News of Old Boys & Masters
Including Information taken from The
Farnhamian magazine 1998 to 2001
The names below of
old boys, masters etc. are listed in alphabetical order by surname. If you
click on a name, you will be taken to the first link with that name; any later
occurrence will be found by clicking that link, and so on (use your back button
to return to the Index). The articles are listed starting with the most recent.
This index is also linked to those who appear in the Obituaries & Tributes page and the Eminent Old Boys page.
Unfortunately, it
is too time-consuming to add the old boy news in The Farnhamian 2002 with the
links that are provided by this index. However, a complete document of news
from The Farnhamian from 1999 to 2002 is available as a pdf file, that can be
searched, by clicking here (250 Kb).
Index
(Please note that this listing is not cross-referenced to the lists of old boys
and staff
who have died in recent years and it is not always possible to
update the text below for deaths. To check on deaths, please click here)
Monday, 18 November, 2019
Andrew Stevens (1965-1967) writes with some interesting memories. He
transferred from Farnborough
Grammar School having
failed his O Levels and was accepted by George Baxter to redo the 5th form and
resit his exams. He goes on to say:
Being an
avid Mod, I turned up on the first day of term on my (heavily chromed, multi-
spotlights and flash/smart ) Lambretta & immediately fell foul of Mr.Larby
who demanded to know who I was and then put me in detention (before even
crossing the threshold for the first time) as I hadn’t got a cap on -
notwithstanding I was wearing a (legal) crash helmet. The following day I
turned up with my cap UNDER my crash helmet and got another detention - and
when I told my new form master (Mr.Friggins) he did at least get the detentions
cancelled - what a great start.
The CCF
under Alan Fordham was enormous fun and myself and my friend Jonathan Tugwell
(now living in Denmark
and still in touch) were a great team. All the staff treated me like an adult
and when there weren’t classes I was allowed to do whatever I needed - I’m not
sure if all the students were treated as such but it prepared me for a lot in
later life.
I went on
to Art College, became one of the youngest Senior Lecturers at a University at
age 25; went on to work for Vogue, House&Gardens, Rio Tinto, etc in places
like Iraq, Turkey, Singapore, Japan and the US, and now, after 50 years of
being an Advertising and Fashion photographer, I’m a sculptor, with my first
exhibition in February in Bristol.
I really
appreciate the website and the ability to see who is doing what - although I
hadn’t seen him for years I was saddened that Rusty Morecroft had died - he and
Mark James were a great pair at FGS and good friends.
Saturday, 24 June, 2017
Geoff
Scard
(1956 – 1961) has joined the web membership and written to say that he left after O levels in 1961 and spent two
years as a trainee chartered surveyor in Godalming before getting bored and
joining the RAF as aircrew. He served for 37 years retiring in 2000 from
MOD in Whitehall
as a wing commander. Since then he has worked for the RAF at Boscombe
Down before retiring completely in 2007. He lives with my wife Margaret
in Goodworth Clatford south of Andover
and is currently very busy with producing a Neighbourhood Development
Plan. He is the tenor in our church choir (since 1982) and also the
village tree warden. He also recalls being in the school choir for two years as
an alto (1956-7) and performing in the Coolibah Tree as Mrs Thompson! He
then joined the school orchestra first on tenor horn then trumpet. Alan
Fluck was his form master for 4 years. He was disappointed not to get to
his funeral.
Wednesday, 20 March, 2013
Stan Kilby (1950 – 1955) has signed up to the website, added
some names to the 1954 photograph and sends the following news of himself:
After leaving FGS, I was employed at The Central
Veterinary Laboratories in New Haw, Weybridge as a laboratory assistant. I was
trained in various bacteriology labs. and post mortem techniques. During the 5
years employed there, I was able to study for A levels in Physics and
Chemistry. Incidentally, I had some coaching from a FGS member of Staff ie Mr
[Conk] Brister. I was fortunate to be accepted into The Royal Veterinary
College in October 1960
and qualified as a Veterinary Surgeon in1965.
I was then employed as an assistant in a practice in
Cullompton, Devon working almost exclusively
with farm stock. After a brief secondment to MAFF during the Foot & Mouth
epidemic of 1967/68, I moved to Stourport-on -Severn ,Worcester and remained there working in a
mixed animal practice until retiring from the partnership in 2000.
Again I was working for the Animal Health Division of
DEFRA in the last big outbreak of F & M and continued with them until final
retirement in 2008.
I now have a flock of my own sheep,a large garden,and
4 grand children, I also sing in a local Choral Society, a love of music
started by Alan Fluck
Monday, 19 December, 2011
Paul Hallett (1963 – 1968)
writes, following the recent untimely death of Ian
Markham-Smith (1963 – 1968):
I was at school with IMS, same age, although not in
the same form. We met in optional music classes, and became members of
"Youth & Music", travelling together by train and tube from
Farnham to the Sadlers Wells Theatre (when SWOC was based there), often getting
lost; IMS seemed to trust me totally. Rigoletto and The Barber of Seville were strong stuff
for such youth, but despite that we never got round to discussing the future.
Much, much later, having forgotten all about him and school memories, I spotted
a figure in the background when a TV station interviewed somebody in a
newspaper room, and there he was, in shirtsleeves and bright red braces,
revealing the journalist that he had become. I think "Drop the Dead
Donkey" was the thing at that time, although I was not drawn to it myself.
I did watch a few episodes but didn't see IMS portrayed at all. A year or two
ago, in a fret of nostalgia, I googled a few names, his being one. An email
address popped up and we chatted. Desperately sad. I would have liked to have
chatted some more. He might have learned a little more about me, but then my
story is never going to compete with his. RIP Ian ....and to Liz : I am so
sorry!
Sunday, 07 August, 2011
The gaps get longer! But John
Davis (1958 –
1962) has joined our web member ranks and invites us to visit his blog and architect practice website to see
what he is now doing in California.
Peter Bennett (1960 –
1965) has also joined us. He recalls his farewell interview with George Baxter
with less pleasure than his recollections of other masters such as Alan Fluck,
Brian Varey, John Wills and Michael Foster. The Head’s scepticism of his
decision to enter the Ford Motor Company rather than accept offers he had
received from Jaguar and Rolls Royce puzzled George. But Peter’s subsequent
highly successful engineering career vindicated the decision.
Yet another case of George’s subtle way of
challenging leavers to go out and prove him wrong?
Tuesday, 24 February, 2009
After a gap of some months in contacts and news of
old boys, we have received the following interesting email from the son of Alfred Geoffrey Morton
(1925-1932). Read on:
I am the son of a past pupil of Farnham Grammar, Mr Alfred Geoffrey
Morton, 1925-1932 & who was a Life Member of your Association.
We have recently been researching the Morton family history & only just
discovered that my late father attended Farnham Grammar. Searching
the net we found your excellent Web Site & I must commend your Association
for such an interesting, extensive and easily useable site. It is a
credit to you all.
On looking at the photograph section I was not only thrilled beyond
words to find photos of my late father but would like to correct his
initials as shown: 1930's section - 1930-31 Photo of Prefects & 1920's -
1929 school photo, both of which show G. W. Morton. While he was always
referred to as Geoff or Geoffrey, he was Alfred Geoffrey and thus
should appear as A.G.Morton, as shown in the school magazines of those days.
The Library section also provided information that I had
never known about our father as detailed in the "magazines" such as
his involvement with the School Cadet Corps, miniature rifle shooting and
other details revealed about his time at Farnham. There is even a mention
of his father (my grandfather) Mr G. Morton playing for the Parent's Cricket
Team in games played on 6th & 17th July in 1929. An amazing Web Site.
Your records may not have recorded the sudden and tragic death of
my father in June 1960 in Melbourne Australia, only two years after migrating from
the USA, having previously
taken up employment with a US
Oil exploration company in 1947. Following his Matriculation from Farnham
he went on to the Imperial College of Science & Technology, London, qualifying as a Geophysist. He
was employed in India during
1937 & 38, returning to England
in November 1938. He served with the Air Ministry and RAF from Oct 1939
to Aug 1946. He married in 1942 and had four children. The eldest
son now lives in Canada,
myself ( second son), younger sister and youngest brother all live in Australia.
Our mother is still alive but a very frail 89, in Melbourne.
I am more than willing to write a short story of my father's life
if it would be of any interest to your Association members/readers.
In closing, may I once again say what a wonderful job your Association
has done in constructing the web site. It truly is one of the best of
it's kind that I have seen & has given my family some excellent insight
into my father's early life and I thank you sincerely for that.
The promised article:
Alfred Geoffrey Morton attended Farnham
Grammar School from 1925
to 1932. He was born in 1913 at Morley, Yorkshire. After
leaving Farnham Grammar in 1932 he went on to study at the Imperial College
of Science & Technology, London, graduating
with a BSc(London)
and ARCSc degrees in Physics and subsidiary Mathematics in 1936. From 1936 to 1937 he completed a post
graduate course in Applied Geophysics at Imperial College.
Following
these University studies Geoff was engaged in Geophysical exploration using magnetic
and electrical methods, in India, as the Chief Assistant to Mr A B
Broughton-Edge, the Director of Imperial Geophysical Survey and Honorary
Lecturer Imperial College of Science & Technology. He returned to England in November 1938 and
carried out research work for Mr Broughton-Edge on various problems on
electrical prospecting. This work
included both field experimentation and laboratory work and was being prepared
for a PhD degree which was never completed due to the outbreak of war.
In October
1939, following the outbreak of war, he joined the Air Ministry as a Junior
Staff Officer at their research station in Dundee. He was immediately assigned as Scientific
Observer at various radar (Gee) stations and later transferred to the
calibration unit. He was commissioned as
a Squadron Leader in the RAFVR in 1941 and assigned as Staff Officer to
Headquarters No. 60 Group (Radar) Unit, working in the operation branch of this
Unit until released from service in August 1946. He married Brenda Kennedy Hackett, who was
also working at the Radar Unit, in 1942.
In May
1947, Geoff went to the United States
at the invitation of the National Geophysical Company, Inc, of Dallas, Texas
to work as a Geophysicist. His family,
wife, three children and an Airedale dog joined him in February 1948. He worked for the company as Party Chief and
Seismologist in charge of field operations of seismic crews for several years,
moving from Louisiana to Montana
and then Colorado. During 1955 he was transferred to Houston, Texas
to one of the company’s central interpretative offices.
With a
yearning to return to a British environment but also keeping within his
professional experience he gained employment with the Australian Commonwealth
Bureau of Mineral Resources in Melbourne
and once again moving his family, now wife and four children, but not a dog,
across the waters. Here he was employed
as a Geophysicist specifically in oil exploration and lead the first
Commonwealth field seismic exploration team to the Sarat, Roma area of Queensland.
Sadly,
following a sudden stroke Geoff passed away in June 1960, aged 46. He is survived by his wife, now 89, four
children, five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Wednesday, 27 August, 2008
Jon Stratford (1952 –
1959) writes in from Australia
to report that he is enjoying his retirement and playing much golf. In moments
of nostalgia he visits the website or looks at photos of Farnham on Google. He
found this one of the family butchers shop in West Street, taken in the 1930s.
Saturday, 12 July, 2008
The Webmaster has heard from Robin
Broatch (1948 – 1951), esteemed cricket player and now a long-time
resident of Australia. Having read some of the recent editions of
The Farnhamian, he writes to comment on the large number of old boys who used
to live in his road Bridgefield over the years. He notes the following names:
John Crowhurst, Basil Frost, Harvey Frost, David Frost, Michael Kilburn, Mike
Horner, Mike Prentice, Bill Bodkin, Mike Power, David Dawes, John Lewis,
Michael Hackett, Graham Archer, Tony Chuter and Robin himself of course. Your webmaster
only misses being in this list by about 50 yards as he was born and raised in
The Fairfield, which leads into the noteworthy road known as Bridgefield – but
he did marry an FGGS girl from Bridgefield and therefore seeks honorary
inclusion!
Monday, 07 July, 2008
Alan Morgan (1937 –
1943) wrote recently to John Crotty that he is still in good form and, on
reaching the age of 80, had a joint celebration with his daughter and grandson
whose 50th and 25th birthdays almost coincided with his. They made a sponsored
skydive from a 2-mile altitude in aid of the Deaf Children Society. They not
only all landed safely, but they raised over £8000 for the charity.
