Old Scholars’ Association
One Hundred and Thirty Eighth Annual Report
THIS YEAR’S PRESIDENT - PETER CAUSER
Born on the 25th of April 1955 in Stevenage, Herts, Pete Causer is the elder son of architects Harry and Margaret. Two years later brother Michael was born and shortly afterwards the family made the move to another new town – Cumbernauld, in Scotland – where their father took up a new post as one of the original 12 architects tasked with creating a new town to house the overspill from Glasgow
Growing up with the town, Pete spent five years at Cumbernauld High School, working his way through the Scout movement and being chosen as part of the Scottish contingent to the 1971 World Jamboree in Japan before transferring to Ackworth for L6 where he thoroughly enjoyed just one year studying maths, physics and metalwork. Although he left Ackworth without any academic qualifications, an interest in engineering and especially in motorcycles was sparked off which has stayed with him ever since.
Having left school, Pete worked his way through college and worked in the health service, manufacturing industry and motorcycle retail and servicing before an ongoing interest in bike racing led to him working full time in the racing industry for several successful years, an involvement which continues to this day as a Technical Official at the Isle of Man TT and other races. After a stint of truck driving, a return to college to upgrade qualifications then gained him a post as a development engineer with a major car manufacturer.
He has four children and two grandchildren. He has been married to Nici (well known to Easter Gatherers) since 2013 with whom he has lived since 1999. They have lived on the Isle of Man since 2008.
PETER CAUSER PRESIDENT A.O.S.A. 2019-20
Ex Presidents at Easter
BACK ROW
1. Martin Dickinson
2. David Bunney
3. Anne Telford-Kenyon
4. Christopher Jones MIDDLE ROW
5. Keith Daniel
6. Annabel McRobert
7. Joyzelle Kelsall
8. Stephen Kelsall FRONT ROW
9. Michael Hargreave 10. Mike McRobert 11. Nick Seed 12. Aidan Mortimer 13. Marguerite Hill 14. Geoff Pedlar
Photograph by Charles T. Stuart
AOSA ADMINISTRATION 2019-20
Old Scholars’ Steering Group Administration 2019 - 20
President Peter Causer
Head Anton Maree
Deputy Head Jeffrey Swales
Bursar
Liaison Officer
Marketing
General Secretary
Editor of Report
Membership
Easter Secretary
Susan Allan
Kate Dawson
Michael Atkins
Janet Blann
David Wood
Mike McRobert
Sal Wright
Assistant Easter Secretaries: John Golding, Laura Wales, Bill Swales, Cassandra Cartwright
Old Scholar Representatives to School Committee
Robert Lincoln, Aidan Mortimer, Nick Seed, Stewart Huntington
Guild Secretaries
East Coast
Wessex and South West
Annabel McRobert
Michael Hargreave
All correspondence, including notifications for Births, Marriages & Deaths, as well as items for the Annual Report, should be directed, via the Liaison Officer, to the School, either via the School Website www.ackworthschool.com, where an Old Scholars’ portal will be accessible, by email to aosa@ackworthschool.com, or by post to the School.
EDITOR’S FOREWORD 2019
This Annual Report is essentially a reform version of the Easter Supplement that distributed to Old Scholars as an addition to Summer 2019 edition of Ackworth Today, a with other OS news from the Autumn 2018/Spri 2019 editions of the same magazine
I’ve also included an article from Ackworth T about Ackworth becoming an “All-Stein School”, with ten new pianos leased by the school from Steinway, launched with all ten pianos being used for a grand concert in the Meeting House, with solos from members of the school, former teaching staff (including former Director of Music, Richard Ellis) and an Old Scholar (me).
It was quite a scary experience for me, as a pianist trained at Ackworth by Noelene Walmsley and Jack Lincoln. Playing in front of others isn’t too much of a problem. However, being recorded can turn one to jelly, as any small errors will be there for posterity! But this was worse than that Just before I was due to perform, it was announced that the entire concert was being live-streamed on Facebook!
The experience reminded me of just how much I owed to Ackworth School’s musical tradition. In my time at Ackworth, in the 1960s, music was one of the school’s great strengths, under the direction of Olga Stephen and Jack Lincoln. A future article, on music at Ackworth during this period, is already forming in my mind.
David Wood
Easter 2019 Welcome and Annual Report
President Aidan, Laura and family, Old Scholars and friends, welcome to the 2nd edition of “Not the AGM”! The new shortened version gives Aidan longer to address us, or hopefully the opportunity to get our dinner sooner!
It has been good to be in contact with several of our older Old Scholars and lovely to hear regular news from Dorothy Robbins, now 98, who emailed to say how much she enjoyed receiving her three copies of Ackworth Today and seeing news of what is happening in School today as well as that of Old Scholars. Dorothy is in good health, still enjoying many regular activities and sends her best wishes to all, she says she will be with us in Spirit
I regularly see Leslie Steed who celebrated his 100th birthday in September as he is resident in Quaker Sheltered Housing in Bournville, where I serve as a trustee. Although virtually blind, he is still active and keeps up with technology using a remarkable gadget a bit like an overhead projector to scan documents to his television screen to enlarge them
I’ve also received greetings and apologies for absence from:
Colin and Eunice Mortimer who are sorry not to be with us for Aidan’s Presidential Year, send their greetings to all their Ackworth Friends. They say they will be following us in their mind’s eye at all the many activities of the weekend.
Gill Rabong (nee Speirs) in Sydney Australia who sends best wishes for a happy Gathering.
Tim and Fran Benson write to say – Greetings to all Old Scholars at the Easter Gathering.
Easter Greetings to all Old Scholars. We hope you have a memorable Gathering and that the sun shines brightly wherever you want it! From John and Olivia Jarratt
Kathryn Bell sends best wishes from holiday in Rome.
Belinda Walters sends best wishes for a Happy Easter to all.
Shirley Day sent a card with the following message and poem cribbed from Rose Fyleman – “There are fairies at the bottom of (Great) Garden – it’s not so very, very far away; you pass the gardener’s shed and you just keep straight ahead….”
Shirley says that she knows where they were and for sure still are! She sends big hugs to all the very special people gathered together in such a very special place.
Annabel spoke to Norman Fryer yesterday who is keeping well although not as mobile any more at 92! He says he has a lovely picture of Ackworth in his lounge and was thinking about us getting ready for Easter, he sends his best wishes to all
Greeting from the floor were sent by Peter Speirs and Elizabeth Ruff I’d now like to ask one of our Old Scholar Representatives to School Committee, Rachel Belk, to report on her first year serving on School Committee. (Rachel’s Report followed)
Now it’s time for my report of the work of the Steering Group. Old Scholars around the country have continued to meet up throughout the year, news of some of these events has been reported in Ackworth Today - if you are planning an event please let us know and send a short report and photo if possible. In November approximately 40 Old Scholars spent a weekend at Glenthorne in Grasmere, walking, shopping, visiting local attractions and enjoying each other’s company. If you would like to join us in future, please speak to Mike McRobert.
We would also like to encourage Old Scholars to join in the annual school celebrations for Founder’s Day. We are welcomed to join in Year Group Walks and/or enjoy a traditional Bangers and Mash meal in the evening.
Another regular fixture in the school calendar is the PSA Summer Ball. A magnificent black tie event to celebrate the year ending and student successes Tickets for Old Scholars are available this weekend at a discounted price, by signing up with your details in the Centre Library or the notice boards in the vestibule, tickets will then be sent to you nearer the time. Alternatively, you can book tickets c/o the PSA psa@ackworthschool.com
We have been saddened to learn of the deaths of several Old Scholars known to many, and past staff members. To name but a few, Angela Dale, John Bunney, John Hatter, George Bunney, Eileen King, Alan Rothwell, Betty Limb, Anne Fletcher and Constance Gilby.
The Old Scholars Steering Group has now had its first full year managing the affairs of Old Scholars We have met four times since last Easter as much has needed to be confirmed, setting out new roles, suggesting copy for the Old Scholars section Ackworth Today, continuing work on amalgamating the two databases and working on the wording of information on the new Old Scholars banners.
