OSAmag91

No 91 / July 2020

The Old Stationer

Number 91 - July 2020

T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 1

The Old Stationer

Number 91 - JULY 2020

OLD STATIONERS’ ASSOCIATION

LIST OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2020/2021

President

Stephen P Collins

85 Love Lane, Pinner,

Middx. HA5 3EY

✆ 0208 868 7909

: spc@woodhaven.me.uk

Vice-President

Daniel Bone

56 Union Street, High Barnet,

EN5 4HZ ✆ 0208 441 1162

: dan.bone@civix.org.uk

Honorary Secretary & Past President

Peter R Thomas

107 Jackdaw Close, Stevenage,

Herts. SG2 9DB ✆ 01438 722870

: peterthomas561@outlook.com

Honorary Treasurer

Peter Winter

5 Oakways, Warrington, WA4 5HD

07795 450863

: prcwinter1@btinternet.com

Membership Secretary

Roger Engledow

118 Hertswood Court,

Hillside Gardens, Barnet, EN5 4AU

07817 111642

: osamembers@gmail.com

Honorary Editor

Tim Westbrook

7 Goodyers Avenue, Radlett,

Herts. WD7 8AY ✆ 0845 8724001

: tim@timwestbrook.co.uk

Website Off icer

Peter Gotham

Cambridge

: peter.gotham@gmail.com

Honorary Archivist

David D Turner

63 Brookmans Avenue, Brookmans

Park, Herts. AL9 7QG

✆ 01707 656414

: d.turner12@sky.com

Event Managers

Roger Melling

43 Holyrood Road, New Barnet,

Herts. EN5 1DQ ✆ 020 8449 2283

: melling@globalspirit.net

Peter A Sandell

11 Maplecroft Lane, Nazeing, Essex,

EN9 2NR ✆ 01992 892766

: peter.sandell@hotmail.co.uk

Honorary Auditors

Chris Langford, Dave Cox

Ordinary Members

Andreas H Christou

22 Woodgrange Avenue, Bush Hill

Park, Enfield EN1 1EW

07722 117481

: andreashchristou@yahoo.com

Peter Bothwick

52 Hither Green Lane, Abbey Park,

Redditch, Worcs. B98 9BW

✆ 01527 62059

: pedrotres@hotmail.co.uk

Tony C Hemmings

5 The Mount, Cheshunt,

Herts. EN7 6RF

01992 638535

: hemmingsac@hotmail.com

Clubs & Societies

Football Club

Liam Gallagher

38 Hadley Way, Winchmore Hill,

London N21 1AN

07793 220472

: liam@network-stratigraphic.co.uk

Golf Society

Roger Rufey

07780 450369

: rrufey@gmail.com

Apostles Club

Stuart H Behn

l67 Hempstead Road, Watford,

Herts. WD17 3HF

✆ 023 243546

: stuartbehn@hotmail.com

Luncheon Club

Roger Melling

Details as previous column

SC School Lodge no. 7460

Michael D Pinfield

63 Lynton Road, Harrow,

Middx. HA2 9NJ

✆ 020 8422 4699 07956 931174

: secretary7460ugle@gmail.com

Magazine

Publishing Adviser

Tim Westbrook

Details as above

Design & Production Manager

Ian Moore

Homecroft, Princes Gate,

Pembs. SA67 8TG

✆ 01834 831 272

: ian@outhaus.biz

Printed by

Stephens and George

Contents

Regular features

Editorial 4

Carol Service 4

President's Address 5

Dates for the Diary 6

Correspondence 24

Special features

Former Bishop takes up the Mantle

of Master of Stationers' Company 6

Cake in the time of COVID 8

My lucky escape from the

Corona Virus infection! 9

Crouch End Memories 9

Pubs around Crouch End 10

Tottenham Hotspur - The new home

a visit report 12

Antarctica: More an expedition

than a cruise 14

Recollections of a school trip -

along the Rhone - Summer 1966 16

My experiences as a navigator flying

in the Dehavilland Mosquito 17

Evacuation - 1939 19

COVID-19 - A tale of two nations 20

A life in music 21

David and the dolphins 23

Me and my motors 32

Obituaries

Hugh Alexander 36

Dave Bignell 37

Sir John Sparrow 37

Mike Andrews 39

Canon John Sheen 39

Bruce Donaldson 40

Robert Shepherd 40

Harold Perry 41

Philip Jeffreys 42

Owen Rowe 42

Varia

Puzzle Corner 31

Membership Report 36

Minutes of the AGM 43

President’s Address 43

Treasurer’s Report 44

Balance sheet 45

Funds summary & General fund 46

Photographic Competition 47

Every school and OSA magazine since

1884 is accessible in the Library on the

OSA web site. Have a look and see what

was happening in your school days.

The Password is 0335OS-wwwOSA

Supplying items for publication

Text: Please supply as Word or typed documents if

possible. Images: Supply as original images or hi-res

(300dpi) digital files in tiff, jpeg or eps format.

Post or email to the Honorary Editor, Tim

Westbrook. See Committee list for address details.

3


EDITORIAL

The wretched Covid 19

pandemic has clearly

been the defining event

of 2020 and has

impacted on all our

lives. It even threatened

the publication of the

OSA magazine wiping

out all our social and

sporting events since

March which normally

provide the content for

our regular features.

Fortunately, with

unusual prescience, I commissioned a number of articles from

members while socialising in the Cockpit after our December

lunch and most have come good, thereby enabling us

to retain a 48 page issue for your edification and enjoyment.

Our virtual AGM managed by Tony Hemmings allowed us to

fulfil our obligations to the Association and to elect our

committee representatives for the next year. In this regard we

said farewell to Mike Hasler our long time Treasurer and

Dave Sheath, Past President and regular committee-man for

many years. We wish them well in their retirement and in

particular, send our best wishes to Mike as he recovers from

major surgery. Our new President, Stephen Collins and Vice

President, Danny Bone face a challenging time but as they are

both class mates of mine, I know we will regroup and thrive

under their stewardship supported by new Treasurer, Peter

Winter and of course Peter Thomas who has given a

stonkingly effective impetus during his Presidency and

remains on committee as Honorary Secretary with Tony

Hemmings also providing continuity, wit and wisdom as an

Ordinary Member.

During the year we have overhauled our library archive and

now every magazine since 1884 is secured for posterity in

both print and digital formats. Our production wizard, Ian

Moore has transposed the entire database on to a new

software platform to replace Adobe Flash which becomes

obsolete in December. I mentioned in a footnote in Issue 90

that we have secured agreement from Haringey council that

a Stationer’s plaque will be erected in Stationers Park

commemorating the site of the school and I had hoped it

would now be in evidence but alas the lock-down has delayed

its unveiling. Also in issue 90 we included the complete list

of members by year of intake so that you can readily identify

your class mates for future reunions. Unfortunately there

were a number of “glitches” in the file published and I

apologise to those whose details were incorrect. We believe

this has now been resolved and the plan is to publish the list

again in issue 92.

I have said before that it is your individual contributions to

the magazine that provide reader interest and ensure that the

content retains relevance, vibrancy, entertainment and

informative comment. I am pleased the theme introduced in

issue 90 headed, “Me and my Motor(s)” has proved a popular

topic with 5 new contributions. Hopefully these in turn will

prompt many more similar articles in future editions. While

on a winning streak I would like to open a few other themes

for contributions: “My Brush with the Law”, “What a

coincidence”, “My most embarrassing moment”, “My DIY

Disasters”, “My worst Holiday.” So put your thinking cap on,

pour a stiff drink and hit the keyboard to submit your article

for the next magazine. If none of these themes resonate with

you, feel free to identify a topic that stimulates memories you

would like to share with our readers.

Stay safe, Tim

CAROL SERVICE

Many of you are probably aware, that the Committee has made

the decision to cease holding the annual Carol Service. This

decision was made prior to COVID-19, due to dwindling

numbers and the apparent lack of interest by many.

I do accept that for many of you getting to Hornsey Parish

Church on the first or second Sunday of December has never

been easy and as you will recall, we had to cancel 2017's on the

day, due to snow.

We first held a carol service in St Mary with St George, Cranley

Gardens, N8 (Hornsey Parish Church) on Friday 12th December

2003 on the occasion of the rededication of the War Memorial

Window which had been moved from the school. That service

was led by Bishop Stephen Platten, the then Bishop of Wakefield

and the Rector of Hornsey, the late Geoffrey Seabrook.

Geoffrey Seabrook was a local man and although hadn't

attended the school, was brought up in North London so knew

the school well and was very keen to establish links with the

OSA. I knew Geoffrey when he was a young curate at Holy

Trinity Church, Winchmore Hill (the church diagonally across

Green Lanes from the old school playing field) and I was the

even younger organist!

Thanks mainly to Geraint Pritchard, Geoffrey Seabrook & Tony

Hemmings, the Carol Service became an annual event from 2004.

We have been fortunate during those years to have had the

choral support from a number of good choirs. Carol Hemmings

(Tony's wife) brought a choir she sings with, Positif, for a number

of years. We then enlisted the church choir from St George's and

for the last two years another local chamber choir, Voxcetera

provided the much needed support.

In 2018 we combined the carol service with a short

commemoration of the centenary of end of World War 1 and

Bishop Stephen again joined us together with the current Rector

of Hornsey, Bruce Batstone who has been a supporter of the

OSA for a number of years. Numbers were good for that service

but sadly were poor again last year; hence the decision was taken

to cease the event.

The Rector of Hornsey has made it known that any Old

Stationer would be most welcome to attend their Carol Service

and also Bishop Stephen has invited us all to the Stationers'

Company carol service in St Martin within Ludgate Church,

both events subject of course to matters developing with

COVID-19, but we will advise you nearer the time about these

two services.

Peter Sandell 1965-72

4


PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

It is a great honour to have been elected President of the Old

Stationers’ Association. I must admit to a slight feeling of

‘impostor syndrome’ for, although I have been a member of the

OSA since leaving the School in 1969, I have not been until

recently a very active participant in activities other than occasional

lunches, dinners and reunions. But I suspect that to be true of

many members other than those involved in the various sporting

sections of the Association.

First of all, a word about my background. I joined the School from

Stroud Green Primary in 1962, and left for Trinity College,

Cambridge in 1969 to read Economics. Thereafter I joined the

Bank of England, and remained there, with two interludes totalling

five years at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC,

until my retirement in 2016. A fuller account of my career appeared

in Issue 84 of the Old Stationer in March 2017. I am married to

Lindsay, live in Pinner, and have three grown-up children. I am a

Freeman of the Stationers’ Company and a Liveryman of the

Worshipful Company of International Bankers.

In my year as Vice-President I have gained an insight into the

operation of the OSA Committee, and I have to say how

enormously impressed I have been by the serious and professional

way in which its business is conducted. The tone is set at the top,

and this gives me the opportunity to congratulate Peter Thomas

on a very successful year as President. I did not know Peter

before last year, but right from the outset I could see the

conscientious, polite, and democratic but determined manner in

which he led the organisation. In the old cliché, but nonetheless

true for that, he will be a hard act to follow.

I am pleased to say that Peter will not only remain on the

Committee as Past President, but is also taking over as Honorary

Secretary from Tony Hemmings. Tony has been a stalwart of the

Committee for many years, and is effectively ‘Father of the

House’, having joined in 1984 as Vice-President and becoming

President the following year, and having filled the role of

Honorary Secretary between 2002 and 2015, and again in the

last year. He master-minded this year’s ‘virtual AGM’ with great

aplomb, and I am delighted that his years of continuous service

on the Committee from 1984 will continue with his reversion to

being an Ordinary Member.

Sincere thanks are also owed to Michael Hasler, who has retired

as Honorary Treasurer after serving successfully in that role since

2012. Michael is recuperating from serious illness, and we wish

him well on the path to a full recovery. Michael has been

succeeded by Past President Peter Winter. Finally, we say farewell

to David Sheath, who has retired as an Ordinary Member of the

Committee, with our best wishes for his eventual relocation to

Malta when circumstances allow.

Last but not least in reporting on changes to your Committee, I

am delighted to welcome Daniel Bone as the new Vice-

President. Daniel is a fellow 1962 classmate and will be known

to many of you from his prowess on the sports field. He is a

thoroughly nice man and will be a great addition to the

Committee.

In Peter Thomas’s Address published in the Old Stationer of a

year ago, he was able to write about a number of activities of the

Association in which he had already been involved as President,

and to look forward to many more. For obvious reasons, at the

time of writing (end-May) I am not yet in a position to replicate

that report. All activities have been suspended for the time being,

but we live in hope that later in the year it will be possible to

reinstate some of our planned events. This would include

President’s Day in August, the September lunch and, more

importantly, the Christmas lunch. If we can reinstate one or more

of these events, I hope that it will also enable us to give Peter

5


Thomas an appropriate farewell as President, given that the

Annual Dinner had to be cancelled. We shall be considering

whether an out-of-town location may be preferable to the Hall

for the latter event to enable more people to drive if public

transport is still deemed risky for our membership, of whom

about 93% are aged 60 and above. The projected refurbishment

of the Hall has been delayed, possibly until 2021, but once it starts

the Hall will in any event be out of action for well over a year.

We also hope to be able to rearrange the planned walking events:

a two-day walk in Derbyshire organised by Peter Winter and a

walk around the Fleet Street origins of the School organised by

myself. Also, Peter Bothwick had arranged a box at the Oval

which is something else that we hope to be able to revive when

it is safe to do so. And of course, the sooner normal sporting

activities can resume, the better.

I would also encourage the resumption of year-group reunions as

soon as it is practical to do so. These have been a great way of

enhancing contact between members and indeed encouraging

new membership.

We will of course continue to communicate with you through

the magazine (and I pay tribute to Tim Westbrook, who has

proved a very worthy successor to the late Geraint Pritchard as

Editor) and the website, now managed by Peter Gotham. Please

do consult the website for up-to-date information on our

activities as a return to normality is gradually established,

hopefully without too many hiccups along the way.

Finally, I would like to say a word on membership. Our numbers

have been sustained around the 500 mark for some time, though

recently we have suffered a small net reduction, despite continuing

new recruits, owing to recent deaths (including of our oldest

member). As mentioned above, about 93% of our membership is

aged 60 and above. But, with the School having closed in 1983,

our youngest potential member is probably aged around 50. So

there must be a whole host of ex-Stationers out there between the

ages of 50 and 60 who are not members. If you know of any –

and, of course, any older non-member Old Boys – please do

encourage them to join so that our wonderful organisation can

continue to thrive for many more years in the 21st century.

Stephen Collins 1962-69

DATES for the DIARY

Luncheon Meeting

Tuesday 15th September 2020 at

The Royal National Hotel, 38-51 Bedford Way, WC1H 0DG

Contact Roger Melling for details.

President’s Day lunch and cricket match

Sunday 30th August 2020 - 12.30pm

Christmas Lunch

Wednesday 9th December 2020

at Stationers’ Hall.

Hornsey Parish Church carol service

Sunday December 20th 2020.

As we are not holding an OSA carol service we have been

invited to join the church's own service.

AGM and Annual Dinner 2021

Friday 26th March 2021 - timing and venue to be

conf irmed in next issue of the magazine.

Former Bishop takes up the

mantle of Master of

Stationers’ Company

The Stationers’ Company has appointed the first Master in its

history to have attended Stationers’ Company’s School and

certainly the first clergyman, indeed the former Bishop of

Wakefield.

The Right Reverend Dr Stephen Platten takes on his latest title

(Master) at a time of huge challenge in the UK and as the

Stationers’ Company prepares to undertake a major refurbishment

of its hall that will increase its accessibility, comfort and events

income.

Stationers’ Company’s School was founded in the 19th century for

the children of poor Stationers and was based originally in Bolt

Court, near Fleet Street and adjacent to the home of Dr Johnson.

By the time Stephen Platten attended it had become a voluntary

aided grammar school in Hornsey. He recalls that two-thirds of

the Governors were rather ancient Stationers who attended

speech day and tottered to their seats after a welcoming sherry.

So it is perhaps no surprise that Stephen Platten did not become

a Stationer until 2005, urged to join by Liverymen who knew of

his publishing work (he was a director of theological publisher

SCM Press and was instrumental in its acquisition by Hymns

Ancient and Modern whose Board he Chaired until this year).

His wife Rosslie thought it would be a good way for him to meet

up with others who had attended Stationers’ Company’s School

(which closed in 1983). “I don’t think she expected me to get as

enthusiastically involved as I have become,” he laughs.

His career has been remarkable. After a stint with Shell

International he took a degree in Education and on completion

went to Cuddesdon Theological College and was ordained,

taking his first post as a curate in nearby Oxford. At Lincoln

Theological College he trained clergy for the ministry before

transferring to Portsmouth where he was part of the cathedral

staff handling training and selection. After seven years there, he

was approached by the then Archbishop of Canterbury Robert

Runcie to become his Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs, a post

which has been dubbed the “Church of England’s Foreign

Secretary”, The Prime Minister John Major invited him to

become Dean of Norwich and later Tony Blair asked him to be

Bishop of Wakefield which was his role until his retirement in

2014. He also spent about six years in the House of Lords as well

as holding other national church posts.

This background makes sense of his three goals as Master. The

first is to increase and strengthen the Stationers’ Company links

with the Crown Woods Academy. He and his wife, a special

needs teacher, have visited the school to discuss ways to

strengthen the bonds between the Stationers and the school.

His home in Berwick-on-Tweed, England’s northernmost town,

and his international travel for the church makes him keen to

make the Stationers’ Company even more outward-looking and

not so London-centric. That is his second goal. As a member of

the interviewing panel, he has encountered at least one American

and then an Italian seeking entry to the Livery and he would like

to enhance that international flavour. He thinks the Company

has gone a long way towards lowering the average age and

attracting women professionals but he feels more could still be

done in terms of ethnic diversity.

6


The third goal will be on the building development, ensuring the

hall has lifts to make it more accessible, air conditioning for

comfort in all weathers and a layout that will enable the facilities

to be used for multiple events simultaneously, increasing the

rental income. Plans have been delayed by the coronavirus crisis

but work on planning and finance for the project is now moving

forward and it is anticipated work will start on the building in

the autumn of 2021 or the start of 2022.

Both Stephen’s sons, have become priests. Aidan , the eldest, is

Precentor at Norwich Cathedral and Gregory is Canon

Chancellor at Lichfield Cathedral and also a Freeman of the

Stationers’ Company. “The life of a clergyman is unusual and it

may mean that family life is rather odd so I believe they have

been ordained despite me being a clergyman!”

Deborah Rea

Communications Manager at The Stationers' Company

Rev Stephen Platten, Bishop of Wakefield at the Royal Maundy Service with The Queen.

7


Cake in the time of Covid

Daniel Bone

Part 1 - 30th April 2020

In mid April, I promised Tim Westbrook that I would write a

piece about life under lockdown. I’m good at meeting deadlines

but it’s now the 30th and I haven’t yet started. How come? Well,

it has been a disorientating time and I’m obviously not the only

OSA member to have life and routines thrown into disarray. Lots

of us have been reflecting on what our own ‘normal’ was in past

decades, even as far back as the school years that shaped us all.

I’m sure I’m not the only one indulging in these reflections, after

all, they remain at the heart of what makes the OSA what it is.

Despite COVID-19 preventing our annual dinner and AGM, as

well as committee farewells and the welcoming of new

appointments, what can’t be forgotten is how blessed we have

been with a committee of outstanding collective ability and

individual talent for many years.

So, it’s a virtual hats off and much thanks to Tony Hemmings for

his overall command of the digital AGM, as well as his long

service and wise counsel; to retiring stalwarts, Mike Hasler and

David Sheath and continuing stalwarts David Turner, Rogers

Melling and Engledow, to youthful Andreas Christou, to the

committee ‘Peters’ for the clarity of their communications; to our

energetic editor, Tim Westbrook, and to incoming President,

Stephen Collins, for his analytical prescience and enduring

optimism. I am delighted and humbled to be joining the

committee this year and look forward to making my contribution.

In the meantime, I need to keep my promise to Tim…

Part 2 - 1st May 2020

Finally, I put “pen to paper” and began thinking about my life in

lockdown over the past six weeks. I’d quickly understood that to

stay positive, I should keep to regular stints of paid work (handy

that people still ask me to do stuff ), and also use the new

elasticity of the day to plan breaks from over-thinking… and not

just take a nap. In short, I should take back control of my day and

do those jobs that I’d put off until the next pandemic. And as

that time-bending moment had now arrived, there were no more

excuses.

Unlike couples that have recently discovered new things about

themselves working from home together for the first time, I have

shared my wife’s garden office for a few years now, so our

professional foibles are well known to each other. What I have

struggled to compete with is her multi-tasking skill; oh yes, it’s

all true. So, in the time of lockdown I figured it was the moment

to show off my prowess in that arena. I’d choose a job well within

my comfort zone (some decorating), something I could easily do

at the same time (ranting at a news broadcast on the radio) as

well as a challenge that would earn me brownie points and a treat

(always good to self-incentivise).

And so it was, that between priming and undercoating a

bedroom door, I decided to wow my wife with a cake. Don’t

laugh. Christine’s a food writer and my baking skills usually start

and end with an oft-repeated lemon drizzle sponge. Alas, in

lockdown, an end-of-day G+T takes priority for the citrus fruits.

