ALMONDBURIAN MARCH 2025

The A LMONDBURIAN T h e M ag a z i n e o f T h e a l M o n d b u r i a n s ’ s o c i e T Y

March 2025

IN THIS ISSUE 3 farewell, Jack Taylor (1932-2024) 6 Jack Taylor: a tribute 8 Jack Taylor: my very dear friend 12 Jack Taylor: after-dinner speaker 14 a word from your chairman 16 from the study 18 Membership 20 almondburians’ society calendar 21 spotted 22 annual general Meeting 2025 26 accounts 2023-24 27 executive officers 2025 30 annual dinner 34 founders’ day service 35 every picture tells a story 36 The history of fireworks 39 sudoku 40 crossword 41 The almondburian Poets 42 The huddersfield of Yesteryear…

44 …and Tomorrow 45 back to the drawing board 46 a Yorkshireman in america 50 Meanwhile, back at the school 52 chocks away! We take to the air 57 badminton/Tennis 58 golf: gothard cup 2025 59 obituaries

The editor dave bush graham cliffe Walter raleigh ian rimmer andrew haigh

rev ron lancaster Mbe hérisson

roger sykes charlie starkey roger dowling andrew haigh robin Merchant

Opinions expressed by contributors to The Almondburian do not necessarily reflect the views of The Almondburians’ Society

(Opposite): A photograph by Dave Bush of the School House in winter .

2

The ALMONDBURI AN Editor: Roger Dowling

March 2025

The magazine of the Almondburians’ Society

Farewell Jack Taylor (1932-2024)

a

T HE EDITOR

ll almondburians will be saddened by the news that Jack Taylor, one of our most supportive and respected members, died on 2nd december. This special issue of The Almondburian contains tributes from colleagues who knew him well and worked – and played – with him over many years.

sadly, i never knew Jack as a teacher: he started at King James’s grammar school in 1959, the year i left. My own contact with him has therefore been exclusively in connection with almondburians’ society activities. born in oldham, he attended holme Valley grammar school and graduated with an external degree in zoology. his teacher training was at the institute of education in london and he then taught 3

briefly at a comprehensive school in coventry and at royds hall grammar school before being appointed to the position of head of biology at KJgs in 1959. he always claimed that his appointment was largely down to the fact that headmaster harry Taylor shared his love of cricket, and Jack soon became involved in coaching and house cricket activities. outside school, he played at Kirkburton cricket club for 25 years. he also had a 30-year acquaintance with the central YMca soccer team as a player and administrator.

Jack was a superbly effective and wellliked teacher. at Jack’s funeral, graham cliffe (1959-66) explained that his popularity with the boys stemmed from the fact that they knew that at some point, during every lesson, he would make them laugh. bryan hopkinson (1967-74) recalls: Jack Taylor: Where in the female is the sperm released? Hopkinson?

Hopkinson (floundering): The fallopian tubes, sir?

Jack Taylor: That’s stretching it a bit... outside school life, Jack threw himself into a wide range of almondburians’ society activities. during the 1980s he played an influential role as chairman of the old almondburians’ society, at a time when the future of the school was in some doubt. he was a member of the old almondburians’ society executive committee and former chairman of the old almondburians cricket club, turning out to play regularly and later occasionally as an umpire.

Jack retired in 1997 and took great pride in the fact that he was the second

longest serving teacher at King James’s grammar school, a record only surpassed by rev samuel brook, headmaster from 1727-71. for me, Jack was an excellent source of reliable information about every aspect of life at KJgs and KJs: he had an excellent memory which he was lucky to retain to the end. in 2006 i interviewed him for the website* and as part of the chat we toured the school; he was an excellent and authoritative guide to the many building developments that had taken place since my own departure in 1959. in 2008, the old almondburians’ society decided to make an extended video about the history of the school to mark its 400th anniversary and Jack was the obvious choice as presenter†. We shot sequences around the school, including visits to his beloved cricket field in arkenley lane – where he obligingly donned his old cricket sweater in the interests of authenticity – and Woodsome hall where he managed a hole in 1 (albeit at a range of only three feet) to demonstrate the immediate success of the school’s petitioners in achieving the letters Patent and charter in 1608. in the following pages, Dave Bush contributes a personal tribute to his close friend and colleague over many years (pages 6-7). Graham Cliffe’s eulogy, delivered at the funeral service, is on pages 8-11, and on pages 12-13 we record some of the many examples of his fine oratory. *The interview with Jack Taylor is on our website at www.asoc.org.uk/audio3.php. † The video Floreat Schola - the story of an Historic Yorkshire School is on the website at www.asoc.org.uk./school.php.  4

Jack Taylor: A tribute DAV E BU SH i have always known that it would most likely come to this but i have dreaded it. The chances were that i would be invited to write an obituary to Jack Taylor. it is an undoubted honour – yet dreaded for two reasons. firstly it would mean that my dearest friend had died and secondly that whatever i wrote would be inadequate. as i begin my tribute, i have one picture foremost in my mind. it’s a dull and darkening friday evening. i am waiting at the old Kitchen entrance to have a lazy lift from roger l’amie or angela Melling who will drop me off at foxglove road, a mere 20 minutes’ walk away. as i wait, down the slope from the playing fields comes Jack Taylor pounding his way after a long run. how i admire his strong will and dedication to fitness which kept him so active in so many fields until late in life! a microcosm of the man.

Jack and i taught together at King James’s for 35 years. he started in 1959, two years before i,

and finished in 1997, the year after my early retirement. We were always very close, epitomised when his first wife, Joyce was dying of cancer. during this time i learnt the value of ‘companionable silence’. We would meet in my room, the three of us, Jack, dave gregson and i. We would hold hands, dave would lead with a prayer and silence would ensue. i believe Jack gained much strength and solace from these occasions. i found them very moving and binding. such a contrast to the Jack as most people will remember him. he was a man so full of life – and enormously humorous. The stories about him are innumerable, often centred around the biology lab. he was known to leave the lab and return via the window. he would detach the tube from the fire extinguisher near the blackboard and speak down it. it was, he explained, a direct line to the headmaster’s study.

Then there was the occasion when secretary doreen hinchliffe rang him to say that the head, alan 6

conley, was coming to see him.

Would Jack discreetly mention that his fly was undone? When alan left Jack rang her to confess that his courage had failed him. it never did on the football field.

Jack’s defensive tactics were, shall we say euphemistically, uncompromising. anything above daisy height was a legitimate target.

When refereeing, which he did into his seventies, he adopted the same approach. “Play on” was his regular cry. it was said that if a player went down with a broken leg, Jack would say, “it’s only a flesh wound. Play on.” despite his fastidious approach to a healthy and law-abiding life style – i can still picture him in the school dining room cutting off every bit of fat from his meat – things did not always work out as he would have liked. he had to have a stent inserted, which annoyed him intensely. as a driver who slowed almost to a stop even to mount the speed humps in almondbury village, he once received a speeding fine. Judith, ithis wife and rock, recounts that on opening the letter she thought he was going to have a heart attack. recollections flood in. he always used the same bowl for his break-

fast, banana and shredded Wheat. imagine his reaction on discovering that son, Jonathan had used it the previous night for a curry. his basso profundo contribution to our barber shop quartet was a delight, i can easily bring to mind his rendering of ‘Just a wearying for you’. i could fill a whole magazine with such memories but over and above all it must be recognised and recalled that Jack was an outstanding teacher. his iron discipline, always tempered by good humour, was appreciated by all. countless doctors, zoologists, biologists and dentists are indebted to Jack for their successful careers, while the less academic were never written off. The extracurricular scientific and Philatelic societies were his passion. in conclusion, i invite you to recapture your personal memories of this great man in a special way. i suggest you choose a dank, darkening, december day. stand on the top football field. stretch your ears and your imagination.

There’s a real possibility you will hear reverberating down the farnley Valley, “Play on!”  l farnley lines will return in our July issue.

7

eu l ogY

Jack Taylor: my very dear friend Former Almondburians’ Society chairman and close friend since childhood GRAHAM CLIFFE delivered the Eulogy at the funeral service at Park Wood Crematorium, Elland on 19th December 2024.

PreParing a eulogy is never a straightforward exercise, especially if the subject is someone you've known for almost 70 years. at different times in his long and distinguished and happy life, Jack Taylor was my hero, then he was my teacher, then he was my teammate, and latterly, a dear friend. in the mid-1950s, my late father, Joe cliffe, was the team manager at huddersfield YMca soccer team, and because nepotism was rife in the YMca, i was appointed team mascot. it was exciting, i was allowed to run out with the team, at a time when the sum total of my ambition in life was to play for that team. When i was older, the team members were my heroes, all of them. a very young Jack Taylor began to play when he was available. for a time, national service got in the way, and a brief period of teaching in coventry. it is said that occasionally the club secretary would write to Jack’s commanding officer, inviting him to give Jack a weekend pass if the YMca had an important game. it rarely worked. but as soon as he was permanently based in huddersfield, he became an integral part of a very successful team, and therefore very definitely one of my heroes. Jack was a strong and aggressive defender, but one who was capable of dis-

arming any referee who might think of calling him out for the occasional late tackle, by the simple expedient of helping his stricken opponent back to his feet, while saying at the same time, “oh sorry ref!” in that deep and cultured voice of his. his, you understand, was well before the days of yellow cards.

1959 was a notable year for Jack. That’s when he joined the staff at King James's grammar school, a school that he served faithfully for the next 38 years. at that time it was a small boys’ grammar school, and by coincidence i joined the school at the same time as he did. i was the nervous new boy, and my hero suddenly became my teacher. and in the formal atmosphere that prevailed in those days, all schoolmasters had to be addressed as ‘sir’, so my hero became ‘sir’ for the next few years.

Jack was a very popular teacher. his main subject was biology, which he taught with a mixture of iron discipline and great humour. his lessons were eagerly anticipated by the boys. he was the most imitated schoolmaster in the school, and all impressions of him were affectionate ones. his popularity with the boys stemmed from the fact that they knew that at some point, during every lesson, he would make them laugh. Those who knew Jack well will understand that the module on the reproductive 8

system of the rabbit was a wonderful source of amusement when taught by Jack Taylor. his performance – and it was a performance – was worthy of an experienced stage actor. i well remember him setting us the task of sketching the reproductive system of the rabbit, and all was deadly quiet as Jack crept along the rows of boys, looking over their shoulders to assess their efforts. until the silence was suddenly shattered as Jack, seemingly taken aback by one boy's version of the subject, exclaimed, “hey lad, have you ever seen a rabbit with a penis like that?” The class was convulsed and it was a couple of minutes before order could be restored. however, whilst things were going very well at school, the early 1970s were to prove to be the hardest of times for Jack when his first wife, Joyce, became ill and died in 1973. it was, of course, a devastating blow for him and for Jonathan, neil and Michael. it’s only in the last couple of years that Jack has expressed to me just how difficult a time that was for him and for his sons, and he told me how grateful he'd been for the support that he received at that time from his colleagues, especially dave bush and david gregson. but life was just as difficult for Judith because at the beginning of 1974, her first husband, gordon, died as a result of a tragic accident, and she was left with two daughters, helen and alison,

then aged five years and three years respectively. Judith relied heavily on the support from her parents at that time. she lived with them for a time as she endeavoured to cope with their loss.

Jack and Judith already knew of each other through a tenuous family link. both were struggling with their grief and they had much in common. They shared their experiences and eventually their friendship deepened into a love that sustained them through 48 years of married life.

They moved into a large house in outlane when they were married in 1976. it was a busy house, it was a busy life, with initially five children between the ages of 16 and 6. in their retirement years, Jack and Judith have had time to reflect and i know have rightly felt a real sense of pride and satisfaction that all of their children have done well: they've prospered while holding down positions of real responsibility and they now have children of their own. Jack and Judith together have been wonderful role models for their children. our years as teammates actually began whilst i was still at school, when i was given my first game for the first team at

Outside his busy life as a teacher, Jack had a long association with Kirkburton Cricket Club. He is at the centre of the back row when they received the Sykes Cup in 1964.

9

Old Almondburians’ Cricket First XI: Jack is holding the divisional cup won in 1981. Graham Cliffe is on the back row, second left.

the first signs of hypothermia. he did himself no favours because it was 400 yards back to the barn. he was found at the end of the game, shivering and soaking wet, in a corner of the barn, quite unable to remove his own kit and he needed help to dress himself.