Problems amalgamating the school database with that of the Old Scholars have meant that we often found more than one address for each Old Scholar as the school database contains the addresses that students had at the time they were at school, which had not necessarily been updated. It also holds addresses of past scholars who were not members of the Old Scholars Association. We wanted to inform all former pupils of the change in our status and offer them the opportunity to keep in touch. Both Mike and Sal spent a whole day in school going through
several thousand addresses to help with updating all the duplicate addresses and deleting those of Old Scholars we knew were no longer with us Hopefully we now have a better working list and processes in place to keep this up to date, there is however still a long way to go.
Having solved some of the issues with the database, we were then able to send out copies of Ackworth Today in January, later than planned as we did not have enough copies of some of the issues to enable us to send OS a copy of all three editions produced over the year, due to its popularity. We also discovered that there was not enough space in Ackworth Today to include all the usual reports of Easter as well as other OS news, and an online only version of the old style report was made available on the website. In view of this, we have now planned to make an extra Easter edition of Ackworth Today containing full reports and pictures of the Easter Weekend which will be sent out and available online at the same time as the summer edition. Ackworth Today can be found on the school website www.ackworthschool.com by clicking on News on the header bar, then Newsletters. You will then find access to all recent editions of Ackworth Today. Incidentally you will also find recent editions of the Cupola, the School Year Book and a publication called Mosaic This is a collection of writings and artwork by students and is of an exceptional standard – I particularly enjoyed a poem called Armistice by Cerys Watkins.
It was good to receive feedback from OS after receiving the new publication. Most of it very positive and also from others saying they no longer wished to receive correspondence from the school, allowing us to further prune the database Old Scholars who have requested printed copies of Ackworth Today will now receive these during the second half of each term. We would appreciate a ten pound payment in towards printing and postage in lieu of any subscriptions. This can be paid to the School bank account at Barclays, either by cheque or online. (Ackworth School Sort Code 20-09-65 A/C 20108154) All donations should also be made to the main School account as these can be gift aided, which is not possible with payments to the 1950s Trust.
We continue to welcome your news of Old Scholars and events and also obituaries for publication. These should be sent to David Wood at OSEditor@ackworthschool.com
Work continues on the Old Scholars portion of the website and we hope in the future it will be easier to access Old Scholar information. Currently this may be accessed either from the main school website by using the Connect tab in the header then the Old Scholar Portal. We are encouraging Old Scholars to sign up to the new Ackworth Connect site – accessible through the School website or
directly at www.ackworthschoolconnect.com Ackworth Connect enables you to see up to date news of events, contact other Old Scholars, arrange reunions, set up your own groups such as local Old Scholars or Year Groups, contact the school to ask for information of other Old Scholars, make donations to the School’s fundraising projects and keep us up to date with your whereabouts. We are still finding our way round this site and discovering new possibilities
Kate Dawson, from the marketing department has provided valuable support to the Steering Group, guiding us through the website, helping to co-ordinate the databases and numerous other tasks. She has now unfortunately left the school due to poor health and we are being well supported, albeit temporarily, by Abbey Mason who is doing sterling work, regularly checking any correspondence and queries then forwarding them on to the relevant steering group member.
We hope you have found the new Westwood Centre and enjoyed looking around. This was named after James Westwood, former staff member, the first librarian, Old Scholars President, Easter Secretary and Editor of the Annual Report. The centre was opened by Rob Westwood, the youngest child of Bill Westwood and grandson of James in November, with 18 other members of the Westwood family present.
This year we have been given storage space in school for much of the merchandise for the shop and also some of the Easter items, giving Richard Kenyon, Sal and Chas Stewart back welcome storage space in their homes and garages and resolving the need to transport it to and from school on a regular basis.
Perhaps in our dreams we can wish for a dedicated Old Scholars room and our own member of staff (which some schools are lucky enough to have!) for the future!
Now I’ll ask Nick Seed to propose the name of an Old Scholar to serve on School Committee from September 2019-23.
“Robert Lincoln (Scholar 1964-71) has completed a first term of office and is eligible and willing to serve a second period of service
“The following Old Scholars currently serve on the Ackworth Old Scholars Steering Group and are willing to continue their service – Janet Blann, Mike McRobert, David Wood and Sal Wright. These Old Scholars serve alongside representatives from the school – Anton Maree - Head, Jeffrey Swales – Deputy Head, Sue Allen – Bursar, Michael Atkins – Marketing and Abbey Mason –
Administration.”
(A show of hands proved these names acceptable to the meeting.)
I’d now like to present a basket of flowers to Laura Mortimer and introduce you to our President Aidan Mortimer.
Trying to find tales to tell about Aidan proved hard this year – it seemed his classmates either didn’t remember or were unwilling to share! One friend, only known to Aidan through years of attending Easter Gatherings told me that Aidan once explained to him what every button a TV remote control was for, and that he loves regular, unnecessary daily arithmetic! I do, however, have a few photos of Aidan which may be familiar to Easter Gatherers!
I think you’ll agree; he’s scrubbed up quite well tonight! Old Scholars and friends, our President Aidan Mortimer.
Aidan, Ellie, Jack, Rachel and Laura Mortimer
President’s Report 2019
Ackworth School Saturday 20 April 2019
Thank you all so much for coming this evening, it is lovely to see so many friends.
Following the Easter Gathering last year my fi formal outing as President was with the East Coa Guild, to Beningborough Hall, a National T House and Gardens near York. I stayed the ni before with Annabel and Mike McRobert and had an excellent, very hot day at Beningborough complete with great ice creams.
On the 7th July Laura and I attended Open Day ng again and was the perfect day to celebrate the end of the academic year. One of my duties was to present the Old Scholars Cup to Ayham AI-Halabi. Ayham, a Syrian refugee had fled the conflict with his family, and had come to Ackworth for the 6th orm. (picture of presentation). He had contributed huge amount to the School and the community at arge, and had also written the closing scene of an mmensely powerful school play, “Who We Are’ bout the impact of the first world war. Reading out his personal achievements and presenting the cup to him was a very moving experience.
On yet another scorching day in late summer, Laura and I met up with the Wessex Guild for an excellent day at Lakeside Country Park, near Southampton, followed by dinner at a local pub.
The British weather has a way of balancing things out over the year and after 3 events blessed with the most amazing weather, friends gathered in November at Glenthorne. It was Cumbria, it was autumn and it rained...for 48 hours. I had not been to a gathering at Glenthorne since 1974 and my memories were of cold dormitory accommodation, basic catering and, of course rain. Whilst the weather
had remained constant, Glenthorne had changed There was still a warm welcome of course, but there was now ensuite accommodation and excellent food with a wine list.
As Saturday dawned with torrential rain, it became clear that being a member of the walking group was something to which I was committed. Despite the weather, Mike McRobert led us on a lovely low level 9 mile walk, with lunch in the bus shelter at Rydal. . All in all, the weekend at Glenthorne was a thoroughly enjoyable time of friendship, exercise and surprisingly fine dining
As some of you may know, I have been a member of the School Committee for the last 9 years and this involves 6 visits a year to the School which has given me a chance to see old scholars and see at first hand all the exciting things that happen in the school each term.
For me, as well as being an excellent school offering an all-encompassing education, Ackworth has been and still is, all about friendship and care, a positive spirit and continuity of people. A point brought home to me when I realised that my time as President has come exactly 30 years after my Father was President in 1988-89 and 100 years after my Grandfather, Edgar, was discharged, from the Friends Ambulance Unit in 1919. He was also an old scholar.
My Great-Grandfather, George Henry Mortimer was a Quaker who ran his own insurance business in Eccles, Manchester. He and his wife, Sarah-Anne, sent 4 of their 6 children to Ackworth. George and Victor, who were here until 1908, my Grandfather Edgar who left in 1912 and their sister Elsie who was here from 1915 to 1922.
George Junior joined the FAU in 1915 and Edgar, soon after his 18th birthday, in 1916. Both served in France and survived the war. Edgar went into
Here’s a picture of “The Mortimers” taken in 1938 that captures the family in the sunshine
the family insurance business and retained close links with the School by serving on the School Committee and by sending my father Colin and his brother, Roger, to the School in the 1930’s. Their cousins Arnold, a Badsworth winner and Noel were both here at the same time.
My parents’ working lives took them in the mid 1950’s to the newly established University of Keele, where I was born in 1959 and where I spent the first 6 years of my life.
