Soham Grammarians - What was new on our website in 2006?

December 2006

• John Gothard 53 updates the L6 Arts 1956 photo - see Scrapbook >1950s

• Tony Hall 45 has provided a photo of Form 3B taken in 1946, with Mr Brown (details please, he is not yet in our staff listing). Please verify/correct/add first names to the identifications Tony has made - see Scrapbook >1940s

November 2006

• Gary Coxon 68 provides an U15 football photo of what he thinks is the 1970-71 season team, though "it could have conceivably been the 71/72 season". "If my memory serves correctly we won about as many as we lost and tried desperately not to do anything noteworthy, as that would mean having to give the dreaded account in school assembly on Monday morning!"
  
  Please check names, Colin Hambidge and Tony Noble have already done so, and advise on the year - see School Lists > Sports photos
  
  Gary also explains why he is missing from the 1972 Fenland Games winners' photo (click that photo to discover this). He adds a bus story "I also remember another occasion where me and another guy (who shall remain nameless) devised a plan to "Miss the Bus" and hitch to school, thus avoiding the first two lessons. However we accepted a lift off a very keen young lady who drove like the wind, overtaking the bus we had "missed" and got there a good ten minutes before the rest of the pupils!"

• Contact made:
  Mick Bartlett 60 entry, Cambridgeshire
  Trevor J Smith 62 entry, Thailand: The class of 1962 had a tough introduction to the school, one of the worst winters [62-63] for decades. There were still remnants of the compacted, cleared and swept snow under the trees lining the drive in May! There were strict rules regarding first and second years having to wear short trousers and the heating in the first-year classrooms (off the end of the dining room near to the school field gates) was broken. The mid-morning flask of hot coffee brought from home was the only thing that got me through those Spring Term months! Luckily, that was the nearest we got to 'Public School conditions' and the modern classrooms of the second year saw school-life get more comfortable.
  Does anyone else have SG related memories/photos of that or any other severe weather problems? For example in which year in the sixties was the school hit by a dust storm? See Scrapbook for 1958 floods.
  Please contact the editor

• School Photo updaters this month - see School Lists:
  May 1970 2nd year VIth - Chris Sangster 63 provides a larger photo: "I left Soham in the Summer of 1970, travelling round Scandinavia on a Morris Travel Scholarship with John Gregson, Mick Newton & Richard Murfitt. Haven't seen any of them since ... " see via School Lists > Year Index > 63 entry
  1965 - Trevor J Smith 62

October 2006

• Photos and caps relating to the late Douglas Golding and his brothers (of the Goldings of Newmarket family), who were at the school some 90 years ago: these have come from Peter Golding of Newmarket, thanks to John Ansell who brought them to the 2006 reunion - see Scrapbook .. 1910-19

• A photo report on the 2006 reunion is now available via the Reunions page. It includes the talk given by Rex Waller ... Salve Magister ...
  
  If you have good quality photos that could be added, please contact the editor.
  
  Thank you to all who arrived bearing additional material for our website and the school archive:
  
  Sport: see via History > History2 > Sports photos
  1952 Cricket 1st XI, long missing: loaned by John Ansell 47
  Football 2nd XI 1948-49, from Tony Appleyard 41
  Football U14 XI 1947-48, from Tony Hall 45
  
  People: Mr AE Lawrance, on his retirement in 1984 as Warden of Soham Village College, from Mrs June Lawrance - see via In Memoriam
  
  
  Productions - photos from Rex Waller see via History > History2
  1954's HMS Pinafore
  1957's Pirates of Penzance (does anyone have the programme?)
  1959's Old Boys' production of Ten Little Niggers
  1959's The Bartered Bride
  
  Items
  An SGS School Stamp, via Mrs ME Bryden - see via School Lists > School Admin
  
  Our speaker Rex Waller said our reunions are hard to beat! Guest of Honour Dr Carin Taylor, Principal of Soham Village College, said she was not sure whether it was us welcoming her or her welcoming us, but we shared the mutual privilege of being and having been at Soham. Best wishes to Keith Fuller who was unable to attend as he was taken into hospital. The School Song ... well, we all got a 'must do better next year' ... [Editor - see History > History2 > School Song to sing along and be more ready for next year?]

