Not the tuck shop

New Old Bostonian Store

The new place for the Old Bostonian Store is here. If you follow the store you will see posts from time-to-time which refer to products by old bostonians or of particular interest to old bostonians.

You can also find the store by clicking on the "Store" link, either on this blog or on the main Old Bostonian Association website.

Purchases you make from the store may result in a small amount being paid back to the the Old Bostonian Association which uses its funds principally to support Boston Grammar School and its students.

Why a new store?

For some time we have run an Amazon aStore. While our aStore is still available, Amazon has discontinued the aStore concept and no new products can be added to it.

The new store has the light-hearted title of Not The Tuck Shop: a reference to various incarnations of the break-time sweet shop at or near Boston Grammar School.

Many of the products will be made available to buy through Amazon links. If you click through to Amazon to buy the product, the OBA may receive a small return from your purchase just as it previously did when you purchased through the aStore. This new store is more flexible though in that we can celebrate and make available products which cannot be purchased through Amazon.

Can you sell my product?

If you have been involved in the creation of a product and you are an "old bostonian" then we may be able to add your product to the Old Bostonian Store. When considering whether to add a product to the store we may use the following criteria:

• You are an "old bostonian" in the widest sense; that is, you are a current or former student or staff member of Boston Grammar School: a selective secondary school in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, and not any other school of a similar name. In exceptional cases we may consider products not produced by an old bostonian, but the product would have to be of very special significance to old bostonians.
• Your product will probably, though not necessarily, be creative, e.g. book, film, music.
• Your product is available to buy from Amazon.co.uk or a scheme by which the Old Bostonian store can receive a return on sales made through the store can be set up. Even if no such scheme is possible, items of special interest to old bostonians may be included.

The aims of the store in order of importance are:

1. To present products to visiting old bostonians which will be of interest to them, either in their subject matter or in the knowledge that they are produced by a fellow old bostonian.
2. To promote the products of old bostonians to old bostonians and to other visitors to the store.
3. To produce a monetary return for the Old Bostonian Association.

There is no intention to turn the store into an advertising platform for general products and this will not be allowed to happen.

If you have a product you would like to be considered for inclusion in the store, please email webmaster@bostonian.org.uk with details.

Martin Brooks celebrating 50 years of Slade

BGS old boy, Martin Brooks remembers being taken as part of a group by teacher Richard Anderson to see Slade at Dunstable Civic Hall in October 1979 and again, after the band's success at Reading Festival, at West Runton Pavilion in October 1980.

Now Martin plays the guitar with Pouk Hill Prophetz, a rock group heavily influenced by glam rock legends Slade as well as bands such as The Sweet, T Rex and UFO. The band were asked to perform as Special Guests at S50 - the Slade 50th Anniversary Convention at the Slade Rooms in Walsall on Saturday 19th March.

Here's Martin's report of the event.

