KOSA NEWSNUMBER 32 - SPRING 2008

The Magazine of the Old Scholars of Kingswood Grammar School

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

EDITORIAL...My thanks to all those who have made contributions ofarticles and photographs to this and past editions. Ienjoy editing and producing KOSA NEWS but we needto ensure the continuation of the ‘NEWS. I would wel-come contact with any member with computer desk-toppublishing experience who lives in the Bristol area andwho has an interest in putting together an edition of themagazine with a view to initially acting as an under-study and in the long run keeping our publication going.

Succession planning is important and new blood andideas are always welcome and I believe that our publication now needs both! Anyoffers?DIARY DATES...ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & BUFFET LUNCH:Our Buffet Lunch is booked for SATURDAY, 12 APRIL 2008 at Lincombe Barn.We meet at between 12 and 12.30 for a quick AGM at 12.30 where you can haveyour say about KOSA and its Committee. Then we sit down to a hot buffet lunchat about 1.00pm. As ever, we have arranged a cash bar so you can chat over oldtimes with a beer or a glass of wine. Fill in the enclosed form now and send it toour Treasurer, MARTIN HARRYMAN, 5 Brecon View, Bleadon Hill, Weston SuperMare, BS24 9NF Tel: 01934 812315. All cheques payable to ‘KOSA’.ANNUAL AUTUMN LUNCH:Already booked for SATURDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2008 at Lincombe Barn, Downend.Please book the date in your diary now. DAVE KERSHAW (48-56) has suggested(see page 10) that we make this a special reunion for the 48ers as it’s their 60thanniversary of commencing at KGS.46ers REUNION:This will take place at KATHLEEN HARDWICK now Filer’s farm in Clapton-in-Gordano on SATURDAY, 10 MAY 2008. (see page 9).54ers REUNION:This is planned for an indeterminate date. More details from PAUL DAVIES (9562692), CHRIS BRYANT (975 4656) or ROGER FOWLER (960 2999), all code 0117.67ers REUNIONS:See page 10 for details about STEVE COOKE’S regular reunions.

OBITUARIES...ROSALIND CAMERON (54-61) nowVERNON has written to KOSA to reportthe death of ELAINE BUSH (56-63) laterSHIRFIELD:

‘ELAINE BUSH sadly died in June 2007,after several years of illness. She leaves2 daughters and her mother.

’Elaine was a KOSA committee memberuntil her husband became ill. She en-joyed her years at KGS and went on tostudy languages at London University.She spent many happy years abroad inFrance, Spain, Barbados, Bahrain,South America, and Ascension Island.She was a teacher for many yearsabroad and in Weston Super Mare,where the family settled after their yearsaway.

’Her father, who donated the ‘Bush’ prizefor Practical Science to KGS, and eldersister went to KGS, as did I, my sisterand mother, and a great uncle, WYND-HAM PARNELL, who was killed duringthe war. We all miss her greatly.’

Elaine is shown above on a school tripto Paris in 1957. She is the 3rd from theright.

DAVID BATEMAN (72-78)David Bateman’s cousin’s husband,Roger Almond, has informed KOSA ofDave’s passing:

‘We’re sorry to announce the tragicdeath of David Bateman at the early ageof 46 in Spain, where he has had abusiness for a number of years. He wastaken to hospital after a fall on 10 De-cember 2007 and he passed away thefollowing morning.

‘He was very proud of his selection for aplace at Kingswood/Kingsfield as it fol-lowed other family members, his auntEVELYN BATEMAN (28–33) and hiscousin MARGARET SHIPP (50–55). Hethoroughly enjoyed his academic timethere and the sport, especially rugby.

‘Although he gained9 ‘O’ Levels and 3‘A’ Levels he couldnot be persuaded togo to university. Hisgreat love was mu-sic and in 1979 hewas a foundermember of the punkrock band, the ViceSquad, and in theearly years heplayed lead guitar.He also wrote muchof their early musicand lyrics.

‘There are manytributes to Dave on the websitehttp://www.lastrockers.com which wasupdated on 13 December 2007 in mem-ory of Dave. A quote from the web statesthat ‘It was generally agreed that thegroup would not have existed withoutDave as he wrote all the best-knownearly songs and was an excellent organ-iser of rehearsals in garages and churchhalls…’’

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PADDY YEOMAN (45-54), later MILL-WARD sadly passed away on 18 August2007 after a long fight with cancer. Acelebration of Paddy’s life took place inthe form of a civil service on 28 Augustat Memorial Woodlands Chapel, nearBristol.

Paddy was a childhood sweetheart ofTERRY MILLWARD (46-51), they hav-ing met at KGS and they celebrated fortyseven years of marriage. Terry’s chat-upline was unique: Paddy had been play-ing hockey and had been hit in themouth by the ball. Her lip was bleedingand Terry, who as a fifteen year old hada crush on her, offered to kiss it better.They were married at Hanham BaptistChurch.

Paddy had a flair for foreign languagesand at KGS she obtained ‘A’ levels inFrench, Latin and English Literature andwon the Senior Prize for English in 1953.Together with her sister YVONNE YEO-MAN (47-54) now Marchant, Paddy wasawarded her School Colours for Hockey.She was also awarded a County MajorScholarship in French and Latin and

after leaving KGS went to the Sorbonnein Paris. She also spoke Spanish andGerman, the former coming in handywhen they visited their house in Spain.She worked as a civil servant and wasalso secretary to the Public RelationsOfficer at Bristol City Council. Later,Paddy joined Le Club Francais to teachFrench to local children as young asthree.

At forty, after giving birth to her thirdchild, Paddy decided to take up runningas a hobby. She completed several mar-athons and half-marathons and contin-ued to run up to six miles a week untilshe became too ill to do so. Paddy andTerry’s garden was always immaculate,designed by Paddy, and she also wrotepoetry in her spare time.

Paddy will be sadly missed by her threechildren and by the rest of her family,many of whom had strong connectionswith KGS.

The photo shows Paddy as captain ofthe 2nd XI Hockey Team in 1952-53.Others shown are, back row: Kathleen

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Townsend, Pat Beese, Yvonne Yeo-man, Fay Chappell and front row: JeanLovell, Barbara Rogers, Paddy, Marga-ret Harris and Rosemary Thorne.

COLIN TICKTUM (51-58) died in Nor-wich on 6 September 2007 after a longfight against cancer. His obituary is writ-ten by his mother, Mrs Grace Ticktum,who at the time was 94 years young:

‘Colin left KGS in 1958 and in the follow-ing year he took up an executive officer’sposition with the Treasury in Whitehall,the first applicant to be accepted on thequalifications he already had. He workedthere for 10 years and was then loanedto the Civil Service College in Sun-ningdale to administer the college. It wasthere he encountered a young lady whowas to become his wife.

‘After 3 years, instead of returning toWhitehall he moved to Norwich to be incharge of the Treasury’s new computeroperation. This took 15 years to com-plete, during which time he married Su-san and had set up home in Norwichwhere he eventually purchased a listedbuilding which they lovingly restored topristine condition and filled with antiquefurniture.

‘Having dug up a silver spoon in theirgarden which proved to be Roman, thissparked off his interest in collecting an-tique spoons, especially when he re-membered that he had an altar spoonwhich his father had picked up in a dere-lict church in Anzio during the War.

‘After the 15-year computer project hewas not keen to return to London andpersuaded the Treasury to let him takeearly retirement, so at 46 he was a pen-sioner. Looking around for a secondcareer he set up a small private financecompany which later purchased thebuilding adjoining their house, also list-ed, and two flats in a small development.

‘The spoon collection was growing fastand through many years being involvedin antiques whilst furnishing their home,he became more and more interested inantique silver of all kinds, prompting himto set up a silver business. He used hisexpertise to work for the Castle Muse-um, value collections and gave advice tolocal organizations and on local radio.He published two books on his spooncollection and wrote an updated historyon Norwich Silver. Having no children,he set up a charitable trust to care for hisvaluable collection and to ensure that itwas kept intact for the city.

