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EDITORIAL
This Autumn Newsletter again reflects on
the achievements of DCGS and The Ashcombe staff and students
in many parts of the world.Peter
Thompson achieved recognition worldwide for his initiatives on behalf of
the school and overseas communities during his time as Deputy Headteacher of The Ashcombe.Peter Thompson died on May 21 after a long
battle against cancer.David
Mountain, founder Chairman of the ADA, attended the Memorial
Service on June 24 and has edited two tributes to Peter
Thompson by Arthur Webster (former Headteacher)
and the present Headteacher, David Blow.
The AGM and Reunion Lunch will be held at Reigate Manor on Saturday 8 October and more
information will be found in the Secretarys Notes.Please make a special effort to come to
this annual event where it is very much hoped to elect a new Chairman as
Lionel Harris is standing down.
Ted Hazelden, Membership Secretary, continues his sterling
work in looking for new members and ensuring that current
members keep up their subscriptions.The latest update on Membership statistics are in his contribution.
The Bursary Award Panel met on June 30th and two candidates
were the fortunate recipients this year.Mike Nicholson-Florence
reports on this important event.
The recent articles in the Down Memory
Lane series initiated by Brenda North who
sparked off Sheila Sandford, have inspired many new
contributors to write in and we warmly welcome them.
Ken Pearce was a classmate of James Frost, whom Sheila
Sandford recalled in the Spring Newsletter.James passed away in 1950 soon after starting University and Ken
Pearce recalls their friendship
Joyce Day actually taught Sheila briefly in 1947!Joyce recalls the activities of her
very international family and her own travels. She now lives in Sawtry which I discover is no further away than
Huntingdon.
Rick Overall, a new member and Texan representative, tells how the
Newsletter linked him to a childhood friend from Dorking
after almost 60 years of losing contact.This is followed by A Taste of Asia.
The Olympic Cycle race which will include Box Hill and
around Dorking and Westcott, in 2012 has encouraged Bob Mawson to
recall his own cycling exploits down Ranmore
Hill to get to school on time 60 years ago.
The recent article on the House Plays has
reminded Sue Timmins McGurk of her own dramatic and musical
participation at DCGS. Sue lives in Dover and
has seen a few productions where my brother Bill Ridley
(living in Folkestone) has performed. Wild
Orchids are Bills hobby and he writes about these flowers in
the Dorking area.
John Hayns writes in from the Philippines with memories of Happy
Days at DCGS and in particular his teachers habits and mannerisms seen from
the school desk.
The final three articles will update you with Mole
Valley News from David Mountain, followed by the Sports Pageswith details of a new sport, Name Them, to
help while away all your spare time,and information as to how far David Wilcocksons men have been successful in the Mole
Valley and beyond in 2011.
David
Mountain, still a
keen cyclist, has again kindly proof read the final draft of the Newsletter and
his work has greatly improved the final text!The initial contribution about Miss Macaulay (Happy Days by John Hayns) stated she was peddling her bike and, as David
pointed out, pedalling is the correct spelling, as she would surely need it
the next day!
Many thanks to
all these contributors
Hoping
you have a good read,Nick Ridley
Secretarys Notes:Sheila Sandford
We have been sorry to learn that Frances Carders health is
deteriorating (see Membership Secretarys note) but perhaps, at the age of 93,
this is not surprising.Frances was a
very active member of the original Old Dorkinian Association and has done
sterling work over her many years as Overseas Secretary.She joined our new association in 1992 and
has attended most Reunions until about five years ago.This effort involved her in a two-mile walk
to the station to get the Dorking train and it is amazing to think she managed
it in her late 80s!
As you will gather from elsewhere in this edition of the Newsletter,
excitement is mounting in this area as we brace ourselves for the dry run of
the Olympics Road Cycle Race, which includes Box Hill!One friend of mine (very long standing,
through primary school and DCGS!) is hoping to walk to Box Hill with her
children and grandchildren to watch riders from 28 international teams compete!
It would be wonderful if we had such exciting
competition for places on the ADA Committee, but it is not mandatory to be a cyclist
to join our committee!I hope you have
all read our Chairmans letter, sent out at the end of July, as a result of
which, you will realise how desperately important it is to find some new blood
for the committee.Belonging to the ADA
committee really is not that arduous we meet on average four times each year
- and I cannot recall a meeting when, aparrt from discussing affairs of state,
there has not also been quite a lot of laughter an excellent tonic!Do please give this some serious thought,
especially if you live in the Home Counties area.If you have any questions about the general
arrangements, etc. do please feel free to give me a ring on 01372 372936 and
I would be only too happy to have a chat with you.
Please
dont forget the date and the excellent Lunch with friends old and new that
will follow our AGM at Reigate Manor Hotel on Saturday, 8 October 2011!At the time of going to press, the
details of this years Guest of Honour are awaiting confirmation.
Lunch
application formshave already been sent out at the end of July.The numbers are already creeping up so
please let me have your application before too long! Read and download form.
Finally,
details of the AGM and the all-important Nomination Forms for the committee for
2011-12 are enclosed with the Newsletter.I repeat my request that you please give the future of this Association
very serious consideration.
Welcome to our TWONew Members since the Spring
Newsletter, recruited by two more of our members aspiring to win the £50 prize
offered for most new members recruited
Mary Prosser
1952 - 58
Sheila Harthans
Stephens
1950 - 55
We have
received resignations from the following members
Clive Acres
1958 - 66
I found that nothing the association did appealed to me and that there was nothing that I could contribute myself.
Frances Carder
1931 - 36
Very sadly we are requested to stop sending Frances any further copies of the Newsletter, as she is no longer interested in their content and is unable to read them
We have Lost
Contact with the following members, now removed from the membership listing
Vivienne
Heeley
Mitchell
1954
- 62
Stephen
Pyne
1969
- 75
June
Snellgrove
Astridge
1945
- 51
Recruitment
Remember
- there WAS and still IS £50 for the membeer recruiting most new members by 31st
August 2011!As of today we
have six aspirants for this prize Anyone of them could win by recruiting just ONE new member, OR Anyone else has to recruit at
least TWO new members to stand a chance of winning!
