|
I thought you might be interested in
the following information about Firth Park pupils. My father, two uncles, an
uncle by marriage and my godfather were all at the school.
My father, Leonard Hamey, left in 1936. He joined the London and
North-Eastern Railway as a drawing-office draftsman and became a Fellow of
the Institute of Civil Engineers. His last appointment was as Planning and
Development Engineer (then the fourth most senior appointment for a civil
engineer) at the British Railways Board in London; he retired in 1978,
living in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. While at Firth Park he lived first in
Burngreave Road, then in Norwood Road. Although my father detested Latin,
"Bill" Bailey was a great influence, kindling a love of farming which lasted
a lifetime. Bailey invited him to Willoughby-on-the-Wolds several times
during the holidays: half a century on my father still counted milking
before dawn, or bringing the cows home in the evening, as among the happiest
times of his life.
My father's older brother, Harold Hamey, must have left in 1934. He went up
to Downing College, Cambridge to read French. He served in the Army during
the war and joined the Inland Revenue, retiring as an Inspector of Taxes in
Manchester. He lived in Cheshire and has a daughter.
My mother's elder brother, Jack Richardson, also left in 1934. He read
French at Sheffield and intended to teach, but like many starting out just
before the War found there were no jobs. He served in Egypt during the war
and eventually became a teacher in the Rochdale area. He has one son. While
at Firth Park he lived in Southey Crescent.
My godfather, Jack Bond, was my father's closest school friend. He went on
to Sheffield University to read engineering. Serving in the Army, he was
injured, and disabled, in a motor-cycle accident during the War, after which
he was transferred to the RAF. as an engineer and sent out to Singapore to
reconstruct the colony after the Japanese had left. On his return to England
he was demobilised into the Air Ministry (later the Ministry of Works) and
lived first in Lincolnshire, then for 35 years in Suffolk. Two sons and a
daughter. While at Firth Park he lived in the Grimesthorpe area.
My father's sister, Dorothy, married
Alan "Boris" Haywood, who had been a boy at the school, more or less
contemporary with my father and uncles, returning to teach Russian. They
lived in Dore. There were no children. His War service was secret: beyond
saying it had taken him to Norway he would not talk about it. As well as
teaching, Alan Haywood wrote Russian textbooks and came regularly to
Cambridge as an 'O'- and 'A'-level examiner. He had a deep love of Russia
and its people and was a first-rate cook - a skill he had learnt as a
schoolboy, when illness had kept him off school for a year.
Although they had kept in touch off and on, directly and indirectly, Hamey,
Hamey, Richardson, Haywood and Bond were all together again in the same
place for the first (and last) time since Firth Park at my twenty-first
birthday party in February 1977.
John Hamey 31.03.08 |
