NEWSLETTER JULY 2009

An Adobe PDF version of this newsletter is available here.

Items in this newsletter:

Cookery class    David Mills    Jock Learmonth's knee-capping    Parents' meetings    Peter Lance Projects    Staff retirements    Staff v Old Boys' sport    Top Gear    Mr Tucker

EDITOR WRITES:

We now have the email addresses of about 1400 OWs and have recently sent an email to these OWs with some news of OW activities and also the RGS. If you did not receive such an email and would like to receive an email from us about 4 times a year, please send your email address to ianrclarkuk@yahoo.co.uk. If you are in contact with some fellow OWs, please pass the word on.

ANNUAL DINNER

Next year's Annual Dinner is arranged for Saturday 8th May. Do put the date in your diary.

STAFF RETIREMENTS

Steve Gamester and David Stone, both OWs, are retiring this year. Steve has taught Geography at the RGS since 1973, and been much involved in sport. He has run the Boarding-House since 1983. David has taught Maths since 1975 and has again showed enormous commitment to Cricket and Hockey. We wish them much happiness in their retirement. We hope to pay tribute to them in the next newsletter. It was great to see about 30 boarders come back to the School to join the Staff party to bid farewell to Steve and David.

GOLF

The Annual Match between OWs and RGS Staff took place on June 26th. In spite of a grim weather forecast, the match was played in lovely conditions. The Staff won by five matches to none. It was great to see three OWs playing for the first time.

OW Team

• Martin Priestley, Stephen John, Roger File, Andrew Heavyside, Nick Ball, Russell Emmett, David Chamberlain, Ian Clark. The last two were of course Teachers not OWs.
• In the Staff Team, Ian Wilson, Mike Moffatt, both retired teachers, Steve Gamester, who retires this year and Mike Earl, who has taught at the RGS since the 1970s, played.

PHOTOS

Can you put names to the photographs?

CRICKET

MATCH AGAINST THE STAFF

On a lovely, warm summer's evening, the OW team played a 20 overs match against the Staff Team. It was a close-fought game, with the OWs reaching their target with just one ball to go, thanks to a splendid innings of 91* by James Nicholas.

OW Team: Russell Bowry, Dave Chapman, James Nicholas, Richard Royce, Manoj Sharma, Matt Sutcliffe, Hash Hussain, Adam Francis, Philip Wideson, and Luc Walker

MATCH AGAINST THE 1ST TEAM

It was very unfortunate that the OW match against the 1st XI was called off. We hope that the game will be played next year.

If you are a cricketer, golfer, hockey-player or shooter, and would like to receive details of future matches, please contact Ian Clark. (ianrclarkuk@yahoo.co.uk)

Can you put names to the photograph? (Apologies for missing out some of the players!)

Sad News

Dear Ian

It is with regret I have to report the death of my uncle Paul Kirwan (1945 - 1953) on 12 July.

Paul was a regular attendee at the Club's annual dinner and was always proud of having been to RGS. His first term at the school coincided with the final term of his future brother-in-law - Ray White (1940 - 1945).

Dad reports that he cannot recall encountering Paul at school. Paul had a very finely developed sense of humour and was a master at the art of insult although he was always self-deprecating along with this and Dad thinks he probably reckoned it was best to steer clear of a senior prefect, particularly as Dad was already going out with Paul's elder sister. As my mother subsequently became an infant school teacher, perhaps it was her he did not wish to cross rather than Dad.

Paul did well academically at school, winning an Exhibition In Modern Languages to Jesus College Cambridge. After university and National Service he became a librarian ending up as chief librarian to the Treasury.

Paul clearly made some impression on the staff while he was at RGS, a fact which was brought home to me vividly on my first day at school in 1968. My twin brother Daniel and I (1968-1975) were put in separate classes in our first year and I happily ended up in 1E with Mervyn Davies as my form master. On our first day, Mervyn dealt rapidly with the various administrative tasks and then asked which of us had relations who had been or were still at school. About half that of a dozen of us put up our hands and Mervyn worked his way round the room identifying fairly easily from boys' names brothers who had recently left or who were in forms further up the school.

