The Old Tettenhallian Magazine 2018

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THE OLD TETTENHALLIAN 2018

The Old Tettenhallian 2018 Contents Foreword - David Williams, Headmaster ………………………….

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Committee and future events …………………………….………… 3 President’s Welcome - Peter Bodkin ….…………………………… 4 Diary of recent OT events ………………………………………….. 5 London Reunion 2017 - the Speaker’s State Rooms .………………. 7 OT Lectures - Lord Hughes (2017) and Nicholas Jones (2018) ……. 10 Reunion Weekend - June 2018 …………………………….……….. 12 Golf Society report - August 2017 and 2018 …….…………………. 16 Where are they now? ……………………………………………….. 19 Wolverhampton Wanderings - Andrew Wynne …………………….. 24 100 Years Ago in the Tettenhallian Magazine (December 1918) ……. 25 Articles by Old Tettenhallians (Angus Dunphy, David Jones, Bill Towler, David Bullock, Roger Pendrill, Steve Gordos, Graham Clay and Dick Dawes ……… 26 Tributes to Old Tettenhallians (David Barnes, Dudley ‘Chippy’ Shrive and Denis Dowde) ……………………………. 43 In Fond Remembrance ……………………………………………… 48

“The Old Tettenhallian” magazine needs a new Editor I have decided to stand down as editor after four years or so working on our magazine. I have enjoyed the challenge, and sometimes it has been just that! I do hope you enjoy reading it.

I thank everyone who has contributed in any way to the production of the magazine – without you it just would not happen.

Both I and the OT committee will be delighted for someone to take over as editor as we sincerely hope the magazine continues in the future, possibly as part of the school magazine. If required I will be happy to assist the new editor in any way necessary. If you are interested and wish to know more about the job, please contact me (email oldtetts@gmail.com or phone 07837-785417).

Stephen Corns

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Foreword by David Williams, Headmaster It has been another successful year for all in the Tettenhall College community and we are delighted that the School continues to work in harmony with its former pupils. As ever, this has been to the benefit of all working at the School and our current pupils when Old Tettenhallians come back to share their knowledge with our pupils: from the Sixth Form life skills day organised

by Mark Leighton where a number of OTs return and give of their time to interview pupils or to tell their stories to the inaugural OTs lecture from Lord Hughes in which he discussed the intricacies of our criminal justice system. We are pleased that both these events have now become integral parts of our annual calendar and of course help pupils to decide on their paths when they leave school.

Our aim for 2019 is to formalise our support for the relationship with Old Tettenhallians with additional resources given to our alumni links. This will hopefully improve the quality of and support for our events and enable us to reach out to a wider range of former pupils (and staff and parents) at home and abroad as we embrace the new forms of digital communication. This will become even more important in the next few years as we embark on the exciting project of the restoration of the Towers building that sits within our grounds.

Not all can be discussed at a Committee, organised or put into a strategic plan. One of the great pleasures of being a Headmaster and a temporary steward of the TC legacy is an unplanned meeting with or an impromptu tour given for someone returning to the School for the first time after a number of years. Reactions can be similar. There is an appreciation of changes but also a delight at the familiar with always a telling of fascinating stories and an appreciation and good feeling about life at Tettenhall College. I am also keen to ask my own questions and eager for ideas that may of course end up in a strategic plan!

My thanks go to the Old Tettenhallians’ Club and especially Stephen Corns (who edits this magazine), Jeremy Ireland-Jones and Andrew Wynne for all their hard work in making the year such a successful one but equally for their openness and willingness to explore new ways in helping create a lively and worthwhile network for our alumni. I believe that we now have a real commitment to do this and I look forward to working with Peter Bodkin, former Headmaster and President of the Old Tettenhallians’ Club in 2018/19.

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The Old Tettenhallians’ Club Officers for 2018-2019 President Vice President & Chairman of Committee Hon. Secretary Hon. Treasurer Hon. Chaplain

Peter Bodkin Jeremy Ireland-Jones Stephen Corns Robert Russell Rev. Gary Ecclestone

Committee members Andrew Wynne, Peter Bodkin, Geoff Hopkinson, Tej Baden, Tim Rowe, Tim Harborow, Peter Pingree, Gregg Spooner and Graham Foulkes.

If you are interested in serving on committee, please contact the Chairman of Committee or Hon. Secretary.

Event Dates for 2019

(These are the dates known as the magazine goes to print – for updates refer to the Alumni section of the school website www.tettenhallcollege.co.uk

Annual Dinner

Friday 15th March 2019 Venue: The Pavilion, Stafford Road, Wolverhampton WV10 6AJ Tickets £26 each - email oldtetts@gmail.com for details..

London Reunion

Friday 26th April 2019 Venue: Pavilion Suite at the PwC Offices, 7 More London Riverside, London SE1 2RT Drinks and canapés from 6 until 8 p.m. Generously subsidised tickets will be £15 each obtainable from tickets@tettcoll.co.uk

Vernon Cup Golf Competition

Thursday 13th June 2019 Venue: South Staffordshire Golf Club, Tettenhall commencing at 2.30 p.m. If you wish to take part please contact Miles Jackson nearer the time (Tel: 07814-272646 or email jonothanjax@aol.com

Annual Reunion

Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June 2019.

OTs will receive an invitation by post or email beforehand with the scheduled programme.

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President’s Welcome After I left Tettenhall College in 2010, I was often asked if I missed being Headmaster. My answer was always the same. I did not miss the long hours and all the responsibilities which come with the post but I did miss that sense of community which Tettenhall College generates; a community which comprises pupils, former pupils, staff, governors, parents and other friends. Therefore, I was both honoured and delighted to be asked to serve as your President this year and to be able to maintain and grow my links with this special community.

The OT Club is evolving as any organisation has to do to remain relevant as the world moves on at an ever-increasing pace. In recent months, the Club and the College have agreed financial and administrative changes to our relationship which will see both parties working even more closely together to assist the Club in its aims to provide a framework for OTs to keep in touch and to socialise with one another and to support the College in any way that we can.

The Club is also very conscious that the events which it holds to foster a sense of camaraderie and belonging amongst its former pupils must be attractive to all generations. Therefore, I was delighted to see such a wide range of OTs at events in 2017/18; the London Re-Union at the House of Commons and the Sports fixtures and the Barbecue at the Reunion weekend in June for example. Thank you for your support. The message which I wish to highlight is that former pupils of all ages will receive a warm welcome at all the Club’s events in 2018/19, the details of which can be found elsewhere in this magazine and on the website.

If you are reading this and wondering why the communications which you used to receive from the Club/College, including invitations to OT events, ceased at the end of May, it could be that you have not replied to the consent form, required by the new GDPR regulations introduced on the 25th May 2018, and distributed by e-mail to all OTs on the database at that time. Please contact alumni@tettcoll.co.uk if you did not return a consent form and wish to continue to receive communications from the Club/College.

Andrew Wynne set a high bar as President last year and I would like to thank him for his work and particularly for his new initiatives and vision for the future. Jeremy Ireland-Jones continues to chair the Committee with consummate skill and diplomacy and I am grateful to members of the Committee for their contributions and hands-on assistance with the organisation of events. My thanks also go to the Headmaster, David Williams and the Bursar, Chris Way for their support.

Stephen Corns is our Club Secretary, official photographer, magazine editor, convener of events and much else besides. He works tirelessly on behalf of the Club and we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Thank you, Stephen.

I look forward to meeting as many OTs as possible during the course of the year ahead and to catching up with your news.

Peter Bodkin (Former Headmaster at TC 1994-2010)

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At our Committee Supper in September 2017, Chairman Jeremy Ireland-Jones presented long service gifts to John Dove and John Bates on their retirement from committee. Both have served the Club for over 40 years and both have been Club Presidents in the past. In recent years John Bates has been our Club Chaplin, being a Methodist Minister.

We are most grateful to them for the many years of service they have given.

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 2017 This moving address was given by OT Bob King at the service in the College Chapel last year. Bob was a pupil at TC from 1933–1940 and a Governor of the school for 42 years.

Bob King visiting Arromanches and the Normandy Beaches in 2015 School Chapel we remember our own.

On Remembrance Sunday we remember all those who gave their lives in war. If you have visited the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas you may have been surprised and even shocked to see that there has only been about three years since 1945 that there have been no casualties in the British Armed Forces. Although today we remember all casualties in war, here in this

Many of those OTs killed in the Second World War were not only known to me but were my friends.

Geoff Halbeard and Martin Parry were in my form. Both were first class hockey players at half back.

Geoff lived in Park Dale and had two very attractive elder sisters. Martin was due to join his father as a Congregational Church Minister. In the form below was Larry Fidgin, who followed me as head prefect and John Garrett. More senior were Peter Annan, Peter Dodd and Peter Snape. All were flyers with the RAF, except Peter Dodd who was a territorial officer and was captured at Dunkirk.

He died while a prisoner of war.

I came to Tettenhall in 1933 and the First World War had only been over less than fifteen years. We were brought up on the war poets: Brooke, Owen and Sassoon. We read Vera Brittain’s ‘Testament of Youth’. We either acted or read aloud the play ‘Journey’s End’. Nothing, however, brings home the horror or stupidity of it all than a visit to the Somme or Flanders Fields.

Many of the names of those who fell in that conflict resonated with me. They were those which were still familiar in Wolverhampton particularly among the professional classes. Cooksey, Page, Shaw, 5 5

Shelton. The Dickinsons farmed at Palmers Cross on the Codsall Road until well after the end of the Second World War. Lieutenant J.P.Thorne was the son of a mayor of Wolverhampton and is the founder of an annual school prize of which I am one of the proud holders. Eric Graham who was awarded the military cross and was a member of the Graham family which owned and still own The Express and Star. A cup for athletics is still awarded annually in his name. William Webb, who served with the 1st Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment, was killed in the battle of Passchendaele.

The question I have often ask myself is where do they all lie? Some in an English Church Yard, some in some far corner of a foreign field. Some in unmarked graves with their names on some memorial, perhaps at the Menin Gate or in Athens or Malta. The theme of visiting war graves is played out in the opening scene of the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’, when Ryan, now an old man is taken by his family to visit the grave of the soldier who saved his life. Would it not be good if they could be visited from time to time. Some years ago I visited Alexandria on a cruise and took the fifteen mile journey to the British and Commonwealth Cemetery at El Alamein. It is a breathtaking, peaceful and beautiful site of over six thousand graves.

It was not until I returned home that I discovered that one of the graves there was of someone I knew.

John Lawrence had rooms on the same staircase as I at our College in Cambridge. I did not know him well but we would briefly chat if we happened to meet.

Some years later I was in Alexandria again on another cruise. I made the journey once more to El Alamein with the sole purpose of visiting John`s grave, to stand by it and say a little prayer for him.

The record book at the cemetery records the names of his parents and their address in London I wondered if they had ever been able to visit their son?

The answer to my question where are they all is simple. On the internet of course! Look up “Wolverhampton War Memorials. Schools, Tettenhall College” and it is all there. Full details of eighteen of those who fell in the First World War and seven of those in the Second, Our thanks are due to those who carried out the painstaking research to provide all this vital information. Perhaps it could be published in the College magazines in due course. Perhaps also someone could research those not identified.

I am not suggesting that this should set off a series of pilgrimages. Rather that those of us who are visiting or are on holiday near to the grave or the memorial of one of those whose names appear on our chapel wall should make a small diversion to spend a minute`s silence in remembrance. After all, they were one of us. _____________________________ John McRae’s famous poem ‘In Flanders’ Fields the Poppies Blow’: In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row.

That mark our place, and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders’ fields.

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Take on our quarrel with the foe To you from failing hands we throw The torch, be yours to hold on high.

If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields ______________________________________________________

.London Reunion – Reception in the Speaker’s State Rooms, Palace of Westminster

on 24th November 2017.

This great idea for a reunion venue resulted from conversations between our OT President Andrew Wynne and Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin who is the Speaker’s Chaplain (and also Chaplain to the Queen). In addition she has been Priest-Vicar of Westminster Abbey since 2010.

In 1994-1995 she was Parish Deacon of St. Matthew’s Church, Wednesfield, then moving to become Assistant Curate of St. Andrew’s Church, West Bromwich. During this time her children were pupils at Tettenhall College, and hence a valuable link was forged.

The official booklet about the Speaker says “The Speaker’s House epitomises the status of the Speaker. It always was the grandest residence in the New Palace of Westminster and is the only one to survive in anything like its original form. The House occupies the twin-towered pavilion which projects at the northernmost end of the River Front, with one side parallel to Westminster Bridge (Editor’s note: the painting shown here “The Building of Westminster Bridge” by John Anderson in 1860 depicts it well).

It is approached from the New Palace Yard through the courtyard, called the Speaker’s Court. When it was first completed in 1859, it was a grand Victorian town house, with servants in the basement and on the ground floor, the State Apartments on the Principal Floor and the bedrooms on the first and second floors. The Speaker now has a private flat on the second floor but the formal State Apartments remain on the Principal Floor and are used for official business.”

Around 90 OTs and partners attended our special reunion, and we gathered at 6 p.m. for security checks at Portcullis House. It was similar to airport security but the staff were very friendly and in no time we were walking in a broad passage under Bridge Street before making our way into the Speaker’s House. Rose HudsonWilkin was with us from the very start and made the evening run very smoothly, even going back to escort latecomers from the security area.

Club President Andrew Wynne with Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin who welcomed everyone.

There was a reception in the State Rooms until

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8 p.m. and drinks and canapés were delicious and generous. For many it was their first OT social event and it proved to be a great introduction to these annual ‘get-togethers’. For others it was a wonderful opportunity to meet old friends perhaps not seen in decades.

And what surroundings! They could not have been more impressive and yet at the same time relaxed.

We were pleased that the College’s Head Boy and Senior Prefect – Narin Neamnoy and Tracy Vu – were able to join us along with Mark Leighton, Head of the Sixth Form. They enjoyed the evening very much before rushing off after the tour to catch their train back to Wolverhampton.

