OPA Newsletter April 1962
New Series No. 2
April 1962
THE OLD PHAROSIANS’
NEWS LETTER
President: A. H. GUNN
Secretary:
H. R. SLATER, Meadow Cottage, Sandwich Rd., Whitfield, Dover
A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear” Old Boy”,
Just a brief letter this time. First of all, I want to thank those old boys who responded so magnificently to my appeal for information and financial support in the compilation of the Old Boys’ Register. To those two hundred and fifty, the grateful thanks of myself and the committee. The Appeal Fund has benefited to the extent of £144. This is not going to cover our expenses, but is a good start. The names of all those who have contributed will be published in our next issue.
To get down to hard figureswe sent out 2,500 appeals. Every old boy we could contact had one addressed to him. Out of that number, for one reason or another, 600 were returned to us by the post office. The usual note on them was “Gone away. Address unknown.” For that reason it is still important to send us details of any old boy you may come across, particularly his present address.
In all, two hundred and fifty of you responded to the appealten per cent! The membership of the Old Pharosians has increased considerably, and for that we are all most grateful.
But please do not let the matter rest there. What we set out to do is only partly accomplished. If by any chance, you were busy when you received the appeal and put it aside to deal with later, now is the time to dig it out of the pending tray, fill it in and post it to us. We are not giving upso why should you? Or perhaps, since you filled in and posted yours, other names have occurred to you, or you may have run across an old school friend; please let us have details.
Finally a word of thanks to those of you who took the trouble to write to me personally when sending your information card. It was delightful to hear from you, and if it happened that I did not reply personally to you, please forgive me.
Yours sincerely,
ALFRED H. GUNN,
President.
COMING EVENTS
Friday, 6th April, at 7 p.m.
Concert and Film Genevieve. Tickets, price 3/- available from Mr. R. H. Payne at the School.
Saturday, 7th April, at 2.30 p.m.
1st XV v. Old Pharosians.
Wednesday, 11th April. Spring term ends.
Wednesday, 2nd May. Summer term begins.
Friday, 15th June, at 2 p.m.
Sports Day.
Saturday, 21st July, at 2.30 p.m.
Open Day. 1st XI v. Old Pharosians.
Thursday, 26th July. Summer term ends.
Tuesday, 11th September. Winter term begins.
THE OLD MASTERS
It was getting late and an Old Boys’ Committee Meeting was down to the dribs and drabs that pass for “Any other Business” when a member enquired whether the Old Boys’ Newsletter could not contain news of “the old masters”. The Headmaster described this as a brilliant suggestion and, no doubt, looked round for someone equally brilliant to do the job. At least, I like to think so.
What is “an old master”? Clearly, one older than myself, and this shall be the meaning of the term for the present purpose.
W. E. PEARCE has sold the two millionth copy of his books and spends some of his time writing new chapters and otherwise bringing his works up to date.
W. W. BAXTER is probably retiring (for the second time, and I shall believe it when I see it) in July next. He is now 72 years of age and teaches in the morning only. Had he done one more year he would have completed fifty years in the service of K.E.C.
C. ROWLANDS has also retired from full-time teaching but is serving in apart-time capacity.
MISS O. M. ROOKWOOD was quite well and vigorously outspoken when she presented the prizes at our School Sports Day in June. During the autumn she became less well and just before Christmas she had to go into hospital to undergo a serious internal operation. After a period of convalescence she is now back in her flat and we all hope that warmer weather will help to put her fully back on her feet. We hope we shall see her at Sports Day in the coming June (on Friday 15th).
A. B. CONSTABLE approached the present winter about eight years ago with these words: “I’m now 64 years old and retiring next year so I may not get another chance to play football. I know you want the best possible team for the Staff XI but if you could give me a game I should be grateful.” He played; and it will consequently be no surprise that he has, in the past year or two, married again, become a Labour Alderman on the Oxford City Council and is a Director of Oxford United F.C.
REV. L. W. LANGLEY is another “over-seventy” who remains very spritely and continues his considerable work as padre to the Dover Borstal. We are sorry to say that Mrs. Langley has been less well lately and we wish her a speedy recovery.
W. H. DARBY is the father of them all. He must be a least eighty-five but his upright carriage and black hair remain remarkable. He sometimes sends copies of the Geographical Journal to school and, though he has not been very well lately, we shall look forward to seeing him again when the sun shines on Dover Cricket Week.
