Contact  and emails from old friends

- Please use the form at the bottom of this page to send any message to the site, or email me at davidrobinson7@blueyonder.co.uk

Email - received 5/5/08 from Denis Hurst -  I happened to be on the google site yesterday searching for any references to Margaret Carleton who I had lost contact with some years ago . I believe she was a Deputy Head  Teacher in Swindon having done an 11 year stint at RAF Wildenraf  but I no longer have her current address. I was astonished when the MUGS web site  came up which, incidentally  I think is absolutely brilliant and brought back lots of wonderful memories of my time at Upholland. I was even more amazed to to find that you had a copy of the "behind the bikes sheds"  photograph. I still have the original copy and believe that the lovely young ladies were Susan Green , Joan Smith and Jo Noble. Where did you get your copy?  I also have a copy of the 2nd Fifteen Rugby team which I will attach .It's funny what items you hold onto because I also have a copy of the 1961 Tercentenary School Magazine.  It was really nice to read the emails from Peter Normanton and Peter Peloe, 2 of the friends whom I shared a taxi for several years . It was also good to see that some of childhood romances have stood the test of time. Congratulations to Clive and Lynne and Peter and Helen.I was at UGS between 1961 and 1968 and cannot believe that 40 years have gone by so quickly. As regards myself , I have been living in Stourbridge West Midlands for the last 31 years.. I have been married for nearly 35 years to Valerie and have 2 grown up children .( Incidentally Chris Monks was best man at the wedding )  On leaving University I eventually decided that I needed to earn a living and qualified as an Accountant . I have worked in local government finance largely in Birmingham City Council for many years and more recently have been involved in the organisation  of some major sports events such as the World Indoor Athletics Championships and the European Indoor championships which were both staged in Birmingham. On retiring from the City Council around 4 years ago I formed my own consultancy company which specialises in the bidding for and organisation of sports events. I have always been mad about sport and this is a great way of occupying my time. Having been converted from a soccer player to rugby at UGS ,under duress from Jock Anderson, I managed to play for 26 years at Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club as   "a has been who never was" eventually packing it in at the age of 53 when I realised that the props were quicker than me.I have attached a couple of photos, one of the 2nd fifteen rugby team 1968 (see Sport) which I captained ( they were really desperate !!!) together with a recent photo of my family on holiday (see below). I always looked very young for my age which was often a disadvantage in my youth . Unfortunately it does not seem to work the same when you get older!Please let me know if you are planning any reunions. I would love to come .Also if you have any info on Margaret's whereabouts please let me know Once again congratulations on such a great website.  

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Email received from Ann Hilton (nee Cunliffe) - I was just browsing when I found your site, what a gem
I attended UGS from 1960-65 and remember lots of your names on your site.
I was Ann Cunliffe and lived in Billinge, and I would like to know if anyone remembers me?
I still live in Billinge, have been marries for 38 years and have 3 childred and 2 grandchildren.
Who thought we would grow up. I still think of UGS and have fond memories.

Email received from Alastair Macqueen   -  who amongst other achievments was race engineer on the JCB Dieselmax shown below. Check it out on  http://www.jcbdieselmax.com/html/home.php

E-mail                 : mactechservices@btinternet.com
Comments               : It was with great interest that I stumbled upon the email by Raymond Rogers on your site.
I was at UGS from 64 to 68 when after my O levels my family moved south following my fathers job.
I remember all the teachers mentioned, particularly Mr 'Elliot' Doran the woodwork master, for it was he who I convinced to allow us to start a slot racing model car club. I think I spent most of my school time building and running that club.
The name Amanda Horsley jumped out of the page at me as the very first girl I took to the cinema! I think my second girlfriend was Linda Whittle who I know went on to marry the son of the Mr 'fag' Eastham!
After 'A's at Aylesbury Grammer I drifted into the music business in my gap year (which I am still enjoying) and later in to motorsport when my first son was born.
During my time at UGS I was a great motor racing fan (hence the model car club) but never dreamed of making a living at it. But some years later I have helped a number of British teams to win the Le Mans 24hr race and have my own motorsport engineering consultancy.
Google my name and you will get a gist of what I get up to!