‘The collection is housed in the cornerbuilding made over to the trust, a well-secured room forming a small museum.This museum and trust were formallyopened a year ago, and Colin’s book onNorwich Silver officially on sale from thattime. Colin finally lost his battle withcancer a year later.’

Many will remember Colin for his love ofsport at KGS. He excelled at running,and a cursory examination of Kings-wood Chronicles reveals that in 1958 hewas Athletics Captain for Davies House,was in the 1st XI Cricket team, and camesecond only to MIKE REDGERS in theSenior Boys 100 yards on Sports Day.He came third in the Discus in 1957, butwon it in 1958. Someone reckons thatthere is a record of Colin and SMITHboth completing the mile in less than 5minutes – that’s an average of about12mph! – Ed.

The photograph on page five includesColin in the Ist XI Cricket Team of 1957.He is in the second row, second from theleft next to the teacher, who is the Mathsteacher ‘FELIX’ FELTON.

Norman Millhouse has informed KOSAof his mother, BRENDA ANSTEE’S (28-34) passing.

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‘I have the sad duty of informing you ofthe death of my mother BRENDA ANS-TEE (28-34) later Millhouse on 26 June2007. I know she would have wanted meto inform you as she was always ex-tremely fond of her old school and hadmany happy memories of her time there.‘Brenda was born in Southampton on 3June 1917. She lived on the top of TogHill, Wick and began her education atCold Ashton village school. She told thestory of how she stayed with Miss Boxthe headmistress at Cold Ashton in or-der to help her pass the exams for KGS.Here is a copy of the letter written byHeadmaster, Major Eaton:

Miss Brenda Anstee has been a scholarat this school for six years. She has nowleft to take up a commercial appointment.While she was here she made goodprogress in all her subjects. She passedthe Bristol University First School Certif-icate in six subjects last year and thenwent on to take a commercial course.She was again successful last month inpassing all her subjects. I consider hertherefore very well equipped for office

work, having both a good general edu-cation and a specialised commercialtraining.Of her character, general adaptability,and willing spirit I cannot speak too high-ly. Whatever task or duty is assigned toher she carries out promptly, efficientlyand intelligently. It does not matter to herwhether the work is menial or important:her high sense of duty makes her carrythrough all her work with the same thor-oughness. Any employer therefore whooffers her a post will be amply repaid byher keen, reliable, efficient service.(Signed) M J Eaton, Headmaster.‘She had two younger brothers who alsoattended Kingswood Grammar, Victorand George. George was tragically killedon 12/13 October 1944 aged 22. He wasa pilot in the SAAF. Squadron 31 andwas flying one of 20 Liberators whichwere dropping supplies to the Italianpartisans. According to records, due toan unprecedented change in theweather six of the twenty planes crashedinto the mountains of northern Italy ontheir return. Some 48 airmen lost theirlives including the ex pupil of whom

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Kingswood can be justly proud. Victor,his elder brother was also in the RAFand after the war worked for the MoD Hedied in 1999 in Pendine, Wales.

‘Brenda enjoyed a long and happy life,she had five children, six grandchildrenand seven great grandchildren and untilthe last eighteen months, was healthyand active. She loved painting and read-

ing books of a spiritual nature and de-voted much time to the church. She

organised the Mother's Union for anumber of years and was church wardenat St James in Westerleigh, indeed shewas honoured for her dedicated serviceto the church at Bristol Cathedral whereshe received Maundy Money from theQueen.‘The final year of Mum's life was not agood one as she developed dementiaand ironically ended her days at FairviewCourt Nursing Home in Kingswood butas a family we remember the happiertimes and I know she loved receiving theKOSA NEWS and on behalf of Brendawould like to say a big thank you to

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everyone connected with KingswoodGrammar school past and present.

‘The other photographs show Brendawith her brothers in the late 20s, Brendain school uniform, and the two brotherson a Velocette motorcycle, Victor’s driv-ing! Those aren’t helmets they’re wear-ing but they appear to be KGS caps!’

NESTA JEFFERIS (45-50) now Chal-croft has informed KOSA of the passingof her brother:

‘My brother DESMOND JEFFERIS (33-37) passed peacefully away on 5 No-vember 2007 at Katherine Hospice,Banbury. He was cremated at Banburyon 15 November.

‘He was a rock to my brother and sistersas my Dad had left us early. Always fullof dry humour, he kept us happy. Heworked at Kingswood Water Companyalongside his pal GEORGE BRERE-TON, served in the Army (RAC), thenEsso, Bristol and finally at Marks andSpencers in London, where he marriedand had daughter Lorraine.

‘After losing his wife, he moved to Ban-bury to be with his daughter where hetended his garden and spent his retire-ment studying the wild birds and playinghis jazz records. He was also glad tohave received KOSA NEWS each time itwas produced. We will all miss him.’

LEW COX ( 40-47) sadly died in July thisyear in Lymington, Hants. With help fromhis family, school and college friends,JOHN PENNY (1940-47) has assem-bled this abbreviated celebration of hiseventful life:

‘Lew and I were close friends at KGS forseven years during which time weshared a passion for sport and outdoorpursuits. In 1945 and 46 the two boys,

with GEOFF BISHOP, made two 'epic'cycle/camping expeditions to Devon andCornwall towing a trailer with their kit.Later as students Lew and I chartered ayacht and, with friends, sailed to theNorfolk Broads for two weeks. Thesewere memorable times.

‘The Cox family moved to Kingswood in1939 enabling Lew to start at KGS inSeptember 1940. From the early days atKGS Lew excelled at sport, in particulargymnastics, soccer and athletics. Tradi-tional fixtures with schools in the regionposed travelling problems which wereovercome where possible with ingenuity,but on occasions bizarre results. I re-turned with Lew from a Merrywood fix-ture one very cold Saturday morningwith frostbitten toes!

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‘Lew was a superb 'quarter miler'. Hewon the Gloucestershire Senior Schoolsevent in 1946 and 1947, and capped itby winning the AAA Championship in1947. He also won numerous trophieson our own KGS Sports Days. He wasCaptain of Davies House, and later heand I presented a trophy to be awardedto the top athlete in Davies House, whichI fear was destroyed with others in theschool fire.

‘Two other events played an importantrole in Lew's life at KGS. One was theannual Harvest Camp held every Augustduring the war years. We slept in belltents, cycled everywhere and workedvery hard. We also acquired a taste forfarmhouse cider and learnt the subtle-ties of half-penny pontoon. The secondevent was the ATC Unit organised byMESSRS WINTERTON and LOCK-HART. Lew enrolled with great enthusi-asm and a total commitment.

‘Lew was conscripted into the RAF fortwo years at the end of 1947. He at-tained the rank of Sergeant PTI, quali-fied as a parachute jumping instructor,and represented the RAF in rugby, gym-nastics, athletics and parachuting dis-plays.

‘After the RAF, Lew went to Goldsmiths’College, London where he studied tobecome a secondary teacher specialis-ing in Science. He then entered Lough-borough College for a one-yearsupplementary course in Physical Edu-cation.

‘Lew taught Physical Education inDorchester, Ryde IOW, Sevenoaks andCowes until the early 70's. During thistime he married Mary Knight, a Gold-smiths’ friend from Somerset. They re-turned to the IOW, along with their threechildren Elizabeth, Jonathon and Nick.Lew designed their detached home at

Gurnard in a large garden with greatpotential.This provided a perfect locationfor a growing and loving family home.

‘Lew continued as Head of Physical Ed-ucation at Cowes Secondary School un-til 1970 when he secured secondment toa course in Rural Science at ReadingUniversity. Shortly after his return heretired as Head of Physical Education tobecome Head of Science with a special-ism in Biology. The school became acomprehensive as Cowes High Schooland within a short period he was ap-pointed Head of Sixth Form, a positionhe held until he retired in 1989.

‘Throughout their married life Lew andMary developed a strong interest in nat-ural history and the countryside. Theybecame members of the IOW NaturalHistory and Archaeological Society, andLew became President in the early 80s;Life Vice-President followed. This inter-est spilled over into school life resultingin Lew becoming responsible for theschool's annual Natural History Camp.

