Obituaries

BORN 17 MARCH 1943, DIED 4 FEBRUARY 2023, AGED 79 

My elder brother, Graham, entered the RGS Junior School in 1953 as one of three boys in his year with the same surname. He was immediately nicknamed “ARGE” after his initials and remained so until he left school at 18. I seem to remember one of the others was labelled “Tinker” Bell. 

In the Senior School, he developed an interest in the sciences and took the standard Maths, Physics, and Chemistry at A-level. I don’t recall the names of all his personal friends, but I do remember that his best friend was called Robin ('Sleepy') Macro, the son of Mr William Macro, a maths teacher at the school who was affectionately known as “Simple Will” - which he certainly wasn’t! Other friends included 'Talker' Jones and Tony Balfour. Incidentally, Prince Harry wasn’t the only one to have an elder brother at the same school who didn’t speak to him, so I suspect Graham had many other friends I was never introduced to. 

Wiry and tough, Graham excelled at cross-country running and was taken under the wing of the then Woodwork and Athletics master, Mr Bill (‘Porker’) Elliott. His great sporting love, however, was cycling. He became the under-18s ‘Early Birds’ cycling 25- and 50-mile time trial champion. The headmaster, Mr (‘Ozzie’) Mitchell, gave Graham special permission to take Wednesday afternoons off to train on his bike - a rare concession by a headmaster whom I personally liked very much. It was a pity you couldn’t get school colours for cycling, or Graham would have had them cum magna laude. Other notable interests Graham had included birdwatching and Scottish country dancing. 

He was also a keen member of the school CCF, rising to the giddy rank of Sergeant. Never the most orthodox or conventional of people, he loved playing the enemy at the annual RGS CCF camp on Otterburn Moors, chased by the rest of the ‘good guy’ cadets. More than once, for Graham’s transgressions, RSM O’Brian had him digging latrines and helping to hand out the dreaded laxative known as a ‘Number Nine’ to shy and constipated fellow cadets. 

After leaving school, Graham went to King’s College, Newcastle. Having discovered slightly late in life a love for biology, he completed a foundation year before studying Bacteriology for the next three years. Graham joined the University’s OTC, which meant he could proudly wear both the family MacMillan tartan and the Tyneside Scottish Regiment’s tartan. In those days, undergraduates could choose to graduate with either a Newcastle or a Durham BSc. Graham decided the latter sounded better. Either way, he earned a very good degree and went on to Downing College, Cambridge, to do a PhD in Bacteriology. His topic was ‘Anaerobic Bacteria in Water-Logged Soil.’ This entailed digging up extremely foul-smelling bits of Fenland and analysing them using, inter alia, a gas-liquid chromatograph. His studies did not always endear him to those sharing his laboratory, as some of the gases emitted from his samples stank to high heaven. 

Soon after obtaining his PhD, Graham married his great love, Janet, an RVI nurse and the daughter of Dr Tommy Miller, a well-known Burnopfield GP. The newlyweds moved to Canada, where Graham taught at several universities, including Guelph and McMaster, before heading to the Medical School at Singapore. Finally, Graham settled in New Zealand, where he remained for the rest of his life. He used his skills as a bacteriologist to study meat preservation methods for the New Zealand government. 

After retiring, Graham had a rural smallholding for several years before he and Janet moved into more sheltered urban accommodation. The couple had four daughters and numerous grandchildren, all of whom still live in New Zealand. Graham died peacefully in early February 2023, just two months short of his 80th birthday, surrounded by his adoring family.

Duncan Bell (ON 58-63)

BORN 30 DECEMBER 1940, DIED 8 MAY 2023, AGED 82

Peter Britton received his early education at RGS Newcastle, where cross-country running and the CCF were among his pursuits. Favourite anecdotes included watching the Northern Lights in Glen Brittle during a school camp and attending an Outward Bound course near Ullswater. More recently, he recalled vivid memories of the school being called to the hall to be told of the death of the King. On the bus and tram to school, Peter met Ann, who attended Dame Allan’s, and in due course, she became his wife. He went on to study Physics and Psychology at St John’s College, Durham. Psychology won out, and he enrolled for a PhD at Newcastle University. Joining a strong team there on a project to study cognition and personality in older people proved a defining moment in a long and distinguished career focused on the clinical psychology of the elderly. 

After an initial post as a lecturer at Strathclyde University, Peter returned to Newcastle as a lecturer and later senior lecturer in applied psychology. He shaped a growing area of collaboration between academic institutions educating clinical psychologists and the health service employing and nurturing them in their early careers. As course director for the MSc in Clinical Psychology, he was also an honorary consultant clinical psychologist in the NHS. Seeking synergies between two large organisations, each with its own priorities and purpose, was challenging and rewarding work. 

Peter shared this expertise widely, being elected as a Fellow of the British Psychological Society in 1988. He was a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and Chartered Health Psychologist, an active university external examiner, and a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Clinical Psychology. Peter was also a committed clinician, notably with the haemophilia centre at Newcastle’s RVI during the time when many individuals were grappling with the impact of the blood transfusion scandal. Many medical students benefitted from his professional clinical work during their training. He also maintained a research profile, exploring topics such as intellectual changes associated with the treatment of childhood leukaemia and, most prominently, the psychology of ageing. The 1985 textbook Clinical Psychology with the Elderly, co-written with Bob Woods, remained the authoritative text in this field for some time. 

After retiring from Newcastle, Peter was made a visiting professor at Teesside University. His vast experience helped establish a fledgling course there, and many current local practitioners openly acknowledge his guidance and support in their early careers. 

Throughout his life, Peter’s early interests in the outdoors, Scouting, and the church endured, and he remained active in all three until the end, though cross-country running was eventually replaced by long walks. He was also a devoted family man, carefully fostering strong relationships with each of his four grandchildren. In his professorial lecture, he spoke of the importance of adding life to years through understanding the psychology of ageing – something he undoubtedly achieved himself. 

