Contact site at davidrobinson7@blueyonder.co.uk

Message for Marian Pyke (Wilson)

 Marian please contact me. Jennifer has been in touch but I seem to have misplaced your email address

 - David Robinson

Sad Email received 22/11/2011 from Katheen Fowler (Ford) - I have just found your site and wanted to contact you with news of a former pupil.
My name is Kathleen Fowler (Ford) and I have been married to David Fowler (Adams) for nearly 40 years. We were both at UGS from 61-68 and had a great time.
The sad news is that David died last year aged 60 and he is greatly missed by myself his 2 sons and his 3 grandchildren.  - Kathleen

David and Kathleen were good friends of mine at school and I was very shocked and sad to hear of Davids death. I have spoken to several old schoolmates recently and they all had fond memories of David and asked for their love and sympathy to be passed on to Kathleen and her family.     ---    David Robinson

Email received 25/10/2011 from Christy Taylor -  I am now back in Phoenix after a rather short trip to the house in Portugal at the beginning of this month. I also spent time in England, visiting with my daughter Beth who lives in Bramhall and Scotland where my brother retired to a few years ago. During the trip, Joan Smith, Sue Banks and myself arranged to meet up in Chester for a day.  We had a wonderful time starting off with morning coffee at the Grosvenor Hotel then a beautiful Italian restaurant for lunch followed by walks around town and by the river.  The weather was amazing and much catching up on news occurred.  It had been 5 years since the three of met up in Edinburgh in 2006. I think we all looked well for our age, all of us having retired now. Our next get-together is tentatively planned for sometime next summer when I hope that Joan and Sue can travel to Portugal to spend some time at my property there.  I will be spending 4 months in Portugal next year from March through to the end of July.  My husband Rob, who still is working at the University in Phoenix will be visiting a couple of times during that period.

Email received 3/08/2011 from Andrea Gaskell - I was Andrea Haydock - friends with Glenys Hughes, Tina Rogers, Julie Unsworth, Christine Macy, Carol Rimmer; amongst others.  
I left in 1975 to start a brief career in the Civil Service as a Tax Officer, then got married to Dave and had 2 children. 
In 1998 I qualified as a Primary teacher, after being an Adult Ed Lecturer for 16 years.
I now have 3 grandsons and number 4 is on the way in September! 
I remember:  penny socials, Grammar Dances, taking part in a production of Oliver, visiting Kennilworth Castle with French exchange students; visiting Stratford on Avon for a weekend;  getting caught climbing out of C3 classroom window when we got locked in one lunchtime; swimming in the reservoirs; pinching bikes to go to the chippy!!  
Teachers I remember:  Peter O'Leary - English; Mrs Allen; Mrs Moritt (PE); Reg Lathom, Gerry Rickards.  All in all I quite enjoyed my time there!

Email received 12/03/2011 from Frances Parkinson - I have just got back from holiday and found a sad e mail waiting for me from Jeffrey Crook's daughter informing me that her father had passed away. Jeff had only just joined the UGS site around September last year. He was taken ill towards the end of January I think. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and was on a life support machine for a while. After an operation to release pressure on his brain, his condition improved, but unfortunately the worst has now  happened.  (He had also recently relocated from France to Cadiz having lived abroad for many years and acquiring French Citizenship. He attended UGS 1958 - 1963.)

Email received 8/02/2011 from Marian Pyke (nee Wilson)  - I am trying to contact Jennifer Gaskell who was at Up Holland Grammar School  between 1961-1968  She used to live in Shevington and her dad was a teacher. We met at the Gidlow Lane Youth Club  in Wigan and were friends until  I moved to London in 1971.  I wonder if this may be Jennifer Kennedy who emailed you in December from Aberystwyth .  If you can get in touch with her for me it would be good.  ( Jennifer or anyone in contact with her please let me know current email address. - David )

Email received 6/01/2011 from John Foster  -  I just thought I'd let you know the sad news that Geoff Winnard passed away on New Years Eve after a long battle with illness.  Geoff attended UGS between 1969 and 1976 and will be very well remembered by those who attended the school at that time.  The funeral will take place at St Lukes Orrell at 12.00 on Tuesday 11th January 2011 and I'm certain that there will be many of his contemporaries present who wish to pay their respects.
 

