Barry New (1956 – 1963?) I realised that I could not remember what I had for dinner last night but could remember the names of many of our year’s intake so I decided to Google Shene Grammar hence found your good self. I think my RAM has overflowed.

So; Mountbaten, Nathan, Nicolls, New, Piper, Payne, Rolfe, Shrimpton, Smith, Rennie, Ropkins, three named Taylor, Townsend, Turner, Browitt, Scot, Rawlinson, Williams and short termers Philpott and Ansari, are all that I can remember.

My life in short; After school went to work at BR at their Derby Works for a short while then with Ray Nicolls at the National Physical Laboratory. I got married to Marion in 1967 (Nick was my best man) and now have three daughters and eight grandchildren all living close to Little Sandhurst where we moved to from Shepperton in 1974. Career wise I moved on to the Transport and Road Research Laboratory in 1972, then as an Associate at the Geotechnical Consulting Group in 1995. I am still enjoying Consultancy and Expert Witness work mainly related to sub-surface construction works (e.g. the Elizabeth Line, HS1, Tideway Supersewer , now HS2).

Initially went to Kingston Poly with Nick then the kind Civil Service Science Group sent me to Durham University where I picked up an M.Sc. and Ph.D. I suspect this would have amazed our Masters at Shene had they ever known. I was never very interested in school work and surprised masters (and myself) by coming out with the prescribed number of GCE’s. Hobbies at that time were fishing, train spotting and the girls of St Pauls and Mortlake Schools.

 Looking back I really appreciated my time at Shene and despite my lack of application I learned how to learn which stood me in good stead in later years. I remember most of the masters with gratitude especially our form-master Inky Stephens who was particularly kind to me.

I have worked and lived in the US for a total of about twelve years, mainly on secondment from the Dept of Transport.  Hobbies were rugby at NPL until I eventually broke a few things and Marion retired me, squash still playing doubles, but mainly sea fishing and boating in Florida and UK.

Ross Philpot (1957-1958) I was only at Shene for just over a year before returning to Adelaide. Memories, headmaster Rawlings, english teacher ‘snowy’ White. In 2 West, friends Wally Browett, Jim Rennie, Mark Stockton. I recall several others like Avril Orchover, a memorable latin teacher, scouts Mr McLaren. I did my first hike at Golden Cap with someone, Bass.

On returning to Adelaide I completed schooling at Prince Alfred College, then medical school, University of Adelaide. Worked in Royal Adelaide Hospital, and several other hospitals in South Austrlia, also in Darwin and Sydney. Specialized in infectious diseases and sexual health/genito-urinary madicines. Became president of the World Committee of the International Union Against Sexually Transmissible Infections in the 1990’s. I have been in private practice until 2019 with my wife Suzanne the Practice Manager. Continuing part time at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and clinical and associate professor University of Adelaide.

I have three sons, one in London, one in Brisbane and one in Adelaide.

I am a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast.

In February 2020 I came to the UK on holiday that included a visit to the school. I had sufficient of an abbreviated tour to satisfy himself escorted by the new lady Principal. I chatted with the librarian and gave her a book with the scout signatures, in case it’s of value to someone or other. Not clear who that might be in the absence of any archival collection, except for the plaque of scholars and the one for those who died in the two world wars. The principal took a photograph in case it goes on their website.

Colin Enderby (1953 – 1960) I did not actually pass the 11+ consequently September 1953 found me back at Mortlake County Primary School. Walking back home I met up with former classmates who had gone up to Richmond and East Sheen County Grammar School, who regaled me with stories of the new subjects that they were studying. About the end of the first week, I was summoned to the Headmistress’s study to be told that I was to go to the Grammar School for an interview. On arriving I was interviewed by Mr Shepard and Mr Bacon, scarier than the 11+. I obviously passed and started about the second week of term to be thrown in at the deep end of new subjects like french. My first class was 1P, Mr Peel the form master. The other first year form was 1S, Mr Shackell. That winter we had the Great Fog, and I remember looking out at this yellow / green smog from the classroom window.

I lived near to Mortlake Station. I requested a slot in the bicycle rack, but it was turned down as I lived too close and I could walk.

In the first year we had the last term of Mr Shepard as Head, one term of Mr “Bill” Bacon the Deputy Head, then Mr Rawlings, “Plug” joined as head from, I believe, the Training Ship Worcester, when it closed.

In the second year I moved up to 2B and stayed in the “B” stream until the fifth year when I was moved up to 5A. Following ‘Plug’s’ changes, I think that this makes me one of the last years not to do Latin. Up until then it was only for the “A” stream. Other changes were the dropping of extra maths and French and the third year choice of chemistry and physics or history and geography. Moving “O” level options from a maximum of eight up to twelve.

Other changes were the refurbishment of the art room into a library, moving it from the small room under the stairs, the creation of the school badge and motto, and the construction of the new physics lab, and upper science sixth classroom above the original physics lab.

After “O” level I stayed on for “A” levels, in my case chemistry, physics and pure maths.

Rob Steggle mentioned being involved in the construction of the new green house. The sixth formers were employed in numerous jobs, I remember putting up shelves in the old chemistry lab. The high point was that the teacher responsible had a Wolf electric drill, very rare, as most holes were made with a raw tool and hammer. I also remember standing at the top of a very rickety ladder hanging the hall curtains. Health and Safety?

In the 6th form my other job was being one of the lab technicians, based in the chemistry lab in the girl’s school. At this time, I worked with Steve Lee. This also involved going in the school holidays but was I was paid £0.50 per week. The main technician was Mr Norman.

Another memory was that we arranged a sixth form dance. Ben Green was the teacher involved. I was in charge of making the coffee and purchased ten pints of milk. We organised two, 5th formers to make the coffee. Halfway through the evening they arrived and told me that they had burnt the milk. I then collected as much small change as I could from everybody, went to the milk vending machine in the Upper Richmond Road and bought twenty half pint cartons. The coffee break was a little delayed.

“A” level arrived, and I remember Mr Burridge’s (maths) motivational speech. “Teachers are paid £0.50 per scrip; a graduate Teacher should earn £2.50 per hour therefore we had twelve minutes to show him that we knew what we were talking about”. None of the softer, “the examiner will look for ways to give you extra marks” which appeared later.

After “A” level quite a few of us returned in the third year to improve grades, obtain scholarship level or re-sit. One cause of this was that my year sat the 11+ in the calendar year that we were eleven. This was changed in the following year to the academic year that you were eleven. Consequently, several of us started at Shene at the age of ten and were only seventeen when applying for University. This tended to mean that they required 3A’s, highly unlikely in my case. In the event I was awarded a County Major Scholarship to read Chemistry at what was the Brunel College of Advanced Technology.

I remember Ron Friggens welcoming us back into the third year sixth, looking around and saying, “well lads we fooled them”.

Sport was never my strong suit and my main claim to fame was never doing the school cross country. In the sixth form I started basketball, under Mr Grice. As there was only one court this gave you lots of rest periods. Suddenly rugby was introduced and, as I was one of the bigger people, I ended up in the Rugby squad under Alan Stevens and the PE Master. The school doctor visited on one occasion and ‘Plug’ persuaded him to interview all who were claiming exemption from the cross country. I successfully explained that, while I was well enough to play rugby for the school, I was not fit enough for the cross country. I did continue to play rugby after leaving school playing until I was fifty.

It was somewhat surprising that we had not played rugby before. ‘Plug’ I believe was a player, of the teachers involved Alan Stevens (geography) was I believe the Captain of Osterley, a fairly major club at the time and, reputedly, was a Welsh trialist. The games Master, Mr Davies, I believe also played for one of the major clubs. Mr Davies trained us wearing his hooded CCPR track suit top, until I tackled him by grabbing his hood and digging my heels in.

One other memory was, after a school event, the sixth form, and the staff, repaired to the Hare and Hounds. The sixth form went into the Public Bar, the Staff into the Saloon Bar, and we studiously ignored each other on the way in.

The Science Club had several outings. One was to Farnborough where they still had the Comet fuselage in a water tank while trying to work out why it had crashed into the Mediterranean. Other trips that I remember were the National Physical Laboratory, BBC Television Centre, The Times at Printing House Square, hot metal type, and Ford at Dagenham, in the middle of the change to the “New” Anglia.

Other clubs were first form, puppet club, Mr Peel, fourth, fifth forms printing club. This was in a corner of the woodwork shop. We printed tickets etc using hand set type, and an Adana hand printing press. Sixth form, camera club. We had a good line in passport photos for school trips. The school silver cups were stolen from the display case outside the headmasters office. We photographed the replacements to display in the case.

I went on two school holidays.

Paris in the fifth form. The highlight was “Mac” persuading the ticket seller at the Eifel Tower that the letter from the French embassy gave us the right to free tickets.

Switzerland in the sixth form with Phil Grice and Mr Malcolm. This involved overnight on the train to Basle trying to sleep in a crowded compartment.

Other odd memories. Alan “Jank” Kingwell growing a full beard, pparently for medical reasons.

Colin Prower cleaning a brass musical instrument in the chemistry lab with nitric acid. His hands were bright yellow for days.

Phil Grice lived in a flat. From one of the other teacher’s Phil had a St Bernard dog who stood up and put its front paws on your shoulders.

Ben Green (chemistry) used to come up behind you and put a stranglehold on you. This was known as the “alkyl halides strangle hold”.

Jack Fairhurst. In the sixth form he ran art appreciation classes to attend post shower after the cross country. I do not think that it did anything for the cross-country times.

