On the sixth day of Christmas, York St John gave to me…

Six croquet mallets

Slightly obscure, but bear with us, there is a story that goes with these mallets!

Sitting in our Heritage Room, just on the left as you walk through the door sits an old croquet set, but the reason for it’s inclusion in our Heritage Room, is that the croquet set once belonged to former Principal of what was then the York St John College, Cannon Phillip Lamb.

Students at York St John today will think nothing of walking across The Quad, sitting down having a chat, or even throwing a rugby ball around, However, had you been here in the days of Cannon Lamb, you could well be reprimanded for even considering setting foot onto the hallowed lawn of the Quad, say for the odd rare exception, one of which being invited to play croquet with the college Principal, something we’ve talked about briefly in a previous blog with Alumni Volunteer, Peter.

Many memories we hear of Cannon Lamb from alumni who studied here during his time, are that he often challenged students to a game of tennis or croquet, but it was a well regarded unwritten rule that you were expected to allow Cannon Lamb to win…

Did you know, that as Principal for 25 years (from 1946 to 1971), Cannon Lamb is the second longest serving Head of York St John in it’s history, a record bettered only by Reverend H Walker, who was Principal at York St John for 27 years (from 1908 to 1935).