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No 95 / July 2022<br />
The Old Stationer<br />
Number 95 - July 2022
Good to see that one of our members exiled overseas was joining in the Jubilee celebrations in appropriately<br />
understated style. (Pictured-Simon and Gill Westbrook)<br />
DATES for the DIARY<br />
PRESIDENT’S DAY and 50th<br />
ANNIVERSARY of our annual<br />
CRICKET MATCH<br />
Sunday 28th August 2022 - Botany Bay<br />
Book lunch through Peter Sandell.<br />
SEPTEMBER LUNCH<br />
Wednesday 14th September 2022 at The<br />
Royal National Hotel. Pre-prandial drinks<br />
at 12.30. Book your place through Roger<br />
Melling.<br />
CHRISTMAS LUNCH<br />
Friday 2nd December 2022 at the<br />
refurbished Stationers' Hall.<br />
Drinks at 12.30, Dining at 1pm.<br />
Contact Roger Melling for booking<br />
AGM Lunch/Dinner 2023<br />
Friday 31st March 2023 at Stationers’<br />
Company's Hall From 12.15.
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
The Old Stationer<br />
Number 95 - jULY 2022<br />
OLD STATIONERS’ ASSOCIATION<br />
LIST OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2022/2023<br />
President<br />
Daniel Bone<br />
56 Union Street, High Barnet,<br />
EN5 4HZ ✆ 07770 431060<br />
: dan.bone@civix.org.uk<br />
Vice-President<br />
Robin Baker<br />
40 Crossbow Road, Chigwell,<br />
Essex, IG7 4EZ ✆ 07939 059139<br />
: bakersilverfox@ aol.com<br />
Past President<br />
Stephen P Collins<br />
85 Love Lane, Pinner, Middx.<br />
HA5 3EY ✆ 07802 157044<br />
: spc@woodhaven.me.uk<br />
Honorary Secretary<br />
Peter R Thomas<br />
107 Jackdaw Close, Stevenage,<br />
Herts. SG2 9DB ✆ 01438 722870<br />
: peterthomas561@outlook.com<br />
Honorary Treasurer<br />
Peter Winter<br />
5 Oakways, Warrington, WA4 5HD<br />
07795 450863<br />
: prcwinter1@btinternet.com<br />
Membership Secretary<br />
Roger Engledow<br />
118 Hertswood Court,<br />
Hillside Gardens, Barnet, EN5 4AU<br />
07817 111642<br />
: osamembers@gmail.com<br />
Honorary Editor<br />
Tim Westbrook<br />
7 Goodyers Avenue, Radlett,<br />
Herts. WD7 8AY<br />
✆ mobile 07770 381070<br />
: tim@timwestbrook.co.uk<br />
Honorary Archivist<br />
David D Turner<br />
63 Brookmans Avenue, Brookmans<br />
Park, Herts. AL9 7QG<br />
✆ 01707 656414<br />
: daviddanielturner63@gmail.com<br />
Event Managers<br />
Roger Melling<br />
43 Holyrood Road, New Barnet,<br />
Herts. EN5 1DQ ✆ 020 8449 2283<br />
: rmelling76@gmail.com<br />
Peter A Sandell<br />
11 Maplecroft Lane, Nazeing, Essex,<br />
EN9 2NR ✆ 07917 693523<br />
: peter.sandell@hotmail.co.uk<br />
Honorary Auditors<br />
Chris Langford, Dave Cox<br />
Ordinary Members<br />
Andreas H Christou<br />
22 Woodgrange Avenue, Bush Hill<br />
Park, Enfield EN1 1EW<br />
07722 117481<br />
: andreashchristou@yahoo.com<br />
Peter Bothwick<br />
52 Hither Green Lane, Abbey Park,<br />
Redditch, Worcs. B98 9BW<br />
✆ 01527 62059<br />
: pedrotres@hotmail.co.uk<br />
Tony C Hemmings<br />
5 The Mount, Cheshunt,<br />
Herts. EN7 6RF<br />
01992 638535<br />
: hemmingsac43@gmail.com<br />
Clubs & Societies<br />
Football Club<br />
Ian Meyrick<br />
: ian.meyrick1@gmail.com<br />
Golf Society<br />
Roger Rufey<br />
07780 450369<br />
: rrufey@gmail.com<br />
Apostles Club<br />
Stuart H Behn<br />
l67 Hempstead Road, Watford,<br />
Herts. WD17 3HF<br />
✆ 01923 243546<br />
: stuartbehn@hotmail.com<br />
Luncheon Club<br />
Roger Melling<br />
Details as previous column<br />
SC School Lodge no. 7460<br />
Michael D Pinfield<br />
63 Lynton Road, Harrow,<br />
Middx. HA2 9NJ<br />
✆ 020 8422 4699 07956 931174<br />
: secretary7460ugle@gmail.com<br />
Magazine<br />
Publishing Adviser<br />
Tim Westbrook<br />
Details as previous column<br />
Design & Website Manager<br />
Ian Moore<br />
Homecroft, Princes Gate,<br />
Pembs. SA67 8TG<br />
✆ 07833 331865<br />
: ian@outhaus.biz<br />
Printed by<br />
Deltor Communications Ltd<br />
Contents<br />
Regular features<br />
Dates for the Diary 2<br />
Editorial 4<br />
Correspondence 29<br />
Special features<br />
OSA AGM/Lunch 2022 5<br />
President's Day invitation 9<br />
My life in music - Zoom broadcast 12<br />
Linking tomorrow with yesterday 15<br />
Coping with Covid 19<br />
Murky London 19<br />
The Cockpit (and its environs) 22<br />
Pubs around Muswell Hill 23<br />
London Afternoons 25<br />
The OSA Memories Project 2022-23 25<br />
Stationers' Company's School Lodge 25<br />
Hornsey High 26<br />
Livery Bridge Competition victory 27<br />
My proximity to fame 27<br />
My brush with the law 28<br />
Our first Jaguar 31<br />
Clubs & Societies<br />
Luncheon Club 10<br />
OSA Golf Society 11<br />
OSFC Report 2021/22 12<br />
Reunions<br />
Reunion for younger ex-Stationers 13<br />
Call for Class of 1962 14<br />
Class of 1956 14<br />
Varia<br />
Puzzle Corner 33<br />
Membership Secretary's report 33<br />
Members by year of entry 34<br />
Photography competition - “Water” 47<br />
Obituaries<br />
Geof Richmond 38<br />
George R A Copus 39<br />
Raymond Hind 41<br />
Robert Coulter 41<br />
Terry Miller 42<br />
Bereavement notices<br />
George Magnus 42<br />
Rodney Dennison 42<br />
Derek Stevens 42<br />
OSA AGM 2022<br />
Minutes 43<br />
President's address 43<br />
Honorary Treasurer's report 44<br />
Financial statements 45<br />
Supplying items for publication<br />
Text: Please supply as Word or typed documents if<br />
possible. Images: Supply as original images or hi-res<br />
(300dpi) digital files in tiff, jpeg or eps format.<br />
Post or email to the Honorary Editor, Tim<br />
Westbrook. See Committee list for address details.<br />
3
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
Well, undoubtedly the<br />
most significant event of<br />
the year has been our<br />
special reunion for<br />
ex-pupils from the<br />
comprehensive era 1967–<br />
83. The event that took<br />
place on May 14th was<br />
attended by 70 former<br />
pupils and staff, meeting<br />
first at the old Hornsey<br />
High school hall for<br />
introductions, registration, photos and beverages then<br />
moving on to the Queens pub in Crouch End for more<br />
sustenance and reminiscing. At the time of writing, we<br />
have acquired 28 new members which boost our<br />
membership universe back to over 500. Congratulations<br />
to Andreas Christou for initiating the event and to Peter<br />
Sandell, Dan Bone and Peter Thomas for handling the<br />
challenging administration arrangements which helped<br />
make the day such a success (see their photographs below).<br />
In other news, we have been approached by the Hornsey<br />
Historical Society to contribute an article for next year’s<br />
bulletin covering the history of the school with memories<br />
from ex-pupils. This will coincide with the 130th<br />
anniversary of the school’s opening and 40 years since it<br />
closed. Stephen Collins will be co-ordinating our response<br />
and content contribution to HHS.<br />
On the theme of anniversaries, this year’s President’s Day<br />
on the August Bank Holiday Sunday will celebrate the<br />
50th annual cricket match featuring the President’s<br />
select XI who will be playing against Botany Bay at their<br />
home ground. He invites you to come along for an<br />
afternoon of pleasant banter, a cool beer and a gentle<br />
stroll around the boundary to the back drop of leather<br />
on willow and the occasional “HOWZAT!”<br />
Our new President, Dan Bone is launching a “Memories”<br />
initiative aimed at attracting video content for our web<br />
site thereby creating a multi-media platform for<br />
publishing our individual memories of life at Stationers.<br />
You will see the details in his article on page 25.<br />
I am sad to report the death of our oldest member,<br />
George R A Copus, at the age of 98. He had a stellar<br />
banking career and was awarded the Joseph King<br />
Memorial Trophy for his outstanding contribution to<br />
International Banking. He also had impeccable cricket<br />
credentials. Playing for North London Cricket Club<br />
against Harlesden he took all 10 wicket, 9 clean bowled<br />
and one catch!<br />
I hope you enjoy issue 95 and I look forward to seeing<br />
some of you at our events during the remainder of the year.<br />
Tim<br />
Online magazine archive<br />
Every school and OSA magazine since 1884 is accessible in the Library on the OSA web site. Have a look and see<br />
what was happening in your school days. Password: 0335OS-wwwOSA<br />
4
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 3<br />
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS<br />
Maestro, Master, Clerk, gentlemen,<br />
I am delighted to be standing<br />
here at my last official<br />
function as President of the<br />
OSA. It has been an honour<br />
to serve as your President, the<br />
first time since the end of the<br />
War that a President has<br />
served more than one year.<br />
It has been a long two years,<br />
but, despite Covid raging all<br />
around us still, we have<br />
managed almost a full year’s worth of activities since the last<br />
Annual Lunch which was held here in June 2021. You may recall<br />
that we were hoping to stage today’s event at Stationers’ Hall on<br />
April 8th; but as we have heard from the Master, and to quote<br />
US Ambassador Walter Annenberg speaking to the Queen<br />
about his residence, the Hall is still “subject to elements of<br />
refurbishment” and therefore unavailable. Unfortunately, the<br />
only date we could secure at Cutlers’ Hall was Maundy Thursday,<br />
which has certainly depressed attendance because of members’<br />
prior commitments around Easter.<br />
My first pleasant duty is to thank Paul Bateman for proposing<br />
the toast to the OSA. If you have read his fascinating articles in<br />
recent editions of the Old Stationer magazine, you will not have<br />
been surprised at the quality of his remarks. Conductors are<br />
more often seen than heard, other than at the Last Night of the<br />
Proms. But some are not averse to showmanship. For example,<br />
of Leonard Bernstein it was once said that “he uses music as an<br />
accompaniment to his conducting”. One conductor who has a<br />
string of humorous quotations, often insults, to his credit was Sir<br />
Thomas Beecham. I can’t resist sharing a couple with you. Of<br />
his fellow conductor Malcolm Sargent, known as ‘Flash Harry’,<br />
he remarked, on hearing that he’d received a knighthood: “I<br />
didn’t know he’d been knighted. I knew he’d been doctored.”<br />
And to a lady cellist, he said: “Madam, you have between your<br />
legs an instrument capable of giving pleasure to thousands – and<br />
all you can do is scratch it.” I’m sure you rise above all this artistic<br />
pettiness, Paul.<br />
I would also like to thank Robert Flather for his speech on behalf<br />
of the Company. As you may have seen in a short note I<br />
contributed to the last issue of the Old Stationer, we discovered<br />
at our September lunch that Robert has direct or indirect<br />
connections with a number of us, all of whom were coincidentally<br />
sitting adjacent to him at that lunch. So we’re very pleased to<br />
have you among us again, Robert. And as I said to your<br />
predecessor last year, we’re again very grateful to the Company<br />
for financial assistance with hiring Cutlers’ Hall, but very much<br />
look forward to returning to our spiritual home at Stationers’<br />
Hall before long.<br />
The highlights of the past year were the postponed Annual<br />
Lunch here at Cutlers’ Hall, President’s Day at Botany Bay, the<br />
Christmas Lunch again here, and the September lunch at the<br />
Royal National Hotel. I also had the privilege of presenting<br />
prizes at the annual golf day in October. Fuller details of all these<br />
events were included in speeches I gave on the various occasions.<br />
Those of you suffering FOMO – fear of missing out -- might<br />
Am I on camera?<br />
5
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Cutler's Hall<br />
like to catch up with them in recent issues of the Old Stationer<br />
(today’s will be the seventh). Mention of the magazine gives me<br />
the opportunity to thank and congratulate Tim Westbrook on<br />
the continuing excellence of the publication owing to his skilful<br />
editorship, along with thanks to all who contribute articles,<br />
letters and photographs. Long may it continue.<br />
What matters now is the future. Superimposed on our normal<br />
routine will be two special events. First, looking ahead to<br />
President’s Day at the end of August, it will be the 50th<br />
anniversary of the first cricket match between a President’s<br />
Eleven and, initially, the OSA First Eleven and later Botany Bay<br />
Cricket Club. Our incoming President, Dan Bone, has been<br />
working hard to ensure that we can field a strong team, and we<br />
are assured that Botany Bay, doing penance for their failure last<br />
year, will have a team to contest.<br />
Second, you may recall that I have emphasised in recent speeches<br />
the importance of attracting younger Old Stationers to join the<br />
organisation. I am happy to report that a small sub-committee,<br />
inspired by ideas from our youngest member Andreas Christou,<br />
has been planning an event aimed at what might be termed the<br />
comprehensive generation to attract new members. This will<br />
take place on Saturday, 14th May at The Queens pub in Crouch<br />
End. It is being advertised extensively on social media, but I<br />
hope that anyone here, especially from the post-1967 generation,<br />
with friends and acquaintances from that era will draw it to their<br />
attention. Our numbers have fallen decisively below 500 so it is<br />
important to attract a younger cohort to keep the Association<br />
viable for many years to come.<br />
We are also making a sustained effort to improve the look and<br />
feel of the website, which will facilitate communication with the<br />
younger generation. And we may well reinstate occasional Zoom<br />
presentations to enable contact with OS wherever they are based.<br />
All this is taking place against the background of a strong<br />
financial position, bolstered by bequests from Sir John Sparrow<br />
and Peter Sargent. As Peter Winter has emphasised in his<br />
Treasurer’s Report, the OSA has a healthy bank balance of over<br />
three years’ subscription income. We are using the bequests<br />
judiciously, for example to subsidise occasional longer editions of<br />
the magazine and also to support the New Members’ event.<br />
Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank all the members of<br />
the OSA Committee for their help and support over the past two<br />
years, and to wish Dan well in the year to come. We should also<br />
welcome Robin Baker who will succeed Dan as Vice President.<br />
They will have the pleasure of presiding over future Annual and<br />
AGM in progress<br />
Christmas Lunches back in<br />
Stationers’ Hall, where, by the<br />
way, I hope our archive will be<br />
housed in the Tokefield<br />
Centre and the Headmasters’<br />
portraits and the Carpenter<br />
painting of the School will<br />
again be on display.<br />
In conclusion, I want to<br />
thank Peter Bothwick for yet<br />
again acting so professionally<br />
as our Master of Ceremonies,<br />
and also Dan for saying<br />
Grace, and Roger Melling<br />
and Peter Sandell for<br />
organising today’s event,<br />
together with Cutlers’ Hall<br />
staff for the catering and<br />
service. And thanks to all of you for your kind attention.<br />
Stephen Collins<br />
OSA President, 2020/22<br />
THE MASTER'S Speech - ROBERT FLATHER<br />
Members of the Old Stationers' Association, Gentlemen.<br />
Thank you for you the kind<br />
toast and for inviting me back<br />
to another Old Stationers'<br />
Lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed<br />
being with you last September<br />
and it is a pleasure to again be<br />
with you. You kindly<br />
presented me with a gift at<br />
the last lunch so today, the<br />
Old Stationers' tie is worn<br />
with pride.<br />
I am pleased to reciprocate<br />
that gift with a gift to your<br />
President of the Master's<br />
bookmark. Stephen, it is also<br />
a particular pleasure for me as<br />
I was able to cloath you in the<br />
Livery of the Stationers'<br />
Company last October.<br />
6
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
The theme for my speech is connections. Back in September I<br />
seemed to find connections outside of Stationers with so many<br />
of you. I thought I would expand on the theme.<br />
All of us here have that Stationers connection, but we are not<br />
always so well aligned. Past Masters of the company have told me<br />
that talking about football to this audience is perilous. Whatever<br />
I say could alienate half the audience, as you may have a love for<br />
the sport, but maybe not for the other team.<br />
That is familiar territory for a man from Sheffield. If you think<br />
you have a problem in this city, then you should come from mine.<br />
Half my city will not eat bacon for breakfast as it is the red of<br />
United, and the other half think a week only has six days with<br />
Wednesday excluded. But the local rivalry is actually twice as bad.<br />
Does anyone here know what is the oldest football club in the<br />
world? { Correct – You clearly went to a good school}. Its<br />
Sheffield Football club, founded in 1857. Early games were a<br />
challenge as there was no other club so they would play games of<br />
unmarried men against married, or choose teams based on the<br />
alphabet. There were also no rules so they codified and published<br />
the rules of the game of football. The Sheffield rules published<br />
in 1858 became the standard rules for the next 20 years or so.<br />
Then in 1860, the players of Hallam Cricket Club, realized that<br />
football was a good way of keeping fit through the winter so<br />
formed themselves into a club. So finally there was competition<br />
and a local derby ensued and it remains the longest competitive<br />
derby match in the world, now called the rules derby. Sheffield<br />
has a duo of derbies.<br />
So why am I rambling on? Connections again. It’s a complex<br />
history, but there was one very influential player at Sheffield FC<br />
who formulated the rules and then became the founder and first<br />
captain of Hallam FC. His name was John Charles Shaw. His<br />
profession? Legal Stationer.<br />
7
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
So now when you are supporting whoever it is you support you<br />
can bask in the warm glow of knowing that the rules of the game<br />
were partly drawn up by a Stationer.<br />
Which with an oblique connection brings me to our hall. Where<br />
are we with the rebuild?<br />
You will all be familiar with the Stationers' Hall assault course of<br />
multiple staircases to get to a drink in the principal rooms. This<br />
won’t change and it is fine for the able bodied. But for those less<br />
fortunate, the Hall is a nightmare. There are 18 different floor<br />
levels across our 99 rooms built over four centuries. We have had<br />
to address this.<br />
The principal work we are doing is to demolish the 1950’s<br />
building between the Main Hall and the Court Room. The new<br />
21st century brick and glass infill building includes a new<br />
entrance with level access from the garden. There is a lift and a<br />
second staircase which means the hall can be split for hiring<br />
purposes making it a more flexible venue. The ground floor<br />
under the main rooms has been gutted and there are new<br />
kitchens, offices, electrics, heating and, although not important<br />
to this group, new ladies' toilets. We have also gutted the floor<br />
above the Court room for a new suite of meeting rooms. Those<br />
who are there in summer will be pleased to hear that air cooling<br />
in all the principal rooms is also part of the project.<br />
The build started in November 2020 and although we lost a few<br />
months to the archeological investigation we have lost very<br />
little additional time and are on the home straight ready to<br />
reopen at the beginning of July. Our tour of other livery halls,<br />
such as this lovely hall, has been very interesting but it has made<br />
us all realise that Stationers' Hall is a very special place. It will<br />
be very good to be back.<br />
So what of the deep connections between the school and the<br />
company today. Well there are 46 Old Stationers who are members<br />
of the Company, or about 5%. I understand that there are others<br />
with application forms to join. Currently there are also two<br />
vacancies in the Livery for any Freeman wishing to upgrade.<br />
Of those 46 our records show 14 have participated in committees<br />
which is impressive. Some of these Old Stationers have served in<br />
High Office. Last year Stephen Platten was the first Old<br />
Stationer to hold the position of Master of the company.<br />
Stephen had a very challenging year as Master as we were locked<br />
down for 50 of his 52 weeks. He did a splendid job of leading us<br />
through that dark period as his pastoral training meant that he<br />
was the perfect shepherd of our flock.<br />
Next year Moira Sleight, who is clearly not an Old Stationer, has<br />
a very interesting connection with the school which she will no<br />
doubt explain to you. And the following year, if elected, then<br />
Tony Mash will be the second Old Stationer Master of the<br />
Company.<br />
And Old Stationers are not just contributing on committees and<br />
to our governance.<br />
The days of playing football may be over, but the sporting<br />
competitiveness of the school lives on. This year Peter Bonner<br />
and David Hudson represented the Stationers' Company in the<br />
annual Inter-Livery Company Bridge Tournament and, for the<br />
second time, won the competition. Congratulations.<br />
But the stand out contribution to the company in the last year<br />
has to be the bequest from the estate of Sir John and Lady<br />
Cynthia Sparrow to the Stationers<br />
Foundation. Five Hundred<br />
Thousand Pounds. The biggest<br />
monetary donation in the history<br />
of the Company. This donation<br />
will allow the Trustees of the<br />
foundation to expand their reach<br />
of enhancing the education of<br />
children. It is extremely generous<br />
and very gratefully received. We<br />
are currently discussing how we<br />
can, in some way, acknowledge<br />
this kind bequest within the Hall.<br />
The Stationers’ School buildings<br />
may have gone but fortunately not<br />
Stationers’ Hall which I know<br />
holds special memories for you.<br />
As Old Stationers are so involved<br />
with the Company you are part of<br />
our alumni. I hope you will help us<br />
preserve and protect Stationers’<br />
Hall by helping us establish an<br />
endowment fund for the purpose.<br />
All donations and legacies are<br />
welcome and larger gifts will<br />
feature on a donors’ board.<br />
Finally. We may have our differences<br />
over football teams, yet our love of<br />
the sport transcends this.<br />
Dan celebrates when he finds<br />
the blazer fits.<br />
8
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
You are all connected by lifelong friendships which started at the<br />
school. We are all connected through affection for the school and<br />
for the company and the Hall. We are all connected by the words<br />
we say and write. We are connected with a common motto which<br />
will soon be sung and perfectly encapsulates the lasting<br />
relationship between school and company “The word endureth<br />
for ever”.<br />
Thank you.<br />
