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THE MAGAZINE FOR FORMER PUPILS AND FRIENDS OF GLASGOW ACADEMY AND WESTBOURNE SCHOOL
GOODBYE TO ALL THAT:THE DEMOLITION MEN GET CRACKING!
Number 21 Summer 2013
2 Etcetera
Demolition manContrary to popular belief, schools are quite interesting places to be during the holidays - at least this one is!
No sooner do all the pupils and teachers go home for the holidays than a whole array of others arrive to take their place: painters and decorators, builders, electricians, flooring specialists and kitchen fitters. I suspect you’ll probably find a whole phone directory of trades specialists at The Academy over the course of one holiday.
Without doubt, the most significant group of people to come calling this summer is Safedem - the demolition company owned by former pupil and Governor, William [Wilf] Sinclair (1985). Had I not gone into teaching, I always fancied the idea of demolition. It’s the only bit of any ‘building project’ that I’ve been quick to get involved in. It seems to me like rather an enjoyable way to make a living. What could be simpler than just knocking things down?
Apparently a lot of people share my enthusiasm. At our recent Summer Ball, one of the auction lots up for grabs was the chance to press the button on a demolition job using explosives. And, goodness, was it popular! It seems that the idea of causing the maximum amount of destruction for the least amount of effort strikes a chord with almost everyone - and the bidding was frantic.
Perhaps the most interesting - and, to some extent, dispiriting - thing I have discovered about demolition, however, is that it doesn’t really work like that. There’s a great deal of thought that goes into wanton destruction. Before the demolition men can remove so much as a single brick, they need to prepare the site. Like a little boy waiting for Christmas, I’ve come into school every day for the past few weeks wondering if today will be the day when I get to see the bulldozers in action and the walls come tumbling down - only to be disappointed yet again.
But today was the great day when destruction came to Colebrooke Street. And when it came it was quick! Like prehistoric monsters bent on some kind of vengeance, the hydraulic cranes wreaked terrible havoc on dwellings that had stood the test of time for more than a century.
There’s something almost cruel about seeing people’s lives exposed so mercilessly. The mirror on a living room wall in which someone used to check their appearance every morning before leaving for work - now hanging absurdly on a wall 50 feet above the pavement. The kitchen sink that a family gathered round after their evening meal as the children helped with the dishes now crushed under the tracks of a mechanical digger…
But such thoughts are fleeting, momentary - the stuff of poets and dreamers. Now is the time not to look back but to look forward. And it’s wonderful to be able to report that - thanks to the generosity of so many members of The Academy community - we are on course to meet the financial target we set for ourselves before beginning the construction phase of the Science and Technology building project.
More than half a century ago, Winston Churchill said:
‘To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.’
The work that our demolition men have been doing is certainly not the thoughtless act of a single day. It is part of that slow and laborious task of reconstruction - a task to which so many members of our community have contributed.
Thank you so much.
Malcolm McNaught, Director of External Relations [email protected]
EDITORIAL
Keeping in touchThe External Relations office is situated in Colebrooke Terrace. Former pupils are always welcome to pop in for a chat and look round the school. Just give us a call to arrange a time. Our address is Colebrooke Terrace, Glasgow G12 8HE and you can contact us on 0141 342 5494 or at [email protected]
The Glasgow Academical Club 21 Helensburgh Drive, Glasgow G13 1RR President: Gavin Smith E-mail: [email protected] Secretary: Stuart Neilson Tel: 07771 845104 E-mail: [email protected]
The Academical Club pavilion is available for functions.
Academical Club’s London SectionSecretary – David Hall, 20 Cadogan Place London SW1X 9SA Tel: 020 7235 9012 E-mail: [email protected]
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3 Sci-TechAppealadvancesas tenementstumble Sci-TechLondonDinner4 EminentAcademicalstooverseeBurrell Renaissance SeniorSchoolPrizegiving FromtheGlasgowAcademytotheBritish Academy GlasgowAcademyBevinBoys5 Thankstothegenerosityofformerpupils… TheIndianTrophy6 Anecdotage7 BestinScotland! BestinBisley!8 Favouriteteachersremembered…10 FromtheArchives DiaryofEvents11 Educationduringwartime12 ‘Perseverance’–memoriesofmybrother13 Youngenterprise Pantotime14 Thebestdaysofmylife?15 AheadoftheCirca1963Reunion16 Westbourne19 AcademicalClub22 TheGlasgowAcademySummerBall RegularGivingReception23 Announcements31 PicturePost
CONTENTS
Etcetera 3
On Thursday 6 June a number of London Academicals gathered for an event at the
Caledonian Club. Rector Peter Brodie gave a presentation on the new building and principal guest speaker, Professor Niall Ferguson (1981), highlighted The Academy’s need for support for the building appeal.
As well as entertaining the group with some of his most memorable (and amusing) times at Colebrooke Street, Niall emphasised his gratitude to Glasgow Academy, his personal commitment to the Sci-Tech development and encouraged all former pupils to give back to their old school.
For more information on the building and how you can help, please visit: www.theglasgowacademy.org.uk/appeal/
Or contact Mark Taylor on 0141 342 5494 / [email protected]
Our plans to build an inspirational new Science and Technology building on Colebrooke Street have made
huge progress in recent months.
Nearly £300,000 has been pledged to the appeal since May, bringing the total to £700,000. We are now well on the way to raising the sum we need. With your help, we will be able to complete this transformational building in the summer of 2015.
Highlights of the appeal in recent months include successful events at the Caledonian Club in London (with Professor Niall Ferguson) and at the Glasgow Hilton (a Ball organised by the school PTA) as well as major gifts from the Sir Matthew Goodwin Trust and the WM Mann Foundation. We are
Sci-Tech Appeal advances as tenements tumble
sincerely grateful for every gift for the appeal, large or small.
The site for the new building has been cleared, as a generous gift in kind by Safedem Ltd (Dundee). Many hundreds of tonnes of sandstone, timber, slate and rubble have been removed to make way for what will be a fantastic addition to The Academy campus.
For more information on the building and how you can help, please visit: www.theglasgowacademy.org.uk/appeal/
Or contact Mark Taylor on 0141 342 5494 / [email protected]
Sci-Tech London DinnerNiall Ferguson (left) with former classmate, Stuart McCaffer
4 Etcetera
Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in the coal mines of the United
Kingdom, from December 1943 until 1948. Chosen at random from conscripts but also including volunteers, nearly 48,000 Bevin Boys performed vital but largely unrecognised service in the mines. Many were not released from service until years after the end of the war.
Two Honorary Governors of The Academy, as well as one of the school’s most accomplished former Captains will play pivotal roles in plans to revamp the
Burrell Collection.
Senior School Prize-giving The guest of honour and principal
speaker at Prize-giving on Thursday 27 June was Honorary Governor Charles Miller Smith (1958). Charles left The Academy to study history at St Andrews before going on to pursue a very successful career in business, including periods as Chairman at ICI and Scottish Power.
Charles encouraged the leavers, indeed all pupils, to: ‘Follow your dream, nurture your talent, cherish family and friends and never, never give up’. He referred to a number of events in his own life when he advised the pupils to keep these mantras in mind, while dealing with the adventures, trials and tribulations of life.
His speech - and that of previous principal guests of recent years - is available to read in full on the school website in the ‘FPs/Academy community’ section.
It seems we do not have any formal record of ‘Academy Bevin Boys’ but we are aware a number of former pupils did serve in the programme. If you were a Bevin Boy and/or can help us identify Academicals who were, please get in touch.
[email protected] 0141 342 5494
Glasgow Academy Bevin Boys
Eminent Academicals to oversee Burrell Renaissance
Professor John Gardner (1982) has been elected a Fellow of the
British Academy. He is Professor of Jurisprudence and a Fellow of University College, Oxford. John was formerly Reader in Legal Philosophy at King’s College London, Fellow and Tutor in Law at Brasenose College, Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He has also held visiting positions at Columbia, Yale, the University of Texas, Princeton, the Australian National University and the University of Auckland. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals including the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Legal Theory, Law and Philosophy, and the Journal of Moral Philosophy. Called to the Bar in 1988, he has been a
From the Glasgow Academy to the British Academy
Bencher of the Inner Temple since 2002 (although he does not practice).
The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, champions and supports the humanities and social sciences. It aims to inspire, recognise and support excellence and high achievement across the UK and internationally. John was one of 42 new Fellows elected at the Annual General Meeting of the British Academy on 18 July.
William BurrellThe Burrell Renaissance Group will be chaired by Sir Angus Grossart (1955) and will include Lord Kerr of Kinlochard (1960) amongst its members. The group will be advised by Director of the British Museum - and former School Captain - Neil MacGregor OM (1963).
The museum will close from 2016 to 2020, with many of its 8,000 exhibits going on tour. The collection, which includes medieval, Chinese, French and Islamic art, has been housed in the museum in Pollok Park since 1983. The refurbishment will see the creation of extra gallery space, allowing more items to be displayed.
Etcetera 00
Of the huge number of prizes that The Glasgow Academy awards annually, many are given by or
named in honour of former pupils. Some of these prizes have been given within the last year or two. Three sixth year pupils who have won such awards this year are Ayesha Hassan, Oliver Mennie and Cameron Murdoch.
Ayesha Hassan joined the school at the end of her S5 year and quickly found her niche as managing director of the Young Enterprise group. Under her leadership, the Glasgow Academy group - Dolly Creations - swept the board at the YE Scottish final, winning Scottish Company of the Year as well as awards for Best Business Report and Best Presentation. At prize-giving Ayesha was presented with The Eric McNaught Quaich for Initiative
In his distinctive CCF uniform, Cameron Murdoch has been a highly-visible figure in and around the school over the past few years. Very much the embodiment of The Academy’s ‘can-do will-do’ philosophy, like many of our pupils, Cameron has been a helpful and reassuring presence - popular with pupils and teachers alike.
He rightly received the Alstead Award for Service to the Community.
