July 2016

The ALMONDBURIAN T H E MAG AZINE O F TH E O L D AL MO ND BU RI ANS ’ S O C I ETY

July 2016

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IN THIS ISSUE

A word from your Chairman Old Almondburians’ Society Calendar Is it time to change our name? ‘Exceptional performance’ – SSAT The loneliness job in the world? Pavilion project edges forward 1976 – the year of change Feature: King James’s goes comprehensive 1970s team regains the trophy Back to the drawing board I never made a toothbrush rack Every picture tells a story How I became an heraldic artist Annual Dinner Founders’ Day Membership Farnley Lines The trolleybuses of Huddersfield (part 2) The big OAS trolleybus reunion Sudoku Sport Crossword Postbag Obituaries

(Opposite): A scene that has changed little over the years: the top of St Helen’s Gate, Almondbury Drawing: Mavis Williams

The ALMONDBURIAN Editor: Roger Dowling

July 2016

The magazine of The Old Almondburians’ Society

A word from your Chairman

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WA LT E R R AL E IG H

IRST of all, welcome to the second issue of The Almondburian for 2016. For those of you who do not know me I taught at King James’s from 1978 to retirement in 2010. I was invited to be Chairman a couple of years ago but because of moving home I had to decline the offer and Patrick O’Brien agreed to take on the role for a year. May I take this opportunity to thank Patrick, a former colleague of mine, for being willing to take on the role

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at such short notice. As with all jobs Patrick undertakes it was done with enthusiasm, diligence and professionalism. During any period as Chair of an organisation it is useful to have a theme or project to drive a committee forward. On retiring as Chair, Patrick thanked all those who help with the running of the OAS but made the point that new blood was needed. Quite simply, the boys from the Grammar School era had served the OAS magnifi-

cently over many years but age was catching up with them all and what was needed was an influx of younger members willing to carry the torch into the future. It was with Patrick’s thought in mind that I saw an opportunity. My year in office begins in 2016, exactly 40 years since the first intake of mixed comprehensive students from Lepton Middle School to King James’s School. It is, therefore, my ambition to both celebrate this anniversary and to take the opportunity to encourage more of these former students to become involved in the running of THEIR school’s past-student association. As a start to this year of celebration this issue includes reminiscences from some who joined the school in 1976. I should also invite any former students who would like to get involved in the organising of these events to contact me or anyone else on the committee. A subcommittee is being formed and all are welcome to join to help make 2016 a year to remember.

Another active issue is the name of the Society. Graham Cliffe, then Chairman of the OAS, suggested 20 years ago that we should consider dropping the word ‘Old’ from our name (see article opposite). A number of committee members feel that it is time to look again at this suggestion and that we should move on from the idea of an ‘Old Boys’ Society’.The OAS cricket team dropped the word ‘Old’ some time ago in an attempt to recruit new members into a more vibrant organisation that was not reflected in their previous name. A further point is that for many recent leavers the name ‘Old Almondburians’ means little. They know their school as ‘King James’s School’ so should any association of former students also have the name ‘King James’ in its title? As a Committee we want your views on this important dialogue. Nothing will change unless a majority of those interested give their consent. Remember, it is n YOUR society.

OLD ALMONDBURIANS’ SOCIETY CALENDAR

ANNUAL DINNER This year’s Annual Dinner will be held on Saturday, 26th November. The ticket price for the Annual Dinner has been held for the fifth consecutive year at £27.50. A booking form is enclosed with this magazine and members are encouraged to book their tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Special 40th and 50th anniversary reunions are being planned Full details: page 39.

GOLF: GOTHARD CUP

The Gothard Cup competition will take place at Woodsome Hall on Sunday, 14th August, teeing-off between 3.15 pm and 4.15 pm. The competition will be followed by a meal and presentation of the cup. Further details: page 57.

DATES OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS, 2016 The Executive Committee of the Society meets upstairs at the ‘Woolpack’ in Almondbury, at 7.30 pm. Any member of the Society who would like to attend one of these meetings will be made most welcome on the following Mondays: 4th July, 5th September, 3rd October, 7th November, 5th December.

FOUNDERS’ DAY The Traditional Founders’ Day Service will be held the day after the Annual Dinner, Sunday, 27th November, as usual. Full details: page 41. 4

THE OLD ALMONDBURIANS’ SOCIETY

Is it time to change our name?

In these image-conscious times, are some prospective OAS members put off by the word ‘Old’, asks a former OAS chairman. Perhaps it’s time we dropped it.

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GRAHAM CLIFFE (1959 - 1966)

Of more immediate concern is the HE School’s Royal Charter of 1608 directed that ‘the Schole name of our Society which we do have shall be called The free Gram- the power to change if we wish to do mar Schole of King James in Al- so. When I became Chairman of the monbury.’ In March of 1959 a letter from the OAS in 1996 I raised the possibility of Home Office stated that ‘Her Majesty changing the name as well as extendhas been graciously pleased to com- ing rights of membership to partners mand that the Almondbury Grammar of members of staff so that they might School shall be known as King James’s attend social functions. To say that my suggestions met with a Grammar School, Almondbury.’ less than enthusiastic By the early 1990s the words response would ‘Grammar School’ had been omitted be a generous defrom the School’s title. It is not scription of the clear who took the decision to mood of the do that or why it was thought meeting and so the that they had any authority matter was not mento override the declarations tioned again during my of both a King and a chairmanship. Queen of the Now, 20 years later, I suggest it Realm. may be a good time to re-visit the issue The history of whether and traditions That which we call a rose we retain the of King word ‘Old’ in James’s are By any other name would smell as sweet. Romeo and Juliet - Act 2 Scene 2 our title. important to Recruiting new members has bemany Almondburians and are the reason why it is different from other come a perennial problem. Like it or schools. Perhaps, in due course, some- not, in the image-conscious times in one will correct the mistake that was which we live, style and presentation are important elements in the success made regarding the School’s title. 5

of any organisation and it may be that we have not properly addressed the question of what the next generation of prospective members really thinks of our society. Might they be deterred from joining by the name itself? To a young person does it conjure up an impression of dour, elderly and unimaginative people lacking in energy and ideas? Can we as existing members be objective enough to accept that that is a possibility?

Please let the Executive Committee know your views and, if appropriate, there could be a SGM to allow debate and a vote on the issue. There is nothing to lose by considering whether change could result in an increase in new members and thus secure the future of the n Society. l Write to our Postbag with your views (editorial address on back cover); visit www.oas.org.uk/name.php; or simply text CHANGE or KEEP to 07815 601447.

BACK AT THE SCHOOL

‘Exceptional performance’ –- SSAT

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King James’s School is commended by teaching network for its exceptional 2015 results and the progress of its pupils

ING JAMES’S has been nationally recognised for its excep tional performance in 2015. ‘Exceptional outcomes’ data from the Schools, Students and Teachers network SSAT have shown that the School is in the top 10% of nonselective schools nationally for high average grades achieved by students.It is also in the top 20% nationally for progress made by pupils between results at primary school and their Key Stage 4 results at secondary school. Sue Williamson, chief executive of SSAT (right) said: “It’s my great pleasure to commend King James’s School, Huddersfield on their excellent 2015 performance. “I have the privilege of visiting a lot of schools and I am always impressed by the creativity of teachers engaging and inspiring their students. “I hope that SSAT’s Educational Outcomes awards will highlight the professionalism, commitment and hard work of the leaders, teachers and students at King James’s School. “Recognising and sharing successes like this is at the heart of SSAT’s mission, so I’m delighted to congratulate King James’s School on its achievement.” n 6

FROM THE STUDY

The loneliest job in the world? IAN RIMMER

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Not if you have the widespread support I am receiving, says King James’s School’s new Principal as he reflects on his first year in the post

OW different my life was this time last year! Well, just over a year ago to be precise, as on Friday, 24th April 2015 I heard that I had been successful with my application to become the 28th Headteacher (or should that be Principal, as is the norm for academies) of King James’s School. I lack the levels of articulacy required to express exactly how I felt at that moment. Pride and delight mixed with a good degree of humility and surprise.Yes surprise, because although my predecessor and ‘mentor’ Robert Lamb had continually expressed faith in my ability firstly to secure the post and then to fulfil the role, it remains a little humbling when you actually pause for a moment to reflect on the faith that others have placed in your abilities and the breadth and depth of responsibility with which you have been entrusted. Some time later I recall reading the excellent article in the Huddersfield Examiner, duly acknowledging Robert’s outstanding successes throughout his time at the helm. However the article went on to say, Robert has every confidence in the school going on to bigger and better things. He has described his successor’s appointment as “brilliant”, having worked with Ian Rimmer for a decade. “I think the school is in very safe hands; Ian shares the ethos of the school, and there will be continuity. He is more than capable of taking over.” I can’t deny that it is extremely flattering to receive such a public vote of confidence, from someone as successful and respected as Robert, but the expectation from all quarters to fill his very large shoes became ever clearer. “Is the job what you expected?”, is the question I have been most commonly asked since September. If only I had been given a pound every time, I could look forward to retiring myself in August after only one year at the helm. The answer is simStriding off into retirement: I was flattered to receive a vote of confidence from someone as successful and respected as Robert Lamb 7

Jenny Sanderson

ply “No”, because I don’t believe anyone could really know what the job entailed until they embarked upon it. It is simply the diversity of challenges you face and the scope of knowledge that is ‘demanded’ of you, in order to meet those challenges, that is most over-whelming. And nothing could remotely prepare you for it! Increasing social demands, tighter financial constraints, heightened public accountability and a worrying recruitment crisis (despite what ministers might believe) are just some of the issues that face schools these days and King James’s is not immune. And I haven’t even begun to mention the plethora of educational initiatives which appear with seasonal regularity; there is an appetite these days to introduce a new idea before we have embedded the previous one. So who would be a new Headteacher? Well, according to a recent National Governors Association study (Sep 2015), not many! 43% of respondents reported it was difficult to find good candidates when recruiting a new Headteacher. A concerning decline!

Another issue for me, however, has been re-establishing myself with colleagues in a new role for the second time. Having been originally appointed as Assistant Headteacher in 2004 and then promoted internally to Deputy Headteacher on Patrick O’Brien’s retirement in 2010, I now find myself in a third role in the same school. That has some benefits, of course, in that I know ‘the school’ very well (although with some colleagues past and present having served there for in excess of 30 years, I am but a novice). The other side of the coin is that I have had to re-invent myself to some degree as the head of the school. Staff, students and parents, governors, trustees, partner primary schools, the community – and of course the OAS – need to see me now as the authoritative leader, rather than the dutiful deputy. And this diversity of stakeholders provides yet another challenge; many people to ‘please’, many demands to satisfy, many questions to answer! “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come.We have only today. Let us begin.” 8

Mother Teresa

And in a sense, that re-invention has been my primary goal for this year. Of course, we have continued to focus on academic achievement, striving to preserve our status at the top of the Kirklees league tables. And we have sought to maintain our high quality pastoral care, as we seek to support and develop all our students, so they can become confident young adults ready for life beyond King James’s. Added to that we have made efforts to improve links with parents, through a new Parents’ Bulletin, a Parents’ Forum (hosted by the school’s new Vice Principal, Philip Coxon), and new online Parental Engagement surveys. Often, and somewhat inevitably, the close relationship between families and primary schools is broken when children move onto the, both geographically and emotionally, more distant secondary; we hope that, through these initiatives, we will go some way to address this situation. But this year has seen the changing of the guard and with change comes uncertainty, so providing all stakeholders with a sense of stability and order has been the key objective in this transitional period. “The best way to predict your future is to create it”

one provides us with an opportunity. And yes, I have succumbed to the somewhat inevitable ‘2020 vision’ for King James’s. Changes to the school buildings and campus and to the ICT infrastructure are just the start. Staffing models need to be adapted to the shifting demands of the 21st century and curriculum provision needs a rethink in light of a renewed emphasis on the English Baccalaureate and a dearth of vocational provision. We must also react to the changing demographic and the issues faced by many children in our care today. Building everstronger links with our partner primaries will also be important, as the government press on with their demands to make all schools form Alliances, Federations or Multi-Academy Trusts. And all this against a backdrop of falling budgets and a new set of untested accountability measures. As my predecessor might have put it, with a typical Lancastrian brogue, “’appy days!” So, do I regret taking it all on? I can’t pretend there haven’t been one or two moments when I have wondered what I have done, but that’s inevitable in any new role. And there can’t be many roles in which you are more exposed! It has been said many times over that being a Headteacher is the loneliest job in the world. But I am grateful to the many colleagues who have backed me, for without their help the task would be insurmountable. I am indebted too to the parents, governors, trustees and friends of King James’s, who have also expressed their support. n

“The bigger the challenge, the greater the opportunity!”

Abraham Lincoln

So what of the future? Well, that is the really exciting bit. As someone once said, “The bigger the challenge, the greater the opportunity!”There are so many challenges (such that I cannot be constrained by a 1year school development plan) and each

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UPDATE

Pavilion project edges forward The Almondburian met project chairman GRAHAM CLIFFE to find out what has

been happening since the plan to refurbish the pavilion was launched five years ago.

