40s and 50s Memories
expertise lived on in our gardening and
botanizing hobbies. My wife Ann and I amicably
parted company in 1984, given her wish to
move permanently to Oxford and to focus on
her geographical research. This led to her
gaining a DPhil in 2011 for her work on British
place names.
In 1987, I remarried, and Marri, a Dutch lady
widowed in the '60s, and I, now live in Aldwick,
Bognor Regis, we having moved here from
Henley in 1994 on my retirement from full
time work. Marri has three children whom she
brought up through their teenage years.
Our interests now include theatre productions
at Chichester Festival Theatre, membership
of the Sussex Botanical Recording Society,
singing in the local choir and gardening (with
especial interest in alpines and Alpine Garden
Society activities).
R. CROSS
Bishop Fox 1953
Ronald Cross spent two years at King's to
complete his 'A' and 'S' Levels. He was a
member of the swimming side and gained
House Colours for steeplechase, athletics and
rugby. He starts his account by telling of the
shock of arriving in post-war Britain from his
home in Peru.
Back in 1951 when I entered King's, straight
from Peru where I had completed my Cambridge
'O' Levels (at Markham College, Lima), I was
faced with some challenges: ration books, cold
climate, spartan public school living conditions,
switching to rugby having played soccer all my
life (enthusiastically!), and a hierarchical system
where my place was at the bottom. Adaptation
was rapid and I have to confess, I could
hardly wait to get back to school life after the
holidays. Things went well for me academically.
I won the sixth form mathematics Prize and
finished with four 'A' Levels. The cultural ethos
which I enjoyed and benefited from included
english literature classes, general knowledge,
excellent piano tuition, choir (Coleridge-
Taylor's Hiawatha), art lectures, six lectures
on economics, membership of the Pelican Society (where I gave a researched talk on
Telepathy), and some ballroom dancing. Most
of all I enjoyed the sport, and the interschool
matches (sometimes several hours away by
bus, on a Saturday); rugby, hockey, cricket,
cross-country, athletics, and swimming. Many
of these interests I still pursue today. Character
is nurtured and cherished on the playing fields,
and nothing beats team sport.
In 1953 I was admitted to St. Andrews
University. My younger brother took my place
at King's at this time, following me to St.
Andrews two years later. We each did a four
year Honours degree. Myself in mathematics
and applied mathematics, he in chemistry. Our
other youngest brother completed his studies
in Peru. We all went into teaching. Pedagogics
seems to have become a family tradition. Both
my siblings are teachers, and I have followed
an academic career all my life. Both my children
are in the field. My youngest granddaughter at
her graduation from Kindergarten, when asked
about her choice of career, replied that she
wanted to be a professor like her mother. When
asked why, she replied "because they talk a lot
"! The older sister wants to be an engineer like
her dad. Rest assured they will not be pressured
one way or the other, just as we have never
been. (My son has taken a respite and switched
to yachting in the Mediterranean, and aims to
crew for a yacht in the Trans Atlantic ARC rally).
At St. Andrews my main sport became Athletics
in which I earned a Half Blue, and served
as secretary to the Athletics club. In 1956 I
participated in the British Universities athletics
championships held in London. Myself and
a team-mate decided to hitchhike back to
Scotland; in the middle of nowhere we had to
find a place to sleep for the night. In the dark, we
came across a disused airfield and slept on the
concrete floor of a hangar under newspapers;
eventually hypothermia induced hysterical
laughter, so we were none the worse.
A feature of life as an undergraduate was the
weekly hop at the Students Union; proper
dancing, with a live band. Social life buzzed
in this small university town. Every year we
had our annual inter - residence boat race.
The course ran from the old jetty round a buoy
marker and back. The St. Salvator's 1956 crew,
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