“Sam” Shackell. Arrived on a motor bike a couple of times. After being cheered in he used to park with “Bert” Burridge.

I stayed in the chemistry world and spent most of my working life as a production manager in a chemical factory, then May & Baker at Dagenham. Great fun as you were allowed fairly free rein to get the products out, and I could poke my nose into almost anything. I ended up overseeing the demolition of the factory then retiring.

Rodney Saward (1959 - ?) Firstly I must apologise for the delay in posting the names of the 1 West pupils who started with you at Shene in1959. I am afraid it was the classic case of ‘it fell down the back of the filing cabinet’ – Web Editor.

Rodney said, to the best of my recollection these are the names, with in addition, Kolasowski who joined us in the fourth year.

Brewer, Choules, Cross, Dixon, Drake, Drummond-Murray, Fergusen, Firmston, George, Gosney, Haydock, Ireland, Ives, Klerks, Meyer, Mills, Munro, Newell, Phillips, Pinchin, Rainbow, Saward, Squibb, Thompson, Volke, Walton, Watts and Wyatt, all bar one should appear on the 1960 school photograph.

David Cavill.  I can confirm that 'Plug' Rawlings introduced the 'Enrich the time to come' motto - I was in my 4th year at that time and had just gained my school colours.

I now live in Trowbridge, the county town of Wiltshire and I am active in the community (I was Mayor last year) and still very busy writing and publishing (I am halfway through a complete re-write of one of my books for the 5th edition, the 4th being published back in2008 so it is well out of date.  Full background at www.davidcavill.co.uk

Both my younger brothers attended Shene but I have lost touch with all my fellow pupils (although my last home was in Ham and I was involved with the Refurbishment of Richmond Theatre at the end of the 1990s I never came across any of them).  Names which continue to resonate are Barry Drain and Stuart Brind.

Howard Robinson (1958 – 1965)  I was in the 'East' classes, and then the LMV1 and UMV1. Amongst my classmates, the ones I remember are: Tony Giles, Mike (Fred) Simpson, John Vaughan (and his elder brother Robert), Chris Springhall, Richard Smith, Nick Thompson, Bob Winks, Brian Turner, Richard Jones, Phil Shuttleworth, Peter Flewitt, Peter Telftree and Mark Wronski. (I'm sure there were many others whose names I have forgotten).

Having been on a youth hosteling holiday in North Wales with Tony Giles (c.1965), I kept in touch with him when he left to join the Hong Kong Police Force and also on his return trips to the UK. I believe he is now living in the Philippines, but I have lost touch with him in recent years.

I went on a cycling holiday to East Anglia (c.1963) with another classmate - Brian Turner - who I met up with about 15 years ago when I was still working in the city via Friends Re-united. We stayed in youth hostels, and it was my first holiday without my parents!

Another school chum who I went on holiday with was Richard Smith. It was 1964, and we had the adventurous idea to cycle all the way from London down to the Loire Valley in France visiting many chateaux and then all the way back. We didn't have two ha'pennies to rub together so stayed at the cheapest youth hostels and scrumped apples from orchards!

Among the staff I remember are Messrs. Burridge (Maths & Deputy Head), Stevens aka 'Rocket' (Geography & Sport), Stickells (Maths), Grice (French), Fairhurst (Art), Terry (History), Charles, Malcolm, Brigden (Latin), Fash (Sport), Weeden aka 'Bert' (English), Maclaren 'Mac' (French), White aka 'Snowy' (English), Friggens (Chemistry & Physics).

And who could forget Headmaster Mr Rawlings ('Plug') who struck terror into everyone's hearts! I remember getting a caning from him but forget what it was for!

I remember going on a school trip to Paris with Mr Maclaren where we all stayed at a particularly crumby school at Issy-les-Moulineaux on the outskirts of Paris. We all had great fun, but I don't remember learning much French! (Ironically nearly 60 years later I am again learning French conversation via Zoom with my local U3A!)

I am currently living with my wife Kathy in Fleet Hampshire (married in 1969), and have been in this house for the past 40 years. We have three children all of whom are married, and we have 7 grandchildren. A few years ago I attended an Old Boys reunion at Twickenham Rugby Club along with a friend of mine Mike Woolfson who also lives in Fleet. He also attended Shene Grammar, but is a good few years younger than me.

It would be great to catch up with anyone who remembers me.

David Hackett (1955 - 1962) I was part of the of the 1955 intake.

My first form master, 1 West I think, was Mr Peel who I seem to remember, taught English.

I recognise most of the staff from the galleries.

My main dread were Latin lessons, taken by Reg Brigden, aka “rubberneck”, who would sometimes begin lessons with a gratuitous blow to the nearest boy’s head, with the end of the sleeve of his gown, which conceal a hard rubber ball. He would be in prison for that, these days, as would quite a few others who engaged in physical assault as standard procedure.

Fortunately, I managed to avoid the sadism and can actually say that I enjoyed school life. This was particularly so when, during my 6th form life I was elevated by Jack Fairhurst to the position of Temple house captain. The senior prefects had their own retreat in a room at the end of the biology laboratory. There was a path from the school gate directly to the biology laboratory and in warm summer months a walk along this path would reveal a number of window poles balanced at one end on the window sill and the other on the back of the hinged part of the blackboard awaiting the entry of the master, who, it was hoped would push back the blackboard, projecting the window pole into oblivion.

This part of the school grounds housed the weather station. I studied geography in the sixth form and I was one of the students responsible for taking the readings from the max/min thermometer and the rain gauge. You would be amazed at, how often during a drought the rain gauge was full of a yellowish coloured fluid and the extremes of temperature varied on a daily basis by the equivalent of 30 degrees centigrade. A wrought iron fence was put round the equipment but it did not seem to make much difference. I gave up and took my readings from the Daily Telegraph.

 I played football, cricket and basketball for the school. In my final year, I was part of the school football team that won fifteen of its’ inter school games, usually by substantial margins.

During that last school year, I was approached by the Old Boys football club to play for them, usually in the third eleven. It was quite a culture shock to see most of the team standing on the pitch shortly before kick off, wearing duffle coats and smoking cigarettes..

I did join the Old Boys football and cricket clubs and fondly remember after the match session in the Red Lion, Barnes. On a winter evening these began at about 4.00pm, with curtains closed and one 60 watt lamp burning.

Sadly I see many of my team mates in the obituary section..

My career has been in the financial services industry. After 20 years with Legal & General, I joined a broker in Sevenoaks, then with one other set up an Independent Financial Advisor practice in Tonbridge. I retired in 2008. I have been living in Maidstone for the last 53 years.

Professor Michael Branch (1951? - 1958?)  The UCL School of Eastern and Slavonic Studies is sad to announce the death on 17th June 2019 of Michael Branch, Director of SSEES from 1980 to 2001 and Professor of Finnish.

Michael’s association with the School lasted for more than 40 years, from his arrival as an undergraduate in 1959 to his retirement in 2001 after he had secured the School’s new place in UCL. His academic achievements as a scholar of Finnish were matched by his many achievements as Director, during which he steered the School successfully through a period of remarkable change both institutionally and in its region of study.

A gifted linguist at school, Michael had been expected to study Modern Languages at Oxford. A summer visit to Finland in 1958 sparked his interest in Finno-Ugrian languages, and he chose instead to study at SSEES, registering in 1959 for a BA in Hungarian Language and Literature with Swedish as a subsidiary. He followed this with a PhD in 1967 entitled The development of A.J. Sjögren as a scholar and the role he played in developing Finnish studies as an academic subject. An appointment as assistant lecturer and then lecturer in Hungarian and Finno-Ugrian Studies followed. In 1972 he relinquished that post to accept a newly created lectureship in Finnish Language and Literature. Five years later he was promoted to Reader, becoming Professor of Finnish in 1980. Also in that year, Michael was appointed as Director of SSEES, a role he held alongside his academic duties until he retired in 2001.

As a visionary and enthusiastic teacher, Michael is credited with establishing the Finnish degrees at SSEES, building them from virtually nothing. His dedication and considerable achievements won him the respect of Finnish university authorities who, in consultation with him, established and strengthened academic ties with English universities. The Finnish government also took advice from Michael on their overseas cultural policy and, from 1971 he was able to secure from the Finnish Ministry of Education the secondment to SSEES of a Finnish lector paid for by the Finnish authorities.

Michael’s published work is held in equal high standing. Based on research begun for his PhD, he is credited with having written the definitive monograph on Sjögren (1973). He edited and authored several publications on the Kalevala and verse folklore. The Finnish Folk Poetry Epic (1977), completed through collaboration with, Matti Kuusi and Keith Bosley, is an extensive work on the original notes on Kalevala-metre narrative poetry published in both Finnish and English. The Great Bear (1993) is a verse folklore anthology edited by Michael with Lauri Honko and Senni Timonen. It provides a broad thematic cross-section of the oral poetry of the Finno-Ugric peoples. In addition, Michael wrote numerous articles on the languages and cultures of the Finno-Ugric peoples.

As Director of SSEES, Michael worked tirelessly to build up the strengths of the School and continuously assert its importance as the leading source of expertise on Russia and Eastern Europe. After the fall of communism, Michael recognised the importance of forging and maintaining strong academic and governmental links with each country of the former Communist bloc. His determination and diplomacy resulted in a number of formal agreements which brought numerous scholars from the region to the School on teaching and research fellowships, greatly to their benefit and that of the School. Among highlights of his period as Director were visits by President Lennart Meri of Estonia and Vaclav Havel, the newly elected President of Czechoslovakia.