However, we did have a bowl of over-ripe bananas. It seems that

banana bread is de rigueur in the time of lockdown, so I got my

baking tin ready.

To say there are hundreds of cookbooks on our shelves would be

an understatement. Fortunately, Christine also has a digital way

of locating recipes including specific ingredients from among

them all. I ask her to find me one that includes sorry-forthemselves

bananas, and Nigella comes to the rescue with her

Italian Breakfast Banana Bread.

So, with the lovely Ms Lawson guiding me, I blend, cream, slice

and mash my ingredients, and preheat my oven. I set the timer

and return to my decorating. I think how extraordinarily talented

I am at multitasking after all: I can prime, undercoat, listen to the

government’s daily coronavirus briefing, all while managing the

alchemy of fruit, flour and sugar and without mistaking the

mixing bowl for the paint pot.

A door of perfect brush strokes, a rant at the radio later and my

timer rings. I leave Mr. Hancock to his umpteenth “of course”

and skip to the kitchen where I take a mighty fine looking

banana bread from the oven. Lo and behold, it smells just like

Nigella’s (I kid you not) and I put it on the rack to cool.

Shortly after, the undercoat is finished, my decorating tools are

cleared away, and I realise that we can’t have a slice of cake with

tea because Nigella is adamant that we have to leave it for a day.

Oh well, can’t let the lemons go to waste - time for that selfcongratulatory

G+T. In case you’re wondering, the banana bread

was perfect with elevenses the next day.

My multi-tasking prowess, whether in baking and decorating,

writing for Tim (in the happiest of conclusions, deadline was the

end of May, not April!) other diversions or working for clients,

fills the hours of lockdown. Otherwise, I’m sure I’m not the only

one who has regular thoughts of life returning to a new normal,

and it’s fair to say that the promise of meeting up with old school

chums in the near future is one of the things that keeps me going.

Daniel Bone

8


My lucky escape from the

Corona virus infection!

David "HANK" Hensher 1945 to 1950

On the Tuesday before the lockdown we had booked a table for

dinner at the Royal Motor Yacht Club with 2 friends as we were

certain that the committee would keep the club and marina open

regardless through any forthcoming lockdown. However on that

day we were contacted by the club to inform us they had decided

the risk was too great and the entire club was to be closed for the

time being. Personally I was not worried about getting the virus

as I took the view that if I got it now I would recover and become

immune so I would not have the risk of getting in later life. So I

suggested that we should go to another venue but the other three

voted down the idea on the basis that at 85 I was at least 14 years

older than any of the others so we stayed at home.

What we did not know at the time is that our friends had been

at a celebration lunch for 30 guests the previous Saturday and

had already contracted the virus as 2 days later they became ill!

So being in close contact with the usual hugs and kisses, my wife

and I would certainly have got it. They went through a horrific

2 week period when at times they thought they were going to die.

Of the 30 guests 19 were infected and a 72 year old man died so

my chances of survival no longer looked certain and I am now

more cautious.

On a more amusing note a friend who swims in the sea every

morning and then relaxes on the beach for 10 minutes was

ordered off by a beach guard despite no other person being in

sight and warned if he repeated this the police would be called!

The police realise there is a big risk of personal assault as they are

patrolling in pairs and so I complained to the chief constable on

the basis that if they split up they could patrol twice the area.

The reply was that most probably one of them was in pupillage,

so I replied that I was unaware that they recruited candidates in

their 40s as they both looked very long in the tooth!

Be that as it may my friend this time was surfing off Bournemouth

and on the way in saw a coastguard patrol car with a blue light

flashing and an official standing by the shore. He was ordered

out of the sea and was told that although he could swim he

couldn't surf because this was considered a sport. It beggars

belief that the police had actually bothered to call out the

coastguard because they thought they had no jurisdiction over a

surfer and I am sure the coastguard acted ultra virus on this

occasion.

Meanwhile I have been enjoying this beautiful weather by going

out on my paddle board every morning without anybody

apprehending me and cycling in the afternoon along the coastal

path from Sandbanks to Hengistbury Head. I am looking

forward to reading other members' accounts, particularly on the

overzealous policing of us all.

Crouch End Memories

Martin Brown

My father died (age 43) a few months before my eleven plus

exam. We lived above the shop (a sweets and grocery shop),

which was opposite the Fire Station in Tottenham Lane. A

couple of years later in 1956, we moved into The Hope and

Anchor Pub, when my mum married the publican, William

Henry Pullen, who had also lost his spouse two years earlier.

Bill (as he was known) had lived in the pub since 1914. Some of

you might remember the pub because there was a 41 bus stop

right outside.

My newly acquired stepbrother was John Pullen (15 years older

than I).

I soon discovered that he also had attended Stationers and was

in the same class as Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus Cars.

(Beaky Davis was their form master - he seems to have been at

the school forever!). There was a class photo showing all three of

them but sadly it seems to have gone walkabout.

The two youths were close friends for two reasons:

Firstly, their fathers were both publicans in the same road,

Tottenham Lane, and the two men would often get together for

outings to events at The Licensed Victuallers’ Association.

Chapman’s pub was The Railway Hotel (not to be confused with

the Great Northern Railway pub round the corner in The High

Street). It was right next door to Hornsey station and Stanley

Chapman had managed it since 1937. It’s not there now (not as

a pub anyway).

The second reason for the friendship was that Colin and John

shared a common interested in things mechanical.

9


Arms is now a part of Greene King's Metropolitan Pub

Company brand and always serves Greene King IPA. They

specialise in London cask ales including one named “Crouch

End” at 3.9 % ABV which was specially brewed for them by

Greene King - a great ale. Other ales included “HopFest” by

Mad Squirrel Brewery at 3.8 % (who by the way brew 133

different beers) and “Yes” by The Goodness Brewing Company

at 4.5 %. CAMRA card carrying members get 10% off their

pints at The Maynard Arms. They had a great woodfired grill

menu for lunch and dinner. Using a “secret” DJ app you can add

your favourite track to their ultra-modern, digital jukebox.

In the early days they spent much of their spare time fixing bikes

for other people and soon expanded their interest into motorbikes

and cars. The boys would have been aged 11 in 1939 when

the war started.

The more ambitious Chapman eventually decided to try and

make a career from his interest and asked John to join him in the

new venture. But John’s more conservative approach to life got

the better of him and he declined the offer. Colin decided to go

it alone and set up a facility just a stone’s throw from his dad’s

pub in Tottenham Lane.

The rest, as they say, is history.

John’s only claim to fame came a bit later after he joined the

construction company, Taylor Woodrow. They held an internal

competition for a new logo design, which John won! The prize

was £150. That equates to somewhat more than £3000 now!

The logo of 4 men, pulling together on a tug-of-war rope,

became famous world-wide. It was only recently abandoned after

a company merger.

You may recognise it.

Martin Brown

The Maynard Arms

PUBS AROUND CROUCH END

Tony Moffat

Inside the Maynard Arms. From left to right:

Bob Harris, Roger Melling, Roger Engledow and Tony Moffat

Having enjoyed our visits to pubs to find a venue for the 1954

intake at Stationers’ and visited pubs in the Kings Cross area, we

(Roger Engledow, Roger Melling, Bob Harris and I) decided we

would go to pubs around the Crouch End area which would have

been where generations of Stationers’ would have visited whilst

at school.

THE MAYNARD ARMS, PARK ROAD

This was our first stop (Photograph 1). Built by the Maynard

family in 1851, it retains many of its original, beautiful features

mixed with more modern furniture. It looks deceptively small

from the entrance in Park Road but opens out into an attractive,

spacious pub area with Chesterfield sofas, cute booths with a

laid-back atmosphere and a separate recently refurbished

restaurant. There is a good sized garden with plenty of tables and

chairs which hosts a BBQ during the Summer months. The

charming Chloe served us and explained that The Maynard

"Football Up to Date” picture inside the Maynard Arms

10


Chloe took a photograph of us enjoying our ales (Photograph 2)

with Roger Engledow proudly wearing his OSFC Centenary

celebratory shirt. Behind us is a cartoon picture, “Football Up To

Date: Lady-Footballers Match at Crouch-End” (Photograph 3).

This celebrates the first match played by the British Ladies’

Football Club. It was on Saturday 23 March 1895 at the

Nightingale Road Ground adjacent to the Alexandra Park

Racecourse, after the match between Crouch End FC and the

3rd Grenadier Guards in front of an estimated crowd of ten to

eleven thousand including many woman fans. Apparently the

ground was crammed with many unable to see properly. What a

wonderful start to womens’ football. England’s women still

perform well, getting to the Semi-finals of the FIFA Womens’

World Cup France 2019, being knocked out by the USA who

won the tournament. Bob Harris reminded us that Roger and he

played at that ground when at Campsbourne Primary School.

Worthy of note is that TripAdvisor rates The Maynard Arms as

1st of 8 pubs in Crouch End. A good start.

THE RAILWAY TAVERN, CROUCH END HILL

We walked along Park Road to the famous red brick Crouch

End Clock Tower. It is described in Wikipedia as, “a much-loved

icon of Crouch End. Designed by the architect Frederick Knight,

it was originally built as a memorial to Henry Reader Williams

in 1895. Williams was Chairman of the local authority of

Hornsey from 1880-1894, and played a key part in shaping the

district, in particular campaigning against developers for the

preservation of Highgate Wood and Queen’s Wood. He also

paved the way for the purchase of Alexandra Palace and Park by

a consortium of local authorities in 1901.” Apparently the Clock

Tower is on the site where a wooden cross previously stood,

marking where four locally important roads met and was the

reason that Crouch End grew up around that area.

We continued to The Railway Tavern on Crouch End Hill. This

is a 1930s mock Tudor pub that has many of its original features

lovingly restored by its owner who is passionate about reinstating

old boozers to their original glory. It is named after the railway

line that used to run from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace

with a station at Crouch Hill. The railway line brought hordes

from London to visit Alexandra Palace in Victorian times, but

was closed due to lack of customers long before Beeching’s cuts

were made. The pub, owned by Mitchells & Butlers, is smallish

with a very comfortable atmosphere. It has a garden tucked

around the back which the owners say is a secret gem which is a

great place to relax with a cold drink and enjoy the sunshine in

the Summer, or cuddle up with a glass of mulled wine in the

Winter. The Pedigree was off when we arrived but Henry, the

barman of the day, put it back on and gave us all a taste - it was

absolutely super and the best ale we had there.

THE HARRINGAY ARMS, CROUCH HILL

Walking round the corner to Crouch Hill we soon came to The

Harringay Arms. It had a makeover recently and re-opened its

doors in January 2018. It is very small and Time Out says,

“There’s not a lot of square footage to shout about, but its bijou

patio, decked out with mirrors and hanging bulbs, is a sweet,

vitamin D-rich spot to while away a few hours.” Very cute.

Interestingly, not only are dogs allowed into the pub, they're also

celebrated on a Polaroid canine 'wall of fame' beside the bar.

Around the walls of the pub were small plaques displaying the

Crouch End of old.

It had only two real ales: Sharp’s Doom Bar and Timothy

Taylor’s Landlord. If you didn’t know, Landlord is a 4.3% classic

pale ale with a complex citrus and hoppy aroma. A recent survey

revealed that it has the highest proportion of drinkers who call it

their favourite ale. Also, it has won more awards than any other

beer, winning both CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain and the

Brewing Industry Challenge Cup four times. Not a lot of people

know that.

THE OLD DAIRY, CROUCH HILL

Walking up and over the top of Crouch Hill we came to The Old

Dairy. The building dates from 1836 when it became the Friern

Manor Dairy Farm. It is a Grade II listed building and has seven

fantastic murals on the outside of the building illustrating:

milking, cooling, butter making and a further three on various

forms of delivery. They illustrate very well the the time that it

was a functioning creamery. If you want further information

about the dairy, Michaela (the current manager) told me that

there is a publication of the Hornsey Historical Society, “The

Old Dairy at Crouch Hill” by John Hinshellwood, which

describes both the dairy and a local dairying family from the

1840s.

It is a very light and airy pub with large separate open areas for

eating and drinking, including a contemporary restaurant and a

private dining room, with new rooms at every turn. The walls

were often just bare bricks and steel girders which were features

of the architecture. Greene King “Yardbird” was on offer which

has recently had its recipe changed to have four times more hops

to pack a real punch. With an ABV of 4% and the extra hops it

is pretty potent. Greene King describes it as, “The beer, which

has been crafted by Greene King’s brewer Ross O’Hara, allows

the hops to take centre stage and shine through. Using American

hops Citra, Centennial and Simcoe, Yardbird has a zesty and

tropical aroma, packs a real citrus punch to entice the taste buds

and results in a clean bitter finish, leaving you wanting more.”

Having had a great lunchtime pub crawl, we continued walking

along Stroud Green Road to Finsbury Park Railway and

Underground stations and went our separate ways.

Where to go for our next outing?

Tony Moffat

The Old Dairy

11


TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR - THE NEW HOME, A VISIT REPORT

Peter Bothwick

On 13th January 2020, four starstruck Old Stationers experienced

a guided tour of the finest football stadium in Europe, the shiny

new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

This excellent tour allowed the four chums, Peter Bothwick,

Brian Cutts, John Gray and David Hudson, from Stationers’ year

1962, to combine the wonder of the magnificent stadium

structure with the glorious memories of years gone by.

With these four having already completed tours of the former

home, White Hart Lane, and the briefly rented home, Wembley

stadium, it was time to explore the new home, and all its glory

glory hallelujah!

Imagine the thrill of sitting in

the new home dressing room,

beneath Harry Kane’s shirt !

You are drawn immediately to

Harry’s dedicated changing

space, with its individual

power supply, personal phone

charging point, wi-fi

connection, specially selected

toiletries, and pristine match

kit. Everything ready for the

modern day footballer to turn

up for his day’s work, once he

has dragged himself away

from the air-conditioned fully

sanitized hospitable luxury of his pre-match transportation.

That’s even before we talk about the enormous post-match bath

facilities, with built in televisions!

A far cry from the days when the great Cliff Jones would arrive

at White Hart Lane by bus, pop into the pub for a swift one

before kick off, refresh himself with a gin and tonic and a fag at

half time, then actually stop and talk to fans after the game.

All that and ten quid a week!

As well as the impressive home and away changing areas, any

visitor to the stadium would also be overwhelmed by the giant

changing rooms dedicated specifically for the American Football

matches scheduled to take place at the stadium. Staging such

matches is an important revenue stream for Tottenham Hotspur,

and nothing has been left to chance. We all know that American

Football participants are huge guys, and their changing rooms

have been constructed and equipped accordingly.

We sat in the press conference room, and took it in turns to be

Jose Mourhino, and complain about something or other. As

usual, nobody listened.

We were also invited to sit in the front line seats which are

occupied on match days by manager, coaching staff, substitutes

etc. Although utterly fascinating to experience, we all felt that

the pitch view from that low level angle did not seem to give the

clearest view of the entire playing area.

Then, standing on the hallowed turf and looking up at the iconic

cockerel at the top of the 18,500 seater South Stand (Park Lane

end), the visiting quartet’s thoughts inevitably spanned the many

decades of their Spurs history. We each recalled our first ever

Tottenham Hotspur match in considerable detail, the contents of

which are simply too good not to share, as follows;

Peter Bothwick – Peter’s first Tottenham match was actually the

FA Cup Final on 6th May 1961. The match that clinched the

Double! His older brother, who also attended Stationers’ School,

managed to get two tickets, even though he was a Chelsea fan. A

famous 2-0 victory over Leicester City, goals from the great

Bobby Smith and Terry Dyson. A wonderful occasion, and Peter

was hooked for life.

Brian Cutts – Brian’s first Tottenham match was the European

Cup Semi-final second leg against cup holders Benfica on 5th

April 1962. The tie was in the balance, even though we had lost

the first leg in Lisbon 3-1, although two controversially disallowed

goals had not helped our cause. Brian was amongst a crowd of

64,448 at The Lane for that second leg, and he saw Jose Aguas

put Benfica ahead on the night – 4-1 on aggregate. But… goals

from Bobby Smith and a Danny Blanchflower penalty put us

back within reach. Imagine the pain when the guv’nor, Dave

Mackay, grazed the crossbar in the closing minutes. Beaten but

not disgraced against one of the finest teams of that generation

– and what a first game for Brian to choose!

John Gray – John’s first Tottenham match experience was more

modest than the previous two, but no less influential upon his

Spurs allegiance. The date was 17th November 1962, the

opposition Sheffield Wednesday. John vividly remembers

queuing up from 12.30pm, to pay his one shilling entrance fee

into the Park Lane end, then pay his 6 old pennies for a match

programme. He witnessed a tight, competitive match of few

chances on a typically muddy pitch. Then he saw Alan Finney

open the scoring for Wednesday in the 90th minute, only for

Dave Mackay, bizarrely playing up front in the absence of the

injured Bobby Smith, to equalise in the 91st minute. This was

one of 42 goals that Mackay amassed for Tottenham in his

outstanding career. This frantic finish saw the match conclude at

1-1.

David Hudson – David’s first Tottenham match gives him the

bragging rights amongst this quartet of supporters, his date being

the earliest, 29th March 1958. Tottenham took on Aston Villa

that day, and ran out winners by 6 goals to 2. Four of Spurs’ goals

were scored by the prolific Bobby Smith, who topped the

Division One goalscorers' chart that season, with a total of 36

goals. The young D T C Hudson also saw 2 goals for Terry

12


Medwin, so often a replacement for Cliff Jones, but

starring in his own right in this game.

Since these first game outings, we have had many more

unforgettable experiences as Spurs fans. Here are just a

few:

The Double Season 1960/61 – history in the making!

Hearing the tragic news about John White – everyone

knows exactly where they were when this awful news

broke.

Greavesie’s solo goal against Man Utd – he just waltzed

around all of their defenders!

Jennings saving two penalties at Anf ield – the club’s

greatest keeper, we even forgave him for moving

elsewhere.

Gillie, the f irst King of White Hart Lane – the supreme

header of a football.

Hoddle, the second King of White Hart Lane – skilful in

so many ways, except singing.

Ricky’s cup winning goal – the finest at Wembley?

Tony Parks’ winning save – European trophy number 3.

Clive Allen’s 49 goals in 1986/87 – pity about the Cup Final.

Gazza’s Wembley free kick – David Seaman later claimed that if

his studs hadn’t caught in the turf he would have saved it – in his

dreams!

Paul Robinson’s goal against Watford – a moment for Ben Foster

to forget.

Defoe’s f ive against Wigan – a 9-1 victory, yet only 1-0 at half

time. Even David Bentley scored.

4-4 at The Emirates – Jenas and Lennon score in stoppage time.

Crouchie’s goal at The Etihad – 2010, to clinch Champions

League entry for the first time.

The emergence of Gareth Bale – “taxi for Maicon”, as we beat

Inter Milan 3-1.

Bill Nick’s testimonials, 1984 and 2003 – two huge displays of

gratitude, emotion and appreciation for the great man. Why

never Sir Bill?

Moura’s Champions League hat-trick in Amsterdam – 3-0 down

at half time and seemingly out, until Lucas had other ideas.

Harry Kane, Spurs legend and England captain – so many

memorable goals.

There could of course be dozens more of these special highlight

memories, enough to fill a magazine on their own. But to our

four impressionable Spurs fans, these are the ones that resonate

so spectacularly with their historic supporting of our great club.

We have immense pride and satisfaction in the coveted memories

and the legacy of the original White Hart Lane stadium. Equally

though, we recognize that the progression from old to new was

necessary and inevitable for the Club’s future prosperity. Now,

instead of 36,200, we can welcome 62,303 supporters to be

indoctrinated into the Tottenham family, just as four young

impressionable Stationers’ pupils were, around 60 years ago.

These days, Brian and David don’t get to watch Spurs live as

often as they would like. Peter and John remain long-standing

season ticket holders, also travelling together to Premier League

away games and Champions League games in Europe. But for

this day in January 2020, we were together at a place that means

so much to all of us.

Please take it from the four of us that a tour of the Tottenham

Hotspur Stadium is a very worthwhile experience, even for non-

Spurs fans. It offers a fabulous chance to witness the very best of

available facilities, with state of the art catering, and fan-friendly

services. Any visitor will be sorely tempted, as we four were, to

enroll as a member of the Tunnel Club, where the dining seats

give you the opportunity to observe the players close up as they

prepare to enter the pitch area. Such membership is a real snip at

£30,000 enrolment, then £19,000 per season. This latter cost is

for two places, and does include a match day programme!

If that is slightly outside of your budget, then you will hopefully

enjoy the value for money from the stadium tour, costing at

current pricing £26 per person.

So, with apologies to supporters of any other North London

football clubs, Barnet, Enfield Town, Hendon, Boreham Wood

etc etc, Messrs Bothwick, Cutts, Gray and Hudson thank you for

allowing us the indulgence to regale you with our stadium tour

experience, which evoked so much more.

If you have read this far and stayed with us, we sincerely thank

you.

