April 2019
Rennie Vickers updated us on the latest meeting of the 49ers
November 2018
The daughter of Peter Smith (1941- 1948)
sent in a photo of "The Classical 6th 1948"
August 2017
Charles Wood (RGS 1954-1960 and ex-Uplyme boarder)
identified himself as 1C1 on the 1956 photo.
April 2017
Once again the 49ers report on their latest meetings, the 18th and 19th in the series stretching back to 2009.
Roger File remembers his roles in the G&S operettas
January 2017
Ted Woodward,
RGS 1944 to 1949, has died. John D Taylor ex BFP Sports Writer has penned an obituary which you can read here.
April 2016
49ers 17th lunch reunion 19th April 2016. Read report and photos here
Rennie reports that Mike Hill (RGS 1942-1950) identified John Hobbs in the 1949 school photograph.
November 2015
John Camp
(1954-60) sent in a couple of photos from the 1958 version of the HMS Pinafore.
October 2015
Robin Thirlway sent in some more names for the 1947 photos. With Brian Ransley's help these have now been added.
Rennie Vickers sent some notes on the latest meeting of the 49ers. Read them here
September 2015 - Tony Barr sent me scans of the 1936 and 1937 Grey books. See them here
August 2015 - John Saunders introduced me to a new method of displaying pdf files which I have applied to all the files on the Wycombiensian page
May 20th 2015 - Rennie Vickers sent me a photograph and notes for the latest meeting of the 49ers. See it here
May 12th 2015 - Sir Peter Fry.
Today we heard the sad news that one of the "49ers" Sir Peter Fry has passed away. Read more on the 49ers page
January 2015
Finally I have finished scanning all the Wycombiensians sent to me by the Fabulaous Fortyniners, without whose help this website would be much leaner.
Nows your chance for a good read while passing all that time you'll soon be spending on your gardens, cruisin' holidays etc.
Please see if you can help me track down the few missing editions to complete the topic. Any year before 1957 please, all editions after 1957 to John Saunders.
November 2014. Update on Work in Progress:
It's a busy month with various additions, most due to contibutions from the 49ers and members of the Davis family.
Fascinating reading, click on the links below.
Wycombiensians:-
From Tony Hare collection:-September 1951, September 1952, September 1953, April 1954, September 1954, April 1955
From Tony Barr:-
September 1939 1911 Speech Day April 1950
From Ron Wynands:- Oct 1936 Sept 1939, and still to come from
David Wiltshire:- several
from 1941 to 1950
Greybooks:-
From Tony Barr: 1913 1914
From Rennie Vickers:-
1942
Various:-
From Rennie Vickers:- Latest 49ers lunch meeting with photo
From Tony Barr:- ERT Memorial Fund Appeal (March 1965)
Prospectae:-
From Tony Barr:- 1947
August 2014
Names on the 1947 and 1952 photographs updated by Brian Ransley
July 2014
New scans of the 1954 Grey Book made available thanks to Monti Berry and Peter Archer. This is now the full copy of the book.
April 2014
The 49ers have met up for the 13th time. See photos and words here.
March 2014
John Saunders has set up a photo sharing group which I urge you to study and hopefully contribute to. On John's own website he writes- 'Memories: RGS High Wycombe' is a new Flickr group I have set up which anyone can join to browse or share images connected with the school in some way. There are already several hundred photos and scans there.
Alastair Styles identified more boys on the 1956 and 1954 photos. Thanks again to Jo Smith for helping out with the 1954 full index.
January 2014
Steve Mardell identified three of his Classics contemporaries on the 1956 Photo page and added an interesting memory of his involvement in the G&S operas.
January 2014
Gerard Gilbertson added further comments to Chris Hall's page regarding the Cross Country Team
December 2013
John Peatey (1968 - 73), has supplied programme pages from the 1965 performances of Iolanthe. Now living in Spain, John has also made available programmes from the 1949 production of The Gondoliers and the 1947 production the Pirates of Penance, both of which featured his late father BC Peatey.
Rennie Vickers & Ron Wynands met John recently in High Wycombe to receive and scan pages from the programmes for this website.
