Issue No.6 Spring 1995

 

 

"THE DORKINIAN”

 

 

 

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Contents

 

Editor’s notes

N W Bradshaw ‑ 90 years old this year ‑ Max Holland 1945-53

Diary ‑ Events, Book Token & Logo

Memories from 'All Day AGM' 1994 ‑ School Hall, Dining Room & Games ‑ Hazel Larcombe

Membership Secretary's Report ‑ Sheila Sandford

Membership Miscellany ‑ Where Are They Now?

News of Dorkinians ‑

     David Sheppard ‑ 1947-53

     Justine Crow ‑ 1975-80

     John Adderley ‑ 1977-83

     Gillian McTaggart ‑ nee Coppock 1975-82

     Michael Coppock ‑ 1979-8?

     Frances Malam ‑ 1980-84

     Philip Rose ‑ 1982-88

     Freda Bussey ‑ P.E. staff 1980s

     Richard Eyles ‑ 1979-85

     Maureeen Brown ‑ staff 1975-94

     Janet Roodbol ‑ nee Birkin 1956-63

Doc Morgan's 80th Birthday ‑ Alan Gent reports

Mr Rowlatt remembered ‑ Chemistry 1946-57 ‑ by Barrie Hayes

Mr Howard remembered ‑ DCGS 1947-78 ‑ by his son Tony

Mr Howard remembered ‑ in Newdigate

Frank Hitchcock ‑ 1919-95 ‑ Ann Hitchcock

Anna Stevens ‑ nee Hammond 1925-94 ‑ Dick Stevens

Births reported ‑ by members

Old Dorkinian Football Club ‑ Peter Mills

Old Dorkinian Cricket Club ‑ Dave Wilcockson

Solution of Puzzle ‑ Rob Worsfold

 

 

 

Dear 'Dorkinians',

 

I am glad that some of you write to us with your news, whether good or sad! We hope that you enjoy reading this newsletter, so before you put it away in a cupboard why not sit down and drop us a line to tell us what you have been doing and what life has to offer in your part of the world.

 

We are very pleased that Norman Bradshaw has accepted our invitation to become an honorary life member of the Dorkinian Association, and those of you who manage to get tickets for the "Strawberry Tea" on 11th June will have an opportunity to congratulate him also on having achieved the milestone of 90 on the previous Sunday 4th. Enclosed, you will find a tribute from Max Holland with which I am sure we all wish to be associated. There are many of us who have had very good careers in the wider field of Mathematics who feel a great debt of gratitude for the excellence of his teaching, as well as for his friendship.

 

It is sad to record the deaths of Mr. Rowlatt, Bob Howard, Frank Hitchcock and Anne Stevens (nee Hammond), but it is good to be able to publish the appreciations enclosed. I was surprised to discover that Mr. Rowlatt was about 90 when he died, as it cannot be more than about 10 years ago when he was teaching 2 of my children and when I met him at a Parents' Evening I was somewhat taken aback by this benign (yes!) gentleman, still very alert.

 

The AGM last October was a great success, with over 90 people turning up during the day, some at lunchtime, some for the Dinner (at which Paul Mills gave a very witty, entertaining speech), and some all day.

 

On the Committee front we shall need help, as the chairman and treasurer must stand down after 3 years in office, under the terms of the constitution, and the membership secretary must have assistance if she is to chase up all those members who fail to pay their subs!

 

This newsletter has been compiled mainly with items supplied by Maureen Farley and Sheila Sandford, for which I thank them as well as the other contributors who have made the job of compiling very interesting even though it has caused me to miss at least one round of golf!

 

David Mountain May 1995.

 

 

N W Bradshaw ‑ Former Mathematics Master and Scout Leader 1931-68

90 years old this year

 

Those former scholars fortunate enough to have known and been taught by Norman Bradshaw will have their personal recollections of him. I understand he started teaching at the school in 1931 and continued until he retired in 1968, with just the one break when he joined the RAF from 1939 to 1945 during the Second World War. My own contact with him was restricted to the period 1945‑53. I can clearly recall my first day at the school and all the masters such as Norman, recently demobbed, marching briskly into the main hall for morning assembly in best military style on the first day of the Autumn term. Even in those early days he was the senior mathematics master so we juniors had little contact with him and seen from my lowly vantage as a new second former he appeared a figure to inspire fear and trembling. By the time I became a sixth former, I had come to realise that although he was firm, he was always fair and would go to great lengths to help those who persevered with their studies.

 

As form master for the upper sixth, he encouraged us to spend our lunch hours learning to play bridge as he considered it a necessary social accomplishment. As a schoolmaster he managed the impossible and got some of us unlikely mathematicians through A‑levels by a process of continual practice exercises and repetition and I for one am most grateful to him for his efforts.