Email received from Reg Dulson
E-mail                 : rdulson@hotmail.co.uk
Comments               : Gala Day 1964? Still got the humour, pity about the hair! Overnight security was supposed to protect the field, shame we spent most of the time running riot in the school! Never did get any comeback for the motorcycle tyre tracks on the top corridor. Speaking of which, are either of the two young ladies out there who I carried pillion across the field? (at the same time!) I`m still sorry (nearly) for not telling you to duck when we got to the rope around the cricket square! Shame about the mud. I wasn`t at UGS for long, the fifth year only, but I distinctly remember going to the Methodist Hall on a friday night, I used to go with Dave Dickson to watch the girls (sorry I meant to say "groups") Eventually I met Beryl Parker and we were "good friends" until she was seduced by the bright lights of St.Helens

Email - received from Steve Clarke I don't know if there have ever been better parties than those that took place at my house from about 1966 through 1969.  They were spectacular, with beer and wine flowing by the gallon as well as crap like Cinzano Bianco or Sweet Vermouth - anything to get the girls drunk. 
The biggest party had over a hundred people in the smallish three bed detached on Shevington Lane.  It took several "whip rounds" and multiple trips to the Plough and Harrow to keep the drinkers happy.  As if by magic, when my parents came home, the house was more or less back in order.
The longest party we had was in 1966 when my parents (foolishly) took a two week vacation to Spain while I had one week at Billy's Brothel in Pwhelli.  Amazingly, I was left to fend for myself for a whole delicious week.  We only had one party but it was a week long.  People showed up at noon on the Saturday the old folks left and didn't leave until the following week.  The names of the guilty parties probably should remain a mystery except for Helen and Peter Burchall who eventually made it alright by marrying each other.  One night four of us boys drunk an entire bottle of my father's scotch and spent the rest of the night sliding down the stairs, laughing and throwing up.  Peter was the house captain and had to go to school the next day to umpire a house cricket match.  I don't know how he could even stand up he was still so drunk.  Gosh those were grand times.
If that house could talk what tales it could tell.  Our behavior had a lot in common with a Roman orgy and I was disappointed to learn as I watched I Claudius that we hadn't actually invented the orgy after all.   But, for sure, many a young teen made their first forays into adulthood at 54 Shevington Lane.
Now I am older and wiser, I realize that my parents must have had a fair idea what was going on.  The aromas alone should have been enough to give it away, never mind the ruffled sheets in their bed (I could never remake their bed like mum used to make it).  But, they never said anything about it. Not one word.  Not even about the red wine on their bedroom floor!  I can only assume that they thought everything we were doing we would do anyway and it was better if I was not driving to get home afterward.  If you have a better theory I would love to hear it.

