The Journal of The Old Chelmsfordians Association.Memorial Sports Field, Lawford Lane, Roxwell Road, Chelmsford, Essex. CM1 2NS

Phone: 01245 420442 : Website: www.oldchelmsfordians.comSecretary and Newsletter Editor: George Heseltine : 01245 265962 : heseltineuk@aol.com

HOW MANY OCs DOES IT TAKE?

To a) Change a light bulb and……………………………. b) Fix a broken goalpost?

Maybe too many but fortunately our willing volunteers on Fridays and Saturdays can turn their hands to most things to keep the clubhouse in good order and our ground up to scratch to enable our social

gatherings and our various sports to take place. We would be a much poorer place without them so ‘Thank You’ one and all.

The Olympic Ideal Originated in Chelmsford?

We were delighted, following our article about the Blue Plaque having been erected in memory of Joseph Strutt, to have received a copy of the February 2013 ‘Coates’ Cuttings’, the journal of the Chelmer Canal Trust with this further information. We were all the more delighted that Dudley Courtman (1945-1952)

who brought this to our attention and who had been Strutt House captain in his time and Brin Pirathapan (2006-2013), the then current Strutt House captain had both been in attendance at it’s unveiling

“We have all just shared a spectacular lifetime’s experience: the Olympic Games. None of us would have realised that the original idea had its roots in the writings and researches of an Essex boy. In 1801 Joseph Strutt wrote “The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England”. Its 400 pages and 140 engravings described sports and pastimes in all of their different guises: leisure time activities, hunting, archery, hawking, games, gymnastics, dancing, music, festivals like Christmas and Easter, customs such as

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OCA NEWSLETTER NO 255DECEMBER 2013

“mumming”, “the Boy Bishop” and “the Lord of Misrule”. It was a work of great erudition and has proved to be a priceless historical document. This publication was thought to have persuaded Dr William Penny Brookes to found the Much Wenlock Games, Shropshire, in 1850. These games were subsequently visited by Pierre de Coubertin who was so impressed that he founded the Olympic Games in Paris in 1896. Coubertin immortalised the spirit of the games with his mantra: “The important thing is not to win but to take part... the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well”. Joseph Strutt was a member of the county’s nineteenth century milling family – there were many Strutt millers and mills on Essex rivers. Chelmsford had Moulsham, Bishops and Springfield (where Joseph was born in 1702) and there were others at Ulting, Wickham Bishops and Colchester. Milling was the county’s first major industry and the Strutt family was an integral part of the local economy. It is worth remembering though that the Strutt family was one of the major objectors to the construction of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. On November 18th, 2012 a small band of local historians, together with Chelmsford’s Mayor, Charles Kingsley, and local councillor Nicolette Chambers, assembled on the pavement outside the former Springfield mill house next to the former mill in Victoria Road. They were there to unveil a blue plaque to honour the contribution that Joseph Strutt had made to the nation’s heritage. Whereas most of the Strutt offspring had followed the family milling tradition, Joseph Strutt eschewed it in favour of more cerebral pathways: he became accomplished as an engraver, antiquarian, artist and author. Joseph was educated at Chelmsford’s King Edward VI Grammar School which can take some pride in his achievements. One of the four school houses is named after him. The school was represented at the ceremony by the current Strutt house captain: Brin Parathapan who was joined by a former Strutt house captain, Dudley Courtman.Charles Kingsley said: “It is important to record and mark our heritage in the blue plaque scheme. Those honoured in this way are chosen carefully and only 17 have been unveiled since 1986. Joseph Strutt is a worthy recipient and we are grateful for the work of the Galleywood Historical Group for much of their research.” (It was the Galleywood Group that sponsored the plaque) Strutt died in 1802 and was buried in St Andrews church in Holborn. With the building of the Holborn Viaduct in Manor Park his remains were removed and now lie close to Stratford Olympic Park as if he was destined to be reunited with what could have been the outcome of his inspirational book”.

KEGS SCHOOL NEWS

Another former KEGs pupil recently making the news is Grayson Perry, CBE, thought to be the only old boy ever to be invited to present the Reith Lecture which was recently broadcast over four weeks on BBC’s Radio 4. Now 53 he attended the School during the 1970s and is known mainly for his ceramic vases and cross-dressing. He went on to win the Turner Art Prize in 2003 and I recall Helen Wiltshire, head of Art, writing with the School’s congratulations on his achievement (although he had had nothing to do with the School or OCs since leaving KEGs). This proved well founded as he did subsequently return to the School in May 2012 to spend a most enjoyable and enlightening day with some of the pupils to whom, just as in his Reith lectures, he spoke about how he views Art and the creative process, and what he considers to be the value of Art in today's society. He was, it was reported, as engaging as he always is in discussion, with a romp through his life, thoughts and achievements delighting his audience.

THE HEADMASTER WRITES

As Christmas approaches, we are looking forward to the annual carol service at Chelmsford Cathedral and our Prize Giving event on the penultimate day of term. We'll round off the term with the traditional rendition of 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful'.  Events such as these and the Remembrance Assembly in November alongside all the run-of-the-mill KEGS quirks such as gowns and 'banging the book' in assembly are traditional aspects of KEGS life that continue to play a crucial role. They keep us focused on what matters when all around us seems to be chaotic and in constant flux.  

At the same time, we do aim to move with the times.  Our DigIT Festival in November was a resounding success with nearly 800 visitors touring the school to engage with exhibitors to share their enthusiasm for technology and programming.  We had support from all the local universities and big companies including e2v and BAE Systems alongside a range of smaller scale companies and Chelmsford City Council.  The

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feedback was overwhelmingly positive and we're planning to run the event again in November 2014.  Our goal is to create a strong association between KEGS and the City of Chelmsford as a hub of technological innovation.  DigIT 2013 was a good start. 

If you've visited recently you will see that the construction of the new art block is well under-way.  The steel frame is complete and it is possible to get a sense of the space we'll have. In other aspects of school life, we're developing more international school links with new partners in India and Russia to join our links with schools in China, Kenya, France and Germany.  This year we are aiming to gain re-accreditation under the British Council International Schools Award scheme.  Just today, I was impressed to see Year 8 students engaged in a Model United Nations activity, debating serious global issues in a very serious manner. 

Thank you to all OCs members who attended the Winter Orchestral Concert. I hope to see you at the Spring Concert next term.  Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.  Tom Sherrington 

SCHOOL NEWSPAPERS IN THE 1950s

Paul Herrington (1951-1958) has written “I have followed the Newsletter Issues from No. 250 onwards with particular interest, mainly because of my involvement with The Edwardian, and I have been trying to complete the attached short piece for some weeks. It is the nearest I can come to (i) answering Frank Easton's plea in No. 254 (p. 4) about WWN and The Torch; and (ii) attempting to compile some sort of definitive history of those two periods of school newspapers in the 1950s: 1954-55 and 1958-59.  As you will see from my text, the OCA newsletter has put me back in touch with a number of people who were good friends, and I do appreciate the extraordinary job of work you do in managing all this”.

“Recent reminiscences in your readable POSTBAG section showed how one enquiry trail invariably raises another – in this case Gareth Gunning’s memories of the Corps of Drums leading, with the aid of Mick Burr, to questions about the school newspapers of the early and late 1950s, which in turn prompted contributions from Martin Rogers and Brian Saunders – and then email contact between Gareth, Martin and Brian, and myself, after a complete gap (for me at least) of 55 years.

