In producing each edition of KOSA NEWS over the past 25 yearsor so, we have aimed to cover a spectrum of years during whichKGS and Kingsfield existed. This is, however, dependent on thecorrespondence, photographs and responses received from you,the members.

I am aware that in our issues there is always a good volume ofcontributions from the 40s, 50s and 60s and this current issue is

no exception. Where are the correspondents from the later years? We wouldwelcome letters, photographs, comments and criticisms from all years so that wecan produce an interesting mix which may be enjoyed by all.

We still require a Deputy Editor who is able to learn the ropes from the current editorwith a view to taking over. The Committee is willing to double the salary earned bythe current Editor, with generous fringe benefits. Someone younger than the currentincumbent (not difficult), with computer expertise and the ability to write good Englishwould be fine. He/she should have the time available (retired?) and preferably livenear Bristol. Is there anyone out there to keep the KOSA tradition going?The Editor

SPRING LUNCH & AGM:We’ve booked for SATURDAY, 21st APRIL 2018 at LINCOMBE BARN, DownendBS16 2RW. We meet at 12.00 to 12.30 for a chat and a drink from the bar and sitdown for lunch at about 1.00pm after a short AGM. Please complete the enclosedform and send it to our Treasurer, MARTIN HARRYMAN. (address inside).46ers REUNION:For the date of the May lunch at KATHLEEN HARDWICK’S (now FILER) farmdown in Clapton-in-Gordano for 1946 starters phone PRISCILLA POWELL (nowMAGUIRE) on 01235 851966.AUTUMN LUNCH:Already booked for SATURDAY, 6th OCTOBER 2018 at Lincombe Barn, Downend.Please book the date in your diary now.

The Magazine of the Old Scholars of Kingswood GrammarSchool and its successors

Editor: Mike Bendrey, 26 Overndale Road, Downend, Bristol, BS16 2RTTel: 0117 956 5689 E-mail address: kosanews@tiscali.co.uk

www.kingsoakacademy.org.uk

SUE HUDSON (62-66) (now Hawking)has sent us the obituary of KEITH DAVIS:‘KEITH DAVIS (59-66) passed awaysome time ago after a short illness.Keith was born in Kingswood, attendingthe Park School and then KGS. He wasan enthusiastic and talented sportsman,representing the School at fencing,swimming and rugby. He went to StLuke's College, Exeter to train as aschoolmaster. His talent on the rugbypitch earned him a prestigious place inthe first XV.

On completing his training he went firstto Churcher's College in Hampshire andthen to Leamington College. In this largeselective boys' school, as well as beingdirector of sport, he made frequent visitsto Snowdonia to introduce the boys tomountaineering.

‘From early days family holidays werespent at Hope Cove in South Devon.When the vacancy at KingsbridgeSchool came up, Keith and his wife Jen-ny moved down to Devon. He remainedthere until his retirement.

‘As director of sport, Keith put Kings-bridge on the map! The first XV excelledagainst the many independent schoolsin the south. Many of Keith's squad wenton to play for Devon Schools and somefor England too! He coached Devon un-der 18s and for a while also Englandunder 18s. He also coached the Brixhamteam.

‘Keith was also a keen and able yachts-man. He enjoyed his leisure teaching hischildren to swim and sail in the SouthHams. He moved back to South Glos.for the last ten years of his life, where helived with SUE HUDSON (62-66) (nowHawking).’

The funeral of STAMFORD GREEN (37-45) was held at Westerleigh Crematori-um on 22 March 2017:

Stam was born in 1926. He went to MissStaden's, anearby pri-vate schoolfollowed by ayear at HighStreet JuniorSchool.Then off toKGS until hewas 18,where hispassion wasmaths, phys-

ics and chemistry. He went on to BristolUniversity and gained a degree in chem-istry. Although he was offered the oppor-tunity to take a PhD he turned it down tostay and support his widowed mother,his father had died in his last year atschool.

He took a job at National Smelting Com-pany at Avonmouth in the research de-partment, where he stayed for all hisworking life. The research departmentexpanded, and Stam went to glass blow-ing evening classes and was able tomake large apparatus for his work. Hemade good friends there, one also beinghis boss, who said he only had one crit-icism 'I wish he wouldn't cross every t,and dot every i

His other great love was music and hestarted learning the piano age 5, but heshowed no great interest and none what-soever to practise, but by the age of 10his father bought him a small accordionthen a larger one. He played a lot with aconcert party even going to Horfield Pris-on and gaining his diploma at 16. He alsoplayed the church organ.

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He said his voice wasn't good enoughfor being in the choir, but suddenlychanged his mind when it meant hewould be able to escort Joan, a younglady in the choir, home. The rest is his-tory. He had many happy years singingwith the Bristol Choral society, and alsowith the Cleeve Singers.

He was a great family man. Happily mar-ried for 64 years and surrounded bywomen, having 3 wonderful daughters.They had many memorable holidayscamping. Things changed with the addi-tion of 3 super, supportive sons-in-lawand 5 grandchildren.

ROD FIDKIN (55-62) and others haveinformed us of the death of NORMANGOLDING (55-62):‘I am writing to notify all readers of our

excellent KOSA NEWS Magazine of thevery sad news that NORMAN GOLDING(55-62) passed away on Friday 9 June2017. In the photo of Form 4Gi of Sum-mer 1959 (above) he is first on the left in

the back row.

‘My information is that Norman was ter-minally ill and with the full blessing of allof his family he chose to end his own life.I was in the same form as Norman fromthe very outset in 1955 to 1962 and hewas a friend to everyone, and was a veryhappy-go-lucky and well respected indi-vidual. He grew up in the Staple Hill andDownend area, and like his father, hewas a brilliant trumpet player, becominga Bristol City trumpeter. He also showedhis prowess on the trumpet at a functionorganised by KOSA. Like myself, Nor-man chose not to attend university andwe both left school, joining companiesinvolved in insurance. I know that in thefinance field he was really successful.

‘In the early 1990s he became involved

with Clifton Rugby Club and at the timeof his death he was President of the Club.His contribution to the progress and suc-cess of the club was immense in manyways and he will be lovingly remem-

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bered, by all. He was a family orientatedman and, for sure, his wife Liz and all ofthe family will cherish very many happymemories of him but will miss him im-mensely.’

Your Editor can vouch that Norman’sfuneral at Westerleigh was a jolly affair.No prayers or hymns, but songs by Nat‘King’ Cole, The Beach Boys, Chet Bakerand many others. We all sang along withRunning Bear by Jonny Preston and leftto the strains of Swing Low Sweet Char-iot.

Norman’s sister JENNY GOLDING (61-68) (now Burgess) led many tributes bythe comment that Norman really wantedto go to Chipping Sodbury GrammarSchool where they played Soccer notRugby. However, Norman played Rugbyat KGS and later became a leading lightat Clifton Rugby Club. A very full life,indeed.

We have been informed by her daughter,Susan Selway, that WENDY STAITEprevious Deputy Head at KingsfieldSchool died on Saturday, 1st July 2017.She was a long-serving member of staffat KGS and Kingsfield schools during the60s, 70s and 80s until she retired in 1985.During her career she was Head of Do-mestic Science and then Deputy Head.

