The 1980s is a decade remembered for big hair and shoulder pads, Dynasty v. Dallas, red braces and shell suits, MTV, the Sony Walkman, Yuppies and Sloane Rangers, Live Aid, Rubik’s Cubes, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and Sinclair C5, Lady Di, Back to the Future, Fame, Ghostbusters and E.T.
It was the decade that saw Margaret Thatcher elected as the first female leader of a western country, the Falklands Conflict, unemployment peaking at 11.9% in 1984, the miners’ strike, the Great Storm of 1987, the eruption of Mount St Helens, the HIV/AIDS global pandemic, the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
At Sherborne School, Robin Macnaghten was headmaster until 1988 when he was succeeded by Peter Lapping, there were nine boarding houses including Westcott House, and in 1984 pupil numbers peaked with 663 boarders, 19 day boys and 1 girl. New buildings included the Powell Theatre (1985), a Works Department (1987), a Sixth Form Centre and Careers Dept (1988), and The Grove (1989). The Undercroft was enclosed and incorporated into the School Library (1981), the Dining hall was extended (1986), a new chapel organ was installed (1986), and in 1985 Dire Straits were voted the School’s favourite band.
See also:
- For house photographs see School Boarding Houses
- Sports team photographs
- Sherborne School in the 1970s