Robert Flather<br />
GRACE BY DAN BONE<br />
Dear Lord<br />
We come together in expectation and friendship<br />
Grateful for the fine food, and wine that we will sip.<br />
We are here to share memories, rejoice in the moment<br />
Hoping we are clear of all covid encroachment.<br />
It has been testing for our community of old friends<br />
Forced to stay distant till restrictions end.<br />
But in a world of uncertainty, we’ll march on unafraid<br />
Our business is life, and we are glad to be portrayed<br />
As proud Stationers – we will return to having fun<br />
Adapt to a climate of change till our probation is done.<br />
And so now to lunch - your president and committee wish you hearty<br />
appetites and your very good health<br />
Amen<br />
I’m delighted to give Stephen his presidential tie and badge.<br />
Stephen’s commitment and service, during two pandemicblighted<br />
years, have been unfailing. We applaud his term as our<br />
president and I look forward to working with him as I pick up<br />
the baton. Thank you, Stephen.<br />
I’d like to introduce our new Vice President, Robin Baker. He<br />
continues to work in financial services advising his clients on their<br />
investments. Robin has had an outstanding sporting career kicking<br />
footballs and wielding cricket bats. Please welcome Robin…<br />
I’m honoured to become your<br />
president. I look forward to a<br />
successful year, and to meeting<br />
members at our forthcoming events.<br />
Given the excellence of today’s<br />
speeches, I’ll keep mine short and<br />
sweet: Thank you all for coming to<br />
the Annual Lunch. Let’s now adjourn<br />
to the Cockpit.<br />
Daniel Bone<br />
PRESIDENT’S DAY, SUNDAY 28TH AUGUST 2022<br />
I would like to invite you, your family and friends to the<br />
traditional Old Stationers’ President’s Cricket Match on<br />
Sunday 28th August.<br />
This year is particularly significant as it is the 50th<br />
anniversary of this annual fixture and hence I would like to<br />
extend a special invitation to former OSA Presidents to join<br />
me to celebrate the occasion. Of course, you do not have to<br />
be a cricket fan to enjoy this great bank holiday Sunday with<br />
friends in the beautiful setting of the Botany Bay Cricket<br />
Club, East Lodge Lane, Enfield, Middx EN2 8HS.<br />
Richard Slatford is selecting the President’s Team to<br />
represent the OSA to play against the Botany Bay Cricket<br />
Club. The match will commence at 2.00pm, finishing at<br />
around 7.30pm.<br />
The bar will be open from 11.45am and lunch will be<br />
served at 12.30pm. If you wish to have lunch, please send a<br />
cheque for £30 per head to Peter Sandell (made payable to<br />
P Sandell) at the earliest opportunity and certainly no later<br />
than 15th August. Peter’s address is 11 Maplecroft Lane,<br />
Nazeing. Essex. EN9 2NR. Alternatively, you can pay<br />
online; Account: P Sandell. Sort code: 20-29-81, account<br />
no: 93600653.<br />
We are very excited about this summer event and I do hope<br />
you will join in the fun.<br />
Kind regards<br />
Dan Bone President<br />
9
On Tuesday 17th May, 35 Old boys attended lunch in the Royal<br />
National Hotel, Russell Square. The lunch comprised of Smoked<br />
Salmon to start, followed by Lamb Shank & fruit salad for sweet,<br />
washed down with ample house wine.<br />
Our new president, Dan Bone welcomed those present and<br />
outlined the program of future events. An excellent time was had<br />
following which a few retired to a local hostelry.<br />
Attendees: Robin Baker, Stu Behn, Don Bewick, Ian Blackmore,<br />
Dan Bone, Peter Bothwick, Adrian Broadbent, Terry Butler, Stephen<br />
Collins, David Cox, Geoff Dent, Roger & Peter Engledow, Mike<br />
Evans, Michael Facey, John Gray, Mike Hasler, Tony Hemmings,<br />
David Hudson, Brian Humphreys, Terry Jaggers, Keith & Peter<br />
Knight, Dave Lincoln, Roger Melling, David Metcalf, Mike Mote,<br />
John Partridge, Richard Phillippo, Peter Sandell, Peter Thomas,<br />
David Turner, John Welch, Chris Wilkins and Peter Winter<br />
President’s Speech<br />
Good afternoon fellow Old Stationers. Welcome to the first May<br />
lunch in 3 years. Isn’t it good to be back? As always, a big thank<br />
you to Peter Sandell for pulling this together.<br />
This is my first lunch speech, so you’ll be relieved to hear that I’ll<br />
keep it short and sweet – after all I’ve only been in the job 33 days.<br />
I’d like to talk about 2 issues of importance to Old Stationers –<br />
returning to Stationers’ Hall for future gatherings and, the<br />
recruitment of more Old Stationers to our Association.<br />
First, the Hall. I went to see its renovations for the second time<br />
last week. On this occasion with the architect who has been<br />
involved with the project for nearly a decade – yes, these things<br />
take a long time. It was hoped that the works would be completed<br />
for a Spring reopening but the discovery of medieval remains put<br />
paid to that. The initial construction was delayed due to an<br />
extensive archaeological dig for the Museum of London. So, 3<br />
months was added to the 15-month programme. Despite the<br />
accelerating completion pace of different parts of the renovation,<br />
there is still much to be done which means that reopening is now<br />
scheduled for July.<br />
Interestingly, many of the changes to the Hall won’t be evident to<br />
visitors, as they are remarkably discreet, which may raise the<br />
question, ”what’s been done?”. Well, as befits this protected historic<br />
building, there won’t be blunt signs of change which is an indication<br />
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
LUNCHEON CLUB<br />
Where is the food?<br />
of the designers’ skill. Praise to them for the care<br />
taken to enable this Grade 1 listed building to<br />
perform its function to 21st century standards of<br />
sustainability and energy efficiency. There has<br />
been a complete redesign of the heating and<br />
ventilation systems and the kitchen, plus modern<br />
meeting rooms have been created above the<br />
Court Room. These improvements will increase<br />
the appeal of the Stationers’ Hall and enable the<br />
Hall’s managers to simultaneously run events in<br />
the Great Hall and the Court Room.<br />
Other upgrades are modest, although there is a<br />
major design undertaking that has been central<br />
to achieving the necessary transformation that<br />
will ensure the future success of the Hall. You<br />
didn’t expect me to miss the chance to praise a<br />
fellow architect’s ingenuity, did you?!<br />
The masterstroke is the creation of the new link building reached<br />
through the Garden Court to the rear of the Hall. It provides a<br />
new reception, stairs, lift, wcs - enabling movement to all floors<br />
for the first time for wheelchair users and the physically impaired.<br />
I believe these improvements will confirm the Stationers’ Hall as<br />
the leading modern Livery Hall in London, and hats off to the<br />
designers!<br />
One exciting improvement for our members segues nicely to<br />
another, the need to increase OSA membership. For the two years<br />
of my probation as Vice President this was a hot topic. Past<br />
President Stephen Collins set the ball rolling with an initiative to<br />
track down Old Stationers from the comprehensive era who, with<br />
notable exceptions here today, are largely missing from our<br />
membership.<br />
Master sleuth Peter Sandell took up the challenge and along with<br />
our youngest committee member, Andreas Christou, they<br />
announced on their respective Facebooks that a reunion would<br />
take place for those who attended between 1967 and 1983. Peter<br />
calculated that over 2,000 boys had passed through the school in<br />
those 16 years, so finding Old Stationers to join would be<br />
straightforward, wouldn’t it?<br />
Well, responses in the first couple of weeks were disappointing, but<br />
Old Stationers aren’t easily deterred! Additional, more targeted<br />
posts were put out, personal emails sent and an announcement on<br />
our website saw a trickle of interest detected. Peter and Andreas<br />
NEXT LUNCH<br />
WEDNESDAY 14th SEPTEMBER 2022<br />
This will again be at the Royal National Hotel. The<br />
price of the lunch has gone up as you would expect &<br />
will be £45 to include wine. As usual the Master and<br />
Clerk of the Company will be our guests. The new<br />
Master is Moira Sleight.<br />
An email will be sent out early next month giving full<br />
details, but if you don`t receive our emails for any reason<br />
and you wish to attend, please email: peter.sandell@<br />
hotmail.co.uk to book your place.<br />
10
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
pressed on, meeting Old Stationers on buses, making sure the<br />
reunion was spoken about at football. The perfect mix of oldfashioned<br />
word of mouth and new-fangled social media.<br />
But the suspense in our new members drama was multi-faceted:<br />
how to book a venue for an unknown number of attendees? It<br />
kept me on the edge of my seat, but our pub scoutmaster Roger<br />
Engledow had identified the best place near the old school site<br />
– the Queens in Crouch End, a haunt of many staff and underage<br />
old boys through the years. As the day of May 14 2022<br />
approached the numbers climbed from 25 to 40 to 50 – any<br />
advance on 50? We reached 72!<br />
The results of this endeavour just 4 days ago are hard to imagine.<br />
Of the 72 who came, 22 were already OSA members or former<br />
teachers, leaving 50 potential joiners. With award-winning sales<br />
techniques, Messrs Sandell and Thomas strong armed 28 Old<br />
Stationers to join up on the day. No-shows to be chased up could<br />
potentially add another 5 or even 10 to our happy band.<br />
Encouragingly, amidst chatting and selling t-shirts, the mood in<br />
the room was so positive that there was enthusiasm for another<br />
such event to bring together more old boys, who knew others, who<br />
wanted to get together, but who couldn’t make it on May 14th.<br />
The team – Peters Sandell and Thomas, Tim Westbrook,<br />
Andreas Christou and myself returned to our homes for rest and<br />
rumination. Weeks of planning and a day of signing up made us<br />
warm, happy and just a little knackered – but safe in the<br />
knowledge that the Old Stationers’ Association lives on. Thank<br />
you and enjoy the rest of your lunch.<br />
Daniel Bone<br />
osa golf society 2022<br />
At the time of writing we have played two of our season’s fixtures,<br />
Aldenham and Aspley Guise. Both days provided brilliant<br />
weather and courses in fine condition although some of our<br />
senior players struggled in the record heat at Aspley Guise.<br />
The winners of the Pairs Cup at Aldenham were Colin Watkins<br />
and Roger Rackley with an impressive 46 points beating runners<br />
up, Peter Bennett and Roger Rufey who scored 40 points. The<br />
best individual score was Colin Watkins with 40 points.<br />
At Aspley Guise the winner was Peter Bennett, in second place<br />
was Bruce Kitchener who also won “nearest the pin” and Colin<br />
Watkins came third.<br />
Our next fixture is against the Stationers Company at Abridge<br />
Golf Club in Essex on Wednesday 13th July where we will be<br />
looking to retain the trophy we won last year.<br />
For the benefit of our new members you do not need to be a<br />
single figure handicap golfer to join us for future matches, just<br />
contact Roger Rufey our Golf Organiser. (details on page 3 of<br />
this magazine)<br />
Tim<br />
Pairs Cup Winners at Aldenham, Colin Watkins and Roger Rackley<br />
Apsley Guise winner Peter Bennett<br />
Individual winner, Colin Watkins<br />
Runner up Peter Bennett<br />
Runner up and nearest the pin,<br />
Bruce Kitchener<br />
Third placed, Colin Watkins<br />
11
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
OSFC Report 2021/22<br />
Finally, after two aborted seasons due to the Covid pandemic, we<br />
managed to complete a full season in SAL Senior Division 2<br />
following our promotion in 2018/19.<br />
We finished in 9th place out of 11 teams (importantly we<br />
finished above local rivals CE Vampires and also Merton, to<br />
avoid relegation!!) which, on the face of it, doesn't suggest a<br />
particularly encouraging campaign. However, having spent 20<br />
odd years in Division 3, to survive our first full season at the<br />
higher level counts as a more than acceptable achievement.<br />
Indeed, of the 20 League games played, we drew 6 and of the 10<br />
games we lost, 5 were by the odd goal. Hopefully, next season<br />
with a year's experience against stronger opposition we can begin<br />
to convert some of the close games into victories.<br />
Looking forward to 2022/23, there will be a number of clubs<br />
joining the SAL, two of the new clubs particularly affecting us.<br />
Old Parmiterians FC (who have rejoined after an 18 year<br />
absence) and Old Meadonians FC both large multi-team clubs<br />
will join from the AFC (the main rival League to the SAL),<br />
which is a major coup for the League. However it is likely that<br />
both their 1st XIs will be placed alongside us in Senior Division<br />
2. This will no doubt make the proposed 12 team Division even<br />
more competitive for next season.<br />
Finally, we intend holding our popular OSFC Ex-players Reunion<br />
Day again in the early months of next season. However, because<br />
the 2022 World Cup is being held in November and December<br />
our usual date on the Saturday of the International weekend in<br />
early October has disappeared. So at this stage please just pencil<br />
in a Saturday sometime in October for the Reunion, we will have<br />
to wait until we have more information on our fixtures and the<br />
Premier League calendar before confirming the actual date.....for<br />
some unknown reason a Saturday home game for either<br />
Tottenham or Arsenal seems to be a popular alternative for some!<br />
Please keep an eye on our website at www.oldstationersfc.co.uk<br />
for information about the Reunion, club fixtures and news.<br />
If anyone's at a loose end on a Saturday afternoon pop along to<br />
a home game next season.<br />
Ian Meyrick<br />
ian.meyrick1@gmail.com<br />
"My life in music" - Paul Bateman Zoom broadcast.<br />
Another Zoom meeting was held on Wednesday 25th May when around 20 attended “on line” to hear Paul Bateman<br />
give his excellent speech, which he had given at the Annual Lunch before Easter. The numbers were a little disappointing<br />
as far more had indicated that they would attend. We managed to record most of Paul`s talk so if you like to hear it,<br />
please e mail Peter Sandell who will send the link.<br />
We would be happy to stage further Zoom events if there is a demand and more importantly, if speakers come forward!<br />
Please email: peter.sandell@hotmail.co.uk if you would be willing to speak at a future Zoom event.<br />
12
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
REUNIONS<br />
A day to remember<br />
I think my wife thought I was a little out of my mind, when I<br />
announced that I was making the 400 mile round trip from my<br />
home in Exeter, Devon to Hornsey for the reunion for us<br />
‘comprehensive boys’. But it was definitely worth it, and I’m so<br />
very pleased I made the effort. I was alerted to the event by<br />
Andreas Christou, who deserves a special mention for all his<br />
hard work in helping to organise the event.<br />
I joined Stationers’ at the start of the summer term in 1979 as a<br />
skinny first year. I’d moved from rural Suffolk just a few weeks<br />
previously, and it was a huge shock to be at such a large and<br />
culturally diverse school, but I loved it - indeed I enjoyed all my<br />
time at Stationers'. My first year form teacher was Mr Farrow,<br />
who, upon first entering the classroom, brought an old training<br />
shoe down upon the desk with such force, I’m sure the resulting<br />
‘thwack’ could have been heard in the adjacent classrooms,<br />
uttering the words as he did so, ‘I don’t tolerate misbehaving or<br />
chatter in my class’ – so that was pretty clear! Other teachers who<br />
left a significant impression on me in those early years, were<br />
Fitch (obviously), Young, Zarb, Dungate, Prior, Khokar, Grant,<br />
Hubbard, Steel, Jahanns, Read, Quarshie, Evans, Rumney, the<br />
Courts, and of course the greatly missed Geraint Pritchard. I also<br />
recall the headmaster, Baynes, teaching us for one lesson a week<br />
for the first term of that first year.<br />
Like many of my peers, my time at Stationers was relatively<br />
unremarkable. I wasn’t a trouble-maker, so largely avoided<br />
detentions (and the dreaded ’slipper’), I wasn’t a gifted athlete, so<br />
never made it into a school team, I was no thespian either so<br />
didn’t get involved in school plays, but I was musical and a<br />
member of the school choir. I have great memories of attending<br />
Josh Beaden playing the last post at the school closure.<br />
the Stationers' Hall every year for the annual service in St Paul’s<br />
Cathedral, which was preceded with a slap-up sausage and<br />
mash lunch in the hall itself.<br />
But back to the recent reunion. Given the number of boys who<br />
must have attended Stationers’ between the mid 1960’s and 1983,<br />
I thought it extremely unlikely that I’d meet anyone from my year<br />
group let alone my class, but I was wrong. There were in fact four<br />
of us from Farrow’s first year class. It was great to spend an<br />
afternoon reminiscing over a beer or two, swapping stories and<br />
reliving shared experiences. The aforementioned slipper; the<br />
school fights (with St David’s and St Katherine’s); the weekly trip<br />
to Winchmore Hill (everyone wanted to go on the mini-bus); the<br />
icecream van that used to serve<br />
dodgy hotdogs, and the bakery<br />
that sold whole loaves of white<br />
bread (cut in half and slathered<br />
with margarine) – so many<br />
treasured memories – and as<br />
the beer flowed, the more we<br />
seemed to remember. Another<br />
special mention must go to<br />
Alan Dobbie who brought<br />
along his old school tie!<br />
The personal highlight for me however was to meet some of my<br />
old teachers. Mr Leeming; Mr Fitch, as popular now as he ever<br />
was; Ms Jahanns who was so gracious and generous with her<br />
time; and Mr Young, who to my amazement, brought with him<br />
a clipping from the Hornsey Journal from 1983 showing a very<br />
youthful me, sounding the Last Post on the steps of the upper<br />
building the day it sadly closed. The importance and poignancy<br />
of that occasion so completely lost on my 15 year old self. What<br />
memories.<br />
There was talk of getting as many from our year group together<br />
for the OSA annual dinner – let’s hope that comes to fruition.<br />
Still we are Stationers’ as far as we roam.<br />
Josh Beadon<br />
1979-1984, Caxton House<br />
Reunion for Younger ex-stationers<br />
Many thanks for organizing the event on Saturday. I was<br />
amazed at how many you had been able to contact. I would not<br />
have been able to recognize any of them, not having seen them<br />
for forty years, so it was as well that they had name badges ! I<br />
13
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Class of 1962<br />
60th Anniversary Reunion update<br />
felt sorry that I was unable to give each individual the attention<br />
and time they deserved, but so many were vying for a word or<br />
two. I was also pleasantly surprised by the fondness they<br />
expressed for the old school, since some who were there at the<br />
death could be forgiven for thinking that they did not get a very<br />
good deal. It was also good to hear that many had put the<br />
qualifications they had achieved to good use. Inevitably I had to<br />
pass on bad news about the demise of some former members of<br />
staff, of which they were unaware. I guess it was expensive and<br />
time-consuming to arrange such an event, so perhaps any repeat<br />
will need to be on a less ambitious scale.<br />
Meanwhile please feel free to pass on my email address to former<br />
pupils who were unable to attend but might wish to make<br />
contact. They may not get a speedy reply, since my well-known<br />
lack of ability with technology has probably contributed to my<br />
failure to track any of them down until now.<br />
Once again, many thanks.<br />
Mike Fitch<br />
Three teachers at reunion<br />
Mike Fitch, Clive Blenkinsop & John Leeming<br />
We will be meeting at a suitable London venue on<br />
Tuesday September 6th 2022 to celebrate the 60th<br />
anniversary of our entry to the school. I have received<br />
confirmation from 30 class mates and have 9 “maybes”,<br />
5 No’s, 22 “not yet replied” and 8 dead email addresses.<br />
I suspect that since the invitation was sent out at the<br />
beginning of February, the reduction of a threat from<br />
Covid and easing of travel controls will mean several<br />
additional confirmations will be received in the next<br />
couple of months to take our total close to the record<br />
figure of 43 achieved on our 50th anniversary reunion.<br />
If you are a “class of 1962” Old Stationer and have not<br />
yet confirmed your place at the reunion, please email me<br />
as soon as possible before July 25th so I can commit to<br />
a suitable lunch time venue for our celebrations.<br />
For those who have confirmed, you will receive an<br />
update email from me with more details including<br />
venue, price and attendees.<br />
Tim<br />
CLASS OF 1956<br />
Four of us from the intake of 1956 met for lunch at The White<br />
Cross on the riverfront at Richmond on 1 March. Memorable<br />
detentions were discussed. Pictured below, we are, left to right:<br />
Stewart Colley, Chris Woodhams, Russell Plumley and John Cater.<br />
14
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Linking tomorrow with yesterday<br />
Modern technology discreetly improves access and building<br />
conditions and history gets a new lease of life…<br />
Further to my article (OS 94) regarding the renovation of<br />
Stationers’ Hall, I’d like to share details of the challenges that<br />
faced the architect, Peregrine Bryant, and his team of structural<br />
and services engineers. In short, their task was to satisfy the<br />
Company’s ambitions and improve the facilities of this great<br />
Hall in order to unlock its full potential. As previously reported,<br />
the Company’s vision was to reequip the Hall for changes in<br />
needs and climate and, to future proof the Hall in its entirety to<br />
ensure it meets 21st century accessibility and sustainability<br />
standards.<br />
The Company’s brief, developed with the architect, was tested<br />
through several design iterations followed by negotiations with<br />
Historic England and the City of London. Eventually, with the<br />
necessary approvals obtained, the appointed contractor arrived<br />
on site to begin building. But alas, not for long. The works<br />
quickly came to a screeching halt once excavations started.<br />
Peregrine explains, “The archaeology was an unexpected major<br />
hurdle. Inevitably we had dug several trial pits (during the precontract<br />
stage) for the link building, to see whether there was any<br />
archaeology, and found nothing” but as things got underway “we<br />
discovered an awful lot of walls from the medieval period<br />
onwards”. The works eventually stumbled forward slowly before<br />
gradually building momentum.<br />
The next task was overcoming the restrictions inherent with the<br />