That incident was memorable because in later years it provided the yardstick for Jack Taylor's assessment of any player he thought might have a suspicious level of skill on the ball. coupled with a questionable resolve to get stuck into the opposition when it was necessary to do so. someone that Jack might describe as a bit of a fancy dan’. he would look thoughtfully at such a player and then he would say, “You know, i’m not sure he could do it at scapegoat hill in february.“ for Jack on the field, there was no such thing as a lost cause. he always gave 100%. and it was the same when he played cricket. The skills he’d acquired as a young man at Kirkburton cricket club, playing in a high standard of cricket, were put to good use when he joined the old almondburians’ cricket club. he played as a mean, medium-paced bowler, capable of tying down and frustrating batsmen who were trying to score quickly. i remember him taking 7-19 in a game in which he played at the age of 68: quite

the YMca. suddenly playing alongside my hero and my teacher, it raised the question of course of what i was going to call him if i wanted him to pass the ball to me. i opted for ‘sir’, much to the amusement of several of our team members, until at half time he took me gently to one side and explained how things were going to work in the future. over the years we’ve played scores of games together, all around the huddersfield area and in all sorts of conditions. one memorable game was played away at scapegoat hill united on a bitterly cold february day. for those not familiar with local geography, i should explain that scapegoat hill is just about the highest point in the Pennines outside huddersfield. it’s a forbidding place, even on a warm summer's day. after changing for the match, we emerged from the barn, which they laughingly referred to as a changing room, only to find that there was a really fierce wind. and as we kicked off, it started to hail. after about 30 minutes, one of our players could take no more of these conditions and simply walked off in the direction of the barn, showing 10

some performance. Whilst he had no great aspirations as a batsman, he did on one occasion strike two sixes in the final over of a low-scoring cup match – and they proved crucial to our success that day. and he also had an endearing habit of searching out the tea ladies when we played in an away game. he would always go to thank them personally for the tea that they had prepared – and they loved him for that. he could be a smooth operator when he wanted. in short, he was a great team-mate: someone you'd always want on your side. he was hugely respected by opposing teams, who used to ask after him, even long after he’d retired.

Throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, he advanced at school to the role of director of studies. The school had changed considerably. it was much larger. girls had been admitted for the first time in the late 1970s. and at the end of his career, it was a coeducational, comprehensive school. he was still running a very successful department, helping young men and women towards university entrance and rewarding careers beyond that. i think that today, in our national health service, there must be countless doctors, dentists, nurses, physios, paramedics, etc whose interest in the biological sciences was first stimulated in Jack Taylor's lab at King James school. about 15 years ago, in the course of my own work, i had to consider a report by a working party set up by the royal college of

ophthalmologists to look into something called ‘shaken baby syndrome’, a type of child abuse. only the most eminent medical consultants are chosen to lead committees of that type. in this case, the chairman was a man called harry Willshaw, another one who began his professional journey in Jack Taylor’s lab. in his later years after retirement, Jack served as a school governor. he refereed and umpired school matches into his seventies. and he continued with his after-dinner speaking. his masterpiece, of course, was a story about the Two Ton Thames Trader travelling with two tons of toilet tissue from Tiverton to Totnes. To my everlasting shame, i can’t remember how that finished – but it was the anticipation of the story and the delivery that so entertained his audience.

Jack always kept himself fit as a younger man, and it was frustrating for him when his love of walking was eventually curtailed. but his mind was always sharp. even recently, he was able to recall details of matches that we played in together 55 years ago, including the names of teammates. and his comments on life in school became a little less guarded with the passage of time. and that made them all the more interesting and amusing for me. i’m going to miss him more than i can say. but whenever i think about him, it will always, always be with a smile on my face. goodbye, dear friend.  11

r ac onT e ur

Jack Taylor: after-dinner speaker No tribute to Jack Taylor could be complete without examples of the dry and often self-deprecating humour – delivered in stentorian tones – that made him a firstchoice speaker at Almondburian events over the years.

“ “

Your chairman has just said to me, “Would you like to speak now, or shall we wait a little longer and let them continue enjoying themselves?”

“ “ “

it wasn’t all that long ago that dave bush’s mother said, “get up, you’re going to be late for school, david”. dave said, “i don’t like school, mother. “ his mother said, “i really think you ought to go, son. You are the deputy head.”

I remember when I made my debut with the Old Almondburians’ Soccer Club I was welcomed by Geoff Riley.

Geoff said: “We train on four evenings a week.”

I said: “Four evenings a week, that’s a lot, isn’t it Geoff?”

He said: “Well, we usually have some form of entertainment after the training session. On Tuesday evening, we have a poker school.”

I said: “But I don’t play cards.”

He said: ”Well, on Wednesday evening, we have a boozer.”

I said: “I don’t drink all that much. “ He said: “On Thursday evening, we have a few girls in.”

I said: “I’m not interested in girls.”

He said: “You’re not gay, are you?”

I said: “Certainly not!”

He said: “Oh, well, there goes Friday night as well.”

I do feel rather claustrophobic on the top table, surrounded as I am by lawyers. In fact, I feel distinctly uneasy. That's because I find most lawyers are like rhinos.

They're short-sighted, they're thick-skinned, they're horny, and they're always ready to charge.

” ” ” ” ”

did you see the newsflash on TV earlier this evening? The person who hid lord lucan and shergar has been identified. Yes, it was dave bush. They were found in the Jessop house trophy room.

12

“ “

The house system still remains. in fenay, there are people out there who will know that there is no person allowed to say there's nothing wrong with defeat. The only person allowed to say that is nelson Mandela's chiropodist.

Graham [Cliffe] was mowing the square at Arkenley, and unfortunately the mower broke down.

He says: “My bloody mower’s broken. I know what I’ll do - I'll go over to Reg Carter’s [an Almondburian who lived across the road]. That’s what I’ll do. I’ll tell him: ‘My bloody mower’s broken down. And I’ll ask him if I can borrow his. That’s what I'll do.’ ” But then he thought: “Well, what’s Reg going to say? Reg will say: “You’ve broken your lawnmower, have you, Graham? Then it’s highly likely you’re going to break mine. That’s what he'll say. “ So Graham went over to Reg’s and knocked on the door.

When Reg came to the door. Graham looked him in the eyes and said: “You can stuff your bloody mower.”

“ “ “

Mr Chairman, you spring it on me this evening that you want a few minutes from me, then get off so we can get on with the real speeches. “Only speak for as long as you normally bat, which is never more than five minutes. “ in the very early days, i remember a young lad tripping along the corridor and i said, “boy! What is your name?” he said, “norman.“ i said, “norman what?” he said, “norman Pearson.” i said, “norman Pearson what?” he said, “but i haven't got another name.” i said, “When i speak to you, your name is norman Pearson sir. “ a few days later, same lad tripping down the same corridor. “boy!

“Where are you going?” he said, “norman Pearson sir!” it was reported to me that someone was smoking in the boys' toilets. So I went to investigate. I could see the cubicle with the blue haze rising above the cubicle door. I banged on the door.

I said, “Boy! Put that cigarette out. Come out and identify yourself.”

And a deeply resonant bass voice said, “I’m on the toilet. I’m one of the builders.“ I said, “I do beg your pardon. May I get you an ashtray?”

13

” ” ” ” ”

A word from your Chairman WALT ER R ALEI G H This is always an important time for the society.

The agM, moved from January to february this year because of school closure caused by a heavy snowfall, allows us to reflect on the success or otherwise of the society’s two major social events of the year, the friday founders’ day service in all hallows’ and the annual dinner held in school. at the agM we also discussed the direction we want to take the society in the coming year. as regards to the church service and dinner i can report that both took place as scheduled and were a pleasure to attend. however, the relatively small number attending the dinner, fewer than 50 this year, inevitably raises the question of whether it is sustainable in its present form. This low attendance was not new. is the annual dinner sustainable in its present form? over the last few years fewer and fewer have made the event a priority in their social calendar.

We have not been alone as a society in seeing this decline in attendance at formal dinners. in huddersfield numerous sporting organisations have stopped holding dinners, replacing them with less formal ‘Presentation events’. it would appear the younger generation do not care for these

dinners and are voting with their feet.

This is one of the issues we addressed at the agM. for what it is worth, my view is we should try holding the event as a lunchtime event. The advantages of this are that members could have a look round the grounds of the school as well as the usual indoor tours. an event at this time of day would allow and encourage more participation by school students and staff, which would be a wonderful addition to the event. it would also, of course, no longer need us to turn out in the dark on a cold and wet november evening. next year, 2026, marks the golden anniversary of the school in its present form as a comprehensive. Perhaps this celebration might be an appropriate time to move the dinner/lunch event to July rather than november. This would spread the main events of the society from both being in the autumn Term yet still allow us to celebrate founders’ day at the traditional time in november. i am also assured, if the event took place near the end of term in July more staff would be likely to attend, something all members of the society, would welcome. however, they are simply my thoughts and remember it is Your society. so please let us have your views by complet-

Is the Annual Dinner sustainable in its present form?

14

ing the panel below and returning it to us, or by submitting the same form on the website at www.asoc.org/uk/dinnerquestionnaire.php. as i said at the beginning, January gives us an ideal opportunity to focus on what we feel are the priorities of the society this year. i have a number i feel we should press on with: l We need to continue the recent excellent collaborative work with school staff. at little cost much progress has been made. l We need to develop our presence at Presentation evenings and support for prizes. l We need to engage further with rob clegg at the West Yorkshire archive service. now the archives have been catalogued we need to move to get them digitised so we can all access them from our homes. and finally, it would be remiss of me to

end this column without mention of the passing of my dear friend and colleague, Jack Taylor. in the preceding pages of the magazine you will have seen tributes to this wonderful man but i feel i’d like to say a few further words.

Working with Jack for almost 30 years was both a delight and a learning experience. his presence at any event made everyone feel safe and comfortable. We all watched and admired how he quietly took control of situations where there might be dozens of children. he was loved by everyone. i never heard anyone say a bad word about him, children, staff or parents. he will be remembered for his professionalism but also his brilliant sense of humour. i knew no-one like him. he will be missed by all and the world is a poorer place without him.

May i take this opportunity to send my sincere condolences to Judith and all the family. 

The Annual Dinner: please let us have your views Your Committee is concerned that the numbers attending the Annual Dinner are falling year by year, and we are approaching the point where it could become unviable in financial terms. It has also been suggested that Dinners in general have perhaps become less fashionable these days, and that there is a tend towards more informal occasions. We would like you views, please.

We believe there are four options: 1. Continue with the present Annual Dinner in November.

2. Continue to hold the event in November but as a less formal daytime Luncheon.

3. Move the Annual Dinner from November to July 4. Hold a Luncheon in July.

Your Committee requests members’ view on these four options. Simply tick one or more boxes of your choice and post this form to The Almondburian, Orchard House, Oughtrington Lane, Lymm WA13 0RD. Alternatively, your can complete the same form online at www.asoc.org.uk/dinnerquestionnaire.php or simply text 1, 2, 3 or 4 to 07815601447

15

From the study I AN R I MMER (Pri n ci pal ) The 2024 GCSE results show an upward pattern with really positive strides in certain areas, though Attainment figures nationally have dropped because of realignment of grades with pre-Covid figures. But here at KJS things are definitely on the up.

MY contributions entitled From the Study could, perhaps, lead one to the conclusion that my role exists entirely in that space. and whilst much of my work does, indeed, take place in my office, there is a real need for me to get out and around school to get a true sense of what things are like ‘on the front line’. being on duty at lunchtime in the dining hall and playing my part in the senior team ‘on call’ rota every day go a little towards being visible to students and staff, and towards me getting that temperature check of how things are around school. in previous roles, in previous schools, i recall sometimes viewing senior staff as “sitting in their ivory towers”, cut off from ‘the real world’ when frustrations about how school was functioning spilled over for those of us doing ‘the real work’ teaching children in classrooms. interestingly, i discovered that the idea of a tower of ivory became popular thanks to the King James bible (1611), where the

song of solomon says “thy neck is as a tower of ivory”. but when i am otherwise occupied in administrative matters, as is increasingly the role of headteachers these days, some of that time is spent in meetings with colleagues on what one might describe as educational issues and some of it on business-related matters. for the school is, of course, a business. a business that, like any other, must be a ‘going concern’. our books are audited annually to check for financial impropriety, but also to see if we are managing our budget and planning for the future effectively, maintaining our facilities and premises and generally getting best value for the public money to which we are entrusted. of course, at King James’s school, i am dependent for much of that work on our school business Manager (sbM), Alison Hardwick, who after more than 21 years’ service will be leaving us in february. as sbM, alison is a senior associate member of staff who manages the administrative and financial aspects of the school. her responsibilities, 16

Photos: Jenny Sanderson

which she has fulfilled diligently over the years, include l advising me and the governors on our financial position and helping inform future financial policy; l managing the school’s budget, including forecasting income and expenditure, monitoring financial performance, and making strategic decisions; l procuring external services, such as cleaning and catering, and negotiating contracts with external service providers; l having oversight of facilities and premises, and health and safety. alison also played a central part in the recent expansion of the school site. all in all, she has worked tirelessly over the years to make King James’s school a better place.

budgets are, of course, a troubling issue for most schools, and arguably most public sector institutions, at the moment. according to the institute for fiscal studies (ifs) report ‘School spending in England: a guide to the debate during the 2024 general election’ published in June this year: ‘…between 2010 and 2019, total school spending in England rose by 1% in real terms. But since total pupil numbers grew by 11% over this period, school spending per pupil fell by 9%.’

