2009 ARCHIVES

  


Colin in full flow

The audience especially enjoyed his anecdotes and common room stories about 
his teaching colleagues, Messrs Snape, Bluett and Willis, and of course 
Llewllyn Smith the headmaster. However the main purpose of the evening was to 
reunite old school friends and judging by the noise levels on arrival in the 
bar and during dinner this aim was fully achieved with many groups of "boys" 
meeting each other for the first time since leaving St Marylebone Grammar 
School. 

         
Our thanks, as always, go to Peter Walter,
our Secretary for all his hard work in 
organising the event and his patience in 
revising more than once the seating plan 
to accommodate the various requests made 
by the members.            







   

  Sir Brian & Wilf enjoying a joke

Following the death of Ted McNeal, the Committee will be sending out shortly a 

newsletter, which will contain tributes to Ted. As an interim measure, Dick Durran 
has agreed to act as the contact for all contributions regarding the Old 
Philologians Association. The Committee felt that the continuation of our 
newsletter would be a fitting tribute to Ted who, for many years, compiled it with 
enthusiasm and a wealth of in depth knowledge of our old school.



The Committee hope that members will continue to send letters, views, old 
photographs, memories and articles because the news letter is the cement that holds 
our Association together. Without it the Association would wither on the vine.





Please send any contribution to :-





Dick Durran

Robin Hill

Smedley Street West

Matlock  DE4 3LF





or





by Email to dick.durran@dsl.pipex.com





or





Give me a ring on 01629 55947  

                                  ***

Many will be sad about the passing of Ted McNeal who died on 22nd May 2009 after a 

protracted period of poor health. Due to the Bank Holiday weekend the funeral 

arrangements have yet to be finalised and details will be published on this site as 

soon as possible. 





Those members who are on the Association's list who are contacted by email will be 

advised of the funeral arrangements direct. Caroline, his daughter, has said that 
the family would welcome any OPs who knew Ted and wish to attend the funeral.



Ted was Deputy Headmaster at the time of the closure of St Marylebone Grammar School 

and on his retirement worked tirelessly for the Old Philologians Association both 

as a Committee member, archivist, author of five books on the history of the school, 

and editor of our newsletter.





He will be greatly missed and yet another link with the past has been broken. 

The Society's sympathy is extended to his family.

Funeral Arrangements



Ted's funeral is to be held at 11am on Friday 5th June at:

Breakspear Crematorium

Breakspear Road

Ruislip

Middlesex HA4 7SJ



The family have decided to have flowers from the family only. Anyone wishing to make

a donation in Ted's memory to the family's chosen charity should make a cheque out 
to "The Woodlands Trust" and send it to :- 



 c/o Co-operative Funeral Care,

 248, Northolt Road,

 South Harrow

 Middlesex

 HA2 8DU



 After a few weeks, the Co-op will send the family a list of donors and the total

 amount received





              ******

Annual General Meeting 2009

The Annual General Meeting was held at the old school, 248 Marylebone Road on 

Wednesday 8th April 2009.





The attendance was a little disappointing with just about twenty hardy souls who 

made the journey. The normal reports from the Chairman, Peter Sayers, the Secretary,

Peter Walter and the accounts for the year were presented and accepted. Copies of 

these may be obtained from Peter Walter. 





The President Sir Brian Vickers, the Chairman Peter Sayers and the Secretary Peter 

Walter were all re-elected as officers of the Association. Although considerable 

disappointment was expressed at the absence of the President, due we understand 

through 'flu.





Our new Treasurer and Membership Secretary, Les Payne, was elected and grateful 

thanks were extended to Brian Gedalla who retired from the post after sixteen 

years of service.





Ted McNeal and Rob Tims offered themselves for re-election to the Committee and 

were approved nem con. Dick Durran regretted that he felt obliged not to stand 

because of travelling difficulties late at night from Matlock. We were delighted 

that Paul Duncan volunteered himself and was elected.





The Secretary was pursuing the Honours Boards with the view of these being 

installed again at 248 Marylebone Road.









The Association's thanks were extended to Andrea Greystoke, Head of Abercorn School, for 

allowing us to use the old school premises for this meeting. 





Our thanks also are given to Michael Springate for organising the buffet including 

wine.       





                                    ***

With the Forest Green pilgrimage arranged for 5th July 2009.I thought the review 

published in the Daily Telegraph of 28th March 2009 of THE PARROT would be of 

interest to our members. 