Tuesday, 01 July, 2008
Peter Lickfold (1955 –
1960) has signed up to the website and sends the following brief but somewhat
astonishing summary of his life over the period of almost 50 years since his
contact with FGS:
From school I spent a year at Technical College
before apprenticing as a mechanic. Then moved into a Drawing Office and learned
a bit about the Materials Handling field before emigrating to South Africa in
the early 1970's, with my wife, Tina, and our three daughters. A variety of
minor management jobs, a less than successful business venture and several
years of freelance design work took me to retirement in 1989 and the start of a
cruising life.
However, the political and
economic collapse of the country that generated our cruising funds, and a
catastrophic accident that left my boat on a reef and Tina and I stranded on a
desert island for a year, put paid to that retirement a few years later. We are
now back in South Africa,
where I make a living designing Materials Handling equipment again.
Peter has
also contributed a tribute to George Baxter on the GB Memorial Page.
Tuesday, 15 August, 2006
David T. Smith (1943
–1950) has written to us about his life since leaving FGS:
On leaving FGS I went to University
College, Southampton – later the University of Southampton where I was awarded a B.Sc. (General)
in physics and maths in 1952, Honours Physics 1953 and a Diploma in Electronics
in 1954. I met Anne there, and we
married in 1956.
After Southampton I
worked for Bristol Aircraft Company (as it was then), but after six years in
industry I was ready for a change.
From 1960 I was appointed to the Physics Department
of The University of Oxford
to run the Electronics Instrumentation group in the Clarendon Laboratory, and I
worked in that department until retirement in 2000. Research physicists need help with the
measuring and control instruments, and my job was to give advice, and to design
special equipment as needed for my group to build. I really enjoyed my work in Oxford - how fortunate I am to be able to say
that!
In the early days I was involved mostly with
instruments for magnetic resonance, very low temperature physics (Oxford had an entry for
achieving the worlds lowest temperature in the Guinness Book of Records) and
high magnetic fields (we still have an active high field laboratory with the
best facilities in the country). In the
late 1960s I gained an M.Sc. for my work on stabilising an old high power
generator used for driving electromagnets which gave the highest steady field
available in the UK. I became a Chartered Engineer. In later years laser physics took a lot of my
time. In the 1980s I was given a D.Phil.
degree for my research on low-frequency noise in electronic components (this
noise is important in that it limits the accuracy and sensitivity of
measurements). In the 1990s, I designed
some satellite electronics for measuring trace gases, including greenhouse
gases, in the upper atmosphere.
From time to time I was involved in projects outside
mainstream physics, and I always welcomed these – nowadays, red tape makes this
much more difficult. Projects included a
special electronic organ for the Music Faculty to demonstrate alternative ways
to tune a scale – the way in which scales are tuned involves physics and maths
as well as music theory. I also designed
a light-weight high voltage supply for a tsetse fly trap to carry over the
plains in Africa, and later specially adapted
measuring instruments for use by a blind physicist. I was also involved with the beginnings of
the Oxford Instrument Company, and designed all their early electronics. I spent some time in university physics
laboratories in Oporto in Portugal, and Sao Carlos
and Brasilia in Brazil.
Since officially retiring in 2000, I have continued to go into the
laboratory. I like to keep physically
active and am generally well. In the Oxford tradition I use a
bike and rode to work for forty years, and I also enjoy rambling. We have two children – a daughter who is a
G.P. in Devon, and a son who is a Chartered
Accountant and finance director. We have
five grandchildren.
David also mentions that he had an
older brother at FGS, Brian Spenser Smith (1940 –
1945) , who became a doctor at the Middlesex Hospital
and then a GP in Ross-on-Wye. Brian died in 2002 leaving 4 children and 11
grandchildren.
Monday, 19 June, 2006
Hamida Mimouni (1963 –
1964) has made contact and registered on the website. Not finding his name on
the lists, your webmaster emailed Hamida to ask for confirmation that he was at
the school. We received the following interesting reply:
Thanks for your mail.
Actually I wasn’t a pupil, I was the Algerian French
assistant during school year 1963-1964. On FGS_63 picture, I sit on the 3rd
rank, the only one with mysterious dark glasses. Special thought to Mr RUNDLE,
French teacher then. Is there any photograph of Marshal Montgomery’s visit to
the school that year? I really enjoyed being with your school at that moment of
my life. Hamida MIMOUNI
Tuesday, 16 May, 2006
Colin Banks (1969 – 1971) has written about his memories from the
3 years he was at FGS until his family moved to Nottingham:
I have been looking at the OFA website and recall many of the names in
my 1st form. I started at FGS in Sept 1969 and left in Nov 1971 at the start of 3rd year. We
moved to Nottingham and so I lost touch with
friends at Farnham. There were new friends to be made and the University
etc. I ran across Mike Seavers while in Bristol,
he read Geology, Biochemistry for me, but we were only on nodding terms.
Jeffrey Gibbs contacted me to ask me to one of the dinners but with a young family it
was too far to come. I lost my wife last month after 23 years of marriage
and this has made me look back in to the past to wonder where the years
went.
Looking at the 1970 photo I remember many of the names at the front row to
the left. With Stephen
Pritchard as Hon
Treas, I expect his memory is more detailed than mine. I will have a stab
and see if I can remember the surnames. Any that I can't remember I will
query ?? especially the first names as many of us had nicknames.
Here goes, starting front left:
Seavers (Mike), Williams Jr(Matthew), Brinkworth (?Peter), Bennet
(Rodney), Probert (Stephen?), (Williams Sr behind him), Langridge (???),
?Hughes, (can't remember the next), Mueller (??M), Dorling (???), Seignot ( ?Mike),
(can't remember the next), Baker Initial ?A, I always called him Billy),
Tompkins (Stephen), (Next two escape me), Downes (?William), Pratt (???), Plant
(???), ?Young(???), Brown (Geoffrey), Banks (Colin, that's me), Clemesha
?(Pete), Sitting in the second row either side of Mr Batchelor are KC and
KG Peters the chalk and cheese twins. Jeffrey Gibbs in front between the from
1P. Left of the twins ?Eldridge (???) and Lydiard (?Peter).
I don't expect there are any great revelations but you never know.
I seem to remember some wag trying to run round the back and get on the picture
twice. I expect this happened every time. I don't see Stephen
although I am sure he was inmy class. Maybe he was of ill that day or my
memory has failed me. Let me know how I did.
Maybe I will make one of those dinners after all. At least I
will be sure not to get fixed up with a date!.. Nostalgia sure isn't what it
used to be
Does anyone want to pick up from
here and give us a start with for a list of the 1970 photograph? If so, the
webmaster will willingly establish a special name page.
Monday, 17 October, 2005
Following the death of former FGS
teacher and Officer IC the cadets Alan
Fordham on 12 October, 2005, John
Whapshott (1966 – 1973) writes the following tribute:
I'm very sad to learn about the death of dear Alan Fordham. I will
always remember him as someone who was both gentle and a gentleman. As well as
running the CCF and trying to teach me history, he also taught French briefly,
rather more successfully than History in my case.
Perhaps the memory which sums him up is this. At the end of my first
year in the Sixth form in the early seventies, some of us decided it would be
amusing to deprive the canteen of its entire stock of cutlery, which was duly
moved to an obscure part of the warren that was the Sixth form fiefdom. A
master who shall remain nameless (no, not the obvious one!) appeared shortly
afterwards and loudly and fiercely demanded the return of the implements.
Naturally, this caused us even more amusement, and the order was decisively
refused. Several minutes later, Alan Fordham appeared, and, speaking to us
as if we were normal human beings, told us it was a good prank, but asked if we
would now be so kind as to return the cutlery. It was instantly forthcoming.
History and French were by no means all I learned from Alan
Fordham.
Friday, 19 August, 2005
Michael
Harry
(1939 – 1943) writes to express his sadness over the recent death of Gordon Dalrymple (1940 – 1947):
I was sorry to read the
notice of the death of my friend and contemporary Gordon
Dalrymple; we were at Elmsleigh
Prep School and FGS
together. The announcement reminded me of a short
piece in "The Farnhamian" in the late nineteen -sixties to the
effect that he had commanded a submarine on passage from UK to Australia.
I have trawled the Royal
Australian Navy web site and it appears that Dalrymple commissioned and
commanded HMAS Otway and took the boat from the builders - Scotts of Greenock -
to Sydney in
1968. Otway, in case anyone is interested, was a Diesel Electric submarine
equipped with both Harpoon missiles and torpedoes with a surface displacement
of 2030 tonnes and 2410 tonnes dived.
I regret that I cannot write
more comprehensively; it is notoriously difficult for seamen to keep
in touch and we lost contact with each other in the early
nineteen-fifties. He was a very capable chap.
Farnhamian – March 1961
Monday, 01 August, 2005
It is reported that Keith S. Morris (1949 – 1955) has died. The circumstances
are sad in that he was one of the country’s leading deep-sea divers and he
failed to surface whilst diving recently in the English
Channel and is therefore presumed dead. Keith was a very gifted
athlete and took several of the school records including the mile (he knocked 9
secs off the previous record) and senior cross-country.
27 January, 2005
The daughter of William
J. Clifford (1942 –
1947) has emailed from Australia
to tell us that her father died in August 2004. He left the UK to settle in Australia in 1965 after qualifying
as an electronis engineer.
19 July, 2004
Bob Galfskiy (1957 – 1962) has made
contact with us again and sends the following interesting news:
I do have some news: I have re-established contact
with my old friends Jerry (J.J.) Neave (1954 –
1959) and Malcolm (M.W.R.) Lee (1953 –
58) of Old Farnhamians’ Rifle Club fame. It turned out that Jerry had made the
decision to resume his interest in full bore target rifle shooting at much the
same time as I had, and we both now shoot at the Ibis Rifle Club at Bisley
together. Malcolm Lee was lucky enough to be offered a position with the NSRA,
also at Bisley, lucky devil, where he is now the Assistant to the Director of
Shooting AND getting paid for it!!! I don't know if you had heard that Jerry's
schoolmate and fellow founding member of the OFA Rifle Club, Martyn Powell (1954
– 59), had died very recently. He doesn't seem to have been given
an Obituary on the website, but I'm sure many Old Farnhamians will remember
him. I have also been e-mailing other Old Boys, such as Geoff Harnett (1964 – 70), Geoff Woods (1954 – 59) and Geoff Martin (1954 – 60) recently. It's
always good to stroll down memory lane with old friends. Unfortunately none of
them seem to take an active interest in the OFA, but that could be due to the
loss of the smallbore rifle range and armoury on the school premises. We all
spent many happy hours in the gloomy, dusty old range, with its pervasive smell
of coconut matting. Members who remember those days would be delighted with the
NSRA's new facilities at the Lord Roberts Centre at Bisley, thanks to Malcolm
Lee and his colleagues who have built a bright, airy, modern centre which I am
sure will attract many young shooters into the fraternity (or should I be
Politically Correct and say sorority, as many girls now indulge in the shooting
sports). Malcolm and his wife, Barbara, also a keen shooter, in
their leisure time run the Aldershot Rifle Club, near Badshot Lea Docks.
As for my own news, I had the misfortune to become
Physically Disabled after an accident at work which resulted in an amputation,
and I now have to get by on Disability Living Allowance and Income Support. I
don't think I will be able to work again, as I am also Diabetic and suffer from
heart problems as well as neuropathy, but I still seem to be able to shoot
reasonably well in spite of everything, so I must count my blessings. I must
admit that a little illicit moonlighting would come in handy as far as
financing my sport goes, but the only thing on my horizon which could possibly
earn me some money is the novel I am trying to write. My first novel didn't
sell, back in 1981, so I thought I'd try another subject. The first book was
about the Far East, but for this one I have come back to the Middle
East, another old stamping ground of my youth!
19 January, 2004
As reported in the general section of the web site (click here), over 60 relatives and friends attended
a special celebration at Farnham
Castle of the life of Leonard Evans (master
1946 to 1975). The tributes to Leonard are available as a Word document by clicking here.
