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Copyright © Ray Crowther 2004 |
Tom Hood School Reunions Pupil Biographies (from Friends Reunited and other sources -
Stan Coe () I was surfing the net and found the Tom Hood reunion site. Don
Grunbaum was wondering what had happened to some others, including me. My last year at Tom Hood was in 5A (almost totally a boys’
class, just three girls). This was accounts and stuff, “male dominated”
disciplines. I was affectionately known as “Muscles”. Helped by the fact
that I put my fist through the glass section of our classroom door because some
toad’s foot was against it! However, now many years later I decided to go back into the
education system and I am currently in my third year of a politics degree at
University. Bit late, but had other things to do! I live in Colchester with my
partner. Just got a job working for the Probation Service in the
department that deals with taking offenders in court. Eric Churchyard (1964) I left the Tom Hood school in 1964, more interested in Radio than
in school work. I left with not a lot of academic qualifications!, but at least
I got my Amateur Radio Licence (G3TVR), which the headmaster, Percy Claydon, let
me study for!! Anyone remember Fluff, Big Bill, Little Bill, or Mr Windus (I
fixed his telly for Him - He thought that was great!!) I was probably quite a sad case to my teachers at that time, but
they felt a lot better when I came back to visit the school in 1973, when I was
in the final year at Aston University, where I gained a 2.1 honours degree in
electronic engineering. I have always been involved in electronics of one kind or
another, and I am now Technical Director of Shrewsbury Medical Ltd, Located near
Shrewsbury in Shropshire. David Johnson (1964) Currently working in Personnel in Local Government (Redbridge). Married with two beautiful children (so they say!!) who currently treat me as bank/taxi driver. Don Grunbaum (1966) Now living in Norfolk. Married to Wendy. Six (!) children. Was
working as an IT manager in Thetford, but just made redundant! Magistrate on
South Norfolk bench. At Tom Hood I had various nicknames – well you'd expect
it with my name. Donald Duck was the least original, followed by Greenbum,
Trombone and probably more that I have forgotten. David Lake (1964) I have been married to Suzanne for 31 years and live in
Maidstone. We have three boys 26, 24, 21 who all support West Ham. I qualified
as an accountant in 1976 and have been working in various industries ever since. I also did most of an Open University degree until work pressures
took over. I continue to defy the increasingly frequent lists of redundancies on
a regular basis and might even write a book on it one day. In March 2001 my wife and I bought a shop, which is my bolt hole.
It's excellent as it deals in casual wear for the 13 to 30 year olds. What makes
it excellent is that I am too old to work there. I just bank the money and pay
the bills. Would love to hear from absolutely anybody. Especially David
Johnson, people from the L1, L2 classes, Jennifer Bew, Carol Clark, Bob Chaplin,
Anne Gardiner. Also Christine Danger. She never spoke to me at school so I
thought that she might start now. John Stubbs (1964) Left George Mitchell in 1960 and went to Tom Hood. Do you remember we used to park our motorbikes under the railway arch? Married with 3 children. Working in stockbroking. Dave Roy put me in touch with this website. Carol Cantello (nee Goodman) (1964) Married with 2 sons who are now not at home. Live in Surrey. Run
a Pre-school. Play sport, i.e. Bowls, Badminton, Short Tennis and Table Tennis. David Russell (1964) Left school a year early in July 1963, to join the Royal Navy,
but belong to the year who left in 1964. Now living in Hampshire and the area
manager for a major bank. I would welcome contact from anyone who remembers me or is still
in contact with those of that era. Some names that I particularly remember are: John Neeson, Lesley
Wellings, Roy Stubbs, Jos ???,Terry Bartlett, Cheryl Smith, Pamela Dallas and