Bhadar Sandhur, James Winwood, Josh Doyle-Gibbons, Stephanie Ainsworth, Diana Corns, Gregg Spooner and Harry Westwood

Houses of Commons and Lords which was most interesting. The guides were very informative and gave us some interesting and sometimes amusing background to the workings of Parliament.

Around 9.15 p.m. the guides left us in the enormous Westminster Hall and it was all over – what an evening! Reluctantly we left the Hall to go our separate ways, and reflect on a memorable event.

We extend our thanks to Andrew Wynne and Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin for organising this rare opportunity to spend time in the Palace of Westminster.

Here are some messages of appreciation from OTs received after our reunion:-

At 8 p.m. we were taken in small groups by guides for a conducted tour of both the

Charles Gordos, Roger Ashton, Heather and David Lycett, Judy Cambidge and Derek Partridge

Many thanks for the photo and I must congratulate you on the other excellent photos of the reunion.

It really was a splendid occasion and a privilege to be entertained in such wonderful chambers.

Colin Jones (TC 1945-1950) I would like to thank the OT Club Committee and especially our President, Andrew Wynne, for arranging such a brilliant and enjoyable evening last Friday in the Speakers Chambers. Wasn't Rose lovely?! The tour of The Commons and House of Peers was very interesting - we had a good guide.

The reception was superb, the canapés delicious and the eclectic collection of OT's that the event attracted was fascinating.

It was pleasing to see the College Head Boy and Head Girl in attendance and, speaking with them, it was very clear that they had enjoyed the event.

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I had forgotten just how big Westminster Hall is and the statues of Lloyd-George, Clement Attlee, Churchill and Thatcher in the Central Lobby were far more imposing than I had imagined in fact I think Thatcher commands the space Sarah and Andrew Wynne, Mark Leighton (Head of Sixth Form), Tim more than Churchill.

Hughes, and College students Tracey Vu and Narin Neamnoy.

The best piece of art work that I saw was undoubtedly the scaffolding to St. Stephens Tower!

Please pass my thanks on to all concerned again Keith Grant-Pearce (TC 1953-1963) Just a short note to say thank you very much for a very impressive OT Reunion at the Palace of Westminster last Friday night. It was a fantastic event. Not only was it great to catch Sarah and Andrew Wynne, Mark Leighton (Head of Sixth Form), Tim up with my old pals from the college it Hughes, and College students Tracey Vu and Narin Neamnoy. was wonderful to do so in such impressive surroundings.

Thank you for organising it so well.

Stuart Wright (TC 1978-1983) We all had a really enjoyable evening on Friday amongst many Old Tettenhallians.

It was certainly a privilege and honour to have the opportunity to take the tour that we had and I would like to thank you both for a superb evening.

Mark Leighton (Head of Sixth Form at the College)

On tour through St. Stephen’s Hall at Westminster

We have had a superb day today. The Speaker’s Chambers were fascinating and the food and drink were top class. We were made to feel very comfortable and special at the same time, and the welcome

from Rose Hudson-Wilkin was so friendly.

It was so nice to meet OTs (and partners) who I have never met before, some who I haven’t seen for some time and others more familiar.

Our guided tour was absolutely superb as the guide was extremely knowledgeable and answered all our questions. Please convey our thanks to the appropriate people and to you for organising such a rare opportunity.

Rod Seivewright (TC 1954-1960)

Just back from a thoroughly enjoyable, nay outstanding, London event. Thank you for both having the idea and organising it. I met many old friends whom I had not seen (in several cases) for 50 years.

Sobering, but even that did not tarnish the gilt.

Ian Fallon (TC 1961-1969) Congratulations to all who were involved in organising the visit.

Absolutely great, but I wonder what you are going to do for a follow-up!

Philip Cunningham (TC 1959-1966) An excellent evening and even the terrorist disruption at Oxford Circus decided to concede in our favour! Well done Andrew, thank you.

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Inaugural OT Lecture on 1st December 2017 This new event held last December proved to be a special one, as OT Lord Hughes of Ombersley delivered the inaugural OT lecture in the Towers Theatre in front of an audience of around 120 OTs, College staff and pupils and guests.

Anthony Hughes was at the College from 1957 to 1966 and then gained a Bachelor of Law Degree at Durham University. He was Head of Chambers until 1997 of No.1 Fountain Court Chambers in Birmingham. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1990, and a judge of the High Court of Justice, Family Division, from 1997 to 2003. He served as Presiding Judge on the Midland circuit from 2000 to 2003, and transferred to the Queen's Bench Division from 2004 to 2006.

In 2013, he was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

Headmaster David Williams, Chair of Governors Jeremy Woolridge, Lord Hughes, Andrew Wynne and John Dove

During his lecture he spoke about criminal law and its place in society and the different degrees of harm and blame or culpability. You punish those who act deliberately, not accidentally. The harm is the same but the blame is not.

There were a lot of interesting twists and turns in his 45 minute lecture and everyone agreed it was most thought provoking and an excellent talk.

Our President Andrew Wynne had organised the lecture and he held a question and answer session afterwards and there were many contributors to this including some College pupils.

Everyone enjoyed this memorable evening and the OT Committee hope to stage repeat lectures annually.

Lord Hughes chatting to Rev. David Wright, Rector of St. Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton

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OT Lecture 27th September 2018 – given by OT Nicholas Jones (TC 1954-1959) The following report is provided by College Senior Prefect Danica Perrin.

On a night full of intellect, inspiration and valuable information Nicholas Jones, an Old Tettenhallian, gave past and present Tettenhall College students an interesting and honest lecture on his political knowledge. The former Tettenhall College pupil himself, who has served as labour and industrial correspondent for the BBC and on the parliamentary and political staff for The Times, returned to his old school to share some of his work, views, top secrets and the industrial disputes of the 1980s and the historically important political changes and events.

The evening began with the relaxed and intimate opening of the new Tettenhall College library where Mr. Jones was introduced to the new librarian and a few other members of the school, including former headmaster and current vice-chairman of the OT club, Peter Bodkin. This then led to the start of the talk where guests and Old Tettenhallians entered through the new reading space and reminisced on their time there years ago.

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Mr. Jones’ entertaining lecture gave especially the current TC pupils a very vivid idea of British politics in the eyes of a journalist. He shared impressive information and secrets from his meetings with former prime ministers and his role in the leaking of then prime minister, John Major’s private words regarding British soldiers fighting in the Gulf War. He spoke of his four-hour long car drive from North Wales to London with the mineworkers’ President Arthur Scargill.

This would be a highly memorable moment for Mr. Jones as he spent a whole four hours Gathered in the new Library are Peter Bodkin, Headmaster with an important individual involved in the David Williams, our lecturer Nicholas Jones, Senior Prefect industrial disputes of the 1980s.

Danica Perrin and OT President Andrew Wynne.

The evening’s talk progressed onto more presentday politics regarding Brexit and how the ages of leave and remain voters strongly differ, with the majority of young brits voting remain and large number of the older generations vote to leave. He also touched on how strongly voters’ fears of immigration were exploited by Brexit supporting newspapers and how the young versus old voting also has a key part in political party supporters, with the youth sitting as strong Labour supporters (not forgetting Labour has younger party members) and the Conservatives Party’s older supporters. On Nicholas Jones presenting two of his books to librarian Jackie Medhurst. top of this, he spoke of the value and his personal support of young people voting as he said himself ‘I back the votes at sixteen,’ in which he guarantees that “there’ll be another surge in the youth vote.”

The end of the talk consisted of questions from the audience, from the topic of Brexit to his personal feelings and political views. The first and possibly most intriguing question posed was “Do you think the public is becoming more immune to ‘fake news’ and consequently is there now little opportunity for a budding Adolf Hitler?”

Mr. Jones answered, “Just look at Donald Trump, who would have thought that he would be President of the USA.” He also answered on how journalists can effectively work, his answer, “as a pack,” as The audience included Jennifer Deeming, Phil Deeming they did back in his days as a journalist.

(Chairman of Wolverhampton SW Conservatives), former city Mayor Barry Findlay and Margaret Findlay.

Overall the talk was an exciting and unforgettable event, especially for the current Tettenhall College students and I believe I speak on behalf of all those in attendance that it was a pleasure to be part of such an excellent evening.

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Annual Dinner - March 2018 Around fifty OTs, partners and guests enjoyed a meal together at South Staffs Golf Club, and were thoroughly entertained by local comedian Doug Parker with his individual style of amusing comments on everyday occurrences.

A happy group gather around comedian Doug Parker, resplendent in flowery shirt.

A snow blizzard unfortunately restricted numbers at the dinner, as those living some distance away sensibly did not risk the treacherous conditions.

Two of our guests were College Head Boy Narin Neamnoy and Head Girl Molly Laight

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Reunion Weekend (23rd and 24th June 2018) Once again we were blessed with beautiful weather over the weekend, and no doubt this encouraged a few more OTs to come along for the sport and social attractions. With the cooperation of school staff, OTs Peter Pingree, Tej Baden and Stephen Corns prepared the Coffee Shop area on the Saturday morning in readiness for the evening’s barbecue.

Early afternoon the bar was installed by Giuseppe Corbelli’s staff – we are grateful to him for his assistance over quite a few years now.

Gregg Spooner had spent a lot of time bringing together OTs for the football and cricket matches, which in spite of (or because of?) modern communications can be frustrating and lots of hassle – as he said in a message to me “I’ve been inundated with emails, messages, ‘Facebook’ messages, ‘Whatsapp’ messages, phone calls all about different issues, questions and confirmations.”

I am sure Sophie Jones who has taken over organising the ladies’ sports has had exactly the same irritations and anxieties.

We are very grateful to them both for their hard work organising the OT teams.

If anyone would like to assist them next year, then do please let us know.

The football match kicked off just after 4 pm and was keenly contested over the 90 minutes. The OTs’ squad was rotated regularly so that everyone played, and maybe because of this they lasted the duration of the match whereas the School 12

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College forwards waiting to pounce on a throw-in, putting the OT defence under pressure

XI may have flagged towards the end.

With 7 minutes left the School were ahead 3-2 but two goals from Andy Samuels meant the OTs ran out 4-3 winners. Andy scored all 4 goals for the OTs and was surely ‘Man of the Match’.

For the School Jack Pritchard scored two goals and Daniel Donnelly one.

OT Captain Elliott Moxey received the trophy at the end of the game. The two squads of players grouped here with referee James Bullock (TC Director

For the second year we arranged a barbecue and again this appealed to a wide spectrum of OTs, plus some School staff and year 13 pupils – and it was nice to see them.

Around 130 people attended, just a few more than last year and catering manager Sonia Humphries and her ladies fed us very well.

OT President Andrew Wynne presented a lovely bouquet of flowers to Penny Storey, the College’s Head of Marketing and Development who is leaving to set up home with her family in Dubai.

Penny has worked closely with OTs for six years and we have appreciated her cooperation and good work on our behalf.

The Sunday morning greeted us with clear blue skies, and Peter Pingree and I retrieved our oil-drum type barbecues from the College grounds fairly early.

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The hockey match started late morning at Aldersley Leisure Village and Sophie Jones had assembled a more youthful OT team which may have lacked some match practice.

The School team was bolstered by the new Head Boy Jack Pritchard who injected some pace and accuracy with his passing.

The School won 3-0 which caused OT

Chloe McIntosh to say “That’s the first Another group at the barbecue (lt to rt) Mark Leighton (Head of Sixth Form), Rimi and Tej Baden, Chris and Geoff Hopkinson, Diana Corns and Jane Bodkin

OT match I’ve been on the losing side”. Chloe has probably played in the Reunion Weekend hockey match for the last 5 or 6 years, initially for TC and now the OTs.

The two hockey teams relax together after playing in heat wave conditions.

Many played later in the netball match

Later in the day OT President Andrew Wynne presented the hockey trophy to College captain Davica Perrin.

Lunch was served for the sports players in the Main Dining Room, and a TV projection had been set up to enable them to watch the England vs. Panama football match (World Cup) in Russia. Shouts of joy peppered the meal as Gareth Southgate’s men threatened a cricket score by half time. At least it meant our cricketers and netball players could be persuaded to start their afternoon matches almost on time!

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For the first time our netball match was played on the new MUGA (all-weather) pitch at the rear of the Preparatory School. The ladies played the full hour, glowing noticeably with some complaining there was not a square inch of shade across the pitch – it was close to 30 degrees c.

The OTs were winners by 18-15 and OT President Andrew Wynne presented the trophy to captain Vicki Kibble.

By the time I arrived at the cricket pavilion at around 4 p.m. the OTs had compiled a big score and looked set for victory. After the agreed 25 overs they had achieved 266 runs, main contributors being Bahadur Johal with 88 and Alex Grant with a magnificent 100 (retired unhurt). We all thought that this was an unassailable total, and Captain Gregg Spooner was confident of avenging last year’s result.

However with some spectacular ball striking the College team always looked to be in control, and Captain Rahul Kashul scored 67 in 39 balls and Hector Williams an excellent 93. Lawson Billingsley was 38 not out as was George Shipway with 43. The required runs were knocked off with (I think) 3 balls of the innings left. The OTs congratulated the School on their victory, whilst being a little subdued at the end.

Peter Bodkin (OT Vice President) presented the Walters Trophy to Rahul Kashul at 6.45 p.m..

A wonderful game of cricket ended this memorable Reunion Weekend.

The Walters Trophy was presented to College Captain Rahul Kashul (centre front)

by OT Vice President Peter Bodkin (second from left).

Rahul can be seen above in classic pose

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Golf Society Report Summer ‘Fun Day’ at Bewdley Pines Golf Club.

We had a good turnout in August 2017 with 15 society members playing on a lovely summer’s day at this venue which few of us had played before. It is an excellent club with a demanding golf course

by Habberley Valley with lovely views of the Malvern Hills on some holes, and I (Editor) was very pleased to be persuaded to share a buggy as the terrain is very undulating.