Email - received 16/9/2007 from Peter Normanton   -

Hello again Dave and all,
I recently saw on the MUGS 61 site that you'd made contact with Peter Peloe
whom I remember very well. I often wonder if he got the job he aspired to in
Customs and Excise. Moreover I hope he sees this email as he had an enormous
effect on my life without realising it and I have never had a chance to
thank - that is until now ...
Peter and I go back before UGS. We were two of the Knowsley eight taxi crowd
(Clive Pitts, Dave Carter, Dennis Hurst, Allan Fleming, John Hodgkinson an
George Bate) but we and  Clive Pitts were also together at Knowsley
Stockbridge Primary School in the 1950s. There, Peter Learnt to play a
Hawaiian Ukulele and formed a band of Black and White Minstrels with Stephen
Forster, Ronnie (??) and a third boy I think. I still remember them singing
"Old Black Joe" at a school concert. Political correctness caused the title
and lyrics to be been changed to "Poor Old Joe" and Black and White
Minstrels are no longer allowed! Peter later moved on to a Banjo (the George
Formby type) and then round about the time we started at Upholland, he moved
on to a proper guitar. It was at this point that Peter changed my life. He
could play House of the Rising Sun, the piece that every self respecting
guitarist aspired to along with its "F bar chord".  One day in an
"A-corridor" cloakroom, I asked him to show me how to play it. He spent five
minutes trying to teach me then lost patience and said "You'll never be able
to play the guitar".
That was it! The gauntlet had been thrown down. I swapped the clarinet I'd
lost interest in for a cheap £7 Eko guitar. This was the one you knocked off
the shelf in Butlins, Pwllheli when we were there with Steve Clarke and
Steve Wright. (The picture I took of you three is still on the MUGS site.)
After the Butlins guitar accident, I managed to get another guitar and I
started a band with Phil Rickman. I played lead and he played rhythm
(because I was bigger than him). Then you joined with your one drum and
cymbal and then Steve Clarke joined on Bass. Not quite sure what went wrong,
but had it not been for the Beatles taking all the limelight, I'm sure we
would have made it.
I remember working hard at my guitar over many hours teaching myself to play
just to show that Peter Peloe a thing of two! I was also inspired by Paul
(Fred) Barker, our long suffering Latin teacher, finger-picking his guitar
and singing Big Rock Candy Mountain at a school concert. From then on, I
became serious about it. I even bought a nylon string guitar for £15 guineas
(which I still have and use to teach) and I learned some classical pieces
which I later played at a school concert.
Round about 1967-ish Clarke swapped me his solid electric guitar for my
camera. This was a quantum leap for me as it now meant I could play in a
band in Liverpool with "experienced" musicians (they had played for over
three years and were getting paid for it.) Suddenly I realised that I could
make money out of this.
In 1969, I worked in Prestatyn Holiday Camp during university hols as a
Bluecoat for a couple of years and eventually I managed to bluff my way into
the Camp's professional dance band. Yes, for the first time I was playing as
a true pro musician, although the band did bring a whole new meaning to the
idea of mediocrity.
From then I played with numerous pro and semi-pro bands both as a student
and after graduating. Many times my income from playing paid for luxuries in
life - like eating regularly. I played for about three years in and around
Cardiff. (I was only a couple of miles away from Irene Danson without even
realising it. Damn!) When I moved to the London area, I joined a successful
four piece band with a drummer whose voice sounded more like Matt Monroe
than Matt Monroe's. When I moved to Milton Keynes in 1986 I joined a band
which over time developed into the three piece band I still play with - but
now we play on an irregular basis. We sound pretty good for a bunch of old
never-has-beens. Barry Clayton came to listen to us once. I haven't heard
from him since but that's just coincidence - I think.
I retired from work about five years ago and sadly in Jan 2008 I will be
retiring from band work too after forty years of serious playing. (By
serious I mean getting paid for it.) But I still teach guitar in my music
studio and I will carry on doing this for the foreseeable future as it too
pays for those extra luxuries in life.
So in a round-about way, that's how Peter Peloe influenced my life for the
better and I thank him from the bottom of my wallet. I often wish Jock
(cirrrrcuit trrraining) Anderson had told me straight me that I'd never make
it as an international pro-footballer instead of being subtle and saying I
was built more for comfort than for speed !
There are lots of band stories I will tell you when I see you Dave about
some hairy playing experiences and my biggest ever claim-to-fame regarding
Tom Jones
Very best wishes,
Pete

