ONA Magazine - Issue 94 - Old Novocastrians` Association

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James Rattray (57-64) reminisces on a 60s
Anglo-German exchange visit
Also in this issue: The Dreame Team | ’63 to 63 | Teaching is Great…Honestly! | RGS Day
Issue 94 | Summer 2015
ONA Magazine Issue 94
Summer 2015
Contents
ONA Magazine is the magazine
for the Old Novocastrians’ Association
Editor: Jane Medcalf
All correspondence should be addressed
to: The Development Office,
Royal Grammar School, Eskdale Terrace,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4DX
Telephone Development Office:
0191 212 8909 email:
[email protected]
The Editor reserves the right to edit, alter
or omit all submissions to the magazine.
Copy may be carried over to the next
edition. The Editor’s decision is final.
Contribute!
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We are always looking for articles and
news from Old Novos to include in the
magazine, so send your contributions,
via email (if possible) to:
[email protected]
or to the Development Office at the school.
Please include relevant pictures if
possible. They will be returned as soon
as the magazine has been printed.
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The deadline for acceptance of copy for the
Autumn 2015 issue is 10 August 2015.
Copy may be carried over to a future issue.
Special thanks to David Goldwater (5162) for his research and contributions to the
ONA Magazine, particularly on his search
for A History of the RGS in Its People.
The ONA Magazine is
available online
Please note that the magazine is circulated
both in hard copy and by email to many
members of the Association. Each edition
is added to the ONA website shortly after
circulation. By submitting an article or news
for inclusion the contributor is accepting
that it will be available through both formats
and will also be accessible beyond the
Association membership through internet
search engines or any member of the public
viewing the ONA website.
www.ona.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk
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Cover image: Courtesy of James Rattray (57-64)
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Please note that the ONA Magazine content does not
neccessarily reflect the views of the school or the ONA
and is based on personal experiences, recollections
and memories of its contributors.
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Design www.infinitedesign.com
President’s Welcome
News and Congratulations
ONA Now and Then
A History of the RGS in Its People
Teaching is Great…Honestly!
The Dreame Team
’63 to 63
The Ballet Caper
Exchange Deutschland
Obituaries
Welcome
I would like to welcome our new committee members Joel Dickinson
(91-01), Kate Appleby (06-08), Kenneth Hodcroft (05-12) and Alan
Ng (03-12) who all bring their own ideas and enthusiasm. We have had
a busy start to the year with the increasingly popular London dinner
held this time at The East India Club. A record 80 guests (see page 3)
enjoyed great hospitality and company among old friends in our new
surroundings in March.
We were also treated to a Commemorative Concert on Friday 1 May,
which was hugely successful and raised the profile of the Bursary
Campaign and indeed some gratefully received donations. We enclose
the Commemorative Concert brochure compiled by David Goldwater
(51-62). My thanks go to David for all his hard work in producing this
wonderful RGS keep-sake, which raised a full bursary through adverts
and donations.
After being appointed President I felt very privileged to become
a Trustee of the Royal Grammar School Educational Trust:
disappointingly, what I learnt from this was that only 6% of Old
Novos actually donate anything to the RGS Bursaries Campaign.
I raised this point at the London dinner and everyone seemed as
surprised as I was. With this in mind I would appeal to the other 94%
of us to consider making a contribution. Many ONs have, or have had
a successful career since leaving school and one may enquire just how
many would have been so successful had they not received an RGS
education. If everyone who reads this magazine donated, for example,
just £1 per month, this would represent almost £70,000 annually,
which would provide almost 70 bursaries next year! Every little bit
makes the difference to assist many more young people to the privileges
and benefits we all received. To make a donation please visit the school’s
website or contact Jane Medcalf at [email protected]
We were saddened to hear about the death of John Elders (57-82
and 92-96), a well-respected figure in school, club and international
rugby (my first rugby coach at RGS). We are working towards
an ONA vs Novos RFC rugby game later this year which we hope
to make a tribute to John and would appreciate your support either
by playing or attending.
I hope to see you at one of our events soon.
Chris Rutter (92-02)
ONA President
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
News and
Congratulations
We are delighted to have recently heard from…
Our congratulations go to…
Laurence Bonner (96-04) who returned
Roisin Inglesby (03-05) on her
to school in May and gave a brilliant talk to
a lecture theatre full of geographers and
artists. He was enthusing about the role
of Sustrans in creating changes in cities
enabling people to use public places safely.
He is working closely with many planning
agencies and neighbourhoods to improve
cities for people and for children and
families. As well as talking about cycle
routes, he talked to us about making
changes to local communities by introducing
trees and road colours rather than the usual
clutter of signs. The talk was local, national
and international and he enthusiastically
presented projects he has been involved
with. Sustrans are opening a new coffee
shop beside the Laing Art Gallery in
Newcastle in order to promote their ideas
about sustainable neighbourhoods.
Laurence invited our students to drop into
the shop to learn more and he is helping
Ramit Saksena (Year 12) with his Extended
Projects Qualifications (EPQ) research.
nice to catch up with anyone who
remembers me – I’ve changed just a wee
bit since then!
Iain Watson (80-90) who returned for
Richard Phillips-Kerr (02-09) who on
completing his First Class Honours Degree
in Sculpture from Edinburgh College of Art,
Edinburgh was selected to exhibit at the
Royal Scottish Academy in the RSA New
Laurence Pallister (53-63) (son of the
Contemporaries, 2015 exhibition based
late George Pallister (26-66), Biology
on his degree show. This is a curated annual
teacher) and Mr and Mrs Margaret Harries exhibition which focuses on the finest
who returned to school for a memorable
emerging artists and architects in Scotland
tour during the Easter holidays. They were giving them a platform to showcase new
pleased to bump into Mike Barlow (53and recent work. Richard’s exhibited piece
64) in the Main Hall and to visit R.8, where was a moving, talking image projection,
Margaret’s father, the late Laurence ‘Larry’ mapped onto a life size plaster cast.
Watson (30-71) taught English.
a visit from South Korea to show his family
where he went to school. Iain was pleased
to bump into his English teacher, Dr Barker!
Carl Watson (89-94) It is great to receive
the excellent ONA Magazine by email here
in sunny Hong Kong! Quick update on
myself. My family and I moved to Hong
Kong back in November 2010 (I provided
a ‘postcard from Hong Kong’ for an edition
Alan J Robinson (54-61) You may be
around that time – see issue 82). Family
interested to know that, after reading the
have settled into life over here and are
obituary three years ago of my good friend, loving the culture and kids learning
Michael Hargreaves (54-61), the kind
Mandarin which is amazing! I have just
assistance of Tove Elander (00-12) has
moved from the international law firm,
enabled me to renew contact with Bill
Pinsent Masons, and have taken the
Young (54-62), Ed Sparke (54-62), Ron
position of general counsel for ARCADIS
Pearson (54-62), Dave Guy (58-62), Eric Asia (www.arcadis.com) based out of Hong
Beston (54-62), Martin Bell (50-61), Ian Kong and running all legal and compliance
Thompson (52-62) and Tom Scott (51-61) function for the business’ operations across
and I now enjoy a reunion with them all
Asia and Australasia. ARCADIS is a global
several times a year. Many thanks to the ONA! built asset and environmental consultancy
with around 22,000 people operating
Mark Robinson (75-83) known more
across 70 countries in 300 offices.
commonly by my nickname of “Dog”. I am
now married with two children, and working Jonathan Patterson (95-02) News from
my household: most importantly, my wife
for Bank of Scotland as a senior financial
and I now have a baby son (Samuel), born
consultant. I was fortunate to have some
last May and now eight months old. I am
great teachers during my years at school,
particularly Simon Squires (72-07 and 07- currently a research fellow at St Hugh’s
present) (Classics) and David ‘Doc’
College, Oxford, where I have just
Worrall (76-84) (English) who occasionally published my first book: Representing
turned a blind eye, but always tried to keep Avarice in Late Renaissance France
me on the straight and narrow! It would be (Oxford University Press, 2015).
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appointment as curator of architectural
drawings at Historical Royal Palaces.
Richard Phillips-Kerr’s life size plaster cast
Valete
This summer the school says farewell to long-serving teachers, Bill Gibson (63-69),
Mathematics teacher (see page 12) and Ian Goldsborough, head of Design and
Technology. The ONA would like to wish them both long and happy retirements and hope
that they will keep their association with the school and the ONA.