The report also states: ‘School costs have grown rapidly in recent years and by more than overall inflation. This reflects increases in staff pay and rising food and energy costs.

It is estimated that schools’ costs will grow by 4% in 2024 (compared with 17

economy-wide inflation of 1%). This could leave the purchasing power of school budgets about 4% lower than in 2010. Given that staffing costs represent more than 80% of school spending, savings can also only really be delivered with reductions in the workforce and/or school closures.’

With regard to previously highlighted staffing issues, the report states: Average teacher pay across the UK in 2024 is expected to be over 6% lower in real terms than in 2010, and is at a similar level in real terms to that seen in 2001. The decline is concentrated among more experienced teachers, whose salaries have fallen 11% in real terms (new recruits have seen little realterms change in pay). In contrast, average earnings are due to be about 6% higher in 2024 than in 2010, and about 18% higher than in 2001. These declines in teacher pay relative to average earnings may help to explain why teacher recruit-

ment is significantly behind targets and why 1 in 10 teachers leave the state sector each year. and finally, we have the buildings. The ifs conclude that: ‘Capital spending on school buildings is low in historical terms. The three-year average up to 2023–24 is about 25% lower in real terms than the three-year average up to 2008–09. Spending on school maintenance and repairs is also low compared with need, with the government having allocated about 40% less than its own assessments of how much is needed to ensure school buildings are in a fit state of repair.’ and with an inbox like that, no wonder alison is retiring! but those are the everpresent challenges we face, whilst simultaneously endeavouring to provide the highest quality teaching and pastoral care possible. a “happy new Year” it may be, but it’s “same old problems” too! 

Membership ANDR EW H AI G H dent in romsey, hampshire. richard joined the ordnance survey as a surveyor in 1984. after training in southampton, he joined the local field office near fareham. in 1996 he moved to the ordnance survey head office to take up a contract Manager role, which then led to re-training to be a Project Manager, spending just over one year as a Project Manager at the cabinet office in london. in 2017, richard joined the

since the previous issue of The Almondburian was published, we have been pleased to welcome two new members to the society: Michael D. Walker (1961-63) left King James’s in 1963 to settle in australia and now lives in Margaret river, Western australia.

Richard Beverley (1978-83), now resi18

office for national statistics (ons) to help project manage the 2021 census and he is now working on a cross-government data programme for the ons.

We have also been pleased to welcome back a lapsed member of the society: David J Chambers (1963-69), resident in Preston. over the same period, we have been very saddened to learn of the deaths in october, 2024, of Prof Colin Robson (1946-53), resident in bath and on 2nd december, 2024, of Jack Taylor (staff, 1959-97), resident in greetland. obituaries for both appear elsewhere in this issue of The Almondburian. subscriptions for 2024-2025 remain unchanged at £10.00 per annum (£20.00 per annum for overseas members who receive a hard copy of The Almondburian by mail, rather than electronically) and fell due on 1st september, 2024. The vast majority of our 440 members now pay their subscription by standing order. Thank you to those who have already paid their subscriptions but, of the 30-odd members who do not pay by standing order, there are still 20 who haven’t yet made their subscription payment for this year.

Those members will receive a letter and subscription form with this issue of The Almondburian and we would ask you to send your payment without delay. it does make life much easier if you pay by standing order, so if you can complete

the standing order mandate on the subscription form and return it in the envelope provided, that would be even better! alternatively, you may renew online, using PayPal or a debit or credit card, by visiting www.oas.org.uk/membership.php. costs do, of course, continue to increase, particularly postage costs and this year is the 17th consecutive year in which the subscription rate has remained unchanged at £10.00. You will see from the minutes of the annual general Meeting elsewhere in this issue that the difficult decision was taken to increase the subscription rate to £15.00 per annum with effect from september, 2025 (£25.00 per annum for overseas members who receive a hard copy of The Almondburian by mail, rather than electronically).

Members will surely agree that this still represents excellent value for money and we would be grateful if you would contact your bank to update your standing order ready for the next payment in september. alternatively, you can complete the new standing order mandate enclosed herewith. finally, if you have friends from school who are not currently members of the society, then why not encourage them to join? Where else these days can you receive a copy of a fantastic magazine three times per year for such a tiny outlay? 

Costs particularly

postage, continue to increase, so subscriptions will have to rise from September 2025

19

Almondburians’ Society Calendar ALMONDBURIANS’ SOCIETY QUIZ EVENING The annual Almondburians’ Society Quiz will be held in the upstairs room at The Woolpack, Almondbury, on Tuesday, 13th May, at 7.00 pm for a 7.30 pm prompt start.

(Plese contact Keith Crawshaw for confirmation of this date and to register your interest).

GOLF: GOTHARD CUP The Gothard Cup will be played on Sunday, 29th June at Woodsome Hall from 2:30 p.m.

The competition will be followed by dinner and the presentation of prizes.

For further details, please contact Robin Merchant: robin.merchant@talktalk.net.

(See page 58).

FOUNDERS’ DAY SERVICE Friday, 21st November 2025 (details to be announced).

ANNUAL DINNER This year’s Annual Dinner will be held on Saturday, 22nd November 2025. Consideration is being given to holding a Luncheon, rather than a Dinner, on the same date and feedback on the idea is requested from members (see page 15). A decision will then be made and full details, together with an application form for tickets, will appear in the July issue of The Almondburian.

DATES OF ALMONDBURIANS’ SOCIETY MEETINGS Our monthly meetings are held at 6.00 pm in the ODH at School, with a Zoom link for those unable to attend in person. Any member of the Society who would like to attend one of these meetings will be made most welcome on the following dates: Monday, 3rd March 2025 Monday, 1st September 2025 Monday, 12th May 2025 Monday, 6th October 2025 Monday, 2nd June 2025 Monday, 3rd November 2025 Monday, 7th July 2025 Monday, 1st December 2025 Please e-mail the secretary at andrew.haigh@asoc.org.uk to request an agenda, the minutes of the previous meeting and any other documents.

The Zoom link for all meetings is: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4728049696?

Meeting ID: 472 04 9696 Passcode: BsJua1 You can quickly access the Zoom page using the QR code shown on the left and entering the Passcode BsJua1.

20

.

SPOTTED

by Almondburians

PEDANTS’ REVOLT

KEITH TAKES YORKSHIRE POST TO ACCOUNT (again) l The Yorkshire Post reported that a second reading of Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill on 29 November 2024 had taken priority over a debate on the situation in Palestine.

NO, YOU CAN’T

SPOT THE TYPOS Spotters: Alan Bush, Keith Crawshaw, James Clayton, Roger Dowling,

Have you spotted anything in print or on social media that has amused you or given you food for thought?

If it’s worth sharing, send it to us: spotters@asoc.org.uk.

21

Annual General Meeting 3rd Fe bru ar y 2025

T

he Annual General Meeting of the Society should have been held in the ODH at School and also online by Zoom on Monday, 6th January 2025, at 6.00 pm.

However, due to snow, it was postponed until Monday, 3rd February at 6.00 p.m.

so an inspection is definitely imminent. A telephone call will be received around 9:30 on a Monday morning and the first thing they will ask is what has changed since November, 2019 and what is being focussed on. For us, quite a lot has changed: Covid, the closure of Almondbury Community School and the integration of their pupils, the building of a new classroom block, the fact that we are now within our own catchment area and the fact that 20% of our students are now in the bottom 20% of deprivation nationally. Covid has impacted families a lot and even now, four years on, children are less communicative and less literate than they should be. An increasing number of our students have English as an additional language, due to the number of refugees; there are now 27 different first languages spoken in School. Our community has changed and so we must build a School to serve it. However, we do also push the history and tradition of the school, because a lot of parents like it.

The Chairman thanked Ian for his really illuminating remarks.

Attendance Walter Raleigh was in the chair and Ian Rimmer, Richard Taylor, Mike Powner, Graeme Carby, Keith Crawshaw and Andrew Haigh were in attendance, with Roger Dowling, Graeme Milnes and John Sharp joining online.

Apologies for absence were received from Peter Warry, who had a meeting with the Archbishop of York and members of the General Synod of the Church of England, which took precedence.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Monday, 8th January, 2024 The Minutes were read and approved and there were no matters arising.

Election of President The Chairman proposed that the Principal should be invited to continue as President of the Society for 2025 and Ian Rimmer was re-elected unanimously.

Chairman’s Report Walter Raleigh noted that 2024 has been massively important. We continued with the usual events, which were all very enjoyable. The Heritage Open Day goes from strength to strength. The Annual Dinner was very enjoyable, although the numbers attending were disappointing. However, the real event of 2024 was the decision to change the name of the Society for publicity purposes.

President’s Remarks Ian Rimmer thanked the meeting and spoke about the current situation in School, noting that an Ofsted inspection is looming. King James’s is now the only school left in Kirklees which was last inspected before Covid and hasn’t been since, 22

So, what of 2025? Can we continue the closer working relationship with the School? Should the Annual Dinner become a luncheon? Can we become more involved with Presentation Evening and the donation of prizes? It would be nice if those who sponsor a prize came to present it. We also need to pursue the digitisation of the archive and we really must get our database updated with the younger pupils. Although there is a lot to do, do we need to continue to meet monthly, or could meetings be bi-monthly?

Finally, the Chairman thanked all the elected members of the committee, particularly our Secretary, Andrew Haigh; Treasurer, Keith Crawshaw; Media Editor, Roger Dowling and Chaplain, Graeme Carby.

Roger Dowling noted that we do need an archivist. He also asked if the Annual Dinner should become a luncheon in July.

The Chairman said that he would prefer to change slowly and stick with November, since Gary Croft is already getting his year together for then. Keith Crawshaw felt that it would be quite difficult to change to July for this year, since it has an impact on the School. Richard Taylor said that he is implacably opposed to changing the Annual Dinner, but we do have a history of events in July, so we could try that in addition to the Annual Dinner. Mike Powner commented that, if we have to make a decision this evening for editorial reasons, then we can’t be pushed into such a major decision. He felt that we should stick with the usual date in November, perhaps a luncheon, but we can decide that detail later. He noted that we are, after all, celebrating the foundation of the School, so it is important to mark that date. Keith Crawshaw reminded the meet-

ing that this is an AGM and said that, if we are not moving the date, then we can discuss the merits of a luncheon or dinner later. John Sharp said that he brought this up a year ago, prompted by year groups organising social events outside the Dinner. It’s too early to make a drastic move today, but we should float the idea in the magazine and see what the reaction is, just as we did with the name change.

Roger Dowling said that he would support that; July this year is not viable, but we can keep our options open for luncheon or dinner in November. Graeme Milnes sdmitted that not many from his year come to the dinner, but he said that he would support an event in July next year to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the School becoming Comprehensive, whilst keeping the Annual Dinner as well.

Treasurer’s Report Keith Crawshaw presented the accounts for the financial year ended 31st August, 2024, pointing out that he had added the sponsorship of the Senior Student books into the accounts since he presented the draft accounts at the December committee meeting. He noted that subscription income has fallen by £255, although we do have more income from the interest on our accounts. We had a surplus on the Annual Dinner of £280. Sales were one Society tie and six copies of No Beating About the Bush. We paid £100 for Founders’ Day expenses. The cost of the magazine has increased by £280, largely due to the cost of postage increasing from £1,549 to £1,759.

We had £8,900 in the bank at the year end, compared to £9,100 the previous year.

He observed that he always compares the cost of the magazine as a proportion of subscription income and this year the 23

cost of the magazine has increased from 78% of subscription income to 89%.

cember committee meeting, so he felt that we should vote on that first. The proposal that the subscription rate for 2025-26 should be £15 (£25 for overseas members who take the magazine by post) was carried by a majority of 6:2.

Mike Powner asked that we should emphasise that a higher amount can be paid if desired. The Secretary thought this was a good idea, since some members already do pay more than the current subscription.

It was also felt that we could emphasise the option for anyone, not just overseas members, to receive the magazine by email.

Membership Secretary’s Report Andrew Haigh reported that since the last A.G.M. we have recruited eleven new members but, sadly, six members have passed away. We have also lost a few members who didn’t renew their subscription for whatever reason, so membership currently stands at 439, of whom twenty are in arrears for the current year, down from thirty-two in September.