 Email - received 14/8/2007 from Raymond Rogers. -  When I joined UGS in very late 1965 (2 weeks before the Christmas exams) I was placed in  Nelson House ,form 1N, the few names I recall from that form of 26 bodies are (in no particular order) our form master Mr Hitchen , Charles Ashall , Nigel Parker , Peter Howarth , David Mills , Peter Unsworth , David Ford , Brian Whalley , Moira Blanthorn , Amanda Horsley, Hazel Vardy , Susan Baron .Some of the teachers that took our form were Mr. Wynne (French and our form teacher in second year) nickname "Martian" as he always wore a green suit , Mr.Bowman (Music) a very serious person , Miss Stephenson (English Lang/Lit) , Mr. Doran (Woodwork) a relatively easy-going teacheer with a sense of humour , Mr.S.Jones (Biology) "Spike" never shouted or lost his patience with those who struggled with the subject  , Mr.Anderson (P.E.) " Jock" , Geography was taught by a teacheer who had the nickname "Eye" but I cannot remember his name .

After the summer exams at the end of our first year we were streamed into 2A , B , C and D for our second year . If memory is correct , we were the final form year to be identified by A,B,C or D index which was to reflect a classes acedemic abilities . Following years were still streamed but their year number had a random letter suffix . I was selected for form 2D by virtue of apparent lack of ability. The role- call of that class hardly changed as we ascended to 5D . For Maths and some options subjects our class structure would change , some of our core class would be in Set 3 for Maths and conversely some of the C classes would be in Set 2 or 3 or 4 . Similar structure for options subjects .

Email recieved 5/6/07 from Clive Shaw -
E-mail : cliveshaw@blueyonder.co.uk
Comments : Hi
I went to UGS in the glorious summer of 69 and left in 76 so do i count?
Currently a GP in Crosby, Merseyside, married one child.
Great site, really enjoyed it and will get round to adding a few bits myself. In the meantime if anyone wants to get in touch and share some memories either in cyberspace or the pub, please do.
best wishes all.
Clive Shaw

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Copy of Email received from Helen and Peter Burchall, 31/5/2007 -

 We want you to know that as a result of your reunion and all the hard work you do for the website Peter and I met up with Steve Wright and his wife Mary, at Easter this year and had a wonderful time, a day that we will never forget. Our holiday was planned for a while before Steve wrote to your website following the reunion and I have to admit it took a while to pluck up the courage to contact him, as he had asked , and to suggest that it was a possibility to meet. We would never have known what we had missed if we had failed to get in touch but thankfully we grasped the opportunity. After several emails we arranged to meet on Good Friday for lunch at a restaurant suggested by Steve and Mary at Manly Beach. We were in Sydney for four days out of a six week trip round the world which had so many highlights but non to beat this meeting. As Peter and I waited and tried to spot Steve, trying to think what he would be like after 40 years, we needn't have worried that we would not recognise each other. Within minutes we were talking fifty to the dozen about the reunion, about school, families, experiences along the way, Steve Clarke etc. etc. Steve and Mary had such a warm welcome for us and we both felt we had known Mary for years. After a long lunch,(we were first in the restaurant and last out) Steve drove us up the coast to the National Park to one of their favourite places and then we went to see their beautiful home for tea before they drove us back to our hotel at Darling Harbour. I hope you can see from the pictures what a wonderful day we had and I hope you will enjoy the fact that you made this possible.

( "Thank for the kind words and I get great pleasure from your message and others received that old friends are still meeting up as a result of the reunion and the website." - David)

Peter, Helen, Steve and Mary enjoying their reunion lunch.

Raymond Guy  - In May I received two emails from Raymond who in his own words " was the wheezy kid from Liverpool " He still lives in Liverpool, is married and has one daughter Nicola. He divides his time between Liverpool and London working for the NHS. Ray used to be a football referee and was a linesman at the 1984 cup final between Spurs and QPR and also the replay. He retired from refereeing in 1995. On the morning of the cup final Ray was in the Whites Hotel and bumped into "Jock" Anderson. They had a quick chat and Ray says "Jock" didn't look as evil as he used to ! ! If any old pupils who would like to contact Ray his email address is ray.guy@blueyonder.co.uk

