OM Newsletter (2013 Winter) No 12

Old Maidstonian Society
Newsletter No.12 - Winter 2013
President:
Ron McCormick
Chairman:
Richard Ratcliffe
Secretary:
Brian White
OFSTED - “OUTSTANDING”
THE HEADMASTER REPORTS AND PLANS THE FUTURE
O
n W
ednesday 25 September I received
Wednesday
a phone call from Ofsted saying that
the school would be inspected the
following two days. During the inspection a
team of five inspectors spent time observing
many lessons and
meeting with students,
staff and governors to
understand
the
school’s culture and
ethos and establish
how successful it is.
55
lessons
were
observed with 95% of
them being judged as
good or better
better,, with
just under 50% being
judged outstanding. I
was impressed with
how
the
school
community
pulled
together and was extremely proud of the final
judgement. It was such a humbling experience
listening to the inspection team give feedback
at the end of the two days.
I was delighted that the school had achieved a second
consecutive outstanding judgement from Ofsted. It was
a testament to all the hard work carried out by the
students, staff and governors at Maidstone Grammar
School. The Ofsted judgement confirms that we
continue to provide a first-class education for our
students. You can find a copy of the Ofsted Report on
the school website.
I have a dream…
There is a cupboard in the school in the area known as
‘Piccadilly’, full of thousands of dusty former students’
files, bundled up with pieces of string and arranged on
shelves which run around the perimeter of the room.
We are currently going through each file and extracting
all the relevant information, although what is actually
relevant may be the topic of some debate! Information
from nearly 1,500 files, some of it dating back to
students born in the 1940s, has already been
transferred into a
spreadsheet but the
school already holds a lot
of more recent information
electronically, all of which
will be merged, sorted
and filtered to create a
definitive database of
MGS Alumni.
The challenge is to find as
many past students as we
can. Tracing people
nowadays is much easier
than it once was; there
are websites devoted to
finding school friends,
family members and even business acquaintances, and
social networking is popular, even amongst ‘silver
surfers’!
I hope that most of this groundwork will be complete
by September 2014, when I intend to be able to launch
the new Development/Alumni Office. The advantages
of such an office to both the school and Old Maidstonians
may not be immediately apparent but there are many
mutual benefits. We value and respect our traditions
but would like every student, past and present, to feel
and be part of our future.
Of course, you may just wish to meet up with fellow
alumni to reminisce about ‘the old days’ or to attend
the Annual Supper, but you may like to get involved in
some other way. We know that you have a vast array
of knowledge and expertise, and you may be willing to
share that with the school and its current students, or
you may be able to offer advice, mentor, or be mentored
by, a fellow alumnus or alumna.
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So what can you do to help? If every member of
the Old Maidstonian Society made contact with just
one other past student, the Society could double its
membership almost overnight! If you know someone,
just mention what we are trying to do. Ask them to get
in touch, suggest that they join the OMS, or look on
the School and OMS websites for further information.
CCF Honours Boards
The Combined Cadet Force is the flagship of Maidstone
Grammar School’s extra-curricular programme. It has
been part of the school for over 100 years and attracts
interest from a large number of students. Currently
there are over 280 students enrolled in the three
contingents: Army, Navy and Air Force. The school
has just conducted its bi-annual inspection at St. Martin’s
Plain, Folkestone: it was a glorious day, with over 100
s t u d e n t s
representing the
school and showing
the
Inspecting
Officers how proud
they are of their
school and being a
part of something
special.
To
acknowledge the
success and role of
the CCF at MGS
we have introduced
new CCF Honours
boards in the main
lobby of the school
next to the HMS Maidstone Bell. There are four boards
in total, one for each of the three contingents and one
for the members of staff who support the CCF. Each
year students who are the Cadet Senior nonCommissioned Officers, and any who successfully
receive a scholarship, will have their names engraved
on the boards for future generations of Maidstonians
to see. It is hoped that these boards will inspire other
students to take part in the CCF and be promoted to
positions of leadership. To support this project, I am
asking if any Old Maidstonians would like to join the
OM Society in their donation by contributing towards
the cost of the boards. These boards encapsulate the
traditions and ethos of MGS and I would like to be able
to carry out similar projects in the near future: your
help in supporting this would be much appreciated and
welcomed.
Sport
The next Old Maidstonian Society Annual Supper will
take place on Friday 28 March 2014. Following this,
the school is going to continue what it re-launched this
year and have the 1st XV Rugby Squad play the Old
Boys XV on Wednesday 2 April (kick off at
2.30pm). Sport is an integral part of Maidstone
Grammar School and I want to see this match
between the Old Boys and current students grow
in popularity, along with other occasions where
former students come back and play their
‘younger’ peers. The match will also be a formal
close to Ron McCormick’s year as the Old
Maidstonian President. As I am sure many of
you know, Ron worked at MGS from 1966 to
2004 and is probably one of the very few
members of staff in the school’s entire history to
give this amount of service and commitment. The
match this year ended with a school win, but I
know that some newer Old Maidstonians would
like to remind themselves of their glory days by
bringing home a win for the Old Boys. If you are able
to come along and show your support please do so. If
you would like to play, then please contact Jack Hart at
the school.
Mark Tomkins
Headmaster
THE CHAIRMAN’S THOUGHTS
Another year on and the ‘new’ Headmaster, Mark Tomkins, can no longer be called ‘new’. He hit the ground
running in his second year when an Ofsted inspection team turned up on the doorstep. The good news is that the
school achieved an ‘Outstanding’ rating on all accounts and that is no mean achievement – even though we all
knew ‘we went to a good school’! The Society congratulates Mark and his team on this outcome.