"We came, we saw, we sang a song about an 'oss!" Friday 18th March Back from work. Load the car - 3 guitars, 2 electric and the new Yamaha electro-acoustic and keyboards. Stage gear - M'Hat, M'Coat. Let's go! Check in at the hotel then off to the pub with Evil Ed and Maria, Nomis Simon Baurley and Liz, Martin Bundy and Sian Evans, Jan Visscher and Astrid Visscher and the four German guys including Uwe Friedrich and Rudolf Schubert. Chilled pre-gig drinks and much mutual love and reminiscing between me and Nomis. Saturday 19th March Into town for a walkabout and breakfast with Ed and Maria. Back to the hotel by midday where I am met by my fellow Pouk Hill Prophetz mate, the one and only Nigel Hart who has come up with Geoff, who is doubling up as photographer and roadie. A motley crew assembles in the bar including the legendary David Kemp, his son Jack, De Daley and Gwen Dale and Glenn. I am introduced to Richard Cox, the journalist who was involved with the "Slade Alive!" recordings and who had already posted comments about wanting to hear our band (our reputation precedes us...got to deliver!), James Hannington and Susan Wilson and her son from Scotland and the lady who used to work at the Astra Agency. Then Mark Smith rolls up with his mate. Some top boys (and girls) are here today. 2pm-ish and we decide to start making a move to the venue. 5 minutes' walk so we (I) decide not to get a taxi. Me and Rudolf with my guitars and keyboard and Nigel and Geoff carrying the monster strobe light for Trevor West's t-shirt! Haha! Kinda cool walking through Wolverhampton with our gear. Arrive at the Slade Rooms. Awesome. The place is already pretty full. Various old skool faces including the one and only Mr Mark Richards (what a guy!), Paul Lythe and my Canadian mate Andre St-Amand, Ken Campbell, Kenny Bell, Craigie Storey, Colin Launder, Dave Jewell, James Craig, John and Jane Sales and the promoter Andreas Andy Blodwyn. Eventually we locate our drummer, Mr West, accompanied by his own personal fan club of his wife, Denise West and his daughters Rebekah and Bethany. Everyone is telling us we are gonna be great and how much they are looking forward to hearing us play! Magic! No pressure there then! I find out that Paul Heywood is doing the sound for the afternoon, so I know we are in good hands. My old mate, the bard of Nottingham, Paul Cookson, is there and so I grab a copy of his latest book of poetry "Touched by the band of Nod" (go out and buy it, 'cos it's great!) and then decide to get a copy for my oldest girl, Louise, as well so she can read about her Dad's musical heroes! 4.00pm and we're on! One acoustic guitar, one voice, one drummer. An A minor chord and then as it changes to D minor and Nigel sings the first line of "Coz I Luv You" the place erupts! Brilliant! The crowd were totally behind us from the start and it was an absolute privilege to play for these guys! I had specifically wanted this set to have some obscure songs in for the real hard core fans, so we then launched into "Summer Song" from "Flame". Were the hard core fans there? You'd better believe it as they sang this little gem word perfect! "Far Far Away" followed before switching to keyboards for 5 songs - again a mixture of classics and obscure tunes. What better way to close the set than an acoustic version of "Cum On Feel The Noize"? Then again the crowd basically sang that for us! Thank you so much! We loved it! (The Montreal Expos' baseball cap was a tribute to my great Canadian buddy, Daniel Bloomfield, who unfortunately, could not join us on the day.) Pouk Hill Prophetz outside the Slade Rooms No rest for the wicked, and as Kenny Bell launches into a great solo set, we are required firstly outside for a photoshoot (how rock 'n' roll, does that sound?!) and then in the main hall for our soundcheck as Special Guests opening the evening for the brilliant Slade UK. Things sound great playing through the big PA. Huge respect to Andrew Gill for allowing me to use his setup and helping with the sound. Top man! A short break in the bar area and I am required to tune Paul Cookson's Superyob ukulele (yes! really! I want one!) as he finishes his poetry readings! ...with Bethany on tambourine 7.00pm. Showtime! We are changed and ready to go, but no crowd! The doors are still closed. Eventually the audience is let in. The rockin' DJ Claire Gibbons plays "Pouk Hill" and we take the stage to a thunderous reception. This has to be good! What a privilege to be here! Now, it's time to deliver. From the very first chord the crowd were with us, willing us to succeed. That meant so much. Two songs in and then we play our first Slade song "Darling Be Home Soon" - everyone knows every word and there is a feeling of great love in the air. A bit of T Rex and then it is time for Know Who You Are (video below on timeline). Trevor's daughter, Bethany joins us as a guest and so the Prophetz' version now has *tambourine by known member of the audience, as opposed to the original credit on "Slade Alive!" A little bit of ZZ Top and then it's time to play, in the words of Andy Blodwyn, "that song about an 'oss"! By now, our old mates, Daren Bishop and Tracey Palmer had arrived and we know that this song always brings tough guy Daren to tears! We had planned for Trevor's other daughter, Rebekah to come on stage and play Jim Lea's violin part with us. We introduced her by saying "We are passing the baton to the next generation" and the place went nuts! Pouk Hill Prophetz with Rebekah after her violin performance What a star! She was note perfect and the applause at the end was immense... I am told the full length version is going to be on YouTube soon. Check it out! It is great! You can tell from the reaction of me, Nigel and Trevor how we felt and how proud Trevor was of both his daughters on the night. Martin playing the Superyob guitar So, last song - we gotta close our set with something noisy and I have been given the opportunity of playing Michael's Superyob guitar. No way am I going to miss out on this! We close with "I'm A Rocker" which goes into "My Baby Left Me/ That's All Right Mama" and as we finish the reaction is amazing. We leave the stage with the crowd shouting for more! We came, we saw, we played a song about an 'oss! Slade UK took the stage at 8.00pm for two sets of blistering rock. If you have not seen 'em - go and see 'em! They are great and Nidge Hillam is absolutely amazing! How can someone sing like this?! Unless, of course, he is called Noddy Holder! 11.00pm curfew and back to the hotel with the gear - this time loaded into a taxi. There's a load of guys going to continue the rockin' at the pub until the early hours. We decide to have a cup of tea in Nigel's room! Eat your hearts out, Saxon! Sunday 20th March Everyone is up and knocking about in the reception area of the hotel by 10.00am. Various people start to make their way home, but eight of us are off into town for a visit to the Willard Wigan exhibition featuring the miniature Noddy Holder in a pin! Amazing artwork. Breakfast in what used to be Beatties and then off to Bilston to say adios to various amigos in The Trumpet. Got to be done! What a weekend! It was a pleasure to be invited to play at this event. This group has meant so much to me. I love their music and it has been a privilege not only to have learnt their songs over the years, but to be in a band with two guys who have the same love and passion for their music as I do! Noddy, Jim, Dave and Don (Hanne Svalgaard Lundby) - Thank you! Peace and Love, Martin x