Of those of us who contributed to The Edwardian (Nos. 1-6 every three or four weeks during 1958 and Nos. 7-11 every couple of months over 1958-59; did it then fizzle out?), it is interesting to see that only Martin Rogers proceeded to earn at least some of his bread by joining the Fourth Estate. There’s no evidence to hand that Norman Fowler (The Times) and Simon Heffer (The Daily Telegraph) had cut their teeth on schoolboy journalism, and my own meagre post-KEGS efforts in the Essex Chronicle and the student papers at Nottingham and Southampton led only to script-writing and acting in the satire boom of the early to mid-1960s, before I got a real job in academia.

Where the name Norm Fowler did crop up, regularly, was in the Westfield Weekly News, mainly in reports of the often acrimonious debates held by the Fleur de Lys society. WWN began life in February 1954, being sold each Friday in term-time. It was edited by J.M.Ayres, a boarder, which probably explained the late Thursday 8pm ‘Stop Press’ deadline. Reporters initially were “R D Stewart, P J Baldwin & M J Margerison”, with Keith Crook joining them later on, and there was an exceptional cartoonist (see below). Four foolscap stencils were cut orthogonally, the results being duplicated onto both sides of two foolscap sheets of paper, which were then folded in half to generate eight small pages. All done in a legible hand (no typing at all) and sold for ‘Three Halfpence’, save for economy and the odd bumper editions (eg Xmas 1954, for which the circulation was reported as 278!). It really was weekly – my run for 1954-55 covers nos. 7-19 (Nov. 5 to Feb.18), which I will gladly pass over to the newspaper archivist.

The variety of the WWN content was impressive. For example, No. 7 was headlined with BOYS ABANDONED IN CAMBRIDGE AFTER TRIP. The six left behind “included both the Head Boy and the Second Boy” and they had to return by taxi, after “Mr Fanshawe and Mr Stedman…having waited for a quarter of an hour, decided to leave, “to teach them some manners””, as NHF told the reporter. Amazingly, “their claim for £5 expenses was granted”.

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The following week the front page scoop was CYCLE DAMAGE: NO MORE CYCLING TO NEWFIELDS, almost as arresting as page 2’s PROBABLE NEW SKETCH FOR VI FORM DINNER (only probable, note). A week later news still seemed desperately short – we were treated to STRUTT WIN SENIOR FOOTBALL – AND SINGING TOO! Late November, however, gave us the headline highlight of the term, of almost Murdochian proportions: HEAD BOY’S SENSATIONAL SPEECH AT GIDEON’S [sic] CEREMONY. Exhorts boys to become “men of the bible”. The irony, made clear in the story, was that Head boy “Mr M R C Cocks” was an acknowledged agnostic. The chortling in the 6th form could allegedly be heard in Broomfield.

Looking back at those thirteen issues – and the WWN’s own satirical take on itself, in the form of the one-off Proletarian Times, dated December 17, 1984 – the effort put in and the quality of the finished product were extraordinary. But for me the outstanding section overall was the regular half-page cartoon by ‘Dubois’ (Terry Wood, of course). Rodney Jackson, NHF, Waxy Wheatley, Dick Stedman et al. (yes, even the J. B. Hilton eyebrows!) were all there – caricatured regularly and perfectly. One highlight was Dubois’s take on the 1st XI’s infamous 10-0 defeat by Grays in the 1954-55 season. A hapless Norm Fowler is portrayed with ten balls nestling in the back of the net, and an inscription reading: ‘Norm deciding that perhaps he’s not a natural goalkeeper after all’.

WWN was essentially a literary endeavour. It had, of course, Westfields, and therefore VI Arts and prefectorial power, stamped all over it. It was thus the paper of the establishment, geared more to gown than town. So it was no surprise that when a competitor from the Science side emerged in November 1954, it looked more a magazine than a newspaper. If WWN was The Times, then the new kid on the block – The Torch - was the Sun of the world we inhabited. .

Initially, this fortnightly 14-page magazine-style product was modestly produced “by the form for the form” [Lower VI Science]; it was edited by John Branson, with R. Grover as sub-editor, combining comprehensive notes about school societies and limited sports reporting with tv, radio and film news, a Beginners’ Crossword and even short stories. There were some typing problems with No. 1, which WWN predictably proceeded to savage on its front page – e.g. “…it has been described as a large-sized edition of the second-form magazine, The Chimp” and “…[our] Mr Sorrell discovered no less than 228 mistakes in this first edition…”.

No. 3, however, marked a big change – The Torch became a 4-page (1.5d.) or 6-page (2d.) foolscap newspaper, with a clear bias towards science (e.g.’s: Science Master’s Visit to Marconi Research Laboratories/World Science News/ Moon Rockets?/Underground Gas Store on Tees Side/Visit to Ladybower Dam/The problem of the Extra Cell). No. 4 then signalled an all-out war with the WWN, with FALSE ALLEGATIONS (the banner headline) being rebutted in detail, followed by this note: ‘Dear WWN, Before you go to press in future, make sure that you are printing THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! (which should be every printer’s aim!)’ A week later, as the autumn term was ending, the seasonal spirit took over in No. 5 with MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS. And that is where my Torch collection ends – were there any further issues?

Fast forward now, to early 1958, and your correspondent had just failed Cambridge entrance cataclysmically in his fourth year – yes, fourth! – in the 6th form, and accepted a Nottingham place instead. What to do with myself for the next eight months, with KEGS by now flowing through every vein in my body? Answers: try teaching Maths to 3A, organise the School Fete, play and watch as much cricket as possible, try O levels in Economics & British Constitution through private study, and re-start a school newspaper. Of these, Maths lessons were a disaster (no training, and I knew Malcolm Pannell too well). I do apologise to him now, but I partly repaid the debt in August 1964 when I held my end up for a couple of hours while he got a brilliant 108 not out in the annual Bank Holiday fixture against Stock [OC’s 204 - 9 dec., Stock 152 all out – Essex Weekly News report]. The fete was good – weather brilliant and a profit of £200 (£3500 in today’s money). The two O Levels? I scraped through. The cricket was also good, both at New Writtle Street and in the school 2nd XI, but more especially opening the batting with Bruce Choppin for the Wayfarers (whatever happened to that club?).

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That takes us to The Edwardian, the obvious title for a new school newspaper. Others must judge the standard we reached, but Gareth Gunning, Brian Goodey, Bob Slater, Sam Saunders and I knew there was space for a journal of record other than The Chelmsfordian. We also tried to alter the balance towards town and away from gown, deciding on 6 foolscap pages on a Thursday, every few weeks. Like WWN, we printed late; I had an arrangement with NHF and Doris Moth that I could go into and virtually take over the School Office at 5.30 pm on a Wednesday evening, and usually finished the duplicating and the stapling between 11 pm and 1 am.

The town/gown shift was manifest in various “exclusive” statements we managed to obtain or provoke from people outside the school. With our first headline on 6th February 1958 – OUR INFLUENCE IS ALREADY FELT – we modestly took full responsibility for getting the Broomfield Road widening under way through a letter to the Town Clerk, after long delays and much chaos at the front of the school. For No. 2 we gave the full details of the Queen’s upcoming drive past the school, while in No. 3 we broke a story which was to get national coverage – the imminent visit to the school, on the day after publication, of George King, the “only man in Britain to have visited Mars” (invited by Mr Hodgson on behalf of the Scientific Society). The Sunday People had found out about the visit, and asked to sit in on the lecture, but the Head wisely turned them down. I was offered a bribe, but ditto. Friday was cadet day, of course, with the usual kit and boot inspection as you entered the school gates, and the talk had a huge attendance but passed off without incident. Two days later, however, The People reported in some detail how military personnel had been sent out to guard the front of the school and to keep their reporters and cameraman out.

