Obituaries

Geoffrey Thomas Orde (40-49)

Born 22 May 1931, died 27 September 2013, aged 82

Geoffrey Thomas Orde was born in Gosforth in 1931, followed in his elder brother John’s (38-47) footsteps in attending RGS, and was also later joined by his younger brother Denis (40-50).

Hitler was to directly impact upon Geoff’s (or ‘Peff’, as he was then known) childhood, for the school was evacuated to Penrith during the war. During this time he lodged with Miss Natrass – who owned a laundry in Penrith – and her housekeeper Marjorie; Geoff was forever indebted to them for their extraordinary generosity in providing a warm and caring environment so far from home, and he kept in touch with them for many years. His time in the ‘Lakes’ made a lasting impression upon him: a little early independence; the camaraderie of friendships which were to last him a lifetime; fell-walking; swimming in the River Eamont at the then Penrith Swimming Club, Frenchfield; and, so rumour has it, contributing to an accidental phosphorous fire in a train at Penrith Station. Geoffrey represented the school at boxing, swimming, diving, and rugby – he was by all accounts quite a robust competitor.

After leaving the RGS, Geoff read Agriculture at the University of Newcastle (then linked with Durham). Following university he underwent National Service with the Royal Air Force, during which time he was awarded his ‘wings’. Flying was to become a dominant part of his life, and he went on to fly – largely with the 607 (Co of Durham) Squadron – De Havilland Vampires and Gloster Meteors from a variety of bases, including RAF Ouston, RAF Middleton St George, and RAF Cottesmore. During this period of his life he married an old acquaintance from his schooldays: Central High girl, Anne Milburn.

Geoff later worked for the Newcastle Breweries, reporting directly to Colonel Porter (of Newcastle Brown Ale fame). However, he was to soon find greater satisfaction working for himself: he branched out into the hospitality industry and, amongst other businesses; he acquired the Schooner Hotel in Alnmouth and was licensee at the Ponteland Memorial Hall and Gosforth Civic Hall.

As well as being a devoted family man Geoff was also active in a whole host of community activities. He played fullback for, and later became President (78-79) of, Novocastrians RFC; he rose to the rank of President of the Northumberland He acted as a magistrate for 31 years, and ascended to the office of Chairman of the North Tyneside Juvenile Bench (the poor blighters didn’t stand a chance!)

In his late 50s he rejoined the Royal Air Force, flying ‘air experience flights’ for cadets (I suspect a euphemism for ascertaining whether they could withstand high Gs without vomiting!) in Chipmunks and Bulldogs out of RAF Leeming over the North Yorkshire countryside – an opportunity which he enjoyed immensely, and which I suspect gave him a new lease of life.

In his latter years he mastered the age-old Geordie art of growing vegetables, and once won the prize for Best Leek in Show at the Ponteland Memorial Hall – I am told he described this as the proudest moment in his life!

After his retirement, Geoff played a variety of roles in the Riding Mill Amateur Dramatics and Choral Societies, and was a keen participant in the Newcastle Aero Club. The Church was also to become a very important and integral part of his life.

Always a stalwart of the RGS way of life, he was a very keen participant in old boys’ events, and was to become president of the Old Novocastrians’ Association from 1984-1986. He was a volunteer helper at RGS school summer camps in the ’80s and early ’90s (I recall, when in my first year at school, a group of prefects congratulated me for having a father who “let them drink beer”!) He will of course be remembered by many Old Novos for being the driving force behind countless Penrith reunions – each one absolutely the very last…

In his latter years, Geoff suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, but remained true to his principles until the end. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his very loving and devoted family in Hexham General Hospital on 27 September 2013. He is survived by his wife Anne, his four children, Caroline, John (76-81), Lizzie, and Matthew (78-88), and 11 grandchildren.

By Matthew Orde (78-88)

The Orde brothers circa. 1940 (L-R) John (38-47), Geoff (40-49) and Denis (40-50)

David Barclay was born in Cambridge. He joined the Junior School in J3 in 1937, when his father became minister of the Presbyterian Church in North Shields, later becoming moderator of the Presbyterian Church in England. Evacuated to Penrith in 1939, he was at one time billeted at Roundthorn, one of the houses taken over by the school. He was always in the top form of his year. After School Certificate in 1944, he joined the Engineering sixth form and became a Senior Prefect, a Sergeant in the JTC and Head of Collingwood House, winning the School Engineering Prize.

