ADA Newsletter No. 4 Spring 1994

Issue No. 4 Spring 1994

"THE DORKINIAN”

I am delighted to be able to report that our membership is rapidly approaching 300, thanks largely to the sterling efforts of Maureen and Peter Farley in issuing over 1200 'invitational' letters to those people who had attended the April 1992 Reunion and not yet joined our association, and the hard work of our new Membership Secretary Sheila Sandford in processing the new applications and chasing up renewals of existing members. Maureen has collated much of the personal information provided in this fourth newsletter from letters she has received, while Sheila's report appears at the end not as a relegation matter but because she supplied a nicely self‑contained package to save the editor's time!

However, we are not complacent about 'nearly 300', especially when we remember that the Old Dorkinian Association was over 400 strong when it was disbanded in 1979! At the last AGM a target of '500 by the end of 1994' was mentioned, so perhaps the following generous offer by Roderick McLeod may help:

You will find enclosed an application form with a space for you to write your own name at the top, after which you may photocopy it as much as you like and then persuade all those potential members to join (subscriptions £5pa, single, £8pa for joint membership at the same address). Each new membership will qualify for an entry in the draw to be made at the AGM on 15th October 1994. Thanks very much, Roderick.

1. Musical Evening ‑ Thursday April 28th, 7,30pm, at the school. This is a 'school event', but members of the association would be very welcome. ‑ there will be plenty of room. The programme of orchestral and choral works with some solo playing should be of a high standard and very enjoyable if it is anything like last year's concert.

2. Strawberry Cream Tea! ‑ Sunday June 12th, 2.30 to 5.00pm, at 65 tel: 0372 273227) ‑ for catering purposes (or else you may not be fed!), and ask for directions if needed (but easily found if you go across the railway at Ashtead station, turn right and fork left after 50 yards).

From 4.30pm members are invited to enjoy the grounds and clubhouse of Friends' Provident Life Office in Pixham Lane, with Dinner at 6.30pm or 7.00pm (yet to be decided, and perhaps prospective attendees could express a preference when returning the slip, which was enclosed with the original*) ‑ further details will be provided when the formal notice of the AGM and agenda are issued early in September. Dress for the dinner will be informal, and there will be room for up to 200, so please start to plan your parties and help make this a special occasion.

*It would greatly help our planning if you would complete and return the enclosed slip indicating your intentions ‑ you would not be committing yourself, but we could then judge the scale of catering required.

21 members attended the meeting. The minutes will be issued with the notice of the next AGM, but you may like to know that the following elections were made:

Committee ‑ Hilda Burden, Harold Child, Debbie Collier, Maureen Farley, Libby Stone

Several members have asked about the logos we have been using for the newsletters. We have to admit that we wished to demonstrate that we represented the whole range of former students from schools on the site and their predecessors, yet we have clearly not covered all of them with the two logos. The Ashcombe Badge resulted from a competition launched in 1976. The winning design, approved by the staff and governors, was submitted by local girl Nicola Stevens, a fifth‑former at the school. It was based on the family crest of Lord Ashcombe, depicting crossed scimitars in front of a white pillar; the backcloth is black with red border stitching. The outline of the badge comprises two merging circles, representing the combining of the two schools, the County Grammar and Mowbray. Lord Ashcombe, in a letter to Nicola, commended her on the initiative in obtaining his family crest and incorporating it into the design.

We have now invited current students to submit ideas for a logo for our newsletter and letter headings, in black and white, with a prize of £25 for what we judge to be the best entry. If YOU have ideas, please send them to David Mountain before the end of May ‑ but don't expect more than a 'thank you' letter and the possibility of lasting fame!

On a similar matter, are you happy with the title "The Dorkinian" for this newsletter, or do you have other thoughts?