The Almondburian Graham, it’s quite surprising to see that we first announced the project to restore the cricket pavilion back in 2011.There’s not much sign of building work yet! Graham Cliffe Indeed there isn’t, but there’s a very good reason. It’s no longer

just ‘a project to restore the cricket pavilion’. We soon realised that it made much more sense to start from scratch and build an enhanced pavilion offering greater scope and flexibility that could also be used for outdoor sports other than just cricket. We also envisage a

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pavilion that will be of benefit to the whole of the local sporting community rather than just King James’s School. A How will the new pavilion differ from the present one? GC The old pavilion was a very basic design, comprising little more than a couple of changing rooms, a small kitchen, toilets and a scorebox. The new design will have four changing rooms with associated showers (to accommodate both sexes), a kitchen and store, space for storing machinery, small offices and a roof viewing terrace.

Project architect: Chris West RIBA 11

A So a lot has been going on behind the scenes! GC It has indeed. Old Almondburian Chris West produced a great design and then we had to go through the lengthy procedure of obtaining planning permission. This finally came through in March 2014. A We reported in July 2014 that studies were being undertaken to establish the feasibility of removing the ground’s infamous ‘mound’ towards the pavilion.What was the outcome? GC We did indeed look into this and we shall certainly be planning to reduce the height of the mound. A How much is the new pavilion expected to cost? GC Our budget figure is £400,000. Sadly, we have to pay VAT on top of this, bringing the total to around £480,000. A Where is the money going to come from? GC The King James’s School Trust has already agreed to provide half of the funds, so that’s a great start. A And the rest? GC Our initial target is Sport England who are responsible for fostering grassroots sport in England. Our first two applications have been turned down for one reason or another so we are now awaiting feed-

back and looking GC It certainly is! at other options. We’ve been in We are actually a touch with a numstrong bidder as ber of local sportwe own the land ing groups. on which the deHuddersfield Univelopment is going versity supported to take place and our bid to Sport we also have half England as they the funding alwould like to have ready in place. a ‘home’ ground A How will you go for their fixtures. about pursuing other The former univerfunding sources? sity grounds at SalGC We are just endine Nook were Old Almondburian Ryan Sidebottom is completing a fund- amongst the prominent sportsmen supporting disposed of some the project raising pamphlet years ago so our which will be circulated in a focused ground is probably the nearest to them way to organisations and individuals now. The main supporter from the perwhom we think might be keen to help. spective of creating a ‘year round’ facilIn this context, I’d like to thank those ity has been the Almondbury Lions Almondburians who have already sent junior football club. They have been in generous contributions.We shall also members of the local junior league for be exploring other smaller grant opseveral years but have never had a base portunities and organising other fundof their own although they rent the raising initiatives such as last October’s school fields for their fixtures.We’re Black Tie Ball. This raised nearly also delighted to have the backing of £7,000. such well-known figures as cricketer Ryan Sidebottom, runner Derek IbbotA How are you going about fund-raising? son and former Huddersfield Town GC I chair an excellent fund-raising footballer Jon Dyson. team comprising Prof Colin Bamford (Associate Dean of the Business School A An important final question: when are at the University of Huddersfield), pro- you hoping the pavilion might be completed? fessional fund-raiser Christopher GC It’s a hostage to fortune to give an Mann, project architect Chris West, answer to a question like that! All I can OAS chairman Walter Raleigh, OAS treasurer Keith Crawshaw, OAS mem- say at this stage is that if all our fundber Martyn Hicks and School represen- ing activities bear fruit, it would be a great target to have the pavilion in tative Kim Clarke (head of PE). A Is the project receiving wide support from service in time for the 2018 cricket season. n the sporting community generally? 12

Forty years ago, King James’s Grammar School underwent the biggest change in its long history when it became a comprehensive school. Some of the pupils and teachers there at the time recall that day in September

King James’s goes comprehensive

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T’S Wednesday, 1st September and 150 thirteen-year-olds of both sexes are making their way, many with fluttering hearts, to their new school at the bottom of St Helen’s Gate, Almondbury. There can be few amongst them that are unaware that they are about to enter the history books. Following a controversy that has raged for several years, fuelled by public meetings, letters to The Huddersfield Examiner and endless correspondence between interested parties, these pupils are the start of comprehensive education at King James’s School. It had all started with the 1944 Education Act, which amongst many other changes, had made provision for the option of transferring all pupils at the age of 11 to ‘comprehensive’ state schools that did not select their intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. (One of the first purpose-built comprehensives in the country was actually in the old parish of Almondbury: Colne Valley High School, which opened in 1956). In 1965, Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for Education in the 1964-1970 Labour government, formally directed local education authorities to prepare plans for the conversion of schools under their control. As result, Huddersfield Council set up a working party which proposed, amongst other things, eight comprehensive schools and three sixth form colleges, all co-educational. The sixth form colleges were to be at Huddersfield College, Greenhead and King James’s. It was a controversial proposal and the Old Almondburians’ Society immediately mobilised an action committee to fight to retain King James’s as a grammar school. By this time, in 1972, the Conservatives were in power and MargaretThatcher was Secretary of State for Education. Having examined the Council’s proposals, Mrs Thatcher felt that two sixth form colleges would meet Huddersfield’s needs in the foreseeable future, adding ambiguously,‘King James’s will therefore remain unchanged.’ It seemed that the efforts of the OAS had not been in vain. However, Huddersfield Council remained Anthony Crosland: directed local adamant that three sixth form colleges were needed. authorities to prepare plans to Their argument was that plans were already well introduce comprehensive advanced to enlarge the town’s catchment area by education 14

forming Kirklees Metropolitan Borough (ultimately set up in 1974), and the new M62 (built between 1971 and 1976) would result in a rise in the local population. There was furious lobbying behind the scenes, accompanied by dark suggestions – prominently publicised by the pro-comprehensives Huddersfield Examiner – that if King James’s were not to become a sixth form college, other uses would have to be found such as a home for handicapped children. Failing that, the school might face complete closure. It could not, and would not, be allowed to carry on as a grammar school. The outcome was that Mrs Thatcher – not yet the ‘iron lady’ she was to become as Prime Minister – finally relented. From 1974, the School could become King James’s Sixth Form College. But the story was not yet over.Within two years, Mrs Thatcher’s original judgement was found to be correct and the two other sixth form colleges would largely meet the local needs. From 1976, the School took on a new role as a co-educational comprehensive, initially for the age group 11-18 and, from 1990, for its present age group 11-16. Since then, the School has gone from strength to strength. It achieved Specialist Science College status in 2004 and became an academy in 2012. As we go to press, we learn that it has been nationally recognised for its 2015 performance by the Schools, Students and Teachers Network SSAT (story: page 6). But 1976 was undeniably a traumatic year for the School and all who were connected with it, and in the following pages some of those there at the time tell their stories. n 15

The history was everywhere

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couldn’t wait to escape from the clutches of Lepton Middle School. We had been shipped about – an extra year at primary, then to an old school in Kirkburton and then finally to the brand new open-plan school in Lepton. I hated it, the modern open plan where noise travelled all round the school, the strange trendy ways that they tried to teach us and the totally uninspiring rather disciplinefree environment. So when I got to King James’s, for me it was pure joy. I loved the smell of chalk dust, the smell of old plimsolls, the oil of the wooden floors, it smelt like a school should.There were teachers who sounded like teachers, who wanted discipline and were keen for you to learn. It was right for me and I enjoyed almost every minute there.

ANN BERRY (1976 - 1981)

At first it was a bit of a shock as it was big and a bit spooky, lots of old corridors and steep little staircases. I always loved the Famous Five so for me sometimes it felt like I was in one of their stories – the little dark wooden doors and strange old fashioned rooms. The history was everywhere and felt like a million miles away from the bright lights and very modern clean lines of Lepton Middle School Memories of teachers? One has to be Mr Taylor’s biology lessons, my surname leant itself to ‘beri beri’ as one of the diseases from vitamin deficiency so that joke seemed to go on for ages. Dr L’Amie, who always seemed to be in his own world telling me all sorts of stuff that I hadn’t a clue what he was on about. Mr Bareham and those wonderful history lessons. Miss Hazle teaching me skills and

“My career has involved 31 years working as a careers adviser, gaining experience and moving up the ladder, moving to different places, moving from schools to YTS to unemployed miners to art and design students and now in Higher Education. I have seen governments come and go, have seen initiatives be all the rage and then discarded just as quickly. I trained as a florist a few years ago, using a creative streak that had been niggling me for a long time. I am currently taking a career break after caring for my late husband for many years. I have come to realise after way too many years that ‘career’ is just a passing phase of our lives and that many other things are really much more important.” 16

lesson changes when we would get to see the 5th form boys – how exciting it all was to eye them up and to dream! Another memory is of trudging up St Helen’s Gate with a massive bag full of homework that was going to have to be done; it was a massive shock as I am not sure we ever got homework at Middle School. The history and tradition are lasting memories and I am proud to have been part of that for just a few years.n

knowledge that I still use today in my love of cooking. Mrs Ainsworth always shouting at me for never quite managing to run any of the cross country, luckily I was OK at Netball so that helped. But my memory is that all those teachers wanted us to do well – it must have been one hell of a shock for them to teach us after all those years of teaching Grammar School boys. My other great memory is of those

The day I asked for a Christmas kiss

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JACKIE HART (née Chilvers) (1976 - 1981)

form girls. Whilst we buzzed around like pubescent wasps, the sixth form girls wafted around like beautiful butterflies, oozing glamour, class and eau de Charlie. We didn’t stand a chance next to queen butterfly, head girl Clare Fursden, who glided voluptuously up and down the main corridor modelling off- the-shoulder numbers, kitten heels and floaty chiffon. Clare and the prefects would shoo us out of the toilets at lunchtimes: “come along girls, you should be outside!” Entirely understandable – after all, they needed time and space to run through their midday beauty regime and re-apply full make up. The sixth form girls were very bad news indeed, particularly because they

HE contrast was stark – from a decommissioned secondary modern in Kirkburton to an historic boys grammar in Almondbury – we arrived at KJS that September resembling wartime evacuees. The schoolmasters, flapping around the corridors like giant bats in their gowns, regarded us warily boys a bit too mouthy, girls in skirts too far short of the knee.They boomed orders at the boys (“where do you think you're off to, Laddie?”) but didn’t seem quite so sure about managing the girls. I suspect we got away with rather more. Not that we were quite the first girls to come through the door. No, the sixth form girls had arrived before us, damn them! How I was in awe of the sixth

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sat between me and a row of veritable Greek gods: the sixth form boys. We soon became accustomed to the oddities of staff at KJS. Most inappropriately dressed? PE teacher Mrs Ainsworth’s tracksuit seemed entirely superfluous when her primary physical activity was driving her mini around the cross country route, tooting her horn and yelling out of the window at the slackers puffing up Arkenley Lane. Most unnerving? Jack Taylor. One biology lesson, I experienced a heart-stopping moment when Jack threw cows’ eyeballs around the room like gobstoppers. And his dictation tricks fooled everyone eventually – during a lapse of concentration, my beautifully neat table of vitamin deficiencies was ruined when following the B1 deficiency, beriberi, I followed his instructions and dutifully entered the word ‘conkerconker’. Most lost in time? The Latin department. No one really understood why

we needed to learn Latin in 1970s Yorkshire, though we were aware that Mr Bush’s reputation as a Latin virtuoso went far and wide. But sorry Dave, it was Mr O’Brien all the way to an A grade for many in 3P – go Patrick! Most pranked? Mr Hargreaves. One day the whole class inched their desks forward each time he turned to write on the board, until he was eventually pinned to the wall. I don’t remember who the ringleader was, but Andrew Humble and Steven Manning usually had a lot to answer for. Most continental? Bob Field. In French lessons he addressed me as Jacqueline-Marie in a French accent that made me sound like a glamorous film star. Best school house? Jessop of course! I quote from my speech to the OAS dinner, 1981: “Girls now contribute a great deal to the life of the school. Only last week, we girls of the senior Jessop netball team revived a house which had failed to make any

JACKIE HART (née Chilvers) was Head Girl in 198081 and studied History at Nottingham University before joining the Civil Service. She undertook a wide range of policy and management roles in criminal justice, police and prisons before joining the Human Resources profession. She is now HR Director for UK Trade and Investment, an organisation of 2,500 staff in the UK and embassies around the world leading the Government’s ambitious targets to achieve £1 trillion exports and £1.5 trillion inward investment by 2020. She lives in London and is married with three daughters. 18

As we were (l to r): Ann Berry (see page 16), Chris Walker, Jackie Chilvers, Andrew Schofield (see page 20, Andrea Burnand, Anthony Siswick, Sandra Balmforth, Janet Butcher

mark whatsoever, following endless football defeats inflicted on the males of the house!” Most inspiring? Fanny Walshaw – the best and nicest role model a 1970s girl could have, she encouraged, supported, amused and inspired me. So back to the sixth form Gods. How on earth was a girl supposed to get a look in with all that prefect-wafting going on? Life just wasn’t fair. Then the Christmas disco appeared on the horizon. A chance for Chilvers from 3P to discard the uniform and present herself in 1970s flares. Etiquette was uncertain and I sensed that the way of going about things prob-

ably wasn’t quite as primitive as in the Lepton Parish Hall. Still, I only had one chance. So with Dutch courage, in Christmas 1976, resembling a youthful Bridget Jones, I stepped up to head boy Chris Livesey and asked very politely, “Excuse me, but I was wondering whether I could have a Christmas kiss please?”. Oh good grief, did I really just say that? What a complete idiot! But I needn’t have worried. Chris looked down at me in a KJS god-like way and smiled, “Yes certainly,” he said, and the Mills and Boon embrace that followed sustained me through the cold winter months and many nail biting biology lesn sons ahead.

