Ryan’s life in Moberly’s
Ryan was a huge part of Moberly’s life. He was respected by all the year groups in the house and has left everyone with some great memories of what life in Moberly’s was like, with him around.
Ryan only boarded a few nights a week. As his room mate for the past few terms, it was those nights that I always looked forward to.
Bang on 9 o’clock, when our prep session was over, we would either go to the gym, kick a ball around in the yard of Moberly’s, weather permitting, or if the school supper had failed to nourish us (as was often the case) we would either dash to Clifton village for a cheeky bag of chips, or order a Dominoes pizza delivery.
We would usually return back to our room at around 10:30 p.m, ready for lights out. Howev
er, the fun was far from over! Once Jane or the member of staff on duty had made sure we were in our beds with our lights out and had disappeared through to Mr O’Sullivan’s side of the house, Ryan would decide to carry out a few of his pranks. Ryan’s bed was above my bed and many a night I would have a bottle of his squash thrown on me, just as I was getting comfy in bed! This was not a nice experience!
However, some of my fondest memories of Ryan came from the hours we used to spend talking late at night. We used to chat for hours on end about all sorts of things ranging from his best ever goals on the hockey pitch, his beloved Man United and some of his many memories he had shared with his family. As much as we both loved these moments, in the morning we paid the price when, after a mere five or six hours of sleep we would struggle out of bed at around half seven. However, Ryan would somehow find the energy to run down the corridor and beat me to the best shower! After Ryan had had his shower he would often jump up, grab my towel from inside my shower cubicle and run back to our room with it. This was one of Ryan’s favourite pranks as of course, it meant I had nothing to cover myself with when walking back to our room. Ryan would then be back in our room in hysterics!
Despite all the mischief Ryan and I got up to in the morning, we would always be wary of the fact that the coco pops at breakfast usually ran out at around 7:50 a.m. Once we had both analysed how our hair was looking, we would race over to ‘big’ school and catch the last two bowls of coco pops. Timed to perfection on most occasions, of course!
Ryan and I shared some great times together but there is one memory in particular which stands out for me. On the last day of the Lent term, which turned out to be my last hours with Ryan, a group of us were playing football in the yard of Moberly’s. The last day of every term is always pretty hectic in Moberly’s with everyone rushing around packing their bags; it’s particularly stressful for Mr and Mrs O’Sullivan and Jane who are trying to organise a million things all at once. Therefore you can imagine the reaction I got when a thunderous right foot volley, which I had intended for the top left-hand corner of the net actually ended up demolishing Will Barrett’s ground floor window pane.
All the boys collapsed in hysterics, Sully and Jane gave me the bollocking of a life time and I was left to clean up all of the glass and the debris whilst the game of football continued. With Jane’s temperature rising, the threat of a £300 repair bill hanging over my head and the start of last chapel getting ever closer, it was Ryan who came to my aid. When the chips were down, he could always be relied on and between us we cleaned up the mess in double quick time and the worst of the crisis was over. Although at the time, this was not a particularly enjoyable experience for me, one thing it pointed out was the true friend I had in Ryan. A genuine friend who will never be replaced.
Ryan was my first room mate in Moberly’s.
Ryan was my last room mate in Moberly’s.
He was quite simply not only my room mate…… he was my best mate.
Lloyd James…. Forever a true mate!
An average day with Ryan
A normal day with Ryan would usually start at the latest it possibly could, whilst fitting in time for a shower and time to sort out the hair. This was usually around 8:00, with call over starting at 8:15. Call over is swiftly followed by Chapel in the mornings. Ryan and I would more often than not go to chapel, although I have a few funny memories of when we would skip it to fit in some last minute maths prep and to ensure not getting caught we would hide underneath our beds.
Now the maths lessons, Ryan and I were in set 1. And our maths lessons would consist of football talk (me being a Chelsea supporter and the Ryan and Anjan being Manchester United I took a lot of abuse), girl talk and any other kind of talk not relating to maths. And from time to time we would squeeze in some maths near the end. Now on to break, after the classic two pieces of buttered toast we would either catch up on unfinished prep that we should have done the night before, or we would play with some sort of ball in our dorm. This game would usually resemble improvised cricket indoors, I cannot begin to count the amount of damage we did to windows, lights and lamps. But it never stopped us; it was just too much fun! A particularly funny time I remember is when Ryan and I decided it would be a clever idea to flick a hockey ball as close to the fire alarm as possible without hitting it. This went on for about 10 minutes and the alarm was intact, then someone else came into our room and asked for a go. They flicked a long way away from the alarm, Ryan and I then starting jeering at them saying they were scared. So they tried again and hit it full on, we could not believe it and we could not stop laughing.
After lessons finished we would sometimes take a quick trip down to Subway before prep time. But for us prep time was not prep time, it was do anything to avoid doing our prep time. Which is why we spend break time and sometimes chapel catching up on prep to make sure it was done for the lesson. Now bed time, I remember in third form we used to have to give in our phones, we would do anything to not give our phones in including having our old phones in school to give instead. Then it was time to get caught out of bed watching movies in other people’s dorms, mostly in third form, but I remember a time in fourth form when a few of us on the top floor were caught watching a movie and as the teacher was taking down names Ryan slowly slid down underneath the duvet in my bed and ended up not getting caught. I couldn’t believe it, it was quite a feat!
Ryan was also an unbelievable pool player within the house, we regularly played against each other, and I think I can remember beating him twice in the two and a half years of playing him. The most memorable loss was in this past year when somehow I made it to the final of the house pool competition. Ryan also made it, sweeping through most of the competitors. Then he destroyed me in the final. And he definitely deserved it.
As much as it may sound it was not all mischief and fun, fifth form became a much harder working year, Ryan took his maths GCSE early and deservedly got the A*. This was testament to how he had changed, always time for fun and banter, but when it came down to it he worked very hard.
A particularly memorable moment of sporting prowess I remember from Ryan was in third form house hockey, when he received the ball just outside the D then turned, skilled one player and waltzed into the D before hitting the ball on his reverse stick and the ball could not have gone more top corner. It hit the inside of the post and crossbar at the same time, it was unbelievable.
To the contrary of the title of this document, no day with Ryan was even close to being an average day, every day with Ryan was fun filled and special.
Max Cresswell….Former Room Mate and Special Mate!