Michael’s many achievements are attested by a long list of memberships, awards and honours. He was elected member of the Finno-Ugrian Society Helsinki (1973), Finnish Literature Society Helsinki (1974), and Portham Society Turku (1975). He received the Centenary Medal of the Finnish Literature Society (1977) and the third Kalevala Society Award (2008); was appointed a Commander of the Finnish Order of the Lion (1980), the Polish Order of Merit (1992), the Estonian Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (2000) and Officer of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (2002).   He held an honorary degree from the University of Oulu (1983) and was elected a Fellow of UCL. In the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2000 Michael was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Michael’s well deserved retirement was marred by the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. He died peacefully after a long illness, leaving three daughters: Jane, Ann and Jean and 8 grandchildren. His wife of 43 years, Ritva-Riitta Hannele, predeceased him in 2016.

Professor Richard Langham Smith (ca. 1958 intake) Born 10 September 1947, Barnes, is an English musicologist who has written on Debussy and contemporary French music in general. For his contribution to the latter he was admitted to rank of Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Educated at Shene Grammar School then in music at University of York, Richard Langham Smith then pursued further study with Wilfrid Mellers and Debussy scholar Edward Lockspeiser as well as studying harpsichord and Baroque performance practice at the Amsterdam Conservatory. A university teaching career began at University of Lancaster, then City University, the University of Exeter, and finally the Open University where he was the Arnold Kettle Distinguished Scholar in Music and subsequently Head of Department. At this time he also was a visiting lecturer in Music at the University of Cambridge, teaching a course on French Opera from 1875 to the 21st Century. From September 2008 until July 2010 Smith was Head of the Graduate School at the Royal College of Music, London. In 2011 the RCM appointed him Research Professor in Music and in March 2016 Smith was awarded an FRCM. In addition to Academic teaching he is a lecturer for Martin Randall Travel, a regular broadcaster and lecturer for major concert venues and opera houses.

Richard Langham Smith has published extensively on French song and opera. He is co-author of the Cambridge Opera Handbook to Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande and a contributor to the Overture Opera Guide to Carmen. As an editor, he has reconstructed Debussy’s ‘other’ opera, Rodrigue et Chimène, and published an edition of Carmen for Peters Edition. He has written on the performance of the mélodies of Debussy, their poetry and their visual associations, particularly on the Fêtes Galantes and their association with the paintings of Watteau. He is currently engaged on a monograph, Uncovering Carmen, for Boydell & Brewer, and is a co-coordinator with Clair Rowden for an initiative to document the first performances of Carmen throughout the world.

 John Springhall (1955-1962) Who died in September 2015 aged 71, was a pioneer in the field of youth studies who also wrote widely on imperialism, decolonisation and British and US popular culture. See biography of his life in Intakes 1950 - 1959.

David Battley (1955 – 1962) Reminiscences & Ramblings. I entered Richmond and East Sheen County School in September 1955 having previously been a pupil at East Sheen County Primary School, where I was Head Boy during my final year. I was assigned to Hood House and to form 1W with Mr Peel (nicknamed ‘George’ rather than John, as one might have expected – maybe it was his actual name) as form master. I was already somewhat familiar with the school as my older brother Mike had also been a pupil there. Mike, still alive at the time of writing this and living with his wife in Leigh-on-Sea, is nine years older than me and left in 1953. I can remember as a child going with my parents to an Open Day at the school to see Mike demonstrating experiments in the Chemistry Lab and on another much earlier occasion being taken to see him performing a minor role in a school play where, after his brief appearance, which terminated in his having some difficulty leaving the stage owing to a problem with the door in the stage set, I am reputed to have turned round in my seat and proclaimed to the rest of the audience ‘That was my brother – wasn’t he good’!

Most of the masters when I joined were long-serving staff who had also taught my brother during his time. They included Messrs ‘Plonk’ Alexander, Bacon, ‘Blacklegs’ Blacklidge, ‘Reg’ Brigden, ‘Bert’ Burridge, ‘Chas’ Charles, Chisman, ‘Jack’ Fairhurst, ‘Gore’ Goodbourne, ‘Popeye’ Hyde, Malcolm, ‘Mac’ Mclaren, ‘Shmoo’ Shackell, ‘Arthur’ Terry and White. Mr Peel, who taught English, was one of a small number of new masters appointed during the time between Mike leaving and me joining the school. Others were Mr Brettell (Science), Mr (‘Phil’ ) Grice (Modern Languages), Mr Smith (music), Mr. Stevens (Geography), and Mr Turner (Biology). Another staff change since Mike left was the appointment of a new headmaster, Mr G.P. (‘Plug’) Rawlings following the retirement of Mr Shepherd. 1955 saw the adoption of a new school badge and motto which now adorned my new school blazer.

Coming from a working-class family and stepping up from primary school into this grammar school, run on the lines of a minor public school, was like entering a new world. No longer did we have ‘teachers’ (some female) but ‘masters’ clad in academic gowns rather like those in the ‘Beano’ comic, which gave them an air of great authority. Later, of course, we realized that these gowns served the practical purpose of protecting their clothes from clouds of chalk dust generated by writing on and erasing from old-style blackboards. Adaptation had to be rapid whether it was mixing with boys from completely different backgrounds, military drill-style P.E. lessons with ‘Blacklegs’ followed by rather chilly communal showering, the requirement to do a lot of homework after school or the disciplines of using laboratory equipment or woodworking tools. There was some confusion on my first day before the staff realized that they had placed two boys with similar sounding surnames – me and Richard Botteley – in the same form.

Early on Mr Peel invited his 1 West form members to each bring in a favourite book to read during an English period, presumably to assess our reading abilities. On the day I was concerned when, looking around the form-room, I saw several of my classmates reading quite erudite tomes whilst I had decided to bring in my favourite ‘Biggles’ book. He quietly began moving round the classroom, peering over the shoulders of each boy to see what they were reading. I wondered what on earth he would think of my reading choice, but when he came eventually to my desk, I was quite taken aback when he said in my ear, “Do you know, I’ve never read that one – do you think I might borrow it sometime?” After that we exchanged several other Biggles books. He was popular with the boys. Some of us used to meet up after school and ride our bikes in Richmond Park. One day we encountered him riding his bike on his way home to Kingston and accompanied him as far as Kingston gate. For a while this became a fairly regular occurrence and once we were even invited to carry on down to his flat where we were treated to tea and biscuits. I believe he was a member of the Salvation Army and demonstrated his virtuosity on the trombone at school concerts. He also ran the after-school recorder group, of which I was for some time a member. He came across some light-hearted doggerel entitled ‘Watchawatha Meets the Martians’ which I’d written as a parody of Longfellow’s ‘Song of Hiawatha’. Once again, I was embarrassed at what he might think of such puerile rubbish, yet he insisted on it being published in the 1956 Jubilee edition of the school magazine and I was even more surprised by being awarded that year’s Junior Magazine Prize’ - a copy of Tales, Poems and Essays by Edgar Allan Poe which I still possess.

1956 was the school’s Jubilee Year, the events of which are chronicled in a special edition of the school magazine for that year. One event that I was involved in was being in the cast of a dramatization of Kenneth Grahame’s ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ performed by 1W. This was one of three short plays put on for public viewing over two evenings in March. The other two were a hilarious comedy ‘Hiss the Villain’ performed by members of staff and the suspense drama ‘The Monkey’s Paw’ performed by sixth form boys. I was allotted the part of St. George. Apart from learning lines and attending rehearsals, a lot of effort was put into creating scenery, costumes and props. My mother and I. knitting thick parcel string with large needles , created lengths of coarse material which I then took up to the school to be coated with silver paint, thus creating very realistic chain mail. Other parts of the costume were fashioned out of cardboard. The dragon was a wonderful creation with a large papier maché head and a ‘skin’ containing Glyn Edwards and Neil Bass. Glyn occupied the forequarters and provided the dragon’s voice whilst Neil was the hindquarters and operated special effects – flashing eyes and smoke! This ‘smoke’ was white chalk dust contained in a tube which led from the dragon’s mouth to a rubber bulb which Neil squeezed to puff the dust out. During one performance, this seemed not to be working, so Neil removed the bulb and blew through the tube instead. This produced a sudden and violent burst of ‘smoke’ which enveloped me and other cast members in the vicinity, much to the amusement of the audience. The senior boys’ play was very well performed and, as a tense thriller, a complete contrast to what the reviewer for the school magazine described as ‘the riotous fooling of the staff play’. Nevertheless, it was not without incident. The school magazine reviewer wrote, ‘On both nights the play went well until one particular line moved a section of the audience to unseemly mirth’.

After our first year we moved up to form 2 West with Mr ‘Sam’ (or ‘Shmoo’) Shackell as our form master. I think he taught English, but I best remember him for teaching us the rudiments of woodwork in the Woodwork Shop. (Woe betide you if you ever referred to it as the Woodwork Shed)! He also ran the after-school printing club of which I was a member for a time. Here we learned to compose and set type on small, hand-operated Adana printing machines to produce letterheads and odd bits of stationery for the school. I remember being part of a small group who were taken to Fleet Street to see the processes involved (hot metal compositing in those pre-computer days) in getting a national newspaper to press. There was also a school trip to the London Docks to visit the school’s adopted ship, the M.V. Waipawa. which then was one of the largest refrigerated cargo ships afloat. The journey was made in an old coach reeking of diesel fumes and my main memory is of being very travel sick on the way there and the way back.