London ONA
Dinner 2015
Guest List
ONA Committee
Dr Chris Rutter (President),
Mr Chris Wilson (Vice President),
Miss Kate Jarvis (Vice President),
Mr David Goldwater (Guest
Speaker), Mr Kenneth Hodcroft,
Mr Alan Ng, Mr David Westwood
ONs
Sarah McDonald
Fraser Balmain
Sarah McDonald (06-11) who won Gold
Fraser Balmain (05-10), prop forward
in the British Universities and Colleges
Sport (BUCS) Nationals in the Women’s
1,500m in Sheffield.
who has agreed a new deal with Leicester
Tigers and also played for England last
year against the Barbarians (see photo).
Harry Cochrane (03-12), Cambridge
undergraduate who was awarded The
Keats-Shelley Prize and was judged the
winning essayist for his submission on
The Romantic Dante.
Bibek Banerjee (78-85) writes: ‘After his
third tour of Afghanistan as the deployed
medical director in 2013, Bibek Banerjee
has been recognised with a double
honour for his 25 years service with the
Army Reserve. In November he was
appointed Deputy Lieutenant to the Lord
Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear by former
governor of the RGS, Sir Nigel Sherlock
KCVO OBE KStJ JP. This was followed
by him being awarded the Queen’s
Volunteer Reserves Medal in the most
recent Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.
He recognises the importance that his
time as the CSM of RGS CCF played
in achieving this recognition.’
Will Nicholls (06-13) who was spotted
in the local and national press alongside
HRH Prince Harry when the Prince visited
Northumberland to talk to conservationists
from the Red Squirrels Northern England
project. Will has achieved award-winning
success, particularly with his photograph,
Red Squirrel winning him the title Young
British Wildlife Photographer, under 18
category winner in 2009 (see issue 92).
Bibek Banerjee
Nick Miller (80-87) who was recently
spotted in Professional Engineering by
Mike Barlow (53-64) in an article about
the Jaguar XE, Jaguar Leaps Forward.
Nick is XE vehicle programme director. He
is returniung to school this month to deliver
a talk to Sixth Formers considering careers
in engineering and design.
Kate Appleby (06-08), new
committee member on her engagement
to Tom Harman.
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Miss Nyree Abajian, Mr Tom
Akehurst, Mr Peter Atchison,
Miss Rachel Baxter, Dr Brian Beeley,
Mr Dan Bell, Mr Kulwant Bhatia,
Mr David Boll, Mr Tim Bowman,
Mr Tim Brown, Mr Alan Castree,
Mr Charles Christie, Mr Stephen
Cooke, Mr John Coxon, Mr Mark
Davey, Mr John Douglas, Mr James
Ellis, Mr Bruce Embleton, Mr Chris
Emmerson, Mr Chris Eyre,
Mr James Finch, Mr Rory Gibson,
Mr Ian Glass, Mr Alex Griffiths,
Mr Leon Heward-Mills, Mr Niall
Hodson, Mr Will Jackson, Dr Dan
Jewell, Mr Kooyeon Kim, Mr Ivan
Krolick, Mr Aaron Lally, Mr Jonathan
Lees, Mr James Lightly-Hunt,
Mr David Mansi, Mr John Mark,
Mr Mike McChesney, Mr Phil
McKenzie, Mr Mervyn Metcalf,
Mr Jim Michael, Dr Steve Murray,
Miss Cindy Ng, Mr Will Peberdy,
Mr Richard Petty, Mr Gavin
Pottinger, Mr Martin Purvis, Mr Sam
Rawcliffe, Mr Mark Reach, Mr John
Rennison, Mr Alex Robson, Mr Jim
Ryan, Mr James Schofield,
Mr Simon Sefton, Mr Ed Sides,
Mr Malcolm Staig, Mr Ed Steele,
Miss Emily-Jane Swanson,
Mr Andrew Taylor, Mr Max Thomas,
Dr Bernard Trafford, Miss Annelise
Tvergaard, Mr Amit Vedhara,
Mr Nigel Ward, Mr Nick Ward,
Mr Andy Watson, Mr James Wilkins
Guests
Mrs Vicci Boll, Mr Howard Brown,
Mrs Shirley Embleton, Mr Ony Iroha,
Miss Rachel Smith (Head Girl),
Mr Charlie Smith (Head Boy),
Mrs Melanie Taylor, Mrs Katherine
Trafford
ONA Now
and Then
Jim Pollock (67-77), Scottish international next few decades. That is how confident
and head of PE and Games in our Junior
School and 1st XV rugby coach, readily
acknowledges that John Elders was the
man who “sorted him out”.
How good that, as we honour teachers
of the past, this edition includes a piece
by a young and recent entrant to the
profession: I’m desperately proud of ONs
like Ankita Karn (07-09) who understand
(perhaps a few years on) what they
received from their teachers and want
to follow the same vocation.
we are in our future, sufficiently so to seek
commercial funding to keep the RGS
physically as well as academically at the
forefront of education in the North East.
We don’t appeal for funds for building:
we do beg for help to support bright boys
and girls who will seize all the opportunities
available at the RGS and make the most
of them – or would do, except that their
homes cannot afford the school fees.
Thus we hope in 2015 to raise awareness
of our Bursary Campaign once more.
So many of the ONs who write for the
Now and then? I’m not sure I’ve ever felt
quite so finely balanced between past and Much of the history referred to above was magazine, visit the school for a reunion,
present as in writing this foreword. Still, it’s firmly in the days when the school was part or dine uproariously in London with fellow
of the Direct Grant scheme. So many of
ONs, remember their good fortune in
a renowned quality of headteachers that
the ONs whom I meet, who have gone on being supported financially through the
they are skilled at sitting on the fence: so,
to have long and satisfying careers (often
school. We hope they will appreciate that,
Janus-like, I’ll try to look in both directions
very successful ones, too) remind me that great as is the success the school is
at once.
they could not have attended a school of
currently enjoying, its ability truly to reach
the quality of the RGS without the Direct
out to those from poorer homes is
This is, after all, the magazine devoted to
Grant. As ONs know, the scheme was
curtailed by our ability, even as the country
Old Novocastrians, so it’s inevitably full
emerges from recession, to raise sufficient
of happy memories of the past. Laurence ended by government decree in 1978.
funds for bursaries.
Pallister’s (53-63) memories of his school
The Thatcher government replaced the
trip to Westminster in 1962, for example:
Direct Grant with Assisted Places in
So I hope all ONs who read this will think
and the latest in the series, A History of
1982: Tony Blair’s new government put
about it. You are part of a great tradition,
the RGS in Its People, concentrating in
a stop to that in 1998. Some 15 years ago something of which we are reminded
this edition on the late George ‘Dixie’
Dean (24-67), second master from 1958 the school launched its Bursary Campaign, every time we have Assembly in the Main
in an attempt to replace to some extent the Hall, with that fine War Memorial perhaps
to 1967.
vast resource offered by both preceding
more noticed than usual as we mark one
centenary after another of events in the
There are two farewells. First my colleague schemes. In many ways it’s been hugely
successful: thanks to some £6m raised
Great War.
Bill Gibson (63-69) who has been at the
overall, at any time we have between 6%
RGS man and boy since 1963 and is
and 7% (some 80 boys and girls) in the
Even there the past and future come
finally hanging up his calculator and
school
supported
by
bursary
funding
together. The organ, now fully restored,
leaving the Maths Office (though none
which is entirely dependent on voluntary
was in use for a commemorative concert
of us believe he will entirely stop teaching
giving. It’s something of which we are justly on 1 May. Young performers and the RGS
Maths around the world): we wish him
proud: yet the scale of help afforded is puny Community Choir give their all in musical
a long and happy retirement.
in comparison to those earlier schemes.
performance: and they are immovably
rooted in the past that is the tradition and
Only the other day many of us said a
We are currently very much in a phase
the buildings of the school.
sorrowful final farewell to the legendary
of looking forward at the RGS. As this
John Elders (57-82 and 92-96) who
taught at the RGS from 1957 to 1982 (he magazine is published, our quite fantastic Then and now: past and future; in a place
new sports facility (a replacement for the
so full of great tradition as the RGS, the
taught Bill then) and again, after a spell in
Sutherland Pool, new sports hall and
two are inseparable. And that’s how it
Australia, from 1992 to 1996. He was an
should be.
outstanding schoolmaster, an inspirational aerobic fitness and dance studios) will
come fully into use, a landmark building
sports coach, captain of Leicester Tigers
Bernard Trafford
highly visible from the urban motorway!
and variously coach of the England and
That is part of an on-going project to meet Headmaster
England Schoolboys rugby teams, with
significant success in all. Indeed, our own the physical needs of the school for the
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ONA Now
and Then
Visits to Westminster
By G Laurence Pallister (53-63)
I recently visited Westminster and was
taken round the House of Lords by my
old friend and RGS contemporary Jeremy
Beecham (53-62) who is now a Life Peer
(Baron Beecham of Benwell and
Newcastle upon Tyne). This reminded
me of my first visit to Westminster while
on an RGS History Camp in April 1962.