Issue No. 4 had the Chief of Chelmsford Police, Gordon Forrow, giving his opinion on Student Rags. There had been problems about the late evening 6th form rags in recent years, which peaked when a massive farm cart had somehow ended up at 2am in the middle of the Eastern National forecourt and thrown the early morning bus schedules into disarray. On a related issue, note that unfortunately in another year no paper had managed to gain a quote from the redoubtable Miss Cadbury following the painting in huge letters of DR. KINSEY’S DEN on the long wall which fronted the County High School for Girls.

Nos. 5 & 6 were quiet and rather run-of-the-mill (e.g.: SATISFACTORY YEAR – H.M.), but they kept average sales around the 200 mark. Takings for Issue 1-6 were £9. 5s. 6d., and profit £1.12s.7d., of which 4s. 7d. was very deservedly spent on “chocolates for Mrs Gunning”. Most embarrassing moment overall, retrospectively? Issue 4 when I begged 225 Empire Day flags from the Daily Express and pinned each one to THE EDWARDIAN. Some students actually wore them! I still squirm about that. Best short piece? Classified Ads in Issue 1: FOR SALE. 1Generator, needing a little attention. Price 1s.10½d. or near offer. Maintenance engineer with very long experience available at no extra cost. Most satisfaction? The way the Essex Weekly News (Nick Tindall Talks and the Joseph Billio column) kept on carrying our material. And of course the sheer fun and exhilaration of the whole exercise.

The Edwardian must have carried on for at least another year, for somehow I seem to have acquired Issues 7, 10 and 11. After July 1959, who knows?”.

We have accepted Paul’s kind offer of letting us have the various runs of the 3 'newspapers' for our archives and look forward to receiving these either in the post or on one of Paul’s infrequent visits to mid-

Essex - after, as he says, “I've done some photocopying!”   

FOLLOWING ON FROM THE LAST ISSUE

Phil Mizon (1943-1948) “Many thanks for the latest newsletter: I must comment that within the obituary for Monty Mortlock is a mention of Geoff Rison. Geoff was in my form at school, probably even longer than I was, and had the distinction of being an amazing boy soprano, and performed many solos in the Hall. I know I am only a recently joined member, but I do not believe I have seen a previous mention of

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him in any of the few Newsletters that I have read. Is he, like so many others of us, still hanging on? Is he a member of the OCA and does he attend any functions?”

Geoff is a member of the OCA but his current address in Canada is unknown and since the death of his brother Peter we are no longer in contact with him. In the past Geoff would regularly visit England at the time of the Annual Dinner and attend this with his brother, an honorary OC for the purpose.

Murray Brazier (1940-1949) also wrote of this: “Geoff Rison (1941-1949) must have been in the Junior School because I can remember that he would sing a duet with Mr Powley (the head of the Junior school) at the Carol Concerts – they “did” Good King Wenceslas with Mr.Powley singing the King and Geoff singing the role of the Page.  It may have been a regular item at those concerts.  I think Mr.P wore his master’s gown too. Geoff’s grandma kept a little sweet shop on the north side of that narrow, older, section of Baddow Road between Moulsham Street and the original Odeon.  I believe that Geoff also sang on Canadian radio when he first went there and had to become a Canadian before working as a teacher.  He had B.A., M.Ed., FRI and CBA after his name on his card which he gave me on a visit a few years back and when he retired he became an estate agent and was a Member of the Toronto Real Estate Board.  The mention of David Stansbridge in the latest Newsletter reminded me of the time when we were both in the Junior School in “Westfields” and Mr.Powley had to remonstrate with the young Stansbridge who had the ability to chatter away and not keep quiet.  On this occasion Mr Powley said “Stansbridge, please keep quiet – you seem to forget that empty vessels make the most noise!”  On that occasion it had the desired effect!”.

As mentioned in our last issue we met Eileen Rison at Monty’s funeral and subsequently forwarded on some photos and press cuttings to her. She has since written with her happy memories of her half brothers, Dennis (Monty) and Robert (Bob) who attended KEGs from 1934-1939 and, as a young girl, of the house being filled with friends such as Desmond Brayshaw and of loud classical music. Bob volunteered to join the Royal Marine Commandos at the outbreak of war and saw a great deal of action. He was on the D Day landing and fought through Holland to Germany and in Sicily and Italy. He went into teaching after the war and was a very popular teacher and headmaster. Monty joined the Royal Marine Parachute Regiment a little later in the war being that bit younger than Bob. My husband Russell is the cousin of Geoff and Peter Rison, sadly Peter has died and Geoff lives in Canada. Geoff was our best man and sang at our wedding in Chelmsford Cathedral. The Risons are a long standing Chelmsford family and Russell’s parents were well known. His father was Frank Rison. Chelmsford was then a small market town and most people knew each other in those days. Russell and I got married when Russell left Writtle Horticulture College and have lived a rural life since. Monty looked upon our family as his own and would spend many a weekend with us bringing along our mother who was in poor health after my father died. We were very pleased and proud of the way our daughter Rowena arranged the funeral and it was very thoughtful of the solicitor (Roger Brooker) to notify the Old Chelmsfordians of this. We so enjoyed meeting you all and hearing the tales of those who knew Monty - Please would you thank them all.  

THIS AND THAT

We were delighted to hear recently from Oliver Dryhurst (1990-1997) “I have been an OC since 1997 but I have never attended the clubhouse in Lawford Lane and I do not know what the OCA has to offer me. I am now living in Chelmsford and am curious about how I may be involved”. Oliver subsequently visited the Lane, reminisced over schooldays and forgotten colleagues and took delight at finding photos of himself in our archive of Chelmsfordian magazines. The Clubhouse Bar is always open on a Saturday after football from about 4pm and on Sunday lunchtimes from noon should others wish to have a look at what we have to offer and you would be most welcome, either individually or as a Year group, should you wish to do so.

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REMINISCENCES - THE FINAL PART

Following the final part of Brian Saunders reminiscences we heard from Brian himself who was delighted to see the photograph of himself in the Band. This was the first time he had seen such a photo and suggested if there were others he would be delighted to receive these. We put him in touch with Bob Parsons who forwarded on other photos of the Band featuring Scabby Stewart, ‘one of our more flamboyant D/Ms’ on Founder’s Day 1955 and others at Hoffmann's Fete, the day after the Annual Inspection in 1957. 

Reminiscences in the last issue also prompted John Baker (1955-1962) to write:-.

“I was delighted to read more reminiscences from my own time, now a mere 50-55 years ago. Mr Stedman was my form master at one stage. He seemed always to be wearing football kit rather than the more usual gown, and my lack of interest in both sport and Geography set up an impassable barrier of

incomprehension between us. Forty years later I met him at my Cambridge College, of which he is a member, and we enjoyed reminiscing. 'I expect I was a real b-----d', he admitted. (I did not convincingly deny it.) But these little clashes were all an important part of our character formation and never descended to serious incivility on either side. The mention of Bruiser Findlay, of whom I came to be very fond (it was an acquired taste), and of rifle ranges, prompts me to send this illicit photograph of Captain Findlay supervising some target practice in 1959 at an annual camp - I think at Gillingham. I have also enclosed a snap taken on Founders Day 1961.