We played stableford system with the best two scores out of three counting on each hole, except the par 3s where all counted. Results were as follows:1st Lloyd Sutton, Stephen Corns and Max Seivewright 2nd Alan Taylor, Ian Ward and Rod Seivewright 3rd Keith Grant-Pearce, Mark Wainwright and John Dove

83 points 80 points 77 points

There were prizes for nearest the pin: 2nd shot to 7th hole: won by Captain David Lycett 1st shot to 18th hole par three – this proved to be so difficult, no one even got on the green!

Match OTs vs. the College Held in September 2017, this was the third time we have staged this match and unfortunately the OTs struggled to field a team. Nevertheless our captain David Lycett had pulled the stops out and with the support of some South Staffs members five four ball games were arranged.

Most of the games were finished before torrential rain flooded greens towards the end of the afternoon.

The overall match was halved 2½ - 2½ and everyone enjoyed an excellent meal in the dry clubhouse.

Centre are the two captains David Lycett and David Williams. Nearest the pin prizes won by Stephen Corns and Robin Beach. Longest drive Simon Lycett.

Autumn Meeting In October 2017 we travelled to Edgbaston Golf Club to play for the Centenary Cup. Morning 9 holes: 1st Simon Lycett & Oliver Margetts 2nd Miles Jackson & Jonathan Peters Centenary Cup 1st Simon Lycett 2nd Tony Corkindale 3rd Miles Jackson

23 points 22 points

42 points 38 points 37 points

After the meal it was announced that the winner of the Rosebowl Knockout played through the spring and summer was Jeremy Harris who beat Mark Wainwright in the final, and Golfer of the Year was David Lycett. This is not a misprint. Well done to them!

Match OTs vs. Oxley Wanderers The first battle of the calendar year 2018 was on April 11th and did not go well. It was a grey, cold afternoon and the only piece of good luck (?) was that the course was open – it was closed both the

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day before and the day after! After a bit of shuffling, both teams fielded full sides enabling six matches, and Oxley Wanderers won 5 and one was halved.

Spring Outing – 2nd and 3rd May 2018 Seventeen of us went on this two day trip which was as usual well organised by our Secretary Keith Grant-Pearce.

The Paul Whitehead Memorial Trophy was played at Tytherington Golf Club, near Macclesfield which is the HQ of the Ladies PGA. Most of us found the course quite long and arduous, as it was still very wet underfoot after the poor weather of recent months. Nevertheless a good time was had by all with a very “made up” Burnup Cambidge being the winner with a better back nine.

1st Burnie Cambidge 32points 2nd Tony Corkindale 32 points 3rd Miles Jackson 30 points Overnight accommodation at The Bridge Hotel, Prestbury proved to be very successful and pleasant and we had an excellent meal with the usual repartee.

Next morning we made the short journey to Wilmslow Golf Club to play for the Captain’s Prize. What a contrast! This course was in superlative condition and we received a very warm welcome followed by some very competitive golf and an excellent late lunch afterwards.

The winner by three clear points was our Captain with 36 points – unfortunately he could not receive his own prize!

Consequently John Dove was presented with the Captain’s Prize – his success surprised many of us as he had made abundant excuses during the trip about his painful foot, poor health and lack of golf – but I guess this is why we John Dove receiving the Captain’s Prize from love this wonderful game!

Jonathan Peters.

1st John Dove 33 points 2nd Miles Jackson 32 points (better back nine) 3rd Roger Ashton 32 points We were pleased to see Philip Mould who had made the long journey from Scotland to be with us during the two days.

Vernon Cup Held on the 14th June 2018 at South Staffs Golf Club, it was a glorious day for the oldest event in our calendar. The greens were very slick and three-putting was fairly common.

This is now our only medal play competition and results were close for the winners:1st: Simon Lycett 90-15 = 75 (better back nine) 2nd: Keith Grant-Pearce 94-19 = 75 (better back nine) Keith Grant-Pearce, winner of the Sage Trophy and second in Vernon Cup, Jonathan Peters, Simon Lycett 3rd equal Miles Jackson and Steve Robinson winner of Vernon Cup and Miles Jackson who was third.

93-18 = 75

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Simon also won the best gross prize.

The Derek Sage Trophy was won by Keith Grant-Pearce. This weighty trophy is awarded to the player with the lowest aggregate gross score on the par three holes – Keith had just 13 shots on the four holes.

During the meal afterwards, Roger Ashton revealed that this was the 60th time he has played for the Vernon Cup, and he has not won it yet! A record which will not be broken, I’m sure.

Match vs. Old Wulfrunians This is always a serious battle against old friends, and until a much celebrated victory in 2016 we had gone many years without a win. 2017 saw a return to our disappointing results against OW but July 3rd 2018 became a new red letter day as we secured a 3½-2½ victory. Everyone was wilting at the end of the game with a prolonged heat wave making the greens at South Staffs impossibly quick.

Summer ‘Fun Day’ at Bewdley Pines Golf Club A repeat of last year at this pleasant club on 8th August 2018. After two months of constant heat wave, there was almost disbelief when we teed off in light rain but this soon gave way to another glorious afternoon.

As last year the format was stableford system with the best two scores out of three counting on each hole, except the par 3s where all counted. A quirky addition was a yellow ball given to each threesome, played in turn and giving the user a bonus point. One group lost theirs on the 2nd hole and so blew their opportunity for bonus points for the remaining holes. The scoring system stretched the mental powers of most card markers!

Winners were Philip Jennings, Roger Ashton and Mark Wainwright with 107 points, closely followed by 103 points scored by Tony Corkindale, John Dove and Stephen Corns.

Nearest the pin prizes were won by:David Peters – second shot to the 8th green.

David Lycett – at the par three 18th.

Match vs. Enville ‘B’ Team on 6th September 2018 Through the good connections of our Captain Jonathan Peters, this ‘one-off’ match proved to be an excellent golfing experience on the Lodge Course although we were decidedly second best, losing 5-1 to a superior team.

Autumn Meeting at Lilleshall Hall GC. This was our final meeting of 2018 and again we enjoyed good weather and hospitality from the club. The fittest amongst us played a 9 hole team competition in the morning and the winners were Roddy Seivewright, Steve Billingsley and Keith Grant-Pearce with a remarkable 48 points.

A creditable 21 society members competed in the afternoon for the Centenary Cup, playing a singles stableford round on this demanding course.

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In spite of battling through clouds of ladybirds in shorts and tee shirt, Roddy Seivewright claimed the trophy with 35 points. He had a better back nine than David Peters, also with 35 pts.

Before dinner we held the 44th Annual General Meeting in the clubhouse, which saw Keith Grant-Pearce’s last official involvement as Secretary (although he will continue as Treasurer). Those present applauded Keith for the great job he has done for the society over 16 busy years.

Roddy Seivewright, winner of the Centenary Cup, Captain Jonathan Peters, Miles Jackson, Golfer of the Year and new Secretary of the Society, Keith Grant-Pearce, retiring Secretary and runner-up in the Rosebowl knockout.

Taking over the mantle from Keith as Secretary is Miles Jackson, and we all wish him well in the role.

It was announced that Tony Corkindale won the Rosebowl knock-out trophy this year, beating Keith in the final.

Golfer of the Year for 2018 is Miles Jackson, just ahead of John Dove.

We look forward to more camaraderie and good golf next year. _________________________________________________

Where are they now?

David Adams (1950 – 1955) Celebrated his 80th birthday on 20th December 2017 at the Newport Branch of the Royal Naval Association. Many friends gathered to wish him well – see photograph.

David’s interests have been many and varied, including the Shropshire Caving and Mining Club of which he was a founder member, Newport Chamber of Commerce, Newport History Society and the Upper Severn Navigation Trust.

Since 1984 until 2014 David has been a cartographer mapping farms mostly along the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. He was Mayor of Newport on two occasions and a Freeman of the City of London.

Sam Belton (1982 - 1984) I'm Sam Belton (formerly Sam Gilbert) and was at TC 1982 - 84.

Became Teacher of the Deaf for 25 years, and then trained as Teacher of the Blind. Now I'm SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) at a national residential special school for blind. I have four children, loving bringing them up. I'm a karate Sensei, teaching a class weekly in Kidderminster.

Update on my brothers - Andrew Gilbert (TC 1972-1977) lives close to me, very happy and trains in karate with me several times a week. (Photo is of Andrew and Sam). Stephen Gilbert (TC 1971-

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1981) last seen performing at music festival in Worcestershire last week (with my daughter and I on backing vocals). Brilliant fun.

Robert Green (1955 – 1961) In a message in September 2018 to the Editor, who unfortunately had to cancel a planned trip to the Dordogne where Robert and his wife Brenda live, he said: We’re both in good health, apart from the aches and pains associated with getting old! It’s a shame we’ll not be seeing you on this trip, as we had hoped to entertain you for a luncheon here, to bore our wives with our stories of TC and OTGS! Still, perhaps you may be this way again in the future.

We’ve had an amazing summer here, certainly the best for sunshine in the sixteen years we have been living in France, in fact, it is still over 30 degrees in the daytime now. Thank goodness we have a swimming pool, at least we are getting plenty of exercise during the hot weather.

We’re coming over to the U.K. next month (October) to attend a Golden Wedding Anniversary party, with friends in Shropshire. I Robert and Brenda enjoying life in the Dordogne region think the only old OT there will be Robert of France Lawrence.

Brenda and I have been married 48 years, where have the years gone? How long have you been married? I have a niece and nephew, with families still in the area, so will catch up with them also.

Don’t know if I told you, but we have bought a house in Tasmania, where our daughter lives with her husband and four young children. She is a GP, and breeds Gypsy Cobs and Basset Hounds in her spare time! We intend to spend six summer months there and six summer months in France, so no more winters for us!

No golf any more, but we are both keen croquet players, being members of a club here, and members of a club in Tasmania, where it is a very popular sport. The people there are so friendly, not like some of the French!

1962 1st XI cricket team - Rob Green is standing third Tasmania is really the jewel in the crown of from left. Stephen Corns is second left next to him.

Australia, the climate, beautiful scenery and beaches. If ever you get the chance, do visit there, as it is still very undiscovered as a tourist destination, and I know you would love it. The island is much larger than it looks, next to the mainland it is dwarfed! But it is nearly as big as Ireland!

Are you still editing the OT magazine? Really enjoy reading it, as seems many of our era are still mentioned. The OTGS is still going strong, although I see it has unfortunately lost some of the older members - Derek Sage, Paul Whitehead and Morris Winyard will be sorely missed!

Please give my regards to any OT who would have known me.

John Humphries (1955-1961), Cyril Rushton (1955-1962) and Tim Rowe (1954-1961) In March the Editor was grateful to be invited by OT committee member Tim to join him on his regular outing to a pub in Wellington with John and Cyril. I had not met either of them since leaving

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TC some 58 years ago but after a few minutes the intervening time was almost forgotten. John lives in Stafford, Cyril in Telford and Tim in Wombourne.

Tim still works most days at the family engineering company now run by his son, Tim Rowe (junior) who was at TC from 1986-1993.

John retired from teaching around 15 years ago and Cyril is also retired having worked in the telephone business for a long time.

For many years John has followed motor racing of all types and is recognised as a researcher and compiler of contemporary race reports which otherwise would have been lost in the mists of time.

John was best man at Tim’s wedding and vice versa. Cyril was usher at both. The three have been close friends since schooldays which is wonderful.

Under 15 College rugby team of 1958: Cyril Rushton is rear left, Tim Rowe is centre row left and John Humphries is rear row third from right.

Jim Frew (TC 1941 – 1952) Jim writes from his home in Australia: Thanks for the notification of the passing of John Shenton. Although he would have been at least a couple of years ahead of me at TC, I do remember him and his younger brother Peter who was more my contemporary, and was head prefect I think in 1950-51. At any rate, I shared a study with Peter for a short time after being made a prefect. I think Peter was followed by Brian Field-Hyde as HP. I think they were both good rugby players, and Peter certainly was. Though not great at sport, I did play rugby at House level, and remember Peter charging towards me – ball in hand and intending to score an easy try. I crouched to tackle with the expectation that he would side step me, but he ran straight into me at full speed and I have never forgotten the experience, though came to no harm!

I also note fellow contemporaries in your addressee listing – notably Alan Beaumont, Patrick Wellsbury, and Tony West. West was in the College chess team, a photo of which has appeared in the College history journals. I think the numbers of my school contemporaries must be fast diminishing as years advance. I have just turned 84 and downsized our home a couple of years ago as living on two acres was no longer practical. I am attaching a selfie taken as I type!

We now live in the same suburb of Bittern on the Victorian Mornington Peninsula in a new house and with a small garden with two lawns that can be mown in 20 minutes! The £10 that I spent to migrate to OZ in 1960 is still the best £10 I have ever spent!

My wife Beth, whom I met soon after arriving in Australia in 1960, is 92 and has Alzheimer's, so I am now a full time carer, but we manage to keep physically well, thanks to 27 years in the health food industry! Apart from a short visit to attend a family wedding in Scotland in 1992, we have never been back to the UK. I very much appreciate the annual College news updates and especially as this now reaches me via the net – such enormous and fantastic detail – and so different to the OT magazines of 40 years ago.

I often use Google Earth to view localities in Tettenhall and Wolverhampton that I haven’t seen for nearly 60 years.

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It will soon be time for the Annual Reunion at the College. The last one I attended was in 1959 – so long ago! Have a great weekend.

By the way, I have told my son to advise the OT secretary when I eventually fall off my perch, but hope to be around for a while yet!

Kind regards. Jim. A subsequent message from Jim reads…

It is so good to hear that Geoffrey Hancock is still around. He led our chess group, and of course was a well-loved history teacher and second master for many years. He was a favourite of mine amongst staff. Yes, we are all living well beyond our ‘use-by dates’ of a few years ago. Please send him my very fond regards, and tell him that I still treasure the photo of our famous chess team taken I think in 1952.

(The Editor contacted Geoff Hancock and passed on Jim’s good wishes – Geoff, now 96, was delighted to hear from Jim.) Please feel free to print any part of my previous message presumably in the alumni section of the annual bulletin, and you are welcome to include my email address in case any contemporary would like to reconnect with me.