Eventually he turned to me, grinned and asked "are you related to Paul Kirwan at all?" " Yes sir" I replied, " he's my uncle." " Thought so" said Mervyn " you look just like he did at your age."

Paul was particularly pleased when my son, also named Daniel after Paul's father, who is currently about to start year 10 (that's the fourth form in real money) joined the school.

Kind regards

Crispin White (1968 -1975)

DO YOU REMEMBER MR TUCKER?

Dr Hugh S Platt OBE, TD, OStJ, L/QHP, BSc, MD, FRCPath, FRCP, FRCOphth(Hon) (1947 to 1953) records his anecdotes pertaining to E R Tucker MA, Headmaster of RGS:

I suspect that we all have our personal anecdotes about Mr Tucker from our time under his tutelage at the Royal Grammar School High Wycombe. As the years pass the school memories sharpen into focus. At my present age, seventy five years, I wish to relate four anecdotes that serve to illustrate the character of this good, pragmatic and surely great, Headmaster.

My first experience of Mr Tucker was when I came as a boarder to the School House in exchange with another pupil who moved to London. To date mine had been both a miserable and unsuccessful school career apart from one brief exception. The first night in the Junior dorm of School House induced a severe bout of homesickness, relieved for a moment by the light that gleamed through the frosted glass of the loo window, which at that time I thought were the lights of London, my home. It was only later that I realised that they came from street lamps of Terriers village.

Next morning at the first assembly of the new School Year one was awestruck by the figure of Tucker gowned and mortar boarded on the stage in complete control of some 600 pupils and the staff. At the end of prayers he asked that if any boy did not know which Form to go to then they were to meet him at the bottom of the stage stairs. I, having failed the 11+ exam and not having been a pupil for the first year at RGS, had no idea of my place, as was the case for one other lad. He was quickly sent on his way by Tucker. I was very apprehensive as I knew that Tucker must have seen my terrible reports from a nameless London public school, fortunately redeemed by one good report when attending a Grammar school in Hipperholme Yorkshire, where I had been sent for a term at the height of the Flying bombs and V2's. A granite building situated on the moors, and where after a game of rugby, it took at least 24 hours to recover parts of one's shrunken anatomy (such was the wind and the cold). It was a school that knew how to encourage disengaged pupils.

Tucker looked down upon me from the top of the steps and said, in spite of the evidence he must have seen, that if I had one tenth of the brains of my father, then I would do alright, so off to the Express Form. This decision from a man who I later discovered was reputed to have said "cleverness is not hereditary; my two daughters are duds". However for me personally this was one of the most important decisions in my life and from that day surrounded by far brighter students I never looked back. For this judgment on Tucker's part I have been and always will be eternally grateful.

My second anecdote relates to an episode that occurred in the School House when a watch went missing and was thought to have been stolen. That morning Tucker had every School House boy come to him, while he sat in the Common room by the half sized billiard table and asked them to empty their pockets, before they went off to school Assembly. The outcome of this search was that a huge pile of unused toilet paper accumulated on the billiard table but no watch was discovered. The fact was that in those days though the toilets in the school were clean they were too often devoid of paper, and so we as boarders every day stuffed an appropriate number of sheets of paper into our pocket in case of need, when in fact given the post war diet there was little need. From then on toilet paper did appear in the school toilets. Tucker was always prepared to see justice; He would draw his own conclusions which he would act upon. Nowadays of course there is no such problem since most children I know of who attend a range of schools across the country tell me that they do not use their school toilets from the beginning to the end of the school day because they are generally in such an unhygienic state.

The third event occurred, I think in 1947, when one Monday morning Tucker requested that all the fifth and sixth form boarders come and sit in the Common room and listen to a speaker on what was then so called a wireless but is now referred to as radio, at 9 AM. The speaker in fact was Alistair Cooke and thereafter every Monday we listened to this man delivering one those wonderful "Letters from America". This again was an example of Tucker's intuition as to our educational needs. He saw fully the potential of these broadcasts in broadening our education and I suspect many of us continued to listen to them until Alistair Cooke died.