Subscription Rate for the Financial Year Commencing 1st September, 2025: Keith Crawshaw noted that every time we have increased the subscription rate in the past, it has roughly doubled, from £1 to £2, then to £5, then to £10. At the last meeting there were suggestions that we should increase it for next year to either £15 or £20. We have always tended to absorb losses for as long as possible and we are not losing money yet, so we could leave it another year. We know from past experience that not all members change their standing order straight away and we do lose some members when the subscription rate changes. We could double it again and increase it to £20, but that is a very large increase. Roger currently produces an excellent magazine, which makes the membership very good value for money, but what happens if Roger retires? Perhaps £15 is a happy medium.

Mike Powner proposed increasing the subscription to £20, since that would create an additional pot of money to help the School and he couldn’t imagine that too many people would baulk at £20.

Graeme Milnes noted that the Treasurer had proposed an increase to £15 at the De-

Election of Executive Officers for 2025 Walter Raleigh agreed to continue as Chairman for 2025 and was re-elected unanimously.

Andrew Haigh had submitted his resignation as Secretary to the Chairman two months prior to the meeting, but he was invited to continue. He was reluctant to do so, but did admit to feeling that he was letting down his long-term colleague, Keith Crawshaw and something that Jonathan Taylor had said to him after Jack Taylor’s funeral had also given him further food for thought. He therefore agreed to continue as Honorary Secretary for the time being.

Keith Crawshaw agreed to continue as Treasurer, subject to what he had said at the December committee meeting. Over the years, most of the things we have done, he has fully agreed with. However, the idea of having a pot of money to support the School is something that he doesn’t agree with. According to our Rules, one of our objectives is to provide assistance for the School including, where appropriate, financial when approved by the committee.

We are not here to raise funds for the 24

school. The Foundation is there to provide things which are nice to have and is far better placed to do so. He thinks that we should be supporting things related to the archive and history of the School. It’s good to keep funds to support bigger projects, such as the Specialist Science College bid or the Big Tree Project, which we had money available to underwrite. Of the recent expenditure, the Senior Student books were spot-on, the injection moulding machine was 50:50, but he felt that an annual software licence is definitely not appropriate. It’s a personal opinion, but if he doesn’t agree with financial decisions, then that would make his position as Treasurer untenable. At the moment, he said that he will continue but, given that the landscape is changing, he may not feel able to in future.

The other Officers were then re-elected or elected as follows: Media Editor Roger Dowling Assistant Richard Teale Media Editor Ordinary Martyn Hicks Committee Graeme Milnes Members Michael Powner Dawn Smart John Sharp (proposed

by Andrew Haigh) Ian Platt (proposed by Richard Taylor) Chaplain Rev Graeme Carby Representatives Abbi Terry of the School Liz Atkinson Badminton Andrew Haigh Section Representative Golf Section Robin Merchant Representative Badminton Andrew Haigh Representative

Any Other Business: 1. Name of the Society Keith Crawshaw suggested that we should amend the rules to reflect the new trading name of The Almondburians’ Society. He proposed that Rule 1 should be amended to read: The name of the organisation shall be “The Old Almondburians’ Society” and in these Rules it is referred to as “the Society.” For marketing, promotional and operational purposes, the organisation shall be known simply as The Almondburians’ Society. This was agreed.

The Secretary was uncomfortable with this, since the membership hadn’t been notified of a special resolution and no proxy form had been circulated. Under Rule 11(e) only ordinary resolutions can be carried by a show of hands, whilst special resolutions (including those to amend the Rules or for dissolution) shall be decided by ballot and carried on a two-thirds majority of those present and voting by proxy.

2. Executive Committee Meeting The Secretary asked that the date and venue be fixed for the next meeting of the Executive Committee. The first Monday in March would be the norm and Monday, 3rd March in the ODH at School and via Zoom was agreed.

The meeting closed at 8.39 pm.

Signed A M Haigh, Secretary

25

P W Raleigh, Chairman

Accounts 2023- 24 INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR YEAR ENDED 31ST AUGUST 2024 2023 4388 Subscriptions 4163.00 20 Transfer from Life Membership Account 20.00 78 Interest Received 108.55 - Surplus on Sales of Ties 6.00 1 Surplus on Sales of Scarves 106 Surplus on Annual Dinner 280.27 ‘No Beating about the Bush’ books: Net Sales Income 90.00 Transfer to - KJS Development Fund 90.00 321 Excess of Expenditure over Income 121.00

2023 Printing, Stationery & Postage: 1800 Magazines Printing etc 1908.00 1549 Magazines Stationery/Postage 1759.98 72 Other Stationery/Postage 37.44 25 Jessop Prize 60 Young Old Almondburians’ Prizes 38 Paypal Charges 308 Computer Running Expenses 50 Founders’ Day Expenses - Quiz Evening Expenses KJS Contributions: - Debossed Notebooks 251.28 500 Sports Trophies Cabinet 302 ‘Big Tree’ Yard 210 Amount written off Round Tables 4914

3705.42 25.00 60.00 34.82 294.30 100.00 20.00

251.28 208.00 4914

4698.82

4698.82

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST AUGUST 2024 2023 Accumulated Fund Balance at 1 Sep 2023 10351.82 Less Excess of Expenditure 10352 over Income 121.00 10230.82 Life Membership Account Balance at 1 Sep 2023 Add Interest

116.23 1.71 117.94

Less Transfer to Income & Expenditure Account

20.00

KJS Development Fund Balance at 1 Sep 2023 Add Interest KJS 400 Merchandise 302 Surplus on Book Sales

301.57 4.43 10.00 90.00

406.00

415 Net Annual Dinner Receipts in Advance

224.42

330 Subscriptions in Advance

280.00

25 Sundry Creditors

116

11540

97.94

2023 18 Trophies Round Tables Balance as at 1 Sep 2023 624.00 624- Less amount written off 208.00

416.00

531 Stock of Ties 672 Stock of Scarves 160 Stock of Prints

522.00 671.84 160.00

18.00

116

Life Membership Account Nat West Business Reserve

97.94

302

KJS Development Fund Nat West Business Reserve

406.00

- Sundry Prepayments

289.00

283.16

Cash and Bank Balances National Westminster Bank: 7385 Business Reserve 7413.64 1316 Current Account 1286.16 402 Paypal Account 223.64 14 Cash in Hand 18.12

8941.56

11522.34

11540

11522.34 W Raleigh K Crawshaw J A Swift

26

Chairman Treasurer Independent Examiner

Executive Officers 2025 President

Ian Rimmer

King James’s School

Work Telephone: (01484) 412990 e-mail: staff.irimmer@kingjames.school

Chairman

Walter Raleigh

15 Thorpe Lane

Home Telephone: (01484) 308452

Almondbury

e-mail: walter.raleigh@asoc.org.uk

Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 8TA Vice-Chairman Hon Secretary

Hon Treasurer

(Vacant) Andrew M. Haigh

Keith Crawshaw

2 Arkenley Lane

Home Telephone: (01484) 432105

Almondbury

Mobile Telephone: 07770 220733

Huddersfield

Work Telephone: (01484) 400032

Yorkshire

Facsimile:(01484) 469567

HD4 6SQ

e-mail: andrew.haigh@asoc.org.uk

5 Benomley Drive

Home Telephone: (01484) 533658

Almondbury

e-mail: keith.crawshaw@asoc.org.uk

Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 8LX Media Editor

Roger Dowling

Orchard House

Home Telephone: (01925) 756390

Oughtrington Lane

Mobile Telephone: 07815 601447

Lymm

e-mail: roger.dowling@asoc.org.uk

Cheshire WA13 0RD Assistant Media Editor

Richard Teale

The Sycamores

Mobile Telephone: 07810 313315

239 Huddersfield Road e-mail: richard.teale@asoc.org.uk Thongsbridge Holmfirth Yorkshire HD9 3TF

27

Ordinary

12 Gernhill Avenue

Home Telephone: (01484) 539409

Committee

Martyn Hicks

Fixby

e-mail: martyn.hicks@asoc.org.uk

Members

Huddersfield Yorkshire HD2 2HR Graeme Milnes

Rhiwbina

Home Telephone: 02920 627553

Cardiff

e-mail: graeme.milnes@asoc.org.uk

Glamorgan CF14 6NB Ian Platt

15 Cross Lane

Home Telephone: (01484) 603453

Stocksmoor

e-mail: ian.platt@asoc.org.uk

Huddersfield HD4 6XH Michael Powner

45 The Fairway

Home Telephone: (01484) 423365

Fixby

e-mail: mike.powner@asoc.org.uk

Huddersfield HD2 2HU Dawn Smart

8 High Seat Hill

Mobile Telephone: 07824 881132

Lazonby

dawn.smart@asoc.org.uk

Penrith CA10 1AW John Sharp

8 Adams Bottom

Home Telephone: (01525) 373728

Leighton Buzzard

e-mail: john.sharp@asoc.org.uk

Bedfordshire LU7 3HZ Chaplain

Graeme Carby

10 Rectory Drive

Home Telephone: (01484) 302252

Kirkheaton

e-mail: graeme.carby@asoc.org.uk

Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 0JT Represent-

Abbi Terry

King James’s School

ative of the

Work Telephone: (01484) 412990 e-mail: staff.aterry@kingjames.school

School Liz Atkinson

King James’s School

Work Telephone: (01484) 412990 e-mail: staff.eatkinson@kingjames.school

28

Head Boy

Joshua Tiplady

King James’s School

Head Girl

Tarleen Aujla

King James’s School

Badminton

Andrew M Haigh

2 Arkenley Lane

Home Telephone: (01484) 432105

Almondbury

Mobile Telephone: 07770 220733

Huddersfield

Work Telephone: (01484) 400032

Yorkshire

Facsimile: (01484) 469567

HD4 6SQ

e-mail: andrew.haigh@asoc.org.uk

Section

Golf Section

Robin E Merchant 26 Jagger Hill Kirkheaton

Mobile Telephone: 07933 200475 e-mail: robin.merchant@asoc.org.uk

Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 0RA Tennis Section

Independent

Andrew M. Haigh

2 Arkenley Lane

Home Telephone: (01484) 432105

Almondbury

Mobile Telephone: 07770 220733

Huddersfield

Work Telephone: (01484) 400032

Yorkshire

Facsimile: (01484) 469567

HD4 6SQ

e-mail: andrew.haigh@asoc.org.uk

Alan Swift

Examiner Vice-Presidents

Ken G. Shaw

J. Andrew Ward

Richard J. Green

Keith Crawshaw

Paul Balderstone

J. Richard Taylor

John M. Drewery

James N. Taylor

J. Amanda Taylor

Malcolm J. Taylor

Graham Cliffe

David Gary Croft

David A. Bush

Emily Murphy

Robert Williams

Bryan Hopkinson

Patrick O’Brien

Nicky Murphy

Nicky Briggs Robert Lamb

Roger Dowling

Andrew Haigh

29

The Almondburians’ Society

Annual Dinner Saturday, 23rd November 2024

T

he number of Almondburians attending the dinner this year was rather disappointing, especially considering that Hugh Lawson and Richard Taylor had done a sterling job in gathering together ten members of the Class of 1954 to mark seventy years since they entered the School. However, the dinner was certainly a success and I heard nothing but compliments regarding the meal and the speakers, so the occasion must have been enjoyed by everyone there.

Those attending the dinner spanned a period of seventy-three years, from those who entered the school in 1951 to current students and staff in 2024.

Unusually, no-one had travelled from overseas this year, so the prize for the furthest travelled goes to Prof. Robin Leake, who travelled from Glasgow to join the Class of 1954 reunion.

On arrival there was music provided

by Doran Kane, a current pupil at the School. Tours of the School, conducted by one of the current students, were available to those who wanted one, before everyone took their seats. Then, in a break with tradition, the School Song was sung before the meal by

current pupil Ava Peace, accompanied

by Mr Mahoney on the electric guitar!

The kitchen staff served an excellent meal. To start, there was roast tomato and red pepper soup served with a crusty bread roll. The main course was a choice of freshly baked chicken and mushroom pie, haddock and mozzarella fish cake, or a vegetarian dish, all served with creamed and roast potatoes, baton carrots and buttery cabbage. For dessert there were assorted cheesecakes served with double cream. The meal was followed by coffee or tea and mini mince pies.

Following the meal the Chairman, Walter Raleigh, gave a resumé of the steps taken over the past twelve months to modernise the Society, before proposing the Toast to the

Ava Peace sings the School Song, accompanied

by Chris Mahoney.y 30

Photos: Andrew Haigh

School. The response was by the Principal, Ian Rimmer, who summarised the current changes in education and at King James’s School, before proposing the toast to the Society. After the formal part of the evening concluded, there was plenty of time for guests to mingle and reminisce further before the bar closed.