‘Following retirement Lew and Mary leftthe Island to return to Somerset andsettled near Bridgewater. Here Lewmaintained his interest in natural history,gardening and bee-keeping as well astaking to new interests in artwork andwoodcraft. Unhappily, Mary died in2000; she had been studying to the endand she was awarded her degree post-humously by the Open University.

‘This is a brief appreciation of a wonder-fully active life in which Lew's enthusias-tic, but self-effacing character made himsuch a successful and much loved hus-band, teacher, father and friend. By hisexample he set high standards in allaspects of life with which he was associ-ated, yet he was an extremely gentleman who lived his life with the greatestintegrity and set an example to us all.’

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We have also been notified of the pass-ing of L. GALLOP and ALAN KEMBREY,both years unknown. To all those whohave lost a loved one we send our con-dolences.

PUNISHMENTS…COLIN DEMMERY (54-59) brings up thedelicate subject of detentions:‘Attending the last Autumn Lunch it wasgood to meet up with other ‘young up-starts’ from the 54-59 era. During thepre- and post-lunch conversations thesubject of detentions came up, andthose of us who had ‘served time’ duringtheir schooling.

‘Unfortunately I had to admit to the ulti-mate punishment on one occasion – thedreaded Saturday Morning Detention.Mine was reward, along with two or threeother classmates, for teaching a bullyfrom a lower year a lesson by dragginghim with his feet around the oak tree afew times. Apparently he and his parentsobjected and we were told to do time!

‘I remember that I tried to keep it quiet asI had a Saturday job helping the localbaker. I told him I was having extra les-sons that day and would be unable towork. Unfortunately one of my custom-ers split on me and Horace (the baker)called into my home later that week toenquire if I was available for the comingSaturday or, much to my embarrass-ment, in prison again?

‘Do other former pupils have recollec-tions of detentions and was the Saturdaymorning ‘three hours’ from 9.00 to 12.00attended by any other readers?’

ANOTHER 46er REUNION…PRISCILLA POWELL (now Maguire) re-ports on their last reunion:

‘The second reunion of those who com-menced at KGS in 1946 took place on 16

June 2007. The event was a huge suc-cess and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

‘KATHLEEN HARDWICK now Filerhosted the event at her beautiful farmnear Clapton-in-Gordano. We wereblessed with lovely weather and wereable to sit outside eating and drinking,admiring the Somerset countryside andreminiscing about the years 46 to 53 atKGS – and what memories they were! Afew photos were on display and the pas-sage of 60+ years seemed impossible tocomprehend. The only downside of theevent was the fact that six people had tocry off because of other commitments.

‘PRISCILLA POWELL organizes the re-union and she has made contact withsome 25 old scholars of the year. Thegroup started last year to celebrate 60years since we all started at school andwe hope to make it an annual event. andas the news spreads we may be able tocontact more and more of our yeargroup. Anyone who started at KGS in1946 should contact Priscilla on 0117959 3902 if they are interested in meet-ing old school mates once a year.

‘Those in the photo on page 10, clock-wise from the left, are Kathleen Hard-wick, Neil Smart, Pauline Baines,Priscilla Powell, Peter Brake, John Kidn-er, Cynthia Underwood, Gordon Jones,John Salter, John Gray, Marcia Phippsand Janet Crew. Brian Cuff took the

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photo, by which time Philip Gibbs hadleft. Flowers were, of course, presentedto Priscilla and Kathleen.’

The next reunion lunch for the 46ers isalready fixed for 10 May 2008 atKathleen’s Farm – Naish Farm, Clapton-in-Gordano.

...AND ADVANCE NOTICE…DAVID KERSHAW (48-56) proposes ameeting of the 48ers:

‘In September 2008 it will be 60 yearssince about 120 of us started our sec-ondary school careers at KGS. Some-one will no doubt know the exact date.

‘If you are one of the above 120 why notthink seriously about coming to theKOSA lunch on 11 October 2008 to meetup with long-lost classmates and dis-cover what they have managed to do in60 years ie job (how many?), marriage(how many?), children, grandchildrenand perhaps even great grandchildren.

‘Among the people I recall are WilsonBarrett, Brian Baish, Peter Hemmens,Michael Stanton, Tony Lear, GeraldKenwood, Roland Humphrey, JohnMead, Gilbert Gay, Peter Malpass, PeterWilliams, Michael Wilmington, BethyBell, Pat Beese, Janet Emms, Pat Hard-

ing, KathleenTownsend, MaryTownsend, DianePowell, DoreenPillinger, LucilleWoodbury, Mar-lene Short, JoyceOsborne and IrisMountstephen.

‘So how aboutcoming along tothe lunch and seeif you recognizeany of your formerclassmates or

even if you will be recognized. But bookearly, the autumn lunch is very popular.I’ll see you there!’

...AND YET ANOTHER...STEVE COOKE (67-72) has e-mailedKOSA to let us know that a group of hiscontemporaries get together on the firstSunday evening of each alternate evenmonth at the White Harte Pub, Bridgey-ate. If you’re thinking of going alongphone Steve on 07886 559299 or e-mailhim on:stephen.cook@burns-anderson.co.uk

Names of those meeting include JohnBracey, Steve Powell, Tim Moxham,Joanna Hellin, Janet Binham, Neil Hard-en, Bill Inwood, Martin Davies, and oth-ers. Why not add your name to the list?

As you know, KOSA meets for lunchtwice per annum, in the Spring and theAutumn. It has always been yourCommittee’s policy, however, to supportany other reunions which may beplanned by members.

This support can be in the form of namesand address labels from our databaseand even financial support approved bythe Committee to get a reunion started.Just contact the Secretary or the KOSANEWS Editor for help.

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ONE FROM DOWN UNDER...MARY MILES (42-49) now Bentleywrites from New South Wales:‘As usual, lots of interesting items aboutpupils known and unknown in the lastedition...the spirit of KGS lingers on!

‘I liked the questionnaire - it asked aboutpivotal things of our time (42-49) And Inoticed that one of them was not an-swered - DOES the MILES prize still getawarded - and do the current studentsrecognise its donor? (I’m afraid not,Mary-Ed)

‘Then ALAN OTLET’s (39-46) communi-qué started up all sorts of pleasantmemories.......Wasn't it FROGGY Dav-ies? I struggled under his teaching meth-ods -  not realising that he waschallenging me when he remarked "Yourbrother was a scholar; you are a misera-ble student'...something that would notbe allowed in today’s 'enlightened' at-mosphere!  I always knew that mybrother and I had other differences thanour gender! I was all for people and sport(I once had the honour of collecting theDavies House Champion cup, as well asbeing Sports Secretary and 2nd XIhockey goalie) while he related to cere-bral activities - and still does.

‘How many ex-KGS pupils live in Aus-tralia? I note MAURICE KING (44-52)lives in the next suburb to myself....andJOHN PENNY’s (40-47) grandchildrenattend Barker College which is round thecorner from where I live.  John andPauline visit occasionally, and severalyears ago we had a reunion with themand TONY PERDUE (40-48), who usedto escape the English winter by sailing'down-under' on an annual basis.

Mention of BOB OTLET (41-48) broughtback memories of the Drama  Society,energeticaly led by MISS DAVID, andthe technical support group REDFORD,MONTACUTE, LAUDEN, OTLET, and

sometimes LOXTON....How many ofthem continued in this line of interest?After I had completed my initial nursingtraining at the BCH (Now the RoyalChildren’s Hospital, I believe) I studiedwith the Bristol Old Vic for a while, until Irealised that I would never be astar...interestingly my whole life in Aus-tralia has been shared between family,General Practice Management and am-ateur theatre;   where, in 'retirement' Ispend most of my energies makingprops for a  number of Musical andDrama Societies, and have recentlybeen inducted as one of thefirst Members of the Hall of Fame of theAssociation of Community Theatres.One of my earlier experiences with theDrama Society was the making of propsfor our production of Blythe Spirit"....

All good wishes for the Reunion atDownend....wish I could be with you;  thewar years at KGS were very special andunusual in that we were exposed to awhole range of interesting people whomight never have been an influence inour lives had 'normal' conditions pre-vailed. I always believe that THAT wasthe best education anyone could have.

