Stowell, Tony
History teacher
Date of Death: 26/04/2019
In part taken from The Gazette No.70.
In early May, Peter Jones conveyed the sad news about the death of Tony Stowell, a Master at Ottershaw School from 1960 to 1967, who taught History. Whilst at Ottershaw, Tony met and later married Rosalind Barke, who in 1963 became the first female teacher to be appointed at the school, to teach Biology. Some boys will recall her classes included making real ginger beer!
Tony’s classroom was located under the stage in the Mansion, where he and his pupils often had to endure the dust and noise coming from above. He was also an officer in the CCF and supervised the RAF section. His duties included giving training flights on the school glider, which could regularly be seen making short hops from close to the art block over the rhododendron bushes towards the bottom of the field on what later became the golf course by the rifle range. Tony would often be seen smoking his beloved pipe. He will also be remembered for his car, a fine-looking Jaguar (a Mark 4?), easily the most impressive of all the staff cars at the school at the time! He cut a fine figure driving it around the school grounds.
He was a man of strong convictions, which led him to stand as the parliamentary candidate for Redhill and Reigate, representing the Liberal Party. After he left Ottershaw he stood again as a Liberal candidate, this time in Enfield West, where his opponent was Cecil Parkinson. Tony was also a lover of writing and poetry, and published several books, including novels and collections of poems. He always took an interest in local affairs and was the Mayor of Tetbury between 2001 and 2003. Further details of his accomplishments and of his publications after Ottershaw can be found on his website at: http://www.tonystowell.co.uk/
Tony’s funeral was held at Bath Crematorium on 8 May. Peter Jones attended it, together with Andre Scruton and Nick Bennette. Also present was Rosalind’s brother Chris Barke, another former Ottershaw School pupil. According to Peter, “A beautiful Service of Thanksgiving included music by Mozart with deliveries of tributes from family members and the recitation of Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. Poetry was one of Tony’s great loves, and featured in a number of publications by him over the years.” Tony’s daughter Pippa recited one of his poems at the funeral, while her sister Kathy delivered the eulogy which is copied below.
From John Furlonger:
With reference to Peter Jones' note on Tony, could I add a few words on my own account?
I joined the staff in September 1964 when Tony was well established. He was the most courteous and even tempered of colleagues, equally popular with Staff and pupils. He was very modest about his range of interests and abilities though what he did within the school gave hints as to his versatility. His political alignment as a Liberal candidate ensured that he never clashed with Graham Reynolds, a Left wing Socialist before he became a house owner, and a rabid Tory thereafter. When we set up the bar in the Staff Room in 1966 we half expected that our staple would be Stowell's range of wines (our assumption being that Tony was the Managing Director). This proved not to be the case, and we had to make do at the outset with a keg of Watney's Red Barrel provided by Peter Jones. Tony was a pleasure to work with; as his family emphasises, a lovely man
The eulogy by Tony’s daughter, Kathy Pinches
When Angela came to see us last week to find out a bit more about Tony for today’s service, mum summed him up in two words – JUST LOVELY. For those of us lucky enough to have known him for a long time (and for many of us...that is all our lives) we know exactly what she means...and I know that she would like everyone here to have that same understanding...so that is my job today.
As always, when embarking on something new, you need somewhere to start...and as is so often the case...referring back to dad was a helpful guide. In his carefully ordered file labelled “Notes, talks, speeches”, I have found research notes on subjects ranging from the History of Tetbury, the speech he gave at Becky and Alex’s wedding and the script of a revue he wrote celebrating 25 years of comprehensive education at Rickmansworth School - the finished speeches being neatly handwritten on numbered cue cards, with the important things underlined (in red of course – like all good teachers!), all clipped together with colour-coded paper clips..and none of them more than 10 cards long. So thanks dad – you’ve given me all the tools...now I just need to get on with it.
Tony loved a project, big or small...and usually had one or two on the go at any point in time. Here are just a few:
• Tony stood as a Liberal candidate in the early seventies in the resolutely Conservative constituency of Reigate and Redhill (as one of Tony’s former pupils puts it – “you could put a blue tie on a pig in Reigate and Redhill and it would get elected”. Tony didn’t win...but he campaigned with his trademark enthusiasm and integrity...and recorded the best result for his party at that time. He would have been absolutely chuffed about the recent local election results!
• He organised and ran the World Championship Woolsack Races in Tetbury for many years - including putting up the bunting, collecting prizes for the auction, allocating stalls and lining up celebrities to attend - on one occasion persuading Prince Charles to open the event.
• As mayor of Tetbury, amongst his many duties, he kept control of a planning application when Tesco wanted to build in the town – making sure the resulting store was the right fit for everyone (even if it was right at the bottom of his beloved garden).
