[Bell Historians] Canon JJ Raven

[John Camp]

At 12:25 on 24 November 2003, jim phillips wrote:
> John Camp's remark regarding the historian Fred Sharpe is
> unfortunate. I have been present when Fred Sharpe was invited to and
> rang the sixth to the Sunday morning touch at St Paul's Cathedral
> many years ago - an indication of Fred Sharpe's ability.

I am more than willing to withdraw my remark. When I knew Fred Sharpe
in the late 50s and 60s, he was generally regarded as a bit of a weak
link, but I accept, in the light of Jim's comments, that he must have
been better than I supposed. The young can be arrogant about their
elders.

My favourite recollection of Fred Sharpe (other than the occasion
known to some at Appleton involving his hat) was when he turned up,
univited, at St. Mary Mag in Oxford for the dedication of the
augmented 8. He appeared, clad in his reader's robes and carrying the
ODG banner. Amid the baroque Anglo-Catholic ritual of Mary Mag in the
70s, it was difficult to know what to do with him.

John Camp