Number 20
Spring 2013
The magazine for former pupils and friends of Glasgow Academy and Westbourne School
Salute to the Colonel
Editorial
‘I prefer to stand!’
Yesterday I had the privilege of joining the people of Stirling in celebrating
the life of Scotland’s oldest soldier.
Lt Col Francis Saunders – known pretty universally as Frank – served in two
world wars. Although only a boy during The Great War, he acted as a bicycle
messenger scout in London and vividly recalled dodging bombs dropped
from a Zeppelin – believing that every next one had his name on it. As we
now know, he dodged not only German bombs but everything else that life
had to throw at him and lived to the remarkable age of 106.
I first met Colonel Saunders at our inaugural ‘Summer Evening on the
Terrace’ in 2006 when he was only a few weeks short of his 100th birthday.
Believing that we would have a ‘frail’ and extremely ‘elderly’ Academical
in our ranks, we were determined that his visit, however short, would be
as comfortable as possible. In the event, Frank was one of the first to arrive
and stayed until the last possible minute, engaging pupils in conversation
and refusing all attempts to make him to sit down. ‘I prefer to stand!’ was his
repeated refrain to any who approached him with a chair.
Wanting to make a fuss of him, we presented Frank with a picture of The
Academy. In response, he made a 10-minute impromptu speech in which he
deftly corrected my mispronunciation of his surname (I called him ‘Sanders’)
and rebuked us all gently for setting too much store by mere age alone. He
was a most unusual enigma - an extremely modest man who clearly loved an
audience!
In reaching his century, he followed a family tradition. His grandfather made
it to 100, while his father, a master mariner, lived to 105. With typically wry
humour, he said that the secret to his long life was ‘a strict regime in which
I enjoy a drink and a smoke every day’. But it was not mere age alone that
made Frank Saunders remarkable. He had a youth and an energy about him
that men half his age rarely possess.
After the local government reorganisation of 1995, he stood as an
independent candidate in the 1999 Stirling Council elections. When a
newspaper described him as, ‘A brave heart at 92!’ he responded: ‘I don’t
like the word “elderly”. I prefer “mature”. I am still in possession of all my
faculties and I can easily walk 10 miles a day without any ill effect.’ He also
revealed that he was doing all his own canvassing and clerical work.
At an event at Stirling Castle to mark the launch of Scotland’s Veterans Day
in 2008, he asked for greater awareness of the efforts of the Armed Forces.
He said: ‘It is important to celebrate our veterans. I took part in many
campaigns and was involved in the first Battle of Alamein. People were
killed and it was not nice. The armed forces are still doing these things today.
People ought to appreciate them. I hope Veterans Day helps achieve greater
awareness of their efforts.
‘It amuses me that I am the oldest veteran - but it saddens me that the others
my age are all gone.’
Now Frank Saunders is gone too. Gone, but not forgotten.
Malcolm McNaught, Director of External Relations
[email protected]
2
Etcetera
Contents
3 Updates
4 Early-onset Anecdotage
5 Anecdotage
12 Reunions and get-togethers
14 Academical Club
16 Westbourne
18 ‘One small cut for man…
one giant lawn for mankind!’
19 A Book of Thanks
20 From our overseas
correspondents…
22 Family announcements
24 Obituaries
27 Picture Post
Do we have your e-mail address?
It’s how we communicate best!
Keeping in touch
The 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 – Iain Jarvie
E-mail – [email protected]
Secretary – Kenneth Shand
Tel: 0141 248 5011
E-mail: [email protected]
The Academical Club pavilion
is available for functions.
Academical Club’s London Section
Secretary – David Hall, 20 Cadogan Place
London SW1X 9SA
Tel: 020 7235 9012
E-mail: [email protected]
Like us on Facebook; join us on LinkedIn
Cover photograph:
Michael Lyon, Stirling Council
Updates
Neil Brown (1992) shares a joke with some
Afghan tribesmen
Kath and Neil at the Queen’s colours
parade last year.
Frederick Anderson (1868)
I am coming to the end of my military
career and have attached a couple of
snaps that would perhaps advertise the
CCF well - Afghanistan last year. I have
been married for 10 years to Kathryn
and we have three children - Rosie (8),
Angus (7) and Fraser (5).
In response to the article in Etcetera
18 (Sporting Academicals in Shanghai
– Past and Present) Fred Anderson’s
great-grandson, Richard Lucas, got
in touch. He is offering a prize to
members of our community who may be
interested in researching and completing
a biography on Frederick Anderson.
For more details on the rules, research
expenses and prize on offer, please
contact him directly via:
[email protected]
Mahiul Muqit (1992)
It’s the way he sells them!
Neil Brown (1992)
Mahuil has been appointed Consultant
Ophthalmologist at the world-leading
Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.
After undergraduate studies at St Mary’s
Hospital in London and Glasgow, he
has trained as an ophthalmic surgeon
specialising in Vitreoretinal Surgery.
Most recently he completed Vitreoretinal
Fellowships in Oxford and Manchester.
whom I now know to be Ryan Seeley
(2009), had some spark and character.
Ryan kindly offered to pick me up from
the station in order to collect the new
car, and within a couple of minutes
we realised that we had both been to
the same school! Good to know that
entrepreneurial zeal is still imbibed at
The Academy.
Alen McCulloch (1980)
I phoned up Henry’s (Skoda) a few
weeks ago in order to research the
possibilities for a new car for my father,
Dr Ian McCulloch (1947). This is a
dealer with whom I have never had any
dealings, and I was delighted to realise
immediately that the Sales Advisor was
clearly keen and enthusiastic. Even on
the phone I could tell that this man,
Etcetera
3
Updates
Early-onset Anecdotage
Awards
School sports day in 1986
John Doak (1972)
I am pleased to report that John Doak
was included on Her Majesty the
Queen’s 2013 New Year’s Honours
List and has been awarded the Cayman
Islands Certificate and Badge of
Honour presented by His Excellency
the Governor of the Cayman Islands
in recognition of his services in the
preservation of architecture and the
history of the Cayman Islands.
The attached photo taken shortly
following the ceremony shows my wife
Jackie and my children Jaime, Jackson,
Cameron Claire and Jonathan. (I’m the
guy with the medal !)
I say ‘1986’ as I think Stewart
Simmers is the chap in red rugby
top and he would have left by
1987. As you can see it is the blue
ribbon event of tug o’ war where
Morrison House are about to win!
If memory serves, we had the
advantage in that pull as we were
pulling down hill on that section
of the 100m track.
Julian Richmond (1987)
Teachers as far as I can remember:
late Mr Tyson (always willing his charges to
higher levels of effort!), Mr McNaught, Mr ‘Christ’
Gray, and Mr Woods in the background sporting a
fantastic head of hair.
On the rope:
Stuart Simmers (he seems taller in that photo
than I remember him!), Julian Richmond, late
Gordon McKay, Alan Breckenridge (I think he
changed his surname to Pirie after leaving
school), Kemp (forgot first name), Dunbar (forgot
first name), Chewie (nickname)
J Niall Scott (former Academy
parent)
Niall Scott - father of five children
who all attended Glasgow Academy was awarded an OBE in January 2013
for services to Community Relations
and Young People in Scotland.
Congratulations, Niall!
Niall was a partner in the UK law firm
McGrigors where he served as Chairman
and Managing Partner. He is currently
chairman of U.K. Fisheries Offshore Oil
and Gas Legacy Trust Fund, a director of
JW Galloway Limited and The Offshore
Pollution Liability Association, as well
as a board member at Scottish Ballet and
The Treasury Solicitor. Niall is also a
public interest member of the Council of
the Institute of Chartered Accountants
of Scotland and a Trustee of several
charities.
Mrs Ritchie’s boys (1979)
Roddy Strang (1987) sent us a series of photographs of class groups from his
schooldays. It’s interesting to note that, in the early ones, he can name (and spell)
his contemporaries (almost) perfectly; by the end, however, he’s struggling and
can’t even recall the Rector’s name. He says he must be getting old. Who are we
to disagree?
Back row (left to right): Roderick Strang; Graeme Ogle; Ewan Cameron; Alistair Smith; Mark Dunbar;
Michael Harper; Brian Massey; Callum McKechnie; Lincoln Browning
Middle row: Andrew Waddell; Colin Kee; Derek Muir; Peter Murray; Andrew Fife; Paul Jarrett; Martin
Benson; Christopher Park
Front row: Jonathan Marks: Rudi Sternschein; Stuart Carlisle; Thomas Cordiner; Mrs Ritchie: Martin
Sinclair; Guy Wardrop; Gilles Graeme; Robin Dorman
On ground: Scott Simpson: Brian Morton: Austin Sellyn: Robin McClure: Martin Forbes
4
Etcetera
Anecdotage
Globe Players 1955
‘Life’s never fair!’
I read with great interest Robert
Trythalg’s article in the winter edition of
Etcetera. I am in total agreement with his
comments regarding Dodo.
Dodo’s constant use of the belt filled
many pupils with fear before entering
Room C. I, for one, suffered on more
than one occasion. On reflection, I
cannot but wonder whether he was cut
out to be a teacher. I have little or no
lasting memories of geography lessons.
Alan Diack (1945)
Geographical wordplay
The programme shows the
cast of the Globe Players 1955
Production of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream. It includes such
luminaries as Donald Dewar,
Lord Kerr of Kinlochard and
Norman Stone. This is of
some interest since it was
printed ‘in house’ by the
Glasgow Academy Printing
Club (of which I was briefly a
member) in a basement room
of Colebrooke Terrace. In
these days it was all set by
hand using individual lead
type and then printed copy
by copy on a medium-sized
Adana printing machine.
Reading the last copy of Etcetera - Mr
Ogilvie, the geography teacher, was
mentioned and two of his treasured
comments came to mind.
To remember the order of the Great
Lakes it was ‘Strap me hard every
omission’ (Superior, Michigan, Huron,
Erie, Ontario) and another about rain,
went something like this - ‘The sun heats
the earth, the earth heats the air, the
warm air rises, the rising air is cooled,
the cooling air condenses and falls as
rain’.
These two have stuck for some reason.
Am I alone?
Alan Carlaw (1949)
Roy Burdon (1955)
Munros by moonlight
My first teacher was a Miss McDonald
who taught 3b when I stated in 1947.
Luckily Douglas McCreadie and I got
the prizes that year and went up to 4a in
1948.The teacher for the next two years
was a Miss Turnbull - quite a fierce lady,
as I recall, but a good teacher and we all
benefited from her strict discipline.
I started my law degree at Glasgow in
1958 and by then had climbed over 50
Munros, but became more involved
with various mountaineering clubs and
among my friends was a divinity student
at Edinburgh -now the Rev Jock Stein
- and it was his idea to attempt to break
the 3 Peaks record and to add students
from Oxford and Cambridge to make
the challenge more interesting.
We chose June as obviously offering the
longest light, but as luck would have
it the day we started at the foot of Ben
Nevis was dismal and wet. 6pm and
having run up and down in pouring
rain we drove in our Morris Minor to
Ballachulish to make the ferry crossing to
the south side of Loch Leven and on into
Glen Coe. Only Jock and I had driving
licences and as I had volunteered for the
first stint I got the chance to change out
of my wet clothes on the ferry!
Arriving in the Lake District, it was
a beautiful clear night with some
moonlight to help us, but without the
two English students we would almost
certainly have failed. They were both
experienced Fell runners and knew
the area well. Having safely completed
peak 2, we set off for Wales and opted
to use the Mersey Tunnel as access
to Snowdonia then up the Pyg track
jealously watching tourists aboard the
mountain railway as by now we were
pretty tired and it was a really hot
summer’s day.