• And thinking about his gardens – as well as his highly pampered lawn, his many projects included building greenhouses, fruit cages, huttes (that’s a posh shed if you’re wondering), creating water features from scratch (with recycled Cotswold dry stone walling and a solar pump) and installing the galloping reindeer Christmas lights on the wall of his and Ros’s balcony at Lambrook Court.
Tony enjoyed the challenge of his projects, the planning, and the problem-solving involved in getting them done (and they pretty much all got done..usually on time and within budget!) Many of his projects involved doing things for his family, friends and the wider community (like setting up a second day centre for people with complex needs in Tetbury)...and he particularly loved sharing the process and the fruits of his projects with everyone around him – as all those who had to rush out when the sun came out to see the cascade working...or those who witnessed the grand switch-on of the reindeer will know.
Roger Gill, a pupil of Tony’s at Ottershaw School (Tony’s first teaching post) tells of another project – organising for the school to buy a glider...which allowed the boys to fly over the sports pitches apparently in the direction of a shooting range! Not sure what health and safety would say about that now...or about the glider’s take-off being facilitated by two gangs of boys pulling two bungees across the grass. In my estimation, this must have been around 60 years ago – but the memory is obviously still fresh and Roger goes on to say that these activities had a profound influence on his confidence and self-esteem and that he will remember Tony’s dedication as a teacher with much fondness and gratitude. I am sure this sentiment will be echoed by the thousands of students Tony has taught, encouraged, cajoled, enabled and inspired over his long teaching career at Ottershaw, Cheshunt and Rickmansworth. And it was not just the pupils who appreciated Tony, his colleagues speak highly of Tony’s positive, cheerful attitude, of his absolute commitment to comprehensive education for all and of his quick wit and sharp observations of school life – perhaps best highlighted in his book “Secondary Sonnets”.
Tony very much enjoyed writing – and published a variety of books, including the thrillers “Crackscam” and “The Woolsack Conspiracy” but perhaps his favourite writing form was poetry. His poems were always closely observed and relevant, based on people, places or themes he knew well and he often wrote them with particular people in mind – I treasure the one about me...entitled “Losing keys” and remember reading “Trouble in the Channel” with Jess – an epic story of travel and fish, which linked beautifully with her interests at the time. Pippa will be reading another example later in the service today.
I notice that I have already used up 8 of my 10 cards...and that means that I am going to have to miss out great chunks about Tony – including his sense of style - at 6ft 2 and with his aquiline features, he could adapt to every occasion – the sock/sandal combo only he could carry off, the deerstalker hat a la Sherlock Holmes on school trips and his favourite red waistcoat, made by mum from silk purchased on a trip to China and worn with panache on special occasions. I’m also going to have to skip over stories about his scholarship – a student at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities, the Jaguar he traded in when we children came along, his enjoyment of the occasional bottle of classy wine (or two...when in the vineyards of France), his love of debating and hosting gatherings of friends and colleagues, where he made everyone feel welcome and valued – and I won’t even mention his love of performing, in University Revues, School Plays and in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas – he knew EVERY word in the whole G&S repertoire.
No – I must leave the last section to the part of his life I think he valued the most...and that was his family. Tony was a devoted dad – even when he had three stroppy teenage daughters in the house, we can none of us remember a time when he lost his temper and was angry. He always looked for the best in any situation and any person - he scooped us up when we needed it, encouraged us to follow our own paths and supported us through good times and bad. He was immensely proud of all his grandchildren, taking time to find out what made each of you tick and then to engage and encourage in whatever way he could – standing on the touchline of football matches, discussing Chelsea and Arsenal’s latest form, celebrating Cameron’s latest 5 fer, handing his violin on to the musically talented Miranda, playing biff, boof and grand boof – with Oliver and Alan (for the uninitiated – please ask them later!), enthusing at Jess’s art installations and attending every one of Hattie’s G&S performances – his rapturous maiden. He was a hands-on granddaddy: with Ros, always available to babysit and look after any of their grandchildren. Of course, when Becky decided to give birth to Miranda at home, Tony and Ros were on hand to look after Oliver – they were the first to see their newly born grand-daughter (after mum and dad of course!) and delighted to be told by Oliver in the morning “I’ve got a brand new sister – would you like to see her?”
We all know that Tony was a people person - he liked to do things with people, for people – and the most important person in his life was Ros. They have been an amazing partnership for the best part of 60 years. They each know how the other one operates – they know when to step in and support each other and when to let the other one get on with it. They understand each other perfectly, making allowance for each other’s foibles and relishing each other’s successes...so Anthony, Tony, Anters, teacher, colleague, friend, dad, granddaddy, husband – I can only finish by using mum’s words: you are JUST LOVELY.