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OPUS • Issue 2 • Spring 2010
Portsmouth Grammar School • www.pgs.org.uk
Letter to Neil
properly. You worked out the fine details with incredible precision but also made them workable – a rare gift. You would think about the staff and pupils who had to work to these details and made them as painless as possible for us all. You saw any flaws in arrangements and offered constructive solutions to problems. Not for nothing were you given the name Mr Fixit.
The entire school community, past and present, was deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and unexpected death of Neil Blewett on Friday 12 March. Neil was an integral part of the school community for nearly 30 years, adeptly filling the role of Head of Games and PE and, more recently, Surmaster. Many hundreds of people packed the Cathedral of St Thomas for his Memorial Service where the following letter from Head of Middle School, David Hampshire was read by Simon Marriott, a friend of Neil’s and teacher in the Music Department 1982-1987:
Dear Neil I’m sorry that I can’t read this last letter to you. I am afraid I will be hiding away somewhere inconsolable at your loss and would make a dreadful mess of the job. I know you won’t mind Simon reading this on my behalf. My only consolation is that you would be just the same if you were in my place. Many people do not realise just how emotional a person you were and we often discussed what we would do when we had to make our retirement speeches. Neither of us wanted what became known as the Cliff Flowers effect. You will remember that we first met over thirty years ago. We both used to go to a pub on the Point called the Coal Exchange – now part of the Spice Island Inn. Christine and I used to sit at one end of the pub and you and Pauline sat at another. That was before you married Pauline and you both worked at St Johns. We used to overhear each other’s conversations and realised that we were both groups of teachers but it was not for another couple of years that we spoke, when you joined the staff at PGS.
You were appointed Head of Rugby and a member of the Games Department under the direction of Chris Stoneham and also a teacher of maths. You very quickly however joined the PGS community and entered enthusiastically into the full life of the school. John Hunt, Simon Marriott and many others were privileged to go on many trips with you. You and I would enjoy the slopes of France and Italy with Tonale being a particular favourite. We managed the more difficult slopes using courage from my expansive hip flask which held a cocktail of Drambuie and Whisky – a potent mixture which took all the fear away from the slope. You never forgot why you were there however and spent most of your time helping the more timid skiers who needed the confidence, care and time you could give them. You will remember that the first ski trips were totally by coach and your travel sickness played havoc with the journey. On one occasion you were feeling unwell as we turned into Pembroke Road. The journey was punctuated by us having to stop the coach to throw away the evidence in various countries throughout Europe. Altitude sickness was also a problem. I remember us both being on a long, high chair lift at the end of which you gracefully skied away and was then violently sick. This was difficult to hide as the rest of the children were behind us on the lift and skied past you in pairs with everyone enquiring after your health. You were the best colleague to take on a trip because the pupils knew that they could not get away with anything. You became a bit of a legend on school ski trips and earned yourself the nickname of the “Inspector” on such occasions in the 1990s. You had a nose for pupils up to no
good and could spot a guilty look from a mile away. One episode occurred when the village green at a ski resort in which we were staying was consumed by fire. The emergency services were called as the smoke billowed and we watched from the balcony of our room. The Police arrived at the hotel following a lead that a group of boys in the PGS party were involved. The mayor was furious, a diplomatic incident loomed. The smell of melting trainers led you to the room of one of the boys who was present when the fire caught hold. Apparently, some local youths had started throwing bangers at a small group of PGS pupils which then set fire to the tinder-dry grass. Instead of running away the boys tried to stamp out the flames! Mysteriously to this day, the incriminating trainers were never found. It was not long before you and Pauline had two daughters on your hands, Claire and Rachel. You were incredibly proud of both of them as they are of you. Both of them were pupils at PGS and were very successful. You played the part of the proud Dad watching their sporting achievements and applauding their academic successes whilst giving them the space they needed as pupils at PGS. When Claire went to Cambridge you went with her – she went to read law, you went just to make sure that her move went OK and that if her accommodation needed any handiwork you would put it right. Rachel, after graduating, is now following in the family tradition and training to be a teacher. In the Maths Department you were the first to admit that you were never given the glamorous jobs. Your commitment to teaching and fatherly approach to
Neil Blewett takes to the slopes with Headmaster James Priory, school ski trip to Killington, 2005
helping children who found the subject difficult (or just coping with children who were difficult) is legendary. Generations of boys and girls have you to thank for getting them through their O Level or GCSE in Maths, something essential for their futures. Their many tributes to you are testament to your ability and gift as a classroom teacher. Things were to change however when you were appointed as Head of Games. Things were also changing in the school. The Headmaster’s house was knocked down and you oversaw that space change into the Sports Centre we now have. Until then you were managing with the Old Gym. You also introduced our first fitness and weight training facility. Massive changes then came about with the introduction of girls into the school. You appointed Di Spencer as the first female PE teacher and sport at PGS was never to be the same again as girls’ games built to match the success of the boys. Many of us remember your time as Head of Games with great affection. In those days we had Middle School games on a Friday afternoon with the whole of Year 7 and 8 down at Hilsea. Exclusivity was not your style nor were you allowed it! Members of staff were put down to teach games whether they wanted to or not and it was your job to make sure that they did it. I happily taught rugby for 20 years under your guidance and had such fun doing it and gaining from your experience. Your inclusive approach was not at the expense of excellence however and during your time as Head of Rugby the sport at the school flourished. You reckoned that the glory days were during the early to mid
1980’s when you had such names as Mike Wedderburn, Roger Black and Ed Richards in your team which was nicknamed in the press “The Scarlet Army”. You remarked at one stage that the PGS 1st XV was the county team. In the 1982/3 season the 1st VII won the Hampshire Schools Cup and the Hampshire 7-a-side Cup. This was repeated during the seasons of 1985/6, 1986/7, 1987/8, 1990/1, 1992/3. In the 1991/2 season the U15 won the County School’s Cup and represented Hampshire in the Daily Mail national competition. They defeated the Dorset winners but lost to RGS High Wycombe in a tense Quarter Final. This was reported in the News as Blewett’s Braves Bow Out. In the 1992/3 season the 1st XV won the South and South West Final of the Daily Mail National School’s Cup. In the semi-final of the National Cup they were defeated at Wolverhampton. In that year eleven pupils won County representative honours. In 1993/4 the 1st VII won the Romsey Sevens, Rosslyn Park National Sevens and the Hampshire Sevens. In 1996 you declared “I am stepping down from the post of Master in charge of Rugby to make way for a younger person”. So time went on and you increased in seniority in the school to take on the role Tim Hands created of Surmaster. None of us really understood what Surmaster meant – go on Neil you weren’t sure either! You however built up a job which has become indispensable in the school. We all know that now because in the last two weeks we have all been chasing around trying to find out how the school really works. It was your job to make all the myriad of events the school puts on, work
Times were also changing regarding the Law and School trips. I can remember a less than interesting talk you once gave on the Law of Tort. It was basically about the legal responsibilities teachers have when taking trips away. I was sure that Claire had taught you all this. Suddenly we were compelled to produce risk assessments for all of our trips and it was you who realised that however tedious this was we had to do it for the safety of the pupils and of the staff. You developed the systems that we now have in place for all school visits off site. This took hours of your time for which we all owe you a great debt. You produced the 8 page risk assessment for the ski trip I am to take on Saturday – all I had to do was sign it. continued...
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