Yes, it has at last been bull‑dozed, along with the Biology Hut. This was done to make way for the £2m building programme. A new wing at the boys' end of the old Grammar School building (now Ranmore) is beginning to take shape. The shell is up and it is due to open in September this year. When completed the new building will provide a new assembly hall, and 10 new classrooms on the ground floor, and 5 new laboratories on the upper floor connecting with the existing labs on the first floor of the old building. Also planned are new toilets and extra office and storage space. Two new quadrangles will be formed which will be landscaped and planted to provide quiet areas for staff and pupils. Parts of the existing buildings will be completely revamped ‑ the Mowbray Hall in the 1956 building (now Bradley) will provide a drama studio, two music rooms and practice rooms. In the Sixth Form unit the first floor is to be completely refurbished for the Art Department. Do come along to the AGM on 15th October and see this major new development which will take "our school" into the next century.

The Carol Service in St. Martin's church was a memorable and successful evening. The town had a carnival atmosphere and the streets swelled with late‑night Christmas shoppers. The school performed to a packed church and afterwards we were able to meet our friends and colleagues. Maureen Farley had returned after 11 years ears and met seven of her ex‑pupils. They in turn enjoyed chatting with Miss Goswell and Mr. Harry Thank you to those who came and supported the school on that evening.

Rob has submitted 'thumb‑nail sketch', which we would be delighted to see other members imitate:

"Went to Newland Park College of Education 1972‑76. Reading University B.Ed (Hons) English Literature 1976. Moved to Dorset in 1977. Now Year 6 teacher at a Primary School in Christchurch. Married to Rachael, children Jonathan (14) and Naomi (10). Interests include hill‑walking and tennis".

Dr. Ann Hubbard ‑ Chemistry Staff 1975‑79 (at Reigate Grammar School since 1979)

This year The Salters Company, London, celebrate their 600th Anniversary. Lord Porter, Master of The Salters Company, and himself a famous chemist and Nobel Prize winner, said that they owed a debt of gratitude to teachers, because it is from their efforts that chemists are where they are today. To recognize chemistry education the Company had instituted a National Prize for chemistry teaching. Our congratulations go to Dr. Hubbard on becoming the first recipient of this important award.

We were delighted to hear from Nicholas, and such was his enthusiasm that he sent us copies of his last ten years' 'Christmas letters'. These gave us a glimpse of his life but to say that he is a hive of activity both in business and pleasure and buzzes all over the world is an understatement. He must meet himself coming back for the second time! Nicholas has lived outside the UK for 27 years, yet he still keeps in touch with many friends in England and visits several times a year. His work is in the manufacturing and selling of an intragastric stomach balloon ‑ a device for helping the obese and other heavyweights lose a few dozen kilograms! Sometimes he has to visit five or six countries in a month. His wife Marianne is successful in her work. Their son Thomas, 23, is working in the commercial world and their daughter Elisabeth, 19, studied English, French, German and Latin, and returned to Denmark last summer after a year in Paris. Last year Nicholas and Marianne scaled the dizzy heights of Mont Blanc, and then in November ascended the summit of Box Hill, Dorking!

Denmark’s total area is around 43,000 sq km. The climate is variable and one is never certain whether a new day will bring sun or rain. There are about 20,000 UK citizens living in Denmark, many of them on short stays. If Danes today have a higher standard of living than most other countries, they owe it to a way of economic life that works effectively and usually has managed to adjust itself to fluctuating conditions. Production of both North Sea oil and gas has now made Denmark 100% self‑sufficient in both. Denmark has a reputation for being among the world's foremost agricultural countries, and although only 6% of the population is employed in agriculture, stringent rationalisation methods have ensured a production bigger than over before. To a large extent success is due to its practitioners being well‑informed and well trained. Denmark has the largest fish catches in the EC, of which 90% is exported.

Industry, however, has overtaken agriculture with respect to exports. A characteristic of Danish industry is the composition of smaller and medium‑sized companies with a strong ability to adapt to market demands, and with a flair for strict product quality control. Because Denmark is totally lacking in raw materials, it has been obliged to concentrate its resources on light industry, where the human factor plays a big role in production ‑ for example, the production and export of furniture, handicrafts, medical goods, automatic cooling and beating devices (Danfoss, employing 12,000, is one of their bigger companies), and sensitive measuring instruments, and not forgetting Danish beer which is appreciated all over the world.