Anyway we got safely up and down. Our
final time was 20 hours and 48 minutes,
although with our agreement the fell
runners reached the finish about 15
minutes quicker but it was the team time
that correctly counted (and the two
English students had done no driving!).
The rules for this challenge changed
soon after our attempt and the drivers
quite rightly were not allowed to climb,
and soon the record was down below
19 hours. Apart from fitness, luck with
traffic plays a big part and later attempts
were with cars considerably faster than
our wee Morris.
James Roxburgh (1958)
Etcetera
5
Of helicopters and
hamburgers…
In my days,
everybody joined
the CCF army
section in their
first year as a cadet,
where they did
‘Cert A part 1’.
Having achieved
Cert A part 1, the
cadet could choose
to remain in the
Army Section, or
join the RAF or
the Naval Section.
I elected to join
the RAF section.
AC McLean in CCF
uniform outside the
boarding house, his
home for a number of
years.
There was, of course, rivalry between
the three services, and especially
between the Air Force and the Army.
The RAF section was not noted for
its skills on the parade ground as most
RAF cadets were perhaps more technical
than military.
Better than a hamburger? The ‘foreign’ cadets make the best of a ‘no-fly situation’.
uniform!). It seemed that by arrangement
they had always burned the whin in
Mugdock on the week before our
arrival.
On one occasion Platoon 1 had been
doing a radio course with the regular
army, and it was decided to demonstrate
As I recall, we had three ‘field days’
their skills on this particular Review
during the summer term. Generally on
day. The game plan was that the RAF
these days we usually
section would be
‘The RAF section was not driven somewhere
went over to RAF
noted for its skills on the in an enclosed truck,
Leuchars where we
had flights in good
be dropped off and
parade ground…’
old Annie Anson or a
map-read our way back
Chipmunk. We had time in the control
to Mugdock where we should enter
tower and, on one occasion, a sail in an
undetected. Platoon 1, meantime, using
air sea rescue boat out of Tayport.
their radio skills, would communicate
One exception to this routine was a visit with each other, capture all the Air Force
cadets thus demonstrating how gauche
to the USAF base in Prestwick. This,
was the RAF section.
in the mid-fifties, was more of a thrill
than perhaps it would be today. We
were all looking forward to a flight in
some American transport. On arrival,
the anticipation mounted when we saw
helicopters! Much less common than
today. What a field day this was going
to be!
Unfortunately the Americans were not
allowed to fly cadets – especially (to
them) foreign cadets. However, we did
get an American hamburger and Coca
Cola in the mess!
Towards the end of term there was the
‘Review’. This was a full-dress occasion
with the pipe band, inspection and
march past, the affair being attended
by officers from Home Command and
other dignitaries. After the parade, the
entire Corps went over to Mugdock
Bank where we did soldier things like
‘personal camouflage’ (in an RAF blue
6
Etcetera
Fortunately one of our number was a
‘radio ham’ and he came equipped. By
whatever means, he managed to find
Platoon 1’s wavelength and was able to
call them up, which he did. He then
moved the platoon further up the
moor from our entry point and we all
managed to arrive at our meeting point
without incident.
Major Carruthers happened along as
we were eating our sandwiches, and he
asked, with a hint of pride in the army
section, if we had all been ‘captured’.
He was dumbfounded when we told
him that we had not even seen the army.
Clearly we did not tell him how we had
evaded his boys, and perhaps if ‘Jock’ is
reading this it is a revelation. All I can
say is that it showed initiative on the part
of the RAF section!
Alistair C McLean (1957)
A challenge…
I sometimes wonder what our
colleagues who were at Westbourne
must think judging by the extent of the
correspondence from former Academy
pupils which appears to show that we
attended a school populated by hooligans
and lazy boys and that we were ‘taught’
by a group of teachers who largely
consisted of incompetents or sadists. I
only hope that the wealth of tributes to
Lachie may have convinced them that
not every teacher fell into that category.
Of course there were those who should
never have been allowed near children
and there were a few pupils whom the
Rector should have expelled for the
good of all. However most of us received
a good education and the exam successes
including the Oxbridge awards surely
shows that there were great teachers
whose abilities are perhaps forgotten.
Mr Miles inspired in me an everlasting
love of Shakespeare; and Mr Parkes
was a wonderful Maths master whose
‘shortcuts’ and other tips still hold good.
Sadly Mr Parkes died before he had
completed his time in Colebrooke Street
and Mr Miles, seeing no possibility of
promotion while Baggy Aston retained
the Senior English teaching post, went
elsewhere.
I believe many of us have good cause to
be grateful to the Academy and many
of the teachers. We acquired friendships
which subsist years after we left - so
let us emphasise the good and happy
memories rather than highlight the
actings of the few evil incompetents.
Name supplied (1960s)
Memories of Alan MacNaughtan, actor
Alan had principal roles in many
Academy productions, including Henry
IV, Part 1 (see photo). He went on to
RADA in London, where he won the
coveted Bancroft Gold Medal and was
immediately plucked by John Gielgud
to play the King of France in Gielgud’s
famous 1940 Old Vic production of
King Lear.
After Broadway stints and British
Council tours with The Merchant of
Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Dick Whittington
This is a picture of the 1968 cast
of Dick Whittington taken in the
Dining Hall. Of course, as we are all
in our pantomime attire, it is not easy
MacNaughtan appeared as the Bishop of
Caerleon in the West End alongside Alec
McCowen in Peter Luke’s long-running
Hadrian the Seventh (Mermaid, 1968)
before joining the National Theatre in
1972.
Alan MacNaughtan’s signature on the
programme of the Globe Players’ production of
Henry IV, Part 1
All the time, he was busy too in
television where his many supporting
roles included The Duchess of Duke Street,
The Sandbaggers, Minder, The Professionals,
How Many Miles to Babylon?, Strangers and
Brothers, Glory Boys, Shadowlands, The
Insurance Man, Bergerac, and A Very British
Coup to name a few.
to identify the cast. However Col
Carruthers sits next to Jazzy Coulthard
and then it’s me as Dick Whittington
and with Martin Prowse at the end of
the row where his French Horn sits.
Interestingly, I heard Martin play in the
Solway Symphony recently. In those
days, the boys played the girls. I guess it’s
the real thing now with boys as boys and
girls as girls. Ah, what fun!
Alan MacNaughtan, actor: born March
4, 1920, died August 29, 2002.
Martin Milree (1938)
Miller Caldwell (1969)
Etcetera
7
Where are those drumsticks?
On Monday 27 June 1955, there was ‘The Glasgow Academy Contingent
Combined Cadet Force Forty Seventh Annual Review and Presentation
of Prizes’ - the prizes to be presented by Mrs WJ McCallien. That year
I won The ‘Challenge’ Drumsticks
(presented by Mrs PP Mallum) and was
told that I would receive them at a later
date. I was proud as Punch. Then, in
December 1954, there was the School
Fire and to this day I have never seen
The ‘Challenge’ Drumsticks as they were
destroyed in the fire - or that was the
story I was told.
So I am curious if they were ever found
and if my name was engraved on the
sticks. Anyway I just want to say as that
was about 58 years ago, and I am still
drumming up a storm here in Kassel,
Germany. Check out my latest recording
on www.brian-wilson-band.de
Brian Wilson (1955)
The joys of travelling by bus…
I thoroughly enjoyed Jim Cunningham’s
article in the last Etcetera about travelling
to and from the Academy by bus. It
was an integral part of the experience
of those school years, and I can’t be
alone in remembering with affection
the blue Alexander buses that ran
north-westwards out to Bearsden and
Milngavie. I was lucky enough to live
a few hundred yards from the end of
the run of the number 12 to Drumclog
Avenue (the 12 to Mugdockbank with
which it alternated went on a little
further). These were the ones to get, as
far as I was concerned – the 12A went
to Strathblane Road which left me with
a good mile walk home – a long way at
the end of a day with a heavy school bag
– and the number 13 (“Milngavie via
Westerton”) only came halfway up the
hill to where I lived.
Getting on at the first stop meant we
had first choice of seats, which for many
years meant sitting upstairs at the front
until that was no longer deemed cool,
and we started sitting at the back. But
the real fun was the run home at the end
of the day. In school terms we got on
first, followed a few moments later by
the girls from Laurelbank and sometime
after that by those from Westbourne. By
the time we got to the 4th and 5th year
(not before, I think – we grew up more
slowly in those days) the speculation as to
who would sit with whom made every
journey home an adventure. At least as
far as Bearsden, anyway – an awful lot of
my contemporaries got off there, mainly
because that’s where they lived, but
some to catch the connecting bus out to
Blanefield and Drymen.
I have no idea whether such a
sub-culture still persists. I hope so,
because it was great fun. But the buses
don’t come up the Mugdock Road
anymore, and they’re the wrong colour
now anyway. Sic transit…
Tim Haggis (1968)
Ian Haddow
Thought you might be
interested in my school
photograph taken I think
in 1931. The teacher is
Miss MacEwan and I am
third from the right on
the top row. Wonder
how many are still
around? I am now in my
89th year.
Ian Haddow (1943)
Victoria BC, Canada
8
Etcetera
Lachie the legend - and Lachie legends
Colonel ‘Lachie’ Robertson o’
the Paras
Colonel ‘Lachie’ was a legend to
several generations of GA boys who
came in contact with him - be it in the
classroom, the rugby field, or elsewhere.
He was a teacher who was respected
and loved by all. He moulded boys into
men. He was a man’s man, a Gaelic
speaking Highland gentleman from Skye
and a Paratrooper, to boot. Anecdotes
and tales of ‘Lachie’ are legion. Herewith
a few, showing but a little of the man’s
measure, the first two provided by
‘Toofy’ Brown, the rest are mine:
* In 1956, in third year, two thirds
of Lachie’s class was lined-up to be
‘Lochgellyed’ for failing an exam.
Questioning why Brown and MacLean
remained seated, we replied that no
exam papers had been returned to us.
‘Well, you would have failed anyway.
Out you get.’
Without protest - you didn’t protest in
those days - we joined the queue.
* At a parent teachers’ meeting, as
concerned parents, Libby and I were
keen to learn more about the academic
progress of our young Jeremy. ‘He
tackles hard!’ was his fulsome and only
response.
To Lachie, this was more the measure
of the man than percentage points in an
exam.
* Donald MacLean (Lachie’s nephew)
went into a pub for an illegal beer, which
he drank at the far end of the bar. Then
he froze, as he saw the unmistakable
outline of ‘Lachie’ entering through the
glass door. He was off like a hare – out
the back way. He thought he’d made a
successful escape.
I meet up with him at his TA Para HQ,
where the Glasgow company held their
training nights. After the ‘Long time,
no see’ stuff, Lachie introduced me to a
few officers and NCOs and showed me
around the place.
Then he had a ‘brainwave’! ‘George,
we’re parachuting into Ireland, next
weekend, on an exercise. It would be
good if you could come along too. You
could be an Umpire.’
‘But, Lachie, you’ll maybe get about
350-400 to the dinner, yet they’ve got
320 cases of Scottish tea for the evening.
Where did they all come from?’
‘Lots of the Glasgow lads work in the
docks and I don’t like to ask too many
questions’!!
God broke the mould of solid gold that
once made Lachag Robertson
‘Cabar Feidh Gu Brath’
‘But, Lachie, I’ve never jumped out of a
plane in my life.’
‘That’s no problem. We’ll show you
how to land, kit you up and I’ll push you
out the door.’