After National Service, where he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery and served in the Suez Canal Zone, he went up to Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1949 with a large number of his school contemporaries, there he read Architectural Studies, served on the May Ball Committee and sang in the College Chapel Choir. More importantly he met his future wife, Joan Steen, the daughter of a Mathematics don. He completed his studies at the Birmingham School of Dr Joseph ‘Joe’ Edward Gordon (44-49)

Born 6 October 1933, died 19 June 2013, aged 79

Born into a medical family there was little doubt as to what Joe’s chosen career would be. After RGS; where Joe enjoyed all aspects of the social activities offered to the pupils; he studied medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Dublin and graduated in 1959. After graduating he came home from Ireland and completed two years of hospital appointments and one year of General Practice in Sunderland before returning to Seaton Burn to join his father’s practice. Dedicated to his profession he served on several medical committees striving for the improvement of medical care, believing in the National Health Service for the benefit of all. Living in a mining community Joe had a great admiration and understanding of the miners in this area, dealing with accidents underground and all related illnesses to the mining industry. Compassionate, kind and tolerant he took an interest in people and their lives far beyond the call of duty. Joe had a rare gift that enabled him to empathise with both young and old. In the ’70s he joined the staff of RIBA, leading a study tour to visit the Munich Olympic site. He became director of practice and was responsible for work in support of architects in practice, relations with government, and the construction industry. He retired in 1994.

He had a deep interest in music and enjoyed singing with the London Bach Society including tours to Bulgaria and East Germany. Even in his final illness he found the strength to go to his much loved Covent Garden. He became a Guildsman at St Brides Church in Fleet Street, where a Memorial Service was held. He was a Wandsman of St Paul’s Cathedral, later senior steward of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, and a Freeman of the City of London.

He attended his year’s class reunions, the London ONA Dinners and was a member of the exclusive Northumbria Club (see page 3).

David was a charming man, immaculately dressed, a wry sense of humour, a true gentleman of outstanding integrity. He will be missed.

By JC Emmerson (36-47) Joe loved life and had many interests and hobbies: life was not all medical and being on call. His love of cars, from sleek sports cars and the open road to four-wheel drive. Boating and the wonderful Kielder Yacht Club where rain or shine magical times were spent on the water and travelling on holiday with lifelong friends. Joe had a great appreciation for music and was an accomplished pianist enjoying both classical music as well as jazz. He was always busy with a project in hand, an enthusiastic gardener, photographer and DIY man.

Joe’s great passion was his family of which he was the heart. He was proud to have lived in The Villa, the house where he was born, all his life, a place where he found happiness and peace.

He left General Practice in 1993 and enjoyed 20 wonderful years of retirement. Busy and happy years of great fulfilment with the marriages of his son and daughter and the births of his grandchildren. Joe is survived by Ann his wife of 52 years, his children Andrew and Deborah and four grandchildren, Hector McGowan (02-09), Hamish, Rosanna and Huw.

Just before Joe went into hospital one evening we were together in the garden and Joe said, “I have had the most wonderful life, 80 happy years with blessings constantly showered upon us each day”. What more could one wish for?

By Ann Gordon

Peter G Elphick MBE (29-37)

Born 10 April 1920, died 23 October 2013, aged 93

Peter Elphick was very much a man of his time and whose life was underpinned by a strong belief in professional fairness, honesty and integrity, qualities that he championed and exemplified throughout his private and professional life.

He was educated at Akhurst and then the RGS. At the RGS he excelled in swimming and running and was on the school cross-country running team for the 1936-37 season. He won the Open Mile race in 1937.

At King’s College, Durham (based in Newcastle upon Tyne), Peter sat two parallel degrees, one in Architecture and one in the relatively young qualification of Town and Country Planning. He achieved distinctions in both degrees.

His university studies were interrupted in mid-term by the War. He was commissioned into the Royal Artillery and was initially stationed in London in charge of anti-aircraft guns based at Enfield, located in that area to defend the small arms factories during the 1941 Blitz.

