ESILHILL IAN 2000

President's Letter 2 Dinners & Luncheons 35 "THE SILHILLIAN" President-Elect 4 Lodge & Chapter 43 the magazine of the The Old Silhillians' Association Limited Editorial 6 Astro Pitch 44 (The Former Pupils of School) Memorial Clubhouse and Ground Main Committee 8 Decking 46 Warwick Road School Report 10 Sword of Honour 48 Copt Heath Solihull The Trust 17 Obituaries 50 B93 9LW

Old Silhillians' News 19 Sports Sections 63 Telephone: 01564 777680 Facsimile: 01564 775151 Emma Hubble 32 Acknowledgments 76 Email: [email protected] Website: www.silhillians.net ISSUE 59 NOVEMBER 2008 Jerroms Specialists in Accounting, Tax and Business Planning

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The Exchange. Haslucks Green Road, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands B90 2EL k, Tel: 0121 693 5000 Fax: 0121 745 5156 Email: [email protected] Web: www.jerroms.co.uk President 2008 John Platt 2 - - r fr om t he Pr es i e n the School.Hehasensuredthatourrelationshipisastrongoneandhe The PresidentissupportedbytheMainCommitteeduringyearand We, attheAssociation,areluckytohavePhilGriffithsasHeadmasterof of ourfacilitiesatCoptHeath. that ourfurtherprogressindevelopingthismutuallybeneficialrelation- is mindfuloftheAssociation'sgoals.HehasattendedeveryCommittee Association andthoseoftheTrustarenowseparatedgivingusgreater ship willprosperunderhisinfluence. schedule. Hehasprovedanexcellentsounding-boardforsomeofour have beentomaintainthelinkswithSchoolandpromoteuse meeting givingusupdatesonallaspectsofSchoollifedespitehisbusy and experience!JoeBateshastakenoverasTreasurersorted I feelthisyearwehaveanexceptionalteamwithagoodblendofyouth The Associationaccountsbasicallycovertheincome andcostsofrunning out sometrickyproblemsonthefinancialfront.Theaccountsof ideas regardingourapproachtoleaversandparentsalike!Iamconfident the clubhouseandgrounds.Lastyear'ssubstantial lossesduetofalling of incomemeantthatlastyear'saccountsfortheAssociation werenot clarity onthefinancialpositionofboth.Theconfusion overtheallocation Turning totheTrustIcan confirmthatwehaveabout£120kondeposit able fortheAGMinnormalway. were approvedatanEGMinJune.Thisyear'saccounts shouldbeavail- difficult. Wewillagainmakealossthisyearbutatmuch lowerlevel.We presented attheAGM.Thissituationhasbeenresolved andtheaccounts world wehavetorunthe facilitiesasabusinessandbeawareofany cash andtheManagementCommitteeisworkinghard withourManager, cannot continuetomakelossesontradingasitiseroding ourreservesof single outEmmaHubble who hasreceivedsomeassistancetoenable income andunavoidablerepairshavebeenstemmed buttradingremains and thatwearepayingsome scholarships.InparticularIshouldliketo income generatingopportunities. Keith Waterhouse,tomarketourfacilitiesandbuild turnover.Intoday's young person who is reallyenjoying whatthey aredoing, making asuc- and itmakes goodreading!Whatarefreshing changeitistohear ofa received her letter(seepage32)giving usanupdateonherprogress not havebeen abletoacceptthisoffer. Icanreportthatwehave just her totakeupplaceat dramaschool.Withoutthishelpshewould John andTrishPlatt ecessors. Mymainobjectives As Iwritehavethreemonths former pupilsatthevariousfor- experience immensely.Ihave Dear FellowOldSilhillian dent andIhopehavecontin- a greathonourtobeyourPresi- all madememostwelcome!Itis and canhonestlysaytheyhave met agreatcross-sectionof President andIamenjoyingthe remaining ofmyyearasyour mal functionsIhaveattended ued thegoodworkofmypred- the Governorstogetherwith PaulAsinder,ChairmanoftheParents'As- An Associationsuchasourscannotprosperwithout strongrelationships you all. sociation. Theyhaveallshown strongsupporttotheAssociation. to theAssociation. and mythanksalsogoto all thestaffatMemorialClubhouseandto and supportfromitsroots. Weareinanongoingsymbioticrelationship and ManagementCommitteesfortheirhelp,guidance andcommitment for thesecondtimeintheirhistory.Itreallyisquiteanachievementand his forthcoming yearasyourPresident andpassonmybestwishes to In closingIshouldliketogivemythanksallmembers ofboththeMain I hopeyouenjoyreadingthemagazine.Yetagain Malcolm Lawriehas a wreathonyourbehalfattheRemembranceService. Onalighternote of belonging.Somethingshavechangedcompletely butsomeseemal- which willgivemegreatprideandpleasure.Iamveryproudtobean that itcanshowthefundsareavailable.Thebusinessplanforproject Association areconcernedthatthefundingofthisprojectcouldcausedi- better startmakingsomenotesformyspeeches! Association. Itislessthansomecomparableschools'formerpupil'sor- from £13to£20forannualpaymentsand£200£250life Finally Ishouldliketowish mysuccessor,RupertYoung,goodluckfor mitment hehasbroughttothetask.Manythanksagain Malcolm! produced anexcellentpublicationwhichreflectsthe time, effortandcom- Old SilhillianandonmyrecentvisitstoSchoolIhavereallyfeltasense a detailedreportcanbefoundlaterinthismagazine. a successfulFestival.PrideofplacemustgototheGolfingSocietywho encouraging starttothenewseasonandHockeyClubiscelebrating On thesportingfrontIcanreportthatRugbyClubhasmadean and couldcontributesignificantlytoourfutureatCoptHeath. shows thatitwillbringinmuchneededrevenuefromexternalsources visions betweentheconstituentpartsbutIcanassureyouthatMain Phil Griffiths,Headmaster oftheSchool,GrahamHughes,Chairman ganisations. ThiswasapprovedattheEGM. November bringsboththeLondonDinnerandPresident's Dinner!I'd most unaltered.SoonIshallbeattendingSpeech Day andlaterlaying Committee willcriticallyreviewthisprojectanditsfundingatthetime about £500k.Currentpledgesarearound£140kandthefundingshortfall wife, Sarah.AttheEGMinJunewesoughttoincreaseoursubscriptions work bytheMembershipSecretary,RupertYoungablyassistedhis I nowmoveontosomecurrenttopicstobringyouupdate.Firstly, cess ofitandbeingeternallygratefultothosewhohavehelpedmake During myremainingtenureIhavesomeimportanteventstoattend ing aheadbutbyitsverynatureonlyslowly.Somesectionswithinthe is formingthebasisofapplicationforlotteryfunding.Thisprojectmov- have justreturnedfromNorfolkafterwinningtheGraftonMorrishtrophy membership. Thisisentirelyduetotheincreasedcostofrunning it possible! Moving ontotheAstroturfprojectIcanconfirmthattotalcostwillbe membership. Wenowhave1593membersandthisreflectsalotofhard John A Platt Thank you 3 Ma i I 9. 1d 9 4 W 0J . 191:49 Born in 1965, I attended Blossomfield get my degree and subsequently achieve my professional qualification. Infant School before going on to St. From 1986 to early 1995 I worked in London at Hillier Parker May & Rowden. There James C of E Junior School in Shirley. I met Sarah, the love of my life, and we married in October 1994. In 1995 I moved After a couple of years there my Father,

back to Solihull and opened a office for Hillier Parker. In 1997 our 1_ Forbes Young, decided that I was guilty son, Angus, was born. I was delighted when he started at Solihull School in J3T in -41

of "too much talking and not enough do- m September 2006. ing". He therefore decided I should go gn to Solihull School, which he had attend- Back in the Midlands, I returned to Silhillians RUFC having played rugby continu- I t: ed in the late 1940s. His best friends ously whilst in London. After a few (very few) appearances in the 1st XV alongside had been Jim 'Tubby' Brown and David some team mates with whom I had played in the '82/83 Colts side, I settled into the ap Cox (OSA President in 1983). 2nd XV. Eventually I captained the 2nd XV for a couple of years and finally hung up .„ my boots in 2007. During this time I sat on the Rugby Club committee. I maintain arTiraMP I vividly remember the day of the en- an active interest in the sport and currently coach the Silhillians Under 12 side on Rupert and Sarah Young trance exam. We sat in a room on C Sundays. corridor. Halfway through, a strange person in a black cloak came in, unlocked the

UTZ wooden cupboard by the door, put in several new cricket bats, a couple of pairs For the past three years I have been the Membership Secretary of the OSA. Slowly of pads and a box of balls. "I hope I pass", I thought, "their kit is so much better we are tracking down more and more Old Sils and, whether they are members or than I've been used to". I subsequently discovered that the master in question, not, adding their details to the database. I was very pleased when John Platt asked with chalk dust all over one shoulder, was Martin Ayres. I swear I never saw that me to become the next President. Hopefully, having learned at last to "do" as well kit again! as to "talk", I will work hard to continue to promote the Association as a useful, if oc- casional, element in the lives of Old Sils and also seek to help current pupils. To my Father and Mother's delight, not to say surprise, I was offered a place for September 1973. All summer long, whenever we went anywhere in the car, my Rupert Young Father rammed the School song down my throat. Eventually I was word perfect.... 'When Richard the Second was ruling this land ...' etc. "You'll be one step ahead", THE OLD SILHILLIANS' ASSOCIATION - PAST PRESIDENTS he said. I left the School in 1983 and, even though I was in the Chapel Choir for several years, I never sang that song. 1921/22 Dr AV Bernays 1954 MAD Cooper 1981 JLR Hare 1923 C Aldrin 1955 JT Rolfe 1982 RC Cupit I started in 1N and the form teacher was David Gooding. He was a thoroughly 1924 WR Ludlow 1956 VO Hawley 1983 DD Cox decent chap who seemed to have a permanent cold. The idea of having different 1925 PE Martineau 1957 FR Bishop 1984 DW Edwards teachers for certain lessons and changing classrooms was very daunting. Howev- 1926 PH Reading 1958 LG Highway 1985 SC Mackay er, it was nowhere near as terrifying as being on the wrong end of Jack Crawford's 1927 HA Hughes 1959 HA Steele 1986 JRD Orrett board compass. In 2W, under Brian Bennett, the "too much talking" came back to 1928 HS Matthews 1960 CWD Cooper 1987 G Stubbings haunt me. Nearly every single school night for the whole year I had a punishment 1929 TA Furse 1961 HT Wilcox 1988 MS Saunders essay (the worst was 16 sides) to complete, most with bizarre titles. Future form 1930 CH Palmer 1962 WP Townsend 1989 HJC Taylor teachers were Penguin, Mike Dodgeon, Windy Miller, Mike Williams (sadly missed 1932 LC Reading 1963 DH Billing 1990 MJD Smith and my personal favourite), John Lloyd and Brent Wormald. 1933 LE Horton 1964 HB Callaghan 1991 RJC Graves I had a great 10 years at Solihull School (most of the time). With the exception 1934 F Burnett 1965 CT Coton 1992 BW Allen of the academic side (where I was brilliantly average) I got a great deal out of 1935 RH Whitehill 1966 MJ Wheelock 1993 GM Hughes other activities. These included the CCF, House and School Rugby, the Chapel 1936 CL Hughes 1967 PJ Hill 1994 HE Blow Choir under Colin "Piggy" Edmondson and the Upper School productions led by 1937 FJ Osborne 1968 BJW Swift 1995 AJ Richardson the wonderfully named Headmaster, Mr Slaughter. Being in one of those produc- 1938 HD James 1969 FAR Moon 1996 P Callaghan 1939/43 WRL Horton 1970 JEJ Baggs 1997 MC Bettridge tions, particularly the musicals, was a great way for those who weren't sports gods 1944 FL Nock 1971 RG Toy 1998 PA Thomas to become popular with the strange and wonderful creatures called girls, who only 1945 AG Bragg 1972 TG Jones 1999 JM Batsford appeared in the Vlth form at that time. You knew, at a certain stage in rehearsals 1946 JB Mayers 1973 JMB Urry 2000 J Woolman fairly close to the main event, Giles Slaughter would throw an absolute wobbler just 1947 CW Bragg 1974 DM Powell 2001 BJD Wilde to make us concentrate and learn our lines. It was definitely contrived, or at least 1948 EG Wilcox 1975 MJ Cusack 2002 MA Cutler I think it was. 1949 AJD Mansell 1976 RC Young 2003 N Smith After school I took a 3 month eye-opening trip in both rugby and apartheid terms, 1950 JM Urry 1977 KJ Foster 2004 R Jerrom to South Africa. I stayed with John Sperring (OS). On returning to the UK I went 1951 KW Highway 1978 T Jackson 2005 BW Allen 4 to Portsmouth Polytechnic to study Urban Land Administration. Sadly my Father, 1952 Dr. KD Waters 1979 DA Gurnham 2006 PA Thomas 5 also a chartered surveyor, died suddenly whilst I was at college and never saw me 1953 BE Hatton 1980 PBL Instone 2007 SD Aliso

Dear Old Silhillian, counsel got me through a few sticky situations and stopped me from getting into others. Jim had the great gift of being able Where do the years go? It only to talk to anyone, no matter their age, and make them feel to- seems like last year that John tally at ease. His kindness and wicked sense of humour are Batsford and Brian Wilde asked greatly missed in the clubhouse. me to consider editing The SRN- Han and this is my ninth edition. As ever I must thank all of the contributors to this issue. It is refreshing that Brian needs Without your copy it would be a thin magazine and without your no more sleep than he did then, advertisements and acknowledgments The Silhillian's production but still elects to take it at social costs would weigh heavily in the OSA Trust accounts. Given the functions! current economic situation, it is a sign of the generosity of the advertisers that this year's revenue exceeds previous years' by This year the DIY team turned a considerable margin. their hands to decking and their efforts have greatly improved the I wish you all a very healthy and successful twelve months. I entrance to the clubhouse. More of that and some pictures are suspect I shall be back next year for my tenth edition. Having on page 46. The Association has been working extremely hard said that, I would not be averse to stepping down if the offer on a project to lay an astroturf facility at Copt Heath and a re- was made or to taking on an 'apprentice' to fill my boots at some port of their efforts is on page 44. time in the (not too distant) future. This year has had its sad moments for me. I guess it is a sign Kind regards Malcolm Lawrie of getting older that two people that I had great respect and fondness for passed away this year. Laurie Bradley was my art PAST EDITORS master and, moreover, a good OFFICE SUPPLIES 1. Bernard Owens (1950. 53-55) friend to me when I was in the FREE SAME DAY DELIVERY 2. Brian CogIan (1951-52) boarding house. After I left 3. Arthur Upton (1956-60. 63) School we bumped into each Why choose Juel? 4. Robin Cooper (1961-62) Friendly and knowledgeable sales and other when the Old Sils came 5. Mike Cusack & customer services staff Customers are our number one priority Mike Callaghan (1964) up against Bournville Hockey Personalised contracts and order forms Club and on the odd occasion at JUEL 6. Mike Cusack (1965-67) On-site visits if required 7. Brian Knight (1968-71) School. We lost touch over the One-stop shopping - saves 8. Geoff Herne (1972-74) past decade, but it was great BUSINESS SERVICES you money 9. Nick Atkinson (1975-76) news when I learnt that our Office and computer supplies 10. John Woolman (1977-79) daughters were to go to Solihull Contact Neil Jones, Windsor, left 1987 Print and stationery 11. Simon Wilcox (1980-82) School together and we met up Office furniture and machines 12. Martin Cotter (1983-85) again. Alas that reunion was all 13. David Gilbert (1986-87) too short. 14. Robert Chetland (1988-89) Tel 01564 772934 15. Reg Instone (1990-91) Jim Waters, I met through Juel Business Services Limited, 462 Station Road, 16. Richard Graves (1992-94) hockey (and a shared passion 17. Claude Coton (1995-99) Dorridge, Solihull, West Midlands B93 8HB 6 for a pint!). He became a good 18. Malcolm Lawrie (2000- ) Email: [email protected] • order on-line at www.juel.co.uk friend and confidant. His wise

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iumul A. John Platt Rupert Young Steve Aliso Mike Waters Vikki Blasdale Management Chairman

. General Member - 1mm. Past President London Representative

President President Elect -all A

44141

Barry Allen Phil Griffiths Peter Davies Johnny Dugdale Peter Thomas Vacant Chairman Headmaster Hon. Secretary General Member General Member General Member