The officer and the author…
For CO ‘Lachie’, it was simple!
* On next long leave (1970), I had,
again, to meet up with (now) Colonel
Lachie at his HQ, as before. Before
getting to his office, you passed through
a vast gym/drill hall. Along one side
there was a HUGE stack of whisky. I
counted 320 cases!!
After meeting Lachie, I enquired about
the vast amount of whisky, stacked up by
the wall of the gym.
‘Oh that…Well, you see, I’m about to
retire and end my command and the lads
are going to give me a big ‘Dining Out’
night. Many of the men are coming over
from the other companies - in Aberdeen,
Dundee and Edinburgh.’
George Mackenzie (1959)
Like many of your contributors to the
last edition I was very sorry to hear
of Lachie’s passing. I too had been
privileged to be one of his pupils long
ago, but it was only many years after
leaving the Academy that I learned, quite
by chance, that my father [the author
George MacDonald Fraser (1944)]
after being commissioned following
the Burma campaign had briefly been
Lachie’s intelligence officer, before being
posted to North Africa.
This only came to light, for me at
least, when the two met at the 150th
Anniversary Dinner in 1995 and fell on
each other like long lost brothers. They
talked long into the evening, before
Lachie had to leave and, although I was
aware that they corresponded thereafter,
I don’t think they ever met again.
Simon Fraser (1968)
More early-onset anecdotage!
BUT, in class, next day, he was called
up to the front for a few strokes of the
‘Tawes’.
‘MacLean, you well know what that was
for?’
‘Yes, Sir, for drinking in a pub.’
‘No, it was for running out the back,
when you saw me enter, instead of
staying and offering to buy me a drink –
like a good Highland gentleman.’
* On my first long leave from the Far
East, with 7th Gurkhas, Lachie suggested
Roddy Strang (1997) sent us this impressive-looking group from 1987. He knows who most of them
are but cannot account for why they were brought together for this photograph. Perhaps someone can
enlighten him…
Etcetera
9
The Rector (a brief encounter)
My routine, during the formative years
of my life, was to spend ten years of it
on a weekday basis with an educational
establishment in Colebrook Street, in the
Kelvinside district of Glasgow.
During that same period the Rector in
charge of this house of learning was one
Frank Roydon Richards – known to the
hoi-polloi as ‘The Dick’. And during the
countless hours I spent within the walls of
this learning establishment, I only came in
contact once, personally, with the Rector.
Now this may have been fortuitous on my
part, in that only once did I transgress the
house rules sufficiently to have a private
audience with his highness, whereas others
were probably in and out of the hallowed
quarters like yoyos.
Now it may appear from the foregoing
that we were completely unaware of this
person in charge, but I would like to set
the record straight before proceeding
further. Every morning at the start of
the day’s proceedings, all those who had
turned up on time attended morning
assembly (latecomers were in for a
grilling by the prefects externally). At this
assembly proceedings were conducted by
the Rector, along with a smattering of
teachers who had also made the deadline
on time – but always the Rector in charge
(I think it must have been in his contract).
Anyway, his presence on the rostrum
meant that we had a daily appearance from
him, so that we knew what he looked like.
And this was about the only visible contact
we had with him during our time in these
hallowed walls. Admittedly, once during
my own time there we did have one period
of Religious Education conducted by the
Rector, but whether this was because it was
part of his contract, or because of staff
absence, we never knew.
There may have been other reasons for
being called to a personal meeting with
the Rector in his Office, but the one
which was most apparent was as a final
resort in the punishment regime. This was
usually handled in the junior school by
the administration of the strap (painful but
immediate, and soon recovered from) or in
the senior school by Detention (single or
double depending on the transgression).
Detention was handed out by the teaching
staff for minor misdemeanours during
teaching periods. Anything more heinous
was referred to the Rector for a caning.
10
Etcetera
Detention was held after school in DD
Ogilvie’s classroom (he probably had the
administration of this extra duty written
in to his contract). There was never any
difficulty with a lack of accommodation
within the classroom at these Detention
sessions, so we must all have been
reasonably well behaved – or the threat
of Detention was sufficient to deter any
untoward behaviour.
However, when one gets to the rarefied
atmosphere of fifth year there is bound
to be a rebellious streak in most of us
who have had to conform to a very rigid
routine, and such was my unfortunate
lot. Unfortunately, for the purpose of
these annals, I cannot remember what my
personal transgression was, but I knew that
it was against all the rules, that Detention
would not cover it, and that I was for the
high jump.
The normal procedure in circumstances
like this was for some minor runner
from the School Office to turn up at the
miscreant’s particular lesson and request
that ‘so and so’ should report immediately
to the Rector’s office. This intimation was
greeted by all and sundry present not cited
with a sigh of relief, and the guilty party
had to depart forthwith, for a bout of
punishment.
This was the situation that I found
myself in, when I knew I was beyond
the Detention stage and could expect a
summons for retribution at any time. In
circumstances like this, it is only human
nature to take any precautionary measures
that might alleviate the oncoming ordeal.
My approach to this coming date with
destiny was to wear a special thick pair of
swimming trunks in addition to my normal
garb. These, I reckoned, would go some
way to absorbing the effect of caning.
So for about a week I went around looking
a bit larger than life, in the expectation of
a summons at any moment. Hope springs
eternal, and at the end of this period, I
reckoned that my fall from grace must
have been overlooked, as no summons
had been forthcoming – either that, or the
Rector was far too busy to deal with minor
infringements, and maybe there was an
amnesty in place.
How we are lulled into a false sense of
security! The day after I abandoned my
armour and returned to normal garb,
the summons to attend the place of
punishment was delivered. So, it was
with some trepidation that I presented
myself at the Rector’s mercy. After a few
preliminary remarks about the reason for
this retribution, I was invited to bend
over a chair and the Rector produced a
bamboo garden cane to administer what
was due to me.
Now, I must admit with experiences of
the strap in junior school I was expecting
some considerable pain from the wielding
of the cane, but the first stroke was well
down on the Richter Scale of discomfort.
Fortunately, my reactions were fairly quick,
and, to ameliorate any increase in pressure
with subsequent strokes, I managed to
produce a suitable expression of agony,
which seemed to placate the Rector - and
the further three strokes were of the same
velocity. My histrionic talents seemed to
satisfy the Rector in considering a job
well done.
I cannot remember what passed between
us in the way of dialogue at the end of
this encounter, but I am adamant that at no
point did we shake hands.
Jim Cunningham (1949)
Jack Gardner (1914)
The Academy is delighted to have
received a 100-year-old rugby cap
belonging to the First World War
hero, Captain John (Jack) Gardner
(1914). The cap was presented to the
school by Douglas Anderson (1944),
the artist and military historian.
Jack Gardner won the cap in his final
year at Glasgow Academy, shortly
before he obtained a commission
in the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the
outbreak of hostilities in 1914. He
was wounded on three occasions, was
twice mentioned in dispatches and
was awarded the Military Cross in
May 1916 by which time he had been
made a captain. He died of wounds
received in action on 27 July 1917.
Veni, Vidi…
I have been reflecting on the various
Latin teachers I had over the years at
the Academy and on their variable
competence levels! Latin was of course
compulsory in the Upper School until
the end of Upper 2, but as I had no
interest or indeed ability in any of the
sciences (give me a good book any time
over a lab) Latin was always on my
timetable all the way up.
My first Latin teacher was ‘Jasper’
Mundie who did his best to engage us
with humour and a real enthusiasm –
he was given to producing all sorts of
allegedly relevant objects from the sleeves
of his gown to keep us entertained. Sadly
he left and went to Solihull. After that I
had a year of Kenneth Miles. His main
subject was English which he taught
extremely well (his annual recitation of
Gunga Din in broad Cockney accent
remains a cheerful memory) but he
also did some Latin – and made things
clear and understandable. After that we
had a young man called Roger Newis:
he came direct to the school after his
Oxbridge degree – having not bothered
to take a teacher training course – and it
showed. He was no doubt a classicist but
certainly could not unpack Latin for us.
I think he was a passable cricketer which
is maybe why he got the job. Fortunately
after him I had two years of Bruce
Chalmers who was an exceptionally
gifted teacher and who took us through
the complexities step-by-step and never
going so fast that you got left behind.
He was also possessed of a fine singing
voice and sang at the music concerts
always held at the end of the second
term. I recall hearing some of the folk
song arrangements of Benjamin Britten
for the first time sung by him. Sadly he
left the school too and I then had a Mr
E E Peters, a fastidious and painstaking
teacher who endeavoured to teach
us the delights of scansion - all these
strophes, spondees, trochees and iambic
pentameters. He was also very good
at showing us how to deal with the
dreaded prose and the art of turning it
into English constructions suitable for
translation into Latin.
my sixth year I did some Greek with
a Mr Reardon who, delighted with a
volunteer, taught me sufficiently well so
that when I had a few years later to learn
Greek I had enough residual knowledge
to ensure that I was not starting from
scratch.
It is always said that Latin is good for
developing skills of pure reason and
thought as well as helping you to
understand English more successfully –
others would have to judge whether it
had that range of benefits for me. I don’t
think much Latin is taught nowadays –
let alone Greek – and maybe we are the
poorer as a result and I suppose that we
were none the worse for having had to
learn it.
David A Keddie (1958)
At the end of all of that - with my
brain full of conjugations, declensions,
indicatives and subjunctives, passives
and actives, imperfects, perfects and
pluperfects, ablative absolutes, ‘ut’
clauses, gerundives et cetera - I got my
Higher Latin – mirabile dictu as you
might say!
Sixty-two years on…
By this time I was thinking that I might
become a Minister in the Church
of Scotland and sensed that a bit of
Greek would not go wrong and so in
These three fellows from 1951 Transitus ‘C’
Class have kept in touch over the years. (The
whole class photograph was printed in the
Autumn 2009 (issue 10) of Etcetera.) Can you
name the three friends above?
A hopeless case, but nicely put!
I remember not a lot from my school
days. I do, however, remember Archie
Foster who taught Maths and I think
it was room F. He had a wonderful
handwriting on the green board. I was
hopeless at Maths and still remember his
patience. He died during the academic
year and that was a great loss to us.
I also remember that Mr JAT Richards
was an interesting strict teacher. He
loved making us learn 10 lines of
Shakespeare or poetry. I hated it then
and hate it now. I remember going to
bed with the book under the pillow.
On my report card in second year I was
second from the bottom and he wrote,
‘Has tried hard in a good set.’ I can still
picture his handwriting and his black ink.
He took us to the Western Baths one
Wednesday for sport and someone was
larking about. The result was that Mr
Richards fell into the water fully clothed.
We laughed but the repercussions the
next day for the poor chap responsible,
however it happened, were not pleasant.
I have few lovely stories and am thinking
back to who inspired me. Sadly I am
stuck although TG Wright helped
me with my English and I passed my
Highers. He was young and caring at the
time. He may still be. I loathed rugby
and I remember Mr WK Waine singling
me out in the Cargill Hall and saying when we watched ‘They ran with the
ball’ for the umpteenth time - that even
I had shown some prowess in the ‘D’
team. I even played a couple of matches
- although that might have been in the
‘C’ team.
I remember the bell ringing at 15.50
and dashing to Kelvinbridge to catch the
underground so I could make the 16.05
connection at Bridge Street for the red
bus. I never had a coat so that I would
not be delayed in going to the well. That
bus was the best one to catch. Although
I could not run on the rugby pitch, I
could run away from school. I cannot
imagine why, though, as I was only
running to start the cursed homework
which seemed to take hours to do.
