McElwee Awards

29 September 2016

Each summer, pairs of Lower Sixth Stoics take up the opportunity to travel to Europe and explore a cultural or historical theme. This is funded by the McElwee Award, a grant made in memory of Bill McElwee (Stowe’s Head of History from 1932-62). The Award aims to foster the same love of history, travelling and culture that made Bill such a popular teacher. In order to share their experiences, Award winners are asked to give a presentation about their travels to the new Lower Sixth.

This year saw an incredibly strong set of presentations. The evening began with James Creedy Smith (Chatham) and Archie Forsyth (Chandos) explaining how an initial interest in the Habsburgs, fostered in Mr Swayne’s A Level History class, led to them visiting Vienna. They skillfully elaborated on their discoveries about the culture and politics of Austria, using light-hearted photos to engage their audience. This confident presentation won them the prize for the best presentation by the McElwee Committee.

They were followed by Emily Osborne (Queen’s) and Isabella Baillie (Queen’s) who related their experience exploring the Italian city of Ravenna and its role in late-antiquity. Their enthusiasm for the topic and natural presentation style was very well received. Amy Jorgensen (Nugent) and Skye Longworth (Nugent) used their presentation to describe how their interest in Laurie Lee’s ‘As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning’ inspired a trip to Spain. They cleverly showed how each location was described by Lee, using quotes from his book and thoughtfully reflected on the changes that have shaped Spain since. Finally, Sam Montgomery (Temple) and Sebastian Wood (Temple) also made a fascinating comparison by contrasting the revolutions in Paris and Kiev. Although separated by over 200 years, they argued that there are potential parallels in their causation. Their stay in Kiev was particularly interesting for the audience who were shocked by scenes that unfurled in 2014.

The Award is now open to applications from the Lower Sixth, with registrations of interest to be made by Half term. The rigorous selection process will then begin with written applications submitted straight after the Christmas holidays.

Paul Griffin, Head of History