Do not weep as you say 'goodbye'I've not gone far, Just a trip on high,To meet loved ones who've gone before,I shall knock and ask them to open the door,I'll tell them all you send your love,And dwell with them in heaven above.

The above poem was found in the purseof IRIS WILLMOTT (later Parsons) (31-36), found by her daughter, SHEILAPARSONS (now Williamson) (53-59) af-ter her death in February 2017 at 96years of age.

Latterly, she resided in Little Croft CareHome, where the excellent staff madeher very happy. She was very healthyand active until she had a stroke whichleft her unable to talk and swallow.

Her funeral at Westerleigh was attendedby a number of Old Scholars in additionto her daughter Sheila. These includedJANE WILLIAMSON (now Ireland), JAN-ICE MARTIN, SANDRA TOLLERFIELD(now Willmott) and STAN CRUSE, hus-band of DOREEN ROGERS, who wassecretary to Headmaster RIDLEY in the1950s. Cousin to Iris, EILEEN MAT-THEWS (now Bendrey) was also there.

Iris was born in Cock Road and whenshe left KGS became a cashier at theCo-op in Kingswood, where she met herhusband, Will. She was a very calm per-son and a brilliant cook; at one stage shewas a cook at St Stephen’s School. Shealso made wedding cakes. She was anactive member of Kingswood Church andenjoyed the odd game of Bingo. Shecollected models of meerkats and usedto knit squares to make into blankets forcharity.

She and Will enjoyed foreign holidays,

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and when her son Mike was teaching inBotswana she visited him on her own.Sadly, he died fourteen years ago at theearly age of 56.

MARY MOSELEY (39-45) (now Rogers)has informed us of her brother Michael’sdeath and together with her sister-in-lawhas written this memorial for KOSANEWS:

‘MICHAEL MOSELEY (39-44) died onJanuary 15th  2017 aged 88 years.

‘Subsequent to passing the  SchoolCertificate  Mike  was articled to a localsurveyor for 3 years as a precursor to acareer in municipal engineering. He stud-ied  for  the exams part time and gradu-ated as a Civil Engineer 1953. He wasawarded Chartered Engineer status in1962.

While on holiday he met Gertrud Utzingerwho was studying the English Languagein England. They were married by a CivilService in England and then  a  churchservice  was held  in   Schaffhausen hernative  city. After several moves theysettled in Leicester. Mike is survived byTrudy and their two sons Christopher andPeter.’

The photo (above) shows Michael andhis wife, Gertrude, on the left with ex-

KGS friends, JIM BURGESS and RONCLEMENTS on a day out.

EMILY THEODOSIA JACKSON (35-40)(later Lewis) died in January 2017. Emily,and her late husband, Bob, were solidsupporters of KOSA, both regularly at-tending KOSA lunches until their lateryears. They always said that KOSA wasresponsible for their marriage, after los-ing contact after School and meetingagain at a KOSA event after they hadboth lost their spouses. Your Editor wasprivileged to attend their wedding inEmily’s childhood village of Pilning.

Both Bob andEmily were inWW2 separate-ly when Bobwas Japanesecode-breakingand Emily wasin the interpreta-tion of photo re-connaissancematerial takenby flights overenemy territory.

In that capacity Emily surveyed and an-alysed the photos after the Dambusters’raid of 1943 when she would have beenabout 19. She was always interested inphotography and at her funeral the coffinwas draped with the Royal Air Force flagand mourners left the gathering to theDambusters’ March.

Over is a photograph that Emily may wellhave analysed to assess the impact ofthe raid. It’s of the Moehne Dam, takenafter the raid from a Spitfire PR IX.

At the end of her life Emily was in aresidential home and had succeeded inrecovering from a broken pelvis.

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KOSA is indebted to Peter Tucker for thephoto and for detail of Emily’s WW2 ex-periences.

In the last edition we reported the passingof RUTH STOCK (39-45) (later Wood-man) and we have since received thefollowing from JEANNE HICKS (40-48)(now Jones):‘Ruth was born in Warmley to parentswho were farmers and she entered KGSat the outbreak of WW2. She was partic-ularly good at Maths, but at the time itwas believed that women’s brains werenot suited to advanced mathematicalstudies, so she was not allowed to spe-cialise. It was at School and at chapelthat she met AUSTEN WOODMAN,whom she later married. Austen hadbeen Chairman of the School’s Photo-graphic Society when he was at KGS in1949.

‘After teacher training college she happilytaught in a primary school and she andAusten had two children and later grand-children. They were both pillars of theMethodist Church at Staple Hill wherethey frequently had fifteen or more mem-bers to Sunday lunch and were so organ-ised that they would attend morning

service before lunch.

‘When Ruth realised that many membersof the congregation had never beenabroad and were not likely to do so sheorganised coach tours annually, whichwere very popular and greatly enjoyed.Although, Austen succumbed to a fast-growing cancer, Ruth continued her over-seas tours. She was a brilliant organiser,a loving grandparent and a friend to all.’

Maureen Hemings, wife of DAVID HEM-INGS (48-53), has sent the following obit-uary of David, who died this year:‘After leaving school Dave joined Kings-wood Council as an apprentice carpenterand then moved to Warmley Council aftercompleting his City & Guilds Examina-tions. He worked there until he joinedSouth Gloucestershire Ambulance Serv-ice on 6th February 1967, after success-fully completing his first aid exams.Throughout his career he was awardedseveral diplomas and two long servicemedals.

‘After completing 35 years service heretired in  September 2002. We thenmade several trips to Australia to visitfamily, but sadly Dave passed away

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March 30th after suffering severalstrokes. His service was held at StBartholomew’s Church Wick , where hehad lived for the past 34 years. We werefortunate to have been able to celebrateour 60th wedding anniversary the previ-ous October.’

NEIL SMART (46-51) passed away ear-

lier this year and in the well-worn photo-graph of 5 Remove of 1950 Neil is in theback row, third from the right.

In a more recent photo (above) Neil at-tended one of the 1946 reunions held atKATHLEEN HARDWICK’s farm in Clap-ton-in-Gordano in deepest Somerset.Kath holds a reunion meal for the 46erstwice a year and Neil was a regular mem-ber.

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VALERIE HANDY (42-49) (now Routley)has informed us of the death of her sisterDORCAS HANDY (39-44) (later Hopton):

‘Dorcas, thefirst of threesisters to at-tend KGS,died in May2017 aged 89following ashort illnessafter a fall onthe previousChristmasEve.

‘During her time at the school, being anavid reader, she had enjoyed EnglishLiterature lessons with MISS WATTERSand, always having a pencil in her hand,Art with POP SEARLE, frequently doingmy art home work for me. Alas, on lend-ing me her carefully traced maps, MISSWYCHERLEY often gave me the bettermark.

‘As an out of school activity she learnedto play the piano, achieving grade 7. Onleaving school Dorcas went to work as ashorthand typist for Mardon Son and Hallwhere she stayed until the birth of her firstdaughter Philippa.

‘It had not been possible during the warto exchange visits with French pen palsso at the first opportunity Dorcas went tostay with her friend in the south of Franceand the friendship continued until Edmeedied several years ago.

