Bishop Cotton celebrates 165th Founder’s Day 2024 (Founded 1859)

Shimla Sunday 28th July 2024

The Bishop flags off the Jubilee Mountain Expedition

It was a day of celebrations in Shimla as Bishop Cotton School (BCS) marked their 165^th Founder’s Day on the first flat of the main school.

The sun shone brilliantly for the welcome party as the NCC proudly formed a guard of honour whilst the brass band played the school song.  The school community welcomed the chief guest for the day, the Bishop of Amritsar, the most Rev Bishop P K Samantaroy who is also the Chair of the school’s Board of Governors. Visiting heads from other Shimla schools also joined the festivities in honouring the Bishop’s 25^th celebrations as head of the diocese. The whole event was broadcast live on Facebook picking up viewers around the globe.

Jubilee celebrations for the Bishop and the BCS Mountaineering Club

The Bishop is also celebrating his silver jubilee (25^th) year as Chairman of the Board of Governors at BCS, and was awarded a special portrait that had been painted by a team of boys in his honour.  The choir sang a medley of his favourite songs and a special cake was cut to wish the senior climbers well as they set off on a two-week expedition to Ladakh.

The Bishop gave his blessing to the nine Class XII boys and expedition leader, Mr Amod Talwalkar who are hoping to summit Mt. U.T Kangri, located in Ladakh. Mt. U.T Kangri is a challenging climb and the boys will need to spend a week acclimatizing in the high altitude of Ladakh.

Each year, the best climbers at BCS, the Pargiyal Mountaineering Club, attempt at least one 6000m+ summit.  The first expedition took place in 1999, so this year marks another BCS silver jubilee.  All of the participants are required to score an A grade in the Basic Mountaineering Course run in Manali which involves rigorous training and the mastering of mountaineering techniques.

BCS Director Simon Weale said ‘The annual mountaineering expedition is a wonderful challenge for our boys.  They have trained very hard to be ready and we wish them every success in this unique test of their character”