Email received 14/12.10 from Jim Barton - Thank you for letting me have a “prompt” that the new MUGS61 website was underway .. good idea to extend it to all.
 
Some recent sad news I spotted was that Robin Thornber died on 5 December.
 
] http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/dec/12/robin-thornber-obituary
 
I went to Upholland with Robin and, although we were never close chums, he was very notable for his remarkable intellect even then and was one of the rare breed at the time who was accepted at Oxford.
 
Email received on 29/11/10 from Dave Atherton -  Comments : I had just received the sad news of the death of Ron Eastham. He taught me for a number of years and anyone who took History "A" level with him will remember "a perjured usurper fraudulently crowned". I was fortunate to be able to teach with him briefly before he moved on to Hindley.
He was a good man and a fine teacher.

Email received 3/12/10 from Jennifer Kennedy (Gaskell)  - Comments  : Hi,  I am Jennifer Gaskell at UGS from 1961 -1968
I am retired and living in Aberystwyth in the summer and Analucia in the winter . I am sorry I missed the reunion .Is it every 5yrs ? 

 Email received 17/7/2010 from Jeffrey Crook - Comments : Great site really pleased to catch up with the news of old shool friends if anyone remembers me please contact me love to here from you ,I am now living in the Cadiz region of Spain after living in France for about 25 years shame I never paid attention in French classes!!! Anyone know what happended to Graham Hooson, Stan Noonan, JohnAlker, Frances Parkinson, Eric Hall,

Sad email received 3/3/10 from Julie Kelly (nee Allanson) E-mail : julie.allanson@sky.com
Comments : I noticed my father, Malcolm Allanson's name on your site. Unfortunately my wonderful dad was killed my a drunk driver who ploughed into the back of his mini van while he was on holiday with friends in Florida in Oct 09. My dad left behind myself, 28, and my brother,31, plus 2 grandchildren and counting ( I am pregnant now, my dad was so happy but unfortunately my next child will only know his Grandad Mal through our memories). Before he was tragically snatched from us, my dad was running a successful double glazing company on the Wirral which he established in 1983 and employed myself and most of the rest of our family! He was a keen golfer and went out to his holiday home in Florida 8-10 times per year. If anyone has photos of my dad from his school days i would love to see them !! Julie x 

Emailreceived 27/2/10 from Pam Benmardhia (nee Hughes) - Comments : I think I attended from 1963-1967 but I'm ashamed to say I can't remember much! (probably why I failed so miserably). I do recall that I was in a "fast" stream so I think it was "a". I took by O levels at the age of 14 and promptly ran away having failed Maths - not surprising as I missed one of the papers altogether - and I flatly refused to retake Maths under Fred "you've made a right pig's ear of that" Green! Having such a short career at UGS, I didn't make any lasting friendships but I do remember Julia Preston, whose father was the caretaker there, and Diane Chatterley - I think we were two rather lost souls together. I was always very good at English, but never quite managed to beat Anne Ball, who always finished top of the class in English - had the most amazing beehive hairstyle too!.I also have vivid memories of taking part in The Insect Play, where I played a moth and a larva! (got to kiss Roger Pritchard!!) and Marjorie (Midge) Holcroft made a stunning debut as Mrs Beetle. I'm now living in Southampton, have been an English teacher and Head of English for quite a while. Currently doing lots of consultancy work for the exam board AQA, for whom I am also a Principal Literature Examiner. Still useless at Maths though!

Email received 27/2/10 from Jean Hindley (Houghton) -   Comments : great to find this site, left ugs in 1965. Saw that Anne Cunliffe has recently joined the site, would love to hear from her as she was one of our group, or from anyone else who shared the school experience 1960-1965

E-mail received 20/1/10 from John Alker - Comments : I left upholland in march 1962,friends were Eric Hall,John Quighley,Mick Morgan,George Heyes,John Statter,Doug Barton,John Stretton, Jennifer King,Jennifer Winnard,Teachers were George Latham,Gerry Rickard(art)and also Mr.Kilner as well as Mr.Ellis and also Miss Penman.I used to play rugby for the U15's prior to leaving but can't remember names of all my fellow players.Will try to get to the reunion as I still live in Billinge,but not 100% sure yet.
regards. john alker.