Oliver Mennie won the Frank Coutts Memorial Award this year for his leadership of and lengthy service to The Glasgow Academy Pipes and Drums. Oliver joined the pipe band in Prep 7 in 2006 as part of the drum core, playing
Ayesha Hassan proudly displays the Eric McNaught Quaich for Initiative
Oliver Mennie, winner of the Frank Coutts Memo-rial Award
Max Aitchison and Clemmie Mitchell, this year’s Head Boy and Girl, with the Indian Trophy
It is many years since a group of Academicals in India got together
to donate the magnificent Indian Trophy which is awarded annually to the Head Girl and Head Boy. This year the Trophy was presented to Clemmie Mitchell and Max Aitchison. Both Clemmie and Max have been outstanding both in their academic achievements and in their participation in the wider life of The Academy. A casual visitor to prize-giving could glean a little of their spirit, their humour and their enthusiasm from their closing remarks. Here are some of the words Max chose to finish with…
Today I have been tasked with delivering a pertinent and poignant speech on behalf of my peers. To provide a brief summation of the unquantifiable opportunities this fine school has afforded me. One question I have been asking myself over the past few days is: where do I begin; or rather: where
the snare drum. He has been a dedicated member of the band, participating in music tours to Tuscany, New York and Barcelona as part of the Pipe Band.
He is going on to study Golf Management at the University of the Highlands and Islands, based in Dornoch, and has just discovered that the Dornoch Pipe Band are desperate for drummers - so he is hoping to join that pipe band whilst he is at university there.
do I end? For that is what today represents - an ending of my own school career and that of my peers.
Two years ago, the Head Boy, Simon Jones, stood where I am standing today and told us to ‘Do good with our lives’. Last year’s Head Boy, Cameron Jones - continuing in the same
vein and assaulting the English language whilst doing so - implored us all to ‘Do good well’.
Listening to him speak, I thought: ‘Well, that is good. I can just add another word to this sequence and maybe, just maybe, by the time the Science and Technology Building is finished over the road, we will have an entire sentence to contemplate! Alas, I have decided against such an idea. I don’t want to be remembered - or most likely forgotten - for merely adding a conjunction to an already grammatically questionable sentence. Indeed, I am striking out on my own, pioneering an untrodden path, blazing a fresh trail for all future Head Boys who will race behind me, stumbling, falling and never quite managing to better the few words I am about to deliver.
‘Do well, goodly!’
We have no doubt that all our Sixth Year leavers will!
Thanks to the generosity of former pupils…
The Indian Trophy
Etcetera 5
6 Etcetera
A few reminiscences
I well remember being taught by my father. Both French and German in
Room K. At the beginning of each Autumn Term, as I sat down at a desk at the back of his classroom, the call went out, ‘Black! Come here!’ and so I had the ignominy of being brought down to the front row. No more cheating for me! However, it enabled me to qualify in later years as a linguist in French and as an interpreter in German. I am so pleased he allowed me to mark the daily and weekly vocabulary tests of my classmates when we got home from school. It gave me a tremendous advantage over my friends, but I also knew how well or otherwise they had done. Latterly, I was also subjected to his knowledge and experience on the rugby pitch and tennis court. I only made the 5th XV at rugby, but was Captain of Tennis in my final year at school. What about the punishment inflicted by other schoolmasters! In Geography, Lachie’s Tawse, Annabella, was well known by most of his students. If the whole class was not seated and ready for his tuition by the time that the second bell went, then Annabella was introduced and the class captain felt the wrath of her strike. To say it stung would be an understatement, but his system worked.
Then there was the Latin Master, whose name I will not divulge, but those who knew me and him will know who I mean. It was ‘Warning’ for talking in class, ‘Warning’ for getting less than 50% in vocabulary tests and, after two warnings, out came the thick belt and one’s hand stung for quite a few minutes. Actually, it was damned painful!
Another of the gentlemen of the Schoolmasterly Profession would use a 12-inch plastic ruler, not using the flat side, but hitting a boy on the head (me included) with the hard side of it, smack on the forehead. My goodness, how that hurt!
Then, of course, there was the Gymnasium. How many boys have heard the call, ‘All you sweaty boys go and have a shower?’ Who else, but Ken Waine! I name him because he never used a belt on any of his pupils. Bless you, Ken!!
Corporal punishment never did me any harm at The Glasgow Academy, which I left in June 1967 to join the Royal Navy. In fact it gave me a better sense of discipline than I would have gained from any other educational establishment. I trust that my fellow classmates would agree with me.
I pity the unfortunate schoolmasters nowadays, who are allowed such limited control over their pupils. It is not a
REVISION POINTS for ORDINARY FRENCH
Take Care! Remember above all that the examination is as much a test of your accuracy and your ability to take care, as it is of your French. You may well know enough French to pass easily and yet fail, because of SHEER CARELESSNESS.
Auxil. ‘ETRE’ Make quite sure that you know the sixteen or so verbs which take ETRE. You must avoid such howlers as:
‘il a venu’ instead of ‘il EST venu’
‘nous avons arrivé’ for ‘nous SOMMES arrivés’
Remember that there are some awkward verbs which take ‘être’ e.g. RESTER, MONTER, TOMBER, DEVENIR, MOURIR…
(Part of a study aid prepared in the mid-70s by H Moreton Black, Head of Modern Languages.)
ANECDOTAGE
profession that I would willingly join if I had my time again.
This is not a complaint, but a mere observation from an Academy schoolboy of the 1960s.
Graham Black (1967)
The Canada PrizeInspired by the magnificent Indian Trophy, a number of Canadian Academicals got together several years ago to donate a prize to the school. Douglas Black (1974) had never seen the trophy until this year’s Prize-giving in June…
It had been 39 years since I had attended my last senior school prize-giving in June 1974, in the Cargill Hall. So it was with pride and some anticipation that I accepted the kind invitation to attend this year’s awards ceremony with my mother, Mrs Marion Black, and my brother, Graham. I remembered fondly the days of El Cuspidor and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as well as countless Christmas pantomimes in which I participated under the watchful eyes of Gordon Carruthers, Ben Payman and John Horrex. It was my intention as an ex-pat now
living in Ottawa, Canada to meet and congratulate the winner of the Canada Prize for Geography. It is indeed one of the most splendid trophies, with a 9-inch dancing polar bear carved from green serpentine on top of a commanding plinth. Christopher Haughey of S5 was the winner
and I was able to meet him afterwards and present him with a small Canada flag tie pin. The prize-giving was conducted in a most efficient manner, and I was very proud to hear about the many accomplishments, both academic and sporting. It would have made my father,
Morty Black, very happy. Thank you to all the staff and especially the Rector, for the invitation.
Dougie Black (1974)
Etcetera 7
Choir Reunion
I am sure many will have happy memories of singing in the choir
under the expert guidance of Bill Ritchie, Bill Coulthard, Reginald Barrett Ayres and others who headed the Music Department at various times. On a personal note, I recall the fifties when the choir used to stand on a small platform in the Well just behind the Rector and Bill Coulthard at the piano during assembly, and sing with enthusiasm such soldierly hymns as ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’, ‘Stand up stand up for Jesus’, ‘Soldiers of Christ arise’, and the one we heard sung recently at the funeral of Lady Thatcher, ‘Who would true valour see’.
For senior boys there was the additional thrill of singing these hymns on a Monday when we wore our Army/Navy/Air Force uniform. There must be other happy memories
Old Wives’ Tales
Going back many years when Gordon Carruthers produced the annual
Christmas pantomime, it brought to mind the ‘sewing bee’ as we old wives (young in those days) used to join together at Vera Peters’ home in Bearsden. There were Elspeth Waine, Pat Miles, Marion Black and, of course, Vera - perhaps others, my memory is fading a bit! We used to cut out and sew beautiful costumes for Gordon’s pantomime, as well as having a good old blether and a cuppa.
Then the actual pantomime was the highlight of our children’s Christmas. I’ll never forget Tony Richards as the Fairy Godmother, Gordon as Widow Twankey and a hilarious act he did with John Horrex. After the final performance, everyone gathered at the Waine’s house for a buffet supper which Elspeth and Marion had prepared.
Ah, Happy Days! - and many, many happy memories of our time at Glasgow Academy.
Marion Black (wife of Moreton Black, Academy staff)
like singing the Old Hundredth (‘All people that on earth do dwell’); ‘O GOD of Bethel’ (based on Jacob’s experience at Bethel after he ran away from Esau) at the June service each year in Glasgow Cathedral; ‘O come all ye faithful’ in the December carol service held in Lansdowne Church and later in the Cargill Hall; and of course ‘Qui mos erat scolaribus’ the school song at every Easter concert and at the June prize-giving.
I am sure many would love it if former members of the choir could meet in a choir reunion and have a chance to sing some of these songs and others that they remember from their days in the choir, which is why I am proposing a choir reunion. If any of you would be interested, please call or e-mail Emma Fitzpatrick at the External Relations Office.
Henry Murray Humphreys (1959)
Holly Wicklow on her way to a new British record
Best in Scotland!
Best at Bisley!Every year Glasgow Academy’s Shooting Team competes at Bisley and enjoys the very generous hospitality of the London Academicals. Anne Gilmour, who has accompanied the team for the last 20 years, bade farewell this year. Here she describes Blair Nugent’s first attempt at clay shooting, one of Bisley’s traditions.
“We all watched in stunned silence as Blair not only hit, but completely shattered clay after clay… until number 20 - the final clay - escaped him! We were all delighted when he collected both cup and gold medal at the Prize-giving on Thursday for this outstanding performance.”
Glasgow Academy was the most successful school in Scotland at the Scottish Rowing Championship at the end of June, beating some very prestigious rowing schools in the process.
We took delivery of a brand new boat at the British Rowing Championships in the middle of July and the Junior 14 girls’ double scull - consisting of India Somerside and Becky Neilson (both S3) - promptly set a new British record in their semi-final and won Gold in the final, beating the crew that won the National Schools Championship.
Our picture shows S2’s Holly Wicklow on her way to a new British record in her semi-final at the British Rowing Championships. Sadly, her record was beaten in the final a mere three hours later!
8 Etcetera
Miss DuffOn a September morning in 1932 my mother brought me into Colebrooke Street. Room E, I think. It was certainly opposite the Rector’s study. Being the youngest of three brothers, I expect my mother was looking forward to renewing her acquaintance with Miss Walker. Instead she found Miss Duff, who explained that Miss Walker was having surgery and she was taking her place. Those were the days of ‘bed rest’ - Miss Walker did not return to her class until January 1933!
