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18,
Cypress Parade
Bowral
NSW 2576
Mobile
0418 429 132
Fax 02
4861 5549
Email
cocker@hinet.net.au
Well, well, well! Michael Curley of 95, North Hyde Road, Hayes Middlesex. Going through an old address book I find the following names, Allan Britt, Roger Cobb, Leslie Gale, Wendy Gillanders, John Perry, Barry Parker, Robin Robinson, Keith Rossitter, Garth and Ray Randall, Sheila Selby, Paul Tucker. Now for the teachers our class teacher was Jenkins, a Graubart who supposedly took Maths and used to conduct himself sight reading chamber music, an Indian guy who took us for Maths and got us through ?O? level statistics in about two terms. Another maths teacher who lasted about a term and would shout out ?Shut your bloody mouths? as the noise level escalated. Fraser for Book Keeping, ?Daddy? for geography a woman teacher for English who persuaded me to be the handsome captain in ?Androcles and the Lion?. Sports days at Castlebar fields Rossitter and I used to cycle. He on his ?Palm Beach? tourer and me on my ?Lenton Mark III?.
Cycling to school and dropping down to the car park down a steep ramp to find censored *****************. The old cinder surfaced playground in front of the old school, the canteen and the vending machine from which we bought bottles of Coke. Elocution and typing lessons. I was called ?Wing Commander? because I was interested in joining the air force.
Got my five ?O? levels and my family moved to the Lancashire coast where I was an apprentice with British Aerospace. Moved to Bristol, Derby, Norwich and Bath. Qualified as a cost and management accountant. got married and had two kids. Emigrated to Australia in 1978, got divorced, remarried, became a management consultant with KPMG and Ernst and Young, set up my own practice seven years ago and now living in the Southern Highlands of NSW about 120k south of Sydney. Go back to the UK about every five years, still have a brother living in the Midlands but apart from that I am a complete stranger when I visit.
Life has been good, what have you been up to? How is Paul Tucker, I remember visiting his house on one occasion. Always regret losing contact with school friends particularly as my family moved away from the Ealing district. Any word of Alan Britt he and I went to Brentside together before joining Ealing Tech. It all seems a very long time ago now, well it is, but it is good to have some roots.
How about a reunion
Best wishes
Martin Cocker
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8 June, 2001
Martin!
Have digested your letter now ? remember some things and not others?but some immediate comments:
Amazing that you have such an old address book ? I honestly have virtually nothing from that era ? perhaps a stamp album ? but little else, and have to resort to memory for names and happenings ? not the greatest of tools these days!!
Garth and Ray Randall I couldn?t remember their names ? well done ? the ladies amongst your list I don?t remember at all ? shame.. Here are a few of the names I remember:
 | Clive Giblin ? glasses, red hair |
| John Hutcherson ? Hutch ? funny guy ? friends with Robo, left footed, good at football, lived Northolt way |
| Robinson ? Robo ? right back at football, famous for his sliding tackles, friends with Hutch, also Northolt area |
| Keith Rossitter ? tall, calm guy - I can remember accusing him of being a criminal because his eyebrows met in the middle |
| Terence Monk ? detergent ? can only remember him mis-pronouncing "detergent" and getting named appropriately ? he was friends with a small guy, cannot remember his name |
| Cobb ? Cackle ? good fun ? friends with Cox, who would often get Cobb into trouble by making him laugh (cackle) in class |
| Cox ? very funny guy |
| Alan Britt ? also funny, remember him eating toothpaste (because he was so hungry) on a school holiday to Belgium |
| Paul Tucker ? my best friend, still ?in contact with him? |
| Mark Wilson ? lived in Hayes, he, I and Bill traveled by train together |
| Colin Hanwell (Bill) ? quiet, remember him being teased (badly - mainly Hutch!!) during meal at Hotel in Bruges, on school holiday |
