Newsletter June 2016 by Skinners' School

Newsletter June 2016

A word from the Editor…. I am delighted to write that this Newsletter will be reaching its largest audience to date as numbers of Old Skinners’ getting in touch continues to swell. We start with a few words from new President, Barry Tester. He outlines the recent changes made to the Society’s constitution at the AGM, which I urge you to read closely. Last month we reached over 600 members on our Facebook page. Many of you will have read with interest the recent posts from Richard Mosley as he delves into Skinners’ rich heritage. I am grateful for his excellent contribution on page 10. This edition is packed full of sporting news as the Old Boys continue to go head to head with ‘School’. Please do try and come along and support the teams in whatever capacity you can! It’s important to keep these traditions alive. Do keep sending your comments and suggestions for articles to me, as well as any changes to your contact details. The Leopard Magazine will be sent to you shortly, so if you have moved in the last 12 months, please let me know. With best wishes, Camilla You can follow us on: twitter: @leopardstweets Facebook: Old Skinners’ Society Facebook – Tunbridge Wells LinkedIn: Old Skinners’ Society

BARRY TESTER - 2016 /17 PRESIDENT (Hunt: 1951 – 1959) Having been pre-allocated to Hunt House, my association with Skinners’ started as a 10 year old, and along with 95 other boys full of trepidation I entered the School on the first day of term way back in September 1951 and found myself in Form 1C in Room 8 at the top of the tower. In my days at School I worked hard and played hard, which inevitably included a number of brushes with the School disciplinary authorities. Above all I was lucky to witness and benefit from the transformation wrought by Cecil Beeby who arrived as Headmaster in 1953 and set the ethos which has survived so successfully to this day. They were very happy times.

with him handling marketing and memberShip data management. We have an excellent Committee in place with a good mix of skills and experience so I am looking forward to a well organised and enjoyable year ahead.

Last year we held our 125th Anniversary Dinner at Skinners’ Hall which proved to be a spectacularly successful occasion. In an attempt to emulate this success we are holding our 108th Annual Dinner for the first time in the late Victorian ambiance of the Main Hall at the School. The entrance and “…use this year to join up, join reception rooms (together with the Bab el Mandeb Gallery) that we will be using, are all part in and enjoy and celebrate the of the original School buildings which opened for business in 1887. We are starting with a sparkling legacy that the School has wine reception followed by a four course meal endowed upon us all…” with wines and port all included, together with a cash bar for those requiring that little extra. This is On leaving I joined what was then the Guild of our premier event and as usual will provide a the Leopards (the name was changed to the Old readymade opportunity to keep in touch with your Skinners’ Society in 1966) and I am now proud former school friends, other old boys and with the to be elected as your President for the third School. Please note the date Saturday 1st October time following terms of office in 1974 and 2000. in your diaries now. This has provided the golden opportunity for me finally to stand down as Secretary after 30 years’ Our second big event will be the Leopards’ service in favour of a younger member. Ross Christmas Dinner Dance at the High Rocks on 17th Jefferies is now your Secretary and I wish him December. This provides a very convivial well. opportunity to start the Christmas celebratory season. The dinner will be concluded with a raffle Another main change on the Committee is that and a rendering of the Leopards’ Song followed by Tony Holding has stood down after 7 years’ as disco dancing with music to fit the occasion and Membership Secretary – a difficult task in which with an interval for singing traditional carols. he has performed admirably. He is replaced by Again please mark your diaries and await the Nick Myers who has a specialist team working formal invitation. 2

During the 125th Anniversary Year I have researched various documents I have, and together with my recollections produced a ‘Brief History of the Society’ which will be serialised in our newsletters throughout the year. I hope that at least some of you will find something of interest.

“…we wish to be fully inclusive and never lose touch with any Old Skinner…” On the sporting front there will be shooting, hockey and soccer matches against the School in January, March and June respectively. Please respond to the relevant organiser when invited. The Society has sponsored playing kit in Old Skinners’ colours for a squad of Old Skinners rugby players so look out for news of their playing plans (mainly Sevens tournaments). Apply to play or support from the touch line when possible. The Committee has been very busy planning and organising some fundamental changes to the membership structure of the Society which have been ‘on the cards’ for a couple of years. These were approved at the recent AGM and the task of implementation has now begun. We wish to be fully inclusive and never lose touch with any Old Skinner so from now on all Old Skinners are automatically Associate Members of the Society. Our new membership database is now fully up and running and with the ease and low cost of electronic communication we will be sending newsletters from both the Society and the School to these members.