13 January, 2004
Michael Overbury (1965-1972) writes from Nottinghamshire, where he is Director of Music
and Organist at the Priory Church of
Our Lady and S. Cuthbert. He has just released a special CD of organ music
to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the priory. (This CD normally costs £14.95, but old boys can obtain copies for
the special price of £10 (inc. p&p), by writing direct to Michael at 92
Charles St, Newark,
NG24 1RL.)
05 January, 2004
David Danby Hill (1953 –
58) has registered on the website and writes to tell us he has now retired from
estate agency and farming to occupy a large National Trust property in Devon. He was awarded the MBE in the New Years Honours
for services to farming in the south west.
19 December, 2003
Don Nicolson (1940-1942 & staff 1950 - 1982) was a guest at
the Farnham College Foundation Christmas lunch. Now living in Cambridge, “Nick” remains extremely active in
areas of esoteric academic research. In the photo shown here, he can be seen
clutching part of the large number of Christmas cards he always brings to this
event to distribute to his former colleagues and friends. We believe that the
postage saved by this largely offsets the cost of a return ticket between Cambridge and Farnham.
02 August, 2003
Royston
Snart (1954 – 1961) has registered on the website. Living
in Spain
for the last 15 years, he makes his living translating technical and academic
papers from Spanish into English, mostly texts destined for publication. He
promises us more information later, describing what sounds like an interesting
and varied career, but the weather in Cadiz
is too hot at the moment. Click here to read Royston’s article (posted 12
December 2003).
29 June, 2003
Bob Galfskiy (1957 –
1962) has signed in on the Web-Members page and writes of his history since
leaving FGS:
I have lost touch with all my old friends, even the
members of our Rifle Club, such as Jerry Neave, Geoff Woods, Malcolm Lee
and many others. I was the Club Secretary and Vice-Captain of the team and
still love the sport of shooting, in all its various disciplines. Jerry was
Best Man at my (first) wedding and Geoff was also kind enough to come along in
support, but that was 30 years ago and we have not had much contact since.
After leaving School in 1962 I joined the Royal
Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough as a Technician apprentice and was
moulded into an aircraft maintenance engineer. I completed my apprenticeship in
1967 and left the R.A.E. to join Airwork of Bournemouth and work for the Royal
Saudi Air Force at Khamis Mushayt, on the border with Yemen, looking after the
Hawker Hunters and English Electric Lightnings that guarded the Saudi border,
as Saudi was at war with the Yemen at that time. In 1968 I moved Northwards to
the capital, Riyadh,
which, at the time, was a small mud-brick town resembling a scene
from a Rudolph Valentino movie. Not the sprawling concrete jungle it
is today!
I then found a job in Nairobi,
Kenya (we pronounced it
Keenya in those days) with Autair Helicopters, working on those beautiful
little Bell 47's.
I was detached to Somalia for three months and then left Autair to become
a Semi-Professional Big Game Hunter with Peter Mann-Jones, the Professional
under whom I studied and accompanied on many hunting Safaris. Life
became more difficult for 'white hunters' shortly after (politically
incorrect) and Peter decided to move to South Africa. I went back to Saudi Arabia to restock my bank account for
another couple of years, but whilst on holiday in the U.K. I met my
future wife and decided to stay. Not a good decision in any respect, as it
turned out! Enough said about that unfortunate chapter in my life. I went to
work in the Sultanate of Oman
in 1974 for the Sultanate of Oman's
Air Force (more sun and sand) in Muscat,
Salalah and Thumrait, staying there for six years, for want of something better
to do. I found something, or rather quite a lot of things to do, as I took most
of my holidays in the Far East, mainly in Thailand,
but also visiting Singapore,
Hong Kong (where my maternal grandmother lived as a child) and Malaysia.
I left Oman
in 1980 to live in Thailand,
marry my second wife and have our first two children. I worked in Thailand for an American Oil company carrying
out a survey of the whole of Northern Thailand
for oil and gas deposits, so I saw much more of the country than my wife
had ever done, in spite of being born there! We moved back to U.K. in 1982 and set up house near my parents in
Southampton. Once more there was a slump in
aviation, so after a spell of looking after Doug Arnold's collection of WW2
aircraft and helping to rebuild a few Spitfires for him, and finding the pay
insufficient, i became a Laboratory Technician for a Research company near
Winchester, where I stayed for three years, by which time the airlines
were in recovery so I joined good old Dan-Air at Lasham, for my first real
taste of Civil Aviation. After much study I passed my exams with the
C.A.A. (we now call it the Campaign Against Aviation!) to become a Licensed
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer with responsibilities such as inspection and
Airworthiness Certification. Dan-Air paid me so well I wished I had made
the move years before. After obtaining both my Airframe and my Turbine Engine
Licences I transferred to Dan-Air at Gatwick, working on their fleet of Boeing
727's and 737's. When an opportunity to take my family to Kuala Lumpur with
M.A.S. arose in 1990 I grasped it as my wife and children would easily be able
to visit family in Thailand, which they did by train from K.L. to Bangkok and
then up to Udorn. I had to stay in K.L. and continue working, but I did not
miss the 24-hour rail journey in a non air-conditioned carriage!
Then came the first Gulf War and the Malaysians
treated the Brits with less than courtesy. Being a Moslem country they thought
the war was anti-Moslem rather than anti-Saddam and we left the following
year to find yet another recession in the airline business (reminiscent of
today?) and I spent seven months in unemployment before finding a contract for
two years based in Cairo. Most enjoyable it was, too. Of course the airline
went broke and I was forced to go from one contract to another in countries
such as Indonesia (lovely), Luxembourg (rubbish), Belgium (full of Tunisian
muggers), Holland (nice), Germany (different), eventually finding "permanent"
employment with BWA at Southend, with whom I worked as 'Flying Spanner',
travelling all over Europe, former Yugoslavian states, former USSR states and
quite enjoying myself although away from wife and family. Of course (getting
used to it by then) the airline went broke in 2001 and I was on the dole yet
again, but not before I developed Diabetes and had to start injecting
myself.
Rather than remain unemployed and a burden on the
taxpayer, I joined a Supermarket chain. They made me wear steel toe capped
shoes, which set up an ulcer on my left big toe, and then made me work outside
in my Summer uniform on the coldest day of the year, when it dropped to minus
eleven degrees Celsius! I developed severe hypothermia and my ulcerated toe
became frostbitten and had to be amputated. Another step in the wrong
direction, but i later made contact with my old Dan-Air chums who brought me
back into the fold with their current employer. Dan's had gone broke after we
went to Malaysia, and so did the company my colleagues had moved to at Gatwick,
sharing my career experiences (except for the supermarket part) and at Gatwick
I remain in "permanent" employment for the time being, as Flying
spanner travelling 10,000 miles every week between Gatwick, Kazakhstan, Poland,
Italy and back to Gatwick with a Boeing 737 strapped to my backside for almost
72 hours at a time. Pretty low in entertainment value, but I am truly delighted
to be back in my proper profession once more. Long may it continue.
My children have grown up and our daughter got
married and produced our lovely grandson, and now I am searching for
things to pass the time and keep me active and interested for when I
retire. I used to do a bit of coarse fishing, but never catching anything
became discouraging, so I am now regaining my great interest in guns and
shooting. Since the Government decided we were not to be trusted with firearms
(and British gun-crime has more than doubled!) it is now necessary for the
shooting enthusiast to indulge his sport in Belgium, Holland or Switzerland,
which is what I am currently attempting to get permission from management (my
wife) to start.
I became a Buddhist in the seventies and we attend
the Temple in Petersfield and sometimes the Thai
temple in Wimbledon (but not in June!), which
brings spiritual calmness and guidance. I thoroughly recommend it. I
try to meditate, but find my mind continually straying to thoughts of work,
money and all the other necessities of our existence. As the Buddha said
"All Life is Suffering". Didn't HE hit the nail on the head!!!
My brother Andrew
Galfskiy, also an Old Farnhamian, 1956 to 61, is living in Winchester with his wife
and sometimes both of their children. Should anyone wish to contact him I can
give them his e-mail address. I regret losing touch with most of my
friends.
2 April, 2003
Neil
Payne (Gym
Master from 1958 – 1966) found this website and was delighted to discover the
OFA was alive and kicking. He left FGS to start a new life in Canada, moving to Saskatchewan
as a director of physical activity in a college and moving later to Alberta to coach with
the Canadian Air Force. He subsequently turned his hand to property development
and opened a guesthouse. Throughout, he has retained a strong interest in
athletics, particularly his speciality of hurdling, which he has coached until
about two years ago (when he felt he could no longer properly demonstrate the
actions himself). He is now retired and living in British Columbia. There is a good chance he
will visit Farnham in 2004, when he hopes to come to the UK for the
centenary of Havant Hockey Club.
6 February, 2003
Eight or nine old boys attended the funeral of Dr
J. Dudley Backhurst (1943 – 1951) at Southampton Crematorium. Dudley was an enthusiastic old boy who contributed much
to the association in various ways. He was the driving force behind the
Southampton Lunch for the past 30 years and a trustee of the 400 Trust for 10
years. A tribute appears in the Obituaries Page.
Thursday, 16 January, 2003
Bob Paine (1951 –
1957) emails from his home in Folkestone with some interesting memories and a
major contribution to the name lists for the 1954 and 1956 photographs:
I was at school from 1951 to 1957. In my first term I managed to win my
weight (allbeit Class XIV, the lightest) in the school boxing tournament,
beating Chris Squier (I think), Ernie
Sloggett and then Keith Robinson in the
final at the Barracks at Church Crookham. In the next term I managed to nearly
kill myself cycling to school and was off school for 3 months. Returning to
school was difficult, and when George Baxter replaced FA Morgan he agreed to
put me down a year and join the new boys in Sept 1952. With no real academic
bent I left school after getting 5 'O' Levels. My main interest was always in
sport and did reasonably well for House (Massingberd and School House) and the
School and (Farnham
Schools) in Football and
Athletics.
My main interest was always in books and reading and ‘Mac’ Foster was
able to further that interest when the new library was built, in appointing me
one of the librarians. So it seemed quite natural when I left school to become
a Librarian. Nowadays a 5-year degree course is the norm. Not so in those days
and I started work at Aldershot Library gaining qualifications part-time at
Farnborough Technical College and Bristol College of Commerce. My latter years
have been spent working for Kent
County Council in
Folkestone and then Ashford library in the Reference Department with special
responsibility for the Local History Collection, which includes one of the
largest collections of railway material in any public library in the country. I
retired in October 2001.
Throughout my career I have been involved in the trade union movement
and enjoyed the challenge of looking after the interest of staff over many
years. This seemed to have started when I was 15 and a paper-boy for W H Smith
in Farnham. They were abysmal payers. Bob Luckhurst (1952-58)
and I, along with the other boys, put some collective pressure on the manager
and we managed to get a pay rise of 20% (7/6 to 9/- per week !)- what riches.
More recently I have sat as a member of the Social Security Appeal Tribunals in
East Kent, becoming the longest serving member, before all of the lay members
were 'done away with'.
Having only recently found the excellent OFA website, I have spent some
happy time seeing what others have been doing, and trying to identify some of
those in the photographs, and after 50 years, quite successfully. I have
already been in touch with my cousin Rodney Paine who I
haven't seen since school days.
Guy Bellamy's article about Pat Chandler was very poignant for me. Pat
was a cousin of mine but our paths crossed rarely of late. Our years at school
overlapped by just one year. I do, though, remember him entering the school
boxing tournament probably in 1951, having been bullied into it by Bill
Wickens., who I remember called him a long streak of tap water! Pat was not a
boxer. I'm not sure whom he was drawn against but the names Coveney or Tyrrell
ring a bell. So at lunch time in the old gym Pat's bout was called and he spent
the whole time backing round the ring, almost running, so as not to be hit and
making no attempt to strike a blow himself. By the time the second round had
started the playground had emptied and everyone was in the gym cheering for
Pat. The fight was stopped. Bill Wickens was furious at such a display by one
of his boys!
When he was working as a psychiatric nurse at St Augustines Hospital at Canterbury (now closed)
he was never quite sure whether to be proud or annoyed that, at one time, his
official title was Sister-Tutor. But I know that he took great pride in the
work that he did both in looking after the patients in the hospital and also in
training new nurses in this difficult field.