Peter died on 8 May 2023 of pneumonia after a short illness. 

Frank Robson (ON 50-58)

 

BORN 26 MAY 1943, DIED 25 OCTOBER 2023, AGED 80 

Roger Elphick enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a civil engineer. After school, he graduated from Newcastle University (then King’s College, Durham) with first-class honours in 1965, becoming a member of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transport (CIHT) in 1969 and a Fellow of the CIHT in 1996. We believe his interest in engineering was sparked by a technical drawing course at RGS and some related work experience. An early career highlight was overseeing the construction of a stretch of the M62, linking to the Humber Bridge, as a young resident engineer on secondment from Durham County Council. It was one of the first motorways built using concrete, as oil strikes had increased the cost of tarmac in the early 1970s. 

As Head of Highways Management at Durham County Council, Roger developed a special interest in street works, lighting, and safety. He introduced Durham’s Park & Ride scheme- still thriving today - and the controversial rising bollard in Durham Market Place (not so thriving!). He was Treasurer and Council Member of the CIHT and Chair of its North Eastern branch, ensuring that his beloved home region was represented in national policy discussions. He would have been delighted to learn that, in May 2024, the CIHT created an Apprentice of the Year Award in recognition of his encouragement of new generations of civil engineers. 

March 2002 was a special day for the family when Roger received an OBE for services to highways and transportation from King Charles III, who was then Prince of Wales, assuming the Queen’s duties while she remained in official mourning for the Queen Mother. 

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne during wartime, Roger spent the first two years of his life in the relative safety of Seahouses. His love of the Northumberland coast was truly lifelong. He and his brother Nigel were raised in Gosforth and were the third of five generations known to have attended RGS to date. A keen rower (see Peter Robinson’s article in Issue 113) and tennis player, Roger had fond memories of playing and socialising in the junior division of The Northumberland Club and competed in tennis well into his early 70s. 

While at university, Roger gained rare access to the student nurses’ common room at the RVI for the sole purpose of selling tickets to a dinner dance. One of his customers was Susan Walsh from High Heaton. They married in 1968 and had two children, Simon (ON 88–95) and Jo, whose sons Freddie (ON 10–22) and Harry (ON 15 to date) were delighted to attend RGS in recent years. Roger and Sue celebrated 55 years of marriage shortly before her death in May 2023. 

It was fitting that Roger should pass away in a Durham hospital as the Champions League anthem played before Newcastle United’s home fixture with Borussia Dortmund. An East Stand season ticket holder since 1988, Roger was no stranger to disappointing home defeats but was spared this one. That he remained a loyal and optimistic supporter through all those years was typical of a committed and loving husband, father, and grandfather who is much missed by family, friends, and colleagues.

Simon Elphick (ON 88-95)

BORN 30 JUNE 1942, DIED 1 JANUARY 2024, AGED 82 

Ian entered Newcastle RGS in September 1950. According to his school friend, David Goldwater, he thrived at school and “was one of the shining lights throughout his school career.” He not only played his part in the general life of the school but was also an active participant in the Debating and History Societies. In 1957, he was described as being “an able Lady Macduff” in the joint 4th and 5th form production of Macbeth. He also acquired many of the great interests that accompanied him through life, including a lifelong love of music, literature, and poetry (several of his poems appeared in various NOVOS). A keen rower, he represented the Boat Club’s second team. 

He became a school prefect and, in 1961, was awarded both a State Scholarship and a Stapledon Scholarship in History at Exeter College, Oxford, where he read History, English, and Jurisprudence (the philosophy and theory of law). There, he continued rowing passionately, representing his college team. 

After Oxford, Ian spent a year as a graduate trainee executive with Dunlop in Newcastle before deciding to pursue a career in the legal profession. He attained his law conversion in Guildford and completed his articles with Lovell, White & King, where he developed his specialism in planning. He went on to have a successful career as a partner at the prestigious firm McKenna & Co (later Cameron McKenna, now CMS), working on high-profile infrastructure and planning cases, including the Channel Tunnel and Heathrow Terminal 5. 

In his early days in London, Ian, already a skilled dinghy sailor, raced National 12s and Merlin Rockets at Ranelagh Sailing Club in Putney, where he was Commodore for many years. Ian’s other passions included bridge, skiing, gardening (his daughter Katie recalls him returning home on his bicycle with huge rucksacks of vegetables), and singing. He was passionate about opera and loved attending the ENO, where he sat in the gods and declared it “the cheapest entertainment in London!” 

Throughout his life, his family always came first. He was immensely proud of his son Piers and daughter Katie, children with his first wife, Caroline, and of his three grandchildren: Humphrey, Beatrice, and Thomas. 

In 1998, Ian took early retirement. With his second wife, Anne, he embarked on a prolonged circumnavigation of the globe aboard Fidelio of London, a 37-foot Najad cruising sailing yacht (ONA Magazine, Issue 83, Autumn 2011). In 2007, the small village of Maureillas in southeast France became their land base and eventually their home. Ian threw himself into the social and cultural life of the village, perfecting his French, leading English workshops, and enthusiastically participating in choirs and the comic singing group he formed, Les Copains. 

He took up gardening with great vigour until illness curtailed his activities. All the while, he continued to write poetry, including Five Incarnations, which serves as a quintessential résumé of his life. 

Five Incarnations

First, educative: test, test, test.
Head notion-filled as if to burst. 

Then work, a wholly diff’rent life, 
A fam’ly, sometimes going tough. 

And so, a sailor’s life for me, 
With Anne, around the world at sea. 

On shore is singing’s joy re-found, 
And gard’ning quietens the mind. 