Please note that all enquiries concerning membership issues, subscriptions, change of address etc., should be addressed to: The Membership Secretary The Old Silhillians' Association, Solihull School, Warwick Road, Solihull, West Midlands B91 3DJ or emailed to 8 [email protected] 9 Joe Bates Rupert Young Malcolm Lawrie Hon. Treasurer Hon. Membership Sec. Silhillian Editor 10

e c George Haynes(HeadBoy),IndigoLeFevre(DeputyHeadGirl),PhilGriffiths, The weekendbeforeSimon Mayocametoschooltherewasareunionfor the Chapelorganatacostof£250,000.DavidBriggs (OldSilhillian1974 emy and hasbeenArtistic Director atNottingham Playhouse, theNorthcott one ofthem,Richard DigbyDay,isPrincipal oftheLondonDramatic Acad- a smallgroupofpastpupils whowere1958leavers.Theyhadbeenvery and rebuild.Paulwillgive a recitalon17November.Ticketsarefreeand and hehasactedasconsultantthroughoutthelong processofplanning - 1981andworldfamousorganist)hadgiventhefirstrecital inJuneandwe Year awardandIwasdelightedwhenheagreedtoreturn, despitehaving Silhillian 1963-1971andorganistChoirmasterof SouthwellMinster) Choir. Therebuildoftheorganhasbeenmasterminded byPaulHale(Old at GlasgowUniversity)gaveanorganrecitaltocelebrate therebuildingof arranged his50thbirthdaypartyforthesameevening. Onlytwoweeks on BBCRadio5Live.ThisyearhewontheSony Broadcasterofthe ued theirinterest inthetheatre,atHallGreen LittleTheatreforinstance, but performing in a localhall,aswellatschool. Severalofthemhad contin- keen amateuractorsandhad formedtheirownamateurtheatrecompany, please contacttheSchool if youwouldlikesome. heard theworldpremiereofhisanthem,writtenespecially fortheChapel before JohnButt(OldSilhillian1969-1979andGardiner ChairofMusic programme onRadio1forfiveyearsandnowhoststheafternoonslot Simon Mayo,whowasapupilintheearly1970s.Simon'scareerwith School. TheGuestofHonourpresentingtheprizesatSpeecheswas BBC spansover20years;hewasthepresenteronflagshipbreakfast In recentweekswehavewelcomedseveralpastpupilsasvisitorstothe Simon Mayo,NicolaReid(HeadGirl)andTomFoxall(DeputyHeadBoy) to SeanMaguire andLaurenceAitchison andSeniorExhibitionsto Andrew to medicalschoolsaround thecountry.Oversummercamenewsthat Yet againthisyear'sacademicresultsareimpressive. 55pupils,or40% the recreationofOldQuadran- finally addedtheGeorgeHillBuild- will alsobesenttoyou. the Quatercentenary.Therewillbeothereventsfor2010and,whendetails to celebratetheSchool's450thAnniversary,justasChapelcelebrated to takeplacebeforethetermbeginsinSeptember.TheMusicSchoolis for teamteasafterthematches,and groundwork hasbeencompletedandthewallsarejustbeginningtogoup. Theatre andtheWelshNationalTheatre.Itisalwaysgoodtomeetpast ever results atGCSE with63.8% ofallgrades atgradeA* orA.Iaward year's record, buttheireffortswerestill excellent,beingoursecond best and thatEmmanuelCollege, CambridgehasawardedSeniorScholarships Sam Tuckerhasbeenawarded aScholarshipbyStAnne'sCollege,Oxford 82.2% ofallthegradesachieved wereatgradesAandBtherewasa of theyeargroup,leftSchoolwiththreeAgrades ormoreatALevel. of theSchool'sEndowmentbyGovernors. and sizeastheoriginal,butitisquitesimilar.TheJunior Schoolhasalso gle. Thisisnotquitethesameshape and lavatoriesaswellthetempo- a newPavilion,whichcanalsocater 2000 theSchoolhasbuiltBushell series ofmajornewfacilities.Since The MusicSchoolisthenextina on thesiteofoldchangingrooms One consequenceofthishasbeen cilities. Oneyearlaterthebuildingworkisunderwayandalready and ifyouhavephotographsormemorabiliaabouttheSchool,hewould love tohearfromyou. pupils andhearoftheirexperiences.JohnLoyntonistheSchool'sArchivist Pickering and DanielThompson.TheUpper Fifthdidnotquitematch last impressive setoffacilities,madepossiblebythe management received amajorrenovation.Workoverthepastnine years hascreatedan rary buildingknownastheLBlock. ing, consistingof16newclassrooms Centre, providedchangingfor200in ings withanewOutdoorPursuits brary, replacedalltheoldCCFbuild- have beenfinalised,theinformationwillbeavailableonourwebsiteand Completion isexpectedbythesummerholidaysof2009,allowingfittingout Music Schoolwillbebuilttoreplacethepresentsmallandinadequatefa- My lastarticleforTheSilhillianbeganwiththeannouncementthatanew Hall, convertedBigSchoolintoaLi- 100% passrate.Eightwill gotoOxfordandCambridgeninewill

John Butt 1

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UITWT4II TITZ to gobackasalumnihelpadviseandtraintheirsuccessors.Oursenior were tospendtendaysinDublinmixingwithrepresentativesfromallother to representtheUnitedKingdomatEuropeanYouthParliament.They This yearateamoftenwonthelocalandregionalroundscompetition Academic resultsthesedaysaresooftenpresentedasLeagueTablefig- teachers. great individualpupilachievementsandconsiderablehardworkbytheir eight Agradesorbetter.Theseareveryencouragingresultsandrepresent ann (IrishHouseofCommons).Therewasnotanoverallwinner—that sues andcomingtogetherforfinaldebatesinthechamberofDáilEire- ceived theminthefirstassemblyofyear.100LowerSixthhave Wessex School. AsmallgroupofSolihull pupilswenttoChileat Easter Two gapstudentsfromWessex Schoolhaveworkedinschoolthisyear trip toNewYorkandthesenior sportsteamshavebeentoNewZealand and, fortwosuccessive summers,Solihull Schoolpupilshaveworked at and Fiji(rugby),SouthAfrica (hockey)andBarbados(girls'hockey not theaim—butitwasalifetimeexperienceandsomehavebeenchosen ures, buttheeducationprovidedinaschoolissomuchwiderthanthis. medals tothepupilswhohaveeightA*gradesormoreand26re- European Unioncountries,dividingintocommitteestolookatspecificis- Oxford Schoolandthis September wehosteda visitoften Oxford School and travelled thelengthofthatverylongitudinal country.Theystayed at netball). Linkshavebeenfurther developedwithWessexSchoolinChile. rugby playinginFrance,a GeographyfieldcourseinIceland,aHistory have beenskitripstoAustriaandFrance,workexperience inNormandy, ment's visittoDublinwasonlyoneofmanytripsabroad thisyear.There ' tivewayofreplacingold decay- Chile The EuropeanYouthParlia- team enteredfortheEngineering top 40mathematiciansinthe the InternationalMathsChal- year andforthesecondrun- selected fortheNationalMaths als havebeennominatedforthe developed asimple,cost-effec- ested intheworkofSchool's Scholarships havebeenwonthis country. TwoNationalArkwright Summer School,whichisforthe Championships, whilstindividu- mathematicians representedthe ning theNationalGridisinter- lenge, andMichaelGoodwinwas Midlands intheNationalMaths ing pipes. Education Scheme.Theyhave European MathsChallengesand the isleofArrantobebittenbymidgesandhavetheircampsitewashed for itsannualcampandtheDukeofEdinburgh'sAwardexpeditionwentto These arethemoreexoticdestinations,butCCFwasatLongmooragain support individualstravellingabroadandthisyearpupilshavebeentowork students. TheWFBushellTravellingScholarshipshaveenabledmeto fail totellthewholestory.TheBedfordModerndefeatwasbyapointand away bythetorrentialrain.Neverthelessthesetwoaspectsofschoollife in medicalcampsAndhraPradesh. in aGhanaianorphanageandThaicommunityschool,aswelltohelp The 1stXVwon8oftheir14matchesintheChristmasTerm,butfigures and 40BronzewiththeDukeofEdinburgh'sAwardScheme.Thisisa after school)whilstthisyear30pupilshavegainedGoldAwards,Silver go fromstrengthtostrength,withover160intheCCF(nowvoluntaryand second teamplayedsomesuperbopenrugbyandwonallbuttwooftheir Worcester inthefinalover them inthelaterstagesofterm.TheylosttoRoyalGrammarSchool, Xl wonalltheirmatchesbeforehalfterm,butsuccessdidnotstaywith The Boys'1stXlwon11oftheir13matches. and theGirls'1stXIlostinCountyFinal,asdidUnder13team. eight oftheUnder16werechosentoplayforCounty,andJamesTrue- Old Swinfordscoredthewinningtryindyingsecondsofgame.The magnificent tally. the beginningofthisChrist- to defeattheWarwickshire Girls' andBoys'Under14hockeyteamswereWestMidlandsChampions matches andtheUnder16teamwereundefeated.Fiveof1stXV man wasselectedforEnglandUnder16Aandthetoptryscorer.Both for theWarwickshireUnder took 5wicketsfor11runs and theyfailedtogetthe13 Summer sportsdidnotsuffersobadlyfromtherainaslastyear.The1st Xl andwasselectedtoplay off 4oversfortheUnder14 runs inthelastthreeovers the bestfiguresforabowler the Under15 and Under13 tinues toflourish,withboth at Easter.Sheprobablyhas Champions. TinaGough mas TermwiththeUnder Imps. Cricketcontinuedinto in theSchool.Tenniscon- 12 teambecomingCounty Boys' teamsbecoming BoroughChampions andgoingthroughtothe West Midlands Areatournaments. In athletics there havebeen victoriesover 19 Girls'tourtoSouthAfrica The ScarletPimpernel

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Him&t i4_= full-time mother, butsixmenwithover160 yearsintotalretiredatthe end their lifetoSolihullSchool. Thisyeartherewerestaffinbothcategories: of theSummer Term 2008. strength. students performingstudioproductions,Dramaisgoing fromstrengthto move onandothersretire. Somestayforafewyears,butothersdevote you intotheplayandthereweresomeverystrongperformances, notleast The BushellHallhasencouragedthedevelopment ofDramaandthis who gainedtenALevels,eightatgradeA,andwastragicallykilledin this offwithover60intheChapelChoir(nowboysandgirls),providing by GeorgeHaynes,whostoodinatthelastmoment asMercutiowhen description mightdeter,butitwasamarvellousproduction. Thecastdrew Christmas Termtherewillbethreeplays.Themain playlastyearwas an accidentinOxford,wherehewasstudyingEngineering atWorcester the titleofWestMidlandsYoungMusicianYearandSaxophonyhave the buglerforBorough'sRemembranceServiceand11firstplacesin Miss Holden left forWhitgiftSchooland MrsSanganeelefttobecome a made possiblebecauseof adedicatedstaff.Inevitablyeveryyearsome I hopethisbriefsketchgives aglimpseofwhatgoesonatschool.Itis Lower SchoolplaysbeingresurrectedandtheALevel TheatreStudies Richard BrownwassummonedtoOxfordforinterview. WithMiddleand College. as over1,000standinsilenceonRemembranceDayandAliceJackson's various musicfestivalsintheWestMidlands.JacquiMartenshasjustwon two mainconcertsayear—SaintCeciliaandtheSummerConcertin Romeo andJuliet,performedonaminimaliststage in 1970sdress.This Concert. TheconcertwasdedicatedtoTszFok,theremarkablestudent remarkable playingofBeethoven'sPianoConcertoinCattheSummer mention two—theetherealplayingofLastPostacrossQuadrangle and aperformanceofSchubert'sMassinGbytheChoralSociety.Top five nights,butthosewhodidnotcomemissedatreat.AdamCarverwas issued theirownalbum.Therearemanymemorablemoments,butIwould superb astheScarletPimpernel,otherwiseknownSirPercyBlakeney, between therearerecitalsandinformalconcerts,plusaChristmasConcert and hisperformancewasmatchedbyAdamMassingberd-Mundyplay- of theSchool.AftersuccessTheSoundMusiclastyearitwas ing theFrenchRevolutionaryChauvelinandbyJackieLewisFrankie not sowellknownasamusicalandonlyplayedtofullhousesonfourofthe match thatsuccess.YetTheScarletPimpernelwasanothertriumph.Itis In allover100wereinvolvedwiththeMusical,butsameistrueof Rhodes, whosharedtheroleofMarguerite. recognized thattheteamofPerrinsandFairwouldhavetoworkhard Close atseniorlevel. I havealreadymentionedtheorganrecitals,butMusicpervadeslife Uppingham, Trent,OldSwinford,Bromsgrove,MalvernCollegeandDean with astrongphilosophyofwhathewantedandsetting veryhighstand- tennis fromMrHardingandtherehavebeenseveralsignificantsuccesses, tured in2004,sincewhenhehasbeenHeadofthe ThirdForm.After23 John McGowanwasHeadoftheGermanDepartmentandithasflourished for sport, particularly athletics,and hetookour teams, withMr Ginns'ssup- years atSolihullheretiredthesametimeashiswife, whotaughtatSaint ards. His1stXVwent43matcheswithoutdefeatand the Departmentgrew of Willshire,GinnsandWormald didsixSnowdoniaSchoolstogetherand guard oftheintroduction co-education. compassionate HeadofLower Schoolfortenyearsandwasinthevan- rapidly inmanpower.HemovedtobecomeUpperSchool Housemasterof Gareth GinnscreatedthePEandGamesDepartment, asweknowittoday, have thenumberoftripstoGermanmarketsorBerlin.Hetookover under hiscare.ThelinkwithElisabethenschuleinHofheimhasgrown,as including winningthePhillipsCupatEtonTennisTournament. many boyshavebenefited fromRichard'sculinaryability.Hehasbeena much involvedinthedevelopmentofDrama,producing 16plays.Thetrio Pole in1997andretainedthatpostuntilthepastoral systemwasrestruc- Lower School, becameHeadofMiddleSchool in1998.Markhasa passion master ofFetherston and,atthesametime asMrWillshirebecame Head of partment, teachingFrench and German.HebecameUpperSchoolHouse- Mark Goathamarrivedin1981 asamemberoftheModernLanguagesDe- Richard WillshirecametoteachEnglish24yearsago andhewasvery Martin's. Messrs McGowan,Willshire,Swain,Wormald,GoathamandGinns 15 0 fD 73 16 UMPMiMM1 we willgaintremendouslyfromhisexperience. vibrant andsuccessful. the contributionofthesesixmenhashelpedtomakeSolihullSchoolboth to theSchool.Thereisatraditionoflong-servingteachersinthisplaceand the JuniorSchoolandbecameitsfirstDeputyHeadsixyearsago.Hehas would gointheeveningtowatchMalcolmplayatTheReddings.Hehas given invaluablesupporttoLindsayBroughduringthistime.He,too,hasa that timehewasalsoplayingrugbyatthehighestlevel,withMoseleyand Last yearIpaidtributetoJohnLoyntonassomeonewhodedicatedhislife love ofgolfandledmanytourswithMrLoynton,whoretiredlastyear. captaining WalesB.ForseveralseasonscoachloadsofThirdFormboys coached rugbythroughouthistimeatSolihull,buthehasalsotaughtin wife, Von,haveretiredtoSouthernFrancewheretheyahouse. Malcolm willreturninthe2008-2009academicyearasarugbycoachand as agiantcrossword.InhistimehehasbeenWardenoftheSixthForm, Malcolm Swainarrivedin1972fromGeorgeDixonGrammarSchool.At player, hehasmastermindedthetimetableforseveralyears,regardingit always thereatathleticsmatches,exhortinghisteamtowin.Markand distances ofpupilsfromtheverybeginninghistimeatSolihullandwas Retirement willallowhimtimeforthegolfcourse(withGarethGinns). Examinations Officerandcoachtoinnumerablehockeycricketteams. bridge groupssomechallengingandinnovativequestions.Acounty has retiredafter35years.HeisaremarkablephysicistwhosettheOx- Brent WormaldhasbeenatSolihullSchoolhisentireteachingcareerand port, toadifferentlevelofcompetition.Amazinglyhecanquotetimesand Applications should sentto-TheOSASecretary, TheMemorialClubhouse & Ground,Warwick Road,CoptHeath,Solihull, WestMidlands8939LW September. Awardswillbe madewithinonemonthofthedeadlinefor award thatafullwrittenreport ispresentedtotheBoardofTrustees Applications arerestrictedtoindividualsanditisacondition ofthe pupils ofSolihullSchoolwhoareinfull-timeeducation. Theaward Applications willbereviewed twiceeachyearat1stMarchand The OldSilhillians'Associationisabletoofferthisaward toformer However, itmusttakeplacewithinonecalendaryear of theaward can betohelpresearchnecessaryforthecompletionof afull-time not morethanthreemonths afterthecompletionofproject. qualification, ortosupportworkwithacharity.Theresearch or charitable workmaybeundertakeneitherathomeor abroad. The JohnLanderOsbourneAward being granted.Themaximumawardis£750. applications. P JGriffiths,Headmaster ers dowhogiveoftheirtimevoluntarilytoacauseororganisationinwhichthey seemed socomplex.Therearenewlaws,standardsandlegalforms, dedicated BoardofTrusteeswhounderstandeachother'sskillsandweaknesses, At thispoint,Idothinkitimportant thatinthis,thefirstreportofTrust,you framework. Wethereforeworkaroundsevenprinciples: ship. Todothisanddeliverwhatourmemberswantwehavetoworkwithina able tousegoodeffect.Allofusneedkeeptheshowonroad-make each memberhavingdifferentknowledgeandexperiencethatweasabodyare activities youshouldknowwho thetrusteesare: budgets balance,keeptrackoflegalrequirements,planaheadandshowleader- But hereisthegoodnews:OldSilhillians'Trustenjoysbenefitofatruly have apassionatebelief. being aTrusteeisn'talwaysstraightforward.Iknowthis,asamsuremanyoth- Never beforehastheroleofCharityTrusteebeeninspotlightnorit know fromwhichdirectionIam coming.BeforeItalkspecificallyabouttheyear's • • • • • • • Association's workandplans,aswellontheTrusteeBoard's ownrole. the Associationandmustconductthemselvesaccordingly to fulfilthistrust. and ensuresTrusteesarewellsupported. CONTROL - strategic long-termfutureoftheAssociation. involve interestedgroupsinmakingplansanddecisions. OPENNESS - day-to-day work. INTEGRITY - DELEGATION - REVIEW andRENEWAL- HIGH PERFORMANCE- requirements placedonit. LEADERSHIP - Phil Griffiths - Trustees ensuretheAssociationisrunproperlyandmeets the Peter Thomas- The BoardofTrusteesmustbeopentotheoutsideworldand Trustees understandthattheyareentrustedwiththeassets of Trustees takeultimateresponsibilityandconcentrateonthe Trustees areclearabouttowhomandhowtheydelegate John Platt- Peter Davies- Barry Allen- (by invitation) Headmaster ofSolihull School Joe Bates- The BoardofTrusteeskeepsitsownhouseinorder The TrusteeBoardstandsbackandreflectsonthe Richard Jerrom - was delightedwhenpresentedwithanewopportuni- tees outlinestheaimsandobjectivesofTrust the OldSilhillians'Associationsincemid-1970s,I and theiractivitiesoverthelast12months. sion andaccountabilityofthisgreatorganisation. ensure theoveralldirection,effectiveness,supervi- is tomehavesystemsandprocessesinplace as yourPresidenttwice,youknowhowimportantit ty ofbeingChairmantheBoardTrusteesat beginning oftheyear.HavingservedAssociation Having undertakenalmosteveryrolepossiblewithin Peter Thomas,ChairmanoftheOSABoardTrus- Chairman oftheBoardTrustees President ofOSA2007-2008 Treasurer ofOSA Chairman ofOSA Secretary ofOSA Trustee 17