• Rex Waller reports that Mrs Barbara Thomas, widow of Taffy, died in 2005 aged 101.

• Stephen Gilbert 61 writes (4 Oct) that he has heard that John Phillips (61-65) passed away suddenly about 8 weeks ago: if anyone has more information or can provide a published obituary, please contact the editor

• Did you have a bus season ticket? see Scrapbook > 1960s

• Contact made:
  Michael Clark 55 entry, Queensland, Australia
  Graham Crow 67 entry, Lancashire
  John Milne 49 entry, Cambridgeshire
  Stuart Norman 70 entry, Cambridgeshire

• School Photo updaters this month - see School Lists:
  1956, 1960 - Michael Clark 55

September 2006

• Mr Tabraham's daughter Jenny has provided some photos of her father in retirement and some sketches of work that he did. Tabs, who is coming up to 95, sends his best wishes for our Dinner and would welcome letters from former Grammarians - please contact the editor for his address - see School Lists > Staff > EH Tabraham

• 1967 Senior Prizegiving - can you add names to some photos - and do you still have the programme for this event? - see via Scrapbook

• The editor has added photos taken of them in Summer 1968 to the following pages:
  Edward Armitage (tree dedication page)
  CJ Ford - see via In Memoriam
  AE Lawrance see via In Memoriam
  TL Riley (as many of you would no doubt have liked to have seen him!) - see via In Memoriam

• Contact made:
  David Baumber 56 entry,Worcestershire

August 2006

• Mike Goodchild 51 has provided the names of the 1955-57 Football 1st XI - one of my few claims to fame, he says although RAT did once remark - "Goodchild, you'll never make a footballer." see via School Lists > Sports Photos

• Jeff Watson 51 writes of some saving graces of his time at SGS where he and the regime did not get on - see Scrapbook > 1950s
  As a result of Jeff's looking again at the 1952 school photo, it is realised that there are two Everitts on the photo (segments 4/13 & 12/13) but there was only one listed by the school at the time (ML Everitt, Form IIA) - can you help? see via School Lists > 1952 photo

• Jeff has also added 1954 U14 Cricket and U14 Football photos, can you help with IDs? - see School Lists > Sports photos

• We do not have photos for the following First XI. If you can help, please contact the editor :
  Cricket: most of the 1940s and earlier; 1952
  Football: most of the 1940s and earlier; 1951-52; 1965-66; 1969-70
  For the many we do have, see School Lists >Sports photos

• We have heard of the deaths of the following Soham Grammarians - our condolences to their families and friends. If you have seen an obituary or have a memory of them please contact the editor - see also In Memoriam:
  Ivan Lancaster 37 entry
  Colin Rush 49 entry
  Barry Staines 51 entry
  Leslie Stimpson (1930s)
  Jack Unwin (entry year not known)

• Contact made:
  Grahame Stevens 49 in North Yorkshire: My parents lived in Stretham; I was a contemporary of Colin Cresswell and the late Colin Rush.
  
  On my first day at SGS I arrived late! I travelled by bus from Stretham, changing at Ely - and I was with Barrie Cook and another older boy from Stretham. In previous terms, Eastern Counties had run a 'relief' bus (specifically for school traffic) from Haddenham to Ely, which sometimes ran after the normal service vehicle. On this morning, the service bus arrived, full, and the consensus was that we should wait for the relief bus ... which never arrived! So we had to wait half an hour for the next bus - we missed the connection at Ely and arrived somewhat late at Soham. Fortunately, although the school bell had rung some time before, the boys were still lining up in the playground, so I was just able to tag on to the end of the line.