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We thought it was like St Trinian’s

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ANDREW SCHOFIELD (1976 - 1981)

HE Summer of ’76 was a long, younger pupils – it had been decided two hot and dry one. The West In- years earlier that it would become Huddies were on tour and I think dersfield’s third sixth-form college.This we spent the whole of the school holi- was the point at which the School took days in the back fields of Kirkheaton on its present name ‘King James’s playing cricket with School’; to some it the string ball my ANDREW SCHOFIELD went from also became known as grandad had made for KJS to take a degree in French and ‘King Jimmy’s Comp’. German Studies at Lancaster us …ahh, halcyon University, Parents were delightreturning to days! ed, of course, as they Huddersfield to work in sales and That summer also marketing for Camborne Fabrics anticipated grammar (Camira Fabrics Ltd), where he marked the end of an Ltd school teaching in a has worked for 30 years and where era for a group of 180 he met his wife Liz. Now the comprehensive strucpupils, who had spent largest shareholder in the business, ture. is still a very active Sales and the previous few he And so in the early Marketing Director, travelling years in nomadic ex- around the world on behalf of the days of September istence whilst company. His children Oliver (22) 1976, buses arrived in Kirklees decided its and Lucy (20) both attended KJS. Almondbury village secondary schooling from far-flung districts policy. such as Flockton, Kirkheaton children Grange Moor, Lepton (like me) were origiand Kirkheaton and nally due to attend the 180 pupils – all imShelley High School maculate in new blazafter Lepton Middle ers emblazoned with School but the baby the famous crest and boom years meant that sporting yellow and school was not large black ties tied by their enough. It was theredads into perfect fore decided to ‘reWindsor knots – emopen’ King James’s barked on the first of Grammar School to many hundreds of 20

walks down St Helen’s Gate to the im- 30 pupils and I was fortunate to be allocated to 3P, which was the top set. We posing structure that was KJS. We were greeted by teachers (‘mas- were given a ‘trendy young’ new Mathters’?) in flowing black cloaks and I re- ematics teacher, with long flowing hair, member remarking that they looked like called Mr Pearson; he happened to live in Kirkheaton (I something out of St guess he moved Trinian’s. The Head there before he resembled that faknew that many of mous comedian his pupils would Tommy Cooper and come from his lothe Deputy Head cality). Others were was an imposing handed an older, algentleman with a together more strict very loud voice like breed of master, an army major. many of whom had We were shocked. taught at King Our Head at Lepton James’s for many Middle School – the years and really had infamous Alban Tayto adjust quickly to lor – had packed a the new regime. I’m punch but these guys thinking of Mr at KJS were scary. Bareham, Mr In hindsight, I wonMallinson and Mr der what the teachers New boy: ‘immaculate new blazer emblazoned with the famous crest’ Chapman in particwere thinking as a mixed cohort of 180 pupils from dif- ular. We were handed our first timetable ferent backgrounds and villages decontaining subjects we had never even scended upon them. Girls had only entered the School two heard of. What is Physics? What is Biolyears earlier when it was briefly called ogy? …and what on earth is this lanKing James’s College and now the situ- guage called Latin? It was quite a novation was being further complicated elty to move around the school from by the arrival of 180 13-year-olds. It was lesson to lesson, as up to then we had clearly going to be a major challenge for been used to staying in one room all day. all concerned. Particularly exciting were the laboWe were streamed into six groups of 21

ratories, with the gas taps, Bunsen country course in his light blue Datsun burners, petri dishes and so on. Most and ticked off anyone who tried to take exciting of all was the Biology Lab, with a short cut. There was History master its life-size skeleton and fresh animal John Hargreaves whom we nicknamed hearts and lungs in the preparation ‘Sid’ as he always reminded us of Syd Little of Little and Large fame. There was room. This was the home of the most the other History master Francis Barefrightening teacher of all: Mr J Taylor. ham who was always known as Isaiah, Mr Taylor was ‘old school’. Boys were because one eye was higher than the addressed by their surnames and there other. I think we were privileged to join was firm discipline during lessons. If King James’s in you arrived late, a booming voice The PE master used 1976. Yes, it was a shock for both the would greet you to follow us round School, the teachers “LATE AGAIN, the cross-country and the pupils but SCHOFIELD!” We we all gradually were all too frightcourse in his light came together and it ened to appreciate blue Datsun, ticking was there that I Jack’s wicked sense of humour in those off anyone who took spent probably the happiest five years early days and it was a short cut of my schooling. This only later when we was thanks to some relaxed a little that we started to enjoy it. We all sat in brilliant teachers, most of whom I still rows, in the same place every week. I remember today (there one has to say was the middle one of ‘Freeman, Hardy that there were some shocking ones and Willis’. I wish I could remember too!) It was also thanks to the School’s even half of Jack’s jokes and plays on great culture and a fantastic history. I’m delighted to see that King words (example: UREA –until half past three!) It’s only years later that you James’s School continues to flourish. I have kept in touch with the school durrealise what a great teacher Jack was. I could go on relating stories – par- ing the 35 years since I left and was a ticularly about the teachers, as there governor for a period during Robert Lamb’s time as Head Teacher. And both were some real characters. There was PE master Ken Ireland, of my children spent five happy years at n who used to follow us round the cross- the School. 22

We had to find more space

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JACK TAYLOR (STAFF 1959 - 1997)

joined the staff at King James’s Grammar School in 1959, when it was a two stream entry boys’ school with a sixth form. In 1976 I experienced the second change in the status of the school, as previously in 1974, the school had changed from the boys’ grammar school to a mixed sixth form college. However, this change was only for two years. The subsequent change from sixth form college to a thirteen to eighteen mixed comprehensive obviously necessitated great administrative changes. Unlike many of my colleagues I previously had taught in a comprehensive environment, at Whitley Abbey School in Coventry. As a consequence of this further change in the status of King James’s some of the staff elected to

transfer to Greenhead College, preferring an exclusive sixth form environment. The limited accommodation at the St. Helen's site necessitated finding additional teaching space. Thus, on a weekly basis I was walking up St Helen’s Gate, reminiscent of a Founders’ Day Procession, to accompany a group of pupils to lessons on the site of a former school at the top of Fenay Lane. I recall, earlier in my career at King James's, walking up St. Helen’s with groups of boys on their way to swimming lessons at Cambridge Road Baths. It is reassuring at the present time to know that the status of the school as an academy is guaranteed, thus providing a secure background for its continued academic success long into the foreseeable future. n

JACK TAYLOR is one of the teaching legends of King James’s School. He joined in 1959 and is one of a small group of teachers who experienced the School in all four transformations it underwent between 1974 and 1990. He was appointed by Harry Taylor to teach Biology at what was then a two-stream boys’ Grammar School. He spent almost the whole of his teaching career at the School in its various mutations and continued to maintain close links after his retirement. Jack is a former chairman of the Old Almondburians’ Society. 23

Asphyxiated by hairspray

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JENNY SANDERSON (1976 - 1977)

T sixteen years old I was in the position of choosing a Sixth Form College to attend. As soon as my parents saw King James’s School on the list, the decision to apply was made. I can remember being interviewed at my High School by the very tall, very well-spoken JackTaylor. One of the first questions he asked me was “Why King James’s?” My reply was something along the lines of “My brother Martin did well there and to follow in his footsteps can only be a step in the right direction”. As soon as I told my brother that I had been given a place at KJS, his expression was one of horror.After all, it had been an all-boys Grammar School when he attended*. He didn’t hold back his questions: “They are seriously allowing girls in?”; “Are you sure we are talking about the same school?”; “But why?” ; and then lastly “You’ll never pass the shoe inspec-

tion!”. My brother, who by that time was Head of Science at a High School in Nottingham, proceeded to share many anecdotes about his Latin lessons and the initiation ceremony down the grass banking carried out by the Upper School Boys. He then went on to describe the torturous runs around Castle Hill on Cross Country ‘yomps’. “And”, he continued, “misbehave and you’ll find yourself on the ‘Bridge’!” (This was the corridor linking the staff room and the English room corridor, then used an isolation punishment area). I must admit to wondering if my choice had been wise. But, then again, I was 16 and I was sure these cautionary tales wouldn’t apply to me. The morning of my first day arrived. Bus pass in hand, I was delivered to the terminus in the village with another girl from my old school. All we had to do was follow the stream of smartly uniformed ‘youngsters’

*Martin Sanderson attended King James’s Grammar School from 1960 to 1968.

JENNY SANDERSON is Independent Learning Centre Manager at King James’s School. She left KJS to study Anatomy and Physiology at Thomas Danby College in Leeds and later ran a small business. She was awarded the degree of BA (Information & Communication Management & Librarianship) at Leeds Metropolitan University in 2001, having earlier worked for Kirklees Leisure Services in marketing and publicity, Kirklees Children’s Library Services and at Huddersfield University.

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down St. Helen’s Gate. Sixth formers didn’t life-size skeleton hung in the corner, adorned with a school cap. This, along with a slight have to wear uniform. The sixth form common room for girls smell of formaldehyde and leaking gas made was at the bottom of the dining hall steps on me wonder if I had stepped back in time. Then, as I scanned over the heads of the the main corridor. It was very close to the boys toilets which were very smelly at the seated boys, I saw the legendary Mr. JackTaytime. We had lockers and beanbags and of lor. The classroom was silent except for his course, a mirror. I don’t know to this day if voice and he was in the middle of dictation. the room was strictly for girls but I can hon- Everyone knew not to even breathe too heavestly say that no boy ever entered. It was ily whilst he was in full swing. Then, in the middle of a sentence, he would probably due to the risk of asOur crack a joke and have everyone phyxiation from clouds of hairspray, to which of course, we girls ‘brothers’ laughing. I think everyone has seen the teacher enrolment adwere immune. Blame the hairwere very vertisement on TV which sugstyles of the decade. I think there were 12 girls and protective gests that ‘you never forget a great teacher’? Jack Taylor is exapproximately 340 boys which sounds quite a massive difference. One com- actly what this advert suggests. Compared to a 1970s-style secondary mon denominator between most of the girls was that we had either a brother or father who modern school, the classrooms at KJS were had been educated at King James’s School and small and traditional. Teaching styles were we felt privileged to be a small part of the his- strict but fair. Class sizes were small so there was no escape from the work ethic. In fact, I tory. Obviously, we were taught alongside the wished I had been in the position of having sixth form boys so in classes it was more like the opportunity of that kind of education a 1:5 ratio. It was like having lots of very com- from the age of 11. I can remember the lipetitive brothers but in a social group envi- brary as it was then, with glass panelled ronment, our‘brothers’ were very protective. wooden walls on the corridor; once through I’m sure there were some boys who felt that the doors, everyone had to walk around the we had encroached on their domain but I wooden, horizontal glass case in which the never experienced or heard any complaints Royal Charter was displayed.Access appeared to be by invitation only and I don’t think the from them. One of our first lessons was Science. I can school had considered a budget for girls wantremember three of us entering the Science ing to read. Still, there were plenty of magazines in the lab.There were very old, dark workbenches and Bunsen burners alight in safety mode. A common room. n 25

P

The Almondburian Poets

ERHAPS inevitably, with all the other changes affecting the School, The Almondburian went through the first of a number of major changes in format in 1976. It abandoned the traditional small octavo printed page in favour of a foolscapsized typewritten format. But even more startling was the change in content and tone. Up to this time, so-called ‘original articles’ were carefully vetted by the editors and even more carefully double-checked by those members of staff in charge of magazine production. The new-style school magazine appeared

to herald a much more permissive ‘anything goes’ philosophy such as Duncan Jones’s startling contribution ‘Our Gang’. The readers of the day would no doubt have turned with some relief to Yvonne Kilvington’s more conciliatory piece entitled ‘Foregiveness’. Perhaps it was written with her classmate in mind.

OUR GANG We are the lads of Lower Falls, We shout, we swear, we write on walls. Our lives are for violence, Doom and despair. We never go on holiday, An outing is rare, Never go to school, Can’t find the time. Never out of court, Spent pounds in fines.

FOREGIVENESS Foregiveness is a thing we take for granted Hardly anybody’s forgiven these days. The world seems to be at war all the time. But if we just stop and think and say, What is forgiving? why do we forgive? Maybe it will set in our minds to forgive and forget. Let’s not take life too seriously, Stand by each other, forgive each other. We can understand each other then. God forgives us, but yet we never forgive each other. He wants us to live together, Breathe together. That’s why He made the world. When some people talk about forgiving, Others sometimes laugh in their faces. But if you can’t get through to them Don’t give up your hope of succeeding.

Stealing cars is our trade. We’ll show the army How tough we are made. The English are barmy! Making bombs we all enjoy, Watch out for the booby To throw at any girl or boy, Spill blood red as ruby. We have no future Like flowers in the water Our ‘present’ is all, Till ended by slaughter.

Duncan Jones, 3B

Yvonne Kilvington, 3O

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QUIZ EVENING

1970s team regains the trophy

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KEITH CRAWSHAW (1964 - 1971)

Bradford became the Odds and Sods. We were delighted to welcome Ian Rimmer and Rebecca Walton from School who, together with Andrew Haigh, made up the Staff and Governor team. John (Charlie) Poole, Roger Battye and John Graley joined the competition for the first time as No Idea, a team from the 1960s. In our now familiar and established format, Odds and Sods, 1970s, First & Last and No Idea formed the first semi-final over five rounds of questions. The subjects were: Round 1 Multiple choice with points awarded depending on the number of teams answering correctly. Round 2 Faces Round 3 Location of places in parts of England Round 4 Name the Year Round 5 General Knowledge on the buzzer.