"f•X.2.PI In the mid 1960s, when the OSA moved its headquarters to Barston Lane, the Asso- P. JOHN A. TAYLOR (Shenstone, left 1944) ciation enjoyed a regular stream of new members joining each year. Many would I found Gordon Campbell's reminiscences in the 2007 Silhillian join the thriving sports sections, and the founding ethos of providing a facility in interesting if rather inaccurate in parts. How did you manage to which friendships developed at school could be furthered into adulthood through extend the Second World War by three years, Gordon? (It is not the medium of sport, was relatively easy to achieve. Sadly however, for many beyond the realms of possibility that I may have introduced that good reasons, the desire of former pupils to join the OSA to further their sport- error - Ed). Also, surely the large mound near the cricket pavil- ing careers no longer exists and as a direct result the facilities at Copt Heath are ion was from the trenches dug after Munich or their replacement, OSMe today predominantly used by sportsmen and women who did not attend Solihull pukka air raid shelters, or both, years after the construction of School. the swimming bath. JO The Old Silhillians' Association Committee did recognise this change many years ago and to a large extent has taken the view that provided income is received from As one of the 1936 those persons enjoying the use of our facilities, then whether they are former pu- intake, the last to JW pils or not doesn't matter. Some members, of whom I am one, strongly disagree. commence school-

I have always been concerned that far too much effort has been put into providing ing at the original Illd I a magnificent sporting facility for the benefit of non-OSA members and that we Grammar School, I (the OSA) have lost sight of our founding principles. These principles being to pro- Malvern House in vide an organisation in which former pupils of Solihull School can maintain contact Park Road, a few with classmates, members of staff and parents throughout life. Also, by being a notes may be of in- member of such an organisation a former pupil can contribute to the provision of terest. There were as many scholarships as the Association can make possible each year. three other forms At the start of this year it was agreed that the activities of Copt Heath should be based there besides separated from those of the Old Silhillians' Trust. The Trust which has its own my Form I namely, Board (as above) meets quarterly at the School. It has separate accounts to those HA, IIB and IIIA. of the Association. All monies received by way of membership subscriptions now The other two third go into the Trust account and any decision regarding the amount and number of forms, IIIB and IIIC scholarships to be awarded each year is at the sole discretion of the Board of were at the main Trustees and not the OSA main committee as before. All expenditure relating to school and we only Malvern House 2008 membership including the production of the Silhillian Magazine is therefore borne saw their members on games days (Tuesday and Fridays) and if by the Trust. my recollections are accurate, assembly on Monday mornings in Big School. On the other days of the week the Junior School, as This year we have been able to provide 25% scholarships to two pupils in the Lower Sixth, and 25% scholarships to two pupils in the Upper Sixth. Furthermore, we we were known, all crowded into IIIA's form room for assembly. have been able to provide financial support for Emma Hubble in order that she can These arrangements must have been a headache for the staff enjoy Drama School for the next three years (read her letter, it makes you proud and no doubt the completion of six new form rooms (then under to be an old Silhillian). And finally, as a result of a very generous bequest fro John construction) forming the right hand side of the quadrangle could Lander Osbourne, we have been able to support two former pupils with research funding whilst at university. not come quickly enough. For us, however, the walk between the two schools for P.T. (P.E. now), etc. was a welcome diversion. In conclusion may I take this opportunity to thank all the members of the Board of Trustees for their unstinting support and effort throughout the year. I would I am still able to remember the composition of Form I. Sadly particularly like to thank Peter Davies for all his legal advice and minute-taking; Jack Boyden, Michael Chambers, Ralph Heasman and Peter Shep- to Joe Bates for putting so much time and effort into reconstructing and reconcil- herdson have passed away but Paul Instone and Peter Suckling ing the accounts which now show some £14,820 held in stocks and some £120,000 are to be seen usually at the Over 60s lunch. That leaves Bishop cash on deposit (in Ireland, thank goodness!), and finally to Phil Griffiths for allow- (N), Burman (WG), Cook (AD), Easton (left after only one year), ing us to use the School pavilion to conduct our quarterly meetings. Garbett, Hills, Lewis (BN), Mott, Nicholson, Rodney (AP), Stainton 18 Peter A. Thomas (J), Thompson (RMV) Wallace and Wheal. Perhaps someone can 19 Chairman of the Board of Trustees bring us up to date on their fate. Form I's form room was on the ground floor facing down the gar- DAVID D. BROWN (Fetherston, left 1947) den towards the park. It had, of all things, an open fire with In the 2007 issue of The Silhillian, Derek Morgan reports par- the blackboard over. This invited "roasting" as per Tom Brown's ticipating in the first post-war school foreign exchange to France Schooldays but 'Spracker' Keech, our Form Master, soon dealt in August 1949. How easily the young forget the deeds and ac- with that sort of thing with his painful thin branch of a tree in lieu complishments of us older folks; in the summer of 1946 eight or of a cane. ten of us participated in the real first post-war school exchange. With the war ended continental travel was becoming possible, MA's form room but beset with difficulties. The passport office barely functioned; was the largest, be- passport application forms were so scarce that there was even an ing on the left of the application form for them. Mr. Norwood obtained the forms that front door of Mal- we needed but some of the passports did not arrive and had to be vern House viewed picked up in London. from Park Road. A secondary staircase The French boys stayed in our homes for the month of July and located behind the we stayed at theirs during August. We did not have much to of- door in the corner fer, rationing was strict and there were virtually no cars. I was was an unusual fea- assigned to Jacques Strat from Cambrai and we got on very well; ture. The other two luckily my family had two adult sized bicycles, I took Jacques form rooms were youth hostelling to the Peak District, a group of us went to the Knowle Youth Club every Friday and my mother hosted coffee in the extension to parties on numerous occasions. Malvern House, the building being dis- Jacques and I crossed the channel from Newhaven to Dieppe; tinguished by the patterned brickwork when viewed from Steves Malvern House 2008 New Road. IIB was harrisbakombe on the ground floor with IIA above. The latter was unique in that Christmas Tms it was approached via a bathroom off the landing. Whether the the claim recovery Select your top quality, locally bathroom was still in use I do not know, but it is possible as the grown Christmas Tree caretaker lived in a half-timbered cottage tacked on to the main Delivery and building. The caretaker was an army ex-regular, Drum Major Harris Balcombe LLD collection service 2a Bath Court Searle, who was attached to the O.T.C. (now the C.C.F.). I be- Nhands„ Bath Row lieve that he was recalled to the colours in 1939. availa6le Birmingham B15 1NE Once a year, sometime after the winter half-term, the whole Trees available from school attended a special service at 0121 622 6555 1stzDecember at the church. I still recall the short walk 0121 622 5494 30 Blue Lal&Road, in crocodile from the Junior School to B914BJ1 St. Alphege in swirling fog, the church Contact Steve Aliso being gas lit in those days. With [email protected] 07860 544855 no electricity within, the organ was pumped by hand, by a Solihull boy of www.harrisbalcombe.com course! UK Regional Offices in Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester 21 20 What a different Solihull it all was in and Worldwide Representation 1936. the boat was packed above just 17, with no previous experience of alcohol, but remember SYDNEY MITCHELL and below decks; there was a feeling no adverse effects at all. Another favourite meeting place strong wind, high waves and was the town's swimming pool. Girls could not meet with boys SOLICITORS much seasickness. I stood in singly but only as part of a group. Rationing in France seemed ESTATE AGENTS the middle of the deck facing less severe than in with only bread being strictly limited forward watching the hori- and dealing in the black market was considered quite OK by eve- zon and was not sick but the ryone. vomit leaving other people Jacques had all the toys that I would have liked, a kayak, a small Law Firm was blown horizontally across Motobecane motorcycle, a single shot 22 calibre rifle, and a Darne the deck liberally splattering 4 20 gauge double barrel shot gun. The kayak we used on a nearby of the Year* my raincoat. Entering Dieppe canal; the rifle, which fired a very small 22 calibre cartridge avail- Harbour I looked towards the able without permit, we used to break a few of the remaining • Divorce and Family Law beaches that were the site of panes of glass in his parents' greenhouse; the shot gun we took the ill starred Dieppe raid. • Estate Agency to the fields near Cambrai and to a marsh on the Somme: in • Wills & Probate Jacques' parents were super both places the wise birds and animals stayed out of sight. At the • Conveyancing people and the first week was marsh another boy with us had a P-38 9mm pistol, considered • Personal Injury spent holidaying with them useful, as there was serious concern that the communists would • Employment near Deauville, then Mr. Strat mount a new French revolution. drove us to Cambrai in his • Insolvency I found my own way back to Dieppe by train, stayed at a cheap American Dodge car. Petrol seaman's hostel over night and after bracing myself with a final • Company & Commercial seemed more available than cognac, took the boat home. The supposed object of the exercise • Property in England but tyres were not: was to improve my French, which I had failed in school certificate the worn tyres in use frequent- and had to take as a subsidiary subject with my higher school Offices at Shirley, Sheldon ly punctured and it was com- certificate; I passed and my French has been occasionally useful (nr Birmingham Airport) and mon to carry extra spares. The over the years but never good enough for easy conversation. Birmingham City Centre debris of war was everywhere; destroyed tanks and guns; a Jacques visited me in Solihull for a day early in 1947 but we had magnetic mine bobbed gently no further contact: I looked for him in Cambrai in 1984 but found 0121 746 3300 among the rocks near Deau- that he had died.

[email protected] ; ville. [email protected] www.sydneymitchell.co.uk Victoria, British Columbia The Strats were very well off, Mr. Strat owned a distillery ERIC LACEY (left 1952) making liqueurs and they lived I left school for one yea's farm training, which included being a in a chateau in Cambrai (that toilet attendant to a herd of dairy cows. Cirencester Agricultural in 2007 was under restoration College for two years then farming leading to Bailiff status on a as an historic monument). Farm. This decided my future was in engineering. Jacques' friends lived in com- I took a position as Service / Installation Engineer for a Hawker parable dwellings where they Siddeley company manufacturing farm feed production machin- held frequent dances to gram- ery. At this time, 1961, we married and lived in High Wycombe. ophone music, with a steady Our first daughter Jane was born in 1964. A company move led supply of alcoholic drinks that to my employment as Technical Engineer, Agriculture Feed ma- Birmingham Law Society were in addition to the wine chines for Gloucester Equipment and later as trouble-shooter for 22 Law Firm of the Year 2008 with every lunch and dinner R. A. Lister Farm Feed Equipment. Our second daughter Gail was 23 •(under 15 par(ners) and liqueurs after dinner. I was born in 1969. The next eleven years were spent partly with a battery electric I'm in touch with two Old Silhillians - Pat Millar with whom I play vehicle manufacturer, developing a leading range of invalid out- golf, and who is a member, and Stephen James who lives in Soli- door wheelchairs, where I was co-manager of the company. Agri- hull, but is not a member. culture called again, for four years as Service Manager at Massey DAVID (F.D.) SKIDMORE (left 1958) Ferguson the tractor dealer. Fifty years to the day after leaving Solihull to commence Medi- A call back to R. A. Lister, as Technical Sales Manager Farm Feed cal Studies at Cambridge I swam in the World Medical Games in 0 Equipment, saw a series of visits overseas including Iran, just af- Germany and collected medals in the 400m and 1500m freestyle events. ter the Shah was deposed, quite exciting! As normal with Hawker 0 Siddeley, a factory move and closure, led fortunately to a call to join Bentall Simplex in Scunthorpe as Provender Machinery Spe- Having been in the swim- cialist. This gave experience of home sales of grain drying and ming team for 6 years CD feed machines over the southern half of the UK. (1952-58) I ended up as captain and thought that A serious down turn in farming profits having already led to many the photo above (FDS UK agricultural companies failing, I set up a small business to on the right) might en- sell, service and install grain and feed machinery plant. This pro- courage other members ceeded for 12 years until foot and mouth finally stopped most of the teams in which I farms spending capital on fixed equipment. My wife then pointed swam to make contact.

out that at 67 I ought to retire! Not to be out done, I use what _ time I have spare, in my Model Engineering workshop. A steam DAVID CHAMBERS (Shenstone, left 1971) 2 inch to the foot, coal fired Burrell Showman's traction engine is In my 2004 letter to the Silhillian, I covered our then recent move under construction. to Devon and my new position as Bursar of Blundell's School in We live (28 years) in the lower Wye Valley between Monmouth Tiverton. Judi and I are still enjoying life in the South-West hugely and Tintern, our daughters and three grandchildren (oldest 18 and the School continues to challenge and satisfy - Randall Thane youngest 6) live within an hour of us. Any one calling in would be (OS) is still Second Master and a jolly fine one! My last submis- most welcome. sion mentioned visits from Old Sils but these were all Shenstoni- ans. I am delighted to report that we have since had visits from JOHN CUTTING (Fetherston, left 1954) representatives of other houses too! John Lyons , Mike Bragg, I joined the Old Silhillians in September 2007 as a life member Pete Halstead, John Harrison and Barry Hudson have all popped because of my advanced age (70) and distance from Solihull. down, or in on passing, and have been very welcome. Whilst I started School in 1947 at the age of nine. Imagine having a staying overnight in a B&B near the Eden Project, we also met mistress at that age! Miss Thompson was an excellent teacher. John Bateman (Fetherston, left 1952) who is an insurance broker I think Brigadier Harry B. Hitchens took over from A.R. Thomp- in Warwick. John tells me that he played cricket for Shirley on son at about that time, when I went into the main school. I was leaving school and lived in Dorridge for many years. He now lives pretty fair academically and won a scholarship at age eleven. My in Wasperton near Warwick. We spent a very pleasant evening Father was over the moon! I loved sport, particularly cricket and over a bottle of wine, as one does, reminiscing about the school. running and got House colours in about 1953. I left School in Other news is that my daughter, Becky, known to many Old Sils July 1954 when my Father was promoted to his London office, so from her time behind the bar at the clubhouse, has produced we moved to Sevenoaks and I spent my last two years at Seven- us a grandson, Joseph, now aged three. The expanding family oaks School, which I enjoyed. I was Captain of Cross-Country has been further enhanced by the arrival of the first four of our and in the Cricket 1st XI. breeding herd of pygmy goats - all five additions are great fun! I did my National Service 1957 - 59, in the Intelligence Corps Finally, I continue to umpire hockey matches down here which, in (where else!) and spent eighteen months in Singapore. It was this Levenger free environment, is also great fun! It was good to 24 fabulous and I had a great time. I returned this year, on the 50th see so many friends at the Hockey Club Dinner in April and I hope 25 anniversary. this event will remain in my annual calendar for a few years yet. RICHARD SHACKLETON (Shenstone, left 1986) I realise its too late for sub- missions to the 2007 Sil- Solihull's favourite hillian however I thought I would send what I think is a mobile phone supplier rather nice photo of four Old Silhillians who met up on the 15th September 2007 (for is now online! my wedding). It's the first time we have been together since we were at school in For the best deals and the latest handsets 1986. The photo was taken at St. Peter's Church, Claypole, Lincolnshire.

