Willings at helm for Durham glory days

FIRST may I thank Brendan Gallagher for the excellent series on the great schools. I write as a former pupil of Durham School and a past president of ERFSU (England Schools) who has had the privilege to watch many superb school matches over the past 50 years.

May I draw attention to a couple of omissions from the article on Durham. In the President’s Suite at Twickenham is a portrait of FHR Alderson, an Old Dunelmian who played for England in 1891-3 and had the distinction, with Nigel Melville, of captaining the team in his first international.

You also failed to mention Nick Willings who was responsible for coaching the great school sides of the 70s and 80s which really put Durham on the map again.