No singing: invalid here now,
Scribbling poor verses, ere I go. 

- Ian C Gatenby 

 Tried he his best. His judgment widely hailed. 
And once around the world he sailed. 

- Ian C Gatenby 

Anne Gatenby and friends

BORN 22 DECEMBER 1944, DIED 28 AUGUST 2023, AGED 78

A lifetime friend of Newcastle RGS and Novocastrians RFC, Steve Lawson died peacefully after a long, debilitating illness following a diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease. 

He was born in Coleridge Avenue, Low Fell, and later moved to Wilson Gardens, Gosforth, where he spent his youth. Having attended Akhurst Preparatory School, he entered the RGS Junior School in 1953, leaving in 1964, and made many lifelong friends among his fellow pupils. 

Steve soon demonstrated an aptitude for hard work and achieved great success with his academic and sporting prowess. He was made Head Boy, became First XV Captain, excelled at 440 yards, and played violin in the school orchestra. He gained a North East Electricity Board (NEEB) scholarship to Downing College, Cambridge, where he read Electrical Engineering. 

During his time at Cambridge, he enjoyed the academic rigour of university life but managed not to neglect the social aspect. He also used the opportunity to lower his golfing handicap. 

On leaving university, he joined NEEB, where he gained responsibility for maintaining and controlling the power supplies. He would leave social occasions, declaring he was required to switch off the supply to a particular area of town during the dark days of the miners’ strike. Following his successful reorganisation of NEEB depots, he left to join the family company, Lawson Fuses. 

Here, Steve was actively involved in developing a new, revolutionary fuse, which gave his company a market-leading design. This included supplies to power stations and later international markets. He opened factories in India and Malaysia to cater to his expanding world market. 

During his business career, he sat on standards committees and organisations, first in the UK and then worldwide. He used to joke that he had a hand in every single fuse on the planet. He was admired by his colleagues throughout the world but never forgot his staff in the Ponteland factory, where he prided himself on his strong working relationships. 

Following his association with Novos RFC during his school days, when he was a member of the team that won the Under-18 County Cup, he formed a strong bond with the club, which was to last for the rest of his life. Having represented the club at all levels, he retired from rugby to take on administrative duties, which were of huge benefit. He held many roles, including Team Secretary, Secretary, House and Ground, culminating in being honoured by being made President in the Club Centenary Year. 

He was an enthusiastic member of the ON committee, leading to his becoming President. He was a valued supporter of their fundraising activities and always took an interest in school life. 

Steve’s other sporting interest was golf, where for many years he had a single-figure handicap and enjoyed his membership of Northumberland and Bamburgh Golf Clubs. His name can be found on several honours boards. He represented the ON many times at the Queen Elizabeth Coronation Tournament, held at Royal Burgess Golf Club, Edinburgh. 

Steve met his wife, Sue, who was coincidentally a pupil of The Central High, at dancing classes, where they formed a partnership for a happy and successful life together. They shared a mutual love of music, travel, and languages, and Steve was extremely proud of Sue’s outstanding career at Northumbria University. Their two much-loved daughters, Liz and Jen, have both gone on to personal success, and Steve always admired their achievements, as well as those of his two grandchildren. 

His friends at home and abroad will greatly miss his presence, sense of humour, and unbridled generosity. 

Colin Peacock and Chris Magnay, with Sue Lawson and Steve's daughters

BORN 16 APRIL 1921, DIED 28 NOVEMBER 2023, AGED 102 

Allan George Ramsay Lunn was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the second child of George Ramsay and Beatrice MacCoy Lunn, who were married in 1914. George Ramsay was the son of George Lunn of Newcastle, who married Charlotte Reeves of Hexham in 1887. 

George Lunn was born in 1860, and by the time he married at the age of 27, he was already a well-established businessman owning two merchant ships. He sold these ships at the outbreak of World War I and devoted the rest of his life to civic affairs, during which he served as Lord Mayor of Newcastle for the whole of World War I. In 1919, His Majesty King George V honoured him with a knighthood. 

Allan, like his father and grandfather before him, was educated at the Royal Grammar School (RGS). He attributed his early love of music, especially the cello, which he played throughout his life, to his nine years there. 

Allan’s father, George, served as an officer in the King’s African Rifles in British East Africa. Following the war, he returned to Newcastle and became active in the coal trade. This provided Allan with his first experience of going to sea when, at the age of 13, he and his best friend were sent aboard a Danish merchant ship to Copenhagen. After a week in Copenhagen, the boys were taken to two ports in Finland to pick up a shipload of timber and bring it back to Britain, landing in Cardiff, from where they returned to Newcastle by train. This six-week expedition was the first of Allan’s many voyages. 

During his military service in Africa, Allan’s father contracted malaria twice, like his own father before him. This affected his health to the extent that he died at the early age of 49, just as Allan was leaving RGS. As Allan needed to support his mother and sister, he was unable to attend university and stayed at home, studying for a London University external degree while earning a modest salary from full-time employment. He was fortunate to secure a job with Thomas Hedley, the British subsidiary of the Procter & Gamble company, which had established its UK head office in Newcastle. Allan worked for Procter & Gamble in roles of increasing responsibility for the next 45 years. 

At the outbreak of World War II, Allan joined the Royal Navy as a seaman and was posted to the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, which was then sent to the Indian Ocean for a year, based in Mombasa. On returning to Britain, he was transferred to officer training at the Royal Navy’s land base HMS King Alfred in Hove and subsequently to the Royal Naval College Greenwich on the Thames, where he qualified in navigation. After qualifying, he was sent to the United States to serve as the navigating officer of the frigate HMS Bligh, then under construction as a destroyer escort in the Bethlehem Steel yard in Hingham, Massachusetts. 