We hope that as many of you as possible will be inspired to become Full Members for which an annual subscription is payable. You will receive all communications from the Society including the Leopard magazine, all of which can be posted if required. Furthermore a discount of 10% will be available for all events including the Annual Dinner and Leopards’ Dinner Dance. We tend to forget that the annual subscription of £10 was set twenty four years ago and for some time has been in urgent need of updating. This time has now come and we have done no more than restore it to its original value which means an increase to £20. Finally we are offering a Privileged Membership level to those who wish to subscribe more, and for £50 min pa (which after all is still only £1 per week) we are offering discounts of 20% for our events. All this will be communicated to you in the fullness of time and I ask you all please to consider responding in a positive manner remembering that all surplus funds - whether created from your subscriptions; by reducing operating costs; or from the events we run eventually go back to the School to support all those worthwhile projects for which no state funding is available. Also remember it will pay to ensure you are up to date with your desired membership level so that you can claim the appropriate discount when booking for our events! So don’t let memories of your Skinners’ School days wither into obscurity but use this year to join up, join in and enjoy and celebrate the legacy that the School has endowed upon us all. Barry Tester President 2016/2017 3

SCHOOL REPORT What is learning? There are so many presumptions about how best to educate children and so many models, from Finland to China and the USA, that it is little surprise that we come back generally to ‘what works for us’. All teachers consider how they might best influence their pupils, they consider what difference teachers can make (and what damage they can do); they wonder what works in the classroom (and what does not). Skinners’ is not the perfect school but it does try to create good citizens who have been academically stretched and are sensitive to others, and who will pursue the passions developed with us over the rest of their lives. So does that attitude ‘work for us’? Well, 17 Oxbridge places is certainly a record. And we have high hopes of excellent A level results this summer. Our destinations continue to be dominated by the best universities, with engineering the most popular subject and Exeter the most popular university last summer, followed by Leeds and Cambridge. More broadly, sixth formers have given two years of service to Two Bridges, the Pupil Referral Unit in Southborough, with great results, our delegations to Brown and Harvard University MUN competitions are the best overseas groups. Our 100 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh hikers were described this summer by local supervisors as the best they had seen in terms of behaviour and attitude; our CCF recruits battled dreadful conditions on Dartmoor to perform with distinction. Our senior STEM team is the best in the South East, winning numerous awards for their drone copter, designed to test sulphurous emissions in the atmosphere; our junior STEM team are regional runners-up with their solar kiln, designed to recycle old wood into building

materials. Our senior production of the Merchant of Venice was notable for its immersion of the audience into the set, the superb choreography and lighting and the performances of the leading roles. What these examples demonstrate is behaviour for learning: an attitude that says we will try things, enjoy doing them, work together and succeed at them. These are the qualities many employers are looking for and they will be nurtured on World Challenge trips to Madagascar next month and a trekking trip to Ladakh. They also come from our sport: regional champions at Basketball and Bouldering, a raft of nationally ranked Cross-Country runners, and an Under 15B rugby XV that went unbeaten and topped the national merit table, our most successful 1st XI hockey team ever, ending the season with victory over Tonbridge and reaching the semi-finals of the Kent Cup. The school continues to strive to accommodate its growing school roll. There are now 941 pupils and 258 in the 6th form. Efforts to build on a grand scale have been thwarted so we are creaking a bit, but coping. The Old Gym is now the Sixth Form Centre. The old Sixth Form Centre is now a couple of science labs, funded by Len Goldsmith’s legacy to the school, which also funds bursaries for those embarking on medicine or engineering at university. Building matter, but the school continues to be the sum of its people. I am always thankful for the attitude, enthusiasm and humour of our pupils, and all who work here, and I am eternally grateful for the support of the Old Skinners’ Society. It is gratifying to know that we have an old boys’ society that supports the school so transparently and helps spread such a good word about what we do. Edward Wesson