Wednesday, 04 September, 2002
David Blunt QC (1954 –
61) has registered as a web-member and emailed news of himself. He has had two
careers - as a lawyer and TV
playwright, though as the latter he has been relatively inactive in recent years.
However, he intends to start writing again and we should watch the credits
rolling up on our screens for the name of this talented old boy. He hopes to
come to an OFA event in the near future.
Another new web-member is John
Mew (1937 – 1942) who emails from Ottawa
the following message and recollections:
May I congratulate you on the excellent web site. I
was in the 1939 school photograph and I must say I had goosebumps when I saw
this 12 year old kid peeking out over the top of the head of one of the
masters. After 63 years, it gave me quite a shock. I was at FGS from 1937-42,
travelling to school each day on the train from Ash via Aldershot.
I wasn't at all distinguished at school either academically or at sports,
although, as I remember, I enjoyed my time there.
I failed my matriculation rather splendidly in 1942,
passing in only three subjects, and was all set to repeat the 5th form in the
Fall of 1942, when I learned that I had been accepted as an engineering
apprentice at the RAE at Farnborough. This was the start of a career in
aviation in England and Canada which
ended when I retired in 1991.
One of my grandsons made me a computer in
November,2001, and I've been wandering around the internet since then. About a
month ago, I thought I would attempt to satisfy my curiosity about whatever
happened to FGS. I had absolutely no success whatsoever, until I stumbled
onto your wonderful website, where all was revealed! Thank you again.
I'll close with a reference to the wonderful wartime
school dinners and the fantastic spotted dick and custard that was served twice
a week. As I recall, Mrs Morgan and her daughter presided at the serving hatch.
Each boy got an initial serving of one scoop of pudding - thereafter he could return for up
to six scoops, and if he was quick off the mark, make a third visit for another
three scoops. I've told this story a few times over the years, getting quite a
lot of laughs. Is this a case of my old memory playing tricks (again) or can
another Old Boy confirm this? Thank you again for some splendid walks down
memory lane
Thursday, 25 July, 2002
Dr Derek Pollard OBE (1950 –
57, now an adviser to the Vice-Chancellor of the Open University and living in
Godalming) has emailed us to report the sad death of Cyril
Johnson (who left FGS in 1957) after a stroke. He died on 25 June and his funeral was on 3
July. Cyril had a career in Chemistry, mainly with Aspro Nicholas, and after
retirement lived close to the Silent Pool at Albury. He took a serious interest in dogs and goats
and was Chief Goat steward for the Surrey
County show. He leaves a widow (Karen) and son (Paul).
Friday, 21 June, 2002
The “Harrow Group” became, for one year at least, the
“Foresters Arms Group” when eight old boys met at a pub in Sussex. There
were seven old boys (almost 25%!) from the parallel form of the 1955 intake (Tony Hayward, Chris
Nash, Duncan McGregor, Chris Slyfield, Gerry Meaden, R.I. “Dick”
Hill and Ian Sargeant) plus Mike Peer who pre-dated the others by two
years. For most of us, this was the first time we had seen Dick
Hill in 40 years; it was recalled that his testosterone had arrived about 3
years ahead of everyone else and that he had impressed Alan Fluck with his bass
voice at his first music lesson in form 1P. His precocious physique helped him
capture most of the school junior athletic records, which stood for many years.
His career since FGS was spent mainly in communications technology with BT,
until early retirement to the town of Hove.
Tony Hayward is also retired having had
a successful career with Kodak. Chris Nash retired
from the RAE several years ago and is a regular attendee at OFA functions,
living in Rowledge. Gerry Meaden, who swam back into our
ken at last year’s reunion, runs a carpet business in Brighton.
Mike Peer still lives in the locality and runs a
land-surveying business.
Chris Slyfield, who
became a Chartered Accountant and ran a forklift business for many years, is
now a full-time County Councillor and Waverley Borough Councillor, as well
as leader of the Lib-Dems in Waverley; he was
the OFA-nominated
Farnham College
governor for many years. Ian Sargeant (your web coordinator and
author of this article) is also an accountant, who lived in France for 2 years, Holland
for 1 year and Switzerland
for over 20 years, becoming a Swiss citizen; he then returned to Farnham in
1992, with his wife and four daughters, to become a business consultant to his
overseas clients. He succeeded Chris in April 2001 as the OFA governor of Farnham College.
But Duncan McGregor was the
star of this get-together. Duncan became a civil
engineer and works for West Sussex County Council in Chichester.
His passion is cars and motorcycles and the change of venue gave us all the
chance to admire his recently restored classic 1932 Invicta. The car is a
breath-taking sight, one of only 76 that were made, with its 4-litre engine and
lovingly restored bodywork (photos click here).
However, this is only one of six classic cars plus three motorcycles that Duncan cherishes. His is
a very special family!
Friday, 10 May, 2002
Pete Rotheroe
(1962 – 1969), who lives in Illinois,
has become a web member and emails the following news of his life since FGS:
I didn't keep up with my classmates much through
college except for Mick Walker who went
to Portsmouth Poly and Terry
Whatson who was at Sussex. I graduated from Brighton
Poly with a BSc in Elec Eng in 1972 and moved to the States in 1976 courtesy of
my employer, Monotype. I married over
here and have lived in the Chicago area, the Albany, NY area and now
in South Beloit, IL
which is some 85 miles from downtown Chicago. I worked close by in Beloit,
WI until 1998, when I started commuting into
the Chicago
area. I currently specialize in Network
Security for a small but growing consulting firm in NW suburban Chicago.
Ann and I have 2 children, Jennifer who is 21 and now
married and Tristan who will be 17 later this month.
Wednesday, 01 May, 2002
Philip Daniels (1956-1963) lives
near Aberdeen
and has signed up as a web member sending the following news of himself since
leaving FGS:
I left in 63 and headed to Glasgow
and became a Marine Engineer with Shell until I transferred to the oil field
here in Aberdeen
in 1975, again with Shell. I spent a few
years offshore as Installation Manager on various platforms and then was promoted onshore in
1984. Held various positions onshore
running platforms which I really enjoyed, until I took early retirement in 1997. Then joined Maersk
running their floating production units for two years, until that ended in 99.
Since then I run my own business as a consultant in offshore operations which I
should have done years ago!
My eldest son is now thirty and getting married this
year, the other one is still at home! Same wife for 33 years, and love living
here in Stonehaven.
I also enjoy helping the sea cadets, and sit on the
children's panel which is peculiar to Scotland. My one claim to fame is I
held the world record for haggis hurling
for one day!
Tuesday, 09 April, 2002
Jon
Stratford (1952 – 1959) emails his “tongue-in-cheek”
apologies from Sydney
for not being able to make the 70th dinner on 13th April. He says:
Rod Paine over in Perth in West Australia and myself
have corresponded frequently in the last 6 months, swapping old memories of
Farnham and the school. Keith Mortimer
has also emailed us and we have been trying to get Chris Mullins to find time to correspond. Rod Paine also made contact with Frank Raggett who lives here in Sydney, the
brother of Larry Raggett from my
year. I notice that more and more people are getting on-line so hopefully your
web site will continue to prosper.
Sunday, 17 March, 2002
Malcolm Wilson (1954
– 1959), now living in Alberta, Canada, regrets
that he cannot make our 70th dinner, but emails the following news of himself
and some reflections on his FGS days:
Upon leaving FGS I spent two years at Guildford Tech
for my "A levels" and then went to London University
for BSc and PhD degrees in chemistry (1965 and 1969, respectively).
In 1969 I left the UK
to come to Canada for a post
doctoral fellowship at McGill University in Montreal. I completed that appointment in 1971 and
joined a consulting toxicology R&D lab, BioResearch Laboratories, Ltd.,
to establish an environmental toxicology
group. In 1975, this was "spun
out" as an independent company, Eco-Research Ltd., in which I became
a Vice-President.
In 1979 I came to Alberta
to establish the Alberta
Environmental Centre, a government-owned
interdisciplinary environmental R&D and technology laboratory.
I became Director of the AEC in 1992 and in 1996 we merged with the Alberta Research Council. I am now
the Vice President of the Forest
Technologies Division at the ARC, looking after our Forest
Resources, Forest
Products and Pulp and Paper business units.
I married Sally Beckett in 1968 and we have three
children, Eric, Rosemary and Kathryn.
I had more or less forgotten about FGS until I joined
the Sunshine
Bay Yacht Club last August.
It was there that I learned about this web page from Bob Johns. I have very much enjoyed being part of your
web membership and seeing the old photos.
I am surprised that so few of my old classmates are on your list.
This exercise has caused me to reflect on what the
school gave me during the five years I
attended, besides the academic instruction.
As Bob mentioned, I shall ever be grateful to Mr. Evans for inspiring me
in his (middle) chemistry class and for facilitating my advancement into
Dr. Edwards' chemistry class (my
favourite!) and Mr. Brister's physics class.
All three teachers fed my natural curiosity and motivated me to seek a
career in science. I also gained a lifelong interest in literature from Mr.
Beeken and Mr. Foster.
But perhaps the most lasting impact was my
introduction to Scouting and the
philosophy of Baden-Powell. I
began in Mr. Ram's scout troop, learned camping skills and have very much
enjoyed the outdoors all my adult life.
My son and I spent 12 years in Canada's
program and we were privileged to be part of our contingent to the World
Jamboree in Australia.
(Also, Sally and my daughters went
through the Guiding program together.) I also learned to play chess (I played
for the school team) and to appreciate cricket (I played junior cricket for the
house, Harding - also by coincidence Bob's
house!).
In addition to camping, hiking and fishing, we have recently
taken up sailing.
We both have elderly parents in the UK and make
trips to see the regularly.
Sunday, 24 February, 2002
Peter Pearson (1960-1961) emails news of his brother Ian Pearson (1960 –
1967), who still lives in Farnham, and is currently a judge advocate, most of
his work being Courts Martial.
Of himself, he writes that, on leaving FGS, he spent
four years as a deck apprentice with Shell Tankers. His18th birthday took place
while in Wellington NZ. He spent the rest of the 1960s doing various things in France such as
buying chemicals for a pharmaceutical company. He married his wife Milly in
1970 and became the production controller for a cooker timer manufacturer, then
went to the Dordogne for 3 to 4 years. He
later joined a computer peripherals company
and grabbed an early retirement in 1995. They have a son and two
grandchildren and live in Aldershot.
He is also in contact with Dave
Taylor (1958 –
1961) who currently lives in Brussels
and works for the Eurocontrol part of air traffic control, having retired from
the RAF as a senior officer a few years ago.
Until his death, he was very close to Geoff Crawte, having been friends for 40+
years. He remains in touch with Carol, his widow and all three of their
children and their grandchildren. Sadly, Geoff died just 2 days before Peter’s
grandson was born. He had been quite excited about it all, and had been
planning a trip as soon as the baby was born. We may see Geoff’s Dad Alan “Bill” Crawte at the
dinner on 13th April 2002.
Sunday, 13 January, 2002
Colin Banfield (1960 to
1967) send news of himself and his brother Leslie
Banfield (1954 to 1961):
I left FGS and went to City
University and then Kings College
Cambridge
graduating in Statistics. I worked for 8 years at Rothamsted Experimental
Station then joined Logica the computer systems company in 1979 and still work
for them as a Business Manager in Leatherhead. I returned to Farnham after 27
years living in Dorset, Somerset,
Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, and now live in Rowledge with my wife, Lynn and
four small boys including two-year old identical twins Eddie and Freddie.
My brother Leslie went to Borough Polytechnic and
graduated in Electrical Engineering. He then spent his career in the rail industry
including London
Underground and British Rail. He took redundancy in his mid-fifties and now
lives near Norwich
after many years in Sutton Coldfield. He is married with two sons and a
daughter, all of whom have gone on to university. He is a very keen golfer.
Saturday, 05 January, 2002
Jeremy Fletcher (1955 to
1961) emails from Auckland,
New Zealand
where he has been living since 1974. He remains intensely interested and
involved in athletics and has recently done his first triathlon. He met up with
Terry Downs in Sydney about 2 years ago.