Peter Bothwick

MEMBERS' EMAIL ADDRESSES

Of the 500 OSA members, there are still 57 of you with

no email address on the database.

Would any members who didn't receive an email from

me on 14th April, please send one to me at the email

address below so that I can add it to the OSA database.

Many thanks

Peter Sandell - peter.sandell@hotmail.co.uk

13


Antarctica: More an

expedition than a cruise

Peter Winter

For some years Gillian has resisted the idea of going on a cruise.

However, in 2017 I spotted an advert for a Hurtigruten “cruise”

from Valparaiso (Chile) down to Antarctica on a brand new ship.

I knew immediately this was the opportunity to break a deadlock

and Gillian quickly agreed to this exciting “expedition”. Little

did we know we would be so enchanted by albatrosses, penguins,

seals and icebergs…

Booked for October 2018, but we had to wait a long time; the

ship’s delivery was delayed so we deferred our voyage until

October 2019 when the ice standard Roald Amundsen was ready

to go. So it was in October last year we flew off to Santiago and,

after some shuffling of journeys to avoid major riots, we ended

up boarding the magnificent Roald Amundsen in Valparaiso and

sailing down the Chilean coast. This was a delightful introduction,

with much of the journey being in the channels that form the

Chilean coast line, carved out by glaciers. This part of the

journey included sighting the five large glaciers that come from

the Patagonian ice sheet down to the sea. Apart from some

tremendous birdlife, for most of the journey we were seemingly

on our own. We had a couple of stops, the most interesting being

to the magnificent mountains of Torres del Paine, where we

encountered our first icebergs. Some very curious small icebergs

from a glacier that had calved into a freshwater lake. Here we

also encountered some wildlife including alpacas and a puma and

the site where Darwin found the remains of a giant sloth.

As we headed south we had a really quite substantial lecture

programme on the ship, indeed probably four or five hours a day,

if you wanted to go to them all. We started preparing for

Antarctica; we were all fitted out with appropriate red and yellow

anoraks so we couldn’t get mislaid; we were issued with some

splendid boots that proved to be great for walking in the snow

and all the clothes that we were going to take onto Antarctica

had to be hoovered to meet appropriate standards not to

contaminate this wonderful continent. We also formed some

close friendships with other passengers, although not with the

American creationists!!!

The real fun started as we traversed the Magellan Straits and the

Beagle Channel and set out across Drake’s Passage. Prior to that

it was announced that tablets were available at reception! As we

set out we had Beaufort force 10 winds and waves over 8 m. The

crossing took about 40 hours and for some strange reason we

were almost the only people at breakfast. The tables had a good

lip on them so, although our plates moved, they did not go too

far. The further we got into the crossing the calmer the seas

became. We had some wonderful times with accompanying

birdlife, a wonderful array of albatrosses and petrels joined us,

flying past the ship at about 2 knots faster than we were going

and only perhaps 10 feet off the top deck railings. I don’t think

I saw a single albatross flap its wings…they just glide all day

long. Delight after delight followed and not long after the

captain announced that we had a large iceberg coming up on

starboard and he would steer closer for us to have a good look: it

seemed enormous but much larger were to follow.

As we reached Antarctica our first stop was on the South

Shetlands. Here we started to encounter many penguins and a

wide range of seals. We had not realised that some penguin

colonies are a distance from the sea to keep them safe from the

14


predatory seals. The penguins were a real delight; they seem to

find us to be a curiosity and, in small numbers, seemed to take on

a stage role, with mesmerising performances. Having seen

pictures of the penguins doing it, our second grandson tried very

successfully to glide down the snow on his tummy this New Year

in Poland, but that is another tale.

At this first stop Gillian and I did some sea kayaking, not

something either of us had ever done before. The ease with

which we did this was a reflection of the beautiful calm conditions

we had arrived into. For the entire seven days in Antarctica we

had the most glorious cloudless skies and millpond sea conditions.

It was so pleasant that most days we didn’t need to wear gloves

and certainly had to put on some sunscreen. On our next stop, we

landed to see a gallery of seals: Leopard seal, Elephant seal,

Crabeater seal and Weddell seal. The leopard seal seemed so at

peace and yet it was such a seal that killed the last British

Antarctic person to die on the continent. Some of the walks we

had on landing took us to high points to find the penguin

colonies. Under the Antarctic Treaty, Hurtigruten could not let

more than 100 of the passengers ashore at any one time. There

were 400 of us on the ship, plus about 30 journalists/photographers

documenting this maiden voyage. Whilst in Antarctica the ship

was christened using a lump of ice, in the same manner as Roald

Amundsen had christened his ship many years ago.

These limitations on how many of us could go ashore at the same

time meant that most days were long, with the first people

heading ashore soon after 7 AM and the last coming back onto

the boat nearer 7 PM. I’m sure those of you who have been on

cruises have seen the small Zodiac inflatables with just 10

passengers a time going ashore; they felt very unstable on first

use, with no seats and just perched on the edge of the inflatables

but we soon became relaxed. The crew were good at finding

landing points and they went ahead of us, carving a few steps out

of the ice for the Zodiacs to let us land.

On another day we had a great time snowshoeing. Once again

something neither of us had done before. We moved location

each day finally ending up on mainland Antarctica. One

morning we woke to find a really delightful small (about 20 m

across) iceberg outside our balcony: this iceberg must have

flipped a few times as the differential melting presented an

exquisite ice sculpture

Our ship was billed as a hybrid ship although, in reality, the

battery power enables efficient engine operation at low speeds;

15


the ship could only operate for something like 30 minutes in all

electric mode. But at no point did we drop anchor in Antarctica;

the ship having brilliant control systems that just held a fixed

position whilst we explored ashore.

On our return across Drake’s passage we encountered an

enormous tableau iceberg, it was at least the size of 15 football

pitches with a flat surface protruding perhaps 20 m out of the

water. On further study we found this had probably broken away

from the infamous A68 tableau iceberg that broke free in 2017;

in total it is over 5000 square kilometres.

Finally we docked at Puente Arenas, the most southerly town in

Chile… this was the best holiday either of us have ever had…it

is a truly magical place.

Peter Winter

Recollections of A School trip

along the Rhone – Summer 1966

Roger Turkington

I should start this short article by clearly stating that my

memories are hazy and not at all comprehensive or necessarily

accurate. I can only remember the names of 2 or 3 class mates on

the trip and I’m not entirely sure who the members of staff were!

Why then I am writing this, you might ask, well it was loose talk

at the Christmas Lunch 2019 within earshot of the Editor of this

fine journal that got me into this predicament – be warned!

The summer school trip was a canoeing expedition along the

Rhone river in France culminating in 2 days dinghy sailing in the

Mediterranean. The canoes were two person collapsible canvas

units on a wooden frame. We started the journey south of Lyon

and I think we covered about 20 miles or so each day camping

overnight.

As was the custom in France at the time, teenagers were welcome

in bars and restaurants so it was not difficult to have a drink or

two and possibly the odd cigarette most evenings under the

From left, Danny Bone, Ross Thompson, Jeremy Smith, Charlie Zarb.

watchful eyes of our teachers.

My partner in the canoe for the whole of the trip was Danny

Bone, I was always in the rear seat doing the really hard work

paddling. Most of our luggage was taken by minibus to the next

overnight stop but we did keep some belongings in what were

supposed to be waterproof bags. A few days into our journey

Danny and I encountered what I can only describe as rough

water with waves coming over the canoe. We were slowly sinking

and I screamed at Danny to paddle faster and head for the

shoreline. We made it albeit somewhat distraught and wet, as

were our clothes and cameras in the ‘waterproof ’ bags. We bailed

out the canoe and completed the day’s journey without further

incident. I don’t recall completing any accident report forms or

health and safety questionnaires – those were the days!

The camera I had was a top-of-the-range instamatic and with

such a quality device to use I though it would be worth the extra

expense of 35mm colour transparency film. The camera was

soaking wet and of course you should not open the back of a

camera with film inside but I had to dry it out and just hope that

some of the film would be okay. Developing was pre-paid so I

had nothing to lose. Sadly, as you will see from the photos the

film was damaged and this combined with my innate lack of

photographic skills didn’t make for great visual memories.

Somehow or other we did make it all the way down to the

Mediterranean, we weren’t able to canoe the whole length of the

river. Around the Pont d’ Avignon was deemed too dangerous

even though we’d survived the ‘rapids’ further upstream.

We had two days ‘relaxing’ on the coast at a campsite run by PGL

Adventure Holidays. Peter Gordon Lawrence was the founder of

the company back in 1957 and it is still trading today, so I guess

they haven’t lost too many kids. My most notable memory of

these final days was learning to capsize and upright the mirror

dinghies we weresailing. Our tutor was a somewhat ‘cocky’

character and his party piece was to walk round the hull of the

boat as we nearly drowned capsizing and righting again.

However, we had the last laugh, after two or three capsizes the

boat had drifted inshore and on the final turn we manage to snap

the mast off as the water was too shallow. That certainly wiped

the smile of our cocky captain!

16


From left,Graham Rawlings, Andy Pinches, Richard Taylor,

? ,Danny Bone, Peter Boddington

Now we come to the most interesting point of this short memoir.

I along with a number of my peers had been led to believe that

all French girls were sex mad and easy prey for us dashing young

Stationers. Unsurprisingly, this of course turned out to be a

complete lie, not that we met many girls on the trip but those we

did had no interest in us – well, me at least – others may tell a

different story. However, as a good boy scout I had gone along

prepared with a newly purchased packet of condoms. These

remained tucked away in the back of my rucksack only to be

uncovered when my mother did the washing on my return home.

Needless to say I was challenged by my father. My simple

defence was that one of my cohort had planted them!

Roger Turkington

My experiences as a navigator

flying in the DeHavilland

Mosquito Tony Grist

I was 19 years old when I first flew in a “Mossie.” After sixteen

months of aircrew selection, officer cadet training, basic air

navigation and advanced air navigation schools, I was posted to

a bomber command station at Bassingbourn, near Cambridge.

This was an operational conversion unit to train for a role as a

navigator of the RAF bombers. Apart from navigating a few two

to three hour cross country exercises with experienced Mosquito

pilots I had to crew for pilots who had graduated from single

engine Harvards and were “ converting “ to twin engines. There

were no dual-control Mosquitos where a pilot new to the aircraft

could be taught side by side by an experienced pilot. They were

thrown in at the deep end.

The Mosquito is powered by two Rolls Royce Merlin engines

whose propellers both rotate in the same direction. It also has a

very short keel (distance between the main landing gear and the

tail wheel.) The result of the props rotation and the short keel was

a torque which tended to swerve the aircraft on touching down in

the stalled position. An over correction with the rudder and

brakes would result in a sideways force on the main landing gear

which caused it to collapse. One alternative was to not overcorrect

and allow the plane to go off the runway onto the grass.

The commanding officer in charge of pilot training insisted that

his students land the aircraft in a three point stalled attitude as

they had been taught on the Tiger Moths and Harvards. The C

O had the damaged planes towed to the upwind end of the

runway as a warning to his pupils! This did nothing to improve

their nerves. Night flying was conducted with goose neck

kerosene lanterns spaced along the runway to outline its

boundaries. A trip off the runway into the grass usually resulted

in hitting one or more flare pots and the debris wound up

decorating the tail plane. After nearly four months and being the

only navigator left, not in hospital, I considered myself lucky to

be posted to Halfpenny ( pronounced Haypney ) Green near

Wolverhampton for a three month radio operator’s course.

After completing wireless school I wound up being posted to the

overseas ferry unit of transport command at Abingdon near

Oxford. My next experience with a Mosquito was in March of

1953. I was slated to crew with Flight Sergeant Witold Lanowski

to ferry a Mosquito (T3 VP349) from Abingdon to Singapore.

The first leg was from Abingdon to Istres, near Marseilles. It was

a routine trip and I had folded my charts in preparation for the

landing. There was a small tin of hard candies sitting behind the

rudder trim in the centre of the dash. Witold flew the aircraft

onto the runway landing on the front wheels with the tail up and

full directional control with airflow over the rudder, slowly

lowering the tail as we lost speed. We touched with a slight jolt

and the candies popped into the air. Switching hands, he took his

left hand off the throttles and onto the stick, caught the candies

with his right hand and put them in his lap. We continued right

down the centre of the runway. To say that I was impressed

would be a monumental understatement. The CO at

Bassingbourne should have taken lessons from him.

Witold Lanowski is mentioned in “Goodbye Mickey Mouse” by

Len Deighton, my favourite author of the “spy” genre.

I later learned that Witold flew with the USAAF in 1944 and

served without pay for several months. There was talk of this on

our squadron (167) at the time and he had the reputation that his

love of flying was greater than his need for money as long as he

was provided with a bed and food! With the support of a senator

from Wisconsin he later successfully sued the U S government

for his back pay. It seemed manifestly unfair to me at the time

that this seasoned veteran and experienced pilot should have the

rank of Flight Sergeant and that I was a 20 year old inexperienced

sprog holding a commission. At the end of each leg we each went

to our separate messes. I couldn’t even buy him a beer!

The Mosquito was not the easiest plane to get in and out of. Nor

was it the ideal office for a Nav/Wop. Entrance was through a

panel on the lower starboard side of the nose, ahead of the bomb

bay doors. It was about five feet off the ground and roughly two

and a half feet square. The pilot had to get in first, crawling past

the navigator’s seat into the left hand side. From the entrance

hatch to the cockpit floor was another two up. It required a lot

of upper body strength to heave yourself into place, and once

there, only an emergence or a safe landing was motivation to

change your position. You always had a pee just before a flight.

On top of my flying suit I wore a parachute harness and dingy

pack strapped to my bum which fitted into an indent in the

bottom of the aluminium seat. Maps and plotting charts were

17


clipped onto a board. Protractor and dividers attached by string

to my flying suit and several pencils stuffed into breast pockets.

A helmet, goggles and an oxygen mask complete with microphone

and connecting cords contributed to my lack of mobility as did a

pair of heavy lined flying boots. A seat harness ensured that you

were not going anywhere in a hurry. Once installed the thought

of dropping anything into the entrance well was a nightmare.

The radio transmitter/receiver was a TR 1154/55 situated

between the seats but behind them. This required some degree of

upper body contortion to operate a morse key and the dials to

tune the radio. Raise a couple of stations and get them to give

you a bearing; plot them on your chart to fix your position;

calculate a revised course towards destination to give to the pilot;

pass a position and weather report to ground. I considered onearmed

paperhangers lazy. Busy does not describe it.

An emergency exit required that the entrance hatch be jettisoned

and the navigator, after detaching himself from the seat harness

and intercom/oxygen, drop into the void, assisted by the pilot’s

right boot on his shoulders to promote egress. The pilot in turn

would roll the airplane on its back, jettison the canopy and hope

to fall clear of the tail plane.

Having completed my tour of duty in the RAF I emigrated to

Canada in May 1955. I had applied to Spartan Air Services in

Ottawa for a job and following an interview, was hired as a photo

navigator. It was something new for me as it was a bit like being

a bomb aimer but with no evil intent. Flying photo lines means

instructing the pilot to go left/left or right/right to make sure

that the camera has lateral overlap on the next line to be flown

in order to provide stereoscopic photo images. (Forward overlap

is also important and is a function of ground speed which is set

on the camera.)

Spartan had a subsidiary called Arctic Wings based in Churchill,

Manitoba. Their role was to freight fuel and supplies to the

Distant Early Warning line (DEW Line), a chain of early

warning radar stations being built by the USA at the time of the

cold war. These stations were located about every 50 miles apart

along the Arctic coast. Navigation in these latitudes poses two

problems. Convergence of the meridians towards the North Pole

meant a rapid change of true heading if you were travelling east

to west or west to east. Secondly, proximity to the north magnetic

pole which resides in Canada renders the compass useless as it

wants to point down. Given the chance to take on this new

challenge I found myself heading to Churchill in a Lockheed

Ventura (CF-HBX) flown by the legendary W W(Weldy)

Phipps. Weldy had flown a Piper Cub with balloon tyres onto an

esker (a strip of sand left behind after a glacier retreats) just north

of Garry Lake, NWT. With parts flown in he had managed to

scrape out a landing strip big enough for a DC3. Spartan set up

a base camp here for their aerial survey and mapping of Canada’s

North. We called the base Pelly Lake. It was just outside the

Arctic Circle.

A ground based Shoran (Short Range Navigation) set of stations

worked by students camped on the ground turned on their

transmitters when cloud cover permitted photo flying weather

(less than 2 Octas if I remember correctly.) The mid-level team

flying the Ventura at 20,000 feet took simultaneous shoran

readings with their pictures. This enabled the exact geographical

location of the picture to be recorded. The Mosquito was

covering the same territory but from an altitude of 30,000 feet.

On August 29th I was asked to sub in for a camera operator who

had quit and flew as camera operator for the first time.

This version of the Mosquito was a Mk35(CF-HMQ). Behind

the wing and above the bomb bay, Spartan’s engineers had

constructed a camera position. It was a rearward facing seat on

the starboard side. Access was just a couple of feet off the ground

and a small window provided the only view except for that

through the downward facing Swiss made Wild camera. Control

18


cables moved along-side your ears deafened by those two Rolls

Royce Merlins just a few feet away. On take-off and landing you

were braced against being tossed from side to side by every

movement of the rudder as the pilot tried to keep it straight on

the strip of soft sand which was the runway at Pelly Lake. This

was even scarier than Bassingbourne had been. Flying at 30,000

feet on oxygen but unpressurised was extremely hard physically.

Fear of getting the “bends” was ever present and we avoided

drinking pop before a flight.

On August 29th we flew two sorties for a total of six hours and

ten minutes. The next day we ferried from Fort Smith to Fort

Nelson (2 hrs – 5 mins) and then two photo ops for another 5

hrs 45 mins. September 1955 continued in much the same

fashion as we hunted for clear photo weather between Fort

Smith, Fort Nelson and Pelly Lake.

It was rumoured that Spartan paid $1500 each for the two

Mosquitos at a war surplus sale in the UK. The Wild camera

clicked over about every minute and the useable pictures were

said to be worth $100 each! I flew my last trip in a Mossie on

October 1st. On October 6th I boarded a Canadian Pacific

Airlines Corvair on my way back to Churchill. I had applied to

Canadian Pacific for a Flight Navigator position, obtained my

license and, based in Vancouver, I navigated for that airline for

the next sixteen years. Tea, coffee, meals to order served by

attractive young ladies of about my age, this was unlike any flying

I had done before, and the pay was four times what I had been

earning as a flying officer in the RAF. This was the life for me!

Tony Grist

Sadly Tony died last September

Evacuation – 1939

Brian Cranwell

Like many other Old Stationers I was a pupil at St Mary’s

Schools Hornsey on Tottenham Lane and Hornsey High Street.

When war broke out in September 1939 we were directed to go

to the school we had last attended and prepare for evacuation.

On returning to school, those of us who were being evacuated

with the school each received a small hessian rucksack and a list

of what was to go into it. Mostly it was toiletries plus a clothing

change of one of everything, but this was a mixed blessing. On

the one hand there was a limit as to how much a child could

carry, but the list included spare shoes - for most of us an

unheard of luxury. Even if our parents could afford them we

could grow out of them before they were worn out.

We each had a gas mask, and a label with our names on tied

around our necks. Parents had to give us a stamped post card

with our home address on it so that we could let them know

where we were on arrival at our billets, Destination unknown, a

wartime secret.

For a week or so we said goodbye to our parents in the morning

- and returned home in the afternoon. Then one afternoon, the

Head teacher came to each classroom and announced “9.30

tomorrow morning from Hornsey Station. No parents after

entering the school gates” Still no indication as to our destination.

Nest morning we went in crocodile to Hornsey Station. Our

class teachers were mostly with us. In those days only single

women were permitted to teach.

I still have a clear memory of standing on a platform at the

station watching trains full of waving kids going past, having

come from Kings Cross. Of the journey itself I remember

nothing except being told we were going to Peterborough. I had

no idea where this was but knew the name from my dad’s weekly

football pool coupon. On arrival we walked to a local school,

went in one door to a hall where we were each given a brown

paper carrier bag and went along a row of trestle tables from each

of which an adult placed a non-perishable food item in our

carrier (mostly tinned).

Reaching the end, we were directed out of another door to where

buses waited, and we were taken to a village a few miles away

called Stanground.

Members of the local community were waiting for us in the

village school. Each of us was carefully listed as to where we were

being taken and details of those fostering us. As one of the tallest

and oldest I was appointed a messenger, the only drawback being

that on trotting around delivering messages I was constantly

grabbed by women saying “I’ll take this one!” Eventually I went

with a family called Binder who had two boys themselves. I later

heard thst they’d had a third son who had died.

For the first few weeks we shared the village school with the local

children each group using it on alternate days. After a few weeks

several children went home as there had been no bombing in

London, and we who stayed were integrated into the local

classes.

There are three particular memories I feel are worth recording.

Firstly, I had suffered from bronchitis all my life and usually spent

2-3 weeks in bed in Hornsey each winter, coughing. The first

winter in Stanground the same thing happened, and I was nursed

by the Binders. I stayed until the following winter but when I

started coughing again, Mrs Binder said “I’m not having this

again”. She sewed me up in a waistcoat made of brown paper

heavily lined with goose fat. I crackled for 2-3 days after which

nobody would sit next to me at school, because of the smell. I wore

it for about a week, and have never suffered from bronchitis again.