 

He led the 19th Dorking school scout troop from its start in 1931 until his retirement 37 years later. In scouting activities he was always known as Brutus and was assisted in running the troop by Pip Rawlins. In the immediate post war years he took the troop to local camp sites in an old Bedford coach which emitted a terrible whine from the straight cut spur gears in the gearbox. The coach was generally pretty full with hordes of scouts plus their kit (why is it that the youngest and smallest scouts always had the largest kit bags?) and when climbing up hills it often sounded as if it was doubtful about reaching the top.

 

I attended short camps at Friday Street and Ranmore and the longer summer camps in the New Forest near Fordingbridge, Shropshire near Church

 

At the New Forest camp the weather was good, but we were camped on very damp soggy ground. If you dug a hole more than a foot or so deep it filled with water. Those of us townies who thought water came out of taps and should be clear and colourless were concerned at the peaty nature of the dark liquid in our well, it looked more like cold tea, but Brutus assured us that it was safe to use. At any rate we all survived, in those days we didn't dare prove him wrong.

 

The year we camped in Shropshire had seen a very severe preceding winter. As a result the hills were littered with the carcasses of dead sheep and the air was thick with flies. We were camped on low ground beside a river and whenever you went outside you walked in a cloud of flies and practised what is now known as the Australian wave. There appeared to be a “Fly line" at 1000 feet so it was a relief to go climbing.

 

For the camp in Snowdonia, we travelled by train to North Wales passing by the old Menai railway bridge and through that station with the unpronounceable name. We were transported from the station to the campsite at Llanberis by the local taxi service, which consisted of two very large and venerable Rolls‑Royce cars of 1920s vintage, one of which looked as if it had seen earlier service as a hearse. We were camped on a steep hill side, it rained every day and we soon learned the importance of digging a drainage trench all along the uphill side of the tent. I seem to recall that Brutus had pitched his tent on the only flat bit of ground for miles around. Old age and treachery will always triumph over youth and enthusiasm.

 

Let us wish him health and happiness as he enters his 91st year.

 

Max Holland 1945‑53

 

 

£25 BOOK TOKEN PRIZE ‑ thanks to Roderick McLeod's imaginative generosity, twelve people (some of whom had introduced ten or more members) qualified for the draw made at the AGM in October, and the lucky winner was John Gent ‑ who was subsequently persuaded to join the committee! Our thanks go to all the unlucky ones.

 

DIARY

 

1 "STRAWBERRY TEA" ‑ Sunday 11th June 2.30 to 4.30. Tickets, which will be limited to 50 in total, will be available at £2.50 on application to Sheila Sandford. We are delighted that Rosa Baigent, Miss Barter and Mr.Bradshaw have all accepted invitations to join us on this occasion.

2 OD Cricket Club Tournament ‑ Wednesday 26th July ‑ please see ODCC report and separate application form.

3 OD Football Club ‑ Dinner Dance - Saturday 7th October ‑ see ODFC report.

4 "ALL DAY AGM" ‑ Saturday 14th October ‑ the format will follow last year's, with a buffet lunch, the AGM at 2pm, Dinner (provisionally set for 6.30pm), and various ideas for passing the time between the end of the AGM and Dinner. Full details will be given in the formal AGM papers to be issued in September.

 

LOGO

Some interesting ideas came to us in response to the invitation in the Interim Newsletter, and we hope to have a proposal for discussion at the AGM in October.

 

 

MEMORIES SPARKED BY THE ALL DAY AGM 1994

 

OLD SCHOOL HALL:

My first memory of the Grammar School, coming to sit the Entrance Exam in the Hall. I remember an enquiry by a potential scholar, "Please, what does punctuate this passage mean?" Frosty reply by black robed master, "If you need to ask that, you shouldn't be here!" No, it wasn't me!

 

The introduction of Miss Macaulay to the assembled school. Am I right in thinking that, up to about that time, it had been a school tradition to refer to lady members of the Staff as "Sir", a throwback to the days of the separate schools! I seem to remember writing a note to myself to put in my pencil case, reminding myself NOT to call Miss Macaulay "Sir".

Oh, that I had followed her good advice given to me when in the Sixth Form.

 

The return of the masters who had served in the Armed Forces. The coming of a deeply tanned Dr. Moore and the fading of his tan as his seagoing days were left behind.

 

Singing Brahms Requiem, and listening to the sound of The Wasps by Vaughan Williams, coming from the Music Room.

 

Do you too remember the coming of the French Assistante, probably too soon after the war had ended, for the serried rows of pupils brought back to her tragic memories of concentration camp

 

Her coming showed us that there was now a possibility of actually travelling to Europe.