The party was shown round both Houses
of Parliament by Mr Bill Elliott, then the
Conservative MP for Newcastle North.
At the conclusion of the visit the
accompanying photograph was taken on
the terrace by the Thames. As indicated,
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
I have managed to identify all but four of the
members of the party. We had a very active
week which included visits to Westminster
Abbey, the National Gallery, Sir John
Soane’s House, the Planetarium, St Paul’s
Cathedral, the Stock Exchange and Lloyds
of London as well as a visit to Hampton
Court Palace and a trip downriver, past the
then numerous docks, to Greenwich where
we visited the National Maritime Museum,
the Observatory and the Royal Naval
Hospital. In the evenings we were free to
go to the theatre on our own and I saw,
among other shows, Swan Lake at Covent
Garden, My Fair Lady at the Theatre
Royal, Drury Lane and Tyrone Guthrie’s
production of The Pirates of Penzance
at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
RGS History Camp party outside the Houses of
Parliament, 11 April 1962. (L-R): Unknown, Roger Buck
(53-63), Unknown, Robin Crighton (53-56), Peter
Wolstenholme (52-63), John Faid (53-63), John Gibson
(53-63), Laurence Watson (staff) (30-71), Unknown,
Unknown, Bill Elliott MP, Tony Hills (56-63), G Laurence
Pallister (53-63), Clive Dewey (56-63), Andrew Kennedy
(53-63), Lawrence Bryson (56-63)
Teaching is Great…
Honestly!
By Ankita Karn (07-09)
Throughout my own education, the
thought of going into teaching as a
profession never even crossed my mind.
After completing a Biomedical Science
degree at St George’s, University of
London, all that was clear to me was that
I was passionate about science and
wanted to work within a profession that
involved human interaction, not just
machines and lab equipment. Unsure of
what my future held, I headed back up
North to seek counsel from my trusted
teachers at RGS to ask for direction.
Left: Teaching children about the different parts of the body, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand
Right: School children in Chiang Mai
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H
aving previously enjoyed
teaching youngsters in the slums
in India, I decided to travel to
Thailand and volunteer in a
school there. Whilst I was there,
everything fell into place for me as the joy I got
from interacting with the students and the buzz
experienced from watching them progress was
like no other. I came back to the UK with a new
love for teaching and, with inspiration drawn from
my own school experiences at RGS and the
great teaching that had taken place in order to
mould my future, I decided to embark on a journey
to help others do the same.
We all know that there are certain stigmas
associated with teaching and with the number
of newly qualified teachers dropping out every
year, it certainly isn’t the most attractive job out
there. However, someone once said that teaching
is one of the few careers where your goals aren’t
to take advantage or make a profit but merely to
enrich the lives of young people within your
classroom. With this attitude in mind, I accepted
my offer to do my Postgraduate Certificate in
Secondary Education (Science Specialism)
at Newcastle University.
During my training year, I was placed at two
different schools in the North East; both eyeopening experiences. Throughout my education,
I have always been backed by an extremely
supportive family and have always learnt with
motivated peers; all pushed forward by
aspirations for the future. Even though these
carbon copies of us were still present within
my classroom, I suddenly found myself
surrounded by young people who, in their
13 years of existence, had encountered a much
tougher and difficult life than I could even imagine.
Some students I taught were living on the tiniest
amount; others came from family backgrounds
that were unheard of to me. For a lot of the
students I taught, school was the safest place
they could be and where they felt the most
protected. At first, I was overwhelmed and not
sure how to manage. Surely being a teacher
involved explaining scientific concepts and
making sure students could apply them to
exams? However, the pastoral aspect of
teaching is now well and truly one of the things
I love the most about the profession.
For some of my students, their teachers are the
only ones that discipline them and show high
expectations of them. Their teachers are the only
ones that believe in them and can really push
them to develop to their full potential, both
educationally and socially. Suddenly the links
make sense; the aggressive student who shouts
out and disrupts the lesson all the time only does
this as she feels that it’s the only way she can be
heard. The boy with his head down the entire
lesson with no response is so terrified at the
consequences of getting an answer wrong that
avoidance is the best way for him to deal with this
fear. As a teacher, your task is not only to teach
students to do well in your subject but to act as
a pastoral support as well, encouraging students
to develop their self-esteem, confidence and
relationships. I know as a student myself that it is
these lifelong relationships of respect that you
build with your teachers that can carry on
throughout your professional life too – teachers
like Andy Pulham, Duncan Wilson and Mike
Downie who can account for the amount of times
I have and will continue to come back to them
when encountering difficult moments in my life!
It is a massive cliché but, throughout this year,
the moments where I have seen the students
I’ve taught gain new insights into their own
learning have become some of my fondest
memories. Whether it’s a lightbulb moment when
a student suddenly manages to rearrange an
equation they haven’t been able to remember
since the beginning of the year, or when one of
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
One-to-one teaching in Chiang Mai
your Sixth Form students gets an A in a past
paper, I have found the joys of working in this
profession endless. From developing their
creativity to making sure students have life skills
to cope outside of school, teaching is not a
profession to be taken lightly.
Although I have found it gratifying, I can certainly
put my hands up and say that this training year
has been a kaleidoscope of both happy and
horrendous moments. When I was at school,
I thought teachers came in, taught and left. If I had
known back in my RGS days just how much work
teachers put into my lessons and my future,
I would definitely have been more appreciative!
Whether it’s the constant cycle of lesson
planning, resource making, evaluations and
marking, teaching can be extremely stressful –
this is without even mentioning the external
pressures of administration work, grade targets
and further responsibilities. My working day lasts
at least 12 hours, if not longer and weekends are
taken up by marking and, yes, you guessed it,
more planning. No wonder so many people drop
out with the amount of stress and the very little
award perceived. However, I genuinely believe
that even though it does not come with the
biggest pay check or social status, it is one of the
most satisfying and energising careers out there.
Every single day is completely different and you
know that everything you do is working towards
making someone’s future more secure and
successful. I really hope that, through my own
practice, my students remember me in the
positive and inspiring way that I treasure the
memories my teachers have given me.
A
HISTORY
OF THE
RGS
IN ITS
PEOPLE
When Christopher Dean (45-53), a very loyal
Old Novo living in the South East contacted me
about his father’s diaries, which the family had sent
to Headmaster Alister Cox (72-94) on a
permanent loan basis, I was intrigued to find out
more about the gentle, rather enigmatic, Second
Master, George ‘Dixie’ Dean, who succeeded
Sammy Middlebrook (18-58) into that post in
1958. By contrast with his predecessor, he
was, to quote his Valete written by Headmaster
OW Mitchell (48-60) in The Novocastrian
(September 1967), ‘a scientist and a games-man’.
‘He was not given to scorn, but he came near to
scorn of the microphone as a means of public
address. His voice carried easily in Morning
Prayers: he knew just how to pitch it. His
administrative schemes were a by-word in the
Common Room. He represented the school with
dignity and courtesy. He and Mrs Dean were
notable supporters of school occasions whether
it was a game or a concert, a dance or a toast.’
George Smith Dean (24-67) was
born in Burnley, Lancashire in 1902.
His education commenced at
Driffield and he was awarded a
scholarship to Bridlington Grammar
School, by East Riding County
Council. From there he went to
Leeds University, also on a
scholarship, where he achieved
a First Class Honours Degree in
Chemistry followed by an MSc.
He began his career at the
RGS in the mid-20s, teaching
Chemistry and Physics.
