Tom West
| Thomas "Tom" Raphael John West | |
|---|---|
 Tom West | |
| Born |
10 July 1928 Nottingham registration district |
| Died | 29 March 2021 (aged 92) |
| Resting place | Mansfield Cemetery |
| Education | Stamford School; Corpus Christi College, Cambridge |
| Years at BGS | 1952-1959 |
| Departments | English |
| Subjects | English |
Thomas Raphael John West was a teacher of English at Boston Grammar School between 1952 and 1959. He was second English master with Stan Cawthorne as head of department.
While at BGS, according to Bob Ramsden, Tom supervised cricket on Saturdays. Brian Trigg remembers going on a trip to France organised by Tom West and Cyril Keith Butler.
Before BGS
Tom was born in the Nottingham registration district on 10 July 1928 and attended Stamford School. The 1939 England and Wales Register shows that Tom was living at Northfields House, Emlyn's Street, Stamford, which was owned by the school and is referred to as the Preparatory School.
He was admitted into the school during the autumn of 1938. While at Stamford Tom won the School Rugby Colours. He was Treasurer, and later Vice-President, of the School Phoenix Society, sat on the Athletics Committee, and was a House Prefect and Head Boy for his final year at Stamford School. At Speech Day Tom received a School Certificate and Higher Certificate, an Open Exhibition, and a Kesteven Major Scholarship. He gained a place at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Obituary
Written by former colleague Ken Whittle
Tom died at his retirement home in Nottingham on March 29th 2021 aged 92.
After Stamford School, Cambridge University and National Service in the army, he joined the English Department at BGS in 1952. He was very much involved in drama, music and the adult learning programmes at Pilgrim College[1].
Tom left BGS in 1959 to enjoy several other teaching appointments before becoming a librarian for academic institutions. Having studied for the degree of BD during the latest of those years he finally retired - from a national library.
His many long term friendships and academic way of life continued in retirement and he was heavily committed to Church activities in and around Mansfield.
Memories
David Whittle
David Whittle is the son of Tom's former colleague Ken Whittle
My favourite story is from his time in Cleethorpes. He lodged with a fairly elderly lady (Miss Watts) who had a number of pear trees. My father used to go up to help her harvest them, and she would lob what my father described as 'enormous' pears into the top of a cupboard [Ken describes them as being "the size of Christmas puddings"]. When Miss Watts died some years later (after Tom had departed elsewhere) and the house was being cleared, they discovered a number of hand grenades in the top of that same cupboard. Miss Watts had worked in a munitions factory during the first world war! Needless to say, the bomb disposal people were called in, the street was cordoned off and the grenades made safe. More to the point was that Tom's bedroom had been immediately above said cupboard. My father said that they could all have been blown to kingdom-come when lobbing the pears into the cupboard.
when Tom came to stay with us, he used to take over my bedroom. My sister and I learnt soon that he would hang his clothes on the back of the door, and then when he closed it they would fall on top of him. We used to be allowed to stay up to hear it happen (with much barely suppressed mirth). My sister also recalls that he took her to Paris for a few days when she was fairly young as part of what presumably he regarded as godfatherly duties. He had to go through her room to get to the idiosyncratic bathroom. She soon learnt that as soon as you flushed the high cistern you had to get out of the way quickly to avoid getting showered with water. Tom never managed this, and would come back through her room shaking water off himself. He also embarrassed her by rattling the metal grille doors at the entrance to the dining room if they were as much as a minute late in opening up - he was always first in to any meal. He was obviously a highly intelligent man, but not practical in the slightest.
Tom West
An excerpt from a letter sent by Tom West to Simon Meeds in 2015
I served under Mr Waddams for two years from 1952 to 1954 and do not recall him using corporal punishment a great deal. As a young inexperienced and unconfident teacher I found Boston Grammar School to be a well-disciplined, hard-working school with the boys polite, friendly and eager to learn. A strong headmaster enabled the staff to get on with the job of teaching and I respected Mt Waddams for allowing me to do that to the best of my ability, and I look back with great fondness to my years at Boston Grammar School.
References
- ↑ Fydell House, Historical Notes (docsbay.net) - 1946: Pilgrim College established for adult education, with support from Nottingham University and Workers’ Education Association.