Happy winners: the ‘1970s’ team with their trophy. L to r: Marie Thomas, Bryan Hopkinson and Alan Thomas

Photographs: Andrew Haigh

team representing the 1970s (Bryan Hopkinson, Alan Thomas and Marie Thomas) won one of the most closely fought contests in the history of the OAS Quiz Night at Almondbury Conservative Club on 27th April 2016. With 62 points, they just beat teams representing Dartmouth (Doug Norris, Jez Whitehead, David Sinclair) on 60, First & Last (Andrew Hill, Maria Lijka, Tim and Ruth Rutter) on 56 and Staff & Governor (Ian Rimmer, Rebecca Walton, Andrew Haigh) on 54. In addition to our regular quizzers, there were some new faces as well as notable absentees at this annual event. For the first time in many years there was no official cricket team so John Clutterbrook joined Robin Merchant, David Parry and Amanda Archer to form the Badminton team. Our new Chairman, Walter Raleigh, was on holiday and was replaced in the former staff team by Sue Cope who, with Patrick O’Brien and David

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First & Last stormed into the lead after a high scoring second round but were only a single point in front of 1970s after, they in turn, scored heavily in Round 3. These two teams qualified for the final with No Idea in third place, only one point in front of Odds and Sods who picked up a challenging ten points in the frantic buzzer round where two points could be lost for an incorrect answer. Badminton, Staff & Governor and Dartmouth contested the second semi-final on a similarly themed series of questions. Unfortunately Badminton, after struggling to identify faces in Round 2, got lost in the geographical round and were unable to find a way back. As a result Staff & Governor and Dartmouth, with identical scores, went through comfortably to the Final. Here the question areas for the teams were: Round 1 2015 news items on the buzzer

Round 2 Faces Round 3 Big garden Birdwatch 2016 Round 4 Matching charity singles to their causes Round 5 Identification of insects Round 6 General Knowledge on the buzzer Staff & Governor led after Rounds 1 and 4 whilst First & Last were in front after Rounds 2 and 3. Remarkably there were never more than eight points between the four teams at any stage during the match. Round 5 turned the competition on its head as Staff & Governor moved from first place to last place and 1970s went in the opposite direction. They held on during the final buzzer round, despite wrong answers, to take the title. I offer my congratulations to the winners and all the teams for such an exciting competition and my thanks to all who helped at different times with the buzzers, marking and scoring throughout what was a very enjoyable evening. n

Action from the buzzer round in the first semi-final. Centre left foreground: John Clutterbrook (buzzers controller); then clockwise David Bradford, Marie Thomas, Bryan Hopkinson, Alan Thomas,Tim Rutter, Ruth Rutter, Maria Lijka, Andrew Hill, Rebecca Walton, Ian Rimmer, Roger Battye, John (Charlie) Poole, John Graley, Stephanie Hopkinson (scorer) Keith Crawshaw (quizmaster)

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Back to the drawing board

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

ROM my fond recollection, Edward Greenhalgh was the archetypical blunt Yorkshireman – and a generous one. As Chairman of the Urban District of Meltham, Councillor Greenhalgh had asked me in 1952 to sketch the local church for the Council official Christmas card. I cycled over to meet him at Helme Hall in the snow, an interesting experience. He told me it was reputedly the only Church in England to be consecrated during the Commonwealth period August 24th 1651. I thought it looked very modern and would be a difficult project so I focused on the arched windows that appeared Norman to me. As for a fee, I requested as a member of the British Interplanetary Society that a textbook on Rocket Propulsion by Eric Burgess, with a note inside, would be most welcome for my Aeronautical Engineering course at Imperial College. That’s Meltham Church when I found that he knew of me from exploits accessing the Testing Range at Crosland Moor, the home of Standard Fireworks. He was the Managing Director and was aware that some boys from Berry Brow School had sneaked under the wires to collect any misfires of mortar flares for the parachutes inside. I had a collection in our barn that the police said was enough to blow up the house. It was wartime, about 1943, and I had a serious accident from one that ignited when I was dismantling it – and that is how it came to official notice. Of course, my elder brother Eric received some of the blame because in those days the oldest always did. Edward presented the book to me later as his guest for lunch when he visited London on business. He said “We don’t do wine at lunch, lad, but a pint of beer is right.” He had written on the flyleaf: ‘In appreciation of a kindly, thoughtful work of art from one who lives by making Rockets designed for pleasure’.To my surprise he had inserted a real note in addition – the kind I could spend! I have the book in front of me as I write – and I still have one parachute to show for ‘my war’. n 29

KJGS in the 1960s

I never made a toothbrush rack

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DAVID SENIOR (1961 - 1968)

“KJGS was at its best when offering a rigorous academic curriculum otherwise unavailable to pupils of my background,” argues our contributor decided to visit my fellow exile in the ficult to adapt to certain aspects of the principality, Dave Bush, in order to schooling process.To paraphrase Shaw, it isn’t praise the Caesar of Jessop House, not that education is wasted on the young but to bury him. Now that the difference be- rather that they lack the maturity and broad tween our ages is no longer significant, we perspective to appreciate its value. I was one of only two KJGS pupils living have far more in common than our former on the Sheepridge esprofession: we shared DAVID SENIOR was awarded a BSc tate at that time: the seven years on differ- (Chemistry) degree at Lanchester other lived close to the ent sides of the pupil- Polytechnic. His first teaching bus stop but my rat-run teacher divide at a appointment was in Birmingham where in due course he became Head through the estate in time of momentous of Department at Great Barr School. cap, blazer, tie and change. For two years he was Science Advisor short trousers provided Of all those who for West Glamorgan. His final teaching appointment was as Assistant Head of daily entertainment as taught at King James’s Llangatwyg Comprehensive School, the moving target in a Grammar School be- Neath. In his spare time, David enjoys coconut shy for whattween 1961 and travel and fishing. He and his wife Sue ever missile was to 1968, Dave Bush was have three children: Kathryn, Hannah hand. In its leafy secluthe fixed point around and Jessica. sion at the bottom of St which my experience Helen’s Gate, school of school revolved. traditions were about Against a background to compete with the of half-remembered 1960s, the era of the anecdotes and general teenager, where the impressions, who betcontext of the moment ter to share reminiswas everything. cences with? Despite The Cuban missile the occasional brush crisis was just as real to with authority, I was me as a 12-year-old and neither saint nor sinthe assassination of ner but rather a boy President Kennedy who was keen to learn seemed to make our but who found it dif30

School Scout troop (46th Huddersfield) in 1963). Back row (l to r): I A Gelder; A R Cape; R G Floyd; N Pearson; D Mawer; J R Wood; K A Berriman; I B Garner; P A Cook; R D Beecroft. Front row: I Smith; E S Shaw; G R Morris; P Spencer; Mr J P Toomey; Mr D A Bush; D A Senior; A Firth; R P Wade; A J Burrie

volatile world all the more menacing. However, the early 60s also ushered in an explosion of popular culture, largely created by and for teenagers, which left bemused adults to speculate that this would sound the death knell for the British way of life. For many of us, the twin distractions of music and girls were to prove both elusive and irresistible. The flood of home-grown pop groups meant that, throughout the decade, bands toured on combined bills bringing affordable live music to a new, younger market (in 1963, I saw both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones play at the ABC in Huddersfield). On the other hand, KJGS’s isolation exposed the limitations of the single-sex school: the most pressing issue of the school day was the headlong dash to catch an early bus to Byram Arcade in the forlorn hope of intercepting the stragglers from Greenhead High School as they left for home. Against the social and cultural upheaval of that time, what did KJGS do for me? Having spent 35 years in education in roles ranging from classroom teacher to Assistant Head, I now feel confident to evaluate my experiences as a pupil with a degree of objectivity.

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Some teachers were truly inspirational, allowing creativity to flourish and nurturing the interests of all pupils irrespective of ability. Frank (Jock) Anderson breathed fresh life into Shakespeare by challenging ‘volunteers’ to act out key scenes.Admittedly, participation was much less comfortable than watching from the safety of the ranks of classroom desks. I can remember with absolute clarity the scene from HenryV where Jock’s Fluellen forced my Pistol to eat a ‘leek’ in the form of a rolled up exercise book. Perhaps it would be considered abusive today but it was done without malice and brought me closer to the underlying racial tensions between these two characters. I wouldn’t know where to start with an appreciation of JackTaylor, whose inimitable style and academic rigour ensured that his lessons were both incomparably entertaining and rewarding. I say inimitable because in my early career I confess that I tried, and failed, to imitate his delivery. Peter Heywood (French) exemplified the enthusiasm I would like to see in any teacher of my own children, coupled with his ability to encour-

surprised how much importance was placed on teamwork and how readily we took part in team activities. It was such an honour to represent the school and Jessop in a variety of team sports and to enjoy the good-natured rivalry it fostered. Each House had a number of gifted sportsmen: Philip Bamforth, Gary Boothroyd, Bob Trueman and Robert Floyd to name but a few.There was always an extra intensity when playing against them rather than with them but never a loss of respect. We did, however, have Colin Barrow at the heart of our football team, an unflinching rock who seemed impervious to the pain that the soggy, heavy, leather footballs inflicted on the other players. On leaving in June 1968, I made a solemn vow that I would never again walk through a school’s gates. In retrospect, it seems that rather than choosing the teaching profession, it chose me. I gained my first temporary teaching appointment on the basis of my league cricket experience, not on the strength of my ability to teach science. In a strange twist of fate, my first permanent position was in a Foundation Grammar School which was very similar in most respects to KJGS. Being able to call upon good role

age in shy, adolescent boys the confidence to communicate in French. Without doubt, the greatest influence throughout my schooldays was the ubiquitous Dave Bush.We both began our careers at KJGS in 1961 and I am fairly sure that in that first year he taught my form, 1 alpha, Latin, French and English. Latin became the blueprint for my understanding of how language works and a gateway into a variety of classical texts. For me, the most influential of these was the Aeneid, a stirring epic and a tribute toVirgil’s sympathetic understanding of nature and of the human condition. Having gained so much from the study of Latin, I hope that it continues its resurgence in comprehensive schools. Dave Bush’s influence extended far beyond the classroom through his involvement with both the school scout troop and as Housemaster of Jessop. As a wild child I found an ideal outlet in the scouts, learning new skills to complement my love of the outdoor life and how to work with others. Jessop House gave me a similar sense of identity and common purpose, again influenced by Dave Bush. Looking back on these experiences, I am

In Jessop House in 1963

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Transitus Science in 1967. Back row (l to r): I A Gelder; P M Modzelweski; N Hinchliffe; D A Senior; M J Kruszynski; A R Teale; A R Brook; M J Wortley; J C Brown;C Barrow. Front row: J E Grayson; R I Pryor; D M H Smith; C J Reeder; Mr J Taylor; R J Calder; P D Wilson; I B Garner; L J Orme

models from my own schooldays certainly helped to sustain me through the early part of my career. The best of my teachers reminded me of a Russian proverb: “You cannot beat a man to paradise but you may use your stick to show him the way.” Unfortunately, some had yet to discover a second use for their particular stick. I am loath to criticize those teachers at KJGS who seemed to lack empathy or who demanded nothing more than copying from the blackboard. Often it was their singular, linear approach which did not allow for creativity or experimentation that caused me to disengage. Now we try to differentiate tasks to accommodate pupils’ learning needs but in the 60s such educational practices were yet to be discovered. Overall, I feel that KJGS was at its best when offering a rigorous academic curriculum that would otherwise have been unavailable to pupils of my background. I am not sure that it was an effective tool for social mobility but it did cater for a certain type

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of academic aptitude.As the only year 1 pupil who failed to make a toothbrush rack in woodwork, the likelihood is that I would not have succeeded in any other type of school. Equally important was the support provided by a thriving House system and the school’s wealth of sporting and cultural activities. Simply meeting boys with different life experiences was daunting at first: at home we used to wait for the council workmen to start painting the doors of the houses on our street, knowing that the sequence would be yellow, green, blue, red and then repeat, but I got to know people whose parents could actually choose their own door colour and use gloss paint! In my case, many of the important lessons were learned outside the classroom or at least outside of what was taught. I am grateful to have met so many interesting and talented people, without whom schooldays would have been even more fraught than they sometimes appeared to be. n

Every picture tells a story

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Rugby thrives at the School in the days of headmaster Francis Marshall

NE of the oldest photographs in the archives, this picture shows the rugby team of 1878.The headmaster at the time was Rev Thomas Newton, a Welshman who had a passion for the game; not surprisingly, his three sons were all members of the team shown in this photograph. Newton was headmaster for just over a year: when the photograph was taken he was about to hand over to his successor, Rev Francis Marshall.A graduate of St John’s College Cambridge, Marshall had a love for rugby that even exceeded that of his predecessor. He regarded rugby as a vital element of the curriculum, and he believed that ‘to tackle, to scrimmage, to accelerate for the line regardless of those hurtling towards you’ were supreme tests of character. In many ways, he was regarded as one of the great headmasters of King James’s Grammar School, though some felt that he was too prone to use corporal punishment. He was certainly successful in enlarging the School: in 1878, it had 34 boys (14 of whom were boarders) and within a year the number had risen to 55. He wrote and edited many school text books; and under

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the series known as the Oxford and Cambridge Manuals, he edited the four Gospels and wrote the volumes dealing with mathematics. In the world of football, Marshall’s name became known throughout the country. He became the leading authority on rugby football and wrote largely on the subject.As a referee, his services were always in demand for all the big matches. But the game was also to his downfall. He became obsessively preoccupied by the growth of professionalism in the sport, which he felt was in danger of corrupting his precious game. He travelled around the country addressing public meetings, employing every tactic to keep the game genuinely amateur. In the event, his campaign failed, and the game of professional Rugby League was founded in 1895 in the George Hotel, Huddersfield. The so-called ‘Rugby Rumpus’ resulted in strong resentment against Marshall, who was already under pressure as a result of falling school numbers. By 1896 there were only two new admissions to the School following the building of the new ‘board school’ at the top of Fenay Lane. Marshall departed to take up a living in Mileham, Norfolk.

