"It was with a feeling of the unknown that after 42 years I was going to the Memorial Service of an English Teacher in my boarding school life who had actually put me on stage, not only the school play which was a mean feat, but he had taken the play to a Youth Festival at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham where I had virtually died and literally in the closing scenes of Henry lV Part 1.

I arrived at a classic village scene at the church St Mary the Virgin Saxlingham Nethergate after taking a wrong turning and passing through a ford!

The gathering was mainly family and friends and for a while I thought that I would be the only ex Kings Boy there. The service was a fitting memory of Peter with an atmosphere that was appropriate to that memory and an enlighting summary of his life read by the organist which had a couple of surprises for me. I was walking back from the grave side after the committal of his ashes and joined a couple who the husband seemed familiar until he told me he was an ex Kings Boy, his name was Barrie Dodds and his brother Nigel was coming up behind us. We continued walking to the church hall and stopped outside when Nigel approached and I called to him “Come on Dodds I, we’re waiting for you!!” He looked at me and I called to him I’m Jones II, a broad smile came over his face and the rest of the afternoon developed into a do you remember session.

I left having thoroughly enjoyed the day and felt it was well worth the 3 hour journey from Coventry.

Peter was a Rev. He initially trained in an ecclesiastical career and his last post was as a Curate, before entering into the world of the theatre and the arts. The final transition was to the teaching profession. I always have this image of him standing with Margaret, so often (she was the school matron at 23 years old) in the doorway of his room, which was between Dorm 54 and 60, as we filed out of the dining room and them both talking very close together and intently.

I was so pleased to talk to Margaret (Matron, Miss Gibson as I knew her) and the subject got around to my recollection of me as 16 year old boy very nervous and embarrassed at having Matron very close to my unmentionables on her knees in front of me sewing the very tight costume for that infamous school play in one of the many fittings. She looked at me with same slight of head that I always remember and said “Can you imagine how embarrassed I was”