The ALMONDBURIAN T H E MAGA Z I NE O F T HE O LD ALM O ND B URIANS’ SOCIETY
March 2019
IN THIS ISSUE
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A word from your Chairman Old Almondburians’ Society Calendar Membership Founders’ Weekend 2018 Back to the drawing board From the study The Almondburian Poets Annual General Meeting Life at AGS – as it was in 1886 Crossword by Hérisson Lord Dartmouth and his Medal The Gilbert & Sullivan years How we learned the three R’s New users sought for pavilion Tour KJS from your own armchair Meanwhile back at the School Apostrophe corner Classroom commentary Farnley Lines Badminton/Tennis Golf: Gothard Cup Postbag Obituaries
Opinions expressed by contributors to The Almondburian do not necessarily reflect the views of The Old Almondburians’ Society
(Opposite): This first ‘artist’s version’ of the new School Pavilion was drawn by Brian Pollard whose obituary appears on page 69.This sketch formed the basis of the official plans drawn up by the Borough Architects Department.
The ALMONDBURIAN Editor: Roger Dowling
March 2019
The magazine of The Old Almondburians’ Society
A word from your Chairman WA LT E R R A LEIGH and I thank Ian Rimmer for his part in making some private and sensitive areas in the School open for the visitors to look round. The National Heritage Weekend project had as its focus the title of ‘Extraordinary Women’ to celebrate the one hundred years since women won the right to vote. As a Society we looked at the history of our own ‘Extraordinary Woman’, Emily Siddon MBE. It was a fascinating story and one that deserved to be told. Keith Ramsden and Bob Farrell, our two school Premises Managers did a wonderful job getting the four new honours boards up and looking won-
ELCOME to the first OAS magazine of 2019 which I hope you will enjoy. Over the last twelve months the Society and School have continued to develop further the recent close working relationship for the benefit of the School. The Heritage Weekend in September was a fine example of School and the OAS working as a team to produce an even better Open Day in 2018. Numbers attending were up by a significant margin, more areas were open to visitors and we had the welcome return of the Royal Charter, if only for the day. It was an outstanding success
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take of comprehensive students, as they approach retirement with more time at their disposal, to join us and play a part in the future development of the Society. Another highlight of the Society’s year was the annual Quiz Evening held in May in the Conservative Club in Almondbury. Keith Crawshaw again exceeded himself in producing a devilishly difficult series of rounds but I’m pleased to say one of the teams – ‘Pisces Ex Aqua’ – proved themselves more than a match for the questions and the quizmaster. We’ll be back at the Woolpack for the 2019 Quiz Evening on Wednesday, 15th May (see announcment on page 6) so do put the date in your diary if you’d like to come along for the fun. And finally the year end brings to mind those Old Almondburians we have lost during the year. Mercifully, I have not been asked to attend many funerals this year, though that may be because the Society has not been informed of the passing of some members. My apologies if this is the case. Mike Rattigan, both student (1958-64) and teacher at King James’s died and our thoughts go out to his wife, Lesley Rattigan, who served over 35 years as a member of staff and only recently retired. Similarly, our sympathy also goes out to two other retired members of staff, Ann Ferguson and Marjorie Faragher who lost their husbands of long standing, this year. May I also, on your behalf, wish all those suffering at present with ill health a much better 2019. n
derful for the Heritage Weekend, and I thank them for that in very trying working conditions. We hope to further extend the recent OAS work in getting old honours boards updated. I’m meeting Ian in January to go through some possible future projects; at the top of the list is updating the most prestigious award for any student to win at King James’s: the Dartmouth Medal. The honours board for this in the ILC (Big) hasn’t be updated since 1969. You’ll find an article about Lord Dartmouth and the Dartmouth Medal on page 33. The Annual Dinner in November was another huge success. The recent format of having two principal speakers, one from the old Grammar School days and one from 1976 onwards, again worked well. May I thank both Andrew Taylor and Peter Warry for their massive contributions in making the evening a success. My one disappointment was that once again most of the work for the evening and the Founders’ Day Service fell on the shoulders of Andrew Haigh, our Secretary. He had some help from people like Keith Crawshaw and Martyn Hicks but I really feel we need more involvement from other members to share the burden of the Founders’ Weekend. However, another of the plus points of the Dinner was that my efforts to contact former Head Boys and Head Girls, to invite them to see the new honours boards, put me in touch with many who still had a place in their heart for the old place. I’m hoping this contact will encourage more of the first in4
Membership A N D R E W HAIGH l Robert Anthony Bailey (1950-1955), resident in Lindley, on 6th November, 2018 (obituary: page 70) l Brian Pollard (1946-51), resident in Waterloo, in December, 2018 (obituary: page 69). For the few members who do not pay their subscriptions by standing order, please remember that your £10.00 subscription for 2017-2018 fell due on 1st September last year. Thank you to those who have recently brought their subscription up to date; however, if you do receive a letter with this magazine pointing out that your subscription is not upto-date, please do send your payment without delay. It does make life much easier if you can complete the updated standing order mandate that accompanies the letter and return it in the envelope provided. Alternatively, you may renew online, using PayPal or a debit or credit card, by visiting www.oas.org.uk and clicking on n the ‘Join/Renew Online’ button.
INCE the last magazine was published, we have been delighted to welcome three new members to the Society: l Alison Hobson (1985-1988), from Longwood, l Nicola Hurrell, née Bailey (1985-1988), from Fenay Bridge l Mervyn Richard Griffiths (1954-1959), from Shelley. We have also been very pleased to welcome back three former members: l John Bradwell Kendall (1968-76), from Prestbury, Cheshire, l Michael J Hirst (1981-86), from Kirkburton, and l Andrew G Douglas (1963-70), from Fenay Bridge. Sadly, we have learned of four deaths: l Christopher J Rockett (1952-57), resident in Lindfield in Sussex, in September, 2018 l Peter H Heywood (1945-51 and later a member of staff), resident in Filey, in October, 2018 (obituary: page 71)
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What’s in a name? ewer readers of The Almondburian may be puzzled that the name of the School appears in different forms on different pages.The explanation is that the School has been known by a number of names over the years. Up to the date of the rediscovery of the Charter in 1952, the most common name was simply ‘Almondbury Grammar School (although in print the style ‘King James’s Grammar School’ was also often used). From 1952 onwards, the more formal name ‘King James’s Grammar School’ was introduced, and this lasted until 1974 when the School became ‘King James’s College. Finally, in 1976, the School became King James’s School. Our editorial policy is to use the name that is most chronologically appropriate.
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Old Almondburians’ Society Calendar QUIZ EVENING The annual Old Almondburians’ Society Quiz will be held in the upstairs room at The Woolpack, Almondbury, on Wednesday, 15th May, at 7.00 pm for a 7.30 pm prompt start. We require eight teams of three or four members and their guests. It would be appreciated if teams could be entered in advance, although you are most welcome to turn up on the night and participate in what is always a very enjoyable evening. Quizmaster, as ever, will be Keith Crawshaw. BADMINTON Played in the School sports hall every Thursday evening during term time between 7.30 pm and 9.30 pm until Thursday, 23rd May and then again from Thursday, 5th September. Afterwards we go for a drink in Almondbury Conservative Club. TENNIS Played at Longley Community Sports Club on Thursday evenings between 7.00 pm and 9.00 pm from Thursday, 6th June to Thursday, 29th August. Afterwards we go for a drink in Almondbury Conservative Club. ANNUAL DINNER This year’s Annual Dinner will be held on Saturday, 23rd November. Full details, together with an application form for tickets, will appear in the next issue of The Almondburian. It is always good to see members making a special effort to stage a re-union of their year at the dinner and such occasions are always enjoyable, so those with a special anniversary this year, members of the classes of 1949, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1994, 1999 or 2009 for example or, indeed, anyone else who takes a notion to do so, should consider starting to organise their class re-union earlier rather than later. FOUNDERS’ DAY The traditional Founders’ Day Service will be held the day after the Annual Dinner and this year falls on Founders’ Day itself, Sunday, 24th November. Full details will be announced in a later issue.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS Executive Committee meetings are usually held on the first Monday of the month, although there are exceptions due to Bank Holidays and school holidays, and there is no meeting in August. Any member of the Society who would like to attend one of these meetings will be made most welcome on the following dates: Monday, 4th March; Monday, 1st April; Monday, 13th May; Monday, 3rd June; Monday, 1st July; Monday, 2nd September; Monday, 7th October; Monday, 4th November; Monday, 2nd December. Executive Committee meetings are currently being held at School in the ODH at 6 pm. Please check with the Secretary before travelling.
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Founders’ Weekend 2018 A N D R E W HAIGH healthy total of 84 Almondburians attended the Annual Dinner on the evening of Saturday, 24th November.Those present spanned a period of seventy-two years, from those who entered the school in 1946 to those currently students or staff at the School in 2018. Top marks for attendance this year go to the Class of 1968, after Gary Croft mustered a table of twelve for their 50th anniversary reunion.This table included Kim Dyson, who travelled from Texas and therefore receives this year’s prize for making the best effort to attend. Second prize for attendance goes to Simon Russell for organising a table of ten footballers from the 1970/71 first XI, who
billed themselves as the best football team ever – although this turned out to be a contentious claim! Third prize goes to the Class of 1978, the year that our Chairman started teaching at the School, for a table of eight organised by Darren Hanson to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Our Chairman had written to invite as many former Head Boys and Head Girls of the School as possible to attend the dinner this year in order to see the new honours boards listing their names, and a good number of them, as well as other Old Almondburians, took the opportunity to
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Healthy turnout: the scene in the School hall at the 2018 Annual Dinner 7
Surname Ainley Armitage Atkinson Balderstone Barraclough Battye Beattie Beaumont Bedford Berry Bradley Broadhead Brook Carter Croft Davidson Douglas Dowling Dyson Dyson Field Graley Graley Griffiths Haigh Hanson Harpin Heptonstall Hey Hirst Hirst Hirst Hobson Hodgson Horsfall Howarth Hudson Humphries Hurrell Kendall Law Lofthouse
Forename Nick Martin Liz Paul Abby Andy Karen Robin Godfrey Sarah Peter David Jeffery Peter Gary Robert Andrew Roger David Kim C Robert Christopher Simon Mervyn Andrew Darren David David Richard Jackie Michael Stuart Alison Gary Anthony Ian Rob Allen Nicola John B George Howard
From Dates 1968 1976 Derby 1968 1976 Nottingham Staff Almondbury 1954 1962 Dep Head Girl 1978 1979 1981 1968 1976 Derby 1949 1957 Honley 1985 1990 Shepley 1948 1953 Bristol 1968 1975 Lepton 1947 1952 Almondbury 1963 1970 Enfield 1968 1975 Almondbury 1968 1976 Uxbridge 1963 1970 Stocksmoor 1952 1959 Lymm 1968 1975 Oakes 1968 1975 Texas, USA Staff 1989 Kirkheaton 1962 1970 Farnley Tyas 1964 1972 Ballaugh, IOM 1954 1959 Shelley 1977 1983 Almondbury 1978 1963 1970 Birkby 1949 1957 Matlock 1951 1957 Lepton 1981 1986 Kirkburton 1981 1986 Kirkburton 1955 1963 Birkenhead 1985 1988 Longwood 1978 1955 1963 Hemel Hempstead 1968 Almondbury Staff 1963 1971 Birkby 1985 1988 Fenay Bridge 1968 1975 Prestbury 1957 1959 Fenay Bridge 1952 1959 Sheffield
Surname Mallinson Mallinson Melling Mills Milnes Moorhouse Morrison Murphy Murphy Nash Newham Page Parkin Patterson Perkin Priestley Raleigh Rimmer Royle Russell Searby Sharp Sharp Shaw Shaw Surman Sykes Taylor Taylor Taylor Teale Thackray Thompson Thompson ThorntonTurner Twigg Walker Warry Wilkinson Williams Wortley 8
Forename Dr R F Niven Mrs J Angela Matthew Graeme Robert David Emily Nicky Brian Joshua Michael Neil Darren Tyler Martin Walter Ian W Prof Edward Simon A Richard Isobel John Ian Dr Philip Evelyn Stuart Dennis J Andrew J Richard Richard Simon Helen J Stuart Helen Ann Peter Rodney Peter Michael Robert Andrew
Date From Dates 1955 1962 Stourbridge Guest Stourbridge Staff 2015 Bradley Chair- of Board of Governors Chairman 1957 1965 Cardiff 1964 1972 Stockport 1967 1970 Chigwell 1997 2002 Almondbury 1981 1986 Almondbury 1964 1972 Cheadle Hulme Dep Head Boy Deput 1968 1975 Cowbridge 1978 1978 Head Boy 1963 1971 Lincoln Staff 2010 Almondbury HeadHolmfirth Principal 1955 1962 York 1964 1972 Thongsbridge 1976 1979 Lepton Deput Dep Head Girl 1951 1958 Leighton Buzzard 1946 1954 Northallerton 1964 1971 Almondbury Head Girl 1978 1961 1969 Chesterfield 1963 1970 Bidford-on-Avon 1954 1962 Ossett 1961 1968 Whitley Bay 1965 1971 Halesworth Guest Cheadle 1949 1956 Cheadle 1978 1983 Netherton Staff 2015 Lindley 1968 1973 1951 1959 Torquay 1978 1983 York 1963 1970 Much Wenlock 1964 1970 Bradley 1965 1971
RIGHT Speakers (clockwise from top left: Andrew Taylor, Peter Warry, Evelyn Surman (Head Girl), Walter Raleigh
BELOW Class of ’78 (left to right): Helen ThorntonPugh, Peter Warry (Head Boy 1982/83), Neil Parkin, Stuart Sykes, Darren Hanson, Andy Battye
TOP (Clockwise from left): Jeffrey Brook, Richard Hey, John Sharp, Howard Lofthouse, George Law BOTTOM Class of ’68 (back row left to right): Gary Croft, Peter Twigg, Bob Davidson, Kim Dyson, John Kendall, Ian Howarth, Mike Page and Robin Beaumont. (Front row left to right): Dave Dyson, Dave Broadhead, Martin Armitage and Nick Ainley.