Speaking of Headmasters, I met with Neil Turrell and his wife during the summer when they were over in the UK from
Singapore. Describing the trip as ‘holiday’, it sounded tremendously busy, but that I guess is what you do when you
live overseas. But then Neil always did pack an enormous amount into his diary. He has agreed to do another ‘one
more year’ at the Tanglin Trust School (I’ve lost count - and this was supposed to be his ‘retirement’ from MGS!) I
think we shall now see him back in England in mid-2015. He sends best wishes to all members of the Society and
both he and Trish are in good form – and coincidentally enjoying time with the grandchildren out there in the farEast.
Page 2
Your committee is still grappling with the age-old problem of generating support for Society social events – not an
easy one when you look at the geographical spread of our members who – post University – quite naturally scatter
to the four winds. (Some of us found our way back to Maidstone and grumble about the place it has become!).
Anyway, an Events Sub-Committee has been set up and has now met and come up with some ideas for getting
members together on occasions other than the Supper. So - watch this space! Speaking of the Supper: the date is
Friday 28 March 2014, and a booking form is to be found elsewhere in this newsletter. This is always THE successful
event of the year so I look to all of you again for your support.
In closing I thank President, Ron McCormick, for his tremendous support so far this year, and indeed to all the
committee for their efforts.
Richard Ratcliffe
Chairman
MUSINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT
On Friday 13 September last, I was honoured and
delighted to be asked, as Guest of Honour, to give the
prizes at the annual Senior Speech Day in the Big Hall.
This is a resumé of what I said.
‘The last time that I spoke at Speech Day, I started with
a joke about one of the many nicknames that I had
been given during my time teaching at MGS. Few
people present here would remember it but nonetheless
I am going to repeat it in view of the date today, Friday
13th September, and the on-going cull that is happening
in parts of the country at the moment. I value my life!
(Note: the name was ‘Badger’!).
‘I am fortunate this Speech Day, though I retired nine
years ago, to have seen many of you in the course of
your years at MGS, if not in the occasional cover lesson
then almost certainly during the trials of your
examinations where I was invigilating, or possibly during
your triumphs or tribulations on the games field when I
have watched inter-school fixtures, or fired the starting
pistol on Sports Day, or marvelled at the music produced
in the school concerts, or at the art work on display in
the Art Room and around the school.
‘We all of us here owe a great deal to MGS and it has
offered such a wide variety of experiences that our lives
should have been enriched; if not then it has been our
fault, for the opportunities have been there. For me, I
thank MGS for the most rewarding career that I could
have asked for and for a host of good and true friends,
both colleagues and Old Maidstonians. We may not
have enjoyed every moment of our time here – school
mirrors life in that it is a learning process, and we learn
from our mistakes – but we are all the better for it.
‘I am speaking to you today to congratulate every one
of you, whether it be individually or as a member of a
group, on your achievements in an increasingly
challenging and competitive world. I sympathise with
you if you feel you did not fully achieve your potential.
When I told my Headmaster at my old school that I
intended to become a teacher he looked at me, raised
an eyebrow and said he would write me a reference:
the main reason being not that he was impressed by
my academic progress (which he wasn’t), but that he
was a firm believer in the theory that old poachers make
the best gamekeepers. I must agree that such
‘poaching’ experiences have held me in good stead
during my career – I’ve done everything that pupils
vehemently deny they would ever dream of doing!
‘I’m also speaking in my role as this year’s President of
the Old Maidstonian Society, to echo the Headmaster’s
words about the school as a community and to
encourage you, when you have left these buildings and
grounds later today, to keep in touch with your
contemporaries, even, dare I say it, your teachers.
(Seriously, I think they would appreciate it.) Meet up
with them at least once a year – and what better time
to do this than in March every year at the OM’s dinner,
held here in the Big Hall this academic year on Friday
March 28th, 2014. Before you leave today get together
with your friends and pencil it into your diaries.
‘What a delight it has been this year to watch the revived
OM’s rugby and cricket matches over at the Mote and
to appreciate the high level of skill that all players have
acquired during their time at MGS. Let us hope that
football, hockey, even rowing and golf can be added to
the regular list. (Any further suggestions welcome.)
‘Finally, my congratulations to all your teachers, your
parents, but above all to you yourselves and the very
best of good luck, success and happiness in what you
set out to do.’
While on the subject of congratulations, I am sure that
all those OM’s reading this would like to join me in
congratulating our previous President, David, on the
occasion of his marriage to Kathryn recently. I wish
them a long and happy time together and hope they
will revisit soon and often.
Page 3
WORLD WAR I
As you will know, next year marks the centenary of the
start of World War I, and we are hoping to run a series
of articles in future newsletters about any MGS links to
the War. If you have any information about family
members or other people who were at MGS and who
were involved in the War, we shall be pleased to receive
it. Anecdotes about life in Maidstone at that time would
be of interest.
EASYFUNDRAISING
EasyF
undraising is a shopping portal in which goods
EasyFundraising
ordered on the internet through EasyFundraising result
in donations to a charity – in this case the Old
Maidstonian Society
Society. The donations come from the
retailers and indeed, the unique selling point of
EasyF
undraising is that it enables people to shop
EasyFundraising
online and receive donations to their charity at no cost
to themselves
themselves. To date over £5,000,000 has been
donated to good causes.
The scale of EasyFundraising’s operation through its
association with many high street retailers and ‘big
brands’ is extensive, and although each purchase results
in a very small individual donation, across many
thousands of transactions it is extremely valuable to the
designated charity. As an example, a £400 flight
undraising portal raised
booked through the EasyF
EasyFundraising
£27 for the designated charity with absolutely no
additional cost to the purchaser. With the number of
members that the Society has, the total level of donations
will be significant if advantage is taken of it.