The second and third memories are more amusing. One day as I

was walking along a path between two houses three girls my age

were standing talking by a garden shed. As I approached they

asked me to go into the shed with them as they wished to show

me something. I went into the shed ahead of them whereupon

they shut the door behind me. Inside the shed were several other

girls and I was told I would not be allowed to leave until I had

kissed each one of them!

I was outraged and resolutely refused. They clearly had no

strategy as to what to do next and after some discussion they let

me go. There was nothing vicious about them and we were all

very naïve in those days, there was no social media or TV. (I’ve

19


lived for 80 years hoping for a repeat but no such luck!).

After 18 months I was moved to another billet which was a “one

down two up” cottage in a small enclosed square of cottages.

There was no internal drainage and the lavatories were what we

called in Kenya “long drops” at the end of the gardens which were

on each corner of the square. On one occasion I was constipated

(unusually for me) and after yet another unsuccessful visit to the

long drop I was on my way back to the cottage when my fostering

lady came down the path towards me “Any luck?” she asked. Sadly

I shook my head. “Well you must persevere” she said. I had never

heard this word before and for some years afterward had entirely

the wrong understanding as to its meaning. There is a well know

hymn which ends with the words “And with joy we’ll persevere”

which still brings a smile to my lips.

Reflections

I have often reflected upon this amazing period of history, the

incredible logistics in evacuating several million parents and

children from areas likely to be targeted by bombers. It was not

until the publication of Mike Brown’s book “Evacuees”in 2005

that I discovered that it was a far sighted Sir John Anderson who

chaired a Home Office committee in 1924 who foresaw that in

any future European war the continuing advancement of more

sophisticated aircraft would mean a much heavier targeting of

cities with production facilities and ports, and that this would

inflict many casualties on adjacent civilian populations.

The committee concluded that it would not be possible to

relocate these production units, and that those not involved with

such production i.e families, should be encouraged to move away,

and started formulating evacuation plans. These were ready by

1937, and involved not just paid officials but thousands of

volunteers from organisations such as the WRVS, and churches,

With the sheer numbers involved there must have been the odd

mishaps of buses or trains not turning up. But the logistical

exercise was surely an example of a British Civil Service at its

best and trust in the system by many. One wonders if such an

exercise today became necessary whether there would be greater

politicising, more paperwork, and more waste.

I have wondered how I would feel leaving my children in the

hands of teachers and officials, saying “goodbyes”in the morning

yet not knowing where they were going, and been in awe at the

dedication of so many teachers who went with their classes. Our

class teacher ran all sorts of spare time activities in Stanground

to help us retain a feeling of being part of the school to which we

belonged.

Then there were the foster parents, taking unknown children

from totally different backgrounds into their homes, and

although receiving a weekly government allowance often being

out of pocket.

I know that some people have horror stories about their

experiences, even tales of abuse. My elder brother went to a place

in Hertfordshire and was with a very unhappy family but not

abused. The remarkable statistic showing the success of the

whole business is reflected in the fact that of the millions moved

away from their homes, only 29 children died from bombing

raids.

30 or more years later I went back to visit Stanground and show

my family. It was a big mistake. The beautiful orchard with its

lovely varieties of sweet English apples which had been at the

end of the street I lived on, and where I used to assist in picking

the fruit in summer, had been replaced by a housing estate. The

old man who owned it always said “Eat whatever you like but

don’t take away or give others anything I don’t give you”

Worse, the stream where my friends and I used to catch minnows

and make mud ovens to bake potatoes was a stinking mess of

turgid yellow chemicals from a factory that could be smelt 50

yards away. The village seemed to have lost its identity. Things

never seem the same when you are older but this was more than

a memory mismatch.

Brian Cranwell

Ref: “Evacueess: Evacuation in wartime Britain 1939-45” by Mike Brown,

Sutton Publishing 2005.

Neil Parkyn is a retired architect and urban planner living in central

France. Following Stationers, he read Architecture at St John’s College,

Cambrige and subsequently has lived and worked professionally in

over 25 countries, from Kuwait to Vietnam. He has written or edited

many books on Architecture and Design, including ‘70 Architectural

Wonders of Our World’ (Thames and Hudson) which has sold over

320,000 copies worldwide. He enjoys watercolour painting and has

illustrated a study of the industrial heritage of his Department of the

Creuse. Neil has two grown-up children, only one of which is an

architect.

I first met Dan, your Vice-President, about 20 years ago and we

soon confirmed that we had both been denizens of Mayfield

Road at different times, him way after me. Apparently he had

attended a Careers’ Evening at which, to his youthful enquiry

about Architecture, he was told something to the effect that « we

had one of ‘them’’ several years ago…’ » it turned out that I was

the ‘them’!

Covid-19 a Tale of Two Nations

Southern Britain or Central France, surely the same deadly

COVID-19 virus, comparable cycles of infection and similar

procedures to cure its victims? Simply a matter of cutting-andpasting

the right molecules and Bob’s Your Uncle?….at this

point I must declare a lifetime affection for that late great North

London comedian Bob Monkhouse, who even in distant

retrospect thrills me with his lightning wordplay. ‘Bob’s Your

Uncle!’ was his catch phrase, just to remind you.

Bob might have extracted a savage satisfaction in the very

different ways in which the pandemic has played out in our two

neighbouring countries, social distancing afforded by the

Channel included. In almost every aspect we stand poles apart

and probably will remain so, but it’s pointless and unhelpful to

brandish some sort of heavenly clipboard. In a phrase so dear to

the Prime Minister, ‘We are where we are !

Send in the clowns

For a while the French authorities seemed to proceed on the

basis that you could simply talk the virus to death. If I ran a

simple log of the French tv hours devoted to COVID-19 in

recent weeks, on the five news channels, we are talking of several

hours a day on each, to the almost total exclusion of other World

Events. A parade of the available medics, professors, sociologists,

politicians, punduits and soothsayers filled our screens, some

becoming known by their nicknames – The Angry Doctor, The

20


Mad Professor, The

Pétillante (General)

Practitioner... and so on.

Spare a thought, as the

virus subsides, for such

folk and their inevitable

unemployment some

time soon.

‘France is at war’

The official tone was set

from the outset. It all

started at the top. It has

to be ackowledged that

President Emmanuel

Macron and his Prime

Minister Eduoard

Philippe have done an excellent job in leading the nation

through what was a traumatic and frightening sequence of

events. ‘We are at war’, declared Macron at his first ‘Fireside

Chat’, which was very far from the famous briefings by FDR to

America. COVID-19 was personified as cunning and viscious in

its hold on innocent victims. Indeed, there was something of the

Middle Ages about these pronouncements to the French people.

In reality, the French Government has probably made as many

tactical errors or just plain mistakes as their Anglo-Saxon peers,

but the prevailing sentiment is one of public satisfaction with the

overall conduct of the pandemic in the hands of these two men.

They appear calm, conforting and confident. Still.

Living with ‘lockdown’

There has been a strong sense of community cohesion and

mutual support. We all great each other with enthusiasm BUT

without the bises (hugs etc) which are so much a part of French

manners. Things are opening up again, the Summer approaches

and there is an air of refreshed optimism. But we all know that

things can never be quite the same again.

Neil Parkyn

A life in music

Paul Bateman

I had the good fortune to be born in Muswell Hill in 1954 into

a very musical family.

My Grandfather (on my mother’s side) was Musical Director

and a founder member of the Muswell Hill Operatic Society in

the early 1920s and my mother studied singing at the Royal

Academy of Music. There was therefore music in the house

constantly and productions of musicals were always either in

rehearsal or performance. I began piano lessons at the age of six

and from nine was already accompanying my parents and their

singing friends.

I was one of the 1965 intake at Stationers’, following my father

Eric William Bateman, who attended the school from 1933 to

1939. I also followed him into Norton House, my main memory

of which was that in my time we never won anything at anything!

I also attended the Guildhall School of Music as a Junior

Exhibitioner from the age of twelve which put paid to my

ambitions as a footballer (left wing) as I had to be at the

The days of panic buying and snaking queues are behind us. For

a while one had to queue for an hour, socially distanced, just to

enter our local DIY warehouse and then only if accompanied

one-to-one by a staff member. You weren’t allowed to touch

anything, instead indicating by a pointed finger what you wanted,

which the assistant would then place in your trolley…. and so to

the tills and to the car park. All very civilised. One could so

easily warm to the idea of having a Personal Shopper, so beloved

of premium outlets.

But there were nasty surprises – First, the rapid disappearance of

levure (=baking yeast) from the shelves, as well as the bread flour

to go with it.

This discovery gave rise – no pun intended – to the vision of a

fiery glow, akin to the furnaces of Coalbrookdale, spreading over

the fields of the Creuse Department, as a thousand home

breadmakers fired up together.

Secondly, the whole massive machinery of Social Distancing,

which has required a complex process of taping out, with real

tape, the correct distances and directions to follow in each and

every shop. Go the wrong way round the counters and you will

soon be told so by zealous citizens!

Latter-day ‘Masqueteers’

Mask wearing – failure of the supply chain, stocks destroyed,

How to Wear it Properly….it’s been a field day for feuds and

fancies over small pieces of fabric. An art form in itself?

Cheering to see the great fashion houses turning their well

manicured hands to sewing up a storm themselves. It all helps

the National Effort and further demonstrates the sense of

solidarité which does prevail here.

21


Guildhall on Saturday mornings. At that age football and music

were equal passions and had I followed the football route,

inevitably playing for Tottenham and England, I would have

retired about 30 years ago. As it is, I’m still doing music and

couldn’t contemplate stopping. We had good rivalry at home as

my father was born near Highbury and inevitably supported

Arsenal, who of course were the top team in the 1930s. Noble of

him, however, to take me to White Hart Lane!

At school I followed both John Alley (a fellow professional

musician) and John Rowlands into the role of School Organist.

We were extremely fortunate to have a good organ, additions to

which were made during our first year. I was able to get to school

half an hour early and do my organ practise, much to the

annoyance of the staff, whose staff room was just behind it.

Memories of organ postludes include disguised versions of

Bridge Over Troubled Water and Liquidator!

We were also fortunate to have such high quality music teachers

during my time - Norman Rimmer, Ieuan Roberts, Richard

Hickman and Donald Ellman. All in their very different ways an

inspiration.

I left Stationers’ after O levels as there was a new music course

starting at Kingsway College near Euston that involved A level

music and instrumental lessons at the Guildhall. This was

followed by full-time Guildhall where I studied Piano, Organ,

Cello and singing.

I was about to commence my third and final year when I was

offered a job as Music Director on a cruise ship that was going

to involve seven months at sea with a theatre company doing

musicals and dance shows. At the age of twenty this rather

appealed and I discussed it with my piano professor (Cimbro

Martin) who said “fantastic experience of life – take it!” I

therefore did my diploma exam a year early and left Guildhall

after two years.

We set sail from Southampton on a cold, wet November night to

be greeted six days later by the sun, heat and palm trees of

Barbados. We then sailed through the Panama Canal and across

the Pacific to Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and finally arriving in

Sydney after 5 weeks. We were then based in Sydney for four

months doing 2 and 3 week cruises around the South Pacific

before heading home by the same route the following May. As

you can imagine, an experience like that at age twenty was truly

horrible.

My career proper started on my return and each decade has seen

new developments – none of them planned! In my 20s I was a

freelance pianist working mostly in and around the London area

and encompassing all sorts of work. Classical recitals, piano

accompaniment for singers and instrumentalists, coaching

singers for operatic roles (’a repetiteur’) including being a regular

guest repetiteur at the Opera de la Monnaie in Brussels and

‘Head of Music Staff ’ at the European Opera Centre. Other

rehearsal piano work included TV and radio (even ‘Crackerjack!’

but I never got a pencil) but I was working mostly in classical

music. In my 30s with a young family growing up, the allure of

more regular money found me playing rehearsals for various

West End shows including The Two Ronnies Live at the

London Palladium. This led to being asked to be pianist in the

pit for various shows which in turn led to Assistant Musical

Director (playing the piano for 7 shows a week and conducting

1 show) and then Music Director. This was the 1980s during

which I conducted Singing In The Rain, Barnum, Charlie Girl,

Ziegfeld, The Phantom of the Opera and Carmen Jones. So my

first foray into conducting came with musicals.

During my 20s I had a Monday morning job at the Royal

22


Academy of Music playing the piano for the Advanced

Conductor’s Course, in which I was supposed to play as well or

badly as I was being conducted by the students. I did this for ten

years and although I wasn’t yet conducting I was in fact studying

a huge amount about the craft which stood me in very good

stead later.

At the end of my West End career a crucial turning point

occurred when I was asked to conduct a singer’s album and do

some arrangements for full symphony orchestra. The two

questions that the record company forgot to ask me was “are you

an arranger?” and “have you conducted a full symphony

orchestra?”. I blagged it, went out and bought a couple of books

about orchestration and found myself conducting the

Philharmonia Orchestra for the recording. At the time I wasn’t

looking for work as an arranger but one of the arrangements on

this album was so successful that it led to 30 years (so far) of

non-stop arranging. The conducting experience also led to new

areas of work involving concerts and recordings to this day, a

number of which are played regularly on Classic FM.

In the early 90’s the same record company, Silva Screen Records

who specialised in new recordings of old film music, had started

recording in Prague and regularly engaged my services which

gave me a bit of a reputation in that field. As a result I have

conducted film music concerts around the world and especially

with the Royal Philharmonic at the Albert Hall. At the same

time I was asked to be Music Director for Sarah Brightman

whose international career was taking off in a big way. This

resulted in recordings at Abbey Road with the London Symphony

Orchestra and concerts literally all over the world. She’s

especially popular in the Far East so I have been to China three

times and Japan seventeen times! Conducting for singers has

been the mainstay of my career and they include José Carreras,

Joseph Calleja, Lesley Garrett, Katherine Jenkins and Sir Byrn

Terfel, with whom I will have a concert at the Royal Albert Hall

in April 2021, virus permitting.

In 2000, 2001 and 2002 I had the honour of conducting the

Norwegian radio Orchestra for the Nobel Peace Prize Concert

in Oslo. This concert contains artists from every imaginable

musical sphere, so one minute I was conducting for opera singers

Bryn Terfel, Jesse Norman and Sumi Jo and the next minute also

Sir Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, Santana, A-Ha, Josh Groban,

Westlife, Natalie Cole. I’ve always liked variety!

Finally I must mention that over the past six years I have been in

daily contact with Francis Evans who taught us French at

Stationers. He would have been in his early 30s when he taught

us and is now 83. Music was always his greatest passion and

some will remember that he used to go to the Royal Festival Hall

and buy a lot of tickets to encourage to pupils to buy. As a result

I heard the great classical names from the 60s – Otto Klemperer,

George Szell, Artur Rubinstein, Nathan Milstein and many

more. This was a huge influence on my career for which I am

eternally grateful.

When I started out as a young pianist I had no idea that one day

I would have the incredible opportunity to conduct many of the

world’s finest orchestras and work with so many great soloists. I

have been very fortunate also to have five wonderful children

from two marriages, current age range 14-46! That’s another

story but my wife Helen joins me in wishing all Old Stationers

to remain healthy and happy at this difficult time.

Paul Bateman

David and the Dolphins

David Turner

A few years ago Jan and I were in the Bahamas when we

found that a trip was being organised by the hotel to a

lagoon populated by dolphins who are so tame that it is

perfectly safe to swim with them and stroke them if you

want to. Anyhow upon arrival we were given the choice of

watching a demonstration of their skills or basically to be

part of the show.

I felt that any Old Stationer would rise to the challenge

and so after being issued with the required bouyancy jacket

which can be seen in the picture we jumped in and the

animals swam up to greet us. We spent some time getting

to know them and were then instructed on the big event.

This involved lying on one’s front with the head out of the

water and keeping our legs as straight as possible. Then the

instructor blew his whistle and two of the creatures per

person swam in a perfect arc so that their snouts hit the

centre of our feet at precisely the same moment.

The trick is then to keep the legs firm and to hoist the

shoulders and arms out of the water all at the same time. If

you get it right you get pushed along by the dolphins at

what seems like an incredible quick pace but is actually not.

It seems that way because one’s eyes are only just above the

water line.

When we got to the end of the run we were greeted with

polite applause from the wimps who wouldn’t try it and

were told by the instructor that he had not seen anyone

older then ourselves who had done it. Of course we didn’t

believe him then and still don’t.

David Turner

23

Michael Brady email

Date??

No 90 Good Magazine. Great work.

Couple of items for your next edition

Tim….

1. Couldn’t comment immediately on Ivor

Evans’s correction regarding the church

name in Highgate where my friend Peter

Jollie and he were both married as needed

to check with my informants in Sydney but

by coincidence have new friends in

Bathford who live at ‘Font House’ – the

beautifully carved stone font stands proudly

opposite their front door and they tell me

that it came from St Michael’s Highgate!

Small World and well spotted Ivor.

2. Was fascinated by Peter Thomas’s piece

about Ayot St Lawrence. I bought part of

The Old Rectory there in 1971 from the

Hon David Nall-Cain (Uncle of the

infamous Lord Brocket and tied up with

the equally famous Cain’s Brewery in

Liverpool) on my return from four years

practising in Bermuda and the Bahamas –

paid £11K at an auction at The Peahen in

St Albans. (It is now owned by my eldest

granddaughter Scarlett’s Godfather - a

friend of my son’s from Oundle). He paid

£1.4M for the property recently!

Our guest bedroom then looked out over

the atmospheric 13thC ruined church the

history of which is an interesting

commentary on life in the 18thC. The

then Lord of the Manor employed

Nicholas Revett to design the new church

positioned to close the sylvan vista from

the principle rooms in the Manor House

across the fields and instructed him to

build it back to front with the colonnaded

porch and attached wings facing East for

best effect. He then asked the Bishop to

consecrate the ‘new church’ who in turn

refused on the basis that ‘there is already a

consecrated church in the village’. Not

clearly someone to be thwarted he

promptly removed the roof of the 13thC

church thus creating the attractive ruin

seen today. Needless to say he then called

the Bishop again pointing out the obvious

that the old church was no longer useable!

Never one to miss an instruction I oversaw

a fairly major restoration of Revett’s

building with repairs to the copper roof

and external redecoration back at that

time.

Thought Peter’s piece really enjoyable and

detailed. Must stop off in Hertfordshire

sometime to enjoy the Ayot Greenway


CORRESPONDENCE

that did not exist in my day. Would also

mention that Nick Faldo was my neighbour

being a member at that time of Welwyn

Garden City GC and remember three

thoroughly enjoyable days spent in ‘The

Brocket’ then also part of Nall-Cain’s

estate when the village was cut off by snow

until the tractors finally made their way

through. Peter mentioned the footpath

from Harepark Spring Wood which runs

behind Ayot Farm. I do not remember a

formalised path along the South boundary

of the farm when I owned it but things

evolve. Do recall Shaw’s garden study that

I remember well it being placed on a

circular turntable allowing him to spin it to

follow the sun while he wrote…

Sorry to ramble on….

Michael Brady

Dear Tim

9 West View Close

Sheffield S17 3LT

Congratulations on the latest edition of

The Old Stationer I was pleased to see the

pic of class of 44 which I missed last year

through sickness.

I actually joined the class in 45, having

followed a totally different syllabus for two

years from the group of 43 that I was with

a St Mary’s Hornsey as I went off to a

choir boarding school for two years.

Having seen your invitation to contribute

I realised I had a story to tell so here it is.

The picture is not very good, taken from a

website but the car is exactly the same

model as the one I bought for £50 and sold

for £25 in 1954. This one is advertised at

£78,000! My model was red. You can

probably find a better pic online

somewhere.

I discovered recently that one of the

church wardens of my local church here in

Sheffield had a flat in Mayfield Road

when she first married.

In Ireland at a wedding 7-8 years ago I met

a couple who lived on Ridge Road, and

said they had often wondered about the

origins of “Stationers’ Park”.

I am pleased the Council now sees fit to

have it explained. Is the church still there

half way up the hill? I was baptised there

when we lived at Inderwick Road.

I know it has not been in use for years.

I was evacuated with St Mary’s Hornsey in

1939. Some OSA members were in my

class. Would you be interested in an

account?

Well done, again, and best wishes for the

year ahead

Rev Brian R Cranwell MSc MPhil

STATIONERS’ HALL

MODERNISATION PLAN

UPDATE – APRIL 2020

As many of us know, the Stationers’

Company decision to proceed with a major

renovation and modernisation for

Stationers’ Hall was confirmed in early

February 2020.

This project was named Vision 350, to

mark the 350th anniversary in 2023 of the

rebuilding of the Hall after the Great Fire.

The renovation work meant that Stationers’

Hall would be closed for a period of

around 65 weeks. For the Old Stationers’

Association, this would mean finding one

year’s alternative venue for our Annual

Dinner and Christmas Lunch events,

which are normally held at the Hall.

Fundraising for the Vision 350 project had

begun over a year ago, and, this March,

over half of the required £8.5 million had

been raised, with a temporary loan facility

established to secure the balance.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic arrived,

and changed things for us all!