Best wishes. Jim (email: james.i.frew@gmail.com) Ian Wass (Music Director at TC 1983-2015) A news update – September 2018 My foot operation in January was a success, but recovery was, and still is slow. I was in a wheelchair and on crutches for quite a long time, but I am now walking without crutches and able to wear ‘normal’ shoes and so can get out and about and walk more again, but it does still swell up if I overdo it. I have been doing regular physio on it, but it is still giving me problems and may require further surgery.

Apart from that, Alison and I are still really happy with our ‘new life’ and we love living in Cornwall.

We’ve been here two and a half years now and really feel part of the community.

It is a beautiful area and we are exploring it, doing some walking again and just enjoying and living a mile from the sea, which we can see from our garden across the fields. We have been making the most of this glorious weather and spending time on the beach and swimming in the sea.

I am now a volunteer driver for the local health centre, so if an elderly or infirm person needs to get to the doctors, dentist, optician or go to a hospital appointment, they can phone a central number and a driver gets allocated. I am finding this really rewarding and a chance to meet and look after some of the ‘older’ locals.

Music is still not playing a big part in my life at the moment. I have played a few times at the Methodist Church next door and really enjoyed it, and they were very grateful. I have also sung with a local choir a few times, but I am not really missing it. I still enjoy listening to music on the radio.

We have finished most of the work on the house – there is still one bedroom to re-design and build some storage units and alter the en-suite, but that will not get done for a while.

Ian proudly driving a Morgan car back in 2013.

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We have been working really hard on the garden and it is starting to look nice with lots of 22

colour. I managed to finish the stone wall around the patio just before my foot operation and was rather pleased with how it turned out, bearing in mind I had not done one before!

I started playing bowls at Helston when I came down to Cornwall and it has sort of taken over my life.

I got involved just playing to start with, and was then made captain of one of the teams, and then at the AGM last October was made Chairman of the Club. This is taking up a lot of my time, but has given me a new ‘project’ to work on. The old Chairman and committee had not been very forward looking and I have been able (along with two very good other new(ish) members and the support of a lot of the others) to modernise the way the club is being run. We have just manged to get a new roof on the clubhouse and new heating installed and now we are working on getting the money together for a new kitchen.

Alison is going to ‘keep fit’ sessions in the village hall and she still goes to ‘slimming world’ sessions once a week, although she doesn’t need to. She has also got into craft work in a big way, attending classes at the local craft shop most weeks. She is making her own cards, advent calendars, scrapbooks etc. and is really enjoying it.

Ben and Rachel and baby Charlie (now 2 years old) came down for their two week summer holiday and we had a great time. We had Alison’s mum down to Cornwall (from York) for a month in May which she really enjoyed. After taking her back, we had to come up to Wolverhampton the following two consecutive weekends, once to play for a funeral of my friend Hamish (whom I had known for years) and then a party for some of the pupils who were leaving Tettenhall College, who I taught from when they were about 7 years old!

Dominic (our youngest son) lives only eight miles from us, but we don’t see him that often as he is busy with his work. He is getting a lot of commissions for his art work and going all over England painting. He recently did the side of two buildings in Brixham and Alison and I went over for a couple of days to see him ‘at work’.

He has just done a big mural on the end of the old lifeboat house in Porthleven, a sailing port down here. The official unveiling of it was a few weeks ago which we attended. The man who owns the harbour commissioned Dominic to do the work - it took him over three weeks to complete – he had to hire scaffolding and work around the Cornish weather and he had it hidden from view with tarpaulin until the official opening. At the unveiling, they had the town band playing and about 70 guests including the local press. The mural was of many of the old crew from the lifeboat and some of the local fishermen, some of whom were there on the night. It was quite a special evening for us and we were very proud. _______________________________________________________________

The “Leavers’ Lunch” towards the end of May is a milestone for those going on to university or further education, even getting a job!

The 2018 group are pictured outside the Coffee Shop at the College, and we welcome the latest generation of ‘Old Tettenhallians’ and wish them good luck!

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Wolverhampton Wanderings

Some reminiscences by our outgoing President Andrew Wynne (TC 1977-1990) I have thoroughly enjoyed being a councillor on Wolverhampton City Council and it has been an honour to represent Tettenhall Wightwick - the area where I grew up and went to school.

My wife Sarah and I met through politics, so Conservatism is a shared passion. However, with our children Charles and Lydia getting older and as I have taken up more partnership responsibilities with my law firm, FBC Manby Bowdler, it seemed the right time to stand back from frontline local politics. Accordingly, having been a councillor for 22 years, I decided not to seek re-election in May. I have had some interesting experiences and encounters during my time in politics. For example, I was the local party chairman for Wolverhampton in 2003 when Theresa May was the national party chairman and we worked together closely on a number of issues. Over the years I have kept in contact with her and I was delighted to receive a personal letter from Number 10 on my retirement from the council.

Whilst involved in Wolverhampton politics I have met many OTs - I worked alongside Stephen Corns (Secretary of the Wolverhampton Conservative Association) where his courtesy and conscientiousness are much valued. From 2012 my fellow ward councillor was Arun Photay (TC 1990s). Arun and I became good friends. I was delighted that my successor in Tettenhall Wightwick was Jane Stevenson who is a visiting music teacher at the College.

My years spent interacting with local residents showed me how strong the College's roots are in the local community. Every street, lane or avenue I visited in Tettenhall had some form of TC connection.

I have spent the last month sorting through twenty years of correspondence, press cuttings and photographs. My involvement with the party has meant I have been fortunate to meet every Prime Minister since Ted Heath and have personal letters from most of them including Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron. Also I have been photographed with some interesting people - Enoch Powell (on his last visit to Wolverhampton in 1990) and Brian May (he spoke at a fringe event I attended at a party conference!)

Andrew receiving his Alderman badge of office from Councillor Phil Page, Mayor of Wolverhampton.

I was delighted that when I retired, Wolverhampton City Council elected me an Honorary Alderman.

It was especially pleasing to be made an Alderman at the same ceremony as Councillor Christine Mills, whose husband and daughters are all OTs. Although an ancient office connected in Anglo Saxon times to the administration of justice, the role is now honorary. It is granted for life and names of aldermen are inscribed on a special board in the civic centre foyer. Freeman of the City of London have the right to drive sheep over Tower Bridge. Sadly I have no such privileges in relation to Compton Bridge. I am patriotic about Wolverhampton - its residents, history and businesses.

Therefore it is privilege to be an Alderman and to be able to continue to play a role in civic life.

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100 Years Ago in the Tettenhallian Magazine (December 1918)

A note from the current Editor: just last year I first started to research content from magazines published 100 years ago. In the 2017 edition I reproduced part of the section taken from the 1917 magazine which read as follows: “L.A. Parsons, J.V. Underwood, J. Skelton and H. Molineux have been studying at the Marconi School in Liverpool for the past three months. On completing the course we hear that they all intend to take up positions in the Merchant Service.”

The following letter from Old Tettenhallian J. Skelton appears in the December 1918 edition of the Tettenhallian and mentions a chance encounter with H. Molineux.

H.M.T. “Nurtureton”, Western Atlantic.

October 7th 1918.

Dear Mr. Editor, I have just been reading all about you in the Coll Magazine, and it really makes me long to get back and see the good old place.

I have just been home on 14 days’ leave, after being away since January, and really consider myself lucky to get that. I tried to get up for a weekend to see you all but then it struck me you would all be having jolly good times elsewhere on holidays.

Well, I’ve ‘seen life’ since I started being a ‘sparks’ and no mistake. This is my third trip and each time I’ve had a different ship, with the idea of obtaining a better berth each time. Of course, sometimes it gets worse, but I’ve been very lucky on the whole and am at the present moment comfortably settled down in an easy chair with my feet up against the table and back to the wall, so that it’s impossible for me to lose my balance – a thing easily done in the present weather. We are about half way across the Bay of Biscay, and it’s quite typical of its weather traditions. We are bound for Italy, and then no one knows where.

My first trip was a run across to Canada. Probably you’ll remember when Halifax blew up last year (Editor - see note below). I shan’t forget it in a hurry! If the weather hadn’t been so cold I should probably have been on shore at the time, but as it was freezing hard I didn’t go, and I can assure you I thanked my lucky stars I didn’t. It was a terrible affair. We discharged in Nantes, France and then came home. I only managed three days leave.

In January this year I joined a ship trading down to South America for meat. On the outward journey we got into bad weather and No. 1 hatch stove in by a heavy sea and 19 feet of water put into us. The ‘old man’ told us to send out the ‘SOS’ and we got a reply to say assistance was coming, and it still kept on coming until we put into the Azores on our own! We discovered later that the particular tug sent to assist us had her engines in repair on the beach. We lay there for 28 days repairing, and then continued south to Buenos Ayres. You would hardly believe it but we were there three months! It is a magnificent city and there are quite a number of English people there which made life a thousand times pleasanter.

While I was there I had a great piece of luck in meeting another Old Tettenhallian – Molineux. We had about a week together. It was fine to talk about the old days and to get all the Coll news.

We left Buenos Ayres in July and eventually arrived in Dunkirk to discharge our cargo of 40,000 sides of beef and mutton. We had very little excitement coming home bar a few occasional mines in the Channel. At Dunkirk we were bombed at nights by the Bosche and had to sleep in dugouts.

Eventually after nine months wandering round, we put into Blighty once more. I’m hoping to get back again by Christmas but it looks doubtful. Still I’m hoping for the best.

Well, I suppose you will be hard at it again by now and feeling weary and stiff after the first game of rugger. I’m afraid these decks are a bit too hard for any such sport.

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I must stop now and ‘listen in’ for the press and see how the war is getting on. Jolly fine news lately.

Remember me to all Tettenhallians who may know me, and the best of luck to the good old Coll.

I remain, Yours sincerely, J.B. Skelton Editor’s note: the Halifax Explosion was a maritime disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, which happened on the morning of 6 December 1917. The Norwegian vessel SS Imo collided with SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. A fire on board the French ship ignited her cargo, causing a large explosion that devastated the Richmond district of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were S.S. Imo aground after the explosion, having been killed by the blast, debris, fires or collapsed washed ashore by the ensuing tsunami. buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured. The blast was the largest man-made explosion before the development of nuclear weapons, releasing the equivalent energy of roughly 2.9 kilotons of TNT. _____________________________________________________

Angus Dunphy (TC 1952-1962)

An Irreverent Look at Life at TC in the 1950s—a Ten Year Sentence!

I am not quite sure whose sentence it was, mine or the teaching staff’s. Whilst I spent ten very happy years at the college from September 1952 to July 1962 a few incidents immediately spring to mind.

Roy Andrews although a feared figure in the main school, was a wise counsellor when it came to ‘A’ level geography. I doubt he knew of the concoctions of festering penicillin left by his former students, in milk bottles in a small annexe off the sixth form geography room. Known as the ‘Drowse’, because of his tendency to take an afternoon nap during the first lesson after lunch, he would set work, put his head in his hands, lean forward on his desk and enter the land of nod. When I was about 13, before he came into the classroom we moved his desk to the edge of the dais and waited. As drowsiness began to take effect the whole shebang came crashing down, with tumultuous applause and laughter. The Andrews’ volcano erupted and we all looked down at our desks to avoid his gaze.

Morning chapel set the tone for the day.

Queuing in silence in the Red Corridor, marching in twos up the stairs, it was a time for obedience and contemplation, only broken by Derek Boulton stumbling in late again and muttering, ‘Apologies Headmaster’, as he clambered his way onto an already overfull staff back row.

After the Head’s reading and a hymn we were often subjected to Douglas Field-Hyde’s tirade, informing us we were, ‘Cads’ and singling out an unfortunate or two for attention in his study. You racked your brains to try and understand what ’caddish’ crimes you might have committed in the previous 24 hours, which could possibly have been found out. It was of course all character building.

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However, I am grateful for Mr. Field-Hyde’s vision in granting my parents’ permission to take their four sons on a trip of a lifetime to Canada. He knew the value of travel, how it broadened the mind and extended one’s horizons and he knew that the experience would remain with us for a lifetime. On our 6 week safari we travelled out on the QE1 from Southampton to New York, visited Niagara and then entrained for the 5 day crossing of the continent, before sailing for Vancouver Island. We also spent a fortnight in my father’s home town of Edson and with his brother Bob at Jasper in the National Park.

The return journey was made via Montreal on the new CP liner, Empress of Britain. Here we collected dozens of brightly coloured cocktail sticks and sold them back at school for 3d or 6d a go. There were complaints from some staff that they disrupted the lessons, but an important lesson in entrepreneurship had been learned.

Sport played a big part in the life of the college. At break times the senior boys were allowed to punt a rugby ball across a then untarmaced yard. Eight year olds were regarded as whippersnappers and woe betides the youngster who dared to engage in the play. I was already able to determine the flight of a ball and seeing it coming my way I could hardly contain myself. I would get underneath it before punting it feebly back into the air. Failure to be quick resulted in being flattened.

PT boxing was sometimes on the lesson plan. Being in a class of only 18 I usually ended up with a boxing partner less physical than myself and I resented the fact that we were expected to punch him.

It somehow seemed unjust and I could not do it. In later life I stopped ‘occasional boxing’ in two of the schools I taught in, although I strongly supported individuals in their local boxing clubs. When I became a head we nurtured both British and Welsh champions via their club.

On the other hand stick fights in the woods during lunch hours seemed acceptable as pupils willingly took part, although once found out we were caned. I was a member of the college rugby team and played two seasons in the first XV and even had a Staffordshire trial. This stood me in good stead when I became a student in Bangor 1960 Rugby 1st XV: standing Keith Grant-Pearce, John Bates, Rick Murdoch, for I played three seasons in Rob Green, Roger Bowen, David Jones, Angus Dunphy, Rob Sparrow.

