Post by radged on Mar 12, 2013 16:04:36 GMT
DW third from left
THIRTY YEARS !
In 1984 I was Head of History, and remained so until my retirement in 2006. The list of pupils in the Sixth Form in 1984 reminded me of the many happy years I spent at Benton. I was fortunate to teach such great kids, and privileged to work with many devoted and talented teachers, some of whom, sadly, are no longer with us. The photo of staff in Belgium made me think of those memorable trips abroad, which initially began with football tours and then became ‘the 3 Caps’, under the superb leadership of Richard Hoban. Later, I was also involved in the historic trip to the USSR, and the music exchange to Denmark with Patrick Lee. In 1989 I wrote lyrics for Patrick Lee’s musical, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, performed at Yeadon Town Hall. They all bring back fond memories. Now that I am retired I still enjoy travelling abroad and in recent years I have been to Portugal, Ireland, Germany, France and Majorca. Walking and travelling around Yorkshire is also a great joy. I write regularly about Yorkshire history and a number of articles have appeared, and will appear in local newspapers and magazines. I now engage in free lance lecturing. For many years I was involved in teacher training and assessment through Trinity and All Saints College. I wrote articles for academic journals, and lectured at conferences to teachers and A level students. In 2003, I co-wrote an A level History text book, ‘Britain 1783-1851’. After retiring, I was invited to the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, in 2007, for services to education. In 2011, I was awarded an MA degree in Archaeology after part time study at Bradford University.
I’ve always enjoyed sport. I have three photographs of Benton Park staff who not only played football, rugby, and cricket against the pupils, but some of us played together for local teams. Alas, a back injury put an end to my sporting career. Having supported Bradford City for over 55 years, they still occupy a great deal of my life. Apart from travelling all over to watch them, I regularly write articles for the club’s fanzine, ‘City Gent’. Over the years I have met a number of ex-Bentonians at football matches. A few were down at Wembley for the League Cup Final in February. I still enjoy going to rock concerts where I have also bumped into former pupils. I was at the Springsteen concert in Manchester last year and will be at the new Leeds Arena to see him in summer.
I am lucky to have had a fruitful and interesting life, in and out of teaching, and this has continued into my retirement. I now have six grandchildren who are all precious to me. I remarried in 2009.
In some ways, 1984 seems a long time ago, but in others it is not. I should be interested to know what everybody else has done with their lives since leaving Benton.
Cheers.
Dave Welbourne.