Although I was at heart a historian, I somehow ended up in the Science VIth. My clearest memory of this stage in my education is of a morning in the Physics Lab when Bruiser had us measuring the boiling points of all kinds of highly inflammable substances. Someone behind me was boiling kerosene. I only had paraffin, which seemed less dangerous until I inadvertently knocked over the apparatus and set light to the bench in quite a dramatic fashion. Bruiser was not in the least put out and ordered me to go and turn on the school fire-alarm bell without delay (and perhaps to summon the fire brigade as well). We got on very well after that. I wasn't much good at Chemistry either, and in the A-level practical I discovered that the white powder we were given to analyse must be pure gold. I knew, of course, that the County couldn't afford pure gold in such quantities, and I also knew gold did not normally materialise as a white powder, but (since nothing at all reacted with it) the scientific principles I had learned led inexorably to the conclusion which I felt compelled to return to the examiners. My A-level results proving commensurate with my practical skills, I abandoned Science and took to the Law - for which Mr Fanshawe assured me no prior knowledge of anything was necessary. It turned out to be a sensible move”.

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Interestingly Bob Parsons had also sent a photo of the above parade taken by his father which shows John as Drum Major but from the other side of Duke Street and this managed to include John's father,

Inspector Baker who was i/c the Essex Police driving school at the time, looking on.

We also heard from Nigel Fanshawe with his apologies for being unable to take the newsletter by email - “as you know I have no electronic gadgets!” - but he does remember well the memories of Brian Sunders. He also recalls Chris Pain, ‘who was very tall and went on from School to read medicine, possibly at the Royal Free (?). Scabby Stewart was drum major and enjoyed his job there very much, he was a boarder and leading member of the cross-country team. Spike Godden came to see me with his wife who I remember very well as a fine violin player; there were a number of girls in the orchestra, Lesley Emmison, daughter of the County Archivist, who played the Oboe. Roger Leigh has also been to see me several times, now settled in Belgium, he was head boy at the School. Westfields should never have been sold nor the Copper Beach cut down. The four boys Choppin, Coombes, Daniels and Beanland were all very bright and after university Choppin died in America, Coombes settled there, Daniels I lost touch with but went North whilst Beanland, who has also visited me, spent his life teaching Maths. It is good to be reminded of these things and good to know that KEGs continues to flourish’.

(Our first photo shows Nigel and his wife Maria at the President’s Day cricket match in 1977 just as he retired from the School. The second, taken at the same time, shows the incoming Head, John Gough with

his wife Sue, together with Pussy Johnson, Lionel Kettle and his wife and Les Appleton. These were received from Richard Appleton who came across them whilst ‘digitising’ his mother Rosemary’s

collection of colour-slides)

OCA SOCIAL SECTION

Various social events are held at the club during the year under the watchful eye of Mark Allison and he thought it might be worthwhile giving the results of a recent Quiz Night held in November to whet the appetite of other members for future such events. Entry per person is £10.00 which includes a Fish and Chip (or ‘Other’ and Chip) supper and on this occasion the First prize was £120, 2nd £50 and 3rd £25 with £200 being

raised for the Club in addition to a sizeable bar take. Most of the sports sections along with the ‘bar- leaners’ enter teams and the evening is a most enjoyable one. Should you be interested in learning more of what the social section have in store for 2014 Mark can be contacted on mark.allison@pinnacle-psg.com.

CAPTAIN TEAM NAMETOTAL(150)

1 Baz Bowerman QUIZ AKABUSI 1252 David Porter QUIZZY RASCAL 118.53 Jane Pope SUNBITES 115.54 Nat Wright ABOUT TO POP 1145 Les Gray WHERE IS THE BARON? 1116 Rob Livermore QUIZ MY FACE 1107 Matt Cranfield WE ALL CAME IN THE SAME CAR 1098 Kate Golding DUCKS & DUCKLINGS 1048 Terry Vale EL TEL'S BANDITS 104

10 Tracey Pease I DON'T KNOW 94.511 Yvonne Hrusa BRAINDEAD MORONS 91

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COFFEE MORNINGS

The October and November coffee mornings were held under the watchful gaze of Brian and Margaret Churcher and Selwyn and Elaine Wheeler and both meetings attracted numbers in the mid twenties. We were delighted to welcome Reg Richardson (1938-1944) in October who borrowed the bound copies of the Chelmsfordian magazines from 1934-1948 and we also let John Day (1932-1937) take home copies of his period from our archive to help his research in penning a few words on School Life in the thirties for a future newsletter. At the November meeting Ian Hook, a former pupil and now Foundation Governor at the School, was a welcome visitor (albeit by default - the Governors meeting he thought he was attending having been cancelled) but didn’t have a totally wasted morning taking away a named photo of the School Cadet Corps in the late 1920’s for copying as a record for the Essex Regiment Museum of which he is the curator. He also had news of his sister Fiona, who had been the first girl to join the Sixth Form in 1976, and knew many others of those present through his military and school contacts and his work at the Oaklands museum. The next meeting will be the Christmas extravaganza on the 19th December and the 2014 programme will start on January 16th when a cheque will be presented to John Bobin of the Havens Hospices, our chosen charity for 2013. Any required information can be sought from:- Lloyd Hardy on 01245 251187, Ted Caton on 01245 256790 and Murray Brazier on 01245 441014.

OCA WILDLIFE - DECEMBER 2013

Nick Green, our ‘Wildlife Officer’, has written “Thanks once more to the Friday crowd for planting various tree species around the sports fields. The severe gale had a major impact on the Willow trees to the east of the car park and tennis courts. I hope to receive good advice regarding recycling the timber for the future benefit of wildlife.

Bird sightings include migrants in the form of fly-over Crossbills (2-3) on 2nd November – there has been an influx of this species countrywide and they have been reported from all over Scotland to Kent. Their distinctive “jip jip jip” call alerted me to their presence – if there had been some cone-bearing conifers nearby, perhaps they may have been attracted… a good local record. Coincidentally four Parrot Crossbills were recorded in October at Gunners Park in Shoeburyness, the second Essex record since the first in 1862! 30th November also saw a flyover little Egret, the first for some months, and a pair of Bullfinches calling in the southeast corner of the grounds’.

Regarding the fallen Willows, Nick subsequently heard from his friend Dr Chris Gibson with the following advice…“Great that your Club has a 'wildlife officer' that is actually interested in wildlife!Best thing is to leave, chop any wood into manageable lengths (1-2metres) but otherwise leave it intact (ie don't split thick logs). Then leave them somewhere where they will be out of full sun for most of the time (eg under dappled shade of remaining trees) - this will provide the shade/humidity which is good for insect colonisation, and if open to the sun for part of the day, also basking sites for lizards and insects. Tacking them together will also be useful to retain humidity. If there is plenty, would be good to (part) bury some logs, eg by 'planting' a 2m trunk about 1m deep - the buried part could be good for big borers like stag beetles. Being willow, these would be likely to sprout into new trees - if you don't want that, then just plant them upside down...and a final suggestion, how about strapping lengths of timber (at least a metre long) to remaining trunks, so that they will rot down in a vertical position and maybe provide woodpecker feeding/nest sites (maybe even lesser-spots!).