site’s shape, points of access and proximity to other property. (1)<br />
Given the number of important neighbouring historic buildings,<br />
the use of a tower crane was quickly discounted; lifting materials<br />
over the roof of the Main Hall was deemed a risk too far! Thus,<br />
the movement of construction equipment and building supplies<br />
became a determining factor. The resulting construction process<br />
was therefore largely led by the need to break down the sizable<br />
structural steelwork elements<br />
into practicable units for<br />
on-site assembly, (2) and in<br />
the case of the steel staircase,<br />
for on-site welding. (3)<br />
It’s clear that some<br />
extraordinary solutions were<br />
found to many of the big<br />
questions that the renovation<br />
asked, and for a deeper<br />
understanding of how the<br />
spaces were repurposed and<br />
upgraded, let’s observe them<br />
through the eyes of the<br />
designer. To help us with this,<br />
in early May 2022 Peregrine<br />
took me on a revealing tour 2. Link building steelwork<br />
1. Garden Court<br />
15
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
5. Stationers' Hall<br />
3. Welded steel staircase<br />
of the works. As a fellow architect, I was fascinated to examine<br />
the innovative scheme and understand how the plans have<br />
successfully been implemented. Peregrine explained the many<br />
design challenges, for instance the construction of the multifunctional<br />
new link building. It is this addition that has enabled<br />
modifications to be made that will improve the running of the<br />
Hall. It is an impressively distinctive and dexterous solution.<br />
form of the stair we ended up with, because the headroom issues<br />
were so great, getting up from the kitchen below without<br />
banging your head required precision down to the millimetre!”(6).<br />
The stair is constructed from sheet steel, which also acts as a<br />
solid balustrade and had to be sized to critical width dimensions<br />
to ensure compliance with Building Regulations covering means<br />
of escape. Another example of the design being guided by<br />
The Link Building<br />
Gaining consent for the first major piece of post-World War II<br />
new construction at the Hall (since minor building in the 1950s)<br />
was an achievement in itself but that was only the half of it. The<br />
calculation of how to install the mix of critical structure and<br />
technologies was considerable and required the design team to<br />
use all their experience and skill. The main challenge for the<br />
architect in creating this new circulation hub, with reception, lift,<br />
stairs, cloak room and toilets, proved to be a test of meticulously<br />
detailed ingenuity.<br />
Considerable hours of collaborative effort were expended by the<br />
design team to accurately resolve the stresses and strains of<br />
‘getting a quart into a pint pot’. Just take a look at the second<br />
floor plan (4). In just over 650 sq ft (63 sq m) there are stairs, lift<br />
and lobby area, ladies and men’s wcs, disabled wc and store. For<br />
reference, the Main Hall is c 2,250 sq ft (210 sq m). (5)<br />
6. Headroom headache<br />
4. Link building plans<br />
The new building is also designed to exacting three-dimensional<br />
constraints in cross-section. As Peregrine points out, “there’s an<br />
awful lot going on in a very small space. Getting it all to work<br />
vertically, as well as on plan, is a very complex exercise… like the<br />
7. Not a millimetre to spare<br />
8. Contemporary stair construction<br />
physical access constraints is<br />
that the balustrade and stair<br />
treads were welded in situ.<br />
(7, 8)<br />
The introduction of this new<br />
angular link building is the<br />
masterstroke that will enable<br />
the key gathering spaces, the<br />
Main Hall and the Court<br />
Room, to function at their<br />
16
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
best. In my opinion, the link<br />
building is also an appealing<br />
architectural intervention of its<br />
time; its use of glass and steel is<br />
the modern-day vocabulary of<br />
design and construction. This<br />
novel circulation hub, although<br />
designed and built to<br />
astonishingly high-tech tight<br />
tolerances, uses welcoming<br />
9. Link building<br />
brickwork to tie together the<br />
two historic structures either<br />
side. (9)<br />
The function of the link<br />
building is exactly what you’d<br />
10. Pipes go under floor<br />
expect - every corner of the Hall will be conveniently accessible reduction targets.<br />
as never before. The prize for the Hall’s managers is the ability<br />
The answer is that the Stationers’ Hall design team combined<br />
to run events in the Main Hall and the Court Room<br />
again to work small miracles. Unifying key parts of the complex<br />
simultaneously, while also providing straightforward connectivity<br />
between and across each floor for wheelchair users and the<br />
in a discreet way enables the ‘smart’ management of the buildings’<br />
physically impaired.<br />
internal environmental conditions. The new servicing<br />
infrastructure is quite mind-boggling to behold. (10-12)<br />
The technology fixes<br />
Given that there are so many physical constraints that make<br />
upgrading historic buildings of this kind a distinct branch of<br />
architectural practice, I was interested to know how the Hall had<br />
been redesigned to adapt to the technical demands of compliance<br />
with environmental controls, energy conservation and carbon<br />
This web of heating and cooling pumps and pipework, electrical<br />
and communications conduits and cables, will link ubiquitously,<br />
but not be seen by visitors. “Getting the services up and down<br />
and between the Main Hall and the Court Room was a real<br />
challenge. Working with a listed building you always discover the<br />
unexpected and have to rethink as you go” commented Bryant.<br />
11. Plant room art<br />
17
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
14. Heating/cooling cabinets<br />
12. Cables, pipes and pumps<br />
The makers<br />
However, with this project’s particular complexities, it is where<br />
visible interventions appear that the skills, care and attention to<br />
detail of the designers and contractors are evident. Their<br />
restrained solutions prove that design ingenuity is at the heart of<br />
the renovations and the thoroughness demonstrated by the very<br />
best skilled craftsmen is apparent. Just look at the heating/<br />
cooling units (13, 14) or envisage standing on the new lead roof<br />
of the link building (15) or, restoring the gold leaf in the Court<br />
Room while at ceiling height. (16).<br />
15. Link Building Roof Leadwork<br />
The unseen product of the architect’s skill that is the touchstone<br />
of Bryant’s work may be hard for some to comprehend, as so<br />
much is hidden from view in the 3-D matrix of localised<br />
amendments and services corridors. Regular users of the Hall<br />
will rapidly get to know how much better the building now<br />
functions but some will ask, “what’s been done?” The subtleties<br />
of conservation and necessary enhancement at the Hall are<br />
exemplified by the most visible new addition, namely the link<br />
building, where new harmoniously meets old.<br />
I hope that during future visits, you’ll appreciate and enjoy<br />
observing these changes, better understand the ways in which<br />
Stationer’s Hall has been modernised and made fit for the next<br />
century, all while preserving its rich historical character.<br />
Part 3 of the story of the renovation will review the Hall in use.<br />
My thanks to Peregrine Bryant and Carl Gilbert, Hall Manager,<br />
for their help with this article.<br />
Daniel Bone<br />
13. Recessed heating/cooling units<br />
16. Golden touch 17. Architect Peregrine Bryant<br />
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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Coping with Covid<br />
When the lockdown came it was not such a shock to me as to<br />
some other people. Following my accident in August 2017, when<br />
a lorry had crushed me against the side of my car, my mobility<br />
was quite seriously hampered, although I was still able to drive<br />
my automatic car. As a consequence, I found myself spending<br />
more time at home than usual. As well as writing, I started to read<br />
more books. The ten pound note carries a quotation from Jane<br />
Austen: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading”. I<br />
found she was quite right.<br />
A few years ago I discovered the novels of Eric Ambler. He is<br />
held in high esteem by both authors and readers, who consider<br />
him a master of the suspense story, and the inventor of the<br />
modern political thriller.<br />
John Le Carreé described him as “the source on which we all<br />
draw”. He also established himself as a screen writer, most<br />
notably for his work on The Cruel Sea. I set out to read all of his<br />
novels, and, at the time of writing, I have almost achieved that<br />
objective.<br />
As well as reading, I spend quite a lot of time writing. I sent a<br />
story I had written some time ago to various publishers. It is<br />
called City Fox, and is about a fox who escapes from South West<br />
Scotland by stealing aboard the night train to London. There he<br />
has numerous adventures before settling in Wanstead Forest. I<br />
was delighted to hear from the publishers, Austen Macaulay, that<br />
they plan to publish it sometime this year.<br />
However the majority of my writing is of a more serious nature.<br />
After I became a Freemason, in 2003, I decided to write some<br />
concise biographies of notable Freemasons. I started off with<br />
John Theophilus Desaguliers who was the principal architect of<br />
modern Freemasonry, and the founding of Premier Grand Lodge<br />
in June 1717.From there, I explored the Masonic life of Benjamin<br />
Franklin. He is of particular interest because he was the first<br />
person to print The Book of Constitutions (the principal<br />
Masonic rule book) in America. It is interesting to note that<br />
Franklin struck up a lifelong friendship with William Strahan a<br />
onetime Master of The Stationers Company. Their mutual<br />
interest in printing and publishing formed a bond that survived<br />
the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, and the interruption of The<br />
American War of Independence. My next subject was the poet<br />
Robert Burns who was a very active Freemason, and led a<br />
colourful social life. More than half a century after his death, a<br />
controversy erupted concerning a painting which purported to<br />
show Robert Burns being inaugurated as the poet laureate of<br />
Canongate Kilwinning Lodge No. 2 in Edinburgh. A very senior<br />
member of The Grand Lodge of Scotland took exception to the<br />
description of the painting, claiming that there was absolutely no<br />
evidence that Burns had ever been made a poet laureate. The<br />
subject of the painting was a complete fiction. The secretary of<br />
the Lodge responded with a robust defence, resulting in an<br />
acrimonious exchange of correspondence between the contending<br />
parties, which culminated in an inconclusive enquiry by the<br />
Grand Lodge of Scotland. Ironically, the painting now hangs in<br />
the headquarters of the Grand Lodge.<br />
A favourable turn in my Masonic writing occured. The Editor of<br />
The Square magazine asked me if I would write an article about<br />
the maverick Freemason Count Cagliostro. It seemed an attractive<br />
proposition because Cagliostro was a colourful adventurer, and<br />
self-styled magician, who toured the royal courts of Europe<br />
practising psychic healing, alchemy and obscure forms of<br />
Freemasonry. Many people regarded him as a charlatan. He was<br />
the architect of his own misfortune when he tried to open a<br />
Masonic Lodge in Rome, although it had been expressly forbidden<br />
by the Pope. After his conviction he was eventually incarcerated in<br />
the Fortress of San Leo where he wasted away until his death. My<br />
writing for The Square continues, and, at the time of writing, I<br />
have published ten articles in the on-line magazine.<br />
My writing has been helped by being a member of the Brentwood<br />
Writers’ Circle. It was founded in 1941 by an enterprising lady<br />
called Elizabeth Baxter. She used to attend a writers group in<br />
Central London, but the meetings came to an end when the<br />
premises were bombed out. Elizabeth was determined not to be<br />
put off by this misfortune, so she started a small writers group in<br />
a front room of her house. Over the years this group has grown<br />
into the highly successful Brentwood Writers’ Circle with about<br />
fifty members. The great attraction for me is that group has many<br />
published authors who are happy to share their writing experiences.<br />
As well as talks by visiting speakers, there are workshops and<br />
sessions on publishing.<br />
As the Covid restrictions lifted it was possible to go on some day<br />
trips. We went out to Milton’s cottage at Chalfont St Giles. It was<br />
very interesting to see the original copies of Paradise Lost and<br />
Paradise Regained. A picture of him with Cromwell showed his<br />
Republican sympathies, which nearly got him executed were it<br />
not for the intervention of powerful friends. We also had a day<br />
out at Heybridge Basin, quite near to Maldon. At lunch in The<br />
Ship Inn we had a table looking out into the estuary, and had a<br />
good view of the yachts and the red-sailed Thames barges gliding<br />
sedately across the water.<br />
Another favourite place is Hanningfield Reservoir. It is a vast<br />
expanse of water in Essex, not so far from Chelmsford. It is<br />
popular with bird watchers, and fishermen. Light refreshments<br />
can be taken at cafe, which also affords excellent views of the<br />
reservoir. For those requiring more extensive dining facilities,<br />
there is an excellent bill of fare at The Old Windmill public<br />
house, not far from the reservoir. Now that the worst of Covid is<br />
over, we are looking forward to more enjoyable trips into the<br />
countryside.<br />
Nigel Wade<br />
MURKY LONDON<br />
When the City of London is mentioned, most people think of<br />
the tourist attractions and landmarks or the world of high<br />
finance. However, the City has always had a “murky” side and<br />
that’s where I’m going to take you.<br />
The Old Stationers have a strong link to the Company’s Hall<br />
just off of Warwick Lane near St.Paul’s Cathedral but it also had<br />
a far less attractive neighbour, the old Newgate Jail. Just North of<br />
the Hall is Amen Court which has a section of the original<br />
prison wall as its West boundary.<br />
Prior to the demolition of the infamous prison, which closed as<br />
recently as 1902, the area on the other side of the wall was used<br />
for burials of executed prisoners and given the nickname<br />
“Deadman’s Walk”.<br />
One of the occupants of that grim location was Amelia Dyer,<br />
who was executed in 1896. She was a 60 year old woman<br />
weighing 15 stone so hardly the typical image of a mass murderer<br />
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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
The Old Bailey<br />
Church of St.Sepulchre<br />
but I mention her as, although she is not that well known, she<br />
was possibly England’s most prolific serial killer, having murdered<br />
several hundred babies that she had been paid to care for. Dyer<br />
is now known to history as “The Reading Baby Farmer”.<br />
Back to our walk and a short stroll from the Hall will bring you<br />
to the Central Criminal Court, usually called the Old Bailey.<br />
Opened in 1907, the building occupies much of the site of<br />
Newgate Prison.<br />
If you stand on the West side of Old Bailey (the street) and look<br />
across at the court building you are standing where the crowds of<br />
spectators stood to watch the public hangings outside the prison.<br />
Executions were carried out here from 1785 when the old<br />
Tyburn gallows (located at present day Marble arch) ceased to be<br />
used.<br />
Not a terribly pleasant thought, putting people to death in a<br />
public street but it’s all ancient history isn’t it? Or is it? The last<br />
public hanging was in May 1868 and the London Underground<br />
opened in 1863 so it is more than likely that people going to<br />
watch the last moments of Michael Barrett took the forerunner<br />
of the Tube to get there.<br />
He was the last man to be publicly hanged in England, convicted<br />
for his part in the “Clerkenwell Outrage” bombing incident a<br />
short distance from the Old Bailey near Farringdon. The<br />
bombing in December 1867 killed 12 bystanders and severely<br />
injured many more.<br />
Continuing our trip through “Murky London” requires crossing<br />
the main road outside the Old Bailey (Holborn Viaduct or<br />
Newgate Street, depending where you cross) to the church of<br />
St.Sepulchre-without-Newgate, opposite the court building.<br />
The church contains the “Execution Bell” which was rung<br />
outside the condemned cell the night before an execution. A<br />
merchant tailor by the name of John Dowe paid £50 in 1605 to<br />
enable the parish to purchase a handbell for this purpose with a<br />
clerk giving the following speech.<br />
All you that in the condemned hold do lie,<br />
Prepare you, for to-morrow you shall die;<br />
Watch all, and pray, the hour is drawing near<br />
That you before the Almighty must appear;<br />
Examine well yourselves, in time repent,<br />
That you may not to eternal flames be sent.<br />
And when St Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls,<br />
The Lord above have mercy on your souls.<br />
Past twelve o'clock!<br />
I suspect that this gave little comfort to the prisoner bearing in<br />
mind the circumstances…<br />
Moving northwards, past St.Sepulchre’s, our next location is<br />
Smithfield which is definitely suitable for inclusion in this<br />
journey through the less savoury aspects of London. The area<br />
had long been a gathering place outside the old city walls and<br />
was the site of the August Bartholomew Fair dating from 1133.<br />
This ran right up to 1855 before being closed by the authorities<br />
on the basis that it was attracting debauchery and public disorder.<br />
Centuries before, Smithfield had already become established as<br />
yet another place for public executions, especially when a<br />
religious aspect was involved. For example, over 60 Protestants<br />
were burned here during the reign of “Bloody Mary” in the<br />
1500s.<br />
Although well known for the despatch of religious dissidents and<br />
those of a heretical disposition, West Smithfield was also where<br />
Sir William Wallace was put to death by the horrendous practice<br />
of hanging, drawing and quartering. It was also the site of Wat<br />
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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Tyler’s death in 1381 although he was not executed as such.<br />
The Peasants’ Revolt had developed in the country areas as a<br />
protest against numerous long established injustices. After the<br />
rebels had entered London and taken the Tower, killing Simon<br />
Sudbury, the Lord Chancellor in the process, the young king,<br />
Richard II, met with them on two occasions, the last at<br />
Smithfield. Although the exact circumstances are unclear, Sir<br />
William Walworth, the Lord Mayor of London, stabbed Tyler<br />
who was subsequently beheaded. Richard gave the rebels a<br />
number of assurances which defused the situation giving him<br />
sufficient time to restore order and the inevitable violent<br />
repercussions followed.<br />
Public executions continued at Smithfield until most were<br />
transferred to the well-established gallows at Tyburn although<br />
victims were still being boiled in oil there. This seems to have<br />
been reserved for swindlers and those involved in forging coins.<br />
The area’s reputation for bloodshed continued, albeit with<br />
livestock as the victims. Farm animals would be herded into<br />
Smithfield from outside of London on their last journey before<br />
ending up on somebody’s plate. In the 10 years after 1740 it is<br />
recorded that 74,000 cattle and 570,000 sheep were being sold at<br />
Smithfield every year. A hundred years later, the yearly figure for<br />
cattle had risen to 220,000 and 1,500,000 for sheep, all of them<br />
having being driven through the city streets to slaughter. Not<br />
surprisingly, this could not go on and the live market was moved<br />
to a site in Caledonian Road, Islington, known as the Metropolitan<br />
Cattle Market, in 1855. The market’s close proximity to<br />
executions continued as it was then located a short distance from<br />
Pentonville Prison which had taken over from Newgate in 1902.<br />
For those in need of more exercise, a short walk of 12 minutes<br />
(according to Google) heading North into Clerkenwell will lead<br />
to Corporation Row. This road, then known as Corporation<br />
Lane, formed the boundary of Clerkenwell Prison or House of<br />
Detention and was the scene of the Fenian bomb attack in<br />
December 1867 which led to the execution of Michael Barrett.<br />
After the prison was demolished, it was replaced by a school<br />
which has since been converted to housing. The underground<br />
parts of the old prison are still in existence.<br />
Moving towards the west brings you to Farringdon Road which<br />
runs close to the course of the old Fleet River on its way south<br />
from the source in Hampstead. The river has been in a sewer<br />
since Victorian times but can be heard through gratings at<br />
various locations in the vicinity of this walk. One is located just<br />
off of the main road in Ray Street outside the Coach public<br />
house.<br />
This area used to be called Hockley-in-the Hole and was one of<br />
the places where the fun-loving Londoners could go to be<br />
entertained by some bear baiting. One establishment occupied<br />
the site of the Coach and it was there that patrons probably got<br />
more than they bargained for as the proprietor, Christopher<br />
Preston, was killed and partially eaten by one of his bears in 1709.<br />
One might suggest that there was an element of poetic justice.<br />
Continuing down Farringdon Road towards the Ludgate Hill, a<br />
building at 59/61 Farringdon Road bears an unusual name “The<br />
Zeppelin Building”. The name commemorates a Zeppelin raid<br />
on September 8, 1915, which completely demolished the original<br />
building.<br />
The Fleet continues south and so do you, towards Holborn<br />
Viaduct. The Viaduct was completed in 1869 and does look like<br />
a bridge over a river rather than a main road. It does cross the<br />
Fleet although that is down below road level in a sewer but the<br />
need for a bridge relates to the steep sides of the old river valley.<br />
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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Amongst the various decorative features on the bridge you can<br />
find a statue of our old friend, Sir William Walworth, mentioned<br />
previously at Smithfield.<br />
After passing under Holborn Viaduct, the Fleet’s course is<br />
headed for Blackfriars Bridge where it discharges under the<br />
bridge into the Thames. Occasionally, depending on the weather<br />
and tides, it is possible to see the Fleet pouring into the Thames.<br />