S. F. WILLIS, whose morning walk from the bottom of Farthingloe hollow to the organ seat at the top of the school building earned him the nick-name which need not be mentioned in these notes, has surrendered the post of organist and choirmaster at St. Mary’s Church to Mr. K. Best, the school’s present music master. When Mr. Best is unable to get to St. Mary’s Mr. Willis continues to do duty.
F. OVENDEN, at Longborough College, sometimes interviews boys from the school who are seeking a place there with a view to becoming wood-work masters. He sends back pungent comments on the candidates.
K.H.R.
NEWS FROM OLD BOYS
HILL Peter (1933-39) joined Dartford Paper Mills Ltd. as a laboratory assistant in January 1940. Between February 1942 and August 1946 he served in the Royal Air Force in the Middle East and Mediterranean area. Leaving the Air Force he rejoined Dartford Paper Mills, now Wiggins Teape Ltd. In 1950 he was transferred from the laboratory becoming Education and Training Officer. He still holds this position. He was married in 1947 and now has one son and one adopted daughter.
CONSTABLE, Douglas (1950-58), began work with General Motors (Vauxhall) Ltd. on a “Degree Student” scheme at Luton, Beds. in September 1958. In October 1959 he commenced a course in Mechanical Engineering at the Manchester College of Science and Technology. He hopes to graduate in July 1962.
CONSTABLE, Roger Frank (1953-60) entered Lloyds Bank Ltd., at Deal soon after leaving school.
RUSSELL, Duncan John (1935-43) worked at the Reading branch of the Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. for two years and then served until 1948 with the R.A.F. in Egypt, Palestine and Singapore. Since then he has continued with his former work, being now in the head office at London, with the qualifications of A.C.I.I. and A.A.C.C.A.
ARNOLD, John Charles Thomas (1935-42) went to Northampton Polytechnic, London. Passing Part I of his B.Sc. in Engineering, in 1944. In that same year he was commissioned in the Royal Engineers, served as second in command of the Electrical and Mechanical Squadron in Palestine.
In 1947 he returned to Northampton Polytechnic for a year’s study leading to B.Sc. with 2nd Class Honours in Engineering. Since 1948 he has filled several positions in various companies as an engineering assistant, and in 1954 obtained his A.M.I.C.E. At present he is senior assistant in the firm of Sir William Halcrow & Partners who are consulting engineers. He is a part-time lecturer at Northampton Polytechnic and is a major serving in the Army Emergency Reserve.
IGGLESDEN, Sidney Dixon (1906-10) served in the Army (R.F.A.(T)) from 1914-1919 in India and Mesopotamia, being awarded the Military Medal and the bronze medal of the Royal Humane Society. From 1920-23 he attended the School of Architecture at the Northampton Polytechnic, London, qualifying for his A.R.I.B.A. In 1925 he became architect to the Chinese Maritime Customs at Shanghai and in 1928 joined a private firm at Hong Kong. In 1935 he returned home to become a Housing Inspector in the Ministry of Health (now the Ministry of Housing and Local Government) and still serves in this post.
FAGG, Geoffrey Ernest (1921-27) is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and works {or the Sun Life Assurance Society in London.
JAGO, Douglas Victor (1912-14) is now living at Bournemouth having retired after serving as a Navigating Officer with the Post Office.
CUFF, Reginald Harcombe (1910-15) after serving in the Royal Fusiliers and R.A.S.C. in the 1914-18 War joined the firm of Lewis and Pain, Solicitors, and still remains in Dover with them. One of his sons is also an old boy.
SPAIN, Victor Coram (1909-13) began his career in the Post Office at Ashford in 1913 and after the First World War, when he served in the Royal Flying Corps, moved to Sittingbourne, Dover and then Paddington. In 1940, he joined the Hydrographic Dept. of the Admiralty at Taunton and from 1946 worked with the Ministry of Rood until 1957 when he moved to the Directorate of Navy Accounts. Now retired, he is married and has one daughter.
SMITH, Richard Ewell (1921-29) was awarded a Premium Apprenticeship at the Southern Region’s Ashford Works in 1929. In 1937 he became a full-time lecturer at Derby Technical College and continued in this post until after the War when he joined the Rugby College of Technology and Head of the Mechanical Engineering Dept. With various qualifications B.Sc.(Eng.); M.I.Mech.E.; A.F.R.Ae.S. he has been Vice-Principal and Principal of the R.A.E. Technical College at Farnborough. He is now the Principal of the L.C.C. Hackney Technical College, is married and has 2 daughters and 1 son.