AN HONORARY FRENCH MEMBER

Our Cricket Club President, Chris Flint, recently received the following communication from Bryan Clark who was at the School from 1946 to1948.

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“Way back in July I tried to call you to have your advice and blessing on a certain matter.   Then somehow, being elderly, I kept forgetting to try again and went ahead anyway in the hope that when I did finally tell you that you and the Committee could reconcile yourselves to what I had done. Sorry to sound so sinister!.

“In 1978 at the very last minute before a game between our 2nd XI and Old Southendians, we were one short.  A guest staying with us at the time was a very dear French friend, then PE & Sports Master of Nimes Grammar School who had played cricket with me before and loved the game, even introducing his senior boys to it.  So Jacques immediately undertook to play.  He didn't get any runs but took a catch off my bowling, the equal of which I have rarely seen, to dismiss the opposing captain. That worthy had smacked me for a certain four over mid-on when Jacques took several paces, leapt high and took a fantastic catch one-handed. Then he turned to me with a smile as if to say "Was that OK?"   It is a certain matter of record that he has been the only Frenchman to play for OCs at cricket.

Well, I'm now 83 and Jacques is 84 and we have been dear pals for 65 years since meeting as scouts!   Our families' friendship has been in four generations. So as the subject of his playing for OCs has often come up, when I went down at the end of July to near Nimes again possibly for the last time I suddenly thought how fitting it might be to give him a small memento.  So I concocted the idea of a tiny certificate naming him an honorary member, together with a tie. 

And, finally that's what I did, completely without authorization or reference of any kind. Jacques was almost in tears with happiness and appreciation. So there you have it. Naturally I feel very guilty but assuage my guilt by thinking that it has caused not a single ripple anywhere. An old bloke is just very happy to have given OCs his support when we needed it. No one else need ever know and since he has no plans ever to come to England again he is unlikely to exercise his "appointment" any time soon. Nevertheless I submit my heartfelt apologies to you personally and the Club for so outrageously overstepping the mark”.

Quite naturally Chris, the Cricket Section and the OCA Committee are all perfectly happy at Bryan’s action and would obviously welcome he and Jacques to the club at any time to celebrate this with them.

Chris also received an email from Dave Gridley “Is the Clive Beagles in this film (Published 20/09/2012) the one we know from the OC's? It's been so long since I've seen him........Investment News

CLIVE PLUMB

Although not a KEGS pupil himself, Clive was a long-time member of the OCA and through family connections and neighbours in the Broomfield Road ‘Avenues’ area, Primary School and the Cathedral Scouts, knew many of our members long before joining us. His funeral at Chelmsford Cathedral was well attended by OCs and members of the Chelmsford Club, various local Golf Clubs and many former business colleagues. We reproduce here the obituary written by John Williamson:

“My brother-in-law Clive Plumb, who has died suddenly aged 76, was a postwar British architect of some distinction. After qualifying in 1959, Clive worked for a time in the 1960s in Israel and later became a leading light in the architects' department of the Basildon Development Corporation, in Essex.

One of the Basildon schemes in which Clive's team was involved was the construction of a then-state-of-the-art estate in Langdon Hills. This had around 550 houses on a wooded, sloping site and featured an access duct that carried a district heating system. The scheme won a national award for good housing in 1975. At this period Clive also did a great deal of work in the Basildon area on advanced factory units and on starter homes using factory-produced timber sections.

Wood was something of leitmotif in his career. In the 1980s, in partnership with his close friend and former Basildon colleague Leon Easter, Clive further developed an idea proposed by Peter Hutchinson, the founder and chairman of Potton Timber Engineering. This idea was that a variation of a form of

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timber-framed building common in Tudor times could be the basis of modern modular housing structures, with no internal load-bearing walls and minimal load on external walls, thus offering maximum flexibility to room layouts. According to Hutchinson, this project started life over lunch as a drawing on the back of a paper napkin.During the 1990s, Clive was instrumental in both the design and site layout of Wyboston Lakes in Bedfordshire – the largest privately owned business and leisure centre in northern Europe. Set within 350 acres, it boasts its own golf course.

Clive was a keen patron of the arts and an enthusiastic golfer; he played pool, snooker and squash. In his youth he had a reputation as something of a demon football player, his team-mates describing his style of play as "robust".

Born in Chelmsford, Essex, Clive won a scholarship to the Mid-Essex Technical College and School of Art (now Anglia Ruskin University) and studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. A boy chorister at Chelmsford Cathedral, he was one of the 400-strong choir that sang at Westminster Abbey at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.Clive is survived by his wife, Patricia, whom he married in 1992; his children, Dominic and Nichola, from his marriage to Pauline, which ended in divorce; and two grandchildren.

As we go to press we have also learned of the deaths of Graham Rogers and Sydney (Syd) Daniels.

Graham Rogers was at KEGs from 1949-1955 and much of his working life was spent with Marconi in Chelmsford. His parents ran the Ingatestone Nursery to which Graham gave them his assistance and we believe that he had lived in the Springfield area all his life. He was a member of the Chelmsford Cathedral congregation where his funeral will take place on December 12th. I hand delivered his newsletter over many years to Perry Hill and more recently Mounthill Avenue and on the last occasion was able to help change the punctured front wheel on his car. Shortly afterwards I received this email which sadly we can now not put into effect. “Many thanks for your personal delivery this morning and your help with tyre removal; much appreciated!. Although you seemed to be enjoying your walk, if you would prefer not to deliver, I would be happy for my copy to be emailed to me at grahamgkr@blueyonder.co.uk., so saving your shoe leather and the OCA the print costs! Kind Regards, Graham Rogers”. Syd Daniels, who died on December 2nd, whilst not a former pupil of the School was very much an ‘Old Boy’ having been introduced to the Club after the war, we think by Eric Churchyard. He played both cricket and football for us in the late 40’s and early 50’s and on at least one occasion played representative cricket for the Essex 2nd XI and football for the Essex County Junior team. He was one of the players featured in the ‘Footballers of Essex’ piece from the Essex Weekly News of January 28th 1955 which included OC stalwarts Peter Coppen, Monty Mortlock, George Carnell, Alan Hunter, Harold Glynn, Des Brayshaw and Selwyn Wheeler. He subsequently joined the Chelmsford Cricket Club where the playing standard was more appropriate to his own ability and later went on play golf and was always regarded as a games player rather than an athlete. He had sadly suffered from Alzheimer’s for the last couple of years and had been a resident in the Okeley home in Corporation Road where his condition had recently deteriorated very quickly. He and Mary had one daughter and three sons, the youngest of whom, Martin was at the School, and whose own son is also a KEGs boy who we hope will one day follow his grandfather and father in membership of the Association.

We have now heard from Martin that the funeral will be held on Monday December 16th at 12noon at St Mary’s Church, Widford and afterwards at the Chelmsford Golf Club, Widford Road.

We also received notification from his executor of the death on September 6th of Peter Bellamy who was at School from 1933-1938 and who had been living for many years at Ringmer in Sussex.

MOVING ON11

Matthew Bardell (1984-1991), matthew_bardell@hotmail.com.“Gosh yes, I hadn't realised anything was still going to that Braintree address, which is about 15 years out of date! I am now resident in London N8.

Nigel Crowley (1977-1984), nigelpc83@gmail.com. Thank you for the newsletter.I have both a new address, Great Dunmow to Hutton, and a new email address as above to pass on.

