Trevor Ward, outstanding Shebbearian sportsman in the early 1950s, has died after a short illness. He was 71.
After Shebbear, he played cricket and rugby for the RAF, rugby for Dorset & Wilts and Devon, and cricket for Devon in the Minor Counties Championship..

As a left-handed batsman, he formed a formidable opening partnership with Paddy Hipperson. Against Bideford Grammar School in his last season at Shebbear in 1953, Ward scored 105 not out and Hipperson 116. The school declared at 252 for 2.

He trained as a teacher at St Luke’s College, Exeter, and taught for more than 30 years at schools in Paignton.

He had a long association with both the cricket and rugby clubs in the town, scoring more than 1,500 points at fly half for Paignton and was top scorer for 14 seasons.

He was immensely proud of his ability to spot young sportsmen with talent.

One of them was Chris Read who went on to play cricket for England and another, Les Mears, a former pupil, who was picked to play rugby for England recently.

In a tribute, former Test umpire Dickie Bird, who was the cricket professional at Paignton in the late 1960s, said: “I know that helping young youngsters find their way in the sporting world was immensely satisfying for him.”

Old Shebbearian Roger Horrell, with whom Ward played schoolboy rugby for Devon, said: “Trevor was a school hero and immensely popular. Of course, that went with being such a good sportsman, but it owed much to his rather gentle, modest and undemonstrative manner.”

Another OS, author Leslie Scrase said: “I shall always remember Trevor as modest, unassuming, gentle, quiet, good-natured, cheerful, friendly, decent and honest – a man of absolute integrity and reliability.”

The funeral was at Preston Church, Paignton, on April 7.

He leaves a widow Ann, and three children, Rosemary, Joanne and Tim.

Known throughout the school as “Gabby”, Bill Gibbons was at Shebbear from 1948-56. His home was in Lynton.

He became a Ruddle House prefect and played rugby and cricket, captaining both the 2nd XV and 2nd X1. A hardworking boy, he gained a County Major Scholarship to the University of North Staffordshire (Keele) then one of Britain’s newest universities.

In a letter to the Shebbearian in 1958, he wrote: “The main interest in this university seems to centre on the Foundation Year in which one studies all the subjects under the sun. In short, you are given ideas, or ideas are created by you, which you have no time to follow up, and as a result some form of Chauvinism creeps in. However, the first year does give you time to think over your choice of degree subjects and gives you an idea of subjects you might otherwise be totally be wholly ignorant of …”

We were never to know the subject in which he graduated but at some point later he emigrated to New Zealand where he worked as an administrator in education. In 1985 when his old school friend Geoffrey Wrayford, then Vicar of Frome, featured in a news story about officiating at the marriage of an American whose family links with the town went back to the Middle Ages, the story appeared in newspapers around the world.

From Wellington came a letter from Bill saying he had spotted the item. He added he was married, had two small boys, aged three and six, “a house, a mortgage, three quarters of a car, a stamp collection and an overdraft!”

In the 1990s Bill visited the Wrayfords at their new Ministry in Minehead and later one of the Wrayford children stayed with Bill and his wife in Wellington.

Sadder news was to follow. A letter to Geoffrey from Mrs Christine Gibbons said Bill had passed away towards the end of 2005. He would have been about 67

Simon Birks came to Shebbear from Sussex in 1968, well into George Kingsnorth’s headship, and left after the Upper Sixth in 1975.
Read his own profile notes and you get the impression that he achieved little. Not quite the case, M’lord!

There is no mention, for example, of the academic successes– form prizes, the OSA’s Civics prize -and nine O-Levels and three at advanced level.

Nor that he was a Thorne House Prefect, Senior Librarian, Editor of the Shebbearian, as well as being successively, the Secretary of both the Lower and Upper Union of Debating and Dramatic Societies.

He would claim to have had no gift for acting. Yet, a little research, shows that he played a leading role as Sir Oliver Surface in Sheridan’s School for Scandal in 1973.

The reviewer commented that the acting was of a consistently high standard throughout and that Mr Birks gave a “strong” performance.

From Shebbear, Simon went to Trent Polytechnic, gaining a BA in Legal Studies in 1979.

He was called to the Bar in 1981.