Following Government guidelines,

Stationers’ Hall was closed completely in

the middle of March, and all imminent

events were cancelled. This of course sadly

included our 2020 Old Stationers’

Association Annual Dinner, scheduled for

Friday 27th March.

At this time, there is no realistic indication

of when the Hall may re-open. However, it

is important to note that the Company

remains financially strong, and can survive

a longer close down.

The Coronavirus crisis has inevitably had

an immediate impact on the plans for

Vision 350. On 24th March, the Company

made the sensible decision to delay the

start of the project beyond the originally

planned date of 1st January 2021. Amidst

the current maze of uncertainty, a new

start date has yet to be determined.

However, the Company is at pains to stress

that this is a postponement of Vision 350,

not a cancellation!

24


We shall continue to inform Old Stationers’

Association members with updates

regarding Vision 350 progress, as and

when it becomes available.

In the meantime, the immediate concerns

of both the Stationers’ Company and the

Old Stationers’ Association are that our

respective members stay safe and healthy.

Of course we shall look forward to all the

social gatherings that we normally enjoy

through these memberships, but only

when the time is right – and safe.

Peter Bothwick

Tim,

I promised you a photograph of The

Flying Scotsman taken while on the

locomotive's tour of heritage railways. This

was taken on the Nene Valley Railway,

outside Peterborough in September 2018.

I believe she put in a further appearance

last September as well.

The Flying Scotsman is obviously 'pride of

place' at the National Railway Museum in

York when she is not on tour. Mallard, as

mentioned by Stephen Collins (Old

Stationer no.89), is otherwise the star of

the show there. The 'clone' of The Flying

Scotsman, Tornado, built not so long ago,

(the original was built in 1923), is often

seen on this railway, featuring on the steam

weekends at various times during the year.

The Flying Scotsman, quite incidentally,

featured in an article in The Times on

New Year's Eve, highlighting its limitations

on today's railways. I will send you a copy

of this, together with photographs I've

taken of Tornado and Mallard, in a separate

e-mail. I am by no means a trainspotter or

railway geek but who can resist a steam

engine?

Regards,

Richard Forty

To Stephen Collins from Peter Thomas

Stephen,

I hope you are keeping well.

I may have the answer to your question of

the age and the date that our oldest

member joined the School.

As a member of the Company, I have been

assisting them in contacting members over

the age of 85 to ensure that they are safe

and well and have access to essential

supplies, during the lock-down. My list to

contact consists of some of our OSA

members, including George Copus.

25


I rang George a few days ago and I am

happy to report the he and his wife are

doing fine, he also confirmed to me that he

is 95 years old.

Coincidently, I happened to be doing

some research for a project and came

across a description of the School in a copy

of Kelly’s Directory for 1914. The entry

stated that the School had a Preparatory

Department for boys aged between 7 and

10 years. George could have therefore

joined in 1932, as stated in our database.

Kind regards

Peter Thomas

THE SCHOOL’S

CENTENARY WINDOW

When the School closed in 1983, the

window in the Library showing the

School’s crest was transferred to the Stock

Room of Stationers’ Hall (see photograph).

The window itself had been installed in

1958 to celebrate the centenary of the

School’s foundation. When the window

was re-installed at Stationers’ Hall, the

Company added some verbiage to

accompany it. As the photograph shows,

the names of the (by then six) Houses are

shown at the top; while in the diamond

below the crest is some text describing the

provenance of the window. And

immediately below the crest is the School’s

(and Company’s) motto; or is it? As the

photograph shows, it reads “Verbum

Domine Manet in Aeternum”. But

Domine is the vocative, and it should be

the genitive, Domini. As it stands, it

means “The word, O Lord, endureth

forever” rather than, as it should, “The

word of the Lord endureth forever”.

I drew this to the attention of the Clerk of

the Company, and he was later approached

about it independently by a former Master.

Research has established that the mistake

was introduced when the window changed

location, and was not present when the

window was in the School. (Perhaps

readers can remember whether the motto

was shown in the Library at all, or was

simply added when the window was

transferred.) Anyway, I understand that

the Company intends to correct the error

in due course. So Omnia bona sunt quae

bonum finem habeant (All’s well that ends

well).

(Old Stationers who are members of the

Stationers’ Company may see this story

embellished by Latin speculations in the

latest edition of Stationers’ News.)

Stephen Collins

spc@woodhaven.me.uk

19th February 2020

VE Day commemoration at Stationers'

Hall and Wisbech

Dear All

I attended the Stationers’ Company’s

(rather premature) VE Day commemoration

at Stationers’ Hall yesterday

evening. It included a very nice

reminiscence of the School’s war-time

evacuation to Wisbech. Extracts from the

account given by Alec Linwood in a recent

copy of the OS magazine were read out by

Stephen Platten (OS, next Master of the

Company) and Tony Mash (OS), and

Linwood himself was present. (I suspect

that I was the only other OS in attendance.)

Tony wore his actual sixth-form blazer,

resplendent with badge and athletics

colours; Stephen had a jacket with a badge

sewn on.

It may be that the star billing given to this

account was partly because there were

apparently – and extraordinarily – no

deaths of military members of the

Company in WW2 to commemorate

(unlike in WW1, whose names are

recorded on a plaque outside the Hall).

All in all, it was a very jolly evening, and it

was a pleasant surprise to see the School so

prominently featured in a Company event.

Stephen P Collins

From Roger Engledow,

I am forwarding an e-mail I have received

from Evie Wilson regarding a different

way of donating to Macmillan.

Roger

evwilson@macmillan.org.uk>

6th February 2020

Macmillan - watches for repair

Good morning Roger,

How are you? I just left you a quick

voicemail but thought I would explain

below as well.

I have a lovely supporter who repairs

broken/old watches and sells them on in

aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. He has

asked if I can ask around for anyone who

may have old watches they are willing to

donate to him, and I thought that between

all of the lovely gentlemen at The Old

Stationers you may have a few in the back

of some drawers that you may be willing to

donate.

The website is called http://

watchesforcharity.co.uk/ and he has raised

£33,6000 so far! There are instructions on

the website, but you simply post the

watches to the below address. If you can

include a note saying it’s from The Old

Stationers we would love to thank you for

donating them:

W.F.Charity

PO BOX 3630

Barnet EN5 9SX

26


From Roger Engledow

re: George Sprosson

Terry Butler phoned me today (about

something else). He mentioned that he

had been told by Barry Macrae that

George Sprosson had died - about 4 years

ago, he thought.

I'm not sure that Barry would have been

well enough to know something like that,

even 4 years ago. I'm fairly sure that it was

in 2018 that George's daughter informed

me that George had been relocated to her

address in Stevenage.

The last address I was given was:

9 Christie Road, Stevenage, SG2 0NT

Would Peter fancy the idea of paying a

visit to try to establish the truth, and if he

has died, obtain some form of obituary?

While I'm writing - I have also received a

magazine which had no name on it. The

wrapper simply said name and then list

lines 1 to 7.

Roger

From David Hudson

Tim,

The answer is “Meredith House Athletics

team - 1962”.

You won’t get a better answer than that.

Well with bridge club shut and bowls club

shut and OSA dinner cancelled and

everything else off I’m tidying up at home

and decluttering. Going through some old

papers I’ve come across a little booklet

about Joe Symons done by Robert Baynes

and that very photo is in it. I of course

recognised it from our latest mag. I knew

it was Meredith house as I was in Meredith.

I had already recognised Chris Langford

and Graham Eldridge and with none of

our year there it had to be pre us so

summer 1962 fits just right. I’m sure many

will have given you the correct answer. I’m

sorry our next reunion committee meeting

is postponed as well. So now it’s back to

decorating the main bedroom and

re-roofing the garden shed. I hope alls well

with you and family.

Regards

David Hudson

12th January 2020

Tim,

As the person who took the photo on page

21 of "The Old Stationer" No 90, I

thought I would write although I cannot

contribute much. I cannot remember what

the occasion was, and I cannot name any

of the pupils. I assume you know that this

picture appears on page 11 in the booklet

"Hermon William Symons" by Robert

Baynes with the caption "Meredith House

Athletics Team 1962".

I assume you are also aware that I took

photos of two other groups on the same

day, with slightly differing pupils.

I have tried to enhance the image to get

information from the shields, but all I can

ascertain is that the plaque being held by

Mr Symons has the school badge centre

top with the word "Stationers" to the left

and "School" to the right, and the centre of

the left hand shield seems to have the

image of a female figure with outstretched

arms (but it might be a footballer).

Regards

Andrew Dunlop

Andrew, Thanks for your reply . It could well

be the 1962 Meredith Athletics team. I

recognise Faulkner, Langford, Holmes,

Eldridge, Davies, Trotman.

As three of these are members of the OSA,

I'm sure they will fill in the details.

Best regards, Tim

Mini reunion Class of 60

Simon Westbrook happened to be

back in the UK in time to meet up

with Simon Kusseff and help him

celebrate his 70th birthday in Epping

Forest. Bob Bird was also there.

Everyone dressed very smartly and

was on their best behavior!

Dear Editor,

I feel compelled to put pen to paper

following the receipt of the last issue of the

Old Stationer #90. In my opinion this is

the best edition ever. I can't say that I have

read and remember all previous 89 copies

but this was brilliant, with a great mix of

content for everyone whether they were

sports buffs, old or not so old, and whether

they were local to the school catchment or

are long roamed away!

Who couldn’t find something to love

among the favourite walks, the soap box

derby, Brockett Hall, the reports and

pictures of the dinner, lunches and who

was there, the Company and the Hall, the

various sporting events, the alumni

reunions and attendance lists, mention of

Jimmy Bean, Beaky Davies, Johnny Gore,

Dr Andrews, Archive photos, the Wisbech

episode, school trips to France, member

correspondence and updates, school

commute stories, the conspiracy theory

about Brian Smith's bizarre incident and

his subsequent demise, the Katmandu riots

and Nice hotel fire, the reports on Mayfield

Road and Stationers' Park, the puzzles,

and the full list of current members and

where they are, the obituaries and new

member news, and the photo competition.

And I thought it was rather churlish for

David Hudson to “try even harder to get

photos of the deceased for the obituaries”

To me the common theme is the bringing

back (an example of Gerundive noun I

believe) of memories from a formative

stage of our lives and whether they are our

personal memories or other members they

are ones we can associate with and relate to

27


as if they had all happened to us. Memories

include in no particular order

School lunches

Queuing up for everything (lunch, buses,

gym, woodwork,)

Punishments (detention, lines)

The flob pit,

The cadet force marches

The bus rides to Winchmore Hill

The prepaid bus tickets

PT and the never-ending punishments

meted out to the fat boys who couldn’t

manage a hand stand

French exchanges

School uniforms and the need to wear a cap

Cycling up Denton Road or Muswell Hill at

either end

Steam trains roaring through Haringay West

Station

The smell of Hornsey Road baths

Woodwork lessons and the things we made

Gus tests

And more!

Simon P Westbrook 1960-67

An over the top family endorsement. Too

embarrassed to publish? NO! Ed.

Dear Tim,

I was recently searching through my attic

when I found a dozen copies of The

Stationer school magazine from the 1950s.

As my Membership of the Old Boys

lapsed from around 1960 (when I moved

away from London early in my marriage)

to a few years ago, I do not know what has

been published in the Old Stationer

magazine during that period. Maybe what

I am going to tell you has already been

published.

1. With The Stationer magazines was a

copy of a programme for 'Cakes and Ale',

a Musical Play to celebrate 100 years of

the school (1858-1958). This was after I

left (in 1955) so I must have returned to

see the play as an Old Boy but I must

confess I cannot recall it! I attach for your

interest and possible publication a

photocopy of the 3-page programme and a

'cleaned-up' version. Also attached is a

copy of a typed note inserted into the

programme and addressed to the audience.

Although I cannot recall the play it may be

of interest to Old Boys who were in it or

who can remember the performance. A

quick comparison of the names on the

programme with the list in The Old

Stationer no 90, looks as if twelve of the

boys involved in the production are still

Members of the Association. Maybe they

could add their reminiscences for you.

2. It may be that you have a complete set

of The Stationer school magazine. One of

the copies I have is the Centenary issue,

July 1958, three years after I left the school.

I am reluctant to part with it but, if you do

not have a copy, I will scan it for you. It has

some interesting things (including

pictures) about the history of the school

which could be mined for future issues of

The Old Stationer.

Yours sincerely,

N C 'Fris' Friswell 1948-55

From: Dave Shaw

Dear Tim

I was delighted to read in Issue 90 that you

have succeeded in your struggle with the

bureaucrats at Haringey Council and we

will soon have a commemorative plaque at

Stationers Park. Well done and I’m sure all

Old Stationers are grateful for your efforts

(likewise the work you put in on our

wonderful magazine).

I recently took part in the first of the

excellent ‘Down Memory Lane’ guided

walks organised by Stephen Collins and

sang the school song lustily in the park

with the other members but, although the

park is quite well used, I don’t think any of

the other people there had any idea of the

origin of the park’s name or the existence

of our school.

A few weeks before the guided tour, I

visited the park on my own and had a chat

with the very pleasant young lady who

runs the coffee kiosk there. She had no

idea that her business is on the site of

Stationers’ Company’s School, however

she introduced me to her mother who

happened to be sitting nearby. The older

lady lives in Denton Road and well

remembers the school and spoke with

fondness about it. The proposed plaque

will be sure to open a few people’s eyes to

the school having been there.

Whilst writing, I wondered if our readers

might be interested in why I was in

Stationers Park on that earlier occasion

and maybe spark a trip of their own.

I was drawn back to the area through

having to make a visit to Tottenham

28


Cemetery for family reasons. While

planning this journey, it seemed so boring

and wasteful just to drive all the way to

Tottenham for a single reason and then

back to Buckinghamshire. Therefore I

awarded myself a ‘Personal Nostalgia Day’

and here’s how it shaped up…

1. No car, unfolded the trusty Brompton

bike and cycled to the station in time for

off peak travel to kick in. My Step No 1

was to test the time it takes to get to the

new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium by train

(I’ve decided not to drive in future due to

the extended no parking zone around the

ground). So, I took a train to Kings Cross

and changed onto the Victoria Line to

Tottenham Hale. 1 hour 4 minutes, station

to station.

2. Cycled to the stadium along Tottenham

High Road, taking in the landmarks from

my childhood and youthful years. Many

are still there, although often having

undergone changes of use. I enjoyed a

quiet and undisturbed time wandering

around the new stadium perimeter area

without the match day crowds and hubbub.

Brought back great memories of going so

often to the old ground with my dad.

3. Cycled on a few hundred yards to visit

an uncle’s house in Northumberland Park

just by the stadium (yes, the Shaws are a

Tottenham dynasty!), carrying on to the

bottom of the road past the newsagents

which used to be owned by Spurs legendary

late 1950’s centre forward Len Duquemin

and across the High Road into White

Hart Lane.

4. White Hart Lane is rich with nostalgia.

I passed the site of the butchers shop once

owned by another Spurs legend Cliff Jones

and on up past former manager Billy

Nicholson’s house, which is opposite the

site where Tottenham Grammar School

once stood. Sadly it went the same way as

Stationers’ - the loonie lefties of Haringey

Council closed the grammar school and

there now contains an ugly housing

development.

5. Turning off White Hart Lane up Weir

Hall Road to my old primary School,

Devonshire Hill. Apart from the prisonlike

fencing, the old school doesn’t seem to

have changed a bit. Dave Hudson always

bristles at the mention of Devonshire Hill

School as we beat his school from the

other side of Tottenham in the district cup

final! Only John Gray and I went to

Stationers from Devonshire Hill in 1962.

6. Now back down to White Hart Lane

and into the cemetery for the original

reason for the trip. It’s very restful down by

the lake there and I sat in the sun to eat my

sandwiches which I had packed into my

rucksack early that morning.

7. Off again to visit my old house just

behind the cemetery, at 20 Warkworth

Road. How many times I wrote that

address onto letters and forms during my

20 years living there. Back on the bike

through familiar streets, past the cluster of

local shops on the Great Cambridge Road

and onward to visit another uncle’s house.

This took me to within about 50 yards of

John Gray’s old house in Fenton Road,

which backs on to the football ground of

Wood Green United as was (now Haringey

Borough). While there I popped around

the corner into Rivulet Road to look at the

house where my mother was born and

raised. I seem to remember that Keith

Hacker from the Class of ‘63 lived in this

road too, maybe he’ll read this and correct

me if I’m wrong.

8. Next was my route to Stationers’ from

home. I had a bus pass and had to use the

144 or 231 bus to Turnpike Lane where I

changed on to a 41 bus to get up to

Hornsey. However in those days many

more people used the buses and they were

often too full to take on passengers so I

often walked or in later years I cycled. Very

apt to be cycling on my Personal Nostalgia

Day then.

9. An eerily familiar ride took me to

Turnpike Lane tube station, then over past

Ducketts Common and onto Turnpike

Lane itself. With shops all along the left

and houses on the right, I passed Barry

Soames’ old house where his dad also had

his photographic studio business. Going

up the hill now and turning left onto

Tottenham Lane I passed the Railway

Tavern, behind which we were always told

that Old Stationer Colin Chapman built

his first Lotus car.

29


10. Near the Adam & Eve pub on

Tottenham Lane is where I would have

hopped off the 41 bus all those years ago

and so I turned down Rathcoole Avenue

where the road drops down towards the

hollow that Weston Park sits in. My old

short cut is no more as the alleyway from

Rathcoole Gardens to Weston Park is now

closed. But suddenly there I was, in front

of what used to be Hornsey High School

for Girls! It certainly does make your heart

beat faster (the nostalgia, not the memory

of the girls!).

11. I chose to go up Denton Road, as I did

all those years ago when I would always

enter the school by the lower gate opposite

the bike sheds by the Wilderness. These

days, you have to go into Stationers Park,

where I sat down for a pleasant coffee and

the chat I mentioned earlier. Stationers

Park is quite pretty and well laid out, even

if it does lack an apostrophe. I carried on

up Denton Road, past Dick Taylor’s old

house at No 8 I believe, to where the

narrow top gate was by Room 10, our old

1B form room, where the yard went along

towards the ‘bogs’.

12. Round onto Ridge Road and along

onto Mayfield Road and the old main

entrance to the school, now sadly with

boring little houses there. My final wave

was to the church hall halfway down

Mayfield Road and which was our fifth

year ‘form room’ just after the school

merged with Priory Vale. I clearly

remember the games of 1-on-1 football we

used to play on the stage behind the

curtain. I recall Chris Lucas being a

particularly tricky opponent…

13. And so, turning for home, a ride back

to Turnpike Lane underground station and

onto the Piccadilly Line this time to

retrace my way back via Kings Cross.

What a great day I had! It may have been

all on my own but it was all the more vivid

and poignant for being so. I found it quite

deeply moving actually. I’d recommend any

Old Stationer to think about planning and

going on your own Personal Nostalgia

Day, taking in a trip to the school site and

any other memory that takes your fancy.

By then hopefully you can also gaze upon

the new plaque commemorating our old

school.

Best wishes

David Shaw Class of ‘62

davidhartwell@royallepage.ca>

12th April 2020

To: Peter Sandell

Rearranged Annual General Meeting of

the OSA

Good afternoon Peter,

I trust you are keeping well in these very

trying times.Yesterday I was looking at the

OSA Magazine for July 2019 and saw the

photo of a school trip. Further examination

showed I was in this photo and it was a

school trip to Switzerland (see sign on

bus). We went with Mr Custer to

Interlaken, climbed the Juneau and had a

really great time.

Cheers

David Hartwell

From John Cater

Hi there Tim . Another good Christmas

lunch eh. I was lucky to be seated next to a

chap who was at the School during the war

years and then joined the RAF for 34 years

as a flight navigator so as you can imagine

we had lots to talk about . His name was

John T Miles, his experiences would

possibly make an article for a future

article......and he is involved with steam

locos. Talking about the mag, could you

get the publisher or printer to send me 3

extra copies so I can forward them to other

Old Boys who might not otherwise get

them. Chris Woodhams was the only

other Old Boy from our year who was able

to make the lunch.

All the very best for the festive season, and

well done in anticipation for your

editorship.

Cheers

John Cater

Developments at

Hornsey Parish Church

I have just ‘attended’ a zoom consultative

meeting set up to discuss the proposals for

HPC. I was very encouraged. Although I

had previously forwarded our questions to

Father Bruce, the Churchwarden

presenting the scheme placed considerable

emphasis on making the most of the

church’s key artefacts one of which is the

memorial window and she acknowledged

it was not visible enough. The plans shown

during the consultation this evening on

screen did not show any ‘barrier’ across the

church room. She confirmed that the plans

that had been circulated had shown a wall/

door in error. She raised the possibility

that the window might be moved to a

more prominent position so it could be

seen by more people and in a better light.

The possibility of back lighting was also

raised.

There is clearly much detail yet to be

determined. They hoped it would be

possible to apply for planning permission

in July but I am doubtful as to whether

that is feasible. They talked in terms of a

phased development determined by their

ability to fundraise. The first phase would

be the hall/flats and then the building

between the church and the hall, with

work on the church following on, so I

think it will probably be some considerable

time before anything happens to the

window.