From left to right: Harvey Shackleton (Shenstone, left 1986), Richard Shackleton (Shenstone, left 1986), Special discounts for fellow Old Silhillians, their family and friends; Ben England (Windsor, left 1988 - I think) and Michael Small (Wind- simply enter promotional code "oldsii" when prompted. sor left 1988) MAX LEVENGER (Fetherston, left 1994) Congratulations to Polly and Max Levenger on the birth of their Call us first child Henry Jasper, born 23rd February 2008 at 11.03pm weighing in at 9Ib 10oz. The family (including pet labrador, Ned) have tempo- rarily moved into Max's in- laws', Brian and Judith Wilde, house whilst their own prop- erty in Henley-in-Arden is developing business solutions at the touch of a button being modernised by a team of Polish builders to Max and The UK's first full Ecommerce site for both business and consumer Polly's exacting standards. mobile communication, we look forward to helping you. Max is still turning out for the Hockey First XI (no cards for over 2 seasons now!) de- spite his advancing years. 19 years after his first team Nigel Harrison debut, they have developed 26 a special role for Max - high Managing Director and Old Silhillian striker. This specialist position All111111111111111111111111 involves him sitting in the opposition 25 yard area waiting for the ball to come to him rather than, as was the case in former years, Max collecting it! When he is not playing hockey for the SiIs he captains the Golfing Society's B Team. Alas, he has not repeated the stunning successes of last year (5 wins in 5), but we won't go into that. Needless to say Uncle Peter is somewhat relieved that Max's previous golfing successes fell into his lap this year. •". ' When not on the field of combat, playing golf, walking the dog or supporting local businesses (Matricardis and The Bluebell in Henley), Max manages to run his highly successful headhunting business - Hensington Ltd. Max's parents, John and Jenny, are still living in deepest rural but still manage not too infrequent and most wel- come visits to the clubhouse. [email protected] ALEX JAMESON (Jago, left 1993) and PAUL (TRIG) TREGELLAS (Windsor, left 1989) Alex and Paul were married on 1st De- cember 2007 at Ar- dencote Manor Hotel and honeymooned Would you like to wake up to this view in February in New Zealand, where they when on holiday,from a luxury Penthouse watched a couple Apartment in Looe, Cornwall? of the England vs. New Zealand Cricket En suite master bedroom games, and the Cook Islands. with two further twin They met through former pupils, Dave bedrooms. The penthouse and John Cherry al- sleeps 6 and is available though, unbeknown to them at the time, 52 weeks a year Alex's father, John Jameson, was play- ing professional cricket at Warwick- If so contact Brian Knight for shire when Trig's grandfather, Jack Tregellas, was scorer and they knew each other well. details/brochure:- Alex currently works at Birmingham International Airport as a Ter- Tel No: 01789 488288 minal Duty Supervisor following her degree in French/Spanish at Mob: 07909 961757 28 Salford University and Trig works as an IT project manager at the Email: [email protected] PCMS group based by Warwick University. They live in Solihull. VICTORIA ROUND, Nee Bragg (JAGO, Left 1997) Victoria and her husband Peter are proud to announce the arrival of daughter Sophie Elizabeth, 7lbs 3oz, on 22nd May 2008 at A. J. Paveley & Co Solihull Hospital. Industrial Domestic Commercial DAVE HANCOX (Windsor, Left 2003) Upon leaving Sixth Form in 2003, I was made a partner in the BRISTAN family business at A.J. Paveley & Co. I was thrown straight in at showers laps acce:sories Merchants of the deep end and part way through my year in the industry, I SiRRLIS thought that more technical knowledge would be useful. I looked , plumbing,s heating, for a degree course in Building Services Engineering to give me pipe-work, bathroom Sk.daz .Fe Speecifie' a broad knowledge base. This proved easier said than done, as and building services there were not many universities that ran the course and, as the supplies. BIA5I spirax UCAS deadline was only a matter of days away, it required an zsarco extremely hasty application! perience and diversity has dP Durapipe UK , been the key to our success The University of Central was one of the few universi- ,rnor...es Our. pl,ase or the last 42 years that A. J. fu) ties that did a Building Services Engineering course and, after the Paveley & Co has been initial trepidation of moving, I very soon had the time of my life. trading. We supply riantsasn +GF+ everything from basin taps Not only was the course exactly what I had hoped for but I also for the weekend DIY TITAN grabbed all of the many sporting opportunities with both hands. adventurer to the steel or For my last two years I ran the fencing club and had a fantastic GROHE thermoplastic pipe user time organising trips with the extreme sports clubs. I even man- industrial applications. TRITON aged, under the name of academia, to visit Chicago and Hong ASTORF Our extensively qualified Kong! staff combine decades of Since leaving university I have returned back to the business in industry experience to Twyford HIttamtorthry bathrooms provide you with the right earnest and have enjoyed applying my degree to all manner of

' product no matter what the projects. The types of work with which I have been involved can Honeywell application is. Vainant only be described as diverse, ranging from 'back of fag packet' designs of heating systems to designing and supplying bespoke We operate a free same solutions for Virgin's new tilting trains! Working on the latter day/next day delivery service Hoval ----fr". WORCESTER- project I have been grateful for the (mostly) patient teachings in the West Midlands area Bosch Group and distribute all over the by Mr Martyn Garner, Dr Dave Rowsen, Mr Belcher, Mr Wild and UK on a daily basis. Mr Paul Jackson for teaching me physics, CDT and maths, all of Mira which have been used in one form or another! I feel it is pru- Give us a call to see how we dent to share the credit - or the blame, if any designs go pear SHOWERS can help you get the right Yorkshire product to fix any problem. shaped! AQUALISA The next step is to become a chartered engineer by the end of Pegler 2009, although finding the time to complete the paperwork is 1/430THEN13....ERGER proving more of a challenge than the technical aspects! Polypipe I am currently planning two month long visits to South America with my girlfriend. We'll be mainly based around Argentina and 416 Golden Hillock Road, Sparkbrook, Chile though I'm trying for a return to Machu Picchu after enjoy- Birmingham B11 2QH ing my last visit there on the 2003 Peru expedition. It seems surreal that just five years on so much has happened. 31 0121 772 1739 I can tell I'm getting old because I find myself thinking how the time has flown since leaving school! Last year the OSA Trust agreed to make a grant to Emma Hubble in After the first term was over I was really eager to get a script, and Arts Ed order that she could attend drama school. Emma is regarded as a did not disappoint. My first show at Drama School was called "Someone prodigious talent and below is a report of her first year Who'll Watch Over Me" by Frank McGuiness. It was based on the Beirut Cl) kidnaps of Brian Keenan, Terry Waite and John McCarthy between 1986 r Z The year has gone so fast, it only seems like it was yesterday that I found

n- and 1990. It was a really heavy script. There was no set or costumes so for out that you would help me raise the money I needed to go to Drama

us it was a challenge because all that would be on show would be our act- -Wa School. The year has been full of challenges which have taken me out ing skills. I played the character of Edward who was Irish, so I had to tackle of my comfort zone and have made me really appreciate how tough this the accent as well as the new techniques we were constantly being taught. profession is. H :1 I was in 2 scenes whereas everyone else was only in 1. (I was asked by 0 In my first term, we did a project called "Storytelling" in which we created a the director to take on another one at short notice which was an additional 4

AWnTnirn- tD piece of ensemble theatre based on memories from our childhood. It was challenge). It was really encouraging to be given this challenge, so I worked an amazing way of getting to know the people in my year and we performed as hard as I could to do the play and my characters justice. it to the Second Year and the tutors. The first term was mainly the real ba- I had some really good feedback from the director and I came away with the sics of acting. They had to effectively strip us of bad habits we had accumu- knowledge of what to do when I am given a script for the first time, some- lated throughout our lives and take us right back to the beginning so that we thing that is (hopefully!) going to be invaluable to me. could re-learn all the right techniques. I am so glad they did that because I was able to see for myself the mistakes I was making (of which there were In the second term we discovered that the challenges get bigger each time! many!) and I have been able to correct them and hopefully get better! We were split into 3 groups and each group was given a play by the Rus- sian playwright Anton Chekhov. I was in "Uncle Vanya". Not only did we As well as the "Storytelling" project, we did another project called "Lonely have a longer script but we were also told that we would not be directed by Hearts". This was so different to anything I had ever done before. We had to our tutors but by professional directors who would come into school. The look through real lonely hearts advertisements in newspapers and choose thought of this was petrifying as the director we had could easily employ one. We then had to create the character who had written them. Not only us when we leave so it was very important to work hard and make a good that but we had to go out in public as these characters for a morning and impression. The director for my group was Zoe Waterman. She is relatively go on dates with each other. Of course we were all in character and there- young but is doing really well, winning countless awards for her directing, fore had no clue who we were meeting and we did not know what they including The Ambassador Theatre's Emerging Director award in 2007. would be like. My character was a 29 year old single mother from Bolton called "Steph" who was a cross between Cat Slater from Eastenders and I played the part of Yelena, the woman who every man in the play is in love Dorien Green from Birds of a Feather. "Steph" was nothing like me, as with (which was nice!). She is a very strong woman and I really enjoyed you can hopefully tell! She was really playing her. Zoe was really great to work with, she got the best out of all outspoken and I had to dress in tight of us and I learned a lot from her. I felt I was able to try things out in her jeans, a red PVC jacket and a hot pink rehearsals and the whole cast were a really strong unit. I actually feel, look- scarf with lots of make-up! Going out ing back on the year, that this was the highlight of my year. I loved the play, into Chiswick in London in character the cast and the director and was so scary but after a while I did it was a great end to the sec- get used to it. When our tutor said we ond term. In my feedback Zoe could all come out of character we all said that she had seen me in just screamed and jumped around. For "Someone Who'll Watch Over the rest of that day the Bolton accent Me" and really wanted to work did tend to slip back in but it is safe with me. She also said that to say that, several months on, I have she thought I was one of the definitely eliminated "Steph" from me! best in the year!! Coming from Here is a picture of "Steph" with one of her, that was a huge compli- ment. I did not want to get her friends "Shelly" who is actually my 33 32 friend Daisy. I was in character when complacent and if anything her comments made me want to work harder. this photograph was taken! Here is a picture of the cast and Zoe, our director (far right). The third term arrived so quickly. It has been in this final term that we didn't like what you were do- have begun film and television classes. The Head of Film/TV is Michael ing. (I guess some people I will work with in the future will CD Bray who has worked with Judy Dench, Ray Winstone and even Denzel Washington, so we felt that to be able to work with him was unbelievable. be like this, so on reflection, it t :

His knowledge of this area of work has been invaluable. Most of my experi- has been good to learn how to handle this style!) however, I e ence has been in theatre work so in these classes, I learnt not only to act . felt under a lot of pressure be-

H in close up but I now also have an appreciation of the work of everyone on the film set. I have been 1st assistant director, camera assistant, director cause I did not want to let any- one down and there were times 111 1

of photography, sound, continuity and my favourite, the clapper! As for the 1 -I 11 !1 acting part, I have learnt that being in front of the camera is so different to when it got a bit too much. It :1

' mma as stage acting - everything is needed in more detail but "less is more"... it is really tested my determination very confusing! and there were times when I thought I was not good enough Not only did we have film and TV as new concepts but in our improvisation to be at drama school, but this classes we were working towards performing a stand up comedy routine. only made me even more de- I have never been so scared about performing in my life as I was at the termined to work as hard as I thought of this. In order for our routines to be spontaneous, we were not could. Every night I would look allowed to write our material until 2 days before the show. Amazingly this back over my script, thinking was a taught module and there are so many techniques that you can use. of new ideas and try them out It is now very interesting to watch a stand up routine as I recognise all the during rehearsals. I was so things we were taught. At the final showing, everyone was genuinely funny relieved when the actual per- and it was such a good evening because each of us had great support from formance was finally over, but everyone in the year. That is one thing that I love about Arts Ed - everyone the thing that I was most wor- is so supportive of everything you do and you feel really comfortable. ried about was still to come.... In the last half of the term, we did a project called "Performer and the Au- the feedback session with Gary. I was so nervous before I went in because dience". This was the hardest part of the year for me. The work was very he tells the truth and is very blunt. However, he was really nice about me physical and stylised. Very different from anything I had done before. My and said "Emma, I would cast you tomorrow" and he said he would watch director was called Gary Sefton who is a professional actor with credits me with interest in the next few years. I was so pleased that I had managed including Saving Private Ryan and the recent series called Criminal Justice to impress him; it was such a wonderful end to the most incredible year. (shown on BBC 1). He had just directed one of the 3rd year graduation I hope that this gives you an idea of what I have done this year. I expect you shows, so we were full of anticipation! can tell that I absolutely love what I am doing and I want to thank you again I was cast in a play called "The Respectable Wedding" by Bertold Brecht. so much for making this possible. It is the most perfect course for me and (The translation we used was by Rory Bremner.) It was a really funny ad- every day, I appreciate that you have given me this opportunity. aptation of a play about a wedding reception where everything goes wrong I am so excited for 2nd year with more work and more to learn and cannot and where eventually, the house where the reception was held, ends up wait for September! Bring it on!! being completely ruined. As this was to be the last thing I would do as a first year, I wanted to show how much I had learned (and hopefully, how much I had improved.) I had said to the director at the start, that I wanted a real challenge and that I wanted to find the process hard. I got what I A. J. Paveley & Co wanted! I found it SO hard! I was cast as the character of "The Friend" who Industrial Domestic Commercial is at the wedding because she is in love with the groom (who is her best friend.) She smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish and had a very dirty Plumbing, Pipe-work & Heating Merchants 34 mind! Opposite is a picture of me in character. 416 Golden Hillock Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham Bl 1 2QH 35 0121 772 1739 The director was VERY strict and would stop the scene abruptly if he 36 [CM ;r ;1 -n I 1I r= Z= just listenedinamazement.Iwastold The October2007lunchwasattendedbyarecord105members; There wereafewnewmembersinclud- The Maymeetingsaw83OldSilhilliansattendincluding5new the Schoolsongcomposedby"Yarko" from justoutsideMaidenheadtoSolihullonhis89thbirthday.He first intakeforKinetonandheadof were atSchool,theyoungercontingent singing asifitwasonlyyesterdaythey Whilst theoldermembersjoinedin acted aschoirmasterinordertosing cide withthemeeting.Agesrangedfrom60oddto90odd. singing ofthesong.(Cananyoneen- Windsor houseunderHarryMorle. ing it wasHitchenswhodiscontinuedthe now residentinCanada,arrangedhisholidayEnglandtocoin- many hadtravelledalongwaytoSolihull.Even drove over100mileseachwayandthoughtnothingofit. Malcolm Saunders lighten me?).Anothernewcomerwas Easterling withwordsbyS.G.Everitt. members. Oneofthemwas ing athockey matchesinhisTR3with ahighaerialwaving around in theair.(Pat isstillakeenradioham -hestarted55years ago). Bob Standley Heard aroundtheclubhouse! hockey sticksohe couldplay cack-handed ontheleft wing. He thengot outofhiscarandfished outanoldEnglish-head StuartCrawford (1957-63)recalls whowasinthe (1945-51)who Ron'Smokey'Eades PatMoore Stuart Crawford (1942-52)arriv- JohnWeaver, whocame Alan Danks to theconstruction At onestagethe bank Stuart Crawford site isonveryslight- were waryasthe clubhouse andthey Copt Heathforthe of thebuildingsat - 44)withregard Pat Barry cated workeruntilheretiredat65.Barryalsorecallsthatcricket groundsman fortheSchoolandOldSilhilliansgrounds.Hap- groundsman, ings hehadwith recalled themeet- ly shiftingsands. Peake whoalwaystravelledtoSchoolonamotor bikeandside-car by double-deckerbuses. played atthecountygroundandpupilswereferriedacrossthere matches betweenKingEdward'sSchoolandSolihullwere pily heacceptedandremainedanoutstanding,loyaldedi- but waspersuadedby Hammond, handedinhisnoticetoworkwhilstatDingle (1943-51) Hill Swithen- Vivian Shingley, Peter Braggand PeterHill and (1936 John (1945-51)recallsamastercalled"Percy" GeoffStubbings Sam BloxhamandJohnBassett andBarrytobeoverall 37 38

A - . 1 L nc eon till itfellonthefloor. without anysockson,and"Charlie"Cosserwithacanewrapped which wasontheblackboardedgeandpullingitalonggroove very wellrespectedthoracicsurgeon. went uptouniversityandtookaMedicaldegree. Hebecamea a yearashechangedsubjectstostudychemistryatAlevel(or in adhesivetape.Healsoremembers,an"Algy"Gladstone its equivalent).HoweverhewasnottheoldestinSchoolas lesson, hisformtyingalongpieceofcottontotheboardrubber Don Longmore David Gurnham by "Eckay"Gamier. Bob Standley Bill Else,JohnDuffyandMichaelCox (1957-63)foundHistoryveryboringwhentaught Conrad Seagroatand PaulInstone was20andheheadofSchoolforatime (1941—49)leftSchoolat19havingtorepeat Thursday 7thMay2009 Next Year'sLuncheons Roger Flood "Local ProfessionalInvestmentManagement" BRI AssetManagement plcisauthorisedandregulatedbythe FinancialServicesAuthority ASSET MANAGEMENTPLC BRI We alsoprovideadviceuponplanningforInheritanceTax offering expertinvestmentmanagementfor: and CapitalGainsTax. BRI isanindependentfirmbasedlocallyinMeriden Please callusforafreereviewofyourexistinginvestments. Many OldSilhilliansarealreadyusingourservices... • • • • ...to findoutwhy,pleasecontactPaulorMichaelCusack: Stocks andshares Unit Trusts Personal Pensions PEPs andISAs BRI House,MeridenBusinessPark, Meriden,CV59RL Tel: 01676523550Fax:522799 BRI AssetManagementplc Email: [email protected]

LONDON DINNER 2007 We received many expressions of regret from those who were un- The 58th London dinner, on the 60th anniversary of our first din- able to attend: ner in 1947, was another great success. 69 old boys and girls Air Vice-Marshal J.W. Price (Pole, 1941-1947), John Jammes (1955-1968), and current and past staff (our largest ever attendance) enjoyed Michael Buerk, Guy King-Reynolds, Peter Bragg (Jago, 1955-1964), Mark

excellent fare and a fun evening at the RAF Club. Kermack (Jago, 1964-1974), Ken Newnham (Pole, 1958-1968), Sir Oliver UO Wright, Barry Allen (Windso,r 1968-1975), Pippa Robinson (Windsor, 1986- • O This year we welcomed the first old boys from the current cen- 1988), Patrick Derham, John Lockyer (Fetherston, 1957-1966), Nigel Horner U

tury - Andrew Blasdale and Tom Slater (both Fetherston, 1991- (Fetherston, 1957-1966), Sir Derek Higgs (Jago, 1962 - please see obituaries), 2002). Sir Michael Wood (1960). 9A3 Bernard Hales (Fetherston, 1957 to 1966) toasted the school and We look forward to seeing you all in future years. 1 41. asked what is it about Solihull School that inspires one of its old A vote of thanks, as ever, to John Haddleton (Pole, 1944 to 1948) girls (Vicky Shelley, Windsor 1986-1988) to walk to the South without whose sponsorship we would not be able to use the RAF Pole? Answers on a postcard to the Membership Secretary, no Club. penguin gags allowed. Please e-mail or call me if you would like to receive an invitation to future London dinners. The next dinner will be at the RAF Club on Friday 14 November 2008. Invitations will be sent out in Sep- tember 2008.