It is important to draw a clear distinction between
undraising
EasyFundraising
undraising, which is a shopping portal, and a
EasyF
donations site. In the case of a donation site, money
is donated to a chosen cause and the donor trusts that
their money will be passed to their nominated charity.
undraising
With EasyF
EasyFundraising
undraising, it is simply a matter of signing
up, nominating a charity to benefit, and go online
shopping, i.e. with Amazon, John Lewis, Argos, M&S,
Tesco, Next, Domino’s Pizza, Lakeland, ASOS, Apple,
ASDA, Vodafone, Debenhams, Dell, The AA, Apple,
American Express, The Train Line, Sainsbury, Expedia,
Premier Inn, Lastminute.com, PC World, EBay,
Debenhams, Homebase, and many more of over 2,000
other online retailers, including most of the big names
in the UK. It does not cost the shopper anything. The
retailer donates a percentage to the nominated charity.
You do not pay any more for your purchases.
The site is: http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk. The
undraising link which you should use
unique EasyF
EasyFundraising
to register is http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/
causes/oms
Page 4
Once registered, to raise funds through your own
personal shopping, just log in before you start shopping,
using the username and password you gave
EasyF
undraising
EasyFundraising
undraising, and up to 15% from each purchase
you make will be donated to the Old Maidstonian
Society
Society. Once you’ve activated your account, you can
immediately start raising funds from your own shopping.
In view of the enormous benefits to the Old Maidstonian
Society and the support it gives to the students at the
school, we are urging all members to take the time to
register with EasyFundraising. Each purchase you
subsequently make using the site will result in a small
but very useful donation to the Society.
MEMBERSHIP
At the end of October, membership stood at 1114,
with 192 new members this year.
OUR NEW WEBSITE
The website continues to evolve, and our webmaster,
Malcolm MacCallum, would appreciate more posts
from members, so please visit the website at http://
www.oldmaidstonians.co.uk/ and decide whether you
can contribute anything.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEWSLETTER
The Newsletter is published during April, July and
November. Those who have e-mail receive the
Newsletter by this route, which reduces costs. Many
members either do not have e-mail, or for other reasons
prefer to receive a printed version of it. The Society is
pleased to oblige; however, it costs about £5 to produce,
print and post, and the Society would appreciate any
donations towards those costs.
MENTORING SER
VICE
ERVICE
You are reminded of the mentoring service which we
launched in the last edition of the Newsletter. There
seems to be quite a lot of enthusiasm for the scheme,
and, after a slow start, offers of help are starting to come
in. If you are prepared to offer a little help or advice to
an MGS student on your field of work experience, please
complete a mentor’s form as soon as possible. Don’t
forget most of the contacts will be made via email, so
you do not have to live near Maidstone. If you would
like any more information, please contact Peter Weaver.
( Email: [email protected] or Tel: 01435 864541 )
NEWS OF OLD MAIDSTONIANS
John Julius Brenchley (1816 to 1873)
Brenchley was born at Kingsley House (presumably the house which still stands at 46 Mote Road) on 30 November,
and was educated at MGS and Cambridge. He was ordained in Holy Trinity Church in 1843, but from 1845 to
1867 travelled the world as an avid collector of natural history material and human artefacts. He had many
extraordinary adventures on several continents, but died on 24 February in a Folkestone hotel, and is buried in All
Saints’ Church.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/john-brenchley-of-kingsley-house-maidstone-76605 for a
copy of a painting of a man who appears to have been Brenchley’s father (also John), which is owned by Maidstone
Museum. Other material can be found by conducting a Google search.
Following mention of Brenchley in our last newsletter, a writer called Bo Beolens kindly contacted us to point out that
Brenchley co-wrote A Journey to Great-Salt-Lake City (1861) with Jules Remy, and was sole author of The Cruise of
the Curacoa among the South Sea Islands (1865). During his voyage to the Solomon Islands (1865) he collected
over 1,000 objects many of which form the Brenchley Collection in the British Museum. A lizard is named after him
(Eremias brenchleyi Gûnther, 1872), and two birds:
· Chestnut-bellied Imperial Pigeon Ducula brenchleyi GR Gray, 1870
· Grey Fantail ssp. Rhipiduraalbiscapa brenchleyi Sharpe, 1879
The information about the birds is taken from a book by Beolens, Watkins & Grayson, The Eponym
Dictionary of Birds,Bloombsbury (2013 - October)
Old Maidstonian achieves his century!
Peter Stevens (1949 to 1954) has informed us that his uncle Arthur James Stevens (1925 to 1931) will be 100
years old on 6 November: he is almost certainly our oldest living Old Maidstonian. He was one of the first pupils to
go to Barton Road when the school moved, and after leaving MGS, he became an officer with the Metropolitan
Police. He is one of six members of his family to have attended MGS over the years. The society is delighted to confer
the post of Honorary Vice-President on Arthur: his family was notified of this fact on his birthday.
Jack LLeonard
eonard Stevens (Peter’s father) attended the school from 1923 to1929. Peter’s brother, David, was at
MGS from 1953 to 1958, as was Peter’s eldest son Gregor John Stevens (1986 to 1993). Gregor gained a
degree in English & American Literature at the University of Kent, but sadly, he died in 2011, aged 36 years. His
brother, Jonathan Douglas Stevens (1988 to 1993) read Criminology and Criminal Justice at Bristol.