Another characteristic of Danish industry is its ability to find niches in world markets Lego for children everywhere, Bang & Olufsen with their flair for sublime design distinctive enough to be displayed at the Museum of Modem Art in New York.

In Denmark there is a big interest in the use of alternative, non‑polluting, sources of energy, and one result of this has been the mushrooming of windmills in their thousands often concentrated in so‑called windmill parks. Danish windmills are also exported to many parts of the world.

meantime, spent some time at sea and some on shore acquiring his Master’s Ticket`. They were married at St Martin's Church at Easter 1957 and settled in Muswell Hill. David was born in 1958. Ken now decided that he had had enough of the sea as a career and looked for a shore job; not easy, but worked his way into the transport and contracting industries.

Ken was able to resume his interest in the water when the family joined Shearwater Sailing Club and later Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club, at which Ken is now Hon. Sec.. Both children took to the sport as though born to it and have travelled the world with their various boats. Thev haven't quite made World Champion though David was runner‑up in the Fireball Worlds and won the

When both children were established in school, Norma returned to teaching, part‑time at the Technical College and then at City of Bath Girls' School. Eventually she became full‑time and the year after schools in Bath became comprehensive she became Head of the English Department and, as Senior Teacher, saw the new Hayesfield School through the many changes of policy and teaching styles of the next 18 years, before retiring, fortunately, before the chaos of Key Stage 3. Meantime Ken had been lecturing an Navigation at evening classes and decided he would like to join the teaching profession (because of the long holidays') and at the age of 45 went off to Newton Park College where he gained a BEd Hons in Geography. As part of the course he had a field trip to Majorca in the company of young students, mainly female! Unfortunately this was a. time when jobs were in short Supply and he was unable to make full use of his new qualifications. Finally he decided to take ‘early retirement’ and after helping four former employees to Set up their o w n businesses he set up a chandlery business which is based at the Sailing Club.

Norma retired in 1992. This was celebrated in two memorable ways. The first was when Ken sponsored a visit of the English Shakespeare Company to Bath Theatre Royal and our party of friends dined in style, had the best seats in the house and met the actors after the performance of TWELFTH NIGHT. The second celebration was in 1993, a trip to New Zealand with stopovers in Hong Kong, Sydney, Cairns and Singapore. An ex‑pupil of Norma's was the prime mover in this visit but contact was also made with an old shipmate of Ken's and with Tony Winkworth, who had been a friend of Norma's brother, Frank, who died ten years ago. New Zealand is a beautiful country and we hope to return.

Norma found the first year of retirement difficult but has now found plenty to do. Being a helpful grandmother is part of it. (David and Barbara are both married and there are three grandchildren.) She plays badminton and goes to Keep Fit for the over 50s, is learning modern Greek, trying her hand at painting (never a strong subject at school!) and being a Guide at 1, Royal Crescent, a house furnished as in the Georgian heyday of Bath. Ken also is a Guide, at the Heritage Industrial Museum. There is no intention of moving from Bath; we are not quite Bathonians but feel very much a part of the city and make the most of all it offers.

We would be delighted to see any Old Dorkinians who remember us, if they are passing through or staying in Bath.

"My husband and I moved to Herstmonceux from Holmbury St. Mary in 1957. Although I had temporarily left in 1954 to raise two children, we both worked for the Royal Greenwich Observatory at Abinger. When the R.G.O. took over Herstmonceux Castle in the early 50s, all the outlying departments were drawn back together there, the Time Department at Abinger being one of them. In 1990 the R.G.O. was relocated to Cambridge and I was made redundant (husband having retired earlier). Later that year I was reading the local paper and noticed an article about an Eastbourne teacher retiring. There was a photograph of the teacher accompanying the article ‑ the name was Eileen Burt and she looked like the girl of the same name I was at school with. So I wrote to her, she phoned to confirm and we became re‑acquainted. She also came to the 1992 Reunion together with her brother David. She had moved to Eastbourne not many years after us in the early 60s.”.

"Attending the Reunion in 1992 was like a nostalgic journey back into what now seems like another lifetime, which included war years with their not very happy associations. Alas, I did not meet many people I remembered, or who remembered me, but seeing the old school again stirred many memories.