I have early memories of this time, particularly of the Lake District where we holidayed in a caravan in the Langdales.
How pent in Africa. In 1966 my father took up a post at Lusaka University in Zambia, heading up the establishment of the Chemistry Department, whilst my mother taught in Social Sciences Zambia, formerly Northern Rhodesia, had become an independent nation in 1964 and its new President, Kenneth Kaunda, had taken the forward thinking view that he would proactively bring skilled professionals from around the world to help build a new nation. This
sense of optimism filled my childhood.
My parents took full advantage of all the opportunities that living in Africa had to offer; my years there were filled with sunshine, swimming and travels across Southern Africa. I have vivid memories of the Victoria Falls, the Kariba Dam, walking in the lnyanga Mountains and the vastness of the Great Rift Valley
A picture that captures these travels is that of Bruce, me and Dad with an early roof box; two of the steel trunks sent out in advance of our arrival in Zambia.
My love of the great outdoors comes from these days It was also during this time, I now realise, that my fascination with buildings began. My parents interest in history took us to sights such as Great Zimbabwe; the remains of a medieval cityand the huge classical Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa.
I was also fascinated by Lusaka’s striking modern buildings; the cathedral of the Holy Cross (1962) and the massive, copper clad Parliament building which was built close to our house on Wembley Drive; later renamed!
In 1969 we returned to the UK and it was a huge shock. We travelled back by mail ship from Cape Town to Southampton and I remember asking my parents, “Why does everyone look so pale and unwell?”
I passed my 11+ which meant that I could go to the local Grammar School, Newcastle High School, in Staffordshire. Unfortunately for me, it was a very formal place with compulsory Latin and Greek and even a school hymn in Latin.
My only sal ti that both the Hi t nd Art M t llent and
the School had a scout troop which I joined. With the scouts, I enjoyed long holidays camping in the Lakes and Scotland; cooking and making all kinds of contraptions and inventions.
The High School’s very traditional curriculum and corporal punishment regime did not agree with me and after things came to a head in my 5th form, it was decided by my parents that Ackworth might be a better place for my 6th form years.
My fa aster Gathe
My brother, Bruce was already at the School. I have strong memories of that Easter weekend, the main ones being of sleeping in a huge cold dormitory and of a man shouting instructions throughout the entire weekend, in a voice that seemed to
travel vast distances. He told us to do all sorts of things, the strangest of which was the Ackworth version of Musical Chairs which was to sit on the laps of various well- meaning Friends, and have them sit on your lap, many of whom were older than my Grandmother. Thank you, Keith Daniel.
My first ‘Ackworth Experience’ was not a complete shock as I had visited Glenthorne once and had regularly attended Newcastle under Lyme Meeting.
I arrived at Ackworth as a pupil in September 1975. I learnt later that both my Father, who was Clerk of the School Committee at the time, and the Headmaster,
Gordon McKee, were very nervous about the direction that this stroppy teenager might take, and I did certainly push the boundaries
For me the turning point was an incident involving my excellent Art teacher, David Cook.
One day I discovered that I could get up into the roof of the East Wing from my study. I was fascinated by the roof structure and in particular the cupola, which one evening, I climbed up to investigate. From his house opposite, David spotted someone in the cupola and started to make his way over to the School. Seeing him emerge from his front door and heading my way, I rapidly made my way down and was sitting at my desk when he came into my study. When David asked if it had been me on the roof, I denied it. There was no threatened punishment, which after my previous school’s ‘discipline by caning’ was disorientating. Standing at the door, David paused and simply said; “You alone know what you did”. This phrase weighed heavy on my mind and the next day I confessed to him that it had been me he had seen. He thanked me for my confession, but there was still no punishment This had a profound impact on me and Ackworth’s pastoral care gave me an understanding of my responsibility for my own actions.
Not that the rest of my time at Ackworth was entirely event free and there was the incident with the West Yorkshire Police. My History teacher, Brian Arundel, who felt my skills were rather more practical than academic, put me in charge of the Folk Museum; an eclectic collection of ancient gifts from ancient old scholars, the most interesting of which, for me, was a tandem With the help of a fellow pupil Tom Lindop, and during prep one summer evening we took involving a stop at a pub.
I was on the back of the tandem and thought it would be amusing to pick up a traffic cone as we passed through some roadworks and put it on my head... The police car behind us pulled us over and after Tom’s protests that he; “was not aware that his colleague had a traffic cone on his head” we agreed, under police escort, to return the cone back to the roadworks. That was the last outing on the tandem. Sadly there is no picture of that event, but here’s one of me finishing the Badsworth.
My two years at Ackworth were the happiest of my school life and to my tally of 4 O levels from Newcastle High School I added Chemistry, to my father’s delight, and Physics and got A Levels in Art, History and Geography. Ackworth started a lifelong interest in Art and History, which I’ve enjoyed ever since.
At the end of my time at Ackworth in the summer of 1977 it was not clear to me how to translate my passion for Art and History into a job. Offers from Aston University for Town Planning and Environmental Planning at Herriot Watt in Edinburgh didn’t appeal. However, a Diploma in Building at Oxford Polytechnic did appeal, particularly as Oxford was s
After 3 years study, one of which was spent on building sites in London, I completed my Diploma in 1980. The ever cyclical building industry was at a very low point. I knew how to build in theory and so, aged 21 I bought a van and started to build extensions and to work on restoring cottages. I discovered that I had a practical talent for stonework and large carpentry work; such as building roofs. I turned my hand to everything on a building site and despite cold winters and rain, I found the work fulfilling
Laura and I met in 1982, through mut married in the Chapel at Keele in 1984.
The 1980’s was a great decade; we sailed and walked in the Lakes, travelled in Europe and Australia, visited my parents who were working in Singapore, and we bought and restored a 17th century cottage in an Oxfordshire village.
Whilst I enjoyed running my own business, I found doing everything from paperwork to physically doing the work, and then getting paid, challenging. In 1986 I applied for a management post in a large local family owned building business, Symm of Oxford, This offered me the opportunity to manage work on historic buildings in the Colleges of Oxford. I learnt a lot very quickly and, although I don’t think I was conscious of it at the time, my Quaker approach to management of cheerful encouragement, of listening and of finding ways to resolve conflicts, proved successful. This coupled with my passion for historic buildings, helped me to advance quickly in the business. I was lucky enough to manage some amazing projects; amongst them the restoration of the Sheldonian Theatre and the creation of Raymond Blanc’s; Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons; a
relationship which is as strong as ever 30 years on. I also expanded the building business into America, exporting joinery and stonework, for projects on the East Coast.
In 1988 my father was President of AOSA and Laura and I, along with Bruce and his wife Julia, all came to the Easter Gathering in 1989. For Laura and me, this was the start of an almost unbroken run of 30 years of attending Easter at Ackworth and the start of many new friendships. Ellie, our eldest daughter was born in 1989, Jack in 1991 and Rachel in 2000. They have all enjoyed the freedom a he
Lake District, became part of the annual family calendar. Although only Ellie came to the School for the 6th form , I think that Ackworth, through the Easter Gathering, has been very much a part of Jack and Rachel’s’ general education.
By 1997 I was a Director of Symm and was offered the opportunity to run the Group of Companies and to buy shares in the business. As Group Chief Executive I became responsible for 3 companies; a Building Company, a Stonemasonry Company and a Plumbing Company; employing over 300 people including at least a dozen young apprentices. The business carries out an amazing range of work, most of it at the very top of the private residential market. Amongst the many projects I have been lucky enough to be involved with, I have chosen a few that stand out:-
Firstly, The Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace, restoring and extending Wychwood Manor,
and restoring Abbotswood - both major country houses in the Cotswolds.
and building a new private Chapel of Christ the Redeemer at Culham near Henley on Thames.
I found running a Group of Companies exciting and demanding and as allconsuming as it had been to run my own small business 30 years earlier. I needed support and the company looked for a Chairman for the Group. The man I found was Roger Pedder, an experienced entrepreneurial Quaker who had spent most of his working life running a Quaker business; Clarks Shoes He became my mentor and friend, and encouraged me to delegate responsibility and to explore opportunities outside of Symm.
I have always been passionate about youth craft training and eight years ago became involved with the Prince of Wales’s Craft Training Programme.