After a short search in the school Archives, the
diaries were found. Written in tiny script in one
green and two blue school exercise books, the
diaries provide an intimate glimpse into life at the
RGS during the last few years of Oliver Mitchell’s
headmastership. ‘Dixie’ Dean was a quiet,
dignified teacher, who as OWM’s deputy,
exercised a tolerance and latitude not dissimilar
to that of Mr Mitchell. However, there were always
a few adventurers prepared to run the gauntlet
in such a permissive atmosphere and it appears
to have been Mr Dean who bore the main
responsibility for imposing discipline and restoring
order. Much of the diaries’ contents must remain
within their protective box for some time to come.
However, a few gems are worthy (and
appropriate) to recall.
By David Goldwater (51-62)
Left: George ‘Dixie’ Dean, 1964
Right: Mr and Mrs George and Emma Dean in later years
8
An enormous amount of effort went into
S Middlebrook’s retirement and a portrait by
the late Richard Napper (49-56), a pupil and
talented artist was commissioned and the
resulting portrait was, of course, expertly framed
by W ‘Bill’ G Elliott (52-88). GSD records several
rehearsals (some probably hilarious) of the
unveiling of a complicated curtain apparatus.
The celebratory dinner included a salmon main
course, accompanied by Châteauneuf-Du-Pape,
Beaujolais and Graves. A crisis erupted in late
1958 when a boy named Bell brought several
mice into the school, only one of which could be
located perching on one of the bulbs of a
chandelier in the Hall. The Head Boy David Law
(51-59) administered the necessary (corporal)
punishment for his misdemeanor. In the same
month, Mr Dean was involved in bringing the
famous Sir Fred Hoyle, astronomer and physicist
and exponent of the Steady State theory of the
Universe’s birth (an alternative to the Big Bang
theory) to the school for a memorable lecture
in Room C, the then new Lecture Theatre.
give extra coaching to make sure that his
pupils understood everything in preparation
for examinations.
W ‘Bill’ G Elliott (52-88), who needs no
In mid 1959, the post of a new Headmaster was
advertised. There were initially 39 applicants
attracted by the salary of £2,500 plus expenses.
By June 1959, Mr WD Haden (60-72) had been
selected and heroic stories of his war exploits in
Burma are recounted, including one of WDH,
then a Battery Commander, rescuing two badly
wounded comrades from the heat of battle.
Before Mr Mitchell’s retirement dinner, there seem
to have been interminable discussions, all faithfully
noted by GSD, on whether or not dinner jackets
should be worn.
One hilarious incident noted in these small
notebooks was a complete morning of chaos,
which grew to a crescendo by midday, when the
staff at the other end of the hall realised that
Jimmy Herdman’s (22-66) classroom, Room 21,
had become a scene of uncontrolled mayhem,
with boys standing on desks, projecting inky
blotter everywhere and no representative of
authority anywhere to be found. Apparently
Mr Herdman’s landlady had died; he had phoned
in to report this, but somehow, the message was
never passed on. (I was in Room 21 that morning
and remember the wild abandon!)
David H Jack (55-63), a former Head Boy
writing in the same issue of The Novocastrian,
remembered Mr Dean treating Sixth Formers as
adults, rather than children and as Head Prefect,
admired his calm and dignified ways of
administering justice in ‘matters of personal
indiscipline’. He was presumably referring to boys
rather than teachers! Maybe not.
Margot Gale, now living in Lesbury,
Northumberland, widow of Howard Gale (35-43)
contacted me after reading a recent ONA
Magazine and remembered with pleasure many
years of living next door to the Deans when
Christopher was a small boy.
Ian Duncalf (57-58 and 61-67 – unusual!)
recalls Dean’s, “Good Morning” greeting at
lunchtime, well after midday, as he never regarded
the afternoon to have arrived until lunch was
completed, adding, ‘not many teachers were
able to make time stand still’.
John D Jefferey (44-49) (able to remember
the names of 29 of his form mates) noted GSD
as a fine teacher of Physics and Chemistry, who
was not only sympathetic, but also prepared to
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
introduction, vividly pictured his elder colleague,
cigarette in hand, always standing with flowing
gown in the centre of the Common Room, rather
than take up a particular chair or corner of that
ever-smoky “Masters’ Retreat”. Many readers
will remember the pungent pipe and cigarette
fumes which surged into the Main Hall each time
either door opened. He and Mrs Elliott recalled
with nostalgia ‘Dixie’s’ wife Emma, whom he had
married in 1933, popularly known as “Popsie”,
more flamboyant than George and a great lover
of hats, but like him, a very keen supporter of RGS
social events.
Ian Ramage (38-48) has clear and fond
memories of ‘Dixie’. ‘He made lessons fun and
did not belittle pupils. He had an excellent sense
of humour and never got upset if any of his
demonstrations failed to work. At a time when
teachers are now bound by targets and results,
it’s a pleasure to recall the really great teachers
who were quirky and made their subjects exciting.’
George and Emma left the family home in
Grosvenor Road in 1983, where they had been
since they married, and moved into the nearby
Sanderson Road Abbeyfield Home, where he
lived until he died in 1987. Emma remained there
until she died in 1992.
Many thanks to Christopher Dean for his memories
and photographs of his late mother and father.
George ‘Dixie’ Dean’s diaries
The Dreame Team
Old Boys’ Coast to
Coast Challenge
raises over £3,000
for Critical Care
Dreame Fund.
By Julie Gill and
Richard Milbank (73-83)
An idea to celebrate a 50th birthday
with an old boys reunion turned
into a major fundraising event for
Richard Milbank and his friends who
presented a cheque for £3,291.79 to
the Dreame Fund at the Freeman
Hospital’s Integrated Critical Care
Unit (ICCU).
Cheque presentation (pictured L to R): Colin Chater (75-83), Jonathan Coorsh
(73-83), Richy Peebles (kneeling), Christopher Hornsby (82-83), Dr Joe
Cosgrove, consultant anaesthetist in peri-operative and critical care, ICCU,
Freeman Hospital, Neil Lewin (76-83), Lewis Chater (kneeling) (Year 13),
Dr Andrew Kilner (76- 83 former Head Boy), Richard Milbank (73-83)
10
R
ichard and his team of ONs cycled the
120-mile route, following Hadrian’s
Cycleway from Silloth on the Solway
Firth to Tynemouth in North Shields last
August to raise money for the Freeman
Hospital’s Integrated Critical Care Unit (ICCU).
The cycle challenge was timed to coincide with the
class of 1983 all turning 50, including Head Boy
Andy Kilner (76-83), a critical care consultant who
led the ICCU for 12 years before himself undergoing
treatment for a brain tumour.
“I want to express my thanks to
everyone, the cyclists, support
drivers, sponsors, helpers and
motivators. It was a fantastic
weekend and completely
exceeded all of our expectations
in all sorts of ways.”
Richard Milbank (73-83)
The school friends, who now live in various parts of
the country and the world, aim to come together on
a number of occasions to celebrate their landmark
birthdays, but for the ‘big five-O’ Richard felt they
should take on a challenge whilst raising money for
a local charity.
The work of the ICCU is to provide care for adult
patients with conditions and severity of illness that
prevents care in an ordinary ward. Most patients cared
for on ICCU undergo major surgery (planned and
emergency) for life-threatening conditions, which
places great stress not only on patients, but also
on their friends and family.
The Dreame Fund is the charitable fund dedicated to
the ICCU and helps patients and their relatives to cope
both physically and psychologically with such events.
It provides suitable equipment to enhance patient
rehabilitation and allows for the more holistic aspects
of intensive care such as creating comfortable
environments for relatives to help lower stress levels
in situations where great uncertainties exist.
Presenting the cheque to Joe Cosgrove, consultant
anaesthetist in peri-operative and critical care, Richard
thanked all those who had taken part in the cycle
challenge: “I want to express my thanks to everyone,
the cyclists, support drivers, sponsors, helpers and
motivators. It was a fantastic weekend and completely
exceeded all of our expectations in all sorts of ways. In
places, the Coast to Coast route was breathtaking –
its scenery, history and wilderness. The whole team
of cyclists, of varying ability and fitness, gave their all
in completing the route and I’m so proud that we were
able to raise such a great sum of money for the
Dreame Fund. I can’t think of a better way for us to
celebrate our half century.”
For further information: Julie Gill, communications
officer, Newcastle Hospitals Charitable Funds
on 0191 213 8838 or Colin Chater (75-83)
on 07736 773561.