Old Leopards Sporting Action… Old Skinners’ ‘v’ School Hockey 3 – 3 ( OS win on penalties) Friday 15th April saw a squad of Skinners’ Hockey Veterans emerge from the darkened surroundings to the floodlit hockey AstroTurf of Tonbridge School, to play the current 1st XI in the annual “Old Boys” fixture. With the School winning the warm up battle, we were mentally more prepared for the fixture ahead and the beginning showed just that. The largely more cohesive style of play meant we were able to create a lot more chances than the Old Boys but weren’t able to put them away due to the sturdy defence that opposed us; soon after, we were justly rewarded with an affirmative goal by Cameron Green. However this rapid boost in confidence was undone by a “lightning speed” counter attack leaving our defence unprepared against the quick and effective skills of the Old Boys strike force. The resulting goal left the score at 1-1 with the halftime whistle gone. In was not long before we recomposed ourselves; solidifying our positions, shape and initial control of the game that we had so effectively taken at the start of the match. After an ecstatic dribble into the circle and drawing the keeper, an unmarked Will Kirkham was set to receive the ball back post and calmly slotted the ball to hear the satisfying noise of the backboard to signify our regained 2-1 lead. This led to a rush of confidence by Skinners’ in an attempt to shut the game down, Oscar Hussey being the one to seize the opportunity after seeing space at the top of the circle to accurately reverse the ball low down past the ex-Skinners’ 1st XI ball low down past the exSkinners’ 1st XI keeper to leave the Old Boys a little shaken and trailing 3-1.

However with the levels of confidence dangerously high and the Old Boys playing gradually better as a squad, the pressure mounted down the Skinners’ end of the pitch. Chances were continuously cleared by the solid defence the Skinners’ team had seen all season but it was eventually broken down by an instinctive yet accurate betweenthe-legs shot from coach Johnson himself. Tables having turned the Old Boys continued where they had left off and once all seemed under control again, another counter attack left us incapable to stop the thunderbolt shot by their high man just a few moments before the end of the game. 3-3 was the final score. However, neither team would have been satisfied with a draw, so it was decided to have the winner determined through shuttles. Having never practised the techniques involved, we decided to allow the Elders to begin the show; a miss that was unfortunately replicated by Cameron Green, unable to convert in the same manner he had done just an hour before. Frustratingly for James Barnaby, he too narrowly missed leaving us 1-0 down. Once the Old Boys scored it was Corentin Lindsay who stepped up to the mark slotting it past his elder brother to keep Skinners’ in contention for the victory. The same followed on with both teams scoring; Reece Kingham earning himself a flick that was perfectly slotted. Fifth and finally it was Tom Nohre who was unable to replicate his season’s spin to score, leaving the Old Boys victorious after their lead at the start of the shuttles. 5

Thank you to the Umpires who volunteered to help out, to the Old Boys for travelling from near and far to come play the match; a fixture that we hope to continue in future to maintain the link between current students and former pupils through the sport of Hockey. Oli Woodcock

Old Skinnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Players: Chris Johnson; Will Graystone; Tom Clarke-Knowles; Callum Wood; Ryan Robinson; Ben Edwards; Archie Wells; David Hemsley; John Britten; Adam Woodcock; Oli Woodcock; Richard Heritage; Dimitri Miller; Eliot Lindsey; Francis Bridgeman; Andrew Hall; Harry Robinson Goal scorers: Wood; Johnson; Robinson (R)

Old Skinners’ ‘v’ School Football

The Old Boys’ annual football match proved to be another exciting encounter this year. A warm, but muggy day meant that the match took place over four twenty minute periods rather than the traditional 90 minute duration. A variety of Old boys ranging from 19 year olds to 37 year olds put up an excellent early show and dominated the first quarter, but created few chances. The fitness and youth of the school, plus their familiarity as a team, gradually came to the fore and by the end of the first half they had a 3 – 1 advantage. They were aided by some rather lax goalkeeping from the present Head Boy, Christian Edwards, who let in two soft goals and a very fluky scuffed lob. The Old boys however stuck at it and gained two well-deserved penalties, and a third from a decent shot struck from the edge of the box. The superiority of the school team was, however, never in doubt and they scored three more goals in the second period leaving the final score 6 – 3 to the school. This is the first time the school team has been victorious in the last 5 years and Robbie French was a proud Captain as he collected the Braggins Cup from our retired Head Master, Peter Braggins. It was lovely to see many Old Boys at the event and we hope that next year’s game will be even better attended – Class of ’97 and ‘07 we expect to see you there in strength! A superb hog roast and refreshments were had by all at the end of the game and the sun came out to round off a very enjoyable morning. Craig Fleming