Miss Duff had a great affection for boys and my memories of her are happy ones. She lived at Balfron, or somewhere nearby. I am amused to learn that The Academy now has parking problems. In those days there were two cars in Colebrooke Street: the Rector’s and Miss Duff’s Austin 7, the original ‘Baby’. I once overheard her telling someone that she ‘tootled’ in and out - a very 1930-ish word. It must have been enjoyable driving in on fine summer mornings on the empty roads of those days, but not so amusing getting started on cold, winter days when self-starters were unreliable or didn’t exist. “Cawin’ the haun’le”, or turning the engine by hand was no joke. She was very much a countrywoman and I’ve wondered if she kept a couple of pigs or some poultry, but I don’t remember her saying so. She was certainly very knowledgeable about Botany, and all I remember about petals, sepals or dicotyledons was taught to me by Miss Duff. I suppose it was as near ‘the facts of life’ as it was possible to get in those days. One day she produced some broad beans which she showed us how to place between a piece of blotting paper and the side of a glass with a little water inside. We were fascinated watching them grow before taking them home for our mothers to cook. It was all great fun, but I do not remember doing it again.
There was no television in those days and few people had a wireless, as it was then called. People got their information from newspapers or conversation. Consequently we arrived at the Academy knowing very little beyond the four walls of our homes and it was Miss Duff’s task to tell us about many things. She told us about the Ancients: the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. I was not
impressed by the Egyptians; I was not interested in their preoccupation with death and the afterlife. The Romans were great lawyers and engineers but the idea of killing helpless animals and people for fun in arenas built for the purpose did not impress me. But the Greeks - now they were ‘the wee boys’ when it came to myths and legends. Although they never thought of the arch and their society was based on slavery, as was everyone else’s, I was fascinated by the stories Miss Duff told us about Jason and his search for the Golden Fleece and his companion Hercules with his tasks, and many other wonderful stories. When I stood before the Parthenon and the Erechtheion for the first time, I wondered if she had seen them herself, and decided that she probably had - as teachers, particularly those with means, as she said she had, were great travellers in those days.
And she taught us poetry. One of my favourites was ‘Off the Ground’ by Walter de la Mare. Now largely forgotten, he was a prolific writer in his day. It started:
Three jolly farmers Once bet a poundEach dance the others wouldOff the ground…
And it went on for 27 verses, each of four lines with a final one of five. I don’t suppose the editor will indulge me to the extent of quoting them all, but perhaps he will let me have these three:
Old Man’s AcreAnd Dead Man’s PoolAll left behindAs they danced through Wool
And Wool gone by,Like tops that seemTo spin in sleepThey danced in dream:
Withy - Wellover -Wassop - Wo -Like an old clockTheir heels did go.
From that poem I learned to love words and language and what could be done with them, and - if nothing else - I owe all that to Miss Duff, whose first name was, I think, Lillian.
There was another poem which she taught us. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the poet’s name or the name of the poem, but it starts off something like this:
He cut a sappy succour frae a muckle rodden tree,And he whittled it and whittled it and Thumped it on his knee…
I’m unsure about the second line; it seems a bit weak, nor can I remember any more, apart from the last line which ended: ‘…the wustle that the wee herd made!’ Anyway, no one recited it with
‘I am sitting third from right between Hamish Galbraith and Ian Ormiston. Jack Moffat is sitting second left between David Galbraith, Hamish’s twin, and Forbes McPherson. Dan McQuarrie is sitting cross-legged on the right next to Ian Gilles. Jack, Ian Ormiston, the Galbraiths and Dan all moved on to other schools not long afterwards.’
Favourite teachers remembered…
Etcetera 9
more verve and expression than Jack Moffat which pleased Miss Duff greatly because he was, like her, the child of a farmer! Sadly, Jack was one of those boys who moved on to some other school and was never heard of again. Another boy from those days was Dan McQuarrie. He was a tough guy, ready to fight all comers single-handed, but alas he moved on too.
Some years ago Etcetera contained a photograph of Class 1 taken towards the end of March 1933 now with Miss Walker. Studying it, I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin’s question: ‘What is the use of a new-born child?’ We were no longer babies, of course, but those fresh young faces were to become doctors, accountants, businessmen and many others of the future which Glasgow Academy turned out as a routine. One of us even received a knighthood, although he’s not in the photograph, and we all, I’m sure, owe some of our attainments to Miss Duff. She left after Miss Walker’s return, but re-joined the staff some years later. Miss Duff died young; she may even have died while I was still a pupil. In her three months, she taught me much and opened many doors for me, and for that and much else, I will always remember her.
Douglas Alexander (1944)
Life’s never fair?I have read Robert Trythall’s letter in Etcetera’s autumn edition and Alan Diack in the spring edition about Dodo Ogilvie. As a teacher, I thought him fair and informative. I was strapped by Chris Varley and Baggy Aston, but Dodo taught me geography and I appreciated that. After all, I found my way to Australia working as Ship’s Doctor on the Blue Funnel Ship ‘Rhexenor’ in 1956!
John Crombie (1946)
What’s in a name?
Perhaps this should be the last article about the now rather
battered DD Ogilvie? When I was in his Geography class, aged around 11 or 12, my parents were summoned to the school by him to discuss my level of intelligence and inability to learn. As I was placed at the time around 15th in a class of 30 or thereby and twice a winner of the big school-wide General Knowledge competition, I thought this was rather strange. Nobody else seemed to think so - including, worryingly, my parents.
It transpired that Dodo had mixed up my surname with that of another member of the class - whom I will not, of course, name here. The two names both have three syllables, start with (different) consonants and share the same second letter, a vowel. Apart from that, they would probably sound vaguely similar to someone utilising earplugs and standing in a wind tunnel!
I cannot recall any apology from Dodo or even mild protest from my parents. It is bearing and living with such manifest injustices that have made me the man I am today!
Simon Paterson (1964)
We recently welcomed two well-known former teachers back to The Academy. Margaret (McNeill) Tindall (right) and Doris Johnston (now Vaughan) both taught in the Prep School between the 1960s and 1980s. Nowadays, Doris lives in America and was in Scotland celebrating her 90th birthday.
One of the best…Miller Caldwell (1968) sent us this photograph of his Sixth Form class with form teacher Mr CK Kimber. He describes Mr Kimber as ‘one of the best I can recall’.
10 Etcetera
The annual concert of the Glasgow Academy choir was given last evening in
the Queen’s Rooms, which were crowded with a fashionable audience. It was a very pleasing entertainment indeed, even for those who were not personally interested in the youthful singers. The freshness of the young voices, the heartiness of the singing, and the prettiness of the pronunciation (which above all showed the hand of the artistic trainer), charmed the hearers, even when the intonation was not perfect, and the time faulty.
The programme was a heavy one, and Prout’s cantata ‘Queen Aimee’, which was the severest item, tired the voices considerably, and suffered in consequence. But some of the smaller pieces were delightfully rendered, for example, Horsley’s ‘See the chariot at hand’, and a fine old madrigal, ‘My bonny lass she smileth’. A few solos were contributed by gentlemen assisting the choir, and the accompaniments were admirably played by Mr Hall-Woolnoth (organ). Mr Maclaren, the popular and painstaking choirmaster, conducted.
The Glasgow Herald (2 May 1890)
From the Archives…
Academy Boys’ Concert
Diary of Events Classes of 1956 - 1960 Reunion September 6
Class of 1993 Reunion September 13
Kelvin Foundation Lunch September 20
Circa 1963 Reunion October 4
GA 100 Business Breakfast October 10
Dallachy Lecture October 24
Class of 2003 Reunion October 25
Gasbags and October Reunion Lunch October 25
Academical Dinner November 8
Classes of 1966 and 1967 Reunion November 22
Glasgow Academical Club London Section Dinner February 28 2014
The Academical Club Dinner will be held on Friday 8 November and
Len Murray has been confirmed as this year’s guest speaker. Len is widely recognised as one of the
country’s top after-dinner speakers. He has spoken at corporate and
sporting events around the world and has been variously described as ‘hilarious’, ‘highly entertaining’ and
‘side-splitting’. Tickets will go on sale soon.
To reserve your tickets or table now, please email
The AcAdemicAl club dinner
Etcetera 11
After a stint at Dairsie House, I was transferred to Glasgow Academy at the start of the Autumn Term
in 1939 under the firm rule of Miss McEwan (although at that time she was engaged to someone, so her spinsterhood was on the line). Hardly had I got used to the rigours and discipline of Academy life when I was evacuated to my aunt’s farm outside Lockerbie, as my parents felt that Glasgow was not a safe wartime environment. I was enrolled into Lockerbie Academy, where the only abiding memories are conkers in the playground and the fact that Dumfriesshire has three rivers – the Nith, the Annan, and the Esk – information which has been very little use to me in adult life.
Come Christmas time, it was deemed that Glasgow was not going to be under siege or bombardment, and the family moved back to the ancestral home. Back at Glasgow Academy, I discovered that my classmates, in my absence, had been kitted out with knitting needles, taught how to knit, and supplied with skeins of wool. For several periods every week they were employed knitting squares, which, I understand, were fashioned into blankets for our service personnel. Miss McEwan evidently decided that it was a waste of time teaching me how to knit, so that I might join the merry band. (When it comes to dancing, some people have two left feet - and, when it comes to knitting, I have two left hands!) Instead, my job during these knitting sessions was to read aloud to the knitters, in the hope that the stimulation would produce either better squares or less boredom.
For some peculiar reason, there are very few recurring memories of my time in the Junior School – I did get the belt occasionally (mostly completely unjustified), but, on the whole, soaked up the knowledge imparted by the various form teachers along the way – none made an indelible impression on my memory. Probably the most lasting impression of that time was of the Barrage Balloon which was tethered just next to our playground. This was supposed to tear lumps out of any German plane which had the temerity to visit Glasgow Academy airspace and
tangle with its mooring wire.
Another impression of the early war years was the Gas Mask: these things were uncomfortable to wear, made breathing difficult, and were carried in a small cardboard container with a carrying string attached. From leaving home till return, they were our constant companion throughout the day – we never had to wear them in earnest, and at some point they were, fortunately, considered superfluous to everyday life. I do remember one joker, who, when detecting a malodorous smell emanating from a nearby classmate, would don his gas mask and look around him in a questioning manner.
But then came Transitus under the eagle eye of Miss Gentles - a gradual easing out of the cosiness of the Junior School, into the harsh reality of the Senior regime. Prefects, with the ability to hand out lines (usually 100) for the slightest misdemeanour - Masters who could hand out detention for the merest infringement of rules which defied comprehension, and a morning assembly where we were at the forefront (standing) of the whole Senior School in the Well, with our lords and Masters seated on the stage above us.