Thanks are due to many people for their contributions to the evening.

Firstly, to the School for allowing us to use the premises and, in particular, to the Premises Manager, Tony Hyland, for his invaluable help in all kinds of ways to make the School ready for the event. To the kitchen staff for preparing an excellent meal. To current member of staff Liz Atkinson and her partner Rob for once again running the bar with superb efficiency.

To Almondburian Nick Briggs, of Mallinson’s Brewery in Lockwood, for supplying the beer. To Tim Marriott, of Taste Fine Wines in Almondbury, for supplying the wines and other drinks.

To the Head Students, Joshua Tiplady and Tarleen Aujla, their deputies, William James, Abigail Walker and Hazel Wiggans, for conducting tours of the School before the meal, for selling raffle tickets with ruthless efficiency afterwards and for being such fine ambassadors for King James’s School.

They were so good at selling raffle tickets that the raffle raised an impressive £205, only £5 less than last year with 17 fewer people attending.

These funds will, of course, ultimately benefit the School. To our speakers,

Top: Principal Ian Rimmer proposes the toast to the Society Bottom: ASOC Chairman Walter Raleigh, responds 31

Who was there?

NAME

FROM

TO

TRAVELLING FROM

Atkinson

Liz.

Staff

Almondbury

Atkinson

Rob.

Guest

Almondbury

Aujla

Tarleen

Head Girl

Battye Beattie Beverley Burrie Chambers Davies Dowling Dyson Fisher French Griffiths Haigh Haigh Haigh Hanson Hey Hodgson James

Andrew Karen Linda Richard Anthony J. David Gareth Lynn Roger David M. Dennis Andrew Peter Mervyn Andrew Mark Charlotte Eleanor Darren Richard Granville Gary William

1979 1979 1978 1961 1963 1954 1952 1968 1954 1968 1954 1977 2018 2018 1979 1951 1979 D. Head Boy

1982 1981 1983 1966 1969 1956 1959 1975 1959 1975 1959 1983 2023 2023 1981 1957 1983

Almondbury Holmfirth Romsey, Hampshire Slaithwaite Preston Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire Lymm, Cheshire Oakes Almondbury Durham Shelley Almondbury Almondbury Almondbury Dalton Lepton Lepton

Kent Lawson Leake Lofthouse Makin Milnes Morgan Nash Platt Powner Raleigh Rimmer

John Denver Hugh Prof. Robin E. John Howard N. Christopher Howard Graeme Paul Brian Howard Ian Richard Mike Paul Walter Ian W.

1969 1954 1954 1952 1954 1957 1957 1964 1958 1959 Staff 1978 Principal

1972 1961 1960 1959 1961 1965 1963 1972 1965 1967 2010

Netherton Sheffield Glasgow Sheffield Mirfield Cardiff London Cheadle Hulme Stocksmoor Fixby Almondbury Holmfirth

Royle Sharp Sheard Slocombe Smith Sykes Taylor Taylor Tiplady

Prof. Edward John Franklin Richard George David G. John Oswin Stuart J. Andrew J. Richard Joshua

1955 1951 1954 1965 1957 1979 1963 1954 Head Boy

1962 1958 1962 1971 1965 1983 1970 1962

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire Whitchurch, Shropshire Bradley Saffron Walden, Essex Lepton Bidford-on-Avon Ossett Kirkheaton

Walker

Abigail

D. Head Girl

Ward Wiggans

James Andrew Hazel

1957 D. Head Girl

1964

Slaithwaite

32

Walter Raleigh and Ian Rimmer, for their contributions to the evening.

Finally, a big thank you to all the Almondburians who attended and supported the Annual Dinner to make it such a great success. The date for the 2025 event will be Saturday, 22nd November. Gary Croft is hoping to get his year together in 2025 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of them leaving in 1975. There will be other anniversaries next year as well, for the classes of 1945, 1950, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985, 1995 and all

those years are well represented in the membership, so do give it some thought. Looking further ahead, I believe that Roger Morgan is hoping to organise a 70th anniversary reunion of the Class of 1956 at the 2026 Annual Dinner. Of course, you don’t need the excuse of a special year to have a good time at the event, so put the date in your diary now and get together with some old school mates to make sure that you don’t miss out on another most enjoyable evening! 

Some of the members of the Class of 1954 (left to right): Robin Leake, Edward Royle, Richard Sheard, Hugh Lawson, Richard Taylor, Christopher Makin

The class of 1976 at the Dinner (left to right): Andrew Battye, Stuart Sykes, Darren Hanson, Karen Beattie, Gary Hodgson,Richard Beverley 33

Founders’ Day Service

T

Friday, 22nd November 2024 ‘serVice’ and linda smith, one of the church wardens, who gave the address, explained simply how we could all play our part in improving the lives of one another by the simple act of service. it was well received and we thank linda for her thoughts. graeme spoke about the reason for this service and the students listened intently to parts of the school history they hadn’t heard before. it was a great opportunity to further explain part of the history of school and the importance of what went on long before any of us were born. speaking to some students after the event they told me how interesting they had found graeme’s piece to have been. as usual, after the event, hilary Pollard, linda smith and other church Wardens from all hallows’ invited us all into the church rooms for a cup of tea or coffee. again, may i publicly thank all the members of all hallows’ who show their kindness and generosity every year in doing this. The society and school fully appreciate the work put in by these church volunteers who make sure the facilities are available for the service. and finally, after a wonderful event enjoyed by students, parents and society members alike, may i thank abbi Terry and rebecca hamlett for the part they played in getting all the students and performers organised for the service and graeme for laying out the format of the event. 

he traditional church service at all hallows’ church in almondbury once again took place to celebrate founders’ day. after the disappointment of last year when only a limited celebration could take place because of a major power cut down at school our society chaplain, rev. graeme carby, was determined to put on a show worthy of the occasion. We were not disappointed. once again, the church was full of King James’s students with each of the forms represented. as there are now over a thousand students in school the numbers attending are only going to increase which is most encouraging for this important part of our school history.

We must thank the husband of the chair of the school foundation, robert cockcroft, for stepping in as organist at short notice after the church organist and director of Music, Pauline roberts, was called to attend the funeral of a close friend. as well as robert we had four gifted students from school to entertain the audience with their musical skills. Many thanks to lily beaumont, ava Peace, shalome Jacob and doran Kane for performing so well. They were a credit to their school and parents and from the applause received enjoyed by all those in the church. graeme’s theme for the event was 34

Every picture tells a story

THIS photograph was taken on the occasion of a visit by party of third-formers to Haworth and Brontëland on 11th June, 1964. It was organised by English masters Frank Anderson and Peter Bacon.

The location is Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse near Haworth. A plaque placed by the Bronte Society confirms the widely held belief that this was the setting Emily Brontë had in mind when she wrote her only novel Wuthering Heights, published in 1847 under the pen-name Ellis Bell.

The farmhouse is believed to date back to the second half of the 16th century. At the time of the Brontës, it was inhabited by Jonas Sunderland and his wife Ann Crabtree (from 1811) and then their son, Jonas, with Mary Feather (from 1833). Emily and her sisters would have been well aware of the farmhouse, which in its day would have been regarded as a very notable dwelling. In 1893, it was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm and badly damaged. The last occupant was Ernest Roddy but in 1926 it fell into ruin. Nowadays it has become a regular pilgrimage for Brontë enthusists from all over the world.

Sadly our picture carries no caption. Can you help us to identify the pupils shown?  35

PY ro Te c hn ic s

The history of fireworks Rev RON LANCASTER MBE (1942-1950) The founder of the UK’s last remaining fireworks manufacturer Kimbolton fireworks reviews a newly published book on the History of Fireworks. neWs of a new History of Fireworks, published last august made me curious since the author, John Withington, is not wellknown in the fireworks industry. The church house, Westminster, quickly supplied me with a copy of the book, and this led to further surprises. i lived in huddersfield before going to durham university in 1960 and occasionally i would hop on the train on a suitable saturday to go and watch brock’s wonderful displays at belle Vue. on that specially constructed site with many convenient facilities it usually ended with a waterfall the length of the site, with a loud bang and every waterfall stick doing its job without fault. i used to wonder how they achieved this, a perfectly straight line, and electric igniter for every waterfall stick! but now that Mr Withington mentions he is a Manchester man, he may have been at a brock display at the same time as l was to see brock’s work at its best. reading roughly the first hundred or

so pages, my impression is that Mr Withington sees the development of the ‘art’ of fireworks as part of the entertainment industry. by the seventeenth century, performances in the well-visited pleasure gardens around london featured various characters who used some form of blackpowder to extend their performance with unfortunate consequences. historical accounts always have their problems in producing factual reports, and those who were also involved at the time often had a different impression by 1695, the british government had set up a laboratory at Woolwich to make fireworks and ammunition, which at least was a start, with a military man in charge, but also working with the firework industry both here and in france and italy. by 1800 the french were extending interest in colour in fireworks and there was a phase of the creation of new pleasure gardens. The brock family became more involved in the crystal Palace when the Palace was moved from hyde Park to the new site at sydenham. at this stage Withington seems to

RON LANCASTER developed his interest in pyrotechnics in his schooldays, inspired by the Chemistry lessons of Dr Thomas Calloway. Ron’s father was a maintenance engineer in the Almondbury factory of George Jarmain, who played a major role in the early teaching of Chemistry at King James’s.A former Chaplain and Chemistry master of Kimbolton School in Cambridgeshire, he set up Kimbolton Fireworks in 1964. Kimbolton Fireworks ceased trading in 2019.

36

relegate Pain’s Fireworks (a long-established company dating back to the 1600s) to the Wells family but does admit that Pain’s had allegedly sold blackpowder to guy fawkes. What we definitely know is that Pain’s concentrated their overseas development in the united states where they built new factories. otherwise their main base was in south london where they were the only people in the uK making multi-break cylinder shells of great quality after former associations with italy. The factory in Mitcham moved to salisbury but some of the special shells moved to the new Kimbolton factory. a nephew of William Pain, Joseph Wells1, set up Wells Fireworks in 1837.

The firm had the best reputation for quality and good relations with its clients. in fact, as John bennett would agree, it was one of the top three companies along with Pain’s and Brock’s. however. in time, Pain’s began to rival brock for the crystal Palace business.

The most important book in my collec-

tion is The Rise and Progress of the British Explosives Industry - the result of the committee of the explosives section of the seventh lnternational congress of applied chemistry held on 5th december 1908, and mentioned by John bennett in Fireworks issue 85. it provides detailed information for each company, e g brock’s closure of its sites at n0rwood and harold Wood and the company’s move to the new site at sutton in 1907. it is also interesting to see how many companies had obtained licences at about this time e g Crane’s of Bristol in i887, A Jessop 1876, B Jessop 1898, Riley l876, Shaw 1876, Wells 1837 and Wilder 1834.

We must ask where the manufacturing knowledge came from as i lived as a boy within a mile or so from many of them. for the original owners were not inorganic chemists but dealers in blackpowder which was used for shot firing in the local mines and was delivered by rail in the valley below. before moving to Kimbolton in 1963.

2

A HISTORY OF FIREWORKS from their origins to the present day John Withington Reaktion Books Published: 1 August 2024 ISBN 978-1789-149357 245 mm x 15 mm 336 pages 71 illustrations, 24 in colour Hardback £25 37

Dame Vera Lynn (inset) pressed the button to launch Kimbolton Fireworks’ 30 minute display to mark 50 years since the end of World War 2 in 1995.

i worked in harrogate and was fortunate to know another Yorkshire chemist who had worked with the chemical manufacturers at low Moor near bradford but now worked for Brock’s. ron hall was an expert in polymerising resins in relation to military applications but an attempt to use it in fireworks was not a success and eventually came to an end.

The public warmed to the old fashioned look of the product.

The new Kimbolton firework factory was licensed on 18th september 1998 to replace the old workshops which were in a walled garden on the edge of Kimbolton school. and within walking distance of it. The eventual factory had explosive quantities worked out with dr Jim Jeacock of the explosives inspectorate - but it was not in my back garden

as Mr Withington suggests. dr Tom smith joined us in 1989 as display Manager after working in industry for a year after being at oxford. it seemed that a culmination of Kimbolton Fireworks history was that, by 18th august 1995, after providing displays for hundreds of events, people. universities and schools, we were asked to provide a display to celebrate 50 years since the end of the war. The contract, only awarded four months prior to the display, was to provide five barges firing displays of thirty minutes duration between the Tower and Westminster — a distance of two miles and four miles of river bank. i hesitate to estimate how many spectators there were. also, between the barges. were five barges of loudspeakers providing appropriate music 38

such as the inevitable choice of The Dambusters March, White Cliffs of Dover and We’ll meet again. a small group of us gathered for the start of the show on a balcony of the Tower: Prime Minister, John Major (our MP), lord cranbome and dame Vera lynn (who was to press the button twice!). school children had been competing to design a roundel of the occasion — this was hanging on the Tower wall and was to be ignited first. dame Vera had her back to the wall and jumped with surprise as the quickmatch ignited the lancework. needless to say she quickly recovered to press the button to start the display on time. at the age of 61 i still had the capacity to produce a large display of fireworks. but the real leader of the event was dr Tom smith (our display Manager) although many friends also helped us.