July 2006

• Look at the school via Google Maps aerial view. You can move the map around, zoom in and out ... try it out!

• David Reader 51 has heard of the death of a fellow 51, EBA (Brian) Nunn

• David Clayton 54, Somerset: Blundering through your site I came across two pleas for information about people of whom I have fond memories: Ken Holt and Stuart Saunders. I cannot offer much in the way of hard information, but both men were inspirational characters, and slight family friends. (I would also like to acknowledge Mr Grassi, who revealed the relevance of history to me). Ken Holt taught the top year at Ely Silver Street Junior Boy's School (and may have been Deputy Head), which I suppose I left in 1954. In a more disciplinarian age, he had a relaxed manner that encouraged interest and questioning. For extra kudos, he also had a motorbike and sidecar. I'm sure that the school's excellent 11-plus record had much to do with him.
  For David's recollections of Mr Saunders, smoker, see In Memoriam
  
  Bill Kelly 55: I spent 7 years at SGS leaving in 1962 with Russ Scott, Nobby Clarke, Wally Register, Spud Taylor et al. Though not a good student - I spent a lot of time away from school - I left home in Ely to become a design engineer with English Electric in Rugby. In 1970 I was seduced into the Royal Navy. I saw action in the Falklands in 1982 and in Bosnia in 1995 with NATO, before retiring as a Commodore in 1999.
  My wife and I settled in Devon in 2000 whilst I worked as the Director of Quality Assurance for a regulatory authority in London for 3 years.
  I now walk the moors at lot, fish the Devon streams for brown trout, watch Devon and Somerset cricket and generally enjoy a relaxed retirement.
  I occasionally return to Ely where I am President of the City's RNA Branch, and to Littleport where my father still lives; my mother, Joan Jacobs, died more than 8 years ago. I was last in Soham as the Inspecting Officer for the RNA Branch when it received its new Standard. See also Pages on/by SGs
  
  Eric Scannell 66, now in Norfolk
  
  John Goodge 61, Cambridgeshire

June 2006

• Mike Rouse: "The family in Soham has heard that Colin Rouse [1946 entry] has died. I believe it was on 17 May 2006. He was about 71 and suffered from cancer." Mike is trying to get further information. Please contact the editor if you have any more information or appreciations to offer - Colin was one of those with whom we had no contact.

• Contact made:
  
  Tim Ewer 61 now in NZ: I went on to get a medical degree at Bristol Uni, specialising initially in internal medicine and then headed south, initially to the Sultanate of Oman and then onto NZ. After 10 years as a hospital consultant I started up my own private practice which has grown to have 3 other part-time GPs working there. I now practice 'integrative medicine' which combines modern medicine with complementary medicine. I'm married with a son and grandson, and live by the sea in a beautiful part of NZ. Soham seems a long time ago ... I remember the boarding house and all sorts of adventures aimed at not being caught by the Armitages. We also started a rock 'n roll band that played at one of the end of year functions.
  
  Nick Grainger now in Australia - arrived in 1963 in the 3rd Form as a 13 year-old so nominally a 61er. He believes he took some of the Boarding House pictures "someone going in or out of the window - yes I'm afraid this was a regular entrance and exit both in and out of hours ..." (see History > History 2 > Boarding House).
  For more on his many adventures after leaving SGS see Pages on/by SGs

• Photo updaters this month:
  Nick Grainger '61': School Photo 1965

May 2006

• Pilot Officer William Dick Hawkes RAFVR: 1928-31 Bill Hawkes was killed aged 26 on No.207 Squadron Royal Air Force on 13th May 1943. An intriguing story about the loss of this Soham Grammarian and his crew can be seen via A Bent Sixpence

• On 15th March 2006 Soham Village College announced the appointment of a new Principal, who is hoping to add to the school's success. Dr Carin Taylor, who has been Deputy Head for three years at Prince William School, Oundle, Northamptonshire, will take up her position from 1st September 2006.
  