A LIFE IN THE DAY

How I became an heraldic artist

I enjoyed Art at Almondbury Grammar School in the 1940s.With the encouragement of the art master I decided to make this my future career

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DR JOHN LANCASTER (1941 - 1946)

am usually up and about by 7.00 am, though I lie in more often these days than I used to. A bowl of porridge then helps to get the day off to a good start. After breakfast, I often settle down to reading or writing – my wife and I both have a deep interest in 18th and 19th century history and there are books throughout our house. I left School, where I was in Dartmouth house, in 1946. I had always been keen on Art and received great encouragement from Edward Akroyd to pursue it as a career. Thanks to two major West Riding scholarships, my further studies took me to Leeds College of Art. A fellow student there was Frankie Vaughan, who later became a very successful singer known as ‘Mr Moonlight’ after one of his early hit records. Frankie and I often used to play table tennis. I graduatedfrom Leeds with a National Diploma in Design and an Art Teacher’s Diploma. National Service followed and I was under some pressure to stay on in the Royal Army

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Education Corps. However, I preferred the idea of teaching in schools and took up appointments in Oldham and later in Doncaster. In due course, I became a lecturer at Leicester College of Art and Design. During this period I undertook DipEd (Adv) studies at Bristol University and London University where I gained my MPhil and Doctorate. My final position, before I retired in 1983, was Head of the School of Art Education at Bristol University. A busy morning of study gives me a good appetite for lunch. My wife Janet is a good cook though at lunchtime we usually have a simple light meal with plenty of fruit and vegetables.Then I may spend some time in the afternoon drawing or painting. In addition to my teaching, I have been a calligrapher and heraldic artist throughout my life, undertaking work for churches, abbeys, town councils, corporate bodies and educational establishments. In particular, I have done work for over 25 years for my own Livery Company: the Worshipful Company of Gar-

deners. I am honoured that they have now made me Honorary Heraldist for life. I was taught the art of calligraphy and heraldry while I was at Leeds by Thomas Swindlehurst, a disciple of the great typographer Edward Johnston who designed the lettering still used today on the London Undeground. Most of the heraldic work is on vellum (calfskin), manufactured by William Cowley Parchment Makers of Newport Pagnell.The attraction of vellum is that it is very stable and long-lasting; it has been

used for heraldic manuscripts for centuries and British Acts of Parliament are still printed on vellum for archival purposes.We use ox gall ink or Chinese stick ink, together with gouache and goldleaf. Painting has always been an important part of my life. I have held 12 oneman exhibitions of abstracts, landscapes and flower paintings around the UK and the United States. In the 1960s, I was a member of the ‘Art Foundation’, a progressive body of top artists and educators whose ideas were based on free expression other members included the eminent artist and designer Victor Pasmore and the radical artist and teacher Harry Thubron.We have travelled a great deal over the years, having taught and lectured widely both in this country and America. A particularly exciting period was the early 1990s when I was the Gila Valley Art Council’s Visiting Artist in Arizona. This involved visits to schools, colleges, amateur art groups and even an Apache Indian reserve and the local Federal prison. I have also been the British Council’s art education advisor in Africa and Norway. In the afternoon, Janet and I will often visit local Schoolboy artist: I drew this view of the corridor leading to the dormitory staircase around 1945. Edward Akroyd encouraged me churches or other nearby to pursue a career in Art. buildings of note. We are 36

A LIFE IN THE DAY

Examples of heraldic work for Prince Charles, the Duchess of Devonshire, the Inner and Middle Temples and Temple Church

very lucky to have so many fine buildings close to where we live near Cheltenham. Tewkesbury Abbey is a favourite outing – it is the second largest parish church in the country and is a particularly fine example of Norman architecture. Later, I may also do some more writing: I am a member of the Society of Authors and I have written numerous books on calligraphy and art including Writing Medieval Scripts and Introducing Op Art.When we are starting to feel hungry, Janet may well retire to the kitchen or we may alternatively visit a local restaurant – we are lucky to have several excellent ones near our home. We may watch television for a while when we return but soon it will be time to turn in for the night. We’re not great ones for burning the midnight oil. n

Bottom left: Memorial church hatchment on board; Top right:‘Sunflower Field, Southern France’ (large oil painting on canvas); Middle:‘Sunflower study with a border of calligraphy’ (watercolour); Bottom: Abstract painting based on rock formations 38

Annual Dinner

F

AND R E W HAIG H

OLLOWING the success of the 2015 Annual Dinner, the event is becoming firmly established at its spiritual home in St Helen’s Gate and we shall be returning there for this year’s event on Saturday, 26th November. Our caterer who has provided such excellent meals since we moved back to the School will once again be doing the catering. We are also planning, with the help of lighting and sound, to create a better ‘ambiance’ to enhance the Society’s premier annual reunion event. You will have read from our Chairman’s introduction to this issue that we are keen to mark the fortieth anniversary of the first comprehensive intake to King James’s School in 1976 (see feature on page 13). A large proportion of the new intake came from the Lepton area so it is particularly appropriate that Keith Best, a former teacher at Lepton Middle School, has kindly agreed to be this year’s principal speaker. Keith has a strong belief in apprenticeship and earlier recognition of potential. He held several leadership roles in both secondary and primary schools in and around Barnsley. Coinciding with the start of the National Curricu-

lum he was appointed as an Education Adviser in Scotland where he and Jean have lived for over 25 years. During his professional career in Scotland he became Head of Primary Education,and prior to retirement was Head of Quality and Improvement Services for all school sectors in Dumfries and Galloway Council. Scotland afforded him the opportunity to work with Ministerial Action Groups, develop Science and Technology programmes with the National Curriculum Guidelines and become a member of the Association of Directors of Education.

Guest speaker at the event: Keith Best 39

Following retirement he became a director of a training company and a consultant with the Tapestry Partnership in Glasgow. The Tapestry Partnership is one of Scotland’s leading educational organisations developing the skills of learning and leadership across the country. Spare time has been mostly given to voluntary service as a Rotarian for 23 years. He was Rotary International District Governor in Scotland during the year 2011/12 and has held several leadership and training positions within his own District and within Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland. Others speakers at the Dinner will include OAS Chairman Walter Raleigh and school Head Girl Olivia Falcon, . A 40th anniversary reunion of the Class of 1976 is being organised by Andrew Schofield in association with

Jackie Hart and Dawn Humble. Anyone who was part of the new ‘comprehensive’ intake in that year and would like to attend is invited to contact him by email at andrew.schofield@camirafabrics.com. Similarly, a 50th anniversary reunion of the Class of 1966 is being organised by Robin Merchant and David Parry. They would like to get as many members of their year as possible to attend the dinner; so, if you are a member of the Class of 1966, please contact Robin Merchant (robin.merchant@talktalk.net) or David Parry (d4vidp4rry@hotmail.com). It is always good to see members making a special effort to stage a reunion of their year at the dinner and such occasions are always most enjoyable, so others with a special anniversary this year such as members of the classes of 1936, 1946, 1956, 1986, 1991, 1996 or 2006 – or, indeed, anyone else who takes a notion to do so – should consider starting to organise their class re-union earlier rather than later. There will be the usual bar and there will again be the opportunity, for those who wish, to take part in conducted tours of the School from 6.30 pm. The ticket price for the Dinner is being held for the fifth consecutive year at £27.50. A booking form is enclosed with this magazine and members are encouraged to book their tickets as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Alternatively, you can book onn line at www.oas.org.uk. 40

OAS Chairman Walter Raleigh will be amongst the speakers at the Dinner

Founders’ Day

T

R E V S T UART RO EBU C K

waite in the ancient parish of Almondbury, Ted went on to read History at Cambridge. He completed his PhD there in 1962 and became of fellow of Selwyn College. In 1972 he moved to the Department of History at the University of York, working his way up from lecturer to Professor, and he retired in 2004. Since then Ted has been Emeritus Professor at York and he continues to write and lecture. He has been a Methodist lay preacher for 50 years. We are again hoping that current members of the School will help us with readings and music during the Service. Their presence in recent years at this special event has been greatly appreciated and has really made a difference to the Service. The Service will be jointly conducted by myself and Rev Mark Zammit, the Rector of Almondbury. If you wish to work off some energy beforehand, please meet at the School by 10.30 am and join the procession as it winds its way up St. Helen’s Gate. Alternatively, just come to the Church for 11.00 am. We shall be delighted to see you there. n

HE annual Founders’ Day Service in Almondbury Parish Church will once again be held on the morning after the OAS Dinner: Sunday, 27th November 2016. As always, we shall be giving a very warm welcome to all friends of the School and the Society who are able to come along. I am particularly pleased to say that the sermon will be preached by one of the School’s most distinguished alumni and long-time member of the Old Almondburians’ Society, Prof Edward Royle (1955-1962). A former foundation scholar from the township of Linth-

41

Old Almondburian Prof Edward Royle will be giving the address at this year’s Founders’ Day service on 27th November

Membership

S

AND R E W H AI G H

INCE the last magazine was published we have been delighted to welcome a new member, Danielle Musson from Carlisle, and also to welcome back a former member, Ann Berry (1976-1981) from Liversedge, who has re-joined the Society. We have been saddened to learn of the death of John Segar (1947-1953). Please remember that subscriptions for 2015-2016 fell due on 1st September. The vast majority of our members now pay their subscription by standing order, which makes life easy. If you are one of the few who do not pay by standing order and you have already sent your £10.00 subscription for this year, thank you very much for being so efficient!

Be honest…

If you do not pay by standing order and you haven’t recently made a payment for this year, then you will receive a letter with this magazine pointing out that your subscription is not up-to-date. In this event, please send your payment without delay. As I mentioned above, it does make life much easier if you pay by standing order so, if you can complete the updated standing order mandate that accompanies the letter 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 and clicking on the ‘Join/Renew Online’ n button.

Take a long, hard look at that old OAS tie in your wardrobe. Is it: n crumpled? n the wrong length? n the wrong width? n soup-stained? If the answer to any (or all) of these questions is ‘yes’, join the club. But here’s a cheap, costeffective answer: the latest newly-fashioned OAS tie, available from us TODAY.

Price: £15 + pp

(UK: 75p; Europe: £2.50; Rest of world: £3.00)

Available from www.oas.org.uk/buymemorabilia.php or by post from: Andrew Haigh,c/o R D Haigh & Co, Floresco House, Oak Hill Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire HD6 1SN

42

Length: 150 cm (59 in) Width: 9 cm (3½ in)

Farnley Lines

R

DAV E BU S H

EGULAR readers may recall that I try to justify an inclusion of )descriptions of my travels by finding an Almondburian connection in some way; rarely do I fail.This time it took only a couple of hours. Margaret and I were in search of winter sun in the delightful small town of Agadir in Morocco. Well somebody has to keep Saga afloat. We were informed by our guide that it had not rained there for five and a half years. I countered that in Wales if it does not rain for five and a half hours we consider it a dry spell. Arriving at the same time as us was a couple from Market Deeping in the very south of my native county of Lincolnshire.

Our new companions mentioned that they were regular diners at a local tearoom/restaurant called Chesters and were good friends of the owners. Christine and David Weldrake. Christine Weldrake (formerly Driscoll), was Drama and English teacher at King James’s School from 1985 to 2002. Her husband, David, played a few games of badminton with us on Thursday evenings. I instantly recalled my ex fellow deputy, Pat Reid, sending me a photo of her visit to Chesters some time ago. (Christine has since sent me the more recent one below).

*A letter from Christine Weldrake appears on page 63

Cheers! Former drama and English teacher Christine Weldrake and her husband David at their tearoom/restaurant in Market Deeping near Peterborough..

43

Visitor from Swansea: David Senior (1961-1968) (right) makes a welcome visit to Porthcawl

Although we have not yet had the opportunity to visit Chesters ourselves, it is pleasing to see from Trip Advisor reviews that it is very highly regarded.‘Wonderful; service with great food – what a gem this restaurant is!’ writes one satisfied customer.