2 Emails received from Jennifer Gaskell February 2007.

First name : jenny 

Last name : kennedy

E-mail : lavenderlil@hotmail.co.uk

Comments : fka Jennifer Gaskell

Dear David

Thank you for contacting me through friends reunited I spent a great afternoon in dreary wet wales lokking at the web site. we didn't have a computer in 2005 so I didn't know about the reunion. How can Joan Smith look exactly the same? more surnames on the pictures of the blokes please I don't recognise them. I am in contact with Richenda Dixon my cousin ,Mike Parr her husband, Jonty Parr his brother and Janet Dixon Richenda's cousin. All were pupils at UGS in the sixties. Sadly my sister Joan Gaskell ,who left in 1960 died in 1995 . I suspect I am one of those faceless people that no one remembers but if any one does I would love to hear from them. ARE you planning another reunion ?

Best wishes Jenny

I remember: -

Mrs Naylor measuring the length of our skirts as we came out of assembly.

Wearing a cancan skirt under my summer uniform.

Folding my hat in half so that it lokked like somthing from Robin Hood .

Throwing soggy bezzy balls (made from asbestos mats) on the chemistry lab ceiling.

Swinging off the school bus as it went round the corner by the Gas showroom and going to see my boyfriend .

Sitting exams in the main hall with Rocket (Miss Stevenson) pacing up and down .

Capsizing a yacht on a flash beyond Winstanly and having to wait dripping wet for my dad to pick me up . Oh for a mobile phone ! I can't Remember who was in the yacht with me other than that it was a boy ,but we clung to the upturned boat. Sailing club was closed soon after when it was fond that the flash was of unknown depth leading into mine workings..

Email received 24th September 2006 from Christy Taylor in Arizona -

Dear David,

Greetings from Arizona. How are you? Can you believe it's a year since the reunion!!

How was your summer? I was in Europe for a month. I visited Scotland to stay at my brother's new home. Remember I was over in England the week before the reunion for his wedding.

You might like to put this on the website. Whilst I was in Scotland, Joan Smith, Susan Banks and myself met up in Edinburgh for the weekend of June 17 & 18. We had a great time. It was also Sue's first trip to that city. We had talked about meeting up at the reunion as I had mentioned that I would be in the UK briefly in June. So over the year we decided where to meet and arranged dates and ended up in Edinburgh.

I have to thank you for this as without the reunion this would not have happened. We vowed as we said our goodbyes at Waverley Station that we would not leave it as long to meet up again!!

Also, I had intended to meet up and have dinner with Barry Clayton in London as I passed through the capital on my way to Paris but unfortunately he was working out of the country on the dates I was there. Maybe next trip we'll be able to get together.

I think that's all for now.

Regards, Christy.

Email I received from Tommy Derbyshire on 18th September 2006

Hiya Dave,

Hope that you & your family are well. Just a quick e-mail to ask if you'd seen the "deaths"section of last week's Wigan Reporter? One entry was for"Eric Anderton(former teacher at Upholland Grammar School 1953-1978)". As you'll no doubt recall,Mr Anderton was the school's metalwork teacher,when you & I were there.I only had him as a teacher when I was in form 2B,as that was the only year that I did metalwork.However,he was my form master in 1964/5,when I was in form 4C.I found him to be a really decent,nice man,despite this ferocious entry which he wrote in my end of term report book,which I have before me at this minute,for Easter 1965:- "This is a low mark for term work.It shows that little work is being done in school or at home,and also that he doesn't have the guts to get down to it and prove that he can do better." As I said,ferocious,but entirely deserved. At that time I was totally emersed in Wigan's mod scene,& couldn't give a toss about school! Mr Anderton was a really nice man,& it's sad to hear of his demise.

