Burton Grammar School

Old Boy’s Association

Founded 1921

Newsletter Number 39

Published: April 2012 by the committee of the BGS Old Boys’ Association

2

Letter from the President: Keith B Large 1967—1972

My year as President has passed far too quickly. I attended the Old

Boys’ Association Remembrance Day celebration with some trepidation

due to the senior staff changes at Abbot Beyne. I should have known

better as the entire event went like clockwork, the staff very pleased to

have the Old Boys in attendance and the pupils were good-behaviour

personified. It was a privilege to read the poem and to lay our OBA

wreath at the school memorial. I also attended the senior school

Presentation Day and Prize Giving where we were well looked after by

school staff and pupils.

The committee has had a period to settle down with a regular group of faces and the eagerness

to get things done has been a pleasure to behold. The database is now fully functional and will

be a big help in keeping the records for mailing invitations and other tasks involved in the

running of the Association. We are very pleased to welcome Steve Wilcox as Treasurer. I

would like to personally thank Bob Andrews, Graham Marshment and Dennis Grimsley for all

their support. During the past 12 months we have received a lot of welcome communications

from our Old Boys, most of which we have endeavoured to include in this newsletter.

Once again, we invite you all to attend the AGM and Dinner at Branston Golf and Country

Club, where we were very well looked after last year and the attendance was higher than usual.

Hopefully we will see even more members and guests this year.

Keith Large

Letter from the Headteacher at the Abbott Beyne:

As I come to the end of my second term as Headteacher at

the Abbot Beyne I can reflect on that leadership. It is an

exciting job to have and Abbot Beyne is a wonderful

place to work. Since September I have developed a

mantra to sum up what we are all about. ‘Everyone a

Learner, Everyone Learning’ captures not only our core purpose for the students, but also for

all the staff who work at Abbot Beyne. Learning is exciting and I am always thrilled when I

learn something new. Many of our students get that thrill when learning a new tactic on the

sports field or a new piece of music and we are working to help them articulate that thrill when

they achieve new learning in the classroom.

Learning takers many guises and I was delighted to welcome the Old Boys to our annual

Remembrance Service. Their presence makes the event more personal to our students, whilst

also highlighting the historic nature of our school. I look forward to meeting many more of you

at the Annual Dinner.

Annabel Stoddart

Letter from your President-Elect : Roger Kerry (51-55) Due to the lateness of Roger’s nomination, he will give his address to the meeting.

3

BGOBA Dinner 2011

Remembrance Day Service Assembly – Friday 11th November 2011

The school held its annual Remembrance Service and were joined by the Old

Boys’ Association comprising of ex-students and staff of the former Burton

Grammar School and they were welcomed at the start of proceedings.

The service began with an explanation about the history of the poppy and its significance for

Remembrance Day. The students and adults present listened to a further explanation of the

uniqueness of this particular date, the 11th hour of the 11th month of the 11th day of the 11th

year.

It was then explained that the assembly was to focus on two points; the reason why we

remember this day and the results of modern day conflict, as summed up in the British Legion

slogan. It is “For them, For now, Forever.”

The assembled school and guests were told that only three villages in the whole of the British

Isles did not lose men in WW1 and therefore do not have a war memorial. They were also told

that since 1939 there has only been one year when no British serviceman or woman had been

killed in Combat and this was in 1968.

The students were shown pictures of the 1914 to 1918 conflict and were told of the 19,240

British men who were killed on the first day of the Somme, a battle in which Grammar School

boys Horace Simnett, Thomas Beevers, Frank Thomas Lake and Albury Evershed were killed

and whose bodies were never found They were asked to realise that the equivalent of 5500

men died in every day throughout that war and each of these casualties was a real individual

with hopes and fears, family and friends, just like each of those present in the gathering. Those

young people, would have gone on to be great scientists, artists musicians and politicians as

well as being great husbands, fathers and grandfathers to children and grandchildren who will

now never even be born. They were told how that sums up the tragedy of

war and that it was not simply about lives cut short but also about lives left

unfulfilled.

Keith Large read the poem, “For The Fallen” by Lawrence Binyon and two

students, Josh Fox and Jack Sharratt read the poem “In Flanders Fields”.

Wreathes were then laid, the last post was played and the assembled

gathering observed a minutes silence. A fitting end to a very moving Remembrance Service. Old Boys In Attendance were: President: Keith Large

Malcom Watson, John Illingworth, Bob Andrews, Peter Evanson, Mike Hamilton, Alan Neal, Richard Wain , Lewis Dunkerley. Graham Loasby, Neville Woollley and Norman Tomkins, Apologies were received from Harry Smith and Graham Marshment

4

April 2011 — March 2012— NEWS OF BGS OLD BOYS — via the Newsletter Editor!

During the year, we received, emails, letters and updates from fellow Old Boys. Here are some extracts from the news they sent us …………….. Chris Jeggo 58- 64 …. “Thoroughly enjoying retirement having had plenty of interesting work during my career. Glad to have escaped the treadmill,. though!” Terry Bentley 51 - 58 …. “having married Judith Adams in 1960, we now have two sons, both of whom are doctors. I have been a patron of BRF Club for 30 years and an international athletics official. I am now retired but still involved locally with athletics.” Bob Fletcher 50 - 58 …. Bob contacted us last year when he was undergoing a course of chemotherapy due to prostate cancer. He urges all of us to have regular checks for our PSA to enable early detection of this disease. He sent us this picture of his first helicopter lesson given to him by his wife for his 70th birthday. A recent phone call to Bob confirmed his recovery and gradual transition back to ‘reasonably good health.’ Peter Copeland 53 - 60 …. last year Peter celebrated his ruby wedding. He makes occasional visits to Burton but was pleased to learn that Keith Large plans another BGS reunion in 2013 when he hopes to meet up once again with long lost friends and colleagues.