Apart from an inclusion in Murky London as a sewer discharging<br />
into the river, this location has other “murky” credentials. It is<br />
where, on 18th.June 1982, at 7.30 in the morning, the body of<br />
the Italian banker, Roberto Calvi was found. He was hanging<br />
from the scaffolding under Blackfriars Bridge, his clothing<br />
stuffed with bricks and the equivalent of 15,000 dollars in cash.<br />
He had fled Rome on 10th.June on a false passport flying to<br />
London via Venice and Zurich. Despite the bizarre situation his<br />
body was found in, suicide was the first verdict. This eventually<br />
changed to murder but, 40 years later, nobody has ever been<br />
convicted of his murder and probably never will.<br />
Our next stop involves another short walk Eastwards from<br />
Blackfriars towards Southwark Bridge. This location is an<br />
optional visit as it is only the approximate site of the feature in<br />
question. Why include it? A reasonable question in the<br />
circumstances and the answer is that the next subject was<br />
mentioned in a conversation (post AGM lunch) at Cutlers’ Hall<br />
in April with Messrs Jarvis and Westbrook and yours truly. We<br />
were discussing Richard (Dick) Whittington’s public toilet,<br />
opened in 1421. This rather odd subject matter led, somewhat<br />
circuitously, to this article being written shortly afterwards.<br />
Whittington's Longhouse certainly qualifies for inclusion in<br />
Murky London being a huge “closet” somewhere beside the<br />
Thames and the River Walbrook, close to present day Cannon<br />
Street Station. It is believed to have accommodated over 100<br />
persons at a time so must have provided an interesting ambience<br />
for the almshouses that Whittington had had constructed on the<br />
upper floor. At least it got flushed out with the tidal movement<br />
of the Thames…<br />
In contradiction of the natural order of things, we now have a<br />
visit to the pub after the toilets. Assuming that you decided not<br />
to visit the site of Whittington’s Longhouse (very sensible), a<br />
short stroll from Blackfriars will lead you to a pub known to<br />
many Old Stationers, namely the Cockpit. I don’t need to tell you<br />
how to find it, do I?<br />
It is actually adapted from a gateway of the old Blackfriars<br />
Monastery and the present look dates back to a rebuild in 1865.<br />
The internal design recreates the shape of a cockpit used for cock<br />
fighting until the practice was banned in England and Wales<br />
under the 1835 Cruelty to Animals Act. The pub changed its<br />
name after the ban and became the Three Castles until reverting<br />
to the original in 1970.<br />
As the upstairs gallery is inaccessible to the public, you will have<br />
to make do with propping up the bar in time honoured Old<br />
Stationer fashion. Cheers!!<br />
Geoff Dent<br />
THE COCKPIT (and its environs)<br />
After victory over the Saxon<br />
army of Harold at Hastings<br />
in 1066, William of<br />
Normandy, aka William I,<br />
had two castles built in<br />
London - The Tower of<br />
London and Bernard's Castle<br />
later to become the king's<br />
wardrobe. The latter was<br />
situated on the east side of<br />
what is now known as Saint<br />
Andrew's Hill.<br />
In the late 13th century King<br />
Edward I commanded that<br />
the west side of the road be<br />
developed to accommodate<br />
the Dominican Friars (the Black Friars). The first mention of an<br />
Inn on the site was in 1352 and was known as the Oakburn Inn.<br />
The Priory was closed during the period of dissolution of the<br />
monasteries by King Henry VIII with the land being divided up.<br />
In 1576 part of the western side of the site was developed into<br />
the first Blackfriars theatre. It was closed in 1584 because it's<br />
plays were seen as being too political. A second theatre followed<br />
in 1596 being used by chamberlain's men company whose<br />
members included William Shakespeare.<br />
Many of his plays were performed there before the theatre was<br />
demolished in 1655. The Black Friarsgatehouse - now the site of<br />
the Cockpit - became a private house after the closing of the<br />
Priory. During the persecution of Catholics in the reign of<br />
Queen Elizabeth I the property was used as a safe house. People<br />
in danger were smuggled through a secret tunnel from the chapel<br />
situated in the Baynard's Castle - having arrived from the river<br />
Thames which until the creation of the embankment in<br />
Victorian times flowed up to the bottom of Saint Andrew's Hill.<br />
The tunnel is now bricked up in the cockpit cellar and has<br />
featured on both television and radio in recent years. Unfortunately,<br />
because of health and safety reasons, the cockpit management is<br />
unable to allow visits to the sellers.<br />
There were also two other tunnels constructed into the basement<br />
of the cockpit to facilitate safe passage for persecuted Catholics.<br />
William Shakespeare who was rumoured to be a closet Catholic<br />
purchased the Gatehouse with his daughter in 1613 three years<br />
before his death Regretfully the house was destroyed along with<br />
most of the buildings in the vicinity in the great fire of London<br />
in 1666.<br />
Following the fire, reconstruction led to the property becoming a<br />
tavern known as the Three Castles. The present building was<br />
constructed in the early 1840s and was a notorious cockfighting<br />
venue. The upstairs gallery overlooking the pit was renovated in<br />
the 1960s. After cockfighting was prohibited in 1849 the name<br />
was changed to commemorate the last venue in London to hold<br />
legal cockfighting THE COCKPIT.<br />
The cockpit was fortunate to survive the bombing during the<br />
blitz enabling it to maintain its long tradition of providing<br />
sustenance in a comfortable, compact, friendly, diverse and<br />
genuinely historical location.<br />
Alf ie Boycott<br />
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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
PUBS AROUND MUSWELL HILL – A TOUR IN OCTOBER 2021<br />
Many Old Stationers will have started their serious drinking at<br />
one of the pubs near Muswell Hill, so the intrepid explorers of<br />
pubs (Roger Engledow, Bob Harris, Roger Melling and I), this<br />
time supplemented by Bob Townsend, decided that this was the<br />
place to go next.<br />
The Victoria Stakes<br />
The Victoria Stakes<br />
This was the obvious starting point as it has the address: 1<br />
Muswell Hill. It lies on the corner where Park Road and Priory<br />
Road meet. Three of us lived very close to it when at school:<br />
Roger Engledow in South View Road, Bob Harris in Redston<br />
Road (where his sister, Mary, still lives in the same house where<br />
he grew up) and Bob Townsend in Springfield Avenue.<br />
Allegedly, the name The Victoria Stakes originates from the 3.05<br />
race at Alexandra Park Racecourse. A Hornsey gent, with his<br />
winning stake, bought the pub and named it after his lucky race.<br />
The pub dates back well over a hundred years, originally built as<br />
a coach house and stables. The horses at that time were used to<br />
take the public up the steep ascent of Muswell Hill. As the<br />
building was at the bottom of the hill, it became a favourite spot<br />
for those wishing a rest, a friendly welcome and refreshment.<br />
There is the main pub, a covered yard and a separate dining<br />
room. It is an independent, family run gastropub and has a really<br />
friendly atmosphere. The manager, Jessica, took a photograph of<br />
us enjoying a pint of Sharp’s Atlantic (ABV 4.2%) which was<br />
delightful. To remind us of the name, there was a bust of Queen<br />
Victoria at one end of the bar.<br />
Alexandra Park Racecourse was finally completed, licensed and<br />
opened in 1868. It was known as “The Frying Pan” due to it<br />
having a circular stretch at the end of a long straight to fit into<br />
the available space. The straight could be used for five furlong<br />
races and the circular part used to extend the distance raced. It<br />
was very popular with Londoners as it was the nearest racecourse<br />
to the city. In its heyday, the course attracted a crowd of 25,000.<br />
However, over the years, the crowd diminished drastically, the<br />
course needed major improvements and The Jockey Club refused<br />
to renew its license in 1968. The last meet was in 1970 when the<br />
crowd was just 2,749.<br />
After this foray into horse-racing history, Roger Engledow<br />
recalled the pub crawl he and fellow Stationers had to celebrate<br />
passing their O-Level GCEs in 1959. The idea was to have half<br />
a pint for every GCE passed and a pint for every one failed. He<br />
remembers starting at The Famous Royal Oak – but nothing<br />
after that! So, on to The Royal Oak.<br />
Leaving The Victoria Stakes, we went up Muswell Hill past<br />
where Johnny Gore, our Latin teacher and a great Spurs<br />
supporter, used to live and then we turned left onto St James’s<br />
Lane and round to the right to The Royal Oak.<br />
The Famous Royal Oak<br />
A pub has stood on this site for over 200 years serving the public<br />
of Muswell Hill. In the 1950s and 1960s the landlady was the<br />
mother of a local footballer, well known to many young and old<br />
Stationers, and appropriately tolerant to teenage customers. It<br />
has warm surroundings and a small outdoor area where there are<br />
BBQs in the Summer. It is an old-school, family-run pub<br />
featuring live bands, jukebox music, TV screens for sports, quiz<br />
nights and a pool table. Just behind where we were sitting, there<br />
was a picture of the Alexandra Park Racecourse.<br />
Our beers were Sharp’s Doom Bar (4.3%) and Adnams’ Ghost<br />
Ship (4.5%).<br />
Next to The Famous Royal Oak is the Parkland Walk. This is a<br />
3.1-mile linear green pedestrian and cycle route, which follows<br />
the course of the old railway line that used to run between<br />
Finsbury Park and Alexandra Palace; through Stroud Green,<br />
Crouch End, Highgate and Muswell Hill. The railway line<br />
opened 1873 to give through services to London. In 1942 this<br />
part of the Palace Line was reduced to a peak service shuttle to<br />
Finsbury Park, thus ending through running to central London,<br />
and in 1954 it was closed completely. It was declared a local<br />
nature reserve in 1990 and is London's longest such reserve. The<br />
Parkland Walk is part of the Capital Ring which is a continuous<br />
circular, walking route about 80 miles long and encircling inner<br />
and central London. The logo on the signs show Big Ben in a<br />
ring of arrows.<br />
Moving off from The Famous Royal Oak, we continued up St<br />
James’s Lane, past St John’s Church to Fortis Green Road to our<br />
next stop.<br />
The Village Green<br />
Inside the Victoria Stakes. Left to right: Tony Moffat, Roger Melling, Bob<br />
Harris, Bob Townsend and Roger Engledow.<br />
An interesting title for a pub since it is not in a village nor near<br />
a green. In fact it used to be called The John Baird after John<br />
Logie Baird who invented the first working television system in<br />
1926 and of course the nearby Alexandra Palace was the first<br />
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T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Alexandra Park Racecourse. A picture in The Famous Royal Oak.<br />
BBC broadcasting station. This was the pub which Bob Harris<br />
and Roger Engledow used as “the local” when at Stationers. They<br />
used to frequent the El Toro coffee bar in the years before they<br />
went to pubs because that was where the girls were. When they<br />
did progress to pubs, the choice was The John Baird as it was the<br />
nearest pub to the El Toro. In those days The John Baird was<br />
managed by Harry Pack, a semi-pro boxer.<br />
Today The Village Green is owned by the Laine Pub Company<br />
and has a lot of entertainment including: quiz nights, stand-up<br />
comedy and the occasional live music evening. As well as the pub<br />
area, it has a separate restaurant.<br />
Our beers were Cowcatcher, an American Pale Ale (4.8%) from<br />
the East London Brewing Company and Bestest Bitter (4.3%)<br />
from Laine Brew Co in Brighton. The Bestest beer ran out on<br />
the second pint and then the Cowcatcher ran out too, so we had<br />
to wait for the barrels to be changed. Not good for a pub<br />
specialising in craft beers.<br />
It was at this point that we remarked that, at<br />
The Mossywell<br />
all the three pubs we had visited so far, we<br />
were the only customers. Not very good<br />
business for Muswell Hill pubs on a Tuesday<br />
in October. So off we went to Muswell Hill<br />
Broadway at the top of Muswell Hill for our<br />
next venue.<br />
The Mossy Well<br />
Those of a geographical bent will know that<br />
Muswell Hill is a terminal moraine left<br />
behind when the glaciers retreated after the<br />
last Ice Age. But you may not know that it<br />
takes its name from a medieval holy well and<br />
its hill-top location. The “well of the mossy<br />
spring” became a place of pilgrimage after<br />
the Scottish king Malcolm IV was said to<br />
have been cured there drinking the water. By<br />
the early 1800s, Belle Vue Lodge stood on<br />
the site of these premises. In 1900, it was<br />
knocked down and replaced by the Express<br />
Dairy tea room, with a large milk depot at<br />
the rear with plenty of room for the horses and carts. In the early<br />
1980s, the property was converted into licensed premises, but the<br />
original features of the Express Dairy can still be seen around the<br />
pub. It is very spacious inside, with a mezzanine floor and<br />
outdoor drinking areas at both front and back. It became a<br />
Wetherspoons’ pub in 2015 and, like most Wetherspoons’ pubs,<br />
it was busy - very unlike our previous choices.<br />
We had Hotspur (4.5%) by the Redemption Brewing Company<br />
which was an amber ale and a great tasting beer. Bob Harris and<br />
Roger Engledow only drank the Hotspur because it didn’t have<br />
Tottenham in its name. [However, it is brewed in Tottenham and<br />
is owned by a chap named Moffat]. A great liquid substitute for<br />
the original “spring water of mossy well” and a fitting end to our<br />
day. We departed in sundry different directions having rekindled<br />
pleasant memories of days past.<br />
Tony Moffat<br />
24
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
LONDON AFTERNOONS<br />
W J Loftie (Published by Cassell & Co c1901)<br />
Among the Companies which are still concerned with trade the<br />
Stationers' is one of the most interesting, although its charter<br />
only dates from the time of Philip and Mary. Little as we know<br />
about Shakespeare and the first appearance of his plays, we<br />
should know less than half as much but for the registers of this<br />
Company.<br />
"Entered at Stationers' Hall" is a very familiar sentence. There<br />
was a Guild of Stationers, but it cannot have been very<br />
flourishing at a time when so few read or wrote. When printing<br />
was invented, the Stationers rose in the world, but it was too late<br />
for their admission to the ranks of the great Companies, nor are<br />
they very remarkable for their wealth, although they distribute<br />
large annual sums as pensions in the trade. The Tudors had a<br />
dread of the printing press, and under Queen Elizabeth the<br />
Company was made an implement of religious and political<br />
tyranny. Printers everywhere had to serve their time to a member<br />
of the Company, and books could not be sold without its leave.<br />
There were also many monopolies and privileges granted outside<br />
the ranks of the Company. The Queen's Printers first, and<br />
afterwards the Universities, had leave to print Bibles. Richard<br />
Tottel had a monopoly given him by Queen Elizabeth for Law<br />
Books. At present, since the Copyright Act of '42, any publisher<br />
can register a book at the Hall, and proceedings for a breach of<br />
copyright cannot be taken till a book has been so registered.<br />
The OSA Memories Project 2022-23<br />
Attendees of our Annual Lunch in April will recall the enjoyable<br />
speech given by the Master of the Company, Robert Flather (pp6-9).<br />
He spoke eloquently about the strong connections maintained between<br />
the Company and the OSA, significantly acknowledging the 46 Old<br />
Stationers who are Freemen or Liverymen.<br />
Reflecting on these connections I wondered whether other links<br />
would be possible. Although the Company has the feeling of a<br />
timeless permanence, representing those responsible for the<br />
printed word for over six centuries, in recent times has seen its<br />
adaptation to include new members for the digital communications<br />
sphere. Now identified as ‘The City of London Company for the<br />
Communications and Content Industries’, I thought another<br />
connection could be made between the Company and the OSA.<br />
Today many of our members have, or have access to, a smart<br />
phone and with it the opportunity to use video facility to capture<br />
the stories and memories of those years at school and connect us<br />
with our shared pasts. The OSA Memories Project will develop<br />
this idea by starting the formation of a video archive. This new<br />
initiative aims to bring together the OSA membership in a new<br />
way via our website and in so doing reach out more directly to<br />
those members who have ‘roamed far,’ and have not been able to<br />
participate in our programme of activities in London.<br />
The Memories Project invites the participation of Old Stationers<br />
in a membership-wide call for short home-made videos for<br />
editing together into a documentary for uploading to the OSA<br />
website. Members offering to take part will be circulated with a<br />
‘how to do it’ note and short video explaining how to film using<br />
a smart phone.<br />
The videos should be no longer than 3 minutes (c400 words) and<br />
primarily be facial image talking to the camera, and shot in<br />
landscape format, ie horizontally in the way of normal film and<br />
TV. To start the ball rolling we would like to hear about your<br />
school day memories, your favourite and not so favourite<br />
experiences, the friends you made, the teachers who made an<br />
impression, etc. Future calls for contributions will cover other<br />
topics eg year reunions, sports, choir, trips, plays, reunions …<br />
Those submitting their videos are encouraged to provide<br />
material, eg digital film clips, still images and sound recordings<br />
that support the stories. This is a great opportunity to capture<br />
members’ own stories in their own words.<br />
The programme for the first wave of videos:<br />
• 1st September send email to dan.bone@civix.org.uk<br />
expressing your interest in participating<br />
• 1st October recording and submission instruction emailed to<br />
participants<br />
• 1st November submissions via We Transfer to dan.bone@<br />
civix.org.uk<br />
• 1st January 2023 first wave of videos edited and uploaded to<br />
OS website<br />
Any queries please email me as above.<br />
Dan Bone<br />
President 2022-23<br />
STATIONERS’ COMPANY’S<br />
SCHOOL LODGE 7460<br />
It is not widely known that the old pupils of the former<br />
Stationers’ Company’s School were instrumental in setting up a<br />
Masonic Lodge.<br />
The Lodge was consecrated in July 1956 at Freemasons Hall and<br />
records show that 180 Brethren attended the meeting with130<br />
dining afterwards at the Connaught Rooms.<br />
The Lodge was founded by 17 Old Stationer’s and sponsored by<br />
Old Owens Lodge No 4440 who we still have a strong<br />
connection with.<br />
Whilst the Lodge flourished for a long time , the membership<br />
has fallen over the last few years (especially with the School<br />
closing in 1983) and the Lodge needs to look afield to continue.<br />
We already have a link with the Livery as we count 2 Freemen<br />
and 5 Liverymen amongst our numbers (and one of them Mike<br />
Mote has served as a Renter Warden and on the Livery<br />
Committee as representative of the OSA).<br />
The Lodge have also in the past made donations to the Marines<br />
Charity, Saturday Morning School and the Hall Fund.<br />
The Lodge would like to expand this link and hope that other<br />
Masons in the Livery would come and join us, and possibly in<br />
the future become a Livery Lodge, joining the many other Livery<br />
Lodges already in existence.<br />
25
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
We meet at Mark Masons Hall on the first Fridays of February,<br />
April and October (installation) and the second Friday in<br />
December.<br />
We always welcome visitors to our Lodge-so if you are a Mason<br />
and would like to come along to one (or some!) of our meetings,<br />
we look forward to showing you our friendly hospitality. On the<br />
other hand, if you’re not-but are interested in Freemasonry, there<br />
can be no more appropriate Lodge for you to join!.<br />
In either case, please contact our secretary…<br />
Mike Pinf ield<br />
63, Lynton Road Harrow Middx HA2 9NJ<br />
secretary7460ugle@gmail.com<br />
020 8422 4699 or 07956 931174<br />
Hornsey High<br />
When asked by Tim Westbrook, a couple of weeks ago, if I would think<br />
about writing a short article for the Magazine on my memories of<br />
Hornsey High my initial reaction was ‘help, I can’t do this’! Then<br />
various ideas formulated and the following is my contribution.<br />
I attended Hornsey High from 1959-1966, having gained a pass<br />
at the 11+ that nobody thought I would gain! (Oh ye of little<br />
faith) I had been attending Muswell Hill Primary along with the<br />
likes of Simon Westbrook, Jim Townsend and several others who<br />
gained places to Stationers.<br />
I will always remember on that first morning being herded into<br />
a room in the new science block, along with the other 98 new<br />
entrants, whilst they decided which forms we were going to be<br />
allocated to. My new form was to be 1Y. This was the first full<br />
year for the new Headmistress, Miss Curtis. She was the<br />
Margaret Thatcher of her time! Coiffured hair, always a navy or<br />
black suit and always black patent high heeled shoes, with a black<br />
bag on her arm like the Queen! We became known as ‘her gals’!<br />
And did she rule with a rod of iron!<br />
Uniform was strictly adhered to, although later on in our school<br />
life we were known to fold the Juliet caps in half and wear them<br />
as low down the backs of our heads as we could to allow the<br />
tassel to hang down our backs - we thought we were so cool!<br />
Skirts would become shorter as we got older and fashion decreed<br />
and sweaters were as big and baggy as we could get away with!<br />
Right from an early time in our school life it was drummed into<br />
us that we were not to go anywhere near the wilderness - the<br />
Maggio line between Stationers and Hornsey High. It was<br />
patrolled regularly by staff.<br />
As far as I can remember there was no contact with Stationers<br />
until we got into the Lower Six. I can remember those girls who<br />
were interested in drama being invited to join the Stationers<br />
drama unit in a production that needed female players. One of<br />
these girls was Karen Rawlings (nee Oldfield) there would have<br />
been others but their names elude me.<br />
We thought great advances had been made when the 1st Tennis<br />
team of Hornsby High joined forces with Stationers, and players<br />
like Trevor Walker, Bob Nelson, Micky Andrews became mixed<br />
