Obituaries

Peter (Sid) Sykes (KJGS 1959-1964)

Former accountancy partner who was a keen OAS football, cricket and golf player

No one remembers where the nickname ‘Sid’ came from but among his friends it stuck with him throughout his life. It just seemed appropriate given his demeanour and dry sense of humour (a typical Yorkshireman).

Peter Sykes arrived at King James’s Grammar School in 1959 in the era of Harry Taylor’s headship. He achieved moderate academic success and excelled at sport - particularly football and cricket, playing regularly for his house (Siddon) and school teams.

In 1964 he left school to take employment in the finance sector with HMRC Taxes. He moved on from there to local chartered accountants Simpson and Wood where he later became a partner and remained for all his career. Much was said at his funeral eulogy about his helpfulness to other staff and his reputation for being tight with his and the company’s money; staff had to wait until he went on holiday to buy a new stapler! In the 2000s he took his financial abilities to a new level as a parttime assistant to on-course ‘bookie’ Tony Lockwood.

Peter signed on for the Old Almondburians’ football team in 1965 and played regularly in the 1st and 2nd teams until 1980. He was well known as a tenacious midfield player, sometimes letting aggression get the better of him. In one game, as a substitute on the touch line, he was highly critical of the referee’s running of the game. When called on as a replacement player his criticism escalated, so much so that he was sent off before he had even touched the ball! His criticism also extended to Huddersfield Town, though only occasionally attending matches, his tactical genius was always able to expose their shortcomings.

Alongside football, Peter was an equally competitive player in the summer game – cricket. In the 1960s he played for Taxes in the Huddersfield Association League. In the 1970s he joined Lockwood in the Huddersfield District League where he played alongside several other Almondburians. He took many wickets bowling medium pacers off a hostile fast run-up. It was his batting that was memorable though, if he stayed in he scored runs, spoiling many a bowler’s reputation by repeatedly clearing the boundaries. Rain interruptions to matches were never a problem to him, out came the playing cards and loose change.

In later life, golf took over from football and cricket as his sporting interest, first at Outlane where he became club secretary, then at Crosland Heath. He also competed in OAS Gothard Cup events at Woodsome Hall. Together with golf, his competitive energies were satisfied by playing darts and dominoes for Almondbury Conservative Club over a period of 30 years.

Finally, to the main love of his life, his family. Peter met Linda in 1969 and they were married in 1973. They lived all their life in Kirkheaton, where they brought up their children Darren and Laura.

Peter Sykes, born 24th May 1948, died 12th May 2022 aged 73.

Memories of Peter collected by Richard Teale in conversation with Doug Norris, Jez Whitehead,Tony Lockwood and Eric Abbott.

John Michael Linton (KJGS 1956 - 1963)

Engineer who was a founder member of the group of Old Boys who toured Europe

John Linton started his school life at the same time as fellow Old Almondburian Mike Gibson in January 1951 at Stile Common School, Newsome. With birthdays after the start of the autumn term, they were in the group of four not allowed to start school until after Christmas! They shared the headmaster’s overriding enthusiasm for sport, which included nurturing the already obvious talent of fellow-pupil, the late England international footballer Trevor Cherry who was a year younger. They also endured the weekly elocution lessons delivered by the headmaster’s wife – which had a very modest impact on most of the class.

A highlight of the summer term was the annual Primrose Hill Free Treat: organised games and free sandwiches. In a very recent conversation John and Mike recalled how the 1953 Free Treat was substantially upgraded to enable them to celebrate the Coronation. They all had to dress up and parade through the streets in order to qualify for a free a customised mug – a valuable addition to family crockery.

In Autumn 1956 they were two of the four Stile Commoners along with David Reilly and Peter Hoyle who went to Almondbury Grammar School, travelling on the No 20 trolley bus into town and the No 33 from Byram Street to the Almondbury terminus.

After a couple of years, John’s family moved to Oakes and he drew several of his school soccer-playing pals into going to Oakes Youth Club two evenings a week, where he first exhibited his talent and enthusiasm for dancing. They were busy Saturdays, playing for the School in the morning and Oakes in the afternoon, finished off by going to the cinema in the evenings, with, or hoping to meet , a girlfriend – memorably shared teenage years.