21 December, 2001
|
|
Don Nicholson and
Leonard Evans enjoying the Foundation Trustees’ Christmas Lunch at Farnham College on 21st December
2001.
|
Friday, 16 November, 2001
Bob Johns (1953 to 1958) emails this interesting account of his
career and activities in recent years:
I have recently returned from a visit to Farnham,
where I read a story in the Farnham Herald about an OFA luncheon in Southampton. I was not even aware that the OFA was still
in existence. Later during my visit I was chatting with my older brother, Bill Johns (1949
- 1956, I believe) when he showed me a copy of the latest OFA magazine. I found
this to be a bit of a coincidence, as I now had heard of the OFA twice in such
a short period of time, having heard nothing about it since I left the school
in 1958. When I got home to Canada
I searched the web for "Old Farnhamians", and the OFA site was at the
top of the list.
I've made my home in Canada since 1967, having first
come here in 1966 on a short-term contract, accompanied by my old friend Mike Moulton (1953 -
1959). Mike didn't return to Canada
with me in 1967; he went on to a very successful career in England, and is
now retired in Grayshott. My career here has been spent mostly in the
telecommunications industry, having originally been employed in England by the
old Post Office Telephones. When I first arrived in Alberta, I was given the job of providing
communications services in the far north-west corner of the province, which was
then enjoying an oil-boom. This involved a lot of time flying in
helicopters and bush planes, as very few roads existed there at the time. It
was quite a change from doing the same job in Farnham! I spent so much time
flying with bush pilots that I went ahead and took flying lessons and obtained
my own pilots license. I then moved to the north-east corner of Alberta, which was then undergoing a boom from the
construction of the first oil-sands plants in the Fort McMurray area. This provided another
interesting experience, with plenty of flying.
In 1972 I moved to the Edmonton area, where I've resided ever since.
I worked here initially as an instructor in the training department of the
local telephone company, from which I moved into administration, which wasn't
really my cup of tea. I soon transferred into the computer area, which I found
a lot more to my liking. I then spent about one-and-a-half years with the
Commonwealth Games Foundation during 1977 and 1978, where I was responsible for
co-ordinating the provision of the computerised results network and the timing
& scoreboard systems for the 1978 games in Edmonton. Upon my return to the phone company
I found myself responsible for the development of a "Network Management
System" for telecommunications devices. This was a lucky break, as this
system appeared to be in demand by other telephone companies around the world.
I was then made responsible for the marketing and sales for this product,
having been transferred to a new company which was established to exploit the
potential world-wide sales of such systems. This job took me to every part of Canada and the United
States, with business trips back to England, as well as to Australia, New Zealand and the middle east.
In 1994 the company was taken over by a competitor,
resulting in considerable "downsizing". I was lucky enough to receive
a buy-out option at this time, which gave me the freedom to pursue my own
interests. I established my own company and developed software for specialised
applications. This was a lot of fun, selling to customers throughout western Canada.
I don't spend much time at work these days. During
the summer I'm often found at our local yacht club, where I enjoy one of my
hobbies--sailing. I met another Old Farnhamian there this year - Malcolm Wilson (1954? to
????) joined the yacht club and moors his new boat close to mine. He is a
director of the Alberta
Research Council, I believe. He mentioned to me that he credits his fascination
with chemistry to the teaching of Mr. Evans, the chemistry teacher.
Sunday, 04 November, 2001
Bruce Main-Smith
emails
an appreciation of the contents of these pages and reminisces about his days at
FGS:
I was a Farnborough 50 shilling a term boy (out of county
you see) circa 1942 (born 3rd May 1929) travelling to and fro on the no. 10
double decker and the various 3 services to Sycamore Rd F'boro. But the tracco
season ticket was also honoured by the SR so sometimes listened to the flanges
grinding round the junction curve and then clatter over the slip points on
Eggars Hill. Met my current wife c1943 on the top deck of the 10 when she
boarded at The Tin Hut instead of using the 15 one day from Upper Hale to
Farnham Station. All a long time ago. Before I left FGS my parents moved to
Upper South View and on to Wrecclesham.
FAM head in my day. Bogs Tomlinson in Chemi then Doc
Dik, Mu Munton in Maths, Johnny
Horner in Latin, Crute in Music, Pussy Varey in The Huts for history ink
frozen in inkwells, was Lock doing the physics, Harry Beeken for English,
Ridout for geog and he shared RI with Morgan, Good Old Bill Wickens for PT. There was another maths & latin
master, I think Horner also did French and an arts master came from West St college and
a school caretaker name forgotten.
Looking at a classmate's photo for 5th Form (I think
5A and 5B may have been amalgamated halfway thru) in School Cert year (was it
1946) I see Crail, Webberley, Ventham, Wilding, Chuter, Figg, Vick, Jimmy
Aylwyn may have been there. Self shown of course. Missing from photo are Gappo
Woods, Harry Glover, Viv Barrett, Les Archer and others names I cannot recall.
In the 6th that year were Dalrymple, Larby, Lehman, McCarthy, Mouldy Holdsworth, and a South
African Darracq who used to do cannonballs off the top board at Farnham Baths
and annoy Knocker White.
Strange times in the war, cardboard and custard for
pud and weren't you lucky to get a hot lunch in the big room at the foot of the
stairs. If you chose the 2nd sitting you might get extras! Visits to the air
raid shelters, compulsory gardening classes in the school allotments and of
course easy excusals for not having school uniform due to clothes rationing.
Friday, 19 October, 2001
Rod Paine emails from Oz: "I and my family have
lived in Perth, Western Australia, since 1974. I would also
like to inform you, that, in my very short time as a (web) member, I have made
contact with one of my old form mates (Jon Stratford, living in Sydney, Australia) and we are having an absolute ball, catching
up on old times."
Brin Snowdon left FGS in 1972 and went to
Surrey University for his degree. He now works
for Silicon Graphics Inc at Theale and lives in Newbury with his wife Caroline
and two children.
Extracted From
2001 Edition Of The Farnhamian
Vic Wyatt (1947-50)
says that he
recently met two Old Boys. Something worth recording as he lives in Norfolk, which is cut off from the remainder of England by sea
on three sides and Railtrack on the fourth. He recently travelled with the
Norwich Old Vic to the Bristol Old Vic to see Old Boy, Bill Wallis, appear in the title role
of 'King Lear', but did not get the opportunity of talking to the well-known
actor. Vic stayed overnight at his sister's and the following day met another
Old Boy, Guy Bellamy, in the lovely city of Bath. With Bill making the
top grade as an actor and Guy becoming one of our most popular novelists we
must try and get them to provide some news for the next magazine.
A little bird
tells me that one of the Old Boys beat our current Prime Minister to the punch.
In the 1980's Peter Mandelson worked at the TUC where his direct superior was David Lea (Lord Lea of Crondall).
Apparently Peter was not a good boy and David asked the then General Secretary,
Len Murray, if he could dispense with his services as he was not happy with his
'out of office activities'. This was agreed and Mr Mandelson moved on. As my
informant states ' That brings the score to Tony Blair 2 - David Lea 1.'
Towards the
end of March The Coverdale Lecture in Farnham was given by Old Boy, Martin Millett, one of this country's foremost archaeologists. This was an important
event in the town and is annually organised by the Farnham & District
Museum Society in memory of a well known and loved ex-member. Martin is
currently Professor of Archaeology at Southampton
University and late this year will
take up the same position at Cambridge
University, which is
probably the most prestigious in the land for this subject. His lecture was
called 'Comparisons between Roman towns in Britain
and Italy.'
The Church House was filled to capacity.
The oldest
Old Boy to attend the 2001 Annual Dinner, and the first man on his feet to
begin the traditional Roll Call, was H.F.Stuart, who started attending the School in 1924. During the evening I took
the opportunity to talk to him and asked him if he could give me a memory for
the magazine. He then told me a 'Moggy' story, as he called it, and recounted
the day that he was selected by the Headmaster, F.A.Morgan, to see him after school
lessons. On arriving outside the dreaded Headmaster's door he found that he was
the last of five or six pupils and he had a long wait whilst they entered the
room and were given their various punishments. Finally he stood before 'Moggy',
who asked him why he was there and our pupil replied that he did not know.
F.A.M. thought for a minute and then asked if the pupil was nicknamed 'The
Carpenter' because he was so good at woodwork and the pupil agreed. F.A.M. then
said 'Perhaps you could take my lectern away, Stuart, and fix the bottom rail
properly, because it keeps giving way and all my papers fall on the floor
during assembly.' A relieved pupil left the room complete with lectern and
managed to repair it during the next woodwork lesson. I feel sure that other
readers have their own 'Moggy' stories and would appreciate receiving these for
the next issue.
When this
magazine was planned, two pages were set aside for an article by Guy Bellamy,
which was to have been called 'The reunion' and inspired by a book that he had
read. He has had to cry off this time as he has just been contracted to write a
screenplay of the book for television and the tight schedule allows little time
for a 'Farnhamian' article. He has promised me that he will definitely write a
piece next year, which will be most welcome. Whilst talking to Guy, he assures
me that his health is much improved and he is back to work again.
On 8th July 2000 there was a most successful
reunion at the Farnham College of members of the 1970 intake, which was one
of the last for the Boys and Girls
Grammar schools. Much
work was done by Patrick Blower and Jackie May and
between them they traced most of their classmates from the two Grammar Schools.
In fact out of the 69 girls they traced 67 and out of the 66 boys they traced
63. Adrienne
Taylor produced
a comprehensive booklet, with photos and profiles on each person and the event
was very professionally organised. On the day most of the number attended the
buffet/drinks at the College and enjoyed meeting after so many years. Our own
Secretary John Crotty was in attendance looking
for new members for the Association. He is correct when he says that we must
sign up as many of the younger ex-pupils of the Boys Grammar School
as possible if we are to exist well into the new millennium.
Just after
the Millennium Dinner we heard from John
Lloyd, who lives in Bargara, Queensland in Australia,
with his apologies for not being able to attend the event. With his wife he
visited the Frensham/Farnham area in June and July and perhaps some Old Boys
may have met him locally. Apart from still enjoying life in the New World he
felt that the following poem that appeared as an epitaph to a recently deceased
local dignitary may offer some comfort to lovers of the 'amber nectar'. Being
in excess on three score years and ten and describing himself as an ardent
lover of the 'elixir of youth', John hopes we can find space for the poem.
|
|
Beer
|
|
The Horse and the mule live thirty years
|
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And never hear of wine or beers.
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The sheep and goat at twenty die,
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Without a taste of Scotch or Rye.
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The cow drinks water by the ton,
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And at eighteen is mostly done.
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The dog at fifteen cashes in
|
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Without the aid of Rum or Gin.
|
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The cat in milk and water soaks,
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And then in twelve short years she croaks.
|
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The modest, sober, bone dry hen,
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Lays eggs for nogs then dies at ten.
|
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All animals are strictly dry,
|
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They sinless live and swiftly die.
|
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But sinful,Ginful, Scotch-soaked men,
|
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Survive for three score and ten.
|
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And if your fancy runs to beer,
|
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You can make it to your ninetieth year.
|
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Which proves it cannot hurt you none,
|
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To have yourself a lot of fun.
|
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Cheers !
|
Talking to Allan
Ryall (1924-30) at the Southampton Lunch, he recalls
the morning prayers in the School Hall very vividly. H.C.Kingcome
treadling
away on the harmonium and leading nearly 250 voices in one of Hymns A & M.
Those who were 'railway buffs' and tall enough to see out of the Hall windows
always looked out for the 9.24 to Waterloo, usually hauled by a named
locomotive. Steam had a great fascination for many of all ages.
During the
afternoon of the Annual Dinner the Editor held a get-together at home for
several ex-pupils who had started at the School in 1948 and stayed until
1953/54 or 1955. This had been arranged for some months in advance and the Old
Boys travelled from far and wide. Attending
were the following with their starting points; Ian Bolt (Faversham), John Cockle (Yeovil),
Harry Slingo (Church Crookham), Maurice Jeffreys (Chagford in Devon), Brian Manning (Farnborough), Bryan Bone (Liphook), Neville
Timmins (Fleet), Vic Bennett (Fareham), John Travers, John Falkner, Cyril Trust, Brian Webberley (All from Farnham) and the
following who joined the party, Alan
Common
(Canterbury)
and Tony Harland (Farnham). It was quite an
occasion, with some members meeting old classmates for the first time in 48
years.
