40s and 50s Memories
around ); and of course enjoying our magnificent
outdoors. Both the Indian and Atlantic oceans
are visible from where we live in Noordhoek,
with beaches on either side just minutes away.
P. DARLEY
Woodard 1948
Patrick Darley left King's, from Woodard House
in 1948. The House and Headmaster at that
time was r.c.unmack. Among his friends he
particularly remembers Len Reed, Mike Milne
(who died in 2004), John Cole and Tony Marks.
He regards his life at King's as unremarkable as
regards achievements but his gift for painting
earned him the Art and Sketching Prize on a
number of occasions. Herein lay the foundation
of what was to become an important directive in
his life after King's.
Of his life after King's he writes:
My first paid job (12/6d a day) was as a 2nd
Lieutenant in Royal Signals as part of National
Service. I was the sole subaltern in a regiment
that provided communications for SHAPE then
based in the basement of Wilton House. After
I was demobbed the unit and SHAPE moved
to Fontainebleu. As the subaltern I did more
than my share of orderly duties. The famous
paintings of Wilton were still stored for safety
so I never saw them. One of the advantages of
the evening and night duties was that it gave
me time to study. Despite the best efforts of
Mr Unmack I had failed to get admission to
university before National Service because I
needed at least a credit in latin. The Army gave
me help however and I got admission to St.
John's at Durham.
I went up to Durham in October 1950 and
studied Politics, Economics, Psychology and
Ethics. During my first year I decided that I
was not going to pursue any ideas I had had
of going into the church. I was involved in
stage management and painting scenery for
the Opera Group and Dramatic Society. LyonsWilson had
told me at King's that while I was
a competent painter (what a put down!) that I
should not consider it as a career and he was
of course right. During this period I continued to be active in the TA during vacations.
After Durham I joined the Calico Printers
Association of Manchester which I felt would
allow me to use my interests in design and
colour, and this proved to be the case. The
company had worldwide operations and most
of its UK operations were in the north-west.
Some three years after coming down from
university I married Daphne who had read
history at St. Aiden's, while I was at John's.
Len Reed was best man and John Cole was
present, Mike Mine was in India and could not
attend.
We have three daughters and a son, Mark, who
was at Pyrland and Woodard from 1977. We
have eight grandchildren. My eldest daughter
was also at St. Aidan's and was a contemporary
of John Cole's eldest.
After a rocky start at CPA I was given the design
production of a small department making
printed tablecloths. These were a feature of
post-war seaside souvenir shops. I developed a
new product range these were sold to the best
stores in the world. I persuaded Wedgwood to
allow us to reproduce their designs on table
linen. Technically this was difficult, but proved
to be very popular and Wedgwood promoted
this product with their own version, notably in
the United States. After this I made progress
adding furnishing fabrics to my interests. One
of the designs I produced for furnishing fabrics
was selected as a Design of the Year in 1963
and the award for this was made by Prince
Philip.
During this period I had transferred from
Kensington Regiment in London to TA Divisional
Signals in Lancashire. This gave me access
to a number of friends in the north-west and
with a squadron in Liverpool and also to an
understanding of human relations which was
not taught in any business school! To a scouser,
QR's were a basis for discussion. At this point
my Director pointed out to me that I had to
decide between being a soldier or a manager. I
had been awarded my TD so I opted for textiles.
Friends from those days are still regular visitors
to my home at Pitminster.
In 1967 I was sent to the new London Graduate
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