Just before the summer, myself (Luke) and Spandan had the privilege of interviewing OG Richard Tilbrook. Richard was able to shed some light on what school was like when he attended, as well as the interesting world of the civil service that he dove into following university.

Richard, who attended the school in the 1970s, was here through the school’s transition from the state to the private sector in that period. We asked Richard if he noticed any changes around the school following this transition, and he said that not much really changed, other than a few new paying pupils joining his year. In a way, linked to this were the beliefs of headmaster John Daniel, who replaced Wilfred Hore one year into Richard’s time at the RGS. Richard noted that Daniel wished to steer the school along the path of many minor public schools, with heavy focuses on rugby and cricket, as opposed to football. I think that the impact of this decision is still easily observable, when you consider that football is only available as a games option to members of the sixth form. A question that we felt needed to be asked was about the Sainsbury’s that is frequented by RGS boys of all year groups, having been there since 1906, the Sainsbury’s is an impressively old building in itself, but its history with RGS pupils does not appear to go that far back, Richard recalled that “It (going to Sainsbury’s) was forbidden. We were only allowed to visit three shops, and I think they were all either sweet shops or newsagents” Richard also noted that those of us at the RGS now are very lucky to be allowed to go out and roam the high street at lunch time.

Though Richard’s stories about his school life were interesting, what he had to say about his life following university, where he studied classics at Cambridge, was even more interesting. After finishing university Richard joined GCHQ (British intelligence agency) as a code breaker, but with the rise of computers, Richard realised that a future in code breaking would not be possible for him, so he decided to leave the code breakers. Wanting to remain in international affairs, Richard decided to pursue a role in the Department for International Development. Richard told us that the young Department for International Development was headed by “an inspirational” secretary of state, and that the new department had one goal, “To eliminate world poverty”. Richard said he spent much of his time there overseeing aid programmes in Afghanistan and Ukraine, unfortunately with developments over the last half decade in Afghanistan, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all this work has “turned to dust”.

Following this work, Richard made another move within the civil service, this time to be a drafter, his job would be to pull together the information collected by the intelligence agencies with material from our diplomats and defence attaches abroad, and produce a report for the cabinet that would let them know what is really going on in the world right now. This line of work was not without its own stories, while on a trip to China Richard was being followed by the Chinese security service , upon his return to the UK, he was asked if he was aware that he had been followed for the duration of the trip, and that his room had been searched by the Chinese. Richard confessed that he had been blissfully unaware, and recounts that “Happily, I don’t think that I was doing anything too embarrassing”.

Following his stint as a drafter, Richard was appointed Clerk of The Queen’s Privy Council. The privy council is one of the oldest arms of government, operating as direct advisors of the monarch. In Richard’s words, “There’s all sorts of business”. Ranging from approving new coinage, to authorising the closure of graveyards. One event that Richard emphasised was “More eccentric than the others”, is the pricking of the sheriffs, this ancient tradition originates from the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Though it is not really known why it exists, the process involves the pricking of each name of sheriffs on a 30ft long scroll with a ceremonial bodkin (a needle). As mentioned it is not truly known why this is done, but Richard believes that it is done as it would’ve made it harder for someone to remove their name from the scroll in the times of Elizabethan England.

Once again, The1509 would like to give our thanks to Richard Tilbrook for giving up his time, and letting us ask him some questions. Additionally, we would like to thank Richard for the extensive civil service he has provided the country, and to consider many other people doing these jobs that receive little or no thanks.  Richard’s wealth of life experiences are something that almost everyone aspires to achieve, but very few do, Richard’s career path is also one that is not as linear as many others, and would encourage students not just to follow the heavily treaded road, and instead follow a path that they have a true passion for.