Rupert Young (Jago, 1973-1983) reminded us that 2010 will be a significant year as the School will celebrate its 450th anniversary making it older than whippersnappers like Harrow and Charter- house. VIII The President, Steve Allso, gave an excellent speech and ex- plained the difference between the Trust Fund (which was set up CITY LUNCH 2008 as a charity to provide scholarships and other support to pupils The first annual London City lunch was held on 20 June 2008 a and leavers) and the Association (which runs the Memorial Club- the City Pipe in London EC1. house and Ground, but does not benefit from the Trust Fund in any way and is a separate entity). An elite group of eighteen attendees enjoyed a very good lunch, a few drinks and lots of tales of the School in different eras. As 40 The Headmaster reported on the successes of the School in the ever, old boys and old girls have a huge amount in common and 41 last year and on the work needed on the Chapel organ. lots to discuss. Lunchtime gradually became afternoon and after- 42

• . t Pres iden ts Di nne Simon Goodworth tory ofOldSiIsworkingintheCity. sor, 1981to1988), to beputonthisdirectoryorwouldlikeaninvitationnextyear's Mark Lucas noon turnedintoeveningbeforethelastOldSilleftbar. The OSAPastPresidents'DinnerwasheldoncemoreintheAlan Clearly thereisanappetiteforsucheventsinLondon.Theycan (Windsor, 1986to1988), (Windsor, 1981to1988), (Windsor, 1986to1988), For therecord,thoseattendingwere: (Shenstone), 1981 to1988), tion andClubhouse.PeterCallaghanintroduced theImmediate be usefulforbusinesspurposesandwewouldliketostartadirec- Thompson, fortheirhelp andsupportalsotoJohnHarefor thing, hiscompanyandconversationwerenevertheless mosten- We welcomedOSAPresidentJohnPlattwhopresented aninformed address werereallyappreciatedbyeveryone. Please e-mail lunch (orindeedanyoftheotherOSALondonevents). the fewformalitiesofeveningdidnotoblige himtosayany- warmly received. tertaining. The nextdinner willbeheldonFriday 8thMay2009.Details up-to-date summaryoftheaffairsandconcerns oftheAssocia- Phillip Griffiths.Hiswarmhospitalityandfriendlywelcome Lee PavilionatSchoolbykindinvitationoftheHeadmaster,Mr We areverygratefultothe HeadmasterandDirectorofP.E.,Steve responded, ClaudeCotonmadetheusualpresentation whichwas Past PresidentasthenewestmemberofSociety andafterhe organising refreshments. Denis Tomlinacceptedourinvitationtobe guestandwhilst [email protected] (Fetherston,1977to1988), JohnClay KarinMelling [email protected] JohnErrington (Shenstone,1966to1973), PAST PRESIDENTS'DINNER (Shenstone,1986to1993), BernardHales RobGilmore McWhirter (Fetherston,1986to1988),

(Fetherston,1979to1988), (Pole,1959to1966), (Fetherston,1977to1988). PeterSilverman (Fetherston,1957to1966), KenGaston,MattPay SuKent,VickieShelley DamianKelly (Pole,1952to1961), Peter Callaghan ifyouwouldlike StuartBarrington 01483 861860 JasonOlivier Mark Lucas JohnGale (Wind- (Pole, - The ChaptercontinuestowelcomesuitablyqualifiedMasterMasons The LodgeisopentoOldBoys,MembersofStaffbothpresentandpast, Principals: E.Comps,AndrewLee,BarryChacksfieldandStuart ties whichhaskeptthebalanceofagegroups.Wearealwayspleasedto 2008. PleasecontactEdBaker. the OldSilhilliansClubhousewhichprovidesawonderfulopportunityfor tinues toenjoytheuniquecombinationoffreemasonryandmeetingat 442586) whether membersoftheShenstonianLodgeornot.Meetingswilltake and March. contact JoeBates. occasions. DuringthelastyearLodgehascontinuedtoattractnew David Walter(2006/07).Secretary:W.Bro.JoeBates(01675 place onthesecondMondayofDecember2007,JanuaryandSeptember members ofvaryingagesandnowhasseveralintheirtwen- Governors, ParentsandGrandparentsofpresentpastpupils.Itcon- Thorpe. ScribeE.:E.Comp.EdBaker(01564205988) Meetings secondMondayinOctober(Installation),November,February hear fromanyoneinterestedaseitherneworjoiningmembers-please both initiatesandjoiningmembersalsoenjoysomeexcellentsocial Masonic andOldSiIs.fellowship.Wearealwaysdelightedtowelcome Worshipful MasterW.Bro.LeightonJones(2007/08), E-mail: [email protected] to bothnewandexpanding businesses. business planningandtaxationservices Why notfindouthowwe canhelpyou? SHENSTONIAN CHAPTERNo.5544 39/40 CalthorpeRoad, Edgbaston,BirminghamB151TS SHENSTONIAN LODGENo.5544 Contact JoeBateswithoutobligation Clement Keys CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS Tel: rehensive rangeofa 01214564456 INN www.clementkeys.co.uk on:

43

ai. . eto Ig a . . o 44

e Astro tu r Pro ec 1 £70,000 fromadditionaldonationsandfundraisingactivities. take placeasearlynext summerwithapossiblecompletionbyOctober further informationpriorto consideringadonationthenIammorethan Those OldSilhillianswhoarewillingtodonatewillfind suitableformsen- within thesafemeansofincomeforecast.These measuresareun- The committeeisconsideringvariousoptionsforclosing thefundinggap, from SportEnglandastotheoutcomeofourapplicationforlotteryfund- To putthingsintoaproperperspectivethepitchisexpectedtodouble the longtermsurvivalofClubhouseandGround. that theclubisabletogeneratecashfeedasinkingfundsafeguard facility andwill(evenattheconservativeendofforecastusage)ensure this is).Itisaboutensuringtheclubhasaprosperousfutureassporting the recentpoorfinancialperformanceofclub. 2009. Withanylucknextyear's Silhillianwillbeabletoreportontheopen- and bringinessentialadditionalrevenue.Thiswillbevitaltoturnaround ate numeroussportingopportunities,wideningmembershipofthesections The pitch,oncelaid,willtransformtheClubhouseandGround.Itcre- and wenowhavearobustbusinessplanwhichidentifieswhoisgoingto You mayrecallinlastyear'smagazineIannouncedthatplanningpermis- section). already beenraised,largelybydonationsfrommembersofthehockey a significantstepnearertothetargetof£500,000(some£143,000having sufficient funds.Atthetimeofwritingthisarticlewearestillawaitingnews current annualsportingthroughputattheclub.Allthatislefttoraise Should anymemberwishto havesightofthebusinessplanorrequireany closed withinthemail-shotthatcamewiththismagazine. Alldonationswill sion hadbeensuccessfullyobtainedtolocateanAstroturfpitchatCopt Astroturf Update—TheFundingChallenge ing fixtureandabrightfuture fortheClubhouseandGround. be gratefullyreceivedandwilltreatedinconfidence. ing. Theapplicationisfor£150,000and,ifsuccessful,willbringtheclub happy toprovidethis.Once fundingisinplacethebuildphasecould likely tofilltheentirefundinggapandsochallenge forusallistoraise including accesstogiftaidondonationsandthepossibility ofdebtfunding providing apitchatCoptHeathforourhockeysection(importantthough market it. use thepitch,typeofsurfacerequired,howtomaintainitand I mentiontheabovebecauseprojectisaboutfarmorethansimply Heath. Overthelast12monthsconsiderableprogresshasbeenmade e-mail - [email protected] Phone -07977 229541 Mike Waters

416 GoldenHillock Road,Sparkbrook, BirminghamB112QH Plumbing, Pipe-work&Heating Merchants Industrial Domestic Commercial N./ A. J.Paveley &Co 0121 772 1739 45 I DD . wd l i n404 slf D 46

ou Wa n t De c i n .. was notparticularlyprettyandinwetweatheritturnedtoamudbath.To Visitors totheclubhousewillrecallthatgrassareabymainentrance The timberwasprovidedbyJohnVincent(OS- Timber);sand, take actionandmanagedtocadgethenecessarymaterials tobuildadeck. the club.FormerRugbyClubSupremoandMasterChef, GrahamWebb, the rockerywascoveredby weedretardantsheetingwhich,inturn,was With thedeckdownrockery nowlookedamessandfewweekslater they thoughtwasthecompletion)ofproject. cement, andfixingsbyStuartTirebuck(SRUFC-E.H. Smith)anddecking improve theviewfromMembers'Barafewof'regulars'decidedto Over theMaybankholidayweekendadeckingcrewconsisting ofDuncan up-lights byGuyPattinson(SRUFC-PhilipsLighting). fill outtherockery soifyo-tknowafriendly nurserywhomightoblige please Stanley (SRUFCandExpoFloors)ablyassistedby Ian White(SRUFC), covered withbarkchippings procuredbyGuyAtkinson(OSandExpo Phil Green(OS)andMalcolmLawrielaidahardwood deckoutside provided abarbecueontheMondaytocelebrate completion(orwhat contact theEditor. NEC. Theguysarestilltrying tofindsomeonesponsorsomealpines Floors) thatweresurplusto requirementafteragardeningexhibitionatthe Not content withthings thewaythey werethe deckingcrew decidedthat Work inprogress that wasjustthe a jacuzziormaybe This workhasmadeahugeimprovementtotheentrance. Nextyearthe tion ofthedeckingandtothosecompanieswhosupplied thematerials. beer talking! crew planstoinstall The thanksoftheOSAareextendedtoallthoseinvolvedinconstruc- ed benefitofallowingagreatdealmorenaturallightintotheMembers' shrubs wereremovedtomakewayforthepath.Thisalsohadadd- The lowerbranchesofacoupleconifersandovergrown several meetings(andpints)todiscusstheideaaplanwasdrawn Lounge. deck wasneededinordertoincreasetheavailableseatingoutside.After a deckedandfencedpathwaythroughtothegrassedareaadjacent up onthebackofafagpacketandworkcommencedinmid-August. The deckwasdestructiontestedbytheguestsatOvalBall 4 , in Juneandpassed! Job done

- .upp aa l u em no 48

_wer . 0 Ho nou Training Corps. 'Tough Guy'thisyearandorganisedhiscompany's charityball, As wellasexcellingincourseexercises,Charlie rantheBarcelona After graduatinginManagementStudiesfrom theUniversityof was apupiluntil2003,before this supremeawardand ofcoursethrilledtobepresentedwitha current conflicts.Healsotookpartintheendurance competition organisation thathelpsthosewhohavebeenwounded inBritain's which raised£11,000forHelpHeroesand MacMillan Cancer last yearandhisleadershipqualitieswerequickly recognised. specially inscribedsword byamemberoftheRoyalFamily."He Nottingham, hebeganthecommissioningcourse atSandhurst Charlie's eldest brotherJosh,whoalso wenttoSolihullSchool, is added: "Iamgratefulto SolihullSchoolforhavingnurturedmy Charlie said:"Iwasstaggered tobetoldIwouldreceiving Support. Marathon withhisplatoon,raising£5,000forthe HelpforHeroes a Captain intheMercian Regiment. interest inan armycareerandforgiving memyfirststepup." ROYAL HONOURFORFORMER SOLIHULL SCHOOLCADET joining theEastMidlandsOfficer The honourwasbestowedat the Armyafterbeingpresented forward toaglitteringcareerin to beawardedtheQueen'sCom- the Academy'sSovereign'sPa- emy Sandhurstandnowlooks course attheRoyalMilitaryAcad- outstanding officercadetonhis of Honourforbeingthemost Charlie MulirareceivedtheSword al HighnessThePrincessRoyal. with aspecialawardbyHerRoy- among 220cadetsonhiscourse det ForceattheSchool,wherehe a memberoftheCombinedCa- rade wherethe22-year-oldwas ment ofFusiliers,Charlieenjoyed mission. his firsttasteofmilitarylifeas Now anofficerinTheRoyalRegi- an A. 414 Steve's Mowing,30Blue LakeRoad,Dorridge,Solihull,B93813.1 All workisFullyInsuredandcarriedouttoISO9001 QualityStandard Suppliers ofLogs&WoodChippings 11 Turf LayingServiceAlsoAvailable KIIPM MI Tel/ Fa. EVEV7JfSCIR4R9 High QualityLawnTurfForSale 2RGWG'2 ...... • 01564770560 Sala CsYt11, All AspectsofTreeSurgery . Fax: 01564 775080 Tel: 01564770560 H©wring . All RubbishRemoved www.stevesindustries.co.uk Free LocalDelivery Since ' Lawn Treatment Hedge Cutting Grass Cutting , LJ RIECISIERED PIKA1 ISO 9001 _IR@ --- 1 992 21ug =TinT F "HaPPOti

r . Gr7 dG2 i • , 50 M itriNrieT the brilliantRaymondAnseII(whomanywillrememberwenton versity tostudyMathematics.HereturnedSevenoaksteach to teachuntilhisdeathin1972).Thestaffenjoyedaveryhappy a lifelongconnection.AfterSevenoakshewenttoLondonUni- He waseducatedatSevenoaksSchoolwithwhichhemaintained Robin wasbroughtupasamemberofthePlymouthBrethren. ROBIN G.EVERITT(Master) following: ematical powers.TherecouldnothavebeenabetterMathsDe- ing departmentthathadbeenpresidedoverformanyyearsby in 1960asHeadofMathematics,takingoveranalreadyoutstand- before movingtoCheltenhamCollege.HecameSolihullSchool AnseII, groundedmanygenerationsofpupilsinthesubject which,impor- he wasalivelyandlovedcolleagueamongsttheothermasters.- On hearingofRobin'sdeathtwoCambridgeProfessorssentthe maths teacher.Hewasalwaysenthusiasticforhissubject,knowledge- cation. Ihadfuninhisclasses-waschallengedandenthused.know I amgratefulfortheimportantroleRobinplayedinmymathematicaledu- partment inthecountry. relationship basedonthemutualrespectofeachother'smath- his carewillrememberhimwithaffection.AsHeadof MathematicsRobin in theclassroomandSchoolmanyofthosewhopassedthrough able aboutspecificsandgenialinhismanner.Hewasalargepresence do withhimasapupilatSolihullSchoolbothformmasterand I wasgreatlysaddenedtohearofRobinEveritt'sdeath.hadalot Arthur Brookeralsoofferedthefollowinginsight aboutRobin's and hiscolleagues,especiallythemuchloved respected Raymond him andlosemuchbyhispassing.- tant thoughitwasthen,hasnowbecomethedoorway tonewknowledge A yearorsolater IwasataUniversityentrance meetingatCambridge and go totheMathsInstitutepickupsomepapersafterwhich wewenttoThe which controlstheworldaroundus.Hisformerpupils all gainedmuchfrom Weber in andsatdownwithus.He wasapleasantandcheerfulmanwho,after Lamb andFlagforadrink.OneoftheProfessors Mathematicscame In thelate1970sIwasvisitingfriendsinOxford.One, amathsdon,hadto and Itoldhimwasateacher atSolihullSchool."Ah",hesaid(ratherlike a while,turnedtomeand asked, "Areyouamathematiciantoo?",where reputation asateacher: RGE usedto)pointingafinger; "weliketoseestudentsfromyourschool, upon myfriendinjuredhimself laughing.TheProfessoraskedwhatIdid one of our hosts,seeing frommybadge whereI camefromsaid, "Yes,Soli- they havebeen taughttothinkforthemselves". Chris Rogers Richard you, heboomsateverybody". silent. Andy GoslinghassomerecollectionsofRobin: I was visiting Robin inMonastery Drive justbefore hemoved. quiet word'during alessontheclasswould beguaranteedtoabsolutely formed methatIwouldsoon meetRobin.Heremarked,"Hewillboomat There isastorythatDenisTomlintellsaboutthe powerofRobin's approach Robinhimself-hedidnot. would ask,"Howdidyouknow itwasme?".WhenRobincameto'havea "Am Iadog?",whereuponyoungladysittinginthefrontrow and, ifpossible,alsobothintuneandtime.Denis didseeRobin and suggestthatperhapshecouldsingwitha littlelessvolume voice, whichwouldeasilyeclipsethe300boys inBigSchoolor On arrivingatSolihullSchool IwasintroducedtoDenisTomlin.Hein- request. DenissaidthatifGileswantedmoreperhaps heshould - hiswordssuggestedamuchwatereddown version ofGiles's Chapel. GilesSlaughteraskedDenisifhewould approachRobin said withaloudvoice,"Mummy,Idon'tlikethatman".Sheand the entirerailnetworkincludingtimetablesandlocomotives,but When Robinboomeddown thephonewithoutintroducinghimself,he School. AttheappropriatemomentRobinappearedandintrue should makehisentrancethroughthedoorsatbackofBig serve thecast,moredelicateitemsofsceneryandprops,Robin and thepowerofhisvoiceLawriedecidedthatinordertopre- tation oftheappropriaterulesthosesports,butlargely found personalbelief,butwasnotjudgementalofothers.Robin tronomy; barometers;chronometers;pottery,photography;the her motherthenpromptlyleft. Shepherd andthePrince.Becauseofhiscommandingpresence sions withgoodhumour. according toRGE.Howevertheboysseemedaccepthisdeci- as anumpireofhockeyor2ndXIcricketheusedalooseinterpre- was preparedtohaveagoatmostthingsandIunderstandthat Robin fashionspokehisline,whichIunderstandtohavebeen, edge ofsomanythings.Tomentionjustafew:Egyptology;as- fine engineers?Theycomehere,mostofthemgetfirsts." hull School;doyourealisewhatareputationyourschoolhasforproducing Robin playedGoliathinLawrieBailey'sepicproductionofThe not karaokeorpopmusic! He wasaleadingmemberoftheTyndaleSocietywhohadpro- Lake District;hisworldtravelsand,ofcourse,whatseemedtobe Robin wasreallyapolymathwithprofoundinterestinandknowl- During the course of our conversation he mentioned a letter he with school would turn to him. Over the years to Art students he had just written to the Chairman of London Underground express- was not only supportive and encouraging, but for many the man ing his gratitude for the kindness and consideration he had been who inspired their careers in Art and Design. shown by some of the staff after his accident. There is a similar- Taking responsibility over 20 years as Head of Department he ity here between Robin's sense of humour and Gerard Hoffnung's oversaw the expansion of the Art Department, which included a story to the Oxford Union about the bricklayer. It seems that move into much larger accommodation in School House, and the while Robin was going up the escalator he fell and while he as roll- development of new courses, notably GCSE and A Level Photog- ing down the metal treads his only thought was how far he would raphy. Staff and pupils alike remember his school trips to London fall before he met himself coming up. Galleries fondly. Robin experienced times of great sadness in his life and did not enjoy the best of health, but he often told me, "I am a fighter, His wider contributions to school life included being a Form and Tim". He found great solace and support from his many friends Windsor House Tutor, running hockey teams, constructing and at St. Alphege and within the School community. We remember painting sets late into many evenings for school productions and him for his integrity, sense of duty, friendship, loyalty, courtesy memorably as goalkeeper for the staff five-a-side football team. and tolerance - all of which he possessed in abundance. Throughout it must be remembered that Laurie was an artist in In the words of Andy Gosling, "Robin was certainly the most his own right, finding time to pursue projects of his own and sub- knowledgeable man I have had the pleasure to meet, yet he nev- mitting work for exhibitions in both the Midlands and the North. er made you feel inferior". After they made Robin they threw Multi-talented as an artist and craftsman, a skilled metal worker, away the mould. an accomplished mechanic, a connoisseur of motor sport, fast LAURIE BRADLEY (Master) cars and bikes, an inspirational figure, a great teacher, a loving Laurie Bradley was a man of talent, energy and vision who made father, Laurie had so much to give and gave willingly to all whom a significant contribution to the life of the School and especially to he met in school and life in general. the Art Department. Extracts from Peter Wrenn's Memorial Service Address