join one of the tours of the School conducted by one of the current students. After those who wanted to tour the School had done so, we took our seats and welcomed our top table guests: Ian Rimmer, Principal of the School and President of the Society; Matt Mills, Chairman of Governors; Tyler Perkin, Head Boy; Evelyn Surman, Head Girl and Walter Raleigh, Chairman of the Society.Then, Christine Stocks and her team from the School kitchen served an excellent meal.To start they offered a choice of roast red pepper and tomato soup with crusty bread or Brussels patĂŠ
with cranberry compote and melba toast. The main course was either roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with horseradish sauce, salmon en croute or a vegetarian dish. Main courses were served with roast baby new potatoes, roasted seasonal vegetables and cauliflower cheese. For desert there was a choice of sticky toffee pudding with fresh cream, fresh cream profiteroles and warm chocolate sauce or cheesecake with fresh cream. This was followed by coffee or tea and after dinner mints. Following the meal, Peter Warry, a member of the Class of 1978 and Head Boy in 1982-83, made an enjoyable speech proposing the Toast to the School, to which the Head Girl, Evelyn Surman, made an excellent response. Another good speech followed in which Andrew Taylor proposed the Toast to the Society and the re10
sponse to this was by the Chairman of the ing an impressive £255.50 in the process), Society,Walter Raleigh.The formal part of and for being such fine ambassadors for the evening ended at 11 p.m. with a rous- King James’s School. Last, but not least, a ing rendition of the School Song. After- huge thank you to our speakers, Peter Warwards, there was plenty of time for guests ry, Evelyn Surman and Andrew Taylor. The 2018 Annual Dinner was certainly to mingle and reminisce further before the bar closed. Organising the dinner at the School certainly involves a tremendous amount of work and thanks are due to many people. Firstly, to the School for allowing us to use the premises and in particular to the Premises Manager, Keith Ramsden, for his help in all kinds of ways. To Christine Stocks and her team for preparing a most enjoyable meal.To teacher of Integrated Studies, Liz. Atkinson and her partner, Rob. Hudson, for their sterling work behind the bar. A big thank you to Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd. for the loan of the round tables free of charge, saving us the cost of hiring them, which would be around £125 (£1.50 per head) and also to Martyn Hicks, without whom we would be unable to transport them to the School. Thank you too, to Old Almondburian Nick Briggs, of Mallinson’s Brewery in Lockwood, for supplying the beer, and toTim Marriott, ofTaste Fine Wines in Almondbury, for supplying the other drinks.Thank you to TOP Abby Barraclough (Deputy Head Girl),Tyler Perkin the Head Boy and Head Girl, Tyler (Head Boy), Evelyn Surman, (Head Girl); Isobel Sharp Perkin and Evelyn Surman, and their (Deputy Head Girl); Joshua Newham (Deputy Head deputies, Abby Barraclough, Joshua Boy) Newham and Isobel Sharp, for con- BELOW ducting tours of the School before the Robert Moorhouse (Head Boy 1971/72), Peter J. (Head Boy 1982/83), David Neil Morrison, meal, for selling raffle tickets with Warry Sarah Berry (née Charlton, Head Girl 1989/90), ruthless efficiency afterwards (rais- Michael J. Hirst (Head Boy 1985/86). 11
a success.The 2019 Annual Dinner falls on Saturday, 23rd November, the day before Founders’ Day itself, so please put the date in your diary now to make sure that you don’t miss out on a great evening. Founders’ Day It cannot be denied that First XI soccer team of 1970/71 (left to right): Founders’ Day this year Robert Moorhouse, Phil Shaw, Brian Nash, Robert Williams, provided a number of dis- Simon Graley, Chris Graley, Simon Thackray, Allen Humphries, appointments: The turnout Andrew Douglas, Andrew Wortley was unusually low, the organist was absent gregation. This year being the centenary due to illness and only one musician of the end of the Great War, there was a from the school was available to play. reading by the Head Boy, Tyler Perkin, of Despite this, and in accordance with tra- an entry in the diary of Taylor Dyson from dition, the Head Boy, Tyler Perkin, and the day that the war ended. Head Girl, Evelyn Surman, along with the The service was led by the Rev. Andrew Chairman of the Society, led a small band Steer, Assistant Curate at All Hallows, who of current pupils and Old Almondburians invoked the assistance of modern techup St. Helen’s Gate to All Hallows’ nology by connecting his mobile telephone Church for the Founders’ Day Service at to the sound system and playing a recordthe slightly later time this year of 11.30 ing of the subsequent hymns, And Did a.m. those Feet in Ancient Time and For All the On arrival at All Hallows’ we were Saints, Who From their Labours Rest, to greeted with the news that there was no provide us with accompaniment for those. organist. Hollie Baker, theYear 10 pianist During the course of the service, the representing the School was invited to pro- Rev. Andrew Steer read out the names of vide accompaniment for the hymns but, the forty-four Old Almondburians who lost quite reasonably, declined the offer to play their lives in the Great War. The service without any preparation. Consequently, the concluded in the traditional way, with first hymn, Praise my Soul the King of prayers from the Ancient Statutes and the Heaven, was sung unaccompanied. singing of the School Song, for which AnFollowing that first hymn, the lesson drew was unable to provide us with acfrom Matthew 7: vv21-28 was read by the companiment from his mobile telephone, Head Girl, Evelyn Surman. Hollie Baker but we managed perfectly well anyway! then gave a superb recital of the piano piece Finally, thanks are due to Hilary Pollard that she had prepared, which was very im- for providing us with refreshments in the pressive and much enjoyed by the con- Church Hall after the service. n 12
Founders’ Weekend doesn’t organise itself! OAS secretary Andrew Haigh gives a blow-by-blow account of what’s involved was an obstruction and so preventing Y Founders’ Weekend began at 6 them from closing. At last I could relax a pm on Friday, 23rd November, with little; the guests could get in and we could a rendezvous at the service entrance to get on with the main event! the John Smith’s Stadium to collect the As the guests departed, your Chairman round tables that they lend us to use at and Secretary set to work stacking all the the Annual Dinner. chairs away and I then remained behind The following day, on arriving at School to clear the tables, putting all the glasses at 2.30 pm, I discovered Christine Stocks through the washer as I did so, before and her kitchen staff sitting in the going around the School to turn out all entrance to the driveway locked out! They the lights and lock up.The cool night air had been due to start at 2.pm but were was most refreshing as I walked home up unable to open the electric gate with Arkenley Lane at 3 am! their electronic fob, due to it being We were back on duty at 11.15 on outside normal hours. Keith Ramsden, Sunday morning for Founders’ Day and, our excellent Premises Manager at after lunch, I returned to School to clear School, usually programs the gates to stay away the bar. Usually, Almondbury open on the day of the dinner but, Conservative Club kindly give us a presumably in the excitement of setting donation towards any left-over beer to off to watch Leeds United v. Bristol City prevent it from going to waste and when I (he may be an excellent Premises went in to Wormall’s Hall with the partlyManager, but he is afflicted with a strange used second barrel of beer on Sunday desire to support Leeds United), he had afternoon, I was informed that Town were forgotten to do so. playing very well and winning. It was only Fortunately, the fob that I had worked then that I realised that I had been so out of hours and so I could open the busy that I’d gates, letting us all completely in, albeit half an forgotten to keep hour late in the case track of their match of the kitchen staff. against The only remaining Wolverhampton problem was that Wanderers at the gates kept Molineux. closing autoOn arriving matically, shutting home, I sat down other people out! with a welcome cup Martyn Hicks Working party: Andrew with daughters of tea and switched helped to carry in Charlotte and Eleanor on the radio in time and set up the to have the satisfaction of listening to Paul tables with me and I was then grateful for Ogden describe Aaron Mooy bending a the help of my twin daughters, Charlotte fine free kick low around the Wolves’ wall and Eleanor, current Year 7 pupils at the to score his second goal, sealing a fine School, in setting out chairs, moving away win and bringing an excellent furniture, setting up the bar, putting out weekend to a most satisfactory menu cards and so on, which took us conclusion! most of the rest of the afternoon. It only remained to meet Martyn Hicks After a quick dash home for a shower at School at 6.15 on Monday evening to and change, I returned to School armed load the tables back into his van and with a roll of insulation tape with which to cover the sensors on the electric gates, return them to the stadium. thereby fooling them into thinking there Job done!
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Back to the drawing board Roger Sykes (1946-1953) revisits some of his favourite drawings
DMIT it! People do like a quiet place. And as you become a little older, ‘peaceful’ is the word.Years ago I remember walking round the School, noting that I often picked a busy place like a corridor – because a school is a busy
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place. With this sketch I found the quietest place – maybe because no-one dared to walk along the path to the right, past the window to the headmaster’s study. To the left, outside the frame, is the lovely old library wall topped by the school bell. I cannot remember it being rung*. The whole area was backed by a delightful garden.The only item missing is a welcome bench seat. As usual I added the dark foliage of the tree to the top left corner foreground to increase the depth and provide balance. But I omitted the corner downpipe from the valley – one pipe is enough! A corner like this really should be peaceful, being between a library and a study. It is just too easy to walk past without seeing it. But “walk, not run, boy” is still a familiar echo! n *I can.The bell was run throughout my time at KJGS (1952-59), though not, it seems, today. (Ed)
A quiet place 14
OFSTED 2018
From the study Last October the School retained its status as a ‘Good’ school following a short Ofsted inspection.
IAN RIMMER
could confirm you are happy with it by return of email”. The notion of being ‘happy’ is quite interesting; nobody is ever truly happy about being inspected and especially not by outsiders who have no knowledge of your school, and extremely limited time to find out more about it. Despite assertions from the Chief Inspector regarding the standardisation of inspections, personal experience tells me that you are very much at the mercy of whoever walks through your door. What will their ‘take’ on our school be? What are their pet loves and hates? Do they really understand our context? Are they sympathetic to, or at the very least tolerant of, our principles and aims? And this poses interesting questions. Often, perhaps understandably, lead inspectors are former headteachers who have been, by some definition at least, successful. However, this notion of success is itself highly subjective. In the current context, ‘success’ could very well be defined by a school’s ‘Progress 8’ score.
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ELL, it had been on the horizon for seven months and on the Wednesday 3rd October at 12.00 noon ‘the call’ finally came. ‘The call’, as any teacher will immediately be able to tell you, refers to Ofsted. For those unfamiliar with the nature of an Ofsted inspection, and for those with less recent experience, allow me to elaborate. “We will be arriving at 8.00 am” (equating to 20 hours’ notice) is the first indicator of what is to come. The inspection, I am informed, will be undertaken by a team of two who, as this is a short inspection, will be in attendance for one day in the first instance. They say, ‘in the first instance’, for if things were to go very badly wrong, it could be converted to a full 2-day inspection within 48 hours, with the implicit expectation of the school going into ‘Special Measures’. To classical scholars, this may evoke memories of the Sword of Damocles. “I’ll send you an outline of our schedule and would be grateful if you 15
However, as I have described in previous articles, that figure is open both to significant statistical doubt and has led to some well-publicised unscrupulous behaviour from schools (i.e. headteachers) trying to generate a high score. So, if the Inspector held an unwavering definition of success, and how to achieve it, in line or alternatively at odds with the school being inspected, it could easily lead to a biased view of that school. Whilst there is guidance for inspectors, there are no absolutes. Interpretation of the facts is theirs to make; and there is limited opportunity to challenge their view. And this is one of the fundamental issues that teachers have with Ofsted inspection. Each school’s inspection experience can be
very different, dependent upon the team allocated; and when the stakes are so high, it can lead to high levels of anxiety. And the stakes are very high. Despite claims from Ofsted to the contrary, excessive and undue importance is placed by the general public (parents, the media and associated educational organisations) on the single Ofsted grading awarded. Assumptions are made that the grading somehow accurately and wholly describes a school’s performance across a multitude of areas. Yet it is utterly impossible for two people to gain a true picture of any school in one day. It is rather ironic that at a time when current pedagogy
Bookworms: Year 8 students sell used books for the ‘Reading for Pleasure’ initiative 16
favours giving students formative feedback on how to improve their work over a single mark, the very process by which schools are graded does the exact opposite. So, what does actually happen during an inspection ? Well, the hectic day comprised a series of intense meetings with senior colleagues on a wide variety of issues, a discussion with staff and a separate one with students on their school-experience, a number of 15-minute lesson observations and scrutinies of students’ work. The meetings are rather ‘Mastermind’ in style, with forensic questioning of all aspects school-life. Where the experience deviates from the TV programme is that there are follow-up questions seizing upon any areas of weakness or slips of
the tongue. One is often asked if the process is fair. I find the notion of a ‘fair’ process slightly curious; fairness, to me at least, suggests that failings were justifiably exposed. I would prefer to know that the process was purposeful; has it identified areas that we were unaware of and has it helped provide ideas on how to move the school forwards. Well, sadly, the answer to the former is only in some limited way and to the latter is not at all. And that is one of the other issues that teachers have with Ofsted inspection. Come in, have a quick look, pass judgement and scarper. Hardly helpful. And the outcome? Well, the school has retained its status of being a ‘Good’ school. However, given potential concerns over a couple of areas, which they did not have time to explore fully, they are going to return within a timeframe of one to two years to complete a more thorough inspection; this time two days with a larger team. 17
Areas for development identified history alongside other major historical were: events”. l Inconsistencies in the quality of They highlighted many more areas teaching, learning and assessment of success highlighted, yet as teachers should be reduced so that pupils make we habitually focus on the negatives! at least good It was also lovely Nearly all parents progress across all to hear that nearly subjects, including would recommend all (92%) parents English would recommend the School – in the the School to othl The curriculum should be amended and in the end, end it is to them to ers; to better meet the it is to them to needs of all pupils, whom we should pay whom we should including pupils pay most attention most attention with below-average as they live and attainment breathe the school every day. l The plan to accelerate the progress So, what now for the School? Well, of disadvantaged pupils should be more we must respond promptly to the recprecise, reviewed regularly and sup- ommendations made whilst also manport improving rates of progress for aging a change to the Ofsted inspection disadvantaged pupils. framework which places emphasis in So, Damocles’ sword remains over- different areas; this comes into play behead with horsehair intact, even if it is fore they return. a little more sinewy now. And of the That will provide us with plenty of many positives, the inspectors found challenges. Work is already underway, that “most students speak positively as in theory they could be back with us about their school” and noted that “be- in October 2019. Whilst I think that is haviour has improved”. They also pro- unlikely, we must be prepared. So alvided the eye-catching headline, picked terations to the curriculum and more up by the local press, that “pupils are intensive scrutiny of student (and staff) delightfully kind and polite.” performance in certain subjects are In a personal sense I was particu- afoot. Shortly we will be reviewing our larly pleased that the report included support for Pupil Premium students*, this observation: “Since your appoint- which unfortunately is a nut that many ment as principal in 2015, you have schools nationally are struggling to ensured that the school’s ethos has been crack. further developed and is celebrated. And then, we go again! n Governors and staff describe ‘the King *The ‘Pupil Premium’ is additional funding for publicly James way’.You use the school’s history funded schools in England, designed to help disadvanto promote its identity well, for exam- taged pupils of all abilities perform better, and close the ple highlighting events in the school’s gap between them and their peers. 18
The Almondburian Poets
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E have noted on previous occasions that poems submitted to The Almondburian were often influenced – consciously or unconsciously – by the events of the day. So why in 1973 did third former Peter Taylor suddenly feel inspired to write in dramatic terms on the subject of coal mining, at a time when the industry was in terminal decline? The answer may lie in the date of when it was written. In 1972, one of the worst mining accidents ever had occured when 426 men lost their lives in a series of gas explosions that ripped through a colliery in Rhodesia. Then, closer to home the following March, seven miners at Lofthouse Colliery near Wakefield died when the workings became flooded. 1972 was also the year of a major sixweek strike resulting from a pay dispute between the National Union of Mineworkers and Edward Heath’s Conservative government. It began on 9th January 1972 and ended on 28th February 1972 when the miners returned to work. Arthur Scargill, then prominent in the National Union of Mineworkers, introduced ‘flying pickets’ for the first time. As a result of the strike, the government set up a special Cabinet Office Briefing Room for emergency meetings to deal with the crisis. The so-called COBRA committee still meets today at times of national emergency.
