A K Wareham (SE 1940)
Ken Wareham was born in Shropshire in 1922. He was educated at Denstone College before coming up to Selwyn to read Geography in 1940.
In 1942, he joined the army and was commissioned at Sandhurst into the 24th Lancers. He landed on the Normandy Beaches on D-Day 1944, leading his troop of Sherman tanks. The Brigade’s job of enlarging the bridgehead north of Arromanches involved them in very fierce battles in the bocage. Casualties were heavy and, after a week, Ken was wounded and evacuated to Carlisle hospital, where he met his future wife Catherine. Later he spent a year in Germany during the military occupation. After leaving the army in 1946, he spent a year at London University before joining the Colonial Service. He was posted to Nigeria and the Cameroons as an education officer, ending up as Principal of a leading government secondary college. After Nigerian independence in 1961, he returned to the UK with his wife and two sons to become Headmaster of Stancliffe Hall Preparatory School in Darley Dale. There he remained until his retirement in 1984, after which he continued to help as Bursar and Chaplain. For six years he served on the Council of The Independent Association of Prep Schools. First and foremost, Ken prided himself as a schoolmaster, believing in good pastoral care, sound teaching, and bringing out the best in all those children in his care. At the same time, he was fully aware of the guiles and escapades of his more wayward charges – occasionally meting out a swift measure of discipline where deemed necessary. As a keen geographer, he loved travel and introduced many children to its joys during Easter holidays by leading groups on annual cruises, mostly in the Eastern Mediterranean. For many years, he served as Chairman of Prep Schools Cruising.
Ken enjoyed friendship and good conversation. In quieter moments throughout his life, he read extensively, especially poetry, and his bookshelves bore witness to his wide range of interests. He will be remembered especially for his inexhaustible supply of optimism and, above all, for his firm Christian faith. He became licensed as a Reader in Darley Dale Parish and was closely associated with St Helen’s Church and with St Philip and St James’s Church. He was a long-standing member of the Matlock Rotary Club, being President in 1987.
PART FOUR
In retirement, he and Catherine became keen anglers, spending many contented hours fishing for trout in Monsal Dale and for salmon in Scotland and the wilder parts of the world, including Alaska, Russia, Iceland and Tierra del Fuego.
We are grateful to Richard Wareham for this obituary.
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Selwyn Calendar 2014–2015