Ian Sturton 55 - 61 ……. having spent most of his career in

public relations management, mainly in the food

manufacturing industry, Ian reports that he has found it very

easy to adapt to retirement and has discovered the fascination

of golf. He has remained in contact with one of his

contemporaries, Martin Thomas..

Ray Gilbert 46 - 53 …. apologises for not being able to get

to the last AGM but expresses the wish that he wants to keep in touch with the OBA, which he

says has given him great pleasure over the years. Ray was President in 2006 and he wishes the

Association well in its new format!

Roger Winfield 41 - 48 ….when Roger contacted us last

year he was recovering from serious surgery and

chemotherapy and reported that he was then almost 100%

fit again. Roger sent us several pictures including this

one of the Burton Rugby Club’s Team (year not given)

which consisted mainly of ex-pupils of the Burton

Grammar School. Amongst the team, the late Vic

Roebuck can be clearly identified. A recent phone call to

Roger confirmed that he is sustaining a good recovery.

John Nutt 57 - 64 ….. (Editor; John joined BGS with me in ‘57, both of us having attended

the same junior school. I remember John as having a prodigious talent as an artist) …… he

tells us he worked all his life as an artist and retired as an art education consultant. He has a

web site “johnnutt.co.uk” which may be of interest to Old Boys of an artistic background. John

mentions Tony Meacham, Dave Redfern, and Bob Danks in his reminiscences.

5

Derek Davenport 50- 58 ….. Derek and wife Jean (a former Head Girl at the High School)

have both entered their 70’s and remain active looking after their youngest grandchild and in

their work with the Baptist Church.

Roger Deacon 63 - 70 ….. Roger retired as BGS Treasurer last year and has now retired from

work after 41 years with the Lloyds Banking Group.

Alan Neal 50- 57 ….. Alan retired from teaching fifteen years ago and

now gives much of his time to sport. He is still a ticket holder at Burton

Albion and is Chairman of the Old Hill Cricket Club, the oldest in the

country, (that’s the club, not Alan), Chairman of the Birmingham League,

the Midland CC Conference and is on the Staffordshire CCC Committee.

David Lee 43- 48 ….. David mentions his earliest memory of the old school and Bond Street

when the Fauld Dump exploded and the classroom shook in May 1943. His other early memory

was of the tragic death of the headmaster, Mr Moody.

Kevin Fisher 62 - 69 ….. Kevin has now retired from the manufacturing industry but still

works at bringing University research into industrial relevance. He currently enjoys gardening,

walking and Church work. He celebrated his 39th wedding anniversary last Autumn.

Peter Orton 67 - 74 ….. Peter is currently working in Human Resource management for GE

Intelligent Platforms. He says he enjoys watching his two sons playing sport and he himself

also watches Northampton Saints Rugby Club and he mentions the continuing influence of Vic

Roebuck.

David Oakden 37 - 44 ….. David spent two years teaching army recruits

to read and went on to a career in English teaching. He eventually became

a Headteacher and then an Inspector but has been long retired. He

authored sixty books for 8-12 year olds, many of which are still in print.

Ian Toon 45 - 51 ….. Ian has been retired for 15 years and travels the

country on various railway themed holidays. He finally retired as “Sir

Topham Hatt” on the East Somerset Railway for the Thomas the Tank

engine events.

Brian Bailey 50 - 55 ….. Brian is now very much retired after spending

the last 30 years in the plastic recycling industry. He now “lives on the

golf course.” Editor: No doubt lots of Old Boys are familiar with that

particular retirement venue!

Keith Shaw 45 - 50 ….. Keith tells us he has finished his (unpublished)

autobiography. He is still travelling and caravanning, sings in the choir,

plays the organ, rings the bells and supports Norwich City! However, he

has ceased dinghy sailing, flying light aircraft and playing the trombone.

In his words, “I guess age is creeping up.”

6

Editor’s Note: We had letters returned last year (“person not known at the address”) from B

Matkin, Graham Staley, Robert Walker, Mark Osman, Anthony Duckworth, David Nutt and

Claude Fabre - please let us know if you know where any of these are now living.

These were emails received during the course of the last year ……..

Robert Street 60 – 67 ….. Robert tells us that sadly that since he suffered a stroke he has

restricted mobility and is unable to attend any future AGM’s.

Duncan Bradley 62 – 68 ….. “just to let you know I am retiring from teaching after 40 years

in the profession.”

Michael Prevett 52– 59 ….. “good to hear things are moving along very well with

BGSOBA. I worked in many parts of the world during my career as an engineer in the global

mining industry. In retirement I now find myself actively engaged in trying to locate many of

my old classmates since I could not find contact details from the Old Boys data base. My

success to date includes Gary Grief (now living near Taunton), Colin Marsland in Leeds,

Bryan Ringer in Boston and Doug Young and Michael Pretty still in Burton on Trent. Only 11

boys from our class completed all five years at school and our little group is trying hard to find

the others. The names of some of these are Edward Howell, Alan Insley, Michael john Taylor,

'Hart', 'Curran' and 'Arkesden'. If you have any details of these Old Boys, I would appreciate

hearing from you.” (Editor; Perhaps these Old Boys would like to contact Michael directly.