Seated: Cyril Rushton, Mike Edwards, Tim Rowe (captain), David Beere, John the first XV and was vice Humphries. On ground: Bradshaw, Alasdair Leonard. captain in 1964/5.

At 14 years old I chose tennis as a summer sport and I spent many a summer’s afternoon sun bathing on the courts with Rob Green and others, only to be forced into action when ‘Et Tu Berte’ Brown came ambling around the corner. I found cricket too slow, perhaps it had too much finesse. My son played for the under 11 Staffordshire Schoolboys and thereafter for South Glamorgan at every level, culminating in a tour of Malaysia. He even played for a Wales XI against Millfield.

Entering form 1 at the age of 8 presented new horizons and great opportunities for adventure. I had read the ‘Jennings’ and ‘Darbyshire’ books as well as ‘Just William’. I would meet my friend Sid Ault before 8 a.m. each day and on fine days we would head for the woods. Below the former kitchen garden there was then a shallow pond that followed the contour of the hill. It was great fun to punt across it 27 27

on a plank, although the activity did nothing to keep us clean. On wet days hide and seek in the Towers beckoned. We would rampage through its corridors, galleries and hidey holes shouting and laughing, banging doors and awakening the sleeping giant of Mr Bickton. We were almost caught on several occasions, but managed to melt away into the top most galleries of the theatre and thus escape.

The highlight of the year was the Salcombe camp, when a large party led by the ‘Nip’, Mr Pine, the second master, departed from the Low Level station aboard ‘The Cornishman’ express bound for the south west. I had collected my father’s stub ends for a couple of months before and rolled my own.

Settling down in the carriage and handing out the cigarettes was a foolish act as just then the Nip came in and confiscated the box. Once the train had pulled out he returned, gave the cigarettes back and told me to put them away, a generous gesture indeed. Amazingly we were allowed out of the train for the 20 minute stop over at Exeter St Davids, where the Southern region West Country class locomotives waited for the right of road to North Cornwall and Dartmoor Some boys bought up Ian Allan train spotter books, which over the next fortnight, as pocket money ran short, were sold and resold many times at greatly reduced prices.

Our journey lay further south. At Newton Abbot we changed for South Brent, changing trains again for the Kingsbridge branch. At the rail terminus a coach and a lorry awaited and after we had loaded the bags onto the lorry there was a rush to get a place on top and ride shotgun to Salcombe’s North Sands. After a long walk up a dusty lane our campsite awaited and we were allocated in groups to one of many large tents. The evening meal followed in the marquee.

Facilities were almost non-existent. There was a stream to wash in, but most gave it a miss for the whole fortnight. A slit trench with an awning around it provided the other necessity. All this goes to prove that boys left to their own devices are inherently dirty. After morning fatigues, which included carrying slopping pales of water from the farm along the lane, washing up porridge congealed dixies and making tons of doorstep sandwiches filled with fish paste for the packed lunch, we were at last free for the day. So at about 10 a.m. long queues formed outside the ‘Imperial’, a one cubicle public toilet at the North Sands. With the heavy usage it could clog with resulting whispers going around the camp as to who was responsible. The only advantage of not being first in the queue was that this boy paid the penny entrance. Still the use of the ‘’Imperial’’ was a better facility than the slit trench and particularly so in wet weather, when some poor unfortunate would lose his footing and fall in.

Happy days from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. were spent fishing, rock climbing, throwing sheath knives at targets, hiring rowing boats and taking the ferry to the other side of the estuary. After the evening meal at 6 p.m. the Nip would tell tales of the ghost of the nearby ruined mill. There were glow worm hunts and in the second week the much looked forward to treasure hunt. By this time tuck supplies had run out and postal orders from home had dried up. But first there was the race to collect a dozen clues and to discover the treasure’s location, which was always near to the camp. I was fortunate to find it each time I was at Salcombe and it gave our tent a few more days of pleasure.

A strength of science at TC was that it was hands on, which might explain the regularity of explosions in the old chemistry laboratory. My elder brother James (Jock) studied the sciences and maths at ‘A’ level. Already by the age of 13/14 he was broadcasting on the airwaves using surplus American Army equipment. At home he led, and I followed, in conducting a series of chemistry experiments which frightened the neighbours (five old ladies). On one occasion in the late 1950s we were allowed to run a mock election at school with fictitious parties. Jock rigged up a public address system for one party for break and lunch time blasts, which gave it the edge.

In my view applying the science learned was the whole point of studying it, something that modern day examination syllabi often forget. In those days there were no health and safety police and inquisitiveness and creativity encouraged inventive minds. When I became a head, whilst ensuring students were safe I encouraged a very strong science department to do as much practical as possible, which is why one inner city comprehensive had several large sets in each subject in each year at ‘A’ 28

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level and why large numbers chose engineering, medicine, pharmacy and dentistry and a few astro-physics.

Our parents gave up much to send their four sons to Tettenhall College.

Dunphys were present between 1951 and 1969, some eighteen years. I wonder if some staff thought it would ever end. Our father was a backwoodsman from Alberta, a volunteer at the age of 18 to fight for Britain. He was used to relying on his own resources to survive the fierce Canadian winters which lasted from October to May. Our mother was from staunch Primitive Methodist stock and she acted out a concern for others and had strong moral values. It was probably this mixture which gave their sons an independence of mind, a Jim Baxter’s 1961 Hockey Team. The College and its pupils have fighting spirit, a concern for those less much to thank Jim Baxter for, including his hockey tuition. fortunate than themselves, a belief that the individual was important and that to be non conformist in mind mattered. This should have counted in an institution that had been set up by those very same brethren who founded the College one hundred years previously, but it didn’t. However, I don’t subscribe to the view, and neither did the TC of my time, that boys are inherently good.

I found the prefect system held too much power, was not fully supervised, was open to abuse and did not fulfil its true promise. One boy above all others, not in my year, was regularly bullied and made fun of and only once did I witness a prefect stepping in to protect him and chastise his aggressors.

Tettenhall was of course a school of its time, no better and no worse than other similar establishments.

Careers education and guidance was non-existent and in my case the school was a hindrance, refusing to initially release me from an important rugby fixture for an interview. In fact I was told I would never teach. I said nothing, but the rejection had the opposite effect, which may have been what the teacher intended. In my elder brother’s case he was told he would go to Oxford to read physics, when he wanted to be an electrical engineer. We all heard the row between him and a very good head of physics as the tones permeated every brick in the science block. Jock did indeed read electrical engineering at Birmingham and subsequently had a very successful career.

However, perhaps I have been too harsh in my criticism for the experience helped me in my turn to become a better teacher than I might have been. Subsequently as a head teacher of a 1500 strong 11-18 multi-ethnic comprehensive serving Cardiff’s docklands and central station area I was determined to replicate the very best of TC and to tackle those areas (every school has them) where I felt it should have done better.

In a very complex school I put the individual pupil at the centre of our actions by valuing, supporting and targeting each individual’s needs and wants. Pupil success was rewarded and all pupil contributions given recognition. Pupils were listened to. Careers guidance had a high profile and was linked to individual aspiration. Expectation of academic, sporting, cultural and community success was ingrained into the working day in what was an ordered, safe and caring school environment.

I was awarded the OBE for services to education in 2001 and an Honorary Masters in Education from the University of Wales. These I am pleased to say reflected the hard work done by pupils, teachers, 29 29

parents and senior staff. After 40 years in teaching I retired in 2004 and for the next 11 years ran my own education consultancy business, working in and for schools and their teachers in raising standards.

I look back with affection at my time at TC and realise that we were privileged. We had the advantage of attending a good school with good values and caring staff, who created many exciting opportunities which other schools of the time did not necessarily provide. These allowed us to develop our self-confidence and self-reliance.

I am pleased to call myself a Tettenhallian - forget the Old - and am grateful for the start in life given to me by my parents and the College.

David W. Jones (TC 1951-1961)

With apologies from the Editor, who should have included David’s article in last year’s magazine.

To say that the times spent at school are “The Best Years Of Your Life” is a bit of an understatement. Now that I am turning 75 this year I only seem able to remember those good times spent at the college. Stories told to grandchildren bring looks of astonishment and disbelief.

Getting the “cane” or blues for a misbehaviour seems so insignificant when comparing what today’s youth get up to. At least we learned discipline.

Born and raised in Ettingshall, and later moving to Codsall, my first memory is of a rather homesick youngster arriving at the college to become a boarder. When meeting other boarders for the first time little did I realize that I would be spending the next ten years with them. We soon learned that everyone was called by their last name. Strange eh! Teachers became Masters who were called “Sir”.

You wore a cap beyond the College bounds and never spoke back to prefects. What had my parents let me in for?

I believe the first form teacher was Miss Lamb, who taught me how to spell “enough” correctly, Mr. Baxter how to tie knots, Mr. Boulton how NOT to be late for Latin class rather than letting off fire crackers in the changing room following PE, a lesson not soon forgotten. Mr. Andrews was our House Master and I was the recipient, on a number of occasions, of his “three of the best”. Such fond memories.

After my time at Tettenhall I indentured with Electric Construction Company, Bushbury, for a fiveyear technical apprenticeship, completing the technical courses at the Polytechnic. I moved into at the sales department with Brian Greatbatch (OT who sadly died in 2014) as department leader. It was certainly a learning experience. Unfortunately ECC went through a financial downturn and eventually closed.

In 1967 Sue and I married, and 50 years have gone in the blink of an eye. We met whilst we were both at school, she being at The Regis School. We settled in Oaken and attended Codsall Methodist Church. I finalized my studies as a Lay Preacher and Sue and I also became Sunday School teachers. Both our son and daughter were born at Cosford Airforce base. They have grown up in England, Sweden and Canada.

(David and Sue are pictured right)

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In 1969 I was offered the opportunity to join the Swedish engineering company ASEA in their Birmingham sales office for electric rotating machines.

In 1973 I was transferred to ASEA headquarters in Sweden to work in their medium (100 to 5000 HP) electric machine marketing department.

Travelling from Goteborg to Vasteras in our Morris Mini was a real eye opener. British cars were not made to withstand cold climates. We had an apartment waiting for us. However, we soon purchased a family home and settled into our new life. It was a wonderful experience being in Sweden and learning a new language and customs. We were meeting people from all parts of the world and making lasting friendships.

The majority of my time in the department was spent in marketing the products, educating overseas sales people and customer visits. I continued with marketing education in Sweden and even taught “English as a second language� at the local college.

In 1976 we moved on to Canada and the adventure continued. Certainly 40 years ago we felt like pioneers. Most Canadians reside within 100 miles of the USA border. Further north is the Boreal Forest making up 55% of the Canadian land mass.

The majority of my time here has been in electrical engineering sales and marketing covering central and northern Ontario. It has About 1960: Robert Edwards, David Jones, Robert Nicholls, certainly been an adventure with never a dull Nigel Page and Robert Betesta. moment. My customers were primarily in the wood products and mining industries but also I was involved with the steel and rubber industries from time to time. The country was still developing its place in the world. Technology available in Europe was just arriving here, which proved rather eye opening. I added other marketing courses at the University of Toronto.

We have six grandchildren, all born and raised in Canada. They are all adults now and starting their own adventures.

Sue and I decided that an early retirement was for us so we could enjoy ourselves. We settled in Barrie, 40 kilometres north of Toronto, on Lake Simcoe. I love golf (I’m a pretty good player, though not everyone would agree), club yacht racing and travelling. I still support the Wolves and am able to follow them, thanks to technology.

Bill Towler (TC 1946-1953)

School Trip to Zell am See (Die Perle der Alpen) In the summer of 1951 (or was it 1952?) the college organised a trip to Austria centred on the beautiful little town of Zell am See in the Tyrol. About thirty of us clambered on a bus which took us to the channel ferry, thence onward by train across France. The trip was about fourteen days in total and for me it was truly a life defining experience.

We were lead by second master F.C. Pine assisted by Messrs Bursar Brown, Geoffrey Hancock, John Adamson (the German language teacher), Roy Andrews and Dennis Griffiths.

Participants included Fred Friend, Chris Pugh, George Hawthorne, Tim Rouse, Michael Waltho, Ian McMullen, Pete Richards, Phil Bellingham, Boss Shaw and many others whose names I cannot recall. After all, it was sixty-five years ago!

Our train journey south was uneventful until we reached the popular ski resort of St. Anton in 31 31

Austria where we were held up because of a rock slide on the track. We were permitted to wander around ad lib until the go ahead was given. When that time came there was a head count to ensure no one was left behind. Alas Hawthorne and Rouse, inseparable pals, were nowhere to be found. Searching for the rascals included teachers pacing up and down the platform yelling “Rouse, Hawthorne” repeatedly into each compartment of the train much to the consternation of the other passengers. Rouse sounds very much like the German word “raus” (shortened from ‘heraus’) which is a command to “get out”. The miscreants were eventually found up front of the train having a quiet smoke.

Upon arrival at Zell we boarded an ‘uberfahrt’ ferry across the lake to the tiny village of Thumersbach where we were accommodated at the ‘Gasthaus Lohninghof’ taking much delight Chris Pugh, George Hawthorne, Michael Waltho and Bill Towler at the start of in the huge puffy down comforters covering each bed. All meals the Schmittenhohe climb. were in the guesthouse and were served by gorgeous young ladies dressed in the traditional dirndl costume. This mode of dress displays an eye catching amount of cleavage, much to the delight of boys and teachers alike. As I recall I was the only boy on the trip who had taken any elementary German instruction with Mr. Adamson so I had a bit of an advantage when it came to chatting up these lovely frauleins. Alas, it didn’t do me any good.

Day trips were organised to the Grossglockner glacier and also to Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. One day was devoted to a strenuous hike up the Schmittenhohe mountain (over 6,400 feet) which is a popular ski area overlooking the town of Zell and the lake. At the summit there was a lodge offering very welcome refreshment to hot and tired climbers, and to my surprise when I gasped a request for a glass of beer it was served without so much as a question about age. I was all of fifteen! Very enlightened people, those Austrians. The journey down the mountain was by way of the cable car gondola.