Agnes Meadows Geoff Walker (1965) Pauline Saunders (nee Forester) (1964) I am working at the Institution of Civil Engineers in Westminster. Been married once with two children (grownup now). Divorced but not single. Still live in Walthamstow area. Ann Johnson (nee Boardman) (1964) Leslie Wellings (1964) Ray (“Crow”) Crowther (1966) 1966-1969: @ Reading University getting a degree in Cybernetics. Geoff Goodyear () Philip Cooper (1966) Since leaving TH in 1966, I worked for Citibank and Chase in Foreign Exchange dealing in Athens, London and New York. Then changed careers and moved into HR as a T&D consultant with Citibank in Beirut and Athens again. Joined Swiss Bank in London and they moved me to New York where I eventually had my own instructional design business. Since Xmas of 1999 have been in England and have my own training consultancy business based in Ruislip, Middlesex. Married to Susan. Bad news I'm afraid. I am in Greece setting up a new business and
I will not be able to get back to the UK to attend the reunion. I hope it all
goes well and everyone has a great time. Give those who remember me my best
wishes and also if you get a list of attendees could you do me a favour and
email me the their contact details. It's a great shame I shall miss the event. Hopefully their will be another one soon. All the best for the New Year. Does anyone know what happened to John Killingback or David
Vaughan? Janet Jenkins (nee Bickmore) (1966) I was an O level leaver in 1966. Unfortunately, I will be
unable to attend as I have work commitments. I have attached a few
old photos - names I remember include Sandra Goodwin, Pauline Jones, Julia
Clarke, Barry Joyce and a Barbara and a Pauline whose surnames I can’t
remember! [The photos can be found at http://ray.crowther.name/tomhood.htm] I married in 1970 - still going strong even after 32 years and
have 2 daughters now aged 27 and 23. I made my career in Banking and am
now the Manager in a local branch. Hope everything goes well at the
reunion, sorry to be missing it. Susan Mansworth (nee Kipping) (1966) Had kept up to date reading e-mails about reunion until computer
went down, but now back. It looks like a good idea and I hope everyone has
a good time. I'm going away to Spain and won’t be around, but wish
everyone all the best, anyway. Bob Chaplin (1964) I have
been resident in Australia since 1984, initially Canberra & Sydney, and
since 1987 in Perth, Western Australia. I have an IT business centred in Perth,
although I still travel extensively between Sydney, Melbourne, SE Asia, USA and
the UK. Thrice married with 3 sired boys (Simon 30, Nicholas 27 & Matthew
10) and 3 inherited (Lee 21, Jacob 15 & Emily 9), none of who live with the
lovely Marguerite & I. As you may gather, I am a staunch advocate of the
ethos “the more you practice, the luckier you get”. Greetings
from Oz, Apologies
for not contributing to the earlier exchange of mail as I have been travelling
in relation to relocating our business from Melbourne & Sydney to Perth,
Western Australia. Oz is vast, and yesterday the Brisbane/Perth flight took 6
hours, and all in one Country! I very
much regret that I cannot make the proposed get together at Xmas. Marguerite
& I were really ‘hanging out’ to visit UK and Europe for two weeks after
Xmas, but the business and personal home relocations have made us shelve these
plans until later next year. Ironically, we had just contemplated 4 days in
Bali, but in view of recent terrorism attacks this option is out; even
Leytonstone sounds safer at this time. Ha! Ha! I hope
your plans for the proposed reunion come to fruition and am so sorry that I
won't be part of the celebrations on this occasion. Perhaps next year sometime? Valerie,
thanks for jogging the brain cells. Of course, it was I that went out with Carol
Clark, albeit briefly ... I think? When Geoff
Goodyear and Hazel visited me in Perth, some 4/5 years ago I was ‘between
marriages’ but spent a few wonderful days reminiscing about the old School and
absent friends. Geoff was Best Man at my marriage to Pat Ashton, who was Anne
Gardner's cousin; we met at a THOSA dance in Debden or Loughton, from
recollection. Geoff did recall that you were both keen dancers. Bob (Buddy) DeAngelis (1966) After 20 successful years in industry I realised I hated every