| Paul ?? (Blither) ? physically big - also a madman ? got expelled for hitting Snitch over the head with books |
| ?? (Snitch) ? Only remember the head/book/Blither incident, except for the nickname - used to "pinch" mouth/nose in a rabbit/mouse sort of way |
| John Perry ? Lived in Hayes ? he, Barry and I did a Summer Project together ? his father?s car used to get its flip-out old style indicators, knocked off as he came into the house driveway ? because of a tall gatepost and a slow cancel. |
| Barry Parker ? lived up on Uxbridge Rd, Hayes/Southall ? parties at his flat |
| Leslie Gale (Gillie) ? lived in West Drayton, small, blonde hair, used to travel in with him |
And the ladies I remember:
| Margaret (Maggie) Leng ? lived in Bourne Avenue, Hayes, traveled with her by train to Ealing - Maggie where are you?? ? been trying to locate her for years!! |
| Christine Greenstreet ? 1 year ahead ? best looking girl in the year |
| Mary Draper ? lived in Southall, also traveled with her on train, see earlier reference to Alan Britt!! Did they marry and go to India with the "Foreign Office"?? |
As for the Teachers:
| Dad ? Geography (kept saying ?An ?at?) |
| Mr Jenkins (Whistle ? sorry boys) |
| Mr Handa ? Maths ? I must confess I never did understand Statistics, but I can remember ?Andy? saying ?what country on earth is so pompous as to call itself ?Great? Britain?? ? good point! |
| Mrs Davies ? French |
| Scottish guy for Accounts ? thanks ? Mr Fraser |
| Mr Davies ? Economics ? a complete nasty!! |
Who was the ?Headmaster??? red faced bloke pointed nose, thinning hair, glasses, used to wear a gown (as did Jenkins) over a pale green/grey suit ? Cox used to mimic him ? ?Yiieeeewwwww boy? come here??? Frightening guy to us schoolies ? but a good guy when attending the ?college?.
You mention ?Androcles and the Lion? ? I remember it ..?well? ? we had to perform it in the ?theatre? at the front of the building ? I can remember Rossitter and I were the gladiators.. all we had to do was to march on and say ?Hail Caesar, those about to die salute you?. Of course, come the day ? Rossitter and I were out back trying out our trident, sword, net ? whatever, and completely missed our cue ? never got on stage and we were completely unaware of any ?pause/glitch? that we had caused.
I cannot remember the English teacher lady you mention.
I do remember the sports days ? but not the name ?Castlebar? ? I can also remember being in goal for 3 matches against other colleges ? and letting 20 goals in ? I blamed it on my crap defence ? but was never invited to play a fourth game.
I had a Raleigh Lenton Sports bike.. whatever happened to it?? Funny, I was working in Scotland years later and bought a Raleigh something or other drop-handlebar bike ? it was just about a clone of the earlier one.
Yes ? I remember the cinder surface ?playground?, also the canteen and Coke machine ? also burning caps on said cinders, on the last day of school.
Elocution I remember ? funny old gal used to take that, also touch typing on historic Remingtons ? funny I have recently installed ?Mavis Beacon ? Touch Typing? software and am trying to re-learn ? I think we got up to 40 wpm?? But its completely gone now!!
Wow ? you moved around the country, and then did similar (silly) things to me (getting married ? see below) .. what have I been up to?.??
Firstly Paul Tucker.. here are his details.. ptt44@yahoo.com - Glenrose, Calthorpe Rd, Fleet, Hants, gu13-81w ? these phone numbers are well old, but may work.. Mobile: 0385268771 ? Landline: 01252-812153. I last saw him (at his home) about 4 years ago. I was best man at his marriage, way back in pre-history ? and he?s still married to Dorothy, they had 3 boys ? all doing well ? Tucker was with Stock Jobbers/Brokers in the City for years straight from Ealing Tech, all his working life ? ended up as IT Director, did well out of Big Bang, and retired about 2/3 years ago. If you contact him ? tell him from me ?he?s a bastard?, because? we were in email contact ? regular.. and he was planning to come to HK and his last email said .. ?OK, let?s leave it until nearer our visit, and I?ll email you then..? ? of course he never emailed!!