Senior citizen Another contribution I hope to see will be from David Senior. He is the latest recipient of a bronze medal (purely hypothetical) awarded to Old Almondburians who manage to visit us here in remote South Wales. However, it must be pointed out immediately that David did not make the epic journey performed by most fromYorkshire – or in the case of Ken Leech from Australia. A digression. Ken informed me earlier that this year that he is soon to receive the OBE. I was baffled by this initially but then the penny or cent dropped. In this case OBE stands for ‘Over B****y Eighty’. Back to Senior D. He lives comparative-

ly on the doorstep in Dunvant near Swansea. Can nostalgia flow? It positively poured as we spent a delightful two hours having a really good wallow. Although he attended the Great Gathering in 2008, as with so many others I never had the chance to talk to him so had not met him for nearly 50 years. I taught him Latin, he was in Jessop , in the school scout troop and started at KJGS the same year as I did 1961. It is can be readily appreciated how easy was the exchange of conversation. You can read more about David’s recollections of his time at KJGS on page 30.

44

Some Fishy excuses ‘Nearly 50 years’! Tempus celerrime fugit, (for non-Latinists, ‘celerrime’ is a superlative adverb from celeriter, meaning ‘quickly’) – a fact, alarmingly in many ways, brought home to me with the realisation that this July will see me retired for 20 years. “20 years?,” I hear former colleagues and Old Almondburians exclaim. The years

over the years. I do have others but what a pity I did not keep more. Such as this. ‘Mark has been in the field all last night helping me to cut the corn as this is a bad time for giving homework to this child at this time of year as is carree (sic) may depend on farming’. One of the best, to a colleague, must be: ‘Dear Miss Dawson, X was absent from school last Tuesday because I thought the hurricane that was forecast was going to be worse than it actually was.’ The girl was inYear 11 and it was sometime after the one which did such damage in the south of England. At least Michael Fish found it amusing. And notes were not restricted to pupils. I have a note from one colleague explaining she would not be in school the following morning ‘as she would be attending the anti–natal clinic’. As she was about seven months pregnant at the time I was tempted to point out she was rather late for that but I refrained. Perhaps an

have sped by so rapidly. Despite this, my recollections of many years walking down St Helen’s Gate remain vivid and in particular my memories of the last one. I am sure I have mentioned before that I kept a detailed diary of my final year and occasionally open it at the equivalent day in 1995-1996. I still harbour a suppressed desire to have it published in some form for I do find it fascinating and perhaps delude myself by imagining others would do so also. The last time I did so I found the following entry. ‘Please excuse X for not doing her Latin homework last night. She was kicked by her horse and consequently spent most of the evening in Huddersfield Infirmary.’ This led me to reflecting how many letters explaining absence or failure to complete homework I must have received

45

Bad forecast: BBC weatherman Michael Fish famously failed to predict the severe UK hurricane in 1988

itive note.This is easy this time for I must mention how impressed I have been by the work put in by Jenny Sanderson in her role as School Representative and her eagerness to help organise events to mark the 40th anniversary of King James’s becoming a Comprehensive in 1976. This was the year Jenny herself joined the School, though she was one of those joining the Sixth Form in that year. Her impressions of the School at that time appear on page 24 of this issue. My own memories of that time are so clear. From the viewpoint of the Senior Management Team it was demanding, almost overwhelming. In September 1976, King James’s had: l the remnants of the aborted Sixth Form College as its Upper Sixth (Year 13) l no Lower Sixth (Year 12) l the last of the Boys’ Grammar School in the Fifth Form (Year 11) l no Fourth Form (Year 10) l the first of the Mixed Comprehensive in the Third Form (Year 9). Can there ever have been a situation to rival this anywhere in the UK? Taylor Dyson had once asked that King James’s should always be a little different from any other school ; I do not think that that farrago was quite what he had in mind. Despite this enormous challenge the School survived and has evolved to provide on the same site an education that is the most sought after in Kirklees. ‘Quid multa?’ as Cicero would have said. Need I say more? n

opportune moment to mention one of my dear friend Jack Taylor’s surely apocryphal stories, related at numerous dinners over his many years as a superb after-dinner speaker: ‘Please excuse Tracy’s absence from school yesterday. She had diarrhoea through a hole in her wellington.’ To find the Michael Fish letter I had to search through various large packets of material, mainly correspondence, which I had saved from my time at King James’s. It was so difficult not to read too much; Tony Cape, Gerald Hinchliffe, Gorden Kaye featured prominently. Perhaps now that we have very active archivists and The Cellar as a fitted out room for storing so much material I should bequeath all of this to the school; I am sure my family will not want it! Thank you, Jenny I do like to finish my articles on a pos-

46

Jenny Sanderson joined the Sixth Form as one of the ‘remnants’ of the aborted Sixth Form College in 1976. She is head of the Independent Learning Centre at King James’s School

PRIVATE PASSIONS Part 2

The trolleybuses of Huddersfield

I

STEPHEN LOCKWOOD (1960-1967)

The ‘trolleybus nuts’ – Stephen Lockwood, David Beach and Trevor Longbottom – fulfil a dream by buying their own Huddersfield trolleybus for £100

bound trolley to travel to Bradley Bar where Trevor Longbottom lived. I was most surprised to find that the conductor was Edward Royle, whom I had last seen in 1962 when he was a prefect (and who once gave me 200 lines). I don’t think that he remembered me, though. Another summer conductor was David Beach, who worked a few seasons in the late 1960s. 1968 was the last year of the trolleys and our efforts to buy one were coming to a head. A piece of good luck occurred when a local bus enthusiast rented one of the railway arches in the lower part of Viaduct Street. An invitation was extended to house a trolley there. This was a secure

N July 1967 I left school, and within a month had secured a clerical job with Bradford City Transport and this was the start of my Public Transport career. Bradford still ran a sizeable fleet of trolleybuses and I regularly took a ride at lunchtimes. These trolleys were not a patch on Huddersfield’s stately examples: they were stumpy four-wheelers painted blue (a colour which was very quick to fade) and they carried garish advertisements on their sides. Nevertheless they were trolleybuses, and therefore far better than diesels. Back in Huddersfield, the 40/41 Bradley – Longwood route finished in July 1967, just prior to my leaving school.This left just the 71-73Waterloo – Lindley – Outlane run where just 20 trolleys maintained the service. At this point, I would mention that a few former KJGS pupils, who were studying at university, would take up conducting on the trolleys during the summer break. I well remember that on one morning in 1964, during the summer holidays, I boarded a FixbyA view from the top deck of the 7.55 am trolley from Fixby to Almondbury as it stops on Bradford Road. No 590, a distinctive three-window-front trolley, is operating a school special journey to Bradley Bar.

47

No 631 is seen in normal service. It has just reached the top of Woodhouse Hill on the Riddings route; at 1 in 8½ this was the steepest gradient on the system.

site under cover, ideal for our purpose.The actual trolley we selected was no 631, one of the ten Sunbeams which came into service in 1959 and which were the last sixwheelers built for use in Britain. We reckoned that it was the smartest in the fleet and this was borne out when the Transport Department chose no 631 to be in the Borough Centenary procession in June 1968, towed around by a derrick. It last ran in service on 11th July 1968, two days before the end. On the last day, which was overcast and dull, I succeeded in getting a place on the last service trolley, no 629.To secure a seat I had to board it about three hours before the last run, which was followed by the

48

magnificent illuminated no 623 carrying the civic party. It was a sad day for me, having been brought up with the trolleys, although I was not excessively devastated emotionally. I had my career at Bradford and an active social life outside my trolleybus interest. In August, a sum of £100 was paid and no 631 was released to us, afterwards being towed to ‘The Arch’. Another group bought one of the BUT type trolleys, no 619, but this was initially consigned to a field at Meltham.To ensure the flow of finances, arrangements were made to operate no 631 at trolleybus towns in the south, starting with Reading. On a Saturday evening towards the end of October 1968, our trolley set off under tow on an overnight journey to Berkshire. I accompanied it, riding ‘shotgun’ in the lower saloon, necessary because of the open rear entrance. Our route took us via the M1 to London, then the North Circular Road and A4 to our destination. The wisdom of my presence was proved when we passed some young people on an organised run along the North Circular Road at 4.00 am (pre-

‘The Arch’. I was not able to attend this latter tour due to personal commitments. It remained there for less than a year and in October 1969 it left Huddersfield to reside at the newly created Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft, near Doncaster. It has been based there ever since and, once wires were erected for trolleys to operate under their own power, it has been one of the most reliable vehicles on the site and has carried passengers almost every season. It did return home in 1983 to be put on display at the Great Northern Street Works, to commemorate the Centenary of Municipal Transport in the town. For this, Metro (the transport authority set up in 1974, merging the four municipal public transport bodies in WestYorkshire) treated it to a repaint. The ownership of the vehicle passed from the West Riding Transport

sumably for charity), and a couple of the runners actually tried to board as we passed, being duly deterred when they saw me! Arriving in Reading at 7.30 am, no 631 was checked over by the Reading Transport staff and when the trolley poles were raised the vehicle sprang into life. The tour of Reading held that day was a total success, and it was a day (and night) that I will never forget. There cannot be many people that have travelled to London down the M1 by trolleybus. Today, every time I make that trip by car and pass the Watford Gap services (then called ‘The Blue Boar’), I can see in my mind’s eye a red trolleybus parked up in the early hours. Remaining down south, no 631 went on to tour Bournemouth in November, another successful trip, before returning to

The end of the trolleys: the magnificently illuminated no 623, carrying a civic party and followed by a motorcade, is seen arriving at Outlane.

Roland Box

49

1985, and was fully restored during the early years of the new century, being placed into service in 2010.Thus there are three Huddersfield trolleys on operational condition on which visitors can ride. In 2013 no 631 was taken to Swindon to be reupholstered, and an external repaint, returning to Sandtoft in the following year. It is a joy for me to make regular visits to the museum and in particular see no 631 at work carrying passengers.When taking a ride myself, I go back to those days when I rode on these vehicles to and from school. In its refurbished state it looks superb, even in the pouring rain which prevailed on my last visit.

Society (a successor to our trolleybus fund), to the British Trolleybus Society who are the lead organisation at Sandtoft. This was done to secure its best future and was agreed by the relevant membership. Today, no 631, now nearly 57 years old, is one of the stars of the museum, which also has no 619 (still privately owned) and no 541.The latter vehicle, the first post-war Huddersfield trolleybus, was presented to the National Trolleybus Association in 1964 and it returned briefly to its home town to run a tour on the last day in 1968. Thereafter, it sadly deteriorated into decrepitude, mainly because it was stored outside. It came to Sandtoft in

Standing outside Reading’s bus depot, no 631 – not long arrived from Yorkshire – is seen with a Belfast trolleybus which was also touring Reading that day. Between them, in the distance, is the towing vehicle that brought our trolley ‘down south’.

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A line up of the three Huddersfield trolleys operating at the Trolleybus Museum, Sandtoft. From left to right are nos. 541, 619 and 631. Also in view is the former Huddersfield derrick which is based at the Keighley Bus Museum.

As for me, I remained at Bradford Transport until 1972, when I was proposed for a two year Management Training Scheme. In that year the last trolleybuses in Bradford ran, these being the last in Britain. Although I returned to Bradford in 1974, it was now run by Metro. I successfully applied for a senior position at Darlington Transport, arriving in 1976 and I have lived there ever since. The Transport Department was compulsorily privatised in 1986, and I eventually rose to be Managing Director of the resultant company, which ran 70 buses. However in 1994 the company was spectacularly put out of business due to the intense bus competition in the town.This came to a head when one of the largest of Britain’s bus groups introduced services in the town with free fares. I finished my career in the Public Transport section of Durham County Council, where I was offered early retirement in 2011. My love of all British trolleybuses, but chiefly those of Huddersfield, resulted in

me gathering a very large collection of photographs (mostly taken by other people) as well as other material such as timetables. At the start of the new century I decided that I should put this collection to good use and persuaded a specialist transport publisher to compile a photographic survey of the Huddersfield trolleybus system. This was published in 2002, and has been followed by several similar volumes portraying other trolleybus operators round the country. Retirement has allowed me to expand this activity and a much more detailed hardback book on the history of the British Trolleybus was published in 2011. I then returned to my first love and prepared a 232 page volume on the Huddersfield trolleys which have given me so much pleasure throughout my life. n l Stephen Lockwood’s new book

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Huddersfield—the trolleybus years is now on sale from any good bookshop or online.

