OPA Newsletter June 1964
New Series No. 5
June 1964
THE OLD PHAROSIANS’
NEWS LETTER
President: C. A. HART
Secretary:
H. R. SLATER, Meadow Cottage, Sandwich Rd., Whitfield, Dover
THE 1963 DINNER AND DANCE
The food is predictably the same from year to year but the speeches get better, and fewer. Making after-dinner speeches is one of the penalties of fame: listening to them is a lesser price paid by the rest of us.
After the chicken and tinned fruit salad comes a reference to forty years on. This year, the President, Mr. C. A. Hart, read entertainingly from a diary he had kept in his school days. The Divisional Education Officer, Mr. A. D. Hewlett, spoke briefly and with genuine wit about nothing at all. As though he felt there ought to be substance somewhere, he told us in his last sentence that we ought not to mind if some day we were turned into some other kind of school.
But the evening belonged to Mr. T. E. Archer, speaking in the year of his impending retirement. You can’t be a schoolmaster and not collect funny stories for your retirement speech. He told them very well and was most warmly received.
The Dance has been in the doldrums for a few years. About eight years ago more than two hundred crowded into the School Hall and a move was made to the more spacious Town Hall. This proved an utter failure and we have limped along with clipped and damaged wings, suffering losses year after year to the Association.
Now we are back in the School Hall, with a bar and with some of the younger Old Boys running the show. This year’s dance was full of promise and many will feel that they wish to support the younger committee in their plans for future Annual Reunion Dances.
K. H. RUFFELL.
SCHOOL FETE
The Old Pharosians’ committee is actively supporting the School Fete which is being held on Wednesday, 22nd July, 3 to 7.30 p.m. It is to raise funds for re-equipping the School stage and in particular for installing a new switchboard. We are running several sideshows and should be glad of the assistance of some old boys on the day. Those Old Pharosians who are unable to attend the Fete but who would like to support the cause are invited to send donations to the Headmaster.
COMING EVENTS
Saturday, 30th May, 1964: Sports Day, 2.30 p.m.
Wednesday, 22nd July, 1964: School Fete, 3-7.30 p.m.
Saturday, 25th July, 1964: Old Pharosians’ cricket match, 2.30 p.m. Anyone wishing to play should write to Mr. Ruffell at School.
Saturday, 19th September, 1964: Annual Dirmer and AG.M.
Tuesday, 29th December, 1964: Annual Dance.
THE PHAROS LODGE
The officers of the Pharos Lodge for 1964-5 are as follows:
F. J. Rhodes, Master; R. W. Winter, Senior Warden; A W. Lyons, Junior Warden; N. Moorcroft, Secretary; D. H. Smith, Assistant Secretary.
CAR BADGES
Car badges bearing the Old Pharosians’ badge and motto in full colour, are now available through the Association, price 35/-.
These are of first class quality, with a solid chrome plated back and bezel, and fully enclosed, guaranteed mist-free front.
Old Pharosians interested in these please fill in the detachable slip below.
Delivery will take 3-4 weeks.
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To: D. M. GUNN, 9 Worthington Street, Dover.
Please send…………………………Old Pharosians’ Car Badge(s).
To: Name……………………………………………….
Address…………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………….
Cheque I enclose Postal Order value £ : s. d.
Money Order I require fitting Grille: Bumper Plate: Badge Bar.
NEWS OF OLD BOYS
J. D. G. BUTLER (1940-47) after doing his national service as a private in the R.A.S.C. became a wages clerk with the S.E. Kent Hospital Management Committee, Folkestone. In 1954, however, he was appointed Deputy Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Ashford and Folkestone districts and in 1960 Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages at Tunbridge Wells. He is married and has two daughters.
F. GOLDSMITII (1934-37) gained his B.A from University College, London in 1939 and for a few months before joining the army he was an articled clerk with a City firm of Chartered Accountants. He reached the rank of Major in the Pioneer Corps and was mentioned in despatches. Resuming accountancy in 1946 he passed his final exam, AC.A in 1947 and became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1960. He is now Director and Secretary of a firm of City importers. He is married and has two sons.
G. E. Fox (1925-32) was a student for three years at the College of St. Mark and St. John, Chelsea. In 1935 he was appointed to the staff of Hurstmere County Secondary Boys’ School, Sidcup, where he is now Deputy Headmaster. During the war he was a Lt. R.N.V.R. minesweeping in the Thames Estuary. He was awarded the D.S.C.
D. A GIBB (1932-37) was a sorting clerk and telegraphist at the G.P.O. Dover until the war when he served first with the Royal Engineers and then the Royal Artillery. From 1943-46 he was attached to the Royal Indian Artillery. He attained the rank of Battery Quartermaster Sergeant, was mentioned in Despatches and awarded the T.A Efficiency Medal. Returning to the Post Office he passed the Civil Service Clerical Examination and in 1948 was transferred to the Commonwealth Relations Office. From 1949-51 he was on the staff of the U.K. High Commissioner in Ceylon. After being promoted to Executive Officer in 1952 he transferred to the staff of the U.K. High Commissioner in India. In 1958 he moved to the Department of Inland Revenue.
R. A. N. TURNER (1944-47) did his national service with the R.E.M.E. in Egypt. After two years at Shored itch Teachers’ Training College he was appointed to the staff of Bridley Moor Secondary School, Redditch but the same year he became a Captain in the Royal Army Educational Corps. In 1961 he was granted a permanent commission in the Education Branch of the R.A.F. He is married and has three children.
P. J. WYATT (1949-56) joined the R.A.F. as a national service man and was trained at Padgate. He worked as a dental surgery attendant and was posted in turn to Cyprus, Aden, Bahrein, Riyan, Salala, Shajah and British Somaliland. In 1958 he commenced studies with the Society of the Sacred Mission, Kelham. This year he went to Persia to teach with the British Council. He intends ordination after this and proposes to take service with the C.M.S.
P. W. C. WILBERFORCE (1947-54) graduated from the Royal Dental Hospital in 1961. He held a post with the K.E.C. as a Schools’ Dental Officer for six months then emigrated to Northern Rhodesia to become Government Dental Surgeon to the Ndola Hospital and area. When we last heard from him he was intending to return to the U.K.
J. R. AKEHURST (1948-53) spent a year at the School of Navigation, Southampton before serving as a cadet and Third Officer with Clan Line Steamers. During 1959 he worked out of Dover with European and Townsend Ferries Ltd. as carpenter, AB. and Third Officer and during 1960 he sailed as Second Officer with the British Transport Commission. In 1961 he left the sea and now works as a statistics clerk for the Indemnity Marine Assurance Association. He is married.
P. J. BARRACLOUGH (1945-50) spent three years with the R.A.M.C. which included 18 months in Korea and Japan. After two terms at a technical college learning all about radio he tells us he was overcome by boredom, so he became a male nurse, but found it wasn’t the same as the army. He spent a month as a clerk with a T.V. rental company and nine months as a clerk with a student travel agency before three years with J. Lyons, ultimately becoming a teashop manager. He then had nine months as an assistant manager with Quality Inns. Our latest information is that he is with Airborne Catering Ltd. and having been made a director feels that there is a reasonable chance that he may stick it.
THE PHAROS
The cost of printing and posting The Pharos continues to increase and it takes a very large proportion of the annual subscription. News of interest to Old Pharosians is already included in this News Letter and it has therefore been decided to send The Pharos only to those members who particularly wish to receive it and return the slip below to the Secretary.
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To: The Secretary, Old Pharosians’ Association Please continue to send me The Pharos when published.
Name …………………………………………………………………………………
Address ………………………………………………………………………………