French was no longer a dead language. 'Holidays at Home' would soon become a memory.

 

THE VANISHED ENTRANCE TO THE LIBRARY:

The entrance has gone. So too has the large noticeboard opposite the stairs on which was pinned a poster, inviting us all to attend 'A JAM SESSION' to hear ‑‑, a prominent member of the Sixth Form, blowing her own trumpet. Along came Dr. Trefor Jones and the poster was ripped down.

 

THE OLD DINING ROOM:

School meals in wartime, especially one which had coagulated, having been interrupted by a spell down the shelter.

Competition between servers to see who could balance most plates along their arms, with the occasional disastrous results.

The Biology lesson in which we observed the dissection of a dogfish preserved in formalin only to find fish on the menu for the school meal. Not much was eaten.

 

SPORTS AND GAMES:

Handstands against the railway fence, the heat of summer, the bitter cold of winter. The

huge poplar tree by the tennis court must have gone long ago, but only after its roots had

ruined some of the courts.

I remember the hockey sessions ‑ who doesn't ‑ but my hockey stick had been swapped in exchange for clothes coupons.

It seems fitting to recall the Annual Cross Country Run. We were allowed to go to the end of the course to watch the runners come in. Two of the less athletic lads at last appeared with a message stretched between them, saying

 

THE END!

 

HAZEL LARCOMBE ‑ 1943‑49

 

 

 

MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY'S REPORT 30th April 1995

 

Once again it is my pleasure to thank many of you for the notes and phone calls, which are a source of encouragement to those of us working behind the scenes!

 

It was wonderful to meet so many of you at the 'All Day AGM' and take even more pride in the splendid people turned out by Dorking County School and its successors through the ages!

 

I am glad to say there have been very few queries or lost cheques this year!

Quite a relief. After the "high" of the 'All Day AGM', I was happy to report that membership had leapt from 147 in 1993, to 325 in 1994, largely due to YOUR efforts in persuading your friends to join ‑ a big THANK YOU to those who helped in this way.

 

I expect you can understand my disappointment at the poor response to the invitation to renew subscriptions which went out with the Autumn Newsletter. I faced the Committee at its meeting in early April with the news that we had ONLY 180 paid up members. Following distribution of the Interim Newsletter, the figure today stands at 235, of which 20 are new members, and 215 are renewals. So ‑ unless about 100 people take VERY SWIFT ACTION AND SEND ME THEIR SUBS, this may be the last Newsletter they receive! Hint, hint!

 

To those who sent their cheques in promptly ‑ or even before the due date of December lst 1994! ‑ I send my warm thanks. Thank you too to those who have responded to the Interim Newsletter. Even warmer thanks go to those who decided to pay by Banker's Order ‑ this year the system has worked with only one small problem (a late transmission of the form to the Bank!) and the Treasurer and I are very grateful to the 64 of you who now pay by this method ‑ it really does help us enormously. It also saves you the bother of remembering to send that annual cheque. Another opportunity for you to pay by this method will be offered when you are invited to renew your subscription for 1996.

 

Hoping to meet more of you at the 1995 AGM,

 

Sheila Sandford, 73, Copthorne Road,

Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7EE

Tel: 01372 ‑ 372936

 

MEMBERSHIP MISCELLANY

 

CHANGE OF ADDRESS:

 

From the enclosed list of members, please note the new or amended addresses shown for:

Neil ARMSTRONG Julie GOLLER

Barbara BOOTH Anne HORRELL

Rosemary DALE Maureen MEIER

John FINN Rob WORSFOLD

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

 

Unfortunately, only one response was received to these pleas for information in the Autumn Newsletter ‑ and, at the end of the letter, the writer realised he had been talking about the wrong person anyway. However ‑ thank you for trying.

 

This time we are hoping to make contact with:

 

Noelle Sasportas circa 1968‑70

Richard Romero 1965‑71

Glenn Claydon 1965‑71

Elizabeth Allnutt 1965‑72

Nigel (Jimmy) Greaves 1965‑72

Alan Quilter 1965‑72 (whose cello was bigger than him!)

 

Any news to the Membership Secretary please.

 

THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE RESPONDED TO OUR REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FOR A CAREERS DATABASE ‑ ANY MORE OFFERS? SOME OF YOU MUST HAVE SOME VERY INTERESTING JOBS……….

 

AND A REQUEST! Any offers of prizes for the All Day AGM Raffle would be greatly appreciated and warmly welcomed! Please contact Maureen Meier or the Membership Secretary....

 

FORTHCOMING ATTRACTION!