Martin Arnold (1992 to 1994) writes: ‘I am trying to get a group from my year to attend the Annual Supper next
year, as it will be our 20-year anniversary since leaving. It will be especially fitting as the OM’s President, Ron
McCormick, was a key part of our time at the school as we were for the most part 1st XV rugby players during one
of the better vintages (even if I do so say so myself). One of our team, Rod Martin
Martin, went on to play professional
rugby for Moseley, although now he is working in Canary Wharf for Barclays Capital. I went on to play for Maidstone,
representing the 1st XV for 16 years and playing over 350 competitive fixtures, the last three seasons as club and 1st
XV captain. I still live locally with my wife, Jedene (a graduate of Maidstone Girls Grammar), and daughter Arabella.
I work in the media industry for a b2b publishing firm based near Dartford, Findlay Media.’
Martin has purchased one of our new scarves (details below), and says, ‘I look forward to receiving the scarf and
once again wearing the school colours with pride. And I look forward to seeing you at next year’s Supper.’
Stephen Cain (1967 to 1974) says that he served his full sentence at MGS, and then studied Applied Biology at
Hatfield Polytechnic. (Some of the Masters were not best pleased that he turned down a university place to go to a
‘poly’ but he was keen to do a sandwich degree).
Page 5
‘After graduating in 1978, I immediately joined the pharmaceutical industry as a medical sales representative and
gradually worked my way up the marketing ladder. In 1992, I had the opportunity for a two-year secondment to
Glaxo’s US HQ in Research Triangle Park (RTP), near Raleigh, North Carolina. That went well and evolved into a
permanent move and then in 1997 we (I, my wife and three children) had the opportunity of another move, this time
to Japan, where we spent one year in Kobe and two in Tokyo, all of which was a fantastic experience! We returned
to the US in 2000 and then I took early retirement in 2008. However, I quickly became bored and set up a
consulting business which in turn led on to a commercial role with a biotech start-up here in RTP. I’m also President
of the Triangle Chapter of the British American Business Council.
‘We like living in NC (and are now dual US and UK citizens) but also enjoy visiting family and friends in the UK on a
regular basis. On 22 July one of my nieces “was safely delivered of a son” at almost exactly the same time as the
new Prince and is looking forward to the commemorative silver penny from the Royal Mint!
‘I’ve not been very good at keeping up with old school friends, but hope that this article may help to change that,
although I see that so far there are only two other registered members from my “cohort”.’
Dr Gary LLysaght
ysaght (1969 to 1976) says that having received copies of the OMS newsletter over the years, thanks to
a more dedicated and organised friend (a lawyer, of course), he would be interested in signing up as an OM. He
lives and works abroad permanently in Spain, having been there for ten years, and from 2014, he will be headmaster
of a private school in Elche, close to Alicante airport. Any OM student of Spanish looking for a placement will be
welcome to contact him.
Gary studied at King’s College, London, with Diana W
Webb
ebb (Tony Webb’s wife), and then at Magdalen College,
Oxford. Like his headmaster, Dr Philip Pettit, he did a History DPhil, and then a Licentiate in Ethics at the Gregorian
University, Rome.
Tim TTopps
opps
opps, who may or may not have been at MGS (does anyone know?), wrote to the school about his recent
book, The Paper Caper, (EISBN 9781783067749). He writes: ‘Among your alumni there must still be many oldies
who, like me, were called up for National Service at the start of the Cold War and found ourselves, in some
bewilderment, teenaged commissioned officers in charge of men with medals on their chests.
‘We all found our own ways of coping with this, and The Paper Caper (though a novel) is based upon mine. I don’t
know if the Army will like it very much but your Old Boysmight: could you possibly mention it to them in your next
Newsletter (and to the youngsters too, as a hint for Grandad’s Yuletide stocking)?’
The Muskrats concert has awakened many reminiscences about local rock bands, and some of
below..
these appear below
Richard (Dick) Ely (1956 to 1963) says that he didn’t found the Knighthawks, but that Peter R
olfe’s (1956 to
Rolfe’s
1963) brother David Rolfe (not at MGS) did so. He adds that Colin Honey (? - 1958), a contemporary of Mick
Stevens (dates?) at school was most definitely a ‘Whirlwind’ as was Mick Carter (? - 1957), nicknamed ‘Pickford’
never played at fly half, but always at centre.
David Rolfe writes as follows.
‘The Knighthawks started in about 1958 or 1959 and our first gig was at The Fountain Pub, Barming at a wedding.’
olfe, and Dick Ely and I have stayed together
(Ed: one of the many pubs that is no more.) ‘My brother, Peter R
Rolfe,
ever since.
‘During the 1960s we played at every town hall and village hall throughout the Weald of Kent. I found an old diary
from 1965, in which over 50 gigs were listed. Our favourites were probably the American airbases, which paid well
and fed us well. A few years ago we set up a website with old photos and memorabilia newspaper cuttings, etc.,
including some of our recordings, both ancient and new.
‘Peter had a solo recording contract with Decca on their Strike label and released a single ‘London’ in 1966 and also
sang the theme song for a TV series, Thursday’s Child. Dick has recently written his first song, A Drummers God.
A clever idea and I like the song.
‘I have carried on writing songs, recording, doing gigs with Eddie Wheeler who has been with Vanity Fair now for at
Least 40 years as lead guitarist. Now here’s a chap that can really play, and sing. They do a 60 date tour each year
Page 6
under the heading The Silver 60s. I have been selling my music on iTunes and Amazon for some years and currently
have a couple of releases available there. If you are interested, our web site is www.theknighthawks.co.uk ; there
are others with similar names but I think that we were the first, having started in 1959.
‘Chuck from The Whirlwinds died about nine years ago or so. We had done some gigs together in recent years and
stayed in touch. His main interest was in a band called The Chimney Sweeps and he carried on making music
almost until the day he died.