Photograph: Jacqueline Haigh

The big OAS

Trolleybus reunion

A

group of Old Almondburians, families and friends took part in the OAS Trolleybus Reunion at the Trolleybus Museum, Sandtoft on 14th May 2016.They were made very welcome by museum director Bruce Lake who gave a short informal talk on the origins of the museum and took them on a guided tour of the many trolleybuses on display from around the UK and abroad. Star attractions were Huddersfield trolleybuses nos 631, 619 and 541, all beautifully restored and maintained by the museum team. OAS member and trolleybus expert Stephen Lockwood then gave an illustrated presentation on the fleet over the years, after which the group were able to wind back the years and enjoy rides on the Huddersfield trolleys. l A video can be seen on the OAS website at http://www.oas.org.uk/trolleybusvisit.php

SUDOKU

3

Difficulty: hard

2

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

5 4 52

6

4

7 8

7 9 1

5 9 3

5 3 6

2

1

3

9 7

1 6

Badminton/Tennis

A

AND R E W H AI G H

S another BADMINTON season drew to a close last month, it became that time of the year when furniture removal has to be undertaken in order to play badminton. The furniture that has to be removed is the examination desks that blossom in the school sports hall at this time of the year. Of course, as the weather improves there’s always the possibility of being tempted outside onto the tennis courts and this did happen one week. For some reason, there were no desks in the sports hall that week; needless to say, the desks had returned the following week, when it was raining and we had no option but to play indoors! This season the Badminton Section has continued to struggle for numbers. We seem to have phases where, for a few weeks, we have better numbers playing, but then we fall back to the

53

a n d rew. h a igh @o a s . o rg. u k

small core of regulars. This summer, as for the last few summers, I shall be soliciting opinion amongst our members as to whether the support is there to justify re-booking the sports hall for next season. It would be a great shame after so many years if Old Almondburians’ Badminton could not continue at the School, but that is a very real possibility if we cannot increase our support and further reinforcements would be more than welcome. The next season starts on Thursday, 8th September, 2016 and ends on Thursday, 25th May, 2017. Assuming that the support continues to be there, we will be playing in the school sports hall on Thursday evenings during termtime, from 7.30 pm. until 9.30 pm. The fee is £6.00 per player, per week to cover the cost of court hire, shuttlecocks and showers, so please do

come along and join us. Those who played this season are: l Matthew Booth l Emily Murphy l Ian Daffern l Ben Earnshaw l Mark Earnshaw l Tom Earnshaw l Neil Gledhill l Andrew Haigh l Robin Merchant Testing: Ian Daffern and Robin Merchant in action on the badminton l David Parry Finally, for those court, surrounded by examination desks of you who are anxiously waiting for those who had played launched a camthe answer to the big question posed paign for a permanent relocation of in the March report: No, Craig Watts the Tennis Section from the school to didn’t play the following week, nor has Longley Tennis Club. Whilst instinche done since. We are beginning to tively reluctant to sever any link with doubt the magnetic qualities of the school, I was forced to agree that Matthew Booth’s personality after all, the courts at Longley are of a far better quality and it is, after all, only a but we live in hope! stone’s throw from the school. There The 2016 Almondburian TENNIS is also an indoor court in the event of season started on Thursday, 9th June. rain. Furthermore, the showers will be Unfortunately, the first week we were hot, even during the school summer unable to unlock the door of the out- holidays! I have therefore reached agreedoor sports store at school for some reason and therefore unable to get out ment for the use of Longley on Thursthe tennis posts and nets. Being un- day evenings between 7.30 pm. and certain about the weather, I had dusk. Members of Longley Tennis Club packed badminton kit as well but, will continue to pay just the £3 weekly since no-one else had and in an at- fee to the Old Almondburians’ Tennis tempt to salvage the evening, we de- Section, whilst non-members will pay camped to Longley Tennis Club and a £6 per week, as we do for badminton. very pleasant evening of tennis en- Our tennis season will run a little later this year, until Thursday, 1st Septemsued. So good are the facilities at Long- ber, so why not come and try tennis at n ley that, over our après pint, some of Longley? 54

Cricket

S

S AM AT KI N

O another year goes by and another cricket season is upon us. The winter nets have finished, the Arkenley bowl is ready to see lots of runs and we all pray for as much sunshine as we can over the summer months! It is with great pleasure I can say that we welcome back Ben Hodgson as Second XI captain and I will once again be captaining the Firsts. Ben brought silverware to the club in his first season as captain and he will no doubt be on the hunt once more. A couple of new signings over the winter break lowers our age average once again! Many teams have mentioned that we are a young side, but this can only bode well for the future. New players have always said that we welcome them with open arms and we are always looking for new players. If you do fancy playing, or know anyone interested, please join us up at Arkenley on a Thursday evening, 6.00 pm onwards, for nets. I must mention that unfortunately we have lost two stalwarts of the club: Simon Lyons, who has decided to call time on his playing career and Joey George, who has followed his heart and

s a m _a tk in @ya h o o . co . u k

moved down to Brighton. Joey was a great friend and Simon has always helped me out in my days of captaincy. Everyone at the club wishes them all the best for the future. They will be sorely missed in the dressing room and I’m sure our bar sales will also take a slight hit. On a high note myself, George Brady and Charles Taylor have been picked again for the Huddersfield Central League Representative Side. I have also been asked to captain the team which is a huge honour, and I would like to thank everyone who sent congratulations and wished me luck. Fingers crossed!

Presentation Evening Presentation evening was held at Grapollos again, a good night had by all. I would like to thank The Rock CC who always support us very well at this type of event. Also a big thank you to everyone who contributed to the raffle and

2015 AWARDS

FIRST XI Batting Bowling Fielding

Charles Taylor George Brady Adam Lightowlers

Batting Bowling Fielding

Matthew Barrett James Holder Matthew Barrett

SECOND XI

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Second XI: Back row (l to r):T Slack, E Hall, O Hirst, D Hallitt, C Buck, L Temple Front row (l to r): J Mansell, C Himendra, Z Tanweer, B Hodgson (capt), J Holder. Ben is holding the George Mear Trophy, awarded to the Second XI when they collected more points than any other league team in their last six games of the 2014 season, when Ben was last in charge.

prizes etc. It’s nights like this that keep The First XI are also already us going, so thank you very much for through to the semi finals of the Allsop your support. Cup after beating Holmbridge in the quarter finals. This season - so far The Second XI have not had such It’s a mixed bag so far this season for a good start. However we believe the both our teams. results haven’t gone our way at the moThe First XI have got off to a good ment and I’m sure this will be turned start and sit mid table with a game in around very soon. We have some young hand, taking 51 points from their first 6 players in the Seconds along with some games. Although the batting hasn’t been older heads, and this can only help brilliant the bowling has been fantastic. bring the younger lads on. Again a very Special mention has to go to Joe strong bowling attack bodes well for Atkin (20) and Tom Norman (19) who the future. The Seconds sit fourth from have opened the bowling this year and bottom with 1 win from 7 but are very are getting better and better with every much on the up. Special mention has to game. go to skipper Ben Hodgson who has al56

PREMIER SECTION

SECTION A

Green Moor A

110 PTS

Horbury Bridge A

114 PTS

Edgerton & Dalton A

88 PTS

Birchencliffe B

86 PTS

Mount A

Leymoor A

Holmbridge A

Almondburians A Birchencliffe A

Bradley & Colne A Denby Grange A Nortonthorpe A

104 PTS 70 PTS 56 PTS 51 PTS 46 PTS 43 PTS 40 PTS 18 PTS

Tables as at 11th June 2016

Mount B

Flockton A

Edgerton & Dalton B Green Moor B

Cartworth Moor A Almondburians B Calder Grove A Augustinians A Higham A

ready hit his maiden century this season with 109. It turned out to be a match winning performance and we hope to see more of this during the season. Unfortunately we have already been knocked out of the Tinker Cup. You may have read in the November 2015 issue of The Almondburian of our 20/20 Plate success. We hope to go one better this year by getting into the

101 PTS 61 PTS 60 PTS 59 PTS 52 PTS 51 PTS

final and winning the Cup. Our 20/20 campaign started on 14th June (Tuesday nights) and we were drawn with Cartworth Moor, Leymoor and Holmbridge in Group B. Let’s hope in the next edition I am writing about our success in the competition.

Cricket Workshop We will also be running our 42 PTS cricket workshop again on Fri36 PTS day evenings at the club for girls and boys aged 5-10 years old. We felt this was a huge success last year and is something we are passionate about as these players could well be the future of the club. Please look out for more information on our twitter page: @OACCcricket and elsewhere. Following us on Twitter will keep you up to date with results and what the club is up to on a weekly basis. n 49 PTS

Golf: Gothard Cup

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RO B IN MER C H A NT

ro b in . m er c h a n t@ta lkta lk . n et

E are pleased to be able to report the revival of the Gothard Cup golf competition. The 2016 event will take place at Woodsome Hall Golf Club on Sunday 14th August. Tee will be reserved from 3.15 pm to 4.15 pm. The competition will be followed by a meal and presentation of the Cup. For further information please contact me by email or n by telephone 07933 200475. 57

Golf at King James’s School

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E congratulate KJS student Victoria Kelly (16) who has been appointed Woodsome Hall’s Junior Captain. She is the first female to hold that position in the club’s 94-year history. Victoria started playing golf when she was eight and showed a natural talent for the game.A member of Woodsome Hall’s Junior team, she is the current Ladies Scratch champion. Victoria is a member of Yorkshire’s Development Squad and has just completed her winter coaching in preparation for the forthcoming season.She recently gained selection toYorkshire’s Senior second-team squad Victoria sits her GCSEs this year. n

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Well done, Victoria, and we’ve changed our masthead

HE drawing shown top right has been used as the masthead of the Sports pages of The Almondburian since it assumed its present form and name in 2009. It has a long history: it first appeared in The Almondburian (then the name of the School magazine ) in 1922 and remained in use until the 1960s. Throughout this time, the School was, of course, a boys-only establishment and it was understandable that the drawing should depict a boy footballer. The fine achievement of Victoria Kelly has rightly – and belatedly - caused us to update our masthead to pay tribute to the School’s many excellent female sports players. And perhaps it will encourage more to emerge from the ranks of the Old Almondburians’ Society? 58

Running

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AND RE W HAI G H OAS member David Harpin completes his 250th ParkRun

Andrew Haigh

ARKRUN is a voluntary organisation, based in Harrogate, which organises free weekly 5 km timed runs around the world.They take place at regular venues at 9 am every Saturday morning and they are open to people of any ability, are free, and are safe and easy to take part in. Huddersfield has the largest ParkRun outside London, with an average attendance of 385 and a record attendance of 753. It takes place in Greenhead Park every Saturday morning at 9 am and a good number of Old Almondburians regularly participate. Indeed, you may recall reading in Farnley Lines Dave Bush’s account of his guest appearance at Huddersfield ParkRun on the morning of the Annual Dinner a couple of years ago. One of the staunchest supporters of ParkRun in Huddersfield is Old Almondburian David Harpin (1962 – 1970). On Saturday, 11th June, David completed his 250th ParkRun, 236 of which have been at Huddersfield – and the event has only been staged in Huddersfield 268 times. For the record, David’s time for his 250th run was 25 min 34 sec; his personal best is 22 min 53 sec. A 2 km Junior ParkRun, for children aged between 4 and 14 years old, also takes place in Greenhead Park at 9 a.m. on Sunday mornings, and David is also a regular volunteer for the junior event. A second Junior ParkRun event has recently started in Huddersfield: The Tolson Junior ParkRun in Ravensknowle Park. A good number of current pupils of the school regularly take part in Huddersfield ParkRun, one of the Junior ParkRuns or both, including Hester Chadwick, Annabel Haigh, Samuel Heaton, Alex Lindsay, Sophie Parr and Tiegan Sykes. n 59

CROSSWORD by Hérisson

Entries to the Editor (address/email: back cover) by 1st October 2016

ACROSS 1. Luminary below sea – not a craft for 5 4 (6,9) 9. Pose with feathers. Take the weight off your feet (3,4) 10. Ale noggin cocktail. Not in many years (7) 11. Involve Treebeard, say, with first class leading light (6) 12. Take foul concoction and collapse (5,3) 13. Alternately advise to expire (3) 14. Pins mollusc – first to last (5) Name

16. 18. 20. 22.

23. 25. 27. 28. 29.

Prize: 12 months free OAS membership

DOWN 1. Stye ready for treatment as a 5 4 (8) 2. Arrange title and live for a 5 4 (3,2,2) 3. Article for America in noxious mixture among dreaming spires (7) 4. Boy with good musical number (4) 5. Rap by the French group (7) 6. See 8 7. Mislaid post that is nothing, but could be radioactive (7) 8. Rowers take time, (a long time in politics), for a 5 4 (5,4,1,4) 15. Record piece of wood (3) Tree created by worker at church (5) 17. Crazy, lone whale in October (9) Swift brute on web (6) 19. Share human resources about more Profit on article once more (5) strictly (7) Don't start the dance with slippery 20. Feline quits mathematics riddle in customer (3) disbelief(7) Broadcast drunk, but not leaking (8) 21. Feed nice starter to dancing houris (7) Jacket in codex utterly reversed (6) 22. Foes see mine destroyed (7) Tree not supporting Ghanaian people (7) 23. Saw a ship's holds flooded (5) One insane, mad, stupid (7) 24. One working in charge of type of Maybe said as the paper’s delivered for architecture (5) a 5 4 (4,5,3,3) 26. See 8

Email Tel

l The winner of Terry’s Teaser (March 2016) was Keith Crawshaw

Across 7. Eleven twelfths 9.Offset 11.Nick 12. Atlantic 14. Sentry 15. Ocelot 16. Pep 18. Approve 19. Insight 20. Asp 22. Scores 25. Oafish 26. Aspirant 27. Bali 28. Seance 30. Coincidentally Down 1. Eves 2. Snotty 3. Swanage 4. Blotto 5. Stance 6. Psychophysical 8. Life expectancy 10. Earlobes 13. Ice skate 16. Pea 17. Pip 21. Strands 23. Raisin 24. Spruce 25. On song 29. Alas

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Postbag

YO U WRITE …

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Using an old trolleybus made an interesting change

From: Jack Taylor(Staff 1959-1997) HE most interesting article by Stephen Lockwood, The Trolleybuses of Huddersfield, in the March 2016 edition of The Almondburian, brought back memories of my dependence on trolleybuses in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. My principal routes were between the Waterloo terminus and Huddersfield and between Newsome and Huddersfield. I also travelled fairly regularly to the Marsden, Elland and Outlane termini, to play cricket and football at Hemplow, Hullen Edge and Outlane. If my memory serves me correctly, I remember lines of trolleybuses outside the George Hotel on Saturday afternoons in the football season, waiting to carry soccer and rugby league sup-