There are a few days left before 31st August. I will accept phoned (01483 566639) and email applications
(ted@hazeldenfamily.co.uk) before that date provided forms are filled and subs paid before October 8th.Sounds fair to me, so OVER TO YOU please.
The Membership application forms are on our website www.ashcombedorkinian.com or please send me the name
and contact and I will follow up.
Then perhaps we can restore the Membership list to the 373 (or more!)
that we look forward to on the way to a target of 400!!.
Membership List. The Membership list at 15th August 2010 with the names of our
remaining 368Members,is available on the Members only pages on
the website. www.ashcombedorkinian.com Mail Address & Email Address
Changes
IF you do change your contact details PLEASE
let us know.
Actually we do get a response to this request!And amendments are made to the website
listing, usually involving email addresses and rectification of typos as well
as advising us of new location addresses.All will be included in the hard copy and electronic versions released
in the Spring of each year.
IF you do have an email address PLEASE let us know.It does
not need to be published in the Membership listing - that is your option and we
will not disclose your email address to anyone; it will appear on the
Membership Listing only as NFP not for publication.BUT by knowing your email address we are able
to supply breaking news to you as well as pass on messages from any member
wanting to make contact with you.To
reply or not is your choice.Your email
address will also allow you access to the Members only pages on the Website.
Subscriptions.
These remain
at £10 per annum. (or 15£ for joint membership)
For those
members paying by cheque, subscriptions are due 1st September.
Those members who pay via Paypal will receive
invoices in first week of September.
Those members paying by Bank Standing Order can relax!
Ted Hazelden
Tributes
to Peter Thompson (1952 - 2011) by Arthur Webster and David Blow,
prefaced by an introduction from David
Mountain, founder Chairman of the ADA
A Thanksgiving Service
to celebrate the Life and Work of Peter Thompson, Deputy Head at The Ashcombe School, was very well attended at St. Pauls
Church, Dorking on 24th June. The Service included words, music and
pictures from family, colleagues and friends. We have chosen just one tribute
given at the Service, from Arthur Webster, who was Headteacher
and one of the prime movers when A.D.A was set up in 1992; we thank Arthur for
allowing us to abbreviate his tribute, hoping that we have not damaged his
original copy too much.
For
over 20 years I knew Peter both as a colleague and a dear friend who made a
unique contribution in his professional career, especially in terms of the range
and quality of the international links which he did so much to develop. He had
a deep fascination with languages and communicating with people in different cultures, and his enthusiasm and special talents have
provided such exceptional opportunities for so many young people.
I
so valued working with Peter. We shared such a very strong belief in the
transformational potential of international educational links but Peter went
that step further and turned the potential into reality.I recall two particular occasions. About 1995
we were much inspired by a headteacher colleague who
had developed a Tanzanian school link. He put us in touch with Education
Partners Overseas and through them we made contact with Tambaza
High School in Dar-es-Salaam. A discussion with
Peter, some funding from the PTA, and that summer Peter and a colleague were in
Tanzania preparing to arrange our first exchange the following year. Ensuring
that this was a genuine exchange and not what Peter dismissively referred to as
educational tourism involved the additional fund raising to help pay for the
air fares so that Tanzanian students could return to Dorking. This was quite a
challenge but not for Peter who immediately started to organize regular
non-uniform Mufti days. (As I recall
one for each ticket!)
The start of the Schools
links with ChangZheng School in Shanghai is even more clear in my mind. Sometime in 1998 Peter attended an
international educational conference in London. He returned full of enthusiasm
and told me that he had arranged for me to go to China. I remember my somewhat
non-effusive response - 'You go to China, Peter!' and he did and what amazing
outcomes followed not only for The Ashcombe School but, eventually, for many
schools across Surrey.I have such very
special memories of my three subsequent visits to China with Peter and the
warmth and friendship he generated amongst so many of our Chinese hosts.
A
testimony to Peters achievements in promoting these exceptional international
links has been the many wonderful messages which have been received in response
to news of his death from the British Council in Shanghai, from ChangZhengSchool in
Shanghai, from the Director of the Education Bureau, Putuo
District in China, from Tambaza High School in Dar-es-Salaam, and from many others.
Former
Chairman of Governors at The Ashcombe, Martin Jones, aptly summarises the
feelings of so many both here and many miles away:
I
will miss Peters friendship, his enthusiasm for life, his unbounded energy and
optimism, his great sense of fun, his kindness and his wonderful smile.
Arthur Webster
Many of you will have
received the email dated 21st June from Ted Hazelden containing a
tribute from the current Headteacher, David Blow; for those readers who do
not have email we show extracts from the tribute covering aspects of Peters
career outside the scope of Arthurs tribute:
Peter
joined the School as Deputy Head in 1989 having been Head of Modern Languages
and then Assistant Head at George Abbot School, Guildford. He took a lead on
the teaching of Spanish which was his speciality (in which he had been a Chief
Examiner), and set up a Spanish exchange.
Peter played a key role in
the Schools links with the PTA, the wider local community and the business
community across Surrey. The Schools International Business week won the top
prize, the Mary Glasgow Award, in the European Award for Languages 2005. The
week involves students learning Chinese and Italian, and then with the support
of many business volunteers, the Year 10 pupils prepare CVs, are interviewed
and then work on business games with an international dimension. Peters
enthusiasm meant that we have had continued support from many people and firms,
which has also enabled the success of the bi-annual Careers Fair.
Your Bursary Panel met on 30th June 2011 at Ashcombe School
which was remarkably quiet with no students around and decided to award two
Bursaries. One to Nicola Marsden who will be studying Natural Sciences
at Durham University (to include Mathematics and French and a module in Arabic)
and the second to Robert Moorcroft who will be studying Biological and
Medicinal Chemistry at Exeter University (a consolation from and maybe a
stepping stone to studying Medicine).
I must thank Richard
Hancock and Diana Trayler for their presence and support on this
Panel.
I am indebted to
Ken Pearce who sent me an e-mail with more information about James Frost,
following the Spring Edition.
