Dad and his girls

This was taken at Christmas 2016.

We've never been in any doubt about how proud he was of us.

Travel snaps

Not a natural traveller, Mum usually had to bully him in to going abroad. He never tired of saying 'If you've heard of it, it's ruined', but was grudgingly fond of France and the Yorkshire Dales.

Apart from the West Indies, he also reached as far as Bali, Africa (where?) and Russia, where he nearly got arrested for jaywalking.

Hobbies

Dad has had several hobbies over the years, some more successful than others. They include:

• cookery lessons - see Cookery
• an allotment
• woodwork (he made a lamp-stand, coffee table, sledge)
• drawing (mainly trees!) and painting
• black and white photography
• raiding skips (bicycle and various garden tools were 'liberated')

Photographic evidence of some of these is below.

Relaxing with friends

Can you spot a common thread in the pictures here? Food and drink figure in most of them.

David meets Noreen

They met at Swansea University in (?) where Mum was studying Economics and Dad Geology.

We've heard tales of policemen's helmets being knocked off, stealing Babycham glasses, wild dancing to Acker Bilk, and romance amongst the dunes of Swansea bay, so it is fair to say students haven't changed much.

On the back of the photo below, Dad wrote: One of the causes of the Decline of the Roman Empire.

But here they are, in 19xx? celebrating their xx anniversary:

Wedding Day

Dad married Noreen Margaret Jones in Pembroke (when?)

Charlie Suff was best man.

Despite the official photographer losing ALL the photos, some pictures were salvaged from guests' cameras.

Teaching

His daughters never quite forgave him for coming home to North Wales, and denying them a life in Trinidad, but that's what he did - to be a Geography/Geology teacher in Grove Park, then Elfed High.

Staff room tales:

• he would sneak out of lessons for a fag
• he fell asleep in one lesson and was woken up by a student, as they left
• he avoided saying 'shale and grit' for obvious reasons
• he cuffed a pupil called Woodcock, and said 'Blimey it should have been Woodhead, not .....'
• he went on a staff curry night where one teacher had been excluded, and all was revealed the next morning when she was the only one not reeking of beer and curry.

A past student came to his memorial, and said that Dad was an inspirational teacher, and that his lessons had decided his career path.