It was unfortunate for our education that we were passing through the formative years of our lives at a time when the country was at war with Germany. This meant that the teaching staff was composed almost entirely of elderly gentlemen nearing retirement, or brought back out of retirement to fill the places of their younger colleagues who were off defending their country. The fire had gone out of their enthusiasm for the profession, and this was apparent to a middle-of-the-road pupil like myself.
Of the various subjects on my curriculum, the only ones which had me looking forward to the experience were James Scougall’s class on biology, David Ogilvie’s geography class, and a teacher whose name I have forgotten
EDUCATION WARTIME…DURING
…we were passing through the formative years of our lives at a time
when the country was at war with Germany.
(Sowerby?) who taught physics. These three all inspired me with their ability to make their subjects interesting and worth learning about. For the rest, it was rather a time-filling exercise towards the final bell of the day.
Previously in this article, I mentioned a bit about Dumfriesshire rivers. As an example of ‘Dodo’s’ enthusiasm for Geography, I can still recall the three Russian rivers which flowed into the Arctic – The Ob, the Yenisei, and the Lena. And, also most of the stations on the Trans Siberian Railway. At the time, riveting stuff, but not of much practical value in everyday life.
Reading material: Although we were expected to acquaint ourselves with the writings of a fellow called Shakespeare, the outpourings of DC Thomson of Dundee proved to be more in tune with our sensibilities. In the Junior School, The Dandy and The Beano reigned supreme. But Seniors wanted sterner stuff, and we graduated to The Wizard, The Rover, The Adventure, and The Hotspur – no cartoons here, all good interesting prose. Such was the popularity of these titles that boys only had to buy one copy of one title and, after reading, this could be exchanged in due course with all the other offerings in turn.
Food: Despite the fact that food was rationed, come lunchtime, there was always something available at the tuck shop, and in many ways we probably had a healthier diet during the war than is currently the case with the onset of obesity in the upcoming generation. No mention of food would be complete without an accolade for Walter Hubbard’s Mutton Pies – our gourmet lunchtime treat.
Finally, although the foregoing remarks may seem somewhat critical of the Wartime teaching staff, the finished article they produced (in my case) has resulted in a well-informed, articulate, caring, and law-abiding member of society. Such has been the result of their ministrations that, while at school, I used to dread the weekend homework essay. Penning these few words has, however, been a pleasure.
Jim Cunningham (1949)
12 Etcetera
The hardest thing I’ll ever have to do is say goodbye to my wonderful brother. He was such a handsome
wee boy and when people asked his name he would say ‘Davud’ so I called him ‘Vudder’ and then ‘Kindervud’ and then ‘Vuderkind’. As children, we had a charmed life; we spent two months every summer by the sea in Troon and we lived there for two years. One day in 1939 we woke up to find that all the ice cream kiosks had been smashed. The Italians who owned them had fled (we called them the Tallymen). Our father made up a song about them and their pokey hats. He told us that war had broken out and explained about Mussolini. We were heartbroken and moved back to Glasgow, to Queensborough Gardens in Hyndland.
We spent many nights in air raid shelters. All the windows in our flat were blown out from two bombs that were dropped close by; one in Dudley Drive and the other in Turnberry Road. We were evacuated to Bearsden to a wonderful big house on Thorn Road called ‘Towerdene’ with an acre garden. It had a gate into an abandoned tennis club with three tennis courts and a clubhouse, which had a gramophone with some wonderful old records of First World War songs: Gracie Fields, Vera Lynn and many others. We spent hours in the clubhouse playing the records over and over again. We remember the words of all these songs today. Only recently David and I talked about that and sang a bit over the phone.
My mother’s sister, Alice Maclay, a magician who called herself ‘Alice in Conjureland’ (the first female magician in the Magic Circle in Britain), came to live with us in Bearsden, along with her son Bill. Upstairs in ‘Towerdene’ there was a beautiful drawing room with a grand piano. Our father, who had been wounded in World War I and then shipped back to Eastbourne to recover, was the star of the army concert party with a good tenor
voice. We spent many evenings with Dad playing the piano by ear and singing all the wonderful First World War songs: ‘Roses of Picardy’, ‘If you were the only girl in the world’ and many others. Our mother - who loved Opera and played piano from music - used to sing Schubert songs: ‘Du bist wie eine blume’ and Madam Butterfly in English.
In 1943, while we were still in Bearsden, our father decided to send my sister Joyce and me to Laurel Bank and David to The Glasgow Academy. He wanted us to have all the advantages that he was denied because of the early death of his own father at the age of 45. We moved back to Glasgow around 1944 and were back in Queensborough Gardens to celebrate the end of the war. Aunt Alice (Alice in Conjureland) lived in Falkland Street and was very involved with children’s theatre and her own magic show; she developed the characters ‘Boodles the Cat’, ‘The Wicked Witch’ and ‘The Fairy Princess’. Joyce (my eldest sister), David and I were very involved with that. I mostly played ‘Boodles’ because I could walk on my hands. David played ‘Boodles’ until he grew too tall for the cat costume, and Joyce played the Wicked Witch.
Back in Glasgow, we were members of the Western Baths. This became a big part of our lives and this was where David excelled. He became a magnificent swimmer competing in all the swimming competitions. He starred
in the trapeze exhibitions. He always loved the Tarzan movies with Johnny Weismüller jumping from one tree to another. Now he was jumping from one trapeze to the other, sometimes with his young brother, Brian, on his back. I was so proud of him. He wrote to Charles Atlas ‘Dynamic Tension’ and started body building to compensate for his skinny legs and he used to lie on his back and support me doing handstands on his hands. I always wanted to be a boy and be David’s twin; we were the same height for a while at 11 and 13 - so I used to wear his clothes and Glasgow Academy blazer and cap and walk around town pretending to be David’s twin. We were great friends.
Our grandmother, Josephine Smith, had a wonderful theatrical costume business in Holland Street which dressed all the shows that came to Glasgow. My mother was the youngest of seven, the seventh child of the seventh child. Her oldest brother, Fred, who was blind and paralyzed, listened to the radio all day and had people read to him. Our dad christened him ‘The Oracle’ because he was so knowledgeable about everything. One day David, Brian and I were visiting him when he suddenly pulled out a Banjo from behind his bed, which was given to him by a friend on the condition that one of us was interested in learning to play it. David picked it up like it was a gift from God (which it was) and started trying to play it; he didn’t read music but this was the beginning of his incredible career
in music. He spent hours working out chords and practising and eventually became the best banjo player in Scotland, as he had a tremendous sense of rhythm. He then he taught himself to play guitar. I was so impressed with his perseverance. He then taught himself piano, and he never stopped teaching himself. (Perseverance was his middle name). Those were the Camelot days of our youth. Wonderful memories.
Tragedy struck in1949. We
Brian Wilson (left) with his brother David
‘Perseverance’ of my
– memories brother
Etcetera 13
were destitute; our father’s business had failed and we were told we had to leave school. By law, David had to stay on until he was 14. With no real parental guidance, family friends suggested that David should do an apprenticeship at Yarrows and do higher nationals at night classes for engineering. So David got up every morning at 6 o’clock and cycled to Yarrows in the freezing cold and rain. I felt so sorry for him but he endured and persevered, even finding the funny side of it. At 18, David went to do his National Service, for a while in England and then onto Celle in Germany. He was asked if he wanted to join the military police because of his height. He would get £3 instead of £2 per week for the extra year. He decided to do it so he could send more to our mother. We all missed him. When he returned he took on the role of being head of the family and endured very difficult times.
I was so happy when David met his future wife, Mary; I thought she was so beautiful and intelligent. She, like our mother, was the youngest of seven. Divine Providence! They were married in 1968, and they brought into the world three magnificent and talented children. David worked in the motor trade for a while - once winning a top salesman award for Scotland - and all this time he was playing gigs and developing his music. One day Mary gave him the greatest gift of all: the chance to switch roles allowing him to do his music full time. He went from strength to strength always working and learning. He took pianos apart and learned all there was to know about their innards. He taught himself tuning and restoring and became Mr Music in Glasgow - David the all-round piano man. He also formed his own group, Dave Wilson and the Uptown Shufflers, and played many gigs in and around Glasgow. He will be missed by so many people.
David was a ‘one off’, did not suffer fools gladly, a great raconteur with jokes and stories, impatient with ignorance and stupidity, said exactly what he thought, was never boring, hated to be interrupted and told people so in no uncertain terms. He was a man of independent mind.
So fare thee well my bonnie lad. Fly to the moon and swing among the stars, you will be the brightest star of them all. We will not see your like again. We have lost our centre. Irreplaceable.
Valerie Bloomfield-Ambrose (nee Wilson)
Panto TimeWhen I attended the Academy in the 50s, the highlight of the school social calendar was the Christmas Pantomime. This was held in the old dining hall under trying circumstances until 1956 when the Cargill Hall was built with a proper stage and theatrical equipment. Traditionally, the ladies’ chorus was chosen from rugby-playing pupils as they were thought to look uglier and act more stupidly than their contemporaries.
Thus in 1959, I found myself in the ladies’ chorus performing in a panto which I am led to believe was entitled, Cornucopia. The theatrical director was Major Jock Carruthers and the musical director was ‘Jazzy Bill’ Couthard. I seem to remember that the South Pacific song, ‘Shall we dance,’ had the original
line, ‘shall we still be together with our arms around each other,’ which was altered to, ‘shall we still be together, shall we talk about the weather,’ to avoid unseemly contact between members of the same sex.
Rehearsals proceeded satisfactorily until the day of the final dress rehearsal when Major Carruthers informed us that, as there would be a large number of school governors sitting in the front row on the opening night, the ladies’ chorus would be required to defoliate their armpits and shave their legs so as not to cause offence to the VIPs! Hard to believe, but true. Who would have thought that fifty years later the Church would be debating the pros and cons of same sex marriages. It’s a funny old world.
Peter Bannatyne (1960)
Congratulations to Dolly Creations, Glasgow Academy’s Young Enterprise group, on being voted Scottish Company of the Year at the YES Awards in June. They also picked up prizes for Best Business Report and Best Presentation.