I
have to acknowledge that my grey cells did not work well when working out the
dates involved!As I started school in
September 1947, it follows that I started my third year in 1949 but did not
become ill until April 1950 I remember it quite clearly, it was Easter time
and we had a freak snowstorm!Leatherhead Cottage Hospital is set in a beautiful orchard the blossom
was wonderful until a couple of weeks after Easter!My father had asked for a night off from
visiting me as Leatherhead were playing at home on
this particular Wednesday evening!So
my mother was left to visit on her own and arrived on her trusty bicycle but
she came into the ward without a coat!I was unaware that it was snowing as it was dusk and we had the lights
on and curtains closed!I was
immediately concerned that my mother had no coat!She explained that a snowstorm had started
as she cycled up the road and her coat was soaked through so she had left it in
the entrance hall to dry.She was the
only visitor that evening in the entire hospital!Incidentally I believe the football match
had to be abandoned!
Sheila Sandford
This is how Ken has filled in the gaps in my
little story about James Frost:
I have just
finished reading the latest ADA Newsletter which I found interesting and well
presented as usual.I enjoyed reading
your contributions especially the part about James Frost.I can add a bit to this story.He and I were in the same class
through school ending up in the upper sixth in 1948-9.I have a photo of the UVI and another of
the Prefects probably taken toward the end of the school year in
1949.Both include James in seemingly
good health.I sent copies of these to
Mike Nicholson-Florence and he has since put them on the website.
In the Autumn of 1949 James and I and another
classmate, Brian , went to Kings
College, London to study Chemistry (not medicine). Unfortunately James' time
there was cut short - I thought it was some months but it might only have been
weeks.Brian P and I went with
Professor Hey of KCL to the funeral.I
don't think I was aware that he had a serious illness before he
stopped coming to the college and his death came as a great shock to
everyone. There is one point on
which your and my memories diverge - as I read it you thought he died before
the summer of 1949 which I don't think is right but that is only a minor
detail.
I can
confirm your story about James participation in the cross-country.He was always accompanied at the end by
another from our class - Evans (I forget his first name). I believe, but I might be mistaken,
that James ran in the race in his last year at school i.e. 1949. He was not at all athletic but he was
always prepared to join in and have a go.He was certainly very bright and had a very promising future.I also seem to remember that he had his own
little chemistry lab at home.
Ken Pearce
An International
FamilyJoyce Day
(née Carter)(1942-47)
I have enjoyed reading
the magazine over the years, but am disappointed that the contributors are so
rarely people of my era at DGS.Perhaps if I write something, then others may be prodded into
responding.
I
came to the school later than most as I transferred from another
establishment.I was placed in Form 3b,
but my parents objected at once, as they knew I should be a year higher.However, I returned home on the first day to
tell my mother that it was possible that I did belong in only 3b at this school
as the French lessons were conducted entirely in French.It was at least a week before I began to
understand Froggys heavily accented English!Eventually, I was placed correctly in Form
4a. I travelled by train from Ashtead each day and was glad that the Johnson
twins lived near me as otherwise I would have felt very isolated.It was 1942 and the war was at its
height.Once I was late starting out
because the air raid warning had sounded.I was on the train when I saw a doodle bug flying alongside the
train.It reached Dorking and exploded
just as I got off the train.I knew it
had landed near the school and was very worried as I walked down the drive as I
thought it might have landed on one of the air raid shelters, where the school
had gathered.I was most relieved to
learn that it had exploded on the recreation ground, only a couple of hundred
yards away.
I never seemed to do
very well in Geography and found the subject boring.I cant believe that now because I have spent
so much time travelling the world and my family is very cosmopolitan.I trained as a teacher at Bath and taught in
London for a few years.In 1954 I
married Ken and we lived at Effingham, near the railway station.We had three sons and I taught in Guildford,
Fetcham and Epsom.One day our head at Fetcham came to announce
that we were about to be Inspected and I was intrigued to find that the
Inspector was Alun Gronow.
I knew him well and his sister, Marilyn, was one of my bridesmaids.
We went
camping in various parts of Europe and I kept in touch with friends I had made when participating in exchange holidays in my teens, especially with my Norwegian friend, I have been to Norway several times. Our older sons, Terry and Kevin, were in their early twenties when Kens promotion took us to live here in Sawtry.Only Leigh, who was only twelve at the time, came with us.Soon after that, I inherited from my father and we began to travel further afield.We visited friends of Kens in Toronto,
taking in a good deal of the east, including Niagara in summer.Later we designed our own tour and spent
nearly seven weeks touring in the west and central Canada and USA.Then we went again to Canada, this time a
winter tour during which we saw Niagara frozen and then travelled westwards to
Banff, Jasper and Vancouver.Leigh
became interested in the idea of living in a Commonwealth country and he went
backpacking in Australia.We visited India,
Kenya and Egypt, as well as a short tour of Eastern Australia.My main interest is the wildlife and the
geology of the countries I visit, whilst Ken also enjoyed learning their
histories.Leigh eventually immigrated
to Canada and has lived in Vancouver for some years now.I have been out there several times and have
seen a lot of that part of the world.Our most exciting journey was to the Antarctic, but we also much enjoyed
a trip right across South America, visiting Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil.We took video and slides in all these places
and gave illustrated talks to many different groups. China was interesting, but
the food was awful!
Sadly, Ken died suddenly in 2002,
but my travelling days were not over.I
have since been to Tunisia, Russia, Spitzbergen, Iceland and Greenland and also to Egypt, Libya, through the Suez Canal and so on. Five years ago I realised that I had never actually crossed the Pacific, so I designed my own tour and set off alone to Singapore.From there I went to Australia to spend ten days with Hebe and Doc., before flying on to Uluru and then Tasmania.A week in New Zealand followed where I helmed an Americas Cup yacht before I flew via Los Angeles to Vancouver to visit Leigh and his delightful German partner, Jas.
In the meantime, Kevin
married a Hungarian girl and his two boys still live in Hungary
and are at school there, although Kevin has since divorced.I must have been there at least a dozen
times.He lives with his new wife in
the UK now.Terry has married a Russian
widow, thus giving me two grown-up Russian step-grandchildren.Alisa has just obtained a degree in Physics
at Nottingham and Ilya, who is older, works as an
electrician.
When I lived in Surrey I
was heavily involved with drama, both as an actress and as a director for different groups. I also sang and acted in Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Here in Sawtry I am still very much involved in charity work and as
a Parish Councillor and College Governor.I still sing in three choirs, including one that sings the services in
Cathedrals when resident choirs are on holiday.We have sung recently in Leicester, Peterborough and York.Yet again Dr Morgans influence I think.