‘In 1957 Dorcas married Charles Hopton.Unfortunately, Charles died in 1995 andafter a very happy marriage she was lefta widow. She found time to continue herhobbies of machine knitting, reading andart until shortly before she died. She issucceeded by her two sisters, two daugh-

ters and four grandchildren, of whom shewas very proud.

‘As a faithful member of Christ ChurchDownend her funeral took place there onJune 15th attended by her family andmany friends. Dorcas, a very modest andpopular lady, is greatly missed by us all.RUTH ACTON (80-82) (now Graham)wrote to tell us of her father’s passing inMarch 2017. DAVID ACTON (50-52)joined KGS as a 6th former after movingto Downend from Cheltenham.

David had the most ingenious nicknamewhilst at KGS. It was ‘F-E’. Someone hadrealised that the symbol for iron is ‘Fe’and there is the village of Iron Acton.Hence ‘Fe’ Acton. Geddit?

JANET CREW (46-53) (later Bees)passed away earlier in 2017. She wasvery sporty at KGS, obtaining both herHockey Junior Colours in 1950 and Hock-ey 2nd XI Colours in 1952. In 1952-53Janet was a Prefect, having completedher O-Levels in 1951 and A-Level Reli-gious Knowledge in 1953.

At KGS Janet was known for organisinga pupil strike over school dinners whichwas reported in a national paper and gother into trouble with the headmaster.Does anyone know the details? Afterleaving KGS Janet spent some time as aTeaching Assistant at St. Anne’s CE Pri-mary School in Oldland Common whereshe lived.

We have also heard of the passing of thefollowing KOSA members: NORMANSAGE (41-46), DENNIS DUNN (37-44),REX CHURCH (39-45 and TESS DEN-NING (42-46) (later Weaver).

To all those who have lost a loved onewe extend our condolences.

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JOHN ‘TWEEDY’ HARRIS (53-60) tellsus how to avoid detention:‘Congratulations on the KOSA NEWS50th Edition – a wonderful achievement.This edition maintains the high standards– as good as any. May it last a long timeyet.

‘In GEOFF COLES’ (55-60) update youasked a rhetorical question about thewhereabouts of ‘FELIX’ FELTHAM whotaught Maths. You set me on the path ofanother little story.

‘There have been a few bits in recenteditions about nicknames. I am sure thateveryone reading the NEWS will knowthat Felix Felton was a famous actor andradio producer, apart from many otherartistic gifts (according to Wikipedia hewent to Oxford to study music). So thenickname based on a famous person isentirely appropriate, akin to BUNNYAUSTIN after the famous tennis playerthough as Gordon points out with aslightly different spelling to our physicsteacher. Felix Felton lived from 1911–72.Was our Maths teacher Feltham or Fel-ton? I always thought the latter. (SeeGORDON JACKSON’S letter following -Ed)

‘We had Felix for Maths from 1955 till1956. Previously there was MISSMITCHELL (then becomingMRS.DIPROSE with a very unkind nick-name) and after Felix, BEN HODSONwhose Longman and Green textbookswere still recognised when I was teach-ing and who wrote his books whilstteaching us.

‘On October 10th 1955, Felix gave meand seven other boys from our class adetention, me for copying the answersto our homework and presumably all the

others too. It was the only detention Ireceived in my time at KGS, one toomany. Then comes the strange bit. Onthe day I was due to sit the detention thefollowing Wednesday (12th), I woke upwith severe stomach pains. My mother,knowing that I had a detention, thoughti was feigning my illness to get out of it,but a visit to the Doctor Stewart (or wasit Ferguson by then?) in Downend con-firmed appendicitis and by the end of theday I was in BRI having an operation toremove my appendix. A long stay in hos-pital in those days and an even longerconvalescence afterwards meant thatwhen I got back to school on November7th the detention had been forgottenabout and I never served it.

‘That is not the end of the story aboutFelix Felton though and this is one ofthose coincidences that have happenedthroughout life and probably more sowhen you move around the country aswe have. I started teaching in Hudders-field in 1965 and lived as a paying guestin a road in the Almondbury district of thetown. Coming out of the house one Sun-day afternoon to go across the town bybus to see Audrey, my fiancee, I saw thisman cleaning his car as I walked downthe road. It was......yes, you’ve guessedit, Felix Felton. I don’t remember thedetails of our conversation (I don’t thinkI mentioned the detention!) but it tran-spired that he was teaching at PenistoneGrammar School out on the way towardsSheffield, and whose railway station, ajunction, was widely thought of as one ofthe coldest in the system. I often tookfootball teams out there (I ran the under15 team for a while) and think that in linewith the station, that its football field ona plateau with the Pennines in full viewand nothing to protect it, was just aboutthe coldest venue we had to play on. Aswe married in 1967 and went to live on

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the side of the town where Audrey wasalready living, I never saw him again.

GORDON JACKSON (55-62) also re-calls the correct spelling of Felton:‘KOSA NEWS is always great fun toread. However, as the years roll by,memories can get a little hazy and I be-lieve this has happened to GEOFF COLE(55-60). The form teacher was not MrFeltham, but MR FELTON. He was nick-named Felix after a now-forgotten actornamed Felix Felton. He taught Mathswhen I was in the first form, and referredto my efforts in Geometry as ‘the Jacksonmud-tracks’!

‘I also remember ROLAND FUDGE (58-65) (how can we get hold of his compo-sitions?) I see that he played violin at the80th birthday concert of Elisabeth Luty-ens. (She spelled Elisabeth with an S,not a Z). Since she composed in an ab-struse, serial ‘modern’ style, I wonderwhat KGS Head of Music ERIC HILTONthought? (Incidentally her father, the ar-chitect Sir Edwin Lutyens, designed thepalace complex at New Delhi).

‘Roland Fudge was a colleague and con-temporary of JEFF PLENTY, anotherviolinist. The last I heard of Jeff was thathe was playing in the Bournemouth Sym-phony Orchestra).

‘Regarding the school timetable of the50s. I remember the timetable describedin ‘A KGS DAY’. The School got too bigto fit everyone into the Hall for Assembly,so the juniors – presumably the firstforms – had their assembly elsewhere.There were also Class Prayers once aweek and House Prayers once a week.

‘On Wednesdays before lunch, therewere five lessons of 35 minutes each

(175 minutes) instead of four lessons of45 minutes each (180 minutes), but Idon’t know how the discrepancy of 5minutes was accounted for. Unfortunate-ly, Wednesday was also the day forHouse Prayers, and what with Housenotices and the presentation of HouseColours, the service tended to overrun.At worst, the pupils came into the firstlesson just 10 minutes before the end!As a result, House Prayers were movedto Thursdays.

‘There were originally three Houses –Davies, Haskins and Fussell. Later a newhouse – Eaton – was established. Therewere four venues for House Prayers,used in rotation, They used the Hall(which had a good piano), the MusicRoom (which also had a good piano), theCanteen (which had an old superannu-ated piano, never tuned) and the Library(which had no piano at all).