Calling all supporters of Skinners’ Old Boys Rugby! On Saturday the 2nd July, Skinners’ Old Boys will be entering a rugby 7s team into West Country 7s. The tournament, based in Bath, is a known event on the 7s circuit. The Old Boys squad will consist mainly of boys who left the School in the years between 2010 and 2014 and has been entered into the 2nd tier of the tournament, which will be made up of a combination of local sides and invitational sevens sides. This is the first year in which a group of recent leavers have raised a side and entered a tournament, although a local friendly was recently played over the Christmas period against Tonbridge Juddians Academy. The game and social activities after were a huge success allowing many boys to re-kindle and strengthen long-standing friendships from their days back at school. Those organising this event hope that the 7s tournament in Bath will generate similar success. We are urging all Skinners’ Old Boys in and around the South West area to come and support your fellow Skinners’ - all games will be played on Saturday the 2nd of July at the address shown. I’m sure I can speak for all involved in saying it would be great to have some support on the side-lines.

Please make it down if you can matches will begin at midday, Saturday 2nd July 2016 Bath RFC. Juniors, Colts, Ladies & Amateur Club Lambridge Training Ground Bath Bath & NE Somerset BA1 6BD For more information please contact Club Captain, Sebastian Goodhew at: sebastian_goodhew@hotmail.co.uk

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Tim Bell (Atwell 1985 – 1992) pictured, receiving his medal from Sky pro Geraint Thomas after cycling from London to Cannes to raise money for the children’s charity Coram. A few words from Tim to the many of you who sponsored him: “…Thank you so much to everyone who sponsored me on the cycle to the South of France. I’ve been back for two weeks now, but the memories are still vivid, it really was quite an experience. It was a six day journey from London to Cannes, split into six 50km stages per day, of which each rider had to complete at least two stages. Most days I rode four stages, so by the end of the six days I had ridden about 1,000km. One of the hardest things was lack of sleep and cold, up at 4.45 every morning and on the road by 6am, with some mornings in Northern France below freezing and very dark. Also challenging were the very short breaks between stages; just 10 or 15 minutes, enough to fill up the water bottles, grab some food, and then off again, so it was pretty relentless, hence the odd ‘stage off’ on the coach was a welcome break. But in terms of positives, when the sun was out (most of the time) and the scenery extraordinary (all of the time), rolling along at a good pace in a peloton of 100 riders, chatting about anything and everything with some great people; this was amazing. The organisation was also faultless, managed by a whole team of staff including masseurs, mechanics, people to organise hotels etc, so great support. The training paid off, I felt generally OK, and I’ll hopefully be back again next year…”

From the Archive… “And those that went before us…” In remembrance of Eustace Bowhay, Skinners’ footballer, army captain and casualty of the First World War. Born 1889 – Died 1916. At Skinners’ School : 1898-1906 When I was at the school I remember looking at the 85 “Masters and Boys” listed on our War Memorial and thinking it was a very large number. It was difficult, however, to feel much of an emotional connection. This was history. The alphabetically listed surnames, initials and dates were rather too formal and distant, more like a statistical register than an account of boys like us whose lives had been cut short by a brutal war. Yet they were boys like us. They trod the same stairs, sat in the same classrooms, gave nicknames to their teachers and sang the same Leopard song that most of us breathed and whiskered through with rebellious relish year after year. Occasionally a more individual story emerges that brings it closer to home. In the Courier this April a story from the archives was reprinted concerning the chance encounter between two Old Skinners’ boys on a wartime train journey through India in 1915. One, E.G. Bowhay started singing the school song to while away the time, the other unknown to him beforehand, joining in. It struck my interest and I started digging around in the school’s collection of old Leopard Magazines and searching the internet to see if I could find out a little more about Bowhay, his time at Skinners and how his life came to an end in Iraq 10 years after leaving the school.