I recall there were numerous air raid shelters like, the one now referred to as 'the old coal bunker’, where we would make some pretence of trying to study or revise during air raids. We much preferred singing songs to pass the time especially when anyone needed to 'use the bucket', discreetly screened by a curtain at the end of the shelter! Most lessons, maths, history, geography and languages were taught in our regular allotted classrooms. I remember my first lesson in domestic science was on the correct way of scrubbing the wooden table tops, and I had been so looking forward to baking a cake! Ironing was done with old‑fashioned flat irons heated on a grid over a gas stove. Needlework was all done by hand.

There were no television sets or computers in those days. The smell of the chemistry lab was unmistakable ‑ and what a lovely colour we used to make by mixing together solutions of starch and iodine! I lived on Boxhill and used to climb up every day from Brockham on my way home. The half‑fare on the 414 bus from Dorking to Brockham Straits was 'tuppence' (2d) fractionally less than one decimal penny. There were Canadian soldiers all over the place, training for the D‑Day landings in Normandy.

For a career I chose to wear 'the Queen's uniform' (which I am sure would have fitted her better than it did me!), and dedicated myself to the keeping of law and order. Many chapters of life have opened and closed since then, and I am now a pensioner living in retirement.

Is willing to let us tell you that she is living at 45, Greenfield Avenue, Alton, Hants GU34 2EE ‑so perhaps someone will obtain an entry to the BOOK TOKEN PRIZE by persuading her to join the Association!

"I wish some of the staff of my time were still alive, so I could go back and tell them:

'Thanks to you I did have a successful life', and even now 'Thanks to you I learned to read‑ now that I am alone and incapacitated what a blessing that is'."

"I have lived here ‑ Lafayette, Indiana, U. S. A. ‑ for 20 years. I lived near Delphi, near the Tippecanoe River for a short period. I came here after college in Bangor, did my MA at Purdue in Fine Art, and now make my living as an artist, doing oil paintings. I live on the Wea Creek near Shadiland just south of Lafayette with my husband and two dogs."

Wrote to us in December, and is now living in Winchester ‑ contact via Maureen Farley.

"My wife, Agnes, and I have been here in Queensland, Australia since July 1982. Before that I taught High School in Nassau, Bahamas for six years! I worked with Pauline Barker who taught Art at D.C.G.S. from 1965 until around 1974. My wife continues in education and lecturing. She works for a local college teaching immigrants English. Some are refugees from appalling circumstances. I have a graphic design business in Brisbane and we specialise in packaging, corporate identity and literature ‑ fascinating work in a developing market. Life is good here and the climate quite brilliant. Last October our form had a reunion in London and 17 of us managed to muster from a 'hit list' of 22, which was a pretty fair effort. The class of 1968 (particularly our form) were and still are a very sociable crew."

Julia fives in Leeds and has had a busy teaching career. After the birth of her daughter, Heather, in February last year she is finding life at home as a mother great fun and a refreshing change.

Still lives at Guildford and hopes to meet up with us sometime. (so why has she not yet joined us?!)

"I live near the Thames and the house is always full of music although I don't play much anymore. However we are both playing viola for 'The Dream of Gerontius' ‑ and John plays a lot of jazz. Ten years ago we started our own jazz course and this is still running each summer in Richmond. By profession I am a children's librarian. Since having Christopher (nearly 4) I work half‑time on a job‑share basis, for the Hounslow Borough, and enjoy it very much. I visit schools to read and give library instruction. The Pixharn Junior Drama Group, Dorking, continues ‑ we are in our 16th year now, and it's no longer completely junior! Indeed we still have a few original members now in their late twenties ‑ Jackie and Sue Osgood ‑ who also went to Ashcombe.

Played the cello at school. She lives with her husband and two young children in Epsom, and still plays for Epsom Symphony Orchestra.

He still works for British Rail. "At the moment there just are not enough hours in the day. I am still playing the piano accordion and occasionally have the pleasure of conducting the band to which I belong."