Allan spent the remainder of World War II as the Navigating Officer aboard HMS Bligh, engaged in anti-U-boat operations in the North Atlantic from its base in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Part of this service included active participation in the preparation for and execution of the D-Day landings in 1944. Some 60 years later, the French began honouring those who had taken part in their liberation and still survived by making them Chevaliers of the Légion d’Honneur. Allan was enrolled in 2015. 

Allan returned to Northumberland and rejoined Procter & Gamble in 1946. It was there he met his wife Sylvia (née Winter), and it was there that his first child, Hilary, was born. 

During the post-war years, the business climate in Europe was transformed by the Marshall Plan, and, in particular, business activities in Germany flourished. Procter & Gamble, not yet active in the German market, appointed a team of six experts to examine the feasibility of entering it. Allan was chosen as the representative for finance and legal activities. Following the team’s positive recommendation, he was transferred with his wife and family from Newcastle to Frankfurt to head the finance and legal divisions of the new German company for the next 17 years. 

In the meantime, Allan and Sylvia had a second daughter, Stephanie, born in Bad Homburg, Germany, in 1962. The marriage, however, did not last, and Sylvia returned to England. 

Through his musical connections, Allan met his second wife, Elen, and they married in 1977. 

Although Allan had expressed a strong preference for continuing to live in Germany, Procter & Gamble transferred him and his family to their head office in Cincinnati, where he was given additional responsibility as supervisor for all financial and legal operations of the four Procter & Gamble companies comprising the new Latin America Division (Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, and Puerto Rico) until his retirement in 1985. 

Allan’s early education at RGS had fostered his love of the cello, and he enjoyed a lifelong career in music. He became the principal cellist of orchestras such as the Newcastle Baroque Concert, the Northumberland Orchestra, and a Bach orchestra in Frankfurt. He frequently played with well-established chamber groups in Newcastle, Frankfurt, and Cincinnati. After retiring, it was almost a natural progression for Allan to enrol at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music at the age of 64 for further cello and orchestra studies. Upon leaving the Conservatory, Allan crossed the Ohio River with his cello and played for 16 years with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra until his eyesight failed him and he had to resign at the age of 90. 

Allan died of Covid on 28 November 2023 at the age of 102. He leaves a widow, Elen, with her two sons, Walter and Robert, as well as two daughters, Hilary and Stephanie, from his first marriage to Sylvia (née Winter), and a granddaughter, Charlotte. 

BORN 27 JULY 1930, DIED 23 MARCH 2024, AGED 93 

To have Werner in our lives for as long as we did wasn’t just an incredible privilege and delight; it was also remarkable. When you see the famous footage of Jesse Owens winning the 100m at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, it’s incredible to think that Werner was probably about a mile away, at the family home at No. 1, Machandelweg, almost literally in the shadow of the stadium. What an amazingly long and fulfilled life he led, particularly given the extraordinary dangers his family faced in those early years. 

Werner’s father, Martin, undertook a hazardous journey to escape Germany and join his brother Albert in Newcastle, followed by Werner, his brother Jo, and their beloved mother, Hedwig. Martin was one of several refugee industrialists who relocated their businesses to the north-east of England. 

Having escaped persecution for being Jewish in Germany, Werner faced a different challenge in Newcastle, receiving a hard time for being German from some of West Jesmond School’s less politically informed nine-year-olds. Nevertheless, he did well. Despite not speaking a word of English when he arrived in the country, Werner always spoke proudly of the Distinction in English he achieved while at the RGS. 

During these early years, our dad formed friendships that would sustain him for decades, including lifelong bonds with Kurt Lion, Freddie Ingram, and Eric Sharff. Living so long sadly means saying goodbye to many good friends, and we’re very gratified that Eric remained Werner’s great pal from childhood until the end. 

After taking over his father’s boyswear business, Distinctive Clothing, Werner ran it successfully for many years. As much as Werner took pride in the success of the business, he possibly took more pride in employing over 100 local people. He was an incredibly popular boss, who took enormous satisfaction from being greeted warmly by former employees for many years after his retirement. We all take comfort in the fact that his retirement was so long and contented. 

In retirement, Werner pursued his love of country walks. He thoroughly enjoyed bridge and bowling, latterly at the Gosforth Bowling Club, and was a keen member of a local art group. Werner’s watercolours often came in for gentle criticism from family members, always given and received in good humour. Though we may have pointed out the odd cow that looked more like a table, Werner’s pictures had a genuinely lovely quality, and we’re grateful to have them now, as a reminder of the enjoyment he found in painting them. 

Werner was a very active and well-respected member of the Newcastle Jewish community, serving as Chairman of the local JIA group and regularly attending services at Gosforth, Jesmond, and originally Leazes synagogues. He often recalled a Yom Kippur service at Leazes Shul that coincided with a Newcastle United match just a few hundred yards away at St James’ Park. It was the only home match he missed that season. Newcastle won 13-0 - the biggest win in their history. But, as with most misfortunes, Werner was sanguine about it. My memories of going to matches with my dad, before hurrying back to the car to hear the Sports Report theme music, are very dear to me. It was his great friend Freddie Ingram who introduced Werner not only to Newcastle United but also to his even greater love - our mum, Edna Vicky. 

Edna and Werner were married for an extraordinary 65 years and were utterly devoted to each other. At a meal to celebrate both our dad’s 93rd birthday and our parents’ anniversary, Werner stood up and memorably said to family and friends, “I didn’t realise I’d married an angel.” Just two days later, on their actual anniversary, Werner suffered the stroke that robbed him of the ability to ever again express himself quite so clearly and proudly. We’re so pleased he had the opportunity to articulate those feelings about the woman he loved and with whom he shared so many contented years. During Werner’s illness, our mum went far above and beyond what anyone might reasonably expect in her care for him. She drily recounts Werner saying: “Drive carefully, because if something happens to you, who’ll look after me?” The apparent selfishness very thinly disguised the fact that my mum’s deep and passionate concern for Werner was reflected right back. 