My memories of third form life are hazy, not least because I missed a large chunk of it after being involved in a road accident whilst on my bike in the Upper Richmond Road, which resulted in a couple of months’ sojourn in Richmond Hospital undergoing skin graft operations followed by more weeks confined to bed at home whilst wounds to my left leg and ankle took time to heal. No home schooling or on-line tuition in those days! I just had to catch up with the rest of the form as best I could when I was fit enough to return to school. I was fairly successful in this, except for Latin where the more obscure aspects of Latin grammar left me completely baffled. ‘Reg’ Brigden was our Latin master and a strict disciplinarian. In the lower forms, he would make us learn declensions of nouns and adjectives and conjugations of verbs by rote, rather like I had learned my multiplication tables in Primary School. He would walk round the form room, select a victim, stand behind him and say,

“Decline bonus!”, or whatever. If the unfortunate individual failed, Reg would raise the corner of his academic gown and give him a whack with the little sack of sand contained therein to weigh it down, a mode of punishment that would probably get him arrested nowadays. Later, he did mellow a bit (or the sand ran out from its pocket) and substituted a tennis ball instead. Even today, in my late 70’s, I can still rattle off some of these declensions at machine-gun speed, much to the amusement of my grandchildren.

3 West found itself with the Geography Room as our form-room with ‘Gore’ Goodbourne as our form and geography master. Geography lessons tended to major on the topography of the UK and the locations of its major industries, most of which are now long gone. Constructing 3D models of landscapes from contour maps was always popular (and has also proved to be so with some of my grandchildren). Because the Geography Room was also used by other forms for their geography lessons, we had to vacate it and find an empty room somewhere else for our lessons. This was a bit of a chore, but welcomed by some boys as it could reduce lesson times by as much as ten minutes. Of course, chemistry, physics or art lessons meant going directly to the relevant laboratory or the Art Room. The redoubtable Mr ‘Ron’ Friggens had recently joined the school as Physics Master. He strictly forbade boys to enter the physics lab until he arrived to take the lesson and until then we had to line up in the corridor, in single file and in complete silence if we wished to avoid incurring his wrath. As he approached the rear of our queue, he would growl “Go in!” and in we would file. Some wag in 3 West found he could imitate Ron’s voice very convincingly and, from the back of the queue, would sometimes utter the command himself, whereupon unsuspecting innocents at the front would walk into the lab, only to retreat in terror of being caught in there once they realised they had been duped.

My memories of Fourth Form life are vague – no doubt because of the ongoing routine of school life, the packed timetable of multiple subjects we were required to study and lots of homework. Around this time the school was expanding. From September 1958 in the annual intake of new boys was to be 86 rather than 56 and a new wing was built to accommodate the extra numbers. The extension provided a new laboratory, classrooms and the Jubilee Library which was fully operational by 1959. Mr Bacon retired from the school after 32 years’ service and was succeeded as Deputy Head by Mr Burridge. Mr Peel also moved on to another school. Other new staff joined, some of whom I can remember very little about, barring Mr Stickells, (of whom more later) and Mr Wookey. The latter was a young teacher who lacked the gravitas and ‘fear factor’ possessed by the long-servers. I regret (now!) to say he was ragged most unmercifully by us boys. Otherwise, Fourth Form life was pretty uneventful. In a school where sporting prowess was highly regarded, my post-accident lameness meant I was never going to be amongst the stars. I did manage to play a bit of cricket and even made one brief appearance for the Hood House team, but otherwise, rather than commute up to the Barn Elms playing fields for no good purpose, I used to bunk off to the local library on sports afternoons.

The Fifth Form saw us getting down to the serious business of preparing for our ‘O’ Levels. In the event, I was one of a group of four boys (the others were Messrs Ball, Hutchinson and Ives), who obtained passes in nine subjects. As I expected, I failed Latin. I also expected to fail Chemistry as the exam paper seemed to bear little relationship to the curriculum I had been taught. I therefore spent most of the exam period answering the only question I knew much about and which involved drawing an elaborate diagram of a Kipps Apparatus After that, I sketchily answered such bits of the other questions as I could. To my surprise, I passed! Even more providential was that one morning, believing I had no exams scheduled, I was waiting for a bus to Richmond at the stop near Gilpin Avenue, when I decided just to take another look at the exam timetable in my pocket to check on which papers were set for the afternoon. To my dismay, I saw that I was actually due to sit my English Language exam in about ten minutes time. In a panic, I ran up Gilpin Avenue to the school and arrived just as the exam papers were being handed out. Breathless, dizzy and hardly able to read the exam paper, I just went into autopilot and ploughed through it as best I could. Such is the oddness of life that, when the results came through, I found that it was the one subject in which I gained a distinction.

And so, on into the exalted ranks of the Sixth Form! When it came to boys choosing ‘A’ Level subjects, there was the big divide between being in the ‘Science Sixths’ or the ‘Modern Sixths’. Perversely, I decided that I wanted to straddle that divide by studying Pure Maths, Applied Maths and French. This was a result of older brother Mike, (how older brothers can influence one’s life!), suggesting that as I liked mathematics and had obtained a good grade at ‘O’ Level, a career in the insurance industry might prove rewarding - particularly if I could become an actuary. Maths A Levels therefore became an automatic choice but, as I was not contemplating a scientific career and having a liking for languages, I thought that French might be a useful adjunct. So it was that, whilst formally being a member of the Lower Science Sixth studying maths subjects, I was also studying French as a modern language. For good measure, the school also insisted that sixth form boys should study another ‘O’ Level subject in addition to their ‘A’ Levels and so I chose Spanish, taught by Mr Malcolm.

Life in the sixth forms was more relaxed than in lower school despite the ongoing requirement to wear full school uniform (including the cap), which sometimes looked a bit incongruous on boys who were rapidly developing into young men. Rivalry between the Modern and Science Sixths was fierce, sometimes bordering on open warfare. Stink bombs concocted by those studying chemistry were inserted into Modern form-rooms, after which they retaliated by sneaking into our form-room and stapling the covers of work books stored in our desks into the lids and floors of the storage compartments in a way that ensured that as one lifted the desk lid, the contents of the files were ejected into one’s face. Social life blossomed as society was changing with the teenage revolution of the late 50’s and early 60’s. A jazz club was formed under the auspices of the Upper School Society and there were school concerts and sixth form dances. I remember participating in an end-of-term concert where we produced skits based on popular TV shows such as ‘Beat the Clock’. Glyn Edwards was a prime mover in these events and he had his own hilarious solo act, emulating the great comedian Sid Field, portraying a man struggling unsuccessfully to erect a deckchair and getting hopelessly entangled in it in the process. Becoming more and more exasperated, after a while he hurls the deckchair from him, which then miraculously assembles itself on landing. Concerts and dances also provided the opportunity for budding guitarists like myself, born of the skiffle and British Rock ‘n’ Roll eras, to perform, if only as half-time interlude fillers. Neil Bass, Vernon Thompson and I formed group along with a teenage actor friend of Neil’s as vocalist. Although Neil later dropped out, the rest of us carried on, recruited a drummer, and played gigs for money – but that, as they say, is another story!

Of course, there was also the more serious side of sixth form life – studying for A levels, with the future prospect of university or employment. Nevertheless, we seemed to lack that anxiety that apparently grips today’s pupils and inculcated by modern mass media, that the whole of the rest of their lives is at stake on the outcomes of exams. Indeed, I remember that for some of our maths lessons with Mr ‘Chas’ Charles, we used to play on his propensity to engage in conversation with us by deliberately provoking such intercourse when he arrived to take the lesson, so that a good ten or fifteen minutes of the period could be lost before we got down to actually doing any work. Chas was renowned for his practice of turning round and hurling his piece of chalk (or, later, the damp sponge blackboard eraser) in the general direction of any suspected miscreant whom he thought was responsible for chattering or other disruption whilst he was writing on the blackboard.

And so, finally, to the culmination of seven years’ of study and Grammar School life - the ‘A’ Level exams. Shene Grammar always had high aspirations for its pupils and generally succeeded in

fulfilling them. 1962 was no exception, with many of my contemporaries achieving excellent results which would see them into universities and, no doubt, on into successful careers. For myself, I had decided to head straight for the workplace and armed with three A Levels, I joined an insurance company specialising in Life and Pensions business. My introduction to the company had been provided by Mr Stickells, a maths master who doubled as Careers Officer and who was acquainted with the personnel manager of the company in question. Suffice it to say, I never became an actuary – you do really need a maths degree to do that - but I did have a long, varied and interesting career with a major financial institution during an era of rapid change, advancing computer technology, changing management practices and much else until I retired in 2003. Others of my school friends went on to university or into other work and, inevitably but regrettably, I lost contact with them. One, David Hackett, joined the same company and on the same day that I did. I bumped into him just after we had received our induction interviews in the company’s newly opened head office in Queen Victoria Street in the City. “Where have they placed you?” he asked. “Somewhere called Endowment Claims Department on the sixth floor,” I replied, “What about you?” “Oh, I’m off to somewhere called West End Branch,” he said. We then parted company and our paths never crossed again. Another, Roger Twyman, who was keen on tinkering with electrical circuits and gadgets was, I guess, probably the same individual whose name I sometimes later saw in the rolling credits of TV shows under the title of ‘Rostrum Cameraman’, although I have no proof of this.

Memory fades with age and I have penned this memoir before I forget even more than I already have. I sometimes wonder what happened over the years to the other boys I knew, particularly those with whom I formed friendships. Some years back, Mike and I did attend one of the Old Boys Reunions, but I found that most of those there were of his generation rather than mine. Recently I did make brief contact with Roy Chapman, one of my classmates with whom I used often to walk homewards after school as his route home took him past my front door. The contact came about because his brother was a childhood playmate of a little girl neighbour who later became my wife and he recently got in touch with her.