The important thing is that the OSA is in

the loop and we will certainly be consulted

at every stage. Father Bruce responded

very positively to my e-mail.

Please come back to me if you have any

further questions.

Best wishes

Roger Melling

Hi Tim,

I was disappointed that the photograph in

my tribute to Tony Budd was not of the

1957/58 Old Boys Cup winners which I

had enclosed.

Also my move to Somerset was 1961 not

1951.

Sorry to complain especially as you do a

grand job in producing a magazine of this

quality.

Cheers,

Jack Hammond

30


PUZZLE CORNER

Word search

Pubs around Crouch End

SMALL BEER

THE MAYNARD ARMS

THREE COMPASSES

THE OLD DAIRY

EARL HAIG HALL

THE QUEENS

THE RAILWAY TAVERN

VILLIERS TERRACE

THE KINGS HEAD

STAPLETON TAVERN

Anagrams

The following are all anagrams of football

teams in the English Football League

Championship Division.

1. BRANSLEY

2. HALFUM

3. CUTHILLY

4. NOT NOW TUL

5. WILLLLAM

6. LACTAING WHITE

7. KITES COTY

8. GARDEIN

9. DELUDENTESI

10. BERT N FORD

Greek Sudoku

The Sudoku puzzle below is rated “easy”

but, to make it more interesting, has the

numbers 1 to 9 replaced by nine Greek

letters: α, β, γ, δ, ε, λ, π, σ, ω.

To solve the Sukoku Puzzle, fill the grid so

that every column, every row and every 3 X

3 box contains all the symbols.

Good luck. The solution is on page 47.

31


ME AND MY MOTOR(S)

MY AMERICAN RV

Alan Barnard

I thought it would be best if I first answered the question I am

always asked. What does it do to the gallon? I will return to the

10mpg answer, later.

After working for three years I decided to study for an MA in

Marketing at the University of Lancaster. Whilst I received a

departmental bursary it would be insufficient to cover 12 months

expenditure. In between jobs, I had worked as a driver at the

Alexandra Palace car auctions. This had included the occasional

shift driving the car transporter. I concluded that if I had an

HGV licence, I could supplement my bursary driving trucks. I

duly passed the test to drive articulated lorries and worked as a

relief milk tanker driver visiting farms and dairies in Lancashire

and parts of Yorkshire.

Fast forward twenty five plus years and my wife Teresa and I

considered the purchase of a motor home. We started the

inevitable tyre kicking, but couldn’t find anything which met our

requirements. We were at a motorhome show when a dealer said,

“you want one of these”. He took us to his own motorhome

which was an American RV (Recreational Vehicle). We were

immediately hooked and even more committed when he informed

us an HGV licence was necessary to drive one. There was to be

no looking back as we investigated the different types of RV.

We discovered there were somewhere in the region of 10,000

USA RVs registered in the UK. Many were owned by racing

teams, individuals and “full timers” who lived in them permanently

and often overwintered in Spain. There were RVs with the

engines at the front or at the rear and could be either diesel or

petrol. The length ranged from 20ft to 39 ft. Some have

anywhere between one and four slideouts – a section of the

bodywork which slides out - making the interior space much

larger. There were also many different manufactures in the US

each with their own design and specification. We also realised

the Winnebago brand name is somewhat like that of Hoover. It

is a generic term frequently used in the UK to describe an

American RV. They are all LHD. Then there is the price.

Currently in the UK, the price of new RVs varies between £110K

and £300K, with used models between £5k and £200K.

We bought our first RV at the end of 2004. It was 35ft and less

than a year old. Russ Swift, the well-known stunt driver, was the

seller. For someone who performed life threatening stunts I did

succeed in scaring him when I took it for a test drive. Even more

so when he acted as co-driver from Scotch Corner to my office/

warehouse in Chester. We learned a lot in the time we owned it,

travelling around the UK and the continent. Whilst they can

sometimes be difficult to drive the size does preclude trips into

the centre of cities, supermarkets and attractions. It is for this

reason many RV owners tow a car behind. In recent years we

have spent two to three weeks “doing a County”. We stay at one

campsite and use our tow car to explore. I know this raises many

questions as to why not stay in a hotel, why not have a caravan

etc? It suits our lifestyle and sometimes the real answer is

“because we can”.

We bought our current RV at the end of 2011 and it is this one

in the photos and which I will describe in greater detail. It is a

37ft Monaco Camelot with a 400hp Cummins rear engine

coupled to an automatic six speed gearbox. Fully laden it is just

over 16 tonnes. There are four slideouts, two in the front and two

in the bedroom. We have a king size bed, large wardrobe,

washer/drier, full-size shower, ceramic flushing toilet and wash

basin. In the kitchen/diner there is a large fridge freezer, three

ring gas hob, microwave oven, two kitchen sinks, Corian surfaces

throughout, dining table and chairs. In the lounge there is a

surround sound system with satellite TV and two sofas. There are

two roof mounted air conditioning units/ heat pumps as well as

blown air heating to keep us comfortable throughout the year.

Solar panels on the roof keep the battery bank topped up,

although we connect to an electrical supply on site. There is a

2kW inverter which allows 220v to be supplied throughout the

RV. Under the living quarters there are lockers for storage as

well as a propane gas tank, 100 gallons fresh water tank and the

inevitable tanks for waste liquids. If you have ever seen the film

“RV” with Robbie Williams having problems emptying the toilet

tank, yes disasters do occur. There is a 40,000 BTU diesel combi

boiler and a 4kW diesel generator.

So back to the mpg question. Diesel usage per mile driven varies

depending on whether we are towing a car, using the generator

and combi boiler. For complete driving accuracy there is a digital

readout for mpg, but it is based on US gallons. Going up a very

steep hill, towing a car I once achieved 1.8mpg!

There is a saying in the RV World – buy your third RV first.

Now that I am over 70, I require a medical every year to renew

my HGV licence. This will be my last RV.

Alan Barnard 1960-67

32


My TRIUMPHS

Sean Leonard

Being a child of the 70’s I grew up with the popular brands being

the Ford, Vauxhall and British Leyland. A limited choice

compared to the global car market of today. As with a number of

my school friends I could not wait for my 17th birthday and the

chance to learn to drive. In those days the wait for a test was

quite long and the earliest test date I could get was 8 months to

the day after I turned 17. As this was in the summer holidays it

meant that I could return to the upper sixth driving, with my

own car. This was unlikely to be anything other than a very old

and cheap run around.

In 1974 there were a number of students with their own car.

Vince with his Vauxhall (Victor I think) estate, Steve with his

Humber Sceptre and Richard with an Austin Healy Sprite and

my own first car a Vauxhall Viva. All these cars were acquired

with the ultimate aim of keeping us mobile on a tight budget.

Weekends and spare time was used to carry out ongoing

maintenance and repairs to the car adding such exotic aftermarket

improvement such as a rear screen de mister and a cassette player

with twin speakers on the parcel shelf

Half way through the upper sixth I changed my car and acquired

an old Triumph Herald this was a real joy to drive even if it burnt

oil at a tremendous rate leaving a light cloud of smoke behind

everywhere I went. With the front bonnet tipping forward to

allow unimpeded access to the engine it was a joy to maintain.

At this time the cars that we would aspire to would be the likes

of the Ford Capri, the Escort RS, MG’s or Triumph sports cars.

I was attracted to the Triumph TR6 which, being one of the only

petrol injection cars on the market, had a distinctive exhaust

note. It was at this stage out of my budget and the cost of

insurance was prohibitive.

After leaving school and starting work a regular income was the

long awaited opportunity to replace my car. Naturally I looked

for a TR6. By this time, they had developed a reputation for

being unreliable and costly to run. The early models being 5 years

old were already suffering from extensive rust which was costly

to repair and more recent models where affordable had already

suffered the problems associated with multiple owners and poor

maintenance.

After an extensive search I came across an Escort RS 2000 in

pale blue this I decided would be a dream car. Bank loan

organised, I could see the car being mine until I tried to organise

the insurance. From memory, it equated to just in excess of two

month’s Salary! The dream was over as I just could not justify

that sort of premium even if I really wanted the car.

There followed a number of respectable but rather standard cars

that would fit the budget as I embarked on the journey of home

ownership and the associated costs. When career progression

resulted in a company car the opportunity to get my TR6 reared

its head. At the time I had sold my own car and using the cash

set about searching for a Suitable TR6. I wanted the early model

which was sold between 69 and 73 as this was the more powerful

engine with later models having be detuned to satisfy the

emissions controls of the American market.

The search was quite extensive as the model I wanted was now

at least 14 years old and as mentioned these cars were suffering

the effects of rust after five or six years. Sport cars of that era had

obviously gone through the life cycle of being cherished,

suffering high depreciation and then being sold very cheaply to

owners who could not or did not carry out the maintenance. At

the time I was looking the market had recovered quite well and

it now made sense to restore these models as they were once

again increasing in price.

In the end I purchased YDN 356J, a green TR6, which was a

restored car with a solid bodywork. This became my weekend car

enjoying days out through the next 5 years. Maintenance with all

older cars is a continuous programme and gradually I got to the

stage where the car was running reliably. In 1993 the car really

needed the suspension and steering overhauled and so it was

taken off the road until I had time to carry out the necessary

work. At the same time, we decided to move house and my main

consideration was ensuring that we had a double garage in the

new house where I could work on the car comfortably. After

moving the car was parked away as work on the new house took

priority. Five month later our second daughter arrived and

together with an ever demanding career work on the TR6

became a future project.

Well fast forward 18 years and with the same daughter now

packed off to university I had some time to put YDN back on the

road. As I started the recommissioning I discovered more and

more work that really needed attention. Recommissioning

became a full nut and bolt rebuild.

Fully stripping the car down highlighted a lot of work. Clearly

values in the 80’s had not justified too much expense on the first

restoration. It was evident that the chassis needed repairs and

after some discussions with a specialist chassis builder I decided

to commission a new chassis. Now when you get to this stage it

really is a case of building a new car, every item becomes a

decision replace with new or restore the original part.

33


It soon became obvious that this was not going to be a quick job

and I had this urge to get back into classic motoring. Being a

member of the TR register I came across a TR7 that was being

sold by someone in the club. This was a Modified car that had

been fitted with a 3.5 litre Rover engine with uprated brakes and

suspension to support the increased power. After buying the

TR7V8 I have used it on club events and tours. It has proved to

be very reliable over the few years I have owned it and has been

great fun to use on track days. It has been on several European

trips including to Spa- Francorchamps GP where I got the

chance to drive at my absolute limit. This was exhilarating but it

exposing the braking systems whilst uprated and had some

serious shortfalls. After 3 laps and with virtually no brakes, due

to overheating, I had to rather embarrassingly finish the session

driving rather slowly round to the exit.

Back to the TR6 where work goes on at a rather slower pace than

I would like. In trying to do most of the work myself this does

result in a period of inactivity while I acquire or develop a new

skill to undertake the next stage of the project. At present it's

welding so during the coming months I hope to be able to carry

out the repairs to the bodywork that are necessary, fitting and

repairing panels and then preparing the bodywork for paint.

The suspension has been rebuilt and fitted to the chassis, the

gearbox and rear differential rebuilt. Once the bodywork is

complete I will turn my attention to the engine which will be

rebuilt and then fitted with modern electronic fuel injection.

Many purists will question these changes to the original

specification. Personally I welcome any improvement that add to

the cars reliability and enjoyment.

How long will it take well as they say much of the enjoyment is

in the journey and I am enjoying working on YDN almost as

much as I enjoyed driving it.

Sean Leonard

me it needed some attention but I ignored that. I was anxious to

get in and drive it.

A week or so later I was talking to a friend who was stationed at

an emergency police post about 5 miles away. He was a police

reservist, had finished his call up time and was planning to return

home the following week, to his parents who were farmers in

Eldoret nearly 200 miles away, west. I immediately offered to

drive him home.

The Talbot had no cap on its petrol tank but with the enthusiasm of

the ignorant I was not worried about this as it had been under cover.

I arrived at my friend’s police post without incident and we set off.

I found I could only use two gears of the five, the 2nd and 4th.

We had only gone about 20 miles when the car stopped. My friend

Peter who was more car savvy than me looked at the engine and

found that the carburettor was full of water. He emptied it and off

we set again. This recurred every 20 miles or so and by dark (always

around 6 pm on the Equator) we had only reached the halfway

mark. Both of us exhausted, we put the hood up and went to sleep

at the roadside, in a forested area on the side of the Rift Valley

Escarpment). We were woken up at daylight by the tooting of a

passing car. (In those days there were few cars about and mostly

owned by whites or Asians who did not travel much at night).

After a weekend at Peter’s farm, on the Monday I drove into

Eldoret and asked a garage owner to adjust the gear box and

drain the petrol tank. When I collected the car later he showed

me a wet rag that was trapped in the tank, obviously previously

used as a radiator cap. He told me he had no previous experience

of such a gear box but had tightened all the gears..

I set off back to the sawmill. No problems with the petrol but no

gear would respond other than second so I had to drive all the

way in this. About half way up a hill on a stony road about 10

miles from the sawmill, a stone holed the aluminium sump and

the engine seized up. I finished the journey being towed by a

police Land Rover.

One of the African staff dismantled the engine but some of the

pistons were no longer of use, and there was no means of replacing

them other than sending to UK. The car sat back in its shed for

about three months when a forestry officer offered me £25 for it

which I readily accepted. He replaced the straight six-cylinder

engine with a Bedford engine and ran it very successfully. I have

only ever seen one similar model but it was a saloon at a show in

Sheffield. It remains my only real regret over car possession.

Picture below is of a similar model found online. Price £78,000.

The Rev Brian Cranwell

MY TALBOT

The Rev Brian Cranwell

In 1954 I was living in Kenya in the depths of a bamboo forest,

the South Kinankop, next to a sawmill. The sawmill engineer

owned a 1933 Talbot Sports car with a preselector epicyclic

gearbox. It was a two seater with a hood, mudguards, and head

lights bigger than soup plates.

The car had aroused my curiosity as in six months I never saw

the owner use it and it sat in a shed looking neglected. (I was

using government transport).Then one day the engineer said to

me “Do you want to buy a car? You can have it for £50”. I jumped

at the opportunity.and bought the Talbot on the spot. He warned

34


MY Roller

Tony Henfrey (1956-63)

Everyone, no matter what their age, should have a favourite toy.

Mine is the 1976 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow Mk I that I bought

(on impulse) for £10,200 in 1999 with just 28,000 miles on the

clock. It was love at first sight. Since then I have clocked up

another 90,000 miles without any serious problems apart from a

broken shock absorber in Luxembourg which was, amazingly,

fixed on the spot. During this time the car has been to the North

Cape in Norway and as far south as the Spanish Pyrenees. This

iconic vehicle is a car to drive. Even after 45 years on the road

my Shadow glides as smoothly and as quietly as it did when new.

My wife describes it as a “Flying Armchair” with plenty of leg

room. Even a 500 mile day at the wheel is not exhausting. Not

surprisingly the car frequently attracts the attention of friends

and neighbours who need a special vehicle for family occasions.

These always provide a good excuse for a valet clean and driving

the bride to church is an additional pleasure. The only drawback

is parking in a tight space. The Shadow is 5 metres long.

The Silver Shadow production run from 1965 to 1980 still

remains the longest in Rolls Royce history and over 30,000 cars

in the Mk I & II versions were built. The original list price was

£6,557! Most of these vehicles remain on the road which means,

firstly, that they are not at all difficult or expensive to acquire.

£15,000 should buy a good one even today. Secondly, there is a

plentiful supply of spare parts and, thirdly, there are plenty of

people who know how to service and repair them.

The Silver Shadow was the first Rolls Royce model to be built with

a monocoque body and was also the first with disc brakes. However,

the model belongs firmly in the pre-electronic electromechanical

age and has relatively few of the features that are now bog standard

on a Ford Fiesta. There are, for example, no variable speed windscreen

wipers or electrical wing mirrors. The air conditioning and

entertainment systems are also pretty primitive although upgrades

are available if you are not a purist in these matters.

This is a car to be driven and I do so frequently from April to

October. During the winter months the car goes into a proper

storage “bubble”. The same person who has serviced the car for the

last 30 years never fails to tell me that this is a car that should be

driven frequently. The Shadow has complex hydraulic self-levelling

suspension and braking systems which easily give rise to problems

if not used regularly. When I bought the car in 1999 with only

28,000 miles on the clock over 23 years I could see from the service

records that lack of use had caused a myriad of problems.

The economics of running a Shadow are not as bad as you might

think. The 6.75 litre V8 engine does about 16mpg on the open road

but since I only do 3-4,000 miles a year fuel is not a particularly

heavy burden. Offsetting that is an exemption from road tax and

an MOT test while car insurance is also modest… £225 fully

comprehensive cover, no mileage limit plus continental European

cover. Normally just one routine service a year is required.

Although owning a Shadow is unlikely to make you money, you

are unlikely to lose much so long as the car is looked after. I

know that one day I shall have to give up driving but I have no

doubt that my Silver Shadow will long outlive me and give

endless pleasure to future owner(s) just as it has given me. With

nearly 120,000 miles on the clock the vehicle is still in its prime.

All this assumes however that petrol driven vehicles will still be

allowed on Britain’s roads.

Tony Henfrey 1956-63

MY CARS

Alan Green

Interested to read John Cater’s letter re: cars.

In 1961, whilst in further education, I purchased my first car a

1937 Austin Gordon. A remarkable vehicle with wire wheels, the

spare wheel hung off the boot door, four doors and leather

seating. The one in the picture is similar but in far better

condition than mine. Purchase price was £9 and ten shillings and

after one year's ownership I sold for £9 with my only expenditure

being a top hose. Very few were ever built and nowadays would

command a small fortune.

Next car was a 1957 Austin A50. This was unusual as it had a

manumatic gear box which involved an off-the-steering-wheel

gear lever but only two pedals. Then a 1957 MG ZB Magnette,

all black, leather seats and polished wood surround dashboard.

Then, like John, into TR’s and over four years enjoyed two

TR3A’s often known as the last real sports car as they had

detachable plastic side windows.

Those were the days.

Alan Green

35


MEMBERSHIP

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Paying members at 1st Jan 2020 489

Life member 1

Honorary members 11

New members 4

Deaths (10)

Re-instatements/resignations (1)

Deletions (non-payment) -

TOTAL 493

3 new members have applied to join since

the beginning of this year who have all

been accepted. They are Ray Houldsworth.

George Hepburn & David Winter.

The death has been reported of the

following 9 members:

Terence Weatherley, Tony Grist, Owen

Rowe, Rev. Canon John Sheen, Mike

Andrews, Sir John Sparrow, Terry Slinn,

Stanley Ward and Harold Perry, although

I am not aware that any of them have been

the direct result of the COVID-19 virus.

There are only 5 debtors who have still not

yet paid their subscription for this year

(one pays by standing order on 1st July).

The magazine will not be sent to the other

4, only one of whom lives abroad, until

payment is received.

I still have no idea to whom the standing

order received on 2nd January under the

reference “Huzar Sarah” relates. However,

one member has provided a copy bank

statement that shows his subscription was

been paid on 2nd January, but it has not

appeared on the NatWest account. In the

current environment I doubt that I will

attempt to chase it.

Roger Engledow

4 June 2020

NEW MEMBER

George Hepburn attended Stationers’

Company’s School from 1960 – 68. In his

final year was the captain of the newly

formed Rivington House. He read history

at Sussex University and then trained as a

social worker at University of Kent. He

practised as a social worker until 1988 and

then moved to Newcastle upon Tyne to

become the first Director of a new form of

charitable trust which is now Community

Foundation Tyne Wear and Northumberland.

He was awarded an OBE for

services to charities in the North East in

2005. His final paid position was as warden

of a retreat house for the Diocese of

Newcastle until 2013 when he retired.

George lives near Prudhoe in the Tyne

Valley He chairs Prudhoe Community

Partnership and is an active member of his

local church. George is married to Dr Jan

Mcgregor Hepburn, a psychotherapist and

Registrar of British Psychoanalytic

Council. They have a grown up son who

is a teacher in Essex. George is a long

distance walker, early bird swimmer and

avid reader. He has just taken up chess

again and can be found in the local coffee

bar on a Friday morning offering to play

all comers.

HUGH ALEXANDER

Tribute by Robin Baker

I was very upset to read of the death of

Hugh. He was in my class at Stationers - a

boy genius!

He was never a great fan of sports but I

remember him having to play a house

football match early in his school life, we

all advised him to stay on the halfway line

while we played the game around him! He

came off the pitch without a spot of mud

on him! However he was a brilliant student

and the one thing that stands out was that

he produced an article for the Stationer

magazine where he wrote a complete story

of Dan Dare and the Mekons complete

with beautiful ink drawings, but it was all

written in LATIN!!! Typical Hugh, he will

be sorely missed.

Robin Baker

Tribute by John Assirati

It was a great shock when I received the

news from Peter Sandell informing me of

Hugh’s death as he had appeared to be in

good health only six weeks before.

