Travels with Charlie

For the past two summers, the London Alumni Club has sponsored the London Experience Project, a program which provides a Dartmouth student or recent graduate with the opportunity to live in England. The Club takes the responsibility of providing employment, and various members of the Alumni Group provide a wide variety of experiences which are aimed at giving the individual a full appreciation of the English scene. The Project gives a student a total understanding of the living, working, and cultural aspects of England, plus a great summer that will never be forgotten.

Randy Wallick '69 was the 1974 participant and he was employed by Chesebrough-Ponds Ltd. I was the 1975 participant and was employed as an associate consultant by McKinsey & Co., an international management consulting firm. A second 1975 participant was crucial to the success of the project, and that was my wife Chris. We were married just prior to our departure for London.

Upon arriving in London Chris and I began exploring our surroundings and meeting our Dartmouth alumni hosts and hostesses. We were lucky to be able to live in a McKinsey partner's home while he was in New York for the summer. It was located on Hyde Park Corner, a fantastic central location for our sightseeing.

My first reception was lunch at the American Club with Bill Hirons '44 president of the London Alumni Club, and the other officers of the club. They gave us an initial kickoff supplying a list of alumni members to contact throughout England who had offered to entertain us. It was really amazing to find so many friends in another part of the world.

During our first few weeks, we were invited to dinner by Sandy Apgar '62 and his wife Anne. A sumptuous meal with fine wines and interesting conversation took place at a quaint establishment near Covent Garden. Soon after this the Apgars also took us to the Henley Royal Regatta, where we sampled an aristocratic English atmosphere and watched the Dartmouth lightweight crew team compete for the cup. We met team member Dan Jackson '76 who returned later from his European travels to visit.

Our next taste of hospitality was a lovely reception for us thrown by the Apgars at their home in Islington which included both Dartmouth alumni and McKinsey people. Chris and I met numerous interesting alumni there, many of whom we were to see again during the summer. The Apgars' hospitality was superb.

The following Sunday we took the train to Windsor and met Wolfgang Pfaler '71, a German national teaching English and German near Windsor. We spent an afternoon with him seeing Windsor Castle, especially the St. George's Chapel of the 15th and 16th century. Wolfgang narrated its historical background for us, adding to our growing enthusiasm for English history and tradition.

One afternoon we had lunch with Professor Epperson of Dartmouth's English Department faculty, who was then teaching at the University College of London. He, too, provided valuable insights into our experience there. Dinner at the home of Daniel Vock '54 in the Kensington High Street area of London was another enjoyable part of our Alumni hospitality. We talked with his sons, particularly concerning Dartmouth as it is today for entering students.

During July we took the train to Dorset on the southwest coast of England to visit Mark Heifer '51. Mark, his wife, and four children live just out of the medieval stone village of Corfe on a Dorset farm where he raises sheep and Jersey cows. We enjoyed their warm hospitality including real English home cooking, helping round up the sheep, observing milking, hiking in the fields, and visiting a pony camp where his wife and two children teach riding. Mark took us on a tour of the Dorset countryside including the ancient and fascinating Maiden Castle and the Dorchester county museum. The Dorset countryside was the home of Thomas Hardy as well as Lawrence of Arabia.

One Sunday we met Bob Gifford '44 for a tour of the area south of London, including a drive through Clapham, along the Thames and through Richmond Park. We toured through Hampton Court, Henry VIII's and once Woolsey's palace with a marvelous set of rooms to view an interesting and varied architecture. This was followed by a delicious dinner at the Giffords' home with some American friends of theirs, currently living in London. We found we were making friends wherever we turned. Later in the summer, the Giffords also took Chris out for a day trip to visit some manor homes near London, including Chartwell, Penshurst Place, Hever Castle and, of course, a few pub stops along the way.

One weekend we visited Stratford-on-Avon on our own, catching a great performance of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at the National Shakespeare Theater. The next day we met JimDietrich '42 who is living in Oxford and he took us on a marvelously thorough tour of the Cotswold country including stops at several quaint villages such as Bourton-on-the-Water, a tour of Blenheim Palace, and ending with a visit to several of the colleges at Oxford. We enjoyed Dr. Dietrich very much and appreciated his generosity in escorting us.

Late in the summer, we caught a pub dinner and a play by Alan Ayckbourn, "The Norman Conquests," with the Apgars in London to celebrate both wives' birthdays on the 31st of July. During August, we also had a delicious home cooked dinner at the Hirons. Rusty Hirons and Chris spent a few afternoons together at the Women's Open Golf Tournament at Sunningdale near London, and visiting Old Bailey, the criminal courts. One of our last nights in London we were taken to dinner by the Hirons to an Italian spot in the Hyde Park area. It was a great cap to our summer and we were appreciative beyond telling of all they and everyone had done for us. Leaving London, we spent two fantastic weeks touring Scotland and relaxing (trying to digest the whole overwhelming summer!) before returning to Dartmouth to begin my second year at Tuck.

The London Project was a tremendous experience for us in many ways. It was a unique learning experience of living in a foreign country enriched by the guidance of our alumni friends throughout the summer. Chris and I are extremely grateful to all the members of the club for providing such a wonderful opportunity. I hope it will be extended to others in the future.

Charles Schetter '75 and wife Chris posewith Bill Hirons '44, president of the Clubof London, and one of their summer hosts.