doubles partners in matches against other co-Ed schools<br />
including Tollington & Edmonton County.<br />
An Annual event, held just before Christmas, was the school<br />
dance! This was looked forward to with great excitement by the<br />
girls! Probably with not such enthusiasm by the boys! One year<br />
it would be held at Stationers and the following year at Hornsey.<br />
In the case of our school, the hall was decorated and great care<br />
taken to make everything ‘just right’. Mike did ask me if alcohol<br />
was served - I very much doubt it, knowing Miss Curtis’ attitude<br />
to the boy’s school! Miss Curtis and Mr Bains had a love / hate<br />
relationship most of the time.<br />
Year 6 at Muswell Hill Primary - Jenni Mote circled.<br />
26
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Needless to say, relationships were formed between the two<br />
schools, although probably not as many as you would expect.<br />
One that comes to mind is that of Steph and Ben Batchelor.<br />
Their engagement, whilst Steph was still at Hornsey, caused<br />
great consternation among the staff and great elation among the<br />
pupils! Another partnership was that between Karen and Phil<br />
Rawlings. I think they met during the play production mentioned<br />
above. I went out with Bob Nelson for a while, which subsequently<br />
led to me meeting Mike through the Old Boys Club at Barnet.<br />
Mike always jokes that while Bob was out on the field playing<br />
cricket, he was with me behind the sight screen - it wasn’t quite<br />
like that but it makes a good story!<br />
Hornsey High did have an Old Girls Association for a while, run<br />
by a couple of ex pupils and members of staff. Unfortunately, as<br />
the staff died the other members of the Committee lost the will<br />
to carry on the Association. We did have a couple of reunions<br />
before it folded, it never had the same draw as the OSA does.<br />
Maybe that’s because the OSA had the sports teams keeping it<br />
going for a long time.<br />
One of the so called ‘perks’ of being with a sports playing Old<br />
Stationer was that you had the so called privilege of going on<br />
football and cricket tours! For someone who doesn’t like football<br />
I endured one football tour to Hailsham. Having being tutored<br />
before I went, on the necessity of staying up late drinking, I<br />
found that I was the one left at the bar with John Mote while<br />
Mike retired to bed early!<br />
The cricket tours to Norwich were usually better attended by<br />
wives and girlfriends. The very first tour was to The Globe Hotel<br />
(what a dive that was!) on the infamous Norwich ring road. The<br />
one abiding memory was late at night with Derek Perk and<br />
‘Drews’ leading a seance!<br />
Little did they know that the banging they could hear was not<br />
the spirits answering their call but Mike banging the central<br />
heating pipes behind their backs! There were also the Old<br />
Stationers’ Dinner Dances, first organised by Eve Rose at the<br />
Tottenham Royal and later at The Firs, Winchmore Hill. I must<br />
not forget the discos held frequently at Barnet, organised by<br />
Andy Rose.<br />
It was after one of these discos that Mike & I started going out.<br />
On a personal level we have a lot to thank Stationers for. What<br />
memories Old Stationers have produced.<br />
I feel like a 1960’s groupie I’ve been around Old Stationers for so<br />
long! You are all so lucky to be members of such an erstwhile<br />
organisation. Long may it last.<br />
Jenni Mote<br />
Victorious pair at the Inter<br />
livery Bridge competition<br />
Peter Bonner and David Hudson won the Inter Livery<br />
Bridge competition last night. Held at Drapers Hall and<br />
managed by the Playing Card Makers. They are<br />
receiving the trophy from the Master, coming 1st out of<br />
36 pairs with a score of 70%.<br />
My proximity to fame<br />
In 1948 Pakistan broke away from India and fifty years later they<br />
celebrated their half century with events world wide including a<br />
very posh jolly up in London. It was held at one of the Inns of<br />
Court and Jan and I were invited by a client with whom we were<br />
friendly and who came from a very wealthy family in Lahore.<br />
Initially we were having a pre dinner drink on our own when the<br />
client called Majid came running up to us in a state of some<br />
excitement and indicated that we must follow him. I was<br />
thrushed into the centre of a circle of other Pakistanis and one<br />
other person .Majid told the others that I was his very good<br />
friend David Turner and they all acknowledged my presence<br />
with the exception of one who stepped forward offering a hand<br />
shake and in a most cultured voice said that he was very pleased<br />
to meet me.<br />
All this happened so quickly that it took just a few seconds for<br />
me to realise that I was shaking the hand of none other than<br />
HRH Prince Andrew Duke of York. I always thought that if one<br />
were to be introduced to a Royal you would be told in advance<br />
so you could prepare yourself.<br />
Then Majid said to me, David his Royal Highness has never<br />
been to our country and how do you suggest we could induce<br />
him to go. The following exchange ensued<br />
DT: That’s easy Majid, just build a few WORLD class golf<br />
courses. With the exception of the Duke everyone stared at me.<br />
I dont think they knew what golf was. So I felt under a bit of<br />
pressure to say something and said to the Prince Your Royal<br />
Highness’s enthusiasm for the game is well documented in the<br />
media and indeed we saw you playing on television just last week<br />
at Sunningdale.<br />
HRH: Oh yes that was when we all got a jolly good soaking<br />
from the rain<br />
DT: I do believe it was Sir.<br />
27
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
HRH: Well us Naval types are supposed to be able deal with<br />
water and not complain what what.<br />
DT: I’m sure you did very well Sir in the circumstances.<br />
The Prince ambled off and in recent weeks it has occurred to me<br />
that my meeting with him must have taken place quite near the<br />
time when he was pictured with that girl. So when he says that<br />
he doesn’t remember her he may well be right because obviously<br />
he would not remember me.<br />
Nothing happened for a couple of weeks until something came<br />
through our door containing a photograph of HRH Majid and<br />
me and I hope to email this to you shortly. Obviously he has<br />
changed a bit.<br />
David Turner<br />
MY Brush with the law<br />
I was driving home in one of my Jaguar XJ sixes and I was pulled<br />
over by a police car. I got out of my car and two burly looking<br />
chaps in police uniform came across to me and one of them said<br />
“ nice car sir “ I replied that I liked it very much too which he<br />
said that he could not afford one and was jealous. I decided to say<br />
nothing and leave it to him.<br />
He then said that I had been stopped because I went through a<br />
traffic light when it was red and if necessary his sidekick would<br />
happily confirm that was the case. I said that I thought that as I<br />
passed the lights it was just going amber and whilst it may have<br />
been red very shortly after I did not think it was red when I went<br />
through it.<br />
The policeman said that I could either pay an on the spot fine of<br />
£40 or I could go to court to defend myself but the chances of<br />
being able to do so successfully would be very low as the<br />
magistrate was more likely to believe a pair of policemen rather<br />
than an aging chartered accountant . I said that I would opt for<br />
the on the spot fine which I naïvely thought meant but I would<br />
pay them on the spot and so I pulled some notes out of my<br />
pocket for this purpose. This caused copper some concern<br />
because anyone passing by could conclude that he was in receipt<br />
of a bribe.<br />
He explained to me that his mate would prepare a ticket showing<br />
my crime and I would be given a copy office to keep until I<br />
received a demand notice from the local police station. They<br />
thanked me for giving in so easily and I went on my way.<br />
Approximately an hour later the telephone went at home and<br />
when I answered it a voice that he was the Officer who had<br />
charged me and he had some good news and bad news.<br />
He explained that the good news was that they had charged me<br />
with the wrong offence and therefore I would not have any fines<br />
to pay. He then told me that the bad news was that he was thus<br />
obliged to ask me to destroy the ticket which his sidekick had<br />
lovingly written out and made me promise that I would not tell<br />
anybody. Of course as soon as the phone call was over I looked<br />
at the ticket which showed that I had been charged with failure<br />
to wear a seat belt.<br />
David Turner<br />
28
Hello Tim<br />
Very many thanks for Number 94. It<br />
brought pleasant memories of my time at<br />
Stationers and North London.<br />
We lived under the shadow of Ally Pally,<br />
three children: Frederic who was in the 5th<br />
Tank Regiment and went to Stationers;<br />
Owena who served in the WAAFs; and<br />
myself, who served in the 4th/7th Royal<br />
Dragoon Guards.<br />
Frederic was treacherously shot by a<br />
German prisoner when dismounted from<br />
his armored car at Richstedt, south of<br />
Bremen, a month before the end of the war.<br />
I can say I enjoyed my time at Stationers in<br />
those early days. Perhaps the French<br />
master Mr Gallimore would have been<br />
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
CORRESPONDENCE<br />
interested in the attachment I found<br />
cycling along the rivers and canals of<br />
France most pleasant and spent a<br />
considerable amount of time enjoying the<br />
beautiful countryside and hospitality of<br />
those I met.<br />
The Dragoons landed 5 minutes before<br />
the main assault on GOLD BEACH in<br />
DD tanks then took part in the land battle<br />
With good wishes<br />
Cecil Newton<br />
Dear Tim,<br />
I left the School in 1950 having played in<br />
the 1st team for the previous 3 years. The<br />
following year, at the age of seventeen I<br />
played my first game for North London<br />
CC 1stXI and was ever present for the<br />
next 23 years, apart from 2 years National<br />
Service in the RAF. During that time I<br />
played with and against a vast number of<br />
Old Stationers, all of whom had continued<br />
playing this wonderful game at Club level,<br />
long after they had left school. I well<br />
remember Jim Pigden, Ray Livermore and<br />
Les Wingrove of Highgate CC and at<br />
North London we had Laurie Battell, Bill<br />
Tacon, George Copus, Malcolm Ridgeway<br />
and Ken Margree. Many more followed<br />
over the years, but the list is too long and<br />
sadly I can’t remember all the names.<br />
My Doctor recently referred to me as a<br />
man of 1934 and as such, my memory is<br />
not what it was. However I was hoping to<br />
get a mention in the above mentioned<br />
article. You also published a booklet some<br />
years ago about cricketers from OS but,<br />
there again, not a sausage. And then it<br />
suddenly struck me, “I’ve been cancelled!”<br />
probably for some innocent remark I may<br />
have made years ago, that is now deemed<br />
to be racist or unwoke. Please put me out<br />
of my misery and let me know what it was<br />
and I will give a full and heartfelt apology<br />
to anyone I may have offended.<br />
Yours apologetically (tongue in cheek)<br />
Cedric Steet 1945-50<br />
Embarrassing moment<br />
Anyhow I am going back to the time when<br />
I played golf on Saturday mornings at my<br />
previous club And I was part of a group of<br />
about 8 to 10 of us. That group included a<br />
person called Jimmy Burton who had been<br />
on the books of Spurs for a short time but<br />
didn’t make it past the reserve team.You<br />
may recall that one of the stars of that<br />
Spurs team in the 1960s was Dave Mackay<br />
and not only was he a brilliant footballer<br />
he also set up a business called Dave<br />
Mackay ties who may even have made ties<br />
for OSA but the important thing is that he<br />
had a partner in this business who was the<br />
same Jimmy Burton with whom we played<br />
on Saturdays.<br />
Jimmy was quite a sociable guy but he<br />
could be very keen on making the<br />
acquaintance of the opposite gender even<br />
though he was married. Anyhow one<br />
Saturday morning he turned up for golf<br />
but took no time in telling us all that his<br />
wife has left him to shack up with Alan<br />
Gilzean who was another Spurs star of that<br />
29
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
email and ask if he minds me having his.<br />
He taught me English in the 4th or 5th<br />
Form – some time between 1966 and 1968.<br />
By the way – are you a freeman or<br />
liveryman of Stationers’ Company by any<br />
chance?<br />
Kind regards<br />
Nigel Adams<br />
Mike and Jenny Mote and Peter and Dianna Bonner met up for lunch while in Calahonda Spain.<br />
period. Jimmy was very cross about the<br />
whole thing although we did point out that<br />
he was rather well known for chasing<br />
ladies himself to which he made the answer.<br />
Yes but I always go home afterwards.<br />
Anyhow Jim and I were partners in a club<br />
competition and we played a couple of<br />
guys who knew of Jim’s connection with<br />
THFC but didn’t know of his marital<br />
problems. Over a drink after the game our<br />
opponents were asking Jim about the<br />
current occupations of the Spurs players of<br />
the 1960s and 1970s most of whom had<br />
left soccer and were involved in totally<br />
unconnected employments<br />
Jimmy answered all, the questions amiably<br />
until one of then said “what is Alan Gilzean<br />
doing right now and Jim said “at this<br />
moment he is probably f...ing my wife!"<br />
None of us knew what to say.<br />
David Turner<br />
Dear Tim<br />
Hope you are keeping well and thanks for<br />
editing another excellent edition of the<br />
magazine.<br />
Your article about the School Prize Giving<br />
Awards of 1969 on page 42 was very<br />
interesting! When I read down the lists I<br />
recognised a few of the boys’ names but<br />
one that I had definitely not been expecting<br />
to see was my own. My first thought was<br />
the possibility that there had been another<br />
‘D Montague’ at Stationers’ and that,<br />
somehow, I had avoided meeting him<br />
during my time at the school. Then I<br />
glanced across to the second page and saw<br />
that ‘D Montague’ had been recorded as<br />
attending the Royal Agricultural College.<br />
So it was me after all!!<br />
Could you please give me any details about<br />
this grant and how much it was worth? It<br />
would be nice to know, especially as neither<br />
I nor my parents received it!<br />
Kind regards<br />
Derek Montague 1963-1969<br />
Dear Derek,<br />
Thank you for your inquiry. By a strange<br />
coincidence I see I also won a grant that year<br />
and I do not remember receiving any cash. If<br />
any other members won awards/grants in<br />
1969 perhaps they can let us know what we<br />
missed out on.<br />
Tim<br />
Dear Tim<br />
I refer to my email just sent, mainly<br />
concerning the OSA tie.<br />
The other matter – and sorry to take so long<br />
to contact you but I’ve been heavily engaged<br />
including with medical investigations – was<br />
Mr Blenkinsop. You did mention his first<br />
name but sorry, can’t recall it.<br />
I was pleased to learn you are still in touch.<br />
If I remember correctly, I think you<br />
mentioned he lived in Crouch End (now<br />
probably too expensive for most school<br />
teachers to afford, unless a small flat!).<br />
I asked if you’d forward on my best wishes<br />
and said I’d email you. Unfortunately, one<br />
of the perils of getting older is that time<br />
seems to rush by. I remember when I was<br />
in the 6th Form, Joe Symons saying<br />
something similar.<br />
Do pass on my best wishes, give him my<br />
Greetings Tim,<br />
I have only recently got around to studying<br />
your most recent magazine with the usual<br />
great interest.<br />
At my age there are very few reminders of<br />
my time 1937-1943. On page 1, Roger<br />
Engledow lives in the same Hillside Gardens<br />
in which my parents spent their final years.<br />
On page eleven John Bathurst was at school<br />
close to my years. The pics in 18 and 19 and<br />
the reference to games at Winchmore Hill<br />
and the girls school which housed my early<br />
girlfriends stirred the memory banks.<br />
Thereafter names that remind me were<br />
Dickie Rundle, Peter Bullen, Gordon Rose,<br />
Pug Sargent, the Tacn, Budd, Weedon<br />
Brothers were all contempories at some<br />
stage of my school days.<br />
The car pictures especially yours were very<br />
interesting also notably the licence plates.<br />
I guess I am probably the oldest surviving<br />
member of the Association and not likely<br />
to be around much longer so best wishes to<br />
all and may all your futures be as satisfactory<br />
as mine has been.<br />
Kind Regards to all,<br />
Ron Horne<br />
'morning Tim,<br />
Got my mag yesterday - another good read<br />
and so much of the content comparatively<br />
recent (Christmas Lunch, OSFC midterm<br />
report, obits for Ivor Evans and Peter<br />
Hames) - well done!<br />
However, my details on p.3 are,<br />
unfortunately, inaccurate because you<br />
haven't updated my email address to<br />
hemmingsac43@gmail.com. I notified as<br />
many of my contacts as possible of the<br />
change last July so I doubt it will cause<br />
much of a problem but please amend it for<br />
the Summer edition if, of course, I am<br />
elected on to the Committee at the AGM!!<br />
Best wishes and see you on Monday,<br />
Tony Hemmings<br />
Email now up to date.<br />
Ed<br />
30
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
OUR FIRST JAGUAR<br />
Jaguar Mk 7 RKP 519<br />
It was in 1963 that three Old Stationers (Ray Humphreys, Geoff<br />
Tucker and I), together with a College friend ( John Loten),<br />
decided that we would drive down to the South Coast of France<br />
and into Italy to do some aqualung diving. We were all keen<br />
divers, members of the British Sub-Aqua Club, and wanted to do<br />
some warm water diving instead of immersing ourselves in the<br />
cold waters of England. The plan was to go for a month to make<br />
it worthwhile and get a good suntan to boot. However, as<br />
impoverished university students (apart from Ray who was<br />
working for the Post Office), money was a major consideration.<br />
Thus we decided to go camping to cut down the costs. So we<br />
wanted a vehicle to take four aqualungs and associated stuff,<br />
tents and camping equipment together with as much food as we<br />
could beg from our Mum’s pantries.<br />
We clearly needed to hire a<br />
big car to do this. My uncle,<br />
also called Ray, suggested<br />
that we bought a large car for<br />
the month’s journey and then<br />
sell it when we got back. This<br />
would be a lot cheaper than<br />
hiring a big car for a month.<br />
He said that he would help<br />
and we both had a good look<br />
in that wonderful source of<br />
everything being sold – The<br />
Exchange and Mart. He<br />
found an advert for a Mk 7<br />
Jaguar being sold by a solicitor<br />
in Paddington. It was 10<br />
years old and the solicitor<br />
wanted to buy a newer model<br />
as a replacement for it. So we<br />
toddled off to Paddington see<br />
him. Buying it was an<br />
interesting experience. He<br />
and his secretary “interviewed”<br />
us to see if we were the right<br />
kind of people to buy his<br />
“Old Lady”. He obviously wanted it to go to a good home so that<br />
it would be treated well. However, we passed muster and he sold<br />
it to us for £ 110.<br />
The Mk 7 was a model manufactured by Jaguar between 1950<br />
and 1956, powered by the newly developed straight-six cylinders<br />
XK engine of 3442 cc, providing 160 bhp with a four speed<br />
manual gearbox giving a top speed of 101 mph. It was a thirsty<br />
beast, with a fuel consumption of 17.7 mpg. To give it sufficient<br />
range, it had two petrol tanks, one on either side at the rear of the<br />
car: one of 9 gallons, and the reserve tank of 8 gallons, giving a<br />
total capacity of 17 gallons and a range of about 300 miles.<br />
RPK 519 was a beautiful looking car for its time, with an allblack<br />
exterior and a two-piece windscreen - just what a solicitor<br />
would want to impress his clients (Photograph 1). The interior<br />
was similarly impressive, with all brown leather interior and the<br />
famous walnut dashboard. It had blue interior lights to illuminate<br />
the dashboard, which gave it an additional impressive look<br />
during darkness. As well as the large capacity inside, it had a<br />
huge boot which was just what we wanted. MK 7s are on sale<br />
today for about £ 25,000 to £ 50,000.<br />
Now, young students like us with a Jaguar are not the car<br />
insurance companies’ best risks and we were very grateful that<br />
John’s Dad added RKP 519 to his existing car insurance as a<br />
second car. This saved us a lot of money.<br />
Our journey took us via Dover and Paris, pretty much driving<br />
straight South to the French Riviera and down through Italy as<br />
far as Naples. As well as diving off many French and Italian<br />
beaches, we naturally stopped off at the usual tourist spots: Pisa,<br />
Vesuvius, Pompei, Rome, Florence, Milan and Lucerne. We<br />
didn’t use the Autoroutes for any of the journey, instead we used<br />
the smaller roads which added miles and time to our journey, but<br />
saved us a lot of money. In total, we covered about 3020 miles<br />
over the 28 days that we were away.<br />
Map of the trip<br />
31
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Making breakfast and showing the cavernous<br />
boot of the Jaguar. Left to right: Ray<br />
Humphreys, Geoff Tucker and Tony Moffat.<br />
Camping was good fun and for the most part we stayed at official<br />
camp sites since they were listed on our camping map and gave<br />
good value for money. It also gave us the opportunity to have a<br />
good shower. One time it was raining so hard that two of us just<br />
slept in the car rather than trying to erect a tent in the pouring<br />
rain. Another good reason for having a large car. Occasionally we<br />
just stopped by the side of the road and slept in the open air as<br />
the weather was very kind to us with sunshine during the day and<br />
warm temperatures at night. Geoff used to do press-ups in the<br />
morning to keep fit. He did it in the road for no apparent reason.<br />
However, just outside Naples one night, sleeping in the open, we<br />
had our trusty Campingaz Bluet camping stove stolen together<br />
with Geoff ’s pants that were drying after being washed. We<br />
never did ask Geoff what he wore under his shorts after that.<br />
The sub-aqua diving and snorkelling was very varied depending<br />
where we were. As we expected, the clarity of the water and<br />
population of fish was great when we dived off a rocky beach, but<br />
not so good off sandy ones. A great nuisance was the number of<br />
really nice private beaches owned by hotels, that required<br />
payment to use them, but at least there were sufficient public<br />
ones. Ray bought a spear gun to get some fish for our meals, but<br />
I don’t remember him catching anything. But I am sure he had a<br />
lot of fun with it.<br />