BALLAD OF A MINE The deafening crash Of the lightning flash Sent the men in the mine In a hopeless dash. The sirens blew The pit shafts boomed, All the men knew what to do; Yet most were doomed. The men worked on Risking life and soul, And higher and higher Rose the known death toll. For We We We
twenty one days dug in vain dug in the mud, dug in the rain.
And after it all Twenty two men were found Who had died in that hell Underneath the ground. And I think of it now How these men must have died In the lonely wastes Of that wretched mine. The owners of the wealthy mine Saw the fault to be in pit’s design: And so a flower for a family Became official policy. A rose for a mother A prayer for a brother A wreath for a son. Their mourning’s just begun. P A Taylor, 3 alpha The Almondburian, Summer term 1973
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Annual General Meeting 7t h Januar y 2019 The Annual General Meeting of the Society was held at ‘TheWoolpack’, Almondbury, on Monday, 7th January 2019, at 7.30 pm. Attendance Walter Raleigh (chair) Keith Crawshaw Ian Rimmer Michael Powner Richard Taylor
Chris West Nich. Briggs Roger Dowling Andrew Haigh
Apologies for Absence Richard Hughes, Peter Warry and Edward Royle. The Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting The minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 8th January 2018, were read and approved and there were no matters arising. Chairman’s Report Walter Raleigh thought that it had been another good year for the Society, and certainly very enjoyable. We once again opened the School for the Heritage Open Day, which was again very successful. There were more visitors there than last year, and some very knowledgeable ones too, this year. It was also wonderful to have the charter back in School for the day. The new honours boards are excellent and thanks are due to the President and the Premises Manager for their help with those. It was nice for members to be able to view the new honours boards at the Annual Dinner, which was again very successful. It would be nice to go on and update the Dartmouth Medal and Jessop Prize honours boards in the library next year. However, Walter felt that work on the archive ought to be our main priority for the coming year and it would be nice if we were able to digitise it. He also feels that we should have a push on membership. Finally, he thanked Abbi Terry, the School representative, for all her work and input this year. Treasurer’s Report Keith Crawshaw presented the accounts for the financial year ended 31st August, 2018, noting that subscription income has fallen very slightly from the previous year. The cost of producing and distributing the magazine now represents 70% of subscription income, compared to 68% in the previous year, so there has not been much change. There is an excess of income over expenditure of £136.44, an increase of £122 on the previous year. The accumulated fund stands at just over £11,000, so we are going along quite nicely. 20
The Chairman thanked Keith for his work and the accounts were approved unanimously. Membership Secretary’s Report Andrew Haigh reported that, at the end of the last financial year, membership stood at 441. There are now only 18 members who do not pay by standing order, which is the lowest ever figure, and a greater proportion of those are renewing promptly. He said that last year was fairly quiet on the membership front, with three new members being recruited, Karen Beattie, David Haigh and Susan Starbuck, and, sadly, the death of four members, Alan Conley, Guy Gothard, Andrew Phillips and Thomas Senior. The President asked about the age profile of the membership and Roger Dowling referred him to a recent analysis that he had produced for The Almondburian. Subscription rate for the Financial Year commencing 1st September 2019 Following on from his Treasurer’s report, Keith Crawshaw proposed that the subscription rate remains at £10 per annum. This was agreed unanimously. The Treasurer went on to suggest that we should consider looking at the subscription rate for overseas members in future, due to the much higher postage costs incurred for the magazine. The Secretary agreed, noting that the 5% of the membership who live overseas account for over 25% of the postage costs for distributing the magazine. Election of President The Chairman proposed that the Principal should be invited to continue as President of the Society for 2019 and Ian Rimmer was duly re-elected. President’s Remarks Ian Rimmer thanked the meeting and began with the unfortunate news that Abbi Terry, who was the School representative on the Executive Committee, will no longer be able to attend our meetings due to a redistribution of senior management roles in School. However, he hopes that she will still be able to have an input into the Heritage Open Day. In future, it may be necessary to have a rota for attending Executive Committee meetings, which might be quite good if it means that we see different members of staff. The School is very grateful to the King James’s School Foundation for funding a Spanish assistante this year; she is doing very well and they would love a French assistante as well! The heritage of the School was something that OFSTED picked up on favourably at their recent inspection and so he is keen to work with the Society on enhancing that. They are currently trying to make the O.D.H. more of a heritage area for the display of some of the artefacts from the archive. Ian went on to wonder if the production of a book of old photographs from the archive might be something that we could sell to raise funds. On the subject of the School’s heritage, Michael Powner was keen to emphasise the importance of Founders’ Day and wondered how its profile could be raised within the School once again; Charmian Gott, Head of Performing Arts, is certainly keen to 21
make the most of the occasion. Ian ended by saying that this year all students are receiving a good luck card from a member of staff before their exams. These have gone down very well and it may be worth putting the Society’s details on the back of them, as they are something that students may keep. Election of Executive Officers for 2019 Richard Taylor nominated Walter Raleigh to continue as Chairman for 2019 and he was re-elected unanimously. The other Officers were then elected as follows: Vice-Chairman Chris West Honorary Secretary Andrew Haigh Honorary Treasurer Keith Crawshaw Media Editor Roger Dowling Ordinary Committee Members Emily Briggs Martyn Hicks Samuel Atkin Michael Powner Andrew Schofield Richard Teale Chaplain Rev Chris Pickles Representatives of the School To be advised Any Other Business Executive Committee Meeting The Secretary asked that the date be fixed for the next meeting of the Executive Committee. The first Monday in February is the norm and Monday, 4th February was agreed. It was further decided that the February meeting should be held at School in the O.D.H. at 6 pm. Annual Quiz Keith Crawshaw asked if we could set a date for the annual Quiz Evening. The Secretary said that it is usually the last Wednesday in April, although it was 2nd May last year. However, Easter is very late this year and the Easter holidays go right up to the end of April. It was therefore decided to put it back until Wednesday, 15th May this year. The meeting closed at 9.20 pm and was followed by the customary pie and peas supper. Signed: A M Haigh Secretary.
P W Raleigh Chairman. Opposite: Annual accounts presented by P W Raleigh (Chairman); K Crawshaw (Treasurer); J A Swift (Independent Examiner) 22
I
INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR YEAR ENDED 31ST AUGUST 2018 2017
1798 1338 86 25 60 87 100 46 — 5 — 219 428 296 — 350 480 — 14 5332
2017
Printing, Stationery & Postage: Magazines Printing 1858.35 Magazines Stationery/Postage 1342.97 Other Stationery/Postage 25.46 Jessop Prize Young Old Almondburians’ Prizes Presentations Sundry Expenses Paypal Charges Computer Running Expenses Loss on AGM Supper Loss on Annual Dinner Open Day Expenses Loss on Reunion Rave-up KJS Contributions: Leavers’ Pens — House Shield Update 395.50 Timeline/Panels — OAS Panels — Honours Boards 580.00 Excess of Income over Expenditure
4585 20 2 — 36 — 689
3226.78 25.00 60.00 — 43.00 27.64 131.88 — 33.83 — —
Subscriptions 4556.00 Transfer from Life Membership Account 20.08 Interest Received 4.46 Sales of Magazines 12.00 Surplus on Sales of Ties 66.00 Surplus on Sales of Scarves 1.53 Surplus on Annual Dinner —
975.50 136.44 4660.07
5332
4660.07
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST AUGUST 2018 2017
2017
Accumulated Fund Balance at 1 Sep 2017 10912.93 Add Excess of Income over 10913 Expenditure 136.44 11049.37
18 720 1050 165
Life Membership Account Balance at 1 Sep 2017 234.67 Add Interest 0.10 234.77 Less Transfer to Income 235 & Expenditure Account 20.08 214.69
409 165 234 90 2865
KJS Development Fund Balance at 1 Sep 2017 409.40 Add Interest 0.17 KJS 400 Merchandise 50.00 School Histories 10.00 469.57 Pavilion Appeal Fund Balance — Net Dinner Receipts in Advance 55.42 Subcriptions in Advance 130.00 Sundry Creditors 760.45
14911
12679.50
Trophies Stock of Ties Stock of Scarves Stock of Prints
18.00 621.00 923.78 165.00
Life Membership Account 235 Nat West Business Reserve 214.69 KJS Development Fund 409 Nat West Business Reserve
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469.57
10528 1750 — 36
Cash and Bank Balances National Westminster Bank: Business Reserve 9492.88 Current Account 679.66 Paypal Account 66.61 Cash in Hand 28.31 10267.46
14911
12679.50
Executive Officers 2019 President
Ian Rimmer
King James’s School Work Telephone: (01484) 412990 e-mail: staff.irimmer@kingjames.school
Chairman
Walter Raleigh
15 Thorpe Lane Almondbury Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 8TA
Home Telephone: (01484) 308452 e-mail: walterraleigh@hotmail.co.uk
ViceChairman
Chris West
7 Brookside Crimble Slaithwaite Huddersfield Yorkshire HD7 5BZ
Home Telephone: (01484) 843518 e-mail: cwest225@btinternet.com
Hon Secretary Andrew M. Haigh 2 Arkenley Lane Almondbury Huddersfield Yorkshire HD4 6SQ
Home Telephone: (01484) 432105 Mobile Telephone: (07770) 220733 Work Telephone:(01484) 400032 Facsimile:(01484) 469567 e-mail: andrew@rdhaigh.com
Hon Treasurer
Keith Crawshaw
5 Benomley Drive Almondbury Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 8LX
Home Telephone: (01484) 533658 e-mail: keithcrawshawrhb@gmail.com
Media Editor
Roger Dowling
Orchard House Oughtrington Lane Lymm Cheshire WA13 0RD
Home Telephone: (01925) 756390 Mobile Telephone: (07815) 601447 e-mail: roger.dowling@oas.org.uk
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I
Ordinary Committee Members
Emily Briggs
17 Fair Street Huddersfield Yorkshire HD1 3QB
Home Telephone: (01484) 535999 e-mail: nickybriggs@hotmail.co.uk
Martyn Hicks
12 Gernhill Avenue Home Telephone: (01484) 539409 Fixby e-mail: martyn.hicks@hotmail.com Huddersfield Yorkshire HD2 2HR
Samuel Atkin
24 Far Croft Lepton Huddersfield Yorkshire HD8 0LS
Home Telephone: (01484) 307124 Work Telephone:(01484) 665023 e-mail: sam.atkin@steadrobinson.co.uk
Michael Powner
45 The Fairway Fixby Huddersfield HD2 2HU
Home Telephone: (01484) 423365 e-mail: mikepowner@ntlworld.com
Andrew M. Schofield Royd House Barn Royd House Almondbury Huddersfield HD4 6SX
Mobile Telephone: (07767) 600904 e-mail: andrew.schofield@camirafabrics.com
Richard Teale
Home Telephone: (0191) 2525568 Mobile Telephone: (07810) 313315 e-mail: richardteale@hotmail.co.uk
48 Hartley Avenue Whitley Bay NE26 3NT
Chaplain
Rev. Chris. Pickles 73 Watercroft Almondbury Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 8UT
School rep.
