“The hum of pleasured industry is, welcome, but idle noise and
senseless chatter is unwelcome and ill mannered.”
Hard to remember, although I wrote it many times for the art teacher
[E.J. Foster] - who
seemed over keen on giving lines. However, he did have a great copy
of the painting (Salvador Dali) of Christ on the Cross over the entrance to the
art room. I always admired that and was stunned when I saw an original
placed similarly at the museum in Glasgow many years later.
It seems we (me and Malcolm Knight) were far enough apart that we never encountered each other. Between us
you might remember Terry Friezegreen, David Brimelow or Glyn Roberts.
Terry graduated at the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College) two years before
me and had his first job at the {notorious) Bouganville mine opened in Papua,
New Guinea. David died of asbestos poisoning after working for years in
early nuclear plants. Glyn went to Cambridge to study mathematics.
Graduated in two years as “Senior Wrangler” and joined the faculty.
Since you were into athletics you may remember Brian Hogg. I recall the staff
at athletics events rushing away as he threw the javelin much further than expected.
I believe I was in the first group to occupy the new science block. Chemistry
was no more interesting and I recall furtively creating at least one small
explosion to liven matters up. Physics (with Colin Wilson) was more interesting
- hence the Wimshurst Machine. I appreciated Applied Mathematics best and my
career was all about numerical modelling, latterly with US and French
engineering software companies. Great to have met, and sometimes collaborated
with, some of the pioneers from around the world.
Numerical Modelling? At Imperial College it was focused on Rock Slope
Stability for mining. In the US (1976 - 1986); it was mostly related to High
Level Nuclear Waste Isolation, but also deep missile basing and the new Metro
for Los Angeles. Back to the UK in 1986 I worked on the safety of the new
transporters for nuclear warheads. Very tough project that caused us to camp
out at Harwell and spend much time on their Cray super computer.
I retired at the end of 2020 after almost 30 years in the engineering software
business.; I ran the European and the Asian operations of MacNeal
Schwendler (later MSC Software) before moving to ESI Group as Head of Asia and
then global sales, based in Paris.
My parents moved to Bedford immediately after I finished school at FGS. I have a
vivid memory of looking out of the kitchen window of their home and at
the row of houses behind. I told my mother “I don't want a life like
that”. It has been very different - taking me to most parts of the world.
As a child I thought China was fascinating and got to go there almost 100 times
over the past 20 years. Living in Tokyo for ten years was the best experience.
Christopher St. John : September 2021
Note by Malcolm Knight. I remember the names in paragraph three especially David because we were in and out of each others’ houses on a regular basis and Terry Friezegreen because our fathers worked alongside each other at NGTE Pyestock.