In 1980 my wife and I did this the easier way by riding up the Schmittenhohe in the gondola and then walking down. Alas we were unable to stay at the Lohninghof because it was off season and closed.

Coralea and Bill Towler in 2017

Our journey home was via Paris where we stayed over for one very event filled day. It also included a faux-pas by the organisers. We were booked into a rather seedy hotel only to find that it catered largely to the ‘hourly trade’. This was quickly corrected and more wholesome accommodation found. That evening we had some free time and found ourselves sitting in an outdoor café sipping coca cola for the very first time. Coke was considered rather forbidden and racy at the time.

As I recall the remainder of the journey was uneventful and a good time was had by all.

What I did not realise was the profound effect the beautiful town of Zell am See would have upon me. I fell in love with the place and yearned to return …… and did so in 1980, and then set out to replicate the setting for later retirement. Today Coralea and I are happily retired on the shore of Cultus Lake, which is about sixty-five miles from Vancouver, British Columbia. Our lake is just a little larger than the one at Zell and it too is surrounded by mountains and is a tourist mecca in summertime.

All thanks to Tettenhall College.

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“FIFTY YEARS ON”

‘Memories from the Senior Common Room’ by David Bullock, former Chemistry Master at the College.

I was volunteered for the task of making this contribution to the ‘Old Tettenhallian’ by my long-time friend Angus Dunphy who attended the College from 1952-62. I have enjoyed the opportunity of reminiscence; the memory of the friendship of colleagues and the recollection of the students that I taught almost fifty years ago.

I initially arrived at TC as a rookie teacher appointed by the then Headmaster, Mr F D Field-Hyde in April 1968 for a temporary one term teaching post. I was an untrained teacher and had a Chemistry degree, but more importantly I had worked for almost twelve months as a Police Constable on the beat in Dudley. It was no doubt the latter experience that F.D.F-H believed equipped me to deal with the challenges presented by the pupils!

I met the departing Chemistry teacher, a Mr Hadfield and Geoff Rushton the Head of Science. I was given text books, the syllabi, my timetable and left to get on with the job required without any further ado. During those first few days I began to realise how fortunate I had been to obtain the job.

At that time Tettenhall College was one of a small number of secondary schools, largely independent and grammar, that were pioneering an innovative and practically based approach to Science teaching that was sponsored by The Nuffield Foundation. Conceptually it was a most exciting development that eventually became the instrument to reform much of the Science teaching taught in secondary schools ten years later. TC was well ahead of its time and my experience in the laboratory influenced much of my approach to my work in future years.

The pupils were enjoyable to teach and the majority, encouraged by fee paying parents, worked and played hard. The environment and particularly the school site were idyllic.

I inherited for just one term a lower sixth form ‘A’ level group. It contained amongst the students, Dawson and Dunphy R., the youngest of the four Dunphy boys who had all attended the College. It was a surname well known by the staff!

It was a small school and there was a respectful familiarity between all of the boys and the teaching staff, who were led by the no nonsense approach of F.D.F-H who displayed the energy and enthusiasm of a much younger man.

Within this environment there was a real spirit of camaraderie amongst the teaching staff and the highlight of that summer term was participation in the staff cricket team on Thursday evenings when the TC staff attempted to demonstrate their prowess with the bat and ball against other visiting school staff teams on the Henwood Road wicket, specially prepared by Harry and George the groundsman and handyman respectively.

Although the staff were not large in number it was nevertheless possible to turn out a credible staff cricket team. Derek Boulton was our captain, whilst the team was hugely strengthened by the presence of Julian Pandya and Geoff Hopkinson, both of whom played for Wolverhampton. Brig. John Tutton turned out as our wicket keeper despite being in his late sixties. He peered over the wickets in his halfspectacles, stood up to the wicket even with fast bowlers and rarely gave anything away in extras. Brian Bosworth, Malcolm Lee, John Bishop, John Chown and John Pittuck also played. Following the match there was enjoyable social activity in “The Rock”.

The Senior Common Room (SCR), known elsewhere as the Staff Room was a lively place. There were different political and philosophical views expressed, particularly by Derek and Julian and a healthy camaraderie and friendship amongst all of us. We were looked after extremely well by the domestic staff and young hungry teachers were always grateful for the carbohydrate in the form of doughnuts and boarders’ buns provided by one of the Spanish domestic staff “Momma” at morning break.

The post that I had filled was a temporary one term post and sadly I departed at the end of that Summer Term in 1968 to work at a comprehensive school in Dudley.

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However, ‘lady luck’ was on my side and following the very short tenure by my replacement at TC, I was able to return in September 1969.

Under Geoff Rushton’s guidance as Head of Science, I took up my post as Head of Chemistry.

Much remained as it was just twelve months previously and I was quickly able to re-establish my relationship with pupils and colleagues on a more permanent footing.

There had however been a profound change during the short period that I had been elsewhere. The much admired, respected and long serving Mr. F. D. Field-Hyde had retired and John Dale from Clifton College had been appointed as Headmaster to lead the school.

Inevitably the organisation was grappling with this change of leadership. It is always very difficult for individuals to cope with change, particularly after such a long period with the same headteacher and TC was no exception to that rule. The camaraderie that I had experienced twelve months earlier remained as strong as ever and staff continued to work hard to ensure a positive experience for pupils and the success of the organisation. Geoff Hancock did a valiant job as Senior Master in his loyalty to the new headmaster whilst also counselling and encouraging his teaching colleagues.

Teaching and learning were the priority, sprinkled with a sense of fun and my focus was largely within the Chemistry laboratory. I had been joined by Rex Moore, who taught Physics and Chemistry to younger pupils and a Mr. George Tomkys, who worked as a part time laboratory assistant. George was well into his retirement from his work as a carpenter and not only did he give invaluable help in the laboratory but he also ran a woodwork club for boys in the old stables. At that time, the woodwork club was the only acknowledgement within the school curriculum of the importance of Craft, Design and Technology!

I taught some very able students and thoroughly enjoyed it. Industrial visits for pupils were arranged to see “science in action” and I was often accompanied by my friend and colleague Arnold Gratton who was Head of Geography. He was known by some pupils as “Killer” Gratton.

The photographs accompanying this article were taken on one such visit to the newly opened Berkeley Nuclear Power Station. It had a recently commissioned Magnox reactor. The photographs demonstrate very well the passage of time because the power station has now reached the Pupils in the Berkeley Nuclear Power Station, situated by the River end of its Severn in Gloucestershire. working life and has been decommissioned!

One photograph shows a group of pupils including D. O. Baker in the power station’s control room whilst the other to the left is of Richard Vernon standing on top of the reactor’s core holding a new enriched Uranium 235 fuel rod. There was some speculation as to whether pupils’ hair would glow following the visit but fortunately by the time of our return to Wolverhampton, courtesy of Hodson’s Coaches, there was no evidence of that phenomenon.

In the early 1970’s the Health and Safety police and risk assessments had not yet destroyed the magic of science teaching. Teaching the subject was not only interesting but also good fun.

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John Bishop , Head of English, did magnificent work producing very professional drama productions in the Towers’ Theatre, a magical venue. John’s work as producer was characterised by very detailed planning. A meticulous timetable was produced to cover all rehearsals and other events leading up to the final performances. Many parents supported his work making extravagant costumes, whilst John Pittuck and his successor David Crowther as Head of Art, constructed scenery to wow the audience. That wow factor was enhanced on one occasion in about 1972 when a car was required on the stage as part of the set. I obtained an old 1950s Ford Popular that was stripped of its heavier parts and manoeuvred on inclined planks with a team of well-built older pupils through the French windows at the rear of the stage.

Fortunately the car’s brakes still functioned properly.

Another feature of school life were annual sports fixtures, particularly rugby, between the staff and the older boys. Despite being small in number the SCR were able to turn out a full rugby team. The games were enthusiastically watched by pupils who clearly enjoyed seeing the staff dealt with firmly on the field of play. Games such as this were largely banned in most schools in the 1970’s due to the likely injury to pupils. At TC there was no such risk to pupils since the reverse usually happened. John Chown sustained a broken arm, Brian Bosworth a hinge fracture of his cheek bone and the day following the match, many other masters were limping around the school, bravely nursing (and hiding) the wounds from the battle the day before.

At that time the working week included Saturday morning school until 1 p.m. and many Saturday afternoons were also filled by travelling with sports teams to other schools. A prestigious range of fixtures had been built up over many years and the games staff were justly proud of such an impressive fixture list for such a relatively small school.

The school’s timetable for this six day week was carefully compiled by Geoff Hancock. Adherence to the timetable times was vital for the smooth running of the school but it was at TC that I saw an alternative way of working that was operated by Derek Boulton.

Derek’s timetable always operated between five and seven minutes later than everyone else. He often arrived late for school, his car entering the quad outside Big School with brakes squealing and clouds of dust rising from the gravel. He would then run to mark his register with his black gown flowing behind him; sometimes arriving after Mr Dale, the headmaster, had already completed that task. Occasionally he was too late even for chapel and he had to try to creep silently up the wooden stairs into the back of the service. Derek was consistent with his approach to time. Lessons both started and ended late ensuring that pupils received their full teaching time. Whenever pupils arrived late for my lessons it was inevitable that they had just come from English or Latin or GRL (Greek and Roman Literature).

Derek’s eloquence, charm and wit enabled him to manage all of this without creating offence or conflict with others.

On one occasion I recall a conversation that he had with Mr. Dale, who had found it necessary to speak to Derek regarding the need that the Headmaster had found to mark Derek’s morning form register. Derek thanked the Headmaster for his occasional support in that way and explained that his morning domestic arrangements had recently undergone a further change. He went on to say that the change might now cause him to be late even more frequently and that he would be very grateful for the Headmaster’s continued understanding and support in marking his morning register!

By 1971-72 a number of established staff had moved to pastures new. John Bishop to Liverpool College; Malcolm Lee on secondment to New Zealand; Julian Pandya to Highfields School; Geoff Rushton to Handsworth Grammar School; John Mason to Halesowen School, John Pittuck to Bishop’s Stortford College and Geoff Hopkinson to Birmingham Mid-Shires Building Society. Fred Smallwood, John Tutton, Jim Baxter and Malcolm Davey had retired. New staff were appointed and Messrs Pocklington, Revell, Capper, Evans J., Evans C., Hirst, Crowther, Roberts A. were appointed and absorbed into the life of the institution.

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Highly competitive house sporting and cultural activities continued and most importantly the staff cricket team continued to function, albeit with a trio of OTs John Dove, John Bates and Rob Pickering, appearing as “ringers” to ensure a full team. The historic traditions were not eroded by change.

In September 1970 girls were admitted to the College for the first time when two sixth formers, Louise Champion and Vanessa Corbett arrived. Both had younger brothers, David and Tim already attending the school. They were joined by other sixth form girls in subsequent years.

There was no school uniform or dress code in place for the new arrivals and short skirts were still fashionable. The girls’ presence inevitably caused a lot of interest within what had been, with the exception of staff, an all male institution.

It was at about this time that proposals were floated for the move of the school to a new site and new buildings at Wrottesley Park. This project was enthusiastically supported by some College governors and the Headmaster, but there were also some very real anxieties expressed by many about the loss of the historical foundation of the institution and its home in Tettenhall.

Rumour and gossip was rife about the reasons for the proposed move and the plan was eventually aborted. That clarified the issue and the need to continue developments and improvements on the original site was then apparent.

Through all of these changes some habits and characteristics continued unchanged as they had done for many years previously.

John Chown’s territory in one corner of the staff room remained sacrosanct, as was his “Banda” duplicating machine that he had personally purchased to produce the countless worksheets that many readers will have experienced. He expressed concern to teaching colleagues on one occasion, when following the distribution of worksheets to a class, he had noticed that some pupils did not avidly read them but held them close to their noses sniffing strongly. Alcohol was the medium used for carrying the ink in the printing process.

The prestige event of the school year was Speech Day at which prizes were distributed by a visiting dignitary. It was very important that the whole event went well and the College was seen at its very best.

Exhibitions of work were mounted and parents and relatives together with governors and others toured the classrooms and laboratories.

Members of staff were expected to wear full academic dress for the event as they were seated on the stage in the Towers’ Theatre, with much jostling taking place to obtain a position at the rear. A number of younger staff had not purchased academic dress following the awarding of their degrees and neither did their salary extend to hiring the regalia for the day. Luckily the Drama Society’s costume store came to the rescue. Academic hoods and gowns for a fictitious university had been made for a recent production. They were put to good use and the effect was remarkable, with an amazing range of colours and trimmings that purported to originate from British universities. Did anyone notice?

The payroll arrangements for staff put in place by the Bursar, Frank Brown, were labour saving. It resulted in staff only being paid six times each year, a month in advance and one in arrears. I doubt that it would be an acceptable arrangement today. Cash was tight for some staff and unknown to parents a number of staff supplemented their income from teaching in other ways. John Bishop marked vast amounts of GCE “O” level English scripts. He showed great personal discipline in this work managing to mark one script at morning break and three or four more each lunchtime, in addition to further scripts before school and long into the evening. Others worked away from academia. I had a regular job preparing used cars for sale at Charles Clarke’s in Chapel Ash; Derek Boulton worked for a friend who owned the Angle Ring Company in Tipton and Rex Moore was a Radiographer at the Royal Hospital.

Our cover was blown during one summer holiday when Julian Pandya was employed by Bursar Brown to repaint the school railings in Wood Road. It was much to the delight of some pupils, who encouraged their parents to sound their car horns as they drove past at speed.

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Unfortunately this summary and the limits of my memory do not enable me to mention all of the pupils that I recall but I have listed a few of them in no particular order. I have, from time to time, wondered what has happened to them and others in their subsequent lives: Adnitt, Booth, Hart, Duncan, Hodson, Jeavons N., Bruce, Rivron, Lishman, Sower, Sage, Holland, Ash, Taylor B. K., Taylor P. S., James, Bullen, Gaspar T., White R., Vernon R., Weaver, Baker D. O., Pluck N., Prabhakar D., Adibi B., Nagshineh, Ghafari, Faroughi, Stevens A. J., George E., Hogg, Eaton M. and B., Blackburn, Howell, Guy, Shelton, Annis. Apologies to those that I have not mentioned.