Karl Foster (1991-1993), kfoster54@hotmail.com. I would be grateful if you would kindly update my records from Fobbing, Essex to Capel Dewi, Carmarthen. I am also happy to receive the newsletter via email to this address.

Fr Dominic Howarth (1982-1989), dominichowarth@yahoo.com is now to be found at Holy Trinity Church, 71 Wickhay, Basildon, Essex SS15 5AD

Richard Loft (1948-1954), rnloft@gmail.com. Receipt of the raffle tickets reminded me to advise you of my recent move. It was a wrench to leave Colchester after so many years but I decided to bite the bullet and move to a smaller house and nearer to the family in Church Stretton, Shropshire.

John Reading (1956-1963), johnmelvyn@mac.com. Many thanks as usual for the Newsletter. It was also a reminder to tell you of our recent move. We have just - finally! - retired from the daily grind of organising schools and have moved out of Surrey to the not-so-frozen north of Bostock, Cheshire.Interesting to read of Mr. Fanshawe's comment re. headteachers/headmasters... Tricia and I were always known as 'headteachers' - although the governors always referred to me as 'headmaster'... Sic transit gloria mundi!

Matthew Webster, (1992-1999) mwebst16@gmail.com. Dear OCs, Please update my address details to reflect my house move (actually this time last year!) from Chelmsford to Shenfield.

E-MAIL CONVERSIONS

Alan Bruce. Thanks for the latest newsletter. I now have a new email address (the “old” one will still continue to work for some time yet; hence I received the newsletter OK!).Could you please send future newsletters/correspondence to: alanbruce@ziggo.nl.

David Crewdson (1995-2002). Can you please add me to the list of those now receiving the newsletter by email? The email address to use is churnley@hotmail.com.

Andy Drummond (1995-2002), andydrummond25@hotmail.com. Thanks for the current newsletter, I enjoyed reading it (as well as all the previous ones); however, I have seen that I can access them on your website, so it seems like a bit of a waste of paper (and money from your side) to send it out when I can read it online. Also am I right to believe that there is an email version of the newsletter?

Peter Fairhead (1963-1970), p.fairhead@homecall.co.uk. I am shortly ditching Talk Talk, the successors of Homecall who provide me with my current email address and broadband. I will keep my existing phone number and mobile number. However please substitute pfairhead1951 at googlemail dot com as default email for me. One benefit will be receiving your mails on my mobile instantaneously - though I won't read them if I'm driving, of course!

Roger Leigh (1949-1956). We received a communication from Roger suggesting that as ‘he winced every time he received a newsletter at the cost of posting his newsletter to Belgium’ the time was right for him to receive this electronically. Unfortunately he omitted to give an email address but through his brother Mick we now have rogerleigh@skynet.be.    

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Michael Leigh (1956-1963) michaelleigh@live.co.uk. Our contact with Mick was rewarded with ‘Good to hear from you.   Whilst I'm about it, please send my newsletter by email as well.  I still hanker after the rustle of paper but I better go with the flow’.

Marcus Popplewell (1974-1981) Please note my new email address for further correspondence in relation to the Old Chelmsfordians Association is mjpopplewell@sky.com. Thank you.

Chris Thoung (1996-2003), chris.thoung@gmail.com. After ten years of receiving the paper edition, I think it's about time I switched to the electronic version. I'd be grateful if you could send future newsletters to this email address.

FOOTBALL

We have been asked by Len Menhinick to add this piece about Graham King, football correspondent for our newsletters and the producer of the weekly ‘Match Day News’ that is available every weekend at the

Club for those participating in the weekend’s sport.

“A local boy, Graham, had football in his blood from the word Go. His father was the full-time Secretary of Chelmsford City in their heyday and Graham played for the City Colts. However, like so many of us, Graham soon realised that he would never make a living out of football and his playing career was very much at a local level, embracing amongst other clubs, Galleywood and Roxwell on a Saturday. On Sundays he played, once again amongst other clubs, for City Social, Park Avenue and the Civic Centre team NALGO FC. He also helped our own Ricky Richmond run Park Avenue Reserves as well as helping to run the NALGO FC. Fed up with listening to Ricky and me talking about the OCs he joined us some 23 years ago and immediately threw himself into working for the Club. He helped manage both the Saturday 1st and 2nd elevens and the VETs and also did any job that he was asked to. So hard did he work on behalf of the OCs that three years ago his efforts were quite correctly recognised when he became, for a twelve month period, our OCA President. Some 18 months ago, Graham became seriously ill, so very ill that we thought we were going to lose him. However with his great fighting spirit he pushed through and although not fully recovered is very much with us again. Graham, thank you so much for all your efforts, you are doing a wonderful job with the new style programme”.

REVIEW OF THE SEASON DURING OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER

Mixed fortunes for all OCs teams so far this season, with perhaps the two Sunday sides showing more consistent results than the Saturday teams. The 1st XI on Saturday have struggled in the league but have had great success in the Essex Premier Cup, by reaching the last sixteen in this prestigious competition that is supported by BBC Essex. The fourth round tie is at Lawford Lane on January 18th when the Old Boys play Essex Olympian Premier team Newbury Forest. The second eleven have had mixed fortunes in the league so far, they too had a good county cup run reaching the 3rd round, just losing out with a 1-0 away defeat. The rejuvenated third eleven with a mix of established OCs players and some young blood have also been inconsistent, but availability of players on a regular basis might be the reason for this. Both Vets teams continue to enjoy their football with all the enthusiasm of their younger club colleagues which sees them both in mid table with an outside chance of promotion at this early stage. On Sundays the two OCs teams are going well and could be close to honours at the end of another long season. The Youth section with under 12`s and 15`s performing regularly in the red and black of the Old Boys are feeling their way and both teams are enjoying the super facilities at Lawford Lane at the weekends.

SATURDAY FIRST TEAM OLYMPIAN LEAGUE DIVISION 1

05/10 HOME ALEMITE ATHLETIC Senior Division Cup R2 Lost 2-1 Own Goal

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12/10 AWAY WORMINGFORD WANDERERS Essex County Premier Cup R1 Won 8-2 Goodey 2, Gray, Cullum, Griffin, Wright (Pen), Lee and King

19/10 AWAY GALLEYWOOD Lost 3-026/10 HOME HUTTON Drew 2-2 Marti Cullum 202/11 AWAY WADHAM LODGE Essex County Premier Cup R2 Won 3-2 aet. Liam Hopkins,

Marti Cullum, Ryan Sutton09/11 HOME OLD BARKABBEYANS Drew 1-1 Ryan Sutton16/11 AWAY CANNING TOWN Lost 2-023/11 HOME CANNING TOWN Essex County Premier Cup R3 Won 3-1 James Brady,

Gareth Burton, Ryan Schofield (Pen)30/11 HOME LEIGH RAMBLERS Lost 2-0

SATURDAY SECOND TEAM OLYMPIAN LEAGUE RESERVE DIVISION 1

05/10 AWAY FRENFORD SENIOR Lost 4-2 Farnsworth and S Yavuz 12/10 AWAY RAYLEIGH TOWN Lost 5-3 Armstrong, Bailey, Farnsworth19/10 HOME M&B CLUB Lost 3-2 Pettit, Fleming26/10 AWAY DEDHAM OLD BOYS Essex Saturday Junior Cup R2 Won 8-1 Ben Bailey 2,