PS If BOB OTLET and MARIAN OS-BORNE (40-47) are at the Reunion, letthem know that I also fly lightplanes....and am an educational speakerfor the Royal Flying Doctor Service..

...AND ANOTHER...TONY HART (55-58) brings us up-to-date on what he’s done since KGS. Hecan be contacted on:

hart_t@bigpond.net.au

‘I first went to Kingswood in 1955 havingmoved from Beeston in Nottingham andKingswood was my second grammarschool. In 1958 we moved again, toHitchin in Hertfordshire, after which Iwent to Birmingham University in 1960.After university I came to Australia with

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my then wife and young daughter, ini-tially to Canberra and later to Sydney.

‘In 1992 my second wife, son and I cameback to the UK to live and work for threeand a half years in Yorkshire, beforereturning to Sydney. A year and a bit agowe left Sydney moving to a little towncalled Bangalow near Byron Bay in NewSouth Wales.

‘I always re-member Bris-tol andKingswoodwith great af-fection. Theywere theplaces I con-sider as thebasis of mymajor growingup. Academi-cally I was firstintroduced to

Latin (which I hadn't done at my Notting-ham school from where I had been forone year after the 11+)and was ratherdaunted that I had to get up to ‘O’ levelstandard in three years. I didn't. Frenchtoo, was another new challenge - I madeit by ‘O’ level but only just. Music was anespecially horrendous experience in thehut with, I think, ERIC HILTON. I recallSTEVEN YORKE and myself, both talland gangling, embarrassing ourselvesand everyone else as we were made to"sing" individually when our voices werebreaking and we already had the leastmelodious of the whole class! I think MRHILTON'S approach was second only tomy Long Eaton GS divinity teacher whohit us on the back of the hand with thesharp side of a metal ruler if we evensighed in his classes. Nonetheless wesurvived.

‘Four things were most pleasurableabout Kingswood. Firstly, I was at theage where girls became creatures of

interest instead of scorn. I was luckyenough to be surrounded, or so Ithought, by some of the most interestingand attractive young women, many ofwhom appear on the form photographs.Unfortunately, because I moved awayafter ‘O’ levels, I missed out on their laterteen development. It would be nice tohear from and see a few of them one day- friends such as SUSAN BIRCHLEYand WENDY ALLEN. The boys weren'tbad either - some were good mates aswe Aussies would say. I rememberANTS RICHARDS and ALAN NOTTwell, as we played under-15 rugby to-gether for the school, with STEVENYORKE, too. ALAN NOTT and I spentone summer cycling around the south ofEngland, and the following year (it wouldhave been summer 1958) cyclingthrough (would you believe)Switzerland!After this we pedalled up the Rhine Val-ley and saw some of the post-war devas-tation of Germany.

‘Secondly, sport was a great interest atKingswood. Rugby was king in winterand I played for two years with the under15s. It was most enjoyable to travelaway to exotic places like Dursley andChipping Sodbury to play. We often trav-elled with the 1st XV and I learnt most ofmy early rugby songs on these trips. Iregret not seeing this phase through tothe VIth form but I did manage to get ina lot of rugby at my next school in Hitch-in, Herts. Athletics was another excite-ment in summer - but running the 440around the main sports field and comingback up the hill on the final bend was anexperience one did not want to have todo too often. They were good, simpletimes, but gee we were fit and healthy.

‘One rugby coincidence - five years laterI was with my Birmingham Universitygeography group on a field trip in Greno-ble in France. A few of us were testingthe local Green Chartreuse and we gotmulling over old times. It turned out that

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one of my fellow geographers (CledwynDavies) was from Lydney and we calcu-lated that we had played against eachother when I was at Kingswood. A fewmore GCs and clarets later we wereagain the best of mates.

‘Thirdly, by and large, the teaching staffwere human and responsive to ourneeds as emerging adults. I particularlyremember GEOFF HOCKING andGEORGE BUTCHER who were myclass masters when I was class headboy (can't remember what it was reallycalled) in 3L1 and 4L1. George moved tonear Aylesbury after I had left Kings-wood and I saw him a couple of timeswhile I was at Hitchin. It was good to seehis picture in a recent KOSA edition.

‘And finally, one of the most maturingthings about Kingswood was the oppor-tunities to travel overseas. My parentsscraped together the pennies to get meto Paris with the school trip in 1956 (Ithink) and was this an experience! I eter-nally thank my parents for this greatopportunity - it perhaps added to mywanderlust and geographic inquisitive-ness. This went on I think to generate mylater interest in geographic informationsystems on which I now consult andwrite about (but I digress - these arethings for a later letter).

‘Last year I was in Paris with my wife andwe spent a fair bit of time searching forwhere I stayed in 1956 - I remember wellthe Boul Mich but I couldn't be surewhere we stayed exactly; if any readerknows I would love to know so I cantrack it down next year when we visitagain. The following year Paris wascapped by Switzerland - a trip that, quiteliterally changed my life. We stayed inInterlaken and travelled widely. Themountains were something to beholdand the cleanliness, colour and clarity ofthe air showed me that there were alter-natives to home. I said then that I wouldreturn and have now visited Interlakenabout five times since. But the high spotof the return trip to Bristol was that weflew - yes flew – from Basel to Southend.As I stepped up the steeply inclined floorof the DC9 airliner little did I realise thatthe next time I flew it would be fromSydney to Canberra at the start of mynew life in Australia 5 years later. Andthis was to be a new life in a countrywhere air travel was, even in 1963, afairly common event, particularly for gov-ernment officers (which I became) whoneeded to visit various parts of the Aus-tralian continent.

‘When I left Kingswood I lost contact withall my friends and it is with much regretnow, looking back on it. My wife still is in

contact withher friends inEngland shehad at pri-mary school,let alone highschool anduniversity.Girls are somuch betterat keepingcontacts.’

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THE DIG, 1960...

Top, clockwise:Margaret Chell, David Ewins,Barry Angel, Stuart Huggett,Carole Lovell, nk, Colin Coombs,nk, Mary Fudge, Linda DaviesDiana Williams

Unknown legs, Carole, Linda

Wheelbarrow games!

Dave, Margaret, Carole,Barry, Mary, Diana

Diana, Margaret, Carole and Barry

THE DIG, 1960…CAROLE LOVELL (54-61) brings backmemories of ‘The Dig’:‘TONY HART, in your last edition ofKOSA NEWS, bewails the ‘lack of infor-mation, contacts, etc. from….1954 start-ers’, alongside PAUL DAVIES’ proposalof a reunion for the very same people,and two whole pages devoted to HMSPinafore, which features just that cohort.Perhaps, then, you will prefer not topublish the following on the grounds ofoverkill!

‘It refers to an article in the very sameKingswood Chronicles in which Pinaforeappears, but on a topic which I havenever yet seen referred to in the maga-zine – ‘The Dig’ in the summer term of1960. Since I have recently unearthed atreasure trove of photographs of thatexpedition, I hope my co-author, MAR-GARET CHELL, will not mind my makinguse of it. For those who do not have the1960-61 KC, it gives the flavour of thatweek better than I could at this distancein time, and so is reprinted below:

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIGOn July 7th, a few days after the finish oftheir Advanced-Level Examinations, a partyof a dozen Sixth-Formers set off to camp onOverton Down — four miles from Marlbor-ough — to take part in the construction of abarrow. The object was to discover theamount of silting which would take placeover the space of 100 years. Periodic sec-tions will be taken through the bank, and theaction of the soil on various materials—e.g.,leather, bones, wood, cloth—will be noted.The whole exercise is related to the findingsof recent excavations about the early inhab-itants of the British Isles.

The main process was the digging of atrench 100 ft. long, 12 ft. wide and 6 ft. deep,a laborious task on which we spent manyback-breaking hours. For the most part 20thCentury implements were used, but experi-ments were made using primitive tools suchas must have been used by the early Brit-ons: antlers (from the Duke of Bedford's

Woburn Abbey deer herd) for picks, shoul-der-blades (animals', of course) in place ofshovels, and wicker-baskets serving asbuckets.