I look back now with great fondness to my time at the school and with gratitude for the way it prepared and equipped me for adult life. From my perspective, it certainly lived up to its motto and ‘enriched the time to come’. But then, as Reg Brigden would sometimes remind us as he looked round the form-room, “You are privileged to be in the top 15% of the school population, but remember – it’s not just the cream that rises to the top! Have you ever seen your mothers making jam?”

David Mann (1956-62) I spent two years in the 5th Form to be told by Plug that my brains were in my feet and although I was invited to trials with Fulham and QPR, I was not asked to sign on, hence Shene Old Boys misfortune. I am married to Karen (Alan Bloxham was my best man) and our daughter Charlotte (11)is a county standard swimmer (Dorking SC) and could progress even further. Lived in Sheen from 1973-1978, Kingston from 1978-1980, back to Sheen 1980-1987, then married and on to Worcester Park from 1987-1994. Settled in Dorking in 1994. Currently self employed running a travel retail sales consultancy after being made redundant by Allied Domecq in 1999. Spent over 30 years in the duty free liquor business....... What else would you expect of me....? Played for Shene Old Boys for over 30 years, and the Old Boys League 46 times, now a level 5 referee still officiating 2/3 times a week and recently took the Arthurian League Vets Cup Final at the Bank Of England. I mainly referee in the Arthurian League, players as committed, but far better educated and generally no problem at all. Honoured to be manager of the Old Boys League Rep Team for 6 years 1995-2002, played 50 matches only lost 8. Excellent to see the efforts made to establish the web site and all success to it.
David's update on 7th March, 2008..........................
I am still a senior Referee on the Arthurian League, whilst never attaining much academically at Shene School, I now hob nob it with the Old Boys of Eton, Charterhouse, Harrow, Westminster, Lancing, Winchester, Tonbridge etc, Players are as committed, but accept decisions more easily.

Still working from home, though really wishing to retire, get Charlotte off to University then I can think about it.I have spent most of the evenings during the last 10 years ensuring Charlie gets to swim training firstly at Dorking and the past 4 years at Guildford City, the top club in the South East Region of UK.

Peter O'Brien (1950-55).............................. (see Peter in Photo Gallery)
Married in Sheen in 1967 to a local girl Vivienne Harmer and, because of high house prices in Sheen, settled in the Tolworth/Surbiton area. Joined Castrol International in London and moved to Highworth (8 miles N of Swindon) when Castrol moved HO to Swindon in 1970. We have a married son and grandson and a married daughter.
I took early retirement from Castrol 6 years ago and am a Governor at Swindon's 6th Form College, Secretary & Treasurer of Highworth Running Club and a season ticket holder at Swindon Town FC.Still in touch with Old Boys David Lines and Colin Enderby on a regular basis.

Christopher Cooper (1952-58)...................My memory stretches back to the last years of H.H Shepherd, deceptive but perceptive Headmaster. We were fascinated that he was also an expert on slugs and snails and we had vivid fantasies of what he must have been doing with all his little creatures out of school hours (counting them, naming them, feeding them?) In those days the lovable, white haired old gentlemen was affectionately known as Creep and the school his Academy. Editor's Note: HHS had an innate capability for appearing out of nowhere at the commencement of, or during, a pupil's misbehaviour. When word got round of his imminent retirement we got very interested in all the visitors to the school and listened for rumours. It wasn't long before we heard that a man from a Naval learning institution had been appointed and there was a frisson of fear and trepidation when one senior boy reported seeing a man with vivid red hair entering the school with a cat and nine tails hanging from his briefcase. This rumour spread like wildfire and some of the more unruly boys made efforts to mend their ways before the new era of terrible punishments began. I well remember the much awaited day when Mr. Rawlings (who later became "Rawplug" thence "Plug" for short) was due to make his very first appearance in the morning assembly. There was an unusually tense silence as we heard the fast click, click of his metal heeled shoes coming along the marble corridor. Over 300 pairs of eyes were straining to see what he was carrying on that first morning. Bets had been laid as to whether he would be holding the cat and nine tails or not and how long it would be. To our relief there were only a couple of books and a few papers. With his gown billowing behind him he sailed in to front the stage with his four stern housemasters backing him like sentinels. These were Mr. Hyde (Popeye)", Mr.Bacon ("Bill") Mr.Goodbourn ("Gore") and Mr.Burridge the mathematician, "Bert".
Thus in 1953 a new era had begun, not as fearsome as some had expected, but one which brought some significant changes: The spelling of the school name changed from Sheen to the older form :Shene. The outside toilets got a roof at last(yes, all the toilets were outside!) Lunches at the girl's secondary school next door began to the great amusement and satisfaction of all concerned. Editor's Note: This had started prior to this, trust me..!! I remember long files of boys being marched through the girls playground to the dining room every lunch hour. In those days most schools in London seemed to be single sex ones. How things have changed!
Physical punishment was still very much in evidence and an invitation to visit the Office of HHS usually culminated with the dreaded cane. Some teachers had their own form of punishment. The fearsome Latin teacher Reg. Brigden ( known to us as "Reginald Rubberneck") had an outsize plimsoll which he ceremoniously placed at the front of the teachers' desk whenever he entered the lesson. He wasn't called Rubberneck for nothing as his long sinewy neck seemed to allow his head to turn 360 degrees and spot misdemeanours quicker than any other teacher.
Music was at a very low ebb in the 1950's. I remember the hapless Mr. "Stringy " Smith trying to teach us the next week's hymns and also the rudiments of Do, Re, Me. This wasn't very successful as he had an unfortunate habit of involuntary spitting. Whether the naughty boys or the strain of the singing affected his saliva glands or not, one will never know, but there were gales of laughter whenever someone was hit by Stringy's spit.
As the Rawlings era progressed some became a bit more audacious and hatched a plan to sing in the final assembly : "God Shave the Queen", to see if anyone noticed the new version. When the fateful day came some of us who had been press ganged were decidedly weak at the knees. To our great relief the staff must have been too tired to notice it and the travesty passed without comment. Many bottoms were spared the stick.
In our final year or two most of us rose to Prefect status complete with lapel badges. The top scholars would get their names written on the Honours Board in gilt to show they had gone on to Universities. Lesser mortals had to be content with being Captain of House or distinction in sports competition. We parted amicably in those balmy days at the end of the 1950's. Little did we realise what enormous changes and challenges would meet us in the coming decades as adults.

George Thomson (1951-54).........................David,  Many thanks for your kind letter pointing me to the Old Boys website.   Reading it brought back many memories - talk about a blast from the past..!!
I wondered how you managed to obtain my mailing address but after reading the list of attendees at the Reunion there are some names of people there that I recognize and no doubt that was the source of the information.
Once gain many thanks for your letter and I will continue to look up the website in future.