Harley Yavuz 2, Mike Farnsworth, Callum Fletcher, Josh Hector 202/11 HOME HAROLD WOOD ATHLETIC Drew 1-1 Mike Farnsworth09/11 AWAY MAY & BAKER Postponed Waterlogged Pitch16/11 AWAY CATHOLIC UNITED Essex Saturday Junior Cup R3 Lost 1-023/11 AWAY MAY & BAKER League Division Cup R3 Lost 5-2 Bailey, Farnsworth30/11 AWAY CANNING TOWN Cancelled

SATURDAY THIRD TEAM  MID ESSEX LEAGUE DIVISION 2

05/10 HOME PRO ATHLETIC FC Essex Saturday Junior Trophy R1 Lost 6-3 Sanders (Pen), Osbourne and Turner

12/10 HOME SILVER END UNITED Division 2 League Cup R1 Lost 10-1 Osbourne19/10 HOME BEACON HILL ROVERS Dave Strachan Cup R1 Lost 9-0 26/10 HOME WHITE HART UNITED Lost 4-1 Myles Passley02/11 HOME SILVER END RES Won 2-1 Trevor Pyner (Pen), Billy Duke 09/11 HOME MANFIELD WAY Lost 3-2 Dan Pound, Ryan Clarke16/11 AWAY DUNTON RANGERS Won 5-3 Steve Cooke 2, Ben Sanders, Joe Wright,

Billy Duke23/11 AWAY HAVER TOWN RESERVES Lost 4-1 Ben Sanders30/11 HOME DUNMOW RHODES Lost 5-0

VETS 1 ESSEX VETERANS LEAGUE DIVISION 1

05/10 NO FIXTURE12/10 AWAY WHITE ENSIGN Won 5-1 Fletcher, Wright, Fairman, Bowring, Drummond19/10 HOME GRAT BADDOW Essex County Vets Cup R1 Won 3-0 Wright, Kilbey, Hilling26/10 HOME NEWBURY PARK Match abandoned 86 mins at 2-2 Pat Fairman, Matt Fletcher02/11 AWAY OLD PALMITARIANS No result Rain09/11 HOME LITTLE THURROCK DYNAMOS Essex Saturday Vets Cup R2 No Result Rain16/11 HOME LITTLE THURROCK DYNAMOS Essex Saturday Veteran Cup R2 Lost 5-2

Nick Wright, Paul Taylor 23/11 AWAY SUNGATE League Division Cup R1 Lost 5-1 Matt Drummond30/11 HOME WHITE ENSIGN Won 3-1 Jez Riches, Nick Wright, Matt Drummond

VETS RESERVES ESSEX VETERANS LEAGUE DIVISION 3 (EAST)

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05/10 AWAY WHITE RODING Lost 4-012/10 HOME HOCKLEY & HAWKWELL Division 3 League Cup R1 Lost 2-0 19/10 AWAY SILVER END Lost 6-2 Brook, Mott26/10 NO FIXTURE02/11 HOME BLACKMORE ROYALS Won 3-2 Martin Hooper, Mark Moughton, A N Other09/11 AWAY SHENFIELD RESERVES No Result Rain16/11 HOME SPRINGFIELD Lost 2-1 Steve Brook23/11 HOME SILVER END UNTED Won 3-2 Dan Lee, Leigh Norris, Martin Hooper (Pen)30/11 AWAY GREAT BADDOW Lost 4-0

SUNDAY FIRST POPE AND SMITH  LEAGUE DIV 2

06/10 AWAY PLAYFOOTBALL ELITE Essex Sunday Junior Cup R1 Won 20 (Twenty)-0 ` Anderson, Booth, Haldane, Mundy, Crick (4), Johnson (5), Lockwood (4), Tiffen (3)

13/10 HOME WOODHAM ATHLETIC No Result20/10 NO FIXTURE27/10 HOME SOUTH BENFLEET Essex Sunday Junior Cup R2 Won 4-1 Fleming, Lockwood,

Haldane, Tiffen03/11 HOME PSV BILLERICAY Won 3-2 Ryan Baxter, Ryan Fleming, Paul Tiffen10/11 AWAY REDSTONES Won 3-0 Max Johnson, Jack Mundy, Stu Lockwood17/11 AWAY GREAT BADDOW Won 6-0 Ryan Baxter, Matt Crick 2, Jack Mundy,

Paul Tiffen, Tom Lakin24/11 AWAY PARSLOE ATHLETIC Essex Sunday Junior Cup R3 (3-3) Lost 4-2 on Pens aet. 01/12 AWAY BROOKHOUSE Coward Cup 2nd rd Won 4-0 Tom Lakin, Stuart Lockwood(2),

Paul Tiffen

SUNDAY SECONDS     POPE AND SMITH LEAGUE DIV 3

06/10 HOME WOODHAM RADARS Essex Sunday Junior Trophy R1 Won 7-0 Farnsworth 2, S Yavuz, Clark 4

13/10 AWAY PRIORY SPORTS Won 6-1 Armstrong, Farnsworth 2, Lamb 2, and S Yavuz20/10 HOME CHELMER WANDERERS Lost 4-2 Harris, Anderson27/10 HOME JOGA BONITO Essex Sunday Junior Trophy R2 Won 16-2 Elliot Armstrong 5,

Harley Yavuz 4, Ross Lamb 3, Will Baxter 2, Sam Yavuz and Ben Bailey03/11 AWAY BROOMFIELD League Cup R1 (3-3) Won 4-3 on Pens aet. Elliott Armstrong, Mike Farnsworth, Cullum Fletcher, Ross Lamb, Bedi Mensah, Ryan Clarke 2 (including penalty takers)10/11 HOME HANNINGFIELD Gillott Trophy R1 Lost 5-3 Mike Farnsworth, Stuart Reader,

Luke Anderson17/11 HOME WRITTLE MANOR RESERVES Lost 3-2 Ross Lamb, Samsa Yavuz24/11 HOME DAVIN ATHLETIC Essex Sunday Junior Trophy R3 Won 5-2 aet.01/12 HOME WOODHAM RADARS Won 7-3 Elliot Armstrong,Ben Bailey, William Baxter,

Michael Farnsworth (2), Ryan Clarke, Stuart Lockwood.

OCs U15s BLACKWATER AND DENGIE YOUTH LEAGUE DIV 1

06/10 HOME DUNMOW UNITED TIGERS Knock Out Cup Won 5-0 O’Brien 2, Brady 313/10 AWAY VIPERS YOUTH League Cup Group B Lost 3-120/10 HOME FLITCH YOUTH Lost 7-327/10 AWAY UPLANDS RANGERS League Cup Group B Drew 2-203/11 AWAY FLITCH YOUTH League Cup Group B Won 2-1 10/11 HOME DANBURY YOUTH Knock Out Cup R2 (0-0) Won 4-3 on pens17/11 AWAY BEACON HILL ROVERS No Result

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24/11 NO FIXTURE 01/12 HOME VIPERS YOUTH Lost 5-2

OCs U12s BLACKWATER AND DENGIE YOUTH LEAGUE DIV 3

06/10 HOME VALLEY GREEN UNITED League Cup Group B Lost 6-013/10 AWAY BADDOW SPARKTAK PUMAS League Cup Group B Lost 6-120/10 AWAY WITHAM TOWN Lost 3-027/10 AWAY WITHAM TOWN Knock Out Cup R2 Drew 2-2 03/11 AWAY WITHAM TOWN Knock Out Cup R2 Replay Lost 4-1 10/11 AWAY GREAT NOTLEY PYTHONS League Cup Group B Won 2-1 17/11 AWAY VALLEY GREEN UNITED League Cup Group B Lost 1-024/11 AWAY GREAT NOTLEY PYTHONS Lost 5-401/12 AWAY BADDOW SPARTAK PUMAS Won 3-2

CRICKET

Although the season ended back in August there has been a recent change to the status of two of our league teams, as a result of the T Rippon League AGM, writes Baz Bowerman.

