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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 0 Midfield dynamos, circa 1974 Sir David Metcalf & Bob Patten enclosed photograph may be of use to you. A possible caption could be: 'Reunion of the midfield dynamos, OSFC 5thXI, circa 1974, 40 years on at Simpsons in the Strand November 10th 2014, Sir David Metcalf (left) and Bob Patten'. I hope that you are keeping well and enjoying life. I really look forward every six months to receiving my copy of 'The Old Stationer'. With kind regards Bob Patten 1948-1953 SCHOOL ATC CAMPS graham.arnold@dsl.pipex.com 8th December 2014 Dear Geraint It was a pleasure to meet you again at the OSA Lunch at Stationers' Hall last week. In a recent issue of the OSA Magazine you published a request from BRIAN WILKINSON 1952-1959, for a copy of School ATC Cadets taken at an Easter Camp at RAF Leeming. I also attended that camp and have a copy of the photograph so I have been able to fulfil Brian's request. Brian was School Captain and played the school organ during morning assembly. I did in fact attend three ATC Easter Camps, all ably lead by Messrs. Nunn and Lloyd: 1958 – St. Athan, South Wales. 1959 – Leeming, Yorks. 1960 – Thorney Island, Hampshire. I attach a copy of the Leeming photograph. The aircraft in the group photograph is an Avro Javelin manufactured by the Gloster Aircraft Company. Two RAF Officers hosted our week. They are shown far left and third from left. Brian and myself have not been able to name many of the boys but we can name the following: Back row: Second from left wearing collar and tie - Robin Andrews 1953-1960; Fourth from right - myself Graham Arnold 1953-1960; Far right – David Finch 1952-1959; Front Row: Middle – Brian Wilkinson, collar and tie, 1952-1959; Fourth from right – Alan Wood 1953-1960 We did not have a photograph of the 1958 St.Athan Camp but there was one of the 1960 Thorney Island Camp, of which there is a copy on the OS Website under 'New Photos'. Again just a few names I am afraid: Back Row: Fourth from right - Alan Wood 1953-1960; Front Row: Next to Mr Nunn – Robin Andrews 1953-1960; Next to Mr Lloyd – Graham Arnold 1953- 1960; To my right , collar and tie – Terry J. Fenn 1953-1960 I also recall rifle practice on the School Rifle Range which was the domain of MAJOR HALLS who graciously cast aside all friendly rivalries between CCF and the ATC and generously instructed ATC boys during Friday lunch times. When in the prone firing position it was possible to see the tops of the houses on the opposite side of Mayfield Road above the school boundary wall. I do not recall any mishaps – thank you Major Halls! Kind Regards Graham Arnold 1953-1960 1959 – Leeming, Yorks. 26
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 8 0 Old stationers and all that Jazz robertandjacquelinehughes@btintemet.com 18th December 2014 Dear Geraint, Good to see you at the Annual Carol Service which I was pleased to attend for the first time. I had forgotten how impressive was the Memorial Window which had been removed from the School and which is now situated in Hornsey Parish Church. Singing Carols at the service has prompted me to drop you the previously promised note about my own singing activities. In October 2012 I saw an advert in a local magazine for a new singing group, the Clay Hill Singers, which had just started at St Luke's Church, Hillyfields, Enfield. The advert emphasised that the ability to sing was not a requirement and that the emphasis was on enjoying yourself and having fun. Despite the, now regrettable, fact that I only remained in the School choir for a couple of weeks I have always enjoyed singing and so decided to give it a go and have been attending on a regular basis ever since. We meet every Friday morning when we pick up the words of the songs we are going to sing as we arrive. Typically we sing about 16 songs during the 90 minutes we are there, with a short break for an interval. Our conductor is a charming lady called Claire whose father is also a regular participant. His name is David Gregory and he tells me that he was at Stationers' from 1942-47. David's wife is the sister of another Old Stationer, Stuart Behn. One of the ladies whom I regularly speak to at Clay Hill Singers is called Lynne Lampert who in the 1970s worked at Minchenden School with Clive Blenkinsop. She and her husband form part of Clive's team in the pub quizzes at the Muswell Hill pub mentioned in a previous issue of the Old Stationer. Needless to say she was pleased to see the photo of Clive sitting in the staff room at Stationers' which featured in