Above L to R: Neil Lewin (76-83), Nick Brownlee (76-86),
Colin Chater (75-83), Richard Milbank (73-83), Johnathan Coorsh
(73-83), Christoper Hornsby (82-83)
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
’63 to 63
By retiring Mathematics teacher,
Bill Gibson (63-69)
The RGS has been a major component
of my life since September 1963, when
I joined the school aged 11. It has
changed quite a lot in the last 52 years!
Below: Bill Gibson amongst the Flyers, 1969 (second from left), Bill in front
of the 1963-1970 Honours board where his name is listed (Gibson, W. Sidney
Sussex Cantab (second down from top right hand corner))
12
M
athematics was already my favourite
subject when I came to the RGS.
A real love of the subject was
developed by teachers such as JE
(whose funeral I attended recently),
JL, JRR (now “Sir John”), FJB, JCD (also my tutor, whom
I was delighted to meet recently) and DP. When I was
wondering which subjects to take at A Level, the late
Bill Haden (60-72) just said, “Bill, you are going to be a
mathematician; you need to take double Maths and Physics.”
So I did, and thoroughly enjoyed them! Thus, Mathematics
became the second major component in my life.
While I was at the RGS as a pupil, the Christian Union was
very large, with about 25% of the school attending various
weekly meetings. I had already attended church regularly,
so it was a shock when I found out on a CU holiday that
being a Christian is about knowing and serving the living
God, not just believing there is a god and going to church.
So, in the summer of 1967, I put my life in God’s hands.
Thus, Christianity became the third major component.
While in the Sixth Form I was told that I should apply to read
Mathematics at Cambridge. In those days the entrance
examination was taken in the term after A Levels. I stayed on,
learnt some amazing Maths, and obtained a place at Sidney
Sussex College. I found the first year relatively easy because
I had already covered much of the work, I found the second
year hard and not very inspiring, and then I enjoyed the third
year when I could choose my options.
In the summer following my second year at Cambridge,
I visited Czechoslovakia, to meet Christians behind the
Iron Curtain. Several Slovaks became my best friends, and
I still visit them regularly. Thus Slovakia became the fourth
major component. After the Velvet Revolution and the fall
of Communism in Europe many things changed, but not
our friendships.
At the end of my degree I didn’t want to do research, so
I did a PGCE at Newcastle. Just as I was completing that,
John Rowling (63-74) decided to move to Ashington and
I was offered his job … so I returned to the RGS in
September 1974.
It was good, but intimidating, to teach beside the people
who had taught me; that included coaching rowing with
Joe Liddell (50-78). When DJM returned to the RGS, he
took over the rowing from me. Later, Dave was doing the
lunch time Remedial Swimming and he got me to help him.
We did our Royal Life Saving Society RLSS) awards with
PJP, and I went on to teach swimming as a class lesson, as
well as the Wednesday afternoon senior games and Life
Saving. Also, I have really appreciated the staff swimming
sessions and the colleagues with whom I have swum.
When interviewed for my job, I had been asked to teach
Statistics in the Sixth Form. However, the Statistics which
I had studied at Cambridge was not what was required for
A Level. Fortunately, one of my friends was teaching the
Statistics component of the part-time degree at Newcastle
Polytechnic, and I was able to cover that in one year. A few
years later I also had a sabbatical term at Newcastle
University focusing on Statistics. I have enjoyed getting to
grips with the subject and developing it in the RGS.
Given my interest in Slovakia, I was delighted to go with
DJM on the first two RGS trips to the Soviet Union in 1983
and 1984.
“I made my first visit to China in
December 2009; my aim was to find
out why the Chinese had won so many
recent International Mathematical
Olympiads. Two years later the RGS was
partnered with a school in Tangshan and
there have since been several exchange
visits between the two schools.”
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
Bill Gibson visiting China, 2011 (see issue 84)
Following the Velvet Revolution I was asked by a Slovak
friend to teach students from the former Eastern Europe
the Statistics component of a post-Masters course on
environmental issues. James Miller (94-08) allowed me
to be away the week before the October half term so that
I could teach intensively for two weeks: we went as far as
basic multivariate methods! It was very enjoyable and I did it
four times.
John Rowling’s successor with the Christian Union
was Alan Wright (73-83). With him, I went on several
memorable summer camps around all parts of the UK,
often with over 100 pupils from various local schools.
I made my first visit to China in December 2009; my aim
was to find out why the Chinese had won so many recent
International Mathematical Olympiads. Two years later the
RGS was partnered with a school in Tangshan and there
have since been several exchange visits between the two
schools. Nowadays I also meet with Chinese students
through a church in Newcastle, and I have visited several of
them when they returned home. China is now the fifth
component in my life.
I retire from the RGS this summer. I am sad about that,
mainly because many of the people with whom I have
worked and whom I have taught have been so special. It
seems likely that I shall go to China for a year to teach Maths.
I’ll come home a few times during the year, so I’m hoping
that I shall be able to pop into the RGS to do some work
with the top pupils… and have a swim with my colleagues!
Footnote: JE – the late John Elders (57-82 and 92-96),
JL – Joe Liddell (50-78), JRR – Sir John Rowling (63-74),
FJB – Frank Budden (62-80 and 80-82), JCD – John
Douglas (56-94), DP – Don Peden (53-88), DJM – Dave
Merritt (63-73, retired teacher 2014, school counsellor),
PJP – Paul Ponton (71-09).
Every time the ONA Magazine arrives
at my home in Grosse Pointe, Michigan,
USA, I put it aside until cocktail time,
then I sit down to enjoy its contents and
the wonderful memories they bring back
of a great school I had the privilege to
attend. It’s a sort of nostalgic link to the
past that brightens my day and I cannot
thank the publishing and editing staff
enough for their dedicated work.
The Ballet
Caper
By Colin Wilkinson (34-42)
Hong Kong, where Colin was stationed during the Japanese surrender, 1945
14
E
ach magazine usually includes some
reference to the need for news and articles
from all of us old boys and I immediately
feel urged to comply with this reasonable
request. Fortunately, by the time I have
finished my cocktail the feeling passes
off and so I postpone my obligation once more.
Perhaps it is because I recognise more names in the
Obituaries than I used to, or perhaps because I am in
my 90th year, but whatever, I am finally constrained to
write something. The question is what to write about.
Chronological statements listing career moves is boring
at best. So, I thought a story from the past might be
more interesting.
After school in Penrith, I joined the Royal Marines in 1943.
When the Americans dropped the atomic bomb and Japan
surrendered, my unit, the 42nd RM Commando was part
of the 3rd Commando Brigade that took the Japanese
surrender in Hong Kong. Our Colonel, Peter Hellings DSC,
ordered me to get a boat from the Royal Navy so we could
transport patrols to outlying islands and round up any
Japanese in hiding. The Navy loaned us an old MFV. It was
slow but reliable. It had a single screw and a Grey Marine
diesel engine that pushed it to a maximum speed of 12
knots. It was built to catch fish in the North Sea rather than
move patrols around Hong Kong but it did the job. It also got
me into trouble.
When things settled down and civilians took control, the
word came out that a troop show would arrive in a couple
of weeks. Rumors spread rapidly that it would be a Bob
Hope style of entertainment with lots of showgirls. For a
bunch of Marines that hadn’t seen an English girl in a long
time the excitement ran very high. To our amazement and
bitter disappointment, the show turned out to be the AngloPolish Ballet. However, on reflection we all realised that
there would still be girls in frilly dancing tights and that was
certainly better than no girls at all.
Never again would there be as many randy Marines lined up
to go and see Swan Lake or whatever it was. No one cared.
It was girls we came to see. During intermission, I hightailed
it around to the stage door and found myself standing
behind our Brigade Major. He extended an invitation to the
cast to come to the Officers’ Mess at brigade headquarters
for a drink after the show. I quickly decided I was going to
crash this party and I did. It was a lot of fun and as the
evening drew to a close the Brigade Major sidled up to me
and suggested we take some girls for a cruise on my boat
the next day, Sunday. Their next show was scheduled for
Sunday evening at 7pm and the girls needed to be back
by 6pm. No problem or so I thought.
I arranged for a skeleton crew, composed of an engineer,
a coxswain and a couple of deck hands. My guests included
three lovely English ballet dancers and two local Chinese
girls invited by the crew and, of course, the Brigade Major.