All the best Dave. Al sithee,

Tommy

****    Recently received email from John Foster - Does anyone know the whereabouts of Stephen Moffat, ex-UGS teacher.    *****

E-mail : John_Foster@fsmail.net

Comments : We're trying to locate one of our old teachers to invite him to our 30 year reunion on 17th June....He actually taught at UGS circa 1973ish...his name was Stephen Moffatt...I would imagine he would have been early twenties back then...so early 50s now. If you can help at all we'd be really grateful. Great site by the way!!!

Cheers  - John Foster...Class of 76

Joan Harrison  Joan emailed to say she enjoyed the site but why only the 60's ? (I am happy to hear from any old pupils, whatever year - David). Joan says - I left UpHolland Grammar in 1954. After teacher Training College spent the next 32 years teaching and having 3 children. I lived in the same village as Gerald Rickards, but he went to Hindley and Abram Grammar School. I was saddened to hear of his death.  Staff at UGS in my time :- Mr Jones - Chem., Mr Melling - Chem., who married Miss Marsh - Girls P.E., Mr Worthington, Mr Lythgoe and Miss Anderton - all Maths, Miss Penman - Biol.,Mr Studdert - Latin, Doctor Muellin - French, Mr Johns and Miss Stephenson - English, Miss Beck - R.E., Mr Boddy and Mr Kilner - History, Mr Galloway - Music, Miss Gore(?) and Miss ward - Art, Mr Baggley - History, Mr Maggs - Headmaster and Miss Goode - Senior Mistress. All contributors to a marvellous education. 

          Pirates of Penzance c1954 Latin Teachers version

Nick Ellis from the 1965 intake emailed to say he likes the website but would like to see more pupils from his era ! Nick works for Poole Council, in charge of the journeys to and from school (Road Safety, engineering, travel plans ...) and says the great joy of his job is that he now gets to boss headteachers around, oh the irony! Some names he mentions are Patrick Downes who's in Fleet, Hants and still collects guitars. And asks where is Peter Fairclough and whatever happened to the Huyton Lads?

Stephen Wright  has been in touch from Sydney, Australia. Steve left Upholland in 1966 when his family emigrated to Sydney. He completed a Bachelor of Engineering degree at the University of Technology Sydney, and became a Design Engineer at Standard Telephones and Cables where he worked for 11 years. He moved back to the UK for a while working as Principal Engineer on EW Systems for Decca Radar Defence Systems in Walton on Thames. He returned to Sydney, founded and ran a video communications and systems integration company which after 8 years was bought out by an international carrier. Since then he has been in a GM strategy role at Optus in Sydney. He has a wife, Mary, and two daughters Sarah and Catherine. Some school memories from Steve can be found on the memories page of this site. Steve would love anyone who remembers him to contact him and share a few memories. His email address is jswright01@optusnet.com.au

Linda Norris  Started at UpHolland Grammar in 1963 and would love to hear from any old friends from school. Her email address is holmes3@blueyonder.co.uk

Malcolm Skyner has written from Perth, Western Australia. He was a pupil at UGS from September 1964 to July 1971. After school he went on to Keele University then had a very interesting career teaching all over England before going to New Zealand and has now settled in Western Australia, where he teaches Science and Mathematics at Lumen Christi College. He would like to hear from any old friends that remember him, and especially Patricia French, Rosalind Liptrot and Susan Walsh. Malcolm can be contacted at skynerm@lumen.wa.edu.au or via this website.

David Robinson -   I would like to trace George Bate who was one of the lads who used to travel from the Liverpool area to UpHolland Grammar. I would also like to trace Trevor Hughes. Trevor lived in UpHolland at the top of Dingle Road and most people might remember him as the small boy who wore national health type glasses which had usually been repaired with a bit of elastoplast. Trevor had a brilliant imagination and used to write brilliant stories and poems. I would also like to find Gillian Derbyshire. Gillian and I were in the same class at Roby Mill primary school, but Gillian was in a year lower than me at UpHolland Grammar after transferring from UpHolland Secondary Modern.

 Gillian Derbyshire.