‘The milk break took place after the sec-ond lesson (except on Wednesdays,when it was after the third lesson). Pre-sumably the Government set this up inthe 1940s when food was scarce, but bythe 1950s it was unnecessary for well-fedsecondary school pupils to be swiggingtheir 1/3rd pint bottle of milk. However, itwas politically dangerous for any Ministerof Education to abolish school milk insecondary schools, as Margaret Thatch-er found out when she did it in the 1970s.’

PETER MALPASS (48-55) was remind-ed of the class programme at School inthe 50s:‘Regarding the article in the “Golden Edi-tion” entitled A Typical KGS Day and theadditional lesson on Wednesday morn-ings.

‘The latter was obtained, if my memory,

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as the Senior Pupil (!) responsible forringing the bell in 55-56, serves me cor-rectly, by reducing the morning periodsby 5 minutes and extending the sessionuntil 12:30pm. I recall on one Wednesdaycausing confusion when, no doubt beingconfused myself as to the day, when Irang the bell early for the lunch break.  Iapologised to Headmaster RIDLEYwhose response was that he was suremost of the pupils appreciated my actionand no doubt some of the staff as well.

‘A tenuous link to first Headmaster MA-JOR EATON: Recently at a meeting ofthe Shrewsbury Probus Club I discov-ered that a fellow member had been theproprietor of the Clock Tower Fish Shopin Kingswood during the 80s and 90s.On learning that I had attended KGS, heinformed me that at that time he had livedin Wick in the property originally built forMajor Eaton.  I entered KGS in 1948 inMajor Eaton’s last year as head.

‘I thoroughly enjoy reading KOSANEWS, although it is sad to learn of thepassing of contemporaries. I sincerelyhope that you can find a deputy to even-tually take over from you.  An octogenar-ian living in Shropshire would, I fear, beof no use to you. It would be a greatshame for KOSA to fold as has happenedto my Students’ Association.’

DAVID DREW (63-70) has been re-elect-ed as Labour MP for Stroud in the elec-tion which took place on 8th June 2017after a period spent in the political wilder-ness. David is reported to have said thathe would never run for Parliament againafter he lost last time. What is said about‘never say never’.

Congratulations, David.

LIONEL HARRIS (52-57) remembers theoccasion when, in a Physics lesson inthe lab with Physics Master BUNNYAUSTEN, sitting on a lab stool, he wastalking to TED YOUNG. Suddenly, Bun-ny hit Lionel so hard across the head thathe ended up on the floor.

The rest of the day he felt groggy anddeveloped a ringing in the ear which per-sisted. Eventually, his mother took himto the doctor’s who diagnosed that acupped hand had compressed air intothe ear which had burst his eardrum. Iteventually healed, but imagine the dam-ages which could have been obtainedhad it taken place nowadays.

Usually a cough preceded Bunny’s as-saults. ‘I just didn’t hear the cough!’quipped Lionel.

JOHN BISHOP (52-57) has provided uswith a programme of a Rugby matchbetween the School and an Old Boys XV:‘Following a major fire disaster at theSchool in 1976, it was decided to try toraise some funds for the purchase of newlibrary books. The idea was to play arugby match - a School XV v Old BoyXV. The game took place on Sunday, 14November 1976 at the School playngfield. Programmes were sold for 10p anda collection was made on the day.

‘It was the only time anybody ever paidto watch me play!

‘I cannot recollect the score but it was afiercely contested game. The fitness andno little finesse of the School against theconsiderable bulk and astute games-manship of the Old Boys.

‘The post match tea and biscuits found

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me talking man to man with HEADMAS-TER RIDLEY who, I recall, seemed tohave mellowed over the years, reflectingsadly upon the virtual destruction of themain school buildings.

‘We raised about £150-£175 which maynot seem much nowadays but was, Ithink, well worth the effort. Extracts fromthe match programme are printed below.Some of you may recognise yourselves!

TIM BUSH (74-76), who played in thematch and is now a teacher of Physicsat King’s Oak Academy, has confirmedthat engagement, and others:‘You're correct, the match was in 1976between the 6th form and Old Boys, I'mtrying to locate the team photo. I've abundle from the following year.‘Sadly after that match the games endedup as a Kingswood RFC President’s XVagainst Old Boys/Teachers of the school,the last game being played in 1988. Ihave a team photo from the 1983 gameas well.’

EXTRACT FROM THE PROGRAMMEOLD BOYS XV:ROGER CARROLL - 37 years - account-ant – hopes his boots will fit now only acharity playerTED YOUNG - 35 years - school teacher- has a passion for music. Could com-pose something explosive todayMIKE REDGERS- 37 years - aero engi-neer - ex Bristol player. Will probablyshow Concorde speed on the breakDAVE PAGET- 37 years - rep – KRFClongest serving player and fixtures sec-retary. Ambition to score a try before heretiresGEOFF ANN- 39 years - education ex-aminer - ex Chairman KRFC still activeon Committee but not the fieldJOHN BISHOP - 35 years - insuranceinspector - Chairman KRFC and maestro

of the 4th teamVIC YEOMAN- 33 years - rep - still play-ing for KRFC, a difficult man to spot if thegrass is longTED HARRAWAY - 38 years - estateagent - ex Chairman KRFC still active onCommittee believes his best position iswing three-quarterDENNIS MORGAN - 37 years - designengineer – long career with KRFC nowplays squash and is a menace on thecourtDAVE PINE- 37 yrs - insurance manager- ex-secretary KRFC and long-servingplayer – a legend in his lifetimeRICHARD DAVIES - 39 yrs - sales rep -long time retired but hopes he can re-member the lawsJOHN SALTER - 39 yrs - manager - hasthreatened comeback on several occa-sions but could not avoid this one.DAVE WALL - 34 years – accountant –still plays for KRFC, has been known toplay in every positionBOB EALES - 37 years - GPO engineer– retired in 1970 after a long career withKRFC, may want a half-time fag to revivehimROGER WINDSOR - 33 years - engi-neer-ex-captain amateur psychologist,tends to practise his hobby on the oppo-sition

REFEREEKEITH BABER - 37 years - local govern-ment officer, 1st class referee (Countypanel). Practises at home by playingBach recitals on his whistle

KINGSFIELD SCHOOL 1ST XVCHRIS WILLIAMS – 18 years – English,History – Ambition to be Queen of Eng-landJOHN HAYES – 17 years – Economics,Geography – Ambition to make peoplehappySTEPHEN MONKS – 16 years – Biology,

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English – ambition to retire as soon aspossibleNIGEL WILLIAMS – 17 years – Maths,Economics - ambition to be an accountantPHILLIP HOWELLS – 16 years – Phys-ics, Economics – ambition to be a TVengineerNIGEL DAVIS – 17 years – A-levelcourse – ambition to be a lawyerMARK STEVENSON – 15 years – Maths,Chemistry – dreams of playing Rugbyagainst Margaret Thatcher’s XV (not achance)ROBERT LOVELOCK – 16 years A-levelcourse - wants to play a mini, micro, polymooes (must be some kind of nut) JOHN GATEHOUSE - 16 years - Maths,Economics - ambition to be UK’s firstcommunist PM CHRIS BAGGOTT – 17 years – Maths,Art – numerous ambitions, all of themimpossibleSTEPHEN CURTIS – 17 years – Maths,Economics – ambition to become a busi-ness manager before Paul GazzardANDREW BISHOP - 16 years - Maths,Physics - ambition to become worldchampion yard of ale drinkerTIM GINGELL - 17 years - English, Ge-ography - ambition is to avoid gettingmarried in outer space whilst writing anovelTIM THOMAS - 17 years - Biology, Ge-ology - ambition to become exhausted(should be realised this afternoon)SIMON MASSEY -17 years – A-levelcourse – ambition to beat the Queen atcroquetPAUL GAZZARD – 17 years – English,Maths – ambition to become a businessmanager before Steve CurtisMARTIN GRIVELL - 17 years - Maths,Physics – ambition to become an engi-neerDEREK ALSOP - 16 years - English,History - ambition to get to universityTIM BUSH - 16 years - Maths, Physics –

ambition to play for a winning nationalrugby team (try being a Welshman!)DERRICK WILLIAMS - 17 years – Eng-lish, RK - has still to become ambitious

