We were delighted to recently welcome Sophie Mason (née Carrington) to the school. She is the great-niece of Noel Carrington (1903–13), an influential English book designer, editor, and publisher, best known as the founder of Puffin Books, the children’s imprint of Penguin.
Noel became one of the most influential figures in 20th-century design. Through Puffin Picture Books and Country Life, he commissioned, edited, and published some of Britain’s most loved children’s picture books. He recognised the talent of many artists and championed emerging ones. Alongside Eric Ravilious (the watercolourist, designer, and engraver), father of OB James Ravilious (1952–57), he published one of the finest picture books of the 20th century: High Street. With Edward Bawden, he wrote and published Life in an English Village, and with Mervyn Peake, he commissioned the tale of the wild pirate Captain Slaughterboard.
The Higgins Museum in Bedford is featuring an exhibition, Nothing Need Be Ugly, from 15 November to 28 June 2026. The exhibition will showcase publishing classics by Noel such as the Kynoch Press Notebooks and Country Life Gardener’s Diaries, as well as 120 Puffin Picture Books. The work of Noel’s sister, former Bedford High School pupil and member of the Bloomsbury Set, Dora Carrington, will also be included, as it was Noel who brought her back into the public eye.
Sophie visited the school while in Bedford to see where Noel and his brothers, including her grandfather Samuel Carrington (1903–09), were educated. She also came to pay tribute to his brother, Second Lieutenant Edmund Carrington (1903–11) of the 2nd Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment, who was killed in action at Guédecourt, France, on 18 October 1916, and whose name appears on the boards in the Memorial Hall of the fallen.
The OB office is currently in correspondence with the Higgins Museum to arrange an exclusive viewing of the exhibition. Watch this space!