 

Caroline Salmon (1965‑72) is our latest recruit! She lives locally in Cobham and will be having an art exhibition at the Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead for three weeks from 29th May. She will be there personally on Wednesdays and Saturdays and would love to have some support from local Dorkinians!

 

Apologies to you Caroline for the typographical errors in your address in the Membership list ‑ I plead too much pressure, having to meet editorial deadlines, yet wanting to, include your name when your application was received virtually on publication day!

 

A strange tale has reached our ears ‑ it surely could not have involved a Dorkinian, could it? Someone, out for a country run, drove some considerable (i.e. several MILES) distance with the handbrake on ‑ and then wondered what the smoke was, billowing out behind! if you recognise yourself, please contact the Membership Secretary to claim the £5 prize.

 

 

 

NEWS OF DORKINIANS

 

 

David F Sheppard 1947‑53

 

"Living in South Africa as I have done for almost 26 years, makes it unrealistic for me to rejoin the ODA. (we need to discuss this, David!) I do keep up with the ODFC, to the extent of visiting them usually when I have been in the UK during the football season. I have paid many business trips to Europe, UK and USA, and usually spend the last weekend with my younger brother and my son (both of whom live in Wimbledon), and pay a visit to Pixham Lane. I have been extremely busy with voluntary work for schools, scouts and the church here, and am now trying to limit my involvement a little ‑ governing body of a Government school, trustee of a private ("public school"), governing body of a girls hostel at another school, legal adviser to the Diocese, trustee of area seats on their finances and property committee. I have had a lot of American business travelling (about three times a year). I also have my elder daughter and grand‑daughter in New Zealand and we are visiting her again in April. So life remains rather hectic. In addition I am responsible for the Patent court work at the largest firm of patent attorneys in South Africa. For relaxation I play golf, having retired from cricket and football. Joan and I did the (ODA) magazine for a number of years about 30 years ago!"

 

David wishes us every success. Maureen Farley.

 

 

Justine Crow ‑ DCGS and The Ashcombe School 1975‑80

 

"When I grew up I was going to be an actress, and I was nearly a Reigate County girl! My folks felt that a female atmosphere might smooth the grit in me, but Dorking Grammar wanted me and I wanted it so I became an Ashcomber. Colourfully average academically, I was thrilled to leave with seven good O levels, having decided to forsake my As for Europe. There, I spent a punk twelve months in Holland and several educative years in Brussels and Paris, thoroughly sold on the languages and cultures that interlock like antlers. While my old school friends were at universities, I learned about architecture, politics and how to pay a gas bill in both French and Flemish. I travelled and saw the insides of nine other countries. I returned to England to found a career and, after a brief lonely sojourn in rainswept Southsea, captured an excellent job with Pan, the publishers based in Chelsea. Now I was meeting literary heroes such as Angela Carter and Roth and Carver, discovering opera, buying a house. I progressed to Hatchards, learned to drive, loved to ski and lost my best friend to AIDS. Inevitably, I wrote a novel.

 

I changed tack. I took a job with an independent firm and currently perform the marketing for eight bookshops as well as running one for myself in the windy suburb of Crystal Palace. Just as my second novel was underway, I had a baby! Luckily, the grit remains ‑ I earn and 'mum' and manage also to work with the Booksellers Association. I give lectures for the Book Trust, too. Once I wanted to act. Now I cannot imagine life without the written word. And I am determined that my daughter will be just as proud to be European as I am."

 

 

John Adderley 1977‑83

 

I went to Christ Church College, Canterbury to study Music with Radio, Film and TV Studies. That was '84 to '87. While there I worked for Invicta Radio, the independent station for Kent, presenting their weekly classical music programme amongst other things. I then did a post graduate diploma in Radio Journalism at Falmouth School of Art and Design. Since July 1988 I have worked for BBC Radio Devon, mostly in Exeter. I started as a reporter in the newsroom and worked up to producer ‑ producing news programmes, presenting news sequences and bulletins, and guiding reporters on stories. I spent seven months working for BBC Radio Gloucestershire in Gloucester in 199 1, producing and presenting a series of documentaries on business and industry. In 1993 I spent six months presenting the breakfast news sequence on BBC Dorset FM ‑ the Beeb's newest, and probably last, local radio station, based in dorchester. I am now a senior producer at Radio Devon having just relocated to Plymouth, where we now work alongside our colleagues in the BBC regional tv newsroom. Incidentally, I have also presented tv news bulletins, but my first love remains radio.

 

I'm not sure where my career will take me next ‑ maybe to a more senior post in local radio ‑ a medium I greatly enjoy as you are close to your listeners and can influence what goes on air very directly ‑ or I may look to regional tv (a well‑worn route) or more likely to national radio in London. Well see."