Pouk Hill Prophetz
playing Slade's Coz I Luv You

Pouk Hill Prophetz with Rebekah on violin,
playing Slade's Dapple Rose

Old Bostonian Association Annual Dinner 2016 - Report

As expected, there were fewer attendees at this year's old Bostonian Association Annual Dinner than at last year's. It was still a very respectable attendance of over 70 people; about average for the last few years.

Because of the reduced numbers we returned from the BGS assembly hall of last year to the comfortable surroundings of the Boston and County Club, near to the main entrance of Boston's Central Park.

People started gathering in the bar at 6:30pm and after a while there was quite a crowd and the volume was increasing.

Three of the five members of 1967 school band,
Gotham City were together for the first time in 49 years:
David Wortley, Ty Dalby and Nick Flynn

Past OBA President, Tony Austin
and his wife, Jill

George Danby and his wife Pearl
with Ken Newham

Pat Everitt and David Wilson

While we were all in the bar, Peter Milsom produced a painting by former BGS staff member, Hubert "Tilly" Turpin (BGS 1927-1964), asking what the subject might be. I have since confirmed that it is Ely Cathedral.

Once the OBA President, Peter Sharman had worked out that the PA was indeed piped into the bar, he managed to call everyone through to the dining room at about 7:30pm for an excellent and well waited meal.

The top table, left to right: Thomas Vamplew (BGS student and quiz scorer), Smilte Matutionyte and Joe Dean (students and OBA museum curators), Peter Sharman (OBA President), Brig Bill Dunham CBE BSc (guest speaker), John McHenry (BGS head teacher), Harvey Potter (Head Boy), Damian Austen (Deputy Head Boy)

After dinner there was a short break before the speeches: time to mingle again.

Bill Stanwell and Stan Lawrence

Rod Dunn

David Wookey and Scott Palmer

Nigel Wainwright and Harvey Potter

Ken Newham and Pete Milsom

Pat Welberry and Gus Goor

Jim Ely and David May

After a brief introduction and loyal toast from OBA President, Peter Sharman, Richard Anderson took the microphone to introduce our guest speaker, Bill Dunham (BGS 1972-1979). Bill joined the Royal Marines in 1979 straight from BGS and had a long and varied career including command at every level up to Brigadier. His Career culminated in roles as Commandant of Commando Training Centre, as Chief of Staff of the NATO Training Mission in Kabul and finally Deputy Commandant General. He left the Corps on 31 March 2015 and now works as the Director of Strategy and Corporate Services at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Peter Sharman

Richard Anderson

Richard Anderson

Brig. Bill Dunham

Bill's speech was entertaining and thought provoking, relating with stories both serious and funny how his time at BGS and in Royal Marines training informed his later career, and indeed lessons real and tongue in cheek that we can all take from his experiences. He then went on to propose a toast to The School.