First comes the picture. As you can see Bowhay was not a local Tunbridge Wells boy. He was the son of a local village doctor in Gunnislake on the border between Cornwall and Devon. While Skinners started as a day school it started taking on a number of boarders in 1894. In 1896 Boway’s elder brother Reginald started at the school and in 1898 Eustace Bowhay joined him, aged 8. At the Skinners’ Christmas Concert in December 1899 Eustace, his brother and 4 other boys are reported singing ‘Rule Britannia’, which “proved very popular, the audience joining in the chorus with much heartiness”. 10

In 1901 he was living with his brother and 8 other boys at one of the two boarding houses a few hundred yards down the road from the school at 133 St Johns Road. Interestingly the ‘schoolmaster in charge’ of this house was one Major James Faulks –grandfather of Sebastian Faulks, author of the famous WW1 novel ‘Birdsong’. Bowhay was a keen sportsman and talented athlete. Competing at the Skinners’ Sports Day in 1904, aged 14, Eustace won every single event in his age category - the 100 yards, quarter mile, half mile and mile events, as well as the long and high jump. It’s no surprise that he ended up in the Skinners 1st XI football team – which between 1887 and 1925 was favoured over rugby as the school’s number one sport. In the Autumn term 1905 the school team were enjoying a significant run of success. As Bowhay himself reported as editor of the Leopard Magazine: “The record of last term’s football was one of the best, perhaps the best, in the history of the School. The team and all associated with the team may be proud of a record of 18 matches played 16 won, 1 drawn and 1 lost [not Judd!] – 96 goals to 18”.

Bowhay joined the team in the Spring term of 1906, playing up front alongside the equally athletic and talented captain of the team ‘Alec’ Rush. They want on to win a further 9 matches out of 9, scoring 39 goals to their opponents’ 11. The final game of the season was the Charity Cup Final. In front of a large crowd of "very enthusiastic supporters" on the Old Town Ground at Culverden Down, Skinners took on Tonbridge. The first goal was scored by Rush, and the second, to win the cup, was put away by Bowhay. "Spectators at the entrance were treated to a sequence of corners which were remarkable for their accuracy. Batson (Tonbridge keeper) was the hero popping the ball over the net and into touch in grand style, for which he received hearty cheers. It was a near thing for a penalty a matter of inches - when Neal brought down Happle, but as it happened Tonbridge paid dearly for the trip. The ball was sent across the goal from the freekick, and with Bowhay dashing up on the left, Batson had no chance to save. Continuing to have the best of matters, the School well deserved their victory by 2-0.“ What a glorious way for Bowhay to bow out in his last game for Skinners FC! He definitely made an impression on headmaster Knott who remembered him: “Full of daring, afraid of nothing and of nobody”. Bowhay was also a keen member of the Officer Training Corps (as the Cadets were then known). The picture on the following page from 1906 shows him alongside his fellow ‘NCO’s’ in 1906. 11

Soon after leaving Skinners to train as a solicitor he became a reservist for the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry Territorials. Then as war loomed he transferred over to the Devon Regiment in 1913. Two months after the war started in August 1914 he was made Captain and given his own Company (much like Dick Winters taking command of Easy Company in ‘Band of Brothers’). Captain Bowhay was first sent with his regiment to Lahore in Pakistan (then part of India) which is where the ‘singing in the train’ incident no doubt took place. Then in early 1916 he joined the fight against the Turks for control of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia (now Iraq). Arriving in the Tigris region he wrote to his family: “We arrived at the front of the Front, as the boom of the big guns does not fail to inform us. I cannot say the prospect worries me much. Of course its no use pretending that life is exactly a bed of roses at present, and we shall be glad when this show is over, but we are here to fight and I hope we get the chance”

In another letter, the last of a number he wrote to the editor of the Leopard, he describes his surroundings and final thoughts about going into battle:

“I saw in an English newspaper the other day that the country was referred to as ‘that wonderful land of charm and romance’. All I can say is , that up to date I have seen nothing to warrant that description. Image a country as flat as a pancake, without any vegetation except in the south where a few date palms fringe the banks of the Tigris, and when it rains it becomes a veritable sea of mud. Add to this the unsavoury smell, which permeates all the towns. On our way up we always marched close to the river. It rained heavily sometimes and then we had to march mile after mile with the water ankle deep and sometimes up to our middles. However, we are up here now and only harder and fitter for our journeyings, and I guess we shan’t regret them when it comes tour turn, as it shortly will do, to eject Mr. Turk from his trenches. What that operation is like I hope to be able to tell you in a future letter and if I should not be able to do so, there are many lads from Kent who can.

Unfortunately there were to be no more letters. Just over 100 years ago - on the 8th March 1916 Eustace was killed in battle at El Sinn. He was 26. His commanding officer wrote: "He was killed bravely leading his men over-ground without a vestige of cover, and swept by rifle and machine gun fire; when he was hit he told his men to go on and wished them good luck. We buried him at nightfall within 25 yards of the enemies trenches“ Now you know Bowhay a little better I hope you feel like me a more personal connection, both to him and all the other young men whose names are commemorated in the School Hall. As we reach the mid-point 100 year anniversary of the ‘Great War’ let’s not remember them as stats on a board, but as boys much like you and me who were called on to make the ultimate sacrifice and bravely, tragically made it. Richard Mosley (Atwell 1976 – 1982)

Best wishes to you all and good luck, Yours sincerely, Eustace. G. Bowhay.

Recruitment Drive!... On 26th May, members of the Committee attended the Upper Sixth Leavers drinks to promote the benefits of becoming a member of the Society and how it can support them in their future careers. Pictured from left are: Nick Myers, Ross Jefferies, Ed Wesson (Headmaster), Barry Tester and John Andrews. 13

Frederick B M HOLLAND ‘Bob’ 21/02/1930 – 17/02/2016 (Knott: 1938 - 1947) Being a fee paying pupil, Frederick Robert Maynard Holland, known as Bob, had the privilege and experience of attending The Skinners’ School before, during and after the war with so many changes made at that period to school life. Being an extremely inquisitive person, he soon showed new arrival Johnny Exall aged 15 years in 1944, his school knowledge about war torn Skinners’. This led to a lasting joint family friendship which still continues. After surviving 4 years of war, the School still had its famous Tuck Shop serving large sticky currant buns at break time with watered down milk on the quadrangle, meeting and swapping stories on sport, TWGGS girls, nurses (Bob’s weakness) plus of course, making an honest ‘Bob or Two’ along the way. “How much did it cost” he would ask. Giving you an amazed look with deep intake of breath at your reply. Somehow, he could always go one better. He was good at athletic field events, especially discuss and javelin, but it was on the rugby field at eagerly competed House matches where he really excelled. He was a formidable forward, socks round his ankles, shirt outside his below the knees shorts no quarter asked or given as the saying goes. On leaving school in 1947, like many others, Bob joined Tonbridge RFC with other rugby players joining Old Skinners RFC (now Tunbridge Wells RFC). In 1946/47there were many academic changes and a new class was formed for pupils catching up on studies and taking certain subjects again to gain their School Certificate. There were about fourteen boys that year in 5D “The Remove”

The classroom was situated at the bottom of the stairs and later careers room, sometimes acted as an overspill for the smoke filled Masters Common Room, so adult school leavers had the opportunity to discuss their future prospects, mostly with the ex forces teaching staff on a relaxed basis. Being sportsmen mostly, Ken Akrill, Tony Baker, myself, Bob Holland, Ray Hemsley and others were destined for a commercial future with lessons learnt that year. Card games, the odd gamble, money making schemes and enjoying mixed company pursuits outside school hours, especially the parties held at the Kelsey Arms across the road, our last year at School for most of us in the Remove was a happy memorable experience and we all passed our School Certificate Exam. On leaving School Bob joined the local Civil Service before completing his two years National Service in the Royal Engineers. On demob, he worked for the Royal Insurance Co and travelled to work on a two stroke B.S.A changing to a powerful Vincent motorbike. After a few spills on double bends, his love of cars began, ending up on a grand scale the proud owner of a Rolls Royce. Tonbridge RFC clubhouse had a full time staff serving lunches, a great meeting place for business sporting men. Bob helped out for many years with Bob Hales, Old Juddian, his future best man who had building expertise advising ‘Bob Holland the Builder’ in the years ahead.