With our Young Enterprise company’s success in mind, we thought it might be a good idea to highlight the work of a young Academy entrepreneur in each edition. We don’t know how many there are out there, but here goes…
Jennifer(Ker)Harvie(2004)hashadapassionfortextilesandaneyefor
colouraslongasshecanremember.
AftermasteringthebasicsatTheAcademy,JenniferwentontostudyDesignatDuncanofJordanstoneSchoolofArtandDeigninDundee.Ongraduating,shesetupherowndesignbrandcalled‘designerj’.
Takealookatherwebsite-www.designer-j.co.uk-orlikeDesignerjonFacebook.
She’sevencreatedadesignfirst:TheGlasgowAcademyCushion!
Young enterprise
Worth a look…
14 Etcetera
Ball bearings and giant gobstoppersThe BBC Home News editor, Mark Easton (1976) joined his local paper after leaving school, inspired to become a journalist by playing Waddington’s Scoop aged 13. He has won numerous awards for his reporting. Most recently, his writing won a Royal Statistical Society award for excellence. His ambition is to try to chronicle the story of changing Britain - and for Arsenal to win some silverware. Mark was educated at The Academy between 1965 and 1970 before moving south for his Senior schooling. As well as remembering his time in Miss McNeil’s class with particular fondness, here are three of his ‘top’ recollections:‘My clearest memories of my years at Glasgow Academy are not very academic...1) playing marbles under the trees with ball bearings2) giant gobstoppers on sale at the bus stop3) wondering if joy was always spherical!’Mark Easton (1976)
We asked a number of former pupils for some memories of their time at The Academy. Here’s what they came up with:
The best days of my life?
Poetry in my genes…How many future poets can lay claim to holding the long-jump record when they were at school? Graham Hardie (1989) - who for a number of years was Under 17 long-jump record holder - has recently published his second collection of poems, ‘The Songs of Oana’.
Speaking about his time at Glasgow Academy, Graham commented: ‘I felt the English Department were pivotal in my poetry career, and I am grateful to them for helping to generate my love of literature. My memories of the English The Academy are reading Three Men in a Boat in Mr Spike’s class; Laurie Lee’s As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning in Mr MacLeod’s class and then the poetry I studied with Mr Richards including Ted Hughes, Philip Larkin, Tennyson and Hardy which had a big impact on me.’
There’s no doubt, however, that his family were also big influences: ‘There is poetry in my genes as I am a blood-relation, on my mother’s side, of the Scottish poet, Thomas Campbell. His statue is in George Square and he is buried in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey in London. I hope to emulate
his achievements during (and after) my lifetime.’
‘The Songs of Oana’, which was published by Ettrick Forest Press last year, was praised by Todd Swift, Oxfam’s poet in residence and a senior lecturer in Creative Writing/English Literature at the university of Kingston in London. He said:
Graham Hardie’s ‘The Songs of Oana’ is unlike any other poetry collection you will read this year. Hardie is a poet with a capital P, and here fuses - improbably but wilfully - the poetic visions of Yeats and the Beats (which is after all just a matter of one consonant, really). Passionate archaic diction and romantic themes abound in the first half, before a darker vision of a contemporary Britain scoured by New Labour and junk culture slouches from the shadows. Disturbing, unexpected, and ravishing, these poems make no apologies for their calling - they speak from a heart that has known the foul rag and bone shop, and now seeks a timeless lyric power. -
Here is one of the poems from the collection so that you can judge for yourself:
Graham Hardie (1989)
Seville
“the possession, the possession!”cried the gypsies in their caravans,traversing the ruins of Seville, wherethe waters garnish the orangeswith pale wine and copper tongues.“where do they go now?” shoutthe wild children of the crematorium,to the orgies of self-infliction, wherethe daggers are drawn and slashthe fires of female innocence,and male iniquity; “but this is notenough”, chant the soldiers of Seville,who point their rifles at a gypsy,with the scar of heaven on his cheek.and they run like dogs of Pluto,and they run like cats of Saturn,and the flesh is eaten by mad horsesdriven by the whips of the gypsies,who castigate the living, in a houseof vodka, rum and whiskey;“go now, go to the sea and drown!”the seagulls hawk at the soldiers,who lick the dust from their bootsand march in tandem through,the ghosts of this morbid gypsy town.
‘The Songs of Oana’ is available to buy on Amazon’s website.
Race to the top (of the Main Building!)
Richard Goldberg (1984) is a Professor of Law at Durham University,
a post he took up in September 2012. One of his main professional
interests is in the interrelationship between law, science and medicine
illustrated by his research into the legal implications of the Peter
Manuel and Burnett cases. In particular, he has reviewed Scots law’s
approach to psychopathic personality disorder in the 1950s and 1960s.
‘Glasgow Academy was my one and only school. I came in to the
Preparatory School in Class 1 and look back on the Preparatory School
with mixed affections. Margaret Tindall was a great teacher who
really encouraged all the pupils, but Class 1 was a difficult experience
under Miss Mitchell (aka ‘Mitchell Bomber’). Transitus and the Senior
School were very rewarding. We had some great teachers who very
much influenced me in becoming an academic. To me, Irene Inwood,
Alex Farquahar, Ronnie Woods, Malcolm McNaught, Mr Gray, Vick
Hadcroft, Morty Black, Mr Horrocks, Mr Stark and Mr Waine were
terrific communicators and were really appreciated by the pupils. I
recall Ian McGregor’s classes in Transitus, which was at the top of the
Main Building. He had a competition each week to find out who was
the fastest pupil to run from the common room up all the flights of
stairs. Each pupil was timed in the process, and I am surprised that no
one ever got hurt on the way up to the top!’
Richard Goldberg (1984)
Etcetera 15
Boys will be boys! Ahead of the Circa 1963 Reunion Rob Lang (1961) thought we might be interested in this photograph. We don’t know the occasion and we haven’t been told any names, but we’re sure someone out there will know.
First of all many thanks to Robert Trythall, Alan Diack and Alan Carlaw
for sharing their experiences of Room C, Mr Ogilvie’s classroom (Etcetera numbers 19 and 20).
I, too, remember entering Room C where Dodo taught (I use the word loosely) geography. I sat at the front of the class because of poor eyesight and remember very vividly being volunteered one day to answer the question and, of course, I didn’t know the answer. Dodo proceeded to prod me in the chest with his board pointer with the accompanying words, ‘You’re dense, Halliday. You’re dense!’
No, I am not dense, Mr Ogilvie, I wanted to reply: I am dyslexic.
It was a very painful experience but in these days it was the norm. The condition of dyslexia had not been recognised. One was just labelled ‘thick’.
For me, it wasn’t the fear of being belted by ‘Annabel’ (Lachie’s nickname for the tawse), it was the fear of being humiliated in front of my classmates. In these days, the Rector and the School Captain were permitted to use the cane as a punishment. It was one thing being caned by the Rector, but I personally did not agree that the head boy should have the same privilege. There were other Masters of a similar ilk, but I think I have said enough.
Creighton Halliday sent us this photograph of his form class with as many names as he can remember. Perhaps someone could fill in the gaps for him…Back row: David Price; Graeme Archibald; Kenneth Finlay; ?; Douglas Hodgins; John I’Anson; Colin Winter; David HunterThird row: ?; Robin Mitchell: Robin Paterson; Brian Sinclair; ?; Crawford Anderson; Ronald Greig; myselfSecond row: David Deas; Michael Main; Gordon Naismith; Gordon Jack; Mr Foster; ?; David Ramsay; ?; ?Front row: John Byers; ?; Iain Ramsay; ?
It wasn’t the fear of being belted…
I hated school. I wonder why? Like many others, however, I just had to get on with it and I for one felt very privileged to have had the opportunity to attend The Academy. I only wish that I had been able to make more of my time there. Hindsight is a great thing.
I would like to finish on a much brighter note. It was not all doom and gloom in the classroom and I remember Masters
Runciman, Black, U’ren and Cowper - yet they all used the tawse or slipper, but it was fairly administered and there were never any hard feelings afterwards. They were indeed delightful men and, of course, they were good teachers.
I look forward to the ‘Circa 1963’ Gold Anniversary lunch to be held at the school on Friday 4 October of this year.
Creighton Halliday (1960)
Ahead of the Circa 1963 Reunion...
16 Etcetera
UpdatesJane (Clews) Gotts (1994) Jane has a new role as Director of International Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Stefanie Johnston (1989)I’ve finally moved back to Glasgow! I’ve not lived here since I left Westbourne School and went to St Andrews University after which I moved to Aspen then Liverpool where I qualified as a solicitor in English Law. I’ve now passed the Scots law transfer exams so am dual-qualified working for a large Scottish firm.
Kate Richards (1980)I have had a fairly varied career, beginning working life as a farm vet in the north east of Scotland. After 14 years I decided that, after many nights calving cows at 3 am in fields illuminated only by the headlights of a tractor with the rain running down the back of my neck, it was time for a change. I spent the next three years working for the UK headquarters of a global pharmaceutical company, working with vets across the UK and Europe. My next move was to central government, working in the first instance with the Department of
this office during the General Election in 2010; it was an amazing experience being so close to the beating heart of Whitehall. In the last year, I have been appointed as a non-executive director to the Boards of the Moredun Foundation and Scotland’s Rural College, where I can bring the breadth and depth of my experience to the Boardroom which is very stimulating and fulfilling. It has been a fascinating career journey.
WestbourneEnvironment Food and Rural Affairs. In the last 10 years, I have worked in a number of government departments, including three years as the Principal Private Secretary for the Secretary of State for Scotland where I was involved with the Papal visit to Scotland and many other high-profile events. I was in
Not a bad place to spend your retirement!
Ebhlinn Margaret Ross
Kate Richards
My long-term partner, Alex, managed to wangle early retirement in March 2012 and - after he made a full recovery from a hip resurfacing op in the May and my daughter Rebecca, 25 this July, graduated from Strathclyde University with BA first class honours in Music - we got married in July in Glasgow. We had a great party with close relatives and friends from all over the world.
We had always planned, if Alex got early retirement, to do some serious travelling in some of the few parts of South East Asia that we had ‘missed’ along the way. Now, for the last (nearly) three years we have been living on the island of Koh Yao Noi off the Andaman coast of Thailand, about one hour by long-tail boat further out from the nightmare of Phuket! It’s a small-not-too-touristy island, more top of the range than backpacker or lager lout.