Werner was a very funny man. Me - the comedy writer; Mark - the stand-up comedian; and Steven - the one with the proper job - all owe a huge debt to Werner for our sense of the absurd and our enjoyment of wordplay. We’re all glad that the kind of incomprehensible private jokes Dad shared with his brother Jo live on between the three of us. 

I interviewed Werner a few years ago to preserve his memories of childhood and adolescence, and I feel very fortunate to have those two or three hours of recordings of Dad, filled with anecdotes and evocative impressions of family members and friends long since lost. We’re also very grateful to Werner’s good friend, David Goldwater, who meticulously and sensitively worked with Werner to compile an archive of his family and business history, subsequently submitted to the Lahav Jewish Heritage Project at Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums. What a rare privilege to have that record of a life preserved. 

One of Werner’s favourite sayings, learned from his mother, was repeated so often that we would join in. “My mother always used to say,” he’d begin, when hearing some awful news about man’s inhumanity to man, “that God made one mistake when he created the world. He put people in it.” But Werner himself proved the opposite. God certainly didn’t make a mistake when he put Werner Maier in the world. He gave us a kind, warm, funny, sweet, humble, wise, and loving father, grandfather, husband, brother, uncle, employer, and friend. We’ll miss him terribly. 

Mark Maier

 

BORN 12 MARCH 1938, DIED 23 OCTOBER 2023, AGED 85

Everyone remembers the infallibly shiny shoes and the beautifully knotted tie. He was, said one former pupil, Paul Haggie, always “a man of quiet elegance.” There could also be a formality to his speech, delivered in an unmistakable deep timbre. Pupils were addressed as “gentlemen,” and those at the back of the classroom as the “rear ranks.”

Misbehaving or underachieving pupils might occasionally be described as “Bolshy,” but the voice was never raised. The tone was more, says Paul, one of “quiet sorrow.” He maintained discipline, it was said, simply by modelling it.

If all this suggests that Alan Mitchell was a distant, cold figure, that was far from the truth. His characteristics are recalled by his former pupils with immense affection. And above all, so is the quality of his teaching.

He introduced his pupils to the key skills of rigorous historical scholarship, emphasising research, evidence, and argument. Pupils were encouraged to form their own views, which were then taken seriously and tested in debates he liked to praise as “top level” or “deep.” He also encouraged pupils to hear major historians visiting Newcastle and then debate their arguments. “We were there to do the research just as he was,” says Nick Rugg, who went on to become a history teacher himself. “I will always be in Alan’s debt… for the way he made me think.”

And those were skills applicable to all kinds of later careers. Paul Taylor, who became a distinguished journalist, says: “He taught us how to think independently, how to examine information critically, how to build an argument, and how to express ourselves clearly and concisely.” If you want to understand the present, Alan was fond of saying, study the past.

Beyond his academic role, Alan had a lasting personal influence on many he taught. David Souter remembers the care he received from Alan when feeling intimidated as he arrived at RGS from life in a pit village. Later, he greatly enjoyed the discussions Alan convened on politics and current affairs. For Paul Taylor, Alan was a “true companion” to the “hairy Sixth Formers” of the early 1970s, however much their “anarchic radicalism” might have contrasted with his own controlled demeanour. As well as his passion for history, he passed on “civic values, social discipline, and courtesy.”

There was also, as many recall, a sense of fun. Sir Max Hill, until recently the Director of Public Prosecutions, remembers Alan’s sense of humour as “very dry but never sarcastic,” and a mischievous streak memorably expressed in the use, on warm days, of a “one-handed rubber band catapult used to fire paper pellets at any pigeon unwise enough to roost on the windowsill outside Alan’s classroom.”

When not teaching history, Alan’s military experience was valued as the officer commanding the army section of the RGS Combined Cadet Force. He also applied his organisational skills to running school camps. Standards never slipped, whatever the weather or landscape, with Alan once observed emerging from a tent to meet his fiancée Christine, dressed in cavalry twills, an immaculate white shirt, and, of course, finely polished shoes.

He had met Christine, a Central High teacher, at a Sixth Form history conference, and they were married in 1974. They had two daughters, Amanda and Claire, and lived near Alnwick in a home full of the books, antiques, music, and art they loved.

Alan’s sense of history’s importance may have first been formed when, after being born in London in 1938, he was evacuated as a small child to Bradford to escape German bombing. Back in London after the war, he prospered at grammar school, took part in a famous archaeological dig at the Temple of Mithras, and travelled to France and Canada.

His national service, a formative experience, was as an officer in the Royal Army Service Corps, stationed partly in Germany. Then he studied history at Jesus College, Cambridge, before teacher training and joining the RGS in 1963, where he swiftly became Head of History, a post he held for three decades.

He published his own historical research on the Stuarts in the 1960s and pursued a personal research project on Elizabeth Barton, a 16th-century nun and visionary. That helped occupy his long and happy retirement after RGS, as did working as a steward at Alnwick Castle and acting as an exceptionally well-informed guide when his daughter set up a company offering Alnwick vintage bus tours.

The consistent theme from all the tributes paid to Alan by former pupils is that he was, as one put it, both a “great teacher” and a “lovely man.”

Sir Max Hill recalls: “My school years from 1972-82 produced many inspirational teachers, but only one translated his benign influence beyond school and into my adult life, and that was Alan.”