Tucker, as we know, was a lay preacher and every Sunday evening all boarders from the three Houses would congregate in the School hall. Seated and shuffling we would wait to hear the swish of Tucker's gown behind us as he entered the back of the hall, we would rise from our seats and he would stride onto the stage or occasionally remain at floor level. Every Sunday we would receive a sermon. Many homilies were delivered and we, because we were callow youths, generally ignored or giggled over these truths. Somehow though what was said remained deposited in our minds and over the years one has come to appreciate that most of what he said has come to pass.

The one truth that I'm currently grappling with concerns the story of two men, one was a medical doctor, the other was a professional person and they both acquired the same life-threatening condition. The doctor soon succumbed to his condition knowing all about it he assumed the inevitability of the outcome. The professional person, ignorant of matters medical, decided to fight the condition and indeed he survived. As a retired Doctor or as the General Medical Council Register would now have it "Voluntarily Erased", I hang on to Tucker's aphorisms and having been "Voluntary Erased" by the GMC, I hope to become an ordinary mortal when the time comes to cope with the inevitable.

Thank you and bless you, Mister Tucker for your decisions and your homilies.

Ed: What memories do you have of Mr Tucker? Do send them in!

DID YOU SEE THE ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN?

Ian Whitwham (1956-1963) wrote an article about Parents' Evenings. Here are some extracts:

When I was a teacher, parents' nights were a revelation. I could see where the kids got it from ...

Another parents' meeting rolls around. I've attended them as a pupil, teacher and parent. They're not easy gigs. I was a pupil at the Royal Grammar School High Wycombe in the 50s and parents' meetings were no fun at all. I was scared. Mother was petrified. She'd left school at 12 and regarded my masters as Old Testament prophets. They sat in rows like crows in robes of academe. We moved along their severe patrician stares. "Tus" Shepherd - geography - gave us 10 seconds of his attention.

"Wigwam? Who? Ah! Yes! Satis! Good on Venezuela." "Thank you." "Next!" "Chunk" Jones - French - just raged: "I would rather teach a vegetable!" Mother thanked him for his deliberations - and had a quiet sob. We tottered off for a few more callous judgments and left punch-drunk with insult.

Ed: What are your memories of Parents' Evenings at the RGS, either as a pupil, parent or teacher? Do send us your memories.

DAVID MILLS(1961-68)

Graham Smith emailed recently to say that he had just learned of the death of an OW, David Mills, who was an exact contemporary, and good friend of his; he was at the School 1961-68. He was a very talented artist and would probably be remembered by quite a lot old boys and masters of that era. He wrote about David, and this is reproduced below:

Although David and I were exact contemporaries at the RGS, I did not become aware of him until at the age of around 14 he exhibited in the school a magnificent painting of St Mark's Square, in the style of Canaletto. It disclosed an artist of rare talent. During his time at the RGS David designed the covers of three issues of The Wycombiensian. One was a detailed line drawing of a corner of the (then) new Quadrangle and foreshadowed many architectural illustrations. David later contributed to a number of books on local history. There was also a leafy design, used twice, that, with its echoes of "flower power", truly embodied the spirit of the Sixties.

David and I became friends when we ended up in the same Sixth Form class, both studying geography. His maps were superb, his drawings of geographical features better than those in the textbook. But as well as being a talented artist he was full of fun with an eccentric, zany, sense of humour. This came out superbly in his cartoons. As well as contributing these to The Wycombiensian he also posted impromptu efforts on the classroom wall. One of these portrayed the Headmaster, Malcolm Smith, not totally inaccurately, with rips in his gown, popping buttons and unruly hair and bore the caption: "I abhor scruffiness in my boys". When it was swiftly taken down and carried away by John Weekes (our form-master) we feared the worst, only to discover later that it had been put up in the staff room and even more appreciated there.

During the Sixth Form David and I, and many others, produced a satirical wall newspaper, heavily based on Private Eye. Unfailingly David produced not only the best artwork but also the best jokes. I can still remember the punchlines.

After studying geography at Leicester and landscape architecture at Manchester, David worked for the well-known landscape architect Sylvia Crowe in London. During this period he and I shared a flat in Putney and I have treasured memories of his vocal impressions of Andy Williams and his startling vocal and visual impersonation of David Bowie.