Off we cruised to Lamar Island and a beautiful secluded,
sandy beach in Picnic Bay. We dropped the hook and went
swimming. It was an idyllic setting for a leisurely, relaxing
Sunday afternoon in the company of gorgeous young
ladies, clad in skimpy swimsuits, on an uninhabited beach
a long way from home. What could be better?
As l lay on the beach and gazed contentedly over the clear
blue water at my boat anchored on the other side of the bay,
l was jolted into action with the horrible realisation that the
boat had a list to starboard. I learned the hard way that tides
around Hong Kong Island have unique characteristics.
Frequently a low tide is followed by a short surge, which
retreats again before the regular high tide starts to flow.
In other words, you can be caught thinking the tide is at its
lowest ebb and it isn't. We were hard aground.
The situation from the boat’s viewpoint was not at all
serious. All we had to do was wait for high tide. However,
the girls had a show to put on and high tide would not arrive
until around midnight. We might float off earlier, but getting
back before 7pm was impossible. My signalman tried
to raise HQ but we got no answer. To be perfectly honest
we all thought it was a lark. Sort of like running out of petrol
in your car. We had food and drink on board so settled in
for a party in a rather romantic location.
As dawn broke, we up-anchored and set off for Kowloon our
homeport. The first inkling of trouble came when a seaplane
swooped overhead, as if they were looking for something,
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
CCF and family connections: Colin Wilkinson
(34-42) with brother-in-law Mike Barlow (53-64)
and his son Philip Barlow (81-91) meeting in
Detroit, summer 2014
and then headed back towards Kai Tak Airport. l had a
bad feeling they were looking for us. Then as we rounded
Victoria Island and set course for home a tugboat headed
directly toward us and signaled, “Did we need assistance”.
We responded “No thanks” and continued on to our berth
in the Navy dock in Kowloon.
A jeep bearing the furled Brigadier’s pennant was parked
at dockside. A Sergeant driver saluted and said: “Sir, the
Brigadier wants to see you right away”. Incredibly, the
Sergeant was none other than Wally Turnbull (41-45),
an Old Novo. (At least I remember his first name was Wally
but my memory is hazy on his surname.)
I knew I must report to my CO, Colonel Peter, and let him
know I was in trouble with the Brigadier. l got through to the
duty officer at commando HQ who happened to be Geoff
Young (34-41), another Old Novo and a longtime friend
from Jarrow. (He died recently in Canada.) He gave my
message to Colonel Peter whose response was something
to the effect, “That’s what you get for chasing girls” (actually,
his word for girls was a bit more colloquial ). I dutifully
marched into the Brigadier’s office and saluted smartly.
He fixed me with a steely glare and barked:
“Are the girls alright?”
“Yes, sir”, I replied, still standing stiffly at attention.
“Will they make any complaints?” he continued.
“I am sure they won’t sir”, I replied.
“Then get the hell out of my office, and don’t say a bloody
word to anyone.”
Until now, I have not.
Exchange
Deutschland
By James Rattray (57-64)
During recent clearance activity at
home I rediscovered the documentation,
obviously not as valuable as the
Catalogus Librorum, but hopefully
of some interest to your readership.
Above (L-R): James Rattray in the back garden. Penpal Günther
I
n 1960 the RGS conducted a holiday exchange
of pupils with the Parzival-Gymnasium in Bremen,
Germany. Parzival-Gymnasium translates as
Perceval Grammar School. I believe this was the
first time that the RGS participated in such an
exchange. According to Cliff Watkins’ (54-69)
Valete for Geoff Morris (57-63) there had been a pupils’
exchange as early as 1959 (The Novocastrian, September
1963, page 9).
The basic idea was worked out by Cliff Watkins and his
sometime fellow student from Germany, Herr Ernst August
von Oehsen, who taught at the Parzival-Gymnasium. The
two had met whilst Watkins was studying at a German
university. The idea was initially to establish penpals for
those studying German at the RGS, believing that writing
letters in German would assist their study work!
The German pupils visited Newcastle and environs first in
June 1960 and the RGS pupils travelled to Bremen
between 18 August and 6 September 1960. The Collective
Passport for Young People gives the names of the 15 pupils
who made the joumey; 10 from the Removes and five from
the IVth form, to use the termini tecnici of the period for class
years.
Roeder and his mother. ‘We Brits used to wear ties on holiday!’
Centre: The market in front of the Town Hall in Lüneberg
Right: Bremen viewed from the spire of the cathedral
Sadly, some of the names on the list will be missing
at today’s roll-call.
So why do I have this document?
16
Left: In the Lüneberg Heath. Front
Row: Language teachers Geoff
Morris (57-63) and Cliff Watkins
(54-69). Back Row: Herr Ernst August
von Oehsen and three German pupils.
Right: Second trip, July/August 1962,
taken at the inner German border in
the Harz Mountains. The text says:
‘Germany is still divided here.
Germany is also “over there”! West
Germans used to refer to the East
part, colloquially, as “drüben” = over
there! Pictured are Cliff Watkins and
Geoff Morris with their backs to us.
To the right of Geoff Morris is Peter
Stobart (54-64), and walking towards
camera, wearing a tie (I told you
about Brits on holiday) is David Reed
(54-64)
Below: Collective Passport for Young
People showing (inset) the treasured
Foreign Service stamp
At Speech Day in the following Autumn Term an exhibition
of the holiday in Germany was shown, at which the
document was laid out for all to see (no idea of data
protection in those benign days). As a stamp collector I had
my eye on the Foreign Service stamp on page 3. After the
exhibition I managed to wangle the document from Cliff
Watkins and after keeping it for 53 years, I now pass it back
to the ONA for safe keeping as an historic artefact. That is
the main reason for this ramble.
It is also interesting to note on the back page the amount of
money Watkins took with him for himself and including all
the monies that the travellers had entrusted to him as ‘bank’
for the holiday: £160. The pound may well have been worth
about 14-15 Marks at the time and the purchasing power of
the currency very high compared to 2013. This amount is
the equivalent of 1,200 Euros, giving each traveller about
75 Euros spending money for two-and-a-half weeks!
During their first visit in 1960 some German pupils were
taken to Race Week camps; I found myself at the Border
Camp with two of them under the watchful eyes of Jeff
Knowles (56-80 and 80-84), Joy Knowles (52-84) and
John ‘Spuggy’ Douglas (56-94). Ken Wood (57-65) and
Frank Lee (57-62) (also in the Removes that year) were
at the camp. On the Saturday evening after returning to
Newcastle parents and pupils showed some of the guests
around the Hoppings.
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
In February 1963 the Linguists performed yet again the
old favourite Der Tod auf Schreckenfels by Walter Kramer
which was given a special performance when the next
group of pupils from the Parzival-Gymnasium visited RGS.
Unfortunately the guests were not as amused by this play
as the British audiences had been.
Obituaries
John Elders (57-82 and 92-96)
Born 18 December 1930, died 3 May 2015, aged 84
pitch and he said to me, “You’re a lot
better than you think you are”. All of
these comments quiet and directed,
individual and designed to develop and
motivate. He treated me in exactly the
same way, guiding, protecting,
motivating and challenging me to give
my best. If I was wrong, as I often was,
he told me off in no uncertain terms but
I, as I am sure many others will say,
hugely respected him: he was, after all
‘the sheriff!’
As the RGS flag flew at half-mast over
the school, at Newcastle West End
Crematorium the passing of John Elders
was being honoured.
also happened to be the captain of the
1st XV in John’s second year at the
school, so that his eulogy carried all the
more gravitas and affection.
The congregation was large, the family
being joined by RGS staff, past and
present, including Paul Ponton (7109), former director of sport, and led by
the current Headmaster, Bernard
Trafford, whose presence was important
and appreciated. As I glanced around,
members of Novocastrians and of
Northern Rugby clubs, which John had
particular allegiances to, were present
in abundance, as were representatives
of Northumberland Rugby Union, of the
RFU and past internationals, under his
influence as a coach, were all paying
their respects to his life and his memory.
Past pupils were also in evidence,
including a remarkable eight of his 1st
XV who represented the school in his
first year at the RGS in 1957.
The congregation moved en masse to
Northern Rugby Club for the wake and
it is here I took my leave, with a promise
to return after school had concluded.