A large number of new teams were voted into the league during November’s AGM and, as a result, an additional division has been created - Division 12. However, due to the differing standards of the new teams they were not all placed in the bottom division and have been inserted throughout the divisions, causing a shake-up throughout. As a result, the OCA third eleven, despite finishing mid-table in Division 8 during the season just finished has been demoted to Division 9. The fourth eleven has also been dropped down and will be competing in Division 12 next season. The full set-up for our teams’ respective divisions next year is as follows:

  Premier Division 4 Division 9 Division 121 Bentley Hatfield Peverel II Southend EMT II St Johns Billericay II2 Springfield Woodham Mortimer East Hanningfield II Thurrock IV3 High Roding Purleigh Chignal II OCs IV4 Aythorpe Roding Willow Herbs Springfield IV Rayleigh VI5 Hatfield Peverel OCs II Broomfield II Rainham III6 OCs Little Baddow II OCs III Great Baddow IV7 Great Baddow Goresbrook II Tillingham II Hornchurch Ath IV8 Stock Galleywood Burnham Sports II Sth Wood Ferrers III9 Little Baddow High Easter Wickham Goresbrook IV

10 Thurrock Thurrock II Great Baddow III *10th team TBC There was less drama at the OCA’s own cricket AGM although thanks aplenty were given to two OCA stalwarts who have stepped down from their respective roles. Firstly, Chris Flint has retired from his role as groundsman. Chris has performed admirably over the years in producing top-quality cricket strips for our Lawford Lane teams. He has worked tirelessly week-in and week-out and the club officially recorded their gratitude for his unstinting efforts – thank you Chris.And David Kitchiner has stepped down from two roles: as Cricket Section Treasurer and Captain of the second eleven. Once again here is someone who has selflessly devoted his time for the good of the club, and he too was thanked for all his hard work by those at the AGM. I’d like to record my own personal thanks to Kitch for making it a pleasure to be part of a cricket team that played hard but fair and enjoyed itself in equal measure, win or lose. The obvious highlight was witnessing him skipper a ‘golden generation’ of middle-aged cricketers from division six to third place in division four. Winter nets begin at the County Ground after Christmas and then, believe it or not, we’ll only be four months away from the start of the new season!

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TENNIS

TeamsThe winter season started on 1/10/13 and we are approaching the half-way stage. The highlight at the moment is the 100% start by Mixed 1 but generally, all the teams are doing well. The performance of Men’s 3 deserves a mention because regularly, two of the four players will be no more than 17 years old.

FacilitiesThe latest improvement is a shingle path alongside the end of the courts closest to the road. We are grateful for the efforts of Brian Terry and the ‘Friday Gang’ in undertaking the work. We are also grateful for the fact that during the ‘St Jude’ storm at the end of October, the large willow tree which was brought down fell away from our newly refurbished tennis pavilion. If it had fallen in the opposite direction, the pavilion would have been obliterated.

Annual DinnerWe held our 2013 annual dinner at The Punchbowl, High Easter in October; the third occasion we have used the venue. As usual, Penny and David Kelsey and their staff really looked after us and a great evening was enjoyed by everyone. OCA President, Andy Cook, attended to present the engraved trophies to the winners in the various annual tournament competitions.

AGMWe held our 2013 AGM in the Members’ Bar on Monday 4/11/13 and the committee and officials for 2013/14 will be as follows:

Committee Team CaptainsChairman – Alan Coulthard Men’s 1 - Derek RogersSecretary – Belinda Sturge Men’s 2- Bill DrownTreasurer – Richard Morley-Jacob Men’s 3 – Roland StanleyFixtures – Claire Slade Ladies 1 – Bec Morley-JacobHead Coach – Derek Rogers Ladies 2 – Sally BanksMembership – Paul Stephenson Ladies 3 – Val BellamyWelfare Officer – Jane Pope Mixed 1 – Alan CoulthardSocial Events – Andy Wilshaw Mixed 2 – Nicola Edmeades

MembershipIf you are not currently a member of the tennis section but have always fancied trying out the great courts, particularly with the new surface, contact Alan Coulthard on 07795 105328. If your tennis is a little rusty,

Alan and Derek Rogers (Head Club Coach) can organise coaching sessions to individuals and small groups. Also, our website at www.chelmsfordianstennis.co.uk is a good source of information about the

section.

TABLE TENNIS

David Porter , despite being in New York with only iPhone capability, has sent us this report:-

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Approaching the half way point in the 2013/14 season it has generally been an excellent start for the OC's teams.In Division 1 our A team currently sit in 2nd place having lost only one game all season. A strong squad of Peter Hayden, Brandon Crouchman, Terry Dowsett and Paul Cuming have all been in excellent form. In Division 3 our B team are well clear at the top of the table having won all eight of their opening fixtures. Robbie Burton, Stephen Northcott and Nat Ravlic have lost only a handful of games between them. The C team, promoted from Division 4 last season are currently comfortably in mid-table. In Division 4 our E and D teams currently sit 1st and 2nd respectively. Hopes are high that the E team of Frank Hodge and the fast improving Daniel Berry and Charlie Mariner have every prospect of promotion this year. The more mature D team (Adrian North, Charles Yeung and Stuart Wintle) are giving them a good run for their money!In Division 5 our G team - with Tom Barker to the fore - are handily placed in 3rd and ready to push forward into one of the two promotion places in the second half of the season. The F team are looking to avoid the wooden spoon and with Dave Newman scoring consistently should manage to do this. In the Click league the boys team have won three out of their opening five fixtures in a very encouraging start. We are always looking to recruit players to supplement all of our teams. If you are interested in playing or know someone who may be then please contact me, David Porter, by emailing djpessex@aol.com or phoning on 07885 467935. All those interested in playing table tennis are reminded that Tuesday evening sessions continue throughout the autumn and winter period from 6pm to 7.15pm (juniors and seniors) and from 7.15pm for senior members only (unless there are home League matches taking place).

AND FINALLY…

our very best wishes to all members and their families for Christmas and the New Year

The date for the Annual Dinner in 2014 has been set for Saturday March 29th and for those who enjoy forward planning that for 2015 has been arranged for Saturday March 21st. More details will

be available in the New Year.

Any members wishing and willing to receive the newsletter by email or wanting to advise us of any change to either their home or email address should contact George Heseltine at

heseltineuk@aol.com to arrange this.

Our website has recently undergone something of a facelift and members are invited to take a look at this at www.oldchelmsfordians.com

This is looked after for us by one of our members, Steve Cooke, and should others be interested in having professional help with their own website Steve would be delighted to hear from you.

Steve.cooke@chelmsfordwebdesign.com

Once again thank you to all contributors for this issue which we trust has again made enjoyable reading. We invite everyone to send their news and views for the next issue which should be

available early in February.

George Heseltine : 30 Trinity Road : Chelmsford : Essex : CM2 6HS

Phone : 01245 265962 or email : heseltineuk@aol.com

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