  Dr Taylor takes over from Dr David Lunn, who has been SVC's Acting Principal since September 2005 when Howard Gilbert moved to St Ivo School, St Ives. The announcement of Dr Taylor’s appointment coincides with the College being awarded a second specialism in Modern Foreign Languages, which will enable the College to strengthen the outstanding work it is already doing as a Technology College.
  
  We welcome Dr Taylor and thank David Lunn for his help whilst Acting Principal. For further information please visit the SVC website via the link on the left of your screen, and then select General Info > General News.

• Ken Howard 46 has provided some of the paperwork his parents recieved from the Isle of Ely Education Committee in July 1946 informing them about his admission to Soham Grammar School and travel - see School Lists > School Admin

• Contact made:
  Nick Cave 60 now in France : "I was asked to leave by Ted A …. something about the length of my hair and its effect on my educational abilities ... hope [contact] is not about the magnesium tape I nicked from the chemistry lab! I think there is an extradition treaty within the EU so I may have to move further afield!"
  Nick will be happy to help if you want properties in Gascony
  Len Coe 49, ex-Burwell, now in Norfolk
  Peter Pryke 52, also ex-Burwell, now in Florida, USA - see A 1952 Burwell boy remembers in Scrapbook; Peter also asks "I think Moggy Rats was the nickname for SGS boys used by the Soham village kids. Can anybody confirm and if so what was the origin?"
  Stirling Pugh 66, a Gastroenterologist, in Somerset

• John Coxhead 40 has informed us that his brother Henry Coxhead 40 died in June 2004: they were at the 2003 reunion. John has put us back in touch with his son Steve Coxhead 66

Apr 2006

• Whilst staying with his parents in Burwell over Easter the Editor went along for the opening day for the 2006 season of the Burwell Museum of Fen Edge Village Life. This revealed information on the County Scholarships awarded from 1937 at St Andrews School Burwell and the Grammar School Awards from 1943 at St Mary's School Burwell - you may be on display! Do other villages have surviving similar boards? - see Scrapbook > Burwell

• The Coote Family page is added. James Coote was at SGS 1954-1960 - see Pages on/by SGs

• In the 9 months leading up to the outbreak of World War II, 669 children, mostly Jewish, were transported from Czechoslovakia to Britain and other countries. This was due almost entirely to the foresight and energy of a 29-year old stockbroker, Nicky Winton - later Sir Nicholas Winton. This action saved the lives of these children, since most of their families and contemporaries who remained in Czechoslovakia perished. The full story is told elsewhere [BBC   Lest We Forget  Jewish Virtual Library ]. One of those children was Harry Singer, who came to SGS - see Winton List . Does anyone know what happened to Harry or recall him at SGS? He took part in The Taming of the Shrew in 1942.

• Contact made:
  Joshua Martin, Cambridgeshire, who was at the school 1921-25, has made contact via his grandaughter. Kate is showing him lots of material from the website and looks forward to providing his recollections. He used to be a regular attender of the Old Boys' Dinners and Kate has made a note of October 7th, the date of our next one.
  David McKinlay 67, West Midlands

Mar 2006

• Vincent Martin 39 contributes memories of a wartime Scout Camp - and reveals what was different about a master's cup of tea - see History2 > Scouts
  
  Looking at the wartime history pages, he confirms that contrary to the school's history chapter XI, SGS's Hawker Hector was not flown - Mr Stubbs also says it was 'unserviceable'. Vincent adds "We did however all enjoy a flight in an Avro Anson from a Cambridgeshire RAF airdrome. I remember circling Ely Cathedral and being air-borne for the first time in our lives. A great privilege for a schoolboy in those days!"
  