Gerard Gilbertson (1951-59) added some names to the 1952 photos
November 2013
John Peatey
(1968 - 1973) reports on his role as Yum Yum in the 1968 production of The Mikado
Ron Wynands scanned the Greybook for 1940 which was kindly donated by the family of DW and RA Davis
Rennie Vickers sent a photo and words to describe the 12th meeting of the 49ers.
September 2013
John Saunders attended the recent reunion of ex Uplyme boys at the annual OB event and took a group photo. Peter Archer was largely responsible for ronding them all up in the first place and supplied the names. See the photograph here
July 2013 Trevor Dean sent in an update on his career since leaving RGS
June 2013
Geoofrey Gunning added his explanation for "Jock" Eveley's nickname.
May 2013
Martin King came up with this interesting document concerning Pilgy
April 2013
Peter Archer obtained photos of Uplyme boarders 1988-95 from John Edwards' albums
Chris Chadwick identified on 1956 photo 3E3
Glyndwr Young, a Master at RGS 1948 - 52 passed away on 7th March 2013. Ron Wynands and other members of the 49ers group have authored an Obituary which you can read here.
January 2013
Peter Archer sent in a couple of photos for the Uplyme page.
Derek Jones died recently, please take another look at his page on this website.
November 2012
Rennie Vickers reports on the 10th lunch of the 49ers at the Polecat
September 2012
Rennie Vickers reports on the 9th lunch of the 49ers at the Polecat
August 2012
Rennie Vickers updates the 1949 photo names
Terry Williams contributes a photo of the 1949-50 Cross Country Team. Ken Bowell identifies J A Norrish on the 1953 CCF photo. Ron Wynands relates the RGS 1944 VI Flying bomb story.
July 2012
Peter Archer sent in a photo of the inhabitants of Uplyme in 1951 and I have now completely reworked the Uplyme page
Tudor Olsen remembers Reg Howard.
June 2012
Ron Wynands digs ups an interesting item from the past involving Antiques Road Show presenter Henry Sandon
Ron Wynands writes about Reg Howard.
Tudor Olsen sent in some sports photos and a fascinating first hand account of the New Zealand earthquakes. He also added some memories of Pilgy
Rennie Vickers and Brian Ransley have updated
the 1949 and 1952 photograph names.
May 2012
Ron Wynands sent the results of the 1948 Sports Day
April 2012
Latest 49ers lunch at the Polecat - read Rennie's account and see the photos.
Rob Wynands sent in this obituary for Sam Morgan
Ron Wynands sent in a photograph of "Cruiser" Hood taken secretly during a lecture in 1949
March 2012
Ron Wynands sent in an Obituary to Ron Emery, Master from 1945-49, in which he describes
the outstanding career and war record of this remarkable man. You must read this.
February 2012
Ron Wynands sent in an Obituary for "Ginger" Jones (Science Teacher) Read it here.
Bill Barksfield submitted scans & information for
G&S Operas, Trial By Jury 1970, Gondoliers 1971, Mikado 1968, Patience 1966
November 2011
The 49ers held their seventh meeting at The Polecat. See the photo on the 49ers page
October 2011
Ron
Wynands added some recollections of "Moan" Pattinson and "Ben" Rainbow
August 2011
Roger Davies (1948 - 53) added a photo of the 1951-52 CC Colts team
July 2011
Alan Barrett (1946-54) added some names to the 1954 photograph.
June 2011
Martin King has been trawling through his copies of the Wycombiensien and has come with reviews of the G & S operas performed in 1955, 56,58, and 59
May 2011
Martin King reveals why there ther was no Gilbert & Sullivan Opera in 1957
David Wiltshire lent me copies of the Grey Books for 1944, 45, 46 for scanning. These are now available in searchable pdf form.
Another meeting for the famous 49ers. See latest photo here David Wiltshire added two more cricket photos for 1947 and 1950,
March 2011
More notes on Pilgy and Martin King has done some research on his war record. Some further mods to the website to facilitate this.
Regular visitors (are there any) might have noticed that the little opening video now has music. I have included this in a change of video format neccessitated by the fact
that my latest purchased of a shiny new iPad doesn't do Flash. In reworking it I chose to include the music. If you don't like it, just tirn the volume down.