I envisaged that my future career as a teacher would be in the state sector and left what had been the idyllic environment of Tettenhall College in April 1973 to move to a comprehensive school in Dudley.

The inscribed beer tankard that was presented to me by students at my final attendance in chapel is a treasured possession.

I was a very small transient cog in the history of Tettenhall College for just a few years of my early working life. My experience there had a strong influence and provided treasured memories for the remainder.

David moved from Wolverhampton to London in 1977. He retired after 14 years as headteacher of a comprehensive school in Barking and Dagenham in 1996 and established a second career in the National Health Service.

He is now fully retired and lives at Mersea Island in Essex. He can be contacted via the Editor.

To Catch a King Editor’s note: the following article from the Wolverhampton Chronicle (November 2017) is reproduced – it features OT Roger Pendrill (TC 1962-1970).

He had come to talk about history and his new book – but he was in for a surprise.

He never expected to meet the Shropshire descendant of one of the key players in the story.

Earl Spencer was preparing to discuss his new book about Charles II at Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton. The hall features prominently in his book called “To Catch a King”, which was why Earl Spencer was there to sign copies for people.

The book concentrates on the six weeks the young Charles II spent on the run before escaping to France after defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, two years after the beheading of his father Charles I. Moseley Old Hall in Fordhouses was one of the buildings where he was hidden while fleeing from the men who had the same beliefs as those who had killed his father.

Charles II was brought to the hall by Richard Pendrill – and the first person in the queue that Sunday to get a copy of his book signed was Roger Pendrill, his ‘great plus eight grandson.’

Mr. Pendrill, aged 64, from Ackleton near Bridgnorth, said “It is so good that Earl Spencer has brought the story to life again.”

Roger Pendrill (left) in conversation with Earl Spencer at Moseley Old Hall

Earl Spencer explained “This is my fourth book on the Stuarts who I am particularly interested in because of the importance of the Civil War and the drama of that period. My last book was about the 37 37

hunting down of the men responsible for the killing of Charles I and, to be brutally honest, one of the big Hollywood studios bought the rights to the book and they wanted more about Charles II. It seems a bit like one of Cilla Black’s Blind Dates, but then a man called Nigel from Lyme Regis, who had read the book, wrote to ask why it was so long since anyone did a book about Charles II on the run. I discovered the last book was back in 1966 and the more I looked into it the more fantastic I realised the story was. It is very dramatic.”

He said that Moseley Old Hall was central to the story,. Soldiers twice called at the property while the king hid there without finding him.

Earl Spencer said “There are other houses associated with his escape but this is the key one for me because it is where he was hidden by some of the most interesting characters. It gave him hope that he could escape.”

Richard Pendrill was granted a £100-a-year pension in perpetuity for his help in saving the king. It is still paid to his family although Roger Pendrill is not among those to benefit.

I (the Editor) contacted OT Roger Pendrill to ask his permission to reproduce the article and he provided this additional information.

“Hi Stephen, very nice to hear from you. Thank you so much for your interest in the ‘Earl Spencer article’. The meeting took place at Moseley Old Hall in November 2017. The Earl had written an account of the escape of King Charles Il in which my ancestors feature quite prominently! The Earl had decided to have a book signing at Moseley Old Hall as it was one of the Kings hiding places. The manager of the Hall who I know, set up a meeting between us as it was the Pendrill brothers who led the King from Boscobel House to Moseley Old Hall on the first part of the King’s escape to France.

The Earl was not expecting to meet an ancestor of one of the major players in his book, and was very generous in agreeing to meet me and most interested in some of the detail I was able to give him. He duly signed my book and also a book about Prince Rupert, the King’s uncle, who was very active during the civil war, which he had written previously. The Express and Star sent me some pictures which they took of the encounter, and I will try to find one to send to you.

Once again, thank you for your interest and keep up the good work.

Best wishes Roger P.”

Steve Gordos (TC 1956-1963) Steve Gordos first had articles published in the Express & Star while he was still at Tettenhall College.

He would submit match reports of TC rugby games, little knowing that some 30 years later he would be the paper’s sports editor.

A student at TC from 1956 to 1963, Steve trained as a journalist on the weekly newspaper, The Wellington Journal and Shrewsbury News, which was part of the Midland News Association, owners of the Express & Star “It was a good old-fashioned rural weekly and we covered just about every wedding and every death in the area as well as local councils and court proceedings. It was a good grounding.”

After two years on the weekly, Steve was given a job on the evening paper, fittingly, at Bilston office as Bilston was the place where he was born and grew up. “Bilston was a busy office,” said Steve. “Just two reporters but we had Bilston, Willenhall and Coseley councils to cover as well as local courts. It was a really newsy area.”

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“Sadly the boundaries were altered in 1966 and Bilston became part of Wolverhampton, most of Willenhall became part of Walsall and much of Coseley went into Dudley and Sandwell. I say ‘sadly’ as I don’t think Bilston was ever quite the same once it lost its independence.”

Steve moved to the E&S sports desk in 1968 and was there until 1985 when he became editor of the Chronicle series, the Express & Star’s group of free weekly newspapers. “As well as providing lots of local news and advertisements, the weeklies were a great training ground for young journalists,” said Steve “A lot of young people learned their trade on the Chronicles and several went on to work on national dailies.”

While at the Chronicle Steve was able to write a weekly column about Wolverhampton Wanderers, a team he had watched, on and off, since 1954. “I watched Wolves first when they were the best team in the land,” said Steve, “but when I wrote about them in the Chronicle they had slumped into the Fourth Division. However, covering them during their revival under Graham Turner was rewarding. It was great to see the old club get back its pride.”

In 1985 Steve transferred back on to the Express & Star when he was appointed sports editor. That was the position he occupied when he left the newspaper in 2003. A bonus about retiring early was being able to watch Wolves on a regular basis once more. As sports editor he was always working on Saturday afternoons, helping produce the Sporting Star, fondly known as “the Pink”

Steve in an old gold Wolves shirt from the early 1950s displays his biography of Stan Cullis in front of the statue of the great man at Molineux

“I think I was fortunate to be in evening newspapers when they were at their height. The Express & Star was very highly regarded in the industry and at one time our circulation touched 255,000 a night. I believe it is now well below 50,000 while our great rival, the Evening Mail in Birmingham, is well below 20,000 having once had 400,000 a night.

“Today, news is instant and newspapers just cannot compete with i-Phones and social media. One can’t help wondering how many more years the written Press will exist.”

In recent years Steve has written several books on Wolves. It started with ‘Old Gold Glory’ in 2004 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Wolves first becoming champions of England. He has since been responsible for biographies of Wolves legends Peter Broadbent, Peter Knowles, Derek Dougan, Frank Munro and Stan Cullis.

He has been working during the past year on a book detailing every player who scored a hat-trick for Wolves. He hopes to have it published before the end of 2018.

While at Tettenhall College, Steve was lucky enough to watch Wolves win the FA Cup in 1960 when they beat Blackburn Rovers 3-0 at Wembley.

“My father wrote to Field-Hyde (the headmaster) to request I be excused school on the Saturday morning of the Cup Final. I think the head respected my father for actually asking permission plus the fact Dad told him he did not know whether I would ever get the chance again to see Wolves in the FA Cup final.

“I thought Dad was exaggerating a bit saying that as Wolves were England’s best in those days. Little did I know!”

Fifty-eight years later Steve is still awaiting Wolves’ next FA Cup final appearance.

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Graham F. Clay (TC 1956-1963) In a letter to the Editor in April 2018, Graham writes….

I recently spent the most part of a day at the College with pre-arranged meetings with so many pleasant people. The Head’s secretary kindly arranged the schedule which was eventually extended as some of them wanted to know more!

I must say how impressed I was with the ‘state’ of the College both in terms of building upkeep, administration and most importantly education.

I left in 1963 and a brief summary of my achievements whilst at the College were:�� Obtained ‘A’ level Art (in Architecture) at age 16. �� Exhibited many of my paintings at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. �� Won The Midlands Junior Art Competition at the age of 14 with the interior of Lichfield Cathedral. �� Obtained Full Colours in three sports (rugby, cricket and swimming) which was a rare achievement in those days. �� Swam for the Midlands against London and Scotland achieving an Olympic qualifying time at the age of 16.

Upon leaving TC I was articled to Boon and Parker Architects in Stafford whilst also attending Wolverhampton Polytechnic (now University) graduating in constructions. I progressed through many architects departments of local authorities (Stafford, Cannock and Dudley).

I then furthered my education at Birmingham School of Architecture (U.C.E.) where I was awarded a Masters Degree in 1993 as a mature student aged 46.

During all this time in architecture I did not attempt to join R.I.B.A. as I always had shares/directorships in construction companies and they regarded that as a conflict of interest!

Graham Clay aged 70 sporting his unique full colours bow tie kindly produced by the College uniform shop

I have been privileged to have worked in thirteen countries, designing and constructing for celebrity clients, which might make interesting reading to some. I précis those that come to mind:�� Moscow and St. Petersburg: hotel and restaurant obtained through Margaret Thatcher and her influence with Mikhail Gorbachev. �� Berlin: hotel for fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. �� Switzerland: a home for a Swiss banker on top of a mountain. �� Nigeria: lost £60,000 due to corruption. Couldn’t get out quick enough! �� Ireland: renovations and extensions to Castle Hyde in County Cork for Michael Flatley (of ‘Riverdance’ fame). �� Singapore: designed the cast iron façade to hotel and garden structures.

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�� Saudi Arabia: worked for 3½ years on projects that seemed at the time like telephone numbers. I was fortunate to have chosen a very good indigenous partner. Lessons learned in Nigeria became useful here.

There are many others too numerous to list but include many UK clients, one of which won an Oscar!

I still play bridge with two Old Tettenhallians (Dr. Jan Bhagerutty and Nicholas Lindley) every week, having started with poker and brag in the TC pool changing rooms! Unfortunately I have had very little contact with the College since leaving but it is something I would like now to put right.

I am in contact with the following OTs:�� My brother Roger Clay (1956-1963) – age 72 and living in Cyprus. �� Dr. Jan Bhagerutty – age 72 and living in Telford. �� Robin Bhagerutty – 74 and living in Cannock. �� Nicholas Lindley – 72 and living in Rugeley. �� Scott Brady – 45? Living near Market Drayton. �� Peter Brough – 75 and living near Macclesfield. �� Paul Pioli – 71? We both have holiday homes in Aberdovey not 50 metres apart!

Having specialized in listed buildings and Expert Witnessing at the end of my career, I retired at the age of 56, exhausted, having experienced over 2,500 flights and three emergency landings!

I gained my Yachtmaster qualification when aged 28 and have sailed all my life, up to last year when heart failure on a mountain in Switzerland meant the end of strenuous activities. However I still manage to swim two or three times a week.

I have always been grateful to my parents for sending me to TC and I hope others who followed me feel the same.

Finally, but not at all least is my family. This year on 30th November I will have been married to Sheila for 50 years and without her support none of my business achievements would have been possible. I have two sons and two grandchildren.

Dick Dawes (1942-1953) The article in last year’s OT magazine by Alan Jones reminded me of the first play that was performed in the Towers Theatre. It revolved around a tropical island with cannibals on it – see the photo of much camouflaged College students!

His article also reminded me of the hidden door to the left of the fireplace under the balcony which was opened by one of the carvings, the trap door gave access beneath the sprung floor – all strictly out of bounds of course. When the Towers was first taken over in 1944 we were not allowed to go beyond the first floor until it had been cleared.

I recall the day the Chemistry master, a short chap, showed us after a bit of persuasion how to make

The first College play performed in the Towers Theatre.

Rear: McMillan, Horn, H. Jones, Hugh Carter, Shaw.

Front: Dick Dawes, David Wellsbury, David Bellingham, Fred Friend, Johnston.

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gunpowder which was so successful upon demonstration in the playground that it blew out some of the Chapel windows.

As a member of the ATC (Air Training Corps) the College gave me the chance to gain my glider’s licence at the age of 16 which in turn allowed me to win a scholarship to gain a powered pilot’s licence at only 17. This caused a problem when I came to do my National Service – I applied to the RAF as a pilot but this was turned down unless signing up for three years. What a waste of an already qualified pilot!

The recruiting officer explained that at that time they had not had a qualified pilot of my age just doing two years National Service and the rules did not allow this, so instead I took up driving and vehicle maintenance.

When my posting came through after initial training, square bashing and the like, I was sent to Yatesbury which was a technical electronics centre. Thanks to TC I had sufficient qualifications for a place there if I wished. On the first day the C.O. asked if any of us had any knowledge of cars and after I volunteered he directed me to his broken down Morris 8 Series E. This happened to be my first car and I knew it inside out. Having repaired it successfully, and then going on to complete the radar electronics course I was called in to the C.O.’s office. As I had done him a favour he asked me what I would like to do with the rest of my National Service and I told him I would like to see as much of Europe as possible.

My posting came through to join a mobile navigational and radar team. At this time the Cold War with Russia was at its highest and we had to be inconspicuous and on the move. There were only six of us and we were led by a demoted ex Dambuster and we had a fantastic time touring the backyards of Europe and only really worked hard for a few weeks when RAF exercises were held.

After leaving the RAF I joined A.V. Roe, the makers of the AVRO Vulcan delta wing bomber where I worked on the guidance system of their missile programme, and during this time met and married my wife Sue some 57 years ago. Marriage meant I left A.V. Roe as they wanted me to go to Australia, our team having developed a successful guidance system (ain’t love grand!)

After Roe’s I worked running a filling station selling Shell, BP and National fuel, increasing the turnover by 100% in just three months. Shell then offered me ‘Jeff’s Garage’ on the Penn Road and eventually I ran six garages. This success helped me educate our boys, and have a holiday home and boat.