“Following the usual Shebbear practice I applied to the very best chambers for pupillage – regardless of the fact that I had never even studied their special area of practice,” he said.”

Twenty-five years on finds him almost at the top of the practitioners’ list at the prestigious Clarendon Chambers in Lincolns Inn, London.

His specialist area covers Real Property and Public Law.

“Occasionally” I will meet another Old Shebbearians as an opponent, judge or a solicitor.”

In 2004, he appeared for the head teacher and governors of a comprehensive school when a 15-year old girl lost a battle in the High Court for the right to wear strict Islamic dress in school.

Simon argued successfully that the girl had not been excluded from school, which multi-cultural and multi-faith, but had simply stayed away. The case was widely reported.

He was persuaded to join the OSA by another Old Shebbearians barrister, now his Honour Judge Michael Carroll.

Subsequently he has been one of the association’s most loyal committee members. He was also a regular visitor to Shebbear for career evenings held in the 1980s and early 1990s.

And lest you think, that his life consists of all work and no play, he is an enthusiastic sailor “Dinghies – usually rather slow ones, always battered – and often someone else’s.

“In more recent years, living in Kent, I have also been introduced to Thames sailing barges and to a friend’s narrow boat.”

Another excellent year for the school, with numbers of both day pupils and boarders rising and the governors releasing a million pounds from income to pay for more improvements.

That was the central message from headmaster Bob Barnes at the annual reunion dinner of the Old Shebbearians Association held at the RAF Club in Piccadilly, London, on January 21.

He said the school roll stood at 280 – a 10 year high – and by Easter should be at least 285 which would be the highest for 14 years.

Furthermore , the number of boarders had risen to 90, thereby bucking a national trend against boarding.

There would be 47 candidates sitting the entrance examination at the school for Year Seven and five for Year Nine. Another candidate would be taking the examination in Bali. Tuis was the highest number of candidates for Shebbear since 1990.

“It is a reflection on how well the school is doing. Our reputation locally and wider is getting greater and greater,” said Mr Barnes. “Indeed, this year at Shebbear we have pupils from France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Hong Kong. We have even had an application from Azerbaijan and interest also from the United States and Australia. It is warming to know that we being looked at globally as well as on a local scale.”

If the news from the headmaster was good, then the attendance at the 98th consecutive annual dinner was just as heartening. A total of 103 guests and Old Shebbearians -more than half of recent vintage and many old girls – attended.

Grace was said by the Rev. Geoffrey Wrayford and the assembly stood in silence to remember Old Shebbearians who had died since the last gathering. The now customary toast to absent friends was made.

Continuing with his reply to the toast to the school, proposed by President Michael Buckingham, Mr Barnes reported a truly unique event – the arrival of the first true, all Shebbearian – a baby born to former pupils Michael Carpenter and Charlotte Brady, who had married after leaving Shebbear.

Another new arrival was the first full-time Chaplain for eight years. The Rev. Oluyemisi Jaiyesimi, from Nigeria, was doing a remarkable job.

And what of the improvements to the fabric of the school?

The Pollard House had been totally refurbished. Double glazing was being installed in most of the bedrooms.

“And,” he said, “This is really going to hurt. We are spending money on new bedroom furniture as well! Perhaps , he suggested, constant hot water and a central heating system that worked marked the end of the character-building cold of yesteryear and was producing a “real bunch of softies?”

Old Shebbearians, old and young, roared their agreement.

There were other improvements: the kindergarten had been redeveloped, the refurbishment of the science block would be completed by Easter, new desks and chairs had been purchased for most classrooms and interactive whiteboards would be standard throughout the school.

Shebbear was also seeking to improve links with the village. A joint venture scheme was going ahead to put a synthetic turf pitch on Dartmoor field.

More thought was going on to try to improve links with the local community to provide joint facilities

“Compared to other schools, we are now one of the most sound, forward looking schools in the area. There is a lot to be proud of in that.”

Shebbear added value to education and that made it a leader in the market place. The school had come a long way through difficult times. “We are a business as well as an educational institution – never lose sight of that.”

He congratulated Mike Heath and John Harding on organising the 40 years on reunion at Shebbear in May.

