George Hyder was the foreman of the School’s maintenance crew. He completed 30 years of service prior to his retirement due to ill health and sadly passed away on 24 September 2014. Since 1983, he worked under a succession of Headmasters with different philosophies and objectives. He was always totally dedicated to the School and over the years, was responsible for huge cost savings through his innovative and practical solutions, changing the form and use of the school buildings.
If you stand at the entrance to the eastern side of the Main Quadrangle you can see the beautifully detailed stonework of an archway that the School’s founders must have conceived as a grand vista looking across the Main Quad through to the stained glass windows outside the Assembly Hall. That vista was not opened up to our view until 1994, just twenty years ago. The wooden staircase that leads up to the organist’s loft in the Chapel is another great example of George’s handiwork. It was a mathematical challenge to design a staircase that seems to hug a wall that is not strictly round but actually has a wave in it. The technical execution was no less masterful.
George was also a very worthy recipient of the Ian Powell Memorial Award in 2013, the