This was a time when communications were nothing like they might be today.

our financial supporters were the Ministry of defence - and my son captain Mark lancaster dealt with them as well as looking after the barge nearest to the thatched shakespeare theatre The Globe! brock’s certainly did displays on the Thames after the war with about 5,000 kilos, but Kimbolton used about 18,000 nec, 50 km of firing wire, 1,025 candle frames, 1,490 crates of mortars and at least five brand new paper tubes to go in each of them. consider the time it took to make those crates — and 1.300 hours of rigging was necessary.  James Pain's eldest daughter. Ann Elizabeth. married Mortrarn’s son. another Zacharia. Their daughter, Elizabeth. married Joseph's son, Joseph (junior) and it was he who started the firework company Joseph Wells and Sons.

E. A. Brayley Hodgetts (Editor). The Rise and Progress of the British Explosives Industry, Whittaker & Co.. London, 1909.

1

2

SUDOKU

Difficulty: medium

each row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain the digits 1 to 9

8

9

1

2

6

9

6

1 9

5

3

7

2 4

2

1

5

9

8

3

4 7

39

9 8

CROSSWORD

by Hérisson

Entries to the Editor (address/email: back cover) by 31st May 2025. Prize: 12 months’ free ASOC membership l The winner of crossword by hérisson (november 2024) was Peter Tracey (1956-63)

Note: All Across clues share a common theme and are not further defined.

Down clues are normal.

ACROSS 8. Swimmer come back to Spanish red. (10) 9. Follower of Luke? (4) 11. Rutherford, for example, loses electron. (5) 12. Denounce in chaotic term. (9) 13. Bird with Scottish name. (6) 14. Mad Michael the fifth. (8) 17. Store it haphazardly. (7) 20. Pal shields confused little sister. (7) 22. Chap with agent at sea. (8) 23. One replaces king in cave. (6)

27. 5 laze about that Spanish axis. (9) 29. In retrospect, herb on delicious starter. (5) 30. Little Reginald has nothing on. (4) 31. Little cob I trained. (10) DOWN 1. Attending game, or witness. (8) 2. Free international organisation, with 1000 not attached. (6) 3. Shakespeare’s advocate from Venice, maybe, in attendance initially.

(6)

Name Email Tel

40

4. Drink, missing quiet start, gains quiet start for drink! (5) 5. It’s on the agenda, I remove top from stalk. (4) 6. Deranged 16 eats extremities! (3-5) 7. Steal points at church. (6) 10. Align East. (5) 15. Force Mary out. (4) 16. Beast number 49 rising. (4) 18. Chinese studies evil with nothing to record at day’s end. (8) 19. Unlucky for some in Paris. (6) 21. Cities go awry, becoming selfcentred. (8) 22. Proposers who can’t keep still. (6) 24. Point losing a drug charge. (6) 25. Switch fastener. (6) 26. Shiraz otherwise holds panacea.

(5) 28. DuPont stripped, but on top. (4)

The Almondburian Poets A HUDDERSFIELD POEM

Wind blowing up from the leeds road by-product works numb-fingered flag-sellers in crowded shop-doorways lurk. squad-cars outside Scamps in november haze. salvation army in christmas eve praise. holidays at home by the greenhead Park bandstand christmas time cribs in the Market Place grand. late night vain searches in taxi-less ranks.

Woodbine men smoke on the sixty-one bus route howarths on saturdays tout off the fruit. last ’buses that don’t come, stirring up anger saturday shoppers frequent the Piazza. cloth-caps that drift by to watch ‘good old Town‘ steps (civic centre), so hard to walk down. ‘socialist Worker‘ on sale in the Market hall ring-road, and ring-road, and no space at all all-year-round demo men ripping out shops ”right-change”-less women at cold rainy ’bus stops. but all this will change with the passing of time You’ll change, huddersfield, you’ll be no longer mine. city of tomorrow, i’d much rather you stay This beautiful, old-fashioned town of today. a J donkersley, Tr. arts

I

T is not surprising that Andrew Donkersley was in reminiscent mood when he composed this poem which appeared in The Almondburian in Summer Term 1973. The late 1960s and early 1970s were years that saw the demolition of many cherished old buildings in the town, some as a result of the construction of the controversial inner ring road.

Andy Donkersley attended King James’s Grammar School from 1967-73, leaving to study at the School of Journalism at Cardiff College of Commerce. He joined the Express and Star newspaper in Wolverhampton in 1985 after working for the Blackpool Gazette. After a brief spell with the Derby Evening Telegraph, he rejoined the Express and Star where he worked for two decades, covering the city's busy crown court. He later joined the Express and Star's sister weekly, the Wolverhampton Chronicle, before leaving the company in January 2006. Andy’s premature death in Shafnal at the age of only 52 on 5th November, 2008 was a shock to his many colleagues and friends. l Overleaf: some of the many buildings that were demolished in the modernisation programme.

The Huddersfield…

M

anY cherished huddersfield buildings disappeared as a result of the major redevelopment of the town centre in the late 1960s. former almondburian CLIFFORD STEPHENSON, a pupil of King James’s grammar school from 1914, was much involved in these changes, having served on the huddersfield council for 19 years; he subsequently became chairman of the central area redevelopment committee. for record purposes, he photographed many buildings before they were demolished. . The Picture House cinema, one of over 20 in the town in the 1960s, was Huddersfield’s first purpose-built cinema in 1912. It closed in 1967.

2. Next door was the Theatre Royal, built in the 1830s and rebuilt after a fire in 1881 with a seating capacity of 1,250. The painting over the proscenium arch depicted a fairground scene.

3. Regarded by many as the town’s finest tool shops, McKitrick Bros was located on Buxton Road.

1

3

2

42

…of yesteryear…

4. Shambles Lane, alongside the Market Hall, is best remembered for its greengrocers’ stalls.

5. The demolition men move in to demolish Huddersfield historic gothic-style Market Hall in 1970. There are many who still lament its disappearance.

6. Cross Church Street has largely survived but the soot-covered buildings have received a welcome clean-up in more recent years.

7. The West Riding Pub and adjacent John William Street disappeared when the new ring road was built.

The former Curzon Cinema opened as the Picturedrome in 1910 and closed in 1967.

8. This view of Ramsden Street shows the Theatre Royal and Picture House in the distance. The entrance to Ramsden Street Baths, built in 1879, is in the foreground.

5

4

6

7

8

43

…and tomorrow l

iKe most town centres in the uK, huddersfield is going through a bad patch. arguably, it started as long ago as 2009 with the closure of Woolworth’s in new sreet. Marks & Spencer’s, its neighbour a few doors away, closed to general dismay in 2019. at the buxton road end of new street, one of the biggest Wilko stores in the country went out of business in 2023 and W H Smith ceased trading last year. There are very few big names left. but all is not doom and gloom as plans to revitalise the town centre move into top gear. Kirklees council’s ‘huddersfield blueprint’ has identified five key themes over the coming 10 years l better access l enhanced public spaces l Making huddersfield ‘a great place to live’ l a vibrant culture l Thriving businesses.

These are just a few of the many projects either approved or being planned:

1

2

3

4

5

6

1. The George Hotel, closed since 2013, is due to re-open as a Radisson hotel, though that may not be until 2027.

2. There are major plans to modernise the iconic Railway Station as part of a multibillion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade.

3. Plans are being prepared to convert the former Public Library into a new Museum, Art Gallery and cafe with terrace.

4. The council plans to demolish the Piazza Centre and create a new events/live music venue and food hall.

5. A large open area will be opened up behind the Museum and Art Gallery to form a ‘Town Park’ for open air events for up to 3,000 people.

6. Plans are being developed to amalgamate Huddersfield’s two markets (the Queensgate Market and the Open Market) into a renovated Open Market Hall site.

44

Back to the drawing board

Roger Sykes (1946-1953) revisits some of his favourite drawings

FROM my school days, I sketched churches and old buildings in the local district and I now feel like a Guide Book! And why not, as this month’s sketch is from Derbyshire which I toured whilst a student on a placement with Rolls Royce.

The whole setting of the Derby Guildhall is a very ordinary view - home to parked cars, vans and road signs and deserving of the inclusion of a trolleybus! However, Derby was home to many old buildings of character which I also sketched, like St Michael’s Lane and churches such as St Alkmund’s, recorded before being pulled down!

Being a county town with the central River Derwent, public parks and the nearby Peak District, there are many attractions such as the magnificent cathedral and the Oxford Radcliffe Library. Famous people include John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal. St. Mary’s Bridge was built to cross the River Derwent – it has one of England's six remaining medieval bridge chapels.

I have to say that the present-day photograph of the Guildhall shows a clean and tidy open area. An improvement on the sketch? Or just bland and boring? 

Derby Guildhall 45

A Yorkshireman in America C H AR LI E S TAR K EY (1968- 75) ‘Food, glorious food!’ According to reports, the obesity rate in the USA is around 40% and we in the UK, at 26%, are not that much better. What better time for our man in the States to tuck into a few hearty observations?

WelcoMe to 2025! (You’re been forced to swallow my disappointwelcome to it, mate.) i ment and adapt. bring it on, Yanks. hope everyone enjoyed a not counting the bland cardboard rafestive noelmas and new tions served up by Panam airlines on my Year. clearly, holiday maiden transatlantic flight, my first gatherings present the greatest temptaauthentically american epicurean extion for dietary overindulgence. The reperience took place at the golden dawn cent rise in basic food prices put a diner in hamilton Township, new Jersey. damper on the merriment in many hailing from a land where cafés charged households, but in the early ’80s when i for beverages by the cup, imagine a first made landfall in the united states it thrifty herbivore’s delight upon enwas still considered The land of Plenty, countering a fixed-price all-you-can-eat more or less, and this Tyke’s tum was unsalad bar and unlimited free refills of cofprepared for the cornucopia of delights fee and iced tea. i naively assumed these in store. extravagant eatery init’s old news that chicken novations to be ameriTikka Marsala has evolved to can in origin, but no! be britain’s most popular The smörgåsbord condish. indian food is also cept of a help-yourself readily available in my tabletop spread can be adopted homeland, and altraced back to 16th though curries of the veggie century scandinavia variety now constitute my although, typically, the favourite takeaway fare, a french credited this generous portion of vinegary tradition (‘service à la chips doused with a steamfrançais’) to their King ing slurry of mushy peas was louis XiV and realways the best comfort christened it a ‘buffet’ nosh for this sad nostalgist. after the sideboard on in view of liquified, fluorwhich the food would escent green marrowfats usually be served. any“I want some more” is the mantra of being hard to find outside of many Americans today. Some 42.87 way, the idea was offioverpriced import shops i’ve are clinically obese. cially introduced to 46

americans at the 1939 new York World’s fair swedish pavilion. food bars were eagerly embraced by 1940s las Vegas casino owners to encourage their patrons’ round-the-clock gambling, and the concept was soon popularised by cruise ship companies and restaurant chains. owing to a certain amount of pandemic-induced caution i’ve carefully avoided indoor dining for the past few years but buffet-style foraging does present potential health hazards. The only physical barrier separating hordes of virus-shedding customers from openly displayed foodstuffs is the allpurpose plexiglass ‘sneeze guard’, an allegedly protective, transparent acrylic shield suspended above the array of stainless steel tureens. depending upon a person’s height, this polyacrylate cover is guaranteed to either scrape your knuckles or whack you in the nose as you lunge forward to fill your plate. but it’s really children, those diminutive, crustyfingered, disgustingly efficient plague transmitters, prone to willfully discharging the contents of their sinuses without warning, who present the greatest safety threat at these familyfriendly counters. also, as i can attest, not every customer – or even kitchen staffer – washes their hands thoroughly, if at all, after using the loo. (our squeamish american cousins are often inclined to euphemistically substitute the words restroom, bathroom, powder room,

john, can, oval office, thunder box, or almost any other descriptor to avoid uttering that smutty epithet ‘toilet’.) as if adults and their offspring don’t pose enough of a health risk, the food presentation itself can be problematic. heat lamps tend to dry out pre-cooked items, and after sitting out for a couple of hours fish, meats, and dairy products can cultivate the perfect petri dish environment for pathogens like e.coli, salmonella, or staphylococcal bacteria. even innocent-looking salad greens are a potential breeding ground for listeria and even hepatitis a. negative publicity arising from several tragic food poisoning outbreaks impacted formerly-popular u.s. restaurant chains such as golden corral, sizzler, Jack-in-the-box, old country buffet and fresh choice which had flourished from mid-1970s onwards, leading to business closures, criminal investigations, and an understandable slump in buffet patronage. a 1992 simpsons episode ‘The new Kid on the block’ portrayed homer bankrupting a springfield seafood restaurant after taking its “all-you-can-eat” ad literally. in a case of life imitating art, last

47

When dickens’ famished fictional scrounger oliver whined to Mr bumble “Please sir, i want some more”, never in his wildest dreams could the lad have imagined a culture of such excess. in an equally ironic ‘twist’, there’s now a pill that actually suppresses the urge to eat.

