I’m only half a lifetime late coming to the F.G.S. website - huge apologies
but a friend from Yateley (originally) passed on the details of the site just a
couple of days ago…
I left in 1969 (escaped, more like - haha) and vowed never to give "that place"
another thought. Amazing memories that were hidden in the website -
congratulations for taking it on. I totally empathize with your assessment of
keeping your head down and try not to be noticed. I never liked school but knew
that I somehow needed to be there - glad that I hung in there - now!
I see that the site was last updated in 2024 [an omission now corrected] so perhaps the project has been
wound down. No matter.
I had a chance to check out the only teacher that had a profound impact on my
life and not until the last year at F.G.S. - Clifford Colley. He’s the teacher
that had drunk and smoked his way around the Middle East for Esso as a petroleum
geologist and ‘retired’ to teach math and geology at F.G.S. He basically rescued
my high school career! Five of us were failing physics in our lower 6th year and
he gave us a very personalized two year A level geology course in one year - the
only time I ever got an A grade at F.G.S. Finally a teacher that brought a subject to life!
That spurred me to want to go to learn more about geology at university but the
university clearing application scheme needed J.A. Bourne’s signature on my UCCA
University application form. He refused and said that there was no future in
geology. He might have been right at that particular time as North Sea oil and
gas had not been discovered then. So he persuaded me to go teaching - I spent a
year at King Alfred’s Teacher Training College in Winchester. I soon realized
that I had to go further in my career ambitions so applied to university after
only one year at teacher training college as I no longer needed a headmasters blessing.
Next stop was Sir John Cass College in the City of London in 1970. I graduated
with my BSc in 1973 - the same year that Mr. Colley passed away. He had moved on
to Farnham Grammar but passed away at only 56 years old. Very sad. Probably lung
cancer - he was a chain smoker. I always wanted to thank him for changing my life!
Next stop was a Masters geology degree at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada
and now 50 years of a professional geology career in the oil and gas industry
based in Calgary, Alberta. Full circle as I now teach industry upgrade courses
in practical geology to relative newcomers to the industry.
I’ve been trying to locate a Prefects photo from 1969 that I know I have (somewhere).
For completeness, the unidentified maths teacher in the
Masters Photo from 1968,
back row between Francis and Wright is Mr. Evans - - nickname
Mr. E or Mystery!
He was fairly fresh out of Teacher Training College but was sympathetic to us
struggling math students!
Peter Hewes : 14th March 2026