  .. and Roger Sykes 42 adds a hair raising wartime Scout camping anecdote

Feb 2006

• Richard Bailey seeks information on his father Cecil Sidney Bailey born 1910, so a pupil in the early 1920s. He lived in Downfields, Soham and was a Sunday School Teacher at St. Andrews before joining Bobbies the chemist in the High Street. He also formed a dance band in Soham and also accompanied the silent films on his violin at the village cinema, which coincidentally was owned by Richard's great grandfather - see also Messages for a fuller account - if you can help please contact the editor.

• Contact made:
  Richard Berney 68, West Sussex
  Alan Diver 40, Middlesex: his brother Joe Diver 20 died about 4 years ago
  Martin Hodder 50, Wigtownshire
  Ian Saberton 71, Cambridgeshire
  Ray Stittle 41, South Yorkshire

Jan 2006

• A Happy New Year to all visitors to our website

• Are you a paid up member of Friends Reunited and are you on broadband? If so, perhaps you could help the editor contact the at present just under 50% of ex-SGS listed on Friends Reunited identified as not yet in touch with us. Please contact the editor if you are willing to help - all you need to do is send a prepared message to limited numbers of target people, who will be asked to reply to the editor. Full instructions provided.
  The list of those on FR but not in touch can be seen via the OUT of touch link above.

• 26 Jan Barry Lowe 55 writes: Gordon Hemmings left Ely on 26th January to become one of the Brethren of the Hospital of St Cross in Winchester, with duties in the Cathedral. Gordon was given a royal 'send off' from Ely on Sunday 22nd January. David Anderson, Chris Bent, Brian Ashton, John Wade, John Webster and Barry Lowe joined Gordon at a farewell lunch in the lovely setting of the Old Boat House in Ely before walking him back to the cathedral for him to hear the choristers for one last time. One can only hope that the Ely Poetry Reading Society will continue on the progressive path that Gordon initiated, and not revert to Wordsworth and Tennyson! Ely will miss him.

• Bob Parr 52's photo of 1A in 1952 or 2A in 1953 has been linked to the 52 entry page - names please - see via School Lists > Years Index > Sep 52 [it turned out to be 3A in 54-55 and has been named by Neil Holmes 52]

• Colin Cornwell 45: I came across my school reports recently and can add some staff names. For the terms ending December 21st 1945 and April 11th 1946 our form master was Mr DR Lloyd who also taught English and we were taught French by Miss M Kennet. From July 1946 to July 1947 our form master was Mr Ian R Bell - 'Dinger'. [Can anyone add more names, or information on these teachers] see School Lists > Staff .. left before 1972

• Contact made:
  Peter Beavan arrived in 1961 but is a nominal 58er. Lives now in Florida and Worcestershire: a mining engineer, he retired as UK Sales Director for one of the Dowty companies.
  Jim Coote 54, living in Cambridgeshire
  Russell Cross '57', via his brother David
  David Hazelgrove 65, back in touch
  Roger Munns 52, ex-policeman living in Suffolk and shortly to retire as Criminal Justice Manager

• Photo updaters this month:
  - go to Aug 2005 for June Lawrance's photo of Bish/Jugger Johnson and other staff and sixth formers - John Gothard 53 has added Alan Cox and John Lenanton

Email List additions in 2006: Mark Bishop 70, David Bray 45, Geoff Coote 57, Tony Cornell, John Couperthwaite 53, David Crabb 65, Gary Dew 62, Jeffrey Easingwood 64, Fred Eden 44, John Fellows 64, John Fordham 47, Philip Foreman 34, Ken Grant '69', Stephen Halls 68, Nigel Harper 64, Gordon Haynes '57', David Hobbs 49, Ian Hobbs 48, Kenn Hunter 67, Roger Human 46, Alan Jarman 65, Peter Lupson 57, Kevin Mader 67, Duncan McFarlane '65', Vaughan Moll 59, Terry Murfitt '59', Douglas Neate 60, John O'Toole, David Parr 68, Charles Peacock 44, John Peacock 54, Barry Rowe 55, Colin Sleath 51, Peter South 48, Gary Stroud 69, Michael Walker '57', John Waller 47.

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