 

 

Gillian Coppock ( now Mrs. McTaggart) 1975‑82

 

"After a year at Friends' Provident I decided to apply for some college courses and managed to get onto a Business Studies Degree course at Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University!). This course involved three six month placements, and on my final placement I met Dougie my husband. We now have two boys Calum and Evan. I stopped working when I had Calum but I'm keeping myself busy by sitting on the Mother and Toddler Committee, and also being clerk to the Board of the Primary School ..........

My brother is -

 

 

Michael Coppock 1979 ‑(?) is at present living in Chiswick. From Ashcombe he went to Loughborough Grammar School. He graduated in English from Leeds University and is now working in the Treasury Department at the Royal Bank of Scotland." MF

 

 

Frances Malam 1980‑84.

 

Left Ashcombe at sixteen years of age to do a medical secretarial course. She then went to work at Barts Hospital, London, in the anaesthetic department where she stayed for five years. She is now in her fourth year of a B.Ed. degree Course at Bishop Otter, Chichester studying P.E. and English. Francis has a sister Mary‑Ann, four years her senior who also attended The Ashcombe.

 

 

 

Phillip Rose 1982‑88

 

Went to Drama School. You may remember him from school productions MF

 

 

Freda Bussey‑ P.E. Staff 1980s - reported to be working near Bognor Regis.

 

 

Richard Eyles 1979‑85

 

Richard is a pharmacist at the Birmingham City Hospital, and in his spare time he sings with the Birmingham Symphony Choir and plays his trombone in a big band. He has two cats and is not married!

 

 

Maureen Brown 1975‑94 Staff

 

Having started at Mowbray School in 1975, Maureen worked in the school office for

19 years and retired in 1994. MF

 

 

Janet Roodbol (nee Birkin 1956‑63).

 

Having travelled from Holland for the 'All day AGM’ last October, Janet has asked to have her name added to the list of Overseas Dorkinians, maintained by Frances Carder.

 

STOP PRESS!

 

 

Dr. Morgan's 80th Birthday‑ just in time, Alan Gent has faxed from Australia to his brother John (our very energetic new committee member), as follows: "'Doc' Morgan had his 80th birthday on April 8th, and my wife Terry and I were lucky enough to be invited to the party. Doc's house is in Yanchep, about one hour's drive north of Perth within sight and easy walking distance of the Indian Ocean, and the beautiful sandy beaches. Derek and Barbara have lived there ever since they emigrated from England about 20 years ago. Apart from their son Patrick, all of their children Cynthia, Helen, Keith, Alison, and Fiona ‑ were at the party, as well as Dr. Richard Hancock ‑another OD ‑ and his wife Annabel who had travelled from England specially for the occasion. (Patrick is skipper of a harbour boat in Onslow, and was called away to carry out a seismic survey around the Montebello Islands). There were about 50 people present ranging in age from 21 months (grandchildren) to 91 years, but fortunately there was TV to occupy the non‑wrinklies, so the house didn't seem quite as crowded as might be expected. The highlight of the afternoon, I believe, was the concert put on by Derek and Barbara, playing on their two pianos music by Debussy and Handel (Concerto Grosso). 'Doc', who by the way still does not require glasses (and hasn’t smoked for years) was playing better than ever. Even the first decent rain we'd had since November didn't dampen our enthusiastic appreciation. Ithink it's fair to say 'a good time was had by all'!

 

 

 

 

MR. ROWLATT

 

Head of Chemistry ‑ 1946‑57, died December 1994

 

It is with much sadness that I have just learned of the death of my much revered and remembered Chemistry master and mentor, Mr. Rowlatt. Despite the sad circumstances, it is my honour and pleasure to have been asked to write a few absolutely non‑ biographical but, as it turns out, very indulgent personal notes in his memory.

 

It is probably difficult for younger people today to realise the formality of the student/master relationship of some forty years ago, especially if he was a strict disciplinarian. So, even at this late time, I cannot bring myself, nor yet dare or wish, to use his Christian name with such unwarranted familiarity, lest I be frowned upon or am still in some way within his reach.

 

Let it suffice to call him 'Rowlatt', in the same way we reserve awe and reverence for Elgar or Beethoven. Respect and affection in such a relationship are not so engendered or enduring in too liberal an atmosphere.

 

My memory tells me that he was a moderately tall, slim man, with a general expression of controlled disapproval which only changed when something really worthwhile justified it. No one ‑ except the unknowing or stupid ‑fooled around when he was in charge, and then only once. He gave himself unstintingly to his work and recreation and expected the same of everyone else. He commanded and received as much respect and, in some cases, fear from all his pupils, regardless of whether he actually taught them, as anyone in the school.

