40s and 50s Memories
After three years one was permitted take 6
months leave and I did, again travelling to Cape
Town and boarding the Carnaervon Castle
bound for Southampton. Dinner the first night
on board was at a table for eight and opposite
me sat a pretty young girl probably some five or
six years younger than I. Diane and I married
five years later in 1958. After leave I returned
to Rhodesia and served in various country
stations. During my travels I met Eric L Crabbe
(OA, KA40) and while in Umtali in the Eastern
Districts was a good mate of R T E Sandall
(OA, BF40) who had been in Bishop Fox and
who was now a Chief Inspector in CID.
One day whilst having my teeth seen to it
transpired that the Dentist was Jack Charles
(brother of Leo). Why do Dentists fill your
mouth with ironmongery and then want you to
carry on a conversation?
In 1965 I retired on gratuity with the rank of
Inspector and returned to the United Kingdom
and then settled in Guernsey where I obtained
employment with the British American Tobacco
Company (I had after all learned to smoke in
the Trenches at King's). Later, I opened my
own company supplying and maintaining
refrigeration products to the many hotels on
the island. During my time in Guernsey I made
contact with the Lovell brothers (OAs) who had
been in King Alfred House.
John Pagett, Christmas 2010
In 1979 I sold the business and moved to West
Berkshire and formed another refrigeration
company, this time in Bristol, specialising in
medical and hospital work. Following a motor
accident on the M4, I sold this company in 2006 and since then have been minding my own
business in my Berkshire pad and trying hard
not to annoy too many people too often. We
have one daughter, and two grandchildren, a
boy and a girl.
Looking back if asked. "Do I regret changing
career so many times?" I would say "No!" And
again, "Have I been happy doing what I have
done?" The answer is "Yes!"
B. PAINTER
Meynell 1954
Brian Painter was in both the Junior and Senior
Schools at King's. He was a member of the
School Steeplechasing team and Chairman of
the Common Room Committee.
Of his life after King's he writes:
When I left King's I did National Service in
the R.A.F. and following demob I trained as
a quantity surveyor, and beginning work at
Preston, Lancashire.
In 1964 I decided to try something new and I
uprooted the family from Preston and moved
to London. I joined the gas industry, intending
it to be temporary, but because I kept getting
promoted I stayed on. And on. By the time I left
27 years late I had become a Public Relations
Officer. During this time, I had married Loretta
in 1959, and had become a father to our son
and to our daughter and I had worked in the gas
industry in various posts and places.
Leaving work in industry I thought was
retirement. True, I was able to watch every
minute of the summer Olympics from Spain in
1992 on TV. However, the DIY jobs around the
home proved not to last forever and wielding a
paint brush quite soon lost its appeal.
So, after much searching for suitable new
employment I retrained as a hypnotherapist
and qualified in November 1993. I now have
a practice room in our home in the village of
Kelvedon Hatch, Brentwood, Essex where we
have lived since 1978.
I am still in practice and whilst I continue to enjoy
the work I shall carry on. When I was with the
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