However, there was the lighter side to theweek's stay, and despite frequent showerswe enjoyed camp life, for some of us a novelif not exactly exhilarating experience.Cooked meals were provided, but the partyspent much time and energy on the thank-less task of preparing vegetables for thirtypeople—otherwise known affectionately ask spud-bashing'. Work on the site, too, wasregularly relieved by much-needed tea-breaks, but this was not an un-mixed bless-ing, the water having an iron tang which wasat first hardly palatable. However, we con-soled ourselves with the thought that wewere seeing (and tasting) Nature in the raw,and bore all hardships like true pioneers.

Evenings were spent in variousoccupations—rambles, drinking coffeeround a camp-fire, or in the Nissen hut whichserved as a canteen. We even ventured intoMarlborough one evening to attend an ad-vertised dance; unfortunately, only to dis-cover that the poster was some years out ofdate!

Altogether our stay was a most enjoyableone, and we ventured to see the completedbarrow a week later. Although it is unlikelythat we will be present at the final sectioningin 2060, we hope to revisit the site during thenext sectioning, and were very interested inthe film which appeared on television a fewweeks ago, not only because we becamescreen stars. On behalf of the whole party,we would like to thank Mr. Nelson for hisorganisation of the 'dig' and look forward tothis year's proposed camp with enthusiasm.

‘On re-reading this account, a couple ofquestions sprang to mind. First, did Ireally just dream the visit to the site ofSir Mortimer Wheeler, the pre-eminentarchaeological celebrity of his time? Ihave told many people of it over theyears, yet there is no mention of him inthe article. Strange! Second, when wasthe first ‘sectioning’ carried out, and whatdid they discover?

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‘Perhaps other members of the expedi-tion may be able to enlighten me aboutthe first. However, a few minutes onGoogle provided me with more than Icould wish to know about the second.Apparently the first cross-section of ‘TheOverton Down Experimental Earthwork’was taken in 1992 by a combined teamfrom Lampeter, UCL and London Guild-hall Universities. Their chemical andquantitative analysis showed considera-ble compaction of the soil and organicchange in the materials we had buried32 years previously, which ‘have impor-tant implications for the preservation ofbiological and cultural remains’. (Thoseof a more scientific bent than I am will beable to glean more detailed informationfrom the full report.)

‘All I want to know now is, why weren’twe invited?! And will we be invited to thenext one in around 20 years’ time? Onreflection, it’s good to think that our slavelabour yielded and is continuing to yieldsome valuable scientific data. At thetime, however, my immediate educa-tional benefit was the realisation thateven in showery July weather, it wasunwise to wear pedal-pushers whenworking on chalk. The resultant excruci-ating sunburn earned me a new nick-name for weeks afterwards – ‘Redlegs’!’

CORRECTION+...JOAN BRIDGES (40-47) now LEE wasprompted to write when she read one ofour obituaries in the last edition:

‘I’m writing to amend your brief notice ofthe death of MURIEL WELLS (40-45).Muriel could have been her proper namebut she was always known at school asAudrey. She was in my year group (1940entry) and she left in 1945 after takingSchool Certificate, as it was in thosedays. It used to be possible then to enterteacher training college with that qualifi-cation and the last time I saw Audreywas when she was a student at Fish-

ponds Diocesan College. I was at thattime a student at Bristol University buthad been invited to attend a Christmascarol concert at Fishponds College.

‘You mentioned her connection withDownend Church School. She may wellhave later taught there but she wasnever a pupil there (I was!). Audrey at-tended primary school at Soundwellwhere she used to live. My chief memoryof her was during our first year at KGSwhen, in those sweet-starved early war-time years, a group of us took the bus upthe hill to Kingswood in order to treatourselves to an ice cream in Wool-worths. It was worth the roundabout wayhome!

‘Thinking about Audrey made me alsorecall the wartime summer farm campsmentioned a few years ago in the maga-zine. I attended two of those; one atSlimbridge and a later KGS one at Fal-field, near Thornbury. The Slimbridgeone was a huge camp attended by sev-eral Gloucestershire schools. Audrey, Ithink, attended that camp. Much of thetime was spent picking up potatoes, un-earthed by a tractor which circled thepotato field, so we had to be speedybefore it reached our area again!

‘It was back-breaking work but we allenjoyed the camaraderie. One of ouryear group, JOYCE ELLERY, a friend ofAudrey, composed a ditty which fitted inwell with a popular tune of the time (thetitle of which eludes me). However, ourversion ran:

Work girls, work and be contented,It doesn’t matter if your backs are sore,

For within the years to comeYou can tell your little son

That you helped to pick potatoes for thewar!

‘I have to say that neither of my two sonswere much impressed with theirmother’s contribution to the war effort!

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‘I would also like to endorse ALANOTLET’S (39-46) appreciation of KGS.He was another near contemporary – ayear ahead of me, I believe, and alsofrom Downend.

‘These days there is a depressing sideto the magazine for people in my agegroup. So many familiar names appearamong the obituaries, but inevitable, I’mafraid. Apart from AUDREY WELLSthere was also HAZEL HARRIS (41-?).She was the year below me and remem-bered for her enterprise at the outbreakof war at Downend Church Schoolwhere she formed a ‘Trench Club’ andcollected pennies from a group of us inorder to buy goodies (still available in1939) for us to eat should we be incar-cerated in the trenches (air-raid sheltersto our younger Old Scholars!) for anylength of time.

‘I was in my last year at primary schooland we only experienced in that time oneshort session underground, so few of thegoodies were consumed. Since therewere no sell-by dates in those days, theyear behind me may have fared better,especially as food became more difficultto get.

‘I also noted the death of JOHN SALTER(46-54). Never a contemporary of mineat KGS as he was seven years my juniorbut he lived just across the road from mein Badminton Road, Downend. All thismakes sad reading, but nevertheless itis good to have our memories of the paststirred occasionally.’

TWO FROM THE 40s…BETTY HEMBROUGH (43-48) nowBridges has sent KOSA one of thosepersonal photos of herself and JEANSTOCK. Betty believes that they wereseated on the steps of the Art Room andthat the photo might have been taken in1948 by SHEILA SHEPSTONE. We fea-

tured Sheila’s Shots in the last editionand Betty remembers both Sheila andMARY JONES, who featured in thosephotos, very well.

...AND FROM THE 60s...LINDA WINTER now WEBB (59-66)notes the dearth of contributions to the‘NEWS from her contemporaries. Shewrites:

‘Having received many editions of KOSANEWS, I note that you receive very fewsubmissions from those who attendedthe school between 1959 and1966, so Idecided to remedy that!

‘I recall my years at KGS as a veryhappy period in my life and fond memo-ries of that time are rekindled each timeI read the magazine. It would be good tohear from other ex-pupils who wouldhave arrived at the School on a certainday in September 1959, dressed in their

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smart new brown and blue uniforms andready to take up their desks in the terra-pin huts that lined one side of the play-ground. (If I remember correctly, wewere Forms 1W, 1B, 1L and 1R!)

‘I often wonder what happened to theother 120 or so pupils who shared thattime with me. One of my school friend-ships has endured for the past 47 years- I became friendly with HAZEL LIS-MORE (now Wilson) in 1960 when wewere in the Second Year together andwe went off to Birmingham University in1966. We both married at around thesame time and both went on to have twosons apiece, our first sons being born in1974 and the second ones in 1976. Ha-zel and I still continue to see each otherregularly and have had some happy out-ings with our husbands. We enjoyed avisit to SARAH CLOTWORTHY inBournemouth where she has lived formany years with her family. I also re-ceive Christmas cards from VALERIEGAY (now Lee). Val is an eminent localcouncillor in South Gloucestershire andher efforts on behalf of the communityare often featured in the local newspa-pers. JILL BARNES, with whom I hadbeen very friendly at school, went off toDurham University in 1966 and sadly welost touch. Jill and I, and also GILLIANJENNINGS, were part of a very smallgroup who took 'A' Level Latin under thetutelage of MR STUART SYKES who Ibelieve continued to teach at the schoolfor many years after our departure.