As a diversification I branched out into the lawnmower business and finished up supplying every Flymo from Liverpool to Bristol. This was my pinnacle and after many negative happenings I sold out 17 years ago.

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Tributes to Old Tettenhallians David John Barnes (1937 – 2018) A service of Thanksgiving for the life of David was held at St. Michael’s and All Angels Church on Wednesday 4th July 2018.

There were three excellent tributes given by close friends, and one of these is the poem reproduced below which was composed and read by Geoff Hopkinson (TC 1957-1962). Geoff is President of Wolverhampton Cricket Club, a club which played a big part in David’s life.

As a player, captain, chairman and president, David was the longest serving member in the club’s 183 year history. At various times he also played for Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. He led the Danescourt men to victory in the National Club Knockout at Lord’s in 1973 and almost repeated the feat in 1988. He was a talented batsman but also a very useful off-spinner taking 100 wickets in a season on two occasions.

David was at the College from 1946 to 1953. ''Twas in the summer of 1965 in the year of the Lord That I first felt the tip of what was a very sharp sword It was when I played against Wolves for the very first time And where I met Barno who was then in his prime I recall sashaying down the wicket, with elegance at the core So as to strike him for a mighty six, or a very pleasant four I swung my bat most fully, with lots of vertical action But missed it so badly, that I nearly needed traction I only missed it by an inch, but it could have been a mile But I was not the first or the last, to see that cheeky little smile Skipper David Barnes received the Robins Trophy from MCC President "Hard luck young man" he said, as I passed him quietly by Aidan Crawley. National K-O Chairman "well bowled" stuck in my throat, what came out was just a sigh Derick Robins looking on.

I decided then for the Wolves, I would one day play To take the field with Barno would really make my day I achieved it in ‘68 when I moved into this location And thus began our long and personal association

The first time we batted together I learned some Barno traits The first was that short singles, were not on his favourite plates Even long singles, could be fraught with danger and woe It's maybe because I was fast, and he was somewhat slow However what I did learn from him, was a plethora of techniques For dealing with balls of all kinds, and understanding bowlers antics He was a thinking captain too, which others could appreciate Thus he lead many winning teams, on that there is no debate He lead a tour to West Indies, went to Ozzie, Far East and Holland too Captained us to many cup and league championships, to name but a few Took 100 wickets in a season twice, which is a tremendous feat But getting to Lord’s a second time was for him, I'm sure the best treat Over the years he has bowled in tandem, with other spinners in the side Jonah, Stempy, Watty and Plum, sometimes leaving Turner and Davies denied However, he said when he bowled with Lyco, it put him in a quandary Cos Lyco always seemed to get the end, with the largest legside boundary 43 43

He told me his captaincy oft presented him with interesting woes Like getting the ball out Ronnie's hands, was certainly one of those He played in teams with Richard and James, of whom he was most proud And played until he was 60 and still capable of "howzatting" quite loud Since the 80s he has been, a Chairman, Club Captain and President And to do each one of those roles, you need to practically be a resident The Club has come a long way, to where it now firmly sits And Barno's contribution, has ensured the old legacy still fits At our club dinners he was frequently asked to beguile us with his wit Which he delivered in his usual style, and always had us in a fit Yet he told me the style and words, did not just roll off the tongue He'd practice for hours with a mirror, to ensure it didn't sound wrong As a Clubman he surely was, archetypical of the word Active member for 65 years, in today's era sounds absurd I found his counsel wise, his opinions interesting and well said But more especially so, after a few glasses of his favourite red Latterly he and I walked around the ground, deep in conversation The topics were varied but largely based, on our cricket observation We found that some of the same things, frustrated us so sorely Field positioning, batting techniques, attitude and bowling poorly We have been very lucky Barno, to have a clubman as loyal as you Who set the tone for many of us, to live up to, and follow through My personal memories of our association, will always endure And those of you who knew him well, will feel the same I'm sure Well Barno you have played the game, and done so with much pride You have played your last innings, for your favoured Wolverhampton side You batted and bowled and helped us all, our own talents to release So farewell Barno "mein Kapitän", you can now rest in peace.”

Geoff Hopkinson (TC 1957-1962) David in classical pose during the MCCC match against Australian Old Collegians at the Danescourt ground in July 1977

DUDLEY MICHAEL SHRIVE (known as ‘Chippy’) 1938-2018 Tribute given by David Cotterell at the funeral service on 17th April 2018 I am very grateful to the people who have told me things I did not know about Chippy and for providing the photos which you will see on the Order of Service. The photo on the back is the only time I have seen Chip before he had polio and it is lovely to see. I first met Chip when we moved to Westfield Grove in Finchfield where he lived. I was 8 and he was 10.

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He was born when his family lived round the corner in Castlecroft Road and he contracted polio while they were living there. His father was a gentleman tailor and his mother a seamstress working to the highest standard. He had an elder brother, Tony.

Westfield Grove was, and still is, a short cul-de-sac leading off Finchfield Lane. The Shrives moved to the last house right at the end.

At that time there were just four houses on the left hand side. The Westwoods and the Machlachlans lived in the first two and then there were three empty plots before getting to the last two where the Greens and the Shrives lived. Biddulph & Thrift Ltd. built houses on the three vacant plots, the first one for my family, the second for the Thrifts and the third for the Biddulphs. There were children in each house, Judith and Mark Westwood, Joanna and Angus Maclachlan, Janet and I, Michael Thrift and, during school holidays, our cousin Sandra Cotterell, Stan and John Biddulph, Catherine and Selwyn Green, and Tony and Chip Shrive.

You may be wondering why I am talking so much and in so much detail Chippy in formal gear about a time so early in our lives. Well, I believe that it was a time which had a great influence over us children. We played together and Chip was always at the forefront of what we were doing. Most of you will know that he had no use in his legs at all and always had to wear full-length calipers and had to use sticks. This did not stop him. He had a tricycle and would go fast up and down the road, often knocking people about with his sticks. He would do snake bites on Catherine and Selwyn.

There was a stream at the bottom of our gardens and a field in which Dr Wallace had cattle and sometimes horses. Dr Wallace was a GP and was the first person to diagnose what was to become the epidemic in Wolverhampton of infantile paralysis, later known as polio. The field and the stream were like a magnet to us and we spent ages there. Willow trees overhung the stream and Tony would use these to get on the horses and ride them bareback. He had a natural affinity with horses and would become a professional jockey.

Sadly, he died a few years ago.

Then there was ‘The Swallow Patrol’ inspired by Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons’ books. It was led by Tony who was ‘The Swallow’ and they had canoes. In it were Chip, Judith and Mark, Joanna, Stuart and sometimes others. They would take their canoes down to the canal at Compton and go along the canal, even as far as Brewood, taking a picnic with them. These are children around 10 to 12 years old, out on the water for a whole day alone! Chip is doing this, getting into and out of the canoe with his calipers on, and, of course, no-one had a life jacket. Chip had a two-seat canoe and Joanna would be his partner in it. At the end of the day they had to haul the canoes back up the hill from the canal to home. In the evening they would often gather together in the Machlachlans’ house.

So, Chip was part of all this. He was a normal part of it; he did not want to be thought of as different from anyone else just because of his disability. And his mother also did not want him to be treated differently, she wanted him to be treated as a normal person. This made some people consider her to be hard, but it worked. Throughout his life, as far as he could, Chip did what he wanted to do notwithstanding his disability.

For schooling he went to Tettenhall College and was there from 1951 to 1956. As soon as he could he would make his own way there in a motorised three-wheel invalid car. He was fond of speed and the car was not very stable. One day he arrived at his parking space under the headmaster’s window, he turned too fast and overturned. “Shrive has arrived,” said the Head. In due course, the three-wheeler was replaced by an Austin A35 van.

In the 1960’s he bought his own house in Chequerfield Drive, Penn and his parents moved to Torquay to run a guest house. His mother developed dementia and his father would not leave her. Chip therefore had to drive down to see them rather than them coming up to see him.

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Chip decided to start a business. He rented premises on the old Pendeford aerodrome and started servicing lawnmowers with the help of an employee. By this time Joanna had married Philip White. Philip also wanted to start his own business and in 1962 he took some space in Chip’s premises. It must be said that Philip’s business did grow somewhat more than Chip’s.

Chip changed his business to sheet metal working under the name of Shrive Engineering Company. He took on several employees and took a welding course himself. He was successful to the extent that in 1978 he bought his own factory in Purbrook Road, near East Park in Wolverhampton. His business continued to develop with its customers including Land Rover.

He decided to retire in 1990 and rented out the factory. He had always kept the factory immaculately clean and tidy and it was a sign of this that the tenant was a firm of printers which would never have taken on dirty premises.

Computers interested him and he enrolled on a computer course at Wolverhampton College. It was held in their premises opposite the side of St Peter’s Church and to start with it was on the ground floor. He was inspired by it. Later, it moved to the first floor and often the lift was not working and Chip had to climb stairs. One day the floor had just been cleaned and was wet, Chip fell and broke his hand. This was so difficult for him as he could not then use his sticks properly.

On the housing front, he had moved from Chequerfield Drive to near Bantock Park and then bought the bungalow at 28 Mount Road, Tettenhall Wood. With more time to spare he would go to watch cricket at Wolverhampton Cricket Club and to socialise at Newbridge Lawn Tennis & Squash Club. Both of these places were extremely important to him. When I was a member of Newbridge he would always be there in an evening having a meal with his friends and you could hear his voice all over the restaurant.

Sadly, dementia was taking hold and Chip ultimately went to stay at Wellesley House Nursing Home. His solicitor, Stephen Carter, was appointed as his official Deputy to look after his affairs and I would like to express appreciation for the care given to Chip by the staff at Wellesley House and for the conscientiousness shown by Stephen in dealing with his affairs.

So, what do you hear when you talk with people about Chip? You hear of a positive attitude to life, you hear of an outgoing, sociable person with a loud voice, and you never, ever, hear of him complaining that he was disabled. Complaining of no entrance for the disabled, yes; complaining of a difficult surface to walk on, yes; but complaining of his disability, never!

That was a great life, Chip!

Editor’s note: the following is an extract from the Wolverhampton Chronicle (12th July 2018).

“Dudley Shrive, known as ‘Chippy’, who died in March at the age of 79 has left a legacy of £150,000 to two sporting organisations which were close to his heart. He enjoyed socialising at Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis and Squash Club, to whom he has bequeathed £100,000 and also being a spectator at Wolverhampton Cricket Club, which has received £50,000.

David Cotterell, an executor of the will and very good friend of Dudley’s said that he was an outgoing, sociable person and both the cricket and tennis clubs were extremely important to him.

Part of the money left to WLTSC will be used to improve disabled access and amenities at the club.

Liz Bowyer, Treasurer of Wolverhampton Cricket Club assured that they will use the very generous legacy from Dudley to maintain and develop our ground and facilities.”

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Denis Robert Dowde (1938 – 2016) Denis was born in Wolverhampton, though his family were from Liverpool. After attending Tettenhall College from 1945 to 1954, he was one of the last to serve his National Service in the RAF doing two years before following his father into the steel business.

When the steel industry hit hard times Denis trained as a coach driver, a job he enjoyed and continued to do until his retirement.

He never lost his love of Liverpool and was well known for his Liverpudlian sense of humour and his quick wit.

Denis was always sporty, being a good runner at school and enjoying athletics. He joined Wombourne Hockey Club, and after playing he would write match reports for the Express & Star each week. On Sunday mornings he played golf in a foursome with Terry Bond, Graham Moulton and – was the other person Mickey Green or Tommy Tomlinson? Please forgive my poor memory. His other love was driving and he became a keen rally driver.

In 1962 he met his future wife Susan who was a domestic science teacher, and after marrying he bought a house in Seisdon where they continued to live for 53 happy years. They had three daughters, Lee, Carla and Lorna and later eight grandchildren. Denis was a wonderful family man, planning superb holidays and entertaining his grandchildren with his model railway or trips out to rock pools where they would jump over stepping stones or pick blackberries.

In the family he was known as a bit of a DIY disaster and there are many funny tales to recall about his escapades which continue to keep the family amused – like the time he accidentally ‘super-glued’ himself to the drive wall.

When Denis was diagnosed with aggressive cancer in May 2016 it did not stop him planning holidays.

He and Sue went to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo for their 53rd wedding anniversary and later had four more holidays, but the last trip had to be abandoned when in November he was admitted to hospital and died three weeks later at home with his wife by his side.

Susan Dowde

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In Fond Remembrance David Barnes (TC 1946–1953)

A talented cricketer and leading light at Wolverhampton Cricket Club.

Hugh Carter (TC 1945–1949)

A former Company Director and founder member of the OT Golf Society.

Denis Dowde (TC 1945–1954)

A lover of sport and devoted family man, he passed away in late 2016.

Gerald Edmonds (TC 1946-1953)

Former garage owner in Tettenhall, he died in November 2017.

Dr. Terry Gasper (TC 1963-1970)

A well respected Warwickshire doctor, he died in 2015.

Roger Griffiths (TC 1959-1965)

He passed away in Chesterfield in 2017.

Ernest Hill (TC 1944-1949) He died in March 2018.

Peter Hudson (TC 1946-1954)

An optometrist in Tettenhall, he died in June 2017.

Christopher Millward (TC 1952-1960) Passed away in Essex in December 2016.

Alan Murray (TC 1957-1964)

Cannock businessman and night club owner.

John Shenton (TC 1941-1948)

Head Prefect in 1947-1948. A respected solicitor before retirement.

Dudley (Chippy) Shrive (TC 1952-1956)

He was a local businessman, outgoing and sociable who never complained of his disability.

Robert Sidebotham (TC 1967-1977)

Family owned the house building company Perks & Sidebotham.

Gavin Southall (TC 1961-1964)

A senior partner at a local solicitor until retirement in 2013.

Derek Spencer (TC 1942-1947)

A senior partner at a West Bromwich firm of accountants before retiring.

Life is a cosmic blink.

Gaze at the stars; listen to the waves; smell the grass.

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