STOURBRIDGE OLD EDWARDIAN CLUB

ED-Words  Newsletter
September 2022

But first, I feel I must mention the various people we have sadly had to say goodbye to over recent months. The death of Queen Elizabeth II was a sad loss to us all. Even though not unexpected, it still came as a shock, particularly coming so soon after she celebrated her Platinum Jubilee. I am sure that King Charles III will perform his duties with equal grace and compassion to that of his late mother. In addition, the recent deaths of three of our Past Presidents has left a massive hole in our daily lives, and I pay tribute to them and their immense contributions to the Club over the years. Paul Thatcher, Siward James-Moore and more recently Jim Higgs are a great loss both collectively and individually. Their loss has affected us all deeply and my thoughts and best wishes go out to their families and other loved ones. 

We also said farewell to Remley Mann, former Principal of King Edward VI College who has retired after some seven years of unstinting service in the post. Hon Secretary Alan Roden and I both visited Remley on her final day at the College to wish her well and to hand over a gift of engraved cut glass wine goblets from the General Committee. She was kind enough to send a thank you note which is replicated below:

“Please accept my warmest thanks for the very thoughtful gift on behalf of SOEC on the occasion of my retirement. I was particularly touched that you made the effort to see me in person on my last day. I greatly appreciate the warmth, kindness, and support from everyone at SOEC. The bond between the Club and the College is precious and I feel honoured to have been part of this special relationship during my time as Principal. I wish you all the best and send my warmest regards,

Remley” 

She was indeed a huge success in her role and leaves the College in a much stronger position than when she took over. I understand she is moving to the north of England and wish her well in her retirement. 

At the same time, I am delighted to welcome the new College Principal, Holly Bembridge, and wish her every success in her new role. I look forward to seeing her at our Annual Dinner later this year.

Finally, I must mention that I have just returned from the Club after a wonderful lunch of Moules Marinière and French Fries lovingly prepared by our Steward and chef Tim, who puts on similar lunches usually once a month. Around 25 members and their guests enjoyed this lunchtime treat and I would urge anyone interested to check the Club website for future dates and be sure to book for this very popular lunchtime treat. 

As my second year as your President draws to a close, I must say how much I have again enjoyed the honour of holding this revered position and I wish next year’s President every success in the role.

King Edward VI College, Stourbridge are proud to announce the appointment of our new Principal, Holly Bembridge.

Holly was vice principal at Sir George Monoux College, London and has 18 years’ experience of working with young people in further education.  Holly said: “It’s an honour to take up the role of Principal at King Ed’s, a place that is brimming with talented, diverse young people and with an important part to play in the local community.  It has been a pleasure to meet the dedicated and skilled staff here and to see what a tremendous package we can offer, excellent teaching and a really rich range of opportunities and activities.  I greatly look forward to working with colleagues here and across the Heart of Mercia Academy Trust to maintain and strengthen the ethos and education at the college.”

Chair of Governors, John Hodt said: “We were very pleased to be able to appoint Holly as our new Principal. Holly brings with her a wealth of experience to the role with an impressive background in senior management within the sixth form college sector. We are confident that her expertise will be a benefit to the college community, and we are looking forward to working with her".

(Ruth  Taylor KEVI College)

Good news was received from the government last week that they would subsidise small businesses for energy charges for possibly 6 months. However, with the further disruption in the financial markets we shall have to wait and see if funds are forthcoming. A huge rise in energy costs could be very detrimental to the club’s trading position.

On a brighter note we are actively planning a series of events for the club’s 125^th anniversary next year. It is proposed to have at least 1 event a month incorporating classic events such as the Annual Dinner, President’s night and the Boar’s Head Supper. It is hoped these events will be conducted to attract as many participants as possible and the application of dress code and pricing will be closely examined.

(VP Robin Morrison)

FORTHCOMING EVENTS are visible on our Events Calendar.

Of immediate note (phone or book via the Club noticeboard):

• Trafalgar Dinner Thursday October 20th
• Annual Dinner Friday November 18th
• Quiz Tuesday 22nd November
• Mussels Lunches on various Fridays as stated on the Events Calendar

RECENT EVENTS

• President's Evening CLICK HERE>>
• Charter Day Lunch  CLICK HERE>>

We are deeply sorry to have lost three of our most valued friends in the recent past - all eminent Past Presidents: Paul Thatcher (June) and Siward James-Moore and Jm Higgs (September) all of whom have made massive contributions to the Club and its operations over many years for which we are forever grateful.

Additionally we have heard of the passing of past member Denys Widdowson.

Our sincere condolences go out to all families and friends.

Congratulations to our "Team B" snooker league players who rapidly progressed from Division 2 when they formed, to be promoted to Division 1 and recently now have been promoted to the Premier Division - which includes really top players and brings abundant challenge!  As you can see there are two likely lads on the ends who may teach them a few tricks.....you may follow progress of our snooker teams by visiting the snooker section of the website HERE>>.

For it was in that year on 20^th May that an article appeared in the Current Events column of the Sunday Express heralding “Biffo”s wider skills. The newspaper article is reproduced below:

I wonder how Biffo Cotton reacted to the latest depressing news about our schools. Thousands of teachers are leaving the profession and the Government is to spend millions to persuade cynical young graduates that education is a worthwhile career.

      Personally, I’d tempt Biffo out of retirement and send him on a recruiting drive.

His footsteps in the corridor commanded immediate silence in Class 4b.

                 He was one of those rumbling giants whose resonant voice was enough to whip the most rebellious youth into a frenzy of enthusiastic effort – a sort of iron clad Mr. Chips.

         “Morgan ! I don’t have to clip you round the ear,” he would warn, “but if I do, and somehow I miss, the wind from my back-hander will give you pneumonia.”

 Nobody dared put it to the test and he never had to lift a finger.

A whistlestop tour of our universities with Biffo Cotton in charge would soon solve the teaching crisis.”

The fact that the journalist wished to highlight the lamentable shortage of skilled teachers and that he was putting Biffo forward as a saviour of this predicament is, to say the least, quite amazing. What is more incredible is that he neither identifies who Biffo is, nor mentions the School, or even Stourbridge.  It rather conjures up the image of thousands of people up and down the country reading   this article over their bowl of cornflakes, spluttering “Who on earth is Biffo Cotton?”

Only those few very privileged young men who were educated at KEVI Stourbridge could answer that question.

Now, I have a couple of questions for you:

The journalist was quite clearly an Old Boy of the School to write with personal recollections of Biffo and his personal account. His name is Robin Morgan (standing in for Tom Utley who was on holiday).Does anyone remember Robin ?

If so, please contact our Editor, Mike Aston, with your recollections of Robin, and any happy or amusing memories of Biffo

Below is a photo of the 1966 2nd X1 Cricket Team with "Biffo" back left. Many of you will have been at the school at that time - do you recognise anyone else? Do let us know.

President Rob Hill (who supplied the photo) is on there (can you spot him?) among other familiars - John Heathcock, Martin Law, Richard Pike, Geoff Norwood.