Prior to joining the staff in 1970, Laurie's training and work ex- HUBERT JOHN HUGHES perience provided excellent grounding for all that he was later to The Association regrets to inform you that Hubert John Hughes achieve. On leaving school, where he had been Head Boy (a fact passed away on 13th May. he was careful not to disclose too freely, as it did not fit with his 'cool' image), he attended Art College in both Bradford and Sun- JOHN WILLIAMS (left 1941) derland, studying Sculpture and Printmaking. John started at Solihull School in 1936 and in those days was a quiet unassuming character. He took School Certificate in 1941 On moving to the Midlands early employment was as an archi- and left in 1941 or 1942. He always wanted to be a pilot and on tectural welder. Working without safety harnesses, a leaving School he went to Durham University for 6 months before prerequisite of today's Health and Safety Regula- joining the RAF. He trained as a navigator as his eyesight was not tions, he secured the golden globe on top of Bir- up to the standard for a pilot. He served in Lancasters during the ' mingham Cathedral and the railings at the top latter part of the war and when he came out of the RAF he was a of the Post Office Tower. Nearer the ground, completely changed person and became the life and soul of the he made and installed the metal staircase to party wherever he went. Before the war John's Father started an the Art Department at school, without realising electro-plating business in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham that he would tread them daily for the next 25 employing 6 people. When John and his brother joined after the years as both Art teacher and Head of Art at war it expanded rapidly and eventually had a workforce of over Solihull. 400. They moved to larger premises in Aston, unfortunately at a As a teacher he was relaxed and approach- time when there was a severe downturn in the economy and they able, and those pupils who were disaffected went into liquidation. 54

ab itrial in John movedtoLondonjoinafirmputtingonexhibitionsand fine yachtatLymington,regularlysailingtheSolent.Withhiscap and atthisjuncturehehiswiferetiredtoStretenearDart- within 6monthsbecameManagingDirector.Afterafewyearshe one timeCommodoreofOltonMereandformanyyearskepta arranged forhiscompanytobecomeapartoftheEmapgroup on helookedthespittingimageofTedHeath.Boatswouldcome alongside, seehimatthehelm,andoccupantswouldallget mouth. Throughouthislifehehadbeenakeensailor.Hewasat a daughter,Pamela,andsonTony. character andwillbesorelymissed.HeleavesawidowMargaret, up andsalute.Johnfoundthismostamusing;hewasonlytoo happy tobecomePrimeMinisterjustforafewmoments! He diedonMay5thafteraprotractedillness.wasgreat a speedyleft-wing,PresidentoftheHockey Club in1969and After onecareerinengineering, mainlyinbusinesswithhisfather legiances backtotheOldSilhilliansandWarwickshire. Hewas served onhockeyandcricketcommitteesfor manyyears.He Course lateinlife. at GWPearce&Sons,quality metalbashersinAston,hebecame Bournville andWorcestershirebeforesensibly transferring hisal- a farmerinPillertonHersey for10yearsandthenalive-inAdmin- work forthe NationalTrustasstandby administratorinproperties loved musicandcompletedanOpenUniversity MusicTechnology all overthe country includingHillTop, Greenway,Hughenden, Shropshire, foranother decade. Afterretirement,hecontinuedto Charlecote and Packwood. istrator atabeautifulNational Trustproperty,DudmastonHallin MICHAEL DAVIDCHAMBERS(Shenstone, tended toberunnerupLawrieBaileyin cross-country. HejoinedCadburyBros.as where heplayedcricketandhockey left 1944) Mike livedinLadbrookRoadwhilstatSchool 7th January1927to8thOctober2007 an apprenticeengineercompletinga School in1923)1952.Whilework- ing atCadburys,heplayedhockeyfor ter ofbakerCharleswhowasHead married Elizabeth(neeBragg,daugh- BSc fromTheUniversityofLondon.He David Chambers Frank Bacon This ledtothegraduatedwithdrawalofBritish troopsanditwas of hissons followed intheirfather's footstepsandarepresently fly himtotheUKwhere herejoinedhisregiment. flown toKenyaandhe was theonlyseniorwhiteofficerremain- the President.Bryanreturned tofindthatall'whites'hadbeen African RiflesonapostingtoUgandafollowing President Obote's The School'sgamesresultsoverthisperiodreflect theinspiration- the Armyasacareer,beingcommissionedin February 1952as both incommand asLt.Colonels. whilst Bryan,nowaMajor,wasleadinganexercise deepinthe He lefttheArmy topursueacareer inPublicRelationswhilst two personally escortedby him tothegangwayofaplanewaiting ing. GreetedbyIdiAmin, nowa"self-promotedColonel",hewas an officerintheOxfordandBuckinghamshireLight Infantry,serv- the SchoolRugbyandCricketteamsfortwoyearsfrom1947-49, bush thathisformersergeant,IdiAmin,led militaryagainst al qualityofhisleadership,anditwasnosurprise thathechose Declaration ofIndependence. ing inEgypt,CyprusandMaltabeforesecondment totheKing's outstanding athlete,whostoodwellover6ft,hewasCaptainof stone, SeniorBencherandUnderOfficerintheCCF,asan having playedintheteamssince1946. sadly missedbyhiswife,familyandmanyfriends. structure forexpandingurbanareasofNorthAfrica. after gaininghisdegreeinCivilEngineeringhedidthreeyears He hadadistinguishedSchoolrecord:HouseCaptainofShen- rendered himincreasinglydisabledandconfinedtoawheelchair. Cambridge totakeupanappointmentwiththeCityCouncil.In Bryan diedearlierthisyearon9thMarchafteranillnesswhich BRYAN WBALLS(Shenstone,left1949) in Hauxtonresultedurgentlyneededrestoration.Hewillbe Roy's professionalcareercommencedin1951withtheBirming- in Juneofthisyear.Hewasaprefectandheadtheboarding He livedlifefullyandhissupportforveryancientParishChurch private practicehislaterworkinvolvedthedevelopmentofinfra ham TameandReaDrainageBoardafterwhichhemovedto OSCAR ROYERICSSON(POLE,left1945) National ServiceintheR.E.asaLieutenant. house. HewenttoBirminghamUniversityonleavingschooland Roy startedattheSchoolin1939.HediedhomeCambridge Guy King-Reynolds John Ericsson BILL DANTER (Shenstone, left 1953) versity and was knighted in 2004. He was passionate about Bill was Head Boy and Captain of Cricket at School. He was com- sailing and motorcycling. During his time at Wartburgs he would missioned in the Royal Regiment and served from arrive at work in his leathers on his BMW rather than use the 1953 to 1956. During that time he spent 18 months in the chauffeur-driven limousine. Like his father, he was also a dedi- Canal Zone playing cricket in Cairo and Alexandra. Bill worked cated supporter of Football Club. for Joseph Lucas, Churchill Tools, Potterton and finally, GKN. On His wife, Julia, who he married in 1970, survives Sir Derek along retiring Bill became a Magistrate at Solihull and played golf at 01- with two sons and a daughter. ton Golf Club, having been both Club Captain and President. His main love was cricket and he played for Olton (now West War- C.J (JIM) WATERS (Jago, left 1964) wickshire) as a schoolboy and until 1968. Jim passed away earlier this year after a brave fight with illness. He knew what SIR DEREK HIGGS (Jago, left 1962) the matter was and the prognosis, but Sir Derek Higgs was Chairman of the Alliance and Leicester Bank still bore his suffering with great dig- and a leader in investment banking through the 1988s and 1990s. nity and courage. In talking of courage He died of a heart attack in April this year and will probably be I am in awe of the way in which Beryl best remembered as the author of a controversial and influential cared for him and the way in which his report on corporate governance in 2003. mother, Muriel, his sons, Michael Derek Higgs was born in Coventry in 1944. His father, Alan, was and Simon, and the rest of his a building society branch manager who went into property de- family coped through that awful velopment after the war and became a multi-millionaire. Derek time. and his sister had a comfortable upbringing but would not inherit James was born Christopher their father's £26 million estate. Instead they were to become James Waters on August 12th trustees of the Alan Edward Higgs charitable trust. The trust was 1945 at Dene Hollow, which was set up with the purpose of benefiting people, especially children the Bragg family home, just at the bottom of Church Hill Road. A and young people living in poverty, within a 25-mile radius of few years later they moved to Ashleigh Road, and then to Witley Coventry. Avenue, opposite Dene Hollow. He was not a great traveller. After leaving School he went to Bristol University and graduated At the age of 5 Jim went to Cedarhurst School and later, following in Economics and Accountancy in 1965 after which he moved to his brother, Jack, to Solihull School. At Solihull he obtained many London and trained as an accountant with Price Waterhouse. In '0' levels and three 'A' levels including a distinction in Econom- 1969 he joined Baring Brothers in the corporate finance depart- ics. ment and a few years later in 1972 he joined SG Warburg. He started as a corporate finance associate but his thoroughness and After school he was articled to Fred Lloyd at Williams Freeman reliability earned him rapid promotion rising to head of global fi- and Lloyd, where he worked for his entire career. In his very early nance in 1986. By this time he had become recognised as a lead- days one of the partners said, "we have taken on a very bright young man". How right they were. ing City Player, and was promoted to chairman in 1994. The Law Society exam results at that time were first published In 1996 Higgs was lured to the Prudential as a director and chair- in the Birmingham Post at midnight. At midnight we were in Col- man of its fund management business. This turned him instantly more Row pouring over the first editions. To our consternation from the City's most powerful banker into its most powerful inves- there was no mention of Jim's name until we looked at a small tor. At the end of 2000 he retired from the Pru and collected a section at the top of the page with a list of those achieving Hon- clutch of directorships. In 2005 he joined Alliance and Leicester ours. His name was there, one of very few people to get that as its chairman and in May 2008 was named as chairman of the accolade who did not have a degree. It wasn't till much later that investment firm Gleacher Shacklock. I was told he had also won the Birmingham Law Society bronze In 2003 Derek Higgs became a Pro-vice-chancellor at Bristol Uni- medal. The certificate containing his results, dated April 1969, shows that he also passed 3 of the papers with distinction, "a would help and give his time freely to anyone with a problem, very bright young man". especially a legal one. If he had sent out bills for all the advice he gave out of office hours he would have been a millionaire. He As far as his work was concerned the word workaholic immedi- was strongly anti-European (especially the French). I think this ately springs to mind. In at 6.00am, a quick lunch at the Robin may go back to the time he failed French 0 level so regularly. He Hood then finish around 5.30pm after everyone else had left. hated the mobile telephone and anything technical, "Alexander This was followed by more 'consultations' at the Woodman's Rest Graham Bell should have been strangled at birth", he said. He or in later years the Sharmans Cross. That excludes the Saturday supported all of the English sports teams and Birmingham City, and Sunday mornings, the work taken home and any extra hours although he felt he would have been a better selector than the that could be fitted in. ones appointed. He loved his cricket. He was a great believer in Many people have said to me that he was a very good solicitor, a freedom of choice; he particularly hated the namby-pamby state, gentleman, good to work for, quick to ring back, never any wor- the present government and politicians in general. His views on ries about the work he had done and many more compliments. where the country is going are not repeatable. I think it was to his credit that many of his clients stayed with He was a lovely man whose passing will make the world a less him for his whole career. His staff also stayed with him for many favourable place. years, one said to me, "In spite of the pressure he was under, Jim John Withers made office life fun, and he always had time for his staff". What LESLIE DARBY (left 1965) I never could understand though was how any of his staff, and Leslie's life cannot be summed up in a few words, but one thing indeed anyone else could read his writing, which always looked to is certain: a long tribute would not be to his liking except from me as if a very drunken spider had done it. those he cherished most, those whom he wanted to spoil, pamper James married Beryl in 1971 and they were married for over 36 and love. years. They first met in Church Hill Road when Jim was on his Though Leslie loved organising, giving, and spoiling, he did it in way to catch the bus for work, probably complete with his bowler such a way that the spotlights were not for him but for those he hat, and Beryl had just started teaching at Saint Martin's School. adored. Surrounded by loving parents, Leslie Senior and Joy, and His opening remark, "You have got as many freckles as I have", his sister Jane, Leslie was always the devoted son and brother, will surely go down in history as one of the most romantic lines for whom the happiness of his family was his own. As a family ever spoken! Anyway it worked and they married. they enjoyed the challenges of learning to ride together, and from He played a lot of sport, and tried even more. A proficient swim- there they entered the competitive equestrian world - a bond mer as long as he had one foot on the bottom, a water-skier that held them together for life. They also learnt to play bridge hampered by a lack of swimming ability, a lacrosse player of du- together and spent many happy hours at the West Midlands Club bious skill and a golfer held back by the inability to hit the ball in and at home. the required direction. At cricket he was a useful batsman, fielder Leslie found success at what some would say was the first born and occasional bowler. At hockey he was a dashing left-winger. At of the family - L. Darby and Son Ltd., a business established by both he represented his School House and School teams. his father, in 1947, which was to prosper further under Leslie's Much of his sport was played at the Old Silhillians, where he was leadership. Many will remember him for his dry sense of humour, a member from the time he left school. His 'five minutes of TV his boyish grin and his ability to keep calm under pressure. Leslie fame' came when the Old SiIs was featured in a TV documentary. believed in the time-honoured virtues of decency, honesty and Jim was seen kissing his mother goodbye as he left for cricket keeping your word, and he was known throughout the trade as tour. Jim was quite prepared to do this even though he was never the "Gentlemen's Gentleman." very demonstrative. However, he felt that five takes was a bit 16 years ago, he met Dominique, and Leslie found that rare soul much! mate with whom he would share the joys of friendship, marriage, He was very funny, although some of his jokes, observations and parenthood and devoted partnership. Throughout their marriage stories would have sent the politically correct into apoplexy. He their devotion to each other was obvious to all. Julian, their son, was born in 1994 and this was matched 15 months later, when After University he returned to the Old Boys' Club and made a Leslie's and Dominique's fulfilment was complete with the arrival considerable contribution as player and enthusiastic participant of their budding equestrian, Olivia. Olivia and Julian are the fruits to the off field activities on rugby tours. He gained his nickname of the union with his "Do" and through them, Leslie will continue of 'Kid Curry' during this time. No doubt there are many stories to live. now wrapped up in Old Silhillian myth and fable with Steve at the heart! Leslie loved nature and the land around his home. It was his re- treat, which he would share with his family. Every November he Steve proceeded to sail through the academic side of life at would build an enormous bonfire, supposedly for the children. school. His was a smooth transition with apparent effortless ease. I remember that he used to sleep resolutely behind his briefcase He would disappear across the fields with his tractor and trailer in A level History lessons whilst the rest of us frantically scribbled and return with huge felled logs. If you asked him how he man- reams of mainly incomprehensible notes. Yet his history writing aged them on his own, he would answer, "leverage" that's all it was always of polished and precise prose studded with telling and takes, "leverage"! He would set up a generator, place bales of hay incisive points much praised by the same history teacher. Steve around the fire and on a trailer, and provide refreshments, whilst had a great ability to read with purpose and argue with great co- "Do" would provide the food. Then Leslie would delight in treating herence. Many of you may not know that he wrote three novels. everyone to a magnificent firework display. He gave so much to He wrote poetry that was personal and he of course wrote for others. The last party was two years ago, and twenty-seven fam- comic effect. He was always a very clever and entertaining com- ily and friends came, they will all remember him for it. panion. Leslie battled long and hard for 14 months against his illness, all With all of these many accomplishments his entry to University of it at home. He wanted to be there for his family, giving them College, Oxford University to read English must have been a fore- as much time as possible, to come to terms with what was hap- gone conclusion. pening to him. He showed himself to be the true fighter he always was. In the end he left us to go to his peace with such dignity. Steve was a man of so many talents. At school he had an illustri- ous career in school plays. Steve's career took off after the initial STEPHEN CURRY (Fetherston, left 1967) grounding gained in some of the Lawrie Bailey epics performed in Steve was brought up in Shirley and entered the Lower School. Later, he had a major role in The Playboy of the School in September 1957 into the Prep Western World where his Irish accent received very favourable Form. He very quickly made his mark in all notices. One of the characters says "A daring fellow is the jewel of areas of school life. He was an all rounder the world...." Steve had that same quality to charm and sparkle. who had the happy knack to excel in all He was a great mimic but never with malice. He was also an out- that he did. He joined Fetherston House standing lead in Poor Bitos by Jean Anouilh. This is acknowledged and was always a loyal member of the to be a phenomenally difficult role in a complex play. house whatever the activity. He was recruited from university by Unilever, beginning his mar- keting career in their subsidiary, Van den Berghs, followed by a At School Steve encountered one period at Beecham Products with fast promotion. His success at of the great loves of his life - rug- these companies attracted the attention it deserved and he was by. He played at all levels in the persuaded to join Johnson & Johnson as Business Development school from under 8s up to the Manager, being promoted within a year to Marketing Manager first fifteen. He was noted for responsible for a turnover of £7 million - a lot of money in those his great élan and team spirit. days! Within just a further 2 years he was appointed Consumer Always a player of considerable Export Manager responsible for marketing and sales of all J&J physical courage I remember products in the Middle East, Africa, Far East and Eastern Europe. with some admiration the time His intelligence and management skills were quickly recognised that he played for a good part by senior management. He was invited by Smith & Nephew As- of a game with a broken arm. sociated Companies to become General Marketing & Sales Man- technical productswasnotwherehisheartlay! and subsequentlybyDixonstobecometheirMarketingDirector, ager (Lilia-WhiteLtd),reportingdirectlytotheManagingDirector This independentstatusgavehimtheflexibilityheneededtode- although hequicklyrealisedthattheretailingofelectricaland 'it isnotjustagoodread,butgreatread'andoneofthemost vote histimetorealpassion-writingandresultedina He finallytookchargeofthemarketingCountry'sdairy both theadvertisingandmarketresearchindustries. pendently asamarketingconsultantwithregularassignmentsto products attheNationalDairyCouncil,priortooperatinginde- teacher ofEnglish,atwhichhewouldhaveexcelledifhisfree Within thisperiodhealsomanagedtosqueezeintrainingasa 2nd and3rdnovels,theformerofwhichhissoon-to-beagentsaid intelligent booksshehadread. spirit hadnotputitasideduetohissuddenrecognitionofthe After havingaccomplishedsomuchinalifefartoobrief,Steve the RugbyWorldCupandbemoaninglacklustreformofhis 'I wasshockedandsaddenedtohearofStephen Curry'suntimely sively supportedbyhispartnerLynda-cheeringonEnglandin bureaucratic paperworkinvolved! Guy King-Reynoldsofferedthefollowingappreciation retained hissenseofhumourthroughlasttaxingillnessmas- life longfootballteam,BirminghamCity. on death whichbroughtbackthelightofotherdays now"40years about thelifeandhistoryofaschool,thenitisdoubly appropriate If thisphraserecallsthetitleofAlanBennett's memorableplay of thestagewherehewasadmiredforhisintelligent andcreative tions intherolethathe wasplayingasifitwerehisownlife tained, butthismasked hisabilitytobringvoice,bodyandac- because myvividmemoryofStephenisinthe lessformalrealm ability asanactorwhowasapleasuretodirect. On firstacquaintanceheappearedundemonstrative andselfcon- we sawinthreeschool plays.Hisfinalappearance,takingthe ted not takingthis opportunity.' a recognised avenuetotheprofessional stage(notleastMaggie appropriately, a"tourde force",andofastandardwhichenabled leading roleofMaxime in JeanAnouilh'splay,"PoorBitos"was, Smith andRichard Burton)hadheso wished.Perhapshe regret- him tojointhe OxfordUniversityDramatic Society(0.U.D.S.), It Chris Morle The 2008/09seasonwill seeboththe'A'and'B'teamscompetein Garwood on07956 915217. Season 2008/2009 A combined'A'and'B'teamintheSummerLeaguefinished asrunners- have playedbasketball orjustwanttoget fitthenpleasecontact Geoff 52-68. Division 1.Theclubarecontinually lookingfornewmemberssoifyou up toRedditchwitharecord of6wins,1loss,losingouttoRedditch Summer League history thataleagueand'RoseBowl'doublehasbeen achieved. games lostbyamarginof7pointsorless. with 7winsand10lossesfinishingin7thpositionlosingouton5thspot A seasonthatsawthe'A'teamconsolidatetheirpositioninDivision1 on basketdifference.AseasonofmissedopportunitiesforSils'A',with4 with arecordof6wins,1loss. and 'B'teamintheSummerLeaguefinishingas'Runnersup'toRedditch team 'AstonSils'(BasedatKingEdward'sSchoolAston)doinga'double' 'A' Team phy. Theseasonwasroundedoffwiththeclubplayingacombined'A' Season 07/08Review Treasurer by winningDivision2andtheWestMidlands'RoseBowl'knockouttro- Secretary It wasa Chairman very successfulseasonforOldSilsBasketball,whichsawthe BASKETBALL Geoff Garwood Bugsy Morton Andy Maturi time intheclub's 2 andthe'Rose The teamwonDiv. Bowl', thesecond on thecourtinall default), andre- matches played. only 1game(by tionally wellthis maining unbeaten season losing The played excep- S' Team Geoff 0121 7063966 0121 7451437 07956 915217 'B' Garwood team 'B' 63