It seems unfair - the School has 20 to theOld Boys’ 15. But maybe the referee wason the Old Boys’ side...- Ed

CHRISTOPHER GREENFIELD (60-67)has organised a very successful reunionfor his cohort:‘Almost 50 years to the day, the final KGScohort reassembled in the old CanteenBuilding! Those who 'graduated' in 1967,were the last to leave before theschool name was changed to 'Kingsfield'.They were welcomed back to the schoolby their former Classics Master, Mr STU-ART SYKES (60-74), who later becameHeadmaster of the Grange School atWarmley, and Mrs Sykes.

‘About 22 members  of the yeargroup toured King's Oak Academy, ledby current KOA teacher TIM BUSH (74-76). We were later joined by others, andpartners, for a celebratory meal at a Bris-tol restaurant. The organisers were agroup of three old students who had keptin close touch since 1967, who call them-selves the Rat Pack. The three (CHRISGREENFIELD, DAVID PANTON ANDROBERT LARKHAM) have recentlybeen joined by an IT ace, NEIL MAT-THEWS, who had left KGS during hisO-levels when his parents moved toCheltenham. Neil's IT input was centralto the success of this 50th year reunion.

"It is amazing that we managed to trackdown so many of our year," said ChrisGreenfield. "We had apologies fromabout 15, and we now have an up to datedata base of more than 40 from our year.We may try to plan something in the next

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year or two, to try to get even more of ustogether."

‘During the meal glasses were raised tothe six members of the year who havesadly died, but who live on in the respectand affection of those who survive them. ‘

On the these two pages are pictures ofsome of those who attended.

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Above:Kevin Pinder chats to JennyNash

Above:Chris Greenfield, LizKendall and Neil Mat-thews

Above:Tony Hinder, Geoff Wal-ters and Chris Greenfield

Left:Dave Panton and NeilMatthews

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Left:Jennifer Hall, Sue Bushand Chris Lovell

Below:Robert Larkham andJohn Guthrie

Below:Sue Bush and Patrick Moules

Right:Teresa Larkham,Claire Smith andFrances Rendle

For some time now GEOFF COLE (1955-60) has been arranging regular get-to-gethers of his cohort for a lunch at BittonRailway Station where Avon Valley Rail-way produces a good meal at a reason-able price. Reporting on the last reunionand extending an invitation, Geoff writes:

‘It was a delight to welcome MARIANTROTMAN (now Moody) to our latestlunch-time get together at Bitton Station.Marian and her husband Bill were in theUK for a month, spending some of thattime in Wick and their stay there coincid-ed with our lunch (by arrangement). As aresult, her long-time-friend JANE HOD-DER (now Shewring) made the(somewhat shorter!) journey from Frometo meet up for the first time in many years.It’s now Jane’s intention to visit Marianand Bill in California next year.

‘We also welcomed JUDITH HAYDEN(now McKeating) for the first time thusincreasing the ladies in the group asMARILYN GREGORY (now Casford) hadbeen our only previous one. It is hopedone or two more ladies will make it to thenext lunch.

‘In addition to the above, there were alsoeight ‘old boys’ present – BOB BANE,TONY COCKRAM, BOB DAVEY, TONYDOWN, ROB FIDKIN, BRIAN PLUM-MER, ROGER WINDSOR and, of course,myself.

‘Since my last message in KOSA NEWS,I have been contacted by DAVID ANNfrom Chard who intends coming along tothe next lunch for the first time. I’m alsohoping MARGARET REECE (nowWILLS) will also be able to make it.

‘So, if there are any others from the 1955intake reading this, you are more than

welcome to join us. It’s great fun andwe’re a friendly bunch so just drop me anemail at geoffcole44@btinternet.com

In the last edition we published a postcardof a list of attendees of the trip to Oetztalin Austria in August 1961.

Since then we have received a letter fromROBIN WELCH (56-64) and also re-ceived some photos from ROSEMARYLOVELL (56-61) (now Cross). The photosare on page 17.

Robin writes:‘Good to see that you are still goingstrong. Down here in Southern Francejust received above KOSA NEWS 50. Afew bits of news. Sad to read that EDDIEWHITE (55-61) had passed away. Methim and his wife outside the East IndiaClub in London towards the end of 2015.I recognised him and he was keen tomeet up for lunch. Unfortunately we nevermanaged it. But we had a quick chat onthe pavement outside the club where wewere both members. In fact Eddie hadbeen on the board of the club for manyyears. He still had fond memories of KGS.Think he was friendly with DAN HAR-FORD, from the eponymous garage inKingswood. What has happened to him.?

‘Looking at the postcard of the trip toAustria in  August 1961, I can see mysignature. Think I was one of those whostole the train tickets for the group fromMR HUMPHREYS and hid them under amattress. Much consternation. Still closefriends with JIM KNIGHT who lives inWest Wales these days. Similarly PCPHRED WILLIS, who lives near the GriffinInn, Warmley, ROGER BYE who lives inPennsylvania, USA, and LIZ PAIN, nowliving in Midsomer Norton.

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‘I Would love to get in contact with NIGELCAREY , former Head Boy and SANDRALUCAS with whom I used to go swimmingat Speedwell Baths.  Any details?

‘French teacher , MISS ELEANOR SPILL(55-82), would be proud of me now as Icurrently live in Southern France and soJe parle francais! Also spend some of myyear in South Africa as am still involvedin my company providing programmes forsports television. Yes I have done dealsfor UK Premier League and have metRICHARD SCUDAMORE (70-77), bigboss of UK Premier League. We talkedabout our days at KGS.

‘Still going  strong at 71 travelling betweenEurope, South Africa and USA. Unfortu-nately the April and October lunches stillcoincide with major TV markets so cannotcome. Although have managed to do so

in the past.’The photo (above) of the girls shows, fromleft to right, ELAINE ROGERS, LINDAPRESSEY, RITA HODGES, SANDRALUCAS and PEGGY MURPHY and thephoto top right (above) is of the HotelOetztal where the party stayed.

Whilst we’re on the subject of holidaysthe photograph below that of Rosemary’swas sent in by MARY GIBBONS (52-58)(now Bishop).It was taken on a trip to

Schwyz in Switzerland in 1959 organisedby Kingswood YMCA on which wentmany ex-KGS people.

