Frequently, items from Durham School's history make their way to the archive which are mysterious in their origins or purpose. For what reason, for example, do we have a set of miniature Peking opera masks, or a photograph of racing cars driving through 1960s Morocco, or a small cardboard box full of fragments of clay pipes? What of the leather satchel containing the 'Linguaphone Conversational Course', a collection of 1930 vinyl records guiding the listener through learning French? When I was donated a fitted box containing a small model flag, discovered this past week in one of the many cupboards of the School, I feared that this would be a similar case; however, after examining it, I was surprised to find a small compartment in the flag's base, which, upon opening, revealed a small note, printed on card and sealed in plastic:

"On the 10/11th May 1941, the Old Bailey was damaged by enemy bombs. Court No 2 was destroyed and two of the staff were killed. In the course of clearance, years later, with preparation for rebuilding and for adding new courts, my brother bought a load or two of the broken timbers, doors and panels for fuel! He gave me a selection of the pieces of good old English Oak from those door parts etc out of which to make various small things. This Base with Flagstaff is one of them. 

The Flag was sewn and kindly presented by Mrs W.R. Bell, mother of J.K.R. Bell O.D. (1957-1959). 

Combined to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the Throne. 

LONG MAY THIS FLAG FLY! 

O.B. Aarvold O.D. (1920-23) 7th June 1977"

The name of Aarvold is one famous amongst certain circles of Old Dunelmian. Ole Borge Aarvold, the writer of the above letter, was born in 1906, entering the school with his brother in September 1920. He was cox of the 1st crew in 1921 before leaving in July 1923 to study the timber trade for four years in Finland. In 1929, he joined Messrs Felber, Juckner and Co. Ltd., a firm of timber merchants operating out of London, and would subsequently work with Messrs L. Waern and Co Ltd, Grimsby. He joined the Intelligence Service in 1940, and then served as lieutenant for the 1st Battalion of The Scots Guards, Norway; from 1959 he worked for the timber agents Scantlebury and Hemingway Ltd., London. He always kept in touch with Durham School, as his obituary in the 1992 edition of the Dunelmian shows:

"Ole had a tremendous affection for the School. He was a regular attender at O.D. lunches and dinners. As long as health permitted he made a point of coming to Chapel Evenson from Hexham at least once a term. 

"He had a rare quality of simplicity in his kindness, courtesy and concern for others. The combination of his personal humility and the genuineness of his interest made everyone he knew feel better for knowing him, and inspiring them, and in particular those younger Dunelmians who were fortunate enough to get to know him at O.D. meetings, with the deepest affection and respect. 

"He had a natural fastidiousness and delicacy that expressed itself in his appearance and manner, and in the pleasure he took in making things. He loved working with wood, and his many gifts to the O.D. Society and to friends are a visible reminder of one who in many ways typified all that was best of a remarkable generation of Dunelmians."

The last sentence about woodworked gifts given to the OD Society is significant, as it is surely one of these gifts that is now stored in the archives.

In his note, Ole Aarvold mentions a brother who brought a lot of the wood from the sight of the destroyed Old Bailey. This is the rugby player and judge Carl Aarvold, who entered Durham School at the same time as his brother in 1920. After graduating from Cambridge he played for England in several Internationals from 1928 to 1933 and even toured Australasia with the British Lions. He was called to the Bar in 1932, but when the Second World War broke out he served with the Royal Artillery, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. After the war, he returned to his work as a judge, holding various important legal offices such as the Judge of the Mayor's and City of London Court (1954), Common Serjeant in the City of London (1959-1964) and Recorder of London (1964-1975). He was awarded an O.B.E. in 1945, and knighted in 1968. 

He was a popular after-dinner speaker at rugby events, allowing him to take part in the rugby community even when he could no longer play. As a judge, he was much beloved, known as the 'sportsman judge'; his 1991 obituary in The Times states that he was "London's most colourful and well-liked judge. He had a natural capacity for dispensing justice with unfailing courtesy and humanity and with a complete lack of the irritability and impatience which sometimes afflict incumbents of the bench. He had a deep appreciation of the problems of the inadequate and the disadvantaged. Indeed on his last day in office he celebrated what he called his 'feeling of enlarged freedom' by releasing on bail a young man on a violence charge because the accused's son was ill and Aarvold felt he ought to be able to be with him. This was utterly characteristic of Aarvold's unaffected compassion." 

Carl Aarvold's name appears in connection with many of the most notable criminal cases of the 1960s and 1970s. He presided over the 1965 trial of the notorious Ronnie and Reggie Kray, for example, after they were charged with demanding protection money from a Soho club owner. The jury was undecided, and the Kray twins were acquitted during the retrial; it would be another four years before they would be sentenced to life for murder. In 1972, in the wake of the murders of Graham Young, the 'teacup poisoner', he was appointed chairman of a committee that recommended a tightening of the system governing the release of psychiatric offenders, something which eventually led to the Butler Committee and its dedication to mental health reform. He also presided over the trial of Kempton Bunton, the pensioner who stole the Portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in 1961. During this trial, which took place in 1965, Aarvold gave highly unusual final instructions to the jurors, highlighting the fact that it was a "remarkable athletic feat" that Bunton could carry the picture out of the gallery. Ultimately, he advocated for clemency; the final verdict was that Bunton would be charged £80 for the frame, but not for the picture, as he stole it with the intention of keeping it. 

This flag with its unique history is an example of how even the smallest and most unusual items can have stories to tell.