I loathed parents’ evenings and my
parents returning home. In those days
we did not accompany parents as is the
case in my daughter’s school today. It
was never bad news and there was a lot
of ‘He tries hard’ in feedback. In other
words – a hopeless case, but nicely put.
Sadly, I do not keep in touch with any
of my school colleagues apart from James
Leggat and Jimmy Howie. I remember
Jimmy bringing eggs into school for Mr
Varley. Alistair Crabb was also a pal and
he had the best-polished CCF boots that
I have ever seen. He came to school in
his own car and had his boots in a cloth
bag to protect them from scuffing. Mine
were poor - and still would be.
Edwin R Lucas (1970)
Etcetera
11
Reunions and get-togethers
IVth Form 1966-1967 Class Reunion Dinner
The above event was held at the
Clubhouse at New Anniesland on Friday
22 March 2013. We were very lucky
to have Graham Scott, Chairman of the
Glasgow Academicals’' War Memorial Trust
as our Guest Speaker and Kenneth Russell
was, as always, his witty self as Master
of Ceremonies. A light-hearted informal
evening was enjoyed by everyone with
the usual hecklers in fine form.
Despite the banking crisis, Loukis
Pattison managed to jet in from Cyprus
and it was good to see Charlie Brown,
Colin Manson and Iain Swan who had
not been to the Dinner for decades. The
photograph is intriguing - showing how
everyone has survived!
Many thanks to the speakers, Charlie
Parameswaran and his catering staff, the
organisers and all who attended.
If you think you were in the above
year at Glasgow Academy and perhaps
have moved house or simply have lost
touch, please let us know your address
and e-mail/mobile phone number by
contacting Kenneth Russell, The Hilton,
38 Chester Road, Poynton, Cheshire
SK12 1EU [email protected]
The following were present: Brian
Barclay, Mike Belch, John Blair, Atholl
Brechin, Charles Brown, Brian Crombie,
Neil Duncan, Alan Gibson, Jimmy
Howie, Colin Manson, Ralston McKay,
George McLaren, Wallace Mitchell,
Derek Neilson, Loukis Pattihis(Pattison),
Bill Peacock, Crawford Primrose,
Douglas Robinson, Kenneth Russell,
Donald Rutherford, David Stirrat, Iain
Swan and Ian Veitch. Unfortunately,
Paul Gee, Tim Haggis and Martin
Muir all had to cancel at the last minute
because of the weather and a son’s
broken leg.
London Centenary Dinner
The London Section held its annual dinner on Friday 1
February, this year commemorating the Centenary of the
Glasgow Academical Club, London Section. The evening at
The Caledonian Club was presided over by Gordon Low,
President of the London Section and in addition to a number
of visiting Academicals from Glasgow, Gordon welcomed
guests in the form of Lord Strathclyde, whose grandfather
was a governor of the School, Ian Welsh, President of the
Glasgow High School London Club, Iain Jarvie, President of
the Glasgow Academical Club, Peter Brodie, Rector of The
Academy, Alasdair Graham, President of the Glasgow Hawks,
Colin Turner and David Comins, past Rectors.
The structure of the dinner was slightly different from previous
years, each of the courses being punctuated by speeches and
incorporating a Burns night
element in recognition of the
time of year. David Stirling
delivered a most enthusiastic
Ode to the Haggis, and he
was followed by Alasdair
Graham proposing a Toast to
the School. Alasdair brought
back memories for many at the
mention of Lachie Robertson.
Peter Brodie responded
and reminded us of the fine
academic and athletic record
12
Etcetera
of the School, past and present and brought us up to speed
with continuing developments in the creative arts. Earlier
in the evening, Mr Brodie had made a presentation on the
development project for Colebrooke Street and the audience
was impressed at this expansion of The Academy’s facilities.
Following the main course, James Dinsmore gave an intelligent
and witty Toast to the Glasgow Academical Club, to which
Iain Jarvie responded with an entertaining but also informative
summary of the activities of the Club.
Ian Welsh then delivered a jocular High School perspective
on the traditional rivalry between the High School and The
Academy, before we were honoured and delighted to have
Lord Strathclyde, recently retired Leader of the House of
Lords make closing remarks. Lord Strathclyde commented,
with great humour on his link to the
Academy, before moving on to the
independence issue.
Gillian Waddell proposed, in her own
inimitable fashion, the Vote of Thanks
to all the speakers and the Committee
for organising what proved to be a
very memorable occasion. If you
attended the dinner and found
yourself NOT speaking on this
occasion, do not worry - we will have
our eye on you for next year!
Diary of Events - 2013
Class of 1971 Westbourne Reunion
Friday 26 April
Glasgow Academy Summer Ball
Saturday 22 June
Regular Giving Reception /Art Exhibition
Monday 24 June
Classes of 1956-1960 Reunion
Friday 6 September
Class of 1993 Reunion
Friday 13 September
Kelvin Foundation Lunch
Friday 20 September
Class of 1963 Reunion
Friday 4 October
Dallachy Lecture
Thursday 24 October
Class of 2003 Reunion
Friday 25 October
Gasbags and October Reunion Lunch
Friday 25 October
Academical Dinner
Friday 8 November
Classes of 1966 and 1967 Reunion
November (date TBC)
Ten-year reunion
The class of 2002 joined together for our
ten-year reunion on Friday 26 October
last year. It was great to see more than
30 people coming back to the school;
everyone thoroughly enjoyed seeing all
the changes which have taken place over
the past decade.
Although the ‘official’ reunion started at
2pm on the Friday, there was a fiercely
contested five-a-side football match the
night before with the ‘ruggers’ taking
the spoils against the football guys (no
change there then!) A curry and drinks
then followed to set us up for the main
event the next day.
On the Friday, old friendships were
rekindled during pre-reunion drinks at
‘Bar Oz’, before heading to meet some
of our favourite teachers from days
gone by. An excellent evening at The
Lansdowne Bar rounded off a thoroughly
enjoyable walk down memory lane.
The class of 2002 I’m sure will be back
soon, and we are all looking forward to
the next get together.
Glasgow Academy team wins Most
Promising Product award
Dolly Creations, The Academy’s Young Enterprise company, has won both
the Glasgow Company of the Year and the Most Promising Product Award
at the Young Enterprise Scotland Glasgow Awards 2013 held in March. As a
result, Dolly Creations will be representing Glasgow at the YES Scottish finals
on Tuesday 18 June.
Now they are offering Etcetera readers a chance to share in their success by
buying their highly-successful product - Mini Me.
by
Rekindle the memories…with a personalised Glasgow Academy Mini-Me!
Only £11.99 each or 2 for £20!
Contact: [email protected] to place an order or to discover more
about our company.
Colin Hutton (2002)
Etcetera
13
Academical Club
Glasgow Academical
Club Lottery
Rugby Section
Since the Lottery was re-introduced in
We are heading towards the end
of a much-disrupted season due to
challenging weather conditions. This
has placed extra strain on all concerned,
not to mention extra commitment from
the players. We are currently in fourth
position with three games remaining.
Despite the utter dominance of Marr
RFC, the league has been a very
competitive affair with close games and
good rugby. Meanwhile the 2nd XV
have dominated their league which has
been further hampered by sides failing to
raise a team.
With the school season also coming to an
end, we are keen to make close contact
with those boys who may be looking
for senior rugby in the future. No
matter if you are leaving for educational
pastures new, please remember that New
Anniesland is your natural home and
we will make you most welcome in the
future. For those of you who may be
returning to the west of Scotland after
university, again please feel free to come
along and enjoy the benefits of Accie life
at New Anniesland.
Gavin Smith (1974)
Chairman
2011, it has proved a fun and popular way
to support the Club. The continued aim is
to improve and broaden the facilities and
activities in the coming years.
The Lottery will make a monthly draw –
based on our target of 200 subscribed
memberships we are aiming for this to be
for a 1st prize of £500, a 2nd prize of £250
and a 3rd prize of £100 – the significant
exception being July which will be a
‘jackpot’ month with a bonus prize – perfect
for the Summer Holidays! Entry to all of
these draws for 12 months will be in return
for a monthly contribution of only £10:
£120 annually per membership subscription.
An extra incentive is that for every entry
received over 200, the prizes will increase!
Unfortunately it has taken longer than
planned to get the renewal emails and
letters out for this year – my apologies
– these have gone out in early March.
Consequently the only draw through the
winter has been a bonus draw for those
entrants whose entry fees continued
through that period. The draws will
recommence in April, and draws will be held
at monthly intervals with winners to be
notified by the end of each month, and the
winners’ names will be listed on the new
Academical Club website. All of the profit
from this goes back into supporting the
Club and improving Club facilities.
In order to become or continue to be a
member of the GAC Lottery, please contact
Robin McNaught by email at gacprizedraw@
hotmail.co.uk, or at ‘Craigalvie’, Kilbarchan
Road, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, PA11
3EZ for the entry form.
The winners from the last six months’ draws
to Autumn 2012 have been as follows –
£250 – Alan Stewart, Avril Stirrat, John
Monaghan, Peter Jensen, John Goodwin,
Brian Crombie
£100 – Allan Alstead, Robin Hopkins,
Hugh Kraaijeveld, Barry Sandilands,
Dougie Robinson, Warren Luke
£50 – Thomas Mann, Stewart Bannerman,
Hugh Fulton, Raymond Mills, Andrew L
Howie, Kenneth MacLeod
£200 bonus draw – Celia Hill
Well done to all the winners - and
thank you everyone in advance of your
continued support!
Robin I McNaught (1982)
GAC Lottery Convenor
14
Etcetera
Glasgow Academical
Club
Ladies’ Hockey mid-season update
Notice is hereby given to members
that the Annual General Meeting of
the Club will be held at 6.30 pm on
Tuesday 4 June 2013 in the Pavilion,
New Anniesland, 21 Helensburgh Drive,
Glasgow G13 1RR.
Following on from the success of the Accies’ Ladies Hockey tournament held in
In addition to routine business,
resolutions will be put to the meeting to
modify the Rules of the Club to provide
as follows:
1. that all categories of members of the
Club shall be eligible for appointment as
office bearers (other than the President
and Vice President from time to time
who shall be ordinary members, life
members or honorary life members); and
2. that the AGM of the Club shall be
held each year on the first Tuesday of
June or such other date in June as the
Board may determine.
The Secretary will make available
copies of the Report and Accounts to
any member, on request to the above
address.
Kenneth D Shand
Secretary
August (which we won), the 2012-2013 Ladies’ Hockey season is in full swing.
With continuing good attendance at training, along with the welcome addition of a
number of new faces, Accies Ladies’ section is continuing to field two strong teams this
season.
At the season’s mid-point, the 1st XI are sitting second in the national Championship
League which is due to finish on 27 April and remain in contention in the plate
competition.
After a recent bout of tough matches, the 2nd XI are currently sitting sixth in West
District Division 1 and are also still in with a good shout in the Scottish District Plate.
The Ladies’ Section has again fielded two teams (the whites and the blues), in the
West District Indoor League this season. This has been not only fun, but excellent for
improving our skills, sharpness and fitness (a lot of sweating!).
With a good number of Club social events coming up, including the Accies’ Ball, and
our End of Season Bash in May, the social side of hockey continues to make a just
reward for our efforts on the pitch.
The Ladies’ Section continues to grow and evolve and we always look forward to
welcoming new or returning players to training at 6.30pm on a Tuesday at Windyedge
with a view to join our teams.