Rob Vaughan (1951-59) ......................(Rob appears a few times in Shene Sportsmen in Photo Gallery).....................The general economic situation had improved by the early 1950's and Mum no longer had to sew the school badge onto the most serviceable jacket.   Blazers were becoming universal and the prefects even sported pale blue braid on their lapels.   Rationing was nearly a thing of the past although 'You've never had it so good !' was still some way off.   Milk, if not 'gold top' was plentiful and ice cream vans were now in evidence.
'Sandwich boys' who did not take lunch at the Girls School had time to wander down to the confectioner's at the foot of Wallorton Gardens or visit 'R. Atkins' on the Upper Richmond Road.   'Ratters' was more popular since queuing there afforded the chance of a quick squint at his dubious publications.   Both shops, which amazingly still exist, were in receipt of competition but not for long.............
A rival had appeared at the gates of the upper playground on Park Drive.   In those days the Royal Mail and the GPO respectively had fleets of smart red and bottle green vans.   The contraption which appeared one lunch time was only similar in size.   Otherwise it looked home made, was a three not four wheeler and of a a mauve hue.   On one side it had a serving hatch and on the other was written...'Louis' Ices'.   A curly haired, small man scrambled out and joined his tubs of ice and scoops in the back from which he began to proffer wafers, cornets and oddly coloured lollies for a couple of old pence.   He was immediately dubbed 'Lick Lap Louis and began to do a reasonable trade over the next few days.
On his arrival at about 12 50pm the cry would go up 'Lick Lap, Lick Lap' and a queue would form.   One lunch time it gradually became more boisterous and those unwilling to wait longer or without the requisite twopence decided to rock the unstable jalopy which began to sway.   Louis was thrown to the floor of the tiny vehicle in a sticky heap with his wares and, once recovered, he sought an audience with the Headmaster who was just arriving back from his lunch time walk on Palewell Common where he daily observed species of flora and bug.   Louis left unhappily and at the end of assembly the following morning HHS  gravely made reference to a complaint from the ice cream vendor and advised the School , in sonorous tones, that the mobile parlour would only resume if behaviour improved in it's vicinity.   (Editor's Note:  Dick Strevens remembers the occasion well and HHS is reported to have said "So I am placing out of bounds the itinerant ice cream vendor's machine")
Briefly this was achieved but the temptation to rock 'Louis' Ices' rather than purchase them proved too great and after a few more shakings he disappeared towards Palewell Common for ever in search of a less hazardous environment undoubtedly less profitable.
We had to seek our comforts elsewhere in what the new Head was wont to refer to as 'The Village'
and more from the prolific Rob Vaughan......... about David Potts and Mr Blacklidge 'Potty and 'Blacky.............This incident sometime during the interregnum of 'Bill' Bacon as Acting Headmaster after the retirement of HHS and the arrival of Mr. Rawlings, the future 'Plug', concerned two characters separated by almost half a century in age and had nothing to do with snooker.   Mr. Blacklidge was the long serving PT master from prewar days who would roll up very punctually three days a week in a large, ancient, red snorting horse of a roadster festooned with 1930’s AA and RAC badges.   He would park by the Library before greeting Mr. Sheppard or Mr. Rawlings with "Headmaster!" in the style used by the local comedian 'Professor ' Jimmy Edwards in  'Whacko'.   The immaculately turned out 'Blacklegs', a real fruity colonel of a man, in trench coat and trilby in Winter, regimental tie, blazer with pocket handkerchief and sharply pressed flannels in Summer would then change into a blue track suit of soft material or a black waterproof outfit ready for action.
The Hall could never have been described as a modern gymnasium but there were wall bars, let down ropes, a vaulting horse and the dreaded beams.   Many of us were not keen on these items of torture and constantly asked 'Blacklegs' if we could play football.   He would ignore these pleas and demonstrate 'press-ups' and other stretching exercises, becoming more florid by the minute and would be requested to do it all again when some innocent seriously claimed that he had missed the demonstration or could not get his legs flat..........."Simple, my boy....Now it's your turn!".   For a man in his late fifties his agility and fitness were amazing.
David Potts of 3A, one of the 'Kingston Mob' of the 1951 intake, was rather less athletic and slightly bulky.   We had persuaded him to become a reasonable right back but he preferred chemistry, doing his own experiments in his desk where he also had the occasional smoke.   He could infuriate the most patient of pedagogues and - nomen est omen - frequently lived up to his name....
One fine day we were pleasantly surprised to see 'Blacklegs' had not put up the gymnastic equipment but was dribbling an ancient football across the Hall.   At last we were on for some indoor 'footie' or so it seemed.   He appeared to be on the verge of picking teams when he was called into the corridor.
"Hold on to that ball for me, my boy!" he said to Potts. He had hardly turned his back before 'Potty' turned into Frank Swift and punted the ball from hand and it sped like a rocket into the gallery above the back of the Hall.   'Blacklegs' returned within thirty seconds, "Give me that ball, my boy", "I can't, it's gone", "Gone?, what do you mean it's gone?", no doubt thinking that it was being hidden behind someone's back.  "Tee hee, it's gone" said  'Potty' who sometimes slipped unwittingly into Billy Bunter mode. 'Blacklegs' was by now beetroot of face and ordered 'Potty' to go and find the ball wherever it was, not noticing some thirty boys in a state of collapse or that the culprit had now slipped out of the Hall.   There was a brief and embarrassed silence broken only as the leather whistled past the head of 'Blacklegs' and bounced on the Hall floor.  With the agility of the former England goalkeeper 'Blacklegs' plucked the ball out of the air and locked it in the Hall cupboard. "Start running on the spot" he ordered, not noticing that 'Potty ' had rejoined the back line.   The latter saw that we had had it for the day as far as indoor football was concerned, and remarked, "Sorry, Blacklegs", "What did you say, my boy?", "Oh, sorry, sir", "Never mind, you couldn't have played football anyway, none of you are fit!" No doubt Mr. Blacklidge found life easier at more normal Grammar Schools on the other two days of the week and the young men of Blackheath Rugby Club were undoubtedly more responsive to his expertise during the evenings.

Richard Simms (1952-59) I re-visited the website, David, with great interest and enjoyment.   It is wonderful that you have taken such considerable time and trouble to pull so much together.   It is interesting to note how much affection remains for the old School and (most of) the masters.   I certainly share it.   It is also interesting to note that I was not the only one that has taken a little trip back to East Sheen to see the old School, or at least the buildings.
I don't know if I told you or not....Alan Kingwell and I went to see Ron Friggins (the Physics master) and his wife.   They both made us very welcome indeed and seemed genuinely pleased to see us.   It was intriguing to learn of his experiences and catch a glimpse of life from the other side of the fence and it was great to be able to say "thank you" and tell him how much we appreciated what he had done for us.   I wish I had shown more appreciation for the masters at the time.

Dick Lee (1953-61) I took a look at the list of those who attended the Reunion in 2002 and, off the top of my head, I'd guess that I knew at least half of the group. I will do all I can to come to the Reunion in 2004.   It would be great to see you all.
I stayed on in the 3rd year 6th Form. Mr. Rawlings ('Plug') felt I should stay on to be School Captain and improve my "A" Level results.   They were actually worse the second time around.
After attending the University of London (Northern Polytechnic) from 1961-64 and graduating with a degree in Chemistry, I left for the USA with every intention of going back to the UK which I did in 1966-68 but was to decide that the USA was the place for me.   I am involved with two companies Value Innovations, Inc. (I'm their President and Chief Executive Officer) www.valueinnovations.com   You'll find a photo of me on the Site.   I am also the Managing Director of EdgeGuard International Ltd www.edgeguard.com
I married Lin in 1966 (an American) and we have two daughters, Sonja 34 and Alyssa 32 who are both married.   We all live in the Greater Denver Metro Area in Colorado.  I am still very proud to be a Brit and am a 'Resident Alien' in the USA.  You can catch up with Dick on his Company's website http://www.valueinnovations.com

Jeremy Chapman (1957-61)   Congratulations and many thanks to David and John for setting up this fabulous website.   I thoroughly enjoyed the Reunion of 2002 and will definitely attend the next one in 2004 at Foxhills.
It was particularly interesting to read about my old best chum, Dick Lee, School Captain in my final year and the last time I saw him was when I ran him out (judging a run was never my strong suit) in an OG cricket match.   I knew he had gone to the United States and was really pleased to see that he had done so well.   I often went to his home in Barnes for tea with him and his widowed mother when we were in the Sixth Form.   He was probably the one who made me feel most at home after my Dad moved down from a job in Scotland.
I was to stay on for a third year in the Sixth Form to play cricket, table tennis, chess and take part in drama productions (I don't remember doing too much work. !) and also support the football team every Saturday morning.   I joined the Buckinghamshire Advertiser in Amersham as a trainee reporter and moved on to become Sports Editor of the Middlesex County Times at Ealing.   After a row over being paid insufficiently to write and edit the the Film Page in addition to writing and sub-editing 40 sports stories a week I stormed out but instead of playing cricket all summer as planned, wrote off for a job in Fleet Street.   Much to my surprise as I had no daily or evening experience in the provinces, the late Daily Sketch took me on (probably because I was cheap).   After five very happy years there as a sports and racing sub-editor the staff merged with the Daily Mail and being the youngest without family I was paid off.   After a year on The Guardian I joined The Sporting Life and was to stay there for 27 years being deputy to five different Editors during that time and was Executive Editor and Golf Correspondent before I managed to get the Bible of horse-racing closed down as well in 1998......!!    Since then I have worked as a freelance golf writer for the Racing Post, Golf International and other magazines, have written books and parts of books and also compiled odds for bookmakers on golf tournaments throughout the world.
I married a beautiful German girl, Christa in 1968 and we are still together after 35 years having produced two stunning daughters, Sarah ( a TV presenter on Attheraces, a dedicated racing channel) and Stephanie, a biochemist.   Fortunately they take after their mother with their looks.  With any luck they will both be married during the next 12 months and life will be a lot less expensive.  I live in Walton on Thames and recently renewed the acquaintance of Roger D Smith, a recently retired solicitor who lives just around the corner.   We were both members of our pretty successful chess team and he and his younger brother Graham were two very solid chess players.
Many of my happiest recreational moments before discovering golf came with the OGs for whom I played for a couple of years while still at School and thereafter until work too me away from the area.   I was astonished at the Reunion that so many old school and OG colleages looked just the same as they did when I last saw them 35 years before.......
I gave up regular cricket in my 20’s only to play since for the Daily Sketch and the Sporting Life.   The great Ken Barrington, our cricket columnist at The Sketch, ran me out in one match because I was scoring faster than him, at least that's what I told myself at the time!  Golf has been a great passion since, I got down to single figures for a time and I've been lucky enough to have played with many of the greats in Pro-Ams, Tony Jacklin, Lee Trevino and Nick Faldo among them.
It's been a great life and, at 61, I hope there's plenty more to come........
Editor's Note; 3 years later and this is what Hugh McIlvanney had to say about Jeremy in the Sunday Times of 23rd July, 2006
"Not every champion in action at Hoylake this weekend is swinging golf clubs. Jeremy Chapman, of the Racing Post, would shy away with a shudder from any suggestion that he is the Tiger Woods of golf tipping but he has enough extraordinary success in the game's betting market to make most other professional forecasters seem the equivalent of public course hackers.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the week in which this column chose to add its tiny salute to the plaudits showered on him has seen a blight descend on his selections, His strongest advice for punters in the Open was to have two points each-way on Vijay Singh at 16-1 and 1.5 on Phil Mickelson, with recommendations for taking a minor interest in Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Angel Cabrera.
Singh and Harrington were dumped out of the tournament at the halfway stage, Donald barely survived the 36-hole cut,  Mickelson is hopelessly out of contention and only the small stakes on Cabrera remain alive. So Chapman is entitled to suspect the influence of the McIlvanney curse, which many have credited with being able to keep Pegasus out of the frame in a Folkestone seller.
But it would require a lot more retaliation than the bookmakers can hope to muster to inflict a noticeable dent in a record whose overall excellence is conveyed by one remarkable statistic: in the eight years he has been counselling Post readers, the tips aimed at naming the winners of tournaments show a profit of well over 1100 points.
Though the best of the Post's racing analysts can have the bookies running for cover, the editor of the paper, Chris Smith, acknowledges that Chapman is the outstanding tipster on the staff.
He has been strengthening his reputation since he joined as an established asset after the closure of The Sporting Life, where he had worked with distinction since 1971. At the Life his promotion of golf bettng was so active and effective that he likes to think of himself as the godfather of the growing enthusiasm for wagering on the sport.
He says his guidance is rooted mainly in experienced interpretation of both a player's current form and the man's achievements on a specific course, with the implications of what he has done lately always carrying more weight. Some of us, however, cannot avoid feeling there is an element of mysterious inspiration at the core of a method that has enabled him over the years to land outrageous coups for his followers.
Operating on the basis of identifying several golfers as appealing investments, he has three times picked  a 100-1 winner. All kinds of tournaments, from majors (he gave Mark O'Meara at 40-1 to win the 1998 Open at Birkdale) to pro-ams, have received the Mystic Meg treatment.
His favourite hunting ground has been the Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the California coast and it was there in February of this year that his tipping reached a supernatural level of prescience. In a field of 180, the season's biggest, he put up four names and three of them finished first, second and third: Arron Oberholser won at 33-1, Rory Sabbatini was runner-up at 50-1 and Mike Weir completed the tricast at 33-1.
Afterwards, Simon Clare, of the Coral bookmaking organisation, said: "It is undoubtedly one of the greatest tipping performances of all time." With characteristic temerity, for the very next event Chapman advanced Sabbatini as a probable winner and he duly came in at 40-1.
Fortified by a long history of such amazing results, the 64-year-old seer and his disciples can well afford to absorb a few hits at Hoylake."

