Shelagh Godwin

Shelagh Godwin (née Claxton, BHS alumna 1961-1965) got in touch to give us an update on her life, and also to tell us about a celebration event she attended for the life of alumna and inspirational businesswoman, Beverley Hodson OBE (BHS 1962-1969). The school currently has a classroom named in Beverley’s honour.

The celebration was wonderful. It took place on the top floor of the National Theatre and included poetry and songs which Bev would have liked, and a lovely tribute by her son Tom. Food and prosecco flowed and I enjoyed talking to many people, including two of Bev’s classmates.

Beverley had a wonderful life, leaving BHS to study at Newnham College, Cambridge, before ultimately serving as CEO of Boots and in a high position at WH Smith. She was also a crack tennis player - John Betjeman’s poem about tennis-loving Miss Joan Hunter-Dunn was one of the readings.

Shelagh went on to tell us about her own life’s path.  

I was known as a musician at school, played second violin in the school orchestra, took part in school music competitions, and occasionally played piano at morning assembly (once notoriously incurring the wrath of Miss Abraham by refusing to play the sung Amen), and studied music at A-level, before going on to Newnham College, Cambridge as an Exhibitioner. I had two of my pieces performed: a Sarabande for violin, cello and piano (later rearranged for recorder quartet for my 70th birthday concert in 2018); and a Christmas carol Noel (words by Hilaire Belloc) performed by the ‘Small Choir’ in December 1966, by which time I had left the school but returned to hear it performed for the first time in the ‘new’ Hall. I maintained a close friendship with the music teacher Helen Cockburn right up until the time of her death.

After graduating I followed the secretarial route, eventually becoming secretary of the Dolmetsch Foundation, based in Haslemere, and editor of the Foundation’s academic journal The Consort for 14 years. At the same time I took on several private piano pupils and soon discovered that class teaching was not for me (Several Lower Thirds in 1965 may remember that!). I used my musical experience when working for hospital radio in Guildford, and wrote, and still write, reviews of concerts for the local paper and websites. The most memorable concert I ever reviewed was in 1973, when the Yehudi Menuhin School celebrated its 10th anniversary with a concert at St James’s Palace in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Menuhin himself performed, but there were many other students who later went on to have great careers: 17-year-old Nigel Kennedy and Melvin Tan among them.

Music remains a huge part of my life. On Sunday 23rd June 2024, a Choral Evensong composed by myself and my husband Jim took place at the St Peter and St Paul Church, Godalming. The Evensong was originally a vehicle for getting some of Jim’s pieces performed: he started composing during lockdown when all active music making in public was cruelly stopped, and I followed suit. At the service - a traditional Anglican evening service - the responses and the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis were performed to settings by Jim, and I contributed an introit, an anthem, and a psalm tune.

The image in the header is the view from the top of the National Theatre, where Beverley worked in the Box Office during vacations from Newnham College, Cambridge.