Tony Child 56 – 61 ….. “ Dear Graham, thank you for your email. I always enjoy hearing

news from the BGSOBA and although due to a variety of reasons, I have never been back to

Burton since I left school in 1961, I have fond memories of the period. Although I do not have

any 'news' as such, after leaving school, I joined the Army (despite having been in the school

RAF contingent) and served in the Intelligence Corps until retirement as a Lt Colonel in

1999. Since then, I have taken up golf and become a county golf referee and together with

bird watching and gardening, I manage to keep busy. If you ever decide to set up a Direct

Debit system for annual contributions for the financing of the BGSOBA, I would be happy to

sign up. Best wishes to you all.” Editor: This idea has been passed on to the Treasurer!)

Gerry Woodburn 46 – 51 ….. “ Thank you for your e-mail which I found very interesting. I

did not attend last years meeting as I found that most of the friends that I had previously

attended with had 'moved on'. I started work in Bass Offices in 1951 and I never worked more

than 2 miles from home. I was Cashier at Thermalite in Drakelow, then Company Secretary of

Baguley Drewry in Uxbridge Street, followed by Company Secretary and Director of Baguley

Engineers in Derby Road. I retired in 1995. With my wife Rosemary we formed Stapenhill

Scouts in 1957 and after 30 odd years we decided it was a young persons job and we took up

golf, I joined the Freemasons and I am now Secretary of Tutbury Castle Lodge. We

are volunteers for the National Trust at Sudbury Hall and the Brewhouse. Not a spectacular

life but a happy one.

David Mortlock 42 – 47 …..thanks for your email - and the funnies! Congratulations on the

tremendous progress in the administration and financing of the association. Something good

(!) did come of last year's newsletter, Ian Pidoux's letter about the student exchange with

France in 1946 brought an immediate email reunion between myself, Ian and Hugh Richmond.

7

Ray Gilbert 60 – 67 ….. “Not being able to make the

journey from Dover to Burton anymore and with my brother

-in-law living in the next county, he and I decided to hold

our own somewhat small-scale Old Boys' Reunion at our

house a week ago. David Ingham, the brother-in-law

concerned, was at the Winshill school while I was at Bond

Street and we did the job properly by both wearing our Old

Boy’s tie, as you will see from the enclosed

photograph. We even had a meal, with the added twist that

ours was at a bar/restaurant on Dover sea front. After the meal we repaired to our house and

poured over the Old Bpy’s excellent and increasingly comprehensive website until quite

late. It's a splendid site, for which Kevin Gallagher is to be warmly congratulated. Once you

get into it and with so much to see, it's hard to switch off and I do recommend it to any of the

brotherhood with access, if they haven't yet searched it. .. Greetings to you and all.”

David Hough 52—57 “Many thanks to you and all who take the time and trouble to

administer the OBA. Like so many old BGS colleagues, I spend increasing amounts of time

reminiscing about those halcyon days in Bond Street. It is great to see the traffic in e-mails

and old photos, please keep up the good work. I thoroughly enjoyed the 2011 dinner at

Branston Golf Club - the meal was excellent. Always a pleasure to meet up with old

colleagues. Greatly enjoyed the golf as well as the excellent meal.”

David Moore 60 – 67 ….. “I thought it was an excellent function last year. The venue at

Branston is far superior to the Bretby facility and the food was the best I have ever had at an

Old Boys’ get-together. Good to see membership increasing. One of the disappointing things

for me is that hardly anyone turns up at the dinner from my class – just Judge Brunning and,

very occasionally, John Hodgson. Obviously, we need to find a way of attracting younger

members or the organisation will fold way before it needs to. It seems you might be having

some success in this respect. Looking forward to reading the next newsletter.”

Derrick Pounds 46 – 51 ….. “In

2011 we have a 3.7 Litre Jeep and 2

Austin Healeys (a 1955 and a 1961)

for pleasure driving, with the top

down, under dry conditions. I do all

the maintenance and any required

restoration work on the Austin-

Healeys and I get a lot of

satisfaction getting them to work

properly. I spent almost 8 years, working on and off, restoring the green 1955 Austin-Healey

before it was ready for the government inspection and certification for road use. They gave

me the A-OK to drive the 1955 Austin-Healey which I have done every summer since 1998,

but never in the rain, through our nearby villages and other communities just off the Island of

Montréal. During my first visit to Burton in 10 years, I recently attended a luncheon at

the Burton Club with 18 businessmen, some of whom had attended Burton Grammar

School. This included a retired pharmacist who was in my class but we had been out of touch

for 60 years. ”

8

John Fellows 43 – 48 … John sends us a very detailed recollection of his days BGS in

which he recalls following Dennis Grimsley home for fifth place in the school cross-country

and breaking the long jump record shortly afterwards. He has been married for 55 years with a

career as an insurance broker and estate agent and is still working part-time. He is a past

president of Rotary and a member of Redcar 41 club. He remembers running out onto Peel

Croft in 1948 at the age of 16 to play for the Burton and he recalls the influence and

commitment of both Bill Reid and Taffy Davies in helping him to develop his high jump

skills. He recalled his life in the RAF, marrying his wife Sylvia in 1955 and has grandchildren

in Yorkshire in the Lake District. He comments, as many old boys do, that life has given

many blessings and is still fieels a lasting gratitude to Burton grammar school for the part it

played in shaping him as a person.

Peter Ellis 37 – 45 … Peter sent us a detailed resume of his career which included being

conscripted into the RAF, becoming director of two companies, the latter being Peter Black

Holdings. Peter would like to know how many of his class are still alive! Names he would

like to contact are Phillip Lawley, John Tomlinson and Keith Priestnall.

Andrew Fawkes 59 – 67 … Andrew light heartedly wrote that he would “send something

for the newsletter on a cold winter’s night when the when the temperature might possibly drop

to below 13° C”. As he lives in Cyprus and we have not heard from him we can only assume

he’s had a very warm year!

