An old Elean was welcomed back to King’s Ely school to provide a science lecture on the subject of satellite navigation.

Ely Standard: King's Ely pupils with former Head of School David Broughton after The Osmond Lecture.King's Ely pupils with former Head of School David Broughton after The Osmond Lecture. (Image: Archant)

David Broughton attended the school from 1949 until1958; first as a chorister, moving on to become a King’s Scholar and Head of School. After leaving, he became a navigator in the RAF before going on to become a director of the Royal Institute of Navigation. He retired in 2008.

Mr Broughton spoke to students in detail about the beginnings and methods of pre-GPS navigation, the physics behind those processes and the social and biological effects of today’s technology.

Robert Bosworth-Daft, Head Boy at King’s Ely and a keen scientist, said: “Listening to the journey David Broughton has been on was inspirational; his personal experience of the changing navigational equipment and the numerous calculations required was astonishing.”

The Osmond Lecture was established and endowed by the Old Eleans’ Club to commemorate the career of Leonard Osmond, a science teacher at the school from 1930 to 1970.