I currently sit on his judging panel, find work experience placements and often permanent employment for young craftsmen and craftswomen.
Through this work I have spent time with both the Prince of Wales and Prince Andrew and both are passionate about apprenticeships.
Having worked in a privately owned family business for over 30 years, I have learnt a lot about the challenges that such businesses face and over the last 2 years I have been working as a Consultant to advise family owned construction businesses. I am presently working with a long established construction group in
Hertfordshire and as an Advisory Board Member for a family owned Construction Business in Chicago. Moving a historic house in Chicago:
When my Father spoke here 30 years ago, he said that Ackworth had given him a “blueprint for life” and if you will forgive a builder for saying this, my time at Ackworth has given me a “Foundation for Life”
I would like to thank my parents for sending a difficult teenager to Ackworth, to thank Laura, Ellie, Jack and Rachel for embracing Ackworth and to thank all of you, my friends, for decades of friendship.
The founder of Ackworth, John Fothergill gave Benjamin Franklin a silver jug with the motto “Keep bright the chain’ referring to the importance of friendship.
For me the Ackworth chain of friendship has shone brightly throughout my life and continues to shine. Long may it do so!
Aidan Mortimer (April 2019)
Chris Banks gave a vote of thanks to Aidan for his presentation and for his term of office as OS President. Janet Blann then asked Mike McRobert to bring us the name of the new National President for 2019-20.
Mike McRobert
Good evening, Mr President, fellow Old Scholars and friends.. It therefore is my great pleasure and honour to propose the new National President for 2019-20.
We have been going through a period of change within the organisation, and, with this in mind, I thought I would also change the way I introduce the new President elect So with your co-operation, if you are able to, please stand up if you born
from 1950 onwards. (The majority of those present stand.) If you were born north of Yorkshire, please sit down. (Many sit down.) Will all present and previous Presidents sit down. (President and ex-Presidents sit ) If you were not a pupil at Ackworth between 1966 and 1973, when I was at school, please sit down. (Most of those who were standing now sit down.) If you don’t live on the Isle of Man, please sit down. (One man remains standing.)
Pete... (prolonged applause) was only a scholar at Ackworth for one year, and we have been friends ever since, especially in recent years During his year at Ackworth, most of his time was spent working on motor bikes, and as Nici would say, “Nothing new there then”. He has been a loyal supporter of the OS, and, in particular, the Easter Gathering. It therefore gives me great pleasure to present to you our Presedent-elect, Mr Pete Causer.
Pete Causer
Mr President, fellow Old Scholars and friends:
Well, who’d have thunk it! Me as President – whoever had that idea? Whoever it was, I can only blame my wife for putting me in this position! I can think of many people I’d choose before me so I’m honoured to think that others should think me worthy of the position – I’m sure I wouldn’t!
My time at Ackworth was a short one – I only spent one year in school but thoroughly enjoyed my time here, perhaps too much! Due to my interest and involvement in motorcycles and motorcycle racing, an interest that all started here, and since there always seemed to be a race meeting at Easter, I never managed to get to an Easter Gathering until Janet Blann organised our year’s 20 years on reunion in 1992 which happened to coincide with the first time that a team I was working for at the time wasn’t competing that weekend.
I think I came back a few times as a day visitor but didn’t have a full weekend until coming with Nici for Anne Telford-Kenyon’s Presidential year in 1997. Unfortunately, Nic enjoyed herself so much that year that she hasn’t allowed me to miss more than a couple of Easter Gatherings ever since! So, as I say, it’s her fault!
Anyway, now I’m in this position I have a year of events to look forward to, which will all be new to me, so I’ll try to be on my best behaviour and do my best to represent Old Scholars. I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can and hope to see you all next Easter, by which time I hope to have put something together for a Presidential Address which isn’t all about bikes!
Easter Sunday Evening Reading 21.04.19
Hymn 1: Lift up your hearts
Reading 1: No man is an Island by John Donne (read by Annabel McRobert)
No Man is an Island
No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Hymn 2: Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah
Reading 2: Human Family by Maya Angelou (read by Clare Daniel)
Human Family
I note the obvious differences in the human family. Some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy. Some declare their lives are lived as true profundity, and others claim they really live the real reality.
The variety of our skin tones can confuse, bemuse, delight, brown and pink and beige and purple, tan and blue and white.
I’ve sailed upon the seven seas and stopped in every land, I’ve seen the wonders of the world not yet one common man.
I know ten thousand women called Jane and Mary Jane, but I’ve not seen any two who really were the same.
Mirror twins are different although their features jibe, and lovers think quite different thoughts while lying side by side.
We love and lose in China, we weep on England’s moors, and laugh and moan in Guinea, and thrive on Spanish shores.
We seek success in Finland, are born and die in Maine In minor ways we differ, in major we’re the same.
I note the obvious differences between each sort and type, but we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.
We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike
Hymn 3: Be still for the presence of the Lord
Reading 3:
Belonging, by Ellie Mortimer
When you really think about it, within any given social problem that we face in our world today, there are a group of people who feel pushed out. People who have been forcibly displaced from their homes, people who have moved from one country to another, people who are perceived as not quite fitting the system or the dominant narrative about what it means to be successful or normal. This year, the case of Shamima Begum has been heavily publicised. Shamima, a young British woman who, at the age of 15 left east London in to join the Islamic State group in Syria sought to return to the UK in February of this year. Her return has been debated over the last three months. In an interview with BBC correspondent Quentin Sommerville, Shamima asked for forgiveness but maintained that she was drawn to joining the Islamic State group as she wanted to belong to ‘the good life’ offered to her. Concerns about gang culture and violence have also dominated the headlines this year, with regular reports of inner city stabbings. Whilst initial ideas about how to manage the UK’s problems with knife crime have centred on increasing police numbers and systems of stop-and-search, a longer term plan is also emerging in communities, focusing on the re-establishment of youth centres after 760 youth clubs were lost in 2012 under austerity measures Whatever your beliefs about the case of Shamima Begum or difficulties with gang culture, it is possible to reframe both, and many other difficulties faced by young people and society, as crises in belonging. The need to belong, to feel accepted as a member of a group, is a basic human need and drives adults and young people to seek belonging in all manner of ways, including through membership of specific groups or gangs, whatever the cost
In September last year, I finished a three year course in educational psychology and started working as a qualified psychologist in schools in Swindon. My job requires me to focus on ensuring young people are included at school and this often means considering their sense of belonging. Are children behaving in a certain way in an attempt to belong to a group or seek relationships? Quite often, when speaking with school staff, they’re concerned that a child isn’t making expected progress with their learning or is behaving inappropriately, engaging in disruptive or violent behaviour. A child doesn’t seem able to take risks with their learning, or isn’t able to concentrate on the task in front of them. It would be easy
to assume that some children just don’t have the skills they need yet to access learning, or aren’t motivated to engage in the work. Sometimes this might be part of the story and, but more often than not, the child’s sense of belonging is also a huge factor underpinning their behaviour. The psychologist Abraham Maslow spoke about belonging as a basic human need in the 1940s. He suggested that in order to feel motivated with learning, an individual first needs to have their physiological needs met in terms of food, water, warmth and rest, they need to feel emotionally and physically safe and secure and need to feel a sense of belonging and love. Without these needs being met, he suggested that individuals find it difficult to feel good about themselves and take creative risks. It is for this reason that I’ll often think about the child’s sense of safety, security and belonging before moving on to thinking about whether or not they are motivated to learn.