Gordon Neale 66 – 64 … Gordon sent us an interesting potted history of his career in which

he recalls leaving BGS With the required 5 ‘0’ levels and no idea what to do with the career.

(Editor: How many of us were in that position?) He then worked at BTR, Marley tiles,

gained some more O-levels and learned to play golf. At Pirelli he met his wife to whom he

has been married for 30 years. He eventually became a business development director of the

company in Herefordshire. In 2005 he moved to manufacturing unit to the Czech republic

where he worked as a managing director. He resigned after two years and started his own

business. He thoroughly enjoys living there and intends to stay in the beautiful area where he

currently resides, and where he employs 14 people and has a good life. He mentions three

Masters at BGS who had a lasting effect on his life:

* Mr HE Smith, a true gentleman and an example to us all with great commitment and passion

for what he did.

* Mr W Chadbourne, with whom he had great fun during his lessons but acknowledged that

Walter was hard but fair and many had the belt from him as proof.

* Mr Andrews he says he did not know at the time that he now realises that he gave him the

basic interesting in engineering that would serve him well throughout his career and as a result

he never, ever, leaves the Chuck key in the lathe!

David Burns 51 – 58 … David tells us that he has retired as Technical director of Dunlop

Textiles in 1998. He now is proud of his four grandchildren, is a member of Radcliffe Male

Choir.

Howard Wilson 44 – 50 … Sadly, Howard apologises for not being able to attend the AGM

and Dinner due to ill health. On a positive note, he recollects being at school with Dennis

Grimsley and he has fond memories of cricket and cross country.

9

Stuart Haywood — we received an interesting letter from Stuart when he recently joined the

OBA. He tells us he worked at Norton Adshead and eventually was responsible for fourteen

betting shops. From that, he went on to work at both Bass and Lomas Ltd as an accountant. He

now works with his wife in their own retail business. He volunteers as a gardener at Calke

Abbey and he finishes by recounting his memory of the death of King George being announced

to the school.

Kevin Gallagher - You may know Kevin as producer of the Burton Grammar School website,

but he has also enjoyed a successful magical career which has included working as resident

magician on the famous ‘Orient Express’, representing the UK in the World Magical

Championships in Stockholm and working around the world for numerous prestige clients.

He will again be at the 2012 OBA Dinner where he will be only too happy to give

demonstrations of his international award winning performances.

Do have a look at the BGS web site and feel free to pass on information or photographs to Kevin for inclusion on the site or join the “Contact Group” which can also be found there.

The BGS website has an email group. As a member, you

may send messages to the group and all subscribed

members will receive a copy. This is completely free

and you can unsubscribe or unsubscribe an email address

at any time by visiting:

www.burtongrammar.co.uk/?page_id=545

After submitting a request to subscribe, you will need to

click the link in a resulting confirmation email to

authenticate that you wish to join and that it is your

email address.

Kevin’s “Magic” profile is at www.mystifier.co.uk/?

page_id=73

10

Mike Previtt with Richard Wain and Deryk Barker during his visit in 2009

Norman Tomkins in 2011 Gordon Hindley with his wife Hanne

and his high performance, home built

aircraft –a Ruta “Vari-Eze”

11

BGS OBA Dinner - May 2011

12

Roger Newman 57 – 64 ….. “I like the new email newsletter as it is much easier not to lose it!

I left Burton in the early 1970's. Before the death of my parents in 1997, I still visited from

time to time. I worked in the Electric Supply Industry (with Norman Binns, whose funeral I

attended and where I met some BGS Old Boys). Eventually, the industry were kind enough to

make me redundant and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened. It gave me the

time to do lots of things I would perhaps have been too old to do if I hadn't been 'retired' early.

I have never actually been back to the school since the day I left. I thought I was going to, as

for a short time (the Electricity Industry is so big I had a lot of job variety) I had a

responsibility for schools liaison and in that capacity visited the old school. By then there had

been an amalgamation with the High School and it was the old High School where my visit

took place. However, it did remind me of dancing classes once held there. I still feel very much

a Burtonian, but the Burton up to the late 1960's. My late father and older brother both were

pupils at Burton Grammar School. Neither of my children were born in Burton and in spite of

both being mid-30's, they still believe the world was only created when they were born, so I

also feel I am the last family link with the school. I am still in touch with a number of 'Old

Boys', which shows what a strong community it was, as well as being an excellent school.”

Ian Tantrum 74 – 81 …. “I live in the far north Highlands of Scotland on a five acre croft

with other family members. We have chickens, ducks and geese and sell fresh, free range eggs

to anybody who wants them. It’s a simple life. A little bit less hectic than my previous

employment down south and we currently enjoy mild temperatures for the time of year and no

snow or frosts, which I gather is not the case in the Midlands. Thank you for your efforts in

keeping members informed and I look forward to receiving the newsletter. I keep in touch with

some members via Facebook and visit Burton about twice a year to see family and friends.

BGS OBA is another very good source of information for me and once again, thank you for

your hard work in maintaining this link.”

Andrew Bauer 63 – 67 ….. “I last had contact with BGS OBA at Burton Town Hall in

February 2009. I had a marvellous evening meeting up with some old school pals and

teachers. One thing sticks in my mind, I shall always remember being ushered outside with Vic

Roebuck as we both wanted a smoke but were made to leave our beer glasses inside! What a

great man and what a loss his passing was to the Association, Burton R.U.F.C and Burton. Like

many I was privileged to have been taught by him, and known him.

I was saddened to read in the April 2011 Newsletter of the passing of Walter Chadbourne. As a

member of the 26th Burton Grammar School Scout Troop I will always remember the

enthusiasm he ('Ref') had for Scouting and how he effectively passed this on over the years.

