STORIES OF LIFELONG FRIENDS who is a retired Captain RN , Warship Trials Master , and me , a retired KPMG senior partner . Sixty-four years later , we still meet and play golf together at St Enodoc Golf Club , Cornwall !
ADVENTURES ON A BICYCLE AND TWO MOPEDS
I have just read Mike Bolton ’ s wonderful book , A School Transformed : Sevenoaks School 1898-2002 . He mentions that in the summer holiday 1956 ‘ one boy cycled to Rome and back ’. That boy was Anthony Ford ( OS 1958 ), who became Father Anthony , a Catholic priest , Professor of Pastoral Theology and a lifelong friend . He and I were in the school rugby , boxing , athletics and shooting teams , and in 2017 we walked the Camino Way to Santiago . Sadly , Anthony died in December 2017 in Florida . Jack Williams ( OS 1958 ), Anthony ’ s prop forward in the rugby 1st XV attended his funeral .
Mike Bolton also writes : ‘ Another two Sixth Formers acquired two of the first mopeds to come off the Hercules Cycle and Motor Company ’ s production line . They persuaded the company to allow them to test the new machines and , complete with L-plates , set off to tour Norway , Finland and Denmark , coming at one point within twenty miles of the Russian border .’ The Sixth Formers were , and are , Jake Backus ( OS 1958 )
I offer a correction and addition or two to the story . I did not have L-plates but Jake did , as he ran over the examiner ’ s foot when taking the test ! We did not visit Denmark but we did travel through Sweden . We undertook and completed the trip within the limit of £ 50 each from the Parks legacy allowance , which was possible due to the exceptional hospitality of the Scandinavians . We reached Hammerfest at the top of Norway , near the Russian border , in our search for the Laplanders and reindeer . We succeeded in buying reindeer skins and antlers and Cossack hats . When riding through London on the way back a taxi driver hailed us with , ‘ Who do you think you are , Davy Crocket ?’ Our trip of 3500 miles took a bit longer than expected . We sent a postcard to the Headmaster , Kim Taylor , apologising for an expected week ’ s delay in returning to school for the Michaelmas term in 1957 . We did explain that we were going for daily runs and did exercise to achieve fitness for rugby . We were both in the rugby 1st XV . Kim welcomed us back with his usual charm and positivity . We were so lucky to be at the school during his early years and to be part of the start of the change that has made the school exceptional .
David Bishop ( OS 1958 )
‘ THE ORIGINALS ’ CELEBRATE WITH MIKE WILLIAMS
As U16 rugby players we were the fortunate beneficiaries of Mike Williams ’ coaching skills after he was appointed Master in Charge of Rugby in 1972 . Mike was a Business Studies teacher and played first-class rugby for Blackheath . His coaching talent was undoubted ; he took his original U16 side onwards and upwards . Under him the fixture card changed out of all recognition . He organised a series of rugby tours abroad including to British Columbia , Australia , Fiji , New Zealand and South Africa , and Sevenoaks
138 ALUMNI REVIEW