Well, enough about me,
Id love news from Old Dorkinians of my day.
Joyce Day
Sheila Sandford writes:
Yet
again my memory has been prodded!-this
time by the name Joyce (née Carter) Day.We have to go back to my last term at Poplar
Road C of E Primary School in Leatherhead (often also known as Popular Road
but alas now turned into flats!).One
day, our rather formidable Headmistress, Miss Ireland, came into the top class,
followed by a very smart lady.This is
Miss Carter and she will be teaching you for the next two weeks.We all thought she was lovely and enjoyed
our next two weeks!
Come
September, I started at the Grammar School which seemed very large and
bewildering in the first few weeks.I
began to realise who were prefects.Then one day I saw a big girl wearing a prefects uniform and I
thought her face seemed familiar.Then
the penny dropped!It was Miss
Carter, the smart lady who had taught us at Poplar Road at the end of the
summer term!!This revelation really
did come as a bit of a shock what was she doing at my new school, this grown
up lady?And why was she wearing white
ankle socks when ladies always wore stockings?
The
letter was from an address in England that I didnt recognise, but the writers
name was one Ive known for nigh on sixty-five years, Id guess Michael Y.
Michael
(Mike in my memory, but Micky in his) and I had
become best of friends - almost inseparable during our formative years prior
to my High School life, and for a year or two after my squeezing through the
11-plus exam.We played together, we
spotted trains together, and we walked home from Powell Corderoy
together nearly every day.For a long
time, I remember us playing the lorry-driver game in the old corrugated iron
roofed shed at my parents house in Hart Road the big three-storey house on
the corner with Ansell Road, just over the way from the Ben Turner farm
equipment business.
The lorry driver game was nothing more
than two scruffy urchins in short pants standing behind my dads big vice
bolted to his work bench and using its handle as the steering wheel of the huge
freight truck we allowed ourselves to dream of driving.I believe we alternated drivers from day to
day, and my now fading memory whispers to me that we adopted very strong truck
driving names not the handles of American CBers
as such creatures were not around in the late forties but names like Frank
and Harry perhaps.We allowed our
imaginations to wander into all sorts of adventures from which we always
emerged victorious and well rewarded.
I
have known of many lifelong friendships that had similar origins, but in the
case of Mike and me, the eleven-plus struck in 1951, the harbinger of a soon to
be lost friendship.We probably took the
exam at the same time but, whereas Mike found himself assigned to Sondes Place, I believe, I was placed on the bubble (to
use an Americanism Ive long since adopted) waiting to see if anyone dropped
off the High School list.It came to be
and I was suddenly a high school kid, scorned by my elder brother and his
chums all of whom did not make the High School.By itself this may have not resulted in the
parting of the ways, but then my parents moved the family from Dorking to Epsom
in 1953.
Life
in Epsom drove the inevitable wedge between Mike and me, and our visits with
each other became infrequent.New
friendships and new interests developed, and even the futile and brainless
practice of my dodging school homework surprisingly played a part in driving us
further apart.The last time we met was
when Mike and I went up to Highbury to watch a game between Arsenal and Cardiff
City (1-0 to Arsenal, Tommy Lawton scoring go Gunners!).This was perhaps when I was 15 or 16, but
could just have well been a year or two earlier.
After
that, all contact between us was lost.
Fast
forward to about a year ago, when I was contacted by Ted Hazelden who was
soliciting new members for ADA, having gleaned my email addy
from a post I made on the Ashcombe School former students page.Being retired for a few years, I thought it
might be something of a hoot to go back in time and see if there was anyone I
might possibly remember from those (in my case) ill-spent days, so I sent my tenner to Ted and signed on.Oh yes, there are indeed quite a number who
are members and whom I remember very well, but thats perhaps another
story.But Nick Ridley was one and I
sent him an email with a little bit about myself and my life in the USA.Clearly he was somewhat short of any really
meaningful content for his next Newsletter, so being a very generous and
compassionate fellow, he used my scribblings as
mildly interesting filler.
As
my story is pretty well known to me, I pretty much forgot about it I think
the highlight for me was the Editors description of my being an Oilman; it
does kinda evoke visions of gushers and pumps and
mighty drilling rigs very manly.In
reality, I worked in the oil and chemical engineering business in the area of
construction contracts very sedentary, but I did get to visit some
interesting production plants, including a 13-trip stint on Brent Delta in the
northern North Sea.
Yet it was this story that
attracted the attention of a former DCGS student, Sheila Y, the older sister of
my old chum Mike, who left the High school the year I made it into Class 1C,
Miss Barters class.How or why she
remembered my name is beyond me; after all I would only have been her kid
brothers snotty-nosed, whiny little friend in those far gone days.And I can only conjure up very vague, misty
memories of her.However, remember my
name she did, and passed on my contact information to Mike.Which, as you have probably
surmised, led to the letter I received early in July from Michael Y, my
childhood friend.
We have corresponded a little since
with general catch-up sort of news, and Ive exchanged
letters with
Sheila as well.Im not sure where this will lead, but at present Im enjoying the
experience of two old
geezers swapping stories and remembering the
good old days of childhood.
Well
known Alberta cowboy, rancher and singer Ian Tyson sings a song, Fifty Years Ago in which the chorus
begins, The years all run together now and the singer ponders, Did I kiss
Juanita yesterday, or was it fifty years ago?Well, Im pretty certain that I never kissed Mike, but he was my
childhood friend over fifty years ago, and I loved him.
Rick
Overall
Asian DiaryNick
Ridley (1952-59)
Eight months a
year I spend in Asia and the other four in Copenhagen. The only difficulty
I have with this is that when I wake up in the morning, first I
have to be sure where I am!Asia is largely a geographical definition as there are no
political or economic links. The culture is similar in many aspects.
Conflicts are to be avoided and direct questions are not welcome.
I
am often addressed as Mr. Lidley and asked
if I had a good fright from Penang.But one should not make fun of their language.In Malaysia alone, a large part of the
population speaks three languages, English, Bahasa
Malaysia and a Chinese or an Indian language. English comes in many forms in Singapore
its known as Singlish while in Malaysia its
known as Manglish. In most Asian countries communication
in English is not a problem and the locals knowledge is
often excellent.