This year I’ve been struck by the way in which a lack of belonging can affect our well-being and behaviour, and how supporting belonging in schools might help to alleviate some of the social problems we see in our society, where we see children seeking belonging in more unconventional ways through harmful gang or group membership. In January I was asked to work with an 8 year old boy, let’s call him Charlie, who was behaving in a violent manner towards school staff and other children, and refusing to engage in any school work. The school were finding his behaviour so difficult that he was only attending school for two hours every afternoon and completing puzzles by himself at the back of the classroom. Charlie’s classmates were afraid of him and he told me he was also feeling lonely, scared and isolated. Although his basic physiological needs were met, he had no sense of belonging at school and I wondered whether his behaviour might improve by building a sense of belonging for him. We set up a special social group for Charlie in the afternoons called Circle of Friends, which four of his classmates volunteered to be a part of. Every week I met with the group of 8 yearolds We completed puzzles and games together, talked about their weeks, they shared their difficulties and successes and we solved problems they had encountered on the playground. Although Charlie found some of the group sessions difficult, there was an amazing change in his behaviour over the five weeks. He was more open to suggestions from the other children, he laughed and joked with them and was able to reflect on his positive qualities. Through taking time to help him build relationships and supporting the other children to see him positively, he felt a greater sense of belonging and his behaviour completely changed. This is a very simple example of how greater connection with others supported one child’s sense of belonging and emotional wellbeing. I’m not saying that the complex challenges faced by young people and society can be quickly eradicated by setting up a series of friendship groups. But I do think that belonging can be supported by making space for relationships and being open to others and their authenticity.
Writer Emily Esfahani Smith says, on belonging, that we can choose to cultivate belonging with others by slowing down, and taking time to listen and talk. This is maybe why the problem of inner city gang violence is now being approached through setting up youth centres, where young people can be listened to, supported and can feel a sense of belonging outside of gang membership. Dr Erin Saltman, who has conducted research into why people join violent extremist movements suggests that feelings of alienation, isolation and a lack of belonging to groups and society can drive people to join extremist groups, amongst other factors. Coming back to the case of Shamima Begum, it is possible that had her belonging been cultivated in the UK, through school or community based initiatives, she may not have sought it elsewhere.
Creating time and space to build and cultivate relationships is an essential part of Easter gathering here and underpins the approach taken by the school to the education of young people. I definitely felt this here during my time as a student and as a visitor to Easter gathering and believe it is something I’ve taken away and carried with me since. The notion of belonging, of feeling accepted, listened to and supported, can impact on emotional well-being and physical health and should, I believe, be an integral focus for schools and communities across the UK, not only to support emotional well-being but as an approach to tackling some of society’s more complex social problems.
An individual commitment in advices and queries states: Sitting among these quite ordinary people, to most of whom I remained a stranger and a foreigner for some months, I sensed an experience of belonging – of community. A true Friends’ meeting for worship drawing individuals with varieties of temperament, talent and background always manages to engender a climate of belonging, of community which is infectious and creative. This experience of ‘belonging’ has remained with me over the years and it has grown both in intensity and universality… The ‘giving out’ of such a sense of community is the natural witness of a Quaker meeting which has in it the seed of life and creative experience.
Hymn 4: Ackworth School Founder’s day Hymn
EASTER GATHERING 2019
Friday and Saturday (by David Wood)
Arriving early on Friday morning, the school was almost deserted, but bright sunshine promised well for the forthcoming weekend. Already, there was an anticipation that this was to be an exceptional Easter Gathering.
As visitors arrived and were allocated to their wellorganised accommodation, old and new friends met and conversed. Then lunch followed, making many of us wish the menus had been half as good when we were at school.
Following tradittion, the first activity was the Easter egg hunt, organised by Easter Secretary, Sal Wright.
Later, President Aidan Mortimer and Laura welcomed visitors as they entered Centre Library for the official opening of the weekend, all completed in record time, yet in a friendly, unrushed way.
Evening activities included a children’s film and Jack Mortimer’s presentation “Up Close and Personal”, with his quite staggering photorgaphs of the natural world.
Charles Stuart took a short break from taking photographs of the Easter Gathering, challenging us with his annual quiz. The questions are never easy!
Saturday’s activities catered for just about everyone, including arts and crafts activities, yoga, the Ack-apella Choir, and big-ball football. Later, there was ‘School Today’ with Anton Maree, followed by a Peace Party.
Even though the Ackworth Old Scholars’ Association was handed over to the school’s administration in 2017, we still have an unofficial AGM, to summarise the year’s activities (see P.8) and to introduce the President’s Address (see P.14).
This year, the formal dinner outdid every previous one. The school and its carerers were magnificent in their organisation. I offered to help by folding the luxuriouus cloth napkins, but as soon as I began, several of the catering staff
asked to be shown how the folding was done, and went on to complete the 130 ‘bishop’s mitre’ folds.
An Easter Auction had been organised to raise funds for the school. A good selection of Ackworth-related items was available, with initial cautious bidding leading to ever-increasing enthusiasm, helped by Aidan Mortimer’s auctioneering skills, along with his mascot.
The final item in the auction was really special - a handmade Ackworth-themed guitar, designed and constructed by Stuart Ketchin, eventually selling for £700.
Saturday’s activities ended with an open mic evening in the Fothergill Foyer.
Sunday and Monday (by the Bootymen)
We loved it - every second! We stayed in school for the full weekend. Friday and Saturday were great as well, but we’ve been asked to write about Sunday and Monday - so here goes!
We came down to another fabulous breakfast with the sun steamimg in through the windows in Girls’ Dining Room. Having attended Easter Gathering for four years, it feels like coming down for the most emormous family breakfast. Arts and crafts (this year lovely photo frames) were collected from the Art wing just in time to join rounders on the Green. We didn’t quite have two full teams, but the all-age selection of people had great fun and lots of rounders were scored. Thank goodness for all the space on the Green. Some of us were very good at hitting the ball a long way!
The sunflower seeds we planted with the Seeds are all coming up; they’ll need planting out soon. Who will have the tallest sunflower this year?
Then we joined early lunch with the walkers, as we were off singing at All Saints in the village.
I have to say that I was ‘gutted’ to muss the Big Ball football - again! Sadly the kids also missed the egg and spoon races, and I would love to have taken part in the Grand March - such very fond memories of my time at Ackworth
We arrived back in time to see people in hysterics on the Green, trying to coordinate teams of sic to move together with planks and ropes - it was some sort of race.
Swimming featured throughout The pool was open almost all te time during the day and we had great fun with the enormouus inflatables - and friends old and new.
The famous Pop! the talent/variety show on Sunday - it was great fun - lots of talent and laughter at a wide variety of acts, instrumental music, sketches, standup comedy and the Spice Girls
On Monday, lots of keen runners took part in the Junior Badsworth around Great Garden. No surprise who won the Senor race - and for probably the 20th time or more. This year there were lots of good runners - they will need to try again next year! The model railway is really quite something and draws railway enthusiasts, kids and not so little kids
Before and after lunch was a creative slot with standing room only at the paper folding card crafting, and people trying out their portraiture skills on the outgoing President.
Again singing, this time with Ack-apella, we missed the cricket on the Green but we were putting in valuable practice time in preparation for Music for a Monday Evening. We were extraordinarily lucky to have so many talented musical friends with astonishing virtuosity on the piano and other instruments and beautiful singers
...and then the Presidential handover, short speeches with plenty of emotion and followed by Auld Lang Syne with everybody already looking forward to Easter Gathering 2020 - can’t wait.!
EAST COAST GUILD
Twenty five Ackworth Old Scholars and friends celebrated Founders’ Day in the usual way with a bangers and mash lunch at Worfolk Cottage, Staintondale on 20th October 2018. We were delighted to welcome The Head of Ackworth and his wife, Anton and Alison Maree, on their first visit to Worfolk. After lunch we enjoyed hearing from Anton about Ackworth Today and the many things currently going on in school, including areas of refurbishment, updating the rather old pianos and the recent ISI visit as wellas the ways Old Scholars can keep in touchusing the School’s new system, Ackworth Connect.
. Fortunately, the weather was nice enough to have a photograph of everyone present taken in the garden.
Annabel McRobert
President Aidan Mortimer and 42 old scholars, met at Glenthorne, having mostly travelled in glorious sunshine. On Friday evening after dinner we enjoyed an excellent quiz delivered by Stephen Kelsall.
Saturday morning dawned with torrential rain, but this did not deter 13 hardy walkers from their traditional walk, albeitat low level this year. It was one of the wettest walks for many years following an eight mile route from Glenthorne down the western side of Grasmere Lake, climbing a little to Loughrigg Tarn and then on to Rydal. The return to Grasmere followed what is known as the Coffin Route, passing below Nab Scar. Hot showers were welcomed on their return followed by tea and cake! The less hardy of us enjoyed drier activities such as visits to Allen Bank, the National Trust property behind Glenthorne, to enjoy tea and coffee beside a roaring fire, watching the antics of red squirrels playing in the garden, a short walk round the grounds of Allen Bank and into Grasmere, shopping in Keswick or the more sensible shopping trip to Rheged, a glass roofed Lakeland Heritage Centre and gallery built in a former quarry.