Chris Bowlby (ON 73-79) 

BORN 18 MARCH 1960, DIED 16 DECEMBER 2023, AGED 63 

We are deeply saddened to report that Mike Robinson's battle with cancer ended on 16^th Dec 2023. Mike was diagnosed with bile duct cancer of the liver in November 2022 Chemotherapy took place but, with a compromised immune system, he contracted an infection in October 2023 from which he did not recover. He died on 16^th Dec 2023 at the Wellington Hospital, St John's Wood, a stone's throw from Lord's, with partner Fiona, daughter Molly & son Sam, at his side.

He always made light of his condition &his doctor wrote " he was a gentleman of great courage who faced his illness with immense fortitude".

A Cragside primary schoolboy Mike joined the RGS in Horsley House in 1968, aged 8 Simon, his cousin, joined in the same year. Sport played a key role, he played cricket for the school, the County & South North & badminton at St George's, Jesmond.

Mike Anderson (RGS 1973-78) remembers " we played cricket together at the RGS & for Northumberland all through school, in the 1^st X1 1976-78 & at SNCC where the best U17 X1 the club had ever had, won the Northumberland league & Friarside Cup in 1977. Mike was captain & scored 65* in the final which was won by 9 wickets. As a team we developed a special bond"

" He was RGS 1stX1 Captain in both lower & upper 6^th years, a testament to his leadership skills. In 1978 he was House Captain of Horsley & won full colours for both cricket & badminton. Both of us were selected for the North of England schools & played one game at Milnrow against the West of England".

"Mike was organised, conscientious, bright, involving, challenging, keen to win & he got the best out of people"

Mick Thompson (RGS 1973-80) reflects " I was two years below Mike but a few of us were lucky enough to play in the 1978 RGS 1^st X1 which he captained so ably, the County schoolboys of that year & be part of the previous year's league & cup wins for South North. Mike, with Mike Anderson, was one of the finest batsmen of our generation. Modest, positive, interested in others, so proud of his family & a leader"

Richard Calvert (Dame Allan's & SNCC) has fond memories of Mike as " a quality cricketer", an elegant batsman", " a formidable opponent" &" a wonderful team mate".

Mark Dolder (Dame Allan's & SNCC) remembers " Mike was very organised. A stylish & deceptively strong batsman playing the ball along the ground. He captained a team from the front, calmly, determinedly & with a smile".

"Modest, inclusive, friendly, supportive, brave & competitive, someone I was proud to share the field with".

Duncan Stephen (SNCC 1^st X1 Capt. 1977-79) remembers Mike's 4 catches v Blyth & a partnership of 98 for the 2^nd wicket v Alnwick in September 1977, when Mike top scored with 64 & in 1978 showing courage, concentration & agility to take 12 close to the wicket catches, something no other 18 year old outfielder has done since then.

In September 1978 Mike returned to RGS for a 7^th term to take the Oxbridge entrance exams in late November. He was successful in gaining a place at Magdalen College, Cambridge to read Economics from Sept 1979, one of 16 RGS students to win Oxbridge places in that year.

At Cambridge he captained the Univ 2^nd X1, the Crusaders, & may have had a chance of a Blue if the numbers of County contracted players, including Derek Pringle who made his England debut, had been fewer. Friend, fellow Crusaders opening bat & Darlington native, Ian Burnley remembers Mike's lists for everything !..... & later golf at Ashridge or Berkhamsted.

Mike joined accountants Coopers & Lybrand in 1982. Two years later Ali Temperly joined the audit team & remembers a thorough, hard working, rigorous boss who was also fun, kind & patient.

He became a partner in 1993  & was pivotal in setting up the Milton Keynes office, where he later became Senior Partner.

Mike retired from PwC in 2017 but simply became more involved in badminton & golf. Following a conversation with a serving board member Mike was invited to join the Badminton England Board of Directors. He accepted & was appointed Chair Of Finance, Risk & Corporate Services in June 2014.

He served as Finance Director on the Badminton Europe Council for 4 years & chaired BEC Governance & BEC HR Committees, He was a Trustee of the National Badminton Museum & took on the role of Chair, Badminton England in 2019.

He was Chair of the Chalfont & District Badminton Association for 10 years also Director of Badminton Wycombe. In 2023 he was re elected for a 4^th term on the BE board the last 4 years as Chair. He was also Chair of Berkhamsted Golf Club........some list ! A tribute to his many personal & professional talents & remarkable energy.

Sue Storey, Badminton England CEO said  " The whole badminton community are deeply saddened by Mike's passing, a man who gave so much to the world of badminton. He was utterly dedicated, totally committed, boundlessly enthusiastic & worked tirelessly to transform the organisation & the sport"

210 people gathered at Amersham Crematorium on Mon 8^th Jan 2024, 150 seated 60 standing, to say a sad farewell. The vast majority returned to Berkhamsted Golf Club for the wake. It was a cold day, snow flurries began in late afternoon.

The service included tributes from cousin Simon, Cambridge friend Ian Burnley, Coopers colleague Alison Temperley, daughter Molly & son Sam. Badminton England produced a book of condolence signed by 47 from all over the badminton world.

The 3-minute reflection time included "Give A Little Bit" by Supertramp, a favourite of Mike's accompanied by screens showing reels of MWR photos.

At the wake pictures & documents were on display including those so kindly supplied by Oliver Edwards (RGS History & ex MIC Cricket)- NOVO magazine extracts of Mike as House Captain of Horsley, 1stX1 cricket reports & averages 1976-78, a 1979 Prize Day programme extract referencing Mike's place at Magdalen College, Cambridge & a picture of the wooden display panel in the Main Hall RGS on which is engraved his name as a Cantab entrant.

"It was an emotional day but all together a very warm & loving tribute"

At SNCC members of the U17X1 1977 & 1^st X1 1978 have donated to cover the cost of a memorial bench in Mike's name, to sit on the Pavilion steps next to Nigel Wardropper & Gavin Wake, fellow members of that successful 1977 U17X1 also sadly departed.