This season we have had the support from two sponsors Mansion House Glasgow
([email protected]) and Carruthers Gemmill (www.carruthersgemmill.
co.uk), which enabled us to buy new kit, pay for travel to matches and employ a
fantastic coach. We would like to thank both our sponsors and hope that they continue
to support us into the future.
Celia Hill
The Glasgow Academical Sports Club
Annual General Meeting will be held
prior to the above meeting commencing
at 6 pm in the Pavilion, New
Anniesland.
Over 50s at Anniesland
Fancy a bit of fun at Anniesland?
A hard core of aging has-beens
have been putting themselves
through their paces in the gym at
Anniesland since last August and,
with the lengthening daylight
hours, are now looking forward to
a bit of touch rugby in April.
The 1st XI are in a
strong position in the
national Championship
League.
If you fancy giving it a go, please
let me know in order that we can
gauge numbers... (Thursdays 4-26
April, 6.30-7.30pm... £2/session)
All welcome. Hope to see you
there.
Iain
[email protected]
07803 855394
The 2nd XI celebrating
their success in the
Scottish District Plate
competition
Etcetera
15
Westbourne
Award
‘Westbournalia’
By Mrs R Henderson
(Headmistress 1936-64)
We are fine young ladies of a West End School,
To learn much culture and decorum is our rule
We’re never known to misbehave or be undignified,
In fact of Westbourne Gardens we are the joy and pride.
We study French and German, and how to hold At Homes,
To dress with charming elegance, with hair held back
with combs;
We learn to speak melodiously, and accents we do scorn,
Our aim to be a lady, as to The Manor born.
We do some nature study, but Science we deplore,
Gymnastics are unladylike, or sliding on the floor;
We’re taught to aim at beauty, and always look our best,
Always to be dignified – of manner that’s the best.
We learn to dance the lancers, but never Scottish reels.
We wear black hose and slippers with serviceable heels;
We wear trim coats and boasters and silken dresses white
At all times we endeavour to do what’s always right,
We fashion old-world garments with tucks and many a frill,
And fancy, frilly petticoats of cotton or of twill.
We learn to do embroidery and samples with our names,
Your grandmamas still have them in pretty wooden frames.
We learn to sing sweet part songs and many a sad duet,
And sometimes at a concert, we dance a minuet,
We all keep pretty scrap-books, and post-card albums too;
We’ve no time for naughty things that idle hands can do.
We paint in water-colours and even play the harp,
We sometimes play at croquet and are never known to carp.
We’ve never heard of hockey or the entré ballet dance,
At everything undignified we always look askance.
So know you great-grand-daughters, pray do not pity us,
We loved our simple pleasure, without your modern fuss;
And when you smile and tease us about 1877,
Remember, being at Westbourne then, was a little bit
of Heaven.
16
Former Westbourne Pupil
Awarded MBE
Fiona (Pearson) Stuart (1964), who
is well-known for her work as the
driving force behind the Tullochan
Trust, has been honoured with an
MBE. Fiona was named in the Queen’s
New Year Honours List for her work
with young people in Dunbartonshire
through Tullochan, the youth project
she launched in memory of her father,
Brigadier Alastair Pearson.
Birth
Carla (Boni) Bankhead (1992)
Since its inception, Tullochan has helped
change the lives of over 6,000 young
people. Fiona said of the award: ‘I am
very honoured but, as always, there are
a great many people who have helped
me gain this recognition. The staff and
young people are all equally important
and it is not really about me – it is about
them.’
We have our second addition to the
family: a baby girl, Lucia Bankhead, born
July 2012 - a little sister for Fletcher.
Graduation
Miss Bishop was the Head of Home
Economics at Westbourne School for 28
years. She trained at Glasgow College
of Domestic Science, and had taught in
St Helens, England for almost ten years
before coming to Westbourne.
Gillian Cowan Williams (1979)
I left Westbourne at the end of fifth year
in 1979 and trained as an Occupational
Therapist. Thirty years later I resumed
studying (whilst still working full-time)
and graduated from Glyndwr University,
North Wales on 31 October 2012 with
a Masters in Public Health which was
awarded with Distinction. I am now
studying for a Professional Doctorate in
Public Health. You are never too old to
go back to academia!
Deaths
Miss Margaret Bishop
1921 - 2013
At all times she brought to her
Department a real love for her subject
and encouragement for the girls to
develop their abilities and interests in
all aspects of the work. They were
taught the need for finesse and balance
when cooking. There are no doubt
many former pupils who still have the
cushion they made in the early years
of Secondary Schooling. For a number
of years there was always an impressive
display of sewing at the end of the
session. There will be many former
pupils who are grateful in later years for
the lessons taught by Miss Bishop in all
aspects of Home Economics.
For many years Miss Bishop translated
articles into Braille, and she herself was
latterly registered blind. She also served
on the Killearn Abbeyfield Committee.
She was a keen gardener and for most of
her life was the proud owner of Westie
dogs.
EK Henderson
Hilary Duguid (1971)
Hilary died on 17 January 2013 in
Edinburgh. Wife of Mr Richard
Neville-Towle and sister of Alison.
Marlene Scotland (Stirling) Steel
(1955)
9 July 1940 - 5 September 2012
Marlene passed away, after a long
illness, at St Edmunds Nursing Home,
Grantham, Lincolnshire on 5 September
2012. Wife of the late Bill Steel, much
loved mother of Kiki (1984), beloved
grandmother of Robert and sister of Jean
(1952). She will be sadly missed.
Sheila White
Mrs Sheila White, on 31 March 2013,
teacher of Transition at Westbourne
School.
Miss Bishop enjoys a day out with one of her
former pupils
Memories of Miss
Bishop
pinkie finger to wipe ingredients from
a spoon (as it’s your cleanest finger) still
remain.
Miss Bishop was an amazing Domestic
Science teacher, strict but fair. The things
I learnt in cooking and sewing have
lasted a lifetime. They are impregnated
into my mind and always remembered
whenever I cook. Westbourne girls who
took Domestic Science learned how to
beat a white of egg on a clean flat plate
with a knife, or knew your pinkie (little
finger) was your cleanest finger on your
hand, or learned to cook everything
from a boiled egg to mince to every kind
of sponge and pastry. I’m sure not many
Food Technology students learn to that
depth nowadays. Once I had passed my
first Higher she changed her attitude
towards me and all of us. She trusted us
to succeed and experiment when it came
passing the next Higher we took. She
gave us the confidence to succeed even
above her expectations for us. She was
an exceptional teacher who really knew
her subject. I am sure there are hundreds
if not thousands of young ladies who
learnt all they know about cooking from
Miss Bishop and have now taught their
children and even grandchildren what
they learnt. Thank you, Miss Bishop.
Again many of you will remember her
West Highland Terrier, Jill, in her basket
behind her desk in the classroom. No
Health and Safety and Food Hygiene
regulations in these days!
Looking through my Glasgow Cookery
book from school days, I discover
various scribbles beside many of the
recipes e.g.
• Scotch Broth: the vegetables are finely
chopped in order to expose as much surface
area to the water as possible in order to get a
variety of vegetables on the spoon. Too much
turnip and soup turns sour.
• Lemon Soufflé: add melted gelatine from a
height in order gelatine does not go stringy.
• Green Vegetables: add to boiling water in
order to retain colour.
• Milk Puddings: use wooden spoon
• Powdered Grain (e.g. corn flour, arrowroot
or custard): blend with cold milk. Add hot to
cold. Put back in pan and bring to boil.
• Tomato Soup: Croutons are served on doily.
Many of you will remember Domestic
Science classes with Miss Bishop with
fond memories and I was very fortunate
to be one of them.
There are many more and I can picture
Miss Bishop in her pristine starched
white overall, tightly-belted at the
waist, pacing up and down the Domestic
Science Lab, with eyes at the back of her
head. She missed nothing and let you
away with nothing. She had very high
standards and she expected the same
from her pupils.
I am sure you all remember making
mince vol-au-vent, mixed grill,
pineapple upside-down pudding, short
crust and puff pastry and much, much,
more. Memories of having to take
rubbish to the bin on a saucer, use of the
Many of you will have taken forward
many of her teachings into your adult
life as wives, mothers, partners and
carers. I went on to take Higher Home
Economics, as her subject became
known, and at that stage she bombarded
Sarah (Aston) Chalmers (1966)
A Tribute to Miss Bishop
us with information re digestive systems
and food charts, balanced diets and
calorie counting etc. She encouraged
and supported us with project work
and cookery skills. She was a very good
teacher.
It was quite by chance that - 15 years
ago - I found out that Miss Bishop lived
nearby. I got in touch and wasn’t sure
what her reaction would be as I had
heard she was now blind and was a very
private person. She was delighted to hear
from me and this was the start of our
friendship.
I visited her on a regular basis
reminiscing about Westbourne days,
pupils, teachers, shows of work etc. She
was always interested in any news of
former pupils of Westbourne and her
memory for names was incredible. I
used to read extracts from the Etcetera
magazine to her and I think she was
always pleased when her name cropped
up in articles sent in from former pupils.
She had a great love of dogs, birds,
flowers, plants and above all of her
garden. She was registered blind and
coped with this with great courage and
spoke about her dismay at not being able
to sew or read.
Through the help and support of her
friends, she was able to stay in her own
home until October 2012 when her
illness meant she had to move into
residential care. She had lived in Killearn
for 58 years and she hoped that one day
she would return. This was not to be and
she sadly passed away on 28 February
2013 aged 92.
I grew very fond of Miss Bishop over the
years and I will miss her.
Carole (Day) Hill (1974
Etcetera
17
P.S.
Further to my comments in the summer
edition of Etcetera 2012, I am happy to
report that I did meet Suzanne Maillot,
my pen-pal introduced to me in 1950
by Westbourne’s French teacher, Miss
Lushington (pre-Miss MacDonald).
Although a little apprehensive at meeting
for the first time in 62 years, we both
enjoyed our five days together in
Clermont-Ferrand in October 2012. A
large bundle of her letters dating back to
1950 travelled with me and, amazingly,
my letters to her are on the
top shelf of a cupboard in her
apartment! We are both 75
years old and retired doctors,
but thankful to be enjoying
good health and active lives.
and church and where she played in
the square, or up in the woods near the
Castle with her three brothers. We even
traced the whereabouts of the one-time
pen-pal of my classmate, Elizabeth Shaw!
It was delightful to explore our
present-day interests such as music,
art, swimming, cooking and walking
in the hills. I enjoyed the trip to the
farm to purchase a whole cheese, Le
Bouron, typical of the area. Suzanne is
very involved now in Astronomy. I was
thrilled to see the sun and Jupiter through
her latest telescope.
Clermont-Ferrand is an
old and interesting city
surrounded by 10,000 year old
volcanic mountains (no longer
active) and at the northern
end of the beautiful Auvergne
region. I experienced
amazing hospitality; met
some of her family and
friends; toured round
picturesque villages - many
with 11th century churches
in Romanesque style. It was
particularly interesting to
visit Pontgibaud, the village
where Suzanne lived in early
childhood, went to school
Amazingly, armed with our 1951 pocket
dictionaries, we coped very well with
French/English. For the first time we
shared our childhood memories of
WW2. She has the horrid memories
of deaths of young men who had been
involved in the ‘Resistance’ in her
occupied village. I shared my early
experience of our family’s narrow escape
from the 1941 Clydebank Blitz.
Sadly, I did not have time to visit Martine
Crombie (Mitchell) further south, but
did manage to spend a lovely weekend
with my younger cousin, Edith Benson
(Robertson), en route for the
homeward flight from Lyon.