David then moved to Nottingham where he worked for Nottinghamshire County Council as a landscape architect until his early retirement on health grounds last year. In 1984 he entered and won a Sunday Times competition to design a small front garden, which was then built and exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show. It included a bird bath in the shape of a cat on its back, which David dubbed his "upside-down moggy birdbath" - a typical David Mills touch.

After an early marriage and divorce in 2003 David married Jane, whom he had known for many years. He leaves her and her daughter Francesca, and is much missed.

Graham Smith

Note: While writing this piece I researched David on the Internet and discovered that he had contributed images of an enormous numbers of his paintings to a website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/david-thor/. A quick look will confirm that David was indeed a remarkable artist.

zoo keeper to elephant..."That WAS a nasty cough Eric,"

Dear Ian

I am in receipt of your recent OW newsletter and write to advise you that sadly, my father, Derek Parkinson passed away on the 22nd September 2008 aged 68. He battled against cancer for 2 years losing his fight four years after his wife had died of the same evil disease.

I know that he was always very proud of his association with The RGS and talked very fondly of his time there. Both my brothers Dale and Mark are old boys but fortunately for me I escaped and went to the "other side" as it was known or Dr. Challoners as I like to remember it!

Best Wishes

Darren

Ed: We extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Derek and David

LETTERS/EMAILS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Ian,

The May newsletter was very enjoyable as always.

I think I can identify two of the faces in the photo submitted by Roger Stibbon (it is an RAF group I think). Standing, far left, is David Basterfield (1966-post 1970, who was one of my chess team colleagues). Standing, 3rd from left, is Chris Andrews (1963-70).

Regards

John Saunders

Hi,

I was at the RGS from 1967 (1E), continued in the T-stream, and left in 1974 (6B2) to attend Edinburgh Uni. I stuck only a year in Scotland, and left to continue my degree (Zoology) at Nottingham Uni, from where I graduated in 1978. In 1979 I started a PhD at Kings College, London, but my thesis required revision and resubmission, became irrelevant to my work (computer programming) and never got completed. I married in 1980, but my wife and I have been separated now for 2 years. I have been working as a technical author in telecoms and computing companies for the last 20 years.

Both my brothers, Clifford (b. 1951) and Michael (b. 1954), were students at the RGS. Cliff went to Nottingham to study Architecture; Mick went to Nottingham (is there a pattern here?) and studied Mining Engineering. Both played basketball for the school, and Mick played rugby (he also played for South of England schoolboys). My only claim to fame at the school was winning the Biology prize in 1973.

I survived (nay, thoroughly enjoyed) several of Jez Lingard's famous camping holidays. I was caned by both Malcolm Smith and Sam Morgan. Malcolm Cook taught me geography and Ian Blyth taught me English. I was present at Jock Learmonth's "knee-capping", and spent my 6th form alongside "rock-god" Howard Jones on the top of the science block.

Regards

Ian Saunders

Ed: I asked about Jock Learmonth's "knee-capping" and he kindly replied.

Ian,

Jock's "knee-capping" occurred during a gym lesson in my 3rd-year (I think), which would put it somewhere around 1969-70. I suppose it may have been a year later.

We were in the old gym (in the gym block), and he was showing my class how to do a "falling leaf", which (when correctly executed) consisted of:

1. Sit on a horizontal beam, both legs on the same side (quite hard to do in itself, as you have to get up onto it in the first place)
2. Holding on with your hands, lean backwards and hook your knees over the bar, lowering your body all the time
3. Still holding on with your hands, lean right back until you are upside down.
4. Release your hands and hang by your knees. At this point your head is about 1' 6" from the ground.
5. Reach for the floor and place your hands flat upon it
6. Once you've got your hands on the floor, unhook your knees, swing your legs over and bring your feet down to the floor, so that you end up on all fours.

To do this properly, the bar must be as high from the floor as the distance from your hands to your knees, with your hands held above your head.