Asians of
Chinese origin will often choose an English name as an alternative to their
given names.My favorite name is a
girl from Shanghai who calls herself Apple Tree.Others get their names given them
on the spur of the moment.
Penang where I
stay is famous for its food.The Hawker
restaurants are really something special.Such a restaurant consists of many small stalls, each of which cooks
a special dish. One walks round and decides on the menu and within a
few minutes a freshly cooked dish is on your table and
payment is immediate.A meal at a
Hawker will not exceed GBP 5 and every dish will be excellent.Its cheaper to eat out than at home and as
the temperature hardly drops below 28C, outside is where you
eat. Unless it
rains.The locals hate rain
and a few drops will send them scurrying for cover. The only people you
see walking in the rain are European tourists.
Our landlord
has kindly given all occupants of our
28 storey building notice and we have to find a
new office by November 1. The British Consul has suggested we
share offices so in future our office will have the Consul crest
outside. Visitors to the Consulate are mainly British backpackers with
hard luck stories and other Asian hands down on their luck.
For those
who may be looking for a warmer climate and tax relief,
Malaysia My Second Home is a very good package for
the retired or semi retired.Many of these MM2ndH folk are from the UK.
Penang is a
small island about the size of the Isle of Wight, but its easy
to get lost.Penang Hill is 800m
above sea level and all of the land between the coastal region and the
hilltop is dense jungle.One can
walk six hours through the vegetation without meeting a
soul.On our last cross-island
hike in July, we disturbed a flying fox in his sleep but
otherwise wildlife is rare.After
fourteen years in Penang I know most of the jungle trails and getting
to the top of Penang Hill and breathing in the cool air is a
delight.The temperature there is
5C cooler than down on the plain.One hundred years ago, society lived on the hilltop but once air
conditioning was common, every one moved down to the coast.
Penang is a
safe place and while handbag snatches occur, one can walk home any
time of the day or night without worrying.In Georgetown the best way to get
around is by trishaw. From your seat in front of the cyclist, you can
take an easy tour of all the sights of this Heritage city without getting
tired.All the previous visitors
over the centuries have left their impression, Dutch, Portuguese,
British Chinese and Indians.This
year the Anglican Church, St Georges, was given a facelift and Georgetown
has more well-preserved colonial buildings than anywhere else in Asia.
Nick
Ridley
A
Hair-raising Trip Down Memory Lane without a sat nav!
Bob Mawson (1947-53)
I was interested to read Maureen
Collins comments regarding Lower Sixth General sufferers.In 1952/53, I had progressed from Upper
Fifth Arts to Lower Sixth Arts with the intention of (hopefully) going on to
University to study Architecture but, on deciding to leave school to join the
Merchant Navy, I was then moved in L.6.G. so that I
could take O Levels before leaving DCGS.
I found myself, that year, to be the
only boy in a class of (I believe) twelve girls!
It was always a great source of
embarrassment to me to be asked in French by our attractive Mademoiselle/Assistante each Monday morning (and she always seemed to
select me before anyone else) what we had been up to over the weekend,
particularly so because I had spent most of my time in the company of one of
those twelve girls or cycling home from Ashtead!
RAISE YOUR HANDS THOSE WHO USED TO
GIGGLE BEHIND THEIR HANDS YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!Leave me to do the blushing bit.
I have often wondered since whether Mmselle was more perceptive than I gave her credit for!
Picking up on Sheilas
reference to boys who cycled to school, I was one who came from Ranmore, but not initially, as our family cycles were, as I
remember, constructed by agricultural blacksmiths and not entirely
suitable.Dr. Trefor
Jones gave me permission to catch the first bus down from Ranmore,
which dropped me outside the school gates at approximately 9.15 so that
initially I used to meet Lionel (Rose) and Max Cohen in the boys
corridor from where we joined Assembly at the conclusion of the religious
element.
It was probably when I was in 2(a)
that Mum and Dad bought me a sporty new Hercules Kestrel cycle (from Quicks, the radio, cycle and toy shop sited on the same
side of the High Street and just across the alley from Woolworths.I was then able to arrive at school before
the bell was rung.Incidentally, in my
day, it was Front Door for Staff Only was this ever repealed?
However, now equipped with my hub
3-speed cycle, I was able to cut my journey time to school considerably, which
gave me the opportunity to start my previous evenings homework over breakfast.
Ranmore hill proved to be a long drag back
pushing a cycle, but I was to master the challenge of riding all the way to the
top by zig-zagging across the full width of the road
in the steepest parts.Taking into
account the lack of traffic, this was not a problem.There were occasional episodes when the lady
who lived in the old Vicarage would stop her car alongside me on the way up,
allowing me to hook my right elbow through her lowered passenger window, thus
allowing us to complete the ascent in elegant parallel.
Eat your heart out Highway Code
compiler!
I was quite happy with my cycling
abilities until my friends, who were taken to Sondes
Place School by Pirts Taxis and so didnt need to
cycle to school, told me that they considered that the qualifying element of
cycling proficiency was to negotiate the hill downwards from the last house at
the top until the 30 mph sign at the bottom, without using the brakes at any
point while doing so!Just consider the
possible consequences of this next time you are returning to Dorking from Ranmore, even bearing in mind the lack of traffic in the
mid 50s.One morning, on the spur of
the moment, I decided to give it a go so, without any check on the condition of
the bike, I was away!
I cant actually remember much of it
because it was all over remarkably quickly, as gravity got the better of
me.However, I do recall that the flint
wall became very blurred and that, at the last steep drop before the lodge, I
was airborne for several yards, everything becoming very quiet apart from the
wind past my ears.The lodge corner
now, as then, is still quite sharp (where I ruined a new suit by coming off one
winters morning but thats another story) but the road was dry so I took it
in a wide sweep onto the home straight.The finishing line, the 30 mph sign, has since been moved, but was at
that time located about half way between the exit from the trees and the
railway bridge at Dorking Town Station (since re-named Dorking West).This gave me sufficient braking distance
before entering Dorking proper.Even
so, braking heavily, I was still not able to pull up to a complete halt until I
had crossed the bridge and was opposite the Dorking Electric Hand Laundry
building.