The world's sea lanes permitting, friends & family will gather at South North to view the bench & remember Mike on Friday 10^th May 2024.

This is all so sad & much too soon.

Duncan Stephen 

BORN 25 FEBRUARY 1942, DIED 22 AUGUST 2023, AGED 81 

Beryl Silverstone joined the Modern Languages department at RGS in 1986, combining her two great loves: education and France. 

Raised in post-war hardship in London’s East End, she won a scholarship to Central Foundation Grammar School for Girls, where she excelled, becoming head girl and studying in France before university. After graduating in French from the University of London, she trained as a teacher and worked in top London schools. 

Marrying Peter in 1971 meant moving north to support his career as a doctor, setting up home and raising a family in Gosforth, where they lived until 2001. As her children grew up, finding work at RGS - particularly taking on the role of GCSE oral exams for French - gave her immense pride and satisfaction. It’s fair to say that RGS became one of the things she loved most about Newcastle. Teaching at RGS provided her with a community of friends whom she admired, and she relished teaching the boys, improving their French accents and helping them achieve superb grades. 

At RGS, she was considered tremendously hardworking for someone who worked part-time, and she was known for her thoroughness and dedication to her pupils. Keen to pass on her love of French, she succeeded, with pupils remarking on her retirement that her Year 7 tuition had given them a lasting love of the language. 

She believed everyone could be a linguist and could turn her hand to many languages, casually switching to Spanish or German on holiday and choosing to learn Russian as an adult. During her time at RGS, she also assisted the Latin department when they were short-staffed and, later in her career, taught Year 7 Latin. Joining the school Classics trip to Pompeii in 1999 was a great highlight for her. 

A good school education had been the key to Beryl’s success, and this was something she always wanted to impress upon her pupils and family. She particularly enjoyed teaching boys at RGS - in the days before girls were admitted - remarking in her own farewell speech that boys have a spontaneity and sense of adventure that made teaching them fun. 

Beryl was very sad to leave RGS in 2001 when she returned to her native London after Peter’s retirement. There, they continued to enjoy plenty of cinema and theatre trips, holidays in France, and the arrival of grandchildren whom she adored. 

Beryl passed away in August 2023, only four months after her beloved Peter, at the age of 81. 

Ellie Cannon, daughter

BORN 11 MAY 1944, DIED 11 DECEMBER 2023, AGED 79 

“The epitome of a scholar and gentleman”... “a wonderful scholar”... “he was so generous with his time”... “quiet wisdom"... “warmth, kindness and gentleness” - Pupil comments 

Simon John Wyndham Squires was a dedicated teacher at RGS from 1972 to 2007 and continued to teach Arabic to sixth form students for an additional decade.  

Throughout his time at the school, he made a lasting impact, not only as the long-time Head of Examinations but also as a passionate teacher of Classics.  

His teaching repertoire spanned Latin, Classical Greek, and the drama option for A-level Classical Civilisation. In 1988, Simon introduced Arabic to the curriculum following a sabbatical term at SOAS, University of London.  

He also ran the Printing Club from a portacabin - a hub of delightful (though organized) chaos, which sometimes doubled as a classroom. 

Additionally, Simon led the Chess Club, twice guiding the school to the finals of the Times Schools Competition. He was also active in school productions, sang in the choir, and chaired the Staff Common Room for a time. Outside of school, he was a member of the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society, and his only named bequest was to the RGS Bursary Fund. 

In collaboration with Central High, Simon co-produced Greek plays, cementing his reputation for the “quirks so essential for Classics teachers” - his corduroy and velvet jackets, pipe smoke, and his habit of pacing the room during lessons. During exam periods, he would don a bow tie. A founding member of The Durham Singers and their long-serving chairman, Simon was also a keen musician, playing the viola da gamba and taking singing lessons. He was involved with the Northumbrian Record and Viol School, where he served as treasurer. 

Born towards the end of World War II, Simon was an only child raised in the southern outskirts of London. When the V2 rockets hit, his parents evacuated to Wells in Somerset, where they stayed with extended family. Simon’s lifelong passion for trains led him to support heritage railways and invest in model trains, including shares in Hornby. At 12-and-a-half, he became a Queen’s Scholar and weekly boarder at Westminster School. He earned the top Classics scholarship to Corpus Christi, Oxford, but delayed his entry to work on a kibbutz in Israel for several months - a formative experience he described as his “rite of passage.” Before joining RGS, he spent four years teaching Classics at Heath Grammar School in Huddersfield and was active in drama and music there as well. A two-year stint at Oxford University Press ignited his love of printing, and he later proofread for Omnibus, the Classical Association magazine. 

Simon met Ann, his future wife, at a party in Oxford, and they married in 1969. After settling in Durham, where Ann lectured in English, Simon secured his position at RGS. The couple enjoyed holidays in Venice - always by train - and spent time on their boat, moored along the Monmouth and Brecon Canal in Wales. 

As a colleague in the Classics department, I valued Simon as both a friend and a supportive ally. He was always the person to ask for a few choice Latin or Greek words, often including poetic meter. His sixth form students especially appreciated his genuine interest in their opinions, and Simon, in turn, remembered them fondly. 

Noel Armstrong, Classics Department 1991 - 2005, Head of Department 1995 - 2003, Professional Development Co-ordinator 03 - 05 

 

 

BORN 7 OCTOBER 1952, DIED 22 NOVEMBER 2023, AGED 71 

David Waddoup, a much-loved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away, leaving behind a legacy of intellect, warmth, and dedication. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. 

David’s academic journey began at the Royal Grammar School (RGS), where he attended on a scholarship from the age of 11. He often spoke fondly of his time there. His intelligence was evident early on, and he was advanced a year into a special class known as ‘Remove,’ allowing him to leave school a year earlier than his peers. 