“There were a lot of them. They enjoyed staying in a girls’ house (it was half-term) They liked the cushions, the smell of perfume and the messages left in lipstick on the mirrors!

“The group, from Canada, from Tasmania, from far away in |Britain,. was fantastic. Such a sense of fun, whether walking around the college, in the village pub, the church, walking around the Triangle.

“I would suggest we do this more often. If you are passing please drop in to see us. The school is changing and needs you to reaffirm the links between the school and the Old Shebbearians.”

The toast to Shebbear was proposed jointly by Emily Cooper, Head Girl, and Jack Warner, Head Boy. Mike Heath, responding, reiterated his thanks to the Headmaster and the school for the warm hospitality he and his 40-years-on group had received during the May reunion.

War Memorial Fund

Then, former President David Shorney was called on to make the War Memorial Fund award. Before doing so, he outlined the history of the fund and called on Old Shebbearians to support it.

“It has been said that Shebbear is a very special place and that was no more so than 80 years ago when Old Shebbearians got together to found the fund six years after the end of the First World War.

“Those who founded it themselves found it very difficult to come to terms with the fact that 48 of their number were no longer with them because they had died in France or Gallipoli or one or other of the war zones of the first major conflict of the 20th Century. They wondered how they could honour the memory of the men who died and for whom they felt a great affection – their friends.

“They collected £1,000 or thereabouts which in present day values was the equivalent of £100,000.

“I think that one of the reasons why they did it was because Shebbear up to 1914 was a pacifist school. It had two headmasters who were pacifists who had been brought up to abhor war. I doubt whether half a dozen Shebbearians went into the armed services between 1841 and 1914. And yet when war came they volunteered in their scores, their hundreds, because they believed it was a cause worth fighting for. Many paid the price.

“So for Shebbear the losses of that war meant more than for most other schools which had strong military traditions.

“During the last year we have tried to augment the fund. Five years ago at the annual reunion we decided to change the fund’s remit to award scholarships to boys and girls at Shebbear. An appeal was launched in June. We have had a very generous response but until we get a 100% response we will not be able to award scholarships.

“Although there are many who can afford to keep their sons and daughters at Shebbear, there are some who cannot and find themselves having to withdraw their children before they have completed their education. We would like to ensure that this never happens in the future.

“But only you and your friends can do that. I appeal to you tonight for no-one to leave this room without filling in a standing order form.

“The Head has already talked about cementing links between the school and old pupils. One of the best ways to do that would be to support the fund year in and year out so that we can make a major contribution to Shebbear in the years ahead. “

He said it was hoped the first scholarship would be awarded in September, 2007.

This year’s award to a former pupil in higher education was made to Rebecca Betambeau who is studying music at Birmingham Conservatoire – someone “who has enchanted us year after year by her music at speech days”.

With that it was left only for His Honour Judge David Pugsley to propose Simon Birks as President for 2006; Chris Blencowe, vice-President, and the re-election of David Haley, Secretary; Michael Buckingham, Treasurer, and the committee en bloc.

A boy at Shebbear from 1936-42, Brian Andrew was a highly-respected estate agent in Somerset for all his working life. He was also a local politician in Yeovil and a stalwart of the Methodist Church.

He died aged 79 in hospital in Taunton after a long illness in December 2005. An obituary will appear in the next edition of the Shebbearian.

‘Schools at War’ by David Stranack is published by Phillimore & Co, Chichester, West Sussex, at £14.99.

There is no mention of the great defensive trench that stretched the length of a cricket field, the Home Guard, the nightly blackouts or the sadness when the lengthening list of casualties was read out after prep in the Old Third.

But a new book says Shebbear’s remoteness made it a popular choice for parents seeking a safe refuge for their sons during the Second World War.

While not actually hosting a complete school, Shebbear received a steady stream of individual evacuees from urban areas at risk from attack.

In fact, “In the late 1940s the school roll was 50 per cent higher than it was in 1939.”

When Jack Morris arrived from Bryanston in 1942 to take over the headship, pupils were faced with a variety of attitudes among the staff.

“Morris was a jingoistic patriot but some of the older members of the common room who had had personal experience of action in the First World War viewed the new conflict with apprehension, and a couple of masters who were confirmed pacifists completed an interesting spectrum of opinion.”