He was a wonderful organiser and I fondly remember his overseas trips, in particular, in 1963,

France, Switzerland and Italy. Indeed I recall being in St. Peter's, Rome and seeing Pope Paul

and the newspaper hoardings announcing the "Great English Train Robbery!"

At the time of the 2009 get-together I was gainfully employed by a firm of Quantity Surveyors

in Muscat, working on a multi-billion dollar project "The Blue City". Unfortunately, like many

other large schemes, it fell foul of the Worldwide slump and our entire team of QS's was given

notice! My wife and I finally left Muscat at the beginning of June, 2011 and after a hectic dash

around the UK seeing grandchildren, family and friends (plus re-acclimatising myself to

"Pedi") we left for Taiwan (my Wife is Taiwanese) at the end of June.

13

Kevin Fisher 62 – 69 … “Kate & I really enjoyed the OBA Dinner at

Branston. I meant to pass on my update form to you that evening & have

just found it in my jacket pocket! Anyway it will be in the post

tomorrow.”

Bill Smith 59 – 67 … “Still working (reluctantly) as a

consulting engineer. I recently moved to the Isle of Man

which is a delightful place to live. I try to keep fit but have

been forced to give up playing squash after 41 years. Not too

bad I suppose. Current hobbies include organising beer

festivals for the Campaign for Real Ale, garden railways (live

steam) and volunteering to work for the Groudle Glen

Railway. I wonder if there are any other Old Boys living on

the Isle of Man? I have been trying to contact Richard Cope

(60—67).” (Bill sent us this delightful picture with his daughter Rosie).

Robert Baker 59 – 67 … “ I have retired after 30 years teaching in primary schools.”

Donald Coxon 42 – 47 … Donald sent us a potted history of his career in the Royal Navy

which detailed his service on minesweepers, frigates, destroyers, cruisers and aircraft carriers

in many far off places all over the world. He was at Suez in 1956. He was awarded the

General Service Medal for this campaign and also received a further award for the Malaysian

Emergency in 58—61. He represented the RN in both cricket and rugby. After life in the

Navy he joined Ind Coope’s personnel department and retired as a Director of Ansells in 1986.

Mike Clements 58 – 64 … Mike

emailed to tell us about life in sunny

Spain and that Bob Gooderick had

called on him during the year. Mike

would be pleased to hear from any Old

Boys by email because they now have

Broadband in the valley where he lives.

If you are looking for a walking holiday,

have a look on his web site “muddy-

boots.co.uk” where you can find what

Mike can provide for enthusiastic

walkers. Editor’s Note; We took our family there a few years ago and had a great week in

what is a beautiful part of Spain!)

Rt Rev Richard Inwood 57 – 64 …. is currently Bishop of

Bedford but is retiring in March of this year. Richard had a

moment of fame in Burton Mail’s “5 Minutes with” column

when the he revealed that his greatest love was God and his

family. (Editor; Amen to that and my feelings exactly.)

(Editor’s Note; Richard and I enjoyed model railways and I

believe Richard has retained his interest in this.

14

Please, remember in your prayers and thoughts, the following Old Boys

who have died in the last year or in recent years:

Geoffrey Prevett (46-53) Died 27.05.09 RIP

Geoff was born in Burton in 1935 and after

living in Newhall for 2 years, moved to

Malvern Street, Stapenhill in 1937. He went to

St Peter's School and after passing the 11+,

very proudly went on to BGS, proof that

Grammar Schools created social mobility!

Geoff went to the University College of North

Staffs, now Keele University, in 1953 and

undertook a four year science course.

He started on a Management Training Course

with BTR and worked as Sales Engineer there

until 1962, when he joined Air Products in a

similar role, from which he was promoted to Plant Manager at Manchester. Whilst at Air

Products he went on a Senior Management Course at Harvard University in the USA. In 1968

he was offered the opportunity to transfer to South Africa, to start up a new Company, Air

Products SA.Pty, so Geoff emigrated in 1969, living in the Sandton area of Jo'burg and he

became Managing Director of APSAP, which has been very successful and has expanded and

now has several plants and depots.

Geoff retired in September 1998 and has since spent much of his time arranging the building of

two new houses for himself. They were hardly finished, when Geoff passed away suddenly in

his sleep in the early hours of 27th May 2009.

Geoff married Pauline Lockwood from Lincolnshire in 1961. They met at Butlin's Holiday

Camp in Skegness, where they were both working during their college holidays. They had two

children, Simon and family live near Jo'burg; Sarah and family live in USA, near New York.

Geoff enjoyed playing table-tennis, badminton, squash and golf, as well as rowing for Burton

Leander. He was also a successful Rotarian.

Geoff revisited Burton many times since 1969 and attended the BGSOBA dinner at Bretby in

2007. Geoff also most generously entertained many people from the Burton area and other

parts of the UK, at his homes in South Africa. Such trips often included visits to the Kruger

Park, the sea-side near Durban, or 1000 miles journeys down to Cape Town and around.

Although Geoff eventually became a South African citizen, he was always very proud of his

English roots. Geoff is greatly and sadly missed by his family and friends.

Stan Webster (32-37) Died August 2011 RIP

Stephen Crooks (35 -41) Died 2010 RIP

15

James Boss (57-65) Died 2005 RIP

Editor: Jim was not a member of the OBA but I had reason to try and contact him recently

and was shocked to learn that he had died from a heart attack some seven years ago. I

promised his widow Judy that I would mention his death in the newsletter and would send her a

copy when it was published. She mentioned two BGS old boys who came to the funeral; David

Clay and Mick Berman and we will be shortly trying to make contact with both of them

Ron Bell (34-39) Died April 2011 RIP

Ron was Treasurer of the OBA from 1956 until 1986. On leaving school he worked for Bass

but was conscripted into the Royal Signals in WW 2 and served in North Africa Sicily and

Italy. He returned to Bass and worked with them until his retirement in 1984.