EFEMEY, Raymond Frederick (1939-46) on leaving school, worked with the Friend’s Ambulance Unit and then in 1948 went to Balliol College, Oxford. When he left there in 1951 as a B.A. (French) he studied at Cuddesdon Theological College, Oxford to become, in 1953 an ordained deacon and later a priest. He has been Assistant Curate at Croydon, and Yeovil. Married, with a son, he is now Vicar of Upper Arley, Wores. and Industrial Chaplain in Kidderminster.
PATERSON, James Alexander (1922-31) entered Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1931, obtaining an Upper 2nd in Modern and Medieval Languages in 1934. The following year he gained his Diploma of Education and in September was appointed Modern Language Master at Baines Grammar School, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lanes.; he is, at the present moment, Head of the German Department. During the war, he was commissioned in the East Lancashire Regiment, serving in North Africa, the Sudan and Eritrea; later, he became a Staff Captain M.B.F. and Commandant 401 P.O.W.
Camp. In 1939 he married and now has two children.
BOLTON, Richard (1948-55) went to the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in January 1956 and was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in December 1957. During several months of 1958 he was at the School of Artillery, Larkhill; later that same year he entered the 14th Field Regt., R.A. (1st Field Bty., R.A., the Blazers) serving in Barnard Castle and Aden until December 1959. In 1960 he served in the 17th Training Regt., R.A., Oswestry until September, when he joined the Junior Leaders Regt., R.A., (Nuneaton). In December 1959, he was promoted to Lieutenant and in 1961 he was married.
BONE, George Edward (1931-36) entered the Army Technical School in 1938 and on leaving in 1941 until 1953 he was in the Royal Engineers. In the years 1941-45 he was a Warrant Officer serving in Africa and Italy, for which he was awarded the B.E.M. In 1947 he began 1 year’s fulltime training at the Civil Engineering School, S. M.E., Chatham as Clerk of Works; during this period he was awarded the Fowke Medal for 1st place. From 1949 until 1953 he was an instructor in Construction and Quantity Surveying at this school, passing the Institute of Builders Licentiate examination and being elected L.I.O.B. in 1952. During the years 1953-56 he entered the Bolton Technical Teachers’ Training College and was awarded a distinction in Manchester University’s Teacher’s Certificate. The following two years he was Construction and Quantity Surveying teacher at Eastbourne and Guildford; he is now an Associate of Institute of Builders, at present pursuing research at the Manchester College of Science and Technology for the award of M.Sc.(Tech.) degree whilst remaining Senior Lecturer at Bolton Technical Teachers’ Training College. In 1947 he was married and has one daughter.
PRICE, Gethin (1945-51) left school to join the Royal Army Service Corps, attaining the rank of Sergeant on the clerical side. On demob he worked for Pickford’s Travel Agency prior to taking up a post with the London and Manchester Assurance Co. Married with one boy and one girl, he is now employed by P. Hawksfield and Son Ltd.
BUTLER, John Dennis Griffin (1940-47) after two years in National Service became a wages clerk of the S.E. Kent Hospital Management Committee, at Folkestone. In 1954 he took up the post of Deputy Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages at Ashford and Folkestone until 1960. Now Registrar at Tunbridge Wells, he is married with two daughters.
MADAMS, Herbert Harold (1922-30) worked in the Public Health Departments of Dover, Feltham, Kingston-upon-Thames, Barking and Kensington from 1930-47. Now in Fiji he has been in the Medical Dept. and is at the moment Executive Secretary of the Fiji Housing Authority and Director of Fiji Development Co. Ltd. An elected member of the Luva City Council and Deputy Mayor, he is married and has a son and daughter.
SCANES, Richard Sidney (1950-55) joined the English Electric Co. in January 1956 to serve a 5 year apprenticeship. After completing this he entered the Diesel Engine Division of the company and has since worked in the U.K., Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
BRADLEY, Derek Arthur (1945-50) did his National Service in the Royal Artillery as a Sergeant engaged in personnel selection. He is at present employed as a Distribution Superintendent with J. Lyons and Co. Ltd. He is married and has one son.