 

What a man! Why would anyone want to write in his memory?

 

Well. Beneath this exterior he was enthusiastic, encouraging, helpful and kind to those who obeyed the rules and were willing to work hard enough to deserve his support. Because he was a character, because he was sincere, because he was an excellent teacher, because he wasn't gullible and, as a result of all these, when the help, encouragement and kindness appeared, they were the golden gifts, not cheap or easy to obtain but there to be worked for and to cherish and, like everything worthwhile, lasting and not readily forgotten.

 

Well, that's the way it was with me and, as I sit writing these notes with the sun streaming across my desk, my mind wanders mistily back to:

 

The sun shining across the wooden chem lab benches

The never changing characteristic smell of the reagents

The squeal of the chalk on the blackboard

The squeal of the defector as the chalk unerringly hit him

The sun shining on the wooden benches

The notes being secretly passed to girlfriends

The view of Box Hill always there

Being told that my discovery of manganitartrates was interesting but of little value

Heart leaping at the returned smile from the hoped for girlfriend

The sun shining on the wooden benches

Lining up in silence outside the lab. to be let in

The sun shining on the window sills

Being told in awe that the King was dead

The girls' hockey captain with a Rowlatt's stick bruised leg

The end of term report saying "he possesses a huge amount of chemical knowledge most of it irrelevant!"

Rowlatt's justified rage ‑ all sheltering behind inadequate glass reagent jars

Good friends

Help with advice and encouragement outside school hours

The dust in the sun's rays

The smoke filled lab as a retort cracked on heating

Words of pleasure and satisfaction when we did well

The exhortation to succeed as we left for the last time

The sun shining on the benches.

 

.... Sensuous recollections, a wistful, poignant kaleidoscope, never really forgotten, just below the surface waiting to be recalled as now.

 

Fairly soon after I left school, Mr. Rowlatt moved on to a promotion elsewhere and so I never expected to see him again. His influence on me had been enormous and I felt an obligation to make chemistry the basis of my career ‑ and that is what has happened one way or another. So if I have spare doodling time at work or leisure, I doodle ‑ but my doodling is always chemical and the molecules run from page to page ‑ it would not have been that way without him.

 

When the momentous 60th Reunion took place, it was with much delight, surprise and anticipation that I learned Mr. Rowlatt was to be present. Amongst the large crowd of people I looked long and hard, fearful that I might miss him. When eventually I found him, it was not surprising that it took so long, for his appearance was, to me, unchanged and not much older, as, of course, I had expected.

 

So it was with some joyful expectation that I introduced myself to him, told him of his influence on me, my love of chemistry and the benefit it and he had been to me ‑ only to receive the response “I don't remember you ‑ which school did you go to?" Of course I should have expected it, being only one of thousands, but in due course he did profess some recognition ‑ the

 

As he looked so young on that occasion, I wondered if he had discovered the elixir of life: clearly not, but I imagine he was quite close. If I discover it, I will dedicate it to him.

 

We usually look on the past via the fondest memories: clearly this is the case with so many who had the good fortune to attend Dorking County Grammar School.

 

Nevertheless, after such a long separation, the news of the death of Mr. Rowlatt has had a more profound effect upon me than I would have imagined. Bearing in mind that my close contact with him was just four years long, I believe that my memories say much for him as a fine teacher and a good man, and I for one am more than grateful for his life.

 

BARRIE HAYES 1947‑54

 

 

BOB HOWARD

 

A.W.Howard, known to all affectionately as Bob, died on 17th June 1994, aged 76. We extend our thoughts and sympathies to his wife and family, remembering his quiet diligence, his efficiency and his sense of humour. We are glad to include tributes from his son Tony and from the Newdigate History Society:

 

Tony writes:

 

"ARNOLD WILLIAM HOWARD was known to everyone, except his Essex family, as Bob, thanks to his wife Kath who renamed him! He was born in Sible Hedingham and from the village school went to Earls Colne Grammar School, and on to gain a B.Sc. degree in Physics and Maths at Goldsmiths College in London. The Second World War intervened and Bob served in the Army Education Corps, editing a daily news‑sheet for the troops as they advanced into Europe after D‑Day. After demob he was appointed to Dorking Grammar School in 1947, and there he stayed until his retirement in 1978! His first involvement with the village of Newdigate was when he and the family, Kath and son Tony, moved here in 1954 and, being a keen and active sportsman, he became opening batsman for Newdigate Cricket Club. After his retirement from work and cricket he spent more time on village activities, serving for many years on the committee of the Community Centre. Keen on DIY, his talent moved from working with wood to working with wool, as shown on the two beautiful kneelers he made for the Church 900th Anniversary. A keen golfer, he belonged to the Dorking Club, spent more and more time in his garden, and in following the fortunes of Essex County Cricket Club and Bolton Wanderers F. C. Latterly he had given much support as a founder member of the very successful Newdigate Society, taking on the office of Treasurer and photographer. Bob Howard will be missed!

