Dear All,
I am writing in response to a reunion meeting I had recently with Geoff Wills and his brother Robin. The background to this meeting was that coincidentally both me and the Wills brothers were returning to our roots in the village of Amberley – to the churchyard – and after a period of approximately sixty-five years have met again.
I lived in the village from 1934 and Geoff from 1940; we ‘qualified’ to go to Chichester High School from the extremity of the school’s catchment area, me in 1945 and Geoff in 1944, just a slight age difference though both of us were born in 1933. He suggested that the Old Cicestrians Association would be very pleased to hear from me as a ‘very old boy’ and to be able to relate some of my school memories of staff and my contemporaries in the years 1945-1950. I believe Geoff is, or was, President of the Old Cicestrians.
My career path took me away from Sussex in 1965 – hence my address. School records might show that I actually left in 1951, as I returned after the 5th form to continue studies while I convalesced from operations on my feet! After which I was quick to serve my National Service, and then two years in the Scottish Agricultural Colleges, then a spell of farm management at Yapton after marriage, which led to a farm manager’s post for the Duke of Norfolk on his estate near York, until 1983 when it was sold.
After this I became a lecturer in Agriculture and Game and Wildlife Conservation at Bishop Burton Agricultural College until 2011, retiring finally at seventy-six years old! During all those years I lost touch with Amberley, although I still communicate with a few of my associates who are in my age group – also Geoff and Robin.
Unfortunately, it is now difficult for me to commute very far as I am a full-time carer for my wife who contracted Alzheimer’s disease five years ago, so my visits to Amberley are infrequent.
After that long “intro” I hope I have contacted the correct person as quoted on my Google search, to obtain an application form to be a member of the Old Cicestrians.
Yours sincerely,
Norman Dalleywater (CHSB 1945 -1950)
Ashdene Cottage,
Old Lane, Sigglesthorne,
HULL East YorkshireHU11 5QF
19 July 2019