Rob Steggle Fascinating website, it has updated me on what happened to the old pile after I moved away in the mid 60's.   It has certainly survived many changes, pity nobody could come up with  a better view of the buildings than that awful entrance. (Editor's Note: It's about the only recognizable view left)   Is the greenhouse on the end of the Biology lab still there?    I helped to build that, laying bricks, glazing and sealing the thing - and growing freesias in the first year. Never had any success with 'em since.

Rod Saar (1954-57) After A levels I joined the RAF graduating from the RAF College, Cranwell as a navigator in 1961.   I had an enjoyable 20 years in the RAF, flying in the Mediterranean and based in Malta, instructing at the RAF College, doing a short stint at the British Embassy in the Congo, adjutant of Experimental Flying Department at RAE Farnborough (with opportunities to do trips in Hunter and Lightning fighters), Special Forces unit based in Berlin working in East Germany (I was made persona non grata by the Russians and collected an MBE by way of consolation).
On leaving the RAF as a Squadron Leader I joined IBM and spent the next 20 years as the Managing Director of a number of subsidiaries of IT companies (British, American and German) visiting more than 30 different countries which included very contrasting places..Moscow, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Saigon, Peking, Las Vegas, Seattle etc.
I retired just over 2 years ago and still do some work as a Non Executive Director and Consultant.
I have fond memories of Shene Grammar and remember teachers Rawlings, Burridge and Chisman but can only recall the name of one person in my form.   This was Pearson who was a maths genius doing A levels when the rest of us were doing O levels.   A year ahead of me was a chap called Maddox.   In my last couple of years he always pushed me into 2nd place in the Annual Cross Country Race around Richmond Park.
My parents left Kew for Orpington in the year I left Shene which meant I was to lose contact with my contemporaries.

Ian White (1956-63) I've just visited your brilliant website and it's brought back those memories and names I actually recognize.  I must dig out (from somewhere) my old school panoramic photos, you know, those where the camera starts at one end and by the time it has arrived at the other end some comedian has been photographed twice and, of course, the Scout camps. I didn't particularly excel in anything but enjoyed school tremendously and was in the Scouts under 'Mr Mac' and have fond memories of Friggie, Chalkie, Rubberneck, Shmoo, Rasher, Rocket, Chippie, Green. Turner, Goodbourn et al.
I was there when they installed the mosaic to the right of the front entrance and extended the stage on to the North end of the school hall.  I also remember Chemistry in the Girls School in Hertford Avenue and the House Captains' Common Room at the end of the Biology Lab.

Peter Flewitt (son of Paul) (1958-65) I've just found the Site - very scary!   I'm another ex-pat and living in Geraldton, West Australia.   I was a keen follower of the Old Boys soccer team for a number of years both then and thereafter so it was good to see photos of Rob Vaughan (I'm in touch with his brother John), Alan Bloxham, Eddie Roberts, Morgan Reynolds and some others at the Reunion.
I came to Oz in 1980 after several years as IT Manager at Moulinex in the UK and sort of wandered my way around the country as an IT contractor until the end of 2003 when I retired, the last five years at a major winery which was handy.
I doubt I'll get to any Reunions but you never know.   If anything is known of the whereabouts of Neil Heath, Steve Austin, Paul Hudson or Malcolm Rylance I would be pleased to hear.   They were all in my school year. Editor's Note:  See a later contribution from Peter

Tony Giles (1958-65)....... Tony is the son of Hugh (deceased 1981) who was a keen Shene Old Grammarians footballer /cricketer and former SOG Chairman
When I left School after a mediocre A Level performance I had a stint in France working as a salesman in a Department Store and found my way to Hong Kong where I still live.   I joined the Hong Kong Police (later the Royal Hong Kong Police) and reached the rank of Chief Inspector taking invalid retirement in 1988.   I am now the Editor-in-Chief of Marketplace Publications Ltd.
I cannot claim to have emulated my father's prowess as a sportsman but won a few medals for swimming following my mother's example
Roger Houghton (1957-?)................I was born on 7 November 1944 and grew up, like so many of us, in the years of post-war austerity.  All in all, my recollections are of a very happy childhood and, in any event, I’m still growing up!

The Primary School Years   I started school at EastSheenCountyPrimary School in 1949.  I sat next to Stan Crockett who I still see today.

In 1951, at the age of 7, I contracted polio.  How I contracted this dreadful disease is a mystery.  There had been something of an epidemic in parts of the country since the late forties and swimming pool closures were quite common.  Thankfully, no-one else in my school or, to my knowledge locally, were affected.

I can remember one night, just before Christmas 1951, as vividly as if it were yesterday.  My father had been sleeping in my brother’s bed in the same room because I was feverish.  My brother slept in the spare bedroom which probably prevented him from being infected.  I wanted to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night but I was unable to move my legs.  Dad lifted them over the edge of the bed and stood me up.  I went down like a sack of potatoes!

Few houses had telephones in those days and I believe Dad went to a public ‘phone box and dialled 999.  I can remember the ambulance arriving and we were taken to WestLondonHospital at Hammersmith (which is now an up-market block of flats!).  I remember vividly the blood-curdling screams of a child coming from beyond my cubicle and recall thinking “I hope they’re not going to do to me whatever it is they’re doing to her”.

Into Hospital   It took some time for them to diagnose my illness but when they did, I was transferred to WestMiddlesexIsolationHospital at Isleworth.  What a terrible night that must have been for my parents.  It was bad enough for me, of course for although I can remember the nurses as being very kind, the sight of the iron lung next to my bed made me shiver (or, rather, it would have done had I been able to move!).  Fortunately, the infection stopped just below my chest so I did not have to endure long spells inside the iron monster.  The “ward” consisted of a number of small rooms with glass partitions (to prevent the spread of infection) and I can remember lying there looking along at the other poor souls on either side, some in a worse condition than me.As soon as I was no longer infectious, I was transferred to Heatherwood Hospital at Ascot.  Here was a long ward, Sister’s office in the middle, with boys to one side and girls to the other.  There must have been about 20 beds on each side.

Opposite me and my fellow victims, was a row of about 10 very strange looking beds.  They were wooden framed with several adjusting wheels, enabling them to be tilted into a variety of positions.  I discovered that these were children who were suffering from tuberculosis.  Every morning and afternoon, a stern looking man with a trolley would appear wielding a large needle.  He injected these poor kids with a drug called streptomycin, which was extremely painful.  I prayed that he wouldn’t come near me!  Ironically, one of these children came from Railway Street (now Westfields Avenue) in Barnes.  Although I haven’t seen him since, I can still remember his name, David Bush.

At one end of the ward was a large school-type clock and one day, at about noon, we were all told to be absolutely silent for one minute – not easy for some 40 children!  It was the day of the funeral of King George VI.  I wrote a letter to my parents (visiting in those days was one hour on Sundays only) telling them that “…the King was burrid at Winzer”.  Mum & Dad kept that letter and I have it today.  It still brings a lump to my throat after all these years.

My treatment consisted of massage, exercises and being held in a large steel tank full of warm water to try to achieve a response from the muscles in my legs and right side.  My parents were warned that I would probably have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair.   They didn’t reckon with my father!

As soon as possible, which was after some six months, Dad persuaded the doctors to allow me home where he and Mum would build on their good work.  I can remember thinking that Dad was hard at times and didn’t understand that I couldn’t always do what he told me.  We had a few heated exchanges!  What I didn’t know until Mum told me in later years was that it broke his heart to push me the way he did but he knew it was the only way to get me through it.

We can’t choose our parents.  I was not just incredibly lucky.  I was blessed.

Back to School   I eventually managed to walk reasonably well and after an absence of about a year, I returned to school.  The illness had affected severely the thigh muscles in my right leg and the stomach and back muscles on the right side.  The result was that my spine began to curve, leaving me with a pronounced limp which steadily grew worse.