The response was provided by BGS head teacher, John McHenry, who acknowledged that the recent Ofsted report of the school indicated that continued improvement was necessary but balanced that with an explanation that while the inspectors had to show three years of improvement, they acknowledged the last two showed an "upward trajectory". On the specific point made about the behaviour of students, he made a good argument that the two incidents referred to in the report were not significant. He also noted that the school is an academy but that the current drive is for schools to be involved in multi-institution academies. This need not mean the school being swallowed up into a larger organisation but does mean it needs to select partner schools, and select them wisely.

Brig. Bill Dunham

Bill Dunham and John McHenry

John McHenry

The official business was brought to a close by the Head Boy, Harvey Potter, who spoke of his view that speaking at the OBA Annual Dinner was one of the highlights of his year in office. He also acknowledged the honour he felt in following his brother Ellis Potter into the role; Ellis gave the response to the toast to The School at the dinner in 2014.

Those who attended the dinner were as follows.

Ron Abbott	(73/98 Staff)
Richard Anderson	(71/14 Staff)
Toni Anne Pain	(Guest)
Damian Austen	Deputy Head Boy
Jill Austin	(Guest)
Tony Austin	(56/62)
Pauline Borrett	(Guest)
Robin Borrett	(92/94 Staff)
Mark Bruntlett	(78/85)
Marcus Cain	(81/89)
Colin Clark	(51/58)
Tyrone Dalby	(58/66)
George Danby	(59/64)
Pearl Danby	(Guest)
Jack Davy	(02/09)
Joe Dean	Student – OBA Museum
Bill Dunham	Guest Speaker (72/79)
Rod Dunn	(66/96 Staff)
Dan Elkington	(97/03)
Jim Ely	(59/64)
Pat Everitt	(74/81)
Ian Fisher	(83/89)
Nick Flynn	(60/66)
Jamie Forman	(78/84)
Gus Goor	(57/62)
Nick Hiom	(85/90)
Andrew Hladun	(74/80)
James Hopper	(83/91)
Robin Jackson	(59/65)
Luke Johnston	(02/09)
Philip Johnston	(70/77 Staff)
Andy Lawrence	(75/82)
Stan Lawrence	(45/50)
Mark Leggott	(75/81)
David Lenton	(62/68)
Mark Locking	((82/89)
Smilte Matutionyte	Student – OBA Museum
David May	(60/64)
John McHenry	Head Teacher
Simon Meeds	(76/84)
Stan Meeds	(38/43)
Pete Milsom	(61/66)
Sue Milsom	(Guest)
Darren Mitcham	(82/89)
Ben Mountain	(87/94)
Ken Newham	(41/46)
Sara Nicol	(Guest)
Trevor Page	(49/55)
Scott Palmer	(87/94)
Keith Phillips	(72/79)
Colin Pickwell	(60/65)
Harvey Potter	Head Boy
Reg Priestley	(45/46)
Peter Rawlings	(53/58)
Peter Sharman	OBA President (59/64)
Don Sharpe
Bill Stanwell	(43/47)
Bob Stanwell	(54/61)
Don Stimson	(51/56)
Judy Stimson	(Guest)
Thomas Vamplew	Student – OBA Quiz etc.
Nigel Wainwright	(77/14 Staff)
Pat Walters	(82/89)
Pat Welberry	(59/62)
Roger Welberry	(56/60)
Ken Whittle	(52/89 Staff)
Pat Whittle	(Guest)
David Wilson	(74/81)
Stephen Wood	(01/08)
Catharine Woodliffe	(Guest)
Stephen Woodliffe	(88/06 Staff)
David Wookey	(81/89)
David Wortley	(59/66)
Richard Wray	(56/61)
Tony Wright	(78/84)

Philip Johnston (BGS headmaster 1970-78) with Brig. Bill Dunham

Terry Gibson - Obituary

Terry Gibson (BGS 1948–56)

The Venerable Terence Allen Gibson, former Archdeacon of Ipswich, died in September 2015 aged 77. Born in Boston in 1937 he attended Boston Grammar School from 1948 to 1956 becoming Head Prefect and was awarded a State Scholarship. He served his National Service as a radar fitter in the RAF from 1956 to 1958 before continuing his education at Jesus College Cambridge from 1958 to 1961 achieving a triple first in natural science and theology. He subsequently prepared for the ministry at Cuddesdon College, near Oxford, and was ordained in Liverpool in 1963.