To be advised 25
Mobile Telephone: (07783) 060420 e-mail: christopherjamespickles@gmail.com
Head Boy
Tyler Perkin
King James’s School Telephone:
(01484) 412990
Head Girl
Evelyn Surman
King James’s School Telephone:
(01484) 412990
Badminton Section
Andrew M Haigh
2 Arkenley Lane Almondbury Huddersfield Yorkshire HD4 6SQ
Golf Section
Robin E Merchant 26 Jagger Hill Kirkheaton Huddersfield Yorkshire HD5 0RA
Tennis Section Andrew M Haigh
Independent Examiner Vice-Presidents
2 Arkenley Lane Almondbury Huddersfield Yorkshire HD4 6SQ
Home Telephone: (01484) 432105 Mobile Telephone: (07770) 220733 Work Telephone: (01484) 400032 Facsimile: (01484) 469567 e-mail: andrew@rdhaigh.com Mobile Telephone: (07933) 200475 e-mail: robin.merchant@talktalk.net
Home Telephone: (01484) 432105 Mobile Telephone: (07770) 220733 Work Telephone: (01484) 400032 Facsimile: (01484) 469567 e-mail: andrew@rdhaigh.com
J A Swift Nicky Murphy J A Ward Paul Balderstone Jack A. Taylor James N. Taylor Graham Cliffe Bryan Hopkinson
K G Shaw Richard J Green J Richard Taylor J Amanda Taylor David Gary Croft Robert Williams Patrick O’Brien
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Keith Crawshaw John M Drewery Malcolm J Taylor David A Bush Ian Shaw Emily Murphy Nicky Briggs
Life at AGS – as it was in 1886 The recent ‘re-discovery’ of the very first issue of The Almondburian published in 1886 gives a fascinating insight into school life 130 years ago on a route to Moldgreen.These replaced the privately-run horse-drawn omnibuses that provided a half-hour service from the Market Place throughout the day. This was the boom period of Huddersfield’s prosperity, with one third of men and two-thirds of women working in the woollens industry. Down in town, there was also a smell of new paint in the new Town Hall, opened with a three-day festival in which Sir Charles Hallé (of Hallé Orchestra fame) declared that the Huddersfield Choral Society was the best choir he had ever conducted. As we noted in our March 2018 issue, the origins of The Almondburian lay in a large sheet of paper with all the School news of the day on one side (editor: Hartley Harrison), tacked on to a large board and hung in the main school for everybody to read. It was so well received that he was commissioned by Francis Marshall to launch a proper magazine, to be printed by the printer Alfred Jubb down in the town. This was in 1885, and the following January Harrison proudly launched his new 40page publication. In the following pages we pick out some of the many aspects it reveals of School life in the 1880s.
UR School has suffered many ups and downs in its long history. It was going through one of its better periods in 1886, the year when the very first printed edition of The Almondburian made its welcome appearance. The headmaster at the time was Rev Francis Marshall (pictured below), who had taken over from Rev Thomas Newton some eight years earlier when the School was at a low ebb. In four years, numbers increased from 34 to 83 and it was this expansion that led to the building of the ‘Big’ (later more commonly known as the Library) in 1883.When The Almondburian made its first appearance, there must still have been the smell of fresh paint around the School. We take so many things for granted these days that it is easy to forget how basic life was for the pupils of 1886. Classrooms were hot and stuffy in summer and, despite open fires, were freezing cold in the harsh Almondbury winters. Those pupils who were not boarders had to walk to and from School each day; otherwise horses and carts were the traditional form of transport though there was some excitement that three years earlier Huddersfield had just introduced horse-drawn ‘trams’
O
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Page 1: Editorial Like any other good editor, Harrison sets out the aims of his new magazine. It is interesting that from the outset his target audience includes ‘old boys’ in addition to his fellow pupils. However, this was not wholly altruistic: he goes on to inform his readers that the subscription per issue was 1s 6d [7½p, equivalent to around £14 today]. “We confidently appeal to old boys to become subscribers,” he writes hopefully.
Page 2: Prize Day The magazine carries a full account of Prize Day on 31st July 1885 which was attended by an impressive range of dignitaries including the Mayor of Huddersfield, the Vicar of Almondbury and a number of school governors. Lord Dartmouth (whose links with the School are discussed in the article on page 33) should also have been present but sent his apologies the previous day. As it was the custom for him to ingratiate himself on these occasions by granting the boys a holiday, he suggests, with tongue in cheek, that the holiday may still be granted, but only on condition that ‘the alumni have manifested a decent amount of sorrow on account of my absence’. 28
Page 19: Cricket Not a good day for the Thurstonland XI when they were bowled out for 13 in this match in the summer of 1885. But one wonders if they had grounds for complaint when AGS headmaster Rev F Marshall clearly felt it was quite reasonable to make up the numbers when one of his team failed to turn up. A keen sportman, Marshall bowled devilish ‘twisters’ and took four wickets including that of Thurstonland’s star opening batsman A Booth. When AGS came to bat, Marshall contributed a handy 11 runs and thanks to a splendid innings from Thewlis the School XI had no problem in beating Thurstonland by a handsome margin. It is interesting to note that the schoolboy writer of these notes felt unsure how to refer to his headmaster and decided to back it both ways by opting for ‘Mr Marshall’ the bowler and ‘Rev F Marshall’ the batsman. 29
Page 25: Football At first glance, it’s odd to see that AGS scored 5 goals and 7 tries in their first soccer match of the 1885-6 season. But ‘football’ wasn’t soccer at all as far as Rev F Marshall was concerned: it was Rugby Union football, a sport to which he was passionately devoted. In fairness, soccer as we know today hadn’t long been invented in 1885. A ‘dribbling’ version of rugby in which the ball could be kicked and headed but not handled was being played at Eton in the 1840s but this was only formalised as Association Football in 1848. Rugby Football was always an amateur sport in those early days and Marshall had deep hostility for the professionalism that eventually began to creep into the game.It was this that led to the famous meeting in the George Hotel, Huddersfield in 1895 when the professionals broke away from the amateurs to form the Rugby League. The scoring system in the matches listed above seems curiously complex and many parents must have been baffled when their son returned home to report the sad loss of a game by the margin of ‘1 drop goal and a try’ to ‘4 tries and 5 major points’. 30
Page 37: The Library These solemn words on how to select a library book seem quaint and even patronising today: surely AGS schoolboys did not need such basic advice? But libraries were not as common in 1886 as they are today. Although it’s to the great credit of the School that it had its own well-used library, they were not generally available to the public at large in 1886. It was not until 1897 that Huddersfield Corporation announced plans for a public library and one was established the following year in Church Street. It was always too small but a further 50 years would elapse before the present handsome building was erected in Ramsden Street on the site of the former Ramsden Street Chapel.The small purpose-designed library in Stocks Walk, Almondbury was built in 1905. Our thanks to Keith Crawshaw, owner of this treasured publication.
lThe full 1886 magazine can be read in ‘flip-the-page’ style on the OAS website at https://tinyurl.com/yc92yqon.
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CROSSWORD by Hérisson
Entries to the Editor (address/email: back cover) by 30th June 2019. Prize: 12 months’ free OAS membership
ACROSS 7. Layabout doctor, single (5) 8. Wagner’s call circle? (4, 5) 10. Cut vegetable – not the norm. (4) 11. Upset honey spread alongside. (10) 12. See nothing in being old (6) 13. Job – one in charge here (8) 14. Greet us wildly and wave (7) 16. Choose donkey with nothing on, we hear, for painter (7) 19. Acidity indicator. Shop around or it emits light (8)
DOWN 1. Self-employed, but no slippery customer in this country. (6) 2. Split pin noted at last (3, 5) 3. A short distance back to the river, river, river (7) 4. Selfishly, cities got corrupted by associate (13) 5. Small pen? (6) 6. Grows flowers surrounding vessel (8) 21. View snake with shocking 9. Threat he described after quake treatment (6) (3, 3, 5) 23. Cut back on alimony disrupted 15. Crazy hope! It gets intellectually many terms (10) 24. Fighters don’t start conflict, many atrophied leaders in Africa (8) 17. Ovation for gala, perhaps, holding lose heart (4) gold star initially (8) 25. Missile for very small chap. (9) 26. Song Peter sang at last matins to 18. Skill is article for a craftsman (7) 20. Writer in feisty, lustful mood (6) start with (5) 22. Half coming to see – easy on the eye! (6)
Name Email Tel l The winner of Crossword by Hérisson (September 2018) was Dennis Taylor Across 1.Yellow brick road 9. Scarecrow 10. Rehab 11. Ernesta 12. Riddles 13. Dorothy 15. Spinoff 17.Yardarm 20. Deliver 22.Typists 23. Maghreb 25. Aroma 26. Iterative 27. Alfred Hitchcroft Down 1.Yesterday 2. Learner 3. Obeys 4. Bursary 5. Inwards 6. Kerbdrill 7. Othello 8. Debts 14.Translate 16. Firebreak 18. Reproof 19. Messiah 20. Dampest 21.Vertigo 22.Tiara 24. Graph
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PART 1
Lord Dartmouth and his Medal REPORTER:
RIC HARD TEALE
A 1960s member of Dartmouth house investigates the origin of the family name, the prestigious Dartmouth Medal and its place in the lives of notable recipients. was a long local history behind the name. I also vaguely remember the opening of the School gymnasium extensions in 1963 by Raine, Countess of Dartmouth - well described by Christopher Mann in the March 2017 issue of The Almondburian. Her presence and importance reinforced my perception of the significance of the name. I have rediscovered my copy of A History of King James’s Grammar School in Almondbury by Gerald Hinchliffe and I am indebted to him for providing the historical facts for much of this article. He dates the formation of the
IKE most others joining Dartmouth house at King James’s School, I had no knowledge of the history attached to the name. Students allocated to Dartmouth identify with the colour yellow and are expected to strive in their studies and sporting activities to ensure the supremacy of their house above all others. It was only when I was asked to paint the Dartmouth heraldic shield (a white stag’s head on a blue background) for the house section of the School notice board that I began to appreciate that there
L
Where it all started: Woodsome Hall, the home of several generations of the Kaye family
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the Kaye family; their earliest connection with the school was in 1547 when Arthur Kaye and his son John ‘…dyd build the schole that now is’ (the chantry school in St Helen’s Gate). After 50 years, this school became disused and derelict but thanks to the interest of a group of six gentlemen of the village (including Robert Kaye of Woodsome) a petition was presented to King James I in 1608 for the grant of a royal charter. The Kaye family continued to live at Woodsome until 1726 when Sir Arthur Kaye died with no male heir. His only daughter Elizabeth had married George
house system – Dartmouth, Fenay, Jessop and Siddon – to Autumn 1915. It was based on the model used in public schools and was introduced by headmaster Taylor Dyson. Housemasters and regular house meetings were expected to engender strong loyalties in students and aid the development of their characters. But what are the origins of the name Dartmouth? First we have to go to Woodsome Hall, that magnificent Elizabethan country house across the Farnley valley from King James’s School. Woodsome Hall was home to several generations of 34
Legge, the heir of William, the 1st Earl of Dartmouth. Hence, the Dartmouth peerage title, derived from their naval connections in Dartmouth, Devon, gained its place at Woodsome (and subsequently in the School house system). However, the extensive family interests and homes of the Legge family meant that Woodsome Hall became a country retreat. It remained a dower house and home for maiden aunts until 1911 when it was developed as Woodsome Hall Golf Club. The family lineage of the Earls of Dartmouth continues to this day: the 10th Earl,
William, is a Member of the European Parliament. Christopher Mann noted that Raine, wife of the 9th Earl of Dartmouth played a large part in persuading her son to visit the School during the 400th anniversary celebrations in 2008. The Dartmouth Medal In the 1840s King James’s School was attended by only 14 students and struggling for survival. Revival depended on an education relevant to the times and strong leadership. The new master appointed in 1848 was Rev Alfred Easther, the curate 35
The Dartmouth Medal revealed he Dartmouth Medal in the form shown here was presented from 1854 to 1969. Manufactured in silver-gilt by the London-based medallion company John Pinches, it measures 41mm in diameter x 3mm thick and weighs 36 gm. One side, carrying the Dartmouth coat of arms, is inscribed (in abbreviated Latin): ‘William Walter, Earl of Dartmouth, has presented as a gift this prize which is offered in memory of his most respected father to a local boy of great promise [name] a pupil of the Grammar School of King James I in Almondbury, for exceptional application to his studies.’ Pinches Medallions was founded by John Pinches (1825-1905), who had learned steel engraving from his mother's cousin, medallist William Joseph Taylor. Four members of the family were subsequently associated with the firm, the most notable being the founder’s great-great-nephew John Harvey Pinches (1916-2007) who was a member of London Rowing Club and won many events at Henley Regatta and elsewhere. He was also a medallist himself, receiving the Military Cross in the Royal Engineers in World War II. John Pinches Medallions was sold to the American company Franklin Mint in 1969. Up to 1884, the winner of the Dartmouth Medal was the boy who gained the most marks in a special test marked out of 500.The table below shows the marks gained by the winners each year, with their ages. It also shows how small the School was in those early days, with only 25 pupils when the Medal was first awarded in 1854. From 1885, the Medal was awarded on the basis of results in state examinations.