The chap in the centre is Mary’s nowspouse, JOHN BISHOP (52-57). On thefar left of the group is CAROLINE WHITE-SIDE (53-60) and on the far right is LINDAYEOMAN (53-59). The other girls are(left) Sandra Bond, who was married tothe late GERRY BOND (46-51) and Jen-ny Hunt.

IRENE LUFFMAN (52-58) (now Fews)was instrumental in organising a D of EGirls’ get together. Irene wrote:‘In 1959 a group of ten teenage girls cametogether at Kingswood YMCA, then run

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by Secretary Frank Dyer, to become thefirst females to enter the Duke OfEdinburgh’s Award Scheme in the Bristolarea. Someone had to be responsible forcoordinating all the lectures, demonstra-tions, visits and activities involved withthe Awards.  That person who took onthis task was the late PAM WEEKS (49-55) (later Morgan).

‘On the 22nd April 2017 eight of us at-tended the KOSA lunch, the first time wehad all gathered together since receivingour Intermediate Awards on 6th Decem-ber 1960 (see photo above). We met atLincombe Barn to remember Pam andher considerable assistance in helpingus to achieve our Awards, four going onto receive Gold Awards from PrincePhilip at Buckingham Palace.

‘At the time we were disappointed thatmore of us were not able to complete allthe elements before our 20th birthdays.Unfortunately two of the groupwere unable to be contacted but it wouldbe wonderful if they happen to see thisand contacted the editor.

‘Many thanks Pam, we owe you. LindaYeoman, Jill Brooks, Mary Gibbons,

Pam Lewis, Sandra Watts, Jenny Hunt,Pam Jones, Irene Luffman, Marilyn Sim-mons and Caroline Whiteside. All KGS,except for Sandra, Jenny and Marilyn.’

The original photo (above) shows theproud girls after receiving their awardsat Kingswood YMCA in 1960. The pho-tograph on page 19 is of the reunion atthe KOSA lunch at Lincombe Barn inApril 2017, in the same order. Unfortu-nately, Marilyn Simmons and CarolineWhiteside were unable to attend the re-union in April.

Later, four of the girls and PAM WEEKSherself went on to receive the GoldAward from the Duke of Edinburgh atBuckingham Palace. The other photo onpage 19 shows LINDA YEOMAN, SAN-DRA WATTS, PAM WEEKS, JENNYHUNT and JILL BROOKS on the occa-sion, all dressed up to meet Prince Philip.

They look very smart, indeed!

Also at the last KOSA lunch in April yourCommittee had decided to mark the factthat DEREK BAILEY (49-53) had beenexemplary in supporting KOSA over the

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years by attending regularly the reunionlunches which we have twice a year.

Not particularly special you may think,but when you consider that Derek’shome is in Denver, Colorado it takes aspecial dedication to KOSA to fly theAtlantic twice a year to attend our gath-erings. This he has done for many years.

When Derek was at KGS he resided inthe home of Headmaster RIDLEY beforeemigrating to Canada in 1957 by ship -first class! He eventually settled in Den-ver and has since taken out US citizen-ship. The presentation (right) was madeby KOSA Committee Secretary CILLAPOWELL (46-51) (now Maguire).

We also have to thank Derek for manyphotos supplied to KOSA over the years.

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After the Spring lunch in April KOSAChairman STAN BURRAGE (51-56)gave Secretary CILLA POWELL (46-51)(now Maguire) a lift to Stroud Station tocatch her train back to her home in Ox-fordshire.

Ever the gentleman, Stan helped Cillaonto the train with her case only to betrapped as the doors closed and it setoff! Stan got off at Kemble, the next sta-tion, and had to wait an hour for a returntrain to Stroud where his car was parked.

Because Stan’s wife RITA RAYNER (53-59) was in hospital, he decided to get afish and chip supper. Before he could eatthe meal he fell asleep on the sofa, onlyto be confronted with cold fish and chipswhen he awoke.

The end of a perfect day!

In the last edition we featured Headmas-ter RIDLEY’S Jowett Javelin. In the1950s the staff were beginning to buycars but it was still a rarity for them toarrive at School in their own transport.This prompted a response from TONYVENN (48-54) who considered otherstaff cars of that era:‘I remember the Jowett Javelin.  Mr RID-LEY had two in succession. The first wasblack and had my initials AJV897. Thesecond car was light brown and thenumber plate almost bore the initials ofmy friend Jeff Ford, being JFU648. TheJavelin's sweeping lines were very ap-pealing and similar to those of the Bristol403. The end came when Briggs Motorscould no longer supply the bodies havingbeen taken over by Ford.

‘There was another impressive car which

belonged to  ‘SCRUFFY’ MORRIS whotaught Geography. This was, appropri-ately, a delicious little Morris 8 reputedly'better than new' DKB425. It later be-came the property of Art Master HA-ROLD WATTS. By chance I encounteredMr Watts in Southampton, where I alsowas teaching, and  he spoke glowinglyabout the little Morris.

‘Then there was the Lanchester of'CHUCKLES' HOWARD (Maths), thenew Hillman Minx of MISS WATTERS,the new Vauxhall with which JIMMY WIL-DE (Sports) towed his Fairholme GoldenDawn and the new and regularly-dentedAustin A40 of the Music Master MRHILTON.

All British cars - never an interloper.’

DR JIM WITHEY (45-53) writes from On-tario, Canada:

‘I was sorry to read, in a recent KOSANEWS, of the passing of WILSON BAR-RETT (48-55) He and I lived closely to-gether, he in Cock Road (named as acentre for cock fighting in the 17-18thcentury), and myself in Mount Hill Road.The former being an extension of thelatter.

‘Of course he lived in a much biggerhouse than our little cottage. His motherwas very beautiful and his elder brotherBob was a big feller as well. We bothattended Cock Road Sunday School,which was Methodist, and we both endedup doing that until we attended university.

‘My sympathy goes to his wife and mayGod Rest his Soul.’

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In the last edition we published this photoof some girls in the gym and appealedfor details. It was MAUREEN CLENCH(45-52) (now O’Neill) who phoned to tellus that it was her camera which wasused for the shot. HAZEL KEMBREY(45-52) (now Woodman) is on the left.

Maureen tells the story of HeadmasterRIDLEY driving her mother to Shire Hallin Gloucester in order to obtain a grantfor Maureen to go to teacher trainingcollege. Without his act of kindness Mau-reen probably would not have been ableto pursue a teaching career.

JACK SANDOVER (45-53) was prompt-ed by the photo of BUNNY AUSTEN(Physics) in the last edition:‘I don’t know when the photo was takenbut he looks much as I remember him. Iowe a lot to him and the various Mathsteachers of KGS for getting me on anengineering career. As I am sure is com-mon, I went off to university and left thearea without making a chance to thankthem personally.

‘The colour photos in No 50 brought backlots of memories. Strangely enough, thephoto of the corridor and steps the most!Icould almost walk into the boys’ cloak-

room and find my peg!’

Some information and a request fromTERRY CARTER (52-57):‘Just received and read the latest KOSANEWS, lots of interest.

‘I think that the ‘British Schoolroom’ youare asking about was George Whitfield’sTabernacle in Park Road, Kingswood.Unfortunately it is presently in a veryderelict state. Not so long ago there wasan appeal for funds to bring this impor-tant building back into use, but to no avail!