Alan Britt ? now here my facts are totally reliant on my memory and the last I knew of him was around 1 to 2 years after Ealing Tech. I heard he?d married Mary Draper, he?d joined the Foreign Office and they had been posted to India.
As for me??
I think you left Ealing Tech before the ?College? year(s)?? ? We had to do ?O? Level to ?A? Level in one year ? needless to say I failed completely, and managed to re-pass some of the ?O? Levels I?d already gained. My father had died during that last year and I blame it all on him/it ? but in truth, I realize now ? how I learn best ? and it isn?t by being ?Taught?.
I joined ?The Times? newspaper, in the City and met Tucker on the Central Line most days ? I can remember the ?Cuban Missile Crisis? and he said to me one evening when I jumped on the train at St Pauls ? My mum phoned me during the day ? I?ve got my call-up papers ? have you got yours??? ? I nearly messed my pants ? the last thing I needed was to join the Army and fight Russians.. about 4 stations later he relented and said it was all a big joke ? maybe it was..??
During that 2 year sojourn, I discovered computers, left The Times, joined ICT/ICL in Putney, then Harrow then joined a software House in the City and ended up with them in South Africa for 4+ years ? good times all over the south there. From about 1970 onwards I always worked as a Contractor writing software for anybody who wanted it.
This is where it turns bad ? met the ?old bat? in Johannesburg ? she is/was German (a good friend still chastises me ? ?My dad fought against that lot, and you go and marry one?) and we moved back to London ? had 2 daughters (that is the big profit/result, from that union), separated ? still not divorced ? we lived out High Wycombe way ? Penn ? west of London ? wonderful times, but always moving towards a separation. During that time I worked in Scotland for 6 years, in the US a few months, Saudi Arabia for 1 year ? boring!!
Around 1989 we split up and I moved to Denham (near Uxbridge), youngest daughter was living with her mother in Hamburg, eldest was with me ? not by any ?fighting? ? just what they wanted to do and soon thereafter I moved to Hong Kong ? been here for 7+ years and alas it looks like I?ll have to move to Singapore by October this year.
I ?retired? about 14 months ago ? second time ? I tried it for 10 months in 1994, but didn?t really reduce my spending so that it would work. This time around ? I have help?. Living with a Philippina for the last 7 years ? she works for DHL ? travels all over the world (coming back from London tonight) ? no not as a Courier!! ? and gets such perks as a flat, all bills paid etc? so I live rent free ? for now!! Because HK is not the cheapest of places to retire!! It?s she who has been transferred to the Singapore office ? I?ll just go along as baggage!
Youngest daughter (24) is currently in Melbourne (moving back to Sydney around 15th June) doing a ?1 year Student allowed to work visa exchange thing?. Eldest (26 ? who has just moved from London to Somerset ? deepest Somerset) and I visited her for 6 weeks over Christmas/New Year just recently, and we must have been very close to you. We drove from Melbourne to Sydney (as well as Sydney to Cairns) and I can remember staying at Kiama, Lakes Entrance and of course Canberra ? haven?t checked the maps yet to find out just how near we were to you ? will do!!
I?ve been to Sydney and Brisbane a couple of times over the years and with our imminent move to Singapore (4 hours closer to Oz) ? you come more into ?striking distance?, so a reunion ?In the East? may be a possibility, but I go back to the UK as little as you do (don?t have the inclination) so a reunion there is less likely. Maybe a reunion should be equi-distant from everybody?? Or does it have to be at Ealing Tech??
Do you have any other names, details of classmates ? what I?ve noted above is all I have?? How do you enjoy Oz (well I?m sure), but how did you pick Oz and Bowral??