It adds: “Apart from the usual deprivations caused by a shortage of food and fuel, Shebbearians’ lives were largely unaffected by the war.

“But perhaps helping with the potato harvest alongside prisoners of war from Italy and Germany gave them some inkling of how other lives had been affected.

Other West Country school mentioned in the book include Blundell’s and Kelly College, while it is also records that Bideford Grammar School hosted pupils from Selhurst Grammar School, Croydon, for a while.

The imminent launch of a new appeal to bolster the War Memorial Fund, a major reunion to be held at Shebbear in May and a call for former pupils to return more frequently to their old school put the OSA firmly in focus at the 2005 Reunion Dinner held at the RAF Club in Piccadilly in January.

It was fitting that the occasion attracted an impressive 94 members and guests, including many of the younger generation and more old girls than ever before. Opinion was that it was one of the best reunions in recent years.

The warmest of welcomes was accorded to Lady Vane (Daphne Page, daughter of the much-loved late Jackson Page, boy and master at the school for more than 40 years). Daphne was only the second girl to attend Shebbear.

She was presented with an OSA tie which she said she would be privileged to wear. Old Shebbearians stood in silence in memory of those known to have died during the past year – Phyllis Johnson, widow of former headmaster Leslie Johnson, John Comyn, Roy Annis, Horace Moore, Peter Allin, Sam Winzer and Peter Smoldon.

Grace was said by the Rev. Geoffrey Wrayford.

Proposing the toast to Shebbear, President Mike Johns said that on his visits to school he had always been received with warmth and friendliness, proving that old habits remained.

He had attended a staff and sixth form variety evening in March which had ranged from “serious music to flouncy Greek farce”, Speech Day in July and the BBC’s Any Questions? programme from the Sports’ Hall in the Autumn.

He recalled how in response to a question on the Hunting with Hounds issue, the Secretary of the Police Federation had said that police resources would be stretched when the Bill became law.

Yet, he chided, the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary had managed to send 35 police constables, two Inspectors, four Special Branch officers and some private security guards to Shebbear “and even they could not stop us delaying Ben Bradshaw, MP for Exeter, from getting into his car!”

The Holly Ball in December had been an excellent and incredible evening.

He urged all Old Shebbearians to encourage others to attend OSA meetings and reunions.

Responding Bob Barnes, Headmaster, said it was a great privilege to be at the dinner once again. “My fifth such occasion – and it gives me just as much pleasure this time as it did on the first. There are 94 of us here tonight – a record for this venue. There are more girls than ever before, and looking around I have actually taught four and a half tables of Shebbearians”

He said that in the past he had spoken of “the Spirit of Shebbear”. The spirit was strong and still growing. “As we have got stronger and stronger over the last few years, so we have taken the opportunity to develop the college.

“Academically results remain good – they always will. I do not believe in league tables so I am not going to quote facts and figures to you because they do not tell you what the individual has achieved or how the individual leaves college not just with a piece of paper but everything else that has been bestowed on them by attending Shebbear.”

“When they leave they do so with a sense of what is right and wrong, with character and with a sense of self worth which is worth more.

“And that is a great credit to all. We have a big team. Not just teachers, but secretarial, bursarial staff, the kitchen, cleaning and ground staff, The Friends, Old Shebbearians – everyone who contributes. All of us are working together to produce something that brings us back and makes this reunion grow. You can’t always put that down on paper but you can always feel it.”
He said pupils were interested in the OSA, interested in its history, “interested in you as a group and interested in meeting every one of you as individuals if you were to come to the college.”

The school’s biggest task was to try to instil its pupils with inquiring minds. “An inquisitive mind is essentially what we are trying to build into all our pupils, not just on their academics but about life in general, to ask the question ‘why?’ all the time.” Examination results were good, continually good, but that was not the only aim. “Financially, the college has gone through a revolution. I can report to you that for the second year in succession we have been the best school in the Methodist group. Financially we are the strongest. Now that is something to be really proud of because we are doing it at a time when we are spending the most money in the group on refurbishment.

“That gives me great pleasure because it is about providing the best facilities for all our pupils that should be the essential goal of each and every one of us in this room and at college.