 

 

An appreciation from the Newdigate History Society:

 

We first got to know Bob when he became Treasurer of the Newdigate Society in the mid 1980s. He had lived with his wife Kath at Kingsland Cottage since the early 1950s and, following his retirement as a teacher at the old Dorking Grammar School, he devoted much time and effort with the Society. Bob was meticulous with all the duties he undertook on behalf of the Society. He handled the accounts with much care and pride, regularly producing fists of members who needed to be chased up for their subscriptions! He took over the onerous responsibility of copying all our photographs on to slides- over 1000 in total. Each slide was carefully numbered and recorded, and those who attended his slide shows, complete with voice overs, at our Open Days will know the excellent quality of his work. He obtained a suitable camera second‑hand and built it into a special frame to ensure perfect copies. In the study at the top of his cottage he also stored all the Society's maps, and using these as a primary source produced a number of thought‑provoking articles for the magazine. We in the Newdigate Society will miss Bob immensely, and the village will be the poorer without his presence."

 

 

 

FRANK HITCHCOCK ("Twanky")

 

Group Captain R. F. Hitchcock, MBE, AFC

1st November 1919 ‑ 10th March 1995

 

Frank and his sister Grace (now Mrs. Webber) attended school in the 1930s. After leaving in 1936, Frank joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 16, as a Halton Apprentice. After three years training, he passed out first out of seven hundred. With war looming, Frank was very keen to learn to fly but 1940 saw him in France as an engine fitter on No. 16 Squadron. However, after being chased out of France by the Germans, he managed to get a Pilot's course in South Africa. He passed out top of his flying course but was immediately retained as a Flying Instructor. He got back to England where he learned to fly the Wellington bomber and later the Lancaster.

 

After the war, he remained in the R.A.F. and converted to jet aircraft in 1949, flying the Meteor and Vampire, after completing a tour in the new country of Pakistan. In 1952 he was posted to Singapore where he flew the Mosquito operationally in the Malayan Emergency. He was awarded the Air Force Cross during that campaign.

 

Later on ‑ now no longer a secret! ‑ he flew on operations as a Wing Commander in a specialised and secret role linked to the Cold War. Frank held posts with the Inspector General of the R.A.F. ‑ in Turkey with CENTO (Central Treaty Organisation ‑ now defunct was originally the Baghdad Pact): also as Commander at R.A.F. Henlow, the War College at Greenwich and lastly with NATO in Brussels.

 

He retired in 1974 to St. Mary Bourne in Hampshire where he was very involved in village affairs, on a number of committees ‑ and always busy! He married Ann Perry‑Keene in 1950 and they had two sons, Allan and Robert.

 

ANN HITCHCOCK

 

 

ANNE STEVENS (nee HAMMOND)

 

23rd April 1925 ‑ 24th November 1994

 

Anne came to the school in 1940 as an evacuee. In 1982, she suffered the first of a series of strokes. She was seriously afflicted but, with great determination, made a very good recovery. She regained her power of speech and also her ability to write. In the fast respect, she sought to achieve this by writing the story of her life, in a simple exercise book.

 

Born near Paris of a French mother and English father, she spent her early years in France, coming to this country in 1935, speaking very little English. She and her family lived in Whyteleafe, just below Kenley Aerodrome.

 

Her story was terminated abruptly when she suffered a second stroke in 1990. It ends with an account of the move to Newdigate and her attendance at the school. “ ..I went to Dorking County School. I went into VA where there were 16 boys and 4 girls...."

 

And one of those sixteen was me! I remember vividly this striking blonde girl with two looped pigtails being brought to the classroom in mid‑lesson and being shown to a seat near the front where I could just see the back of her beck. I knew at once she was the one for me. Of course I was much too shy and awkward to do anything about it immediately. How I eventually contrived we should meet is another story and involves one of life's extraordinary coincidences.

 

We married in 1947. Life was bliss.

 

RICHARD (DICK) STEVENS 1939‑44

 

 

BIRTHS

 

Anne Harding 1975‑82

To Anne and Chris Horrell ‑ a daughter Nicola on 13th January 1995, a sister for 3 year old Andrew.

 

Anna Boutillier 1975‑82

To Anna and Richard Myerscough ‑ a son Albert George on 28th January 1995.