Peter Larby, ex-pupil and ex-teacher,
has been chasing up some of his old team mates who appeared in a photo of the
1943 First XI Football Team and received letters from George
Ricketts and Geoff Brehaut. George retired way back in 1989 after a career in the aerospace
industry. He celebrated his golden wedding last year, doubtless in the company
of his two children and six grandchildren. Geoff is still in harness on the island of Guernsey.
Our Secretary
advises that it can be surprising who you meet in the bookmakers. Queuing to
place his bet on the Grand National he noticed that ex-pupil David Lea (Lord Lea of Crondall) was
also there hoping to win a few pounds. Not much opportunity for a long chat but
we now know that our local Lord still keeps in contact with several of his old
school friends. There is obviously life after 75. Hugh Johns keeps busy as Press Officer
for the Masonic Lodges in Wales,
whilst Geoff Hewes still manages a regular game
of squash. A recent recruit Andy Frish(1966-73) writes from Australia.
He is wondering about the whereabouts of Cliff Reed, Jeremy Evans, Paul Fennel and Cliff Mallows. Perhaps somebody can help ?
On the 1st October the 100th Anniversary Performance of Elgar's 'The
Dream of Gerontius' was performed at the Royal Albert Hall on behalf of the
charity 'Help The Aged'. Apart from the London Philharmonic Orchestra and guest
singers there was the 300 strong New Century Chorus conducted by Old Boy John
Cotterill. This large, recently
formed 'double choir' brought together singers from a number of choirs with
whom John has been associated over the years. They included representatives
from The Great Missenden Choral Society, Maidenhead Chamber Choir, Oxford Pro
Musica Singers, Woking Choral Society and the Waverley Singers from Farnham.
The evening was sponsored by the Cookson Group plc and some £30,000 was raised
for the charity. John Cotterill was the conductor and musical director for the concert.
Some time ago
I wrote to Brian Wyatt in Canada asking
him if he could send me a few lines giving an idea of his life since leaving
school, but there was no reply. He has since been asked by 'Big Brother' Vic
Wyatt to reply and we now have the story in full of
the past forty plus years since leaving the School. Brian writes as follows; '
On leaving the Sixth Form I was promptly press-ganged into National Service,
where I rose to the dizzy rank of private (actually called signalman) in the
Royal Corps of Signals. The good news was that I received a posting to SHAPE
which was situated near Versailles, just outside
Paris. This
enabled me to improve my French and to visit many different areas in France and Spain. After demob I started work
for a large Insurance Company in London,
where I shared a variety of 'seedy' flats with an equally 'seedy' collection of
flat-mates., notably Alan Common, Ian Bolt, Mike Prentice and brother Vic. During the soccer season we would travel down to Farnham to play for
the Old Boys' teams. However, since most of our training was in 'The Coach and
Horses' prior to the matches, we never
fared too well ! ( with apologies to John Crotty !). After a few years, our
numbers were whittled away by matrimony and I headed off to Teachers' Training College
in Brighton where I spent three most enjoyable
years obtaining my teaching certificate. I taught for a year in Birmingham before returning as a married man to Brighton
where I completed a BA at Sussex
University. From there my
wife and I headed for Winnipeg, Manitoba, where we both taught for several years before
moving to the milder climate of Vancouver in
beautiful British Columbia.
Taking advantage of the long summer school breaks we travelled extensively
throughout Canada and the Western States,
as well as Mexico and Hawaii. Time seemed to
take its toll of our marriage and we went our separate ways. However, I was
fortunate to meet another wonderful lady and we are still going strong after
twenty years, partly due to the many shared interests as well as diverging
ones. After quitting teaching I tried a variety of occupations eg. Taxi-driver,
commercial fisherman in the Georgia
Strait and house painter.
I finally zeroed in on tutoring and am really enjoying the one-to-one teaching
experience in both Maths and French. I continued to play soccer into my
mid-thirties and then switched to tennis. I still keep in shape by swimming at
least once a week, and enjoy hiking with my dog in the local parks and forests.
I also continue a love-hate relationship with golf (more hate at the time of
writing) and I still do a bit of downhill ski-ing in the winter months. I keep
in contact with Ian(Bolt) and Alan(Common) over the years and hope to re-visit
them in the UK during 2001. I have lost contact
with Mike Prentice, but believe he is still
working as a journalist in Ottawa.
Hopefully when we visit I will be able to meet other Old Boys.'
Attending a wedding reception at Chiddingfold
just prior to Christmas 2000 I found myself sitting on the same table as
another Old Boy, namely Jeremy Regan (1954-60), who told me that during his time at the Grammar School he
was something of a rebel. He left the School, with little or no examination
results behind him, and became an estate agent locally and he is now retired.
He is clearly a great golf fan and plays regularly at Farnham Golf Club. He
also keeps in contact with old school friends such as; Tony Chuter, Bill Roffey & Mick Tucker (all 1953-59) and Ray Mingay
(1951-57).
Jeremy actually handed over his subscription to the Association at the
reception and is now a new member. He has also donated his old school cap,
which is in good condition, to the memorabilia of the Grammar School that we
are now displaying at the College. He promises to become more involved with the
Association in the future, so he is not so much of a rebel as everyone thought,
and will see if he can recruit old classmates. At the same wedding I also met Keith
Paget (1942-48) who we featured in the previous magazine
with his brothers Norman and Brian. Keith has promised to send us some of his
own memorabilia.
Having attended
the opening ceremony of the 'Home of Memorabilia' we received the following
letter from Tony Rayer. 'Just a note to convey my
appreciation for the 'Home of Memorabilia' - very enjoyable occasion and the
perfect location, as that part evokes so many memories. On occasion I used to
help out George Boyes (OR Baron de Bois as he
signed autographs!) marking out the pitch or weeding the steps of the cricket
pavilion (saddened to see that had gone) with a large undiluted can of Jeyes
Fluid. No expense spared. The photo of the entrance hall recalled the occasion
when I slipped into the vestibule prior to a School match to collect my kit
from the locker. George, with bucket and brush, was on his hands and knees
scrubbing the tiles. Surprised by my unexpected intrusion he looked up,
grinned, and said ' Step on the black 'uns, will you.' (One sees the army of staff at the College
now and realises that in the 40's and 50's George Boyes was responsible for cutting the grass,
marking out the fields, cleaning the premises and general maintenance all on
his own. He must have been value for money !).
In March of
this year the Editor, Cyril
Trust (1948-53),
gave a lecture to the Farnham & District Museum Society entitled 'The
Effect of Farnham Grammar school on the business life of Farnham'. From
research it is clear that over the years many businesses in the town have been
owned by Old Boys or their families, and although the lecture only covered
about forty it is thought that over one hundred could have been included. The
talk included several slides of premises old and new as well as Old Boys, and
some anecdotes that have surfaced whilst editing the magazine. A few weeks
prior to this talk Maurice Hewins gave one on the 'History of Badshot Lea', where he lives and is
something of an expert on the village.
YET ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL REUNION
After one or
two very successful reunions there appears to be the need by several Old Boys
to repeat such an event for their years, in fact the Editor has already tracked
down several old classmates from the 1948 intake. I must say that to meet old
colleagues after many years is a joy and it is good to hear of the 'life after
Grammar School' stories that are told.
Only recently
the reunion for the 1976 class has been held and here we have former pupils who
entered the Grammar School, experienced the changes, and left the College. One
of the driving forces behind the event was a new General Committee Member, Mike
Mehta, who tells his story.
After
eighteen months of preparation a reunion of around one hundred pupils from the
'O' level class of 1976. together with past staff, was held at Farnham College assembly hall on the 11th
November 2000. Past pupils comprised both girls and boys from the former
Farnham Girls' and Boys' Grammar schools. Readers will know of course that the
merging of the schools in 1973 effectively signalled the end of separate-sex
grammar school education in Farnham. Inevitably from the merger, the individualities
of the two schools became diluted. However, both schools share inherited
traditions and memories and it was felt that a reunion to explore and revisit
some of these was long overdue.
The
initial inspiration for the reunion had come from Jane Tiffin (nee Ashby) and
various old girls from FGGS had agreed to assist. I was duly co-opted as an Old
Boy and to redress any gender imbalance on the committee ! Networking was
successful in tracking most of the ex-pupils, while a private detective was
employed to find those who had disappeared seemingly without trace. Once the
initial invitation had gone out, the whole event developed an unstoppable
momentum. The class photo from 1976 published in the' Farnham Herald' rekindled
memories and helped considerably as parents of former pupils still living in
the area forwarded a copy of the article to their sons and daughters. In this
way the net was spread far and wide and letters and e-mails poured in
expressing great interest in the proposed event,
For most
it was to be the first time they had been back to the school in over twenty
years. While many attending the reunion still live locally, some had travelled
from as far away as The States, Australia
and Holland. The
committee was particularly pleased with the good response from past teachers
and rewarded with the presence of John Commerford (Physics), Jenny Commerford (Languages), Roger Grogut (PE), Rev. John Innes (RI), Howard
Norton (History), Rev.David Page (History), Howard Thompson (Music), Linda Fox and Betty Morris (Biology), Mick Gorman (PE) and Steve Custance (Art). Some Old Boys were aware that Roger
Grogut
still teaches at the College.
A good
selection of drinks and an impressive cold buffet was available and the
photographer for the event had a busy afternoon. An air of nostalgia surrounded
all those present and a 'memorabilia corner' helped by showing old photographs,
programmes etc. It was noted by the ex-pupils, when thinking of the past, that
several of the ex-members of staff were wearing the same clothing as they were
when last seen in 1976.
On
leaving, everyone received a millennium reunion year book compiled of potted
histories sent in by ex-pupils together with their best and worst memories of
life at the schools. The feedback from those present was tremendous and we will
be repeating the event for certain.
Deaths
Eddie Marsh (1922-26)
spent most of his whole adult life in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe but was never out of
touch with the Association. A life member, his accounts of his life out there
and his career with the railway services are to be found in many of the
'Farnhamian' magazines over the years. During much of his thirty years
retirement he was a Justice of the Peace. Tragically his cause of death was, as
his son wrote, 'murdered in his bed by a robber.'
Many
members will recall the rather up-market men's outfitters in the Borough called
'Hamilton Jones'. This was the family business
of John
Hamilton Jones (1932-41) who was always a fine advert, being
smartly dressed on all occasions. 'Ham' was secretary of the Association
immediately after the war and during the hostilities he served in the navy.
During that time he was moved to write in the 'Farnhamian' with the news that
whilst serving on the HMS Edinburgh he was intrigued to discover that the
scroll under the ship's crest contained the School motto. After the closure of
the shop 'Ham moved to Exeter.
In retirement he was secretary of the local British Legion.
Ian Sherfield (1935-41) was one of a family of builders whose yard
and offices were situated in Castle
Street on the north side. We lost touch with him for
some years when he moved from that address, but restored him to the membership
list two years ago. His cousin remains a life member of the Association.
A life member, Joc Fisher (1938-44), was a Guildford boy. His son wrote that his father valued his contacts
with the School and the Association; ' As I write (in his study) there is in
front of me on the wall a photograph of the 1943-44 Farnham Grammar School
First XI football team.' We have no details of his career.
Extracted From
2000 Edition Of The Farnhamian
News Of Old Boys From The 50's
We have heard from Harry Slingo (1948-53) who tells us that on leaving school he began
a career in electronics. He started working for Sound Sales (Hi-Fi Equipment)
in Farnham and over the years has been with Racal at Blackbushe and DERA at
Pyestock before moving to Versus Technology who are based near Reading. Harry married in 1958 and has two
children and four grandchildren and now lives at Church Crookham nr. Farnham.
He says that he has two more years to work and is looking forward to
retirement. Another Old Boy from the Fleet area is John (Minnie) Marshall (1948-53) who has lived locally all of his life. On
leaving school he trained as a surveyor and for many years worked for Gilbert
Ash, apart for his two years National service. He then decided on a career
change and moved into retail and has managed several shops including,
decorators merchants, glaziers and DIY decorators. John married in 1963 and has
two children and like many of us is semi retired. Also like many of us he has
suffered a heart attack in recent years and decided to work part time until he
is 65. For the past two or three years he has worked for the local council as a
car park attendant, which keeps him active and involved with the local people.