“This year we have put in a recording studio, we have built an extension to the junior school which has an up-to-date IT suite upstairs and new changing facilities downstairs.

“And for those at the older end for whom the quad was a focal point during your career at Shebbear, we have replaced all the windows in the quad with double glazing and in keeping with the originals and we will be doing the surface of the quad later on in the year.

“We are refurbishing the tennis courts and in particular have been working on the boarding houses which are now becoming more and more plush. Carpets, heating that works and breakfast that runs up to 12 o clock on Saturday and Sunday …” when silence returned to the assembly, Mr Barnes went on: “We do realise its important to get away from Shebbear, to see a wider world, so this year we have run more sports and other trips than ever before. We have been on a ski trip to France with 43 pupils, we have been on football and netball tours to Holland, we have been on art trips to Paris, we have been on french activity trips, and we are planning rugby and netball tours to Canada next year.

“And like my predecessor we are desperately trying to get the name of Shebbear into the wider area of the country. Any Questions? was very successful. We got lots of positive comment from all over. We are also bringing international stars to college. Kevin Montgomery, an up and coming country singer from America has been and is coming back again.

“But what pleases me most of all is that having been calling for Old Shebbearians to come down and visit this year Mike Heath is organising a reunion that will bring old boys back. They will be provided with accommodation over the May half-term. It is good to see the link because we do not see enough Old Shebbearians coming back. You cannot be allowed to remain away from the college. You need to keep contact with us.”

The toast to the OSA was proposed by Imogen Giddy, Head Girl, and Rob Wade, Head Boy.

Replying Mike Heath, said he could not believe that it was 40 years since he and his contemporaries were their age but “my lot, our crew, our 1958-65 group” were having a reunion at Shebbear on May 28.

“Finding old contemporaries around the world, often with the Internet, is so rewarding. They light up like light bulbs and are delighted to have been contacted. They are on board and up for the reunion.

“One of the things that my lot got wrong was losing touch with each other and the school. And the school lost touch with us. And as we search for lost friends, we have been dismayed to find that too many have already died, all far too young. What a pity we were not in touch when we could have been. We got it wrong.”

Former President and Trustee of the War Memorial Fund, David Shorney announced that Holly Thomas, studying pharmacy at Bath University, was the recipient of this year’s award. Appropriately, he called upon Lady Vane, whose late husband Sir John Vane was one of Britain’s most distinguished pharmacologists and a winner of a Nobel Prize for Medicine, to make the presentation. Then he outlined plans to launch a new appeal for the War Memorial Fund, founded in the depths of the 1924 recession to commemorate the 48 Old Boys killed in the 1914-18 War.

The aim would be to provide an annual scholarship or scholarships to augment those already funded by the school, to enable deserving pupils to continue their sixth form education.

Members approved the election of four new trustees: Bill Oke, Geoff Watts, the Rev. Geoffrey Wrayford and Dr Graeme Ackland, Professor of Physics at Edinburgh University, who with a double first from Oxford is one of Shebbear’s most outstanding former pupils.

With that Michael Buckingham was elected President of the OSA for 2005 and Simon Birks, Vice President. The committee was approved en bloc.

Peter Smoldon, the eldest of three Old Shebbearians brothers died suddenly shortly before Christmas at his home in Burnham on Sea, Somerset. He was 69.

Almost 300 people gathered at Allhallows and St Peter’s church, in the nearby village of West Huntspill for the funeral. Among them were six Old Shebbearians.

After Shebbear (1947-52) and National Service, Peter eventually took over the family business in Newport, Barnstaple, before moving into the world of heavy plant hire. He eventually owned his own company in Bristol.

In retirement he indulged in one of his passions – watching cricket and helping out at Gloucestershire Cricket Club. In his youth he had played for the Shebbear First Eleven and the Old Boys. He was also a former member of the Shebbear First Fifteen. An even greater passion was jazz, both as a player and hugely knowledgeable fan. A jazz band played at the funeral and at the wake afterwards.

Peter leaves a widow, Janet, three sons, a granddaughter and a brother Patrick whose twin Roger, a former headmaster and Justice of the Peace, died in 2002 aged 60, and after whom, the rugby ground at Sutton Coldfield is named.