Jock's mistake was trying this wearing tracksuit bottoms, which gave no grip on the shiny wooden bar, and his generally gung-ho attitude when faced by pansy teenagers, unable to perform simple gymnastic manoeuvres. He went over backwards at speed, lost his grip and essentially made an uncontrolled descent onto his hands and knees from about 4' up. Although there was a mat on the floor, half and inch of rubber was no use against that much kinetic energy. After writhing around in front of the class for 30 seconds, he rolled up his trouser leg and said "look at ma knee, boys!" He had split his kneecap, so that the thigh muscle pulled the top half up his leg, and there was no lump where the kneecap should be! We were a mixture of horrified and amused (terrible to admit). Anyway, medical aid was sought and he was carried from the gym, grimacing. "Doc" Browning (RE and careers advisory) supervised the end of the period.

Jock was away for several months, and when he returned, he sported an impressive scar across his knee where the surgeon had (so legend tells) inserted a "plastic kneecap". We never learnt the true scale of the injury, nor the treatment he had, but he never seemed quite as robust after his return. Still, what a man! That must have hurt like hell! And how he controlled his language immediately after the accident is anyone's guess. Mind you, it was hard enough to work out what he was saying when he wasn't in pain!!)

Regards

Ian Saunders

Ed. Sadly Jock died last year.

Dear Ian,

I can't help Steve Bond with the name of the master who piloted a glider at Arnhem, but I am pretty sure that 'Jack' Dawes the music master during the fifties and sixties flew as bomber aircrew. And I recall someone remarking that 'Crappy' Hett flew a fighter, though I have no idea of the truth of it.

RGS quite rightly makes much of Youens and Fraser but I don't recall much mention of the masters and boys who served. Nor do I remember any form of memorial remembering those who died though there must have been one, surely?

Peter King

Ian,

Your correspondent asked if anyone was aware of a master who was a glider pilot at the above.

I am sure you have had an answer from at least some of the staff who would know for certain but there were many rumours of war service by the masters in the fifties generation and I cannot remember ever hearing one of them mentioning the war, although so many were totally involved. The rumour about Arnhem was it was Mr Perkins who taught English and Russian and was I recall affectionately known as Polly. He is possibly still alive and you obviously would know him. No guarantees with this one!

Ralph Stockwell

Ed: The master, Ralph refers to, was John Perfect, who did teach Russian. He died a couple of years ago or so.

Hello Ian:

Could you please put this appeal to OWs who were at the RGS in 1949.

If you think that you appeared in the 1949 School photo, could you please have a look at the photograph that appears in the Tony Hare's section on the OB site, especially where it has been cut into sections, and send in to me details of themselves and any other OB that they recognise. Please identify by noting rows from the back (i e the back row is No 1) and the face numbered from the left of each photo section.

We now have quite a few definitely listed.

Cheers,

Terry Williams

Ian,

My cousins Geoffrey and Colin Bass both attended the RGS in the late 30s. Geoff survived many bombing raids over Germany but Colin signed on after the war and was killed in March 1948, aged 25, in an accident at RAF Topcliffe.

This gives a link to the event, and may be of interest to those who knew them. http://www.yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/yorkshire/rp565.html

Best wishes

David Wiltshire.

Ian,

Thanks for the mail and RGS update. Did you see the article in the Bucks Free Press about the battle of Fromelles and my great uncle, Frederick Clarence LANCE, who is believed to be amongst those lying in the mass grave there? I noticed that the RGS took up the badge of the Oxon & Bucks regiment until the 1980's. I thought that you might like to include an article about the project, Frederick, and the Fromelles battle in your next magazine (military biog info via Forces page). I have bought a copy of the only book on Fromelles in publication at the moment (another writer publishes soon), which is entitled Fromelles 1916, written by Paul COBB, and which can be obtained online from Amazon. The account is very harrowing and one of the most heart-wrenching episodes of the 1st World War. The book is well put together and very detailed. It certainly should, if not already, be on the school's library bookshelf. I have put a list of those (UK soldiers) believed to be buried there on my Remember Fromelles page.

The Bucks Free Press is putting an appeal in next week's paper to those living relatives of the Fromelles fallen and survivors to get in touch with me should they be able to loan exhibits for an exhibition, which is planned for the Wycombe Chair Museum.