I met Hugh in my first year at Stationers’

in 1964. We sat at adjacent desks in Room

17, pupils being arranged in alphabetical

order. We got on so well that we stayed

once at each other’s homes that first year,

an early example of what Americans term

a sleepover.

Hugh was fond of puns. I had a reputation

for lateness and on one occasion he

remarked “ Assirati may be debonair but

he’s not de bonne heure “.

Hugh became interested in remedial

OBITUARIES

education at Stationers’ as sixth formers

could help the comprehensive intake with

their reading. This was to become a long

term feature of his teaching career. He was

an academic high flyer and was accepted to

read English Literature at Trinity College,

Cambridge.

We lost touch and only came across each

other again at an old boys’ reunion in 2003.

I was then instrumental in establishing a

dining club for contemporaries which has

met two or three a year since then, Hugh

having been an enthusiastic and regular

attendee.

Twice married, Hugh leaves two daughters,

Francis and Harriet. In recent years Hugh

moved to Williton, Somerset where he

became a pillar of the community - a

regular communicant at the Parish Church

(he became more involved with the Church

whilst a master at Bloxham School), a

member of the local Conservative Party, a

volunteer community driver, and a member

of the local pub quiz team. The church was

full for his funeral. I attended the funeral

with five other Old Stationers - Tim

Grollman, Geoff Aanonson, Mike Kahn,

Ray Hall, and Graham Hawkins.

I learned that Hugh had been a Liberal at

university but in his maturity he had

joined the Conservatives and had been

canvassing for the party in the recent

general election shortly before his untimely

and unexpected death. In recognition of

his politics, I was happy to invite him last

year to dine at the Carlton Club. Following

a lunch at Stationers’ Hall where the guest

speaker had been Jacob Rees-Mogg, we

went on a club crawl, dropping in at the

Travellers’, Reform, and Oxford and

Cambridge before dinner at the Carlton.

36


Hugh was a big fan of Van Morrison,

whose music was played at his funeral, and

I was able to provide him with a ticket for,

and accompany him to, the Ronnie Scott

60th anniversary concert at the Royal

Albert Hall last October, at which Van

Morrison performed.

I feel privileged to have known Hugh and

will miss our discussions on a wide range

of topics. Tempus Fugit.

John Assirati

Dave ‘Biggers’ Bignell

1961-2020

I met Dave at 9am on 6th September 1972

in the playground of the lower school

when he asked me a rather rude question

(which he always denied, insisting it was I

who asked him). From that moment we

became part of the same group of friends

who have drifted in and out of each other’s

orbits over the years while always managing

to find our way back, sometimes from the

other side of the world.

Dave’s first two years after Stationers’ were

spent at a Lloyds’ underwriters in the City

but he was destined for more exciting

things and moved on to the travel industry.

Never having paid much attention in Mr

Zarb’s French classes he surprised us all by

becoming fluent in French, Italian and

Spanish with a smattering of Portuguese

and Greek. His English wasn’t half bad

either. As a rep Dave would invite us to

join him at whichever resort he happened

to be based that season, free of charge of

course. As he rose through the ranks to

become a regional manager (or as he

described himself one summer, “Presidente

of the Iberian Peninsula”) his largesse-byproxy

continued but with the added twist

of introducing us to the local restaurateurs,

hoteliers, bar owners and car hire

companies as next year’s manager, thereby

ensuring that they looked after us with

utmost generosity.

By 1989 he was the manager for Northern

Ireland with British Midland and when

one of their aircraft crashed on the M1 at

Kegworth he became the face of the

Company. In the ensuing weeks and

months he tirelessly and sympathetically

dealt with the victims and their families.

This did, I think, take a toll and afterward

Dave left the travel industry to see more of

the world and eventually work in sales.

Despite a complete and utter absence of

any mechanical knowledge whatsoever he

was for a while a very successful seller of

prestige cars, only once pointing into an

engine bay at a “brand new battery, sir” on

a vehicle that kept its battery in the boot.

The customer still bought the car which

surprised none of us who knew him, as

Dave was capable of conversing at many

levels having travelled through much of

the world and being a voracious book

reader.

He spent his latter years working as a

volunteer for the National Trust and is

survived by his daughter Tilly who is at

Cambridge reading Philosophy. Dave

always was, quite rightly, very proud of

Tilly.

His quick wit and sharp sense of humour

will be missed by us all. Funeral

arrangements have yet to be finalised but if

there are any Old Stationers’ who would

like to attend please drop me a line at paul.

catanach@btinternet.com

Paul Catanach

SIR JOHN SPARROW

1933-2020

John Sparrow latterly presented as an old

fashioned gentleman, stolid, always

punctual and meticulous, bowler hatted,

formally dressed, shoes polished, modestly

shy and with impeccable manners. He

greatly valued his privacy. But in discussion

or on a platform, he revealed a powerful

intellect, shrewd worldly and witty, a gift

for oral presentation, and strong political

opinions. He artfully deployed logic and

good humour to disarm those he found

pompous, ill prepared or wrongheaded. He

was a kind man who took others on their

merits, and was not judgmental. He

despised modern technology and refused

to embrace the internet and social media

preferring to communicate by telephone

and by letter. He had a successful career in

the City as a merchant banker, and with

the many corporates who sought his

advice. To relax, he loved horse-racing, and

watching cricket as an MCC member. He

was a devotee of difficult crosswords and

entered and enjoyed success in several

competitions.

John was born on 4 June 1933, the only

son of Richard and Winifred Sparrow.

Along with his sister Margaret, John was

brought up in North London. After

attending Coldfall Primary School, he was

educated at the Stationers’ Company’s

grammar school in Hornsey. As a tall lanky

student at LSE between 1951 and 1954,

he stood aside from the strife of the

Student’s Union, though he actively

supported the Conservative cause. He

became the popular Chairman of the

37


Debating Society, and played a fine hand

of bridge in the evenings. He graduated

with a respectable BSc (Econ.) and went

on to become an FCA in 1957 having

been articled to Rawlinson and Hunter.

After short spells with Ford Motor Co and

AEI-Hotpoint, he joined the Morgan

Grenfell Group in 1964, became a group

Director in 1971 specialising in investment

banking, and finally retired in 1988 to

concentrate on his many other business

and social activities.

In 1967, he married Cynthia, a widow, and

acquired two stepchildren Chris and

Richard. It was a strong and happy

marriage. While head of the investment

department at Morgan Grenfell, his keen

political interests found an unexpected

outlet, although he never stood for

Parliament. Early in 1977, John was invited

to help Mrs. Thatcher, then Leader of the

Opposition, work on the liberal economic

policy ideas that she eponymously brought

to Government two years later. John

provided her with practical business-based

ideas in weekly reports upon economic

developments and City news and opinion.

After Mrs. Thatcher arrived at No. 10, he

was formally seconded from Morgan

Grenfell in 1982 to become head of the

Central Policy Review Staff (the “think

tank”) in the Cabinet Office at No. 10.

John was invited by the Chancellor

(Geoffrey Howe) to “point up some

possible long term options” at a time of

high spending and low growth which

culminated in a well-worked if controversial

paper. John’s time at No. 10 was later

referred to in Lord Howe’s memoir.

Following the closure of the Cabinet

Policy Unit John returned to Morgan

Grenfell and was knighted for his public

service in 1984. He remained a champion

of the free market and of private enterprise,

a critic of supine government and of the

EU, and he was a convinced Brexiteer,

views he was to hold throughout the

remainder of his life.

Upon leaving Morgan Grenfell in 1988

and having sat on many public boards,

John’s talents remained in demand. He

served ASW Holdings from 1987 to 1993

and Regalian Properties from 1990 to

1993.

Among other interests, John retained

throughout his life great affection for LSE

and his school. He was made a Governor

of LSE in 1984 and was on the Court for

20 years. He quickly became Vice-

Chairman and took over as acting

Chairman for a year during a temporary

vacancy. The Director Ralf Dahrendorf

later wrote that John, “a calm and devoted

Vice-Chairman, provided continuity as

well as much needed help with an appeal

for funding”. He was made an Honorary

LSE Fellow in 1994. One of his private

wishes, typical of the man, was that he did

not want a formal Memorial Service but

would like a lunch to celebrate his life

with his close friends at the LSE, a wish

that it is hoped to fulfil if and when

circumstances permit.

But it was his appointments as Chairman

of the National Stud between 1988 and

1991 and as Chairman of the Horserace

Betting Levy Board (HBLB) by the hand

of Home Secretary Kenneth Baker in

1991 that perfectly aligned work with his

passionate love of horse racing. John and

Cynthia loved horses and, while living in

Gerrards Cross, involved themselves in

various horse related activities, including

the breeding of thoroughbreds. They also

had horses with the trainer Henry Candy.

The HBLB was a statutory body with the

responsibility of collecting an annual levy

from the betting industry, based on the

profits made on horseracing, and spending

it for the improvement of horseracing, the

improvement of breeds of horses and the

advancement or encouragement of

veterinary science or veterinary education.

It comprised representatives of the betting

and horseracing industries plus three

independent, Government appointed

members, leading to vigorous debates on

how much the levy should raise (around

£50m per annum at that time) and how it

should best be spent. Despite the widely

varying views around the board table, John

soon won the trust and respect of the

members and achieved an agreement on

strategic and policy objectives.

In 1993 it was decided that the HBLB’s

ownership of three racecourses, Epsom

Downs, Sandown Park and Kempton

Park, originally purchased to save them

from going out of business, could have led

to a conflict of interest with the other

racecourses, and that they should be sold.

Sir John led the sale process, resulting in

their acquisition by Racecourse Holdings

Trust, which went on to improve them by

substantial investment. He ensured that

the sale proceeds were used to create a

capital fund to be used to finance interest

free loans to any of the thoroughbred

racecourses in the country which wished to

improve their facilities for both horses and

the public. During the seven years of his

chairmanship John gained great pleasure

from all aspects of the HBLB’s activities,

making regular visits with Cynthia to both

flat and jumping courses in all parts of the

country. According to his family this was

one of the happiest periods of their lives.

John was a member and President of the

Old Stationers’ Association (OSA) in

1995-6 in the Centenary year of the

foundation of the school by the Worshipful

Company of Stationers and

Newspapermakers and regularly attended

meetings lunches and dinners of the OSA

keeping in close touch with many friends

of his year group and the wider membership.

He was a member of the MCC regularly

enjoying his seat in the Lord’s pavilion in

the company of other friends but did not

embrace the shorter form of the game

preferring the traditional test and county

matches. He was also a lifelong supporter

of Tottenham Hotspur FC - considered

foolish by the other half of his school

friends - supporters of that other team

now playing at The Emirates stadium.

Less conspicuously, John helped to

organise over recent years a Reunion lunch

for the Class of ‘44 which last met at the

RAF Club Piccadilly in September 2019

for the enjoyment of seeing friends of his

era. John was also selected for membership

of the ‘Apostles club’ a select group of

twelve Old Stationer bon viveurs lunching

regularly again in London. John was a

Liveryman of the Stationers’ Company

having been clothed in 1991 and was also

a Freeman of the City of London. He

worked on a number of Company’s

committees between 1996 and 2003

lending his business experience widely to

work on the Charitable Trust, Livery

committee and Entry qualifications review

in 1992

John’s final weeks passed sadly. Though in

apparent good health, he had the

misfortune to be involved in a serious car

accident at the end of 2019. Though

having to be cut free from the car by the

Fire and Ambulance Services , he

miraculously escaped serious injury as did

the occupants of the other car but was

badly shocked. He lost confidence and his

sense of independence. He was unable to

drive each day to the care home nearby

where Cynthia now resides. He steadily

lost energy and enthusiasm for life. He

died peacefully in hospital on 21 March

2020.

He leaves a widow, Cynthia, a surviving

step-son, step-grandchildren and extended

family. He will be greatly missed.

Produced by Michael Brady with help from

Michael Thomas and Rodney Brack

38


MIKE ANDREWS

Tribute by Chris Wilkins

Mike (usually Mickey to his OSFC

chums) Andrews passed away on 2 March

after a long illness. A service of

remembrance was held at Bournemouth

Crematorium, followed by the chance to

reminisce with his family and friends at

Crane Valley Golf Club in Verwood.

Mike was in the year below me at

Stationers, attending between 1958 and

1963. My memories of Mike at school are

vague, probably because one rarely noticed

those younger than ourselves! We did,

however, really get to know each other in

the OS Football Club shortly after leaving

school. We played a lot together, starting in

the 5th XI. I remember Mike as a skilful

winger and a regular goal-scorer.

A particularly good memory is of an Old

Boys 5th XI cup final, played at Cuaco’s

ground, in about 1969/70. Tony Ames had

assembled and led a good and very sociable

team and on the day many of our wives

and girlfriends (the original WAG’s!) came

to support us. A good time was had by all,

despite the fact that we lost! We both

managed to claw our way up to higher

levels but always fondly remembered those

5th XI days.

During the 70’s we moved to Hitchin and

Mike and his wife Jean moved to Bedford,

but we still carried on playing for OSFC.

On returning from Hitchin, I started

playing cricket for OSCC and again played

with Mike.

By this stage, we were living in Oakwood

and Mike and Jean were in Palmers Green.

Mike invited me to play squash with him

at Hazelwood Squash Club in Winchmore

Hill. I should have known better since

Mike had thrashed me at table tennis at

Lensbury’s ground after a keenly fought

football match. I thought I was a reasonable

player but I barely got a point off Mike,

who then modestly informed me that he

had been Wiltshire County champion!

With Mike’s proposal, I was admitted to

membership at Hazelwood. We played

each other many times but I never beat

him, in fact I do not recall him ever having

to remove his sweater!

After many years working for British

Telecom (BT), Mike had a complete

change of career and became a postman,

pounding the streets of Palmers Green and

Winchmore Hill. In his spare time, he had

an allotment.

In December 2009, Mike and Jean moved

to Verwood, close to Bournemouth, where

they soon established a new group of

friends.

Mike is survived by Jean and their son

Timothy, who lives in London, and

daughter Katie, who lives with her husband

in Bath.

In summary, Mike was a keen sportsman

and was particularly talented at racket

sports. He was a family man and always

relaxed and friendly to everyone. Even in

his final months, when he knew his illness

was terminal, he remained cheerful and

stoical. He was a thoroughly decent bloke.

Chris Wilkins

Canon John Sheen

1932-2020

With sadness for a life passing but also

with thanksgiving to God for the service

of a faithful priest we announce the death

of Canon John Harold Sheen on 14 April

2020, aged 87.

Canon Sheen was educated at The

Stationer’s Company School, Queens’

College Cambridge and Cuddesdon

Theological College prior to being

ordained deacon in 1958 and priest in

1959. John was curate at St Dunstan’s,

Stepney in London and served

subsequently as Vicar of St John the

Baptist, Tottenham (1962-68), and St

Michael’s, Wood Green (1968-78), both

also in the Diocese of London.

John moved to the Isle of Man in 1978

upon appointment as Rector of Bride, a

role which from 1980 also incorporated

the care of St Olave’s, North Ramsey. He

served the Diocese faithfully in numerous

other roles including Chaplain of Ramsey

Cottage Hospital, Rural Dean of Ramsey,

Director of Mission, and Diocesan

Director of Ordinands, a post he held until

2001, having retired from parish ministry

in 1998. John’s ministry was recognised

with the appointment as Canon of St

Columba at the Cathedral of St German

in Peel in 1991. John took great pride in

his education and became a member of the

Worshipful Company of Stationers &

Newspaper Makers in 2006, a Freeman of

the City of London.

Last year at the Cathedral a large gathering

of friends and family came together, giving

thanks for John's 60 years of service to

God in priestly ministry.

John leaves behind his wife Elizabeth,

their three children Edward, Jenifer and

Henry and grandchildren Peter, Jessica ,

Katharina and Isabel.

Bishop Peter writes: 'John Sheen’s life was

earthed in faithfulness and service. He was

a priest for 60 years, loving husband to

Elizabeth for 58 years, and in everything a

deeply loyal and generous and gracious

person. I only came to know Canon John

in these last years, but it was clear to me

that his life and ministry were marked by

the deep gifts of what it means to be

human. These qualities were demonstrated

too in his work for the wider Church and

world, notably through USPG and

Christian Aid and World Development.

Our diocese was blessed to have John as a

priest, serving and retired, for over 40

years. I pray now for the repose of his

gentle soul and for the comfort of

Elizabeth, Edward, Jenifer, Henry and all

who mourn.'

39


stephens.southview@outlook.com

Dear Sirs

I would like to inform the committee that

my father Stanley Ralph Ward sadly

passed away on 15th April. Whilst he had

fought bravely last year to overcome lung

cancer and was given the all clear in late

August 2019, his health began to decline

at the beginning of this year. After MRI

and PET scans revealed that the cancer

had returned, it also came as a shock to us

to learn that the cancer had travelled to the

brain. After a discussion with his

consultant he decided that enough was

enough and that at 87 he was satisfied that

he had had a good and fulfilling life so

declined to undergo any further treatment.

After nursing him at home for as long as

possible, the onset of the crisis surrounding

Covid 19 led the family to take the step of

ensuring that he could be properly cared for

during his last few weeks in a very well

respected nursing home in Tunbridge Wells.

We were able to see him albeit under

restricted conditions until his final week.

The cremation will be held on 30th April

but due to the restrictions currently in

place with regard to holding funerals/

services, we will ensure that a proper

memorial service and celebration of his life

will be held later in the year. Father very

much enjoyed travelling to the Stationers

dinners and meetings as he was a very

sociable, outward going person who loved

to meet new people and old friends. We

hope that all the members of the Class of

44 keep safe and well during this time

With kind regards

Christine Stephens (daughter)

Bruce Donaldson

We are sad to report that OSFC recently

lost one of our longest standing, current club

members. Unfortunately Bruce contracted

COVID-19 and after being treated for 3

weeks in The Whittington Hospital sadly

passed away on 27th April, aged 69.

Bruce was born in Dundee but moved to

London as a young child and although

didn’t attend the school, he joined the

football club in the early 1980’s having

played with a number of Old Stationers

for Cosmopolitan FC, a Sunday team

playing in the Haringay and District

League.

Over the next 20 years or so he was a regular

between the ‘sticks’ for various OS teams

ranging from the 3rd XI to the 8th XI and

eventually the Vets... he never quite reached

the dizzy heights of the 1st or 2nd XIs.

However during his long playing career he

became one of the most ‘decorated’ players

of the 80s/90s era. He captained the 8th

XI to a remarkable 'clean sweep' treble in

1988/89, winning the AFA Junior Novets

Cup, Old Boys Cup and the 8th XI 1st

Division. In addition, during his career he

also won, for various XIs, an additional 5

Old Boys Cups and a further 2 Division

titles.

Over recent times Bruce was a 'social

member' of the football club and was a

regular supporter of the 1st XI at our home

ground in Barnet and would often also

travel away to support the team.

He will be greatly missed by his many

friends and former team mates at OSFC.

We offer our condolences to his wife

Chris, family and friends.

RIP Bruce.

Robert John

Shepherd

1937-2019

I have recently learned of the death, in

Canada last October, of Robert John (Bob)

Shepherd. Bob was born in Finsbury Park

and in 1948 came to Stationers by way of

Stroud Green Junior School. Whilst he

had a good academic career it was on the

sports field that he really excelled being

awarded colours for both athletics and

football. In 1953 he was selected to

represent the school in the Middlesex

Schools Finals at the White City where he

finished 4th in the 400yds. His fifth and

final year at Stationers was marked by his

being elected House Captain of Meredith.

However, it was on the football field where

he really shone, securing the position of 1st

eleven goalkeeper as early as the start of his

third year, retaining it up to his leaving the

school in 1953. The pen pictures that

appeared in the school magazine at the

end of that season said of him “A big

hearted player he has again sprung a

surprise. First in his usual role as a

goalkeeper, he enthused the defence with

his fine play. Then, after Christmas, he

became a centre forward of the harassing

type - he supplied the forward line with

just the punch which maintains pressure

on opposing defences. Already a robust

and dangerous leader, not only helping

other forwards but also netting with both

head and feet” He was already developing

those qualities that were to see him

successfully through life.

On leaving Stationers he joined Barclays

Bank while his football career progressed

at Hendon FC, playing in their youth side.

Very soon National Service beckoned and

Bob went into the R.A.F He was trained

in Signals being posted to Singapore where

he spent some 1½ years at R.A.F. Changi.

In 1957, after demobilisation, he joined

the Sales Department of Olivetti then in

1958 married Ann whom he first met

when he was 15. At this time, he was to be

found at Underhill, not playing for the O.S

but up the road at our noisy neighbours,

Barnet FC where, as a goal keeper, he

played in their reserves

It was at this time that several of his

workmates emigrated to Canada where

they found employment with Olivetti

Canada. Bob and Ann decided to follow

them and in April 1960 set sail for a new

40


life over the ocean, settling in the Toronto

area. After a short break, Bob again

worked for Olivetti. Initially in Toronto

and then, as a national sales manager, in

four separate provinces in less than a

decade. Finally, in 1972, they returned to

Toronto, settling in the nearby township of

Uxbridge where they bought 10 acres of

hardwood brush on which they built their

dream home. This they surrounded with

beautiful gardens which were often

featured on the Uxbridge town tour.

