Pen Pictures

Les Cousins and Graham Butterfield: 1957 to 1964

The two of us are still in the Bradford area, unlike others whose exploits we have noted on the Friends Reunited website.

Les is now an antiques dealer, based in Burley-in-Wharfedale, having retired after 34 years in local government.

Graham was a systems analyst with a local building society having retired in 1998 from teaching, spent mainly in middle schools. Finally retired from the building society at the end of February 2007.

Both of us have played cricket in local leagues for many, many years but now, with failing bodies and eyesight, have taken up umpiring!

Barry Birch: 1957 - 64

Barry was also a keen cricketer and played in various local leagues (Sunday School, Bradford Central, Craven and Bassetlaw League) before leaving Bradford in 1970.

He first moved to Holland and played in the Dutch Cricket League. Here he was Head of Dutch and Head of External Liaison at the British School in the Netherlands. Barry played his last match at 50 after he returned to England as Principal of St Mary’s School, Doncaster. Later he moved to Kuwait for a year and then back to Mexborough to cover a maternity leave. Since August 2002 Barry has been Principal of Unity High School, Khartoum, Sudan (website: www.unityhighschool.org).

Barry famously took a hat-trick when we thrashed the staff in the annual Staff v. Pupils cricket match at Bankfoot CC in 1964.

Update (May ‘06) Barry is due to retire from his post at Unity High School. We can also congratulate him on being ordained a Deacon  at the Episcopal Church Cathedral (C of E) in Khartoum. Update (May ‘07) Church Times - Clergy Appointments: BIRCH. The Revd Barry Birch formerly in Khartoum, Sudan to be Assistant Curate of St Wilfrid’s, Cantley in the Sheffield Diocese.

David John Mitchell: 1957 - 62

From 1962 to 1967 I was an apprentice mechanical engineer with Crofts (Engineers) Ltd based in Thornbury, Bradford. 1964 - 74 Merchant Navy engineering officer with British India Steam Navigation Company.1974 - 79 Assistant hospital engineer, Westwood Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary. 1979 - date Estates manager, the Retreat Hospital, York.

Ron Overton: 1957 - 62

Ron OvertonRon joined British Rail in Leeds at 17 as a Clerical Officer, moving up through the ranks in Leeds & York. He spent lots of years in O & M (the razor gang) based in York. From 1979 onwards he had various management jobs reaching Infrastructure Manager for the Eastern Region freight organisation before becoming Contracts Executive preparing for privatisation. Ron retired just 2 weeks before privatisation in 1997. Since retirement Ron has joined  his wife and a good friend in their industrial roof refurbishment company. The company has done well but he is looking forward to a proper retirement in the not too distant future. Ron is seen here on the right with his wife, Jackie.


David Fuller: 1957 - 62

David FullerOn leaving school David started work at John Rigby & Sons (Wire Manufacturers), Low Moor, Bradford, moving to Cleckheaton in 1968. David progressed through the ranks becoming Production Control Manager. In 1999, after Rigby’s was sold, he worked as Traffic Coordinator for a transport company in Pudsey. Recently he has been working as Production Coordinator for a greetings card manufacturer in Dewsbury. David has 2 children and a stepdaughter along with 5 grandchildren and now lives in Liversedge, West Yorkshire. He is pictured here on the left with his wife.

Outside work David’s passion has always been football. He passed out as a referee in 1969, reaching Grade One in 1973. He was forced to retire in 1993 through injury. However, he had the honour to referee in the Dallas Cup in the USA on 10 occasions. He is still actively involved in the game as an FA Licensed Referee Instructor and Assessor. He is a Council Member of the West Riding County FA, Secretary of the Heavy Woollen District FA and a Life Member of the Heavy Woollen Gate Sunday Alliance Football League (for which he was Secretary for 19 years).

Derek Stott 1957 - 64

Derek lives in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and has recently retired after 40 years in insurance. He and his wife, Judith, have decided to stay on for the time being but plan to do more travelling around Asia. They have 2 married daughters, one of whom lives in Melbourne, Australia while the other one lives in Billericay, Essex.

******


Ron Hardaker 1957 - 1964

Sadly, the following Deaths announcement appeared in the Bradford Telegraph & Argus on June 24, 2005:

Hardaker, Ron - Suddenly at home in Norfolk, June 11, aged 59. A loving husband of Emma and father of Ben and Helen, beloved son of the late Winifred and Harold. Goodnight and God Bless from your little sister Chris, and Alan, Laurie, Emma and Chloe.