In 1963 John went with John Aspinall, Mike Hellawell and Colin Ainley (another Stile Commoner pal who went to Royds Hall School) to the Isle of Man for two weeks. It was quite an adventure at the time, travelling by train to Liverpool, and taking a ferry across the water. They stayed on the top floor of a boarding house in Douglas. There wasn’t a lift, but they were only 18 so it wasn’t a problem. Little did they know that nearly 50 years later the four of them would all be going on holiday with Mike Gibson and Peter Fisher to Paramé in France, the first of nine holidays together.

The group all went their separate ways a couple of years after leaving School. John went to University in Sheffield and became a structural engineer. Unfortunately his marriage ended in divorce but in 2000 he met Marjorie and they became partners sharing a variety of social interests. John was a keen musician and played bass cornet for Oughtibridge Brass Band near Sheffield, as well as fulfilling several administrative positions for the band. Marjorie and John also enjoyed dancing and were members of a Modern Vivejibe group in Holmfirth. They also attended many drama events at the Lawrence Batley Theatre, and pantomimes at Marsden, both inspired by their friendship with Mike Hellawell.

The 1996 Old Almondburians’ School Dinner was a pivotal event in the lives of several of our peer group. A major effort by two of John’s classmates, Roger Morgan and Robin Prescott, reunited some 25 of the Class of ’56 in a 40th anniversary celebration at the annual dinner. It was a memorable reunion. A smaller group consisting of John, the late Garry Hirst, Mike Hellawell, John Aspinall, Peter Fisher, Roger Morgan, Colin Ainley (travelling from Harrogate) and Mike Gibson (travelling from Brighton) continued to attend the annual dinners and several started meeting for drinks in the King’s Head at Huddersfield Railway Station. In 2011 they realised that it was 50 years since most of them had been on the School trip to Parame/St Malo, immedi-

Palma in July 2017: (l to r)

Mike Gibson, Peter Fisher, John Aspinall, John Linton, Colin Ainley, Mike Hellawell ately after their ‘O’ levels. This inspired the idea of a ‘Paramé reunion visit’ in 2012 and, as it turned out, the annual shared holidays recorded in subsequent issues of The Almondburian.

John was an ever-present member of the group which met in the King’s Head, enjoyed an annual Christmas lunch, and shared annual holidays to Nice, Malaga, Viareggio, Palma, Alicante, Torre el Greco, Filey (yes, Filey!) and then Malta this year. The trip to Filey was a stand-in for not being able to go abroad during the Covid restrictions. In between, John and John Aspinall went to Wembley in 2017 to meet Mike Gibson and Mike Hellawell to watch Huddersfield Town beat Reading in the Championship play-off and contributed to the explosion noise which greeted the winning ‘Schindler penalty’

The travellers effectively missed two years during the Covid restrictions but started weekly Zoom meetings as an imaginative replacement. These were joined by two more members of the Class of ’56: Geoffrey Butters and Peter Tracey. It was usual for six or seven of us to enjoy a couple of hours of banter, mainly about sport, health and politics. We had a Zoom meeting on the Monday evening just four days before John died. There was no indication of impending terminal ill-health at all. John’s participation was as vigorous as usual which made the news of his death a huge shock.

John, who left a son, Adam, was a valued member of our core group of the Class of ’56 and, we're absolutely sure, of many more beyond our group. He will be sorely missed.

Michael Gibson and John Aspinall John Michael Linton: born 3rd October 1945, died 24th September 2022 aged 76.

We are sorry to report, as we go to press, that another member of the group, Peter Fisher, has also died. An obituary will appear in the next issue of The Almondburian.

Michael Pogson (KJGS 1954-1961)

We were sorry to learn of the death in September 2022 of Michael Pogson , at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Son of a weaver, Michael lived most of his life in Dalton. He attended King James’s Grammar School from 1954-61 and went on to study at Leeds University from 1961-64.

For the last four years, Michael was a resident of Thornhill Nursing Home, Edgerton.

He was brother to the late Margaret

McKenzie (née Emmerson) and the late Gerald Pogson; loving uncle to the late Paul McKenzie, Geoffrey Pogson, and the late Caroline Cosgrove (née Pogson); beloved great uncle to Alex & James McKenzie and Jeremy, Oliver, Raymond & Grace Cosgrove. The funeral service was at Wakefield Crigglestone Crematorium on 11th October. Michael Pogson, born 17th March 1942, died 17th September 2022 aged 80.