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porters to Leeds Road and Fartown respectively, to watch Huddersfield Town AFC and Huddersfield Rugby League Club (‘Fartown’) on alternate Saturdays. However, perhaps the most bizarre use of a trolleybus and one even the author of the article may not be aware of, was my experience at Kirkburton Cricket Club, where I played from 1950 to 1975. Incidentally, in the early 1950s, the chairman of the cricket club was Fred Micklethwaite and his eldest son attended King James’s Grammar School. The pavilion in use when I made my debut, against Shepley on Whit Monday in 1950, was the ‘old’ wooden pavilion with the score box on top. It was built in 1920 and was located on the ground

at Riley Lane. On 5th April 1960, after carrying out routine maintenance, the workman employed accidentally set fire to the building, resulting in its total destruction. In 1960 the old pavilion was located where the present score box is, the ‘beer pavilion’ is where the present storage building is and the ‘tea room’ where the ‘new’ houses were built. The fire was a blow of considerable magnitude, two weeks prior to the start of a new season. Not only had the changing accommodation been destroyed, but all the cricket equipment as well. However, with a new cricket season imminent, two ‘Giants’ of the Huddersfield Cricket League, President Herbert Robinson (Paddock CC) and Old Almondburian Alec Lodge (Lascelles Hall CC) came to the club’s rescue. As a result an ex-Huddersfield Corporation trolleybus appeared and was to incongruously stand on the ground’s perimeter for several months, providing temporary changing accommodation for the players. Curtains were provided by the Ladies Committee to judicially preserve the modesty of the players, with the home team changing downstairs and the away team using the top deck. The trolleybus remained in position until the new existing brick pavilion was built on its present site, at the opposite end of the ground to the previous pavilion. It was opened in 1962 and subsequent additions were built to provide fine accommodation for players, spectators and social facilities all year round. It meant the trek between the three for-

62

mer separate buildings was now not required, especially during inclement weather. I have experienced many and varied cricket pavilion facilities, at home and overseas, but how many cricketers have shared my 'pavilion experience' from 1960? Many is the time, in conversation, when a nostalgic reference to 'trolleys' has arisen, prompting a mutual desire for their return, thereby providing swift, smooth ascents up the steepest of gradients without any accompanying addition to atmospheric pollution. Halifax,West Yorkshire l Stephen Lockwood comments:I do know about the trolleybus body at Kirkburton Cricket Club. About two years ago I was sent the attached photo (top right) and asked to identify the location. After some time trying to do this using Google Maps, I suddenly remembered years ago seeing something on a Huddersfield cricket website about a trolleybus body being used at Kirkburton. The date, I believe is April 1960. The practice was to tow the complete vehicle to its new home and then separate the chassis (which would eventually be given a brand new body), leaving the body on site. In the photo it looks as if it is being winched up the field to the ground. There were two trolleybuses being prepared for new bodies at this time, these being nos 545 and 546, which were new in 1947. There were all sorts of variations to otherwise identical vehicles, and due to this I am 99% certain that this is no 546. During the 1950s it had its valances over the upper deck front windows removed, giving it a unique appearance to trolleybus afficionados.

The photograph (bottom right) shows the vehicle in service on Leeds Road as it looked until 1960. In March 1961 , the chassis reentered service with a brand new East Lancashire Coachbuilders body, looking just like a complete new vehicle – but still retaining its 1947 ‘CVH’ registration number. It ran thus until June 1967 when it was scrapped – hardly value for money for a body only six years old.

I

Happy memories of King James’s School

From: Christine Weldrake (Staff 1985-2002)

started at King James’s School in January 1985 and began to develop Drama as a subject.There were 30 pupils in Key Stage 4 when I started and nearly 100 when I left in 2002. In that time I had many happy memories of staff and pupils. Many are based on the various school productions that took place. Watching James Taylor emerge from the trap door after sitting down below the stage long before any audience arrived in Hobson`s Choice. Directing Beth Dale in Blood Brothers.

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Trying to teach boys to waltz for My Fair Lady and every second of Bugsey Malone. One memory related to that was when the ‘splurge guns’ arrived. I pointed the canister at GrahamWaters, a maths teacher who was sitting in the staff room about 20 feet away from me. Direct hit! Full in the face. Ian Gatenby had the last laugh however. As I was giving my last-night speech to thank the cast and others involved, Ian crept up behind me and got me with a custard pie. Speaking of Ian, we also had a series of

staged mock arguments. Our favourite was when pupils helped to carry the exam desks between the Drama Studio and the Sports Hall. I would stand at one end of the corridor sending the pupils to the Sports Hall and he would stand at the other sending them back! After a short period we would begin arguing to the delight or puzzlement of the pupils. It never lasted too long as we couldn’t keep a straight face. Another favourite memory was the Staff Pantomime written by Steve McNamara. How could such confident people become nervous wrecks? Although I don’t keep in regular contact with any of my KJS colleagues I do occasionally hear from some. Pat Reid and

Nicky Green have both visited here and going to the retirement celebration of Walter Raleigh and Patrick O’Brien was very special. It made me realise what wonderful and very special people I had had the privilege of working with. Luckily our business venture has blossomed. We are still here after nearly 13 years and two recessions, and if Trip Advisor is to be believed we are doing quite well. Sadly Chester the dog (after whom we named the restaurant) is no longer with us. He was the most famous dog in Market Deeping. Market Deeping, Lincolnshire l Chester’s Restaurant (www.chestersdeeping.co.uk) is at 102 Church St, Market Deeping PE6 8AL.

Foundation Award did not even cover travel costs!

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From: Melvyn Haigh (1953-1958) was interested to read the article by Prof Royle in the March 2016 issue of The Almondburian. I was a foundation scholar in 1953 and enclose a copy of the letter my father received from Huddersfield Education Department. I do not know who was the other recipient that year. You will see that there was no mention of any opportunity to get travelling expenses! It would be good if this article generated similar letters to this as I would like to know the other boy in my year and the names of others in adjacent years. Fenay Bridge, Huddersfield

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Obituaries

G O NE BU T NOT F O RG OTTEN

John Leonard Segar (1947- 1953) High-flying banker who treasured for life the teddy rescued by his heroic father John Segar was a former treasurer and junior chairman of the Old Almondburians’ Society. The son of a bank accountant, he was born on 24th December 1936 and it is reported that his parents never put up the Christmas decorations until he was safely tucked up in bed after a proper birthday party. During the war, his father was seconded to the engineering industry in Sheffield. During one bombing raid, when the family were in the air-raid shelter, John suddenly realised that his teddy was still in the house whereupon his father successfully undertook an heroic mission of rescue. John came to King James’s Grammar School in 1947 and became a keen member of the Air Training Corps (Huddersfield No 59 Squadron), run by PE master Harry Binns. At that time this included such figures as Michael Brown, Arthur Carrick, Tony Copley, Graham Gelder, Guy Gothard (see accompanying obituary) and RobertWoodward. In due course he was promoted to Officer. He took his GCE ‘O’ levels in 1953 and left after the Fifth Form to follow in his father’s footsteps and take up an appointment at Midland Bank in Leeds. During National Service in the RAF he was posted to Germany and the Baltic. Later he was to thrive as a Flight Lieutenant in the Air ForceVolunteer Reserve. John married Lyn in 1963; she worked with Gerald Dobson in the National Provincial Bank in Huddersfield. From Huddersfield John and Lyn moved to work in Newcastle and they enjoyed five years in Whitley Bay. After a second interlude in Leeds, where he became assistant manager of the City Branch, John was head-hunted to become an executive in the International Division in London.The family moved to Elsenham, near Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, in 1976. John’s new life had a major worldwide dimension. He was Investment Manager for the Middle East and COMECON (the Russion Council for Mutual Economic Assistance). He spent a considerable time over the years in Istanbul and in communist capitals (often in discreet airport hotels), occasionally travelling there and back in a day by Concorde. He enjoyed his work and the travel enormously. John and Lyn had three sons and in due course Lyn returned to the world of banking, working in Stansted. She also joined the Parent-Teacher Association of Bishop’s Stortford High School. John supported her at critical parental meetings in 1980 when a newly-appointed headmaster was experiencing deep parental reluctance to progressive change at the school.The headmaster later expressed his thanks to John and Lyn for their decisive contributions. 65

In later life, John developed diabetes and this rather caught up with him after his retirement. However, he did not allow it to affect his lifelong commitment to Elsenham tennis (which he shared with Lyn) and his passion for bowls. John was a lifelong member of the Old Almondburians’ Society. In this he was inspired by Lyn’s former banking colleague Gerald Dobson, himself a very prominent ‘father’ of the Society. He continued to attend Old Almondburian dinners until 2014 and his love for the School remained undimmed. Gerald Stead/Ian Shaw/Kenneth Shaw/Lyn Segar IN MEMORY

Guy Edwin Gothard (1944 - 1950) A former GEC/Alstom director who worked on France’s high speed TGV train project Guy started school life atWoodhouse Primary and Elementary School at Sheepridge, Huddersfield shortly before the outbreak of war in 1939. He passed the 11-plus for a place at King James’s in 1944 where in the 6th form he became deputy head boy. He was a very good swimmer, winning the Benny Grey Shield as the Huddersfield schoolboy champion and he was selected to swim for Yorkshire county. Guy was very active in the school Air Training Corps and also the ATC Branch in town where he formed and led the band; he told the story of how, when marching in town, he tossed up the drum major’s stick only for it to hit the trolleybus wires, bounce off and go through a shop window. Fortunately the incident did not affect his rank of Flight Lieutenant. Guy’s interest in the ATC eventually led him to gain his private Pilot’s licence and his Glider Instructor’s licence, after which he taught many pupils to fly gliders. It was a hobby which continued for many years, mainly out of Husbands Bosworth gliding club, with his wife Margaret in full support with the glider trailer to collect Guy wherever he might land.At the gliding club he was at various times secretary, treasurer and chairman. Guy’s professional life started with him serving articles withWheawill and Sudworth, Chartered Accountants in Huddersfield where he qualified. He moved to a number of industrial firms as an accountant including textile mills, Hawker Siddeley, Berry Magicoal Fires and finally GEC/Alstom in Ruby where he became Director of Finance. He travelled regularly to France in connection with GEC/Alstom and the manufacturing of the French high-speed TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) train. Margaret and Guy enjoyed 56 years of marriage with their leisure time spent caravanning for both main holidays and weekend breaks. Guy was a very practical man who could turn his hand to many tasks including garden landscaping, car restoration and house maintenance. So all in all, a man of many parts who was successful in a variety of ways. But his main achievement and success was when he married Margaret who gave him such wonderful support, love and care, especially during his final long period of illness. Guy died on 28th November 2013 George Gothard 66

King James’s in Words and Pictures

THE HISTORY OF KING JAMES’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL IN ALMONDBURY

Gerald Hinchliffe’s detailed formal history of King James’s Grammar School from 1547 to 1963 384pp, hardback

£10

P&P UK £2.50 EUROPE £4.50 REST OF WORLD £7.75

AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF KING JAMES’S SCHOOL IN ALMONDBURY

Full-colour illustrated history of the School from 1547 to 2008, the 400th anniversary of the charter granted by James I 112pp, hardback

£10

P&P UK £2.50 EUROPE £5.25 REST OF WORLD £9.25

MORNING ASSEMBLY Daily Prayers for a Yorkshire School

An account of the life of former headmaster Harry Taylor, with his unique compilation of prayers for use in school assembly 104pp, hardback

£10

P&P UK £1.30 EUROPE £2.70 REST OF WORLD £4.30

FLOREAT SCHOLA!

Colour DVD in which former teacher JACK TAYLOR tells the story of King James’s School through video clips, photographs and recorded interviews. Running time: 87 minutes; PAL, 16 x 9 format

£15

P&P UK £FREE EUROPE £1.00 REST OF WORLD £1.50

400TH ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

Full-length colour DVD of the anniversary celebrations, produced specially for us by Yorkshire Video Arts. Running time: 97 minutes; PAL, 16 x 9 format

£15

P&P UK £FREE EUROPE £1.00 REST OF WORLD £1.50

Order online at www.oas.org.uk or by post from Andrew Haigh, R D Haigh & Co, Oakhill Road, Brighouse, West Yorkshire HD6 1SN. (Cheque payable to the Old Almondburians’ Society).

Chairman WALTER RALEIGH 15 Thorpe Lane, Almondbury HD5 8TA Tel: 01484 308452 Email: walter.raleigh@oas.org.uk

Secretary ANDREW HAIGH 2 Arkenley Lane, Almondbury HD4 6SQ Tel: 01484 432105 Email: andrew.haigh@oas.org.uk

Treasurer KEITH CRAWSHAW 5 Benomley Drive, Almondbury HD5 8LX Tel: 01484 533658 Email: keith.crawshaw@oas.org.uk

Media Editor ROGER DOWLING Editorial address: Orchard House, Oughtrington Lane, Lymm, Cheshire WA13 0RD Tel: 01925 756390 Email: almondburian@oas.org.uk Archivist NICH BRIGGS Tel: 07771 865330 Email: nichbriggs@hotmail.com Website: www.oas.org.uk

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3ykffo3

The Almondburian is distributed to OAS members free of charge. Price to non-members: £3.00