BACK TO NEWSLETTER 2001 CONTENTS
BACK TO DEATHS 2001 LETTERS 2001
Obituaries
"Watto"
David
Watkins (1926 - 2000)
Clayesmore
could not perhaps be described as a hotbed of the Classics, but that small
albeit distinguished coterie of Latin scholars will doubtless be familiar with
the above words of the Roman poet Horace: "My work is finished, leaving a
memorial more enduring than bronze." They aptly sum up the public face of
David Watkins, who gave a working lifetime of service to education, not just to
Clayesmore but also to a wider world. It is the glory of teachers that their
memorial is to be found in the memories of their pupils, and we at Clayesmore
were privileged to benefit from thirteen years of his teaching career, in which
boys of that era will remember his endeavours as Classicist, Cricketer.
Housemaster, and all-round good egg.
Academic
and sporting distinction came early to David. At Bristol Grammar School he was
Head Prefect, Captain of his house, and Captain of Cricket and Fives. On leaving
school, he proceeded to learn Japanese, serving for three years in the Army
Intelligence Corps with the Occupation Forces in Japan. On demobilisation he
took up an Exhibition to read Greats (Classics) at University College Oxford,
where among other pursuits he gained a Half-Blue at Fives and was Captain of
College Cricket. He considered taking Holy Orders and spent an extra year
studying Theology, but eventually saw his future as a schoolmaster and went to
teach at West Downs, Winchester for five years.
Driving
through Dorset one day, David passed Clayesmore on the A350, and thinking that
it looked a pleasant place, was tempted to contact Peter Burke, the Master
(Headmaster). After a brief informal chat, Burke, as was his way, offered him
the post of Head of Classics and to run of the cricket - that was the way it was
done in those far-off days. Thus began what were possibly the happiest and most
agreeable years of his life. He was by now a family man, bringing his wife,
Alison, and daughter, Elizabeth to live in Gossips Tree Cottage in Fontmell
Magna. Academic matters occupied
him, of course, but the pace of life in those halcyon summers was slower than
nowadays, and one remembers with nostalgia David wandering out in the middle of
the morning to gaze at his beloved cricket square and to have long, serious
discussions with the groundsman about the preparation of the
wicket........"O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint", as Virgil,
that illustrious slow left-arm bowler of former days, observed.
In
1965 Appleby finally relinquished the
Junior House, and in one of the last of his many inspired decisions, Peter Burke
was wise enough to appoint David to take up the reins of Housemaster, in which
capacity he served until 1972, moving into the luxurious accommodation provided
by the Annexe. All Clayesmorians of that vintage must have kindly memories of
David and Alison - their care and concern for boys new to a strange school. One
could not wish for a better introduction to the mysteries of what it means to be
a true Clayesmorian. Spinney, in a typically felicitous and memorable aphorism
put it exactly: "David Watkins was a sturdy traditionalist, but with a
saving sense of humour whose obsession with cricket and the Classics ensured
that every Junior would from henceforth keep a straight bat and not give up
Latin until safely in the Middles".
The
welfare of Clayesmore games was a particular concern of his, and few were able
to contribute so much. Cricket was, of course, his great love and many must
carry memories not only of his coaching, but also of his unhurried and elegant
batting style - a model which must have inspired many boys. He also loved to
bowl, although his action was not of the same classical purity as his batting.
As umpire and coach he maintained the highest standards, and his judgement was
without question. In Hockey he enjoyed many successful seasons as the genial
coach of the 2nd XI, and in Rugger of the Colts. One of the sights which helped
to dispel the gloom of Clayesmore winters was of him in that prodigious pair of
blue shorts, which harked back to the playing fields of a former age.
His
involvement with the old Clayesmorian Society was not solely confined to the
jolly post-mortems on Monday morning House Staff Meetings, following the
delights of OC Week-ends. He was a founder member, with Hugh Glazebrook and
Clive Wilkinson, of the Cormorants, that band of merry cricketers which every
summer performed with varying degrees of skill and success on the fields of the
West Country, while Alison and his daughters laboured nobly in the background to
provide sustenance. He was proud to have served as their President, and was
delighted to receive in the Millennium Year the cup which is annually awarded
for long service to Cormorants.
David
had charge of the Classics Department during his years at Clayesmore in what
proved to be an increasingly difficult time for his subject, and as a result he
decided to leave temporarily in 1972 for a sabbatical year back at Oxford to
re-think his aims and broaden his spectrum, fully intending to return the
following September to take over the Senior House from Spinney. At the last
moment, however, he was offered and accepted the position as Headmaster of Keble
Preparatory School in North London, and here he spent the last thirteen years of
his full-time teaching career. His links with Dorset were not broken, however,
for like so many others the pull of Iwerne was strong, and in 1978 he purchased
May Tree Cottage in Shute Lane as a retreat from the rigours of Headmastership.
And to here in 1986 he and Alison retired. He was only 60 and he continued to
teach Latin at several local schools, and was a governor of the local Primary
School. In addition he was closely involved in the affairs of the Parish Church,
serving on the Church Council for 13 years and as Churchwarden for 5 years. He
was particularly proud of his part in the restoration and refurbishment of J. L.
Pearson's fine but neglected Wolverton Chapel in St. Mary's, Iwerne Minster.
Cricket
was clearly the particular passion
of his life. His uncle, Harry Smith, had played for Gloucestershire and England.
David, a fine cricketer himself, was very proud that Tom Graveney, that elegant
batsman, also of Gloucestershire and England, was in the team that he captained
at Bristol Grammar School, and that Abdul Kardar, the Pakistani cricketer,
played in his college side at Oxford. In his playing days he was a member of
numerous club sides; not only the Cormorants, but also the Hampshire Hogs, The
Dorset Rangers, Old Bristolians, Shaftesbury C.C. and the Veterans of Winchmore
Hill. To his delight, two of his grandsons have been playing cricket for Dorset
at their respective age groups. How he would have loved to follow their
progress. Dear to his heart also was the development of the new cricket field
for Iwerne Minster Cricket Club of which he was President. He played a large rôle
and was instrumental in obtaining Lottery funds to help to build their splendid
new pavilion.
We
therefore remember and pay tribute to a true Clayesmore character. Those who
passed through the Junior House in his time, the classicists in the classroom,
the cricket hockey and rugger players out on the fields all remember with
gratitude and affection his kindly patience - always a wise and caring teacher.
That comfortable frame, in which one could still discern the lissom athlete of
Oxford, the quiet sense of humour, those eyes twinkling behind heavy glasses,
the rich fruity voice, the reassuring presence, the calm balanced and considered
judgement - these are aspects of the English Gentleman and Schoolmaster who
would be far too modest to utter the words with which I began - but they are
true nevertheless of David
Watkins.....
Exegi
monumentum aere perennius.
Michael
Henbest
BACK TO NEWSLETTER 2001 CONTENTS