Old Boys Golf Day

John Bathurst, an Old Tauntonian, has emailed with details of the 2013 Old Bournemouthian / Old Tauntonian Golf Day on 23rd May. John writes:

I won’t go deeply into the history (you probably know anyway) but sufficient to say that the OBs and the Old Tauntonians hold a joint golf day each year.

It started 19 years ago when the two associations met to contest The Hemmings Cup that was once competed for in athletics. Over the years the format has changed and we now meet to play three simultaneous competitions – The OB Seniors Trophy, The OT John Rush Trophy and The Pomeroys Cup for the best score of the day.

I’m an Old Tauntonian but have come to regard the OB players as my dear friends…. and I run the day (that’s run rather than ruin, I hope) on behalf of both associations.

Further details and an entry form are available here (Word format).

If you enter please send an email to the OB golf secretary Alan Carver so he can monitor OB entries. Please include your email address and telephone number when contacting him.

Obituary: Roy Lenton

As some of you may have seen from the Echo, Roy Lenton has passed away. He was a history teacher at BS for many years. Although he never taught me I recall him with affection as I’m certain many others will and he was always a great supporter of the Old Boys attending many a dinner. For many years he ran the school football 1st XI and in his latter years at BS he was a point of contact for old boys at the school and contributed news of old boys to the magazine.

His daughter Heather Maidment has been in touch and has asked us to pass on the details for the funeral to the OB membership as any who wish to attend would be very welcome.

The funeral will be at St Paul’s Church, Landford Way, Throop, BH8 0NY at 2.45pm on Tuesday 5th March 2013.

Seeking Andy Chamberlain

Pascal Cousseau writes to us from France to ask if we can help to trace Andy Chamberlain. He says:

I have been involved, a long time ago, in the exchange between Bournemouth School for Boys and Cholet in the west of France. I also spent one year as a French assistant in your school, from September 1982 to July 1983. I had a very good English friend at this time, Andrew Chamberlain, but I lost personal contact with him several year ago. He was in your school roughly between 1974 to 1978. He was living in St Lukes’ Road by this time and went to Aberystwyth University to follow French Studies.

Unfortunately, Andy Chamberlain is not one of our members, although we know that he used to play for the Old Boys cricket club in the late 1970s while still at school and in university holidays. If you have any information about Andy, please let us know.

Panorama photo from 1933

Roger Shore has written to us to share a panorama photo (PDF, 2Mb) of the school from 1933. Roger writes:

My father was at Bournemouth School between 1929 and 1936. I followed in his footsteps between 1960 and 1967. There were six masters who taught both me and my father, although I can only identify five of them in that photo at present. That would be Messrs Cushion, Dodds (a truly dreadful man, as I’m sure you already either know, or will have heard!) Walker, Williamson and Wiseman. The 6th – Mr. Dixon (who went on to become deputy head) – I haven’t yet identified…

Roger is surely right that this may be of interest to some of you, although as he notes the very youngest in that photo will be at least 90 by now.

Obituary: Bob Roberts

From the Bournemouth Evening Echo (17th January 2013) we learn that Bob Roberts, who taught PE and acted as a careers advisor at Bournemouth School for 27 years, died on 31st December 2012. Mr Roberts, often known as Paddy, had achieved his 100th birthday earlier in 2012.

Update: Mr Roberts’ son John has contacted us, and said that Old Boys would be welcome at the funeral service, to be held at the Bournemouth Crematorium on Monday 28th January at noon. He adds: “Dad joined the school in 1948 and retired in 1975.”

Hunting an artist

We have been contacted by a potential biographer of a Newlyn artist called Robin Arthur Davis (so named on his death certificate) who lived between 1925-1999. It appears that he attended Bournemouth Grammar School under his birth name of Arthur Charles Davis. If anyone has any information about Mr Davis, or knew him, please do get in touch and we will put you in contact with the writer.

Bournemouthians in Antartica

Bournemouthians Jon Beswick and James Balfour have recently returned from a British Expedition to the South Pole for the 100 year anniversary of Captain Scott. The expedition was led by adventurer Neil Laughton. During the expedition Jon tested a prototype shelter which his architecture practice designed. When they reached the Pole, Jon and James celebrated by playing the first ever game of cricket, golf and rugby. They were also the first people wear black tie at the Pole. A video of their exploits is here.