‘I am enclosing a photograph of a 1965production of Dido and Aeneas in whichI was involved. I recall having great funduring rehearsals. DAVID MILES, whowas in my year, took one of the malelead parts. He married BERNICE COL-LINS and I bumped into them about ayear ago in (of all places!) a Salsa DanceClass (obviously our interest in perform-ing arts has not waned since thoseheady days of performing in Dido!)

There are many familiar faces in thephotograph, some of whom I cannot puta name to, but I think one of the boyswas DAVID SMALL who wrote to KOSANews recently seeking information abouthis uncle.

‘I wait with anticipation to hear of theexploits of others from 1959-1966!’

Who can refuse such a reasonable re-quest? Photo of Dido on page 28. - Ed.

RUTH’S RESPONSE...Some articles in KOSA NEWS 29prompted RUTH DULBOROUGH (57-63) now Bishop to write:

‘My brother let me have a copy of theabove some time ago, as I was men-tioned in it! On page 23 'Watts’ Fans' - Isigned the eulogy to HAROLD WATTS,Art Master. Also, we knew somewhere inthe family archives we had copies of ourForm photos and yesterday I found theForm IIW - 1959. It is signed by most ofthe form members on the reverse. Nodoubt you will have had response fromothers since then, but if not I think theperson responsible was E THOMAS,cannot remember his Christian name. Imust admit not to being a contributor tothe KOSA News - which I may change.I do not keep in contact with any of myformer school colleagues, which is prettypathetic.

‘On one of my brother's form photos,there is a signature of one C PILLINGER(54-61) - it always amuses us when wesee/hear him on tv or radio as he wasalways so popular with Headmaster C NRIDLEY! Our other claim to fame is thatwe lived a few doors along from STAN(BUSTER) BURRAGE (51-56) (nowChairman of KOSA) in the 50s, inChurch Avenue, Warmley. We werefriends with his brothers who werenearer our age, especially George andBrian. Do pass on our best wishes to him.

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‘The other article of great interest was ‘AGricer's Tale', page 9. Our father was infact Station Master at Mangotsfield notlong before it closed. It was very busy inthose days, they used to run from oneplatform to another to service the trains,as it was almost non stop action at sometimes of the day. I eventually worked forBritish Rail for some years and even hadthe honour of working for the StationMaster at Temple Meads in the top hatdays in the 60s. I am now of course'retired'.

‘I notice on Friends Reunited that quite afew of my fellow scholars have joined up,including ALAN HIRESON (62-69) whowe knew as children. We lived at Old-land Common then. I think my brothermet him last year either in OC or atBitton Railway.’

‘The only other person I have any con-tact with from KGS is BOB FORD, wholives in Frenchay. He must have leftaround 1954 - I only know him throughhis wife, we used to attend the sameBridge lessons!’

COLIN’S COMMENT...COLIN PILLINGER (54-61) has re-sponded to a mention in the last edition:‘I see yet again I got a mention in thenews letter - as a form  prize winner! Iactually won the Redford Maths prizeonce beating boys at least a form, if nottwo, above me (creep). I was muchprouder of that. Is it still going or beendeclared inappropriate to reward effort?

‘That isn't the reason I'm writing. I havea new self-published book Space is aFunny Place - 50 years and more ofspace exploration - the funny and theserious side. I remember when Sputnikwas launched in 1957 those of us at theschool at the time felt we were part of itbecause BERNIE LOVELL, who wasright up there at the top of the Honours

Board outside the Library, was trackingthe first satellite with the Jodrell BankTelescope. He is still around and oughtto be featured in the News for his exploits.

‘Anyway  knowing I still have lots offriends in KOSA I thought you might bewilling to publicise the book for me. If soI would be willing to donate £2.00 fromevery copy I sell through KOSA. Iwouldn't start planning a holiday in theWest Indies, but a few people might buya copy or two as presents.

‘I note there is a move to have a 1954intake reunion, I was one of those andwould be interested. Incidentally so wasRICHARD (GILBEY) STRANGE (54-59), your Latin classicistcorrespondent  from the summer 2007edition - I thought he was asleep in Latin,or like me did Maths homework, butobviously not.’

The book Colin mentions is well-worththe £17.50, which includes post & pack-ing. Send your cheque with order to:

Prof. Colin PillingerPSSRI

The Open UniversityMilton Keynes

MK7 6AAGive your contact details, name, ad-dress, telephone number and e-mail,and Colin is willing to sign the book anddedicate it if you wish. State clearly thewording you require and don’t forget tomention that the order comes fromKOSA to secure our two quid per copy!

With the 50th Anniversary of the Sputniklaunch, 2007 has been a busy year forColin in the media. Amongst otherthings, he’s featured in the SundayTimes feature The Best of Times, Worstof Times and he was asked to write anarticle for the Times Higher about hismotivations. As it features KGS, its con-tents are reproduced on the next page.

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THES ARTICLEOn the 50th anniversary of the launch ofSputnik, Colin Pillinger recalls the boy-hood wonder that helped mould his ca-reer.

In the middle of a splash of green thatused to be a playing field, at the not-so-fashionable end of Bristol, stands a giantoak tree. It is symbolic of the school Iattended as a teenager. Indeed, it is allthat is recognisable to me except for the"temporary" classroom where I first hungmy satchel in 1954.

When I went there it was called Kings-wood Grammar School (KGS to those ofus inside and "the cow sheds" to thosewho weren't). Going to grammar schoolwas considered a bit soft. I was neversure why - the secondary modern schooland the new technical college wheremost of my friends were had more desir-able buildings, especially in winter, whencompared with the long low hut withpaper-thin walls. It wasn't surprisingwhen the whole lot burnt down, exceptfor the "temporary" block that was madeof asbestos.

It doesn't sound much like an academichotbed, does it? Nor the place to throwup a hero of the space race. Not me, Ihasten to add, but in October 1957 KGSdid just that. As the world listened agogto the "beep, beep, beep" from Sputnik,the first artificial satellite, the pupils wereencouraged to stare up, not just at theheavens, but at the Honours Board.Even after more than 30 years of theschool's existence it didn't take long toread, but there it was, the second name- A. C. B. (Bernard) Lovell, the man in allthe papers because he was trackingSputnik with his telescope at JodrellBank.

Just above Lovell was another namefamiliar to us: Brian Sammons, ourchemistry master, aka Fishy. Surely he

must have known this Lovell bloke?"Yes." So Fishy went up in our estima-tion. Our headmaster, who also taughtphysics, delighted in telling us Lovellwas an old boy.

My form, 3L1, occupied the classroomnearest to that Honours Board. It wasonly a few yards from the headmaster'sstudy, with the chemistry lab just a littlefurther on. So I probably got exposed tothe part that our school played in Sputnikmore than most. I was 14 at the time. Icouldn't wait to be 15, when I could leaveschool. And I probably would have had itnot been for Mr Hocking, my form andmaths master, who summoned my par-ents to the school and told them I shouldstay on, even do science A levels andperhaps go to university.

Nobody in my family had ever been touniversity, but chemistry, physics andmaths A levels it was, and the rest, asthey say, is history.

I interrupted Sir Bernard, as he now is,the other day as he was mowing hislawn. I'm glad to say he is well at 94. Wetalked about his recollections. He hadn'tintended to have anything to do withSputnik, though he knew a satellitelaunch by the Soviet Union was immi-nent. "Yes," he remembered Brian Sam-mons - "older than I was". Then he wenton to relate the story of how Sputniksaved his bacon. Jodrell Bank had runout of money. There was no means of"driving" the newly constructed tele-scope to point it at what you wanted toobserve in the sky. Nobody had beenpaid and the builders were on strike.

Then came the call from the military.Khrushchev had launched "a weaponagainst which there was no defence".They had to know where it was. So backcame the workforce, and the controlroom was finished in double-quick time.The giant telescope, which now bears

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Lovell's name and is in as good a fettleas the man who made it, locked on toSputnik's carrier signal and the bills werepaid. Lovell had saved the world.

That's something else I share with Ber-nard Lovell - the experience of believingyou are doing the right thing for sciencewhen the powers that be are reluctant topay for it. It must be something in theKingswood water!

I will always be grateful for the role heplayed in Sputnik, even if it was, by hisown admission, as an afterthought. Iwish other kids could have the sameinspirational old boys to encourage themto consider science careers.