Saturday evening brought games led by Nici Fletcher Causer and fierce competition as we battled to throw a number six on a dice, then don hats, scarves and gloves before attempting to serve ourselves a piece of chocolate using a knife and fork before the next person threw a six!
Another excellent weekend, a bit of rain failing to dampen our spirits We look forward to next time – Friday 1–Sunday 3 November 2019. If you are interested in joining us next year, please contact Mike McRobert via aosa@ackworthschool.com.
Janet Blann
NEWS OF OLD SCHOLARS
Leslie Steed
Recently I attended the 100th birthday party of Old Scholar Leslie Steed. Leslie was at school with my father. They later both served in the Friends’ Ambulance Unit together during the war and ended up in the same Quaker Sheltered Housing in Bourneville Birmingham, with another of their School mates! Still mischievous boys together! Leslie is the only one of them left and still in excellent health!
Janet Blann
Helen Bain - Australia to Ackworth
I took my 57 year-old self back to my old school, Ackworth, recently. This was not an insignificant feat given that home is Melbourne, Australia. Half way around the world and with my husband of 32 years in tow, we went back in time to a different era, a different life, a different world.
I was fascinated with how much had remained the same Whilst a lot has naturally changed, so much of the school still seemed familiar. I recalled the weathered flagstones in Centre
Passage and large radiators along the walls. I remembered how, in the ‘70s, we used to cling to them for warmth. I remembered the smell of “Dead Man’s Leg” coming from the school kitchen at the end of the hall (two pastry roll ups served on a large baking tray, one foreach table and filled with strawberry jam, usually eaten with custard, if you were lucky).
I can scarcely believe it’s been 40 years since I left Ackworth; I completed A Levels in the School’s Bicentennial year in 1979. I look back at that time with fond memories but it wasn’t all plain sailing. As a boarder travelling back and forth between Hong Kong and school, I experienced terrible homesickness, repeated separation anxiety from family, peer group pressure, academic challenges and all the usual teenage angst during my time at Ackworth. I realise, like many others, that as you get older, school years seem to become more formative in shaping you. A dedicated teacher can also play a pivotol role and I particularly remember my Art and English teachers. The Quaker ethos has also stood me in good stead through life’s twists and turns, and I often draw strength and resilience from it.
My five years of boarding at Ackworth taught me many things and set me on the path to a happy and fulfilling life. I hope to return to Ackworth again within the next 40 years and wish the school every ongoing success in shaping future generations who walk the flagstones of Centre Passage.
Helen Bain (née Mace) scholar 1974-79
Old Scholars in Hong Kong
From left to right Victoria Pang (scholar 2000-04), Anton Maree (Head), Ernest Li (scholar 1982-87) in Hong Kong
Ackworth School is now an All-Steinway School
This January saw Ackworth School become an All-Steinway School. A concert was held at the school with all ten pianos being delivered into the Meeting House with the whole school present. Our Director of Music, Daniel Marks, composed a piece for 10 pianos together and the concert also featured performances from students, former staff and an old scholar.
The Day of the Steinways:
To the Meeting House I went on Wednesday morning
To find a musical experience to have a go exploring, Where the pianos were unboxed and were unravelled,
After seeing the van outside in which they had travelled. The pianos were arranged and dusted down,
And we all stood there with the pianos all around,
And what was a better way to start off the day
Than to hear Mr Marks Chopining away.
Our year enjoyed playing our different songs, And played pieces to hum and sing along.
The first years were soon to arrive here
Practising ‘Pachelbel’s Canon’ for us all to hear.
By this time, we could now go to have break, But I stayed there with the pianos – it was great!
So I started playing ‘Everything I do’, And Mr Marks came in and joined in too
The 10 piano-piece was then rehearsed, And then the solo pieces were all heard.
We were all ready for the concert now, Trained in how to do a presentable bow.
The concert was very soon to fall on us
As we heard the murmuring audience buzz, And rounds of applause were received highly
As we were recorded to stream lively.
And as the Music Centre was silent with no sound, There was still some more excitement to go around.
The pianos were moved and we set the keyboards up, And finally the day had rounded up.
Robyn Wickham, 5th form (year 11)
MEMORIAL NOTICES
Elisabeth Olga Beeson (Scholar 1937-41)
Elisabeth, also known as Olga, Beeson was born in Canea, Crete. Her father thought it would be easier for Olga to achieve her ambition of becoming a doctor if she had English qualifications. So he selected a school in England for Olga and brother Bill to finish off their studies and perfect their English.
After a 4-day journey by ship they arrived in Marseille. They boarded the Blue Train to Calais, followed by a very rough ferry crossing, over the English Channel to Dover, then another train journey half way across Britain to York. They finally arrived exhausted and went straight to bed. The following morning, they opened the curtains for their first daylight sighting of England in thick fog! Not only had Olga experienced her first horror of British weather, imagine a further shock when Olga and Bill arrived at Ackworth, a Quaker School: no robes, crosses, icons or statues and no genuflections or incense – in fact there was nothing to indicate that a Quaker Meeting House was a Christian place of worship.
It took Olga a while to understand and appreciate the quietness and stillness of the Sunday silent Quaker meetings. The next culture shock was breakfast, when a large bowl of steaming porridge was placed in front of her. Used to the sweet aroma of herbs, with views of blue seas, Olga was overwhelmed by the smell of coal and by the greyness of everything.
During her last year at Ackworth, Olga was made vice head-girl, gaining top marks in her final exams as well as passing the highest level in pianoforte. She went to the Royal Academy of Music in London and after receiving her music degree she felt she should join the WRNS. So she marched into the Admiralty demanding to speak with the Admiral and stating her reasons for wanting to join. One of her duties was to be a projectionist for any naval training films that were being shown. And she was taught how to treat the fragile and volatile film that was made of nitrocellulose. One day a young sub-lieutenant wanted to show a reconnaissance film he had just shot and in her haste to get the film rolling she forgot to grease it. In an instant it went up
in flames. A tall, slim naval officer burst in, yelling at her for being so stupid, as a result of which, she burst into tears Realising what he had done, he then tried to comfort her and this was the beginning of a courtship between Olga and Paul. Because of her Greek family connections, Olga was now being trained to be dropped into Crete to spy on the enemy and by this time Olga had been made an officer.
During our childhood, she did not talk much about this time, and only told us that she often worked in Churchill’s bunker, and later, as a trial, she had been sent to Ireland. She had to, as she put it, get friendly and chat with certain people and find out what they were up to, then to report back to the Admiralty, the Government and to the Prime Minister. Paul and Olga married in February 1944 –in York at St Michael le Belfry. The next day they travelled to London where they were to have a second wedding ceremony, at the Greek Orthodox Church in Bayswater.
After the war Paul and Olga moved first to a large Victorian flat in Ealing, and then to Ainsdale Road, where the family lived for some 23 years. Later they moved to Gerrards Cross
Once her daughters had grown up and some left home, Olga took a job, her first since being married, at one of the airport hotels, working in the gift shop. Soon she was promoted as its manager and later at another hotel, with a larger gift shop. She always got a thrill when celebrities came into her shop. She even became friends with several football stars of the day, Kevin Keegan being one of her regular customers.
Olga also became a model and whatever she did, she always did it with great enthusiasm. She managed to pack so much into her 96 and a half years.
Olga was a loving wife to Paul, looking after him at home during his illness She was a wonderful mother, supporting us in all that we wanted to do, and a caring grandmother. She really was loved by all who met her.
Carrie Beeson
George Bunney
George Bunney was born in 1927 to Helen and John Bunney of Sydenham, South London. In 1932 the Bunney Family moved to Marston Croft in Amersham starting their long association with the town and Amersham Friends Meeting.
George followed his brother John (Jack) to Ackworth for the Summer term of
1938 and left in 1944. His sister, Elizabeth, joined him in 1941, whilst youngest sister Helen came in 1945 George was captain of a very successful cricket team in his final year and was president of AOSA for 1986-7. The family were strong supporters of the Easter Gathering for many years.
