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AD-VISORThe Newsletter of Birkenhea Institute Old Boys

Issue 2

Edited by Harold Beckett, "Little Haven", 1 Salem View, Oxton. Wirral. CH43 50H Tel. 0151-652-3782Designed and printed by Vie Swift Tel. 0151-334-9116E-mail biob@vicswift.freeserve.co.uk www.biob.hemscott.net

COMMENT

Here we are again. The firstedition of the "Ad-Visor" wasreceived with enthusiasm,generally. We received somevery nice comments about thecontent and presentation whichhas spurred us on to produce asecond edition. If we are tocontinue, we do need yourcontributions. Please let us haveyour news or reminiscences.

It has been brought to myattention by Len Malcolm (whoelse) that Birkenhead Institute inits history had been a Private,Secondary, High, Grammar andComprehensive School whereas,I had given the impression that itwas always a Grammar Schooland by so doing may havealienated some people. If this isthe case, I apologise. To be amember of B.I.O.B. all that isrequired is that you are a formerpupil or member of staff atBirkenhead Institute in whateverguise.

RECRUITMENT

It has been most encouragingthat we now have over 350names on the register~oweverthis is only 70% of the target of500 we set ourselves. If each ofyou were to recruit just oneadditional name for the register

SUMMER 1999

we would accomplish this figureeasily. Please see what you cando.

RUGBY GIANTS

Probably the most distinguishedOld Instonian rugby player wasJasper Bartlett known in themedia as ''The Gentle Giant". Hewas about 6 foot 4 and must haveweighed about 18 stone which inhis day was quite something.Jippee, as he was known, wascapped for England but onlyonce. Although Jasper was notone for making excuses, it waswell known that, unfortunately,he was not fully fit when heplayed and, consequently, wasnot at his best. Tragically, Jaspercontracted lung cancer and died atthe very early age of 46.

Ken Carr was another very fineplayer. He captained the OldInstonians immediately after theSecond World War and thenjoined Birkenhead Park. Verysoon he was in the 1st Team andthen captained the club. Later hewas chosen by Cheshire andplayed for them on many, manyoccasions. Ken was a giant of aman and a great leader but sadlyhe too died early at the age of 46after a heart attack.

Then there is Jim Crowe. Heplayed for the Old Instonians inthe mid 1950's and then joinedBirkenhead Park and played verysuccessfully for the next twentyyears or thereabouts. Jim was agreat enthusiast and alwayssupremely fit. He was a verysuccessful club captain andplayed for Cheshire on over 35occasions.

Stu Huntriss was a school sprintchampion and Victor Ludorum.A very fine centre or wing threequarter, he played for the RAF.,Birkenhead Park and Cheshire.When his senior playing dayswere over he returned to the OldInstonians playing for a numberof years and being an excellentskipper both on and off the pitchand an inspiration to the youngerplayers.

Finally, Brian Huntriss, Stu'syounger brother, a big man inevery sense of the word as befitssomeone who took size 12 inshoes. Maybe not as good as hisbrother but a very good player inhis own right. He had adevastating tackle (I know as Ihad my shoulder dislocated byone of Brian's tackles, and I wason the same side). His greatestservice to the club was when hewas Club Chairman in the 1970sduring the transition to the newpavilion. There was much time-

consuming work and very trickynegotiations had to be conductedbut Brian made light work oftheseand ensured Old Instonians gotthe best deal possible. He was areal character and great fun to bewith. They say the good dieyoung and this sadly seems to bethe case of B.I.O.B.s and Brianwas no exception. He died before

he was 50 and is very sadlymissed.

RUGBY QUIZ

The answers to the questionsposed in the first newsletter are asfollowsI) An Old Instonian who played

for EnglandJasper Bartlett (1951)

2) An Old Rockferrian whoplayed for England

George Hancock (1939)3) An Old Caldeian who

playedfor EnglandAndy Maxwell (1975/8)

4) An Old Birkonian whoplayed for the British Lionsbut was never capped by hiscountryBill Howard (1938)

l£ST WE FORGET

During the Great War (1914-18) 83 Old Boys lost their lives and during the Second World War (1939-45) 93 lost their lives.On remembrance Sunday in November a number of B.I.O.B. attend a memorial service to honour the war dead at OsmastonRoad War Memorial. Anyone wishing to attend would be most welcome.

The following are the names of those killed in World War Two.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them"

AlNLEY, F.R.ARTIIUR, N.ASHTON,D.K.AUSTIN, H.BARKER,D.RBARKER, J. K.BARTLEY, E. L.BECKETT, J. G.BILLING, J. A.BLACK,L.BOZlER, H. 1.BRY ANT, C. E. T.CANDAY,C.RCASEY, W. A.CLARKE, L. F.COATHUP, L. S.COFFEY,C.CooKE,J.K.COOPER, H. L.COOPER, J. K.CRAIL, W.D.CUMMING, D. A.,DEAN,K. W.DENT,H.C.