Throughout his life Bob believed in

lifelong learning and was fascinated by

new ideas and developments. He learnt to

play the piano, played bridge, learnt

Spanish, went running, read a lot and

became a keen gardener. He even found

time, twice a day, to meditate and also

practiced yoga Perhaps therefore it was no

surprise when, in 1977, a change of career

beckoned and he spent some time studying

computing at York University in Toronto

after which he set up his own business, the

RJS Group, a supplier of cash registers and

point of sale systems.

Bob was passionate about living in

Uxbridge and keen on contributing to its

betterment. In 2000 he sold the business

and retired and then, in 2003 was elected

to his local council; serving as Mayor

between 2006 and 2010., a role in which

he excelled especially in the support of

small businesses in the town. Many years

before he had also developed an interest in

the natural environment and, in his own

words, become an avid environmentalist.

His time as Mayor of Uxbridge was

marked by his being the driving force in

gaining for the municipality “The Fields of

Uxbridge”, an area of some 70 acres and

which is now a multiuse outdoor

recreational area. He was also instrumental

in winning for the town the designation of

the Trail Capital of Canada with over 136

miles of managed trails within its borders.

Although passionate about business his

focus throughout life was on his family

and he taught his children to live honestly

and with integrity and to follow their

passions in life believing that in doing so

success would follow.

In June 2019 Bob was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer. He chose quality of life

as opposed to quantity and decided to

forgo any treatment. At a meeting of the

Council on the 23rd of September he was

honoured by the naming of one of the

winding paths in the Countryside Preserve

“The Mayor Bob Shepherd Woodland

Trail.” In thanking the Council, he said he

could not think of a better way to be

remembered. Bob had registered for

assisted dying and in his last moments, in

true Bob Shepherd style, asked his son to

check that there wasn’t anything anyone

present needed to ask him. He just needed

to be sure there was no unfinished business.

Bob passed away peacefully on the 23rd

October, in the presence of his family,

leaving his wife Ann, four children, fifteen

grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Bob stood again [unsuccessfully] for leader

of the council in, I believe, 2013, All three

candidates were allowed a two minute

video presentation. It occurs that some of

Bob's contemporaries might like to see and

hear him again. Can be found at:

www.durhamregion.com/video/4865497/

Lucien Perring

I'd like to acknowledge the help I received from Bob's

daughter, Lynda Sauder, in the preparation of his

obituary.

Harold Perry

1925-2020

Eulogy by Richard Perry

Harold Ernest Perry was born 7th July

1925 in North Middlesex Hospital to

Father Ernie, a Commercial Traveller for

Provisions, and mother, Lily, whose family,

the Higgins’, ran the Bedford Arms pub in

Finsbury Park. Harold was joined by

younger siblings, Madge, who sadly passed

away in 2019, and later Barry, who survives

and is living in Ireland.

The family lived in Wood Green and had

quite a sporty background. Mum Lily was

a keen swimmer and the family were

stalwarts of the local Tennis Club. Young

Harold was a keen swimmer and cyclist

and only recently pointed out to us the

Rookery Café near Welham Green,

Hatfield, to which, as a 14-year-old, he

and his cycling club friends would ride on

a Sunday morning from Wood Green.

Harold attended Noel Park Primary

School where his 1932 school report noted,

as a July baby, “a good start from our

youngest boy. He will improve”!!

He moved onto the Stationers' Company

School in Hornsey, with which, although

no longer in existence, he retained contact

in his later years through the Old Stationers

Association. He was their President in

1971, and latterly, a member of the

Stationers Company and the Stationers

Company Masonic Lodge. His academic

progress may not have lived up to the

hopes of his earlier school report as his

December 1940 school report shows 18

detentions during the term and the

summary comment: “Is generally weak and

making no serious efforts to remedy it.”

In September 1939, at age 14, with the

outbreak of War, he was amongst 280

pupils from Stationers to be evacuated to

Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, from where

the school continued to operate. We do

not know much about this period other

than he was separated from younger

siblings Madge and Barry who were

evacuated to Wales.

In 1941 he left Stationers to join a West

End firm of Estate Agents, Lane Savill &

Co, to train as a surveyor. However, by

1943 (at age 18), he left Lane Savill to

volunteer for the Fleet Air Arm. His

reference from Lane Savill said that “he

has proved himself a pupil of more than

usual ability, having both a pleasing and

reliable personality and one showing a

keen sense of responsibility”.

This reference shows how quickly the

young adult Harold had grown up since

his school days and was becoming the

much-loved man so recognisable to us all.

Harold’s war service was varied, training

with the Fleet Air Arm in the USA and

Canada, albeit failing to acquire his pilot’s

wings; being transferred to the Army and

then posted to the Indian Military

Academy. Commissioned in 1945, he

served with the Indian Army in India and

Java, returning in 1947 to join the Royal

Fusiliers in Britain, before being demobbed

in May 1948 with the rank of Lieutenant.

During this last posting, Harold was based

at camp in Meriden, Warwickshire, when,

at a village hall dance, he met future wife,

Vera. Harold and Vera were married at the

Parish Church of Temple Balsall on 3

January 1948 and made home in

Warwickshire. In 1953, son Michael was

born, followed in 1957 by Richard.

Harold had resumed his studies as a

surveyor after the war and qualified as an

Associate of the Royal Institute of

Chartered Surveyors in 1956, joining the

Birmingham Quantity Surveying practice

of Silk & Frazier where he became a

partner in 1960. He became a full fellow of

the RICS in 1966.

In 1963, as a native Londoner, Harold was

chosen to lead the expansion of Silk &

Frazier with the opening of a new London

office and after much long-distance house

hunting, he and Vera agreed to buy a

property still under construction in

41


Arlington, Woodside Park. This house was

to remain the family home for over 55 years.

Always well turned out, I remember

Harold leaving home each morning to

catch the Underground to the new London

office dressed every inch the city gent in

his bowler hat and starched collars, which

were sent out to the laundry and returned

every fortnight. Business would later take

Harold overseas with some hair-raising

trips to Nigeria, Iran and Saudi Arabia, but

eventually he retired from Quantity

Surveying in 1990. I recall that he held 2

separate retirement parties at the RAC

Club in Pall Mall to ensure that his many

business associates could all attend.

Upon returning to London, Harold quite

soon joined South Herts Golf Club, as did

Vera a year or two later. The club was to

become the hub of their social life for over

four decades, and where they made many

great friends and acquaintances. He would

not mind me saying that he was not the

most accomplished golfer, leaving it to

Vera to take the glory and bring home the

trophies.

Balancing a busy professional life with

golf, Harold served on the South Herts

Committee for a number of years but

could not commit the time necessary to

serve as Club Captain. He did provide his

professional expertise during the planning

and redevelopment of the Men’s Locker

Rooms and later, in the building of the

current Professionals Shop. He was

rewarded with the Presidency of the Club

from 2005 to 2007 and later served as a

Club Trustee, protecting the club’s legal

rights over the course and club property.

Golf and South Herts Golf Club provided

Harold and Vera with many friendships

and was instrumental to keeping them

active throughout their 80’s.

Their love of golf took them, and their golf

clubs, on holiday to the Penina Golf

Resort on The Algarve with their good

friends from South Herts, Marjorie and

Stan Whines. It may have been after a

glass of wine or two that the Perry’s and

the Whines signed up for 20 years’ time

share where they enjoyed many happy

holidays with friends and family.

In retirement, Harold and Vera discovered

long-haul travel, visiting Kenya, Thailand,

Florida and a number of Caribbean islands.

They later became hooked on visiting St

Lucia, staying at “Le Sport Spa” resort for

over a dozen years in succession. They

frequently enjoyed a sundowner of Rum

Punch or a Pernod in the Piano Bar after

a hard day of massages and treatments.

Harold was a very sociable person and, apart

from visiting the nineteenth hole after a

round of golf, enjoyed regular lunchtime get

togethers in London with groups from the

Old Stationers, and other acquaintances,

until caring for Vera began to take over.

By January 2019 it became clear that

caring for Vera was taking its toll on

Harold and they moved to Oakview Lodge

Care Home in Welwyn Garden City. He

was never far from Vera’s side, making sure

that she had anything that she needed, but

sadly, she passed away in November 2019.

Owen Charles Rowe

Harold was fit and well and in typically

good humour until only a couple of weeks

ago. He had continued to take interest in

the daily newspaper, the sports pages and

crossword. Whilst he seemed only a little

off colour for a few days, he was suddenly

hospitalised and declined quickly. He

maintained his sense of humour until the

end, endearing himself to all who met him

and the staff at Oakview to whom we send

much thanks for their care.

To quote Harold: “people ask what is my

secret of long life and good health?” With

a twinkle in his eye he would continue: “It

is to always do, eat and drink the things

that people tell me not to!”

To conclude, I will steal some wording

from an email received this week:

“Harold was one of the best of fella’s you could

have wished to have met. A Gentleman in

every respect. He’s played a great innings and

will be sorely missed by us all”.

Philip Jeffreys

Hi Tim, my brother unfortunately

contracted coronavirus and did not recover,

he passed away on the 7th of April. Philip

was at school from 1968 until 1974 so if

you could mention this in the magazine as

a few old boys will remember him.

Many thanks.

Alun Jeffreys

I regret to announce the death of Owen Rowe, our oldest member whose war time

gallantry was profiled in issue 90 of the magazine. Ed.

42


Minutes of the 2020 AGM OF THE Old Stationers’ Association

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a prolonged AGM was held online, commencing 24th March when members were

notified that the agenda and associated documents for the meeting had been posted in the password protected

Committee Room of the OSA website, and concluding on 22nd April. Members were invited to raise any issues of

concern and to comment upon the Committee’s recommendations.

1. Minutes of the AGM held on 29th March 2019 (circulated to all members in The Old Stationer Magazine No.89

– Summer 2019 edition).

It was proposed by Roger Melling, seconded by Peter Sandell and resolved that the minutes of the Old Stationers’

Association AGM held at Stationers’ Hall on Friday 29th March 2019 be approved.

2. President's Address See attached report.

3. Hon Treasurers Report See attached report.

It was proposed by Nigel Wade, seconded by David Hudson and resolved that the report and audited accounts for

the year ending 31st December 2019 be approved.

4. Election of Officers and Committee

Nominations were invited for the Association’s Officers and Committee for 2020/2021. The following members

were duly proposed, seconded and elected:

Elected Proposer Seconder

President Stephen Collins Peter Thomas Tony Hemmings

Vice-President Daniel Bone Stephen Collins Peter Thomas

Hon Secretary Peter Thomas Tony Hemmings Roger Engledow

Hon Treasurer Peter Winter Roger Engledow Roger Melling

Hon Membership Secretary Roger Engledow David Turner Peter Sandell

Hon Editor Tim Westbrook Peter Winter David Turner

Events Managers Peter Sandell Stephen Collins Peter Bothwick

Roger Melling Peter Thomas Tony Hemmings

Hon Archivist David Turner Peter Thomas Tim Westbrook

Website Manager Peter Gotham David Turner Peter Sandell

Ordinary Members

Andreas Christou

Peter Borthwick Stephen Collins Roger Melling

Tony Hemmings

5. Election of Honorary Auditors

It was proposed by Roger Engledow, seconded by David Turner and resolved that David Cox and Chris Langford

be elected Honorary Auditors.

There being no further business, the Annual General Meeting closed at 11.59pm on 22nd April.

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

My fellow Old Stationers,

I am delighted to report that it has been another successful year for our Association, which continues to thrive and achieve

its goals in delivering member value. Membership retention remains consistent and our financial position also remains

strong, underpinned with a robust Balance Sheet. Membership currently stands at 500 and we welcomed 16 new members

to the OSA, during 2019. It was also one of our busiest years for reunions, with good attendances in each of seven reunions.

We had three successful lunches and a dinner in 2019, attended by a broad cross section of our membership, with

representations from each decade, from the 1930s to the years before the School closed. The President’s Day Cricket Match

was bathed in glorious sunshine, and despite the heat, we were able to score a long-awaited victory over the home team,

Botany Bay, making an enjoyable afternoon’s play for both our team and spectators. After the success of last year’s walk,

‘Down Memory Lane,’ Stephen Collins has put together a similar guided walk centred around Bolt Court. However, this

has had to be postponed in light of the current crisis. Peter Winter and Peter Bothwick are both investigating other activities

to be held, for when conditions return to normal.

Our Magazine goes from strength to strength under the leadership of Tim Westbrook, combining a unique blend of news

43



ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

and humour and pushing forward the envelope to include new and exciting features. Thank you, Tim for your hard work

in providing an important journal in helping to recall distant memories and keeping us connected with other members

with a common interest.

Due to falling attendances and rising costs, your Committee has had to take the difficult decision to discontinue the annual

Carol Service. Sad as this is, and with our very best efforts, this event has now become unsustainable. I would particularly

like to thank Peter Sandell for his efforts over the years in putting together this event.

Significant progress has been made in the sorting of our archive in preparation for its future long-term storage, management

and accessibility. And our digital library of school magazines has now been successfully restored onto the website.

Sadly, Mike Hasler has decided not to stand for re-election, for health reasons. We owe Mike an enormous debt of

gratitude for his long-standing commitment to the OSA and his invaluable contribution as Honorary Treasurer. I am sure

you will all join me in thanking Mike and wishing him a speedy recovery. David Sheath has also decided to step down

from the Committee and we thank David for his sterling service over many years.

I would like to express my gratitude to our Committee who have been enormously supportive during my year and for their

hard work and energy in serving the needs of our members. Without their time, effort and dedication there would be no

OSA.

As we embrace this, the 125th anniversary of the founding of our Association, our membership continues to be in a strong

position. I can assure you that your Committee will strive over the coming months to continue to maintain the sustainability

of the Association and its finances through a responsible management strategy. I would also like to extend my thanks to

our auditors, Chris Langford and David Cox, for their support, advice and service.

In closing, I would just like to say thank you to our members, for your trust and support over the past 12 months, it has

been an honour to represent the Old Stationers’ Association as your President. I am proud to have had the opportunity to

lead the Association and look forward to its continued success. These are extreme and challenging times that we are all

facing, but this will pass, and we will bounce back. In the coming months, as circumstances allow, your Committee will

endeavour to return to a programme of our usual events that so many of you enjoy and cherish. In the meantime, please

keep safe and we look forward to being amongst you all again, soon.

Peter Thomas President 2019/20

Honorary Treasurer’s Report

For the year ENDED 31st December 2019

The income and expenditure account for the year 2019 shows a surplus of £781 last year, compared with a surplus of £1,828

in 2018.

The audited accounts for the year ended 31st December 2019 are to be presented at the AGM for approval and are

reproduced in the following pages.

Ordinary activities of the Association show a surplus of £983, last year £1,982. The magazines are a similar cost and other

costs are much the same in total. Other activities produced a deficit of £202 (last year a deficit of £154).

The Christmas lunch was very well attended by over 100 people. The two lunch clubs held at the Royal National Hotel

during the year and the annual dinner resulted in a deficit of £326 and an equivalent amount has been transferred from

the contingency reserve to cover this deficit.

The balance sheet is still in a strong position with a healthy surplus and cash balances increasing to £20,281 from £19,982

last year.

I would like to thank the membership secretary, Roger Engledow, for all the work he does in collecting and chasing the

subscriptions.

I am now retiring as Treasurer and would like to thank the committee members for all their support over the year and for

their conservative demands on the funds and I am sure that the OSA will be in good hands in the future.

Finally I wish to thank the auditors David Cox and Chris Langford for their work and advice.

Michael Hasler Treasurer

44



As at 31st December 2019

ASSETS

Balance Sheet

31.12.19 31.12.18

£ £ £ £

Cash at bank on current account 7,290 7,017

Cash on deposit account 12.991 12.965

Total cash at bank 20,281 19,982

Stock of ties & badges (note 2) 1,361 776

Stock of books and programmes (note 3) 468 563

The Carpenter Painting 1,077 1,077

Display Cabinet 200 200

Debtors 500 895

Less Creditors

Christmas Lunch -4,402 -4,978

Other -478 -4,380 -289 -4,372

TOTAL ASSETS 19,007 18,226

FINANCED BY:

Memorial Fund (Embleton) 1,701 1,701

Accumulated General Fund 15,403 14,296

Contingencies Reserve (note 4) 1,903 2,229

19,007 18,226

NOTES

1 The OSA also has in its possession a number of items of regalia and cups.

It is not proposed to show these on the face of the accounts, but the value for insurance

purposes is £2,950.

2 Stock of ties and badges

Stock 31.12.18 776 930

Purchases 647

1,423 930

Less sales at cost -16 -107

Less presented to The President -28 -32

Less presented to The Master -18 -15

Stock 31.12.18 1,361 776

3 Stock of books and programmes

Stock at 31.12.18 563 230

Purchases 525

563 755

Less cost of sales -95 76

Less stock written off 116

Stock at 31.12.19 468 563

M F Hasler Treasurer

Auditors Report

In our opinion the above Balance sheet and related Statements of Income and Expenditure, Accumulated Fund

and Memorial Fund present a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Old Stationers’ Association as at

31 st December 2019 and of the surplus of income over expenditure for the year.

C Langford, D Cox

45


OSA Funds Summary

Year ended 31st December 2019 31.12.19 31.12.18

MEMORIAL FUND (EMBLETON)

£ £

Balance per Accounts 31.12.18 b/fwd 1,701 1,721

Less Stock of Old Stationers' President's XI

40th Anniversary book written off -20

Accumulated Surplus on Memorial Fund 1,701 1,701

ACCUMULATED GENERAL FUND

Balance per Accounts 31.12.18 b/fwd 14,296 12,283

Surplus on Ordinary Activities 983 1,982

-Deficit on other activities -202 -154

Transfer from contingencies reserve 326 185

Accumulated Surplus on ordinary activities 15,403 14,296

CONTINGENCIES RESERVE (note 4)

Balance per accounts 31st December 2018 b/fwd 2,229 2,414

Transfer to General Fund, re Dinner and Lunches -326 -185

Total Contingencies Reserve 1,903 2,229

TOTAL OSA FUNDS AT 31.12.2019 19,007 18,226

Note 4: The contingencies reserve has been created from past provisions for luncheon and annual dinner

costs no longer required. It is to be used to subsidise these events, this year £326, and in future years.

GENERAL FUND

Income & Expenditure Account Year ended 31st December 2019

31.12.19 31.12.18

ORDINARY ACTIVITIES £ £ £ £

Income

Subscriptions 7,461 7,514

Legacy 1,000

Bank interest 26 12

7,487 8,526

Expenditure

Magazine costs 5,577 5,734

Stationery, Postage & Web expenses 479 316

Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge expenses 124

Carol service and commemoration 324 494

6,504 6,544

Surplus on Ordinary Activities 983 1,982

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Tie, scarves and blazer badge sales net-cost/income -13 14

Past President’s badge and tie at cost -28 -32

Baynes book net Surplus/-Deficit 86 -14

Net -Deficit/Surplus on dinner and lunch club --326 -122

Surplus on walks 79

-Deficit on other activities -202 -154

SURPLUS INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE FOR YEAR 781 1,828

46

OSA Photographic Competition 2020

HOLIDAYS – School’s Out

Whether you are an experienced photographer,

or just one who takes the occasional photograph

with your mobile phone, this is the photographic

competition for you. Any OSA member can

enter up to three photographs which they should

have taken. They should illustrate the theme,

“HOLIDAYS – School’s Out”. What we are

looking for are holiday portraits - but anything

to do with holidays would be great, especially if

they relate to School Holidays.

To Enter: Each photograph should have an

“interesting” title, relevant to the theme, and be

accompanied by the sender’s name, postal address

and telephone number.

Send your digital or scanned photographs

(colour or black and white – or even sepia), as a

300 DPI JPEG file, to Tony Moffat at:

a.moffat@ucl.ac.uk

For those of the “old school” without access to a

scanner; send hard copy photographs, which will

be scanned and then returned to you, to: Tony

Moffat, 22 Pig Lane, St Ives, PE27 5NL. Please

use a piece of cardboard in the envelope to

protect the photographs.

Closing date: 31st October 2020. Entries will be

acknowledged by email, telephone or post.

Image editing: Images may be digitally enhanced

to optimise a photograph, remove scratches etc,

but significant elements of the picture should not

be added or removed.

Judging: Judging will be carried out by a panel of

judges who will be using the following criteria:

composition, originality, interpretation of the

theme, technical quality and most importantly –

how does your entry stand out from the crowd.

Like referees, some people may disagree with the

judges’ decision, but their decision is final.

Prizes: The winner will be announced in the

January 2021 edition of the Old Stationer and

will receive a bottle of champagne at the AGM

in March 2021 when some of the entries will be

displayed.

Publication of Entries: By submitting an entry,

you agree that the photograph(s) may be

published in The Old Stationer and on the OSA

web site.

Queries: Any queries, please contact Tony Moffat

at the email address above or by telephone on

01480 764285.

Go on - have a go. Looking through your old

photographs will be fun anyway. If you don’t have

anything suitable, why not go out and take some.

PUZZLE CORNER ANSWERS

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