons and the Weirs, particularly Moira, who believed in me at a time when I really needed it. I have great memories, largely to do with people and the grounds and the fun we made: getting snowed in, preparing for the Pope's visit, smoker's alley (I never smoked!), and the new Lower Sixth girls coming in.

Now I live in New Zealand. I've been here for the past twenty years with my family, working as a teacher and Deputy Principal. I came to teaching after a career in radio and then, when my girls were small, I had a painting pottery business. That is where I spent a lot of time with children and decided to train as a primary school teacher. I've gravitated towards schools where pastoral care and an understanding of the whole child, rather than seeing children as an academic statistic, are important, largely due to my educational experiences. I'm winding down now and teach philosophy part-time at an intermediate school. English, art and philosophy have become my passion subjects and I now train teachers to teach P4C, philosophy for children, throughout New Zealand. I regularly visit the UK, stay with Simon, check in with my aging Mum, see my youngest daughter, who is currently working in London, and occasionally manage to catch up with an Old Princethorpian reunion.

Class of 1984: Jeremy Masding, Head Boy

I left the College in 1984 with so many wonderful memories; in particular, of the diverse group of friends I had met in my time as both a day pupil and boarder. In my professional life, I’ve had a number of different chapters - large corporate (with Barclays); central Government (on secondment to the Cabinet Office); entrepreneurial (building a lending business); senior leadership (as Group CEO of a large European bank) and portfolio (including undertaking Non-Executive and Chair work; providing advisory services; co-authoring a successful leadership book - ‘Leading Without Winging it’; and, investing in startups). At a personal (and, most important) level, I am incredibly lucky to have been married to Anna for over 30 years and we have three amazing children. All in all, I have been blessed with a wonderful life underpinned by values and behaviours shaped by the teachers, culture and ethos of Princethorpe College.

Class of 1987: Tricia Bach (née Whelan), current staff

After leaving Princethorpe, I studied in Bath for a Music degree, where I met my husband, Martin, and then went to Leeds for a PGCE. I taught briefly in the Lake District before heading to London to work in publishing, and then international marketing in the music industry. Here I met some amazing classical artists. Married at Princethorpe, Martin and I then moved abroad, briefly to Italy and the USA and then for 14 amazing years in France - Annecy and Lyon. Whilst abroad, we had three children - two boys and a girl - all bilinguals! Moving full circle, I'm now back in the UK and a Peripatetic Music teacher at Princethorpe College.

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Why not share your own memories of people, places and traditions at Princethorpe College with our archivist, and help us build the Princethorpe story? Email Jo Wong at archives@princethorpe.co.uk

Looking to the future, we also invite all Old Princethorpians to partner with us, during this special anniversary year, in our mission to broaden access to a Princethorpe education through the 60 Futures Appeal. Click here to read more.