Keep in touch,
Mike C
From: "COCKER" <cocker@hinet.net.au>
Reply-To: <cocker@hinet.net.au>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 10:15:22 +1100
To: "Mick Woodman" <MyTinpony@aol.com>, "Paul Tucker" <ptt44@yahoo.com>, "Clive Giblin" <cjg@samuk.net>, "Alan Britt" <alan.britt@ogc.gsi.gov.uk>, "Mike Curley" <mikecurley@altavista.com>
Subject: Catching Up
Hi All from the land down under!
A day off at home and catching up with a lot of outstanding correspondence.
The mail between the two Mick's has given me pangs of conscience so I had better send off a few thoughts that have been milling around at the back of the old grey matter. First my apologies to Mick W. for taking so long to reply. I did not receive your first email Mick, but as for the second I have no excuse. I hang my head in shame, this is possible even in the southern hemisphere.
Fraser, Bookkeeping, drove a cream Sunbeam Rapier with a red stripe, Daddy, Geography, drove a very small car despite his size would have this been one of the first Minis or an A30.
Paul do you remember when we both had a summer job at Sewing Silks in Perivale working in a stores office. How did we end up there? I used the money to go on a YHA pony trekking holiday in the Black Mountains of south Wales.
Alan, Wendy Gillanders and Sheila Selby were two girls who were a couple of years senior to us and several of us met them every morning on one of the levels between the old and new buildings by the lifts. There was a bench to sit on. Sheila was a baby faced blond, incredibly petite and pretty, Wendy was busty and had never heard of "foundation" garments. Have you and Mary had your holiday yet? I hope you haven't been down here without contacting me.
Does anyone remember a girl called Pat Hudson. A lady of this name has entered herself in the list on names under Ealing Tech on the web page www.friendsreunited.co.uk. I have a memory of a tall slim girl with dark hair who attended the morning Catholic sessions that were run by Miss Williams, they then all joined the normal assembly after we "others" had finished our morning devotions. Do you remember her Mary? She is now living in Australia so I will try and make contact.
How are things in Singapore Mick? Hope you have settled down. In 2002 we must all commit ourselves to finding one person each. I found Clive and Alan simply by putting their names into a search engine. It would be great if we could find enough of us to make a reunion worthwhile.
Attached is a recent photo of myself and wife Kate. No I know none of you would have recognised me if we had met in the street. As Mick said on his web page the years do certainly change us. Great web page Mick why dont you mention it on the community board of Lammas. Alan you must look up Brentside and the Chat on www.lammas.com. A wonderful description of chisel chucker Courtenay!
Regards to you all
Martin
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From: "COCKER" <cocker@hinet.net.au>
Reply-To: <cocker@hinet.net.au>
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 10:41:21 +1100
To: "Mick Woodman" <MyTinpony@aol.com>, "Paul Tucker" <ptt44@yahoo.com>, "Clive Giblin" <cjg@samuk.net>, "Alan Britt" <alan.britt@ogc.gsi.gov.uk>, "Mike Curley" <mikecurley@altavista.com>
Subject: Another Thought
Just had another look at our Web Site. Great work Mick. You should create links to Lammas and Knowhere (done - MC!!). TerryMonk's friend was Mayo.
Regards
Martin
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23 Novenber, 2001
Martin!!
Shame ? a day off ? and you have to answer emails. Many thanks for the pic. ? you and Kate are in the Photo Album now.
And to the Britts ? true ? they had better not have come through Asia (to Oz) without stopping off in Singapore!!
Don?t remember Pat Hudson, sorry.
Singapore is fine (there?s a T-shirt here ?Singapore ? a Fine City? ? but it shows ?No Chewing Gum?, ?Wash hands after toilet?, ?No drugs?? etc.. ?or you will be FINEd? ? very humorous (not). I?ve been left on my own for 10 days or so ? Janet is off traveling, so am cycling around ? discovering.
Now ? finding more boys?.. what search engine did you use to find Clive & Alan?? ? I use Google and either find too many (even when searching for +?Britt? +?Ealing Tech? etc ? or none at all ? and certainly wouldn?t have found the 2 reprobates. Also ? thanks for Michael Mayo ? had forgotten him.
MC
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