All my school friends were incredibly supportive.  I was given a healthy start in races, sufficient to enable me to compete, sometimes successfully.  Due to my limp, I was given the nickname “Hoppy”, after Hoppalong Cassidy who was one of the cowboy heroes of the time.  Far from being upset by this, I seemed to revel in the celebrity status.


The curvature in my spine became so pronounced that I had to wear a steel brace.  This comprised a steel rod at the back and a wide, hard leather belt around the middle.  It was extremely uncomfortable and I don’t think it did me any good at all.  Then came a breakthrough.

One of Dad’s colleagues had read in one of the newspapers of an operation which was being pioneered in the United States to correct curvatures of the spine by means of a bone grafting technique.  Dad approached the doctors at WestLondonHospital where I attended weekly for physiotherapy.  At first they refused to entertain the procedure, partly because this surgery was still under development but mainly because it could not be considered until the patient was at least 12 years old.  Until that age, the body would not be sufficiently strong to withstand what was then a major operation.

Dad, however, would not take no for an answer!  Eventually, he persuaded them to refer us to The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital at Great Portland Street in London where we met Mr James and Mr Manning, the only British surgeons who were then qualified to carry out this surgery.  They agreed to perform the operation after I had reached the age of 12.

In the meantime, I had to take the Eleven Plus exam.  I don’t know whether the Examination Board were sympathetic to the fact that I had missed a year’s schooling but I managed to scrape through on the second interview and won a place at Shene County Grammar School for Boys.  I am eternally grateful to those gentlemen for giving me the chance to experience a fine school.  I am only sorry that I failed to reward both them and my parents with better academic achievement.

The spinal surgery would mean an absence of a full year from school and so it was decided that I would not start the new term at Shene in 1956.  Just as I was about to be admitted to hospital, however, my Grandfather died and so my admission was postponed for a couple of months.  The HeadmasteR, Mr Rawlings (“Plug”) suggested that I might like, after all, to attend school at the start of the term to get the feel of the place and the curriculum.  I started in form1 West, the Form Master for which was Mr Peel, who I remember as a kind and gentle man.

Into Hospital – Again   I was eventually admitted to The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital at Stanmore where the operation was carried out in November 1956.

The hospital is at the top of Brockley Hill and the journey by public transport was something of a nightmare.  Dad managed to buy a car after I had been there for about four months which made their journey easier.  Visiting times were half an hour on Wednesday evening and an hour on Sunday afternoon.  They were rigidly enforced!  In all the time I was there and whatever the weather, Mum & Dad didn’t miss a single visit!

I was to spend 9 months in a solid plaster cast which went from my neck to my knees and in which a panel was cut from the back to perform the operation.  There were some painful and unpleasant experiences, as might be expected with surgery of this magnitude.  My abiding memory, however, is not of the unpleasant times but of the birth of skiffle and rock & roll!

We had a record player in the ward and parents and nurses would bring us records (78’s in those days).  I served my time as ward DJ and still play many of those recordings today, albeit on CD.  The artists included Pat Boone, Bill Haley & The Comets, The Platters, Lonnie Donegan, Frankie Vaughan, Tommy Steele and, of course, Elvis Presley.  Prior to hospital, my musical experiences had been Saturday childrens’ radio programmes, such as Uncle Mac and records such as “How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?”  This was indeed a magical transformation!

One of the nurses was going out with a member of a skiffle group called“The Vipers”.  They used to visit the ward periodically and play to us.  One of the group was Wally Wyton who in later years became a presenter on childrens’ television with Muriel Young and puppet characters called “Pussy Cat Willum” and “Ollie Beak”.  Wally had heard of my love of pop music and the guitar.

One evening, after they had played for us, he came over to my bed.  He was confronted by a rather scruffy 12 year old boy lying flat on his back in a solid plaster cast and there he stood clutching this very expensive guitar.  He and one of the nurses doubled the blankets over the plaster and he laid his guitar across my chest.  He put the first finger of my left hand on the top E string at the first fret and told me to hold it down and strum.  “You’ve just played G7”, he proclaimed.  He moved my finger up to the third fret, I strummed and he said “Now you’ve played G”.  Wow!  That was easy!  I was hooked.

When I came home, Mum & Dad had bought me a record player – remember the Dansette Major?  My grandmother gave me the money to buy a guitar and off we went to Selmers in Charing Cross Road where I bought my first guitar, a Hofner Cello model.

Following my discharge from Stanmore, I had to wear a steel frame for six months to allow the remaining torso-supporting muscles which had been dormant for so long to strengthen.  This comprised a heavy steel bar at the front and two steel bars at the back, all joined by a steel ring with pads for my chin and the back of my head.  It had a wide, hard leather waist band with double fastenings.  I had to return to the Outpatients’ Department in London every 6 months for X-rays and to have the frame adjusted.  Playing the guitar would be somewhat difficult for a while.  How would it affect me when I returned to school, I wondered?  The school, however, was one step ahead.

Shene Grammar – At Last!   On learning that I would be wearing this cumbersome frame which would make it difficult to look down at the desk top, the woodworking class of 1956 were tasked with making me a specially adapted desk.  This was basically a standard desk with an elevated frame at the back in which was fixed a hinged easel with a pen tray at the bottom. It worked a treat and I was very grateful to all my old chums who contributed to its design and build.

Returning to school was not an easy experience.  For a start, I had had virtually no education during the previous 12 months and found concentration difficult.  I was also with children who were a year younger than me and the difference seems more acute at that age.  It didn’t last long and I soon made new friends.

The big passion in my life was football.  I first went with my Dad to Chelsea in 1954 and absurd as it might seem, I think I harboured a deep ambition that one day I would be sufficiently fit to play for them.  Most of my energy at school and at play was spent trying to be physically equal.  Sadly, this affected my academic performance.  After achieving only three O Levels in the fifth form, I was faced with the prospect of remaining there for another year, this time with people who were two years younger than me.

This, of course, was the start of what came to be known as “the swinging sixties”. Outside school, all my friends were earning and had scooters or motor bikes.  I decided to call it a day.  Mr Rawlings was, I believe, sympathetic to my circumstances.  I remember him saying to me “Well, Houghton, with a bit of effort you could have started your career half way up the ladder.  Now, you’ll have to start at the bottom.  It will be hard work but I wish you luck”.

He was right.  It was hard work.  There was also some fun along the way and I have few regrets.  I don’t think that one appreciates all that is sinking into that grey matter during school years, regardless of academic success.  I am forever grateful to Shene and all that it gave me.

Paul Meakin (1954-58).............................In about 1963 I received an invitation to express interest in joining the proposed Shene Old Grammarians Rugby Club.   The initiator presumed that a number of Old Boys had played rugby at University or College.   I learned to play rugby in my first year in the Navy and had more success in this than soccer so I responded and waited eagerly for a reply.   Some months passed until a letter arrived informing me that I had been the only person who had responded and as it was not likely that the two of us would be in town on the same weekend it would not prove possible to make up a team.

I went on to have some minor rugby success in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy as well as coaching juniors and refereeing in Australia and New Zealand.

Have there been any other Old Boys involved in Rugby Union, the game they play in heaven.

Editor's Note:   I always understood that 'Plug' Rawlings had introduced the School to Rugby Union.   Alan Bloxham tells me that the Old Boys ultimately fielded two fifteens for some years but the Section is now no more.   Shene Old Grammarians is now an 'open' club and still puts out soccer teams.   Apparently the Rugby lads still meet socially.

Paul:  Here's the answer from Bill Holmes (1958-64)......................I was interested in reading Paul Meakin's notes regarding the Rugby Club, maybe this will jog the memories of a few people.  In the Summer of 1965 with the prompting of Dick Fash the following, all names to conjure with, met and agreed to form a Club with everything geared to kick-off in September 1965.  Hugh Coulston, JohnSallis, Max White, Brian White, Graham Hale, MikeKendrick, Mike Fash, Phil Shuttleworth, Brian Clymer, Roger Morgan,Wally Browett, myself as Captain and a few more.   Apologies to any not mentioned but age and memory isn't a good mix.  Wally was despatched to the London Fixture Exchange and returned with a 90% Card for the season and we were committed.

The Club never set the world on fire but I think that over the years everybody that played enjoyed themselves. 
   
Alan was correct we ran two sides from around the early seventies and for a couple of years in the early eighties managed to put out three.  It became increasingly difficult to bring in new blood theGrammar School being closed in the Seventies but the Club hung on until the early nineties when it finally folded.  After we stopped playing Roger Morgan and myself took up the whistle and in different ways made our impressions on The London Society...,we both enjoyed the 'poacher turned gamekeeper' role.

Some of the old stalwarts do still get together at various times and locations and guess what we talk about .....?  the "Old Days", of course   Again apologies for missing out some names but they were good times.

All the best to everyone connected.............................
David Lovejoy.........taken from the website of the Northern Rivers Echo published in Australia....................
Between Dark and Dark
By David Lovejoy
Echo Publications $22.95

Anthony Newall (1957..?)………………..recollections in a correspondence with David Richardson in October, 2016


57 Intake, John Sallis in 1 West and Roy Barnes.

Barry New in the previous year (56) intake


The Sheen Old Grammarians 3rd eleven team when I played was as follows: Eddie Roberts, Trevor Legget, Terry Fix, Gerry Fitch, Mick Walsh, Mike Grinter. There was also Dave in defence, Alan, Ted ...read more