(Do you remember that establishment?)
Needless to say I was quite elated and
pleased to have qualified but when I eventually reported back to the Ranmore Group, they treated it very nonchalantly,
apparently having done it lots of times.I still dont believe them, but do any of you out there recall ever
trying the same in the innocence of youth?
After leaving DCGS, I eventually
achieved my ambition, enjoying a very happy period as a Navigating Officer (pre
radar and satellite) in the Merchant Navy, all of which you can read about in
my autobiography,Eva
Peron and Me my part in the Revolution.(This probably will not be serialised on TV!).I have very happy memories of our shared
times in Dorking and send all good wishes to those of you who made this
possible.
Robert (Bob) Mawson
Memories of Drama and Song
Sue Timmins McGurk (née Fowler) (1959-66)
I
have no idea how it came about that I was picked in 1959 or 1960 to be the
Nanny in the Craven House presentation of The Long Christmas Dinner in the
school House Plays competition.I was a
skinny girl with specs and a side parting, and I can only assume that I fitted
the description of an Edwardian nanny! - but there I
was, waiting in the wings with a big pram.The play followed a series of family Christmas dinners over the years,
and my job was to push the pram across the stage, with a coloured ribbon on the
pram indicating the gender of the new baby.There was silence when I pushed a yellow-ribboned
pram, indicating that the baby had died at birth. and
then the audience started laughing, I have no idea why, to this day!
Its
only years later that I can look back and wonder whether, in my travels, this
humble beginning led to my being involved in amateur drama, in one way or
another, for most of my life.I
intended to draw a veil over my first adult acting experience when I was
working at Unilever, but it still amuses me.We had to re-enact an advert.We
were allocated the Birds Eye Frozen Pea advert guess who
was the Big Pea, who wouldnt fit in the box .?!
Once
I left Dorking, I lived in Birmingham from the 1970s onwards and joined a local
drama group, which was great fun I remember particularly playing Third Gipsy
in Maria Marten and the Red Barn, a weasel in The Wind in the Willows, and I
sang with a folk/rock band.I then
moved to Brighton and spent many happy years with the Rottingdean
Drama Society, being inducted as a Native Indian in an outdoor presentation of Hiawatha(YoYoWi
Ha!), and moving to other shows, ending up finding my forte as stage manager
for several shows, including some great pantomimes.When I subsequently moved to Dover, I was
glad to find a new Community Youth Theatre and offered my services backstage,
subsequently producing some innovative and well-received shows, including the first
amateur production in the UK of We Will Rock You wonderful stuff.I see now how much the staff at the school
must have enjoyed working with the cast on the school productions working
with youngsters, and seeing talent develop, is very
rewarding.
Apart from the academic
studies, DCGS also brought me song and music.I loved Doc Morgans lessons in the room at the end of the corridor
with his infectious grin as he conducted us at the same time as playing the
piano and learned so much across a variety of types of music, ranging from
Handel via The Vicar of Bray to Gilbert and Sullivan, and other such
frivolities.I joined the Junior, then
Senior, Choirs, taking part in that wonderful Messiah at the Dorking Halls,
and other classical works, and I have particular memories of the lovely Carol
Services in St Martins Church.Even
today, I still sing the descants to the carols which Doc taught to us, and I
never hear the Three Kings Came Forth without remembering both the junior and
senior choir parts in that piece.So many carols - so many memories.
I
dont remember too much about school plays, other than that we always attended,
but I must mention that wonderful That Was the Week That Was, where the
senior pupils performed skits mimicking the teachers.I am sure I remember a very good rendition of
Miss Macaulay, by Lear Snr? - perhaps others can also
recall the Pilot who weathered the storm dear but scary Miss Macaulay, who taught me about fan vaulting and the
Stone Age, and once announced to the class that Susan has the colouring most
like an Anglo-Saxon - how embarrassing was that?!
Im
not a serious actor, my voice doesnt carry - I need a mike for presentations
these days! - but I look back fondly and with appreciation on the way that DCGS
developed our many talents, from set-building to curtain-making, which have
been so useful in later life.I was one
of the few of my year who didnt go on to University, I went out to work
instead, which I found a more valuable experience at the time.I picked up my vocational and academic
studies in later years, finally receiving my Masters degree in my
mid-fifties.Im still working full-time
in the NHS - still very much enjoying my job - and long may it continue.All the worlds a
stage
Following
on from Sheila and Kristins reminiscences in the 2011 Spring
Newsletter, Id like to add my own, what I call, Trivial recollections.There
must be a wealth of such trivia waiting out there.Perhaps the word trivial is wrong, because it
is the sum of all the trivia which ultimately contributes to making and forming
our characters.These come in no
particular order.
Miss
Burton. (Fanny)Now folks you will need your pens, pencils,
blotting paper, rubbers (erasers for our American friends) compasses, squares,
protractors .
Mr
Davies (Flash), who
had a crooked finger and you were never certain at whom he was pointing.
Mr
Weatherhead
(Wilbur) who seemed to burst into tears at the start of every class.Perhaps he was issuing tears of despair at
the class he was teaching.Either that
or he had an allergy which we didnt appreciate then.
Mr
Howard (Rat) who
severely reprimanded the boy who smirked and commented while being shown that
the centre of gravity of the lab stool lay in the space between the legs.
Mr Hayters (Spuds) skill at being able to see
the whole class while he wrote on the blackboard.
Mr Bradshaws particular skill at drawing freehand,
on the blackboard, a perfect chalk circle.
Mr
Bradshaw explaining
the fundamentals of calculus and his concepts of the infinitesimal loss of shoe
leather while walking to school.
Mr
Ashby (Fred) who,
when trying to explain the difference in construction between a screwdriver and
a chisel exclaimed, Gather round chaps and watch the board while I go through
it.An astonishing feat; we thought.
Never
recalling one moment when Dr Jones smiled.
Miss Rigbys maternal gaze on the girls during
assembly.
Mr
Woodman (Willie) who
stopped teaching and directed all the class to gain a fleeting glance out of
the window in order to catch the number of the steam engine we could hear
approaching.He knew several members of
the class collected numbers which, when seen, they crossed out in a published
book.