‘Joe Bailey, singer with The Whirlwinds came to a Knighthawks gig where Pete, Dick and I and a stand in bass player,
Chas Morrele, played in Berkhamsted Town Hall. Joe also came to another couple of recent gigs of ours and was
still in good form last time we met.
‘We, as did The Whirlwinds, had an old ambulance - cream in colour - and after a gig at Detling, managed to get
20-odd people on board to ferry to Maidstone after they missed the last bus. Happy days!’
Colin Honey (1958) wrote to say, ‘Regret unable to come to the music evening, although would have liked to see
The Muskrats in action again. To explain, I was a member of a rock band, The Whirlwinds, in and around Maidstone
? Mick? Carter (1957) so we were in competition!’
and further afield in the early sixties along with Dave
Dave?
Sean Grainger (1957 - 1963) says that he was at first surprised by Colin and Dave saying they played with The
Whirlwinds, because he thought that he knew that band well from originally living in Allington, from whence Chuck
the guitarist came. He continues: ‘I used to buy the drummer Mick’s pies. Mick built himself a kit sports car but a
wheel fell off on its inaugural run. I emailed my mate Martin Money (1957- ?), (a sort of tangential attender of the
school) who now lives in Salerno and lectures in English at the University, who was by way of being a Whirlwind
roadie.
orrest and the excellent singer Tony Bathurst
‘It seems that my memories are of the spin-off band with Mick FForrest
Bathurst. But
The Muskrats and Whirlwinds were far from being alone. Dick Ely (1956) was the founder and drummer with The
olfe was the other founder.
Knighthawks when he wasn’t playing stand-off for the First XV. Pete R
Rolfe
’s terrific lead guitar and Tony Mitchell the singer - who was very far from being
‘Not least inspired by Tony Butler
Butler’s
uxley (1957 a forerunner of Bieber or Harry Styles - we formed The Jaguars a couple of years later. Simon PPuxley
1964) of The Jaguars went on via Reading University to become the guru of Bryan Ferry and acted as Roxy Music’s
publicist for a long time, but he died early. Dave Sansome (1958) moved to Denmark after graduating and runs
his own copywriting agency there. He still plays in a band. I scratch a pension top-up as a sub-editor at the Daily
Star after abandoning an early ‘career’ as DJ/club owner in Soldeu, Andorra.
‘Mick Mugridge became an Abbey National executive and is now retired; Dave Ashley (transferred from Yorkshire
c. 1960) became a GP but also died early; Jeremy Grainger (1958) now lives abroad.
‘The Jaguars supported The Knighthawks at a less than memorable school dance at the Girls’ Grammar School.
For myself, I was glad to be in the band so as to avoid the crippling shyness that struck me at the previous dance.
‘Contemporaneous were The Vandals with Mick Creswell (1957), Graham Shaw (1957) and Bob TTyrer
yrer (1957).
They may not have known it but they could have laid claim to being an early punk band: they certainly pushed the
boundaries somewhat. Mick Creswell went to Oxford and later ran the family food distribution business, but is now
retired. Graham had a run-in with the dreadful WAC about the band, but after graduating had a long and successful
career at the British Library as an Eastern languages specialist; Bob is a senior executive with The Sunday Times and
as a bon viveur writes occasionally on restaurants, food and wine in the ST Magazine.
‘The Jaguars and The Knighthawks had another interaction in that Pete asked us to deputise for them one Saturday
at one of their regular gigs, but we were too loud apparently, and got paid off at half-time.
‘As Martin says in his e-mail, Maidstone’s main rock claim is that David Bowie cut his teeth with another local outfit
called the Mannish Boys. But this has been mysteriously expunged from his biography for some reason. However I
have a 45 of them doing a not bad cover version of James Brown’s I’ll Go Crazy.
Page 7
‘The Jaguars, like many local bands, got caught by the con trick of an ‘audition’ at the Royal Star Ballroom’s
Saturday afternoon gig, where we played after Peter and Gordon who were riding their only hit - World Without
Love. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6WaCVv5kRg. (Worth a watch also Peter and Gordon doing it all again in
recent years totally out of tune!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt5gN4ubw8E )
The Star afternoons were compered by David Wiggs of the Kent Messenger who went on to become the showbiz
editor of the Daily Express, and is recalled reporting on a Maidstone Borough Council meeting, wearing a bright
tourqoise suit and yellow tie!
Martin Money says that during their relatively brief lifetime, The Whirlwinds did manage to perform with some
notable figures. There were a number of gigs (mostly at the Royal Star Ballroom) where they came on as the backup band for Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds and where they regularly got equal billing with Davy Jones & The
Mannish Boys (later to become David Bowie).
Martin says that there was also a gig at The Royal Star where the other band was The Hollies. During the break he
chatted with Graham Nash over a beer. The conversation went as follows:
’Your guitarist [Chuck] is… amazing. He’d go down a bomb up in Manchester.’
‘Yeah, but you guys from up North are coming down with something completely different. That slowed-down
version of Twist & Shout was just off the wall.’
‘Well thanks… you noticed I was playing an acoustic guitar. Hope I didn’t screw things up.’
‘You were great.’
‘Trouble is you see, so far I’ve only managed to learn three chords!’
Martin continues: ‘Those were early days. There was also a big night at the Tunbridge Wells Essoldo. It was one of
those big cinema gigs that were popular at the time with as many as six bands on the bill. Apart from The Whirlwinds,
the only ones I can remember from that night (there were at least a couple more) were Brian Poole & The Tremelos,
The Caravelles www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkHCoLXmXp4 and Jerry Lee Lewis. He, of course, was quite amazing
but the most memorable bit that I remember, was when he came on stage and, in a long drawn-out southern drawl,
said: “This is the worst PA system I ever came across in the whole of my life!”’