On leaving school George was articled to Bernard Wright, a past president of AOSA, of Robert H. Marsh & Co, another Ackworth and Quaker connection. He qualified as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1950 and in 1951 became a partner of Wood Drew & Co, alongside his father, and with which firm and its successors, he spent his whole working life. George specialised in auditing the accounts of utility companies and charity associations.
George registered as a conscientious objector and his National Service was spent working with Friends Relief Service in London. His period of articles was interrupted for three years, which he spent in catering due to his young age and finally on into the information and finance departments at Friends House.
George married Margaret Scaife at Clifford Street Meeting House, York, on 5 March 1955. Even though they were both Ackworth Old Scholars they met when they were delegates from London Yearly Meeting at a Young Friends Conference in America.
They lived in Chesham Bois and Amersham until 2017 raising six children. George and Margaret were very proud of their family. Their generosity of care, warmth, advice and resources have given an excellent start in life to 21 descendants over three generations as well as excellent hospitality to their wider family and friends
Alongside his family George had three main interests in his life: cricket, trains and the Society of Friends. He also took an active interest in the fortunes of Aston Villa and Chesham United. He joined Amersham Hill Cricket Club, and for over 40 years he played regularly for various ‘elevens’ before becoming an umpire. His greatest moment came in July 1969 when he scored 133 runs against Friern Barnet – over 100 of those were scored in boundaries. He served the club in many
capacities, notably as treasurer (29 years), and latterly as chairman and president. He still played for the President’s XI into his seventies.
As a lifelong member of the Society of Friends he served in many capacities at both local and national level: as clerk, treasurer, Registering Officer for Marriages for Jordans Monthly Meeting, and for the wider Society as Yearly Meeting Treasurer, and a Trustee to The Friend. He also served on the committees of Sibford School as Treasurer, Ackworth School and Friends School Brummana (Lebanon).
Helen and John Bunney believed in good manners, sticking to your word and serving your fellow man - morals that George, like his brother, followed right to the end of his life.
Mabel Croll (Teacher (1945-1953)
Mabel Croll was born in Edinburgh in 1922.. From the age of seven Mabel expressed her wish to become a teacher and in her final year at Tynemouth High School she was given the opportunity to undertake classroom experience in local schools
In 1940 she gained a place at Northern Counties College of Cookery and Domestic Science. There her main subjects were supported by studies in the Theory and Practice ducation, English, and Applied Science. She specialised in Advanced Needlework and Textiles in her final year. In 1943 the University of Durham awarded her a ‘Three Year Certificate in Domestic Science’ (with Credits). In 1945 she was offered a position at Ackworth School.
The Headmaster, Philip Radley, and the staff at Ackworth extended a warm elcome to Mabel and shequickly settled in to her ronment. She was accommodated with another member of staff in a cottage called Coram located just outside the school grounds. Occasionally one or two 6th form pupils resided there too. All meals were taken in school. In time she enjoyed the special friendship of staff members including Victor Mendham and his wife and family who lived in Ackworth Village, also Elizabeth Taylor, one of the administrative staff.
Domestic Science was only introduced to the curriculum of Ackworth School in 1943 and Mabel went on to further develop course content and delivery. Her
teaching included subjects in nutrition and food preparation, housecraft and needlework and she worked with Victor Mendham, one of the Science teachers, to develop an applied science element to support the work undertaken in domestic science. External examinations in the subject were offered at Ordinary and Advanced level.
As well as formal teaching Mabel spoke of 6th form boys in the 1940s and 50s working in her classroom, sewing on the machines which suggests that the School was ahead of many other schools in Britain, as it was the 1970s movement towards sex equality that resulted in the acceptance of boys in the domestic science area.
Mabel was a form teacher at Ackworth. At first the group was made up of girls only, but when the school became co-educational in 1946, the form included boys and girls with an accompanying male teacher. The boys and girls in the school remained separate and were not allowed to speak to each other during the week. However, after the Quaker Meeting on a Sunday they were permitted to walk and talk to each other for an hour.*
Whilst Mabel left Ackworth School in 1953, her interest in it never declined. She remained in touch with friends on the staff for many years and kept informed about the progress of the school, its staff and pupils via content in the Old Scholars’ Association literature. Today, a framed photograph of Ackworth staff and pupils runs the length of a shelf in her room. There is also a framed picture, produced by Mabel, showing the layout of the school and its grounds, a picture representing one that used to hang in Ackworth School entrance.
After eight years Mabel moved from Ackworth back to Northumberland to takeup a lecturing post in her former Domestic Science teacher training college. Throughout her teaching career Mabel built on her experience and proved that she was not only aformidable teacher, developing student knowledge and skill, but she also showed that she was adaptable and able to lead and manage new course developments and meet the uncomfortable challenges metered out by Government.
Mabel always had that special quality of focusing all her attention on the person to whom she was speaking, making them feel special and it could be one of the reasons why so many former students and teaching colleagues kept in touch. Some sent her a card or letter, some telephoned. Others called on her at her home or met her again at a student reunion— of which there have been many. Facebook presented an occasion in 2016 when Mabel met a group of old students marking fifty years since they left Northern Counties, and beneath a photograph of Mabel they wrote ‘Still Sharp as her Needles Were’, a phrase filled with meaning. At that
time Mabel was 94 years old.
From 1979 Mabel was pro-active in creating a new life for herself. She took-up voluntary work helping to teach adult literacy, taking books to people isolated in their homes, visiting those in care and nursing homes, in hospital and hospices. In addition the church played an important part in her life and charities were also a focus for her attention. At the same time Mabel cared for close family members when they suffered from failing health.
Whilst Mabel experienced difficulties with complex health problems in recent years she remained independent, her interests and activities hardly less than when she first retired. However, in 2017 her health deteriorated and she finally had to accept that she could no longer manage in her own home and no longer drive her beloved car. Instead, she now conducts her affairs from a care home, welcoming visitors and news from family and friends.
Angela Dale (scholar 1949-55)
After a long illness Angela Dale died on 17th May 2018. Angela was born in Nottinghamshire to James and Nora Dale and had many fond memories of growing up on their farm as the eldest sister to Rosemary, Carol, and Heather. She attended Ackworth School between 1949 and 1955. It was here she met Keith Daniel whom she subsequently married. After training at the Ilkley College of Housecraft she went on to teach domestic science. Angela and Keith have two daughters, Karen and Clare.
Angela was talented in so many ways and yet she was always self-effacing about this; her paintings were amazing; her embroideries beautiful; her sewing perfect and her cooking delicious. Many have commented on her dry and quick-witted sense of humour and her elegance, grace and resilience. They shone through, even during the difficult times.
Angela ensured she made the most of life, in particular embracing as much as she could over the last few years. Angela was a much loved mum, sister, grandmother, aunt, Friend and friend who contributed so much to so many. She will never be forgotten.
Janet Blann
Anne Fletcher (teacher 1949-60)
Anne died peacefully but unexpectedly on 10 January, aged 92. During her time at Ackworth, Anne taught and inspired many pupils in Maths.This was her first teaching job. She also joined pupils on regular camping trips to Alderney with the Natural History Society – an interest she continued throughout her life After leaving Ackworth she joined the Society of Friends and was an active member of both her Local Meeting at Sutton Coldfield and Central England Area Meeting.
Constance Gilbey (Ackworth School teacher of French 1955-62, and Housemistress of Girls’ School House 1959-62)
Constance Gilbey, who has died at 89, was a long standing teacher and senior manager in education, a West Yorkshire magistrate for 40 years and active in church and voluntary groups.
Born in Wakefield, her father, George Gilbey, was a well-known local figure She studied at Wakefield Girls’ High School and at Durham University where she graduated first in French and then as ateacher. She taught at Mundella Grammar School and Ackworth School before being appointed senior mistress at Ripon Grammar School. From Ripon she was appointed in 1968 as senior resident tutor at Sheffield City College. After her retirement in 1983 she moved back to Wakefield She was appointed to the bench in 1959 and was made an MBE for her services to the judiciary in 2000. In her retirement, she was an active member of the United Reformed Church at Zion, and later Flanshaw Chapels, and was committed to the Bible Society. She was a long term supporter of the Langley House Trust, for many years a trustee of the Brotherton Charity Trust, and a member of the Civic and Wakefield Operatic Societies. Her brother, John Gilbey, predeceased her and she is survived by her five nephews and nieces, their children and grandchildren.
