In the summer of 1976, Old Viking Richard Lester (67S) competed in the Montreal Olympics. As stroke for the GB rowing VIII, he and his crew took home the silver medal for Great Britain.
In the same year, Head of Physics Tom Bishop left his teaching job at the College to also row in the Montreal Olympics in the men’s quadruple sculls event.
OV Olympian Richard Lester and the rest of the Shiplake College rowing crew in 1965
On 5 November, the College officially opened its very own squash court with an exhibition match by international squash players Jonathan Leslie and Gogi Allauddin.
Also in 1976:
- The 1812 Overture was performed and fireworks released by the CCF during the end-of-term concert in the marquee.
- February 1976 saw the worst flu epidemic to date.
- The heatwave of 1976 found the hottest June ever recorded making it an extremely trying period for exam candidates.
- An Autumn Term production of Oliver! was performed by ‘nearly half the College’, over 100 boys took part.
- The newly opened Orchard House grew throughout the year; in January 1976 there were 28 boys on the roll, by the end of the year there were 40!