DOWNING, G. N.EDWARDS,G.RFORSHA W, M. D.FRECKLETON, 1. Mc.GALLAGHER, L. H.GIBBONS, A.RGULLAN, J. N.HADLEY, G.F.HARDlE, J. G.HARDIE, W.RHARLAND, R. A.HAYWARD,P.HENSHAW,RHIRST,E. W.HUGHES, S.HUNT,G.A.IVESON, E. M.JONES,L. W.JONES, T. A.JONES, W.E.JONES, W.H.JONES, W.1.LEEMAN, W. L.LEES, J.A.

LEYLAND,RLIDGATE,R.MALLEY, D. G.MA LLEY, G. E.MATTHEWS, E. J.MEAKIN, L.MENEELY,RRMOORE,S.MOSS,A.McIVOR, H. A.McKENZlE, D. 1.OVENS,G. V.PEGG, W.J.PHOENIX, F. D.PooLE, W.H.PRlNGLE,G.REEKSTIN, R RREES,N. W.ROBEltl'S;-V;-H. ..ROGERS, H. E.ROLLINS, P. E.ROWLANDS, C. 1.SAMPSON, J. D.SARGENT, A. E. H.

SMART, T.SMITH,A.E.SMITH, J.SPROAT,G.SUTHERLAND, R.G.SUTTON,RW.TARBUCK, R D.TAYLOR, C. F.TODD, C. G.TOMLINSON, J.TOWNSON, F.B.TURNER, A. D.WARD,H.L.WILDE,R.WlLLIAMS, A. C.WlLLIAMS, J. A.WILLIAMS, J. H.WILLIAMS, T. H.

----wft;SON;- E:H.-WILSON. H. E.WOODW.K.

Stitt had managed to loseyet another Inter-Housematch. I was so engrossedthat I failed to see Klonnieheading in my direction. Aswe met he stopped. "Ah!!Bell, you play the pianodon't you?" In chess this iscalled Check Mate. Then,

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LIFE AT THE OLD B.l One day Mother asked theHead if I could leave schoolan hour early, in order totake a Pianoforte exam. Heagreed.Some 6 or 7 months later, Iwas wandering along thecorridor, my mind wrestlingwith the problem of how

The following is acontribution from Dick Bell(1931-38)

THE PIANIST'S STORY.

having added my name tothe pianist's roster, he wason his way, leaving mesmouldering and harbouringunkind thoughts about hisparentage.The only duty of the pianistswas to provide martialmusic at the end of morningassembly, while the rest ofthe school marched out ofthe Gym. So what were myqualifications for thisimportantjob? Whereas mybrothers, Vie. and Jack,were sent to an eminentmusic teacher, ( Kok-Albasat the top of WhetstoneLane ) at 3/6d per lesson,my musical prowess wasrated at no more than a 6d aweek lesson with aneighbour. The music examI took was the mostelementary, the preliminaryexamination of The TrinityCollege of Music, which Ipassed with 65 marks out of100. One mark less and Iwould have failed. Add tothis the fact that myrepertoire was not extensiveand, while it contained suchgems as 'Won't you buy mypretty flowers' and 'TheBluebells of Scotland', itcontained only 2 marches.These were 'Blaze Away' bySousa and 'MarcheMilitaire' by somebodyelse.By now you will havegathered that getting up andplaying in front of close on500 of my fellow pupils wasnot my idea of fun. All toosoon the day of my firstrecital arrived. With a senseof impending doom, and myconfidence draining away atan alarming rate with everystep I took, I made my wayup the steps and across thestage. This was the momentof truth. Fortunately Imanaged to hit all thecorrect notes in the first 2 or3 chords, and then I was'blazing away' for whatseemed an eternity. Inreality it was probably only4 or 5 minutes. Finally thehall was empty, and I wasleft deleting concert pianist

from my career options, andclinging to the forlorn hopethat I wouldn't be asked toplay again.No such luck, I was on thatdamned pianist rota to theend of my school days.

ANECDOTES

RUGBY

Joe Sudworth (1931-42)writes that in 1941, when hewas captain of Rugby, the1st XV beat HawardenGrammar School 65-0 oneSaturday. As usual hereported the score to 'Klon'(the Headmaster) so theresult could be read out atassembly. Quite naturallyJoe expected to hearcongratulations but not so.'Klon' gave him a realticking off for scoring somany points and added thatit was 'obscene' that JasperBartlett scored four tries.Could it be that 'Klon'(Wynne-Hughes) wasWelsh and HawardenGrammar School was aWelsh School?