I would be most pleased to accept any material pertaining to the Oxon & Bucks WW1 participation which the RGS may be able to provide.

Regards

Peter LANCE (RGS 1962-69)

President of Peter Lance Projects

www.peterlance.name

email: peterlance@peterlance.name

tel. +44 (0)208 144 1951 (Skype)

59 Church Road, Watford, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Just a brief addenda: Frederick's home while a young boy was at Nelson Villas (270) Hughenden Road (not Avenue per BFP article) and is a few houses towards HW from the bottom of Hamilton Road. He probably went to Priory Road School. I have not heard back from them yet about his enrolment record.

Frederick (on left, viewer's perpective) with brothers - Charles William LANCE, former mayor of HW (seated), and William George LANCE, later company director

EXTRACTS FROM THE RGS WEBSITE

TOP GEAR

Did you see the RGS on Top Gear? The following is a report of the day when Top Gear came to the RGS:

Friday 1 May was a memorable day at The Royal Grammar School, not just because this was the day the rain eventually stopped and the sun came out, but more so because this was the day that Top Gear 'arrived' at the RGS.

Briefing the Headmaster

The producers wanted to run a piece based on 17 year olds buying their first car and insuring it with very limited funds. Fortunate for us, the RGS was an ideal location.

View photo gallery

There was certainly a buzz around the School, even before the filming had begun; The School Quad was roped off and the boys waited eagerly for the presenters to arrive.

Having been informed that there would be a 'small' film crew, we were rather surprised at the arrival of more than twenty members of the crew.

The first presenter to arrive in his '17 year olds car' was James May in an "impressive" 'M' reg VW Golf, he was quickly followed by Richard Hammond driving his 'L' reg Hyundai, sporting a typically flash spoiler, and last, but not least, was Jeremy Clarkson in his fashionable 'N' reg Volvo Estate.

Throughout the morning, many of the pupils had the opportunity to watch some of the filming taking place.

With over 1,000 boys eager to get a glimpse of the stars, the Queen's Hall was filled with students, some kneeling down and others standing above them to get a bird's eye view, the Quad was encircled with more pupils and staff, all of whom were poised with mobile phones while trying to take photos of the presenters.

The filming was completed with a lucky group of Sixth Formers being asked questions from Jeremy!!

All too soon, it had come to an end and the presenters and crew departed leaving the RGS community with a day we shall never forget.

We would like to express our thanks to the whole of the Top Gear Team who were a pleasure to work with, but especially, the Jeremy, James and Richard for their humour, concern and interest in the RGS.

PASSIONATE ABOUT PATISSERIE

Floreat scona

A grammar school education is not just about quadratic equations, irregular French verbs or investigating the origins of the First World War.

The preparation of a demi-glace sauce or a fine beurre blanc, pan searing a sea bass, or blanching vegetables are just as important life-skills for today's yoof.

It is hard to believe that just a few weeks ago the pupils in Mrs Royal's cookery class barely knew one end of a lobster cracker from the other, and thought jus was a person who claimed descent from Jacob.

Mrs Royal's cookery class

All that has changed. On Thursday the TAA group graduated with a master class on scone-making and the art of the cream tea.

Look mum!

In the spirit of OFSTED the Headmaster felt obliged to quantify the competency-based, technology-enhanced, learner-centered outcomes and brought his deputy along too.

The Headmaster engages with interdisciplinary-based competences

After scoffing a couple each they pronounced the metacognitive, mastery-focused performance-paradigms to be totally scrumptious.

Mr Pantridge is keen to implement impactful synergistic curriculum enrichment

Ed: Did you learn how to make scones when you were at the RGS?

Ed: If you want to read more about your old school, please CLICK HERE

NEXT NEWSLETTER

This will be published on October 17th. It will hopefully contain extracts from the Wycombiensian, the School magazine. Please send in your contribution, your memories, and your photographs to me, Ian Clark ianrclarkuk@yahoo.co.uk or post it to 5, Foxhill Close, High Wycombe. HP13 5BL

Ian edits the Newsletter; Martin Berry ensures that it appears on the website.