John Frederick Hatter (Scholar 1948-53)
John Frederick Hatter was born on 6 November 1936 i Arnold, Nottingham to parents Harold and Gwendoline Hatter.
Upon Harold’s retirement in 1966, the family moved to Foxton in Leicestershire, where John lived until his sudde death in February 2019 aged 82. After leaving school John j RAF for National Service and was stationed at RAF Rudlow Manor in Wiltshire
He then joined Raleigh Bicycles in Nottingham and later moved on to the Nene and Ouse Water Board, which later became Anglian Water, where he worked until his retirement John was an active member of the Midland Guild of Ackworth Old Scholars.
Dr Mags Portman (Scholar 1988-91)
An Ackworth Old Scholar and one of the leading pioneers of a drug that prevents HIV has died from a rare form of cancer aged 44.
Dr Mags Portman was a prize-winning HIV consultant at London’s Mortimer Market Centre, a cutting-edge sexual health clinic She championed PrEP and helped bring about the biggest reduction in HIV diagnoses in British history long before the medical establishment. Leading figures from across the HIV sector have paid tribute to her “inspirational” work and dedication to patients as well as her limitless energy and humour. Dr Portman died at a hospice in her home town of Leeds. For two years she had been receiving treatment for mesothelioma, a cancer affecting the lining of the lungs.
Dr Portman was part of the team at the Royal London Hospital, who in 2014 delivered an internationally renowned study, proving beyond doubt PrEP’s efficacy. She later enabled fellow doctors to recommend the medication to at-risk patients and ensure they were monitored, before the NHS had made it available. She brought key PrEP activists into sexual health clinics to train doctors, and such interventions, in particular from 2015 to 2016, helped prevent thousands from becoming HIV-positive
While continuing to fight for PrEP however, Portman faced her own personal obstacle: mesothelioma. After 20 years as a doctor, having been both a GP and an HIV and sexual health consultant, she brought her passion for public health to the field of cancer, writing a blog where she charted the few highs and many lows of a little-known form of the disease. As well as keeping loved ones abreast of what was happening in her treatment, Portman hoped to educate and demystify the condition. She wrote of the horrors the chemo, exhaustion, weight loss, anxiety, and depression as well as the greatness of human compassion,
embodied in those around her, and delivered by the institution for which she devoted her career that now fought to preserve her life: the NHS
Portman’s former colleague at the Royal London Hospital, professor Chloe Orkin, chair of the British HIV Association, said: “Mags Portman will always be an unforgettable human being. Her deeply felt convictions translated into true activism an activism which helped to unite health professionals and the community to achieve PrEP for all. She has been widely recognised within her lifetime as being a prime mover, someone who has shaped the history of PrEP in the UK. It was a true privilege to work with her at the Royal London and to know her as a friend. She is loved by so many and will be so deeply missed.”
Dr Mags Portman is survived by her husband Martin and their children, Edward, and Freddie.
The name of her blog was ‘Not Doing Things By Half’ a name befitting her life.
Felicite Tomlinson (Scholar 2013-14)
We are very sad to learn of the sudden death of 18 year old Old Scholar Felicite Tomlinson, who attended Ackworth School as a boarder from January 2013 to September 2014. Our condolences to all her family and friends.
Ackworth School Old Scholars’ Association FULL
LIST OF PRESIDENTS
1882-83
Joseph Simpson
1883-84
William Coor Parker
1884-85
James Henry Barber
1885-86
Joseph Stickney Sewell
1886-87
Henry Thompson
1887-88
Thomas Pumphrey
1888-89
Joseph Pattison Drewett
1889-90
William Jones
1890-92
Henry Tennant
1892-93
Frederick Andrews
1893-94
Charles Brady
1894-95
Alfred Simpson
1895-96
Helen Bayes
1896-97
Sir James Reckitt
1897-98
Henry Ecroyd Clark
1898-99
Albert Linney
1899-1900
Mary Caroline Pumphry
1900-01
William Harvey
1901-02
John William Graham
1902-03
Robert Henry Taylor
1903-04
Rachel Oddie
1904-05
Alfred Henry Taylor
1905-06
Philip Burtt
1906-07
Joseph Firth Clark
1907-08
Septimus Marten
1908-09
Joseph Spence Hodgson
1909-10
Anna Louise Jackson
1910-11
William Whiting
1911-12
J. Travis Mills
1912-13
Samuel E. Brown
1913-14
Caroline C. Graveson
1914-15
W. Trevelyan Thomson
1915-16
Sheldon Leicester
1916-19
William Graveson
1919-20
Frederick Andrews
1920-21
Ellen M. Fry
1921-22
Charles H. Smithson
1922-23
Isaac Henry Wallis
1923-24
Harold Collinson
1924-25
Henry Binns
1925-26
Margaret Andrews
1926-27
William F. Nicholson
1927-28
Alfred E. Binyon
1928-29
Mary F. Hartley
1929-30
Edmund Henry Gilpin
1930-31
Walter Robert Bayes
1931-32
Gerald K. Hibbert
1932-33
Leila Sparkes
1933-34
Edgar B. Collinson
1934-35
Frank Ward
1935-36
Ernest Bowman Ludlam
1936-37
Jane H Williamson
1937-38
Thomas Foulds
1938-39
Joseph H. Lester
1939-40
Bertha Smith
1940-41
G. Noel Hyde
1941-42
Helen Andrews
1942-44
W. Arthur Cooper
1944-46
James Westwood
1946-47
Blanche M. Bennett
1947-48
Rowland C. Moore
1948-49
J. Stanley Carr
1949-50
Reginald Broomhead
1950-51
Eleanor Crosland
1951-52
Rex Yates
1952-53
Theodore W. Allen
1953-54
R. Percy Foulds
1954-55
Dorothy Mussell
1955-56
Bernard Wright
1956-57
A. Eric Ellison
1957-58
Lucy Binks
1958-59
James S. Lidbetter
1959-60
Ashton Watts
1960-61
Lucy O’Brien
1961-62
Eric Bellingham
1962-63
Arnold Sewell
1963-64
Elfrida V. Foulds
1964-65
Helen J. Neatby
1965-66
Arthur G. Olver
1966-67
Stanley G. Horner
1967-68
Ralph E. Handy
1968-69
Kathleen Binns
1969-70
Phillip Radley
1970-71
Donald Birkett
1971-72
Margaret Martin
1972-73
Phyllis M. Sadler
1973-74
Albert F. Lindley
1974-75
Stephen Burtt
1975-76
Mary Rogers
1976-77
Hilary W. Smith
1977-78
Roger Spinks
1978-79
Walter Fearnley
1979-80
Agnes Thompson
1980-81
Ian Bailey
1981-82
D. Keith Daniel
1982-83
Elisabeth F. Heywood
1983-84
John R. Postle
1984-85
Stephen Ward
1985-86
Mary Fulford
1986-87
George Bunney
1987-88
Molly Longley
1988-89
Colin Mortimer
1989-90
Peter Norris
1990-91
Margaret Postle
1991-92
Sheila Banks
1992-93
Celia Brebner
1993-94
Gordon Mckee
1994-95
Mary Robinson
1995-96
Michael Hargreave
1996-97
Anne Telford-Kenyon
1997-98
Margery Bunney
1998-99
Robert Gibson
1999-2000
Grace Hunter
2000-01
Christopher Moore
2001-02
Celia M. Ball
2002-03
Peter Lambourn
2003-04
Michael & Annabel McRobert
2004-05
Marguerite Hill
2005-06
Geoffrey R. Pedlar
2006-07
David J. Bunney
2007-08
Diana Chadwick
2008-09
Christopher Rengert
2009-10
Donald Elliott
2010-11
Martin Dickinson
2011-12
Shirley Day
2012-13 Stephen & Joyzelle Kelsall
2013-14
Christopher Jones
2014-15
Michael & Marjorie Bliss
2015-16
Peter Speirs
2016-17
Nicholas Seed
2017-18
Belinda Walters
2018-19 Aidan Mortimer
2019-20
Peter Causer