We had first visited the island about eight years ago and had kept in touch with friends
we made; we sort of knew that if we went back it would, more than likely, be our last stop and it was.
Alex, although he spent thirty-odd years as a senior planner with West Dunbartonshire Council, had always been an artist, so he has a workshop to paint in and sells his paintings to tourists and gives art classes as well. So he’s more than happy, and I am working on the book I always wanted to get started, but never had the time. I can also read, write and speak Thai now. I have a wonderful teacher; she is from the island and she speaks excellent English and she has also become a good and helpful friend.
Probably the most important piece of news: I became a Granny on 13 April. My grand-daughter is Ebhlinn Margaret Ross and she weighed in at 7lbs 12ozs and at 11 weeks old she is now 13lbs 3ozs. The proud parents
are my son, James, 35 this September and his wife, Lucy, who were married in July 2008.
Susan Gilchrist (1974)
Etcetera 17
Westbourne School for Girls Class of 1970/71 held a very happy reunion in April, a celebration of our 60th birthdays this year!
The day began when ten of us assembled in Winton Drive and, to our surprise and delight, Shanti Williamson, the owner of No 5 welcomed us with glasses of champagne and an invitation to enter her home to see our old form room, now restored into a beautiful sitting room. Memories soon started to return and there was chatter and laughter throughout, setting the mood for the whole day.
A few more girls joined us in the comfortable room in Westbourne House at Glasgow Academy where the staff of the External Relations Department made sure that our reunion went with a swing. We reminisced over more memorabilia of school days, and two of our number were brave enough to don their old school uniforms for a photo shoot!
We were entertained with copious cups of coffee and tea, a beautiful lunch and a tour of the extensive school escorted by friendly Prefects from the 6th form. We were struck by the warm and happy atmosphere in the classrooms, as the students went about their work, despite our interruption.
After an early evening drink in the Oran Mor, we made our way to Anniesland where Charlie prepared a delicious meal for 18 of us, seated around one large table in the Pavilion. There both the wine and the laughter flowed incessantly!
Special thanks must go to Emma Fitzpatrick whose organisation and attention to detail resulted in a wonderfully-memorable day for our ‘sensational sixties’!
Tiki Wilson (1971)
Class of 1970/71 Reunion
The Westbourne Appeal update
The Westbourne Appeal – to name a laboratory in The Academy’s new Science and Technology Building – has started
strongly, with support from former staff and pupils from a range of eras. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have already supported the appeal.
With a little more help, we will ensure Westbourne continues to be at the very heart of The Academy - with a Westbourne laboratory in the new Sci-Tech building.
If you would like any more information about giving options for the Westbourne Appeal, please contact [email protected] / 0141 342 5494
Champagne smiles and memorabilia- inspired memories at the Class of 70/71 Reunion
18 Etcetera
DeathsSheena (Cousland) Andrews (1941)21 February 1923 - 19 April 2013
Sheena was born in Glasgow and attended Westbourne from 1929 until 1941. She was an excellent swimmer and spent many happy hours at the Western Baths. She also loved music, principally Liszt, Brahms and Chopin and was an accomplished pianist, obtaining an LRAM, the professional diploma of the Royal Academy of Music, enabling her to teach had the war not intervened.
In 1939, together with about fifty fellow pupils, ten staff, including her cousin, Catherine Cousland, who was Deputy Head, and some support staff, Sheena was evacuated to Symington House in Biggar, where she remained until she left school in 1941. She became Head Girl in her final year.
Following several years in the Civil Service, Sheena met and, in 1948, married her beloved Jim, who sadly died last year. After twenty or so years of living in Glasgow, where she was heavily involved with the Westbourne Old Girls Club, they moved south to Berkhamsted. She had a great sense of fun and had a wide circle of friends.
They are both lovingly remembered by their children, Colin and Maureen, and their grandsons, Daniel, Colin, Jeremy, Rory and Tom.
Colin Andrews (1968)
Hilary (Duguid) Neville-Towle12 October 1958 - 17 January 2013
Hilary was born in Blanefield, Stirlingshire. She attended Atholl (Milngavie), Westbourne and then Benenden in Kent. At Cambridge (Girton College) along with Emma Thompson, Sandi Toksvig and Jan Ravens, she was the first to introduce an all-female Footlights Review.
On graduating, Hilary took a job editing children’s books at Heinemann but, as her Cambridge contemporaries were settling down to the rewards of their chosen professions, Hilary enrolled at the Webber Douglas drama school in South Kensington, and trained as an actor. Around this time she met her husband, the music entrepreneur, Richard Neville-Towle. When their children came along, they left their Wiltshire cottage and moved to Edinburgh.
Hilary contributed fully to the city’s cultural life and beyond: She organised concerts, sang in choirs, at weddings and on high days and holidays, edited books, ranging from a debut novel to a Second World War memoir, recorded several of Alexander McCall Smith’s The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and regularly read the BBC’s Book of the Week. Hers is the recorded voice that takes visitors round many of the nation’s museums and galleries, such as the Royal Collection, the Geoffrye Museum and the Royal Academy.
Hilary was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. She simply did not believe it would kill her. Over 1000 attended her memorial at Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh in February. She is survived by her husband, Richard, and her children, Kate and Will.
Mrs Sheila White (Westbourne staff)1924 – 2013
Mrs White was teacher of Transition classes at Westbourne School for 14 years, except for one year when she taught the Primary 6 classes. This was because she felt it would be unfair to teach her daughter, Valerie, or Valerie’s classmates.
At all times Sheila ensured that the girls were given a sound grounding in and enthusiasm for future learning. She took an active interest in their progress through school and their future careers.
Mrs White was House Mistress of Scott
House, and was the first co-ordinator of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. She also produced a number of plays with her young charges. Sheila was a hard-working and loyal member of staff, who took a keen interest in all school activities.
Sheila was educated at the Glasgow High School for Girls, and graduated MA from Glasgow University. Early in her teaching career she taught in Canada and took time to travel extensively in Canada and America.
Over the years, Sheila enjoyed travelling abroad, and spent many happy years on family holidays to Blackwaterfoot on Arran. Her interests were family history; gardening; cooking, having taken a course in Cordon Bleu cooking; and golf - she was a former Ladies’ Captain at Balmore Golf Club.
Her daughter, Valerie, attended Westbourne and granddaughters, Sara and Alice, The Academy.
EK Henderson
Sheena (Cousland) Andrews
Sheila White
Etcetera 19
Rugby Section
It has been another positive year for the Club, with a lot of young players rising
to the challenge of senior rugby and older players working hard to maintain the positive direction in which we are moving. This was particularly evident in the Kilmarnock game on the last day of March, 14-35 behind at half time with some eminent Accie supporters heading across ‘the fence’ to watch Hawks at Old Anniesland. The team, with some clever management by a well-known rugby-playing family, produced a superb turn around in the second half and went on to win 40-35. It was quite a fantastic afternoon, showing what we are capable of.
The 1st XV finished fourth in their league, which was dominated by a very strong Marr team. The 2nd XV had a very good year finishing second in their league, though with five ex Club Captains in the team we do believe that we need to try and lower the playing age! They will not be adding a sixth, as Andrew Jackson remains as Club Captain for a second year.
Due to a change in his personal circumstances, our coach, Davey Wilson, advised us that he would be unable to commit to us for next season. Fortunately we have been able to bring the 2012/13 Scottish Youth coach of the year, John Couper, and his assistant, Graham Boyle, to the club. They are both keen to try and put in place a longer-term growth plan for the club, and as such we are keen for school
leavers and any players returning to Glasgow to come and help us achieve our aims.
The fixture list for next season is already out, and we are keen for as many as possible to come and support our team, particularly on 14 September at New Anniesland and 7 December at Old Anniesland. We have been unsuccessful over the last couple of years against GHK and a few more Accies in the crowd would, I am convinced, ensure the correct results. We would also like to invite all past players to come out on 31 August for our first home game of the season, to encourage our young team to a positive start. All details are advised on www.glasgowacciesrfc.com
We would like to thank Gavin Smith (1974) for his chairmanship of the section over the last two years, and we assume that he will organise the Club in the same way. Our new Chairman is Nigel Campbell (1979) who has been captain of almost every team in the Club. This in conjunction with being Captain of Cricket for ten years. We think that, with this wealth of experience, Nigel will have us heading in the right way pretty soon - as long as it isn’t to the cricket nets!
We also need to thank quite a number of people for their personal and business sponsorship of the Rugby section. We are very grateful for their assistance as we try and return to New Anniesland the level of rugby that it deserves.
Peter Sandford (1983) Vice Chairman
President’s Address
Although I have been involved in New Anniesland since the year I
left school, it was still a great honour and privilege to become President at the recent AGM in June.
Despite my involvement being primarily rugby orientated, I am an active member of the curling section and a keen (bad) golfer. Following on from Iain Jarvie’s great work last year, it is my intention to continue to make New Anniesland a place for young Academicals to be comfortable and relaxed, whatever their interests may be.
There have been considerable improvements to the pavilion and sporting facilities and we are delighted to be offering New Anniesland for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games preparations next year.
With the help of External Relations we have made great strides in forming a closer relationship with the School and Club and this will continue. A good club needs a social heart and with the help of all the various sections we will continue to create an attractive social calendar, generate funds, and more importantly have fun in the process.
Our 150th celebrations are approaching fast and plans are underway to ensure 2015 is a memorable year.
Whatever your sporting or social interests are, I hope to see you at some point during my term in office and please contact me if you have any suggestions or ideas. The Academical Club website is - http://theglasgowaca-demicalclub.org.uk/
Academical ClubAndrew Jackson remains as Club Captain for another year
20 Etcetera
Turning on the style
As Academicals, we are obviously renowned for our debonair
sophistication and style. We are now trying to reinstate a bit of both to the rest of Scottish rugby, and we are keen to reintroduce the wearing of the ‘once-famous’ Accie Blazer. Unfortunately, the original material has gone and the cost of replacement is unrealistic. What we would like to ask of previous recipients and their families is that, should they be unsure what to do with such a stylish article, the Rugby Club would be keen to look after them, and ‘loan’ them to the senior playing members of the 1st XV. I am shown wearing the blazer belonging to my father - Kenneth Sandford (1956) - though, based on the size and the fact he was a prop, I assume he must have removed it from a scrum half under duress!