In Lerichi, the shore was rocky and the sea<br />
was pretty rough, but we were brave<br />
Englishmen and just jumped into the rocky<br />
cove for a swim. That was the easy bit, getting<br />
out was nearly impossible because the sea was<br />
pounding about six foot up and down onto the<br />
rocks. It took a kind man and a long rope to<br />
save us being smashed into the rocks. Thank<br />
you Italian Man.<br />
Fruit was plentiful and cheap wherever we<br />
went and formed a large part of our diet. The<br />
downside was that two of us got hives as a<br />
result of overindulging. At least this was a<br />
change from sunburn and mosquito bites.<br />
We had a few mishaps on our travels. I banged<br />
into the back of a green Renault Dauphine<br />
whist still in France. Our Jaguar had<br />
no damage, but the Renault had an<br />
extensive modification to the bodywork<br />
of its rear. The very excitable French<br />
driver gabbled a lot of French to me<br />
and the French I was taught by Beaky<br />
Davis was stretched very thin.<br />
Nevertheless, I was able to converse<br />
with him and gave him our insurance<br />
details. We reported the accident to<br />
the local Gendarmes who were not<br />
very interested as no one was hurt.<br />
Unfortunately, John’s Dad lost his<br />
insurance no claim bonus as a result of<br />
the accident.<br />
Locking the keys inside the car was a<br />
nuisance on one occasion. But Ray<br />
managed to force one of the car door<br />
locks to gain entry - well, we could get that repaired when we got<br />
back home.<br />
On our return journey, we thought that we would save some time<br />
by driving through the night via Rome to Milan and at 3 am<br />
John drove us into a ditch, in the process taking out a large<br />
kilometre stone. However, It only put a small dent in the<br />
bumper. We then had to wait until everything was open again<br />
later on that morning when we were towed to a local garage for<br />
repairs. Fortunately none of us was hurt and the garage quickly<br />
repaired the car so that we could continue on our way. So we<br />
didn’t really save any time that way.<br />
When we returned home, we could not bear to part with RKP<br />
519, so we kept it between us for about a year, sharing it over the<br />
weekends. In the end, we sold it to ray for £ 100. So it only cost<br />
us £ 10 for its use over the year. My uncle was right to suggest<br />
we bought instead of hiring.<br />
This was our first Jaguar and since then, Ray has had an XE and<br />
I have had sequentially: an XJ6, S-type and currently drive an XF.<br />
When the new electric models come out, I expect to change then<br />
– to another Jaguar.<br />
Tony Moffat<br />
Geoff Tucker doing his early morning press-ups.<br />
32
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
PUZZLE Corner<br />
Word Search – english premier league football teams<br />
manchester city liverpool chelsea manchester united west ham<br />
arsenal tottenham hotspur wolves southampton brighton<br />
Membership<br />
SECRETary's report<br />
Since last report To date<br />
Paying members at 1st Jan 2022 471<br />
Life member 1<br />
Honorary members 10<br />
New members 30 30<br />
Deaths (6) (6)<br />
Re-instalments/Resignations (1) (1)<br />
Deletions (2) (2)<br />
TOTAL 21 503<br />
Following the initiative by Andreas<br />
Christou, more than ably assisted by Peter<br />
Sandell and supported on the day by Peter<br />
Thomas, Dan Bone and Tim Westbrook.<br />
28 new members were recruited from the<br />
“Comprehensive” years. A report on the<br />
event appears elsewhere.<br />
Anagrams<br />
chemical Sudoku<br />
Yes, Chemical Sudoku is<br />
back and this one is rated<br />
“Difficult”. To make it<br />
more interesting than a<br />
normal Sudoku, it has the<br />
numbers 1 to 9 replaced by<br />
the first nine chemical<br />
symbols in the Periodic<br />
Table: H, Hydrogen; He,<br />
Helium; Li, Lithium; Be,<br />
Beryllium; B, Boron; C,<br />
Carbon; N, Nitrogen; O,<br />
Oxygen and F, Fluorine.<br />
To solve the Sukoku<br />
Puzzle, fill the grid so that<br />
every column, every row<br />
and every 3 X 3 box<br />
contains all the symbols.<br />
The following are all anagrams of the seven actors who have played James Bond in<br />
films. The figures in brackets give the number of letters in the names.<br />
1. GAZEBO GREENLY (6,7)<br />
5. VIVA DINNED (5, 5)<br />
2. AREAL DICING (6, 5)<br />
6. ANY ONSCREEN (4, 7)<br />
3. GORE ROOMER (5, 5)<br />
7. CARBINE PERSON (6, 7)<br />
4. A DITTO MONTHLY (7, 6)<br />
The 28 are:<br />
Malcolm Abbott<br />
Alan Alexander<br />
Colin Callum<br />
Ronald Broomes<br />
Robert Chambers<br />
Costakis Demetriou<br />
Albert Dornelly<br />
Pavlos Demetriou<br />
David Edwards<br />
Sirfaraz Ghulamali<br />
John Hadjisavvas<br />
Errol Hall<br />
Richard Karpha<br />
Dr David<br />
Rowlands<br />
Ranjit Jethwa<br />
Artemis Kyriacou<br />
Andrew May<br />
Michael Michael<br />
Peter Mollinari<br />
Vikash Patel<br />
Ketan Popat<br />
Fitzroy Riley<br />
John Scott<br />
Karl Tankard<br />
Malcolm Williams<br />
Charalambos<br />
Shacallis<br />
Tony Theadoulou<br />
Yusuf Ramadan<br />
The other 2 new members who have<br />
joined this year are Andy Mouzouri and<br />
Gordon Slatford.<br />
The Obituaries section will include<br />
information on the death of the following<br />
6 members (as well as old boys who were<br />
not members of the OSA): Ray Hind, Peter<br />
Hames, Terry Miller, Derek Stevens, Brian<br />
Harris and George Copus.<br />
Gerald Cooke and Eric Bowman have been<br />
removed from the database as no standing<br />
order payment was received for this year.<br />
Attempts to contact them both also failed.<br />
As both were at school during the early<br />
1940’s I have assumed that they have now<br />
died, although there has been no<br />
confirmation of that. If any member has<br />
any up-to-date information on either<br />
please let me know.<br />
Roger Engledow<br />
33
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Members by year of entry<br />
33, Hugh Newton, Marlborough Wilts.<br />
36, Donald Green, London E6 6BX<br />
37, Norman Chapple, Solihull West Midlands<br />
37, Alec Linford, Uxbridge Middx.<br />
37, Ronald Horne, Hamilton New Zealand<br />
38, Peter Chantrell, Bude Cornwall<br />
38, Ian Jones, London N5 2EU<br />
39, Ronald Balaam, Ashtead Surrey<br />
40, Eric Bowman, Near Kendal Cumbria<br />
41, Richard Braithwaite, Sale Cheshire<br />
41, Roger Kennett, Weybourne Norfolk<br />
41, James Barry, St Leonards-on-Sea East Sussex<br />
42, Dudley Jones, Great Chesterford Essex<br />
42, Peter Limebear, St Albans Herts.<br />
42, Roy Simmons, Woodford Green Essex<br />
43, Peter Constable, Brixham Devon<br />
43, Gordon Freeman, Staines Middx.<br />
43, Kenneth Latter, 8400 Ebeltoft Denmark<br />
43, Peter Moses, Queensland Australia<br />
43, Roy Saunders, Hoddesdon Herts.<br />
44, William Croydon, Faversham Kent<br />
44, Arthur Field, Chichester W. Sussex<br />
44, Brian Kill, Colchester Essex<br />
44, Graham Stacy, Highgate London<br />
44, Anthony Tight, St Albans Herts.<br />
45, Brian Cranwell, Sheff ield S. Yorks.<br />
45, Jack Hammond, Crewkerne Somerset<br />
45, Peter Jolly, Newmarket Canada<br />
45, Roger Mansf ield, Fordingbridge Hants.<br />
45, John Miles, St Ives Cambs.<br />
45, Cedric Steet, West Wickham Kent<br />
45, Peter Watcham, Harpenden Herts.<br />
45, Gerald Cooke, Leigh-on-sea Essex<br />
46, Alan Cleps, Kings Lynn Norfolk<br />
46, Peter Hawkins, Whittlesford Cambs.<br />
46, David Hensher, Sandbanks Dorset<br />
46, John Lettin, East Grinstead East Sussex<br />
46, Michael Saunders, London N2 0GA<br />
46, Brian Stokes, Weybridge Surrey<br />
46, Alan Unerman, Edgware Middlesex<br />
46, Roger Woollard, Sharnbrook Bedfordshire<br />
46, Alan Johnstone, Toronto Canada<br />
46, Howard Midgen, Pinner Middx<br />
47, Stuart Behn, Watford Herts.<br />
47, Michael Gill, Beaconsf ield Bucks.<br />
47, Peter Lack, Muswell Hill London<br />
47, Leslie Lane, Didcot Oxon.<br />
47, John Browning, Stockport Cheshire<br />
48, Anthony Bathurst, Laroque D'Omes France<br />
48, Terence Butler, Harpenden Herts.<br />
48, Geoffrey Croughton, Harpenden Herts.<br />
48, Alan Dallman, Muswell Hill London<br />
48, Ian Hayward, Barnet Herts.<br />
48, Ray Hermans, Aylesbury Bucks.<br />
48, David Lynes, Harpenden Herts.<br />
48, William O'Brien, Brora Sutherland<br />
48, John Smith, Whetstone London<br />
48, David Wilkins, Loughborough Leics.<br />
48, Bob Patten, Jacksonville Florida<br />
48, Alan Spry, Whetstone London<br />
48, Nigel Friswell, Horsham Sussex<br />
48, David Winter, Norwich<br />
49, Peter Clydesdale, Enf ield Middlesex<br />
49, Edward Dennison, Billericay Essex<br />
49, Peter Engledow, Saffron Walden Essex<br />
49, Peter Evans, New South Wales Australia<br />
49, David Hill, Winchmore Hill London<br />
49, Kenneth Hills, Waltham Cross Herts.<br />
49, Brian Humphreys, Woodside Park London<br />
49, Lucien Perring, Ross-on-Wye Herefordshire<br />
49, John Wheeler, London NW11 7BG<br />
50, Clive Farmer, Soton Hants.<br />
50, Richard Hayes, Berkhamsted Herts.<br />
50, David Loveday, Chesterf ield Derbys.<br />
50, Kenneth Merchant, Warlingham Surrey<br />
50, David Prime, Halesworth Suffolk<br />
50, John Prior, Abingdon Oxfordshire<br />
50, Graham Rapley, Tonbridge Kent<br />
51, Tony Ames, Epping Essex<br />
51, Michael Brady, Bathampton Avon<br />
51, Don Bewick, Hatf ield Hertfordshire<br />
51, David Davies, Hertford Herts.<br />
51, Michael Facey, Gerrards Cross Bucks.<br />
51, Richard Hersey, Southgate London<br />
51, Alan Lewis, Watford Herts.<br />
51, Richard Martin, Milton Keynes Bucks.<br />
51, Ian Moore, Dunfermline Fife<br />
51, John Taylor, Potters Bar Herts.<br />
51, David Turner, Hatf ield Herts.<br />
51, Nigel Wade, Ilford Essex<br />
51, Brian Whitehouse, Trelawnyd Flintshire<br />
51, Richard Wilson, Pinner Middlesex<br />
51, David Cowling, Whetstone London<br />
51, Ronald De Young, Broadbridge Heath W Sussex<br />
51, Ivor Evans, Crediton Devon<br />
51, David Hall, Upminster Essex<br />
51, William Houldsworth, Norwich Norfolk<br />
51, Roy King, Bangor Gwynedd<br />
52, John Brown, Winchmore Hill London<br />
52, Anthony Cole, Oxted Surrey<br />
52, David Finch, Felixtowe Suffolk<br />
52, Leslie Humphreys, Almonte Ontario<br />
52, David Maclean, Turramurra New South Wales<br />
52, Michael Shaw, St Albans Herts.<br />
52, Keith Woodley, Bath Avon<br />
52, John Wrigley, Clacton-on-Sea Essex<br />
52, Eric Webb, Florida USA<br />
52, David Kaye, Cheshunt Herts.<br />
52, Brian Spevak, Broxbourne Hertfordshire<br />
52, Kenneth Ayling, Hoddesdon Herts.<br />
52, David Jowitt, Plateau State Nigeria<br />
52, John Partridge, Southgate London<br />
52, Brian Wilkinson, Bedale N Yorks.<br />
53, Anthony Cooper, Fleet Hampshire<br />
53, David Cox, Woodford Green Essex<br />
53, John Geering, Wokingham Berks.<br />
34
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
53, Alan Green, Moreton in Marsh Glos.<br />
53, Wyndham Griff iths, Stone Staffs.<br />
53, Michael Hasler, Aylesbury Bucks.<br />
53, Alan Nafzger, North Finchley London<br />
53, Peter Redman, Potters Bar Herts.<br />
53, Ernest Russell, Loughton Essex<br />
53, Geoff Tapping, Camberley Surrey<br />
53, Tony Taylor, Saffron Walden Essex<br />
53, Richie Tyley, Godalming Surrey<br />
53, Anthony Richards, Bexhill on Sea E Sussex<br />
53, David Metcalf, London N7 0HD<br />
53, Christopher Seabrook, Benoni Gauteng<br />
53, James Hayman, West Malling Kent<br />
53, Graham Arnold, Kingsbridge Devon<br />
53, Roy Turner, Hillcrest KwaZulu Natal<br />
53, Bill Niehorster, Stamford Lincolnshire<br />
53, Peter Knight, London E15 1LA<br />
54, Martin Brown, Great Dunmow Essex<br />
54, Nigel Chamberlain, Highgate London<br />
54, Roger Engledow, Barnet Herts.<br />
54, Douglas Fussell, Potters Bar Herts.<br />
54, Bob Harris, Coventry Warwicks.<br />
54, Tony Hemmings, Cheshunt Herts.<br />
54, Ray Humphreys, Billericay Essex<br />
54, Graham Ling, Hook Hants.<br />
54, Roger Melling, New Barnet Herts.<br />
54, Morris Milner, Tottenham London<br />
54, Tony Moffat, St Ives Cambs<br />
54, Kenneth Saunders, Epping Essex<br />
54, Michael Weatherley, Frinton-on-Sea Essex<br />
54, Peter Weeks, Fleet Hampshire<br />
54, Richard Phillippo, Carshalton Beeches Surrey<br />
54, Mike Hiron, Enf ield Middx.<br />
54, Robert Townsend, Barnet Herts.<br />
54, Ian Smith, Croydon Surrey<br />
54, Tony McKeer, Broadstone Dorset<br />
54, Alan Williams, West Malling Kent<br />
54, Ronald Johnson, Welwyn Herts.<br />
54, Andrew Wick, Broxbourne Herts.<br />
54, David Hartwell, Ontario Canada<br />
54, Roy Stevenson, Frinton-on-sea Essex<br />
54, Geoffrey Dawes, Saffron Walden Essex<br />
54, Paul Edwards, Beckenham Kent<br />
55, Peter Bonner, Potters Bar Herts.<br />
55, Geoffrey Gascoine, Esher Surrey<br />
55, Michael Geering, Walton-on-Thames Surrey<br />
55, Michael Heath, Emsworth Hants.<br />
55, Brian Howlett, Keighley W. Yorkshire<br />
55, Alan Hunt, Farnham Surrey<br />
55, John Ivey, St Albans Herts.<br />
55, Keith Knight, Woodford Green London<br />
55, Michael Mote, Grange Park London<br />
55, David Pitt, Luton Bedfordshire<br />
55, David Sheath, Windsor Berks.<br />
55, Tony Turner, Manukau 2010 Auckland<br />
55, Barrie Bennett, Hertford Herts.<br />
55, Andrew Dunlop, Sheff ield S.Yorks.<br />
55, Martin Burr, Merstham Surrey<br />
55, David Vicary, Chelmsford Essex<br />
55, Roger Edmonston, Ansty West Sussex<br />
55, Trevor Fenner, London NW11 8QT<br />
55, Micahel Smith, Amersham Bucks.<br />
55, Adrian Andrusier, London N10 2EX<br />
55, Neil Parkyn, St Alpinien France<br />
55, Hugh Grist, B C Canada<br />
56, David Freear, Nr Reading Berks.<br />
56, Barry Groves, Berkhamsted Herts.<br />
56, Anthony Henfrey, Alnwick Northumberland<br />
56, Robert Hood, Twickenham Middx.<br />
56, Owen Hooker, Felixstowe Suffolk<br />
56, David Lincoln, Orpington Kent<br />
56, Keith Mullender, Much Hadham Herts.<br />
56, Jim Mulley, Woldingham Surrey<br />
56, Colin Munday, Broxbourne Herts.<br />
56, Roger Phillpot, Tunbridge Wells Kent<br />
56, Ken Stevens, Nr Reading Berkshire<br />
56, Rodney Dennison, Freshwater Isle of Wight<br />
56, Mark Thompson, Leyburn North Yorkshire<br />
56, Stewart Colley, Teddington Middlesex<br />
56, John Cater, Padworth Common Berkshire<br />
56, Russell Plumley, London W3 9RG<br />
56, Chris Woodhams, London SW10 9QW<br />
56, Oliver Manton, Toronto Canada<br />
56, Glyn Williams, Northallerton N. Yorks.<br />
56, Raymond Prestage, Palmers Green London<br />
56, Reginald Eccles, Felpham W. Sussex<br />
56, Michael West, Cranleigh Surrey<br />
56, Barry Skelding, Radlett Herts<br />
56, Bob Margree, Brigg Lincs<br />
57, John Carey, Ely Cambs<br />
57, David Deane, High Barnet Herts.<br />
57, Chris Langford, Tring Herts<br />
57, David Smith, Wadhurst East Sussex<br />
57, Russell Stephenson, Welwyn Garden City Herts.<br />
57, Chris Wilkins, Radlett Herts.<br />
57, Peter Armstrong, Nassau Bahamas<br />
57, Kerry Hawkins, Exeter Devon<br />
57, Roger Kindell, East Bridgford Notts.<br />
58, Robert Assirati, Tonbridge Kent<br />
58, Michael Evans, Cheltenham Glos.<br />
58, Robert Francis, Burnham-on-Crouch Essex<br />
58, Stephen Platten, Berwick upon Tweed Nothumberland<br />
58, Arthur Reeve, East Meon Hants.<br />
58, Malcolm Wakef ield, Darlington Co. Durham<br />
58, John Ward, Norwich Norfolk<br />
58, Peter Langridge, Liphook Hants.<br />
58, Michael Fitch, Nr Ware Herts.<br />
58, Steve Trew, Poole Dorset<br />
58, Philip Hill, Highams Park London<br />
58, Leslie Singleton, Felsted Essex<br />
58, Lorrimer Fellingham, Wantage Oxon<br />
58, Peter Miller, Barnet EN5 4DU<br />
58, Frank Pearce, London NW9 7BD<br />
58, Paul Biddulph, Leighton Buzzard Beds<br />
58, Edward Winter, Betchworth Surrey<br />
58, Malcolm Brown, Sandhurst Kent<br />
58, Rodger Filbee, Halstead Essex<br />
59, Derrick Ashley, Hitchin Herts.<br />
59, Robert Nelson, Farnham Surrey<br />
59, Robert Pedder, Aylesbury Bucks<br />
35
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
59, Jim Townsend, East Barnet Herts.<br />
59, Barry James, New Southgate London<br />
59, Geoff Holmes, Hexham Northumberland<br />
59, Graham Eldridge, Stowmarket Suffolk<br />
60, John Aanonson, Uxbridge Middlesex<br />
60, Alan Barnard, Altrincham Cheshire<br />
60, Andrew Forrow, Welwyn Garden City Herts.<br />
60, Anthony Innes, Snape Suffolk<br />
60, David Owen, áColwyn Bay Conwy<br />
60, Martin Palmer, Bedford Bedfordshire<br />
60, Mike Pinf ield, Harrow Middlesex<br />
60, Simon Westbrook, Scotts Valley California<br />
60, Paul Westley, 29788 Frigiliana Malaga<br />
60, Philip Miall, Southgate London<br />
60, Reg Davies, Friern Barnet London<br />
60, Alan Currans, Dartford Kent<br />
60, Ian Ball, Winchmore Hill London<br />
60, Robert Bird, Linton Cambridge<br />
60, Richard Smith, London N5 1TB<br />
61, Keith Allen, Fritchley Derbys.<br />
61, Reg Bailey, Royston Herts<br />
61, Geoffrey Carrington, Enf ield Middlesex<br />
61, Richard Edis, Amersham Bucks.<br />
61, Peter Ford, Peterborough<br />
61, Philip Geering, Winchmore Hill London<br />
61, Michael Heath, Kibworth Leics.<br />
61, Robert Hughes, Enf ield Middx.<br />
61, Tony Mash, Godalming Surrey<br />
61, Derek Mitchell, Spalding Lincs.<br />
61, Alan Palmer, Warrington Cheshire<br />
61, Anthony Pigden, East Barnet Herts.<br />
61, John Rowlands, Baldock Herts.<br />
61, Steve Young, Potters Bar Herts.<br />
61, Colin Walker, Hertford Herts.<br />
61, Martin Slatford, Tadley Berkshire<br />
61, Russell Miller, Winchmore Hill London<br />
61, Nigel Burt, Lutterworth Leics.<br />
61, George Hepburn, Stocksf ield Northumberland<br />
62, Tony Bishop, Enf ield Middx.<br />
62, Stephen Collins, Pinner Middlesex<br />
62, David Ford, Hove Sussex<br />
62, Graham Hobbs, Manchester Lancs.<br />
62, David Hudson, Chislehurst Kent<br />
62, Peter Jarvis, Cuffley Herts.<br />
62, Barry Soames, Alton Hampshire<br />
62, Raymond Warren, Pinner Middlesex<br />
62, Charles Webster-Smith, St Albans Herts.<br />
62, Timothy Westbrook, Radlett Herts.<br />
62, John Gray, Thorpe Bay Essex<br />
62, Graham Rawlings, Exeter Devon<br />
62, Peter Bothwick, Redditch Worcs.<br />
62, Geoffrey Dent, Haywards Heath W. Sussex<br />
62, Daniel Bone, High Barnet London<br />
62, Ian Gillies, Reading Berks.<br />
62, John Lambert, Hull E. Yorks.<br />
62, David Shaw, Chalfont St Giles Bucks.<br />
62, Terence Wyld, Cullompton Devon<br />
62, Stephen Chaudoir, Castle Cary Somerset<br />
62, Colin Williams, Amersham Bucks.<br />
62, Ross Thompson, Northampton Northants.<br />
62, Terence Jaggers, London N7 7RA<br />
62, Steven Wallace, Reymerston Norfolk<br />
62, Peter Prazsky, Colchester Essex<br />
62, Roger Turkington, Stradbroke Suffolk<br />
62, Malcolm Wandrag, Waterford Herts.<br />
62, John Welch, Sevenoaks Kent<br />
62, Simon Attar, Edgware Middx.<br />
62, Neil Adkins, Darlington<br />
62, John Copleston, Andover Hants<br />
63, Christopher Bell, Bradford on Avon Wilts.<br />
63, Stephen Bensley, Welwyn Garden City Herts<br />
63, Alan Burgess, St Albans Herts<br />
63, Frank Clapp, Broxbourne Herts<br />
63, David Clark, Borehamwood Herts<br />
63, Nigel Dant, Reading Berks.<br />
63, Geoffrey Edis, Teignmouth Devon<br />
63, Martin Lawrence, Northampton<br />
63, Anthony Little, Swindon Wilts.<br />
63, Derek Montague, Ringwood<br />
63, Robert Segall, Ilford Essex<br />
63, Derrick Williamson, North Mymms Herts.<br />
63, Keith Hacker, Wellingborough Northants.<br />
63, Peter Gotham, Cambridge<br />
63, Peter Winter, Warrington Lancs.<br />
63, Richard Cotton, London NW1 0XG<br />
63, Jonathan Stern, London SE14 5TN<br />
63, Geoffrey Quick, Farnham Surrey<br />
63, Nigel Adams, London SE26 8AL<br />
63*, Ray Draper, Victoria Australia<br />
64, John Assirati, Wanstead London<br />
64, Robin Baker, Chigwell Essex<br />
64, Graham Hawkins, High Barnet Herts.<br />
64, Eric Hewitt, Swindon Wilts.<br />
64, Malcolm Smith, Surbiton Surrey<br />
64, Ray Parsell, Dorchester Dorset<br />
64, Geoff Aanonson, Brentwood Essex<br />
64, Tim Grollman, Lewisham London<br />
64, Michael Kahn, Enf ield Middx.<br />
64, Carolos Dandolo, Leicester Leics.<br />
64, Robert Watts, Cheshunt Herts<br />
64, Andrew Baldwin, Ross-on-Wye Herts<br />
64, Alex Flemming, Ruhr Germany<br />
64, Robert Tuttle, Newbury USA<br />
64, Nick Henwood, Northampton Northants.<br />
64, Keith Southam, Norbury London<br />
65, Geoff Blackmore, Baldock Herts.<br />
65, Richard Cave, Camberley Surrey<br />
65, Graham Ellis, Eastleigh Hants.<br />
65, Peter Sandell, Waltham Abbey Essex<br />
65, Stephen Streater, Cuffley Herts<br />
65, Laurie Maybanks, Le Soler France<br />
65, Steven Presland, London N21 3DP<br />
65, Huw Williams, Bridgend<br />
65, Terence White, Goffs Oak Herts.<br />
65, Richard Forty, Bishops Stortford Herts.<br />
65, Robert Fry, Enf ield Middx.<br />
65, Anthony Powell, Horsell Surrey<br />
65, Eric Orros, Ongar Essex<br />
65, Dominic McStay, Peterborough Cambs.<br />
65, James Knight, Fairford Glos.<br />
36
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
65, Munawar Dawoodi, 80634 Munich Germany<br />
65, John Baldwin, Kings Langley Herts.<br />
65, Paul Bateman, Halstead Essex<br />
65, John Berwick, Stevenage Herts.<br />
65, Richard Steff, Welwyn Garden City Herts<br />
65, John Hendle, Chelmsford CM1 1JL<br />
66, Nigel Clarke, New Barnet Herts<br />
66, Andrew Hamment, Thame Oxon.<br />
66, Alun Jeffreys, East Finchley London<br />
66, Ian Meyrick, Barnet Herts.<br />
66, David Catanach, Newark Nottinghamshire<br />
66, Cliff Lord, Waltham Cross Herts.<br />
66, David Flynn, Sherborne St John Hampshire<br />
66, Steve Hawkins, Truro Cornwall<br />
66, Roy Fludgate, Palmers Green London<br />
66, Peter Emmerson-Darnell, Hayes Kent<br />
66, Stephen Cleak, London W2 6NP<br />
67, Keith Archer, Pinner Middlesex<br />
67, David Fuller, Broxbourne Herts.<br />
67, Michael Morrison, Enf ield Middx.<br />
67, Ken Wheatley, Bishops Stortford Herts<br />
67, Peter Thomas, Stevenage Herts<br />
67, Ian Blackmore, St Albans Herts<br />
67, Robert Giles, Weymouth Dorset<br />
67, Douglas Beckwith, Cambridge Cambs.<br />
67, Clive Giles, Newton Abbott Devon<br />
67, Andrew Tzortzi, London N14 5LN<br />
67, Kevin Waller, London N22 7AW<br />
67, Hussein Hussein, Dagenham Essex<br />
67, Neil Steff, Welwyn Garden City Herts<br />
67, Hyder Dastagir, London SE25 6AA<br />
67, William Bushnell, Grays Essex<br />
67, Michael Wood, Hemel Hempstead Herts<br />
67, Malcolm Abbott, Enf ield Middx.<br />
67, Sirfaraz Ghulamali, London EN5 1JW<br />
68, Ray Borella, Hertingfordbury Herts<br />
68, Richard Griff iths, Ashford Kent<br />
68, Stephen Hayward, Wolverhampton W. Midlands<br />
68, Martin Wells, London N13 4JR<br />
68, Peter Bennett, Enf ield Middx.<br />
68, Bill Martindale, East Barnet London<br />
68, John Leonard, Harpenden Herts<br />
68, Trevor Stevenson, Hatf ield Herts<br />
68, John Scott, Ashford Middlesex<br />
69, Peter Maddigan, Peterborough Cambs.<br />
69, Andrew Clark, Pulborough West Sussex<br />
69, Michael Brookes, Knebworth Herts<br />
69, Ade Macrow, Cheddar Somerset<br />
69, Ranjit Jethwa, Woodford Green Essex<br />
70, Ian Morrison, High Wycombe Bucks.<br />
70, Alan Clarke, Cuffley Herts<br />
71, Pasquale Acierno, London N21 3DH<br />
71, David Gilligan, Enf ield Middx.<br />
71, Keith Roberts, Reading<br />
71, Richard Cocks, Enf ield Middlesex<br />
71, Anthony Joyce, Arnos Grove London<br />
71, Glen Catlin, Cromer Norfolk<br />
71, Chris Williams, Waterlooville Hants.<br />
71, Alan Brookes, Huntingdon Cambs<br />
71, Paul Catanach, Puckeridge Herts<br />
72, Marco Bittante, Sudbury Suffolk<br />
72, Andrew Devon, Hove E. Sussex<br />
72, Nicholas Kouppari, Bakewell Derbys.<br />