T
YEAR 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
NAME George Edward Dodson Charles Mumford Hiram Edward Harling Robert Eddison Jonathon Shaw ]ohn ]essop Milnes Richard Bower Charles Oxley George Alfred Blackburne George William Svkes Charles Evans Frank Evans ]ohn William Corbett Herbert Edward Chapman Albert Broughton ]ohn Shaw Ainley
MARK 319 263 207 255 269 236 312 233 241 239 323 314 293 281 278 235
AGE 14 16 14 14 16 12 14 16 14 15 15 14 16 15 14 13
YEAR 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884
SIZE 25 25 20 25 31 27 31 29 27 31 36 40 36 44 36 43
NAME Arthur Whiteley William Edward Skakell ]ames Pounder Whitney ]oe Thornton Charles ]ohn Nowell Walter Edward Garner Charles Edward Midgley ]oseph Gilbert Wilson Thomas Brown Harry Berry ]ohn Beaumont Broadbent Craven Cudworth Fred Kenyon Hirst Hartley Harrison Henry Brownngg
MARK 245 295 295 354 294 262 229 373 280 316 309 332 296 254 235
AGE 14 14 14 12 14 15 15 14 15 13 14 13 14 17 17
l Our thanks to Prof Edward Royle, who received the Dartmouth Medal in 1961 36
SIZE 41 48 48 43 47 49 49 34 40 52 67 85 83 74 82
the Dartmouth coat of arms and a Latin inscription, translated as ‘William Walter, Earl of Dartmouth, has presented as a gift this prize which is offered in memory of his most respected father: To a local boy of great promise, a pupil of the Grammar School of King James I in Almondbury, for exceptional application to his studies.’ Note that the award was to a ‘boy’, it would not be open to a girl until the coeducational era, almost 120 years into the future. The medal was first presented to George Edward Dodson who, at fourteen years of age, was in his sixth year at the school. Over the following 115 years top pupils continued to receive their Dart-
of Farnley Tyas. He immediately introduced changes to the administration and curriculum of the School, and supported the construction of a new schoolroom and dormitory. In 1849 he wrote to the 4th Earl of Dartmouth drawing attention to the new status of the School and asking for sponsorship. The Earl expressed his approval of what had been done but postponed any award until more stability was assured; it was his successor, the 5th Earl, who decided in 1854 that the recovery and reputation of the School was such that an award could be introduced. The Dartmouth Medal was unveiled to students, parents and governors at the School’s Annual Festival in 1854. It bears
Jenny Sanderson
The names of Dartmouth Medallists are recorded on two large panels in the ‘Big’ that were erected by headmaster Taylor Dyson in1926. Until 1884, the pupils were selected through a special school test marked out of 500; the first winner George Dodson scored 313.
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Some notable early winners George Edward Dodson (1854) George Dodson was one of seven boys who entered the School on ‘free’ places in 1848; he was eight years old. He was awarded the Dartmouth Medal for his academic success six years later, at which time he had apparently been at the School longer than any predecessor. Five years later, he received the Royal Humane Society’s medal for saving a boy from drowning at York. He became assistant master at the City of London School.
Craven Cudworth (1881) Cudworth was a great all-rounder who joined the School in 1877 and proved himself proficient in mathematics, trigonometry, mechanics, mensuration drawing and music. In 1887 a proud Rev Francis Marshall informed Lord Dartmouth that in the College of Preceptors’ examination Cudworth was ‘first in all England in Euclid’. He took BA and MA degrees at Cambridge University and became Mathematics Master at Leeds Grammar School from 1895 to 1927. He died in 1938.
Henry Brownrigg (1884) The son of the vicar of Shelley, Brownrigg was one of 44 starters at AGS in 1880. He was a brilliant sportsman and won the mile in the very first School Sports in his first year. He went on to take an MA at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. He taught at Brighton College and later became vicar of Crofton, near Wakefield.
John Randal Haigh(1936-38) John ‘Ranji’ Haigh was the only pupil to receive the Dartmouth Medal in three successive years. He was a gifted mathematician who, like Henry Brownrigg, went up to St Catherine’s and in due course became an actuary with the Imperial Tobacco Company in Bristol.
The Schlesinger brothers (1943/1945) Gerhard and Wolfgang Schlesinger, the only brothers to receive the Dartmouth Medal, joined Almondbury Grammar School in 1939 and 1940 respectively and both, in due course, became editors of The Almondburian. Gerhard studied Classical Moderns at Brasenose College, Oxford and became editor of Isis in 1945-6. He anglicised his name to Gerard Slessenger and later became a senior manager in BBC Radio. Wolfgang was a mathematician who gained a Maths Tripos Class 1 at St John’s, Cambridge and later taught at Bootham School,York.
each year. However, you can’t keep a good award down and I am pleased to record that the award was reinstated by the School in 2009. I will report on the new Dartmouth ‘Medal’ in the next issue and I will also catch up with the careers and lives of some of the last recipients of the original medal and its recent replacement. n
mouth medals and many went on to achieve recognition in their later careers for achievements in law, finance, medicine, education, engineering and the church. But this only takes us to 1969 − the last year the Medal was awarded due to escalating costs. It was not a ‘keep-for-a-yearand-then-return’ memento: a new specially minted medal was presented 38
PART 2
The Gilbert & Sullivan years RO GER DOWLING After eight successful productions, fate dealt a cruel blow swith the unexpected death of popular music master Haydn Sandwell. Was this the end of the road? sure who - drew the School’s attention to a 28-year-old peripatetic music teacher called Harry Gledhill who happened to live only a couple of miles aeway in Newsome.Discreet research revealed that he was an associate of the Royal College of Organists and a licenciateof Trinity College, London. Moreover – wonder of wonders! – he was an enthusiastic choirmaster with a great love of the music of Gilbert & Sullivan.
HE whole School was shocked when greatly loved music master Haydn Sandwell became seriously ill in 1929 and passed away on 2nd July 1930. The planned production of The Gondoliers was abandoned and for a while it looked as though the School’s Gilbert & Sullivan era had come to a sadly premature close. This would have been the ninth production in the series, all at the Milton Hall in Queen Street (nowadays part of the University of Huddersfield). They had gained a large and enthusastic following, with complimentary reviews in the Huddersfield Examiner, and their disappearance would undoubtedly have been received with sadness well beyond the confines of the School. And was there not an old adage, ‘The show must go on!’? But who could possibly take the place of the charismatic Haydn Sandwell? Fortunately, providence took a hand at this point in the story. Someone - sadly we cannot be
T
Harry Gledhill, pictured in 1947. By this time he was a well-known figure in Huddersfield’s musical circles 39
1933: the 37-strong cast of HMS Pinafore pose for a photograph on the steps of the war memorial in Greenhead Park. It included W G Perrett (Sir Joseph Porter), D Haigh (Capt Corcoran), A Booth (Dick Deadeye), H Lumb (Ralph Rickstraw) and G Brodie (Josephine).
relieved Taylor Dyson wrote in the following issue: We should just like to refer to one event last term - the great success of the School Choir in the production of The Gondoliers. Everyone concerned is to be congratulated on that effort, and we feel sure that Mr Gledhill will be further encouraged to carry on this part of our school life.He would be the first to admit,however, that much of the success was due to the splendid help he received from the other members of the Staff. Work soon commenced on the next production, Iolanthe, scheduled for 10,11 and 12 March 1932. The Almondburian reported in the April 1932 issue that not only was the show a big success but it was also starting to become quite a useful little earner : The opera was a great success,vocally, dramatically and financially.The profit on this year’s performances was £25 4s 10d [equiv-
After a brief interview which must surely have been no more than a formality, Harry Gledhill joined the staff of Almondbury Grammar School as a part-time music master in the autumn of 1930 and the performances of The Gondoliers were re-scheduled for 26, 27 and 28 March 1931 at the new venue of St Patrick’s Hall in Fitzwilliam Street. The April 1931 issue of The Almondburian records: Rehearsals have been held almost daily and Mr Arnold, the producer, has come out to the School most Wednesdays and Thursdays. Rehearsals after School have been under the charge of Mr Burn, Mr Baldwin and Mr Banfield, and we are all anxious that Mr Gledhill’s first ‘opera season’ shall be a great success. In the event, Harry Gledhill rose to the challenge magnificently, and a greatly 40
Patience, with G Brodie in the title role, was the 1934 production, followed by Mikado in 1935 and another performance of The Gondoliers in 1936. This, of course, was also the year of the School Pageant and it reflects well on the School that both events could be brought off in such fine style only three months apart. The Gondoliers presents particular challenges, as The Almondburian noted: [The opera] demands a large cast for, in addition to the dozen or so principals, there are two choruses, one of gondoliers and the other of contadine. It is surprising to think that there are enough boys in the School with voices suitable for singing in public – especially to those of us who have heard the same boys shouting on the cricket field or in the school yard. Three more operas – The Pirates of Pen-
alent to over £1200 today]. Everyone’s efforts were greatly appreciated, Major Hirst as producer and Mr Gledhill as musical director have every reason to be pleased with the result. HMS Pinafore, which had been the School’s very first G & S production back in 1922, was revived for a second performance for the 1933 show. Once again, there was general amazement that the School could produce such pretty young ‘ladies’. In the words of The Almondburian: There were some who were convinced that we had hunted round all the girls’ schools in Huddersfield to find our beauty chorus.We can assure these ‘DoubtingThomases’ that we use nothing but the genuine AGS article in all our productions. If only they could see those charming damsels in detention with grubby ink-covered fingers!
The Mikado in 1935: the lead role was played by Walter Holmes and other principals included R Littlewood (Nanki Poo), D Ward (Pish-Tush), J L Gray (Pooh-Bah), E Barnes (Ko-Ko), E Armitage (Yum-Yum), G Shires (Pitti-Sing), G Smith (Peep-Bo) and F Morley (Katisha). 41
1937: The full company of The Pirates of Penzance pose in Fenay Quad. Principals included D Ward (the Pirate King), N Blezard (Major-General Stanley), E Lee (Samuel), D Thomas (Frederic), E Armitage (Sergeant), K Livesey (Mabel), F Micklethwaite (Edith), J Gilmour (Kate), D Lee (Isabell) and K Sykes (Ruth).
zance, Iolanthe and The Yeomen of the Guard – were staged between 1937 and 1939 before the outbreak of World War 2 brought the production to a temporary close. It would be eight long years before the G & S tradition could be revived with a successful production of The Mikado at St Patrick’s Hall on 19, 20 and 21 March 1947, but as Herbert Blackburn noted in The Almondburian that there was never any doubt that the traditional high standard would be maintained: We never lost confidence in our ability to put on a show that would maintain the standards we had set ourselves before the war.We were determned that the G & S performances of AGS boys should still be part of the musical life of Huddersfield. Harry Gledhill continued to do sterling work as musical director, joined by now by Mrs Sizer as producer. Principals included V L Walker (the Mikado), K Baldwin (Nanki-Poo), E M Pearson (Pish-Tush), D Micklethwaite (Pooh-Bah), J M Taylor (Ko-Ko), D Mason (Yum-Yum), K Sunderland (Pitti-Sing), J Jennings (Peep-Bo) and G Ware (Katisha).
Another triumphant production of The Gondoliers followed in March 1948: The principals gave a very pleasing performance, not merely with their singing, but also with their actions, graceful when they should be graceful, gay when they should be gay, and gauche when they should be gauche. The chorus, however, must not be forgotten.They gave excellent support and did all that was expected of them.The chorus fully deserved the encores they received for their cachucha dance.They brought down the house. K Sunderland returned to play the part of Tessa and D Micklethwaite was Don Alhambra, joined as principals by D McKay (The Duke of Plaza-Toro), T Carter (Luiz), K Baldwin.(Marco Palmieri), ] N Taylor (Giuseppe Palmieri), A Firth (Antonio), N Hall (Francesco), ]. Liversidge (Giorgio), ] Rothera (Annibale), K Clegg (The Duchess of Plaza-Toro), J Jennings (Casilda), D Mason (Gianetta),T K Thompson (Fiametta), L Sheard (Vittoria), C Goldsmith (Giulia),T Holberry (Inez) and B Stayton (Drummer-boy). 42
fessional theatres! Confidence was Built in 1881 to reat an all-time high place an earlier thewhen plans were atre that had been drawn up for the destroyed by fire 1949 production of the previous year, The Pirates of Penit boasted a 26 feet zance. This was the wide proscenium first year of Horace and a stage 39 feet Vessey Moore’s deep. It could actime as Headmascommodate an auter following John dience of over Baldwin’s retire1,000 so it is easy to ment and his piece understand Horace in the Christmas Moore’s anxiety to 1948 issue of The ensure that plenty Almondburian conof tickets were sold. tained a momenIt certainly made tous announcesense to move to a ment: larger venue - space A most important had always been at a decision has recently been taken. The big time: the School announces its bold premium at both The School Opera plan to present its 1949 production in the The- the Milton Hall and atre Royal in Ramsden Street. St Patrick’s Hall and The Pirates of the small stages had always been a major Penzance is to be produced at the end of limitation as the G & S productions had the Easter Term in the Theatre Royal.The grown in size and ambition. confidence of all around is so unbounded But there was only one problem: all that I feel it is my duty to point out to evperformances of G & S operas were erybody who reads The Almondburian subject to licences issued by the copyhow much support we shall need, not right owners, the D’Oyly Carte Opera only from the School and Old Boys, but Company – an organisation notoriously from everybody in Huddersfield who is strict about every aspect of the operas’ interested in the School, in theatre, in performances. No-one had thought, Gilbert and Sullivan, or even in until rehearsals were well under way, Tommy—who is in the same form as a that the School might need the approval member of the chorus.To pay our way we of the D’Oyly Cartes to use the promust have full houses at every perforposed new venue. mance, and that will mean a great deal And the answer was brief and to the of work for all of us. The Theatre Royal - the very thought! point: “No way!” n One of Huddersfield’s two premier pro(To be concluded) 43
REUNION
How we learned the three R’s The self-proclaimed ‘best team ever’ of 1970/71 met again at the 2018 Annual Dinner. It prompted Simon Russell to look back on his years at the School. t the last Annual Dinner I was able Rawthorpe.That walk really made you to get together a reunion of the street-wise from a young age.My oldest 1970/71 football team. Of the friend Phil Shaw still tells me that all the original XI we had eight, plus Andrew ‘A ‘class and half the ‘B ‘stream at Dalton Douglas who had played before Christmas got through the 11-plus . But then again, that year. Dave Sutton was missing due to he tells me I never scored a goal from necessary recuperation, Bernard Hoyle more than a yard out due to his and Andy now lives in Hong Kong and Ian Sheard Wortley’s pin-point crosses. was on a long holiday in the United States. There is no doubt my parents had exAfter the Dinner I found myself remi- pected a better education starting point niscing about the most formative years of than Rawthorpe Infants School. I was conmy life and as ever indulgently. No doubt ceived in Singapore where my father was a with a very subjective memory, I started Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy. to write down my own He had been stationed thoughts of those eight there for three years on years. his minesweeper durInitially I was lucky ing the Malay crisis.We to be one of 11 out of came back to Plymouth 135 (four girls and in 1953 and I was actuseven boys) to pass ally born in Hudderstheir 11-plus at field. Rawthorpe. As a fiveAs with three genyear-old, a quirk of fate erations of forebears had meant that I couldpublic school beckoned n’t go to Dalton inbut sadly when my fafants’ school, only five ther demobbed in hundred yards away 1956,the family from my home in Long firm,The Yorkshire WareLane as it was overhouse Company was on subscribed so I trudged its way out. By 1962 through Ridgway, Cow our last store of four, Heys and Brock Bank the Huddersfield one to the fairly new infant In sunny Mallorca with Helen, wife of on Cross Church school at the top of 42 years’ standing Street, closed and that
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‘An inspiringly talented man’: Physics master Peter Heywood was also a fine amateur painter.