Peter Sandford (1983) Vice Chairman
London Section
After a hugely-successful Centenary Dinner, reported in the last edition,
the London Section continues to thrive, with new arrivals of all ages making contact directly or via the school and joining our membership.
At the time of writing, the London Section will be entertaining the Academy Shooting Team during their annual visit to Bisley. This event is organised by Crawford Alexander and Henry Watson and includes a Veterans’ Match with a number of Accies participating. We look forward to hosting the School Team and to hearing of their experiences, both at Bisley and throughout the shooting season. The London Section would like to take this opportunity to thank Crawford and Henry for their continued dedication to this event. We would also like to pass on our thanks and best wishes to Mrs Anne Gilmour who has
accompanied the school party for many years and for whom the 2013 Bisley Dinner will be her last, as she retires next year.
June 21 2013 saw the London Section represented at the London Scottish Schools’ Golf Day at Denham Golf Club by David Stirling, Peter Marr, Ian Timpson and Ken I’Anson. Our team came second overall with Loretto winning the competition. David Stirling had an excellent individual score, but lost the individual prize on a count-back. Well done to our team and I would hope that this encourages some golfers amongst you to apply to play next year.
At the last Committee meeting of the London Section of the Glasgow Academical Club, Mr Cameron Wilson (1993-1999) was elected President of the London Section. We are delighted that Cammy will assume this role and confident he will bring his unique brand of enthusiasm and energy to the leadership of the London Section. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking Mr Gordon Low for his excellent two years as President and he steps down with a great deal of satisfaction on a job well done.
The London Section has started planning for its 2014 Annual Dinner and I would ask you all to make a note in your diaries that this event will take place on Friday 28 February 2014 at The Caledonian Club in London.
As always, if any Accie is planning to move to or near to London, do get in touch with the London Section on 020 7235 9012 or at [email protected].
David W. HallSecretary / Treasurer
Cameron Wilson, the new President of the London Section
This photograph is labelled ‘Accie Golf Outing 1968’. It looks like Royal Troon, but how many of the golfers can you recognise?
Etcetera 21
Much has been written in these columns about the Glasgow Academical influence in the birth
of international football both rugby and soccer codes, but they also carried out missionary work at club level.
The natural train of events led many south in pursuit of careers. Two, Alexander Sinclair and R H Hedderwick, played key roles in forming two of the great and historic rugby clubs - Blackheath FC and London Scottish FC.
Sinclair left Glasgow in the 1850s and continued his education at Blackheath School. In 1858 the Blackheath Football Club was founded by some of the old
The minutes of the 1858 meeting founding London Scottish (Photo courtesy of Kenny Baillie)
Home Counties Men
Alexander Sinclair
boys of the school as an open club, and so was born the first rugby club in the world without restricted membership and Sinclair was a founding father. Blackheath went to help found both the Football Association and the Rugby football Union. His involvement in forming this famous club helped motivate others to form the Glasgow Academical Club in 1866.
In the 1870s R H Hedderwick followed him south and, in 1878, was a founder member of that great institution,
London Scottish - a club that became the provider of so many Scottish Caps. London Scottish has been through many travails in recent times but now is back in the English Championship under a new CEO Kenny Baillie who played for many years with Glasgow Hawks. Over the years since 1878, many Glasgow Accies have pulled on the blue jersey of London Scottish.
Hugh Barrow (1962)
The Academicals’ Cricket Section has had a successful year reaching the final of the Challenge Cup played at the beginning of August at Stirling against a strong Perth Do’cot side. Unfortunately they lost by the tight margin of 15 runs.
22 Etcetera
The PTA and the External Relations Department set up a special committee to organise a fundraising Ball at the Glasgow Hilton on Saturday 22 June, all proceeds from which will go to the building fund. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Emma Fitzpatrick, Mark Taylor, Neil Drover, Lindsey Cockburn, Janice McCaffer and Susanna Schraag for all their incredible efforts - it would have been impossible without you!
It was a fabulous night! After being greeted at the entrance to the Hilton by some of our wonderful Glasgow Academy pipers, our 300-plus guests enjoyed a Champagne reception and delicious dinner while being entertained by the legendary Willie Allen. After dinner, they danced the night away to music provided by The Gangsters of Groove: the dance floor
Regular Giving ReceptionThe annual Regular Giving Reception took place on a sunny evening towards the end of term. Drinks and canapés were served on the Prep School Roof Terrace and the Rector noted his thanks to supporters before giving a summary of recent successes and future plans. Guests then made their way to the School Art Exhibition where they were able to view the pupils’ stunning artwork.
was jam-packed all night! Thank you to all of our guests and sponsors for their support. We raised over £60,000 on the night – an AMAZING result!!
I would also like to say a special thank you to Fiona Calder and the Media Project Team for providing us with a fun and informative film explaining the benefits of the new building (the full film may be viewed on the school website). Finally, a huge thank you to those fifth and sixth years who gave up their Saturday night to help with the raffle, silent auction and auction.
Sandie WattPTA Chairman
The PTA committee at The Glasgow Academy Summer Ball
The Glasgow Academy Summer Ball
Etcetera 23
John Anderson (1979)Many congratulations to John Anderson who has received an honorary degree from the University of Strathclyde.
CEO and founding member of the Entrepreneurial Exchange, John presides over an organisation with some 400 members, representing over £14 billion of turnover and with around 150,000 employees. He received the award during a graduation ceremony at the University on Thursday 4 July.
After the ceremony, Strathclyde Principal Professor Sir Jim McDonald said: “As a leading international technological university, Strathclyde seeks to create innovative and effective solutions to global challenges and we select honorary graduates whose achievements reflect this ethos.”
John began his career with accountancy firm Ernst & Whinney, working in London and Chicago, before returning to Scotland to take an MBA, which he completed at Strathclyde. In 1995, he helped to found the Entrepreneurial Exchange and to nurture its mission of sharing experiences, knowledge, skills and leadership, with experienced entrepreneurs acting as mentors to others embarking on business ventures. John is also a Visiting Professor at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde, a founding GlobalScot and is a member of the Prince’s Trust Scotland Council.
Peter Blair (2001) Peter has been appointed Housemaster of Edmonstone House, Haileybury College, from September 2013. [email protected]
Jamie Downs (1986)After moving to Devon in 2008 I married Pauline, and our first child, Liam (pictured), will be two in November. Sadly, my mum - whom some readers may remember - died of cancer last July, which meant that I missed last year’s class reunion. It has been a busy time, as I have just completed my BA (Hons.) with the Open University and have also had my first book published, A Carnal Medium: fin-de-siècle essays on the photographic nude. I recently curated an exhibition in Exeter on the actor Anton Walbrook, whose biography I am writing. Various other projects are on the cards, and by the time this issue of Etcetera appears, we will have moved further out into the countryside.
UPDATES Ian Gardiner (1988)I won the 3km Pursuit in my category at the recent Australian Masters Track Cycling Championships in Perth last month.
Jane Gotts (Clews) 1994 has a new role as Director of International Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University.
David J P Hare (1978)The Council of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries elected David Hare as its President in June. David was previously a member of the Faculty of Actuaries Council from 2001-2010 and Vice-President from 2009-2010. He is also a member and former chair of the Life Practice Executive Committee and a non-executive member of the independent Board for Actuarial Standards established by the Financial Reporting Council.
Patrick Maclagan (1962)After twenty years of teaching, administering, writing, conferencing and generally stressing, I took early retirement from the academic staff of Hull University Business School in 1998. However I continued pursuing my research into organisational ethics and management education, and this summer the University awarded me a PhD for published work in that area.
Clare McWilliams (2007)I have recently completed my tenure as President for Sport at the University
Announcements
Jamie and Liam
Ian Gardiner
24 Etcetera
Kerr Smith (2001)I made sure I proposed to Louise Crush before my 30th birthday (29 years, 11 months, and two weeks!) and we plan to marry in 2014.
Cameron Wilson (1999)Cameron announced his engagement to Jennifer Hay in Etcetera 20. (As you can see, he has now found a photograph!) Best wishes to them both as they get married at the Hay family farm, Raesmill, Inverkeilor, in September.
of Aberdeen - a sabbatical position to which I was elected by the student body.
Miratul Muqit (1991) has been awarded a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship in Clinical Science to continue his groundbreaking research into Parkinson’s disease. Miratul is a Consultant Neurologist at the University of Dundee and is one of only 40 medical researchers in the UK (and the only one in Scotland) to currently hold this award. Another notable in this group is Dr Robert Semple, a Consultant Endocrinologist at the University of Cambridge whose mother, Mrs Semple, taught Miratul French at the Academy.
Guy Paterson (1995)In July, we welcomed a rather unexpected visitor in the shape of former pupil Guy Paterson. Guy, who nowadays works as a film director, chose to set a scene from a forthcoming Cycling Scotland commercial in a ‘traditional’ classroom in The Academy’s main building. You can see examples of Guy’s work on his website www.guypatersonfilms.com
ENGAGEMENTSCameron and Jennifer
Richard Pattman (1967)Richard was awarded the MBE for services to Sexual Health and Healthcare in the North East in the 2013 New Year’s Honours list.
Roddy Strang (1987)After spending 2011 and half of 2012 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Izzi and I spent a year in Beirut and have now, very recently, moved to Dubai Marina. I’m still working in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar on ‘Signage and Wayfinding Design Consultancy’ work for Merson Group in the UK – www.wearemsd.com – and am happy to make contact with anybody in the MENA/Gulf region for business or fun!
Guy Paterson at work
Rachel tops the bill in Lucerne Rachel Lawrence (2004) came to Glasgow Academy from Laurel Park School in 2001 and left in 2004 to start full-time training at Central School of Ballet in London. Following a two-year apprenticeship with Ballet Junior de Genève, she secured a precious contract with Tanz Luzerner Theater in Lucerne, where she is currently performing.
The photo is of ‘Cock-a-doodle-doo’, a piece choreographed for her by Forsyth protégé Maurice Causey and with music specially composed by Gabriel Prokofiev, the grandson of prolific ballet composer Serge.
During her happy school years in Glasgow, Rachel trained with Linda Lowry, who encouraged her to take additional training with the Royal Ballet School on Saturdays. The then rector, Mr Comins, was himself a ballet fan, and Rachel was excused from the obligatory Saturday sports to allow her to go to her ballet class in London!