Tim Watson Died Dec 2010 RIP

David Mayger (47-55) Died Sept 2011 RIP

David Harry (Spadge) Mayger of Ashby Road, Burton passed away

suddenly at home on 20th September 2011 aged 75. The funeral was

held at St Peters Church in Stapenhill and the family mourners were

his wife Barbara, son Doug, daughter Kate grandson Daniel and

brother (John) the congregation included many representatives of the

Association, the Rugby Club.

Spadge, born the fifth and final son of Bob and Gladys of 181 Newton Road, Burton. Spadge

had an outstanding sporting career at school, Rugby 1st xv, Cricket 1st xi and Swimming team.

In Rugby he travelled to Paris with England Under 18 team. At Cricket he was awarded a new

bat for the school boy with the highest score against the Old Boys. Swimming was compulsory

for all members of his family and he played Water Polo for the Burton Club side that were

Midland under 18 Champions. He also helped backstage in the production of the school Play.

On leaving school did his National Service in the RAF and on completion trained as a history

teacher at Newlands Park Teacher Training College in Bucks before taking up his first at the

former Tutbury Secondary Modern School. Much later, n 1961 he joined Burton Technical

College where he remained until retiring in 1993.

Spadge continued to play Rugby, being selected to represent Staffordshire also club captain

from 1964 – 67 and president of Burton Rugby Club from 1986 -89. His Water Polo career

included being in the Burton Team that won the Midlands Championship.

Mike Turner (Staff) Died August 2011 RIP

(Mike was a member of staff to-wards the end of Burton Grammar School

and into the Abbott Beyne School days.)

Jeffery Salter (34 - 41) Died Dec 2011 RIP

David Hopkinson (45 - 48) Died January 2012 RIP

16

Captain Bob Plant MC (31-36)

In January 1944 the Allies were held up on the Gustav

Line, and the 10th British Corps had the task of breaking

through on the southern flank to pave the way for the

Anzio landings.

Plant was serving with 91st Field Regiment RA (91 FR), which had accompanied the

assaulting battalion over the river four days earlier. On January 21 he was at Tufo, a rocky

feature covered with olive trees and broken up by stone walls. The Germans were desperate to

drive him and his men off before they had a chance to consolidate, and during that day the

high ground was subjected to repeated counter-attacks. In the close country, it was very

difficult to see the enemy approaching. Plant had to resort to listening for them as he moved

from post to post under open fire, and directed his guns accordingly. At dawn the next day the

Germans attacked again in overwhelming numbers, eventually overrunning the company

position. Plant was wounded but managed to establish a second command position, 300 yards

further back, from which he could direct fire on the advancing enemy. When this new vantage

point too was overrun he was wounded again, only to call down a concentration of fire on his

own position. He was taken prisoner and found a German medical orderly whom he instructed

to bandage his wounds.

Plant said afterwards: "The orderly, after bandaging me, lost his nerve, quit the slit-trench and

had a nasty accident with one of our 25-pounders."

Taking advantage of the intense shellfire, he got away and walked back through his own

barrage. When he reached his regiment Plant said to his comrades: "Good work! That

concentration was terrifying!" He was awarded an immediate MC.

Arthur Blurton Plant, always known as Bob, was born at Burton upon Trent on July 28 1915

and educated at Burton Grammar School, where he broke the school records as a middle-

distance runner. He subsequently played rugby for Burton, golf for Derbyshire and tennis for

Staffordshire. He joined the Army in September 1939 and was commissioned into the RA six

months later. He saw action with 91 FR in Syria before taking part in the landings in Sicily. In

December 1943 he was awarded the American Legion of Merit for the assistance he gave to

their 133rd Infantry at Scapoli, near Isérnia, Italy. After recovering from his wounds, in 1945

Plant was demobilised and returned to Manders Paints in Wolverhampton, which he had

joined as a trainee before the war.

He retired as a sales director in 1978 and, having settled locally, enjoyed golf, shooting and

gardening. When his health declined, he still retained his sense of humour and gentle manner.

On one occasion, he broke out of his nursing home by forcing a padlock on the garden gate. A

police car picked him up about a mile down the road. When it delivered him back to the home,

he turned to the policeman and said: "Thank you, officer. That will be all."

Bob Plant died on the 18th April 2011. He married, in 1939, Winifred Collis. She predeceased

him and he is survived by their two sons.

17

Sydney Litherland (31-36)

Sidney was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom went to Burton

Grammar School. He died in January after a fall which resulted in head

injuries. His obituary in the Burton Mail described him as an

‘extraordinary’ architect who helped design the capital of Malawi and who

once worked with the Sultan of Brunel. While studying for his

architectural qualifications he was drafted into the army at the start of

World War II and sent to Crete where he was taken prisoner by the

invading forces in 1941. After liberation, he returned to England and

married Stella. The couple moved to Norfolk where he took a job as an architect for a local

brewery. Following this he worked in Rhodesia, Malawi and Uganda. The zenith of his

career was 15 years working for the Sultan before he eventually retired in 1983. He eventually

moved to St Leonards in East Sussex to be nearer his daughter Bridget and remained there

until his death on January 12th 2012, at the age of 92.

A TRIBUTE TO THE LATE VIC ROEBUCK WHO DIED IN February 2010.