Suzanne and I have worked
hard over the last two years to
improve our computer skills,
thus enabling us to correspond
much more frequently. We
hope to meet up again.
Pupils nowadays have a
greater advantage of travelling
far and wide, and the use
of modern technology.
I do think that good
communication and meetings
between young people
world-wide can help to
bring about world peace and
understanding.
Jan Chisholm (1955)
‘One small cut for man… one giant lawn for mankind!’
In the winter 2012 edition of Etcetera, I enjoyed reading Dan
Gardner’s account of how privileged he feels to have shaken
the hand of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.
Dan and I were
great friends at The
Academy, although we
have lost touch since.
I thought he might be
interested to know that
my close encounter
of the astronaut kind
occurred some years
ago when my wife,
Jennifer, and I were
visiting friends in
the USA. Sharing
their lovely home in
upmarket Langley,
Virginia, and wanting
to be helpful during our
stay, I offered to mow
their lawn.
18
Etcetera
As it happened, the family lawn mower was away for repair, but, I was
told, the next door neighbour would be only too happy to lend me
his. Before setting off to borrow it, I asked what this good neighbour’s
name was. ‘It’s Buzz Aldrin.’...’Buzz Aldrin….the man on the moon?’…
‘That’s the one!’
Two gruelling hours in the sun
later, the lawn was mowed, and
Buzz’s lawn mower had made a
successful re-entry to, and soft
landing in, his garage. Mission
accomplished!
I hope my old friend Dan has
been able to dine out successfully
over the years on his ‘I shook
hands with Neil Armstrong’
gambit. I fear that my ‘I
borrowed Buzz Aldrin’s lawn
mower’ doesn’t quite have the
same cachet!
Jim Shearer (1964)
)
Johnnie Beattie (2003)
Johnnie’s move to Montpellier at the start of the
season coincided with a welcome return to form.
Recalled to the national side in January, he has
played a pivotal role in Scotland’s improved Six
Nations performance this year - perhaps never more
so than in their amazing win over Ireland.
A Book of Thanks
The generosity of former pupils has been key to the development of The Academy
since 1845. You can make a lasting difference to the lives of generations by choosing
to leave a gift to the school in your Will. Where an estate is liable to inheritance
tax, there is an additional benefit because bequests to The Glasgow Academy are tax
exempt.
All former pupils who let us know they intend to leave the school a legacy are
invited to join the Kelvin Foundation*; however you may choose whether to make
your bequest anonymously or in memory of a family member, friend or teacher. You
can be certain we will not spend a single penny of your legacy on administration; you
can even choose a specific subject, activity or Bursary you’d like to support.
We recently commissioned a Book of Thanks to our Legators - to mark our
appreciation of those who choose to leave The Academy a bequest. The book will
be on permanent display in the Rector’s Study; each page a lasting tribute to every
former pupil who decides to make a parting gift - however large or small.
*If you would like to learn more about The Kelvin Foundation, please contact Mark
Taylor – in the strictest confidence – on 0141 342 5494.
Etcetera
19
From our overseas correspondents…
Yukon Living
and where the lakes were pristine and
only the lonesome call of the loon could
be heard above the perfect silence. The
Yukon scenery has to be amongst the most
breath-taking to be found anywhere on
our planet.
I immigrated to Canada in 1967, which
was probably the best year to make the
move as it was Canada’s centennial and - as
a result - virtually everywhere you visited
had some form of celebration going on.
Initially I settled in Toronto; however
after three years I decided that it was time
to make another move and I ended up
in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The
decision to move North had been arrived
at by a rather circuitous accumulation of
facts accompanied by very little logical
thinking and it wasn’t until several years
later that I realised what a dangerous
position the spontaneity of youth had
placed me in. With 20/20 hindsight, I
was soon to realise that my decision to
go North possessed many more potential
pitfalls than I had faced in my original
adventure of crossing the Atlantic.
Thankfully I managed to avoid all of them.
I arrived in Whitehorse in late January
and was immediately exposed to a Yukon
winter. Temperatures of -40C and below
were not unusual, so when the temperature
jumped to -20C it felt quite balmy. Much
to my surprise it didn’t take long to adjust
and - after purchasing a down parka, a pair
of substantial winter boots (mukluks would
follow) and heavy woollen mittens - I was
confident that I was sartorially competent
to face any climatic contingency. Winter
consistently lasted from October until
April with very little respite from negative
temperatures; however I was surprised,
considering the northerly location, that
the accumulation of snow was not greater.
At night your car had to be plugged
into a block heater to ensure that the oil
didn’t coagulate and an electric blanket
was wrapped around your battery. In the
morning the tyres would be flat at the
point of contact with the ground and you
would bump down the road for about
a couple of hundred yards before they
eventually returned to their normal shape.
I also learnt very quickly from experience
that I should not touch any metal with
my bare skin, as it would result in a rather
nasty burn. However the one thing that
I found more difficult to get used to was
the long winter nights and conversely the
long summer days. In winter, daylight
would arrive around 10:30am and depart
around 2:45pm. In summer, it was the
reverse with close to 24 hours of daylight.
As I mentioned in a previous submission, I
arranged a ‘longest day’ tennis tournament
which started at 10pm and didn’t finish
until early in the following morning,
20
Etcetera
The Yukon scenery has to be
amongst the most breath-taking to
be found anywhere on our planet.
during which time absolutely no artificial
light was required. Of the two extremes,
I think the summer conditions were more
difficult to adjust to as trying to sleep while
the sun was blazing through your bedroom
window could be quite a challenge.
Daily life in Whitehorse was the epitome
of living in a hassle-free environment.
From a business standpoint, you were far
enough away from Head Office that you
could quite safely ignore the majority of
requests for your immediate action. A good
example of the relaxed manner in which
business was carried on was during the
last week in February when Whitehorse
hosted its winter carnival, which was
aptly called Sourdough Rendezvous.
People came from all over the North to
participate, let their hair down and relieve
the monotony of the long winter darkness.
The event was a fun-filled ten days when
virtually everything in the town came
to a grinding stop. For example, if by
chance you had a customer in the office
and also an approaching curling time, the
customer had the option of either coming
back later or accompanying you to the
curling rink. It was just that simple. This
laissez-faire attitude during Rendezvous
actually possessed a health benefit because
in February cabin fever was definitely
prevalent in the community.
However the benefits of living in
Whitehorse stretched far beyond the city
limits. Within thirty minutes you could
be camped on the shores of countless
beautiful and secluded lakes where the
water was so hard that Coffee-mate would
bounce to the top of your cup without
dissolving, where you sat in awe of the
massive mountains which surrounded you
Living in Yukon also provided you with
the opportunity of walking in history.
Several times I visited Dawson City and
climbed the Dome, which is a large hill
overlooking the town, and – as Dawson
has only marginally changed since the Gold
Rush of 1898 – it wasn’t difficult to stand
and imagine the anticipation that must
have been continually present, waiting
for the jubilant cries of a prospector to
waft up out of the valley, signifying to all
and sundry that a strike had been made,
or the lookout racing down the hillside
to advise the town residents that the first
sternwheeler of the year had navigated the
recently-icebound Yukon River.
But my most rewarding experience was
when - accompanied by a friend - I floated
down the Yukon River from Whitehorse
to Carmacks in a 12-foot aluminium boat,
a distance of approximately 375km. The
only troublesome part of the journey was
when the wind velocity increased just as
we were traversing Lake Lebarge and for
a few moments I thought that I was going
to join Sam McGee in Yukon folklore.
The only difference was that Robert
Service cremated poor Sam while I would
ignominiously drown or more likely
expire as a result of hypothermia. Towards
the end of our trip, we realised that we
had underestimated the time required to
complete our adventure and consequently
our food supply. So for the last day we had
to live off the land and the remains of our
second bottle of over-proof rum.
In those far off days it was often said, and
with a certain degree of justification, that
people who moved to Yukon were trying
to lose themselves. They were either
running away from a wife, creditors or
the law. I hasten to add that none of them
applied to me. However, on the other
side of the coin, life in Yukon offered any
ambitious young person the opportunity of
gaining experience which on the ‘outside’
would have taken many more years to
obtain.
Robert Service wrote a poem called The
Spell of the Yukon and for me the final
two lines sum up the Yukon perfectly:
‘It’s the beauty that fills me with wonder,
It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.’
Sandy Ferns (1960)
Life after The Academy
There is indeed life after The Glasgow
Academy and for Jan and me that life, for
a few years, is in the small island of Sri
Lanka. Sri Lanka sits in the Indian Ocean
and looks like the pearl on the foot of
India or, less poetically, a drip on the
nose of India!
and, on occasion, downright horizontal.
Teaching in this climate has the added
problem of how to anchor papers to the
desk as the constant ceiling fans ensure
that the potential for papers to fly around
the room is very high. Open windows
and doors ensure that the noise from the
playground and corridors and often the
class next door, add a very unwelcome
distraction to staff and pupils alike.
Jan and I have been visiting Sri Lanka
on holiday for many years and moving
here seemed a rather nice thing to do
as part of our retirement plan. It’s a
beautiful island with a variety of climates.
In Colombo and the south, it is hot.
Temperatures average around 28-36
degrees for most of the year. However,
go north to the tea plantation area and it
is positively chilly.
Life is very, very pleasant here. We
have a lovely house with a wonderful
housekeeper who keeps both the house,
garden and swimming pool immaculate.
There is a cook who comes twice/three
times each week and cooks wonderful
Sri Lankan food. We also have a driver
who takes me to school and then takes
Jan wherever she has to go and comes to
collect me when school finishes.
The school day begins at 7.15 am and
the teaching periods are 50 minutes in
length. The young people are much the
same as at Glasgow Academy... often lazy
I am reliably informed that there is a
Highway Code here and that it’s the
same as we have in the UK. Hmmm!
I see absolutely no evidence of this.
So, all in all a very pleasant, if somewhat
confusing, life. As I said, there is life
after Glasgow Academy.
take up most of my time interspersed
with visits to and from daughter and
grand children in Cheshire and son in
Manchester. My wife, Margo (ex-Laurel
Bank. Oops!) has become a useful
golfer so our lives are fairly compatible.
Obviously any one reading this and
passing near Newport, Shropshire is most
welcome to give us a call and visit in
order to reminisce over some fine wine
or even good beer.
David Ferguson (1965)
Eye, eye!
We - Alan Semple and David Ferguson
- met at the local Golf Club some 25
years ago and each became Captains
of Lilleshall Golf Club, David in 2002,
Alan in 2008. How many Golf Clubs
in England have produced two Accies
as Club Captains in such a short space
of time? The other coincidence of our
friendship we discovered whilst walking
the fairways is that David has only one
eye, the right one, and Alan now only
has his left one! We recently played
together in the Club’s Senior Open
and won the prize of several bottles of
excellent wine. Next year may be entry
to the half-blind Golf Society (if there is
such a society!).
Alan Semple e-mail: alanandmargo@
blueyonder.co.uk
My very early days at Colebrooke Street
are fairly easy to remember since the
2nd back row of Miss McEwan’s class
comprised Semple, Charles Miller Smith,
George Sternschein and Norman Stone.
Norman, being a close neighbour, and
I often walked to Colebrooke Street
taking us about 10 minutes. On reaching
the age of 14 or 15, Norman and I
managed to be selected for the junior
Water Polo team at Western Baths Club.
(Norman’s position was goalkeeper!)
I am convinced that cars on the island
do not come equipped with indicators.