PINT TO PINT 

Our guide to British pubs. This week: The Parrot, Dorking Your first visit to The 

Parrot is a bit like your first day at boarding school. Everywhere you look, there 

are wooden pillars, venerable old flagstones and lots of older boys and girls who 

clearly know what they're doing. Add to that the warren of interlocking eating and 

drinking areas, each with their own sub-nooks and crannies, and it's not unusual 

for first-timers here to feel a bit lost. There isn't, however, any bullying.        

It's not unknown for staff in busy pubs to get irritated with new bugs who don't 

know the ropes, but you don't get the bar folk here drumming their fingers while 

you collect your thoughts. And they need collecting. 

There aren't many hostelries where you find yourself confronted by a whole side 

of raw lamb dangling from a hook. Or a full-scale designer butcher's-cum-

delicatessen (crusty bread, cheese, charcuterie, mutton pasties), separating the 

lounge bar from the dining room. 

The reason for this combining of country inn with retail outlet is that the 

people who own the Parrot also own a farm just down the road, where they rear 

the animals that become the meat that gets cooked in the pub's kitchens (or sold 

over the counter). A little "G" (for home grown) denotes which dishes on the menu 

are made in-house (such as burgers, steaks and sausages). 

So alluring is the Parrot's plumage that the car park is almost as big as the 

adjoining village green while, as well as the fire-warmed honeycomb rooms indoors, 

there are scores of outdoor tables and picnic sets, as well as grassy knolls on 

which to loll. 

Indeed, while the market town of Dorking isn't synonymous with walking, it does 

rhyme with it, and despite being just five miles out of the town centre, you're 

in the thick of the Surrey wildwoods. 

They serve suitably rustic real ale, too, in the form of Ringwood Best (3.8% abv) 

Youngs (3,7%) and Ringwood Old Thumper at 5.6%. The beer comes at the rather urban 

price of £3.50 a pint, but so well-shod is The Parrot's clientele, it barely 

ruffles their feathers. 

Wendy Miller 

* The Parrot (Forest Green), near Dorking, Surrey   (01306 6211339, 

www.the parrot.co.uk 

Annual Dinner

On 19th November 2008, sixty-five members and guests sat down at the Royal air Force 

Club for the Old Philologians Annual Dinner, which was chaired in his inimitable 

manner by our President Sir Brian Vickers. Although the numbers attending were a 

little below those experienced in recent years there was the usual buzz of 

conversation as old friends were reunited. It was good to see Wilf Finbow, 

Colin Bosley, Norman Rogers and Mr Daulat, all past staff members, looking hale 

and hearty.Regrettably, Ted McNeal & Rory Hands were unable to make it this year 

and our best wishes are sent to both. Our guest of honour and after dinner speaker

was the Rt. Rev. Michael Henley, past Bishop of St. Andrews and Chaplain to the 

Fleet. A resume of his speech can be viewed by clicking here.

On sale at the dinner were packs of six Greeting Cards, one depicting the front of 

the school and the other the Mill at Forest Green. These two pictures are from 

watercolours by H.W. Llewellyn Smith, past Headmaster of the school and are 

reproduced by kind permission of Colin Bosley. Click here to view samples of both 

cards & how you can order.

There was a discussion on one table about the words of the School Hymn. I thought 

that it would be nice to publish the words as they do not appear in Ted McNeal's 

history of the school. Click here to view the words.

Unfortunately being tone deaf I cannot remember the tune to which these words were 

sung.

***

Some of our members may remember Parvez Kumar who was born in India during the

last decade of the British Raj. As a child he experienced the horrors of the 

Partition, the uncertainties that Independence brought to a new India, and the 

takeover of China by the Communist Regime. Educated at the Lawrence School Sanawar, 

one of the top boarding schools in India, and at St. Marylebone Grammar School in 

London, England (1956-59), he graduated as an Aeronautical Engineer from Imperial 

College, London, in 1962 and obtained a Doctorate from Southampton University in 

1968. He has lived in seven different countries, assimilating their cultures, while 

his varied and successful career in aviation and space included working in the 

academic, industrial and government sectors in the UK, France and Canada. 



As a former glider and power pilot, and a flight test engineer, his experience 

is enviable. He pioneered many 'firsts' in Canada's Space Programme and is 

considered by some to be ranked amongst Canada's space pioneers.He has just 

published his biography "The Cry of the Eagle" details of which can be obtained 

from www.trafford.com/08-0858 It sounds like a good read