There are plenty of people out there suffering from medical issues that make weight control difficult. on the other hand, serial overeaters who vainly struggle to practise restraint can thank lotte Knudsen, a research scientist at the dutch pharmaceutical firm novo nordisk, whose breakthrough diabetes research led to the much-hyped obesity drug ozempic. i wonder what restaurateurs think of that.

The news isn’t all bad for budding gourmands. for example, located in Pennsylvania’s lancaster county – a rural amish region synonymous with embarrassing town names like intercourse, fertility, blue ball, and so forth – is the semi-legendary shady Maple smorgasbord. Proudly advertised as ‘america’s largest diner’, shady Maple opened its doors in 1985 and continues to thrive against the odds, serving up freshly-made homestyle food to around 7,000 hungry visitors daily (except sundays) where breakfast costs only $16 and dinners start at $23.99. incidentally, there you can sample ‘scrapple’, a deepfried spam-like regional delicacy consisting of hog scraps and other discarded animal parts churned together with cornmeal. Who could resist?

Meanwhile, in nevada, two thousandand-a-bit miles to the west, is las Vegas, the world-famous gambling mecca re-

year the national seafood chain red lobster filed for bankruptcy, citing losses partially attributed to its unsustainably generous $20 ‘ultimate endless shrimp’ promotion. (in actuality the story’s a lot more complicated, involving fluctuating market prices, greedy private equity firms, and failed ‘restructuring’ attempts, leaving america’s largest seafood chain floundering with $300 million in debt.) another distressing downside of these establishments is their resulting wastefulness. bringing home leftovers is discouraged and takeaway packaging doesn’t come cheap either so mountains of uneaten food get thrown away. That’s a shameful practice in a society where thousands go hungry each day, and a sad commentary on our disposable culture.

48

plete with casinos boasting their own mega-buffets. sin city’s biggest by far is the bacchanal buffet in the caesar’s Palace hotel & casino, where unlimited victuals will set you back a princely $89 to eat yourself into a food coma. in the slightly more frugal united Kingdom where patrons of indian and chinese restaurants have long been familiar with buffetstyle lunchtime grazing, some adventurous entrepreneurs have been inspired to follow america’s over-the-top example. Taybarns was, for a time, a northern lowcost face-stuffing chain owned by Whitbread, and today the Wetherspoon pub empire owns several spoon World buffet locations in the south. cosmo World buffets, “inspired by the best fivestar hotels in the world”, boasts branches from aberdeen to bristol, and the Jrc global buffet chain’s signature restaurant in Watford claims to be one of europe’s largest. also in Watford you’ll find the grove hotel’s glasshouse restaurant, one of the most expensive high end allyou-can-devour experiences in the uK, charging from £65 to £82 (plus service) on weekends. There’s also za za bazaar in bristol, and The ned in london, located in a former bank within sight of st Paul’s which hosts one of the swankiest sunday brunches of all at £100 per person. still, if you’d prefer to ratchet your dining experience up a euronotch and

don’t mind waiting a couple of months for a reservation you could plan a gallic trek to norbonne in the south of france, home to an upscale joint called les grands buffets. boasting four themed dining rooms and “the largest selection of cheeses in the world” its bounty includes all the snails, frogs’ legs, and foie gras a person can consume, a steal at €57.90. (double Jeroboams of Krug grande cuvée not included). not altogether my thing, frankly, although if i was left alone with the fontaine de chocolat noir i’m not certain i could refuse. all of this brings to mind the ’70s french film La Grande Bouffe wherein a group of jaded gastronomes ensconce themselves in a country house and eat themselves to death, a possible ‘sauce’ of inspiration for the infamous scene in Monty Python’s Meaning of life where the gluttonous Mr. creosote literally explodes after tasting a final palate-cleansing “whaffer theen mint”. bon appetit.  49

b e Yond T h e cla ssrooM

Meanwhile, back at the School Year 11 Netball team win Kirklees league

T

he Year 11 netball team won the Kirklees league fighting off strong competition in the final against shelley and honley. Their success is the culmination of hard work and effort over the past five years.

Year 10 work experience with British Army

n

ine Year 10 students have attended a fourday residential Work experience placement with the british army at Queen elizabeth barracks in York, learning basic military skills. ‘

Year 9 ‘Oracy’ Workshop

o

racy is the ability to express oneself fluently and grammatically in speech. 50 students in Year 9 took part in a full-day ‘oracy workshop’to help them to develop their communication skills and confidence.

50

King James’s Chess Championship

T

he King James’s chess championship returned in the autumn term, with competitors from several year groups. The final was a hard-fought contest between brothers Manav and aryan Patel; the older brother Manav eventually taking a 2 – 1 victory. isaac fossey, was a gallant third.

Year 11 Mock interviews

M

ock interviews took place last december with nearly 30 participating organisations including the department for Work & Pensions, greenhead college, huddersfield new college, Kirklees college, Kirklees council, Purple dog ltd, stafflex, The link, Transpennine route upgrade and Westin drives.

And in short… l KJs plans to launch Accelerated Reader (AR), a digital whole-class reading management and monitoring programme to foster independent reading. l The school has achieved the Quality in Careers Standard, a national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance in secondary schools.

KJS produces a lively full-colour Newsletter each term. If you would like an email copy please contact Tracy Sykes (Reprographics): Staff.TSykes@kingjames.school.

51

f lighT

Chocks away! We take to the air ROG ER DOWLING The almondburian seeks the help of gliding enthusiast David Slocombe (1965-1971) in understanding the mystery of Flight.

We’ve all been there. Maximum load 22 kg, it says on the flight ticket. You check your suitcase and find it weighs 23 kg, so you reluctantly remove a couple of heavy sweaters you packed earlier (surely it won’t be cold in midsummer in Tenerife?).

Job done. except that it still seems to weigh a ton, and not for the first time, you marvel at the wonder of flight – not just the unlikely proposition of elevating yourself and your luggage to 24,000 ft but sim-

ultaneously performing the same wondrous feat on 200 fellow-minded passengers, all with similarly bulging suitcases. despite the mounting evidence to the contrary, my wife has never really believed that flying can actually be possible and regards the high point of any flight as that moment, at the end, when she can return safely to terra firma. sadly, i cannot claim that my own greater level of confidence is due to my education at King James’s grammar school (though there was an active air Training corps

Ready for take-off: David Slocombe is at the controls while Roger Dowling feigns confidence behind.

52

(aTc) and i guess those members must have picked up a few hints and tips as part of their training under ‘dusty’ binns). but i know enough to understand that it’s really all about the cleverly shaped aircraft wings that generate what is known as ‘lift’. as long as the aircraft goes fast enough to ensure that the lift exceeds the weight of the aircraft and its load, the plane is going to become airborne whether it likes it or not. it’s a thought that has comforted me mightily over the years. clearly those big engines must help. a pair of modern jet engines can apparently generate a thrust of about 15,000 horsepower, so with 200 passengers that’s 75 horses apiece. but my wife has never understood how even 75 horses could

75

mi

le s

keep her airborne at 24,000 ft for hours on end, and i think she probably has a fair point. and what about gliding? readers may recall that almondburian david slocombe wrote about gliding in our July 2023 issue and claimed that he could stay aloft in his glider for several hours with no more than a few puffs of air under the wings. Magic indeed! so when he kindly offered me a glider trip last october, i felt duty bound to accept the offer on behalf of The Almondburian and report back on my experience. so, a bright morning last october found me on the road to burn gliding club near selby, north Yorkshire, one of around 80 such clubs in the uK. gliding has been a popular pastime since the 1920s

Yorkshire (Sutton Bank) York

Bowland Forest

HUDDERSFIELD

Wolds

Burn Gliding Club Trent Valley

Derbyshire & Lancashire

Darlton

Denbigh Cranwell

North Wales

Burn Flying Club is 40 miles from Huddersfield. There are numerous others within easy reach of the town.

54

Simple instrumentation: the two top dials show air speed in knots and rate of ascent/descent in ft/min. The lower dial indicates altitude.

rons used the airfield before it closed in 1945.

“We have 110 members,” david told me, “of which 72 are active pilots.”

The club has around 30 gliders on site, some owned privately and others by syndicates. its own fleet includes: l two glass fibre schleicher asK21 twoseat training gliders, the workhorses of the club’s pilot training programmes; l a glass fibre Polish szd-51-1 ‘Junior’ single-seat glider; l a carbon fibre/glass fibre schempphirth Janus c/f two-seat training glider, used for more advanced solo pilot training in the use of flaps; l a schleicher asK13 two-seat training glider with a steel tube framed fuselage and fabric covered wooden wings which has been part of the training fleet for over 50 years but is still in regular use.

The club also has two tug aircraft and a motor-glider for use on non-gliding days. by the time we had finished our tour and broken for coffee it was time for the pre-flight noTaM (notice to airmen) announcement from instructor alistair MacKenzie. “no great problems today” he reported. “The paragliding crowd have just moved. There’s a military exercise going on to the north-west of leeming with loads of helicopters but that shouldn’t worry us. so no great hazards to report.”

though germany has always been the centre of the gliding world. after World War 1, flying restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on the manufacture of powered aircraft in germany resulted in the german government encouraging firms to develop innovative glider designs.

Today, leading manufacturers such as alexander schleicher, lange aviation and schempp-hirth flugzeug-Vertriebs are all germany-based. i arrived at the airfield at around 9.30 am, with not a cloud in the sky. “a great day for flying,” i said cheerily to david who was standing outside the clubhouse to greet me. it was my first mistake of the day. “for flying perhaps, but not for gliding!” david corrected me. “We need to have plenty of clouds to give us lift, so i reckon we should wait for a couple of hours or so to let the clouds build up.” so we had plenty of time for david to show me round and tell me more about the club. The airfield is rented from north Yorkshire county council, though the club owns the main hangar and clubhouse. it was originally a World War 2 airfield, first opened in 1942 as a base for no 431 squadron of the royal canadian air force, part of 4 group raf bomber command. Various other squad55

so as noon approaches, david decides it’s time for action. “let’s get you sorted out with a parachute!” Pardon? for a moment, i wondered anxiously if david had misunderstood the true purpose of my visit and had booked me in for a jumping session but he assured me that it makes good sense to wear a parachute when gliding: although there’s no engine to go wrong, there’s also no engine to get you out of trouble if other problems were to arise. suitably kitted out, i made my way to asK21 derh, got myself strapped in and we were soon ready to go. although burn flying club has winch launching facilities, on this occasion it was to be an aerotowed launch using a tug aircraft, a Pa-25 'Pawnee', and in no time at all we were airborne. it’s difficult to put the experience of gliding into words, except to say that it must surely be the closest man can ever be to emulating birds. The absence of an engine means that it’s pleasantly quiet – even wind noise is largely eliminated by the overhead canopy – and the most intrusive sound was the insistent beeping of the electronic audio variometer which generated a rapid high-pitched beep to indicate a rise in altitude and a more mournful lowerpitched beep indicating a descent. i had expected that the experience would be similar to acending and descending in a lift, but this was not the case and i

think that even my wife would have been impressed that all this was being achieved without the help of any horses at all. Visibility was excellent and it had turned out to be a good day for gliding after all: looking down, i could easily see such landmarks as the remains of the now-abandoned eggborough Power station to the south and the drax Power station to the east.

To the north, York Minster soon came into view. Throughout the flight i was conscious that david was keeping a constant eye on the clouds above that were a reliable indication of the presence of the thermals – rising currents of air – that were vital to gain altitude. david told me that his maximum time airborne in a single flight, so far, is 5 hours 35 minutes. on this occasion, i felt truly saddened when my little demonstration fight had to come to an end after about half an hour. it had been a wonderful experience for which i would like to extend my gratitude both to david and to his colleagues at burn flying club. in his article in July 2023, david asked: ‘Why not an almondburians’ gliding section?’. With numerous gliding clubs within easy reach of huddersfield – not to mention the 80 gliding clubs, 2,300 gliders and nearly 10,000 members dotted around the rest of the uK – it’s a very fair question.  56

sPorT

Badminton/Tennis ANDR EW H AI G H The 2024-25 badminton season got underway on 12th september with six people playing but, for a variety of reasons, it was 10th october before we played again.