‘There are all sorts of stories from that period. On a camping holiday at Lulworth Cove in Dorset, Chuck got bitten
by a viper. By the time we got him to Dorchester hospital, his arm was blown up to twice the size of Popeye’s. We kept
stopping to ask people where the hospital was but they just stared at us with an expression on their faces saying:
“Well, if you don’t know…” Only later did it dawn on us: the group van wasn’t the classic six-wheel tranny but an
extremely beautiful and comfortable long-wheel-base Bedford ambulance. In those days, each Kent County Council
ambulance was custom-built like a Rolls.
‘When we came out of the hospital the van was surrounded by envious
ambulance drivers. Dorset County Council could only come up with
knackered old Trojans. And, just to give you an idea of what was going
down in some of the remotest parts of the world at that time, we all went
to see Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps playing in a village hall near
Weymouth.’
R other V
alley R
ailway
Valley
Railway
Gardner Crawley BSc(Eng) CEng FICE (MGS 1955 – 1962) is chairman
of Rother Valley Railway, one of our committee members, and a trustee of
the Old Maidstonian Trust. He reports further progress, as follows, on his
pet project.
‘Rother Valley Railway (RVR) was formed In the early nineties to restore the
trackbed between Robertsbridge and Bodiam for Kent & East Sussex Railway
trains to connect to the main line. Work has progressed rapidly in the last
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three years. Five new and restored bridges have been rebuilt or replaced, piling to prevent river erosion of the track
bed has been installed. Both ends of the three mile route have had track laid to the site of two level crossings
‘RVR won the Restoration Award of the Engineering Excellence
Awards 2013, of the Institution of Civil Engineers South East
region. The Rother Valley was amongst a list of ten on the short
list and its submission read: “Rother Valley Railway at
Robertsbridge – a £432,240 scheme to provide and refurbish
five bridges as part of the restoration of this rail route and is
submitted by the Rother Valley Railway Trust.” ‘ Gardner,
Chairman of the RVR, said: ‘We are delighted to have been selected
for this prestigious award and our thanks go to our benefactors
and supporters who have contributed generously to this project.’
The result was announced at the awards dinner at Leeds Castle
on 7 June 2013. The photograph (courtesy of Maidstone
Photographic) shows some of the team: Mike Hart, Graham
Bessant, Gardner Crawley, Derek Kent, ICE representative)
STEAM RETURNS TTO
O ROBER
TSBRIDGE AFTER 50 YEARS
ROBERTSBRIDGE
With completion of the running line, run round loop and half the
platform constructed at Robertsbridge, the Rother Valley Railway
felt that it had something to celebrate. With that in mind a gala
event was laid on for the weekend of 21 and 22 September. A
train provided by the Kent & East Sussex Railway was hauled in by
road, consisting of Terrier Tank locomotive ‘Bodiam’ and a rake of
three coaches from the Victorian set.
Attendance was stunning, with a continuing shuttle service each
day carrying passengers to and from the Robertsbridge Junction
station platform and Northbridge Street. Souvenir Edmonson
tickets were issued to 1380 passengers and it was estimated that
well over 2000 people attended the event.
A few tears were shed by older residents who had travelled on the
railway in former times. Commented 103-years-old Edith Eldridge
of nearby Hurst Green, ‘I travelled many times on this line when
it was open. I can’t believe that I am once again sitting in a
wooden coach travelling over bridges that I never would have
thought would be restored.’ It’s a sobering thought that Mrs
Eldridge was born a mere 10 years after the Rother Valley Railway
was opened in 1900.
Gardner in white suit with
Cllr Ian Jenkins, Chairman of
Rother District Council and David Slack.
Commented Mike Hart OBE, a Rother Valley Railway Trustee, ‘this
gala event has exceeded all expectations and it is a credit to all
those supporters and backers who have enabled this to happen. We hope to be able to organise future events as
the scheme to reconnect the railway progresses.’
Other OMs involved with the RVR project include Tony Gosby (1939 to 1945), our volunteer architect, and Mike
Summersgill (MGS Governor), volunteer geotechnical engineer.
Gardner was made a Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Engineers on 6 July 2103. The Engineers’ Company
is a modern City of London Livery Company founded in 1983, but following the ancient traditions. The Clothing
Ceremony, at which is made the formal admission and declaration, was held at the hall one of the ancient companies,
The Merchant Taylors’ Hall, in Threadneedle Street, London. Gardner was made a member by ‘Redemption’ as a
Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, following his admission as a Freeman of the City of London. Only after
admission to the Livery of the Company does a member achieve full membership and with it the right to elect the
Sheriffs and Lord Mayor of the City of London.
Page 9
NKOPE, MALA
WI; AN EYE-OPENING EXPERIENCE
ALAWI
by Daisy Stapley-Bunten (2012)
When I was asked to write an article about my volunteering experience in Malawi in August 2013, I thought – 500
words, how can I fit a whole month, 100 amazing children and a life-changing experience into 500 words? Well,
I’ll give it a try. After finishing sixth form at MGS I had a gap year before university. One of the things I knew I
wanted to do was to volunteer somewhere. After months of fundraising and planning I finally left for Malawi by
myself, when I arrived I was met by four members of the ‘Naturally Africa’ team who at first I couldn’t understand a
word of anything they said – but by the end of the first week I became fluent in Malawian English. It’s a really strange
accent. After two flights and a six hour drive to Lake Malawi to the volunteer house, I and three other volunteers who
had arrived the same day were shattered.