We have some fascinating news on two very different Masters, namely Pilgy and Hett. Read about them by following the links on the reworked Masters page . I have simplified the navigation system on the website as it was proving troublesome on some browsers.
February 2011
Chris Hall identified himself at 4D5 on the 1956 photo. Chris writes "I came to the school in September 1955 straight into the Biology Sixth. Unfortunately I had an accident in cross country running which resulted in me spending over a year in Westminster Hospital, by which time I was too old to resume my studies at RGS. I was a boarder at School House under "Beaky" Runswick.
December 2010
Another reunion for the 49ers at The Polecat. See photo here
Rennie Vickers, with the help of Ken Bowell, has updated the 1949 photograph
November 2010
Brian Ransley, with the help of Mike Warrington & David Wiltshire, has made further progress on the 1947 photograph
October 2010
Martin King has discovered that Pilgy's real name was Peter Lewis Jones , born
1892, died 1970.
September 2010
Harry Wheate has added further names to the 1956 photo
Brian Ransley flew in from New Zealand and met up with his fellow 49ers at The Polecat.
August 2010
Rennie Vickers updated his list of "49ers"
and you can spot them all on the Contributors Page.
Brian Ransley has updated the 1947 photo lists
Andrew MacTavish donated some photos taken during the 1954 CCF camp at Prbright. Fascinating!
Ken Bowell joins the 49ers. See his photo here
July 2010
Brian Ransley has added further updates to the 1947 and 1952 photographs
May 2010
Brian Ransley has updated the 1952 photo IDs.
The third meeting of the 49ers was held at The Polecat. Read about it here.
April 2010
Rennie Vickers has updated the 1949 photograph
Martin King has added several new faces to the 1956 photo.
Brian Ransley has updated the lists for the 1952 photograph.
March 2010
Whilst browsing my copies of the Wycombiensian I came across this account by Andrew MacTavish of our visit to Pirbright in 1954. What a lot of fascinating memories it brought back.
Geoff Packman has added a photo of the
1957/8 Seconds along with a list of names.
Geoff Packman & Dave Higgins have been discussing Dave's photo of the 1954 Under 14 team and have revised some of the sightings
Gary Wise, living in Houston TX, sent in information on the 1973 production of Ruddigore and 1976 production of Trial by Jury
February 2010
Bob Mitchell and David Jago have updated the page on Reminiscences of Masters
Dave Higgins sent in photos of the 1954 and 1955 teams.
January 2010
Rennie Vickers met Brian Ransley in New Zealand. Read about it here.
I added a new page to show a site map without the dropdown menus to make the site slightly more mobile friendly.
Photographs of Uplyme added courtesy of Dave Bedwell
December 2009
Renni Vickers updated the 1949 photograph.
Brian Ransley updated the 1947 photographs using information supplied by Alabert Leeser.
Ralph Stockwell identified several boys on the 1956 photograph.
Several of those who have put much of their remaining brainpower to work on
identifying the names of those on the 1949 school photograph met up again at "The Polecat" for lunch. Click here to read about it
November 2009
Brian Ransley has updated the 1952 photo identifications. Brian says:- Most of the amendments were provided by Chris Turner, whose sterling efforts gave us 20 odd new names and corrected some previous errors. Thanks Chris
September 2009
Dick Ludlam identified himself and Peter Carpenter on the 1952 photo
August 2009
15th August. A new page added by Derek
Jones showing photographs of his Primary glider similar to the one
oned by the RAF CCF
9th August 2009. New Forum started. Read about it here
1947 Photo identifications updated
July 2009
Alan Abercrombie sent in a photo of the 1950 Under 14s rugby team.
Bob Mitchell added notes in the "Where are you now?" page
Photopages for 1949 and 1952 updated
Grey Book for 1943 added, thanks to David Wiltshire.
John Sullivan sent in some photographs of life in School House in the
early 50s
Scans of the programme for the 1956 version of "Patience" added,
thanks to David Jago.
Photo of the "49ers" meeting in The Polecat, Prestwood added.
Website modified (again!!) by application of drop down menus.