Miss
Macaulay valiantly
pedalling her bicycle up Ashcombe Road.Would she make it or fall off before reaching the gate?
Miss Coneys French vocabulary tests.Et maintenant.
Miss
Barter who could
seemingly never look you in the eye and wondering what she found so interesting
on the ceiling at the back of the class.
Mr
Titmarsh (Ben,
geography) telling us that he shouldnt talk politics but, if nobody bought
tea, the price would have to drop.
A first lesson in the power of the
consumer and the forces of supply and demand.
Being
held to class ridicule having stated in the Geography exam that Chicago was at
the bottom of Lake Michigan.
Mr
Davies (history)
sweeping into the room (usually by surprise) and literally sweeping Goslings
geometry set off his desk and scattering the contents across the floor, when
everyone lent a hand to find each piece and while Davies fulminated (as was his
wont) about some seemingly trivial matter.
Further class ridicule,
although I think laughing at someone elses misfortune was compulsory, when my
exam explanation of the Ems Telegram was read out.I really must check out where I went
wrong.Clearly my explanation was quite
unacceptable, but it did cause a laugh.
Doc
Morgan, during
lunchtime choir practice, being challenged to play Great was the company , from Handels Messiah, faster and faster.
19th
Dorking Scout Troop
(the school troop).Summer
camp in North Wales.Arriving and
disembarking at Ruabon station, after travelling
through the night from Euston.
Being
astonished to find the senior scouts, during the night train journey, being
able to calculate the speed of the train from the clikity-clik,
clikity-clik.Of course, the rails were in 22yd lengths and with the aid of a watch,
the speed could be calculated.Seemed bloody clever at the time.
Boot camp, (Boot being a village in
Cumberland) and Sleeping the night on the summit of Scafell Pike to see the
sun rise.
Steve
Shepherd (Senior
Scout) having been awarded his Bushmans Thong, tied around his shoulder not
his waist!
Louise
McFadyen,
with the responsibility for arranging the choir seating plans and her coping
with special requests at the interfaces between sopranos and contraltos.
School
finishing at 4.10pm
and still catching the 4.18pm train out of Dorking North (as it was then).
The stench and choking dust of the boys
cloakroom.Stumbling over stray football boots caked in
dried mud.
Four boys playing table tennis
on teachers desk at lunchtime.Impossible ?
Very
happy days!!
John Hayns
Wild Orchids in the Dorking AreaBill Ridley (1958-65)
I first became interested
in wild orchids in the area during my time at Dorking Grammar in the 60s, and
have retained considerable enthusiasm for these beautiful plants ever
since.The North Downs, stretching
through Surrey and Kent, are rich in orchid species and around Dorking at least a dozen different types come into flower every year. In a good year, they are particularly prolific on the slopes of Box Hill and Ranmore
Common.
These include: early purple, common spotted,
bee, fly, fragrant and pyramidal orchids. The bee and fly orchids mimic the insects they are named after and rank amongst our most attractive wild flowers. In wooded areas birds nest orchids, white and broad-leaved helleborines and twayblades can be seen. A rarer species, the man
orchid, can be found in annually fluctuating numbers in the area. This attractive orchid, which grows mainly in Surrey, Kent and Sussex, to my surprise, I have found growing in the grounds of the Burford Bridge Hotel
Orchids
are, by nature, delicate plants and, even where prolific, should never be dug
up as they rarely adapt to being uprooted and replanted.There is some concern that the proposed
routing of an Olympics cycling competition in the area next year will bring
with it large numbers of spectators who may damage orchid habitats.Lets hope this fear proves unfounded.
Locally,
orchids listed can be found in flower from April through to early August and,
where growing in any great number, such as the fragrant or common spotted
varieties, make for a wonderful sight.
For those
interested in finding out more about these beautiful plants, recommended
reading includes David Langs Orchids of Britain and Julia Gibsons Wild
Orchids of Surrey.Images of the
orchids named above can be found on line on Google.
Mole Valley NewsDavid Mountain London-Surrey Olympic Cycle
Test Event dont try to visit Dorking on 14thAugust
!
There is considerable excitement in
Mole Valley over the trial run for next years Olympic Cycling Races.For the past few weeks local roads have been
invaded by signs warning us that they will be closed for large parts of
Sunday 14th August when a major cycling event will take place over
the course to be used at the Olympic Games.The race will start in The Mall at 9.00 and travel over 87 miles (or
140km if you prefer!) via Fulham, Putney, Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Hampton
Court Palace, Walton-on-Thames, Ripley, Gomshall,
Westcott, Dorking, Box Hill (the men will have to do 9 circuits of the ZigZag in the real event next
year!), Leatherhead, Esher, Kingston and back to The Mall, with the winner
expected at about 12.10. The roads affected will be closed for about 4 hours
before the cyclists are expected and for about 3 hours after they have passed.
Most
of the route will be open for spectators but the Zig Zag Road on Box Hill will be restricted to 3,500 people
with special wristband tickets, the restriction being justified by the need to
protect the special environment of Box Hill.
The 150 competitors will be headed by Mark Cavendish who won 5 stages of this years Tour de France.
Olympic Cycle Test Event Wildlife Centre Boss very
unhappy
Not
everyone in Mole Valley is pleased about the prospect of the visit of 150
cyclists on August 14th, as the route includes Randalls
Road in Leatherhead where the Wildlife Centre animal hospital is based. The
road restrictions will mean that it will be impossible for the usual animal
emergency services to operate for 7 hours on the day.
Ashtead
Station to be bigger and better.
Surprising
news at Ashtead- after a fairly
expensive upgrading only a few months ago - as plans have been revealed showing
that the existing main building will be replaced next year by an entirely new
building to be located between the present one and the level crossing.The car park will be extended from 195 to
about 255 spaces, and it is hoped that a re-design of the car park will ease
some of the problems with the road junctions near the level crossing.
Jigsaw with 9,000 pieces took 13 months to complete!
It
is probably not news to Rob Worsfold, who has given us interesting contributions in
the past, that a certain local historian Meredith Worsfold
has recently spent 13 months completing a 9,000 piece jigsaw, a reproduction of
a painting by Pieter Bruegel depicting the Tower of
Babel, with too much blue sky.It
appears that Mr Worsfold now doesnt know what to do
with it!