We were thrown straight into teaching a couple of days later. I was working in the local nursery in the village of
Nkope, right next to Lake Malawi. When the translator
and I arrived at 8am there were already around 30
children and by 11am there were between 60 and 80.
I learned very quickly that keeping 60 children’s
attention for three hours was a Herculean task and
simply impossible – 30 minutes was more realistic. I
would go over the alphabet with them, numbers, days
of the week, animals, months of the year, etc. (They
couldn’t pronounce Thursday so it went something like
this, ‘Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, Friday,
Saturday, Sunday’.) Considering these children were
between 3-5 years old, I was so impressed with them,
they were so intelligent! They knew the alphabet off by
heart,when children in England don’t even start learning
this until Primary School. They were always enthusiastic
and happy despite the fact that they came into nursery
every day with nothing on their feet, the same clothes
on their back and only a small blue plastic bag of popcorn in their hands for break – if they were one of the better off
children.
After teaching was over, they had play time, always a manic
and dangerous time! None of these children had toys of
their own so whenever we handed the toys out it was
always a stampede to get one. After play time, a couple
of the local women would have finished cooking the
porridge that the charity provides, and we would dish it
out to the children, who were always incredibly well
behaved when it came to food. They waited, sitting in a
line until it was their turn, which really got to me,
considering that for some of the children it would be their
only meal of the day. After porridge was finished we would
brush the children’s teeth, which they found fascinating
and all crowded round to watch. The kids were so
fascinated with the colour of my skin and were always
calling me ‘azungo’ (white man) and playing with my hair,
having foreign volunteers was a novelty to them and I
was constantly being hugged by one of them when they weren’t fighting to hold our hands! We were given regular
Chichewa lessons (the local language) but most of all one just needed to know ‘wowa!’ (hello) and ‘chete’ (be quiet)
– very, very useful in nursery as I found out. In the afternoons I would help out at the local primary school, but as it
was during the summer holidays we mostly played games and helped them with their English.
I’ve been away from Malawi for just about three months now and yet it already seems like it was a lifetime away.
Whenever I think about it I can still vividly remember how amazing the kids were. In particular, one of the most
special kids to me out of the class, happened to be the girl that was the worst off. She was five years old and would
walk her three-year-old sister to nursery and make sure she got a toy and porridge. She was the skinniest girl and
Page 10
wore the same dress every single day, but she was the girl that laughed the most. All in all, over my month in Malawi,
of which I’ve only written a tiny part, I met amazing children that were the happiest and most enthusiastic, sweet kids
I’d ever met. I hope I’ve helped them in some small way, even if it meant that they got porridge, or their teeth
cleaned, or to play with a toy. It was a life-changing experience and it’s something that I would definitely recommend
to anyone thinking of volunteering!
Ed: Many thanks to Daisy for this touching report. As
our short story competition met with a nil response
(shame on you MGS!) we have decided to award the
prize (a free place at the next annual supper) to Daisy.
We look forward to meeting her then and to hearing
more about her rewarding and valuable work in Malawi.
OBITUARIES
It is with much regret that the Society records
the deaths of Old Maidstonians. W
e extend
We
our deepest sympathy to their families and
friends.
Lloyd Riley (2009 to 2011), died in February 2013,
following a heart attack.
Bob W
ood (1948 to 1956) wrote to say that his
Wood
ood (1953 to 1961) died on 6
brother, David W
Wood
October 2013. His widow’s name is Fenella (‘Nella’),
and he leaves two daughters and four grandchildren.
Fenella wrote to say that his health had been failing for
some time, and that eventually, he succumbed to a lung
infection. She continues, ‘I know that he highly valued
his time at MGS and was well aware that it had a
decisive and positive influence on his life.’
THE ANNUAL SUPPER
This will take place on Friday 28 March 2014, preceded by the Annual General Meeting. Please put this
date in your diary NOW. Why not get a few of your
year-group together? Price £22 per head - application
form attached to this Newsletter.
YOUR COMMITTEE 2013-14
Ron McCormick (Staff: - 2004) - President
Dr
eeke (Staff 1989 - 2000) - PPast
ast PPresident
resident
Dr.. David LLeeke
[email protected]
Richard Ratcliffe (1956 -1964) - Chairman
[email protected]
Dr.. Brian White – Secretary; Co
Co-Editor
Dr
-Editor (1962 -1969)
[email protected] Telephone 01622 756660
or 07828 925609, or write to 26 Little Buckland
Avenue, Allington, Maidstone, ME16 0BG
Secretary,,
Graham Belson (1960 -1965) Membership Secretary
Treasurer
[email protected], Tel: 01622 730514 or
07770 738041, or write to 22 Plantation Lane, Bearsted,
Maidstone, ME14 4BH.
Tony Bishop (1955 -1962)
[email protected]
John Clayton (1961 -1968)
[email protected]
Gardner Crawley (1955 -1962)
[email protected]
James Kinsman (1999 - 2005)
[email protected]
ebmaster
Prof
rof.. Malcolm McCallum (1957 - 1963) – W
Webmaster
[email protected]
Peter Sampson (1950 - 1955)
[email protected]
Simon PPain
ain (1999 - 2005)
[email protected]
-Editor
Peter W
eaver (1950 -1958) Co
Weaver
Co-Editor
[email protected]
Dr
ony W
ebb (Staff: 1971 - 2000)
Dr.. TTony
Webb
[email protected]
AND ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
For the socially-aware amongst you, some useful
answers from various examination papers.
• Many newspapers show political bias: e.g. The
Daily Mail is definitely left-wing.
• Marx, writing in 1962…
• Housing is important for the people living in it.