‘Secondly may I enquire whether,amongst the archive of photos from the50s, there may be 53-Ic and 56-4c and,although I’m not too sure, 5c from 1957?If so, I would appreciate copies, withsome sort of remuneration to follow.’

Your Ed. was able to provide some ofthe requested photos to Terry. As KOSAhas a big collection of photos we may beable to search our database and supplyby email any copies of photos you mayhave missed. When quoting a year,please bear in mind that form photoswere normally taken in the summer, so56-4c would be our reference for form 4cof 1955-56. A donation to KOSA wouldbe appreciated.

We are planning in future to supply King-swood Heritage Museum with copies ofour photo collection so that our archiveis freely available to the community oncomputer for research. An announce-ment will be made in KOSA NEWS whenthis arrangement is complete.

If you have supplied us with any photosin the past which you would not wish usto make available to the database,please let us know.

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BETTY OWEN (52-55) (now Penfold)responds to the last edition:‘The story of the needle-work room re-minds me of my time with a teacher, hername escapes me, who had a strongnorthern accent.(MRS WATSON?) Imanaged to misunderstand almost eve-rything she said, producing for my firstpiece of work a blouse I had mis-cut sobadly that one shoulder was higher thanthe other and one sleeve was so skinnyit could not accommodate an arm.

‘There was no trouble in understandingwhat she said to this as she was virtuallyspeechless! In an effort to redeem my-self, and because I was keen on tennis,the next piece chosen was a very simpletennis dress. This long suffering lady,talked the whole pattern through with mebefore starting and decided that some-thing was missing from the listed require-ments. She suggested buying anadditional 9 inch length of book rum.

‘The search exhausted the patience ofMrs Kirkwood(?) the drapers in Downendand the little wool shops in Staple Hilland Kingswood. Nobody knew whatbook rum could be, until finally, tryingBrights in Queens Road, an assistantsuggested buckram, for stiffening thebelt! In the end, I failed needlework .

Does anyone else remember DAVIDBRITTEN, sometimes called Tubby? Hewas, I believe, a keen member of theATC. He was offered a flight by the RAFand his reactions were recorded by theBBC and broadcast on, I think, the HomeService.

‘My step-father had a Grundig tape re-corder, the size of a suitcase, with twoopen spools on top that looked likescooter wheels. He attempted to record

David’s broadcast, but failed to plug theequipment in properly. Nevertheless, itwas exciting to hear a classmate broad-casting nationwide.’

Through the joint miracles of the internetand KOSA we have been able to putBetty in touch with WENDY EDWARDS(51-57) (now Cookes) who lives happilyin Victoria, Australia. Wendy, who wasalso a correspondent in the last edition,was a contemporary of your Ed, but suchis the effect of time neither of us remem-bers each other!

WENDY EDWARDS (51-57) (nowCookes) has also written in March:‘Many thanks, Mike and co workers, foryet another interesting edition. Why is it,do you think as you get older you be-come more interested in your past?.

We are enjoying a lovely warm sunnyAutumn, and thankfully no bush fires thissummer......always a worry.

‘I was very interested to see the letterfrom Betty Owen and remember her verywell, she was a person of great specula-tion to us girls, older, very sophisticated,and coming from the Home Counties!,She obviously remembers me, and Iwould like to get in contact with her, couldyou send her my email address? (Done-Ed.

‘I still have the scar from putting my armthrough the door but had not remem-bered she was with me. My mother wasvery impressed. MISS MORRISONdrove me home, collected my motherand then took us to Cossham Hospital.I also recall MR RIDLEY waiting until Igot back to school and informing theAssembly that a very silly girl had rushedout to play tennis etc........ Always being

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rather shy I could have died! Sorry...never did like him!

You probably know that sculptor MAR-GARET LOVELL (50-55) has moved toNZ permanently? (see below) Also theintrepid travellers PAT BALL (51-58) andhusband GUY FEATHERSTONE (50-58) are back in Australia travelling andcamping in the Kimberly. Thank good-ness they have chosen the Autumn thistime. Their last trip was in summer inQueensland with temperatures of 48C.And they had the nerve to complainabout Australian wine! It doesn't traveltoo well in those temps!

So this is how the KOSA grapevineworks! We received the cutting belowfrom DEREK BAILEY (49-53) in Colora-do.

It’s from the Te Awamutu Courier of 7February 2017 reporting on MARGARETLOVELL’S (50-55) exhibition in Aucklandof some of her 69 sculptures which sheshipped to New Zealand.

HEATHER JONES (59-66) (now Nadir-Jones) has rejoined KOSA after an ap-peal we published:‘I was recently shown a KOSA NEWS byANNETTE CLARK (59-66), which askedif 'Heather Jones' was out there some-where. Well, if indeed the Heather youare looking for is me, I am still alive andenjoying my retirement. I’ve been helpingout with twin grandchildren in Abu Dhabi,teaching ESOL on a voluntary basis forRefugee Women of Bristol and involvedin a Multi Faith Support Group at theFamily Court in Bristol. I taught at Kings-field School (now King’s Oak Academy)for 17 years, which is where I metEILEEN MATTHEWS (52-59) (now Ben-drey), as well as our both of us teachinglanguages at UWE.

‘I slipped under the KOSA net when Imoved house to Pucklechurch and myorganisation of post redirection was lessthan thorough. However if I can renewmy subscription and come back into thefold, I will be more than happy.’Welcome back, Heather!

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The above form photo of 4G2 of 1960(Form Master MR ARMSTRONG) wassupplied by ROSEMARY LOVELL (56-61) (now Cross). Rosemary is seated onthe left on the front row.

Other names we have are (back row):Hayes, Harris, Chard, Ford. (2nd rowboys): Oaten, Eastman, Copp, Smith,Foote, Newman (3rd row girls): MaureenHobbs, Susan Clark, Jenny Batt, PatMoores, Marilyn Hillier, Peggy Murphy,(front row):Rosemary Lovell, Rita Mould,Carole Knappe, Bisley, Mr Armstrong,Christine Holloway, Sheila Young, Ger-aldine Couzens, Anne McInness.

DAVID ROSEVEAR (45-52) responds tothe article about teachers’ nicknames in‘NEWS 49:GORDON JACKSON’S (55-62) sugges-tion that English Teacher MRBRITTON’S nickname was based on hiscraggy appearance may not be thewhole story. He was fond of quoting fromthe sea shanty Boney was a Warrior andin the 1940s we were understandablyxenophobic, as evidenced by FROGGYDAVIES’ epithet, from whom we all

learned French with a Welsh lilt!

MARY MILES (42-49) (now Bentley) haswritten from Turramurra in New SouthWales to request help in her researches:‘Great to have the latest edition – 50th!and in colour too......Photos of the oldschool corridor and rooms, together withthe daily routine and references tochanging spaces between lessonsbrought back many memories; not allhappy ones....eg. the day that one of theboys blew himself up with a ‘dud’ bombduring a Maths class with ‘Little’ MRJONES....and being told not to kick thewalls while waiting in the queue forlunch.....MRS KEMPSTER’S concentrat-ed orange juice jelly......and MISSBIGGS’ brick dust cleaner.....I had oneof those box hats, too.