A former Burton Rugby Club president, described as a ʻlegend in

his own lifetimeʼ, has died at the age of 84. Burton Rugby Club

president John Lowe and former president Bill Leason described

the former Burton Grammar School teacher as a 'character' who

'lived life to the full'. Mr Lowe said: “He was a character and

committed to rugby. It is a sad loss as he was a legend in his own

lifetime and a super bloke.

We will miss him. He was one of the people around whom the foundation and success of the

club was built. He will never be forgotten. He was a man for all seasons, living life to the full."

Mr Roebuck, of Wheatley Lane, Winshill, was born in Yorkshire in 1925, but moved to

Stafford in 1939 and attended Loughborough College of Athletics in 1942. Two years later he

joined the North Staffordshire Regiment and was posted to Northern Italy, where he guarded

the border with Yugoslavia against gangs of Yugoslavs and escaped German prisoners of war.

He later became the Northern Universities welterweight boxing champion and competed in the

Midland Counties and British Universities athletics competitions in the 880 yards and one mile

events, running against legends such as Roger Bannister. He narrowly missed out in a trial for

the 1948 Olympics. Mr Roebuck joined Burton Grammar School, in Bond Street in 1952 as

head of physical education. He also taught English at the school but left in 1972 to become

secondary schools adviser for Staffordshire, spending time coaching in Poland and Denmark

before retiring in 1989.

Mr Roebuck lost his wife, Sybil, shortly after she retired as secretary of Edgehill Junior

School, and leaves three children.

18

Burton Grammar School Old Boys’ Association Founded 1921

Annual General Meeting to be held on the 25th May 2012

AGENDA

Names of Old Boys who have passed away during the last twelve months.

Silence for one minute.

Apologies

Agree Minutes of the last AGM held 20th May 2011

Finance Statement

Welcome to new members & thanks for donations

Roger Kerry to be inducted as President

Election of Officers:

(Secretary, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, Membership Officer)

Outgoing President Keith Large talks of his year as President

AGM - 2011

BGS OBA Chronicle of Members;

The Association has a Chronicle of Members

which is available by email or can be provided in printed format.

19

Minutes of the AGM 20th May 2011 — held at the Branston Golf & Country Club

The President Dennis Grimsley opened the meeting welcoming fifty-five old boys to the AGM.

He then read out the names of Old Boys who had passed during the past twelve months. These

were:-Tim Watson, Ron Bell, Stephen Crookes, Capt.Bob Plant MC, Capt. Peter Blackshaw,

Bill Mayger, David Mountford, Arthur Graham Brown, Dr. Ken Arnold, Geoffrey Howells,

Les Wright, Derek Tye and Morris Middleton. A minute’s silence was then observed.

The Hon Secretary then read out apologies he had received. These were: Anthony Thornley,

Jeffrey Silvester, Brian Bailey, Keith Shaw, Tom Vaughan, John Hodgson, Richard Davison,

Robert Baker, Donald Coxon, Mike Clements, Neville Soper, Les Simpson, John Fellows,

Roger Newman, Peter Ellis, Ian Tantrum, Gordon Rothera, Neville Woolley, Richard Inwood,

Keith Stuart-Smith, Alan Cure, Ken Stanton, Roger Kerry, Gordon Neale, Ian Bell, David

Burns, John Capstack, John Hathaway, Peter Stanley. Alec Dytham, Tony Fisher, David

Ingham, Rob Ellis, Peter Trigg and Mike Ball were added from the floor.

As the Minutes had been sent out with the invitation to the AGM, the President asked for a

proposer for their acceptance. John Illingworth proposed and Harry Smith seconded. The

minutes were unanimously passed with no objections.

The President then asked for approval of the financial statement. John Illingworth Proposed

and Peter Evanson seconded and there were no objections. The Hon Secretary, in the absence

of the Treasurer, read the Treasurer’s report which thanked members for their donations and

confirmed his standing down from the position after eighteen years. The President thanked him

for his service.

The President then welcomed new members and thanked all the members

for their donations to the OBA funds. He then handed over the Presidency to

Keith Large wishing him a successful year.

The new President, as his first task, asked the members to re-elect his

committee and proposed Bob Andrews as Honorary Secretary and Graham

Marshment as Communications and Editorial Manager. This was seconded

by Norman Watkins and there were no objections. The President had

received an apology during the evening that next year’s Vice President had

broken down on the way to the meeting and would not be able to make it in time! Steve

Wilcox was then proposed by Dennis Grimsley and seconded by Mike Hamilton as the new

Treasurer.

The outgoing President, Dennis Grimsley spoke of his year as President with special reference

to Christine Thompson for her support of the BGS OBA. He thanked Richard Wain for his

service to the Association and the current committee for their help over his term of office.

Christine Thompson said how much she had enjoyed being an Honorary Old Boy and hoped

that the Association would continue to support the Abbot Beyne School and the prizes for

cricket. The Secretary assured her that the Association would.

20

After the AGM of the Association, fifty three members (9 more than in the previous year) sat

down to enjoy a fine meal and good fellowship at the Annual Dinner, held on 20th May at the

Branston Golf & Country Club

After the meal, the outgoing President Dennis Grimsley spoke of his

time in office. He said how much he enjoyed the Remembrance

Service and was particularly impressed by the behaviour of the pupils

who sat quietly during the presentations.

He had a very pleasant visit to the Arboretum at Alrewas with

Malcolm Watson. He thanked Roger and Deryck for their work for

the Association.

The Association had recently learned that Christine was to leave the Abbot Beyne School at

the end of the school year in July 2011 and we all wished her every

success in her new job.

Christine went on to list the many achievements of the Abbot Beyne

School and Denis thanked her for her report and praised her for what she

had achieved as Headteacher of the school.