Terry was appointed Assistant Curate at St Chad’s in Kirkby near Liverpool in 1963 and in 1966 took up the position of Warden at the Church of England youth centre - Centre 63. He became Team Vicar in Kirkby in 1972, and was later appointed Rector of Kirkby in 1975 and Rural Dean of Walton in 1979. Terry moved to Suffolk in 1984 accepting to take up the position of Archdeacon of Suffolk, and was installed as Archdeacon of Ipswich in 1987. He retired in 2005 and was appointed Archdeacon Emeritus. In his retirement he continued to be active, taking services at the Bishop’s chapel and in parishes throughout the diocese almost every week.

Terry’s interest in youth work pre-dated his work at Centre 63. He joined the Boy Scout movement and the 5th Boston Scout troop at the age of 11 and grew to hold a warrant as Assistant Scout Master by the age of 18. As Scout Master he led troops in Boston, and Cuddesdon before starting a Scout troop in Kirkby in 1964.

In the early days of his ministry in the new town of Kirkby near Liverpool, half the population were under 21 and the birth rate was six times the national average; both the crime rate and unemployment rates were probably not far behind. Centre 63 had a constant membership of over 1,000 young people whom it helped to work out their own needs and to meet them. Open every day of the year from early morning until late evening this was a full-time job. Later as Rector of Kirkby, Terry led a team of 13 clergy and full time workers in what was the largest team ministry in the UK at the time. On his appointment as Archdeacon of Suffolk and later Ipswich he might have found rural Suffolk quiet by comparison, but he was responsible for 135 and later 290 parishes in the county and was soon preoccupied by the challenges this presented; he told amusing stories of dealing with awkward vicars and churchwardens at war.

Terry opened his address as guest speaker to the Old Bostonian Association annual dinner in 2006 with the following words: “I guess that one thing we all have in common is that we look back with affection and gratitude to all at this school who influenced our lives for good, and who did so much to help us to set the standards by which we have lived since we were pupils here.” These words eloquently communicate the importance to him of his time at the school. He will be missed by his sister Hazel and brothers Roger and Peter (both BGS old boys).

by Peter Gibson (BGS 1959-65)

OBA Quiz Night 2016

The Old Bostonian Association Quiz Night 2016 took place on 25 February at the Boston and County Club. The quiz master was Richard Anderson and there were teams made up of BGS old boys, current students of the school, BGS staff and old girls of Boston High School.

In a reverse of the 2015 scores Urban Bunny (left one member short this year with the absence of Nick Charlton) and a team led by Richard Cammack (this year called The Frankless Tasks presumably because Frank Cammack was replaced by Nicola Cammack) came second and first respectively in the qualifying round, and first and second after the final quick fire buzzer round.

I would like to thank Thomas Vamplew of BGS Y13 for the record of the scores.

Team	GK 1	GK 2	Picture	Music	Jackpot	Total
Doddy's Limbos	12	12	12	17	2	55
Quasimdodo and the Repulsions	16	18	15	18	10	77
Shining Whits	15	18	19	20	8	80
Stick to your Tedzuz	13	12	12	11	2	50
The Frankless Tasks	17	19	19	21	10	86
The Jays	15	9	13	6	6	49
The Old Gals	17	13	15	12	6	63
The President Elect	18	17	13	17	8	73
Unprepared	16	13	14	17	4	64
Urban Bunny	19	19	16	21	8	83
Final Buzzer Round
The Frankless Tasks	Dan	Oli	Richard	Nicola	Final Score
	80	70	60	0	210
Urban Bunny	Howie	Pat	Colin
	250	110	0		360	WINNERS!

Photographs, with thanks to Howard Charlton.

The winning team, Urban Bunny:
Howard Charlton, Pat Everitt and Colin Clark

Runners-up, The Frankless Task:
Richard Cammack, Nicola Cammack, Oli Cammack and Dan Newton

Quiz Master: Richard Anderson