Ashtead boy scores 200 in top Surrey League
Dominic
Sibley at 15 years old appears to be a great cricketing prospect having scored
200 not out playing for Ashtead in the Surrey Premier League, out of a total of
306 for 7 in 65 overs.
Tony Granger makes a feathered friend!
Thanks to the Leatherhead
Advertiser, we can tell you about another good cricketer who has appeared in
the press being shown weeding his front garden with the help of a crow, which
even followed him into his house. Perhaps Tony will supply a photo for the next
Newsletter?
Yesteryear in Leatherhead Advertiser reveals strange
contrast
Next to an
article showing a photograph of Donald Campbell when he lived at Priors End on
Gimcrack Hill in Leatherhead in 1965 explaining that he had become the fastest
man on land at 403.1 mph, there appears an item from 100 years ago in 1911
recording that several motorists had to pay the penalty at the Epsom Petty
Session for exceeding the 10 mph speed limit in Church Street (leading to
Gimcrack Hill).
Mind GamesI.
Forget
Perhaps you
read in the daily paper that there are mind games to be played to ensure the
grey cells are exercised.
Cross Words,
Su Doku, Brain Trainer, Word Watch, Polygon, Killer,
Quiz, Code word, Scrabble,Lexica,
KenKen, Kakuro, Tredoku, Set Square, Futoshiki,
Cell Blocks to name a few
If I manage
one Su Doku, out of the three offered, each day over
a prolonged breakfast I consider I have done well.
I am sure
that others will have their favourites.
I would like
to introduce you to a NEW one!!!
It is calledName Them
You
do not have to buy a paper, just remember where you placed that or those School
photos that you stored away at some stage. With Health and Safety in mind
carefully remove the layers of dust that may have accumulated and armed with
pen, pencil and all aware to write with you are ready to start. Are you sitting
comfortably?
You
are allowed tea or coffee as a stimulant if required, anything stronger should
be avoided.
Look at the Photograph and think back to those
earlier days
You will see rows of people from the past and all you
will need to do is Name Them!
Please right down the names of the front row (row1)
from left to right and then onto row two etc. You may, if you like, make out a
table; a bit like a cross word with boxes representing the heads in the rows in
lines as per the rows.
Some Photos have already been viewed by others and so
this will enable you to see the results of others and this may stimulate you
even more than the liquid refreshment.
Please turn to next page ..
.Progress thus far
There are 5 School Panorama photographs that I am
aware of
1936, 1947, 1953, 1964, 1974 in which most of the lads
and lassies that have been at The School from 1930 to 1974 have appeared. Very
few in more than one photograph!
On the other hand some of the teaching staff appear on
as many as three panoramas!!
The interesting observation is that apart from 1947
and 1974 there might be a correlation between the time the photographs have
been in storage and the Name Them result!
Hopefully before the AGM and Reunion on the 8th
October a Poster board display can be organized for display on the day. We
will also arrange Listings by row and position in the row with names of those Named thus far.
We
can also supply these hard copy listings to any member who wishes to start this
new craze of Name Them
applications to 23 Dunsdon Avenue, GU2 7NX UK or by
email
The Association.
Until now no mention has been made of the need for any skills other than a memory and equipment other than pencil and paper.
Old Dorkinian Cricket
ClubDave Wilcockson,
Fixtures Secretary
Despite
several games being rained off, the Cricket Club have had a successful season
with 13 wins.There have been a lot of
close games including a tie.The annual
tour of Brittany was at the beginning of July.
The
results of the season to date, as at end July 2011, are as follows:
Home
Team
Score
Visitors
Score
Result
ODs
194
(S. Longhurst 84)
Hartfield
180
Won by 14 runs
Old Manhattans
207-5
dec
ODs
203-7
(D. Gange 58
A. Edwards 50)
Draw
ODs
214-
3
(R.
Bennett80 not out
A. Leopold72 not out)
DeandoRuxley
214-6
Tie
ODs
79
Dorkinians (North Holmwood)
48 (A.
Edwards
5-12)
Won
by 31 runs
ODs
223-3 (M. Longhurst 105 not out
A.
Edwards 73)
St Lukes
60
Won
by 163 runs
Wimbledon Utd
230
ODs
227 (J. Longhurst 64)
Lost
by 3 runs
ODs
239-9 (R. Bennett 86)
Old Tennysonians
179-8
Won by 60 runs
ODs
175
(B. Woods 59)
Chadwick
98
(A. Edwards 5-9)
Won by 77 runs
ODs
184-6 (J. Alexander 53)
Epsom
Methodists
140-8
Won by 44 runs
Churt
170
(D.
Gange
5-27)
ODs
173-3
(B.
Woods 67
Won by 7 wkts
ODs
185
(A.
Edwards 59)
Riverside
118-7
Match Abandoned Thunder storm
Leigh
202-8
ODs
205-7
(J. Alexander 61)
Won by 3 wkts
Lankian
151
ODs
134-9
Lost by 17 runs
ODs
231-8
(M.
Lower 82)
Falcons
206
Won by 25 runs
Leigh
207
ODs
200-8
Lost by 7 runs
ODs
230-6 (J. Longhurst 98)
Ockley
106
(D.
Brook 5-14)
Won by 124 runs
Brittany
Tour
ODs
169-7
(B. Woods 52 not out)
C.C.
des Ormes
147-7
Won
by 22 runs
ODs
173-5
(J. Alexander 52 not out)
C.C.
des Ormes
176-3
Lost
by 8 wkts
C.C.
des Ormes
239-9
ODs
(J.Longhurst 62 not out)
186
Lost
by 53 runs
ODs
170
(J.Longhurst 80)
C.C.
des Ormes
174-5
Lost
by 5 wkts
Warnham
149-8
ODs
114
Lost by 35 runs
ODs
248-7
dec
(S.Longhurst 78)
Valley End
140
Won by 108 runs
ODs
243-8
Burgh Heath
116-6
Won by 127 runs
Tradcoe Ltd.,
Madrid Road, Guildford, GU2 7NTby appointmentPrinters to THE ASHCOMBE
DORKINIAN ASSOCIATION
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