72, Walter McKone, London N22 7SJ<br />
72, Charles Traylen, Deal Kent<br />
72, Kelvin Kift, Gt Notley Essex<br />
72, Ronald Broomes, Rainham Essex<br />
72, Albert Dornelly, London N7 6EF<br />
72, Michael Michael, East Barnet Herts<br />
72, Yusuf Ramadan, Croydon Surrey<br />
72, Fitzroy Riley, London N10 2PQ<br />
72*, Colin Callum, Romford Essex<br />
72*, Gordon Slatford, Oregon USA<br />
73, Stephen Baldwin, Hitchin Herts<br />
73, Paul Clague, Sawbridgeworth Herts<br />
73, Michael Howell, Fareham Hants<br />
73, Barry White, Enf ield Middlesex<br />
73, Anthony Eade, East Barnet Herts.<br />
73, Michael Ttof i, Cheshunt Herts.<br />
73, Mark Willison, Milton Keynes Bucks.<br />
73, Costakis Demetriou, London N14 7HL<br />
73, John Hadjisavvas, Barnet Herts<br />
73, Artemis Kyriacou, London N8 0BN<br />
74, Liam Gallagher, Winchmore Hill London<br />
74, Richard Jenkins, Winchmore Hill London<br />
74, Steve Atkins, Windlesham Surrey<br />
74, Bekir Hassan, Leamington Spa Warwicks.<br />
74, Pavlos Demetriou, Waltham Cross<br />
75, John Constantinou, East Barnet Herts<br />
75, Benjamin Udejiofo, Sheff ield South Yorkshire<br />
75, Ray Houldsworth, Chingford London<br />
75, Andrew Mouzouri, Bournemouth<br />
75, Robert Chambers, London SE3 8NP<br />
75, David Edwards, Cuffley Herts<br />
75, Errol Hall, Rickling Green CB11 3JR<br />
75, Peter Mollinari, Hoddesdon Herts<br />
75, Harry Shacallis, London N4 1RZ<br />
75, Tony Theodoulou, Cockfosters EN4 9JY<br />
75, Malcolm Williams, Enf ield EN1 3AH<br />
76, Neerunjun Jootun, Nottingham Notts.<br />
76, Alan Alexander, Tottenham London<br />
76, Andrew May, East Barnet Herts<br />
76, David Rowlands, "Pinner, Middx"<br />
76, Richard Slatford, Mitcham Surrey<br />
77, Zaki Hassan, London W1K 1QW<br />
78, Alan Dobbie, Wood Green London<br />
78, Max Salvadori, Slough Berkshire<br />
78, Adrian Broadbent, Bishops Waltham Hants.<br />
78, Christopher Alvis, London N21 1AL<br />
79, Joshua Beadon, Exeter Devon<br />
79, Costakis Yiacoumi, Oakwood London<br />
79, Vikash Patel, London N22 8EF<br />
79, Karl Tankard, Potters Bar Herts<br />
80, Andreas Christou, Bush Hill Park Enf ield<br />
80, Richard Karpha, Tottenham London<br />
81, Ketan Popat, London N21 2NN<br />
37
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
OBITUARIES<br />
The One and Only<br />
Geof Richmond<br />
Geof Richmond – “Little Geof ” – was<br />
once met, never forgotten. On first<br />
meeting, at 5 feet 2 and 3/4inches, many<br />
people made certain assumptions, but after<br />
sharing just a pint, playing in a game of<br />
football with him or being in the same<br />
business meeting together, those assumptions<br />
were forgotten and replaced with<br />
some understanding of the real size of the<br />
man.<br />
Geof was undoubtedly his own man – not<br />
swayed or governed by a person’s position,<br />
but rather by their actions and behavior.<br />
He once told me of a particularly forthright<br />
exchange he had with a senior member of<br />
staff whilst at Stationers’ which proved<br />
both this point and also how he enjoyed to,<br />
what he called, “burst the balloons of<br />
pomposity”.<br />
I’m sure many old pupils will remember<br />
Geof ’s prowess on the football field and<br />
his tactical skills, as well as standing with<br />
him on the terraces at Highbury. His love<br />
of the game and Arsenal in particular<br />
never diminished, but his interest in the<br />
professional game was being severely<br />
tested in latter years by the likes of<br />
commercialism and VAR! He was<br />
vehemently against the introduction of the<br />
latter, predicting its negative and disruptive<br />
affect on the flow and spirit of the Beautiful<br />
Game. Football played such a very big part<br />
in his life – he still kept a pair of his old<br />
team socks in the chest of drawers at home<br />
(and insisted on wearing his “lucky red<br />
underpants” on Arsenal match days!).<br />
He was sharp, quick witted and very funny<br />
and loved being at the centre of the action.<br />
The sort of person who anyone coming<br />
into the pub and seeing him at the bar<br />
would smile and think “YES! – it’s going<br />
to be interesting and a great laugh tonight!”.<br />
His innate ability to both understand<br />
people and to accurately and dispassionately<br />
analyse a situation also meant he was<br />
frequently sought out there by those<br />
struggling to resolve a problem in their life.<br />
Geof refused to give advice, but preferred<br />
to pose a series of questions for them to<br />
consider. In this way he unlocked different<br />
doors for someone to look through and<br />
decide for them self which route they<br />
wanted to take. As his son Joni (a young<br />
boy jobbing as a pot collector at the time)<br />
observed – Saturday lunchtimes were like<br />
being present in an “open surgery drop in<br />
session” through which he himself quietly<br />
learned so much of life.<br />
Geof hated the concept of being governed<br />
by the clock – just because it said 9.00am<br />
did not mean you were at your best! As the<br />
manager of the department in which I had<br />
my first proper job he used to say to me “I<br />
don’t care if you play all day and write the<br />
report at midnight – so long as it’s done to<br />
the best of your ability and on time”. He<br />
always gave each member of his team<br />
support and guidance when needed, a freerein<br />
when not and full public credit for<br />
their work. In this way he built a team that<br />
worked hard, produced great results and<br />
had the best fun whilst doing it ……. and<br />
all would walk barefoot over hot coals for<br />
him. He created a unit which was the<br />
perfect definition of Teamwork. They were<br />
some of the happiest days in my working<br />
life.<br />
Freedom – both mental and physical –<br />
were critical to Geof. His antipathy<br />
towards routine and convention set him on<br />
a never-ending quest of pushing his mind<br />
to think, analyse and conclude. He loved to<br />
be in the vanguard of exploring new things<br />
and concepts – anything from new and<br />
unusual cooking ingredients to time travel.<br />
He lived his life in his own unique style,<br />
how he chose and unfettered by convention.<br />
He was very streetwise and courageous!<br />
Having one eye on what he was doing and<br />
the other assessing what was going on<br />
around him. I was always, ALWAYS safe<br />
and secure in his company – he saved me<br />
from, amongst many other things, a 6 foot<br />
mugger in the East End, 2 Ridgebacks and<br />
an Alsatian roaming wild on the Cornish<br />
cliffs and a particularly drunken football<br />
crowd. He was never one to make a drama<br />
out of a crisis – he just quickly assessed any<br />
situation and took decisive action.<br />
He did, however, have his own inner fears<br />
and insecurities, but showed the world his<br />
bravery and courage in: the defense of<br />
anyone he thought was being unfairly<br />
treated or bullied; risking alienation from<br />
the crowd by being brutally (but never<br />
cruelly) honest; and in the 10 year fight<br />
with his cancer in which he never<br />
bemoaned his lot and openly acknowledged<br />
the part he had played in it. It was most<br />
rare for him to complain of the pain or the<br />
physical impositions it placed on his life.<br />
Music was one of the loves of Geof ’s life<br />
but it was when combined with special<br />
words that he fell in love with a song or<br />
artist – not surprisingly wordsmiths like<br />
Dylan, Nick Drake, Joan Baez were<br />
amongst his favourites. The latter was the<br />
first he introduced me to after a very<br />
memorable incident on our first ever<br />
holiday together in Turkey ….. he saw that<br />
Joan Baez was playing live at Ephesus and<br />
his excitement was like that of a young<br />
puppy dog. It was when in all innocence I<br />
asked “who’s Joan Baez?” that it could have<br />
been one of those make or break moments,<br />
but to my eternal good fortune he rose to<br />
the challenge and my musical education<br />
Can anyone identify Geof 's team mates in this picture? Ed<br />
38
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
began sitting beside him on the stone steps<br />
of the Amphitheatre, holding a candle in<br />
one hand and a glass of wine in the other.<br />
Geof loved his days at Stationers’ and<br />
recognised the great education he received<br />
there. In particular his love of English<br />
Literature flourished and he stayed in<br />
touch with Clive (Blenkinsop) over time.<br />
He never stopped writing – using anything<br />
to hand to jot down ideas and observations<br />
for future use – post its, till receipts, back<br />
of fag packets… As well as being an avid<br />
letter writer, he loved writing poetry – his<br />
anthology of poems being collated latterly<br />
into a book, “Of Mirrored Coffins”, by his<br />
daughter Kezia. **<br />
My brave, funny, clever, thoughtful,<br />
talented, passionate, unforgettable, unique<br />
and beautiful Husband Geof – “Little<br />
Geof ” - was the tallest 5 feet 2 and ¾ inch<br />
man you ever met.<br />
Judy Richmond - Geof ’s wife<br />
I’m seeking to open up Geof ’s work to as wide<br />
an audience as possible and, in the process,<br />
raise money in his name for our local Hospice,<br />
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and<br />
the RNLI - all three being very close to Geof ’s<br />
heart. Please do email me for details if you<br />
would like a copy at judy.moreton@hotmail.<br />
co.uk<br />
personal memories OF<br />
Geof Richmond<br />
As a young teacher at the school in 1966 I<br />
was assigned a number of classes, including<br />
a third form. (Modern year 9) taught, if<br />
memory serves, in Room 1 in the bottom<br />
corridor.<br />
They were a lively bunch and I quickly<br />
noticed a small, chubby boy sitting near<br />
the front with an alert interested expression.<br />
There was just the hint of a joke hovering<br />
over his face which one felt might erupt at<br />
any time. This was Geof Richmond who<br />
became a stalwart of the class. His hand<br />
was always ready to be raised in answer to<br />
a question and he was ever the first to<br />
volunteer to take any part in the class plays<br />
we were required to read. Often adopting a<br />
comic voice if needed! I remember the<br />
class with great affection and looked<br />
forward to their lively lessons.<br />
Over the course of school life, one tends to<br />
change allocated classes and to some extent<br />
I lost touch with Geof over the next few<br />
years. However, he came back into my<br />
sphere in the senior school when he<br />
volunteered to help with the stage<br />
management on the many annual plays the<br />
school produced. Of course, a certain<br />
amount of socialising went on after these<br />
events and Geof was more than happy to<br />
participate! Years later in a letter to me he<br />
recalled those periods of liquid refreshment<br />
where he met some of my friends both on<br />
the staff and outside the school. He could<br />
even recall their names and characters.<br />
Geof kept in touch after he left school and<br />
I looked forward to receiving his letters<br />
couched in his distinctive style with<br />
beautiful handwriting. He recounted the<br />
ups and downs of his life and updated me<br />
on his many interests which included<br />
growing his own vegetables, making jams<br />
and chutneys, writing poetry and books<br />
and painting. Truly a renaissance man!<br />
Geof always credited me with sparking his<br />
interest in words and literature. I’m sure<br />
there were other sources but if indeed I<br />
had some small part, I am proud of my<br />
contribution and how well it flourished in<br />
Geof.<br />
Sadly, although we kept in touch by letter,<br />
we rarely met in person. I think the last<br />
occasion I can recall was a Stationers class<br />
reunion at the Red Lion in Whitehall<br />
where he was very much as I remembered<br />
him enjoying a pint and a cigarette.<br />
His later years were blighted with health<br />
issues but he remained cheerful and still<br />
with the wry humour I had noted all those<br />
years ago.<br />
I shall cherish the memory of him and<br />
remember the pleasure he brought to my<br />
early years of teaching and to my many<br />
friends and colleagues.<br />
Clive Blenkinsop<br />
Stationer's English Department 1966-72<br />
I will always remember Geof as fiercely<br />
intelligent with a biting sense of humour, a<br />
passion for books and a love of Arsenal.<br />
He was an excellent wordsmith, a talent he<br />
honed over the years in his poetry and<br />
writing and in his letters to friends.<br />
He was an excellent footballer himself but<br />
my fondest memories are of times during<br />
our teenage years spent on the terraces at<br />
Highbury with friends from Stationers<br />
and Hornsey High School. RIP fellow<br />
Gooner.<br />
Francesca Thomas (nee Benn)<br />
Former pupil at Hornsey High School between<br />
1966 and 1972.<br />
I remember Geof very well and did from<br />
the first time I joined the school. While we<br />
differed in height we shared an equal<br />
passion for football, creative writing and<br />
the music scene.<br />
Geof was such a clever guy, very articulate,<br />
witty, sharp as a razor and there for his<br />
friends. We were both contributors to the<br />
school magazine and Geof encouraged me<br />
to write from the heart as I continue to do<br />
to this day. He was a big support to many<br />
of us at low times and loyalty ran through<br />
his veins.<br />
We enjoyed great times and parties with<br />
our mates from Stationers and the girls<br />
schools. A very happy time learning and<br />
growing up in the 60s.<br />
A great football captain for our year group.<br />
We all miss you mate and it was fantastic<br />
when we all got to meet you at reunions<br />
through Friends Reunited.<br />
Rest in eternal peace dear friend<br />
Stephen Newman<br />
George R A Copus<br />
1924 -2022<br />
Naval Officer. International Banker,<br />
Cricketer, RNR MA BSc Hons, FSCA,<br />
FCIB FCMI, who lived life to the full.<br />
He saw considerable sea service going to<br />
sea during the early years of World War<br />
Two serving as a Radio Officer in the<br />
difficult Atlantic crossings during the<br />
Battle of the Atlantic. Later, two years in<br />
the Mediterranean theatres of war aboard<br />
a support tanker in the landings in Sicily,<br />
Italy, and the South of France, carrying<br />
fuel oil, ammunition, soldiers and even<br />
water mainly for the landing craft with<br />
whom they spent most of their time.<br />
Occasionally high octane petrol for patrol<br />
craft and forward airfields. As he often<br />
remarked, they were invariably sitting on a<br />
rather explosive cargo!! However uniforms<br />
could always be dry-cleaned by dipping in<br />
a high octane tank and drying in the<br />
breeze, of course as long as you remembered<br />
39
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
not to smoke for a while!!<br />
He continued to serve at sea until 1950<br />
when he joined a large overseas bank 'The<br />
Chartered Bank' (now Standard Chartered<br />
Bank Group) an association he thoroughly<br />
enjoyed and of which he always spoke<br />
highly and most warmly.<br />
He had a great love of the sea and served<br />
for many happy years as a lieutenant in the<br />
Royal Naval Reserve which was always<br />
one of his great interests in life particularly<br />
the time spent as a signals officer at HMS<br />
Mercury where, apart from training and<br />
over a period of years, he managed to play<br />
a considerable amount of naval cricket.<br />
During his life he served in the UK and<br />
overseas - in India, Libya, Lebanon,<br />
Cyprus and Eastem Europe and travelled<br />
extensively to Canada, the Middle East,<br />
South Africa and the Soviet Union. At<br />
one time attending the International<br />
Banking Summer School at Moscow<br />
University. (Where he participated in what<br />
was mistakenly thought to have been the<br />
first game of cricket in Moscow).<br />
In 1974 he became an executive director of<br />
the Standard Chartered Merchant Bank<br />
with responsibilities for Corporate Finance,<br />
Special and Corporate Lending and Leasing<br />
and the development with his colleagues of<br />
a wide international presence based on the<br />
Group's global branch network.<br />
A highly successful period followed due,<br />
he insists, to his luck in having around him<br />
the highly skilled and motivated, (and he<br />
insisted the most tolerant) team that<br />
supported him.<br />
He also served as a non-executive director<br />
on the boards of many other companies<br />
and his seniority and expertise led in 1984<br />
to the Bank of England requesting he join<br />
the small team of banking experts they had<br />
put together to attempt the rescue of the<br />
much publicised troubled Johnson<br />
Matthey Bank. Its demise would almost<br />
certainly have had most serious<br />
consequences for the London Bullion<br />
Market and banking markets generally.<br />
The reorganisation and rescue of the bank<br />
was one of the most succesful ever<br />
undertaken in the City. This was followed<br />
by further directorships often where<br />
specialist attention was seen to be necessary.<br />
He had a wealth of stories to tell about his<br />
career. These included working in Cyprus<br />
during the violent intercommunal clashes<br />
between the ethnic Greek and the Turkish<br />
communities, working alongside Lonrho<br />
and its chief executive Tiny Rowland, in<br />
amongst other things, their bid to buy<br />
House of Fraser and Harrods, with<br />
Rowland's subsequent takeover battle with<br />
Al Fayed; and in the world of entertainment<br />
advising Sir Lew Grade, the great<br />
entrepreneur with his television, film and<br />
theatre empire of Associated Television<br />
(later ACC); also the unusual world of<br />
bullion banking the joys and problems of<br />
big ticket leasing, and invariably<br />
recognising and dealing with the effects of<br />
market misjudgements that led to the<br />
crisis and recession of the 1980's.<br />
With a first degree in economics and<br />
statistics he later decided to go further as a<br />
post-graduate to obtain a Masters degree<br />
in a subject which he was no stranger to,<br />
with his wealth of experience, that of<br />
strategic financial management and global<br />
economics.<br />
He became a visiting Fellow of the<br />
University of Durham Business School<br />
developing a close relationship which he<br />
enjoyed greatly and valued highly.<br />
He said he recognised that the world he<br />
was working in, however successful as it<br />
strove to encompass the global economic<br />
and vastly rewarding investment scene, was<br />
really at times too narrow and blinkered to<br />
the wider realities. He felt there was a<br />
danger of not relating lessons of the past to<br />
the new financial world unfolding with its<br />
greater freedoms but lesser constraints,<br />
and not recognizing the dangers inherent<br />
in a less regulated marketplace with<br />
unchecked dynamic and complex economic<br />
patterns fast emerging. How right he<br />
was!!!<br />
He chose to write his dissertation and later<br />
various papers on a topic he believed to be of<br />
considerable current interest and critical<br />
corncern, particularly to those in his own<br />
world of finance and international trade who<br />
he hoped would benefit from them. His<br />
subjects covered 'The Path to Globalisation,<br />
International Capital Markcts, the New<br />
Economy and the Complexity Paradigm.<br />
On which he would often speak based on<br />
the theme of 'Global Reality'. He went on in<br />
his later years to lecture and became an<br />
after-dinner speaker on these subjects (and<br />
if pushed hard on his early years at sea in the<br />
Battle of The Atlantic!!)<br />
George was very appreciative of the awards<br />
from the Bank of England: the Governor's<br />
Awards for his outstanding contribution in<br />
1985 aad 1988 and; 2015 the Joseph King<br />
Memorial Trophy for his outstanding<br />
contribution to International Banking.<br />
He had a passionate love of cricket (once<br />
taking ten wickets for eight runs) which he<br />
played at a high standard both at club and<br />
MCC level and he remained over many<br />
years actively, and latterly as a retired<br />
member, in the Royal Naval Reserve. He<br />
also was an active member of The Special<br />
Forces Club and The Naval Club.<br />
He was a liveryman of three City Livery<br />
Companies, The Worshipful Company of<br />
Makers of Playing Cards (pretty good he<br />
thought for a banker!). The Worshipful<br />
Company of International Bankers<br />
(providing a bit of a balance he would say)<br />
and to whom he had a close and valued<br />
relationship, and the Worshipful Company<br />
of Stationers and Newspaper Makers<br />
(whose school he had attended). He was<br />
also a Fellow of the Institute of Financial<br />
Services, The Association of International<br />
Accountants and The Chartered Institute<br />
of Management.<br />
Above all he loved his wife Deborah and<br />
his family dearly and was to be seen with,<br />
and supporting them at all opportunities.<br />
Delighting in their successes, whether<br />
canvassing for his eldest son Richard in<br />
parliamentary elections, the graduation of<br />
his daughter Anne in Interior Design, her<br />
happy marriage, and his younger son<br />
David's graduation with a Masters Degree<br />
at Durham University. Plus of course<br />
many cold and wet days watching them all<br />
at football, cricket, and lacrosse!!!... or just<br />
being together.<br />
He is survived by his wife Deborah, his<br />
daughter Anne, and his two sons, Richard<br />
and David; grandchildren, Melanie,<br />
Anthony, Dylan, Imogen, Piers, Charlie<br />
and Harry, and his great-grandchildren<br />
Elsie and Daisy.<br />
Deborah Copus Mrs D M T Copus<br />
40
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
Raymond Hind<br />
Raymond Hind died suddenly in<br />
November 2021. He was born in Muswell<br />
Hill in May 1945 and attended Crouch<br />
End Primary School.<br />
In June 1956 his parents received a letter<br />
from Mr. S.C. Nunn, Headmaster of The<br />
Stationers' Company's School, that he had<br />
passed the examination for entrance to the<br />
school.<br />
By the time he reached the Lower Sixth<br />
Form his aptitude for Applied and Pure<br />
Maths and Physics was quite clear,<br />
although he seemed not to have shone at<br />
Physical Education. In later life, however,<br />
he came to love playing golf and was a<br />
member of Royal Melbourne Golf Club.<br />
After leaving school he obtained a degree<br />
in mechanical engineering at the then<br />
Battersea College of Advanced Technology<br />
and was a member of the University Air<br />
Squadron.<br />
After graduating he initially joined the<br />
automotive industry, but soon realised it<br />
was not for him. He discovered Patents<br />
and joined the Patent Office as an<br />
Examiner, before realising that he would<br />
prefer private practice. He was employed<br />
by Mathisen and Macara, whose Senior<br />
Partner was the late John Macara, himself<br />
an Old Stationer who encouraged<br />
Raymond to subscribe to the magazine.<br />
Raymond became a partner at a relatively<br />
young age.<br />
Although he was very happy he felt he<br />
needed a new challenge and in 1982 with<br />