The Reverend Tim Duff (51-59)
conducted the service with eloquence
and excellence, managing to blend the
obvious sadness of the occasion with
humour and memories of the great
man’s life. It can only be at a school
like ours that the presiding vicar
18
It was 3.30pm, sitting in the sun outside
a local hostelry: it was there telling
stories and raising a glass to the
memory of John Elders that we reflected
on what the man really meant to so
many. Is it sufficient to say that I was in
company with Neil Inglis (71-78), who
travelled from Perth, Australia, David
Armstrong (71-78), travelled from
Hamburg, Michael Wardropper (6878) travelled from Amsterdam, all to pay
their respects. Simon Tilbrook and I
represented the school whilst Andrew
Wilson (69-79) was also present. It was
incredible that after such a period of time
personal and unique memories were
disclosed: “He persuaded me from the
3rd XV to the 1st XV and I never looked
back”; “You’re playing because you are
good enough and I have faith in you, not
because of an injury to another player”;
‘I left the changing room to run onto the
An inspirational character and a great
man. A fabulous player in his own right,
playing for the Barbarians and having
numerous full England trials before
retiring into coaching, his pinnacle being
as the England coach with victories in
New Zealand and South Africa.
A kind man, whose calm demeanour
and ready smile exuded an air of
confidence and a general feeling that
everything would be ok!
He had been suffering with his illness for
almost a quarter of a century and, once
again, that showed the remarkable
abilities of the man, to fight on for so
long. He leaves an incredibly lovely and
supportive wife and a large and
appreciative family.
The final words come from the last
member who was with us at the hostelry.
Neil Elders (68-78), his son:
“I loved him you know, and he was my
best friend”.
At school, I thought exactly the same.
He will be missed.
Personal thoughts by Jim Pollock
(67-77) head of PE and games, Junior
School, 1st XV rugby coach
Michael Anthony ‘Tony’ Griffiths MBE
(69-02 and 05-06)
James ‘Jimmy’ A Newlands
(33-39)
Born 21 May 1937, died 29 January 2015, aged 77
Born 27 June 1924, died 30 January 2015,
aged 90
Tony came to the RGS in 1969.
The Ven. Morris Rodham (67-77)
has described him as “a man of
integrity, genuinely committed to
the betterment of others, of selfless
service, patient, courteous, thorough,
efficient, and quietly inspiring”.
He was born in 1937 in Peking
where his father was chaplain to the
British Legation. His mother was
able to escape with Tony and his
elder brother to Canada when war
broke out; his father spent the war
years in a Japanese camp in the
Philippines. The family was reunited
in the UK in 1945.
Jimmy Newlands, whose Arctic Star medal
ceremony on his 90th birthday we reported
(see issue 92), died peacefully in his sleep
at his nursing home on 30 January 2015.
After education at St John’s
School, Leatherhead, Tony went to
University College, Oxford, where
he read Classics, played rugby and
cricket and became the university’s
captain of fives. His first wife left for
Canada with their two daughters.
Tony married his second wife Kay
in 1980 and they have visited
Tony’s granddaughters in Canada
several times.
He had a very distinguished career
at the RGS. Appointed head of
Classics after some years, he fought
tenaciously for the teaching of
Latin and Greek, and introduced
courses in Classical Civilisation.
His innovations gave greater
accessibility and a wider appeal at
a time when the teaching of classics
was under threat nationally. It was his
love of everything Greek which
particularly marked him. One of his
initiatives was the regular production
of Greek plays jointly with the Central
High School and he encouraged
Tim Clark to arrange school trips
to Greece. He and Kay learnt
Modern Greek together, and for
20 years they spent holidays at the
same spot in Crete.
But his influence was felt not only
in the classroom. For many years
19
he helped with rugby coaching;
he was in charge of boxing until the
school abandoned that sport; and
he was a leading member of the staff
cricket team. For several years he
was chairman of the Common Room,
a post in which he was respected
and trusted by colleagues and
management alike. Tony stepped
down from the post of head of
Classics to become the school’s
first professional development
coordinator, enabling colleagues
to develop their teaching skills or
to learn new skills and working
closely with student teachers and
new members of staff.
Tony became an officer in the
school’s Combined Cadet Force,
in due course becoming Officer
Commanding and rising to the rank
of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 2002 he
was awarded an MBE in the
Queen’s New Year’s Honours List
for his work with cadets. His tenure
was marked by an enthusiasm for
activities which promoted selfreliance. He championed the
introduction of pupils from Central
High from 1991, long before the
RGS was open to girls.
An enthusiastic mountaineer, rock
and ice climber, Tony was in his
element in the mountains. He joined
the Northumbrian Mountaineering
Club of which he was President for
six years. After his retirement, Tony
decided to complete the Munros –
the 284 Scottish summits of over
3,000 feet, but trouble with his knees
dating back to his time as a fives
player, and advancing Alzheimer’s
made him, with only 30 summits to
go, unable to complete the project.
By Mike Oswald (66-03), former
head of Modern Languages and
professional development
coordinator
ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
His son John (58-69) recalls: my father loved
reminiscing about his years at RGS, sometimes
talking affectionately about teachers such as
RB ‘Bertie’ Bertram MBE (30-69) and brothers
Donald ‘Spitty’ (24-65) and Laurie ‘Stoker’
Meakin (31-74), each of sufficient longevity at
RGS that they also taught me. I also once found
my father’s initials, ‘JAN’, carved in his distinctive
handwriting into one of the aged wooden desks.
Extraordinarily, too, in addition to the Arctic Star
medal that Jimmy received in June 2014, just a few
months later it was announced that he was also
entitled to apply for the Légion d’Honneur.
It turned out that the French Government has
decided to make the award to all surviving
participants in the D-Day Landings. Had he
survived, therefore, Jimmy would have been the
recipient of what would have been a rare, if not
unique, medal ‘double’.
There was one, final, happy twist. After Jimmy’s
keenly celebrated wake in a leading Jesmond
hotel, a number of his family and friends repaired
to the nearby Collingwood pub, a hostelry wellknown to many 18 or almost-18 year old RGS
pupils over the years. It had also become an
impromptu first aid post in the late 40s when
Jimmy Newlands, playing for Novos, suffered
mild concussion following a collision on the
rugby pitch. With no stretcher immediately to
hand, improvisation was required and he ended
up being carried into the pub in full kit but lying
on a workman’s ladder, fortunately making a
rapid recovery.
Fast forwarding to February 2015, after the
already well refreshed members of Jimmy’s wake
had been in the Collingwood for a further 90
minutes, it was announced from behind the bar
that nobody should leave – “Quiz Night is about
to start”. This entailed staying for a further two
hours or more but, suffice it to say, very few points
in the quiz. It was, however, a fitting send off for
someone who loved RGS, played his part for his
country, loved rugby and enjoyed a good party.
By John Newlands (58-69)
Obituaries
Frank Derek Patterson CBE (32-39)
Born 12 October 1923, died 19 December 2014, aged 91
In 1942, he joined the Fleet Air Arm
and trained in the USA but contracted
scarlet fever so returned to the UK as
unfit to fly. He then went to sea as an
Ordinary Seaman in the RNVR, and
was commissioned as a Sub
Lieutenant in 1944, seeing action in
strikes off the Norwegian coast and
also on the Russian convoys. He was
demobilised in 1946 and eventually
passed his chartered accountancy
exams at the fourth attempt in 1950.
Derek lived in Whitley Bay and arrived
at the RGS from a local primary school
aged nine. He really enjoyed every
aspect of school life, achieving very
good results in a wide range of
subjects and he particularly excelled
on the sports field. He played a good
standard of rugby, was a Newt, and
won two medals for athletics during his
time at RGS.
His best friend at school was the late
Arthur Taylor (33-41) and they
enjoyed a lifelong friendship which
meant an enormous amount to my
Dad. They enjoyed a healthy rivalry
at school and Dad had said that Arthur
did tend to outdo him just in most
areas, but that did in no way detract
from their friendship.
Dad played rugby for Gateshead Fell
Rugby Club and turned out for Durham
on one occasion. He was due to start
playing for Old Novos but broke his leg
before he had that opportunity.
My father joined Gillespie and Co., a
firm of chartered accountants based in
Newcastle on leaving school in 1939.
20
He was appointed company secretary
of James Deuchar Ltd in 1951, and
then fulfilled the same role for
Newcastle Breweries in 1956 and
Scottish and Newcastle Breweries
in 1964. He retired in 1982 and
moved to Eastbourne where he lived
until his death.