We also missed 21st november, due to Presentation evening and 12th december due to exams. Kirkburton badminton club use the other half of the sports hall to play league badminton matches and one week sally starbuck pressganged one of their spectators into joining us to make up a four!

The most people who have played on one evening was seven, on 5th december.

That week, ironically, we were down to just one court, due to torrential rain causing flooding at one end of the sports hall.

We had a few evenings with six people playing, including the last badminton before christmas on 19th december, when we traditionally have a christmas party afterwards.

There was another slow start in the new year since it was 30th January before badminton recommenced after christ-

mas, due firstly to snow and then to exams.

We could do with a few more regular players and welcome everyone. We play in the school sports hall each Thursday evening during term-time, from 7:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. The fee, to cover the hire of the sports hall, shuttlecocks and showers, is £7.00 per person per evening. afterwards, we retire to almondbury conservative club for refreshments.

Those who have ventured on court with us so far this season are: ian daffern, andrew haigh, robin Merchant, david Parry, Joe schewtschuck, sally starbuck and craig Watts. Why not come and join us? due to the constraints of the gcse exam timetable, this year’s badminton season will finish on Thursday, 3rd april. after then, we play tennis at longley community sports club on Thursday evenings from 7 p.m. onwards. again, all are welcome. There is a guest fee of £3 for non-members.  57

s PorT

Golf: Gothard Cup 2025 R OBI N MER CH ANT The gothard cup 2025 competition will take place at its traditional venue of Woodsome hall, on sunday 29th June with the 1st tee reserved from 2.30pm. as always, the golf will be followed by a meal and the presentation of prizes.

This will be the 80th time the gothard cup will have been contested, dating back to 1932 when Mr. J Priestley was triumphant. There have been a few years when the cup was not contested,

for example during the second World War and then again during the 1990’s and it is due to the great effort of simon russell that the competition was revived! it is up to the society members to make sure this competition keeps going and to ensure that it can celebrate its centenary in 2032! so, if you would like to meet up with old school mates over a drink or two after a game of golf or if you would just like to attend the meal, please do come along and join us. 

58

palaeontology ll

Obituaries Jeremy Brent Wilson KJGS 1970-75 Geologist who became a leading international authority in the field of micro-palaeontology Prof emeritus JEREMY BRENT WILSON of Maen-y-groes, new Quay, ceredigion on home at peacefully died 24th september after a long battle with cancer. he was the son of Mr. roy Wilson of auchencairn, dumfries and galloway and Mrs. Jeanne hallas of birchencliffe, huddersfield. brent was born on 10th november 1959 in falkirk and in 1961 came with his parents when they returned to huddersfield. his early education started at almondbury infant and Junior school and this was followed at King James’s grammar school and greenhead sixth form college. in 1977 he was accepted at aberystwyth university to study for a degree in geology, a subject

he had an interest in from boyhood and one he shared with his father. he received a b sc (hons) in 1980 and followed this with a further two years at aberystwyth reading micro-palaeontology for which he received an Msc in 1982. intending to pursue this specialism further he next went to the university of saskatchewan but did not find life in the canadian prairies to his liking and after a year or so he returned to the uK. after a break from academic studies he decided to offer his services to Vso (Voluntary services overseas) who persuaded him to take up a school teaching post on the small carribean island of nevis. his subjects were to be Maths and Physics, not his speciality, but he was assured by the people at Vso that as he was only required to teach up to o level and that it should not be too difficult for someone of his proven intellect to keep a few steps ahead of his students! The initial posting was for two years at the end of which he was asked to stay for two more. in total he stayed for seven, his work gave him time to explore his new environ-

59

palaeontology ll

ment and the opportunity to continue research in his geological interests. he registered with his old university to study as an external candidate for a Ph d based on research into the micro-palaeontology of the local marine environment. brent received his doctorate in 1999. in 1993 brent attended a conference for science teachers on the island of Montserrat where he met his future wife Jacqui, also a science teacher (with a degree in physics!).

They married on nevis in 1994. in 1998 as brent was finalising his thesis for submission he was head-hunted by a firm of geological consultants to the petrochemical industry based on Trinidad. called Biostrat, a consultancy was operated by two englishmen who had connections with aberystwyth university. brent accepted the post and he and Jacqui took up residence on the much larger and busier island. brent stayed with Biostrat for five years. in 2003 the university of the West indies advertised for a lecturer in geology at the st.augustines campus in Trinidad. This was in the geology department in the chemical engineering faculty and brent was appointed to the post. he eventually became the head of the geology department. a significant part of his remit was research in his specialist field and over the years he produced many published peer reviewed papers. in addition to his academic qualifications he was a fellow of the royal geological society and a research associate of the smithsonian institution of Washington. in 2013 he was elevated to Professor at the university of the West indies. some 20 years ago at a routine health

examination brent was diagnosed with prostate cancer and began treatment which for some time slowed the development of the cancer. however, by 2017 the treatment he had been receiving in Trinidad had reached the limit of effectiveness and he made the decision to return to the uK taking early retirement from the university. brent and Jacqui had travelled widely but chose Wales to settle. soon after his arrival there he volunteered with a local marine environmental interest group working on the coastline at new Quay. brent’s interests outside the world of geology included music and painting. during his time at saskatchewan university he was required to choose a subject of study unrelated to his main research and he selected music composition; some of his compositions have been performed in Trinidad and more recently in Wales. Painting came late in the last year or so of his life. in september 2023 the treatment he had been receiving was deminishing in its effectiveness and he was placed in palliative care at his home. in the earlier months he was able to continue with his interests and research, producing a further published paper. brent led an interesting and rewarding life and career. he made his mark in his specialised field internationally and will be well remembered by the students he mentored in their preparation for their degrees and doctorates at the university in Trinidad.

Jeremy Brent Wilson, born 10th November 1969, died 24th September 2024 aged 64.

60

palaeontology ll

Mark William Lawton KJGS 1976-81 Keen sportsman who became a leading expert in construction law in the UK MARK LAWTON attended King James’s as part of the “new comprehensive intake’, entering what was previously “year 3” in 1976 and leaving after a-levels to study law at nottingham in 1981. Mark was a well liked and really popular pupil throughout his years at King James’s. his favourite teacher, with absolutely no doubt, was robbie field whom he got to know well whilst studying french and german to a-level. Mark went onto law school in chester and then returned to huddersfield to undertake his articles before moving onto law firms in leeds and newcastle, specialising in construction law disputes. he was one of the uK’s leading experts in construction law [i know this because Mark told me so!] and had a strong working relationship with many major construction firms. despite moving away from the area he remained a passionate huddersfield Town fan. his attention was occasionally taken by the black and white stripes of newcastle united but it was then blue and white stripes that he watched at old Wembley, The Millennium stadium and new Wembley. he had a passion for rugby union attending many international fixtures and watching his sons, from the touchline, at newcastle’s northern rugby football club. a member of Woodsome hall golf club whilst at King James’s he adored rounds of golf with his sons and made the occasional appearance in the gothard cup.

Married to diane and, although separated and later divorced, they remained good friends and collaboratively brought up their three sons Will, oliver and Max. Mark’s total pride and joy. aged 45 Mark developed a rare cruel auto-immune disorder which in itself can cause dementia. by 2017 it was clear he had developed some subtle cognitive impairment and he was subsequently diagnosed with alzheimer’s disease on top of the auto-immune disorder. he continued to live independently until going into full time care at the young age of 57. he died peacefully with his eldest sons Will and oliver beside him, aged 61. a kind, thoughtful, quietly confident absolute gentleman with a quick hilarious sense of humour. along with his three sons he leaves a grandson, freddie.

Mark William Lawton, born 20th May 1963, died 8th November 2024 aged 61.

Robin Sharman 61

palaeontology ll

Colin Robson KJGS 1946-53 Specialist in behavioural sciences who lived in St Helen’s Gate for most of his married life COLIN ROBSON, emeritus professor in the school of human and health sciences at the university of huddersfield, has died at the age of 89.

The only child of Mary and raymond robson, he represented the school at chess and cricket and with a state scholarship, read Physics at the university of Manchester. While studying for the Pgce at Kings college, london, he came across the subject of Psychology for the first time. national service was still compulsory in the 1950s and colin secured a short service commission with the raf and spent the three years teaching electronics at no 1 radio school, locking, Westonsuper-Mare. by now he was the father of Mark and catherine, having married Pat Wells in 1958 who had been an evacuee in almondbury during the war and returned every august to visit Mr and Mrs lancaster of Kaye lane. While teaching physics at colfe’s grammar school in lewisham, south-east london, he began studying Psychology at birkbeck college london for three evenings a week. four years later, he gained a firstclass degree and a post as lecturer at the college. but the pull of the home town was strong, especially when the new polytechnic was advertising interesting jobs. in 1971 they needed a head of education and local lad colin, after five years at birkbeck and now with a Phd, fitted the bill. When the poly became a university, colin moved across to lead the behavioural science de-

partment with a new degree combining psychology and sociology which proved highly successful for thirty-two years, the robsons lived happily at Kirkroyd, 45 st helen's gate. son Mark attended KJgs before going on to greenhead college where Pat taught english, catherine following soon afterwards from almondbury high school. in 2003 colin and Pat moved to bath to be nearer the family. in 2019 colin suffered a severe stroke which left him almost completely paralysed but with his mental faculties intact. benefitting from excellent live-in carers, he enjoyed life as much as possible, managing to update a fifth edition of his textbook Real World Research. a lifelong supporter of hTfc and all things huddersfield, colin died peacefully on 17th october, survived by Pat, Mark, catherine, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Colin Robson, born 27th July 1935, died 8th November 2024 aged 89.

Pat Robson 62

Four great ASOC publications A History of King James’s Grammar School is the official history of the School covering the period 15471963. The author KING JAMES’S of this 284 page GRAMMAR SCHOOL hardback full of reminiscences and anecdotes was historian and former KJGS pupil Gerald Hinchliffe.

An Illustrated History of King James’s School in Almondbury was originally published to mark the 400th anniversary of the Charter in 2008. A full colour hardback recording 400 years of history, packed with illustrations throughout.

A HISTORY OF

IN ALMONDBURY

GERALD HINCHLIFFE, B.A., M.Ed.

£10 plus P & P

£10 plus P & P

Morning Assembly gives a fascinating and often humorous account of former Headmaster Harry Taylor’s life and includes, in facsimile form, 100 prayers – ancient and modern – which he assembled over the years for use in School assemblies.

No beating about the Bush is the finalyear diary of former deputy head Dave Bush, who retired in 1996. A detailed day-to-day account of life at King James’s School with detailed and often amusing accounts of the ups and downs of school life.

£10 plus P & P

£15 plus P & P

Get your copies NOW! All books can be purchased online on our website www.asoc.org.uk. If you prefer to pay by cheque, please make it payable to the Old Almondburians’ Society and post it to Andrew Haigh, R D Haigh & Co, Oakhill Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire HD6 1SN.

63

President ian riMMer King James’s school, st helen’s gate, almondbury hd4 6sg Tel: 01484 412990 email: staff.irimmer@kingjames.school chairman WalTer raleigh 15 Thorpe lane, almondbury hd5 8Ta Tel: 01484 308452 email: walter.raleigh@asoc.org.uk secretary andreW haigh 2 arkenley lane, almondbury hd4 6sQ Tel: 01484 432105 email: andrew.haigh@asoc.org.uk Treasurer KeiTh craWshaW 5 benomley drive, almondbury hd5 8lX Tel: 01484 533658 email: keith.crawshaw@asoc.org.uk Media editor roger doWling orchard house, oughtrington lane, lymm, cheshire Wa13 0rd Tel: 01925 756390/07815 601447 email: almondburian@asoc.org.uk assistant Media editor richard Teale The sycamores, 239 huddersfield road, Thongsbridge, holmfirth hd9 3TT Tel: 07810 313315. email: richard.teale@asoc.org.uk KJs representatives abbigail TerrY King James’s school, st helen’s gate, almondbury hd4 6sg Tel: 01484 412990 email: staff.aTerry@kingjames.school liz aTKinson King James’s school, st helen’s gate, almondbury hd4 6sg Tel: 01484 412990 email: staff.eatkinson@kingjames.school

Website: www.asoc.org.uk

The Almondburian is distributed to ASOC members free of charge.

Price to non-members: £5.00

64