• Death can be socially disruptive.
• Criminals are responsible for over 130% of the
crimes committed in London.
• Funerals help us to come to terms with immorality.
Page 11
NEWSLETTER CONTRIBUTIONS
Please make a contribution to your Newsletter
Newsletter.. News of and comments from OMs, both recent members and
our erstwhile contempories are interested to know how life has treated
long-- standing ones, are always welcome. Y
Your
long
you, and everyone enjoys reading anecdotes of your life at MGS and beyond. W
e also try to keep members in
We
touch with the society
’s activities. BUT please, please note the copy dates! Y
our editors may get a little terse with
society’s
Your
contributors who produce ‘essential’ copy a few days before we go to print! The copy date for the next edition
is 15th March, 2014 Also, those who like a printed copy
copy,, please note that a contribution (at least £5 per copy)
would be greatly appreciated.
OLD MAIDSTONIAN SOCIETY SALES
The Society has ties, blazer badges, scarves, and several historical books about the school for sale. All
the proceeds go to the Society Awards Fund to support the students.
The items should be ordered using the attached Order Form, and payment may be made either by
forwarding a completed form and cheque to the Society at the School, or by internet transfer and sending
an electronic copy of the form to [email protected]
Ties
The striped tie is the original Old Maidstonian Society tie with bands of navy blue, white, purple
and old gold. The stock of these ties has been recently replenished, and the new ties are polyester
and slightly larger than the original at 58" in length, and 3½”wide.
The crested tie is a Jacquard Woven Tie with all-over motifs of the crest in gold, red and blue on
a navy background.
Both ties are £8.50 each including post and packing.
Scarves
The Society recently re-introduced scarves, the last time these were
available probably being over 40 years ago. A completely new design
was adopted, again based upon the Society colours of navy blue, white,
purple and old gold. The scarves are of pure wool and are 70" in
length and 10" wide. They have proved extremely popular.
Cost:£30 including post and packing.
Blazer Badges
The Old Maidstonian Society woven badge is approximately 5" x 3" and is designed to be sewn
onto a blazer.
The badges are for sale at £15 including post and packing.
Page 12
Books
WAC : TTrials
rials and TTriumphs
riumphs of a Grammar School Headmaster A history of Maidstone
Grammar School from 1925 to 1941 through the final report of Headmaster Alfred John Woolgar, MA, and
from 1942 to 1966 in the Speech Day Reports of Headmaster William Arthur Claydon, CBE, MA. The book
was researched and compiled by James Clinch (OM 1936-46, staff 1974-91)
Cost: £6.50 including post and packing.
Gaudeamus: An account of Music at Maidstone Grammar School
Published in 1997, this book is the definitive history of music at the school from the early-1900s with a
prelude by Michael Tillet (Old Maidstonian 1932-29) and postlude by David Leeke (staff 1989-2000, OM
Society President 2012-13).
The book was researched and compiled by James Clinch (OM 1936-46, staff 1974-91)
Cost: £6.50 including post and packing.
MGS 1549 to 1965 - A Record
There are a limited number of hard-back versions of this publication, which is a revised and enlarged version of
G.B.Philips’s short history of the School produced in 1949, the quarter centenary year. G B Philips undertook the
task in his retirement and the work was completed by N W Newcombe. The foreword was written by R R Rylands and
notes that the publication, originally produced in 1965, also brings to an end the era of WA Claydon. (Please note
that most have some sort of marking on the covers, and although in good condition, are not
perfect.)
Cost: £6.50 including post and packing.
A History of Maidstone Grammar School Combined Cadet FForce
orce (1906 – 2006)
Researched and complied by Diana and John Caley, the book was produced to commemorate the
centenary of the Cadet Force at the school. It brought up to date the original history that the authors had
written in 1981 at the 75th anniversary. It contains many pictures along with thirteen appendices of
useful data and information.
Cost: £6.50 including post and packing.
P ayment
Facilities are available to make payment using the internet.
The Natwest bank account details are:
Maidstone Branch, 3 High Street, Maidstone, ME14 1XU
Account:
Old Maidstonian Society
Account no:
00051802
Sort Code:
60-60-08
Please use your surname and initials to assist us in identifying who the payment is from. Would you please also
advise the Membership Secretary either by post, e-mail or letter if you have taken advantage of this facility and
forward a completed order form. Alternatively payment may be made by cheque to: “The Old Maidstonian
Society
Society”” and sent to the school.
Page 13
SALES FROM THE MGS ARCHIVES
Original spare copies of The Maidstonian for most,
but not all years, from the beginning are available.
First come, first served - when they are gone, they
are gone.
450th anniversary memorabilia is also available:
Ties: Plain navy blue with a 450th Anniversary crest at the bottom;
Sets of notelet cards, four different designs,
with envelopes, packs of four;
10 notelet cards, single design;
CD of school music.
Enquiries to Tony Webb - [email protected]
CD
Tie
Notelets
N.B
ayment
.B.. PPayment
Payment for ARCHIVE ITEMS should be made by cheque to: “Maidstonian Grammar School”
and sent to the school (not as for OMS articles which should be paid for as indicated on page 17).
The order forms are attached as separate documents.
The Old Maidstonian Society Newsletter
Co-Editors: Brian White
Peter Weaver
We Would Like to Hear From You
Tel: 01622 756660 Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01435 864541 Email: [email protected]
Copy date for next edition: March 15th, 2014
The Society is always very pleased to hear from its members. Please update us as to your post-school history, and we
will publish it in the Newsletter and on the website. If you would like to share with us some anecdotes about your time
at the school then please do contact us. E-mail is a particularly convenient method of reaching us and is preferred.
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