In hindsight, the quality of the teaching was very mixed. I was too intimidated initially by the known ‘hard’ teachers of the school – Jim Toomey, Jack Taylor and Dave Bush – to actually relax and learn anything. I was best with the enthusiasts, such as Roland Wearing who made me believe I could paint, Peter Haywood 1*, who made me believe I could speak French and Peter Heywood 2 who amazingly got me through Physics ‘O’ level.The latter for me was one of the most inspiringly talented men I’ve ever met. I still have one of his original water colour paintings and look at it still with fond memories of his enthusiasm for all things KJGS. On the subject of the quality of teaching theme, Dave Bush has made a very good point in response to critical comments at recent dinners and in the postbag about how teaching styles have changed over the years. He points out that every teacher’s main fear was losing the control of a class; and now I look back with shame on the hard times we gave some of the weaker masters. If you are reading this you all know who they were and indeed the part you played. The highlight of my school week was always the Wednesday afternoon sport
was that.After retail management training at Lewis’s in Leeds,my father eventually became general manager at the main Coop in Huddersfield which gave plenty of opportunity for shelf-stacking night jobs for me and several school chums. So with no funds for private education you can imagine how delighted my parents were when I made it through to King James’s Grammar School.Two years later my brother Matthew failed the 11-plus which broke our small family unit for ever. Passing was great for me but the misery it caused for him and so many others at such a young age has always made me pro-comprehensive education.All my three sons went to village schools – Holmfirth High and Greenhead College – and on to university degrees. Meanwhile, back to my first year at KJGS in 1964. The main problem for me early on was that from being in the top three at junior school I was way down the pecking order in 1 alpha at grammar school. If I was ever above the bottom third in academic performance throughout my time at KJGS I would be amazed.
*Sadly, Peter Heywood died recently: his obituary is on page 71. 45
mock exams I nudged seven ‘O’ levels, all lower pass grades except Geography (a Grade 2-thanks Fred Hudson) and entered the sixth form in the Arts option. My one fail at ‘O’ level was Chemistry with a grade 9, so you get my drift. Ah the sixth form!The world war that is adolescence! For me and couple of coconspirators, Kevin O’Connor and Phil, it was two years of fun and recklessness which took its toll in my examination results in 1971. My future flat partner Simon Thackray, one year behind, was certainly on the same page. Did one of us really drive his father’s Austin A40 to a field study course to North Devon in 1970 with the others as passengers and not one driving licence between us?Yes he did, and we got there just
double period and from around the third year playing for the school football teams.I will be eternally grateful to David,Jack and Ken for the hundreds of hours of weekend time they put in to support the various teams at all levels with great enthusiasm and occasionally bias. I had a go at playing all sports but some of my fellow pupils were just naturally talented at everything. Phil and Andrew Douglas were very much at the top end of this group, which also included Allen Humphries, Robert Moorhouse, Brian Nash, Simon Graley and – probably the most talented of all – the mighty Dave Morrison. In later years I would put Steve Slack at the top of the list. I just hit the things that they stroked and caressed. At 15, somehow digging in after my
The best KJGS First XI ever in 1970/71? Back row, left to right: Allen Humphries, Simon Thackray, David Sutton, Simon Graley, Robert Moorhouse, Bernard Hoyle; Front row, left to right: Simon Russell, Brian Nash, Ian Sheard (capt), Andrew Wortley, Phil Shaw 46
a club to which I could never gain entry.I read voraciously but never ‘got’ Shakespeare and was in awe of any pupil who could speak his verse in the many interminable School productions we had to sit through. By the end of the 1970/71 year the football, the nights at Lord Jim’s and the Starlight and three part time jobs etc had taken their toll, and two Grade E’s out of three subjects was the end result. Career advice at the School was not the best and as my father was increasingly ill at the time it was considered best to have another crack, followed perhaps by college or university. Sadly any plans I was making were set back when my father died at the age of only 46 the week before my second ‘A’ level shot. No counselling in those days: just
in time to meet the girls from Canterbury Girls Grammar School arriving by coach. Kev struggled to pass his driving test, failing at least four times. On one Friday evening we sneaked out in his father’s red Bedford van and got stuck in reverse at the Castle Hill pub car park.The two girls in the back wanted to get home so we simply drove down Castle Hill and Scar Lane in reverse, with me directing from the passenger side back to their homes in Lockwood. And yes, I did serve a pint to Harry Taylor in the Pack Horse Mews bar when I was only 17.He was not amused. I was of course aware of the academic genius of the sadly recently-deceased Andrew Phillips and Stephen Harling and the musical prowess of people like John Stafford; but it was as if they were part of
Reunited: Nine of the illustrious First XI meet again after nearly 50 years. Back row, left to right: Andrew Douglas (pre-Christmas player), Allen Humphries, Simon Thackray, Simon Graley, Robert Moorhouse; Front row, left to right: Simon Russell, Brian Nash, Andrew Wortley, Phil Shaw 47
Yet another tennis drubbing: Simon Russell still sees Andrew Douglas and Phil Shaw regularly in Huddersfield. Both have holiday homes near Barcelona where this photograph was taken.
Stripes Nightclub three nights a week, as my accountancy pay didn’t cover the rent.The red Cortina GT was fun but it had to go.Simon and I had some great nights over an eighteen month period until he went all academic on me,saying he wanted to become a lawyer.What a wimp but fortunately now a very happy retired lawyer. It was therefore no surprise to anybody that l resigned my articles and entered grocery sales with Cavenham Foods which I loved though it was based in Slough. My life took its most dramatic positive turn in 1975 when stalwart Almondburians Geoff Headey and Geoff Riley offered me a way of coming back up to Yorkshire by working as the main salesman for their booming furniture import business.We had met playing for the Old Boys’ football teams and something clicked between the three of us after various bad pints of beer, no doubt in Leeds on the way back from a hard fought victory.
Fred Hudson telling me I was now head of my family and should do my duty by looking after my mum and younger brother. In fairness Ken Ireland was very kind and regularly kept a close eye on me. I did get my grades up to B, C and D but with no offers of any university place – geography had been my main option – I was really stuck. And so I drifted into Chartered Accountancy, though it was not the right move by any means.The School philosophy was that if no offer came from a university one should go into a profession. If only somebody had said go into Sales and Marketing I could have saved another two years of my life. Ted Wetton was a good chum as I battled through Intermediate Exams and Part 1 Finals via a correspondence course, at the same time as surviving the dullest office in the world at Wheawill and Sudworth.I was living with the aforementioned Simon Thackray at a flat in Birkby working at 48
That went well for us all and in 1980 with their support I started Aimbry International which over a period of time became market leaders in the decorative lighting industry.We had some great years and some bad ones but survived three recessions with honour and balance sheet intact. In 2013 I sold my shares to the next generation of the Headey family. For over thirty years I had worked hard in a great environment, travelled extensively (mostly in the Far East) and made friends all over the world with whom I’m still in regular contact. Throughout that time, until I was 43, I played football. It was mostly for the Almondburians and I actually ran the First XI for three years in the 1980s during which time we reached the semi-final of the Invitation Cup. Sadly we lost, which robbed us the chance to run out at Huddersfield Town’s old Leeds Road stadium.The great Robert Williams was in that side as were Phil, Nick Leventis, Doug Norris, the Lodge twins and the legendary Tony Lockwood.
Now 65, I’m happy helping my son run our three retail outlets, enjoying golf and tennis, watching Town and spending a lot of time in our house in Mallorca. Married for 42 years to former teacher Helen, I now enjoy the precious time we spend together with our three sons and three grandchildren. I still see Phil and Andrew Douglas regularly in Huddersfield. Recently I’ve been in touch a lot more with my year group, helped by modern technology and the ongoing efforts of our mother-hen, Keith Crawshaw. It’s with great sadness that we have seen the ending of both football and cricket teams but it hasn’t been for the want of trying from so many wonderful old Almondburians,too many to name here. But nothing can take away the warm memories I have of my eight years at KJGS.Somehow it taught all of us the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for one’s own actions. And yes it does seem as though it was only yesterday. n
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SUDOKU
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Difficulty: medium
Each row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain the digits 1 to 9
7 6 3 2 9 4 6 3
2 4 9 1 8 7 4 2 3 5 6 8 8 3 4 49
PAVILION UPDATE
New users sought for pavilion COLIN BAMFORD An application to Sport England for funding support for a new pavilion was unsuccessful, requiring reassurances on the future use of the pavilion by the School and others. The Foundation is now keen to identify other potential users of the pavilion and pitch.
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EMBERS of the King oral GCSE languages examinations James’s School Foundation during the summer term, an arrangecontinue to have discus- ment that was much appreciated. We are now discussing whether to sions about the future of the Pavilion project. As things stand, the grand de- set about a small scale improvement to sign project remains very much on the internal facilities in the pavilion with a view to making hold. it more attractive to For the time being, say football players as we are determined to well as cricketers. maintain the wicket This would involve a and playing area so modest expenditure that it can be fit for from the Foundation’s purpose for the forthresources. coming season. The Meanwhile, we are problem we face is that very grateful to John despite two features in Headey for keeping an the Huddersfield Exameye on things. iner (opposite), no loIt goes without cal clubs have come saying that the coming forward to express an Colin Bamford is chairman of the weeks will be crucial interest in using the faKing James’s School Foundation. in determining the fucilities. This is disappointing but maybe is indicative of the ture of what is undoubtedly one of the declining interest in local league finest cricket fields in the area. If any OAS member has any ideas or cricket. The School makes limited use of the knows of a club that is looking for cricket pitch and is unlikely to see this facilities then please contact me at increase in the near future. They have bamfordcolin@btinternet.com or though made use of the pavilion for by telephone on 01484 544795. n 50
(Above):The present pavilion was opened by the Countess of Scarbrough in 1958 (Below):The recent feature in the Huddersfield Examiner
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VIRTUAL REALITY
Tour KJS from your own armchair It is now possible to wander around the School at all times of day or night – and noone will mind at all. Just switch on your computer or smartphone and hit the button.
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Many other areas are covered by the tour and there are also outside shots showing the old School entrance, the Schoolhouse and playing fields. “It’s a tremendous new facility using the latest technology,” said principal Ian Rimmer. “We know, of course, that many former pupils now living all over the country and abroad are interested to see the School as it is today. “It also enables prospective pupils and their parents to tour the School at their convenience in advance of formal Open Days.” To make the tour, simply click on https://tinyurl.com/yb5dn5ua. n
EMBERS of the Old Almondburians’ Society who do not live local to the School will be interested to know that a ‘virtual tour’ of the School has recently been produced by the Huddersfield company Bespoke Imagery. For the first time it makes it possible to make 360° virtual tours of such principal areas as: lLibrary lODH lScience labs lMusic room lTextiles room lMaths room lDrama room lSports hall lComputer room lDining room
1.The familiar old entrance to the School has changed little over the past century 2.The Library, known to many Old Almondburians as the ‘Big’ - one of the School’s most elegant rooms 3.The ‘1608 Gallery’ showing the Timeline and OAS panel, a joint project with the School last year 4. One of the Science laboratories, still identifiable to many OAS members as the ‘Physics lab.’
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Meanwhile back at the School… IET Faraday Challenge Day HE Science Department took a team of six students to a regional Science competition called the IET Faraday Challenge Day. Organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the challenge was to design a product that would help with the development of the James Webb Space Telescope due to be launched in 2020 to replace the Hubble Space Telescope. The KJS team, comprisingYear 8 students Alfie Haigh, Morgan Kirk, Beata Palasz, Grace Throssel, Olive Turnbull and Beatrice Wheelwright competed against five other teams from various high schools across Kirklees. Each member of the team had a specific role to play in the development of this product and they all contributed to its design and the ideas. The KJS team was judged to have produced the best product and worked the best as a team. They fully enjoyed the experience and have been entered into the national finals; if they are successful, this will take place in Edinburgh later in the year.
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Duke ofYork award EAR 10 student Benjamin Martin has become the first King James’s School student to be awarded the Duke of York Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award. Participants complete a series of challenges to achieve an award at Bronze, Silver or Gold level in an international programme aiming to help address the digital skills gap.
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Fame for former Head Girl AISY CAMERON, last year’s Head Girl, appeared at the Royal Albert Hall on 5th November to take part in the Music for Youth Proms. Daisy is lead singer with the Musica Jazz Ensemble and the appearance at the Albert Hall followed regional auditions at Colne Valley High School last Spring followed by an appearance at Birmingham Symphony Hall in July.
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Welcome Centre collections EAR 9 forms have been busy collecting goods to donate to the Welcome Centre charity. The centre helps local families and individuals in crisis with food, toiletries and other essential items. It also provides advocacy, guidance, and support to address underlying issues.
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School leavers 2018 CCORDING to latest figures, 98% of pupils leave King James’s School to continue their education or take up apprenticeships or other employment. Greenhead College and Huddersfield New College are the most popular, closely followed by Kirklees College. Only a tiny 2% of pupils do not continue their training or find employment.