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h. s or ts Sec ti o n Vice-Captain After KevinParkes'verysuccessfulyearascaptain,Iampleasedtore- Secretary/Treasurer Captain President The seasoncommencedonApril29thwiththePresidentversusCaptain with anexcellentscoreof87points—onlyonepointseparatingthetop three teams. a teamofLouisMeryon,JeremyStubbings,RichardTurner,BarnyDowd- office beforetheGraftonMorrishQualifyingRoundatOltoninMay.With event followedbytheAGM.ThisnewCaptainhadonlyafewweeksin membership thatnowstandsataround160. port thattheSocietyhascontinuedtogrowinstrength2008witha tain DennisPickforhisexcellentorganisation.Unfortunatelythematch The 'A'TeamregisteredonewinagainstneighboursCoptHeath,butlost ing, DavidFleetandWillWestallwequalifiedforthefinalsinthirdplace After hisverysuccessfulfirstyearascaptainofthe'B'Team,MaxLev- 24-a-side andfollowedbyanexcellentlunch—manythankstoOGCCap- were halvedandfourlost. with afingerbuffetcoupledfewglassesofPimms. The Captain'scocktailpartywasagainheldattheO.S.A. clubhousein against RobinHoodwascancelledduetorain. The Captain'sDayOutwasheldatOswestryGolfClub on29thAugust July withmembersandtheirpartnersenjoyingavery pleasant lunchtime enger losthiswinningtouchbutneverthelessenjoyedtheirmatches—2 narrowly tobothLadbrookParkandOlton.TheOltonmatchwasagain After anineholecompetitioninthemorningwonby the MikeWiseman that theclubhousewasabouttobedemolishedafew dayslater.Isitus? with wonderfulservicefromtheclubandcateringstaff —despitethefact team, the18holepairsbetterballafternooncompetition waswonbyMax and wewereluckytochooseoneofthefewwarmdry daysofoursum- The winnersofourvarious competitionswere:- Wiseman Foursome mer. 32membersandguestsenjoyedalovelydayat asplendidcourse Levenger andTomHarewithanoutrageousscoreof 52 points. The Invitation Greensomesheldinearly AugustwaswonbyDavid Fleet Seniors Salver OSA ChallengeClub and hisguest NeilGoodingwithafantastic netscoreof64(gross 69). December Vase(2007) Many congratulations toallthewinners. Peter Levenger Graham Creed Peter Thomas Bob Young John Woolman John LoyntonandGraham Hollway Steve Clements Bob Young 0121 7053778 01564 778549 01564 772556 01926 843482 erington played afabulouschipshottoten feet.Birkenheadmissed their square playingthe18th.Both teamswereshortintwo,Birkenheadputted par puttandshowing nervesofsteel,Louis Meryonholedhisparputt to up theslope but theballfinished25feet shortofthehole.James Heth- and BarneyDowdingbut we wereupintheothertwomatches.Then leading pairLouisMeryon and JamesHetheringtonfoundthemselvesall opposition. Theirverystrong secondpairwereleadingRichardTurner Our opponentsinthefinal were Birkenheadwhoprovedtobeformidable and wehadplayedourwayintothefinal. Westall provedtoomuchfortheopponents.Theycompleted a2+1win with a4+3wintoregistertheirfourthvictory.However theothertwo of LouisMeryonandJamesHetheringtonmaintaining theirwinningform The semifinalagainstMerchantTaylor'sbeganwell withourleadpair fortable 21/2-1/2victoryoverCheltenhamandthen followeda2-1win matches weremuchcloserbuttheexperienceofDavid FleetandHarry against King'sCanterburytoreachthesemifinal. to completethethirdandfourthroundmatches.We completedacom- We weregreetedonSaturdaymorningatHunstantonwithathicksea Turner andBarneyDowdingensuredourprogressinthetournament. noon andtheCommitteereducedmatchesfrom18 holesto9inorder until theweatherimproved.Eventuallymistlifted intheearlyafter- mist whichreducedvisibilitytounder100yards—all golf waspostponed of LouisMeryonandJamesHetheringtontheeverreliableRichard And sototheGraftonMorrishTrophyinlateSeptember.Thereweretwo changes totheteamthatplayedinMay,withJamesHetheringtonand in thesecondround.Inaverycloseencounter,winsfromnewpairing bye inthefirstroundandfacedastrongCharterhouseteamatBrancaster Harry WestallreplacingJeremyStubbingsandWillWestall.Wehada Back -BarneyDowding,LouisMeryon,GrahamCreed,JamesHetherington Front -HarryWestall,DavidFleet,PeterLevengerandRichardTurner The VictoriousGraftonMorrishTeam

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, .o rts Sec ti o n Peter LevengeracceptstheGraftonMorrishTrophy format isdecidedbytheCaptainoflosingsidefrom thepreviousyear. The 2008HicklinCuptookplaceonaverywetFriday inSeptemberat Whilst mostothercourses locally wereeitherclosedorveryclosetobe- After muchsittingaroundin theclubhousediscussingteams,format,and well to thecourse. Mostofthemweredrenched beforethefirstballwas ca- generally tryingtodelaythe startaslongpossible,bothteamstook Royal St.OnebridgeGolf&CountryClub.Thisannual eventseesthe Hockey andtheRugbyClubcompeteina10-a-side competition.The ing so,thenewandimproved courseatStonebridgeheldupparticularly less than18holes andthencalltheirgame anhonourablehalf,every hole ressed down the fairway.Inaformatdesigned tonotallowplayers play the hospitalityofLifeboatInn.Iamveryhonouredtohavebeen 45 yearsfollowingDavidPowell'ssuccessin1998. end forthe6playersand27travellingsupporterswhoonceagainenjoyed — let'sgoforthedouble! work thattheyundertaketomaintainthesuccessof Society. thanks totheCommitteefortheirhelpandkindness,especiallyPresident support inmyyearofcaptaincy.Ihaveenjoyedeverymoment,madevery Captain ofthesecondSolihullteamtowinGraftonMorrishTrophyin Very bestwishestoPeter'Arnie'Thomasforhisyear of captaincyin2009 special bytheGraftonMorrishweekend.Iwishtopassonmysincere Graham Creed,Secretary/TreasurerBobYoungandMatchSecretary In conclusion,IwouldliketothankallmembersoftheSocietyfortheir Mike Wiseman—thesegentlemendeserveallourthanks forthetimeand from PeterMorrish THE HICKLINCUP win thematch.Rich- Westall maintained ard TurnerandBar- to the17thandwith their 2holeadvantage decide theoutcome. It wasafantasticweek- to gettheirpar,an the oppositionfailing left ourfinalpairto match 2+1andthis ney Dowdinglosttheir eight footparputtfrom David FleetandHarry Grafton MorrishTro- p Harry Westallwonthe h y .

Peter Levenger over thecoming months. young players whoarealreadyleavinga markonthe2ndXlin early The Men's2ndXlsuffered themostfromavailabilityproblemswith51 through theclub'sjuniorranks willhopefullyseetheteamhaveoneofits former players,whotogether withtheburgeoningnumberofgirlscoming part ofthisseason. Weareexpectinggood thingsfromboththese sides timism, inparthelpedbythereturntoClubofahandful oftalented narrowly missedoutonpromotion andfeaturedanumberoftalented players performingatleast onceduringtheseason.TheMen's3rdXl of Heatherintheoffseason,beginnewcampaign withrenewedop- The Ladies1stXI,alsofinishedmidtable,buthaving enduredtheloss team isprobablytheyoungest wish hissuccessor,MattFell,goodwishesgoingforward. Thisseason's better seasonsinrecentyears. capable ofpushingforahighfinishintheleague. lenge. I'dliketothankPaulLawrenceforhistwoyears asCaptainand consistent availability,arecurrentthemeacrossmuch oftheclub,which sons finishingmid-table.TheMen's1stXI,inparticular, sufferedfromin- son running.TheMen'sandLadies1stXI'sbothenjoyed soundsea- prevented thesortofrunvictoriesrequiredtomount apromotionchal- On thepitchClub'ssidesproducedamixedbagforsecondsea- was killedinavehicleaccident.Notonlyasperson,butwhetheritbe when shortlyaftertheseasonfinishedHeatherLinley,ourClubCaptain, A fairlymixedseasononthepitchwascompoundedbytragedyoffit her terribly. in generalovermanyyears.Shewasanaturalorganiserandwewillmiss backbone oftheOldSilsandgavesomuchtoClubsport as player,coach,teamCaptainandClubCaptain,Heatherwasareal Youth Development: Men's ClubCaptain: Chairman Ladies ClubCaptain: President fourball. TheHockeyClubranoutwinnersbysevenholestowinthe Thank youtoallthosewhoplayedandJimRoperforcaptainingthe held. cup forthefirsttimeinfouryearswhichcompetitionhasbeen game withthescoresbeingprettylevelatturn.Asresultscame Rugby Club'steamandinorganisingtheday. and therainfellevenharder,HockeyClubslowlygotbackinto in, allgameswereprettycloseandthematchwasdecidedbyfinal counted towardsacumulativetotal.TheRugbyClubhadstrongstart, managing togetaleadinfiveofthesixmatches.Asmatchcontinued Sally-Anne Ogden Mike Waters Lucy Steele Steve Tabb HOCKEY I Mick Lane can rememberwithplentyoftalentandis 07971 704608 07765 867952 07977 229541 07900 884100 67

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orts Se cti o n The Men's4thXIontheotherhandhadaveryyoungsideandstruggled far toomanygoals(whichwasthecase)butCaptain,PeterDawes,would that wontheleague.Onpositivesideyoungstersinteamwill sound likecodefortheygotrelegated(whichdid),whilstconceding against theoddsinadivisioncontainingsomestrongopposition.Thismay was perhapstheUnder18'sreachinglast16ofnationalplate. The clubcontinuestooperateahighlyrespectedjuniortrainingset-upwith never forgivemeifIdidn'tpointoutthattheyatleastdefeatedtheteam a numberofplayersgainingselectiontotheCountysquads.Thehighlight progressed tothe3rdXIthisseason. have benefitedenormouslyfromtheexperienceandmanyalready take placeatSolihullSchoolonSundaymorningsbetween10.30amand those readerswithchildrenkeentogivehockeyago,trainingsessions attending thejuniortrainingsessions,butaslightshortageofboysatunder As everIwouldliketoendbythankingSolihullSchoolandChrisMayer tinues tohaveagoodrelationshipwiththeSchoolmanyofourjunior provides excellentcoachingforthewellattendedunder11agegroup.For Looking aheadtothisseasontheclubhasatremendousnumberofgirls tact therelevantofficerlistedabove.Men's1X1squad andLadies'training The Clubisalwayslookingfornewplayers.Anyoneinterestedshouldcon- 16. WehaveanewYouthDevelopmentOfficerinLucySteele,whoherself 12 noon.AlternativelypleasecontactLucyontheabovenumber. training onTuesdaysalsoat7.30pm. takes placeatSolihullSchoolonThursday'sstarting at 7.30pmwithclub members currentpupilsandalsoprovidessupportwithumpiringschool in particularfortheirbackingoverthepasttwelvemonths.Theclubcon- matches wheneverpossible. The shootingfraternityinthis Countrycomprisesmanysub-disciplines Club Captains Secretary Chairman President covering awidespreadof activities.Fromairgunstoshotguns,short The OSRCspecialises indisciplinesof.22 calibrerimfirerifle,single shot sive, takeyour pick. moving, somestationary,time limitsordeliberatefire,costlyinexpen- range (6m)tolong(1100m), targetsofgame,clayorcard,some (prone rifle)and magazinefed(lightweight sportsrifle).Theammuni- Gordon Bragg(Pistol) Liz Asquith(Rifle) Clive Hollings Peter Upton David Neal 0121 0121 0121 0121 01564 770743 Mike Waters 744 706 704 704 2500 0314 8751 1212 junior levels. We welcome approaches fromanyinterested parties,betheynovice or warden dutiesoronrange maintenance. As evertheclubcanonly succeed onthebackofhardworkbymany. experienced shooter. Thanks gotoallwhoinvolve themselvesincommitteematters,range Thus itispleasingtoreportanincreaseinthenumbers ofclubmembers tinue tobeafriendlyandsociablegroupbutarerealising agreater'com- gaining WarwickshireCounty representativehonoursatbothseniorand these resultswenotemanypersonalandteamimprovements inscores and additionallythedesiretokeepthistrendmoving forward.Wecon- The yearhasproducedanaveragebatchofindividual andteamawards petitive' edge. of 'fatherandson'combinationswherebythechallenges andsuccesses together withthenecessaryselfdisciplineofshooterinordertomax- in MidlandandNationalLeaguecompetitions.More importantlywithin can beenduredandenjoyedtogether. toy guns. tragic occasion,tobelethalatthisdistance.Theriflesweusearenot tion launchesabulletcapableoftravellingmileandknown,onone imise hisorherperformance. In thisveinitisencouragingtoreportthattheclubcurrently has6pairs is thatofsafety.Thishastobelinkedthedisciplinefiringline It islittlewonderthenthattheprimeconcernofclubanditsmembers 00 1110 . 0 . 11 91. 1 - " " Ak6 '