After qualifying in the late 1940s (he was one of the first jointly qualified architects and planners in the UK) Peter took up the post of senior planning officer at the Royal Burgh of Edinburgh. He then moved to be appointed to the position of chief executive at W Dobson Chapman and Partners where he prepared the Advisory Plan for the City of Dundee and acted for the East Cheshire Area of Cheshire County Council as a planning advisor to the counties of the West From 1959 to 1962 Peter was appointed to be the author of a Comprehensive Survey and Master Plan for the world’s first private enterprise New Town at Cramlington in Northumberland. Peter’s plan was confirmed by the then Minister of Housing and Local Government without any modification. Throughout his planning career he carried on a very successful private planning consultancy with a success rate in Public Appeals and Written Representations in excess of 75%. On one occasion he appealed an appeal decision at the High Court and won.

He lectured to planning students at Newcastle University on planning appeals from the 1970s through to the end of the 1980s.

In conjunction with his successful planning services Peter developed his architecture business which continues today as MWE Architects. The firm was responsible for a wide range of projects including the relatively new concept of supermarkets for Laws Stores, shops, private and public sector housing, public and private sector schools, TA centres, pubs and hotels, sheltered housing, branches for banks and building societies and offices. His greatest passion and expertise lay in conservation and he was amongst the first post war conservation architects. In the 1950s, when it was not as fashionable as it is now, he fought for the retention of key historic parts of Newcastle including Lovaine Place, the Royal Arcade, Victoria Square, Windsor Crescent and Eldon Square that were all decimated by the new Central Urban motorway. At that time Peter joined and invigorated the local amenity society, the Northumberland and Newcastle Society, which was (and remains) primarily concerned with the natural and built environment. For many years he sat as Honorary Vice President of the Society for his efforts and contribution.

Peter’s best conservation and restoration projects were the restoration of Cragside Mansion at Rothbury and Gibside Chapel for the National Trust, and three private houses: Cheeseburn Grange, Meldon Park, Morpeth and Beaufront Castle, Hexham. He produced a new design for the Northern Counties Club in Hood Street, Newcastle, set behind an existing façade in the pure Greek style of the Victorian architect John Dobson. This very traditionally designed project was commended in the national list of finalists for the Times/RICS Awards in 1972.

In addition to his architectural and planning work Peter felt an obligation to ‘give something back’ to his profession and the business community. He represented the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) and the then Tyne and Wear Chamber of Commerce on Newcastle upon Tyne Council’s Conservation Area Advisory Committee from 1971. He sat as a member of the Council of the RIBA at Portland Place in London and was Chairman of their Professional Conduct

Committeeat the very difficult time when the ‘Poulson Affair’ came to light. After ending his term dealing with conduct matters he later sat on the RIBA Performance Committee. He continued into his 70s as a professional practice advisor to the RIBA Northern Region. He helped set up and acted as an external examiner and lecturer to the Professional Practice course at the Department of Architecture at Newcastle University from the 1970s to 1989.

For his services to architecture he was awarded the MBE in 1993.

He was appointed President of the Tyne and Wear (now North East) Chamber of Commerce from 1976 to 1978.

Latterly in life, Peter maintained a high level of fitness for his age and he played squash for the Northumberland County Veterans team (over 50) up to the age of 69. His recreational time was split into seasons: he rode with the Braes of Derwent hunt in winter and sailed his Lazer dinghy in his favourite tidal creeks around Burnham Overy Staithe in north Norfolk every summer. After the loss of his wife Judy, in 1993 he took up cooking by necessity but became most proficient and approached a recipe as he would expect a builder to follow his detailed specifications.

Peter is survived by his daughter, Anne and his son, Richard and four grandchildren, Christopher, Peter, Clem and Rupert.

By Richard G Elphick

Robert ‘Bob’ Douglas (48-56)

Born 30 March 1937, died 20 June 2013, aged 76

I would like to add to Don Buchanan’s (48-56) obituary (see issue 89)since Bobby Douglas was a close friend of Phil Brantingham (51-56) and me outside school. We lived close to one another, with another circle of friends. Bobby was an outstanding example of the value of the Direct Grant Grammar School system. His parents were working class Tory, living in a council pre-fab near Four Lane Ends. He passed the RGS entrance and was able to transfer his 11+ scholarship, got his cross-country colours, became Head Boy, went up to Oxford and became an outstanding deputy head in the state system.

