Hastings was the star in school’s best XV

ONE of the great names of Stowe rugby is PRH Hastings – Peter Robin Hood – who after the war morphed into Peter Hastings-Bass, below, an outstanding horse trainer who revived the famous Highclere stables. This he was able to do only when his childless uncle and godfather Sir William Bass – the brewing magnate – left his estate to Hastings on the proviso that the Bass name be added to his surname.

As Peter Hastings he ranks a close second to Gadney at Stowe in rugby although his love of horse racing was allconsuming after he won a wartime Blue at Oxford and served with the Welsh guards. The expected England cap never materialised.

His Stowe side of 1938, of which he was the undoubted star and skipper, was arguably the strongest in the school’s history and probably the strongest in the country that year. They defeated Oundle, their closest rivals to that title, 17-11 in a memorable game and were unbeaten against all schools‘ opposition including Bedford who were also highly rated that year. Their only, narrow, defeats came against London Scottish A and Cambridge University XV club.

Hastings-Bass died suddenly of cancer at the age 43 but the name and sporting heritage lives on. His son William became the Queen’s trainer for many years while his daughter Emma married Ian Balding – another brilliant schoolboy rugby player destined to make his mark as a horse trainer. Ian’s daughter is journalist and TV presenter Clare Balding.