Rachel’s photograph outside the Tanz Luzerner Theater
Etcetera 25
Robin G M Nisbet (1942)21 May 1925 - 14 May 2013
Professor Robin George Murdoch Nisbet was a pupil at Glasgow Academy for 9 years. He excelled academically, winning prizes in a range of subjects each year, including the Mowat Scholarship in 1942. He also served as Secretary of the Debating Society and as editor of the Chronicle. Robin won a top Bursary to the University of Glasgow, before heading to Oxford’s Balliol College to read for a second undergraduate degree in classics.
RGM Nisbet - as he was known professionally - carried out an important study of the Roman philosopher Cicero and put together a commentary on the first three books of Roman poet Horace’s Odes. He also produced a range of essays on the literary and textual criticism of Latin poets and played an important role in the administration of classics at Oxford University. Robin moved to Corpus Christi College as a junior research fellow in 1951, where he was appointed as a tutorial fellow the next year. The first scholarly book he wrote was a commentary on Cicero’s In Pisonem in 1961. He was elected as Corpus Professor of Latin in 1970 and supervised a large proportion of the doctoral students in Latin in the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1969 Robin married Anne Wood, with whom he had worked closely as college secretary. They moved to the village of Cumnor where they lived together until Anne died in 2004. Robin retired in 1992. Distinctions included an Honorary Fellowship at Corpus, a
Joanna (Cram) Brown (2000)Joanna and Michael are delighted to announce the birth of their beautiful daughter, Megan Heidi-Francine Brown, born on 22 September 2012 at 4.36 am and weighing 7lbs 7oz. Megan is now over 7 months old and full of fantastic smiles every day!
Megan Heidi-Francine Brown
BIRTHS
DEATHS
Elizabeth S Gilchrist (2000)Elizabeth S Gilchrist to Douglas D Maitland on 30 March 2013 at Glasgow University Memorial Chapel and afterwards at One Devonshire Gardens.
Gordon Macfarlane (1995)Gordon married Shabreen Zinna on 26 January 2013, in an intimate ceremony at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh. Several Accies were in attendance, including Gordon’s brother Iain (1993) who played the pipes.
Andrew Ritchie (2001)On 25 May 2013 Andrew Ritchie (2001) married Kimberly Gallacher at the Ritchie family Outdoor Centre, Ardmay House, on Loch Long. The bridal party was made up of many former Academy pupils including Best Man, Bruce Crombie, and ushers, Bruce Macdonald, Douglas Mackinlay, Andrew Platt and Jamie Outch. The sun was shining and a fantastic day was had by all!
Wedding guests: The Academy girls with Elizabeth in the photograph - all class of 2000 - are (l to r): Joanna (Cram) Brown, Katie (Goudie) Oparka, Suzie (Smith) Calvin and Sarah Webster.
Elizabeth and Douglas
MARRIAGES
Gordon and Shabreen
Robin Nisbet
26 Etcetera
Fellowship of the British Academy and an Honorary Fellowship at Balliol. He continued to visit Corpus weekly until ill-health prevented him from doing so. He was sustained in Cumnor by excellent carers and by the devotion of a local family.
As Horace says to Virgil in one of his odes, multis ille bonis flebilis occidit, ‘his death is to be lamented by many worthy people’.
Graham S Simons (1955) 3 June 1938 - 27 September 2012
Graham Samuel Simons sadly passed away, aged 74, at Hospice in the Weald, Pembury, Kent after a long and difficult battle with lung cancer. Graham attended Glasgow Academy between 1943 and 1947. Following senior school at Loretto and completing his national service, he moved south to England where most of his working life he was involved in logistics and distribution within the food industry.
Graham leaves behind his wife of 40 years, Joan, their son, Michael, two beautiful grandchildren - Caitlin 8 and Oliver 6 - two step-grandchildren - Ryan 15 and Mollie 13 - and a wealth of happy memories.
Norman Ian Clark Stirrat (1934)1917 - 2013
Ian, husband, father and grandfather, died peacefully at home in Monifieth, Tayside on 16 June 2013 aged 95, supported by family and wonderful carers.
Ian was born in Glasgow attending The Academy with brother Douglas. Ian excelled at rugby, sprinting and also at shooting. He often referred to school as
‘the best days of your life’. Initially he worked in the Clydesdale Bank. The brothers made the decision to enlist in 1938. By 1940 Douglas had been to France and back via Dunkirk. Both fought in the Desert War of 1942 and 1943 led by Montgomery, for whom Ian had great respect. At the end of the campaign, Douglas, advancing from the west, and Ian, from the east, narrowly missed meeting in Libya.
In 1946 Ian returned to the bank; he entered the date in his ledger only to realise that the date he had entered was the day after he had left in 1938! Study at Glasgow University delivered a Law Society qualification which proved invaluable.
Ian moved to Greenock to work in the jute industry where he met Chris. They were keen tennis players, their marriage in 1955 was to last 58 years. Early family years in Greenock were followed by a move to Dundee as the jute industry contracted, then a career change at 55, thanks to his legal qualification, to work for Dundee City Council.
In retirement Chris and Ian enjoyed Mediterranean trips, touring in Scotland and golf.
Ian took pride in the achievements of his children and grandchildren. He kept abreast of events in Glasgow via the Academicals along with Douglas who predeceased him in 2010.
Ian was noted for his gentlemanly conduct, honesty and fairness. He led a long, varied and happy life, as devoted to Chris as she is to him. He would expect us now to make the most of our opportunities. To paraphrase one of his heroes, Gary Player: the more you practise the luckier you get.
Allan N Stirrat
David M Wilson (1954)4 August 1936 - 7 May 2013
David Murdoch Wilson (Dave) was born and raised in Glasgow’s West End. He was a pupil at Colebrooke Street for ten years, between 1941 and 1951.
Originally due to join his father’s business as a shipping engineer’s agent, he left Glasgow Academy at just 14 to help support the family when the business folded. He began his apprenticeship at Yarrows, before being called into national service and taking the Military Police option to earn an
extra pound per week so as to send more money home. By his middle years Dave was a very successful salesman in the motor trade. By this stage he was also building a successful music career.
Given his first banjo at the age of 13, Dave mastered the instrument with no instruction, before going on to do the same with squeezebox, guitar and piano. He became known for his rock-solid timing, quirky vocal style and his stylish leadership and went on to share the bill with numerous well-known jazz bands. By his late 40s, Dave was performing as a lounge pianist across Glasgow. Eventually he established his own band - The Uptown Shufflers - and held many residencies including at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival. The group supported and played on singles and EPs for a number of pop bands and Dave also made a number of BBC television appearances playing piano.
Dave was the quintessential Glaswegian West Ender, knowledgeable about the area, its history and its people, and renowned for his strong persona and banter. He hosted numerous musical parties at his home, often involving taking one of his pianos into the communal gardens.
He is survived by his three children, Ruth, Max and Lawrence, brother Brian (1959), his sisters, Joyce and Valerie, and by his former wives, Mary and Susan.
Ian Stirrat as a young man
Graham Simons
Etcetera 27
Dear Sir
I have just received the current Etcetera, and wish to make a recommendation re editorial policy.
This is an old boys/ FP’s magazine. It gives a window to reminisce. There is
Dear Sir
I was delighted to read Roy Burdon’s letter in the spring Etcetera accompanied by the star-studded cast list of the 1955 Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring Donald Dewar as Quince and JO Kerr (now Lord Kerr of Kinlochard) as Puck.
But the accompanying photograph is of the 1954 Globe Players’ production of The Tempest! I should know, because there I am in the second row making my stage debut aged 10 as Ariel. Both productions were directed by Bruce Chalmers and took place in the Gym - as did all stage events of that era.
Arthur Sanderson (1957)
Picture PostDear Sir
As a former boarder, I write to ask your readers if anyone has a copy of a photograph of a group of boarders taken in Belmont Gardens in the mid-1950s.
It was the only ‘official’ photograph of the occupants of the boarding house taken during my schooldays as far as I know. I have happy memories of my time at school and I would very much appreciate a copy of the photograph.
Yours sincerely
Alistair C McLean (1957)(Anyone wanting to get in touch with Alistair can do so through the External Relations office at [email protected])
Dear Malcolm
Many thanks for sending my copy of Etcetera for Spring 2013. First class as usual.
On page 5 you have a letter from Alan Carlaw on Mr Ogilvie’s wordplays. Can I add two more?
SUNWAC - Yorkshire’s rivers: Swale, Ure, Nidd, Wharfe, Aire, Calder
East West How Terrible - German mountain ranges: Eifel, Westerwald, Hunsrück, Taunus.
Perhaps there is a collection of these wordplays out there in the minds of his former pupils. Would present day school children find a book with these entries useful?
Kind regards
Peter Lyon (1953)
nowt that is controversial. It is an indulgent read, therefore I suggest that any content/letter etc should require a ‘named’ credit for publication, and not, as in p6 - ‘A challenge’ credited to ‘Name supplied’ (1960s).
Whilst at the Academy (1950-62), I was belted/caned/gym-shoed, but never for one moment did I think I was a hooligan, lazy (notwithstanding my term reports). Nor did I think I was being ‘taught by a group of teachers who largely consisted of incompetents or sadists’.
Baggy Aston and Kenny Miles were superb English teachers. Dodo Ogilvie was a good geography teacher, offering rhythmic mnemonics to open one’s eyes to the world e.g. ‘Euphrates, Tigris, Indus, Ganges/ Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Mekong.’ How many of today’s 15-year-olds know where the Irrawaddy flows?
In the 50s-60s we were belted. It was preferable to detention, or 50 lines of the bl..dy Armada.
Yours faithfully
Robert Trythall (1962)
Where is he now?JC MacKay (1962) was a boarder for a while, I think, and then he lived with his aunt in Helensburgh. His father was in the Foreign and Commonwealth Service in East Africa. Does anyone know where Jimmy is now?
Robin Lang (1962)
Tony Hatfield (1954) has sent us this mysterious photograph with the legend ‘2nd rugby team 1954’. Any information on the photograph or those it depicts would be very welcome.
B R I T I S H L U X U R Y I N T E R I O R S b y C L I V E C H R I S T I A N
97 - 99 Great Western Road, Glasgow. G4 9AH • Tel - 0141 332 8989 • e-mail [email protected] • WWW.CLIVE.COM
CC_Scotland_EtceteraMag_SP_IvoryBed1.indd 1 28/03/2013 13:54:56