Personally, I have many fond memories of Ron, having been in the same class for most of our time at Grange. Ron was very keen on the outdoors and persuaded me to join him and Ian Shaw on a youth hostelling trip to the Lakes in the summer of 1962, before we got our ‘O’ level results. That trip was very memorable, in spite of the blisters and almost continuous rain, and was the first of a number of trips that we organised together to youth hostels in the Lakes and Yorkshire Dales (Ron was also on the Sixth Form trip to the Lakes, featured on another page). In the summer of 1964, after our ‘A’ levels we had a day out in the Otley area where Ron persuaded us to do some rock-climbing at Almscliffe Crag, sadly not my scene I’m afraid! Ron was also a member of the Ist XI football team, a bustling inside-forward, as I remember.

After Grange, Ron spent some time in Hong Kong in the police force there but returned after about a year. I can remember our meeting up at that time (1965, 1966?) but lost contact as I returned to college.

GB

David Swales 1957 - 1962

The following Deaths announcement appeared in the Telegraph & Argus on October 9, 2007:

Swales, David - On October 6, suddenly, David, 61 years. Loving husband and best friend of Carol, much loved Dad of Vicky, Helen and Nancy, devoted grandad of Max, Olivia and Amber and a dear father-in-law, son-in-law, brother-in-law and friend to many. Funeral service and cremation at Nab Wood on Friday, October 12 .......donations in memory may be made to Yorkshire Air Ambulance c/o Albert Pratt, 146 Main Street, Wilsden, BD15 0AS.

This was followed by the following acknowledgement:

Carol, Vicky, Helen and Nancy wish to thank all relatives, friends and neighbours for all the kind expressions of sympathy, letters and cards and donations to the Air Ambulance received in their sad loss. Grateful thanks also to the paramedics, ambulance staff and doctors and nursing staff at Airedale Hospital for all their care and kindness, to Mike and Kate at East Morton Post Office for all their help, Rev Peter Gray for his comforting words and to all who gave their support at the funeral service. David was an immensely popular figure at Grange and we all very much enjoyed his company at our first reunion in June ‘07.

‘I sat next to David at the reunion and we spent a wonderful evening reminiscing together.’ (Keith Hornsby)

‘I remember David very well; he and I used to sing the Everley Brothers “Cathy’s Clown” in harmony when we were in the Third Form, during break. Also, I took over from him as Parent Governor at Crossley Hall First School.’ (Barry Birch)

‘David was the first person I met when we started at Grange Grammar and I have many fond memories of our times together. You may not know but David introduced me to the delights of Bradford City when we were 11 years old and I have been going to Valley Parade ever since. I would occasionally bump into him and it will seem strange on Saturdays not looking around for him.’ (Les Cousins)

‘My first memory of David is being invited to his house to play Subbuteo - the love of football goes back a long way. Standing in the Kop at Valley Parade in the late 50s and early 60s was not for the faint-hearted; no seats and no cover but we were invariably there, rain or shine. The class we were in (5 Arts latterly) was one where we all got on very well indeed and David played his part in making this a happy time for most of us. Our paths crossed again as our respective children went to the same schools.’ (Graham Butterfield)

‘My recollections of David at Grange are hazy at best - he was in the Arts stream and I was in Science - but 2 important events after leaving school ensured we were to keep in touch over the next 44 years. He joined my father at Rawlinson, Greaves and Mitchell, accountants, in Bradford and then he met and married Carol, a friend to my wife Nancy since her school days.

There were many aspects to David’s career as a chartered accountant and he made many friends along the way. This was reflected in the large numbers attending his funeral. David moved on after qualifying but remained close to his roots in many ways. Until recently he lived in Bradford and succeeded my father as accountant/auditor for Tetley Street Memorial Baptist Church, no more than a stone’s throw from the old school at Grange.

My wife and I have some good memories of walking trips in the Dales with David and Carol but those had lapsed in recent years. Nevertheless we kept in touch even if it was only a letter at Christmas. It was therefore a real pleasure to catch up with David at our reunion in the early summer. More so as he insisted in running me back to my lodgings in Skipton. That gave us the opportunity for a long discussion on our families and the progress of life. In the circumstances that will remain an abiding memory of a good friend taken from us far too early in life.’ (Peter Claughton)