Testing the system again

Testing the system

I have just noted with great sadness the news about Geoff’s passing on . My name is Robert Walford and I have been a Resident of Melbourne since 1969 . I noted the Torbitt site quite by accident last year , particularly the past pupils reunion and the wonderful class listings together with form photos which Geoff told me you both compiled . I shared this with my sister Georgina ( six years my senior ) who was thrilled to see her class photo. Including seeing Ken Ashton the very famous football referee.
It spurred me on to correspond very regularly with Geoff and between us we just about named everyone living in my area of Newbury Park . I talk of Roy Gardens , Oaks Lane ,Aldborough Road , the Parks and shops not forgetting Leyswood Drive where he grew up. His local knowledge was so broad I now know all about the Dick Turpin Hotel . His extensive knowledge of the War Graves was breathtaking and Geoff helped me with my own ancestry including the sad fate of a couple of my uncles shot down over Germany .
He was so cross that the Covid restrictions had prevented him from travelling to the cemetery at St Peters at the end of Oaks Lane / top of Aldborough Road . I seem to remember that his mother was buried there - as were several of my family.
I was at William Torbitt in the same year as Geoff and Pauline (we left in 1959) and would interested in swapping stories with any other student who would like to do so. You can email me by CLICKING HERE.

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you of the passing of Geoff Gillon in the early part of June 2021. His death was unexpected although he had been suffering ill-health for a number of years.
We lived on opposite sides of the country but it was a collaboration that worked and it was his enthusiasm and zeal that made him the main driver of this website and I would probably have given up a long time ago without his encouragement.
With this in mind, although I will keep the website live in his memory, I will not be accepting any new registrations, photographs or additions. [If you are already on the contact list and wish to amend your details then I will, of course, do that at least for the foreseeable future.]
RIP Geoff

Well I remember Stephen Trump even if he was the year below me, in my sister Cathy's class. I have very warm memories of WT and the dedicated teachers and head teachers that worked there. I would be interested to see if June Richards is still alive. I'm aware that she started as head teacher in the infants in 1965 on my birthday. Glad to see Stephen was in the Redbridge Youth Orchestra. I was a little bit musical then, but gave it up in secondary school to play for the school football team in goal. I have an LP at home of the Redbridge Music School playing in concert at the Royal Albert Hall in March 1978. I wonder if Stephen T. was in the orchestra? David Goodliff, aged 59.

APOLOGIES FOR LATE APPROVAL FOR THIS MESSAGE!
I see Steve Trump has entered a post below. My recollection is he was in my sister Cathy's class (I was a school year older). Like Steve, I retain many good memories of going to school there. I loved everything about going to school and the participation. Despite me early years, I recognised the school was an impressive building architecturally, inside and out. I similarly had respect for all of the teachers and staff. I felt a sense of belonging and complete ease & happiness. When I was in the infants downstairs, I used to look up outside the building at the first floor and think 'I bet they do hard work up there'! I took it all so very seriously. Steve's remark about the Redbridge Music Orchestra is noted. I still have an old vinyl 12" LP at home of the Redbridge Music Orchestra - recorded at the Albert Hall, London in 1978. The sleeve illustrations shows the orchestra conductor was a well known ex WT school teacher, as well as my secondary school teacher (the late Glyn Davies) shown on the sleeve too. Happy and secure memories from a lifetime ago. Going to school in Redbridge, eventually led to me qualifying as a chartered engineer, and a career in civil engineering. I still live in Essex (Braintree).

How nice to receive a message from my primary school. I would love to hear from anyone else who may remember me from there. I have been teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S. since 1968, and have not retired.

How nice to receive a message from my primary school. I would love to hear from anyone else who may remember me from there. I have been teaching at the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S. since 1968, and have not retired.

Hi. I haven't looked at this site for some time now. I chanced upon it having read about the school's current academy debate. I have mixed memories of being at Torbitt - one of the most vivid being the very first day when I couldn't believe that my Mum had left me! I don't see anyone that was in my class or year any more, although I have had intermittent dealings with a couple of people over the years. It's been over 50 years now since I was first taken through the Torbitt gates, into the Infants Playground and then into the Reception Classroom, where Mrs King was my teacher. My last touchpoint with the school was in 1980 when, as a member of Redbridge Youth Orchestra, I attended my last ever Saturday rehearsal. Is there anyone else still out there that remembers me or was in my classes at Torbitt?

I was a fast bowler and I remember Gary Hyams (in front of me in the photo) was wicket keeping in a match when I bowled, the batsman missed, and the ball went on to hit Gary just under an eye. His face (from memory) instantly swelled and turned black down one side, as in those days cricketers did not wear face helmets. This incident frightened me so much, thinking that I might easily have caused very serious damage, that it put me off cricket for life. The ironic thing is, that my partner’s two grandsons both play county cricket for their age group and hope to become professionals! Hope you're OK Gary!