Jo Smith has updated the 1954 photo list of boys following further inputs
from John Sullivan. Rennie Vickers has collated the latest additions from
the 49ers
June 2009.
Rennie Vickers and Brian Ransley have finished their tasks (for the time
being) of coordinatiing the collection of names for the 1947, 1949, and
1952 photographs. My grateful thanks to all who have contributed to this
effot. You can read the latest CVs of many of these in the 49ers
page.
May 2009.
Brian Ransley cut the 1952 photo into sections and supplied lists of name.
Further names added to 1954 photo from Tom Baldwin & John C Williams
via Jo Smith.
Extensive additions to the 1949 photo by a group of OBs rapidly becoming
known as the 49ers under the supervision of Rennie Vickers.
Completely reworked the whole website to provide a less cluttered appearance
and to improve navigation around the site.
Added programmes for 1967 HMS Pinafore and 1968 The Mikado, thanks again
to John Saunders.
April 2009. Added a new page for Tom Baldwin showing photos of the CCF
and other items.
Added a copy of the School Prospectus for 1942 courtesy of Geoffrey Perkins
via Martin King. This publication is aimed squarely at boarders and gives
some interesting insights into what was expected of boys during the forties.
February 2009. Roy Gravestock sent me programmes for the G & S Operas
for 1955, 58, 59, and 64. Roy appeared in each of these productions.
Added music to the Gilbert & Sullivan page . Six wacks from ERT if
you can't name it.
January 2009. Roger Ludgate (1956) spotted by his son Chris in Canada. More faces identified by Ian Gibson (1951 -1956)
December 2008. Lots of new names from Dave Cox (1954 - 1961) and Arthur Davis (1955 - 1962)
30th September 2008. David Wiltshire (1943 - 1950) identified further
boys on the 1949 photograph
David also sent in a photo of the Prefects in 1950 and a few other interesting
items.
10th June 2008. Added some interesting documents sent in by Geoff Perkins including notes on a vist by one of our famous OBs Fraser VC.
2nd April 2008. Added the Grey Book for 1949. Rennie Vickers scanned this and sent me a copy. Many thanks Rennie, I now have a full set 1946 to 1956.
8th November 2007. I received a most informative email from Geoff Pask (1944 - 1949). Geoff mentions he has a Prospectus from 1944. This reminds me I also have a copy of the Prospectus though I received mine in 1951. I wonder if they are the same? I will scan my copy onto this site and ask Geoff to compare it to his version.
30th August 2007. Added some comments by John Saunders & Alan Jones concerning my visit to the school. Added a copy of the Obituary for E. R. Tucker.
15th August 2007. Following an impromptu visit to the school I took some notes and photos.
August 2007 More photos and Reviews of various operas
2nd July 2007 Added scans of 1956 Grey Book supplied by Alan Crease.
20th January 2007 Added extra photos with identifications for 1949 thanks to the efforts of Brian Ransley
17th January 2007 Added Grey Book for 1952 supplied by Jeremy Edwards
3rd January 2007. Added scans of programmes for the G&S productions for 1949, 50, 51, 54 supplied by Peter Draper.
24th December. Added School Photo for 1949 courtesy of Peter Draper.
21st December 2006. Added scans of the 1952 Grey Book kindly supplied by Brian Ramsley. Living in New Zealand, Brian is still keenly interested in the fortunes of Wycombe Wanderers who somehow manage to get a mention in his local newspaper.
November 2006.
Added scans from Ruddigore 1963 , courtesy John Saunders
Added Junior school photo for 1958 and added to list of G & S operas
from 1956 onwards. , courtesy John Saunders
Added scans from programme from The Gondoliers 1961 and Yeomen of the
Guard 1962 , courtesy John Saunders
Added Grey Books for 1957 , courtesy John Saunders
Added programme for The Gondoliers 1961, courtesy Brian Veale.
October 2006 Added School Photo for 1960 supplied by Harry Wheate
September 2006 Added Form lists supplied by Monty Berry.
Redesigned the website to suit 1024 x 768 screen resolution instead of
the previous 800x640 which apparently is now used by less than 10% of
browsers.
August 13th 2006 Added postcard supplied by Brian Veale showing the school during it's early years
Website started in October 2001