Instead a psychic ability is expected
when it comes to working out in which
direction the traffic around you is going
to move. Horns are, however, very
highly developed and are used to tell
you that the bus is coming through and
isn’t going to stop, or that you are not
driving fast enough. They are also used
to tell the traffic policeman that enough
is enough and it is that the queue’s turn
to move. I can only imagine the response
of a Glasgow policeman if we tried that
at home.
Tom Whiteside (former staff)
Being part of Frankie Parkes’ boarding
house ‘boys’ in the early 60s, makes
12/13 Belmont Crescent a very special
place to remember. We always felt
that any achievements, academic or
sporting (including golf), were always
acknowledged in our close-knit
community. John Maxton (Lord
Maxton) was my form master and rugby
coach for two years, then after leaving
school we had the good fortune to be
opponents on a rugby pitch - man to man,
scrum-half→to no.8 – followed by a ½ pint
or two.
I have been involved in dairy farming all
my life, but I am now semi-retired from
managing the dairy enterprise at Harper
Adams University College, Shropshire.
However I still spend a few happy hours
helping final year students complete
their dairy farming studies. My family
are nearly all teachers. My wife, Louise,
daughter and son-in-law are PE trained,
whilst my other daughter is a primary
school teacher. The whole family are
active – hockey, tennis, rugby, running,
climbing, hiking, skiing, golf – the list is
very long. Hence my activity levels seem
to be higher than the average 64 year
old.
Alan Semple (1958)
I am now retired from Civil Engineering
Construction having moved to Surrey
from Glasgow and thereafter to
Shropshire. Golf, walking and travel
There are road markings, but on many
occasions the direction of the markings
does not reflect the expected direction of
the traffic! Somewhat disconcerting for
the foreigners!
The eyes have it! Alan Semple (1958) and David
Ferguson (1965) - two Accies who reside in rural
Shropshire
I would like to hear from any
Academical who remembers the early
60s.
David Ferguson e-mail:
[email protected]
Etcetera
21
Family announcements
we spent our first (day) date, Troon
beach. Cara Laing and I plan to marry in
October 2013.
Family news
Cameron Wilson (1999)
Delighted to announce my engagement
to Jennifer Hay on 29 December 2012.
We are set to be married at the Hay
family farm, Raesmill, Inverkeilor in
September this year.
Brown family news
Andrew P S Brown (1999) had a
wee boy christened in London on 24
February. He and his wife Nic had a
baby boy, Fergus Vernon Scott Brown,
last autumn. They celebrated his
Christening at St Andrews, Earlsfield,
London... then celebrated Scotland’s
famous victory over the English with his
extended family!
Andrew’s brother Alastair Brown (1992)
and his wife, Laura, were in attendance
along with their firstborn, Murray, now
two. Incidentally Laura will have a child
in the early summer - a busy summer all
round!
Alastair and Andrew’s grandfather
(Colin Scott Brown)was at The Glasgow
Academy at the beginning of the First
World War.
(This information has been provided
by Colin Brown, their father, who
couldn’t get into The Academy and was
imprisoned at Glenalmond instead!)
Jonathan Fleming (1999)
Having felt called to the full time
Ministry of Word and Sacrament for
the Church of Scotland, I returned to
Trinity College, University of Glasgow
in 2008 to study for the degree of
Bachelor of Divinity (Ministry).
Births
Christian Bruce (1990)
which explores a selection of articles
from the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child - the first legally binding
international instrument to incorporate
the full range of human rights - civil,
cultural, economic, political and social
rights. This was part of their work to
obtain a Rights Respecting Schools
Award from UNICEF.
Soon after completing my probationary
placement, I was invited to preach
as Sole Nominee for Erskine Parish
Church, where I became Minister Elect
on 2 September 2012, before being
ordained and inducted on 15 November.
On 29 September, my wife and I were
blessed with another daughter, Hollie
Marlyn Fleming, who was born in
Wishaw General Hospital. Enclosed is
a picture of our 4-year-old daughter
Rachel, a proud big sister holding Hollie!
Following a busy couple of months
juggling a new baby and moving home
to our new manse, we are settling in well
and looking forward to the years ahead
in Erskine.
In the course of my studies, I had the
pleasure of serving as a student assistant
in North Motherwell, Castlemilk and
Bothwell Parish Church. With such a
variety of contexts, I feel better equipped
for ministry and the vast range of issues
faced in parish life.
Tom Sutton (2007)
Soon after graduating with a 2.1 with
Honours in June 2011, I was invited
to join the Council of Trinity College,
which I will serve on a three-year term.
Engagements
Following this I was a Probationer
Minister in Hamilton: Trinity Parish
Church, where I was fortunate enough
to work with an incredible chaplaincy
team which served several primary
schools and Calderside Academy,
Blantyre. During my time in Hamilton,
I assisted in three large chaplaincy
events: Bubblegum ‘n’ Fluff, where we
explore the true meaning of Christmas,
The Easter Code and R.E.S.P.E.C.T
- a five-day workshop for S1 pupils
22
Etcetera
Christian and Catriona Bruce are
pleased to announce the arrival of
Lochlan Gordon Bruce on 6 January
2013. Grandson to Iain Stewart
Bruce (pictured) and David Gordon
McCracken both Old Academicals.
Scott Jamieson (2002)
Tom - who was Dux of The Academy is now studying for a PhD in Homotopy
Theory (a branch of Topology) at
Sheffield University.
Chris Leggat (1998)
The date was 10.11.12 and I got down
on one knee on the very sand where
Scott and his wife Judith were delighted
to welcome their second child – Adam
– on 4 December 2012 at Ninewells
Hospital, Dundee. Weighing 9lb 10oz he
was a fantastic early Christmas present for
his big brother Matthew!
Andrew MacRobert (1982)
Andrew and his wife Elizabeth are
delighted to announce the birth of their
son Rory Alexander Nathaniel on 22
February 2013.
Chris and Cara
Neil Thomson (1988)
I’m delighted to report that my wife
Helen and I had triplets towards the end
of last year. Angus, Edward and Jenna
arrived on 24 September 2012. We are
obviously very excited but constantly
exhausted!
Amy (Comins) Loebell (1998)
This is the first child for my myself and
husband, Martin Loebell. He is called
Henry Peter Loebell and was born on
21 December 2012. He was 7lbs 12oz
at birth and was born at Furness General
Hospital in Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.
Robin and Caroline
Marriages
Robin Baird (2004)
On 20 October 2012 Robin and
Caroline Pringle of Saline, Fife were
married at Fingask Castle in Perthshire.
Friends and family joined them for a
wonderful (and unexpectedly sunny) day
in tranquil and stunning surroundings.
Robin’s brother, Christopher (2007), was
best man.
Douglas J Clark (1998)
Douglas married Joanna Portus on 15
December 2012 at St. Michael’s Church
in Ilsington, Devon. Accies on parade
were Malcolm Junor (1996), Paul Di
Paola (1998) and Colin Tennant (1998).
All wore their FP ties but would not
stay in the same place at one time for a
photo. A very happy day was had by all!
Hazel McNaught (2004)
In a very happy ceremony at Alloway
Parish Church, Hazel married James
Buncle on 7 July, 2012. This was
followed by dinner and dancing at Brig
o’ Doon.
Douglas and Joanna
Colin and Stephanie (Wright)
Hutton (both 2002)
Colin and Stephanie were delighted
to welcome their first daughter to
the world on 17 December 2012.
Annabelle Claire Elaine Hutton was born
at 9.50pm weighing a healthy 7lbs 11oz.
Already Annabelle is showing signs of
being a keen sportswoman and I’m sure
it won’t be long until we see her on the
hockey pitch - maybe with her mum!
The sun did eventually
shine on Hazel
McNaught’s big day!
23
Obituaries
International Carbohydrate Organisation
and served as President of the European
Carbohydrate Organisation. He
will be remembered fondly for his
many contributions to the UK and
international carbohydrate communities.
Grant’s passion for golf endured
throughout his life and he was an active
member at a succession of clubs local to
where he happened to be living at the
time. On a recent trip to Scotland, he
greatly enjoyed completing a round of
golf at Dumbarton where he had first
played over fifty years previously.
Jon and Diana
John McLeish (1999)
Jon married Diana Louise Scullion at
St Salvator’s Chapel in St Andrews on
Saturday 13 October 2012.
Andrew Meikle (1985)
Andrew married Isabel Speirs on 5 Jan
2013 at Seamill Hydro. Andrew is the
son of John Meikle (1948) and his wife
Glenda of Springhill, Barrhead. Isabel
is the daughter of William and Jeanette
Speirs of Westacre, Fenwick. A great day
was had by all!
Andrew and Isabel
Professor J Grant Buchanan
(1944)
26 September 1926 - 17 April 2012
(John) Grant Buchanan was brought up
in Dumbarton and attended Glasgow
Academy between 1936 and 1944.
While at school, he won prizes in maths,
science and English, became a Flight
Sergeant in the ATC, played for the 2nd
XV, captained the golf team and also
served as a school prefect. He remained
an interested and loyal supporter of
the school throughout his life and was
a member of The Academy’s Kelvin
Foundation.
On leaving school, Grant gained a
place to study Chemistry at Cambridge
(Christ’s College) where he went on to
take his PhD on the structure of vitamin
B12. Postdoctoral appointments took
him to the USA to UC Berkeley and
to the Lister Institute in London. He
was appointed to a lectureship at the
University of Newcastle where he made
important contributions to the study
of bacterial polysaccharides and sugar
epoxides. He was promoted swiftly to
become Reader in 1965.
Grant moved back to his native Scotland
in 1969 to become the first Chair of
Organic Chemistry at Heriot-Watt
University, where he remained until
his retirement in 1991. However, his
scientific work continued as a Visiting
Professorial Fellow at the University of
Bath where he taught undergraduates
and supervised research projects.
He was also editor of Carbohydrate
Research, the UK representative on the
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Etcetera
Grant met his wife Sheila in Highgate
through a common interest in tennis
and they wed in 1956. They had a
long and happy marriage until she sadly
passed away in 1996. They are now
both lovingly remembered by their
children, Andrew, John and Neil and
grandchildren Iain and Rebecca.
W Colin Buchanan (1945)
20 September 1927 - 23 November 2012
Colin was born in Helensburgh and
was educated at Glasgow Academy
between 1940 and 1945. After service
with the Royal Artillery, he qualified as
a Chartered Accountant with Thomson,
McLintock & Co in Glasgow, from
where he went on to serve on a number
of company boards.
In addition to sitting for many years on
the Committee of the London Section,
Colin was President in 1996/97. Colin’s
wise counsel will be sorely missed as will
his presence at our various functions, at
which he was a regular attendee.
They say a busy man can always find
the time and Colin Buchanan certainly
proved this in his active participation
with his many outside interests: the
Royal British Legion (Gerrards Cross
Branch), St James Church, Gerrards
Cross, Denham Golf Club and his
devotion to the Clyde steamers, in
particular the PS Waverley.
A great family man, he will be sorely
missed by his wife Isobel and children
Barbara, Judy, Alistair, Moira and his
11 grandchildren: compensated surely
by happy memories of an exceptional
husband, father and grandfather.
A very happy memorial service was
held on 4 January at St James Church.
How nice it was to see a full house of
so many friends supporting Isobel and
family. We all admired Isobel when she
spontaneously thanked everyone at the
end of the service for their support.
DW Hall (1960)
Lawrence J Crawford (1949)
15 July 1930 - 3 February 2013
Lawrence James Crawford was born
in Glasgow, the son of Robert James
Crawford, a chartered accountant, and
his wife May. He attended Glasgow
Academy between 1936 and 1949 where
he captained the 1st XV in his final year.