Keith announced Steve Wilcox as the winner of the golf tournament.

Steve emerged as the winner with a lead of just one point and this was

from a field of 14. He was then presented with the cup.

It was then announced that the Lowe cup will be competed for on the

same day as the Dinner in 2012.

Present at the AGM and Dinner was former

staff member Mr Harry Smith and many Old Boys expressed their

pleasure at seeing and meeting him.

The President then proposed a toast to the next

reunion which was planned to take place on Friday

25th May 2012.

21

22

Peter Boulter CBE (Staff Member 1956 - 1960) ….

Your secretary, Bob Andrews met up with Colin Norris and Peter Boulter earlier in the year

and both are joining are joining the Old Boys’ Association and we look forward to seeing them

at the AGM and Dinner.

Peter taught for four years before he moved into management in the City of Birmingham.

From there moved on to Devon and Warwickshire and was eventually appointed deputy

director in Cumberland. He remained there until his retirement in 1990. After retirement, he

worked as a consultant for several national bodies. This led to him visiting Denmark, Sweden,

Norway the USA as well as the Western Isles of Scotland! He was a member of the National

Curriculum Council and was chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expedition

committee.

During his career Peter had a great interest in sport and also took up walking and climbing in

the hills of North Wales the Lake District and Scotland. It was during a hillwalking trip that he

met his wife to be, Jennifer Nash, whom he married in 1959. They had two sons, Iain and

Jonathan, who between them, introduced Peter to skiing which they went on to enjoy together

as a family.

Another achievement was that by 1990 he had climbed all 278 of the Scottish Monros! Peter

later transferred his sporting interest to the golf course. In 1989 he was awarded the CBE for

Services to Education

We are delighted to say but Peter has agreed to propose a toast to the Old Boys’ Association at

the Annual Dinner.

Colin Norris (1949 - 1954) ….

Colin met up with Peter Boulter when he moved to Carlisle in 1963. Although Peter returned

to Staffordshire in 1985 he has retained a close relationship with Peter and made many regular

visits to Cumbria to see him. He, too, will be at the Dinner this year and we welcome them

both into OBA be membership.

23

From the Editor:

Your committee hope that you find this year’s newsletter an

interesting one. It has been a pleasure putting it together and

reading the many contributions made by fellow Old Boys.

Please keep them coming! Send us (by email or post) your

updates, your news, your potted history; anything which you

would like us to pass on to your friends and colleagues in the

Association. Technology now allows us to print photographs

in the newsletter and we are always glad to receive them as

well as articles and stories about past events and activities.

I was delighted to see my old friend Richard Tudor at last year’s meeting and I hope to meet up

with him again this year. It was equally pleasurable to make contact with so many people from

the past and I’m sure we will have another enjoyable meal and evening at our superb new

venue.

I have only been on the committee for a year but have thoroughly enjoyed working with Bob

Andrews, Keith Large and Steve Wilcox and now look forward to being joined shortly by our

President elect, Roger Kerry.

I retired in 2010 after a lengthy career in almost all branches of education, having taught in

primary and secondary schools, in higher education, in the prison service, in private schools and

for 15 years I was at primary school headteacher. One of the things which my experience has

taught me was that the loss of the Grammar schools was a tragedy we should never have

allowed to happen and which to this day, has denied many youngsters the excellent education

we all had the privilege of enjoying and the consequent social mobility it enabled.

For 45 years I have enjoyed being the founder and activity leader for the Burton Venture Trust

and we have a web site that colleagues might enjoy “burtonventuretrust.co.uk” . This

independent local charity works to introduce Burton youngsters to outdoor activities and it has

given me many years of enjoyment and the opportunity to meet lots of interesting people.

During those years I took up skydiving and completed 206 jumps before I was forced to retire

from the sport in 2007 with a kidney tumour. The medics did a great job on me and promptly

whipped it out and I have been fortunate to make a full recovery. As a result, I’ve now taken

up learning to fly a microlight and intend to grow old disgracefully.

At 38 I married my wife Jane and we have been blessed with two daughters and a son; a family

who are my joy.

It has been a privilege to hear from the large number of Old Boys who share and write about

the same pleasure of having raised a family and you will see this in the Newsletter reports.

It’s been my pleasure to produce this, my second, newsletter. Of course, we will be very glad

to hear any comments about it and any suggestions as to how we might further improve it.

In the meantime, please keep the correspondence, stories, updates and photographs coming!

Graham Marshment (57 - 62) (Email: graham@gmarshment.f9.co.uk)

24

The AGM & Dinner to be held on the 25th May 2012

BRANSTON GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB — PAVILION

The schedule will be: 18:45 hrs - Guests arrive to a free Reception Drink

19:00 hrs - AGM 19:45 hrs - Guests called to Dinner

20:00 hrs - Grace, followed by Dinner.

Menu:

Oak Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Tart, Sweet Red Onion Preserve Confit of Pork Shoulder with Vegetables

Assiete Dessert Vanilla Crème Brûlée – White Chocolate & Raspberry Torte – Lemon Tart

Coffee & Mints

21:30 hrs - Speeches ... Peter Boulter, MBE (Proposes a toast to the BGS OBA)

…. The President, Roger Kerry responds.

..... Headteacher of the Abbott Beyne, Annabel Stoddart

Please book for the Dinner using the form sent with this Newsletter.

(Bookings requested by Friday 27th April, please).

Lowe Golf Tournament - Friday 25th May 2012

Those wishing to take part in the competition - contact Mr. Steve Wilcox

on 01283 - 704373 to arrange Tee times and playing partners.

We thank Steve and Burton Golf Club for their help in organising this event.