Page 101 - OO_2018

Christopher Porter (Sc 77) picks up the trading places with Asia. His cousin, Daniel Porter (Sc 83), has been Professor of Orthopaedics in Beijing since 2016. Matthew Porter (Sc 87), Daniel’s brother, is the Vicar of St Michael le Belfrey in York with three packed congregations on a Sunday. He will be joining his other brother, James Porter (Sc 92), Rector in Cromer, for their regular annual holiday in Jersey. Christopher raised a glass to celebrate Andrew Bywater’s (Lx 75) 60th birthday at a very enjoyable dinner at Penrith Castle. It was the first time he had met James Bywater (Lx 73), Andrew’s eldest brother, who has just retired from general practice in Theale, Berkshire, to grow apples for apple juice and cider. He farms an organic smallholding, where he keeps a herd of Soay sheep and his horse, Harris. James is married to Janey, who still works as a hospice doctor, so retirement means he has learnt to bake and find his way round the kitchen.
I went fishing last year with Andrew, who not only caught a 10lb sea trout, but also, after a number of recounts, caught the 100th fish on Ken Harrison’s (D 47) Farnley Estate on the Tyne, winning a welcome bottle of whisky. Ken is still very active and plays bridge twice a week. When I went to pick up smoked salmon and sea trout before Christmas, I met his granddaughter, Juliette Rothera (K 12), who was a typical confident Oundelian. She had just received her Green Card and is seeking her fortune in New York. Her brothers, David Rothera (L 08) and Christopher Rothera (L 10), have just started a company called Canopy Greenhouses. They are hoping to find funding to build high-tech greenhouses on arid land near the sea in countries like Namibia. Nick Rothera (L 12), Juliette’s twin, is now helping the companies with their IT issues.
Not content with Asian travel, Christopher Porter continues his business in metal-spinning in the space and aviation sectors. His products are bound for Mars, Jupiter and Mercury! His family is going into orbit soon with an imminent wedding for his daughter, which means work to polish the smallholding. He still receives an annual Christmas card from David
Clifford (Sc 77), though they’ve only met once since Oundle. David regularly recounts the successes and failures of his smallholding, but finds time to paint and sell his pictures locally.
No more of the East, let’s go West! Peter Craggs (S 66) isn’t idling in his retirement in Scots Gap, Morpeth. His career took him to Havana to sell ships’ spares to Cuban government ship- owners - who had sensibly taken advantage of the soft loans being offered by the British government in the 70s in their efforts to support the UK ship-building industry. He writes: “Cuba purchased about a dozen SD14s built on Wearside and these provided my marine spares trading company with an excellent income in the 80s and early 90s – until the special period when the Soviet bloc collapsed and they withdrew their support for Cuba. The fleet then gradually diminished as the government used the earnings to pay for vital food and medicine.” Peter married a Cuban lady some 18 years ago, after his first wife passed away, and they have a 16-year- old son. That keeps them in the North-East doing the school run or propping up the Ox Inn, Middleton, his local which is owned by Adrian Waddell’s (S 77) wife. In the mornings he rides out racehorses at a local training yard, has coffee with his 102- year-old mother and then plays around trading Forex for a few hours. Of his time at Oundle, Peter was a bit reflective: “Not sure that Oundle made me; I guess my parents did that. They certainly got me going riding racehorses, skiing and in all things marine. Oundle propelled me to Newcastle Uni and naval architecture/marine engineering after I had spent four very enjoyable years at Sidney, playing fives and athletics, and meeting an eclectic bunch of friends, ranging from top medics and brilliant musicians to just plain crazy. I followed my father and two brothers, so I guess we were good supporters. I just ran out of money! Enough said; hope it’s useful. Must go and prepare myself for dinner with friends followed by an all- night session on the Malecón, along with at least 1,000 Cubans listening and dancing to live music provided at no cost by this wonderful Socialist Republic of Cuba....¡hasta la victoria
sempre!”
Fidel Castro may not be with us, but Harry ‘Tubby’ Booth (N 44) is still plugging me emails. I asked him to recall his career and he tells me: “After leaving, I trained and then went into the family wholesale bakers. One of my tasks was to check customers were happy with us and I remember many times checking with Timpson’s factory canteen in Wythenshaw, Manchester.” Tubby’s youngest daughter, Jill, who came to the OO North-East reunion in 2016, together with his eldest, Sally, has just become Director of Development at Lloyds Bank in London. Sadly, after 66+ years of marriage Tubby’s wife, Liz, died in March. She was 91.
Still going from strength to strength is Ian Gilthorpe (B 71), who heads up his own law firm which is still in high growth – Square One Law. Ian’s great love is cricket and he kindly hosted me for a lunch at South North Cricket Club when Durham played Worcestershire in a fixture there. He always keeps an eclectic table of entrepreneurs doing unbelievably profitable projects in the region. Do track him down if you need a real corporate Yorker.
As ever, you can while away a happy afternoon with Ralph Charlton (S 90), who spends time between houses in London, Hexham and Sedbergh (his daughters have gone to the ‘dark side’ there). Ralph always brims with ideas and banter, though I’ve not had a full match report from his Tynedale Vets v OOs rugby weekender.
Finally, Iain Stewart-Fergusson (Lx 63) has left me slightly scratching my head with his brief contact: “Just back from attending a week-long trade exhibition, Achema, at Frankfurt next door to where I spent three years uni study many years ago...” Iain, I’m clutching for background on this one, so went to trusty Google. Achema is a chemical engineering showcase, which presumably chimes with your export business. Mr Google also threw up an interesting press article in 2005 about how you were conned out of rent on a property in Perth by a man from Oldham! It’s a bit unexpected to hear of an OO getting gulled, given what a bright bunch we are or were. Here’s to many more sharpening their wits in the North-East!
NEWS FROM HOME
THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2017 –2018
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