He excelled in both sciences and the arts. During his time at RGS, he developed a passion for music, learning the oboe under Colin Kellett of the Northern Sinfonia. This led to a memorable trip with the school orchestra to Koenigswinter, Germany. David remained an active member of the orchestra throughout his school years. A highlight of this period was performing with his family in local concerts around Hexham, playing an arrangement of Greensleeves created by his music teacher, Jack Wolstenholme. 

David was well-liked by his peers, forming strong friendships with a group of boys he travelled with on the Hexham train. These friendships extended beyond school hours and were a significant part of his life. 

Tennis was David’s preferred sport, and he became a skilled player at the R Mill Tennis Club. He also enjoyed technical drawing and woodwork, hobbies that stayed with him throughout his life. 

David’s academic achievements were outstanding. He earned a First-Class Honours degree in Physics from Durham University in 1973. Later in life, after retiring, he fulfilled a long-held ambition by obtaining a PhD in Electronic Engineering from Queen Mary University of London in 2013, a qualification of which he was immensely proud. 

David’s professional life was largely spent as a Senior and Principal Research Engineer with a Canadian company, initially known as Standard Telephones and Cables (STC), which later became Nortel. He worked with the company until its closure in the late 2000s. 

Above all, David was a devoted father to his two daughters, Clare, born in 1981, and Ruth, born in 1983. He was also a loving grandfather to his four grandchildren, who range in age from six years to 22 months, and who brought him great happiness. 

David’s passing leaves a significant gap in the lives of his family, who will always remember his love, wisdom, and kindness. He will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. 

Shenagh Waddoup

 

BORN 26 SEPTEMBER 1940, DIED 19 OCTOBER 2023, AGED 83

Born in Skegness, Alan White joined the RGS at the age of 13 after his parents moved from Disworth, Leicestershire, to Stocksfield, Northumberland. It was an association he treasured throughout his life as an Old Novocastrian.

Alan went to Cambridge University in 1958 to study medicine at St John’s College. While at Cambridge, he met Ann, whom he married soon after graduating. During his time at university, Alan formed lifelong friendships with Douglas and Rosanne Gough and Peter and Myra Burrows.

Although he never became a doctor, Alan used his education to build a successful career in market research within the pharmaceutical industry.

With a keen interest in local politics, Alan became Mayor of Leighton-Linslade in 1980. He used his position to raise money for the Royal Papworth Hospital, the UK’s main heart and lung transplant centre.

In 1972, Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Alan became chairman of the local Multiple Sclerosis Society, raising funds and working tirelessly to support disabled people. He was instrumental in the local Access for All initiative, helping to establish the Buzzer Bus transport service.

Alan died after a short illness, leaving his children, Christine, Vivienne, and Martin, and grandchildren Adrian, Josh, Zoe, and Emma.

Chris Crabtree, daughter

 

BORN 15 MAY 1963, DIED 6 FEBRUARY 2024, AGED 60

Alex and I grew up in Durham and went to school together at RGS. We played countless cricket, and hockey matches for the school, county (Northumberland), and various clubs. Along the way, we had innumerable adventures of all kinds, some of them very colourful.

We were best friends from 1976, when he moved to RGS from Durham Choristers School, up to the late 1980s, when I left the UK for Japan and later the US.

Alex had all the qualities one could ever want in a best friend. Unswervingly loyal, reliable, and generous almost to a fault, he was also hugely entertaining company and never seemed to take anything too seriously, least of all himself. Even then, he stood out from his peers as someone who was sublimely indifferent to the whims and ‘cool’ fashions of the moment. His personal style - a relaxed version of a timeless classic Englishness - was already very visible back in the 1970s and he took some courage to maintain in the face of trendy teenage peer pressure in that famously rugged part of the world.

During the 1981 cricket season, he was probably the first RGS captain since the 1930s to show up to matches in a stripey blazer, bright-striped cap, and silk shirt, looking every inch a character from one of those late Victorian Spy cartoons he used to collect. With him, this wasn’t really affectation. It was who he was - a true original.

Alex was also a very accomplished player. A pleasingly languid stroke-maker and a consummate stylist, aesthetics behind the stumps mattered a great deal to him - almost more than the results! I have played with and against many decent cricketers in my time but never saw a more elegant or effortless wicketkeeper than Alex. He made it look so easy.

I remember vividly when his first love in life began to shift from cricket to Rugby Fives. He had returned home from Exeter University for the holidays and announced he had taken up this rather exotic sport. Together, we restored an abandoned Fives court at one of the Durham University colleges, and he proceeded to teach me a game he had only just learned himself. I confess I was not as smitten, but he was clearly a natural.

From what I know of Alex’s later life, the world of Fives seems to have been a kind of connective tissue that held his story together. That world was instrumental in his decision to go into teaching after his relatively brief flirtations with accountancy and the law, and I know he greatly valued the camaraderie and friendships he made on the Fives circuit.

Living a continent apart and following different paths, he and I kept in only sporadic contact after the 1990s, chatting occasionally on the phone. When I learned the shocking news of his passing just a couple of weeks after we last spoke, a small lifetime of memories came flooding back. Alex was a huge part of my life, and he remained charmingly true to himself to the end.

Greg Anderson (ON 76-81)  

Andrea Goodwin (09-20)

Pauline Perella (82-03)

Dr Geoffrey Norman Marsh MBE (31-21)

 

Brian Robson OBE (50-58)

Howard Burchell (66-99)

David Summerfield (46-56)

David Ian Guy (58-62)

Bernard McStay (39-49)

Neville Poulsom (36-42)

Janet Cox

Herbert Malcolm Fail (45-52)

Angus Webb (86-92)

William Anthony Rising (49-58)

Alan David Cruse (45-53)

Michael John Stephenson (53-62)