Derek was a very enthusiastic leader,
and achieved the rank of Commodore
of the Royal Naval Reserve in 1969, for
which he received the CBE in 1975.
He was also Vice Convenor of George
Watson’s College in Edinburgh, and
Scottish Chairman of the King
George’s Fund for Sailors.
Derek also very much enjoyed golf
and became Captain of the Royal
Eastbourne Golf Club in 1990.
My father led a very full life and was
devoted to his family, visiting my late
mother Gillian twice every day for the
five years she spent in a nursing home
before she died. He died peacefully
in that same nursing home three days
after admission from hospital after
a short illness.
By Martin Patterson (61-64)
Richard ‘Dick’ Hall MA
PhD (50-58)
Born 6 March 1939, died 22 March
2015, aged 76
Dick, as he was affectionately known
by his friends, passed away on 22
March 2015, aged 76, after a long
period of illness. He leaves a wife
Lily, two sons and a daughter
(Christopher, Thomas and Alison)
and four grandchildren.
Dick had a successful period at the
RGS, becoming a Prefect and being
active in the school boxing team (his
speciality was counterpunching).
He won a place at Trinity College,
Cambridge to read Natural Sciences
(Physics), 1958-61.
He had a varied and successful
business career including
management consultancy and
becoming managing director
of Thomas Salter.
He later moved into academia,
lecturing at Newcastle University and
later moving to Durham University
where he became a Professor
researching into intangible resources;
Dick carried on consulting after his
retirement and later moved to
Fossoway in Kinross, Scotland.
He was a great individual and will
be sorely missed by his family and
many friends.
By David R Megson MA (50-57)
Mark Allen (74-79)
Born 8 November 1960,
died 8 January 2014, aged 53
Mark was the son of
the academic and
broadcaster Louis Allen.
He grew up in the very
heart of Durham and,
like the cathedral
across the way, Mark
had a quality of craggy
spiritual indomitability.
He entered the RGS in 1974, bringing a
distinctive irreverence and and a startling list of
teenage enthusiasms – a litany of comics! Silver
Age Marvel, especially Conan and Silver Surfer,
Neal Adams’ Batman, P Craig Russell, Jim Starlin,
undergrounds, Moebius… and he was still only
16! Universal horror films of the 30s, monster
make-up, Will Hay, Bruce Lee, The Legend of the
Seven Golden Vampires. Music, both classic rock
and soul, as Mark crossed tribal boundaries: David
Bowie, Rush, especially Neil Peart who as anyone
knows is the greatest drummer ever, Bobby ‘Blue’
Bland, Saxon, Hendrix: Mark knew what he liked
and wanted to make a convert of you.
A grinning, back-of-the-class free-thinker with
extraordinary intellectual gifts, Mark was always
going to be more popular with his peers than his
teachers – particularly those doomed to teach
him Science – but he easily won a place to read
English at Mansfield College, Oxford in 1979.
He spent most of his year off trying to pass Maths
O Level, a wearying labour which, sadly, proved
beyond him and which he was forced to repeat in
his first year at college.
After a brief attempt to switch his degree to
Theology, Mark’s real passion was scuppered
by his difficulties learning New Testament
Greek for translation in an examination.
He got his BA in English and began
postgraduate studies in English Literature
of the Romantic period.
His first great literary love was William Blake,
but fearing Blake studies was an overly
crowded field, Mark decided for his thesis
to specialise in Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
whom Mark resembled in the prodigality
of his learning, balancing his loves of story
and wisdom, and how entertaining his table
talk could be.
He began working in London giving lectures
in English Literature to American students
studying for a year in England – chiefly for
Boston University – and this gradually
became Mark’s career. Although he taught
in London, Oxford was to be his home for
the rest of his life.
Driven by his vast intellect, Mark’s
enthusiasms continued, like his library,
to expand. His house had to be specially
strengthened with RSJs to cope with the
weight of all his books. To all who knew
him he was an inspiration – an intellectual,
a comedian and an iconoclast who
specialised in the unexpected.
In latter years he suffered from ill health but
the end came with shocking speed, two
months after the doctors realising, far too
late to cure him, that he had cancer.
Comforted by his family, friends and an
enduring spiritual belief, he passed away in
January 2014 at Sobell House Hospice in
Oxford; his oldest friend Ralph Kessler (7479) made the oration at the funeral service.
By Simon Burke (72-79)
Thomas ‘Tom’ Clements
(45-50), born 1932, died 8
March 2015, aged 82.
William ‘Bill’ Dempster
(56-67) born 1947, died 5
December 2014, aged 67.
John Martin Hugill (47-57)
born 1938, died 2 March
2015, aged 76.
David Southam James (53-
61) born 1942, died 9 March
2015, aged 72.
W Allan Jeffery (39-49) born
1930, died 17 March 2015,
aged 84.
Ian James Oswald (39-48)
born 1931, died 13 January
2015, aged 83.
Graham Parker (75-83)
born 1964, died 7 April 2015,
aged 50.
Peter William John Sim (64-
71) born 1953, died 3 April
2015, aged 61.
Alan Soulsby (50-57) born
1939, died 4 April 2014, aged
75.
Stuart L Walton (40-46) born
1928, died 15 January 2015,
aged 86.
Correction (Issue 93) We
incorrectly reported that David
Anderson (31-38) died on 30
December 2014. He actually
died on 29 December 2014.
Penrith Reunion
In the last issue I mentioned that W Allan Jeffery (39-49) had made
a hotel booking for the second week of September 2015. Very
sadly, Allan died in March, and his friends feel it will be better not to
go this year. That is not to rule out the possibility of future meetings.
21
ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine
Summer 2015
Meanwhile, the sympathy of all who were present last year
will go out to Mavis, who always backed Allan loyally on
these occasions. We will always cherish pleasant
recollections of them both. By Bryan Stevens (44-49)
ONA
Diary dates
RGS Day
Saturday 27 June
RGS, Newcastle upon Tyne
RGS Day will be held this year on Saturday
27 June. As always, it is a day designed
specifically to celebrate everything that is
good about the school, focussed around four
prize-giving ceremonies in the Main Hall.
ONs are very welcome guests on that day.
We don’t, in truth, lay on any special
programme for you, but if you check the school
website closer to the date, you can see the
programme of events. Good times to mingle
and meet teachers, parents and students will
be during the gaps for refreshments (in the
marquee on the sacred turf of the 1st XV
pitch!) after each of the morning prize-giving
ceremonies. If you want to hear me give my
‘State of the Nation/RGS’ address(!), that takes
place in the Main Hall at 11am.
I am assured that the ONA will be present in
the marquee, and there will be an opportunity
to buy ties, cufflinks etc. So please keep an
eye on the programme on the website, and
consider yourself warmly invited to join us on
what is a very special and happy day in the
school year.
Bernard Trafford
Headmaster
RGS Community
Choir
Recommencing Thursday
10 September at 6.30pm
The 90th
ONA Annual
Dinner
Friday 16
October 2015
RGS,
Newcastle upon Tyne
RGS, Newcastle upon Tyne
Last September, the department initiated
a new musical venture and formed the RGS
Community Choir, comprising a wonderful
array of Old Novos, staff, parents, family
members and friends of the RGS.
In January the choir performed two well-known
war songs in the school’s War and Peace
Concert. On 1 May it performed Handel’s
Zadok the Priest and Jenkins’ The Armed Man
in a joint performance in the Main Hall with the
Senior RGS Choir, Senior Orchestra, and also
giving an airing to the pipes of the newly
restored organ.
Northern
Counties Club
Luncheon &
The Bridge
Hotel
The RGS Community Choir is open to singers
of all abilities. All we ask is for lots of enthusiasm
and good pitch! The choir is still desperate to
attract more male singers this year. Please
contact David Key (assistant director of Music)
at [email protected] by
7 September to register your interest and to
find out more.
ONs regularly meet once
a month at the Northern
Counties Club, Hood
Street on the last Friday
of every month. If you are
interested in going, please
email ona@rgs.
newcastle.sch.uk to
express an interest. At 5pm
on the same Friday, ONs
may also wish to meet at
The Bridge Hotel, Castle
Square, Newcastle upon
Tyne for drinks and a chat.
Hope to see you soon!
Zlatan Fazlić
Director of Music
Chris Rutter (92-02)
President