His father was an agent for Bracketts Estate Agency selling fine houses, giving his son grand ideas for the future. Bob aged 13 years lost his father and had a lonely home childhood. This was all to change when he was introduced on a bonfire night to a nurse from the K & S Hospital who lit up his life forever. He married Mary on the 28th March 1956 and over the years they produced a handsome family of four boys and two girls. Bob and Mary would have celebrated their Diamond Wedding this year. On meeting Mary, Bob changed jobs again to Mercantile Credit Co. starting work at Maidstone, his natural business flair saw him promoted to managing their Tunbridge Wells Branch. In his spare time he acquired large building plots becoming a builder of fine homes to house his growing family. The first was at the top of Warwick Park overlooking most of Tunbridge Wells to the north. A second detached house at Crowborough followed by a third. Yearning for seclusion, he purchased his finest yet, Hamsell Manor, Eridge Estate. This was the Holland’s family home for more than 40 years. Naturally, it doubled in size. Bob started his own family business of Holland Holland and Holland Credit Co., employing at one time six family members. This business finished trading when Bob retired. Being an active member of the Old Skinners’ Society, what great times we had during The Skinners’ School 1987 Centenary Year. A special memorable occasion was a Skinners’ fund raising party which was held at Hamsell Manor for over 100 guests. Mary and Bob were the perfect hosts with food and wine and moon light swimming in their pool. Bob was our President in 1991 a very strong and active year for the Society. He was also an active member of the British Legion, The Holmesdale Freemasonary Lodge and respected well

known personality in the Tunbridge Wells and Eridge community and will be sadly missed. We send our heartfelt sympathy to Mary and the Holland family at this sad time. Not wishing to end on a sad note, the wake was held at Crowborough Rugby Club. David Holland, the youngest son, ‘A true chip off the old block’ related a story about “The Old Man”, Bob was very proud when David aged 7, who hated joining his brothers cleaning four family cars on Sundays, suggested to his dad that he wanted to play rugby at Crowborough Rugby Juniors 10am on Sundays. A delighted well dressed country gentleman arrived at the ground with his young enthusiastic rugby son a passenger in his very clean shiny Rolls Royce, envied and much admired by the other Dads. In true Holland fashion, young David ended the session the muddiest player. When out of sight along the road, he was rolled in an old blanket and dumped in the Rolls boot for the journey home!. This story is so true of the Bob Holland’s character we knew and loved from Skinners’ School “The Remove” a memorable School Year 1947. John R. Exall

Editors Note: In the March Newsletter we wrongly reported that Vernon Elvy’s years at Skinners’. It should have read 1935 – 1942, not 1932 – 1939.

• •

1st October 2016 - Annual Dinner, note change of venue to School Hall 17th December 2016 - Leopards’ Christmas Dinner, High Rocks, Tunbridge Wells More details to follow regarding both events.

Get Out Of My Space, a theatre group formed by four students (Matthew Turbett, Tobias Cornwell, Kit Bower-Morris and Jonny Lee) while they were in the sixth form, produced their first play in September 2014 at the Royal Victoria Hall and had a sell-out run. Their aim is to put on shows that are relevant for the younger generation and always present an interesting and relatable viewpoint. This summer they are putting on their second show, 'Hymns' by Chris O'Connell, at the performance space/bar in the Beacon, the new restaurant on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells. 'Hymns' takes place in a bar, where four friends congregate after the funeral of their friend. The play portrays the desperation, turmoil and insecurities that males face in light of a significant loss. They are also doing workshops at Skinners' this term to introduce Physical Theatre to many of the students. 'Hymns' will be performed on the 27th, 28th and 29th of July at 7:30pm, tickets are £10, or £7 for students. For more details, see www.facebook.com/goomsproductions