another recent issue of the magazine. In the new year Lynne and her husband are going to invite my wife and me for a meal with Clive whom I have not seen since 1968. Occasionally members of the Clay Hill Singers are invited to augment the choir at St Luke's for special events and last year (2013) I did just that for the patronal service which was held at St John's Church in Clay Hill, this being in the same Parish of Clay Hill. The service was presided over by another Old Stationer, Stephen Platten, then the Bishop of Wakefield. After the service I had quite a chat with Bishop Platten and learnt that he had been in the same year at Stationers' as my older brother Anthony. Furthermore I learnt that he knew my late father during his early career when they worked together at Shell Chemicals. Through the Clay Hill Singers I have also joined another smaller group called the North London Singers also run by the same Claire. We meet on Tuesday mornings and concentrate on singing just two or three pieces of music at a time, this time singing from sheet music. I am pleased to say that even though it was many years ago quite a bit of what I learnt in Norman Rimmer's music lessons dating from 1961-62 has been recalled by my ageing memory, so many thanks Norman. We have now performed in several small concerts locally and one such was at St James Church, Muswell Hill last April. Not knowing the local parking restrictions I contacted my former classmate Stephen Jefferies for advice and am very pleased to say that Stephen came along to the concert, after which we enjoyed a drink together in a local hostelry. Should you be reading this under the light of a "Blue Moon" and "Consider Yourself" to have a reasonable voice then why not come "Downtown" to St Luke's where you can "Sing". If you do, then as you pass through the doors I can say that "You'll Never Walk Alone" and others there may be amazed by "The Wonder of You". When leaving you will certainly feel that singing did "Bring Me Sunshine" and who knows you might even bump into "The Laughing Policeman" on the way out. I would welcome you to come and join us at St Luke's on a Friday morning. There is no commitment to sign up long term; we just pay a voluntary contribution of £2 per session and everyone agrees that it is a very enjoyable way to spend a morning. We now have about 10-15 men and about 70-75 ladies so men are particularly welcome. Kind regards Rob Hughes p.s. Happy Christmas to you! The Bishop of Wakefield, Stephen Platten outside St John's Church, Clay Hill. what might have been – Magical memory There we were, these 4 long-haired, music-loving, over-sexed (only in our minds), Stationers' schoolboys who enjoyed hanging out with each other. One day our leader, Bob Ritchie, with myself Don and Ray, who did not have any surnames simply because I have forgotten them, told us something exciting and unbelievable. We had all been raving about our music heroes such as Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino, and Lonnie Donegan, Chris Barber and Acker Bilk, when Bob stunned us into sudden silence by revealing he not only had a guitar but he had a taperecorder as well! When we recovered ourselves we called him a lucky so and so and kept asking him when could we all go round to his house and look at and play with these wonderful things. So straight after school the very next day we crowded into Bob's front room where he showed us the guitar and tape recorder. After a lot of trying these out we had to admit Bob was the only one who could play a few chords on the guitar and make it sound good. About this time a talent show called Carrell Levis Discoveries was on stage for a few weeks at the Astoria Cinema Finsbury Park, where anyone with some sort of talent could go and perform a possible musical masterpiece and be "discovered" which could lead to "greater things". Bob decided we would have a go at this and the thought of it was so exciting we even stopped thinking about girls for a short while and concentrated on this possible chance of stardom! We chose two songs. Buddy Holly's EVERYDAY and Michael Holliday's THE STORY OF MY LIFE. After several days rehearsing and Bob's ability to play 4 or 5 chords on the guitar, we had to admit 27
Page 1 and 2: No 80 /February 2015 The Old Statio
Page 3 and 4: T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o
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Page 35 and 36: WHY WE SPEND NEARLY HALF THE YEAR I
Page 39 and 40: My first excursion to Norway was pr
Page 45 and 46: PETER BULLEN 1927-2014 A Service of

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