Hatfield Record 2021
Obituaries and Tributes WALTON BELL, Douglas (1959-63) Doug was born in early 1939 and lived in Kingsbury in north-west London. During the Second World War he was evacuated twice to live with relatives in the northeast of England where he attended the local school, where because of his London accent, some children called him a German. This was the beginning of his love affair with Durham. He went to Preston Manor Grammar School and while there he developed his passion for sport. A highlight of his school football career was when he once played against Jimmy Greaves. After leaving school he worked for a year in what he was later to describe as “a dead-end job”. He was encouraged by his school to apply to Hatfield College. He always said it was his good fortune to be accepted by one of the UK’s leading Geography departments. He decided to become a teacher and completed his Post Graduate Diploma again at Durham. At a later stage in his career, to his credit, Doug studied for a higher degree at the University of Sheffield gaining a M.Ed degree. After leaving Durham he taught for two years at South Shields Grammar School for Boys. He and Jenny married in December 1963 and their first home was in Whitley Bay. Doug always wanted to travel and in 1965 was appointed to St. John’s Technical School for Boys at RAF Episkopi in Cyprus. He taught Geography and was a staff
leader on expeditions to the Libyan desert and the Elburz mountains in Persia. In 1970 he became Head of Geography at King Richard School, Dhekelia. The family moved to Pergamos where they spent the next three years. On returning to England he became Sixth Form Master at Churchdown School, a post he was to occupy for 20 years, developing the size and scope of the Sixth form. At Hatfield he continued his enthusiasm for sport playing soccer for both Hatfield and for Durham Colleges. He was a speedy right winger who could deliver an accurate cross which yielded plenty of goals. On Wednesdays, his team would play in a local league in places such as Consett, South Shields, Gateshead, Sunderland, and Ryhope. On Saturdays, fixtures were against local Colleges and schools and against Teacher Training Colleges such as Leeds, York and Hull. While teaching in South Shields he played with a local team, the Bohemians. When in Cyprus he founded a team called the Academicals, the strip they played in was, of course, black and white after his beloved Newcastle United, the team he supported the whole of his life. After moving to Gloucestershire, he played for King’s FC eventually becoming their captain then manager. Doug was always interested in cooking. While still at school he started preparing meals for the family and quickly learnt that boiling potatoes in the same pan as peas, was not a good idea. He was a member of Laithwaites Wine Club and became very adept at choosing exceptionally good wines to complement his meals, through much practice. Over the last ten years Doug joined a group of former Hatfield students led by Roger Furniss and including Andy Blowers, Ron Bower, Bob Ensum, Jim Miller, Ron Carruthers and Tony Maxwell, that revisited Durham every year for three days taking in a day
127