He also later captained the Glasgow
Academicals 1st XV.
During his national service, he was a
lieutenant in the Highland Light Infantry
and served with the regiment in the
Korean War. After working in the Bath
Hotel in Glasgow and the Russacks in
St Andrews, he and his mother bought
the Kinloch Guest House in Arran in
1954. Brother Robin joined the business,
which they ran together for 40 years
until Robin’s death in 1999.
In his role as hotelier, Lawrence
was famous for a straight-talking,
no-nonsense approach. He was also
a forward thinker and built the hotel
swimming pool. It was an important
addition to the local community and
many on the island learned to swim
there. In the 1980s he was named
Scottish Brewers’ Local Hero – some
say this was nothing to do with the
quality of the beer but more down to
him helping some of the local men find
a wife by bringing in plenty of female
summer staff!
He continued working until he was 77.
Stopping work did not bring an end to
his organisational skills – becoming a
grandfather gave him a new lease of life
and new people to organise and educate.
Lawrence is survived by his wife of nearly
50 years, Janess, sons Robbie, Gavin,
Stevie and Jamie and seven grandchildren.
Professor Gordon B Donaldson
FRSE (1959)
10 August 1941 - 28 November 2012
Gordon Bryce Donaldson was brought
up in Glasgow and was a pupil at
the school from 1950 to 1959. He
won a scholarship to study physics
at Cambridge University and, after
graduating, remained at the university to
study for a PhD at the Mond laboratory.
Donald R M McFarlan (1971)
He was appointed lecturer in Physics
at the newly-established Lancaster
University in 1966. In 1975 he won a
Fulbright Scholarship for a sabbatical at
the University of California Berkeley.
Later that year he moved back to
Glasgow, taking up a lectureship in
the Department of Applied Physics
at Strathclyde University where he
subsequently became head of department
and was appointed Professor of Applied
Physics.
Donald Richmond McQueen McFarlan
was a pupil at The Academy from
1960 to 1971. He won the General
Knowledge and English prizes on several
occasions and was a prefect in his final
year. He also served as a Lance Corporal
in the CCF and as Secretary of the Art
Club. Donald won a scholarship to
study English at Fitzwilliam College,
Cambridge.
He led specialised research in
superconductivity and served as
the National Coordinator for
Superconductivity for three years in the
late ‘80s. Particularly notable was his
development of a technique to detect
and distinguish tiny magnetic fields in
the presence of background ‘noise’.
His invention, the planar thin-film
gradiometer enables non-invasive
assessment of any physical quantity
that can produce a magnetic field. Its
applications are wide-ranging, from
medical imaging of brain function (such
as in epilepsy patients) to non-destructive
testing of materials (such as examining
aircraft for minute but lethal cracks).
Gordon was made a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Edinburgh in 1991, later
becoming Convenor of the Society’s
Physics Panel. He was also a Trustee of
the James Clerk Maxwell Foundation,
a member and later Chair of the Low
Temperature Group of the Institute
of Physics in London, and also served
on the Ministry of Defence Scientific
Advisory Council.
A sociable man known for his
generosity and the encouragement he
gave to colleagues, Gordon thrived
on organising and chairing major
international conferences. He also served
on Strathclyde University’s Senate and
the University Court. Gordon was also
a dedicated teacher with a talent for
pitching explanations at the right level
for any audience. He was particularly
fond of his How Things Work course.
The course was much in keeping with
his passion for practical physics and
engineering which he applied at home
in designing innovative - and sometimes
improbable solutions - to DIY problems.
He is survived by his wife, Christine, and
a son and daughter.
6 May 1952 - 23 August 2012
His choice of degree course led to a
career in publishing, initially with Collins
in Glasgow. In 1976 he moved to work
for Penguin in London. For most of
his ten years there, Donald had one of
the most envied jobs in publishing, as
editor of the Penguin Classics. In 1986
he joined Oxford University Press where
he was responsible for the Classics and
Science titles before, just a year later,
becoming Editor of the Guiness Book
of Records, a job he was to hold for
five years. On leaving the corporate
world, Donald took on various freelance
editorial commissions and also wrote a
novel on Rob Roy.
Donald and his family moved to Norfolk
in 1997 where, as his wife’s career
blossomed, he was able spend more time
with his daughter and son and make use
of the internet age to satisfy his insatiable
need for ever more new information.
In tune with his passion for classic cars
and motor racing, he was also able to
introduce and share in the sport of
karting with his son.
Donald was diagnosed with cancer in
2011 and battled against extremely poor
health early in 2012 to recover enough
to make one last visit to his beloved west
coast and spend some time in Appin.
He is survived by his wife, Kate, and a
daughter and son.
James D Rogers (1963)
21 February 1946 - 16 January 2013
Jim passed away at Eagle View Lodge,
Comox, BC, after a lengthy illness. He
was in his 66th year. Jim is survived by
his wife Shelley Nicholls of Comox,
his brother Dr Nick Rogers (Karen)
of Edina, Minnesota, USA, sisters Joan
(Fred) Walker of Tenterden, Kent,
England, Anne (Andrew) McCosh
of Edinburgh, Scotland, many nieces
25
and nephews, great-nieces and
great-nephews.
Jim was born in Glasgow, and went to
school at The Academy, Fettes College
and Glasgow University. After qualifying
as a Chartered Accountant, Jim was
transferred to Canada in 1976 and
worked for Deloitte & Touche, Canada
Permanent, Royal Trust and then had a
successful business in Vancouver. Due to
his illness, he retired in 2006.
Lieutenant Colonel Frank W
Saunders MBE ERD (1923)
2 July 1906 - 19 March 2013
Francis (Frank) William Saunders was
a pupil at Glasgow Academy shortly
after the school was reconstituted as
a war memorial trust. He attended
at Colebrooke Street during Edwin
Temple’s Rectorship and went on to
have a remarkable career as a roads
engineer, soldier, politician and mainstay
of public life. Aged 106, he was the
oldest man in Scotland when he died last
month.
Frank was part of the British
Expeditionary Force in 1939, earned
a Mention in Dispatches and was
evacuated on the fall of France. He saw
action with the 8th Army in North
Africa (as a member of the Marine
Expeditionary Force in Palestine,
Transjordan and Cyrenaica) and with
the 2nd Polish Corps of the 8th Army
in the Italian Campaign. He also served
with 3rd Corps during the Civil War in
Greece. In 1947 he joined the Regular
Army Reserves in the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel and retired from the reserve
in 1961. He also served as President of
the Royal Engineers Association, Forth
Valley branch.
During a long and distinguished career
in politics, Frank served as both an
independent and Conservative councillor
as a member of Stirling Town Council
and later Central Regional Council. In
1999, at the age of 94, he stood as an
independent in Stirling in the council
elections. He was the oldest candidate in
Scotland.
Frank served on six public bodies: as a
trustee of the Stirling Smith Museum and
Art Gallery; on Kings Park Community
Council; as a JP (supplementary); on
Stirling Assembly (a sounding board
of public opinion); on Stirling Civic
26
Etcetera
Lieutenant Colonel Frank W Saunders MBE ERD
Bobby Scully with his two eldest grandchildren,
Amy and Sophie, after Academy prize-giving.
Trust and as a member of the Citizens’
Advice Bureau. In 2008 he received the
Freedom of the City of Stirling for his
efforts both as a member of the army and
as a public servant of the city.
director of several golf-related businesses,
including Ryder, Strokesaver and Relais
du Golf.
Frank Saunders visited Glasgow
Academy on several occasions in recent
years to attend reunions and other
events - including just before his 105th
birthday. He maintained a keen interest
in his school and all its pupils. He
became a member of the school’s Kelvin
Foundation and was a strong supporter
of The Academy’s plans to build a new
Science and Technology centre.
Robert M Scully (1952)
25 August 1935 - 12 February 2013
Robert (Bobby) MacDonald Scully
was educated at the High School of
Glasgow (1940-42) until, at the time of
the blitz, he moved to Brodick High
School before returning to complete his
education at Glasgow Academy from
1944-1952. While at school, he won
prizes in Geography and English.
Bobby trained to become a Chartered
Accountant and, after qualifying in
1958, he did his National Service in
Germany and Holland where he was
commissioned to serve as a lieutenant.
On his return, he took an appointment
as manager of French & Cowan, a
long-established firm of chartered
accountants in Glasgow, of which he
became a partner in 1962. He became
senior partner in 1971 and led the firm
with considerable success for many
years before eventually retiring from
French Duncan in 2001. He was also a
Bobby was active in many charitable
bodies including the Glasgow Leukaemia
Trust, Yorkhill Children’s Foundation
and The Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Scotland Benevolent
Association. He served as a JP for
many years and was a member of the
Master Court of the Incorporation of
Bonnetmakers and Dyers. He also took
a keen interest in the Academical Club,
serving on the Board during the 1960s
and 1970s and as Club president in
1984-5. Bobby represented the Club at
rugby in the lower XVs until 1967 and
at golf regularly over the years.
Golf was certainly a passion. It was at
the heart of many close friendships and
led to many holidays across Scotland
and beyond. Bob served as Captain
of Glasgow Golf Club in 1985 and
thoroughly enjoyed his membership
- and the conviviality - of Prestwick
and the R & A. Other leisure interests
over the course of his life also included
travelling, skiing, reading, squash and
membership of the Nomads Club.
Bobby was happily married to his late
wife, Aileen, for over thirty years. He is
survived and will be greatly missed by
his partner, Gay, his daughter, Wendy,
son, Graeme, and four grandchildren,
Amy, Sophie, Emily and Cameron - all
of whom are currently educated at The
Academy.
Picture Post
Photo sent in by Alastair Porter (1947)
Etcetera 19, page 7
Dear Malcolm
Dear Malcolm
My brother Hugh spotted our
late father Murray McCash in
Mr Porter’s photograph of the
OTC in the latest version of
Etcetera. We were certain we
had seen the original recently
when clearing our mother’s
house. When I found it I was
pleased to see that dad had
practised what he preached,
as he always insisted we write
the names of the others in the
photo on the card surround.
There appears to be a
question mark missing! I
failed lower maths (like many
other subjects) but I did
notice that there were seven
people in the middle row.
The missing name is JCW
Macdonald. I think he lived
near Dumfries and was a time
and motion study engineer.
With kind regards
You’ll see from the enclosed
that Alastair’s memory has
held up well over the 65 years
although Col Parkes appears
to have had a demotion in the
intervening period.
Our father didn’t end up
doing National Service due
to partial deafness caused
by mastoiditis. We think he
preferred the golf course…
Robin Johnston (1948)
And many thanks to HD
MacEwan (1947) for calling us
with his version of the names of
the sergeants in Alastair Porter’s
photograph:
PD Grant / AM Reid / HD MacEwan /
KC Blackwood / WG Watson
? / ANS Henderson / ? / Gerald
Timbury / Tom James / David K
Mason / KCW MacDonald
Mackie / Armstrong / AL Henderson
/ Major Parkes / Porter / David AR
Kay / Macgregor
2nd XV 1943-1944 (Etcetera 19, page 7)
Alan Diack recognised at least one member of the
2nd XV of 1943/44 – himself.
We wonder how many others he has identified
correctly…
Back row (l to r): Scott / Childs / ? / Douglas Halley / Ian
Neish
Front row: Peter Forrest / A Wylie / Alan Diack / Maclennan /
JG Buchanan / ? / Bill Adams
Seated: Hamish Inglis ? Annelle
Colin McCash (1984)
Etcetera
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28
Etcetera