minute of it. Jenny and I tore up our roots and moved to Spain in 1984. For once
I got it right! I now run a major discotheque in a busy tourist town and love
every moment of it! I would love to [attend the reunion] but trips to England at that
time are impossible. Chris Munton (1965) This
sounds very interesting, although I have problems with the dates (yearending). Sue - my
wife (who was not at Tom Hood) and I, live in “outer Essex” – but my
“Mum” still lives in Woodford Green; and we often visit her, which is not
too far away from "The Eagle". I left Tom Hood in 1965 having been
through the 6th form. The
contacts that I have are: Mike Roome; Anne Roome - (nee Porter);Dave Vaughan;
Viv Onslow; Tony Wiley (a few years before us) - who has a few more contacts –
probably before us - but he MAY remember them. He is now the
"Landlord" of "The Cricketers", at Mill Green, near
Ingatestone. [A good contact]; Mav (Mavoureen) Owen nee Coles; Russell Owen (who
married Mav Coles). Mike Roome used to keep in contact with Mike Enever, and I
know that Anne Roome has some contacts, although I must admit that I cannot
remember the names. Viv Onslow contacted me a couple of years ago, telling me
that she was back teaching at the old Tom Hood Buildings. Heather Carnera (nee Russon) (1964) Paul Flynn (1964) Tom Hood County Technical School, Leytonstone 1959-1964. Ellerman
Lines Shipping Company 1964-1969. Metropolitan Police 1970-1998. NMEC/English
Partnerships 1999-present. Now that I live in North Wales I will be unable to attend the
reunion on the 30th December. I do hope that it is a great success, and enjoyed
by all who attend. Roy Caselton (1966) Married Barbara in 1972. We have two children, Emma (27,
married), living in central Florida, and Neil (25), living in Denver. We moved
to the USA in 1980 on a two-year job assignment, became citizens in 1999 and
live in Atlanta, Georgia. We get back to the UK to visit family usually once a
year. Barbara & I celebrated our 30th anniversary this year and
have spent the last 22 years in the USA, arriving in 1980 for a 2-year
secondment with my company. In 2000 we all became US Citizens, our daughter,
Emma, is married and lives in Central Florida and works as a Nurse Practitioner,
our Son, Neil, lives in Denver, Colorado, with his girlfriend and works in sales
and marketing. Barbara & I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and I am CFO of a large
manufacturing group, although I have my own consulting company as well. We get
back to England fairly often, mostly to visit family, but we also like to travel
around the world and frequently use British Airways as an excuse to stop over in
London for a day or two. Christine Folwell (1966) Thanks for the invitation, but as I live in Geneva, I will not be
able to make it at this time of the year. I was an “O” level leaver in 1966,
so I don't actually know anyone on the list of people that are attending the
reunion. However I hope you all have an enjoyable time, thanks again. Linda Miles (1964) Living in Kent. Working as PA to the Managing Director of a
record company. Two children (boys) aged 20 and 19. Living with partner. Enjoy
holidays abroad, socialising. Mickey Titmus (1964) Living in Swindon, Wiltshire, working as a sales manager –
starting life over again. Roger “Grout” Carpenter (1966) Steve “Spud” Tate (1966) Live in Sydney, Australia with wife Madeleine Prosho & three
Children: James (23) Helen (20) & David (15). I run a one man band property development and consultancy
business that keeps us in food and water and a house that remains unrenovated as
I have to put the money into the next project – much to Madeleine's chagrin. Madeline Prosho (1966) After going out with Henry Tate (1966 Leaver too) for years and
years and years, we married in 1972. We emigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1980
and now have three children - James 23, Helen 20 and David 15. Have only been
back to England 3 times – last time April 2000. Wish we had known about this
site then! Love to catch up with anyone who remembers me or Steve (Henry as
was). Keith Edgley (1966) Dave Storey (1966) Yvonne Stannard (nee Keyte) Lynda Sharpe (1964) Linda Climo (nee Reed) (1966) |