We are settling in very well here in Dyfed, Wales. Everyone is very friendly and we have made many new friends. The village itself is a jumble of different kinds of houses, some lovely, some downright ugly, and all are clustered along one side of a beautiful wide estuary. Twice a day the tide goes out and leaves a wide expanse of mud populated by oyster catchers and herons. This is Dylan's 'heron‑priested' estuary; the poet's house is across the water. I hope some of his talent will rub off on me! Sarah (nee Erskine, 1980s) is enjoying her B.Ed. course in Carmarthen, and is already involved with theatricals. They performed 'The Merchant of Venice' at local schools before Christmas. I am at home every day, still writing, with just enough work to keep us afloat, but not so much that I’m unable to enjoy my daily walks beside the sea."

Rob Worsfold has given us notes which are so clear and legible that the Editor has decided that they could be reproduced as offered! Rob has also compiled a list of names of Form 1c, September 1962, 31 names in all ‑ perhaps not quite complete ‑ available on request.

(not reproducible here on the web ‑ it had to be transcribed with a little difficulty! ‑ webmaster).

I arrived at DCGS in September 1962 from Ashtead in company with Messrs Ballinger, Bailey and Skilton, and was placed in Form 1c. Some school reports unearthed by my father a few years ago have prompted a flood of recollections, many of them incidental; the rumble of trains on the railway outside the classroom, the seven‑day timetable, double maths on a Friday afternoon (who on earth was responsible for that?). the Head Boy and Girl (Parkinson and Barbara Wareham in my first year); even the murmur of approval which ran through the ranks at Assembly if Mr Johnson announced three half‑hour periods to leave time for a staff meeting!

My surname was my means of identification from the first day until some relaxation took place in the Sixth. To my friends I became 'Nobby'. Mr Dryer latinised me as 'Worsfoldius', and to my chemistry master I was ...... well maybe the least said about that the better. Suffice it to say that I developed a disagreement with chemistry which I never quite managed to settle, and in the years which followed I was to gravitate steadily towards the Arts. I have fond memories of 'The Wind in the Willows' and 'Moonfleet' (First year Mr Penman), 'The Invisible Man' and 'History of Mr Polly' (Third year Mr Woolard) and Jane Eyre (Fourth year Miss Barter). Not to forget the poems of Catullus, which we covered with Mr Dryer as part of the 'O' level syllabus. I would have given am arm and a leg to be really good at Latin, but I was still fascinated by the subject.

I was not very good at sitting still for too long which is why I found the sport a favourite activity‑ even those raw winter mornings when Mr Day heralded a cross‑country run with his immortal words, "Get changed and go to the top of Keppel Road!". I particularly enjoyed the football, playing for the School Second XI and the joining the Old Dorkinians for the 1969‑70 season, when I believe we finished runners‑up in the Third Division. Clive Huggins, John Spooner, Phil Stevenson ‑ are you still out there?

In the Lower Sixth three of us ran a car‑cleaning business, initiated by Mr Bedwell at the end of the Fifth, when he asked for volunteers to wash his Morris. Miss Barker (Art Department) became a regular customer ‑ convertible blue, registered 830 DXA. That shows how many times we must have cleaned it! Other recollections of the Sixth which come to mind are a Geography Field Trip to Weymouth (1968), receiving a Prefect's badge from Mr Johnson in Assembly and spending some lunch hours in the Woodwork Room finishing off a coffee table which I still have at home. Neither shall I forget my last House Play, produced for Rivett by Head Boy Ed Forman, in which I played a Roman soldier who rejoiced in the name of Battus.

The things you thought you had forgotten! So put aside an hour or two, find a quiet corner and get thinking......

Miss Anna Boutillier (1976‑82) to Richard Myerscough, at Hampstead Road Church, Dorking on 10th July 1993. Now living in Mid Glamorgan.

DEATHS Miss Joan Dickerson (1932‑40), formerly of Westhumble, died June '93

Miss Sarah Colven (1966‑73), formerly of Fetcham, was tragically hit by a lorry as she stumbled when crossing the road. She was 37 years of age.

Frances continues to act as our liaison with and for overseas Dorkinians, so please contact her if you have any problems or matters of interest, or are about to go abroad. One of her current concerns relates to the difficulty and cost of payment of subscriptions by overseas members, which she would like to see discussed at the AGM in October. Please let her have your views and any ideas.