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Greenhead College Huddersfield New College Kirklees College Apprenticeship and College Apprenticeship Other college/further education Employment Not in employment or training
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Some fishy grammar down in Norfolk
28% 27% 25% 9% 4% 4% 1% 2%
HE ‘Grocer’s Apostrophe’ is the illiteracy of inserting an apostrophe before the plural of a noun, as in potato’s, carrot’s and apple’s. One of the pleasures of ambling along Shambles Lane down in town used to be the guaranteed satisfaction of spotting regular example’s. But it’s unfair that greengrocers should be uniquely picked out for ridicule as it is probably the most common grammatical error in our language and it is by no means confined to this particular group of traders. This fine example by a Norwich fishmonger was spotted by OAS member James Clayton. He reports that despite the errant apostrophe the crabs tasted just fine. Send your sightings of errant apostrophes to us at apostrophes@oas.org.uk. We’ll publish the best.
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Classroom commentary LAUREN NUTTON (staff) Doogle the dog joins the team and I survive an Ofsted inspection before taking a group on a theatre outing he had a calm reaction to loud noises, walking to heel, calling him over and checking his teeth and claws. As you can tell, he was put through his paces in order to gain staff status. We pay an annual subscription and have access to insurance for him to visit public places
UE to such a successful response last year, Doogle (the reading dog) has become a permanent member of staff here at King James’s School. Doogle is owned by our school welfare officer (Mrs Kilroy) and he absolutely relishes the attention that he is inundated with, by staff and students, when he comes in once a week. Not only are Doogle’s visits greatly appreciated by the staff at King James’s; the students adore him and some of them even choose to spend their break and lunch times stroking him. In order to become a member of staff, Doogle too had to pass a few tests. Mrs Kilroy told me: “We applied to the Pets As Therapy charity who arrange a meeting with one of their contacts nearby. We met them in a park that Doogle wasn’t familiar with where they went through a series of tasks which he had to pass in order to become a registered member. Some of the tests and checks included ensuring
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Smile please: Doogle, the KJS reading dog, poses for the camera.The national charity Pets As Therapy was founded in 1983 with the aim of enhancing health and wellbeing in the community using carefully assessed animals. Many schools are finding that the use of therapy dogs boosts the confidence of students when reading aloud and can generally reduce stress or anxiety in the classroom. 56
such as hospitals, care homes and with us tomorrow… Don’t panic! We schools.” will pull together as we always do’. I still believe the new Key Skills Tests As you can imagine, at this point, my are harder though! hands were shaking and my head was fillI am tremendously biased- having just ing with fears: I was reminded that one of purchased my own French bulldog puppy my students has not coloured in one of (Vinny) so I think that it’s a brilliant idea the boxes on the front of books that show to have Doogle in the grades achieved in asschool. I have seen stuI was imaginWith the kind, sessments; dents that have previing that I was going to ously had incidents in listening ear of spend the whole night which they have been awake; and I prepared to bitten by a dog build up Doogle my year enter complete meltthe confidence to apdown. After all, I’m only proach Doogle and give seven class look four years into my teachhim a quick pat on the ing career and this is my head. forward to their FIRST ever experience of Ofsted. Research into therapy lessons My fears lasted around dogs in school has ten minutes, until I was proven that using dogs for this type of work; increases students’ able to sit with my colleagues and they confidence around dogs, gives students explained that I had nothing to worry and teachers a mutual discussion point, about: everything was up to date, my enables students to build their confi- books looked fabulous and I knew exactly dence reading aloud and reduces any what I was doing. Then came the morning of the inspecstress or anxiety that students may feel. Doogle has worked hard over the past tion. I panicked. I made a huge error (in term, coming into my lessons with a small number of year sevens. They read sheer fright) by letting the class pack up to Doogle each week and I have watched nearly five whole minutes early! Luckily, their self-confidence grow vastly over I remembered the lessons I had learned such a short space of time. Reading aloud in my training year, ask questions, lots of can be terrifying at the age of 11 but with questions. Using the ‘bounce’ technique, the kind, listening ear of Doogle, my year I got the students to develop their thinkseven class look forward to their lesson ing by bouncing the question to another on a Tuesday and even ask to read to him. student once they had tried to explain what they thought. It worked. I can safely say, I made it through my The big, scary ‘O’ first inspection unscathed (just about) 3rd October 2018 On 2nd October I received the email and I will know in future just to remain that every teacher dreads: ‘Ofsted will be calm. 57
Theatre visit: A group of students enjoyed a trip to Leeds to see a production of A Christmas Carol.
easier to follow on stage. I enjoyed it and found it educational too because I know that I will be studying this text at GCSE. Seeing the story helps you understand the characters and the moral of the text more than just reading it in lesson.” On the night, we had a fantastic time. However, as it was my first time running a trip, I had forgotten to inform the caretaker that we would not be back until 10.00 pm and therefore the gates to the car park would need to be kept open. Unknowingly, the caretaker closed the gates (with my car and a colleague’s car inside) and I had to wait ages for the car park to be opened while my colleague had to drive home in the school mini bus – dedication at its best. Regardless of the minor mishap,
A Christmas Carol 20th November, 2018 For those of you that have been fortunate enough to teach, you will remember the excitement of running your first trip. However, you will also remember the overwhelming feeling that you have forgotten something (hopefully not a student). Last year, I was privileged enough to take a small group of students to Leeds Playhouse, formerly known as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, to see A Christmas Carol. The production was fascinating from the very opening scene. The students were deadly silent throughout: absolutely entranced by the modern twists to such a classic novella. One student, Beatrice Wheelwright explained: “The play was very captivating because the story was so clear and 58
knowing that fifteen of the students walked away with a deeper understanding of the characters and ideas presented in the text makes waiting in the school grounds late at night worthwhile. Kirkwood Hospice memory tree December, 2018 Christmas. A time for joy and kindness (in the eyes of Charles Dickens). This Christmas, a colleague of mine, Jacqui Armitage, had a wonderful idea to transform what can be a time of sadness for some, into a celebration. To mark the charitable side of Christmas, students in Years 7 and 8 raised money for Kirkwood Hospice through purchasing a star in memory of their loved ones - be it people or pets. The tree was then placed in the staffroom for staff to purchase a star too. Kirkwood Hospice charity was chosen by the School as it is held in high regard by many of the staff and students who've had family that have benefitted from the quality of care the hospice provides. It was a fantastic idea that came from Jacqui and one very close to my heart, considering I lost my own father on Christmas Day, 2016. It just shows how staff and students at King James’s pull together to help one another, even in the most challenging times. n 59
Farnley Lines DAV E BU S H
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HEN one gets to a certain age the arrival or non-arrival of Christmas cards gains more significance. It either confirms that one’s friend is still on the planet or that the mortal coil has been shuffled off. Last year we were so sad to hear of the death of ex –head Alan Conley. This year a card from his children informed me of the demise of my very long standing friend, Peter Heywood. Let’s be very careful here. This is the Peter Heywood who taught French at KJGS not his namesake who came later to teach Science and was so active in scouting. Peter succeeded Dick Addy as Head of French in the 1960s. He was one of those rarities who was both pupil and teacher down St. Helen’s Gate. After completing his O Levels his family moved to Honley so Peter went to Honley Grammar School. After A levels he gained a First at Leicester University and then came back to KJS. ‘Ollie Beak’ as he was known after a bird cartoon character – Peter had a very pronounced olfactory organ – was an outstanding teacher. Demanding but fair. One French assistante could not believe he was not French. A fine athlete, his great claim to fame was that he once beat Derek Ibbotson in the mile on Sports Day. He left KJ to enter a teacher training college near Doncaster. He re-joined the OAS comparatively recently. We
were in regular contact over many years. He died in September 2018 ‘after a long struggle against cancer’. The tale of the shed Coincidentally, Peter Heywood II features in my next recollection. Hands up any of you who smoked behind The Green Shed. If you did, then it must have been before March 1985 for it was then that ‘he and I dyd shifte yt’ echoing the words of John Kaye of Woodsome when in 1547 he and his father dismantled the chantry in St Helen’s Gate and ‘translated’ it to the School’s present site. The aforementioned shed was situ-
Taylor Dyson’s garage: Peter Heywood and I dyd shifte yt to my house in Foxglove Road
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ated at the top of the bunk outside what Latin at King James’s School Readers may recall how in my last letwas once the gym and later the physics lab. In its later days it was used as a store ter I bemoaned the fact that for the first for groundsmen’s equipment but had time in the School’s history no Latin was previously had a much more illustrious being taught. This really did upset me, so history. It had been Taylor-Dyson’s ( much so that I withdrew my annual prize Headmaster 1913 - 45) garage. I won- for academic achievement in Year 10. In der if any of our oldest members re- fact, my reaction was somewhat premature for shortly after The Almondburian member this. When it was deemed no longer ’fit for went to press I received a long and pleaspurpose’ to use the current jargon, I de- ant letter from Ian Rimmer in which he apologised for the delay in cided that it was certainreplying, mentioning that ly fit to become my garNo Latin in recent weeks he had den shed. Enlisting Peter’s students been very busy due to exhelp and using his small amination results and the lorry it was transported = no Latin onset of the autumn to our home at 8 Foxterm. He explained that glove Road in Almondgraduates despite attempts, no newbury. Despite my lack of = no Latin ly appointed teachers prowess in woodwork – I could offer any Latin, a was always bottom of the teachers situation that I fear can class at Carre’s Grammar School in Sleaford, Lincs – I suc- only get worse for - as the dear departceeded in erecting a large structure of ed Alan Conley would have put it - it’s a which I was reet proud.When I told your vicious triangle. No Latin students = no esteemed editor all about it he deter- Latin graduates = no Latin teachers. mined to track down its present status. The wheel may turn full circle but it is goWith the help of my ex-neighbour at No ing to take a long, long time. I confess that I was unaware that the 10, Alan Wise, he eventually made contact with the present owner of our situation regarding the teaching of Latin house, John Rousell to receive the sad in particular had become so serious. news that it had been dismantled even be- With my own family involved in teaching fore he bought the house a few years ago. and my own continued efforts to keep What a disappointment and somewhat of myself informed on developments I feel a surprise. I had used only the best that I am aware of most problems facing parts, had painted and preserved it care- teachers today - only quite recently I fully but then it must have been perhaps gave a talk on the state of language teachsixty years old and the later owners ing in schools. Here in Wales the squeeze clearly did not appreciate its historical im- on traditional modern languages is much portance! However, I feel it gave us a good greater since Welsh became compulsory for all up to GCSE Level. tale to tell… 61
The upshot of all this is that Ian has given an assurance that Latin will be restored if it ever becomes possible in the future and I have now decided to award a prize again next year: I do hope the offer will be accepted. It’s a long commute from Porthcawl to Almondbury otherwise I would be tempted… Apostrophes - and pots and pans O me miserum , as the Romans would have said; this contribution seems to have been somewhat heavy so far. Let’s lighten the tone. I love the idea of an ‘apostrophe corner’ in our magazine. We were motoring in northern Spain in October and saw this sign in Covadonga. As I lacked a peerage and the notice an apostrophe I felt unable to avail myself of the facilities. We were in an area we had visited more than fifty
years earlier and I always intended to return so I could photograph these village signs. One enters a spectacular ‘desfiladero’ – a twenty mile long gorge at Potes and eventually emerges at …Panes. And finally As I tap out these lines early in the new year things are looking grim for Town but it could be one L of a season for others. Top of The Premiership, Liverpool; Championship, Leeds; Conference, Leyton and Division Two Lincoln City. Only Luton, 2nd in Division One, are failing to make it a clean sweep. I wonder where they will all be when you read this in perhaps two months’ time. I shall probably be away on my next, very exciting, Big Birding Trip. Read all about it in the next issue. n
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Badminton/Tennis ANDREW HAIGH
andrew.haigh@oas.org.uk
OW that Kirkburton Badminton Club have stopped playing on a Thursday evening we no longer share the sports hall, which means that we have all four courts at our disposal. The amazing fact is that this season we are making full use of them! The new season started on Thursday, 6th September, with seven Old Almondburians turning out to play. However, Kim Clarke, Head of PE at School, was keen for some of her GCSE PE students to get some match practise with us. Therefore, at the end of September I went into School one Monday lunchtime, when Ian Gatenby runs the Badminton club, to introduce myself to the students and invite them to join us on a Thursday evening. As a result, on Thursday, 4th October our numbers were boosted to twelve as we welcomed fiveYear 11 GCSE PE students. Numbers continued to in-
crease throughout October as more GCSE students joined us, including three Year 10 girls – the dad of one of them came to join us as well – until we hit the dizzy heights of 18 players by the end of the half-term.The enthusiasm which the students have shown for our Thursday evening sessions is wonderful to see and hopefully bodes well for the future. Kim Clarke toldThe Almondburian that “The GCSE PE students have benefited greatly from the regular training and extra game opportunities that playing badminton with the Old Almondburians has provided. The students’ badminton marks have all increased and I know they all look forward to attending.They have learnt a lot from playing against more experienced players and I do hope they continue to be part of the club next season when they have left us for their next studies.”
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dents don’t count towards those figures – it’s free for them! Afterwards, those who have reached the age of majority adjourn to the Conservative Club for refreshments. Members who have played so far this season are: Robin Merchant David Parry Matthew Booth Emily Murphy Craig Watts Joe Schewtschuk Nicky Murphy Andrew Haigh Bernie Gately Neil Gledhill Ian Daffern Lidia Morton We are delighted to have been joined by the following GCSE students: Caelan Hadwin Tyler Perkin Inès Gately Jake Cockerham Rachel Su Ella McGlynn Zachary Comam Dom Sullivan Annabel Haigh Liam Kafanke Sam Sykes
We haven’t quite reached 18 again since, but numbers have continued to be good in the half-term up to Christmas and into the new year. Last week we were pleased to welcome another adult player, Lidia Morton, a friend of Emily Murphy. Whilst not an Old Almondburian herself, she is the daughter of Andrew Douglas and Grand-daughter of Geoff Douglas, who was a player when I first started playing with the Old Almondburians in 1987 and, indeed, was my predecessor as organiser of the OAS Badminton Section, so it was lovely to welcome her. We are always pleased to see new players, so why not come along and join us?We play in the School sports hall each Thursday evening during term-time from 7.30 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. and our season runs until Thursday, 23rd May. The fee, to cover the hire of the sports hall, shuttlecocks and showers, is £5.00 per person per evening if fewer than eight members are playing, £4.00 per person if eight or more members play and £3.00 per person if twelve or more play. However, please note that current stu-
Tennis Please note that the season will start on Thursday, 6th June.We play at Longley Community Sports Club in Longley Road from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm.
