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the congregation, while every boy in the School was convinced that Gus was looking directly at him. In fact, I now know that he was so short- sighted that he probably couldn’t see anybody! Frank Spragg coached the 1st XV to an unbeaten season, but the two greatest influences on me were probably Bernard Coulson, who although a Biology teacher, taught me more about writing English than anyone else, before or since, and Rolf Barber, an eccentric but marvellous Tutor.”
With 13 grandchildren to keep an eye on, Anthony Dale (D 52) says he muddles along!
Robert Cripps (St A 65) has also retired and is looking forward to seeing more of his children and grandchildren.
Charles Hollebone (D 68) retired in 2016 and is busy in Melbourne, woodworking, fly-fishing, paddle- boarding and “stuff”. He fly-fishes twice a year with his brothers, Neil Hollebone (D 60) and Keith Hollebone (D 65), in Australia and New Zealand.
Since moving to Melbourne, Tim Hamlyn (C 96) is now well established in his local community, particularly as his children attend the local school “a huge 10 yards from our house!” They have taken a somewhat tortuous path to citizenship whilst still thoroughly enjoying England’s “fabulous” Cricket World Cup victory! He adds that he is in regular touch with me, Sarah Hampton (D 95) and Claire Freebairn (LS 95).
Terry Keeling (Sc 54) has downsized to a 16-floor flat with 180- degree panoramic views over the Dandenong Ranges. He tells me that the flat has more usable area than his house! He has just come back from six weeks in Europe, where only two days were affected by rain.
Piers James (St A 91) had a daughter, Victoria, in May, who, together with their four-year-old son, keeps him and wife Lauryn very busy. He has just completed 21 years with Arup and is on secondment to the Australian Railtrack Corporation.
Adam Mair (G 00) moved from suburban Brisbane to a rural “farm”, where he and his family are living in
“a glorified shack” while their rather nicer long-term house is being built. They hope to have moved in by Christmas!
Duncan Bridel (C 62) took early retirement and has spent a considerable part of the past year travelling to various parts of the planet (China, Romania, Portugal, Spain and a lot of the UK, to mention but a few), following his hobbies of photography and clay-pigeon shooting.
As I write, Mark Schroeder (G 76) is embarking on a hike across the High Sierra in California. He has seen Mark Reiss (G 76) and Malcolm Wallace (G 76), although not, I suspect, on the hike! Malcolm reports that life is good in Sydney, after recently moving from a large telco, Telstra, to a smaller one as General Manager, running their sale channel. He adds: “I’m not sure how I moved to the telco industry after a career in advertising and marketing, but that’s Aus for you!”
Gavin Fish (G 65) is a first-time contributor. After emigrating to Australia in 1970, having completed a degree at Manchester University, Australia has been his home for almost 50 years and, as a citizen since 1974, he has “barracked” (supported!) for Australia ever since. His career was mainly in the packaging industry and after two years pre-Trump in the Mid-West USA, he retired in 2004 to concentrate on Manly Golf Club, six grandchildren and whatever time is leftover on his investments! He adds: “I still look back fondly on my time at Oundle; shooting, squash, fives and the workshops were my main interests.”
Mike Selbie (Ldr 79) reports that he is semi-retired and is now coaching, sailing and authoring an online RYA training course. He also navigates on various racing yachts and over the last year completed the Sydney to Gold Coast, Sydney to Hobart and Sydney to Noumea races. He and his wife, Lisa, have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in the past year, and regularly cruise around Pittwater, north of Sydney.
Dr Nigel Humphreys (D 69) is back
working full time as a GP locum. Over the next six months Nigel will be doing two locums, one in far North Queensland and the other in Tasmania (a mere 3,000 miles apart!). He is a great Sydney Swans supporter, so won’t be troubled by having to travel during AFL Finals month this year.
Now on to New Zealand and David Pearce (Sn 96) spent Christmas camping at Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel Peninsula and Easter completing the truly stunning Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk.
Brian Savile (Sc 66) writes to say that he has sold his business, retired early, remarried and now lives in Motueka, near Nelson, in the top of South Island. In March he was visited by Richard Beeby (Lx 68), an old friend from the Troubleshooters, and his wife, Mandy, who were on their way to visit their son, Peter, who works in tourism, in the nearby Abel National Tasman Park.
Sally Murphy (D 95) continues to live in Upper Hutt with her husband and two children while working as a GP in Lower Hutt.
At the grand old age of 80 “and at the behest of children and grandchildren”, Patrick Cox (St A 57) has decided to make a permanent move to his house in Brittany. Whilst we are sad to lose him from our region, we wish him a long and happy stay.
Tim Rogers (Lx 79) insists that he is still a New Zealand OO, even though he has been posted for two years to Mumbai as Chief Risk Officer by the Australian bank, ANZ! He really is split across the planet, as he has one daughter studying at St Andrews in Scotland and the other finishing high school back in Auckland. His wife, Linda, has partnered with an “amazing” school called Muktangan, which was founded as a charitable trust in 2003 by an English woman, Liz Mehta, and her Indian husband, Sunil, which offers a very high standard of education, for free, to 3,700 kids from poorer homes in central Mumbai.
After a mid-career break doing something entirely different (Director
of Sport at St Cuthbert’s College, a
top private girls’ school in Auckland) www
NEWS FROM ABROAD
THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2018 –2019
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