 

 

OLD DORKINIAN FOOTBALL CLUB Peter Mills, Hon. Secretary.

 

The ODs have recently completed a fairly successful season in the Old Boys' League, particularly the Senior side who have carried off the Championship of Intermediate (South) in convincing style with a playing record of P22 W 17 D2 L3, goals 62‑21, points 36. They have therefore swiftly regained their senior status which they lost at the end of last season when they were relegated from Senior Division 3. Notably, home and away victories were achieved over Old Reigatians 3 ‑0; 2‑ 1, Old Wilsonians 3‑ 1; 2‑0, Old Tiffinians 1‑0; 5‑0, Old Meadonians 5‑4; 4‑1, Cardinal Manning OB 4‑1; 3‑1, and Old Sedcopians 2‑1; 3‑1, equalling a club record which has stood since the 1947‑48 season!

 

In the AFA Senior Cup a fine 5‑3 extra time away victory over London Welsh, of the Southern Olympian League, gave them a home tie with Norsemen, of the Southern Amateur League, which they drew 1 ‑ 1, the visitors equalizing in the 96th (!) minute, but they lost the replay 4‑0.

 

A fine run in the Old Boys' Senior Cup with victories over Leyton County OB 2‑1 away, Old Wykehamists of the Arthurian League 6‑1 at Winchester, took them to the quarter finals where they were beaten 2‑0 by Glyn OB at Ewell, leaders of the Premier Division of the league.

 

Of the other OD sides, the Reserves and Fourth XI held their own in their respective divisions, but the Fifth XI have unfortunately been relegated following their promotion at the end of last season. The Sixth XI, in only their second league season finished third in Division 9 (South).

 

The Club are looking forward to celebrating their 65th Anniversary with a Dinner Dance to be held at the Surrey Hills Hotel at Beare Green on Saturday 7th October next.

 

Further information can be obtained from the Club Secretary, Peter Mills 01737 843022. Why not make up a party and enjoy a significant evening in the Club's history!

 

 

OLD DORKINIAN CRICKET CLUB - Dave Wilcockson, Hon. Secretary

 

In its 46th season the Club has added two innovations to the normal fixture list. In June it will tour the West Country with three games against Exmouth, Paignton, and Sandford under the captaincy of Mike Haigh, and in July there are plans for a single wicket competition at Meadowbank. Andrew Culton will again captain the Saturday side with the new Sunday skipper being Andy Leopold.

 

The '250 Plus', Six‑a side tournament sponsored by Denbies, the local wine estate, and successfully organised by David Culton on its first appearance last year (as mentioned in the previous Newsletter) will be repeated this year on Wednesday 26th July. A separate sheet enclosed with this Newsletter gives more detail, and you really are welcome to look in for as long as you wish ‑ and, we hope, be able to admire the continuing prowess of the organiser!

 

With a week‑end programme of games it will be a busy season, and any OD either young or old who is considering playing cricket should contact Club Secretary Dave Wilcockson on 01306 883428.

 

1995 FIXTURES

 

SATURDAYS      SUNDAYS

 

MAY 6th No Fixture H 2.00 MAY 7th Giltec A 2.00

13th Old Caterhamian A 2.30 14th Newdigate A 2.30

20th BURGH HEATH A 2.30 21st BOOKHAM H 2.30.

27th Ockham A ‑2.30. 28th Kingswood H 2.30.

June 3rd Old RUTLISHIANS H 2.30 June 4th Downsiders H 2.30

10th South HATCH RACING H 2.30. 11th

17th FOREST GREEN A 2.30 18th Whyteleafe A 2.30

24th KELVIN H 2. 30 25th HORSHAM TRINITY A 2.30

 

July 1st No Fixtures (Apres Tour) July 2nd StoneleighPark H 2.30

8th Wimbledon United A 2..30 9th OCKLEY A 2 30

15th OLD Caterhamians A 2.00 16th

22nd Woodmansterne H 2.00 23rd North HOLMWOOD A 2 30

29th Oakwood HILL A 2.30 30th LALEHAM VILLAGE A 2,30

 

August 5th Burgh Heath A 2.30 August 6th Woodmansterne A 2. 00

12th 13th Whyteleafe H 2.30

19th Newdigate H 2.30 20th FALCON A 2.30

26th Giltec H 2.00 27th Ockham H 2.00

Sept 2nd Wimbledon United H 2.00 Sept 3rd Bookham A 2.00

9th SOUTH HATCH RACING A 2.00 10th Westcott A 1.30

16th Warnham A 2.00 17th to be Arranged

23rd to be Arranged 24th to be Arranged

30th South Nutfield A 1.30 October 1st No Fixture