Golf: Gothard Cup 2019 ROBIN MERCHANT
robin.merchant@oas.org.uk
HE date of the 2019 Gothard Cup competition will be Sunday, 23rd June at Woodsome Hall. Afterwards there will be the usual meal and presentation of prizes. Last year we had 12 players – two more than the previous year – so I think we are certainly moving in the right direction. It would
be marvellous if we could significantly increase that number yet again this year. We will circulate details in due course to all who may be interested in taking part. So if you enjoy a game of golf and a chance to catch up with old schoolmates, do come and join us. You can contact me by email at robin.merchant@oas.org.uk. n
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Postbag YO U WRITE … Frank Micklethwaite From: Jack Taylor (staff 1959-1997)
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N the last issue Claire Napoli asked for information about her grandfather Frank Micklethwaite (19242009). I enclose a cricket team photograph of Kirkburton Cricket Club (Huddersfield Examiner) in 1953, pre-match at Slaithwaite. Frank Micklethwaite is on the back row, far right. If I remember correctly he was an engineer by profession and did not play regularly as he did not live locally. However,
he was a ‘more than useful’ batsman.His father, Fred Micklethwaite was the club chairman. Greetland,WestYorkshire
l Claire Napoli writes: How wonderful! Harry Micklethwaite was Frank’s older brother, Fred Micklethwaite’s eldest son. Frank was 29 years old in this photo and he was working in London as an engineer for W S Atkins. He loved playing cricket so I’m not surprised that he played during a visit to Kirkburton where his family still lived.
Back, l to r: Frank Molyneaux (professional); Joe Moorehouse (became landlord of The Sun, Lepton), Eric Roebuck, Harry Micklethwaite (brother to Frank), George Booth (former professional at Hall Bower CC), Frank Micklethwaite Front, l to r: Jack Taylor (pre-KJS), Robert Knowles (Holme Valley GS), Philip Jackson, ‘Local electrician’, Jack Daffern (father of Ian, Head Boy KJS )
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Gilbert & Sullivan in the 1930s From: Nicky Green (staff 1992-2010)
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OOKING through photographs at my mother’s house I managed to find a picture of my father dressed as a fairy for the production of Iolanthe at Almondbury Grammar School. I can’t remember the year but I would guess about 1934. Netherthong,WestYorkshire
l Nicky Green’s father was former Old Almondburians’ Society chairman Les Holroyd who attended Almondbury Grammar School from 1930-36. The photograph is from the 1932 production. Our series on the Gilbert & Sullivan opera productions at the School continues on page 39.
Pioneer of computer science was born in Almondbury From: Prof Colin Robson (1946-1953)
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EARCHING for the latest onTrump and his misdoings as relief from Brexit awfulness, I googled the NewYork Times online edition.As well as a voice of sanity on current affairs, I came across the latest in their Overlooked series – the stories of remarkable people whose deaths went unreported in the newspaper. It read: ‘Overlooked no more: Karen Spärck Jones, who established the basis for Search Engines’. I realised that this was the Karen Jones, who had lived down Sharp Lane in Almondbury very near to where French teacher at AGS, Reg Addy, lived.We were the same age. I saw her in the summer holidays when I was in the early years at the school. She rode around Almondbury on her sit-upand-beg bicycle, long flaxen hair streaming behind her as she coasted down the hills. I was entranced but never plucked up the courage to speak. Karen had an illustrious academic career at Cambridge University, dying of cancer in
2007. Her combination of statistics and linguistics has only recently been appreciated and forms the basis for the way in which much of theWorld WideWeb has developed. She was in the lead in warning about the social implications of these developments, and a strong advocate for women in computer science. The article in the paper mentions: ‘When she had to bike to a formal dinner, as one often did at Cambridge, she was known to use clothing pegs to pin her dress to the handlebars’. I like that. Bath, Somerset
lKaren Spärck Jones, whose Norwegian mother Ida Spärck moved to England during World War II, retained her maiden name after marriage to fellow Cambridge University computer scientist Roger Needham. She was Professor of Computers and Information at Cambridge from 1974 to 2002. 66
‘Best team’ debate continues over dinner From: Simon Russell (1964-1972) XI photo was actually of the 1968/69 team, not 1969/70. Simon and Brian played for the full year in the 1969/70 First XI, as did Phil, Allen Humphries and Bob Williams who played in the 1970/71 the following year. On other claimants as best team I would certainly respect the pupils who won the Yorkshire Grammar Schools Sevens in 1957 (The Almondburian, March 2018) but they all looked about thirty and were obviously in the armed forces at the time so that surely cannot count! Does it also count that later teams (particularly when the School became a sixth form college) had a much bigger pool from which to pick and some had a great coach in Robbie Field? My old friend Robin Beaumont mentions how good Robbie was (July 2018 issue) and I have never heard anything to the contrary. So in truth who knows if we were the best or not? Far more importantly, it
t this year’s dinner I was able to get together a reunion of the 1970/71 football team (photos: pages 12 and 47). One of the reasons I got everybody together was a lively magazine Postbag begun by my old friend and former flat mate Simon Thackray (The Almondburian, March 2017),who agreed with Phil Shaw’s assertion in the previous issue that this team was the ‘best ever’. In the July 2017 issue, Tony Cape led the charge against by insisting that the 1969/70 was far better than the ‘gaggle of also-rans’ who had followed. His evidence was a photograph of the Second XI (of which he was a member) which he claims was so good that only two sixth formers – Simon Graley and David Taylor – even made that team. Unfortunately all that crap Budweiser he has drunk after many years in the States had him terribly confused. Tony’s Second
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KJGS First XI 1969/70 Back row, left to right: A Humphries, D Taylor, A C Drabble, I C Sheard, B H Nash, R Williams Front row, left to right: S A Graley, D N Morrison, headmaster Harry Taylor, D H Rockett (capt), sports master K L W Ireland, D J Smallwood, P H Shaw. Sadly, Rockett died in July 1995 at the age of only 44. 67
gave an excuse to get together some very old school friends, some of whom haven’t seen each other for many years.It was a cracking night with many over-egged anecdotes and a general feeling that we must get together more often. It made me realise yet again how sport generally has enriched my life but the contacts I made through football in
particular really have directly formulated the life I have led and enjoyed. Finally a big thank you to Keith Crawshaw,who has consistently kept us all in touch even through the occasional times of apathy regarding the Society that we all sometimes go through. A colossus amongst Almondburians for sure. Holmfirth,WestYorkshire
Yes, I did play at Wembley From: David Morrison (1967-1970) UST to clear up a soccer point raised by Dave Bush (March 2018), I did indeed play at the old Wembley stadium on a couple of occasions. My first ‘Blue’ was on Wednesday, 7th December 1970 at the end of my first term at King’s when the ‘Light Blues’ defeated a highly fancied Oxford side 1-0.The crowd was over 27,000 and included Staff and pupils from King James’s. I had what is nowadays referred to as an ‘assist’: a through pass behind the Oxford defence leaving our centre forward to finish with a crisp shot into the bottom corner. Afterwards Harry Taylor took the defeat with a rueful smile as I accepted that Oxford were the better side. Wembley is not
a good place to lose a match and I was fortunate enough not to suffer defeat at the home of football. In my time Cambridge won twice and drew twice. It meant a great deal to me to have the Almondburians supporting me on a proud day. A few days later I played for the Old Almondburians on a cloyingly muddy pitch somewhere in God’s Own Country to the opposition refrain of ‘you’re not playing at Wembley now’. Nothing like good old Yorkies to quickly bring you down to earth – from the hallowed turf to a mud heap in a matter of days. We drew 0-0 and I still maintain such experiences were character building. Chigwell, Essex
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Obituaries G O N E B U T N OT F O RGOTTEN Brian Pollard (1946-1951) Man of many talents who produced the first sketch of the new School cricket pavilion page 3 of this issue) before the full plans were drawn up by the Borough Architect’s Department. Brian married Hilary Egglestone, whom he had met on a Diocesan Study holiday, in 1962. For many years they lived and raised two sons Matthew and Stephen in Somerset Road. During this time he moved from Oddy & Sykes to take up the position of property manager for the Grattan catalogue and in more recent years he worked for Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council. After their marriage, Brian and Hilary were regular worshippers at All Hallows’ Church, Almondbury. He produced many posters for church events and drew up schemes for a new church hall, a project which he subsequently managed. Brian was also a keen singer with New Mill Male Voice Choir. Brian Pollard, born 24th March 1935, died 30th November 2018, aged 83.
Brian Pollard, the son of a joiner, was born and brought up in Almondbury. A regular churchgoer all his life, the foundation of his faith was laid at St Helen’s Church, Fenay Bridge. After St Helen’s closed, he and others worshipped at the old St Michael’s Church and when the new St Michael and St Helen Church was built he was the crucifer at both the Foundation Stone Service and the Dedication Service. He joined what was then known as Almondbury Grammar School in September 1946. A bright pupil, he gained eight GCE ‘O’ level passes but left School after the fifth form in 1951 to continue his studies at Huddersfield School of Art & Architecture. He then worked until the early 1970s at the Oddy & Sykes architectural practice in Halifax. His skills as a draughtsman came in useful when the School started to plan a new cricket pavilion in the late 1950s and it was Brian who produced the first ‘artist’s impression’ (see 69
Robert Anthony (Tony) Bailey (1950-1955) Colourful former sales representative who received the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate for services to his Air Training Corps Squadron al Air Forces Association from 1965 until his death, and again contributed greatly to the successful running of the Huddersfield Branch throughout his service as Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary at various times. Tony was a colourful and flamboyant character, and well known socially around Huddersfield. He married Glenys in 1962 and had two children, and was a devoted grandad to four grandchildren. The funeral service on 29th November 2018 at Huddersfield Crematorium was a celebration of his colourful and active life. Brian Leonard, secretary of the Royal Air Forces Association adds: “At our last coffee morning on Thursday 25th October, all present were surprised that Tony – who very seldom ventured outdoors at that time – unexpectedly came through the front door of the restaurant.The sight of our favourite gentle eccentric, dressed as usual in multi-coloured attire and hat, brought a reflex round of applause from the members present. The look of delight on Tony’s face at this reaction spoke volumes.The mutual appreciation demonstrated by this action is indicative of the warm relationships which Tony engendered in those who got to know him.” Tony Bailey, born 30th March 1939, died 6th November 2018, aged 79.
Tony Bailey was born in Huddersfield and lived in Lindley. He attended Oakes Junior School before joining King James’s Grammar School in 1950. After leaving school Tony worked for a short period at James Robinson Ltd (textiles dyes), but he soon followed in the footsteps of his father and took up a position as a travelling sales representative, selling clocks, watches and jewellery. He continued in this profession until retirement almost 40 years later. Tony joined 59 (Huddersfield) Squadron Air Training Corps in 1959 as a civilian instructor and gained his commission in 1961, ending as a Flying Officer (Volunteer Reserve) on retirement in 1969. He dedicated much of his spare time to the RAF Civilian Committee, where he served in various roles, including Chairman from 1985 until recent years. He continued to actively support the Squadron until just a few weeks before his death, often in unglamorous behind-the- scenes roles, lobbying for funding and improvements for the Squadron. In 2011 Tony was awarded the Lord Lieutenant’s Certificate for his services to the Squadron. Tony was also a member of the Roy70
Robert Ian Chappell (1932-1938) Man of firm opinions who became a senior banker after meritorious war service Bob Chappell left School to work as However, he lost his wife of 60 years, Mara clerk and cashier in Midland Bank. This garet, in 2012 and in due course became was interrupted by the outbreak of war and less capable of outside activities. In recent after applying for a commission he became years he also slipped into dementia and a Troop Commander in the Burma Cam- he died in the York Hospital from pneupaign, reaching the rank of Captain by the monia in November 2018. Bob was a man who held end of the war. firm opinions which he was Bob then returned to the not afraid to express. He beMidland Bank, where he lieved in doing the right continued a very successful things in life, to the very best career, becaming manager of of one’s ability. the Ossett branch and finally He leaves three children, Area Lending Manager.He six grandchildren and 2 took early retirement in the great-grandchildren mid-1980s. Bob Chappell, born 15th Bob enjoyed a full life as July 1922, died 14th a freemason, keen golfer, November 2018, aged 96. churchgoer and caravanner. Peter Heywood (Pupil 1945-1951; Staff 1962-1967) ‘Poacher turned gamekeeper’ who returned to teach French at KJGS in the 1960s We were very sorry to learn of the death of former French teacher Peter Heywood. He was 84. Peter was unusual in that he had a foot in both camps, having been a pupil at Almondbury Grammar School from 1945-51 and then returning to teach French from 1962-67 when he took over the French Department after the sad and untimely death of Reg Addy. A graduate of the University College of Leicester, Peter later taught French and teaching methodology at Doncaster College of Education and finished his teaching career at Adwick Comprehensive School, Doncaster where he was for eight years in charge of all language teaching. We have also been advised of the death of Christopher J. Rockett (1952-57). 71
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 KJS Representative ABBIGAIL TERRY King James’s School, St Helen’s Gate, Almondbury HD4 6SG Tel: 01484 412990 Email: abbi.terry@oas.org.uk 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