Email received from Janice Wood (nee Unsworth) - Just found the mugs61 site after browsing the web, of course I could'nt resist taking a look , it serves me right for being so nosey, because what do I find? but my photo and name on a "missing" list. Well, I'm still around after moving around the country quite a bit and now in my second marriage. I finally settled in St Helens, well I think its finally. One of the other names on your site was Carol Perks, who I last saw in 1969 in training at Wigan Infirmary, I would love to know what happend to her. She was an excellent nurse. Another name I remember, who hasn't been mentioned, was Leni de Witt, Who only stayed a short while with the 1961 intake. I believe she was Dutch and lived at Roby Mill, but I don't know what happened to her, I still sometimes wonder where and how she is. The MUGS61 site is great, I will certainly be looking in every so often to see if anyone else has turned up.

Email received 2/11/08 from Peter Liptrot  -    : Found the site when I googled Upholland Grammar School during a moment of madness.
Brings back memories especially the email from Babara Jones who remembers most of the people I knew. Sad to hear that she recently passed away.
Other names not mentioned which I remember are Johnny Mason, Alan (Speedy) Swift, Marjorie Mort, Janet Clift, Judith Foster
Looking through the old photos I am amazed to see myself looking young and ridiculous. In the rugby team photo with Fred Beale and Billy Lyon at the front, the boy next to me was Martin Dixon and the boy at the other end of the row was Glover (think his first name was Brian).They were both a year ahead of me.
Memories from school would have to include having the length of our hair checked by Reg Kilner as we went into morning assembly, and if it was too long being sent to the local barber (Cliff Green) to get it cut. Drinking bottles of frozen milk in the morning break during winter(doesn't get as cold these days).Playing football instead of rugby, much to the annoyance of Jock Anderson, I seem to remember we even once entered a 5 a side team into a competition in Liverpool. Team members I think included Ian Pilkington, Alan Bowden, David Jacks, Jammy Gill, Fred Beale and Graham Morley. Doing cross country runs if you were not picked for rugby, which often included a trip to Orrell Red Triangle for a game of snooker. A few of us skipped school one afternoon to watch Wigan Athletic play Doncaster Rovers in an F.A. Cup replay, (they have come on a bit since then havn't they). I remember the school trip to Interlaken and playing Italian lads at table football in the hotel as well as going to a local bar at night for a few beers. Unfortunately I didn't possess a camera in those days so I would be interested if anyone had any photos of that trip. I recently went back to Switzerland with my wife, and the bar is still there. I was told that the building at the top of the Jungfrau burnt down shortly after we had been there.
Some of the "younger" pupils may remember my brother David who still lives in Billinge. Some pupils who were of his age that I remember are Kevin Statter, John Aspinall (who I lost touch with a good few years ago), Martin Alker, John and Colin Hurst, Lyn Flattley and Sue Thomas.
After leaving school I tried to avoid working for a living for as long as possible but eventually had to take up a job in Lincolnshire with the County Council as a Highway Designer. If anyone has driven over the Humber Bridge they will have driven along one of the roads I helped to design. I left Lincolnshire to move to warmer climes in Cornwall in 1990 and apart from a spell in Dorset I have stayed in that area since, now living in Devon.
After leaving school in 1967 we used to frequent the Colliers Arms in Orrell, which the last time I was back in the area was closed.
I'm sure other names and memories will come back and I will visit your site on a regular basis to see what else crops up.

In 2008 I received a long email from my old mate, George Bate. -  Here is a short version of what George has been up to since leaving school. - George left UGS in 1966 and for approx 4 years worked for the Halifax Building Society. He then went into accountancy and over a number of years had several jobs which resulted in him leaving Liverpool, moving to Dunstable and then to Milton Keynes. He then spent 3 to 4 years in the retail furniture trade during which time he spent a couple of years living on the Isle of Wight. Then when his daughter got into John Moores University, the family moved back to Liverpool. George has been happily married to Judith for 37 years. They have a son, Anthony, who lives in Liverpool and is a painter and decorator, and a daughter, Elizabeth, who is a TV director/producer and lives in Chiswick. He also has a gorgeous 9 year old granddaughter, Ashleigh. George sends best wishes to all old friends and anyone who remembers him from school.

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.

   Denis Hurst and family

  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
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 from Pete Normanton -  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 and 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 ableto play the guitar". That was it! The gauntlet had been thrown down. I swapped the clarinet I'dlost interest in for a cheap £7 Eko guitar. This was the one you (David) 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.

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 .