SCOUTS

Glynne Jones (1937-42)writes fondly of being aScout in the 23rd (RI.)Scout Troop and camping atBrynbach and Overchurchand the annual weekend atthe Margaret BevanChildren's Home. Hementioned Scout MastersDon. Coughtrie and FrankTomlinson and thetremendous commitmentthey gave in running the23rd

• Sadly, they have nowpassed away as have manycontemporaries such asHarry Gregson, DennisRoddick, Vern Hall, NevillePeters and Ken Pryde.

FINANCE

As stated previously, thereis no set subscription andwe depend entirely onvoluntary donations. Ourpresent situation is healthy

thanks to the fine husbandryof Eric Jackson (1939-44).However, printing, postage,phone etc. IS substantialnow we have over 350 onthe register (over 20overseas). Your donationsare welcome - Cheques toRI.O.R please.

ANNUAL DINNER

Last year we held a charitydraw and we raised £250 forthe Alzheimers Society.The success of this was verylargely because of the kinddonations of prizes youmade. It is the intention torun another charity draw atthis years dinner and onceagain we ask for yoursupport and generosity inthe donation of prizes.Bottles are most welcome asare cash donations. Thankyou in anticipation of yoursupport.

LADIES' EVENING

This was held on 26th

March, 1999 and was agreat success. 75 attendedand there was even somedancing. There will be arepeat on Friday 7th April,2000. Incidentally therewere a number of singlepersons present, both maleand female. Two people metfor the first time in over 60years! A raffle raised £67which was donated to AgeConcern.

B.LO.B. GOLF SOCIETY

Derek (Mick) Turner (1946-50) organised a verysuccessful day. Theweather was excellent - justright for good golf. RonKirchener (1943-49) wasthe winner and received thePyke Cup. The runner-upwas Stan Allsopp (1927-33)who won the Len MalcolmTankard.

Another meeting will beheld in May 2000. Why notcome along and prove whata good golfer you are!

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THE REGISTER

For the record we have 3nonagenarians (try sayingthat at 11p.m. without yourdentures after a few''tinctures'') on the register.Theyare:-Harold Owen Born 1901Norman Willcox Born 1904George Donaldson Born1908Guiness Book of Recordseat your heart out. Arethere any more out there?

INTERNET

Technology has finallycaught up with us. BlOBWeb Site is now available.It is hoped to keep thisupdated with news of eventsand other items of interest.In addition we can becontacted by E-mail. Theaddresses for both facilitiesare shown on page 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to put on recordthe tremendous help I havereceived from Vie Swift(1956-61). Vic recentlyretired from MerseysidePolice and fortunately for usloves ''playing'' with hiscomputer. Firstly he put theregister of B.I.O.B. on adatabase. Secondly he istotally responsible for thelay-out and printing of thenews-letter. In addition hehas printed all ourenvelopes and tickets. I amgreatly indebted to him.Thank you Vic. (After 38years the homework is nowa little easier! Vie)

DATES FOR DIARY

1lOthAnniversary Dinner-Friday 15th October, 1999at Prenton Golf Club

Buffet Dance - Friday 7th

April, 2000 at Prenton GolfClub

NECKWEAR

Dave (DSW) Jones (1940-46) has designed amagnificent BlOB tie tocommemorate the 110thAnniversary. The cost is£11 (inc. P.&P.), £12overseas. Should you wishto order, please sendremittance payable to GregPandit (1972-78) at IOm,Banks Road, West Kirby,Wirral, CH48 OAB. Tel.0151-625 -6601. EmailPansco~@aol.com

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ANY NEWS PLEASE

PaddyADAMSGraham BAXTERBrian BOWKERNormanBOYDAIan BRAMMALLDave DOCHERTYGerryDODD

65745571635466

Tony DOVESTONBarry DOVESTONBill KEATINGAlan PARKINSONTed (Joo) PRINGLEPROBERTTed RILEY

66635662707568

John SEYMOURDave SHERLOCKG.A. (Gas) SMITHBertTHOMASTedWOOD

6765707070

BIRKENHEAD INSTITUTE OLD BOYS

The 11~ Anniversary Dinner is being held at Prenton Golf Club on Friday 15thOctober, 1999 (7-0pp.m. for7-3Op.m.).The cost is £16. Maximum attendance is 125 and early application is recommended to ensure a place.Please complete the attached booking form and return to: -

Harold BeckettLittle Haven1 Salem ViewOxtonPrentonWirralCH435UHTel. 0151-652-3782

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