What did Sir Bernard want to ask me?"Are you going to have another go atMars?" And that's the point. Beagle 2had lots of people who were really pe-ripheral to the main event but neverthe-less there were all manner oflocal-boy-makes-good stories all overthe UK.

We need moreBeagle 2s, projectsthat everyone be-lieves they playedtheir part in, andmaybe there couldbe 500 stories likemine in another 50years.

Colin Pillinger isprofessor of plane-tary sciences at theOpen University.He has a newbook, Space Is aFunny Place.

Contact:psrg@open.ac.uk

In addition, Colin has had an Asteroidnamed after him. Asteroid 15614 is nowofficially Asteroid Pillinger, and theabove photograph shows the presenta-tion to Colin by a NASA official. Congrat-ulations on the award, Colin, and forputting KGS on the map.

CORRECTIONS AND ADDI-TIONS...A letter from BERYL HODGES (52-57)now Littlehales wrote to name the mem-bers of 4B of 1956 which we publishedon page 7 of ‘NEWS No: 29. She writes:

‘The Spring 2007 edition included a let-ter from ANNA SALLIS (52-58) whogave a few names of the people in thephoto. There may be people who will beinterested in the names of the others(such as myself standing behind ANNHARRIS).

‘My sister ANNE HODGES (45-49) nowWarren was interested to see my nameas a new member when she receivedher copy in Nowra, NSW, Australia.

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‘As with ANNA SALLIS, I also wasfriends with twins MAUREEN and MAR-GARET JENKINS. My other friendswere ANN GARDNER and CHRISTINESIMS – Happy memories!’

Boys: J Britton, R Beese, M Gayton, CHarris, B Parker, P Overberry, BrucePerry, T Box, H Burt, Jeffries, Hooper, RPerkins, Dave Scudamore, John Ellis,John Wilmott, J Dicks.Girls: Valerie Gane, Ann Gardner, AnnJohnson, Jean Morgan, Anna Sallis,Joyce Adams, Rosemary Cryer, BerylHodges,Marion Gane, Janet Sawyers, ChristineSims, Brace, Mr Pople, Sandra Gay,June Hopes, Pauline Brain, Ann Harris.

BILL KNIGHT (48-55) has helped usidentify the players in A MidsummerNight’s Dream. He writes: .‘Regarding KOSA NEWS 31 and thepicture of the production of A Midsum-mer Night's Dream on page 24 and theattempt on page 23 to identify the play-ers.

‘I was Oberon on the extreme left, clearlyidentifiable by my antennae. To my leftas Titania is not MARY HUCKLE butPEARL GARDNER. To her left and be-hind her is GERALD KENWOOD. Wecame to KGS from Downend Church ofEngland School together with MICHAELWOOD, with whom I am still in touch.Gerald is not seated in front but Bottom,with the asses' head on his knees,seated centrally in the front is LEAR. Tothe left of the front seated row, hand onstage, I confirm MICHAEL ROCKY.BRUCE CARPENTER is seated, secondfrom (the observer's) right in the secondseated row. I confirm MIKE SAGE,ALAN BAINES and DAVID ANGELL. Iam quite sure about these.‘The name of GANE, in the role of Puckon the observer's extreme right rings a

bell but I do not remember his first name.For the unknown to GERALD KEN-WOOD'S immediate left, and wearing awhite hat, "MERRICK" comes to mindbut I am very doubtful about that.

‘If you have information on the careersand lives of any of them I would beinterested to hear.’

WILSON BARRETT (48-55) in a letterfrom Strasbourg, where he now lives,also confirms that the third person fromthe left of the middle row of the photo-graph is not TONY LEAR but GERALDKENWOOD. TONY LEAR is seated inthe front row.

Wilson also comments on ALANOTLET’S (39-46) letter in the last edi-tion. He writes:‘ I note that MR DAVIES found favour inthe eyes of DR OTLET as regards theteaching of philosophy and logic. MrDavies did not find favour with me asregards the teaching of French. Fortu-nately, MR MOODY arrived. With hind-sight, however, I feel that Mr Moody’sefforts to ensure satisfactory ‘A’ levelresults may well have been motivated bya desire to further his own career. Yourcontributors are usually full of praise forKGS teachers, and I am indeed gratefulto Mr Moody, but I am convinced that inmany cases the comment ‘could/shouldhave done better’ is applicable.

‘Dr Otlet points out that KGS was the‘outcome of local men (not women?) ofstanding after WWI who wanted to pro-vide a fuller education to children of avery working class area’. Perhaps thereis a sociology student about to embarkon a PhD course and who is looking fora research topic. What about ‘KGS andSocial Class’?DID YOU KNOW..?The current HM Lord Lieutenant of Bris-tol is ex-KGS Scholar MARY FORTYnow MARY PRIOR MBE.

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1948 SPEECH DAY...

JOAN HEMMENS (41-48) now GREENhas kindly sent the ‘NEWS many photosand press cuttings, some of which willhave to be held over in the interests ofbalance. Of particular interest, however,is the photo above of the 1948 SpeechDay. The press description is ‘JoanHemmens (head girl) shows one of herawards to the head boy, R E D Garrettand other prize-winners after the presen-tations had been made by Mr R R Dob-son, vice-chairman Glo’shire EducationCommittee.’

Behind Joan and Dick are (l-r) GeoffBishop, Bob Otlet, Megan Davies,Jeanne Hicks, June Marriott, Peter Red-ford, Kathleen Wilcox and Vernon Rob-erts.

According to Kingswood Chronicles 45-49 the prize which Joan received wasprobably the ‘Parents’ Association Prize’In 1949 Joan was awarded a CountyMajor Scholarship to finance a universityplace.

The photo below (left), also fromJoan, is of the 6th Form Girls of1948. Those identified are:Back row: Hazel Long, Mary Miles.Second row: nk, Margaret Vagg,nk, June WrideThird row: nk, Pamela Nash, Mar-garet Edwards, Jean Knight, SheilaFrancisFront row: Ruth Stock, June Marri-ott, Joan Hemmens, Jeanne Hicks,Kathleen Wilcox, Megan Davies.

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EXPEDITIONS...DEREK BAILEY (49-53) scanned thistext from the Kingswood Chronicles 50-51.

‘It goes with the photo of myself andRICHARD BUCKLEY in Hyde Park onone of those trips. You’ll note that I’mwearing my school cap which you alsomodelled for the KOSA NEWS!’

EXPEDITION DAY, 1950What a grand day the School had lastJuly, when expeditions were organizedto London, Windsor, Blenheim, Oxford,Cheddar, Wells and Glastonbury! His-tory was made when the London trainbegan its journey from Bitton. Havingarrived at Paddington, the party divided,the Seniors going to the South Kensing-ton Science Museum, and the Juniorsfor an extensive tour of London, whichincluded a visit to Buckingham Palace,Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Par-liament, the Tower of London, St. Paul'sCathedral, ending with tea at RegentsPark Zoo.

From the coach which took the party toWindsor various places of interest couldbe seen. They halted at Marlboroughbefore finally reaching their destination.From Windsor a boat trip was made toRunnymede, travelling down theThames, and on returning they touredWindsor Castle. Unfortunately St.George's Chapel was not open to visi-tors. After an open-air tea, the partyreturned, stopping only at Marlborough.

Another party went by coach to Blen-heim Palace, where they were particu-larly thrilled by the fine approach. Theywent on to Oxford, for a conducted tourof the Colleges Corpus Christi, Merton,and Magdalen. On the return journey theparty halted at Fairford in order to admirethe magnificent stained-glass windowsin the church. One more stop was madeat Cirencester before reaching home.

Last but not least was the Junior expedi-tion to Wells, Glastonbury and Wookey.At Wells a conducted tour was made ofthe Cathedral, where those on tour at-tended a small service held by a youngclergyman. From here the party went toGlastonbury but unfortunately, owing tothe high charge, was unable to visit theruins. After lunch they proceeded toWookey, where they paid a visit to thecaves, and took tea overlooking theswimming pool. Thus the first ExpeditionDay in the life of the School ended suc-cessfully, everyone having thoroughlyenjoyed themselves. Long may it remaina permanent day in the School's calen-dar.B.B.M. and C.E.W.