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, • or ts Sec ti on tin bathandcoldwateruntiltheoutbreakofwar.Afterwartheyhad the greatfortunetoobtainwartimedecontaminationcentreatSolihull the firstXVwerecalledupimmediatelyatoutbreakofwarexceptGE attended everymeetingfromtheClub'sformationuntilhisretirementin The touringpartysharedthehotelwithKingsLynnLadiesHockeyClub the SiIsandfirstEasterTourwasin1953toSouthendRugbyfestival. master, MrARThompson,wasthefirstPresidentofRugbyCluband ing thistimeBillWigley'ssnookerroomwasusedforselection.Allof Hospital forchangingwithanunlimitedsupplyofhotwater.TheHead- diately heleftschoolin1936torepresentthe'youngerelement'. Cooper reformedtheClubin1946.HaroldWheatleywasfirstfounder Sanders andCTCoton.AlanBradbury,ClaudeCoton(CTC)Mel tween aWCRamseyXV(PresidentelectoftheRFU) andanOldSiIs won theOldBoysseven-a-sidecompetitionforfirst timebeatingOld and thiswastheonlytimethatwivesgirlfriendswent ontour. Stuart SandersandCTCrepresentedtheCountysidewhileplayingfor member tobecomepresidentwhileCTCwasputonthecommitteeimme- From the1930suntillate1940sCooperfamilyranClub.Dur- The clubthenwentthrough aleanspellandwentopenin1982,openingits started andforthefirsttimedinnerjacketswereworn attheAnnualDin- and MidlandsCombinedside,watchedbyacrowdof 3,000.In1959the 1947. sity, captainedbyOldBoyMartinGreen,8-3.Fromthis timeuntilthemid Saltleians 13-5.Inthesameseasontheyalsobeat Cambridge Univer- Andrew Clutterbuck, andnowplay inMidlands3 West(South). doors tonon-OldBoysofthe Schoolanddropping'Old'fromtheirname. ner. TheClubmovedtotheircurrenthomeatCopt Heath in1967and Birmingham andWarwickshireOldBoysseven-a-side competitionwas In 1953theSiIsmovedtoDingleLaneandopening gamewasbe- SiIs haveenjoyed threemorepromotions: 1994/95underthecaptaincy of SiIs graduallyimproved,culminating inpromotion1991toWarwickshire Division OneoftheCourage League,underthecaptaincyofAlanElliott. Nick Savage, 1998/99captainedbyAndrew Durrantand2000/01 ledby 1970s theywereprobably one ofthebestOldBoyssidesinarea. The 2007/08seasonsawtheRugbyClub and playedatBroomfields,whichwas celebrate their75thAnniversary.Formed changing roomswereinMillLanewitha grazing landforMrPrice'shorses.The in 1932theywerecalledSolihullOldBoys 75th Anniversary RUGBY some of ourmoremeaningful victories. Regaining the'Bog Seat'from amongst the players as'beingpartofthe family'.Thiswastypified by the commitmentshownby alltheplayersandmanagementteamin achieving thetargetsweset ourselvesearlierinthesummer. tending theSchoolfromageof9andstayingcourse, tobenamed Most importantly weregainedasense of clubspirit,morefondlyknown gable natureofagroup playerswhopossesstrue'Sils'spirit.Wedid season ahugesuccessand afittingtributetotheresilienceandindefati- as SilhilliansRUFCCaptainwasatruehonour.Iconsider the2007-08 not wintheleagueorreach acupfinalandourpositionof9thbetrays Secretary Chairman I amdelightedtobeablesubmitmyfirstreportthe Silhillian.Afterat- President will neverforget. they lost3-19toBillericaybuttheexperiencewasonethatthosethere ance inthe1999Tetley'sBitterVaseFinalatTwickenham.Unfortunately Undoubtedly theclub'sgreatestachievementtodatewastheirappear- Taken atthe75thAnniversaryAnnualDinner,HonoraryLifeMembers of theClub-MartinGreen,RogerCreed,DavidGrahamLoader, Nick Atkinson,GrahamWebbandPhilGreen(unableto attendwere Claude Coton,RoyDaviesandTonyKeeler) Andrew Clutterbuck Graham Loader Last Season Paul Newby - 07702 632219 07866 733180 07836 722950 71

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, , o rts Se ctio n trophy. Attheendofseasonweconvincinglybeatouroldnemesis ture atthetopwithyourstrulybeingappointedascaptain,mybestfriend talking, obsessiveandhasallthetimeinworldforlads. terview thathepossessedtherightpersonalandclubprincipleswewere 55-5 loss. back theWedgeburyCup;andwealsoretainedRikAdamsmemorial OldEdwardians,demolishingSolihullonBoxingDaytowin and confidantJamesRoperasVice-captainMarkPearsoncoach. 'SiIs' lookedtobecomingoutoftheDoldrums.Thisstartedwitharestruc- , leavingtheirmemoriesofleaguerugbyatourlevelbeinga we sawsomefineindividualperformancesasourgameimproveddra- the pack?Thesestalwartswerejoinedbyaplethoraofyoungtalentand Following theexodusof'falseprophets'atend2006-07season fort zones.Allrespondedwithgreatmaturityandrelishedtheopportunity gether inSeptember.34differentplayerswereinvolvedthefirstXVlast looking for.Hisenthusiasmforthesportisunparalleled.Hestraight to learnmoreaboutthegame.JimCooperplayedevery1stXVgame season. WhowouldhavethoughtweseenthelikesofNick For thoseofyouwhohavenotcomeacrossMarkitwasobviousathisin- Savage, PiersandJimCooperKevinLaneformingthebackboneof the lossofsteadyinghandIanCooperonbirth ofhisfirstchild. during theseason,afeatforwhichheistrulycommended. However Ithinkevenhewasshockedwiththescratchteamwethrewto- when mostplayershaveretiredcontinuedtoturnoutfor thedevelopment matically. Weaskedpeopletoplayoutofpositionandoutsidetheircom- challenge oftakingcontrolthesituationandteam's fortunesim- team spirit.SpecialmentionmustbegiventoDesLindley whoatanage side weekinoutandwasinvolvedeverygame lastseason. Prior toChristmas,theDevelopmentXVsuffereda toughtimedueto and theteamistocommendedforitsdoggeddetermination andfantastic proved. Sixoftheireightwinswererecordedinthepost-Christmas period However, DaveMitchell,DuncanStanleyandSteve Alisorelishedthe great comforttotheplayers whenfacedwithmoremilitantawaysupport- a credittotheClub.Iknow theirenthusiasticandvociferoussupportisa John Griffinand GuyPattinsonwerea continuedrevelationduring the ers. TheClubisalsoblessed withadedicatedmanagementteam.The Boulter, SteveRoperandDave Green,everpresentonthetouchline,are It isalsofittingtomention someofourmoreardentfollowers.Bobby nights andmatch days.AndrewClutterbuck, SimonCarter,PhilGreen, players areimmensely gratefultothetime devotedbythemontraining system andclickingon theclubweb siteandthen squash. specialist individual websitewhichisinthe processofcontinualimprove- tions atacompetitivelevel. Anyonewishingtoviewthenewbooking on system orisinterestedinjoining thesquashsectioncanvisitwebsite ment andenlargement andcanbefound throughthesquashbooking helped toimproveourfinances andsubsequentlytokeepoursubscrip- also foranycourtsbooked thatarenotforanyreasonused.Thishas squash clubisbeingpaidbefore thecourtiseitherbookedorusedand our cashflow.Allmembershavetoopenanaccount which mustalways of theadvantageshavinginstalledsystemis improvementto The newonlinecourtbookingsystemcontinuesto function well.One be keptincreditordertobookcourts.Thisobviously meansthatthe Secretary Chairman President watch agame.Thiscomingseasonshouldseeusbacktofieldingthree At theendofseasonGrahamLoaderwaselectedanHonoraryLife term asPresidentandlookforwardtosharingtheoddpintwithhimon our interviewsonaTuesdayandThursdayfrom7.30pm. sides sothereisalevelforeveryone.AsMr.Pearsonwouldsaywehold as Secretary.Itisawelldeservedhonourandhehasourthanks years asamemberoftheCommittee,last10whichhavebeen fondly known.GrahamstooddownasPresidentattheendofsea- congratulations. call himagoodfriend.IwishhissuccessorPaulNewbysuccessin You mayhavenoticedInotmentionedoneofthelargestperson- them ourClubwouldcertainlycometoanabrupthalt.Thankseach Finally itisjustleftformetoencourageoneandallcomeplayinor a Saturday. and inthewaywhichheconductshimselfClubmatters.Hehas son. Formanyofusthismanhasbeenaninspirationbothonthefield alities atourClub,GrahamWebb,ortheold'Glow-Worm'ashe'smore and everyoneofthem. Member oftheClub,thisawardbeingmadeinrecognitionover30 season withtheirprofessionalismandcommitmenttothecause.Without been mymentorformanyyearsandoverbottlesoffineredwine. I believeheepitomisesalltheClubstandsforand www.squashbooking.co.uk/silhillians R.J.Standley R.Heighway R.D.Taylor Thesquashclubalsohas a I am trulyproudto 01564 742262 01564 775883 01564 772886 Lee Jones 73 uoip as sp o 4 "4 74

.or ts Secti o n that thesecondhalfofseasonwasastruggle.Alfmanagedtocarry to playteamsquash.Thismeansthatwehaveonlylimitedcoverforany The clubhasonlyasmallsquadofeithersufficientstandardoravailability to fulfilallthefixturesbutresultsweredisappointingandasyouwill to fieldastrongenoughsidewinanymatches.Howeverwemanaged these setbackswemanagedtoholdonandfinishedaschampionsofthe started theWinterLeague(Division4)withasettledsideandupto times verystrongassomeofthebiggerclubsonlyfieldedoneteamin division andwillplaynextseasoninDivision3.IntheSummerLeaguewe on untiltheendofseasonandtohiscreditrecordedsomevitalwins Christmas breaktheresultswereverypromisingandwetopof On theplayingsideseasonhasbeenverymuchoneofmixedfortunes. the winterandsummerteams.Playersinvolvedin squashwereAlf see fromtheattachedresultswefinishedbottom.Thecompetitionwasat started withsomegoodresultsbutastheseasonworeonwestruggled playing atnumberonestring.Youwillseefromtheresultsthatdespite league. HoweverinjuriestoAlfKavanaghandmyself(bothknee)meant injuries orunavailabilitiesthatareboundtooccurduringtheseason.We Summer asopposedtotwoorthreeintheWinter.Thisresultedthem had beenpromotedfromDivision4to3inthepreviousyear.We will meet.Itishopedthatitbeconcludedbeforethe Christmasbreak. dition ofoneortwonewplayers.Weareactivelypursuingthelatter. at timesfieldingamuchstrongerteamthantheywouldhavebeenableto Once againthankstoPhilDaviesandRayMillstherespectivecaptainsof This year'sopenfinalhassofarbeenanonevent.Due toalltheinjuries and inthesummerAlfKavanagh,ArthurAdair,MarkTaylor, RogerTaylor, put outintheWinter.. current holderhasmadehiswaytothefinalandstillawaits toseewhohe injury free(probablynotarealisticassumption)andwealsoneedthead- For thenewseasonwedesperatelyneedallourexistingplayerstokeep Kavanagh, ArthurAdair,RogerTaylor,PhilGuest, Davies,RayMills a closefoughtmatch—congratulations toMarkandcondolescences nard andTealeWithers. Phil Guest,Davies,RayMills,SteveChant,Andy Tippings,NickBar- previously mentionedthefinalhasstillnotbeenplayed. MarkTaylorthe and thecleaning oftheplaywallsonboth courts.Atpresentweare look- cluded theredecoration ofthechanging roomsandthesandingof floors changing areastoaclean and soundcondition.Workduringtheyearin- In thisyear'shandicaptournamentMarkLewisbeatPete CasteII3—2in Pete. ing atthefeasibility ofupgradingthecourt heatingsystem. During theyearwehavecontinued tomaintainboththecourtsand that knewhim. work putinbyourmembershipsecretary,JohnMilne,whocarriesouthis club shouldcontactJohnMilneon01564795063. and thatthenumberinleagueswillgraduallyincrease. Wright (CourtMaintenance),RayMills(Internalleagues),BobHeighway committee hasalsoputinmanyhoursofhardworktoensurethattheclub small increaseoverthepreviousyear.Thishasalottodowithhard rates remainverycompetitiveandanyoneinterestedinjoiningthesquash members wishingtoplayeitherSquashorRacketball.Oursubscription On asadnoteIhavetoreporttheuntimelydeathofToneyCox.had and PhilDavies(Captain) Special thanksmustgotoJohnStandley,Parrott(Treasurer),Brian runs efficientlyandwithouttheseeffortswewouldnotbeabletooperate. role inthemostprofessionalandmeticulousmanner.Therestof Finally asinpreviousyearswehaveplentyofsparecapacityfornew been asquashmemberformanyyearsandwillbemissedbyeveryone ning internalleagues.Itishopedthatmoreplayerswillgivethegameatry Membership levelsareveryencouragingandweactuallyshoweda Racketball hascontinuedtobecomemorepopularandwearenowrun- Web: www.babybottlesltd.co.uk Tel: (024)76361518 and wineatcompetitiveprices Contact: KeithHarding, AreaManager Web: www.aimsoftware.co.uk Tel: 01564770400 AIM SOFTWARELTD (07740 830234) Coventry CV79NH Crondal Road,Exhall, Contact: TimPlatt and FinanceSectors in theManufacturing,Distribution solutions &support,specialising Packaged andbespokesoftware Croft House,21bStationRoad, Email: [email protected] Solihull, WestMidlands,B93OHL Fax (024)76364718 Quality softdrinks,kegs,beers,cask ales BABY BOTTLES(WHOLESALE)LTD Email: support andinterestofthefollowing: We acknowledgewiththanks,the [email protected]

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uoip as sp o I GRESWOLDE CONSTRUCTION LTD NEC HOMES Corporate a Private Hospitality Greswolde House, 190 Boldmere Road, 197a Station Road, Knowle, Sutton Coldfield, B73 5UE Old Silhillians' Association Clubhouse and Grounds Solihull, West Midlands B93 OPU Tel: 0121 354 0970 The Old Silhillians' Association is well equipped to host a variety of Corporate Tel: 01564 776271 Fax: 0121 354 0971 Fax: 01564 770116 Email: [email protected] and Private Functions. Email: [email protected] Property Developers and With a wealth of knowledge in Hospitality and Event Management look no Web: www.greswoldeconstruction.com Project Management New Build, Refurbishment and Contact: Steve Gilmore further than the Old Silhillians' Association Clubhouse and Grounds. Property Development We are situated in the heart of the West Midlands motorway network, Contact: Malcolm Priest SIMS GARDEN MACHINERY LTD adjacent to Junction 5 on the M42. Birmingham Road, HAUNCH LANE DEVELOPMENTS LTD Stratford-upon-Avon Conference and Banqueting 7 Stratford Road, Shirley, Tel: 01789 205671 Solihull, West Midlands B90 3LU Fax: 01789 299006 Wedding Receptions Tel: 0121 745 4117 Suppliers of Lawn Tractors, Mowers Business Meetings / Seminars Property Developers and Garden Machinery Contact: Mike or Jack Wiseman Web: www.simsgardenmachinery.co.uk Team Building Days Contact: Barry Sims Exhibitions JOHN HOLLINGSWORTH & SON LTD. Arts and Craft Shows St. John's Court, THORLUX LIGHTING St. John's Close, Knowle, Merse Road, Redditch B98 9HH Special Occasion Parties Solihull, West Midlands B93 ONN Tel: 01527 583200 Children's Parties Tel: 01564 779193 email: [email protected] Lunches and Dinners Purveyors of Fine Cigars, Tobaccos Website: www.thorlux.com and Smokers' Accoutrements Designers, Manufacturers & Suppliers National Get Togethers / Reunions Email: [email protected] of Professional Lighting Systems Sporting Fixtures / Tournaments / Coaching Programmes Contact: John Withers Contact: Ian or Andrew Thorpe Facilities Include: JOHNSON & GAUNT VINCENT TIMBER 47 North Bar, Banbury, 8 Montgomery Street, Conference Formal Dinners Private Parties Oxon 0X16 OTJ Sparkbrook, Clubroom 150 120 170 Tel: 01295 759400 Birmingham B11 1DU instone Room 60 50 70 Fax: 01295 266451 Tel: 0121 772 5511 Members' Lounge 40 30 n/a A full range of legal services Timber & Plywood Importers & Merchants Web: www.johnsongaunt.co.uk Web: www.vincenttimber.co.uk All the above functions are serviced by our extensive catering and bar Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] facilities (including undercover BBQ area) Contact: Tim Elkins Contact: John Vincent 30 acres of land suitable for marquee hire, team building days, exhibitions and outside displays. If you would like to place an Superbly maintained Rugby, Football, Hockey and Cricket pitches with full changing room and shower facilities. advertisement, acknowledgment Extensive Coaching Programme for Mini and Junior Rugby, or contribute to next year's Hockey and Football. 2 Squash courts with private changing and shower facilities. magazine please contact: Croquet, Archery and Rifle Shooting facilities. FREE car parking for in excess of 400 cars. If you are interested in hiring the facilities or wish discuss further 76 mamolinwhONIRD2yondGmauk opportunities, please contact Keith Waterhouse - General Manager t - 01564 777680 / f - 01564 775151 / e - manager®silhilliansclubhouse.co.uk MAKE YOUR NEXT MOVE in SOLIHULL and WARWICKSHIRE through Your local independent Estate Agent

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