Frances mentions in passing that she will be on a Course on Sailing in June, at Denman College (the W.I. college). Would it be ungallant to note (1931‑36), and say what a good example she gives us?!

As the ODs approach the end of the season they can reflect on their mixed fortunes. Having lost six of last season's successful side, the Senior XI who compete in Senior Division 3 of the Old Boys' League, are emerging from a rebuilding process which is at last bearing fruit with four wins in the last six games.

Three victories in succession over OLD ALOYSIANS 6‑2 (H), OLD HIGHBURIANS, 1 ‑0 (H), and OLD ADDEYANS 1‑2 (A) have taken them away from the lower end of the league table, but then defeats against the unbeaten league leaders OLD CAMDENIANS 2‑0 (A) and OLD ADDEYANS 0‑4 (H) retarded their progress. Morale was restored, however, when they recently completed the double over OLD ALOYSIANS 0‑2 (A).

In the Old Boys' Senior Cup impressive victories were recorded over OLD REPTONIANS 0‑1 (A) of the Arthurian League, Old Boys of Repton School, Derbyshire, and OLD SALVATORIANS 3‑2 (H) a Senior Division 1 side, but they failed to reach the quarter‑finals on losing to OLD VAUGHANIANS 0‑1 (H) from Senior Division 2.

An encouraging feature of the season has been the selection of GREG THOMAS and NIEL BRENT in the Senior Xl, both members of the Sixth Form at The Ashcombe School. Also one of the masters regularly turns out for the club.

The Reserve XI have had a fairly successful season and although the championship of Division 1 (South) now seems out of reach, the second promotion place remains a realistic possibility. The Third XI have not been as successful and are destined for relegation from Division 2 (South), while the Fourth Xl occupy a comfortable mid-table position in Division 5 (South).

The Fifth XI are in a close third position in Division 8 (South), and, with games in hand, are optimistic that they can sneak a promotion place.

The Sixth XI, competing in the league for the first time in Division 9 (South), have not enjoyed the best of starts being unable to field a settled side owing to calls from other sides. They can, however, reflect on the contribution they have made to the success of the Fifth XI!

My life has taken quite an interesting turn since being elected as your Membership Secretary at the AGM on November 15th 1993! My postman and I now appreciate just how much sterling work Maureen Farley had put into contacting over 1000 of you who had not committed yourselves to join our Association! The result has been that we have recruited 174 new members for 1994.

I do hope Mr. Bradshaw will be pleased with the way I have been doing my sums to work out our present membership figures! As at 19th March 1994, we have a membership of 284, made up of.

This is an encouraging start to increasing our membership and I hope YOU will help to

spread the word and recruit more members! A current list of members is included with

this Newsletter. Please let me know of any inaccuracies ‑ I'm only human! And some

The Committee agreed to my suggestion to introduce a membership card as I feel quite strongly that you should have written proof of payment of your subscription. Your membership card for 1994 is enclosed with this Newsletter.

Getting to grips with this job has been quite time consuming and a few queries have come to light. There have been some problems over Bankers Orders but I think most have been ironed out now. I shall invite those of you who do not subscribe in this way to consider doing so from your 1995 subscription. I hope to write to you in September with the details, which will give you plenty of time to send the paperwork to your bank by mid‑November, ready for payment on December 1st. In this way, I hope we shall avoid the sort of confusion I have had to deal with this year.

I have been so pleased to hear from many familiar names and to receive notes and phone calls from some of you ‑ the years simply roll away! I still have a few letters to acknowledge and hope to do this soon after publication of the Newsletter.

I have especially welcomed hearing from members of staff and will for ever be grateful to Mr. Dryer for translating the Latin which he quoted in his letter! He obviously remembers that I was not one of his star pupils .....

It is interesting to see how far flung our members are ‑ from Brazil and Australia to Bermuda and Austria, and many fascinating place names in between! If any of you have the time to write a few words about life where you are living or working, then I feel sure our Committee will welcome contributions for the next Newsletter.