wife and two young children migrated to<br />
Australia and brought his British and<br />
European expertise to Davies Collison<br />
Cave in Melbourne where he became a<br />
partner and enjoyed the rest of his working<br />
life.<br />
In latter years and into retirement he also<br />
taught in the law schools of both Monash<br />
and Melbourne Universities, the latter in<br />
the Masters of Law. Davies Collison Cave<br />
are currently setting up an award at<br />
Melbourne University in his name.<br />
We returned almost every year to the UK<br />
to see family and friends, and in 2014 we<br />
visited both the site of the school in<br />
Hornsey and also Stationers' Hall in<br />
London, where we were kindly given a<br />
guided tour.<br />
Raymond was very much loved and<br />
respected by his work colleagues and in the<br />
wider profession. He will be missed by all<br />
his friends and especially his<br />
wife, two daughters, their partners and<br />
four grandchildren.<br />
Mary Hind<br />
Dear Tim<br />
Subsequent to my obituary for my husband<br />
and Old Stationer. I’m now writing to tell<br />
you that on Monday 13th June, which we<br />
celebrated here in Australia as the Queen’s<br />
Birthday with a long weekend, my late<br />
husband was awarded the honour of an<br />
AM, as a Member of the Order of<br />
Australia:<br />
‘Raymond Hind AM. For significant<br />
service to intellectual property law.’<br />
I expect it is too late to be included in the<br />
newsletter but I recall you mentioned the<br />
website.<br />
Thank you very much.<br />
Kind regards<br />
Mary Hind<br />
Robert Coulter<br />
He grew up in Muswell Hill, North<br />
London, the youngest of 3 children to<br />
Joan and Robert Coulter. The son of<br />
teachers, Robert enjoyed life long learning<br />
and had a strong work ethic. As a result of<br />
his academic ability, he was selected to<br />
attend the Stationers’ Company's School,<br />
one of the elite livery schools established<br />
by the City of London guilds in the 1800s.<br />
Robert was an academic rather than a<br />
sports buff, and elected to study latin and<br />
history, as well as the usual grammar<br />
school subjects. He made many good<br />
friends during his school days from 1960<br />
to 1967 and became known for his bridge<br />
and crossword skills more so than his latin.<br />
Despite his travels to the far ends of the<br />
earth, Robert remained proud of his<br />
English heritage and made great efforts to<br />
keep in touch with his school friends. In<br />
fact he was on a Zoom call with seven aged<br />
school friends from his hospital bed only a<br />
few days before the end and still managed<br />
to give a great performance. As his<br />
childhood friend, Simon Kusseff says<br />
“Robert was good company, had a twinkle<br />
in his eye and with his dry sense of humor,<br />
had the ability to put people at ease”.<br />
Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered<br />
Surveyors, Robert had a long, established<br />
career in commercial real estate. It was a<br />
love match when he met Daphne at work<br />
in London. Soon married and moved to<br />
Canada two weeks later. Both were<br />
engaged in the Rotary Club in Canada and<br />
developed long lasting friendships that<br />
were nurtured to this day. Robert and<br />
Daphne raised three children together in<br />
Canada, before moving to Phoenix,<br />
Arizona.<br />
Simon Westbrook, a school friend, was the<br />
best man at the wedding, and thought he<br />
might never see Robert and Daphne again<br />
as they sped off after the event in his<br />
yellow TR6 convertible. What a surprise<br />
to find that a few years later they would<br />
both be living in the same country again:<br />
Simon in California and Robert in Arizona<br />
where they exchanged regular family visits<br />
He loved to travel and experience life;<br />
from kayaking in Iceland to herding<br />
buffalo in Wyoming. He loved the opera<br />
and was on the board of directors for the<br />
Arizona Opera using his skills in finance<br />
to further the arts. He loved being<br />
challenged at work and was often involved<br />
in multiple businesses simultaneously, even<br />
taking a business call the day he died. He<br />
loved orchids and made his own jams/<br />
41
marmalades and limoncello. He was a<br />
consummate entertainer and always wore<br />
brightly (loud) colored shirts and loved to<br />
have people over for feasts where all would<br />
eat and drink wine, and be merry. Robert<br />
loved his food and wines and we all loved<br />
his cooking especially his steak and kidney<br />
pie and his fish pie. The world will not be<br />
the same without them!<br />
He is survived by his wife, Daphne, his<br />
children, Patricia, Alysson, and John, two<br />
grand-daughters, Aurora and Lucy, and his<br />
two sisters, Anne and Margaret, his sisterin-law,<br />
Ethylin, and his brother-in-law,<br />
Nigel, and his nieces and nephews.<br />
Simon Westbrook<br />
To the Coulter Family<br />
Please accept my sincere condolences on<br />
Robert's death.<br />
I along with my other year mates at<br />
Stationer's school, got to know Robert in<br />
the sixth form. He was a very good bridge<br />
player and several of us formed a bridge<br />
group that would play at lunch time.<br />
In those days, Robert was also very keen<br />
on bar billiards and pool and had a billiard<br />
table at home. He used to invite me and<br />
doubtless others, to play pool at the family<br />
home, in Muswell hill. There I met both<br />
his parents and one of his sisters, who was<br />
a nurse.<br />
His parents were teachers and his mother<br />
taught at Rokesly Junior school, where my<br />
sister was a pupil of hers.<br />
Sometimes, Robert and I and my sister,<br />
went to the cinema or theatre and when I<br />
was at university, Robert used to take my<br />
sister out.<br />
Robert was good company, had a twinkle<br />
in his eye and with his dry sense of<br />
humour, had the ability to put people at<br />
their ease. He decided to become a surveyor<br />
and moved into the world of property.<br />
Not sure where he met Daphne, but it was<br />
a love match, so when she moved to<br />
Canada, he followed her.<br />
After that, I lost touch with Robert and it<br />
was only through Simon Westbrook that I<br />
learnt Robert and Daphne had moved to<br />
Arizona.<br />
When Robert Bird started the monthly<br />
zoom calls a number of old stationers were<br />
able to see Robert again and it was only<br />
recently that Robert told us that Daphne<br />
had gone into a home, due to her memory<br />
issues.<br />
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 9 5<br />
So when we saw Robert speaking to us<br />
from his hospital bed, it was a bit of a<br />
shock and it did not seem appropriate to<br />
enquire too deeply into what was wrong. It<br />
was a sad farewell, but one hopes it was<br />
some comfort to Robert.<br />
Best wishes<br />
Simon Kusseff<br />
Terry Miller<br />
1 November 1935 to 26 July 2021<br />
Vera was Terry’s second wife. They<br />
married in 1988. Terry had worked for<br />
Pearl Insurance for 30 years and took early<br />
retirement when Pearl announced their<br />
relocation to Peterborough.<br />
Terry’s hobby was photography and using<br />
a video recorder. He and Vera relocated<br />
themselves to Bournemouth. Here they<br />
set up their own business specialising in<br />
wedding videos and photographs, which<br />
was very successful for 25 years.<br />
In their early courtship Terry took Vera to<br />
the site of what is now Stationer's Park. At<br />
that time the building had been demolished<br />
and was just a pile of bricks. To Vera’s<br />
astonishment Terry burst into tears.<br />
Something she wasn’t used to! She<br />
collected some of the bricks and<br />
incorporated them into a garden feature.<br />
(Has anyone else such a physical memory<br />
of the old school?)<br />
Vera still remembers the unannounced<br />
visit of the then magazine editor in 2012<br />
and still has the letter that Geraint wrote<br />
to Terry afterwards.<br />
Forwarded by Roger Engledow<br />
Bereavement<br />
notices<br />
Geoff Magnus<br />
I have received the sad news, from John<br />
Leeming and Mary Pryor, that former<br />
member of staff, Geoff Magnus has died. I<br />
don’t know if Geoff was an OSA member?<br />
Perhaps you could put the following notice<br />
on the Obit page of the website, please.<br />
We are sad to report that former member<br />
of staff, Geoff Magnus has passed away.<br />
We think he joined the School in about<br />
1980 and taught Economics and Business<br />
Studies, with some Maths. He moved to<br />
Langham with the merger of 1983.<br />
Ed<br />
Rodney Dennison<br />
Good evening Tim,<br />
I am writing to inform you that Rodney<br />
Dennison passed away in February. Rodney<br />
was not, I believe, a member of the OSA,<br />
but he attended the school from 1956-61,<br />
and attended some of our 56 intake<br />
reunions. If notice of his passing could be<br />
included in the next magazine, I feel<br />
certain that many of his compatriots would<br />
appreciate it.<br />
Kind regards<br />
Keith Mullender<br />
Derek Stevens<br />
We have been informed by Graham<br />
Rapley that Derek Stevens died just before<br />
Christmas. We send our condolences to<br />
his family.<br />
Ed<br />
42
T he e Oll d S t a tii o nee r -- N o 9955<br />
Minutes of the 2022 AGM OF THE Old Stationers’ Association<br />
Present: Stephen Collins (President) in the chair,<br />
Peter Thomas (Hon. Secretary),<br />
Peter Winter (Hon. Treasurer)<br />
Together with 8 other Committee members and 22 ordinary members.<br />
1. Minutes of the AGM held on Friday 26th March 2021 (circulated to all members in ‘The Old Stationer’<br />
Magazine No. 93 – July 2021 edition).<br />
The minutes of the AGM held virtually on Zoom on Friday 26th March 2021 were approved on a vote taken<br />
on the proposal of Tony Hemmings, seconded by David Hudson.<br />
2. President's Address See attached report.<br />
3. Hon Treasurers Report See attached report.<br />
It was proposed by David Turner and seconded by Dan Bone and resolved that the report and audited accounts<br />
for the year ending 31st December 2021 be approved. A vote was held for Membership subscriptions to remain<br />
at the current level for 2023. It was proposed by Stephen Collins, seconded by Peter Sandell, and resolved that<br />
the Membership subscription rate will remain at £15.00 for 2023.<br />
4. Election of Officers and Committee<br />
Nominations were invited for the Association’s Officers and Committee for 2022/2023. The following<br />
members were duly proposed, seconded, and elected:<br />
Elected Proposer Seconder<br />
President Daniel Bone Stephen Collins Peter Thomas<br />
Vice-President Robin Baker Daniel Bone Tim Westbrook<br />
Hon Secretary Peter Thomas Roger Melling Tony Hemmings<br />
Hon Treasurer Peter Winter David Turner Peter Sandell<br />
Hon Membership Secretary Roger Engledow Tony Hemmings Roger Melling<br />
Hon Editor Tim Westbrook Daniel Bone Peter Thomas<br />
Events Managers Peter Sandell Peter Thomas Tony Hemmings<br />
Roger Melling Tony Mash Andrew Forrow<br />
Hon Archivist David Turner Tim Westbrook Roger Engledow<br />
Ordinary Members<br />
Andreas Christou<br />
Peter Bothwick Graham Ellis Chris Williams<br />
Tony Hemmings<br />
5. Election of Honorary Auditors<br />
It was proposed by David Turner, seconded by Nigel Wade, and resolved that David Cox and Chris Langford<br />
be elected as Honorary Auditors.<br />
6. Any other urgent business<br />
There being no further business, the Annual General Meeting closed at 12.15pm.<br />
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS AT AGM, APRIL 2022<br />
Fellow Old Stationers,<br />
It has been an honour to have been your President over the past two years, the only over-one-year Presidency since<br />
the War. Of course, the first year was heavily constrained by the pandemic, but we did manage to have a few Zoom<br />
presentations, which I hope may continue from time to time, and we also managed a few guided walks around the sites<br />
of the School and its predecessor in Bolt Court – again, possibly to be repeated. We also at last achieved the installation<br />
of a plaque marking the site of the School in Mayfield Road.<br />
All the regular events have taken place in person since last year’s virtual AGM bar the Annual Lunch, which was<br />
postponed to June, and the May lunch which did not happen. President’s Day was slightly marred by the lack of a<br />
cricket match, but the tribute to the late Gordon Rose made up for that. And plans are afoot to ensure that this year’s<br />
President’s Day, to be presided over by Dan Bone (if elected!), will appropriately mark the 50th anniversary of the first<br />
43
T he e Oll d S t a tii o nee r -- N o 9955<br />
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING<br />
match between a President’s Eleven and, initially, the OSA First Eleven and later the Botany Bay Cricket Club.<br />
The other singularity about the past two years has been the unavailability of Stationers’ Hall. But we have been ably<br />
served by Cutlers’ Hall in the interim, and look forward to returning to our spiritual home for regular events once it<br />
reopens in July. We hope that space will be made available in the Tokefield Centre, or somewhere else suitable in the<br />
building, for our archives once the Hall reopens, and that the Headmasters’ portraits will once again be displayed, along<br />
with the Carpenter painting of the School.<br />
As you will hear from the Treasurer, our finances are in a strong position, bolstered by bequests received or due from<br />
Sir John Sparrow and Peter Sargent. But our membership has fallen decisively below the 500 level that was maintained<br />
for many years as the average age of members advances. In consequence we will be making a concerted effort to attract<br />
new members from the so-called Comprehensive generation, beginning with a New Members event on May 14th.<br />
Subsidising that event is one example of how we are using the bequest funds in a controlled manner; another is to<br />
subsidise longer issues of the magazine from time to time.<br />
The Committee has met assiduously throughout the two years, initially by Zoom and more recently in person, and it<br />
only remains for me to thank the Committee for their unfailing support over that period. All the office holders have<br />
done an outstanding job, but I want to pay particular tribute to our Secretary, Peter Thomas, for his hard work and<br />
excellent advice. I am sure that our next President will also benefit from the support of the strong and experienced<br />
Committee that I hope will be elected shortly.<br />
Thank you for your attention.<br />
Stephen Collins President 2020/22<br />
Honorary Treasurer’s Report<br />
For the year ENDED 31st December 2021<br />
Attached are the audited 2021 accounts, which are presented in a simpler clearer format, for which I thank the<br />
auditors. Our Association remains a going concern with a healthy bank balance of more than three years subscription<br />
income. Significant points to note on changes from 2020 are:<br />
Increased Costs:<br />
• Planned increased spend on two 64 page magazines during the lockdown period: returned to the normal 48 pages<br />
for Magazine 94.<br />
• One off spend on web site improvements, plus an increase in ongoing annual costs of maintaining the web site,<br />
totalling £1383 (£185 in 2020)<br />
• Presidents Day Expenses of £216.<br />
Offset by:<br />
• The receipt of a generous bequest of £10,000 from the estate of Sir John Sparrow, £1,821 of which has been<br />
transferred to the Accumulated General Fund for the increased magazine costs<br />
• Reduced Archiving activity at £101 (£830 in 2020)<br />
• Small overall profit on lunches/dinners of £166<br />
Giving an outcome of:<br />
• Overall loss of £1900 on OSA activities<br />
• Total reserves up £8100.<br />
We fully implemented BACS from February, which has made the management of the accounts easier, quicker and<br />
cheaper. It is likely we will be operating at a small, but affordable, deficit in 2022 as there are some cost uncertainties<br />
for events until the Hall refurbishment is complete.<br />
Once again we are grateful to Chris Langford and David Cox who have acted as Honorary Auditors.<br />
Recommendations<br />
1. The accounts are accepted<br />
2. The subscription level for 2022 remains unchanged at £15 per annum.<br />
3. Chris Langford and David Cox should be reappointed as Honorary Auditors for 2022.<br />
Peter Winter Honorary Treasurer<br />
44
T he e Oll d S t a tii o nee r -- N o 9955<br />
As at 31st December 2021<br />
ASSETS<br />
31.12.21 31.12.20<br />
£ £ £ £<br />
Cash at bank on current account 2,205 3,979<br />
Cash on deposit account 23,004 13,002<br />
Total cash at bank 25,209 16,981<br />
Stock of ties & badges 1,165 1,249<br />
Stock of books and programmes 396 417<br />
The Carpenter Painting 1,077 1,077<br />
Display Cabinet 200 200<br />
2,837 2,942<br />
Debtors<br />
Payment in advance magazine 94 480 480<br />
Less Creditors<br />
Christmas lunch (682) 0<br />
2022 subscriptions in advance (158) (250)<br />
Treasurer's expenses 0 (87)<br />
(360) (337)<br />
TOTAL ASSETS 27,687 19,587<br />
REPRESENTED BY:<br />
Memorial Fund (Embleton) 1,701 1,701<br />
Accumulated General Fund 15,998 16,077<br />
Contingencies Reserve (note 2) 1,809 1,809<br />
Bequest Fund (note 3) 8,179 0<br />
19,587 19,007<br />
NOTES<br />
1 Regails and Cups<br />
The OSA also has in its possession a number of items of regalia and cups. It is not proposed to<br />
show these on the face of the accounts, but the value for insurance purposes is £2,950.<br />
2 Contingencies reserve<br />
was created from past provisions for luncheon and annual dinner costs no longer required. It is to<br />
be used to subsidise these events this year (Nil) and in future years.<br />
3 Bequest Fund<br />
The OSA received a bequest from Sir John Sparrow during the year of £10,000. £1,821 has been<br />
transferred to the Accumulated Fund to offset the increased costs of the two larger magazines<br />
produced during lockdown. Any future Bequests will be added to this fund.<br />
Peter Winter Treasurer<br />
DETAILED Balance Sheet<br />
Auditors Report<br />
In our opinion the above Balance sheet and related Statements of Income and Expenditure, Accumulated Fund<br />
and Memorial Fund present a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Old Stationers’ Association as at<br />
31st December 2021 and of the surplus of income over expenditure for the year.<br />
C Langford, D Cox<br />
45
T he e Oll d S t a tii o nee r -- N o 9955<br />
DETAILED Funds Summary<br />
Year ended 31st December 2021 31.12.21 31.12.20<br />
£ £<br />
MEMORIAL FUND 1,701 1,701<br />
Accumulated Surplus on Memorial Fund 1,701 1,701<br />
ACCUMULATED GENERAL FUND<br />
Balance per Accounts 31.12.20 b/fwd 16,077 15,403<br />
Add surplus on Ordinary Activities (1,864) 545<br />
Add Surplus/Deduct Deficit on other activities (35) 35<br />
Add Transfer from contingencies reserve & Bequests Funds 1,821 94<br />
1,785 129<br />
Accumulated Surplus on ordinary activities 15,998 16,077<br />
CONTINGENCIES RESERVE (note 2)<br />
Balance per accounts 31st December 2020 b/fwd 1,809 1,903<br />
Transfer to General Fund, re Dinner and Lunches 0 (94)<br />
Total Contingencies Reserve 1,809 1,903<br />
BEQUESTS FUND (note 3)<br />
Balance per accounts 31st December 2020 b/fwd 0 0<br />
Bequests Received 10,000 0<br />
Transfer to General Fund, re Magazine costs 1,821 0<br />
Total Bequests Fund 8,179 0<br />
TOTAL OSA FUNDS AT 31.12.2021 27,687 19,587<br />
GENERAL FUND<br />
Income & Expenditure Account Year ended 31st December 2021<br />
31.12.21 31.12.20<br />
ORDINARY ACTIVITIES £ £ £ £<br />
Income<br />
Member Subscriptions 7,244 7,454<br />
Bank interest 2 11<br />
7,246 7,265<br />
Expenditure<br />
Magazine costs 7,431 5,642<br />
Website & Admin costs 1,680 1,279<br />
9,110 6,920<br />
Surplus on Ordinary Activities (1,864) 545<br />
OTHER ACTIVITIES<br />
Tie, scarves and blazer badge sales net-cost/income 32 73<br />
Past President’s badge and tie at cost 0 (27)<br />
Tie for Master at cost 17 0<br />
Net Surplus on dinner and luncheon club 166 94<br />
President's Day expenses (216) 0<br />
Surplus on walks 0 83<br />
Surplus on other activities 35 35<br />
Bequest received 10,000 0<br />
SURPLUS INCOME OVER (EXPENDITURE) FOR YEAR 8,100 580<br />
46
OSA PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION 2022 – “WATER”<br />
We had a total of 48 entries from 20 Old Stationers for the<br />
last OSA Photographic Competition which had as its topic<br />
“Animals”. This was a great response. So, whether you are an<br />
experienced photographer, or just one who takes the<br />
occasional photograph with your mobile phone, this is the<br />
photographic competition for you. Any OSA member can<br />
enter up to three photographs which they should have taken.<br />
The theme this time is “Water”. It could be photographs of<br />
static water such as ponds and lakes; moving water such as<br />
rivers, seas, waves, waterfalls etc; birds drinking; dogs<br />
shaking off water after being in it; or anything else that<br />
looks interesting and attractive. We are only limited by our<br />
imagination.<br />
To Enter<br />
Each photograph should have an “interesting” title, relevant<br />
to the theme, and be accompanied by the sender’s name,<br />
postal address and telephone number.<br />
Send your digital or scanned photographs<br />
(colour or black and white – or<br />
even sepia), as a 300 DPI JPEG file, to<br />
Tony Moffat at: a.moffat@ucl.ac.uk<br />
For those of the “old school” without<br />
access to a scanner; send hard copy<br />
photographs, which will be scanned<br />
and then returned to you, to: Tony<br />
Moffat, 22 Pig Lane, St Ives, PE27<br />
5NL. Please use a piece of cardboard in<br />
the envelope to protect the photographs.<br />
Closing date<br />
31st October 2022. Entries will be acknowledged by email,<br />
telephone or post.<br />
Image editing<br />
Images may be digitally enhanced to optimise a photograph,<br />
remove scratches etc, but significant elements of the picture<br />
should not be added or removed.<br />
Judging<br />
Judging will be carried out by a panel of judges who will be<br />
using the following criteria: composition, originality,<br />
interpretation of the theme, technical quality and most<br />
importantly – how does your entry stand out from the<br />
crowd. Like referees’ decisions, some people may disagree<br />
with the judges’ decision, but their decision is final.<br />
Prizes<br />
The winner will be announced in the January 2023 edition<br />
of The Old Stationer and will receive a<br />
bottle of champagne at the AGM in<br />
March 2023 when some of the entries<br />
will be displayed.<br />
Publication of Entries<br />
By submitting an entry, you agree that<br />
the photograph(s) may be published in<br />
The Old Stationer and on the OSA<br />
web site.<br />
Queries<br />
Any queries, please contact Tony<br />
Moffat at the email address above or by<br />
telephone on 01480 764285.<br />
Go on - have a go. Looking through<br />
your old photographs will be fun anyway. If you don’t have<br />
anything suitable, why not go out and take some.<br />
Tony Moffat and Peter Thomas<br />
PUZZLE SOLUTIONS<br />
chemical SUDOKU<br />
WORD SEARCH<br />
Anagrams<br />
1. GEORGE LAZENBY<br />
2. DANIEL CRAIG<br />
3. ROGER MOORE<br />
4. TIMOTHY DALTON<br />
5. DAVID NIVEN<br />
6. SEAN CONNERY<br />
7. PIERCE BROSNAN
The Old Stationers’ Association