Yet another Old Boy who has remained living locally is Brian (Ferdy) Manning (1948 -53) who resides in Farnborough with his ex-
F.G.G.S. wife Ann. On leaving the school he began his apprenticeship with
Vickers of Weybridge, which became British Aerospace. From here he did his
National Service in the Royal Hampshire Regiment and served much of his two
years in Malaya. Returning home he continued
in contract engineering for most of his working life and was employed by some
of our major companies e.g. Plessey, Ferranti and B.P.Chemicals. He finished
his career at C.F.Taylor of Wokingham and is now semi-retired with 65 only two
years away. He has three daughters and several grand-daughters and still keeps
in contact with some old classmates in the Farnborough and Fleet area. He
advises that one of his old pals Peter Sindle (1948-53)
who was a first class goalkeeper for Childe, the School and the Old Boys has
been in Australia
for many years. We have received a
cutting from the house magazine of Zurich Financial services announcing the
retirement from the pensions team of Bob Luckhurst (1952-1958). The
article says that Bob will be greatly missed and that he was responsible for
developing and running the highly successful pre-retirement courses It says
that Bob will remain in touch as a consultant and he is wished every happiness
in his retirement. A regular feature in the local newspapers is David Pook (1955-61) who is a prominent member of the Farnham
Lions. David has been the President in recent years, but he has played a major
part in the increasing popularity of the 'Lions Beerex' festival, held annually
at the Farnham Maltings. It is understood that this 'festival of local ales' is
the second most popular in England
and each April it attracts many thousands of serious beer drinkers throughout
the country. David is part of the team organising this event, which raises a
great deal of money for charity.
News Of The Old Boys From The 60's And
70's
Another new member to the growing Association
is Michael Overbury
(1965-1972)
who contacted us from his home in Newark
in Nottinghamshire. He is obviously a talented musician with the following
letters after his name; MA MusB FRCO (CHM) ARCM ATCL, and is currently teaching
the Organ, Harpsichord and Piano as well as Music Theory. He is organist for Christ Church
in Newark and
Director of Music for Nottingham Boys Choir as well as a Founder Member of
Mvsica Donvm Dei. He would like to attend the Millennium Dinner, but the dates
clash with his conducting of the Nottingham Boys Choir and he will be unable to
travel to Farnham. He would like to hear from old class mates and if anyone
requires Michael's address please contact the editor of the magazine. A recent
letter from Geoff
Harnett, who left the school in 1970,
advises that he has just retired at the age of 45 years (lucky man!). Since
retiring he has been keeping busy with charity work and is on the National
Appeal Committee for the Cancer Research Campaign and last year was Vice
Chairman of the Lord Mayors Appeal during the year of office of Sir Richard
Nicholls. Geoff is also involved in other similar work and breaks this up with
frequent trips to his house in Mallorca as
well as other holidays throughout the world. Geoff has always been most generous
towards the Association and once again this year he has sponsored one of the
adverts that help to pay for 'The Farnhamian' magazine. Gerald Meaden, who is a newcomer to the Association, began his own
carpeting business in Brighton in 1984 after
gaining experience at Heals and Peter Jones. We have been able to
put him in touch with Ian
Sargeant, but not with 'Jonah' Jones. Can anyone help? He
gives us sad news of his brother Peter Meaden, who achieved fame in the pop world as a press agent
for The Rolling Stones, Georgie Fame, Chuck Berry and finally The Who. Peter
became manager of this 'super group' until 1965 and then took over a well known
soul band called Jimmy James and the Vagabonds. He left this group in 1969 and
his last success was with the Steve Gibbons Band. Peter died in 1978.
Extracted From
1999 Edition Of The Farnhamian
The article on the life of Ray Kirk in
the last edition resulted in a letter from Barbara Wills, the widow of
John Wills the Art Master at the school, saying that during the early days when
they came to Farnham they lived in a flat at the top of the Kirk household, or
'Kirk's Castle' as she calls it. Ray was away in the army, but his brother Ken
was very kind and helpful to the Wills family. When they eventually moved into
a cottage at Heath End, the first property that they owned, Ken would bring out
the groceries to them from the Ridgeway Stores. She also remembers that Mrs Munton, wife of the well known
mathematics master, would often use her wartime allowance of petrol to ferry
her and daughter Gill up the long climb of Firgrove Hill to the crossroads at
the Ridegway. Barbara Wills lives in Rochdale
now and it is good that she retains this link with the old school. In the last
edition information was given about Brian Fitzpatrick, who has retired and lives in Alton. It was hoped that he would come to the
annual dinner, but nothing has been seen or heard of him since the chance
meeting in Farnham. That is until early in October 1998 when the editor was
watching 'Fifteen to One' on Channel Four. Who should be competing in this
popular quiz ? None other than Brian
Fitzpatrick. Unfortunately he did not
survive to the later rounds and went out of the show for failing to answer a
question on literature. One wonders how many more Old Boys have been seen on
the screen ! After many years in the building industry our long serving
Secretary John
Crotty has retired and is now able to devote more time to his many interests.
I find it amazing that this O.A.P. is still able to spend several hours each
week playing tennis locally and he is looking remarkably fit. In the initial
period of retirement he has visited America
and Canada, where he met up
with Old Boy Tony
Garrood, and followed this with a trip to the island of Crete.
I am sure that all of the membership wishes John a happy and well deserved
retirement ! In more than one old magazine the opinion has been given that Brian Webberley (1948-54) was one school soccer player who could have
graced the professional ranks. Recently seen recuperating after an operation,
he advises that after a lifetime in the aircraft industry he is enjoying
retirement and is spending his time restoring antique furniture. At the recent
Southampton Luncheon it came to light that David Horry was the oldest guest at the ripe age of 84 years. It
was also announced that he had attended every one of the Southampton
lunches since the first one 37 years ago. Quite a record! During October more
than 300 people attended a concert in London
to commemorate the musical career of Alan Fluck. The
concert was introduced by Richard Baker and the performers included Johnny
Dankworth, Cleo Laine and Evelyn Glennie. George Baxter, Ian Sargeant, Peter Wisbey and Duncan McGregor were amongst those who attended the concert. A
specially recorded message from Jeffrey Tate, one
of Alan's most distinguished former pupils, was played during a reception after the concert. It
was revealed that the late music master from the School had left a substantial
bequest to the Musicians Benevolent Fund for the benefit of British composers
of any age for the composition of operettas, musicals, community theatre pieces
or works for choir and/or orchestra, for young people to play, sing or listen
to. As reported in our last magazine Alan was artistic director of Youth and
Music for 25 years, died in Guildford aged 69,
on Christmas Eve 1997. One of the main supporters of the Farnham Museum Society
is Tony Merson, who is the treasurer for this
popular local group. Tony informs us that the original printing plate from
E.W.Langham (Printers), that was used on the front cover of all magazines from
1912 until the 1948 was given to him some years ago. The design was by
D.C.Warner and eventually the plate wore out and was replaced by a much simpler
version. If we ever have a proper museum of our own I am sure Tony would let us
have this important piece of history for display. Your secretary has received
volume III of David Rogers family
biography, The Jesse Rogers Mob. Sub-titled 'The Exodus' its 400 pages covers
in enormous and quite pains-taking detail his life from 1944 to 1965, during
which time his passion for development and design involved him in planes,
boats, photography, domestic radiators and, above all, people, both in England
and eventually Australia. It is currently on loan to the technical department
of Farnham College (who may pass it on to the music
class because of his many references to his jazz band days). David has
contacted Ian Perkins, who lives just up the road in Queensland. Another
Queenslander, John Lloyd, was moved
by the reproduction of the 1912 Farnhamian cover to wonder if someone could pen
an article sometime on the claimed foundation of the school in 1351. Sadly Ned
Godsil is not here to help and the history (have you a copy John ?) runs out of
steam after 400 years, but somebody might be inspired to take up the cause. Richard Lawrence is thriving in Florida. A licensed Real
Estate Broker with his own company, he specialises in the sale of residential
and commercial property and real estate based investments. He is currently
living just outside Orlando
with his wife and daughter. One-time secretary of the OFA, Ian Patrick, has returned
to the association after an absence of many years. After war service in the
Western Desert, Ceylon, India
and with the Chindits in Burma,
he returned to Farnham and The Herald for four years. He moved to Yorkshire where he remained in journalism until his
retirement in 1981, his last post being a sub-editor on the Telegraph and
Argus. Much of his free time has been spent supporting the Methodist Church
at all levels. Contemporary rivals might like to learn that he thinks that his
arthritis may be the prices of his athletic prowess at school, although he also
suspects his wartime activities may also contribute to his lack of mobility.
Another retired member is Colin Batterbury. He spent 25 years in the building business as a
Civil Engineer working for local authorities and consultants, which included a
spell overseas. He recalls the school choir and singing solos. Michael Hall writes from France. He is looking for a copy of
the school photo taken between 1952 and 1957 at the top of the playing field
just in front of the steps. Perhaps somebody can help. He remained in Farnham
for ten years after leaving school and then crossed the Channel, married a
local lass and is currently a financial translator with Deutsche Morgan
Grenfell in Paris
after having worked with several major companies such as Paribas, John Deere
and BP. Another ex-secretary, John Hamilton-Jones, tells us that he remarried in May last year in Jersey, his wife Joyce being from those parts. We send
him our best wishes for the future. Top
marks to Roger
Thompson
for giving his chum Tony Backhurst the ultimate birthday present, i.e. membership of the
association plus the tie! Roger is in the antiques business with showrooms in Winchester and London.
He makes frequent trips to Africa and Europe.
Tony runs his own scuba diving business and regularly takes parties to the Red
Sea, Thailand and Africa. John Wonham writes
to correct an error in the 1998 magazine. Far from being retired he holds the
Chair of International Transport at the University of Wales,
a position he took up in 1995. Richard
Phillips sounds busy. He is currently managing director of
Operations of Automotive Research and Consulting Group and last September he
became non-executive chairman of Textile Bonding Ltd. Sportsmen in the
Guildford area should note that Michael Wilson, formerly of
the legal departments of BAT and, for the past 15 years, Esso Petroleum, has
retired and intends to build up his tennis and golf and take up bowls. A photo
in The Herald resulted in your secretary contacting Tom Alexander. Tom left the
school as long ago as 1935 and took up teaching after leaving the services at
the end of the war. He started at Badshot Lea, where he became a great friend
of Don Sturt, and finished his career as the Head of St. Patrick's Primary
School in Farnborough. Mark Westcott's architectural
practice continues to go from 'peak to trough' as he puts it, an exciting
commission being landscape work for Powergen's H.Q., a project which is in its
eighth year. He claims that his rates for advice are 'very reasonable' as far
as Old Boys are concerned ! John Falkner has
finally decided to take early retirement after many years as a policeman and
latterly on the security staff of the University
of Surrey at Guildford.
He says that he is considering a move to the Isle of Wight,
where his daughter lives, although he is a Farnham boy at heart ! Dennis Lampard says that his only claim to fame is that he was born
on August 11th 1929. So what is special about that ? It works out that he is
seventy on the day of the eclipse this summer and he is having problems
arranging a suitable celebration. Owing to the popularity of this event, the
cost of accommodation in Devon and Cornwall has been
inflated and Dennis feels that there must be somewhere else that he can
celebrate his birthday and see the eclipse for himself. At the time of going to
press the best value for money was a coach trip to Paris
for two nights, taking in the eclipse and a little Paris nightlife for £79. If there are spare
seats on that coach maybe other Old Boys would like to join the party! Geoff Hooker, who is now semi-retired,
reports that he is now enjoying being a part of the Rushmoor Odd Fellows Male
Voice Choir. This well-known local choir give their services to several local
charities and Geoff finds that our most recent President Brian Daniels is also a
member. He still works in the aircraft industry and is responsible for the
sales of aviation products to Brazil.
