Weekly Meeting

7th January 2021 1^st New Year’s Zoom Meeting - Mike Twells Memoirs

Before President Derek’s welcome, most of the discussion was about the Government’s vaccination programme, with Stan suggesting that Nottinghamshire was “behind the curve”! Derek informed the members that Carmel had delivered a card to Doug expressing all our condolences for Bron’s passing.  Apologies had been received from Bill, Peter and Steve C.  It was then over to Mike Twells who had agreed to share some memories from his teaching career and some of the personalities that he had the privilege to meet.

He had always had an interest in athletics and in his final year of college he and a friend decided to hitch hike to the Rome Olympics, where they had the good fortune to by chance meet in a pool area Chris Brasher (Roger Bannister’s pacemaker and later organiser of the London Marathon) together with the famous Australian middle distance phenomenon Herb Elliott!

His best friend from college, David Jackson, who also became his best man at his marriage to Maureen, naturally was also an avid athletics teacher and told Mike about a 13 year old student of his who he felt had potential.  So he started giving extra training to this lad, one Seb Coe & the rest is history: World champion at various distances, President of the International Athletic Federation and eventually crowning his political career to become Lord Coe!

Mike started his teaching at Margaret Glenn Bott School in Wollaton in the 60’s, teaching 13 year olds.  He remembers one pupil in particular called Leon, a German boy who had escaped from East to West Germany, then finishing in Wollaton.  The media found out about this and Mike was interviewed on Television with Leon.

The Mike and Maureen moved to the school in Hawksworth in the vale, with about 40 pupils and quite soon the Master of The S.Notts Hunt asked if they could start the Hunt in front of the school in Hawksworth and allow the children to meet the riders and horses.

Next the move to Aslockton with about 200 children and expanding, so that an extension was required, which was opened in 1969 by the then Minister for Education, Margaret Thatcher!

Nottingham Forest were doing very well at the time, so Mike formed a Junior Reds Supporters Club and two of their European Cup winning side visited the school (John Robertson and Captain John McGovern.)

Mike was also very interested in Cricket and entered a team in the National Primary school’s competition and they managed to qualify to represent the Midlands at the finals at Edgbaston.  But as cricket does, it rained, but undaunted Mike spoke to the organisers (Bob Willis and Trevor Bailey), suggesting that the competition could go ahead at the Warwickshire Indoor training facility.

Next an interesting time with Jimmy Saville (Jim will fix it and Top of the Pops fame and raiser of about £40m of money for Charity causes. This came about as the school was used as a starting venue for the various Charity Walks organised over the next 5 years. (later in the evening Jane confessed to having sat on Jimmy’s knee at one of the events, as a 13 year old school girl and when asked said that her dream would be to meet Harvey Smith (of horse jumping fame).

Moving swiftly on, because of the association with Thomas Cranmer, born in Aslockton, later rising to become The Archbishop of Canterbury, Mike thought a project to celebrate the 500^th anniversary would be appropriate and contacted Robert Rumsey, the current Archbishop, who immediately suggested that Mike take a group of children involved in the project to visit him at Lambeth Palace. This led on to an invitation to the Anniversary service at Westminster Abbey, where Mike was introduced to the petite, smoking Princess Margaret.  However, that day was “topped off” when they were getting on the train, the guard told Mike of some “special” people on the train, that perhaps they would like to meet?  It turned out to be the pilots of The Red Arrows flying team! Various questions and comments came from the members and finally President Derek gave a glowing Vote of Thanks for the last minute excellent presentation, followed by the usual thanks from everyone!                         AR