By Gordon Hutt (46-57 )

Clifford Vernon Walters (48-55)

Born 4 December 1936, died 29 August 2013, aged 76

It is with deep sadness that I inform you of my husband’s death. He attended the RGS 1948-1955, representing the school at boxing, cricket and rugby. He subsequently served in the Overseas Civil Service in Northern Rhodesia, studied for a degree in History and Politics at York University and was a brilliant schoolmaster, and housemaster in Woodbridge School, Suffolk, St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown, South Africa, and latterly at King William’s College on the Isle of Man. He is the adored father of our children, Catherine and Thomas, and the dearly loved grandfather to five grandsons. He will be truly missed by all who knew and loved him.

By Rosemary Walters

Peter Henry Dickinson MBE (31-39) born 1922, died 11June 2013, aged 90.

Raymond Dobson (27-37) born 1919, died 7 June 2013, aged 93. At school he captained both the Cricket XI and 1st XV.

W Ray Eden (32-36) born 1921, died 20 January 2014, aged 92.

Kenneth Norman Green (37-39) born 1925, died 24 July 2013, aged 88.

John Stewart Green (44-50) born 1932, died 3 November 2009, aged 77.

Kenneth Thompson Hall (33-38) born 1923, died 21 May 2013, aged 90.

Ephraim Hall Robson (38-39) born 1926, died 3 August 2013, aged 86.

Michael Thomas Ryle (36-46) born 1927, died 7 December 2013, aged 86.

Kenneth Turnbull Sawyers (32-43) born 1924, died 24 November 2013, aged 89.

Donald Kirkpatrick Smith (32-39) born 1920, died 30 September 2012, aged 92 (see issue 88). Bryan Stevens (44-49) writes: ‘A notable athlete at school; he was in the 1st XI, 1st XV, the Tennis VI and captain of boxing. He gained a boxing blue at Cambridge’.

Robert Harley Taylor (36-40) born 1928, died 9 November 2013, aged 85.

Paul Lazlo Torday (54-64) born 1946, died 18 December 2013, aged 67.

Arthur Ian Tweddle Walker (44-46) born 1929, died 21 January 2013, aged 83.

Geoffrey Bruce Wheeler (45-48) born 1930, died 30 December 2013, aged 83.

ONA Diary dates

London ONA Annual Dinner

Friday 14 March 2014 Guest Speaker: Timothy Kirkhope MEP (53-62)

British politician, former governor of the RGS and former President of the ONA, Timothy Kirkhope MEP (53-62) will speak at the Dinner sharing insights into his political career to date. He is the Conservative MEP for Yorkshire and The Humber, Co-ordinator and Conservative Spokesman for Justice and Home Affairs, Vice Chair of the Special Committee on Organised Crime, and Member of the Culture and Education Committee in the European Parliament. He works in Europe for Yorkshire and The Humber. Timothy, a lawyer, lives in Harrogate and was formerly a partner in a Newcastle legal practice. He holds a pilot’s licence.

Friday 14 March 2014 at the RAF Club. Please see details on the ONA website at http://ona.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk/ news-and-events.aspx or telephone the Development Office on 0191 212 8909 for further details. Deadline for reservations is Friday 28 February 2014. Price £50/£40 (£40 if aged 30 or younger, or 80 or over).

The Royal Grammar School Masonic Lodge

Meets monthly, October to March (except January) The RGS Masonic Lodge was founded in 1956 and meets each month from October to March (exc. January) within the school’s premises. Anyone requiring information on membership should contact the Hon. Secretary David Powell (59-64), telephone: 0191 285 9292, email: davidxpowell@btinternet.com

Netball Match ONA v RGS 1st VII

Saturday 29 March, RGS at 11:00am

Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural ONA v RGS Netball match, female ONs will take on the RGS 1st VII Senior Girls’ Netball team again this year. If you are interested in playing, please contact ona@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk. Your support would also be most welcome if you wish to come along and cheer on this year’s ONA team!

Senior Choir & RGS Community Choir Performance

Early May Following the restoration of the school organ last summer (see page 3), the Senior Choir will be performing Haydn’s Little Organ Mass (Missa Brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo/Kleine Orgelmesse) at a concert in early May. Old Novos, RGS staff, parents and friends who enjoy singing will also be participating in this concert alongside our Senior Choir in the form of an RGS Community Choir.