‘But that is not what has made me writeagain. Recently searching the censusrecords for my father’s family and callingon memory, I realise that I could be re-lated to Jessie White (nee Bolwell), ED-DIE WHITE’S (55-61) mother mentionedin his obituary in the last edition. I hadbeen told that my father’s (Arthur Henry

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Miles) family came from South Wales(Thomas Miles son of William Miles) andthat the Bolwells were cousins. Jessieand Jim had a draper’s shop in Kings-wood near the Odeon cinema, and Mor-gan Bolwell worked in the boot factory inBroad Street that had been owned byThomas and came under the manage-ment of my father and associates at thetime of Thomas’ death at the age of 43.Father was then only 14 and still atschool in Weston-super-Mare when thishappened.

‘I remember going to the shop with moth-er to buy material and patterns for mysummer school uniforms, but was awarethat the connection was fragile.... I wouldlove to know more, if there is more toknow – so could anyone help me makethe connection with Jessie ?

‘On another track, I tried to make a con-nection with Feltham regarding the his-tory of Cossham Hospital; againsomething my father was involved in, butwe may have had the wrongaddress.....Can anyone help, please?

‘Your other correspondent, ESMERIDGE (41-47) (now Britton) was in thesame class as my brother JOHN ‘Oscar’MILES (41-48), whose death was report-ed in KOSA NEWS 48. Esme and I keepin touch, a valued link with the other girlswho have remained together over theyears.

‘KGS has been a great influence for goodto those of us who spent our formativeyears there, and given us the confidenceto succeed wherever we might have end-ed up.’

On 23 June 2017, KOSA ChairmanSTAN BURRAGE (51-56) and your Edi-

tor made the KOSA Awards of a £25cheque to four of the year 11 studentsat KOA who had made a significant con-tribution to the life of the school and thecommunity generally. This year theawards were made to the following:

RYAN WHITTAKERHe is a real ambassador of King's OakAcademy, with his never ending kind-ness, who always aims to please. He issomeone who is completely reliable, withsuch a positive attitude to his work andschool commitments. He is considereda true role model for all King's Oak stu-dents, who is dedicated to achieving hisbest at all times. He has performed in somany assemblies and Christmas ColstonHall concerts, he has done himselfproud. We all wish him well.

SHAUNA SMITHThis young lady has been such a resilientcharacter throughout her time here atKing's Oak. She has such a bubbly per-sonality, she always lights up the roomwherever she goes! She has represent-ed the academy in many dances, musicand sporting performances, she is a realcredit to herself! We all wish her the verybest for her exam results in August andfuture plans.

CALLUM LOVELLThis young man is one of the politeststudents in the academy; he is well man-nered, calm and is always so positive inevery challenge he sets himself. He haswon many awards for both his sportingand academic achievements throughouthis time here, and continues to strive forhis best. We all wish him the very bestfor his exam results in August and futureplans.

DIANA MOZIEKAThis young lady joined us at the start of

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Yr 7, and settled in straight away. Theimportance of education has alwaysbeen the heart of this student. She al-ways sees the best in everyone, shealways has a smile and can be relied onto be calm when things get tough! Shehas performed in many events over theyears. She always strives to do her bestwhether it's in Music, English or Maths.We all wish her the very best for her examresults in August and future plans.

KOSA extends its congratulations to allthose students who received our awardthis year.

We are always pleased to hear fromex-English Master GEORGE BUTCHER(52-58) with whom some of us are still incontact. George is now in his 90s, but asbright as ever. Here are some extractsfrom his letter:

‘I must make a reference to KOSANEWS No 50 — but must first congratu-late you once again on what is one of thebest magazines of its kind in the country.

‘It happens that I've had an interestingcomparison recently. There has been anattempt to rejuvenate the Old Boys' As-sociation of my own school, and I'vebeen sent copies of its new magazine.

‘They aren't helped by being typed in avariety of formats on A4 sheets of paper.And there are over-long obituaries. Buttwo things struck me as particularly inter-esting. The first was how much is irre-trievably lost by not being co-educational.

‘The second was a calculation that wasvery revealing. In twenty pages of differ-ent large type and not very well-pro-duced photographs the reader met a fewold boys and two or three members of

staff. In KOSA NEWS I found the capitalletters of 80 old boys and girls and staffbefore coming across all the names onp23.

We have special feelings for Bristol. Wehad just got married and our first homewas in Downend, and Paul and Peter.were born there. I also have a specialattachment to KGS that hasn't beenequalled. There was a feeling of familyabout it that I haven't met since. AndVMS of 55-56 has never been forgotten.

DEREK BAILEY (49-53) writes fromColorado:‘I thought I would share a piece of uniqueart work for consideration by the Editorand members.

‘Back in June, 2002 I received a letterfrom MAUREEN CLENCH (45-51) (nowO'Neill). She had then kindly sent me amemoir written by her brother about hisearly days. I should explain that Mau-reen, her brother and myself all attendedWarmley Church of England PrimarySchool, hence the interest to me.

‘Included was a copy of a pen and inkdrawing from her autograph book byHAROLD WATTS, our art teacher,which he made in 1949. In doing someNew Year file cleanup I came across herletter. I decided I would share the artworkwith you - see opposite on page 27.’

Derek has proposed that if anyone whoenjoyed Harold’s classes and would likea copy of his work, he is willing to preparegood copies on art paper and send themfrom the US with all the proceeds goingto KOSA funds. He suggests a contribu-tion of 10 quid. Orders to the Ed who willforward them to Derek.

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To those joining KOSA since the lastedition of KOSA NEWS, maiden nameswhere appropriate:Mary Bateman (49-54), Sandra Davey(63-70), Heather Jones (59-66)(rejoining), Sandra Bond (Widow of Ger-ry Bond 46-51), Tim Bush (74-76), LindaStowe (?), Judith Hayden (55-60), BrianDodd (62-69), Ruth Acton (80-82), NeilMatthews (60-64), Tony Hinder (60-67),David Lunn (60-67), Ken Gibbons (60-67)

Every time we mail an edition some arereturned where our member has movedand not given us a forwarding address.We don’t want to lose you, so don’t forgetto let us know when you move. We alsohave requests to find past friends:

Does anyone know the whereabouts ofMike Brain (63-70) of USA, Keith G Parry(56-63) ex-Marine, John Burcombe (49-

56) of Canada, Sandra Davey (63-70)(now Crew) and Mary Huckle (48-54)(now Thorn) of Australia, JacquelineBurchill (57-63) (now Patchitt) and NigelCarey. If you do, please let us know.

A small change passed at the last AGM.An AGM must now be held within theyear following the 31st December ratherthan within six months of the year end.This is to make us constitutional shouldwe not be able to hold the AGM in Springas is usual.

The photo on the back page was takenin the old canteen at the 60-67 reunionon 1st July. Senior Master STUARTSYKES (60-74) is in the centre. Accord-ing to Kingswood Chronicles, the can-teen was built in 1949, although it hasbeen tastefully re-decorated since! Thepartition which once divided the canteeninto two sections has now been removed.

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