We believe that C.E.W. was COLINWINTOUR, who taught French, but whowas B.B.M.? Any ideas?

DEVON REUNION…PAT WALKER (56-62) now BRYANwrote to KOSA NEWS to add a re-newed friend to our numbers:

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‘I have just spent a few days in SauntonSands Hotel, North Devon, where Ibumped into KGS contemporary SAN-DRA LUCAS, now Williams. We hadn’tseen each other since school – she rec-ognized me instantly – not bad after 45years! We had lots of catching up to do.

‘Sandra and I were best friends through-out KGS, along with JUDITH BURT andJENNY QUINTON, who hailed fromNewton-le-Willows and joined us in the2nd form. I would love to get back intouch with Judith and Jenny.’ (We havetraced Judith, but have yet to trace Jen-ny. Does anyone know of her wherea-bouts? - Ed)

The photograph (above) shows the re-union in November 2007 and the photobelow shows the fab four in 1959 atKGS. From the left, Jenny, Judith, San-dra and Pat.

THE PRESIDENT…DAVID LEWIS, our President, retired atthe end of August 2007 after 18 years asHeadteacher of Kingsfield School, thesuccessor to KGS. We are very gratefulto David for showing genuine interest inKOSA and its objects and for providing alink for us with the present school. Hehas been a very regular joiner at ourlunches over the years and he hasagreed to continue as president until thenext AGM. We wish him well in his retire-ment and we hope that our links willcontinue. Perhaps belatedly, your editorhas asked David to provide us with a penportrait of himself, and this he has done.

DAVID IAN LEWIS

Born in 1946 in London (at a very youngage) and bred from 1948 in Dorset.

Attended primary school in the smallnorth Dorset village of Fontmell Magna,and then in 1958, went to ShaftesburyGrammar School, a small country schoolfor boys. By happy chance, Mary Miles(now Mary Lewis) went to the sister girls’High School. 1965–68 Queen Mary Col-lege, London University, reading Eng-lish. This was the time of “SwingingLondon” – we were of course very soberstudents.

Following a brief period working withWiltshire County Council, took up ateaching post at Gillingham Grammar

School in north Kent, toteach English and runthe library. It was an ex-citing time to join theschool with a large intakeof similar young teachersand it was a good ap-prenticeship. By coinci-dence that I only noticedlater the Head, JohnHicks, and the DeputyHead, John Heath, bothcame from Bristol.

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I was involved in the usual activities thatkeen and ready-to-please young teach-ers take on in addition to teaching in theclassroom, such as trips locally andabroad, school plays and music. Maryhad taken up a teaching post in a neigh-bouring school and we married in 1969.Our first home was a flat over a laun-drette – convenient for the washing andwarm in the winter when all the tumbledriers were on.

In the mid ‘70s Kent experimented withvarious sorts of school organisationsand our school became a bilateralschool of about 2000 pupils on a newsite. I was promoted to the new post ofProfessional Tutor. In 1975 our daughterRuth was born, on Bonfire Night. Oursecond daughter, Wendy was born inDownend in 1978.

In 1977, we moved to Bristol when I tookup the post of Head of English at Rod-way School, which had previously beenRodway Technical High School and, likeKingsfield, had been made comprehen-sive about ten years earlier. It is strangethat in those days one could teach in aschool and be almost totally unaware of

the neighbouring school only half a mileor so away. So it was with Rodway andThe Chase School for Boys just a coupleof roads away and with Kingsfield, juston the other side of Rodway Common.However we were bound to get morefamiliar when in the early 1980’s AvonCounty Council reviewed the secondaryprovision in the Kingswood area andfollowing consultation about possibleclosures, decided to amalgamate somesecondary schools. Kingsfield did notneed to join with any other school but aconsequence of the changes elsewherewas that its large Sixth Form was drasti-cally cut in size. In Rodway’s case it wasmarried to The Chase School to becomea split site mixed comprehensive ofabout 1800 pupils. Amalgamations areforced marriages and it took some timeto settle down; the split site meant thatteachers moved from the Lower Schoolto the Upper possibly two or three timesin the day – just think of the carbonfootprint that all that travelling created!

My post at the new Mangotsfield Schoolwas initially Head of English and thenquite quickly thereafter, Deputy Head.The new school with all its planning andorganization issues provided valuablelearning experience and gave me theconfidence to seek Headships and I wasvery fortunate to be appointed in 1989 toKingsfield.

The previous substantive Head, Bill Hax-worth, had left in 1988 and there hadbeen a “Caretaker” Head, Anthony Clar-idge, for one year. I was therefore onlythe fourth permanent Head of the schoolsince its opening in 1921.

In my experience, senior members of theteaching staff tend to end up teachingthe odd lesson here and there in thetimetable when there are a few unfilledspaces late in July! So in addition toteaching English, in my time, I havetaught Religious Education, Personaland Social Education, German and

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French; and as Head one also gets tovisit classrooms, laboratories, gamesfields and witness some miracles ofteaching and motivation, care and un-derstanding and undiminished patienceand good humour. Of course there areoccasional tantrums, raised voices andnon-cooperation – from pupils too!

The link with KOSA really establishedperhaps a couple of years after I took upmy post, was a pleasure and I am confi-dent that the new Head, Steve Longton,will want to keep it alive and meaningful.In addition to the contact with membersI was able to report on the interest of theAssociation and its support to the schoolthrough school assemblies. While thepresent pupils are bound to be mostconcerned with now and what is tocome, it was important to me that theywere aware of the school’s history, thelives and experiences of their predeces-sors and the continuity of priorities andvalues.

In the 18 years from 1989 to 2007 whenI retired, Kingsfield grew from just over800 pupils to around 1200. The groundsand buildings inevitably mutated to ac-commodate the various shifts in the cur-riculum and the change in the pupilpopulation. The operation of the schoolchanged too: in the early ‘90s we startedto run our own budget and needed aBursar to manage business. Now theschool has a delegated annual budget ofnearly £5,000,000. In 1989 the schoolhad one computer for the office and twoto use occasionally and unreliably withpupils. Now virtually everyone -staff andpupils- has access to a machine and tothe global communications of the Inter-net. In 1989 pupils played sports on thatold fashioned sort of grass that growsand has to be mown; they still do butKingsfield has a floodlit Astroturf artificialsurface that allows all weather playing.And in Spetember, 2006 the school wasdesignated a Mathematics and Comput-ing Specialist College; this was a special

and proud moment: it recognised someof the particular strengths of the schooland was the result of some intense anddedicated work by some staff. In a way,this sets the direction for the school as itmoves into this new century.

It was a privilege and pleasure to workwith committed colleagues aiming for thebest outcomes for our pupils and to workwith so many young people who broughttheir own personalities, anxieties, talentsand enthusiasms daily to school.

KOSA MATTERS...WHERE ARE THEY NOW..?We have lost the following memberswhere mailed copies of KOSA NEWShave been returned. Can anyone supplythe present whereabouts of Bob Harris(55-60), Peter Damsberg (62-69), Kath-leen Owen now Waplington (staff) lastheard of in Spain, and Angela Chew(74-79) now Martinez last heard of inCalifornia.

WELCOME...New members since last time, com-mencing year in brackets:Paul Fishlock (60-63), Kate Rashley (67-72), Ron Williams (50-57), Gerald Con-nock (50-57), Colin Millward (44-49),John Garlick (58-59), Peggy Green (39-46), Alun Coonick (68-75), Peter Perry(46-51), Mervyn Wring (46-51), Tim andJane Andrews (73-78), Sandra Lucas(56-61), Margaret Hope (36-40), AlisonHowells (66-67), Judith Burt (56-62).

LADIES’ SCARVES...The KOSA ladies’ scarves have nowarrived and will be available at theSpring Lunch and the AGM on Saturday,12 April 2008. If you would like to orderone before that date they are availablefrom ALAN HIRESON (address in com-mittee members’ list) price £10, includ-ing post and packing for the UK. only.

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DIDO AND AENEAS - 1965