BROWN, William Paterson Ronald (1946-51) after a short time with I. & R. Morley, Ltd., joined the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. He has seen service in the Canal Zone, Cyprus and Germany. Now as Staff Sergeant he has recently been posted to Malaya. He has represented his Corps at both Cricket and Hockey. He was married in 1960.
PUDNEY, Eric William (1914-20) trained as a Chartered Accountant and worked in this capacity for several firms and also for the Civil Service. He was interned by the Japanese during the war, and since then he worked overseas for a number of years. In 1952 he took up a post with the Colonial Development Corporation and is working there to date in an executive position. He is a keen musician and a member of the London Bach Choir.
THOMPSON, John Kenneth (1922-31) gained his B.A. (Hons.) at King’s College, London in 1934. The following year he took a University of London Teacher’s Diploma and became an Assistant Master at Queen’s Royal College, Trinidad. His war service took him to the Caribbean, U.S.A. and London. In 1945 he joined the Colonial Office, London, visiting the D.S.A. in 1949 and staying there for three years as Colonial Attaché at the British Embassy in Washington. In 1953 he became head of the Social Services Dept. in the Colonial Office, London, until 1959 when he assumed the post of Director of the Colombo Plan Bureau with Headquarters in Ceylon. He expects to return to U.K. in February 1962.
WEBSTER, George Wyndham (1907-09) became a clerk in Town Clerk’s office, but joined the Merchant Service in 1910. In the first world war he served in the 7th Battalion, the Buffs, and was wounded and taken prisoner of war until released in January 1919. In the second world war he served in the Merchant Service (later Royal Navy) mine laying in the English Channel and North Sea. In the latter part of the war he helped transport locomotives from Southampton to Cherbourg and retired from the Service in 1957.
BUDDLE, Brian Frank John (1949-54) studied for three months pre-sea training at King Edward VII Nautical College then sailed as a deck apprentice with London and Overseas Freighters Ltd. for 4 years before gaining his 2nd Mates Certificate. During the summer season of 1959 he was 3rd Officer for Townsend Ferries but in November of that year he joined the Union Castle S.S. Co. as a Deck Officer and has been with them since then. Last October he was sailing on the Capetown Castle when she had an engine-room explosion as she approached Las Palmas.
HEARN, Peter (1945-51) took his B.A. Hons. at Hull University in 1954 and the Diploma in Physical Education at Carnegie in 1955 in which year he was commissioned in the R.A.F. Physical Fitness Branch. In 1956 he volunteered for parachuting duties. In 1958 he was a member of the R.A.F. athletics team and in 1960 represented Great Britain in the World Parachuting Championships in Bulgaria. He has toured the Far East and Australia with the Free Fall Parachuting Team and is at present leader of the R.A.F. Parachute Display Team which performed at Farnborough air show this year. He has made about 350 jumps and is at present a Flight Lieutenant. He was married in 1955 and has 2 children.
HALL, Peter Allan (1942-50), after his National Service, went in 1952, to King Alfred’s Teacher Training College at Winchester. Now a qualified master, he is teaching in a Junior School at Southampton.
PHILPOIT, David Robert Edward (1947-54) entered the Joint School of Geography, King’s College, London School of Economics on leaving school. In 1957 became an officer of the college Geographical Association and Editor of Horizon. In 1960 he secured the post of 2nd Geography master in charge of a Department of Geology at East Ham Grammar School.
GODFREY, Frank Vernon (1923-32) who was at the Plaza Cinema, Dover between the years 1932-34, became an apprentice Timber Stock Clerk and Docks Foreman at Watford in 1934-35. Later he was a Stock Clerk and Assistant Yard Foreman at Woking and Guildford, before volunteering in 1940 for the Royal Army Pay Corps. In 1944 he went to India and returned to England as a staff sergeant in 1947. During his service in the Gold Coast he became Warrant Officer and came back to Canterbury where he has been R.A.P.C. Reservists Instructor.
HOPPER, Barry Ronald (1950-55) in 1956-57 worked with the English Electric Co., Rugby and then went to Norwood Technical College. He stayed there till 1960 during which time he took a P.G.M. Course in Radio Communications and obtained 1st and 2nd Class certificates of proficiency. In 1960 he joined the Marconi Radio Company (Marine Division). At present he is a Radio Officer in the Far East.