In addition he is helping British Airways to re-fit their Concorde fleet so
that the life of these planes can be extended. As we go to press it is good to
hear that Mike Foster, the former English master at
both the Grammar School and the College, is comparatively fit and well for a
man in his mid 70's. Mike suffered a stroke some months ago and this has
affected one leg, making walking difficult. However, typical of the man, he can
still be seen making short walks to the local shops and he still retains his
humour. He says that his son David Foster, who also attended the School, is now living and
working in Holland.
Maurice Jeffreys advises that he is enjoying his semi-retirement. He
now lives on the edge of Dartmoor and comes to London, and Lloyds in particular, only two
days a week. With more spare time available he has taken up rifle shooting,
which was a sport that he excelled at during his days at the School. He has
also begun to play both golf and bowls and clearly intends to keep himself fit
in retirement. He still does some consultancy work in the field of insurance
and recently attended a meeting with a solicitor who had flown over to the West
Country from the Channel Isles. During the meeting Maurice found that the man
from Guernsey was G.A. Brehaut who attended
the school in the early 40's. Hopefully we will have another new Old Boy to add
to the list in the near future. Cyril Trust was asked some time ago to write an
article in a magazine going to the construction industry, and apparently it
proved popular. As a result he was asked by the magazine to write a regular
column and he has recently completed his tenth article under the 'Trust Cyril'
heading. The success is probably the result of the practice in editing the
'Farnhamian' every year. B.J. Oelman is still living in Farnham and working for the
Department of Transport, although no longer on the project of vehicle taxation.
He says that after his time spent in the Gambia his current role is not too
exciting. Bryan
Bone recently visited his brother in South Africa and whilst there he
met John Brown who was at the
school from 1944 until 1949. Bryan has photos of
John and his family as well as a write up on his career since leaving Farnham Grammar School. It is planned that this
will form an article in the next edition of the magazine. Tony Merson advises that the
recent talk to the Farnham Museum Society by the editor about the 'Farnhamian'
magazine has resulted in several requests for similar talks about old local
schools. It has been arranged that in October someone from the Farnham Girls
Grammar School Old Girls Association will be giving a talk about life at the
old school in Menin Way.
Bob Luckhurst retired last
September after thirty years with Zurich Financial Services. The pre-retirement
courses that he developed and ran with such success for the company should
stand him in good stead. The 2000 magazine will include a very interesting
profile by retired member of staff Douglas Leuchers. It is good to
hear that he is gradually recovering from a serious illness.
Extracted From
1998 Edition Of The Farnhamian
Since the 1994 magazine we have been
regularly in contact with Barbara
Wills, the widow of the much respected
Art Master, John
Wills, who now lives in Lancashire. She
advises that the photograph of her husband in the 1997 magazine meeting the
Duchess of Gloucester at the opening ceremony of the new hall extension was the
third time that he had been presented to her. The first occasion was when he
graduated from the Royal College and the second time when the Duchess opened
the new building of the Crypt School in Gloucester,
where John Wills taught before coming to Farnham Grammar School.
Barbara says that her husband liked the lady and always referred to her as 'my
Duchess'. Late congratulations to Lionel Wright (1925-27)
and his wife Peggy who celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary in 1997.
Recently seen in Farnham was Brian Fitzpatrick, who attended the School in the early 50's and made
his career in the Royal Air Force. He retired from the forces only three years
ago, having reached the rank of Warrant Officer and ended his time stationed at
RAF Odiham. He now lives at Alton
and is semi retired, but keeps himself involved with a part time job with the
Civil Service. Those who knew him will remember his prowess as an athlete in
the school team and his success both at local and county level. Brian says that
his older brother Terry
Fitzpatrick completed his National Service after leaving the
School and then joined the police force. He moved to what was then Rhodesia and
found that he had to complete a spell in their National Service programme before joining the local police. Apparently
he had several narrow escapes over his career in the force, including surviving
being blown up in a truck during the problems in that country some years ago.
Terry retired from the police and decided to become a lawyer and is working
successfully in what is now Zimbabwe.
Probably inspired by meeting old friends at the Old Boys Annual Dinners, John Cockle (1948-53) decided to round up old school friends from St. Peters in Wrecclesham
and over a dozen of his old classmates joined him at the school he attended
prior to coming to the Grammar School. The photograph in the local paper of the
group included another Old Boy, Geoff Hooker, who was attending the evening with his wife
Margaret, who had attended the local school.
Leonard
Evans (ex Chemistry Teacher) passes on further news of Jon Wonham, who left the School in 1955. Jon
has now retired from his post as Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cardiff and can now spend time on the
various consultancy work that we referred to in the 1997 magazine. Also from George Baxter we hear that Gerald Toogood has also retired as Professor of Chemistry at Waterloo
University of Ontario. Gerald has been made a 'meritus' professor, which means
that he retains his title even though he has retired. He will not be idle in
retirement and will also undertake consultancy work. Cyril Trust (1948 - 1953) has also joined the ranks of the retired
Old Boys and after many years in sales and marketing he can now spend more time
on the 'Farnhamian' magazine. In addition to this he is a very active Governor
of The Ridgeway School in Farnham, which caters for severely handicapped
children. In the report on the
Southampton Lunch I referred to the welcome attendance by Peter Morice (1937-1944) after some years and he has now followed
this up with a letter offering his personal tribute to Eric Munton (one of our 1998 Old Master Profiles). " My main
contact with 'Mu' Munton was when I was in the science sixth from 1942 to 1944.
Maths was always a subject that fascinated me and Munton's teaching encouraged
me to make it my special forte. We were, of course, a very small group, perhaps
six in all, so we had virtually personal tuition from a man who was totally
committed to his subject and the teaching of it. I recall that he had a few
mannerisms, the principle one being to use that 'George III sort of expletive
'What, What, What' spoken quickly like a machine gun. I was very inquisitive
about science, and particularly cosmology, and used to read the articles in the
Encyclopedia Britannica which was shelved at the back of his form room, as well
as books by Sir James Jeans and Eddington. He started by admonishing me for
spending my time on things which were too advanced but when he saw how
fascinated I was he relaxed his view and used to discuss some of the concepts
with me. I do remember that in my final report, whilst he hoped and expected I
would do well, he said ' I advise more non-scientific reading', a view with
which the Headmaster concurred. It was certainly true that at that time I was
poorly read in English literature. My parents having moved away from Farnham, I
saw little of Eric Munton during the next few years and only renewed my
friendship with him through the Southampton
dinners which he came to on a number of occasions. I found that we shared an
interest in good wine and I used to select something quite nice, usually a
claret, for us to enjoy with our dinner. I think there is little doubt that Eric Munton was one of four men who have had a seminal influence on my career."
I am sure that many Old Boys would share the sentiment in the final lines and
point to one of their teachers as having a major influence on their life and
career. Recently seen in Farnham was John Falkner (1948-53) who was in the police force for 28 years,
mainly working locally. After he took early retirement he worked as a security
officer in industry for a short time and is now working in this capacity at the
University of Surrey
at Guildford. John operates from the office at
the main gate of the university and anyone visiting should keep a look out for
him. John says that he has remained in contact with Mick Barham (1948-53) as he married a member of the Falkner family
many years ago. Mick and his wife emigrated to Australia over thirty years ago and
there he started a supermarket and had a very successful time. He has just
decided to retire and is due to come to England in the near future. No
doubt we will see him in Farnham and obtain a little more news from him. The
local newspapers included an article in December about a former Old Boy David Lea, who was at
the School from the late 40's until the mid 50's, and his appointment to a top
level Government body aimed at persuading people to buy cleaner cars. Dr. Gavin Strang, the Transport Minister,
announced the formation of the group, which will be chaired by Ian McAllister,
of The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The Cleaner Vehicles Task
Force, as it is called, has been set up "to put environmental factors on
the shopping list when choosing new cars" according to the Minister. David Lea
went to Cambridge
University after leaving
the Grammar School and has worked for many years at the TUC. He has been a
leading figure in the Farnham Roads Action group and encouraged the creation of
the Blackwater Valley Road,
and is now working on the Hickley's Corner project on the Farnham by-pass. As well as submitting an interesting article
for this edition Chris
Slyfield (1955-1962) has advised that as well as being a
Godalming Town Councillor he is a Waverley Borough Councillor for Godalming. He
is also Finance Director of a family owned forklift company at Brentford,
Middlesex. Although a very busy man he still finds time to maintain his
interest in Classic Cars and attends rallies and shows with his TVR tourer V6,
that he built in 1970 and has recently restored. His son is also interested in
the world of Classic Cars and takes his father to the shows in his father's BMW
- a sign of the times! Chris feels that second childhood is approaching as he has
had his 3 litre Capri restored recently (it
was rotting in the garage). Chris says that he was always a boy racer - but it
used to be Essex Girls that he chased in the old days.!! We have heard from John Lloyd (1937-1944) in Australia
saying how much he enjoyed the article on him in the 1997 magazine. He was
particularly interested in the profile on John Cadier and remembers
John's euphoria on the 6th June 1944 when the D-Day landings were announced.
Apparently John's party piece was to stick needles in his arm without batting
an eyelid.However, he was more than useful when helping others with their
French translation homework. Another friend at the time was a Belgian boy
called Thiery, who caused French master Sidney 'Johnny' Horner a great deal of trouble trying to understand his
version of the French language. One of John's greatest friends was Harry Leedham who left the school at the same time and took up an
apprenticeship in the aeronautical gas turbine division of Rolls Royce in
Derby.Harry married a Derby girl and went to Canada to work for Canadaire and
John often wonders what happened to him. John is now 70 years of age and talks
of marvellous weather, bright sunshine and daytime temperatures of twenty four
degrees in Queensland.The sea is calm and ideal for fishing or boating and in
June the sugar cane harvest will begin and there will be the usual evening
spectacle of the cane trash being burnt off prior to cutting the following
morning. From his local port Messrs Tate & Lyle export some three hundred
and fifty thousand tonnes of sugar per annum and he suspects that some of it
may end up in your cup of tea or coffee in the U.K. John's letter is that of a
very happy and contented man enjoying the life in his adopted country. You will
see in this issue the obituary of Alan Fluck (1951-1971)
and maybe wonder why his profile has not appeared before. In fact we did write
to him sometime ago asking for his potted life story and his permission to
print it in the magazine and his reply was typically 'Peter Pannish'. He said
that his workload was such that he did not have time to write down his memories
of the School, but he hoped that he would find the time to do it 'when he grew
up'. Complements on the 1997 magazine have been received from David Rogers (left 1936) in Australia. He
says that last year he heard from a Squadron Leader in the RAF asking for
contributions for a new book called 'The Lancaster Story' and duly forwarded a
few pages from Volume Two of his own life story. The book has now been issued and
contains much of the information from David. He liked the report on Ian Perkins and may catch up
with him one day, when he has finally completed the volumes on his life
story. Our latest life member is Peter Garry, who left in
1967. He is hoping to contact his contemporaries via the association and in
particular wonders what became of Nick Childs and Philip Dunlop, who, he
recalls, wanted to be an architect and a policeman respectively. News from
anywhere would be appreciated. Derek Ivison has moved house recently and has a dental practice in
Haslemere. He supports a wife and three children. Another member on the move is
John Munday, who by now is
living in Ireland,
as is Chris Gibbons, who sent us
his collection of school magazines. Alan Lovell retired in September 1996 after 43 years in local
government, finishing his stint as Divisional Traffic Engineer for the
Guildford and Waverley
areas. He has been a J.P. since 1979 and suggests that he may be the only Old
Boy serving in that capacity. Perhaps we shall hear from one or two of our
faster motorists. Alan follows in the footsteps of his father and grandfather
in being a member of Binsted Parish Council, of which he has been the chairman
since 1979. Currently he is vice-chairman of the Hampshire County
branch of parish and town councils. We have heard from Royston Snart, who, if his
hacienda in Spain
is as long as his address, is most comfortably housed. He credits his grounding
in languages at FGS for his success as a translator with much of his work coming
from researchers at the nearby University
of Cadiz. Others who use
his services are Gonzalez Byass and a naval defence equipment company. He sees
himself as a Jack-of-all-trades but views his economics degree as a weighty
entree where business is concerned. He has two children from his first marriage
and a son, who has spent half his life in Spain, by his second. Royston, for
all his education and experience, confesses that Spanish politice and
bureaucracy remain a mystery.
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